Charlotte the Rabbit

A friend of mine asked me to donate a quilt to an auction to raise money for a man he knows who is battling cancer.  I, of course, said I definitely would do so.  I hadn't made a quilt in a while and I'd forgotten how much I enjoying doing so.

Grace recently joined 4H and decided she would like to do her project on rabbits.  We found a gal who was selling rabbits for 4H projects and we bought this Dutch rabbit.  Grace named her Charlotte.  She is currently in a cage in Grace's room.  The plan is to show her at county fair this summer.  So far she seems like a very well behaved rabbit.  I swear she's stuffed when we take her out of the cage, as she barely moves!

An Awesome Chance

Remember last summer when I was fortunate enough to go see the Yarn Harlot talk?  I was reading her blog and found out she was headed to Denver along her book signing route.  I quick look at Jeremy's schedule and he was off that day.  Instead of having him go with me, he was assigned baby sitting detail and me and a fellow knitter planned to go see her.  It was on a Monday evening, so we spent the night.

This is a picture from her blog.  See, there I am right under the arrow in the second row!  On my left is Heidi, my fellow knitta!  We got to the bookstore several hours before the event, so we be able to be near the front.  We were 12th and 13th in line.  She told a story about dentists in the Dominican Republic that had me laughing so hard there were tears rolling down my cheeks.

While waiting in line, we were able to have a marathon knit session.  Without it, these socks wouldn't have been done nearly as quickly.

And guess what socks I'm wearing to work today!  Yep, these babies.

You Know Spring is Coming When...

....a few of these take up residence in your basement.

We bought 15 chickens of various breeds and 5 guineas.  We have already had one not make it.  The girls are enjoying the little chicks.

Sundogs and Some Knittin'

The other morning I looked out to see these bright sundogs on display.  Check that out!

I've been teaching my friend at work how to knit.  After she tried out her skills making a dishcloth, she decided on a hat for her nephew.  I decided to make one as well...for myself.  I had my young assistant model it for me, lol!

It looks way cuter on her than me!

And this is the fastest pair of socks I've ever knit.  I think it's only because I happened to have some days where I could just sit and knit, like Christmas day and New Year's day.  Or maybe it's the fancy-schmancy knitting needles Jeremy got me for Christmas.  Either way, I knit these bad boys in about a week and a half where it usually takes me 3-4 weeks.

Soap

If you are related to me, you most likely got a bar of soap for Christmas this year.  I've made several batches since the first batch way back in August.  Jeremy made me a mold that makes 6 "average" sized bars.  I figure I'm mostly just making it for us, I don't need some huge mold that makes a bunch.  I made some a few weeks ago, Peppermint Oatmeal. They need to dry and cure for 4 weeks before we can put them to use.

unmolded and ready to be cut 

cut bars laid out to dry

Those look a bit dark in the center, but after a few weeks of drying, they are a beige color throughout.  I made some yesterday, Cinnamon Beer Soap.  I'll have to see how it turns out tomorrow when I cut it.

Christmas 2013

I have a few pictures from Christmas 2013.  The girls, especially Grace and Anna, grip and rip so quickly, I can't keep up while taking pictures and I usually don't know who gave them what!  Jeremy had to work Christmas Eve night and Christmas night.  I helped the girls put out the cookies and milk for Santa and we sprinkled reindeer food in the yard.  We opened all of our gifts when Jeremy got home Christmas morning.  A few pictures...

A few days before Christmas 

Leah didn't want to put on her jammies, but ran to get in the picture

Grace in action 

Leah showing me her peppermint stick, love that face!

Anna and her money tree

The girls are currently hanging out with Grandma and Grandpa Yearout.  Jeremy's working today and I just don't know what to do with myself in this quiet, empty house!

More knitting!

I've been knitting up a storm, as usual, lately.  I have a few things to share.  First is a cowl I made.  I originally made it with buttons on one short side.  I wore it once and didn't like it with the buttons when compared to the original pattern, blah, blah, blah.  So I ripped back the button holes and made it a circle cowl by grafting the ends together.  I like it much more this way.  However, I would still like to make this similar to the original pattern where it knits up a bit stiffer.  I have the yarn and it's on the list...for someday.

my Brick Road Cowl

And I made some socks (what else is new?).  The yarn I picked happened to sort of match the holiday season, so these are my Christmas socks.  I like how the red and yellow kind of did a stripe-y, pool-y thing.

I knitting another pair of socks (again, what else is new?!), and a gnome hat for myself.