Hat Parade: Tipper

Tipper is a quick, easy knit with clever construction from another of my favorite designers, Woolly Wormhead.  Published in her book Bambeanies (available electronically or in print), this little cutie knits up flat and then is seamlessly grafted together.

I worked this one up in some Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk Aran I’ve had in the stash forever. I’ve had it so long that I’ve long since lost the tag for it, so I can’t tell you what color it is.  I do know I purchased it before the Yarn Shoppe moved to its current location, so I’ve had it at least 4 years.

I love how the bias detail gives a simple stitch pattern such a dramatic look.  Plus,  it has little “ears”.  This one is definitely newborn size, as it was too small for my 5 month old nephew.

You can view all details and notes for this project here.

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Hat Parade: Melody Hat

This hat is probably my favorite so far.  It knits up quickly, the colors are amazing, and it’s in one of my favorite yarns.

Knit very traditionally from the bottom up, the real beauty of the Melody hat is the color changes and the clever slip stitch pattern.  I bought the kit  (containing Hazel Knits Artisan Sock) from designer Melissa of Stick Chick Knits at Stitches West, but you could do it in any assortment of sock yarns.  If you buy the pattern separate from the kit, you also get Rhythm.

I knit this pattern without any modification.  It was another one nighter and I’m seriously considering knitting another one.  Project details can be found here.

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31 Weeks

We’ve got 2 months to go!

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Hat Parade: Green Baby Bonnet

Today’s hat is really more of a bonnet.  I saw this adorable thing come through my Reader recently and just had to make one. Unfortunately, my plastic container stand-in doesn’t do this piece justice.

Wanting this to be closer to infant size, I dropped the yarn and needle sizes down.  I used Classic Elite Yarns Chesapeake in color #5981 “Tendril Green”.  I picked up this yarn at Knits by Nana when I was in Louisiana visiting a friend.  (The shop is lovely and the staff is friendly.  If you’re ever in Baton Rouge, I highly recommend a visit.)

The construction on this was definitely interesting, but not hard.  The applied i-cord was done with a technique different from the one I’ve used before, but it seemed to work out just fine.  I’d estimate my hat came out more of a 6-9 month size, but I’ll have to try it on a baby of that age to be sure.

All notes and mods can be found here.

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Easter at Celebration Ranch

Today, we popped over to visit my sister and attend Easter Fest at Celebration Ranch.  The boys had a lot of fun and the weather was perfect.

Ty went egg hunting with his Daddy and Papa while Is hung out with the ladies.

Afterwards there was an awesome tire swing to ride and animals to pet.

Here’s hoping your Easter was wonderful as well.

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Surprise House Guest

Today started off well.  I went to a pressure canning class with the (in)famous Liisa at the OSU Extension Service.  As always, it was a very informative class.  I got my pressure gauge tested (and good thing, it’s a bit light by about a half pound) and learned all about pressure canning various things.  After class, Liisa dropped me back at home and I had lunch with the husband.  All was calm and normal until I hear…

“Nanook’s got a mouse!!”

Sure enough…  Our wild furry child had cornered and caught a tiny little mouse.  And she was in no mood to give up her prize.  After a rousing chase through the house, I cornered her in the bathroom and managed to get her to drop the poor beast.  Two tries later, I managed to get the cat out of the bathroom while keeping the mouse in the bathroom.  Then another game of cat and mouse (hah!) and I trapped the little bugger under a glass cup.  With a piece of cardboard for a bottom, it was removed to the great outdoors.  

Of course, we couldn’t let it go without first getting a few pictures.

To give you an idea of scale, you almost couldn’t see the mouse in Nanook’s mouth other than it’s tail.  The glass it’s under holds around 12oz I believe.

(No serious injuries appeared apparent and it was running quite well after a few moments of startled flopping.  When released, it bounded off into the neighbor’s yard.  Let’s hope it learned its lesson about coming in the house…)

Sam took this last one with his new iPad 3.  I’m positively green with jealousy over the picture quality.  My iPad 2 is ridiculously fuzzy comparatively…

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Hat Parade: Baby Armando

Lest you think this blog has turned into all gardening, all the time… I have been doing some knitting!  Quite a lot of knitting, actually.  I’ve just been rather busy and haven’t had a chance to photograph it.  Since Baby will be in the NICU for the first week or two of his life, I’ve been churning out hats.  Rather than show them all in one post, I’ll be presenting them one at a time in a multi-post hat parade.

Shall we begin?

First up today is the Baby Armando.  Since Sam will only wear the Armando hat, I thought Baby should have something to match.  (The pattern available is only for a Baby Amanda, but I’ve included my modifications at the bottom of this post if you’d like an Armando instead of an Amanda.)

I used Malabrigo Rios in color #871 “Playa”.  It was a partial skein, leftover from a quick Amanda hat that was knit for a friend’s wife between Santa Clara and Petaluma.  I still have a little leftover, so it may get some matching booties.

Baby Armando Hat Mods:

• Work first 6 rounds as written for Armando Hat
• Work 9 1/2 repeats of Background Lace Pattern
• Finish top as written

You can view all of my project details here.

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Peas & Carrots

Over the weekend, my oldest nephew popped over and helped me with some heavy lifting and gardening labor.  He cleaned out the bed that will one day house cucumbers and other plants.  He also set up my new strawberry bed.

This simple bed (inspired by this post found via Pinterest) is made from the leftover cinder blocks after my large L-shaped bed was demolished.  Unfortunately, I can’t count, so I only purchased 6 strawberry plants.  The two plants in the front lower compartments are leftover spinach from the planting that went into the bed by the shed.  When it gets too hot for spinach, those two pods will house flowers or other warm-weather crops.  The bed is nestled neatly in some dead space between the back porch and the AC unit.

This bed now houses onions, garlic, lettuce, spinach, and sugar snap peas.  I’m hoping they will all play nicely together.  Very soon, I will be adding a trellis at the back of this bed for the peas to climb.  I’m thinking some modified hog panel will do the trick (an idea suggested by my Dad).  The lettuce, spinach, and peas were planted with the help of my five year old nephew.  He also weeded and planted carrots in the dirt where the L-shaped bed used to be.

The blocks were removed, but the dirt remained, so we simply put some rocks around the front and decided to give it a shot.  We planted Nelson carrots on the left side of this bed.  We ran out about halfway towards the right.  A trip to the Grange procured some Sugar Snax (chosen by T), but those will have to wait to go in until these ones sprout since I have no idea how far over we planted…

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Worm Bin Part 2

Today is a continuation of the worm bin saga.  I originally posted about building a bin from recycled materials.  It took me a few days to source some local Red Wigglers, but I did it!  (I know, I know… I can lay some newspaper on the ground and wet it down and get worms, but I wanted this specific type.)  I found my worms at the local Extension Service for $20/lb.  Since my bin is so small, I requested a half pound ($10).  The money goes towards the local agricultural programs there at the Extension Service, so it’s a win/win for everyone.  During the few days it took to get my worms, I started filling my bin with yummy compost.

Delicious, eh?  Our bin is mostly egg shells and coffee grounds with some sad carrots, a squishy lemon, and liquifying lettuce thrown in for good measure.  It is lined with newspaper and also has a couple cups of dirt to get them going.  The bin is about half full at this time.

My worms came home in style in a recycled English Muffin bag, packed safely in their castings.  They also came with a short instruction sheet for maintaining the vermicomposting bin, including some trouble-shooting.

I gently poured the worms, castings and all, into their new home and then covered them with damp newspaper.

Then, I placed the bin on four small pots on its tray in the shed.

The bin will live here until temperatures get too hot, and then it will be moved somewhere cooler.  I’ll try to rotate the bin every week or so, ensuring that the compost isn’t always placed in one spot.

All in all, this setup cost me $10.78.  The extra $0.78 is for two more of those little pots so I could set it up with 4 for a more stable stand.  The pots ensure air flow and drainage so my wormies don’t drown.  The tray will catch any delicious worm juice that can then be poured onto the garden.  If this setup works well, I’ll either a) make a second bin or b) make a larger bin.  I’ll keep you posted!

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