May Hexipuffs

May Hexipuffs.  10.  Wow that is really sad.  sigh.  Well there is one more but my brain must have shut off because I didn't make it big enough.  Mini-hex?  Nope won't work.  So 10.  But one's a frog and one's a fish.  The fish's bubbles are beads. 

In the Kitchen

The kitchen is living in it's spring season.  Quicker easy meals.  Food that just doesn't need much preparing; yet more reasons to love spring and early summer.

Swish card stems cut up and ready for a stir fry.  The colors are just so amazing!

The last cup of peas from our garden.  A week ago we got about 1 1/2 cups and a week before that we ate the young and whole in a stir fry.  Be careful offering one to the bug; she'll eat one dozen or more. 

Speaking of The Bug.  Making Vegan Dad's Chickenless nuggets to go with one of the amazing salads of the season.

Baah Baah

 So this is sad I never told you I was doing a KAL.  And here it is done.  I am blaming the later sunset for messing with my knits at sunset posts.  Yes that's what I'll say. 
Well, so, I was doing this KAL with Fickleknitter and Baah Yarns.  Got the yarn, a Fickle Knitter bag and mug.  Here's the bag and yarn.  This was a birthday present for myself.

I've been following Fickle Knitter's blog for some time, since her first patterns really.  A great lady and some great one skein shawls.

This is the Baah One Skein Shawl.  I actually finished knitting it the night before we left to see my parents.  Then I blocked it and it waited a while before a decentish photo shoot.

And another to give you a size idea.  This seems to be my favorite in general size for a shawl.  Hangs on the shoulders well or can be wrapped around the neck in the winter without chocking and still being able to see what it is.

The Madness-Rnd 7

First of all I still can't believe I made it to round 7.  The final round.  Really it just doesn't seem real or true.  But hey I did and it happened yesterday.  And boy did it kick my behind!

A clever knitter figured out before the pattern realease that it was twined knitting by the teaser photo and that we needed to have our yarn in a center pull ball.  I'd never done twined knitting and did some reading up on it.  Thankfully or it might have kicked me even harder!  The cuff; see the hearts?  That thing took me 6 hours!  Just the one cuff.  Twined knitting makes a nice dense but squishy fabric and is neat but man is it slow. I finished the one sock then went to bed.  Slept for 2 1/2 hours and was up and at it again. This is how much I'd finished when the Champion finished her socks.  She's really amazing. 
I will finish these socks.  But we both need a bit of a time out first.  And a nap...a nice long nap.

Cheery Cherry

 The Bug and I were excited to see Cherries at the Farmer's Market Wednesday.  

 Perfect, red, tart cherries. 

 Made into a perfectly delightful cherry pie. 

{this moment}

 {this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.
As inspired by SouleMama.

Visiting and an Amazing Moment

We went to Virginia this past week to visit with my family.  It was very nice.  Mr. Gnome hadn't been there in three years!  The bug go to play with grandparents and her only cousin and  visit with two of her uncles.  Lots of good times.

These socks were knit on the car ride.  One on the way there the other on the way home.  Both finished a good state away from our destination point and a good hour before the sun went down.  How do people sit still?!

And then.  And then!  Round 6 came out.  Round 6 where only one person per team goes ahead.  The Highlander round if you will.  The round that knocked me out last year.  The pattern came out and I started knitting, then I knit some more and more and more then at 3:30am, 17.5hrs after the pattern came out I finished.  I'd been periodically checking to see if anyone on my team had finished.  I took my picture (not the above one a crumby night time one) and ran upstairs to post.  I wake up the computer and the internet wasn't working.  I cried, probably cursed, Mr. Gnome woke up and went downstairs to reset the router.  Now this could be all the time it takes for someone else to post.  20 minutes later I sent in my email and collapsed in bed.  Woke up four hours later to find I had indeed made it!  Seriously I have Never come in first for Anything in my life.  Shocking, amazing.  And I have a beautiful pair of socks with Beads!

Round 7 will be later this week.  The final five.  Can I tell you how scared I am????

Turbulence

Finished Turbulence this morning.  These poor socks keep getting shoved aside for Sock Madness socks.  But at long last they are done.  And aren't they lovely.

The not cables were a new thing and pretty neat.  Oh so pretty.  And perhaps will inspire some turbulence.
Yarn: Socktopus.  I liked this yarn a lot, soft and strong with an almost shine to it. 

Outside

 Still so happy with the garden.  We've had SO MUCH lettuce.  Really if you aren't eating lettuce with every meal you are in trouble.  Yes, even cereal.  Still getting around four strawberries a day.  Those get put straight in the mouth.

 Already have garlic scrapes on about half the garlic.  No sign on the other half; seems odd, but hey that's my garden.  The Lemon Balm exploded this year.  I need to thin it still.

The front herb bed looks luscious.  Lots of sage, oregano and chives.  The Lavender has been looking like it wanted to bloom for almost a month and finally has.  The bees are very happy about that.
Tomorrow's dinner will be a stir fry with snap peas, scallions and garlic scrapes all from our garden; not to mention some oregano and thai basil.  Can you stir fry lettuce?

The Madness-Round 5

Finished round 5 this morning.  Could have finished last night but my hand had started to hurt so I choose restive sleep over total madness.  Anyway.  Check out this sock! 

See that blue bit that looks sewn on.  It's woven as you knit.  Roositud.  Very cool and fun technique.  I want to find a mitten pattern that uses it and do it again.  There's arch shaping in the foot that doesn't really work for me. I don't really have arches.  I'm not sure if I'll rip it out and change it or not.

An Argument for Madness

Now you may think I neglect my family and the house during madness and let all sorts of things go. And ok maybe this is true during the actually round.  But that only lasts a few days then it's all about catch up.  Now we are in the last rounds of the Madness and I know the pattern will come out between 11a-3p CMT.  I've known this since yesterday.  This means yesterday I did a good bit of straightening and gardening.  Today I did laundry first thing and cleaned the kitchen.

I peeled and chopped the last local winter squash from the pantry, threw in some local carrots, half an onion and a few good handfuls of little tomatoes.  Then grabbed some thyme and sage from the garden.  This lovely bowl will be thrown onto a greased casserole dish along with some chickpeas and roasted for tonight's roasted veggie salad.
I would never have myself together this well without the madness.

Strawberries

Now this is going to be crazy, for many reasons.  First; we picked strawberries on the last day of April!  A good two weeks early.  Crazy weather!  Second; this here is the only other strawberry pictures I have.

You see I didn't make preserves.  The kid has been off preserves for months now and we still have four jars of strawberry left from last year.  I froze two pounds to make strawberry-peach preserves since I forgot last year and the kid keeps asking.  Froze another pound for those strawberry hand pies because Boy were they great!  Then dehydrated three or four pounds.  That's it.  No baking, bit sad about that but it just didn't happen.  I didn't freeze extra.  I have my reasons and it is a bit of a gamble.  But sometimes if you want something you have to through it out there for the fates to here. 
We have also been getting 2-4 strawberries a day from our own garden.  Those have been amazing!  So juicy and tangy.

April Hexipuffs

Sometimes the Madness gets in the way of the blogging.

The April hexipuffs.  15 not bad at all.  At this rate I'll have enough for the bedspread in about 7 years.  At least they are fun. 

{this moment}

 {this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

As inspired by SouleMama. 

 

The Madness-Round 4

 Finished this morning. I'm tired.....a migraine hit me hard yesterday or I would have finished last night.  Ah well. 

Mosaic knitting.  I haven't done mosaic in a long time.  Don't know why; it's really fun.  They need a good blocking but other than that are done. 

What?  Are those strawberries under that sock?  Why yes, yes they are.  The day before the pattern came out we picked 13 lbs of strawberries.  More on that later.