The first gift for the sixth babe

A month or two ago before I even knew the sex of this baby I asked my friend Sarah a question about yarn, rainbow-y yarn actually.  I wanted to make a blanket that looked like a rainbow. I wasn't sure what kind of yarn to look for to get the effect that I wanted. So I described what I wanted my finished blanket to look like and asked if she knew what I needed to look for to get it.

She emailed me back and said Yes! She did know what it was I needed to look for in a yarn, and described exactly what to look for. Even better, then she told me that she would love to dye and spin some for me, since rainbows are her favorite. She said it could be my baby shower gift from her! I couldn't think of a better thing to ask for for a baby shower, at all, so I agreed very happily!

She dyed the roving (100% merino) and started spinning. I caught glimpses of it on her blog, it was so exciting to watch it taking shape. Then about a week ago we finally were able to get together for a little visit. I gave one of her daughters the doll I had made and she gave me the finished yarn. It was gorgeous! So soft and springy feeling and such vibrant pretty colors, just what I had envisioned!

So I have begun to knit a very simple garter stitch baby blanket for my sixth babe, who we now know to be a sweet little girl. The yarn feels so nice to work with, and it is knitting up really quickly, and being only garter stitch is really nice. With as many interruptions as I have at any given time (I did mention this is the SIXTH baby right??) I need something very easy and mindless to work on, otherwise I'd never be able to get it done before the baby is here and needs it. One purple section and most of an aqua section are all I've managed in short bursts here and there over the past two days, but I am pretty confident that I'll be able to get it done before cold weather sets in and this tiny new girl arrives, she's due in November!

Linking up with the Yarn Along.

P.S. Sarah has a great etsy shop where she sells her art yarns, be sure to check it out!

Knitting and Reading

I am so excited to be joining along with Ginny's Yarn Along for the very first time this week! I have wanted to learn to knit for years, and it always seemed so very complicated. And now, I present to you... my KNITTING!!

During our "homeless" period when things felt really dark, confusing and more than slightly scary, I had a good friend who saw my need and wanted to do something to help. She is a fellow homeschool mom, cool thing is she even homeschools grown-ups on occasion! One day, during that time, I was visiting her I told her how I wished I had brought something with me to my parent's house to occupy my hands while my mind could rest. Creating something pretty is such a wonderful thing, one of the best sorts of therapy I think. I had packed away every single bit of crafty/art supply type stuff I owned because I was sure it would be boxed up such a short time that I wouldn't even have a chance to miss it. Well she declared that I should learn to knit, and proceeded to teach me!

 It was wonderful. Seriously, I had always thought knitting was so scary and had to be just perfect or the fabric of the universe might come apart at the seams or something equally disastrous might happen. She said no, that if I realized I messed something up all I had to do was un-knit it to back before the mistake, and hey, she was teaching me to knit a square washcloth. Even if I frogged that thing 16 times, all the way back to the very beginning and rewound the yarn into a ball, no harm done, I'd just have an everlasting knitting project that way! :-) I think I knit that very same washcloth 8 or 9 times. Every time I started to feel overwhelmed with stuff, I'd grab the needles and start knitting. At one point I had a 2 foot wide washcloth, when I was super preoccupied and not paying any attention to casting on.I never did worry about finishing that thing, it was purely for the joy of the movement.  So I decided once we moved that it might be time to branch out! 

I found a simple shawl pattern on Ravelry that could be tied in the back. I love those! My notes are here. So far so good. The lovely yarn is one I won from a giveaway on Frontier Dreams, from her sponsor Luna Grey Fiber Arts. It is super soft and feels so nice to knit, and the color is gorgeous. Not at all difficult to handle, even for a total novice like me!

And I am reading An Everlasting Meal, Cooking with Economy and Grace by Tamar Adler. It is sort of a cook book, sort of a compilation of cooking essays. I am really enjoying it, and I very much like her style of writing, but it makes me extremely hungry. Lots of talk about good crusty bread and olive oil and garlic on most everything! It's a book about good simple food well cooked.