Picot Bind Off

Last night I finished all of the stitching for Yarn Mountain's summer knit along. 

I watched a couple of YouTube videos to find out how to do the Picot Bind Off and found out that I first needed to learn a Knitted Cast On.

Neither one looks extremely difficult. So, today I begin the final stitches in this beautiful Sand Castle Shawl. 

I'm skipping the beads and hope that this won't take as long as I think it will!

I'll put some pictures up tonight of my progress.

It's off the needles!

It took all day, but here it is...

WIP Wednesday 8-19-15

With the second week of school underway, I haven't had much time for any of my projects. 

I did spend a day at the lake with my family and spun the remaining "Mermaid Hair" and "John's Red, White & Blue". The RW&B is plied and on the niddy-noddy but the yardage isn't counted. The "Mermaid Hair" is wound, but not measured or plied. I think I'll leave it as a single since I like the color blend so much. 

 

I haven't gotten any farther on my Sand Castle Shawl. I'm at the final lace repeat but it isn't a good project for school time. 

Springs Folk Festival is just around the corner. I need to get going on my shawl for that. I'm afraid it's going to be really cold this year. 

If you are anywhere near Casselman Creek in western Maryland, stop and see us at "Stag & Steel Cutlery"!

August LEFA

Today was our monthly get together at Tygart Lake Lodge. I love getting to spend time with these amazing ladies. So many similarities, but all so different!

2 ladies quilting, one knitting, 3 spinning and one that just came to visit with everyone. (She usually is our crochet-er.)

I didn't take any pictures while there, but I have a couple of my "gleanings".

Almost every month, someone is cleaning this or sorting that or has decided they just don't need something and so they bring it for the rest of us to politely pass off to one another. If (like today) I'm the last one to arrive, I don't hesitate at the end of the day to say "I'll take it!" And go home with all kinds of experimental fibers. 

Today, there were 2 cones of alpaca, 

1 cotton and 1 white labeled as "not acrylic". I also brought home a spool of handspun. 

When I got home, I finished spinning the "Mermaid's Hair" and then played with the white alpaca and a left over bit of my Buckhannon Brown & Grey. 

I like how these plied, so I'll probably do the same to the Mermaid's Hair. Just so I can have more yardage to work with. I only purchased 2.5 oz of the mixed fiber so I could experiment with a combination that included wool, alpaca & nylon. 

So. There's the update. I've been nipped by the spinning bug! I'm off to spin some of John's red, white and blue. 

Thursday's Activities

Today is Princess's first day back to school...she's a SENIOR!

After dropping her off at school, I came home and hiked to "the T". It's an old farm road just past our house that "T"s at the end. I think it's about 1/2 a mile there and back. 

Thing 1 and Thing 2 are working on some lab experiments with a Kitchen Chemistry set we bought this past spring at Green Bank. 

"The Boy" is finally up and moving and he has been assigned the task of clearing an area in the backyard for a new chicken coop.

Me? I'm planning to finish this Sand Castle Shawl today. It's taking way too long and I need to move on to my Christmas projects. 

Hopefully there will be a Finished! post later today. 

Organizing "The Compound"

There is so much going on here!
In my last post, I told you we were at the DMV for "The Boy" and "Princess".
She passed!
He didn't...we go back again tomorrow.

Now that she is permit driving, we will need to get a working schedule of who gets the car and when.

Thing 1 and Thing 2 started school yesterday.  We homeschool and I try to stay as organized as possible, but here we are starting a new school year and I'm scrambling to keep it all in order.  It's a good thing we start slow and steady to get back into the swing of things.

Princess starts school on Thursday.  This is her senior year, so there is lots and lots for her to do. 
And I need a plan!

Yesterday I worked on a new bill paying system, budget and a menu for the week.
(After school...of course.)

I'll keep you posted about how the bill paying goes.  I've always had trouble keeping that organized.  Every time I think I've got it all worked out and it's going well, something changes...like the way the city is going to pay its employees.  But that's a whole other mess to try and work around.

The budget morphed out of the bill organization, but I really like what happened.  Again, I'll let you know how that goes as September rolls around.

The menu?  Now that's what has me excited.  The kitchen has been a little sparse lately (I'm trying to get everything cleaned...you know, the inside of the fridge, the inside of the cupboards, scrubbing the cupboards and the floor.)
After deciding on a meal plan (dinners only) Darren went grocery shopping and spent less than $70!
That's 5 meals for 7 people!
So, I'm super excited to see what we can do from now on.  I've spent the morning on Pinterest looking at organizational pins.  I'm working on a list of supplies and I'm going to make it ~~pretty~~!

Hopefully I'll have some pictures, links, etc to share in the coming months.

Because of the car situation, work schedules and school schedules, I'm thinking I will be spending a lot of time at home this fall and winter...I can't think of a better time to get organized!!

 

"You Guys Can't Run in the Mall"

Things 1&2 are waiting with me while The Boy and Princess take the written test at the DMV. 

Things 1&2 were just told, "You guys can't run in the mall!"

Really?!

I mean, REALLY?!

This mall has been dead for nearly 20 years if not longer...my kids learned to walk here because there was no danger of someone sneaking up on them or them running into people. 

So, Really?!

I Refuse to TINK!

I was so excited about finally getting to the final garter stitch rows on my Sand Castle Shawl that I forgot to yarn over at the change back to my MC. 

I WILL NOT TINK 484 STITCHES!

I will TINK 2 stitches at the other end before switching back to the contrast and increase somewhere in the middle to fix this.

I'm not good at fixing my mistakes...my entire final row of eyelets is off by one at the bottom (my holes don't line up). But, I can live with that. And I'll live with this. 

I'm almost to the lace section and my mom is getting anxious to get her hands on this. With fall just around the corner and her chemo continuing through October, I need to get this finished. I'm going to skip the beads since she does more lounging. I'm a lot like her and I don't think she will enjoy having little beads to lay on. 

So, here's where we are right now...

Looking pretty good I think!

Skipping A Day at the Lake

Yes. I passed on a day, well, an evening actually, at the lake. I was in the midst of 460ish stitches of the Sand Castle Shawl and, I wanted to watch American Pharoah dance across the finish line at the Haskell. 

I'm glad I chose to stay here. The beauty of that horse was worth it!

A few other things going on around here...

I'm slowly getting my little garden spot cleared and the stones re-laid. A little weeding each day and I expect I will be happy with it by the time the snows come. 

The boys leveled out the front steps today and it's a great improvement from what I attempted a while back. 

We will occasionally purchase new stepping stones and make a full sidewalk up to the driveway. 

I'm also making my first attempt to save seeds for next year. I planted a few (all that I had) Lazy Housewife beans along the short side of the front porch. They've done really well. We didn't harvest enough to cook, but we've all enjoyed grabbing a bean every now and then and eating it on our way to the car. 

Are you finishing up any projects as we begin the final days of summer?

I hope you are. Enjoy these days. The snow and cold are just around the corner. 

~kristy

Starting August with a Finish

...or 2.

Last month, I started working on a Tumbler Quilt, started sorting and re-organizing fabrics, continued knitting Darren's socks and Mom's Sand Castle Shawl (the Yarn Mountain summer knit a long).

Today, I finished the bindings of two more candle/snack mats. 

I guess I'll do a row or two on the Sand Castle Shawl while I'm watching Lincoln. 

Enjoy the summer, it's almost gone.