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Here's another hat. You might have caught a glimpse of it here. This one was knit a long time ago. Way before I knew anything about knitting. It was one of my first and it has many, many flaws. I made it up as I went along and it's a bit too big. When I feed the chickens in the morning it always flops down over my eyes, sometimes even knocking my glasses off. I curse it and growl at it but I can't stop putting it on. Sometimes favorite things are like that.
Have a great weekend!
ooxx,
Abi
I just knit two Autumns.
This is the second one I knit. I made some changes and now, it's my new favorite hat.
The End.
PS. If you're not on Ravelry and need details just let me know :) But first...go join Ravelry!
{Do not adjust your monitors}
This is what an egg is supposed to look like!
And you shouldn't need a special pan to poach them either...
I've been sewing! I have this love/hate relationship with my sewing machine. I hate using it but I love sewing so it's rare I make something, enjoy it and find myself pleased with the finished object. But I've been having so much fun making needle rolls I just can't stop.
Mind you I have NO idea what I am "doing", I am not using a pattern and I am pretty sure there is a better way to make these. Still, I find my process efficient both in a time sense and in a use of fabric sense.
I have made three now and learned something new each time which is really exciting. Like on this one I just added ties to keep it closed.
But on the second one I used an elastic loop and (vintage) button.
I think either method of closure is fine, they are just different. The elastic one was inspired by one of my favorite needle rolls I bought at Rhinebeck years ago for my double points which was made by Crippenworks.
Both cases are just for straights but I can't wait to make some for Double Points and Circulars. My knitting 'basket' is a dreadful mess and these are so fun to organize with. Simonne thinks that all the needles are going to bed though and keeps tucking them into various slots. Cute.
There they are all 'tucked in' as Simonne would say. These two cases are on their way to new homes. The other one I made for myself. It was the first one I made, my practice one let's say. Still I love it, just like the first things I knit that might have been less than perfect but oh so satisfying. What are you making today?
I want to share a super-quick-couldn't-be-easier-diy project with you today.
Go ahead over to your nearest office supply store and pick yourself up some Marking Tags or some Metal Rimmed Tags. Then the next time you fix yourself a cup of tea, make an extra cup and make it extra strong and share it with your new office supply tags.
Chit chat for a little while and then remove your tags. Voila! You've got yourself some old looking tags! I love using these for everything! Labeling my craft supplies and dressing up gifts are my two favorite uses but there are obviously many others.
This was the first time I used the Marking tags and while I love how them came out, they will degrade if you leave them soaking too long so beware of that. Here are the simple instructions for making some antiqued tags.
You will need:
Office supply tags, either metal rimmed or marking
Black Tea
Hot Water
A mug
A cooling rack set over a cookie sheet
Process:
Take about 10-12 tags and set them in the bottom of a mug (you can do your whole box at once but you will need a larger bowl and many more tea bags)
Place about 5-6 tea bags on top of them (the more you use the darker your tags will be, it's also nice to make them light by using less tea bags or try different types of tea!). You can steep your tea ahead of time and then soak your tags but placing the tea bags on top keeps the tags fully submerged.
Pour boiling hot water over your tags and bags and let them sit a while (the longer they sit the darker they will get but beware of letting the marking tags sit too long as they may start to fall apart)
Remove your tags and set them on a cooling rack set over a cookie sheet to dry. The Marking tags will curl a bit but it's nice.
Done!
Look what I found this morning!
Our first egg from the The Red Comb Farm flock! Yahoo! I am SO excited and a little bit nervous because this also means selling around 30 dozen eggs a week as soon as they all get going! Oh my. We're going to be busy this weekend getting all our cartons in order, customers notified, nesting boxes fluffed up etc. Here we go!
That's a pretty good sized egg to start off with. It's much larger than the first egg we got from our first flock of hens. I wasn't expecting any eggs either for another month. Boy, was I off. But we are keeping different breeds this time so maybe they are just on a different schedule? Always learning something new! Ok. Lots of work to do. See you next week! Have a lovely weekend!
ooxx,
Abi
{The West circa 1968}
My, my, my! Thank you SO much for all the curiosity about The Cabin. I spent the evening trying to dig up some more pictures to share. Instead of searching through files I had to go up into a storage room and carry down three big boxes of, get this, photographs! Greg and the kids and I spread them all out on the dining room table and something really strange happened. Jorn, my oldest (7), held something up and asked me what it was. It was a negative! A negative! My father is quite a photographer so the house I grew up in had a darkroom. It just wouldn't even dawn on me that Jorn wouldn't have a clue what a negative was. Whew. SO weird.
In the boxes were a mixture of really old pictures that my dad took before I was born, pictures of myself as a child, lots of pictures I took with my beloved Pentax ME Super, some Polaroids and a few digital prints. A lot of the digital prints were faded and the ones that weren't had a very different feel.
{Me maybe 1979?}
Because I grew up with a photographer father I spent so much time going through boxes and boxes and boxes of photographs as a child. There were pictures of Hillary Clinton (when she and Bill were still a young lad and lassie), homeless people, still lives, animals, our family (lots and lots of our family) you just never knew what you would find. Sometimes I wonder what is a real memory from my childhood and what I simply remember because it seems like every moment was documented, like having a visual guide to your life! I can't possibly remember the baby shower thrown for my mom after I was born but it sure does feel like I can.
Strange thing was, I couldn't really find any pictures from the cabin. Just a few more that I'll save for the next post. While I took after my father by always having my camera around I think I felt then and I still feel now that the camera removes you from the moment you might be trying to capture. My time at The Cabin was all about just being present in the now. But yet, my memories of that time are crystal clear and picture perfect. So my writing ability will have to catch up a bit with my knitting ability so I can convey the beauty (and ugliness) of that time as best as I can.
{My brother, Peter, a painter and I (with a shaved head) in Kentucky 1998}
Bare with me while I get my thoughts and few pictures together for another Cabin post!
* All photos taken by my dad. Except for this one that I took of him with a Polaroid in the late 80's. How cute it it that he has his camera in his hand? I'm not kidding he always has a camera.
{John Paul, my dad, and one of his sisters Madeline}
{My brother and me circa 1997}
A post about The Cabin is long overdue. I mentioned it when I first started blogging, people asked me to talk more about it then and I didn't. I always felt badly about that. I never forgot. I doubt the people who asked even read this blog anymore, which is a shame, because after all these years I am ready to go back there.
You see the years I lived in the cabin were the best years of my life. I miss that time an awful lot and while I don't have one single regret about where I am right now, I do I allow myself to openly mourn the loss of that type of freedom. Now, let me be clear, I am not speaking about my husband or children here at all. While all of you know how your individuality must be compromised in many ways to be a wife and mother, I am not talking about that. During the time I spent in The Cabin I was completely free. I didn't owe a landlord, an electric company, a gas company, a water company, a cable company, or any company. There was no phone ringing, people could only mail letters to me and I rarely had drop in visitors (the cabin was hidden 1/2 mile down an old logging road deep in the woods). There was not one.single.drop of white noise. There was nothing but me and those woods. It was as powerful and as magical as it sounds and just writing about it here brings tears to my eyes. When I do talk about The Cabin people usually say, "I wish I could have done something like that." or "I've always wanted to do that." Believe me, I wish you could have to. And if there is any part of your heart that is still speaking something like that to you now I highly recommend you DO do it. Maybe you can't do it for a few years but if you do it for a few weeks, maybe even a month it will change your life forever.
{The interior of the Cabin set up for Summer}
The Cabin was made up of two tiny rooms, a mudroom and a kitchen, and this big/little great room. On either side of my bed were two huge picture windows looking out onto a pond on one side and the woods through the other. The pond is where I would get my water for cleaning myself and things around the cabin, it also saved my life once and The Cabin. My drinking water had to be hauled in, which I would do by filling up water cooler bottles at a spring or at the Barn where I worked. I ate what I had available, nothing was refrigerated, so unless I was cooking something right away I ate mostly non perishables. I tried my hand at a small garden but was quite terrible at it (and still am) but I knew my way around wild edibles which there were plenty of. The out house was quite a walk from the cabin, or at least it felt that way sometimes when I'd have to go out alone at night.
I had many systems for cleaning, bathing and cooking that I had down to a science. Some people are really curious about those things and if you are please say so in the comments. Maybe I can do a separate post about how you do simple things like brush your teeth, shave your legs and wash your hair when you don't have a drop of running water in sight! My drive down to the cabin on that long logging road was transporting but also incredibly treacherous and hairy during winter months. Often times I'd have to abandon my car and walk in with a sled pulling any provisions I may have been picking up. I had an ax, a gun and a dog that made me feel more secure, because there were times when I felt pretty vulnerable as a woman living alone so remotely.
There was a gray squirrel and a red squirrel (that I named Bart and Julip) who woke me up every morning by jumping up on the picture window to ask for their share of oats, there was a red tailed hawk who was always on the bridge to the cabin and would stay there as I walked by him just mere inches away each time I came and went, there was a snake who shared my lunch hour sitting on the same warm rock, a blue heron who came every evening at the same time for dinner, the turtle who would come out of hiding when I launched the small row boat to take a journey around the pond and many, many other creatures who let me live so closely and so harmoniously with them it's almost out of a fairy tale. I could count on all of these things happening. When one of them didn't I was usually left with a great emptiness in my heart.
The summers were hot and the winters were hotter. You'd think it would be cold but that little wood stove cranked out a lot of heat and often times it would get a bit stifling in there. Mornings were the best and the nights scared me. I wasn't living off the land there but I was living with it so I never wanted to leave but I couldn't always stay. Only the bravest of my friends and family would stay the night. One fall I suffered a terrible hand injury so serious I needed micro surgery and was in ICU for a week but I still had to feed the fire and use an axe with one hand. There were men that would help sometimes.
I kept a journal of my time there and even though I have the guts to do all of the things I mentioned above and many other things I haven't mentioned I just don't have the guts to read that journal yet. I thank The-Spirit-in-all-Things that I didn't have a blog during that time because surely my experience could never have been as pure.
{My Summer 'Shower': A Real Luxury!}
There is really so much to say but it's an overwhelming amount of experiences and I don't know how much to really share. I don't feel the need to share but I'd love to share. So I think this post gives a bit of a glimpse into The Cabin, or at least a barrage of information! I'd like to tell you more about who I was before I lived there and how I ended up there so I'll share more in another post. If there is anything you are particularly curious about please just leave a comment and I'll address it.
Thanks again, so much, to Amy for opening up this door to my past I may have otherwise left shut.
Hey there, hello! I was incredibly honored to be invited to Amy's wonderful blog, Progressive Pioneer for an interview! She has been such an inspiration to me since I found her blog a few months ago so when she asked me if I would take part in her MamaView series my answer was instantly, yes! It was a blast answering her thought provoking questions so I hope when you have a minute you can pop on over to check it out!
Oh my gosh. It's hard to believe that it was three months ago when the knock at my door revealed Norah Gaughan, Cirilia Rose and the Berroco team! It seems like only yesterday but also a wonderful dream that may or may not have really happened. If I didn't have the book beside me right now I might have to question my memory of it happening. Surreal, is the word.
{all photos taken by my dad}
I have to begin by saying that in my life I never, ever thought I'd model anything. I can also say with certainty that Greg didn't think he ever would either. Both of us are quite uncomfortable in front of the camera. Usually to overcompensate for my discomfort I make super dorky, goofy faces with the hope that a silly picture is better than a bad picture. I am sure that Chris, the photographer's, film was filled with pictures like that of me. If it was, he was kind enough not to let me see them :) So being asked to model for a Berroco book was a big, wonderful surprise.
There is so much work involved in a photo shoot. I can only begin to imagine all the work that leads up to these whirlwind days or what is going through great minds like Norah's and Cirilia's as they watch their designs being 'summed up' in images. It seemed like such an awesome responsibility on our part and I was so nervous and anxious about making sure we did the best job we could do to represent all of their hard work and beautiful designs. Throughout the whole day we had so much support and encouragement from everyone on the team.They made it really easy for us to just relax and have fun!
{Norah, Cirilia, and Cheyenne in front of our house as we shoot Australop}
So much of our life here made it into the book. Our home, our chicken Chippy and one of her gorgeous blue eggs, Swiss Chard from our garden, some of my dad's artwork (behind Jorn), an old pitchfork which has been in this house much longer than us, a bale of our hay and so many other little things. I love that.
I love too that we got to share some of the experience with my friend Kim. Kim not only had her third child the same time I did but also had to have her appendix out a week before me, both of us while we were 4 months pregnant! What a nightmare. Now, we can add to our shared memories something much more pleasant. Her sweet daughter, Fallon, graces the cover (!) of the DK Baby book! Kim is not a knitter, so you better believe I'll be knitting her this adorable outfit Fallon modeled.
Of course as a knitter I couldn't wait to see the sweaters! Greg, Jorn and Simonne were the first to model while I sat and had my hair and makeup done (tough job, right?). I am not a girly-girl but I really enjoyed this part of the day. In fact, while everyone was outside modeling sweaters and Vaughn was taking a nap, I (embarrassingly) almost fell asleep while Cheyenne was doing my makeup it was so relaxing. My mind, in it's wakeful periods of that time, were on those sweaters though! I wanted to see what they were all wearing!
{look at all that makeup!}
{Simonne puts makeup on her baby doll}
Simonne was so curious and inquisitive about this uncommon activity in our house. When she wasn't outside charming everyone and working the camera she was by Cheyenne's side watching her every move and mimicking them on her doll. You should see her doll now! Since that day she's gone through quite a makeover and because I don't have the proper tools that Cheyenne had for her to work with she's had to make do with what we have here in the house, which means playdoh in the eyes and sharpie tattoos ;)
{Norah and Vaughn modeling Allegheny and Taconic}
It was immensely satisfying watching all of my babies model these sweaters. I was wondering how it would be for them. I worried that they may get tired or stressed or annoyed but then as everyone settled in to doing their work it dawned on me that they were already old hands at this. Kids are, of course, naturally relaxed and free from inhibition in front of cameras but having your picture taken by mom and dad and modeling are two different things. But, my kids are knit blogger kids! Their crazy mama makes them model hand knits all the time! Not only were they familiar with modeling hand knits, they really enjoyed the sweaters. Jorn's favorite of the day was Sebright and he's still asking me to knit it for him! (Of course I will)
{I love these 'outtakes' that show all that goes into each picture}
Of course the day wasn't complete without another Greg and Abi recreation of American Gothic! This time with a lollipop and a pitchfork. Not sure why Greg got to hold the lollipop. They were really good caramel apple ones that Cirilia brought along. Yum. Simonne is having one in her pictures of Nankin :)
I threatened that they were going to have to pry this whole outfit off of me, by the way. I love Serama! That will be the first sweater I knit for myself from the book. I think, though it's really hard to choose ;)
It was such a wonderful experience that we feel blessed to have been a part of. My dad, who is an artist, photographer and architect came up from Jersey to help us tidy up the house (remember the blueberry shelves?) and mind the children. He had such a wonderful time. Even though he didn't model any hand knits himself he's in there in every picture, 'behind the scenes' in so many ways. Karin came too, to cheer us on, hold some babies, fix some knits and supply us with some of her gorgeous yarn! Thanks Dad and Karin!
You can find both the DK Baby Book and the Vintage Family Book on the Berroco website. All the patterns are Raveled too! Baby Book here on Ravelry.
Can this post be any longer? Oh, yes, it can!
And now for some gratuitous shots, just because!
{THE CREW!}
THANKS GUYS FOR THE BEST DAY EVER!
