Knitting in shades of Spring

Stress knitting, or rather knitting to un-stress has been my thing these days. Especially knitting little bitty things that give me quick results and cuteness. And with the seemingly endless waiting that is such a big part of our life right now in the world of domestic adoption. (waiting for "the call" waiting for a match, waiting for the Goober to find us...) I've done quite a bit lately!

First in pictures is this little baby cap the Fixation Newborn Hat from Ravelry. I love this pattern for the simplicity and cuteness factor. And since I was knitting and sitting and listening alot, at a performance my sister-in-law was in, this was the perfect thing.

And then I discovered the Milo!


I know I'll be making many of these little vests. The pattern is so easy once you see how it goes together and it is a total stash buster, using such a small amount of yarn. I love it! The cable variations that the pattern suggests will make for some nice little changes and with different yarns and sizing from 3 months to 4 years, I'll be knitting these for years! This one reminds me of celeriac so that's what I call it.

So, as for the news on the adoption front, there's no baby to report. We have now been officially waiting for over 17 months and trying to keep our spirits up. Our agency is going through some major personnel changes, which is very disconcerting. And it seems that many folks are waiting a very long time, not just at our agency. We did just attend a big Adoption Conference and immersed ourselves in classes and conversations about birth families, open adoption and openness in adoption. We did meet up briefly with the new director of our agency, which was a nice surprise and spent a few minutes catching up with our social worker as well. We'll be meeting with the new director next week to discuss where things stand and talk about opportunities for networking and anything else we can do to ease the waiting.

Luckily, we're heading quickly into planting, harvesting and preserving season. We have plans for garden and season expansions, as well as gaining some new food preserving skills. And maybe starting to plan the chicken coop! So, we'll keep ourselves busy and out of trouble as much as possible...but always ready to drop everything at a moment's notice to go and meet our Goober.

Some longies and the wait gets longer...

I find knitting calming. To me it is a moving meditation. Especially if I'm not working on something too intricate. And these days, I find myself reaching for my knitting frequently, as we've just reached our One Year mark of officially waiting for the Goober. For those not familiar with the adoption process, this significant time span necessitates the renewal of your home study. Which involved new physicals recorded and submitted to our agency, new background checks (to ensure that we are still not felons or abusers) and a renewal fee. We did not meet this date with any enthusiasm, never truly imagining that we would be waiting this long. Yes, we were told that the average wait for our program was about a year and that it could sometimes happen more quickly and sometimes take up to two years...but you tend to think of yourself on the positive side of those statistics. Well, we met a few couples the other night at an adoption lecture, one had their first placement in 5 months and had now been waiting over a year for their second, and another couple was now into their third year of waiting. Hmmm, statistics.

We also attended a local lecture given by physicians from the Floating Hospital for Children. The lecture was about medical issues in domestic adoption. And after two hours I thought my head would explode! More statistics! Some daunting, some encouraging, all sobering.

So, the latest piece off my needles is the above diaper soaker longies. These are not yet felted, but should felt up nicely like the short version below. The yarn is Fisherman's Wool by Lion Brand Yarns and the pattern is my riff on the Spare Rib Shoaker pattern at Ravelry.



We have made some progress in the Goober's future room, clearing off the changing area, and allocating some storage shelves for the room. We're still not planning to go crazy into the whole baby room thing, since the Goob will be cosleeping, we'll have time to create a well suited room before he/she will need it. So for now this is a bit of a baby stuff storage area, but the changing area will be critical, so here it is.





Michael is also finishing up the shelving in our second changing/bathing area in our first floor laundry room. Now if only I can find the time to finish the curtains we can check that area off our list.

A few days behind and weekend updates

Hard to believe that it is already Wednesday evening! Yikes, where has the weekend gone??? It was a busy weekend (and week!) so here are a few pictures...

Sunny, freshly picked calendula blossoms drying on a thrifted railroad plate in the window before becoming the main ingredient in a bottle of calendula oil. Great for dry, irritated skin.



My first attempt at lacto-fermented pickles. I found the recipe in Sally Fallon's book Nourishing Traditions. A very easy process using yogurt whey, salt, herbs and water. This fermentation method is supposed to maintain and promote lots of beneficial probiotics. Good for overall health and easy to make. Read more about it at the Weston Price Foundation. The jury, however, is still out on the taste tests. Tastes a bit like old-fashioned deli style dill pickles but, too early to tell for sure.


Some fresh dill for the jars...



Some of the dried dill seed heads from the garden, harvested when I was out getting the fresh sprigs. I'm thinking with the number of seeds I'm harvesting, I'll have plenty to top my home-made crackers and still be ahead of the game for next year's planting.





I made a big batch of sourdough pizza dough. The humid weather was just right for rising!



And my finger is finally fit enough for a bit of knitting so I thought I'd start on the beautiful sock yarn that Michael gave me for Valentines Day...Malabrigo Sock Yarn called "Chocolate Amargo" or as my bilingual friend translated..."bitter chocolate" mmmm nice. I'm using the free Jaywalker pattern from Ravelry. Should be just the ticket for a nice new pair of socks for Fall.

And a tardy but well-meaning update for the IDC challenge...

Plant Something:
buckwheat and clover

Harvest Something:
Eggplants, cucumbers, dill, calendula, beans, radishes, a couple of carrots and potatoes

Preserve Something:
Calendula oil, dried dill, made sourdough pizza dough and lacto-fermented pickles

Waste Not:
Just the usual

Want Not:
bought a few more homeopathic remedies for the medicine cabinet and picked up two books on foraging for wild food and medicine plants

Build Community:
Met with the organizer for the New Entry Sustainable Farming Project about providing the music for their annual harvest festival. Looking forward to singing in that beautiful field!

Eat the Food:
Sourdough pizza dough for our weekly za, granola, yogurt and radish green and local sausage fritatta

Hope you're having a good week!

The Pledge

I took the pledge. See below and check out the awesome blog itself at Wardrobe Refashion




The Pledge

I Marie, pledge that I shall abstain from the purchase of "new" manufactured items of clothing, for the period of 6 months. I pledge that I shall refashion, renovate, recycle preloved items for myself with my own hands in fabric, yarn or other medium for the term of my contract. I pledge that I will share the love and post a photo of my refashioned, renovated, recycled, crafted or created item of clothing on the Wardrobe Refashion blog, so that others may share the joy that thy thriftiness brings! Signed me.

Monkey Mind

So, to keep the monkey somewhat under control, I'm going to create a "Monkey Mind" post once a week... a little recap or list of sorts. Just a way to sum up the bigger thoughts and activities occupying my mind each week. Maybe you'll be thinking of some of the same things, maybe you'll have ideas of your own or ideas for me. We'll see how this goes. Since the Independence Days Challenge keeps me pretty regular about posting at the beginning of the week, I'll try for Fridays for Monkey Mind to use as a bit of a recap but also a spring-board for the weekend. Let me know if you decide to do your own Monkey Mind list, please leave me a comment or lead us over to your post.

So, here we go...

Monkey Mind
Next to my reading chair:

• I'm really enjoying everything written by Laurie R. King. I've had my nose pretty much constantly in one of her books for the last several weeks. I have become a complete fool for the Mary Russell series and enjoy the Kate Martinelli series almost as much. I've been alternating between the two series and am coming to the end of the King pile. Boo. This week I read "The Game," "With Child," "Locked Rooms," and I'm in the midst of "Night Work." Sooooo good!

• Michael gave me "the Encyclopedia of Country Living" for my birthday and I'm itching to dive in. I plan on reading the first chapter tomorrow morning over coffee.

• I cracked open "Rosemary Gladstar's Herbal Recipes for Vibrant Health" last night. I'm wanting to read up on ways to harvest and use the plants and herbs we grow most efficiently. We have so many things growing in our garden that can be brewed into soothing and medicinal teas, tinctures and supplements. I'm not wanting to waste a bit of that goodness!

• And on a connected note, this morning's reading was the beginning of "Gaia's Garden" an interesting and inspiring book on permaculture, to help us utilize and vitilize our little quarter acre for growing food, conserving energy, welcoming wild-life and restoring a little positive environment. I'm really excited about what this books holds in store!

In the Garden:

• I'm feeling the need to get a better handle on what's going on and growing in the garden. We've had some crop failures with the wet and cold Spring, but some things have fared well, and others are perking up. I need to spend some time on weeding! Cutting back the raspberry canes, and drying the raspberry leaves for tea and medicinals, pinching off suckers and spotted leaves on the tomatoes, weeding, planting some fall crops, weeding, stacking the grass cutting compost ...did I say weeding?

• Wouldn't it be cool to build an outdoor Cob Oven or fireplace...for solstice gatherings, outdoor cooking and cozy music making. I would love that!

Keeping my Eye Out:

• for canning jars and bottles for preserving food.

• for interesting garden statuary that we BOTH like!

• for picnic/garden furniture...benches, tables, etc.

• good sources of local meat, eggs and milk. Trying to cut down my weekly wandering for sustainable food.

On the Baby Front:

• I need to get a handle on the vaccination issue. It is so daunting and huge I have been trying to think of it from a place of education and empowerment...not a place of fear. But, GOSH! There is so much scary stuff out there! So, since we may not have all of the choices of biological parents and since this is too big for a single approach. I'm going to chip away at the puzzle, one shot and one disease at a time. Beginning with the Hep B shot they will likely try to give the Goob on the very first day!!! I've got my hands on "The Vaccine Book" by Robert Sears, "Natural Baby and Childcare" by Lauren Feder has a great section on vaccinations, and the National Vaccine Information Center and the CDC also have lots of information. Whooh! Alot to absorb. But, we need to make the best decisions possible for this new little life, when he/she comes.

• Need to finish up the little green scrap baby jacket I'm making. I keep running into obstacles, like wounded finger, not enough yarn, etc. But, one way or another I've got the get that done!

• Need to get leg extensions for the co-sleeper

• Need to line up cat-care options now that we're losing our amazing cat sitter.

Other Monkey Miscellany:

• I really need to find the perfect pattern and whip up a few summer-weight nightgowns. My preferred summer sleeping attire. I've got lots of great bits of fabric lined up. Maybe this?

• Gotta finish sorting through and getting rid of too many clothes that I don't wear! Cut down on the chaos in the bedroom.

• Thoughts on curtains for the Dining Room and bedroom. Finish the kitchen/laundryoom curtains!

• Organize the recipe, baby-care, house and knitting binders.

Okay, now! That seems to be the big stuff. What is on your monkey mind?

A few tentative stitches

Now that my finger is officially on the mend (no more bandages). I couldn't resist the urge to get out a knitting project and see what I can do. Hmmm, this is going to be a challenge. With weakness and hyper-sensitivity in my middle finger as well as a desire to put less stress on that joint. I'm realizing that I'm going to have to teach myself a new way to knit. I did 8 rows on this baby sweater this morning and it was painstakingly slow and a bit tweaky. Ah, well...a new challenge!

this little sweater is a pattern that I've xeroxed too many times and no longer know the origin. It's a simple thing that you knit flat with some nice garter edges and sew up the sides. If you are recognizing the green main color, it is the leftover Berkshire by Valley Yarns from my hoodie, thrown in with a few bits of Malabrigo in other greens (vaa and lettuce) since I didn't have enough of any one of these yarns. It's looking great so far in an alternating stripe. Now if I can only get my knitting mojo back I'll be in business.

And since I'm all about all things green today. Here are some new pictures from the garden. We picked some of these sweet yellow peas to have aside our fritatta last night. Very yummy!




The bush beans that Michael planting are loving this weather!



I can't resist the eye-popping color of these petunias. They make me smile everytime I see them.



And here's our IDC Update for the week, lest you think that we were quietly sitting and knitting the week away.

Plant Something:
Planted tomatoes, peppers and eggplants from seedlings started indoors, direct seeded butternut squash

Harvest Something:
5 pints of strawberries…all eaten as fast as we could pick them, as well as all the lettuce that was big enough to cut.

Preserve Something:
Made veggie broth from ends, scraps and peelings and froze in ice-cube trays for quick usability.

Waste Not:
Cleaned out the fridge, made a huge pot of lamb broth with the lamb bones we had in the freezer. See veggie broth above.

Preparation and Storage:
Found some large “cookie cans” in the closet, perfect for mouse-proof storage in the basement pantry.

Build Community Food Systems:
Received some extra squash and cucumber seedlings from a neighbor, left them so home-made rhubarb coffee cake by way of thanks.


Eat the Food:
Had fresh strawberry shortcake with whole wheat sweet biscuits and organic cream MANY times this week. So delicious! Fresh picked lettuce on the home made gyro sandwiches. Attempted to make yogurt. Made ricotta instead. Used whey to lacto-ferment some wheat flour for apricot pecan quick bread. Baked 4 mini loaves and 6 muffins, some for immediate use and some for the chest freezer.

Happy early summer!

Getting ready for St. Patrick's Day and a bit of green

Well, St. Patrick's Day is nearly upon us! And my mother would never forgive me if I didn't plan a nice Irish meal and some green to wear. We were never much for the green beer drinking, kelly green wearing, rowdy crowd. More of the sage or forest green with some nice tweeds or a gansey sweater to wear, a piping irish stew for supper, with brown bread and a pint or two with some live fiddle tunes or a session going on nearby.

I even remember a year when my mother hastily cut green shamrocks out of felt and pinned them to our clothes since none of us seemed to have a spec of green to wear to school.

Michael and I now live down the street from the local irish/american-ized pub and restaurant, and the kelly green rowdies will come a-parkin' on our lawns and in our driveways come Tuesday night so we'll be pacing the ramparts and watching for the wayward reveler who may inadvertently wander into our garden looking for God only knows...

I'm planning a succulent lamb stew with taties and root vegetables and a slosh of stout to tenderize the lot, accompanied by some whole wheat Irish soda bread (from the Farmer's Almanac) and some more stout to wash it down.

We've got a great new disk to play while we eat (the Green Fields of America with our good friend Robbie O'Connell and other masterful players) and if my fingers hold up a few more days, I'll have my new mistletoe-green raglan hoodie to wear to do my mother proud.



The lamb will be local, sustainably raised and procured through the knitting goddess Kristin Nicholas and her husband "the farmer" from their new endeavor selling lamb directly to the customer at Leydon Glen Farm. It's so nice to have the opportunity to support local agriculture, sustainable practices and purchase healthier food! They are just getting going with this new business, so if you're interested in lamb, I'd recommend that you e-mail Kristin through her blog Getting Stitched on the Farm.

And for a few other bits of green, I've just finished up my first wool soaker for the little goober and I love the pattern, found on Ravelry and available for free.
To check out the size, I've compared it here to a Bummis super brite in size newborn. Just can't wait to see these on a little one.





Enjoy your weekend and St. Patrick's day!

Slainte!

All buttoned up

I've just finished up the baby bunting that I've been working on since before Christmas. Whoohoo! I found the perfect leather knot coat buttons to match. The pattern is a freebie from Garnstudio, and can be found here. The pattern was simple and I love the feel of the Valley Yarns, Berkshire bulky that I used for this piece. The colors are stone blue with coffee bean I-chord trim. Sadly, it looks like the baby may not be coming in time to get much wear from this. Hopefully we'll be parents before the Fall, but I'll try to knit on patiently and accept whatever time frame this journey to parenthood takes us on.

Meanwhile, I've also finally found buttons to finish up two projects from the fall. They are Baby Surprise Jackets designed by the late Elizabeth Zimmerman. If you are connected to Ravelry you can find all the details of these projects here.




More coming as I bind it off the needles.

the Humble Hermit

Sadly the picture doesn't do these delicious, chewy, spicy morsels justice. They've truly become the "house cookie" around here. Very simple to make and as our electrician observed when I was baking some a few weeks back..."man, your house smells just like Christmas!" Pretty high praise! They also pack really well for care-packages. Historically, sailors wives made these goodies to pack off with their guys when they went to sea. The molasses kept the cookies moist and they held up well for travel.

My recipe is a modified (health-ified) version of the chewy hermit recipe from an old spiral-bound cookbook of my mothers. Here's my version...

Chewy Whole Wheat Hermits
makes 24
Ingredients:
3 Cups flour (this recipe works great with white whole wheat or even stoneground whole wheat)
1 1/4 Cups sugar (we use organic turbinado or brown sugar)
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground cloves
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ginger
1 Cup raisins or mixed dried fruit
1 egg
1/2 Cup vegetable oil (we use organic cold-pressed sunflower oil)
1/4 Cup molasses
6 Tbsp. water


Grease 13" x 9" pan. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 350° F.

Combine first eight ingredients in a large bowl. Mix and set aside.

In a medium bowl combine next four ingredients. Whisk together and pour into dry ingredients. Dough will be very thick and hard to handle. Use dampened hands to mix if necessary.

Spread dough in pan. Press down firmly. Bake 20-25 minutes until firm. Cool on wire rack. Original recipe said it makes 40 bars!!! We make 24 and they seem the perfect size. Enjoy!

On a simple life in this crazy world

As things start to heat up for the holidays with the frenzied shoppers and crazed schedules, and messages about the economic crisis become more and more dismal, I'm finding relief and words of hope and sanity in welcome spots and hidden corners.

Thankfully not everyone has embraced the MORE mentality and many are looking for connection and peace instead of just another flimsy piece of something that won't last, that they don't need, that was made far away by people who were badly paid or ill-treated and that will land sooner than later in the landfill.

Grace writes a powerful and extremely timely and eloquent post about her feelings in her post titled "Bear with me", which many, MANY people share. Take a moment to read it if you can.

We made a conscious choice to celebrate Buy Nothing Day last Friday. We've been moving for some time to a simpler lifestyle where we buy much less, so avoiding malls and stores on Friday truly wasn't that difficult. But hearing the buzz all around me from people gearing up for their shopping and planning their strategies for hitting as many stores as possible did bring the message home more deeply than ever for me.

A few friends have expressed curiousity (and some frustration) about how to truly make a difference and get started living a simpler life. And I read a wonderful post titled small steps which speaks to this more eloquently than I can. Rhonda Jean lives in Australia and writes many inspiring posts. I hope you'll enjoy discovering her.

These two are only a little sampling of the many, many people around us who are choosing to think about what they do, how they live, what they consume and what they really want. So, the next time the latest news from Wall Street smacks you in the head or you hear someone on the train panicking over how few shopping days there are left before Christmas...remember there are other ways to celebrate and enjoy the true meaning of whatever holidays you choose to celebrate at this time of year.

And since I don't want to leave you with dreary page of text...

Here is Kate



a little knitted critter I made for a friend's baby shower. Welcome to the world little Kylan!


Enjoy

An update and some knitted goodness

Well, I'm sorry to see that it has been so long since I last posted here. Lots going on in our world and in fact in the big wide world as well.

We've officially completed our Home Study and have the papers to prove it. Which is a nice but slightly surreal feeling because now it's just down to the waiting...and waiting. And I know we haven't even waited that long yet!

So, for me that means assembling fabric and thread and patterns for some baby clothes, that you'll hopefully be seeing in posts in the coming weeks. And more time spent with my knitting.

My wonderful Mother-in-law, Nancy, saw a beautiful skein of sock yarn while she was shopping in Western, MA one day and she bought it for me. It is a skein of Dumbledore from the Harry Potter line by Opal, and it makes a lovely little tulip hat for the wee one.



The photo doesn't really do justice to the rich color-way and I'd hoped to show you a better view of the shape and construction of this little chapeau but neither Farley nor Zeke was a willing model. The pattern is from here the Drops site is FULL to bursting with projects I can't wait to try. Right now I'm half way through this bunting for the baby in a soft gray blue color with cocoa blanket stitch trim. And I recently whipped up this little number with some alpaca/silk blend that I had in my stash. It looks a little big for a newbie, but we'll soon see...the pattern is a free one I found here at Ravelry for those of you who are hooked into that mighty world of online knitters.




For now, I'm off to answer the call of the bamboo needles and that bunting.

Birthday Happy Feet and other knitting goodness

I finished the birthday socks for Michael in the nick of time (read 2 hours holed-up in the bedroom knitting fiercely to get these puppies off the needles and ends woven in. The pattern is Thuja. They knit up quickly to make a nice cushy, chunky sock, great for hanging around the house in slippers or clogs, not necessarily scrunched into work shoes. I knit them in a silk/alpaca blend and they are yummy! Michael loved them and wore them immediately. (Thankfully, the cold snap in the air that morning made it all that much more appealing.)

We celebrated the day with an official "Do Nothing Day" followed by a delicious and decadent dinner at the awesome Lumiere Restaurant. Well worth the price for locally and sustainably procured deliciousness. We left happily sated from corn fritters, fabulous mesclun salad, grass-fed steak and an incredible chocolate torte. Wonderful! And a fitting way to celebrate an auspicious birthday event for the most awesome and inspiring man I know. (Sorry, for the gushing, but I can't hide the fact. I adore him) Happy birthday, Michael. You are da bomb!

In other knitting news, meet Tito, the elefantito that I just finished for my little friend Mariana who just turned two. He is a spanish elephant (a very unusual breed) knit from this Safari Friends pattern. He is unaccustomed to this strange New England weather, and immediately requested a scarf. I hope Mariana will approve. The pattern is from Knitting at Knoon which has great patterns and wonderful tutorials. This is a perfect pattern to use for gifts for little ones.






And a little something for me...



No, despite the slightly sinister look. This is the first of a pair of Maine Morning Mitts (scroll down to the bottom of the link to download the free pattern), knit it Noro Kureyon. Now if only the cold snap would return, I'd have a chance to give the completed pair a run.

And in non-knitting news, we had our first Home Study visit today. We scurried around all weekend, madly organizing, and bringing the house to a new level of order and cleanliness, not seen since we moved in last year. Neither of us had a great night of sleep, what with the stress of not knowing exactly what sort of meeting lay in store today. Happily, all went well and our social worker really put us at ease. She did leave us with homework (a letter to write to the Expectant Mother and a photo album to assemble). After today and 3 more scheduled meetings, she'll write up the home study report and we'll become "waiting parents" gulp... Another check on the adoption to-do-list and on we go!

Another project for the lil' goober

Finished my first Baby Surprise Jacket designed by Elizabeth Zimmerman. I used a nice bright colorway in Plymouth Yarn Outback Wool. It feels like it'll be nice and comfy and the wool has a great hand to work on. A fun project once you decode it! Now I'm on the hunt for some appropriate buttons.

Baby Steps

Today we made an appointment with the agency that we hope to have handle our domestic infant adoption. This is big—SUPER BIG. And I'm kind of alternating between giddy hyper-excitement and stomach-flipping overwhelm.

Because knitting generally has a calming effect on me, when we really got down to making this step I picked up my needles and cast on a first pair of booties for the lil' goober. Christine's Stay-on Baby Booties from Fuzzy Galore is an incredibly fun and easy way to use up odd bits of yarn. I can't wait until there is a little one to wear them.

Now that they're off the needles, I've cast on a Baby Surprise Jacket which I'll photograph once it looks like more than a hodgepodge of stitches. I realize that there are a zillion more hurdles to jump through before we are actual, official parents. But we have made that first step and we are on our way. Whoohoo!

New projects in the wings

I've got a serious knitting jones. I've slowly been working on a lovely green hoodie that I'll show once I've gotten it completed. But it seems like old news and what with the weather, and the fussy part I'm knitting right now it has sadly sat languishing in my knitting basket for over a month. But I've been picking up knitting vibes for new projects from all over the creative world, and I succumbed to the siren's song for more yarn. And I did also recommit myself to finishing the hoodie before the first cold snap this fall.

I've picked up some lovely skeins from Webs in Northhampton, MA and Fabric Place in Woburn, MA. Here's a sneak preview of some of the variegated and solid loveliness. All on sale! Which somehow helps me justify the expenditure. I'll give more details as I take it out to actually begin knitting. For now, some flashes of the stash...