This Moment....

I think this is my favorite photo this year:)

A simple beautiful moment from our week to cherish and remember.
Following along with Soulemama.

Happy Birthday Sweet Ben!

I am so very thankful for my wonderful husband. He is my best friend and a loving Papa to our children. He is a hard worker and is very patient. He has been so helpful during this difficult pregnancy, he never complained when he took on my half of the load as well as his own. I love him so.
He isn't a big Birthday guy, he doesn't want to make a big deal out of his Birthday or to do anything out of the ordinary. But it is a little hard for me cause I love making Birthdays special for the people I love. My kids Birthdays are my favorite days of the year and I love making a big deal out of it.
But Ben is happy with a homemade chocolate cherry cake(that I make every year) and a hand knit hat, usually blue, his favorite color. He wears his handmade hat like his wedding ring as soon as he gets it and doesn't take it off until he loses it or the next summer comes along. See, he likes to wear my handmade hats, I am so lucky:)
This year I searched the Flock and Fiber Festival(see previous post) for the perfect yarn but everything in his color was super itchy and not good for a hat. So after being at the festival all morning I visited a Portland yarn shop in our neighborhood and found the perfect most luciouse yarn, very soft and a gorgeous blue. It is called Road to China and is made from camel,baby alpaca, cashmere, and silk. A real treat to knit with and I even have enough left over to make a pair of newborn socks:) But I am sure Ben could care less about the fancy yarn and would be perfectly happy with cheap oily acrylic yarn, but I've got to sneak the special treatment somehow, he deserves it:)

(hat pattern is the"Regular Guy Beanie" by Chuck Wright)
I am sure the hat will look a lot better on Ben, but I haven't given to him yet;)

Flock and Fiber Festival....

Check out the smile on the guy in the middle:)


Imagine the sock drawer this yarn could create..






slightly creepy.....





This is my third year attending the Flock and Fiber Festival in Canby,Oregon, but the first year I was able to go alone with friends without bringing the kids along. I could hardly believe my luck as I hardly ever go anywhere without one of my kids along.I felt a little guilty about visiting the animals without them, but it was so nice to be able to look at everything without being rushed or worrying about sticky fingers on hand spun yarns:) It was so great to have a little mama time.
The weather was beautiful and I brought home some beautiful wool roving for a future project.

This moment...

A single photo.A moment from our week to savor and remember. Inspired by Soulemama.

Twining trees....

I wanted to share a finished knitted project I made earlier in the summer. Ben and I went to the Redwoods to celebrate our 10th anniversary this year. Afterward I made this tree wall hanging to remember out trip (this was before I found our about our little souvenir coming in February:)
I found the pattern on Ravelry and noticed that several other people used this as wedding gifts making blankets and pillows. It is pretty symbolic of two lives becoming one, and fit perfect with our Redwood tree theme. I thought the pillows were really cool and may make them in the future but I decided just to make a single panel and weaved it over a branch to hang it on the wall above our bed. It was my first time reading a pattern chart, I did okay but made a few mistakes, it was easy to lose track of where I was, especially when knitting around children.
The yarn is Patons wool and much darker brown than the photos show.

This moment...

Joining with Soulemama for this moment. A simple moment from our week to savor and remember.

Knit Along...

Since this was both a productive reading and knitting week I though I would join in with Ginny for the knit along. I am still working on my star afghan baby blanket and think it might turn into my big slow going project for this fall as I work on smaller knitting projects from time to time. My goal is to finish it completely by the end of October. We will see though. You all can hold me accountable and remind me come Halloween time how it's going;)
I also knit a few washcloths from a fun pattern I found on Ravelry. I got on a deep cleaning kick and got the urge to knit up half a dozen or so washcloths for the kitchen to replace the nasty old raggy ones we have now. Plus I have a ton of cotton yarn in my stash.
I also started knitting fingerless mittens for toddlers to sell on my Etsy shop and in local childrens stores. They did so well last year I knit over 60 pairs and sold every one. I had planned to start knitting them in July so I would be stocked up for fall/winter, but well.....you know how that goes.
I am currently on the last chapter of a book I found at a thrift store called Icy Sparks by Gwyn Hyman Rubio. I think it is very well written and I have had a hard time putting it down. Honestly I was drawn to it because I liked the cover picture, but it was good :)