On Thursday...

I always ponder our fruit and vegetables.

Why?

We have been able to join a kind of co-op that draws from local farms that grow and produce organic fruits and vegetables (and some other yummy things). We have been very excited about this for a few reasons: it's organic, it's local, it's seasonal and it's a great price! The variety has been excellent, and one of our new favourite things is using the herb bundles they send us in a roast chicken - an easy and tasty way to do three meals for our family. But I digress,


We signed up to get a large box every two weeks. This works well for us, because the large box has the most variety, and also the fresh fruit lasts us about 1-2 weeks and the vegetables definitely last us about 2 weeks.

The way we've made it work for us is that I plan our meals around what we get in the box, which means if we get beets one week -



- then I get to have fun searching for a recipe to try! Same if we get rainbow chard:



Isn't it beautiful?

The variety of colour and type in our boxes has made our meals fun and tasty over the past few months, and has definitely helped me keep meal planning a no brainer, and renewed my excitement for good food!

So today is Thursday... they're picking our produce today. Somewhere, turnips are being harvested, apples and pears picked, and dill is being plucked... all ready for our box that we pick up on Saturday morning.

Catherine gifted me me this fantastically cute book for my 30th birthday. I put it to good use for Josu's 3rd birthday. The sock elephant was fun - - the book gave enough direction but also left room for improvising . . . which I like.

and I think I have to admit, what I really, really liked was how this little guy facilitated accessorizing.

ummm . . . yes. the wee bear's ears are tweaked and crooked. I did some fast and furious blind stitching as I sat by Rachel's bed during her recent ER visit. I love hand stitching. you can take it anywhere.

Le Slouch (and it only took 7 months)

pattern: Le Slouch (Wendy Bernard) -- free download, found on Ravelry
yarn: Debbie Bliss Cashmerino chunky, 2 full skeins, some lovely lovely color that I've been in love with for some time now and whose name I don't remember.
guage: who knows. should have done a swatch, but didn't.
needles: ???
picture: Naomi. she insisted. she's good, right?

OK, so it took me forever to finish this hat (I have too many projects going at once...yes, I know that already). I should have been able to finish it up in two weekends/movies instead of taking 7 months. The point, thought, is that it is finished! And I like it. I think. At least, trying it on in my bedroom I like it. We'll see what happens when I start wearing it out in public....

hmmmmm.

(Malachai's "yes i'm a very cool dude look." or in this case, very sick. and aunt Rachel's making me model. anyway...)

well now. this was supposed to be for Josiah. the first time I made it, I ran out of yarn. I frogged it. I recalculated. I changed the pattern. I made it again, and had an arm's length of yarn left over. yay for me, I thought! finished! with just enough yarn to weave in! off to try it on Malachai or Naomi to see if it's big enough for Josiah-in-Tennessee.

as you see, not so much. we decided this would be a great hat for Malachai, but in another color (and sorry Malachai, your mom says red isn't your color either, so it won't be in red). In the meantime, points for me for having a gift hat in my closet....but minus points for having to start from scratch for Josiah. sorry, Josiah!

pattern: Binary Cable Hat (found on ravelry)
yarn: RYC Cashsoft Aran, and I'm not kidding when I say you need 1 whole skein
gauge: who knows. apparently, I don't believe in doing swatches (and this is the sort of thing that happens as a result. you'd think I'd learn!)
needles: US 7

Projects for airplanes

When you're facing a long trip on a plane (which I did over the weekend), here's what you do: knit a baby hat...or anything else for that matter. And yes, it's totally legal to take knitting needles on a plane, surprisingly enough.

As for my list of projects, it's overloaded because my girls and I have decided to make homemade gifts this year...so we're knitting and sewing up a storm...or should be anyway! For the sake of surprise, those will have to be posted after Christmas!

knee patches (again)

because sometimes, being crafty starts here:

My List

...of unfinished projects (because I'm much better at starting than finishing!) that I'll hopefully get around to completing sometime soon. And by soon I mean "sometime within the next 12 months."

with yarn:
1. Josiah's hat (free Ravelry pattern)
2. Selma's blue matinee coat (Debbie Bliss)
3. baby girl cardigan (Etsy pattern)
4. green hat for me (found on Ravelry)

with fabric:
1. green linen dress (Vogue blouse pattern, altered)
2. blue striped dress (Simplicity pattern, lots of alterations)
3. plain blue dress (my own pattern, but with with Naomi's help)
4. brown eyelet dress (vintage pattern from Ebay). still uncut, so who knows what it may end up being.
5. Very Simple Quilt. I need 8 different fabrics. 256 4-inch blocks. I've just started cutting out the blocks sooooo. this one will definitely take the next 12 months.