Sunday, April 20, 2014

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter everyone! And it sure is a soggy one here, but as the saying goes, "April showers bring May flowers!" I'm hoping it will come true this year as it has been one gruesome winter in Northern Michigan. Ask anyone around this area and they will say it's been the worst winter they've ever seen, no lie. So I'm still waiting for warmer weather and hate seeing "much cooler than average" forecasts for this spring and summer. Oh well, I'll just have to knit some shawls to keep my shoulders warm.

Part of the vineyard with holes drilled.
Lately we've been counting down the inches of snow that's left and trying to get outside to accomplish some work. Brendan has already started drilling holes for the vineyard; I think he's about 40% complete on that task. Once the holes are drilled, we'll be heading to New York to pick up our grape vines. Hard to believe that these days are here! No more time for planning, just a lot of doing now. We started seeding our cold weather vegetables in the basement and now we have little broccoli, kale and cabbage plants.
Oh yeah, maybe I should share with you all our new plans! We are continuing with the vineyard, but putting the winery on hold for now. In the mean time we are starting a farm. We'll be focusing on heirloom vegetables and cut flowers for now, but also have chickens on order. Our name is Harvest Thyme Farm & Vineyards, so please check us out on Facebook or our website! We are all excited about it and can't wait to get the ball rolling.

Cabbage
Kale



















That's all for now I think, I'll leave you with a picture of my current knitting project :-)


Sunday, March 30, 2014

Spring Mittens

With spring on the horizon, I decided to try something new and join a knit-a-long (KAL). What is a KAL? Well on the fiber art community known as Ravelry, one can find patterns, follow designers and join groups and from here people come up with KALs for people to follow within a certain time frame on a specific pattern. I was intrigued by this KAL because it used self-striping yarn, which I've never knitted with before, and it was for some basic mittens that would be good to wear this spring. So I decided to join in on the Linden Mittens KAL by Jane Richmond to knit myself a pair of mittens (and be entered to win a skein of yarn). The KAL lasted two weeks, March 10th-24th, and I was able to complete my mittens on time, despite working eight 10-hour days in a row during the two weeks (yes, I said eight 10-hour days)! I'm pleased with the finished object as the color will go well with one of my jackets, plus they are shades of green and very spring-like, which I'm in dire need! This project may have even introduced me to a new addiction of self-striping yarn, so I'll have to try knitting some socks soon. Here are the photos of my progress over the two weeks, of which I really only knitted on them for four or five days.








I would also like to take some time in this post to say a goodbye to the family cat that we've had since I was in elementary school. She would have been 19 years old this year, but unfortunately my mom had to put her down on March 26th. Rest in peace Cricket aka "Big Kitty," you will be missed.





Sunday, March 23, 2014

Winter Knitting Update (In March)

Wow...my last post was in November and now we're moving into April and the weather hasn't really changed. It is still dipping below zero some nights and not going above freezing during the day. And we still have three-foot snowbanks in our driveway, unfortunately. This winter has been one of the worst I've seen and it is draggingggggg. The calendar may say it is spring, but Michigan says otherwise. However, I have been able to complete a few knitting projects during this time, so I thought I'd finally share them.

Pattern: Shallows by Bonnie Sennott
Yarn: Fleece Artist Blue Face Leicester Socks in "Morning Mist"



Pattern: Zilver by Lisa Mutch
Yarn: Knit Picks Stroll Glimmer in "Peacock"



Pattern: Cream and Sugar by Alana Dakos
Yarn: The Plucky Knitter Plucky Feet in "Pinehurst"



Pattern: September Morn by Thea Coleman
Yarn: Knit Picks Swish Tonal in "Pearlescent"



Pattern: Diamond Kerchief Cowl by Alexis Hoy
Yarn: Knit Picks Swish Tonal in "Wine Tasting"



Pattern: Ledge Trail Vest by Elizabeth Smith
Yarn: Knit Picks Wool of the Andes Bulky in "Cadet"



So I've been a little busy during this long, cold winter. I'm just ready for spring-like weather to make an appearance in Northern Michigan. My knitting should be changing from dark, heavy wool to light, bright and airy once it gets warmer. I'm longing for more color! Also, with spring on its way that means it's seed planting time. We already have some kale, broccoli and cabbage sprouting under the lights in the basement. That gives us some hope that winter will soon end.