Category: knitting

yarn along

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Is it already the 5th of December?  I can’t believe we are already almost a week into this month.  We are busy slowly decorating the house, getting back into the swing of Advent readings and activities together, as well as finishing up our last week of school before we take a long break for Christmas.  I am looking forward to the freedom of slower mornings playing games together or doing crafts, reading more together, and enjoying this special season.

I sewed the armpits of Noah’s sweater last night (yes, it’s done!) and wove in the ends and will block it today, so it is a relief to have that done well in time for his birthday.  I’ve been knitting on some socks for him as well, but with less pressure on myself to get them done in time for his birthday.  I cast on for Phoebe’s birthday sweater, she cannot wait to have a sunday sweater to match her sisters.  I’m knitting this with the yarn (100% eco wool) I dyed a few months ago with marigolds from our garden and I love the subtle variegation and the chartreuse color of this wool.  It’s very bright and happy for the winter months and in all this cold, it’s a reminder of the happy warm summer days.  Also, I dyed extra skeins of this yarn and also the avocado pink yarn I used for Philippa’s sweater to share with any of you knitters/weavers/crocheters out there who might be interested!  I will share more details soon, but those skeins will be listed in my first ever Etsy shop update hopefully this weekend, if all goes smoothly.  I’ve had hurdles and interruptions galore to my plans (which were originally to open this little shop in October!) and I’ve second-guessed and doubted myself a ton, and would probably have bailed on this idea except that I have invested too much to just drop it now.  So, it feels a little silly in a world where there are makers far more talented than I, but my heart is to offer some things made from our hands and home to you.  Hopefully I will have a post up on Friday with specifics of what we’re selling and lots of photos, so tune in if you’re interested in taking a peek.

For now, you can see a bit how this yarn knits up in today’s picture.  It is rustic and dry, yet still soft and very squishy.  I am not bored at all knitting this pattern again because the yarn is so bright and cheerful, and the pattern really is lovely.

I’ve been reading this book by Phyllis Tickle, What the Land Already Knows .  It is so sweet, quite a rich little book with short chapters that are great for reading just before sleep.  Brandon and I are also reading Lessons from a Christmas Tree Farm in the evenings together.  We are using Hallelujah and Unwrapping the Greatest Gift as family advent readings.  We just stocked up at the library with tons of festive Christmasy books and we’re preparing for a big snow forecasted for this weekend (fingers crossed!).  We have lots to read and lots of wool for knitting, so basically we’re all set.

Linking up with Ginny’s Yarn Along and Nicole’s Crafting On.
All book links are affiliate links.

Posted on by MarthaKimball 0

a visit to Bovidae Farm

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You guys.  I am so excited to share a little about this beautiful local sheep farm we visited a couple of weeks ago.  The last weekend of October is the big Southeastern Animal and Fiber Festival (SAFF) in our town, and literally I was planning on going to spend my yarn dollars at one booth only, the Bovidae Farm booth.  My friends and I were all super bummed when we realized they weren’t at the festival and made plans to visit the farm instead (because you can only otherwise purchase their yarn at their farm).

My friend Jennifer and I planned a visit together, Jennifer having been there before and also introducing me to their wool through her designs with Appalachian knits where she worked to highlight the fiber of the Appalachian region.  We drove out (about a 45 minute drive from our home) one frosty Friday morning, a light dusting of snow was on the ground at the farm.  We had packed a picnic lunch and I told the children this would be a homeschool field trip and to ask as many questions of the owners as they could think of.  Rose and Jim were so generous and kind, having opened their little yarn store (which is the downstairs of their home) just for us, setting out some blocks for the children and a few sheepy toys.  It was an absolute delight to meet them.  They have been shepherds for 30 years, with a flock now of 70 Dorset sheep on 100 acres.  They care for them entirely on their own, but mostly the work is done by Jim, as Rose’s health has limited her.  Phoebe told Jim he reminded her of Peter from Heidi, and she also told him her “where do sheep go to get a hair cut?” joke (answer: the Baa-baa shop).  I think that warmed them up to us pretty quickly. 🙂  It was incredible to see their many spinning wheels and learn about their different functions and uses.  I regret that I didn’t get to try spinning because I mostly had Wren in my arms, but I hope to maybe give it a try the next time we visit.  Rose mostly uses fiber for weaving and had a couple of large looms, while Jim mostly spins.  He spent time letting each of the children try out all of his wheels and teaching them as much as they were interested in learning.  He let them run around and explore on their property, invited them to help him move the fencing, and let them pet and feed a couple of the rams.  He also let them sit on his tractor, which made Noah’s day for sure.

We hope to go back in the spring/early summer for shearing, to watch the whole process and spend some more time there.  Jim told us that they usually send their fleeces to a mill in Maine to be cleaned, dyed and spun.  I have been so eager to get my hands on their wool, and so happy to support a local sheep farm.  I bought a few skeins of their worsted weight yarn for some Hyak socks for myself and Brandon, and maybe some mitts for the children.  I couldn’t resist some of their pink worsted weight yarn for a wooly cropped flax sweater for Phoebe.  I cast on already but it seems the neck is really wide and I might knit it with a larger needle as it has been hurting my hands a bit to work on it at such a tight gauge.  It is the sheepy-ist and most rustic yarn I’ve used, quite squishy, dry, and full of lanolin.  I love it so much, and love knowing that knitting with it supports Jim and Rose’s work and care for the sheep.  Oh, I also bought a couple balls of their sport weight wool with plans to knit the Isle of Purbeck shawl.  Cannot wait!

It was so life-giving to spend time there, and I couldn’t stop talking about it with Brandon for the next few days.  What a wealth of knowledge those folks have and what a gift it was to be allowed onto their farm, to explore, learn, and get our hands into wool and take some home with us.  If any of you are interested in visiting their farm and yarn store, please know you are more than welcome, simply contact them via email or phone to plan your visit.

We are all looking forward to our visit in the spring and to spending some more time with these lovely folks + sheep.

Posted on by MarthaKimball 0

yarn along

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I’ve was working fairly monogamously on Noah’s birthday sweater but I am just about out of yarn, so I’m waiting for another skein to arrive.  I didn’t check my gauge on this project but I liked the gauge I was getting with the recommended needle size and I also didn’t mind if the sweater turned out just a bit bigger than expected because it’s sized for a 4-6 yr old and my son is turning 6 and is quite tall for his age.  So, I figured 200 yards of yarn wouldn’t be enough, but all is well.  Since I had to set it down until the new yarn arrives, I’ve been working on Phoebe’s socks (which I’ll probably finish today).  I put them on hold for a bit because Wren got into my knitting bag and pulled the needles off the sock and generally pulled it all into a big mess, so I set it aside until I felt like fixing it.  Also, I pick up and knit a few rows on my Tecumseh sweater when I have a minute, which is just pure indulgence to work on.  I’m trying not to allow myself to work on it until birthday sweaters are done.  Although Phoebe has graciously given me permission to be late with her birthday sweater if need be. 🙂

I have still been reading (affiliate link) The Liturgy of the Ordinary.  I’ll share with you this excerpt which I thought was timely with our recent Thanksgiving celebrations:

“The word Eucharist literally means ‘thanksgiving.’  The Eucharist is the thanksgiving feast of the church, and it is out of that communal practice of thanksgiving that my lunchtime prayer of thanks flows.  The Eucharist–our gathered meal of thanksgiving for the life, death, and resurrection of Christ–transforms each humble meal into a moment to recall that we receive all of life, from soup to salvation, by grace.  As such, these small, daily moments are sacramental–not that they are sacraments themselves, but that God meets us in and through the earthly, material world in which we dwell.

The Eucharist is a profoundly communal meal that reorients us from people who are merely individualistic consumers into people who are, together, capable of imaging Christ in the world.  Of course, eating itself reminds us that none of us can stay alive on our own.  If you are breathing, it’s because someone fed you.  We are born hungry and completely dependent on others to meet our needs.  In this way the act of eating reorients us from an atomistic, independent existence toward one that is interdependent.  But the Eucharist goes even further.  In it, we feast on Christ, and are thereby mysteriously formed together into one body, the body of Christ.

Nourishment is always far more than biological nutrition.  We are nourished by our communities.  We are nourished by gratitude.  We are nourished by justice.  We are nourished when we know and love our neighbors.”

Amen, right?!

I hope you all have a lovely week and that you find a little time for making something, whether it’s your daily bread or a bundle of green clipped from your yard for a vase, or a garment for a loved one.  I hope you find a little time to make with intention, with joy, knowing you are imaging your Father as you create beauty.  And I hope you find some time to read, too.  If you feel like sharing what you’re working on or reading, I always love to hear from you!

Joining with Nicole’s weekly Crafting On today.

Posted on by MarthaKimball 1

yarn along

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A few days ago I cast on for Noah’s birthday sweater, realizing I have two birthday sweaters to knit in the next four weeks.  I’m making the Asnes sweater for Noah in a really nice wool alpaca blend.  I think it will be soft enough and a really nice color on Noah.  I think the pattern is fairly gender neutral too, so it’ll be a sweater his younger sisters can wear one day as well.  Anyway, it’s been so nice to knit–soothing, simple stockinette.  I’m also loving anything in this color right now.  I finished the body and have started sleeve number one, though I just now realized I’ve been working on the sleeve in the wrong needle size and need to rip back the stockinette.  (Thankfully I realized that now!)

Not much reading this week, if any. 😦

Joining Nicole’s weekly Crafting On.

Posted on by MarthaKimball 2

natural dyeing + a little family etsy shop

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Like most of you, I’ll be busy this week prepping to host Thanksgiving at our home + birthday celebrations (on the same day) for Philippa.  Last night I wove in the ends and sewed on the buttons for her birthday sweater.  Brandon and I spent some time on Saturday shopping for her other gifts as well.  I think we are mostly prepared!  I am so happy with the way her sweater turned out.  Of course, it’s a lovely and classic pattern but it was really special to have dyed the yarn myself and see the sweater come together from start to finish.  I have a couple skeins of avocado dyed yarn that I didn’t need and I plan to include them in my first small etsy shop update.  I don’t know when I will actually get that little shop open but I do think I’ll be ready soon.  I hope that some of you find that exciting because I’m doing this not only to help provide for my family, but also to share some knitted goodness with those of you who have shown interest, as well as some other hand made things from our home.  Anyway, more about that soon, hopefully in the next couple of weeks.

I never thought I’d be into dyeing yarn and I was so surprised with how much I enjoyed the whole process, particularly using things from our home like leftover avocado pits + skins, and marigolds from our garden.  I hope to get to do it again someday!

In other news, Wren has taken to crawling and is so very proud of herself.  Last week she realized she could get around from room to room, and the exploring and getting into everything has commenced.

Posted on by MarthaKimball 0

yarn along

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I really have far too many projects on the needles right now, and have no business casting on anything new.  I have quite a bit of gift/birthday/christmas knitting to get done.  However, this last weekend I was able to get away for a couple of days for some retreat/solo (with wren) time and its really the best time to begin a bigger project that requires learning a new skill.  I’ve had the yarn for the Tecumseh sweater since my birthday in June but wanted to finish a few items before casting on and I knew it would take some extra brain energy to get this project off the ground, being it is my first attempt at color work.  So I decided to take it along and at least get it started even though I will probably have to set it down for a bit until I finish some more gift knitting.  Still it felt really good and exciting to get it on my needles!  So far it has been really fun and easier to knit than I anticipated.

I’m still reading (affiliate link) Liturgy of the Ordinary, enjoying every bit of it though I’m making slow progress.  Lots of sickness in our house the last couple of weeks and I’ve been making more of an effort to get to bed earlier because I am up so much in the night with multiple children but especially Wren lately.  So my reading time has been less, but hopefully we’ll all be feeling 100% soon.

Joining with Nicole’s weekly Crafting On.

Posted on by MarthaKimball 4

yarn along

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Amid all of the baby and birthday/gift knitting I’ve been doing lately, there are some longer-term “selfish” projects on my needles, and my marley shawl is one of these.  I’m new to brioche, in fact this is my first brioche project and I really enjoy it.  I do have to work on it when I can do the eight-row repeat without interruption so that I don’t lose my spot.  Well, truthfully at this point I feel like I’ve got it under my belt and it’s easier to figure out where I’ve left off, but it’s still not a project I like to pick up and work on unless I have a longer bit of time to focus on it.  So I’m sure it’ll languish on the needles a bit and I hope to have it done sometime this winter season because I can’t wait to wear it/use it (as in, now!).  I counted rows last night and realized I’m about half way through, so that was exciting and surprising!  The yarn is so enjoyable and brioche is beautiful and squishy.    One of my knitting goals for the year was to learn brioche and it’s surprisingly much easier than I expected.  My other knitting goal was to try color work, and I have a project planned for that which I hope to start SOON!  I’m about to finish a few projects which feels good.

I’ve been realizing lately that in all our busyness, reading time is getting cropped out of the day (as in, chapter book read-aloud time).  Brandon began reading The Mouse and the Motorcycle (affiliate link) to the kids in the evenings, and I began reading this book to the kids during our school morning which I was given as a child, Treasure in the Big Woods.  I must have won it in Sunday School as a child for a bible drill or something (it isn’t listed on amazon).  Both have been enjoyable for all of us!  I’m still reading Liturgy of the Ordinary  (affiliate link) as well.

What are you reading or making lately?

Joining with Ginny’s yarn along and Nicole’s Crafting On.

 

Posted on by MarthaKimball 4