May

It's May.  We're so far into May that it will soon be June.  How did that slip by me so quickly?  Oh, I know...must be because I've been a busy lady.  Still working, working, working and getting a little knitting done while I'm working.  I have 23 hats to show for it, leaving one more to make for an even 2 dozen (I thought that would be a nice number to stop at).  These three are my most recent ones and I just love the Spring inspired colours (even though they're meant for cooler weather and made of wool).  I think they'll look terrific after washing and blocking.

It's hard not to be inspired by Spring when it's all happening around you.  The greenest greens of the year are popping up all around us and you can't go anywhere outside without hearing the buzzzzzzzzzz of bees...what a wonderful sound.  I hope those bees have been visiting our blooming fruit trees, the apricot's blossoms are finished now but this is what it looked like last week.

Aren't those blossoms incredible!

Dave is taking Spring as it comes, bouncing all over the place all day long and passing out in his bed every evening...it's a charmed life.

More

More hats....that's 17 on display right now.  I'm thinking I need to make a blue one today:)

Finished.

It's so nice to be able to look at finished things.  My house, work...well, life in general is full of the unfinished.  But today I have some finished bragging rights.

I wasn't sure how to finish my Granny Square living room blanket.  I know I could have just ended it on any row but I've seen so many blog posts with gorgeous crocheted throws that have fancy edges.  I fiddled around a little and came up with a very simple scalloped edge that doesn't really look a whole lot different from the stitch I used throughout the project....but to my eyes, it just looks more "finished".

You can see it's a little wavy along the outside, but I can live with that.  It is more square than it shows in the picture, the bottom corner isn't actually that long compared the others, the photo just looks that way.  The finished blanket measures roughly 4 x 4 feet and is just the right size for a lap blanket.

In the last week or so, I also managed to knit several hats, it felt great to get my needles clicking along again.  Next week should be a bit of a sock feast here as I seem to be understanding the finicky nature of my sock knitting machine a little better.

What projects have you been working on?

From The Post

This beautiful wooden box came in the mail for me today....

....it's an original!  And can you guess what was inside the box?  There are tools and buckles and books...

...weights and cylinders and hooks...

...bobbins and cranks...

...it's an antique, restored, P.T. LeGare sock knitting machine.  I can't wait to show it to you in it's full form, for now though, it remains in pieces because I don't have the right table or counter top to set it up.  It's very heavy and made of cast iron and steel so I can't risk dropping it or it will injure it's self under it's own weight and then it will be an expensive ornament instead of a functioning tool for my knitting studio.

These are the same machines used to knit for the war effort, both world wars actually (and if I researched it, I'd probably find it pertained to several other wars).  I can't imagine how much comfort it would have given a soldier so young, scared, cold, tired, dirty, so far from home, to receive such a thing as a warm, clean, woollen pair of socks.  I can imagine him holding the socks to his face, searching for a scent of home, maybe a waft of Mom's bread or his beloved's best biscuits caught in the wool while she was  making them.  Maybe looking for that single hair that his lover knit into the fabric so that she could send a part of herself to him, or a little water mark where a tear had fallen.

It's a shame that our western culture today places so much value on the mass produced, synthetic stuff that fills our homes and lives.  These garments made by hand, even though their speed is facilitated by these hand cranked machines, is where I place my values.  I feel so blessed that I've been able to teach myself these skills and doubly blessed that I have people in my life who appreciate what I produce with them.

Not Sure

I'm not even sure what day of the week it is...or the date.  I seem to have done nothing but work and sleep these last couple of weeks, and working and sleeping just don't generate interesting blog fodder.  So, I thought I'd pop in anyway and at least let you all know that I haven't run away or stopped blogging...I simply don't have anything really interesting to tell you.

I did spend time last week sewing together a quilt top and bottom between the hours of work and sleep and work.  It was pretty simple to sew since there was only a 4 piece border around the top fabric and 4 equally sized pieces for the back.  Once I made my quilt sandwich (with an old wool blanket inside) I started to quilt and realized that I was about to make a monkey's arse of my pretty fabric!  I promptly put it aside and will rip out the seam that I had started....right before I send it up the road to get quilted by someone who knows what they're doing.  There is a lady living near me who will do an all over stipple pattern for a very reasonable price.  Sold.

Top with border.

Top with border and backing rolled over.

The all over stipple will be in a mustard coloured thread that will be lost in the confusion of paisley but pop out like crazy on the burgundy boarder.  I'm thinking this will be a very nice blanket for the living room with all it's earthy colours.

Friday

What I'm reading on this Friday....

I first learned about Ayurveda over a decade ago while working with spa products based on this life system.  I had always found it fascinating and of course, with a certificate in Applied Organic Nutrition, I was interested in the nutritional side.  Ayurveda is an entire lifestyle, thousands of years old, aimed at achieving and keeping balance in our ever changing bodies.  It involves nutrition, yoga, meditation, massage, and cleansing of the internal body based on your individual body and personality type or Dosha.  I read this book by Deepak Chopra many years ago and decided that while I'm feeling out of balance, this would be a great re-read.  As it stands, I think this book is a must have in the library of anyone who wishes to feel well.  This is the kind of book that you keep going back to, highlighting, putting in new sticky notes, adding scribbles for yourself... if you're tired of feeling tired or sick of feeling sick, give it a read.  Really, who wouldn't benefit from feeling even a little better:)  Happy Weekend everyone.

Time

I can't believe how quickly time moves, or at least how much more quickly it appears to move the older we get.  That said, after living in our current house for 9 years, we're still struggling to find time to finish all of the work we started on it.  Almost every room has had work done on it, but not one room is completely finished.  This drives me insane.  Friday I decided that I would finally tackle the upstairs hallway.  When we moved in, there was carpet over the hardwood all the way up the stairs and in the upstairs hallway which we removed right away as I'm allergic to dogs and the previous owners had three.  Needless to say the carpet was old, gross and a trip to the hospital waiting to happen.  The hardwood underneath was never touched, it's dark and tattered looking only because of the years of wax and dirt buildup.  This is a very good thing.  That means that when it does get refinished it will look amazing.  But the floor will be the last phase of the entire reno.  I am working on all the trims and walls.  Mr. had moved the bathroom door and created a new door at the end of the hall where the old water closet had been.  The WC is now a fantastic walk in, linen and storage closet and the new and proper bathroom was built where the fourth and smallest bedroom once was.  As you can image this created some drywall, plaster, trim and paint issues.  Mr. had already pieced in the new wall board, taped and put on the first coat of mud so I went in and sanded, filled some more, repaired cracks in the old plaster on the other side of the hallway which had been covered by wallpaper for 92 years.  But, I ran out of weekend so I still have to fill a bit more, address the ceiling, sand some more and caulk before I can finally prime and paint.  It will be so nice to have a little more of the house completed, I don't feel comfortable in a chaotic mess.

As you can see, I really am on my way....and the floor is so beautiful.

The old plaster is very smooth, I feel lucky that there are only a few cracks to fix.

On Sunday, Mr and I decided to roast a nice big domestic goose that we'd purchased from a neighbour.  I think I overcooked it because it was tough as old boots but my goodness was it ever tasty (and the crispy skin should not even be legal).  It was the first time I had either cooked one or eaten one and I enjoyed it very much.  If I had to compare it to anything I would say it tasted like a cross between chicken and turkey but much richer.  And yes, in true homesteader style, I strained and saved the grease.  Gordon Ramsay says it's excellent for frying eggs...I bet!

Not a pretty picture, I assure you it looked much more appetizing in real life.

Now the one thing that I'd really planned on having finished by now is my granny square throw.  I only have about 15 more rounds to do but I can't seem to find time to sit and do it.  It is at least bigger than the last time I checked in and fed the blog.

This is my "big week" at work, the one where I work way to many hours, so hopefully I will get this done while I'm here.

What did you do on your weekend?