SpiderWomanKnits

whirlwind to the shore

Jorn and I went down to New Jersey on Saturday for a family gathering. It was a wonderful whirlwind and we even managed to squeeze in a trip to the shore before we headed back on Sunday morning. It was two hours very well spent. I just love the sea. Everyone was gone, it was like we had the whole place to ourselves. We wandered the shoreline, under the docks, around the amusement park and gathered treasures, of course. When we arrived back in Vermont we still had sand between our toes. What a delight for mountain dwellers. And, what a delight for a mother of three to have that time with my first born. The best treasure of all. 

FO: Quynn 2

Quynn 2 flew off the needles this afternoon just in time for school pick up and 84 degree weather. The knitter in me is so ready for Autumn. 

By modifying the garter brim on this hat you get such a different look. I'll be playing with that even more. 

Besides being a super willing and adorable knitwear model, Simonne just finished her very first week of school and she lost her first tooth! I wrote a little bit about my feelings on losing baby teeth years ago when Jorn started. If you're interested here is the post. I still feel strongly that this is such an interesting developmental time that goes beyond just the physicality of it. 

And, as usual, Quynn 2 project details, more pics and my mods can be found on Ravelry. I wish everyone a lovely weekend! xo Spidey

PS. find me on Instagram as spiderwomanknits 

FO: Quynn

Oh, a really fun knit! I've had this pattern in my queue for a while now and decided to buy the pattern yesterday. I've already cast on and am almost done with a #2. Such an addictive knit with really charming results. 

I love that it covers those little ears without having to go and add ear flaps later. They are created while you knit. Perfecto!

There's also a fairly obvious front and back which is very kid friendly too. As usual all of my project notes and more pictures can be found on Ravelry. OK! Back to knitting. You've been warned, this knit is addictive. xo Spidey

tap tap tap

I hope this thing is still on because I have a lovely little snack idea to share with you. I discovered it first, where else, Pinterest, but then I haven't stopped making it since. Whenever we need a quick, wholesome snack this is what we are turning to. Surprisingly and deliciously addictive. I haven't even bothered with any seasoning other than a sprinkle of sea salt. Jorn, Simonne and Vaughn can not get enough of these. We're lucky enough that we don't have to "sneak" any foods into our kids diet, they are adventurous eaters, but these offer a refreshing break from carb-based snacks which can be so much easier to reach for. 

You can find the original recipe here. Again, I haven't done anything other than just sprinkle them with some salt. You can just drain a couple of cans early in the day and let them sit until the afternoon/after school so they get nice and dry. That way when you roast them you'll get a nice crispy outer texture. They're so good that they won't last more than a minute or two on the table but, boy, would they be delicious on your dinner salad too. 

I know I mentioned it before but I am using Instagram a lot these days. If you do too, find me there as spiderwomanknits. Lots of pics of what we've been up to these days. 

Hope your Spring is off to a lovely start!

xoxo

Spidey

today's haul

It's not the biggest haul we've had but it certainly is special. Those are the first potatoes we've ever grown! What a fun crop. Still lots more in the ground. We'll certainly make room for more next year. Jorn, Simonne and I spent Vaughn's nap time in the garden together today picking all these veggies. It just fills my heart watching the two of them cooperate and work together to help pick whatever it is we are picking. They are just as excited as I am to see what's available for us on a particular day.

A few nights ago I used the 2 pounds of beans we had picked that day (kentucky wonder, gold rush and purple) to make Indian style green beans. The whole family made me swear that I would not pickle the beans we picked today but would prepare the Indian Style beans again. Here's the recipe. I hope your family loves it as much as mine. It's taken from one of my favorite cook books Whole Foods for the Whole Family.This is the recipe as it is written in the book, we doubled it.

Indian Style Green Beans

1lb green beans

2-4T oil (salted butter)

1t black mustard seeds

1/2 cup chopped onion

3/4 cup thinly sliced carrots

1 t. ground coriander

1/8 t. ground ginger

1/2 t. salt (or to taste)

1-2T lemon juice

Cut beans into 1 inch pieces (I just snap mine while I am washing them) Heat oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Saute mustard seeds until they "pop". Add beans, onion, carrots. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring often. Stir in seasonings, reduce heat to simmer. Cover, simmer until desired tenderness. Stir in lemon juice and serve. We serve this as the side along with the most simple and delicious Chickpea Curry. If you look through the reviews you'll see my mods for that recipe on the site. Oh, and one more picture, just because, I love my Garden Sweetie so much.This was how she was dressed all day today while we were working.

jorn's pictures

{I like his perspective}

{i love him}

For the record, I am not headless. Although sometimes I feel like I am losing my mind. Maybe he hears me say that too often and this is his artistic interpretation of that?  ;)

if we had a bluegrass band

Simonne and I would call ourselves The Muddy Knee Girls, that's what we decided. 

Simonne and I spent the day putting in 18 raspberry bushes! We made up all kinds of silly planting songs. It was great fun and we are proud of ourselves! That little girl can and loves to dig and plant, just like her mama.

I'd like to wish all the Mama's and Mama's at Heart out there a relaxing and joyful Mother's Day (weekend)!

xoxo

Spidey

introducing...

Oh boy! Things have sure been busy here. I can barely pull myself inside in the evening to cook dinner. But, oh, what fun! Vaughn turned two on Saturday! Two! I can't believe it. Can you believe it? We had a house full of family here to help us celebrate and then we went to the annual Spring Tailgate Poultry Swap again this year which is becoming a birthday weekend tradition now. This time we came home with ducklings and 4 new bantams! No goats, but check out my Taurus Farmer boy. He didn't ask to feed this goat he just took the bottle and started. See that egg in the right hand corner of the picture? The hen laid the egg while he was feeding the goat. He collected it and handed it to the man. I probably could have left him there for the afternoon to help out. He's two. I adore him.

I find our lifestyle overwhelmingly fulfilling but seeing the rooted learning of nurturing, responsibility and confidence in action swells my heart to the point of almost bursting. Perhaps I overlook that in our daily chores sometimes but it really stood out as I watched Jorn, Simonne and Vaughn navigate the swap with such confidence and joy. Going from seller to seller until they found just the right bantams, the ones that spoke to them on a level which deserves more cultivation these days, the gut.

And the heart too of course. Jorn picked out this mating pair of bantams that he and Simonne are holding in this picture. They are so beautiful although you can see how well camouflaged they are blending in even to the busy-ness of their shirts. After passing up many, many bantams Simonne walked right over to the most elegant ones we had seen all day and declared them hers. These pictures don't do them justice. The hen is not white she is like a pearl or a moonstone. The male is a shade of gray artists would use for the softest of moody skies. Watching them walk through the field is magical.

But oh, those ducklings! They have stolen all of our hearts! I have never planned to keep ducklings but I have also never really planned anything so they are really just where they belong I guess, eh? Kimba and Simonne keep them entertained. And speaking of planning we asked our party guests to bring along a plant with them to start a garden for Vaughn. With three kids toys are just not necessary. We were supposed to break ground on the garden at the party but there was still a threat of frost so now it's time to put some planning into action. It is going to feel so lovely to watch a garden grow for Vaughn given by family and friends. (Deep sigh) It was a really wonderful weekend.

family portrait

I think this is one of the only pictures we have of all of us together! I can't believe it. I took it last week when we went to Magic Wings. I vow to take more family portraits from now on because that is not right! 

We used to take Jorn to Magic Wings all the time when he was a baby and we lived in Massachusetts. It's about an hour and a half drive from us now so during Spring Break last week we took a little road trip. In the past we usually go in February. It's 80 degrees inside, always sunny, so green and tropical. You really need a dose of that when you live in New England in February and it's much cheaper than flying somewhere. It's such a great place to visit. Really, it's truly magical to be in such a lush environment with butterflies flying around you everywhere!

You can also watch butterflies hatch before your very eyes in the nursery. And, I have to say that they had the most impressive/gross exotic (?) bug collection I have seen anywhere. I am not squeamish but they had one bug there that I couldn't even photograph or even think about now because it still gives me the hebegebes. A Scorpion Spider. Here is someone else's picture of it because as I said I could hardly look at the thing. Click if you dare.

I took lots of other pictures (of not gross things) and put some of those on Flickr.

i'm back and feeling better than ever

{lots and lots of laughter, margaritas, great food, crafting, bananagram-ing, jelly beans, girl talk, sleeping, antiquing, strolling and even some goat cheese making}

Oh my gosh, my weekend was amazing! Really, I am still on Cloud 9. To say I needed this time would be an understatement and to say that the time I spent with my friends was just what I needed would also be an understatement. It was so much more than that. I just love these women so much, I feel blessed to call them friends and that my kids call their kids friends and that our husbands all made this trip possible.

The trip was months in the making and I honestly don't think a single one of us let out a breath until we were all in the car and on our way. The week before there was lots of sickness, some pretty crappy weather and anyone who has a family knows the 1,000,000 little things that could possible crop up that would keep a mama at home. So, even as the days approached and we started figuring out who was driving, who was bringing what food, what crafty projects we'd bring along and how long we'd actually let each other sleep it didn't really feel 'real' until we sunk into those bucket seats of my friends Alexa's and Michelle's cars and hit the road. (By the way, it turns out that none of us could really sleep in, years of motherhood have really re-programmed our bodies.)

But man, oh, man. I don't think there was even five minutes of 'decompression time'! As soon as we hit that road it was our road. And that made the weekend spectacular. My friend's are all blogless, so no linking, but they are all amazingly talented, sweet, funny, honest and stupendous mama's so I wish you could peek into their lives a bit.

The photos are all mine but that cheese in the making and margarita credit goes to Amy who made some goat cheese for us to snack on and served up margaritas (thank you!) during our games of Bananagrams, which I am now addicted to (the Bananagrams not the margaritas, don't worry).  Laura is responsible for that beautiful cupcake which I took over 35 pictures of. She is also a very talented quilter and a local bib maker extraordinaire. If your baby is wearing a handmade, quilted bib in our area (and even other areas) chances are she made it. I keep singing the praises of Etsy to Laura but honestly her bibs and quilts sell just about as fast as she can make them so the best place to check out her stuff is on her Facebook page. Alexa takes the credit for the fajitas in the making. Eventhough I can't take a picture of it Michelle has to take the credit (although I know she won't) for keeping us all grounded in a way that is immensely comforting, perhaps even more than she can know. And we are all collectively responsible for the unreasonable amount of jelly beans that were consumed over the course of two days.

These women all make me a better person and a better mom and it was a huge gift to get to spend this type of uninterrupted time together. We are already talking about doing it again.

On a totally different note, I am completely back-blogged (?) when it comes to my knitting posts! I am so excited to share them. I hope soon. In the meantime, it's starting to get spring-y around here and for me that means chicks! Over the next few months people start and add to their chicken flocks. If you are thinking about doing either make sure you check out the link in my sidebar (top right) which will take you to my Brooding 101 post that covers all the basics you need to know if you are thinking of keeping chickens. I hope you find it helpful!