LotS II April

The second shipment of the second year of The Lord of the stRings Sock Club has gone out! Most people have received their package.If you haven't, you might want to wait to see the rest of this post.


Undomiel

Inspired by Arwen, the daughter of Elrond Half-elven.
Appendix A of the Return of the King tells of the meeting of Aragorn son of Arathorn and Arwen Undomiel daughter of Elrond, Evenstar of the elves. They met in Rivendell under the trees, and Aragorn believed himself to be seeing Luthien Tinuviel once again walking in silver and blue. But they were doomed to be apart until the day Aragorn took up his inheritance and the white tree bloomed again in Gondor. Then she came to him, and they enjoyed the peace of the Days of the King together.

This was a difficult sock for me to design. There was so much I wanted to put into it. But when I got around to working on it, I was 3 months pregnant, and horribly sick. Quite honestly, the last thing on my mind was knitting- and much less, designing. But I had other designs that had to be done on a deadline, and a baby coming. I knew there was no way I could design for several months after Babybug came, so I forced myself to work on this design.




For all that was going on at the time, I am very pleased with how this sock turned out. It is another one that really didn't end up like what was in my head- but that's ok. I love the scalloped beaded cuff- and the lace pattern is my own creation, so it is a special sock for me. What do you think of it?

Book Review 2

Saint Patrick by Jonathan Rogers is a biography of Ireland’s most beloved saint. Rogers takes his information from the writings of St. Patrick himself; and includes various legends about the deeds of the great man. Patrick’s two known writings are included in the Appendices.

I enjoyed this book. I love stories about St. Patrick, and to have available his own writings and Rogers’ extrapolations from them are great. I liked the way Jonathan Rogers brought out the known facts of St. Patrick’s life and illustrated them with various legends and myths that are told about him.

I didn’t feel that I really learned very much new about St. Patrick from this book; except perhaps for the fact that he was somewhat of a borderline renegade priest (in that he took his commission from God as being greater and more important than his commission from the Roman Catholic Church). I really liked having Patrick’s own writings available at the end of the book, and thought that was a great touch to the authenticity of the work.

I don’t really think it’s necessary to give an overview of the book here. If you don’t know anything about St. Patrick, this is a fabulous first book for learning about him. If you do know about St. Patrick, this is a nice little addition to your library- particularly for having access to his own translated letters. Otherwise, it’s a nice little book- but not one I would have spent money on personally (I got it from Booksneeze- free, for reviewing it).

Happy Easter!!

He is Risen!!! I am so thankful!!

I wish you all a very Happy Easter and hope you are able to enjoy friends and family and celebrate. :-)

This is what I gave my family for Easter this year:
A 27 lb. mountain of granola.
I haven't been able to make granola for my family since Babybug's arrival. (Thank you, Agata, Mom, and Kristal for keeping us supplied in the interim!!!) If I were capable of just doing one or 2 trays of it each week or so, it might work out all right. But I've never been capable of doing little things like that. It has to be all or nothing with me. ;-) So granola making is a 4-hr ordeal. Hopefully, those 9 gallons will last us at least 9 weeks!!! Last time, 14gallons only made it 6 weeks. I think my family is growing....
Anyway, I've had some requests; so my Easter gift to you, dear reader, is the recipe I use for granola!
This is kinda hard to write, b/c I don't measure very much when I cook. I'm a slap-dash sorta cook. Designing in cooking? Things usually turn out slightly different every time- but here's the basics, and you can experiment and make it your own. :-)

Lobug's Granola:
Recipe for 1 cookie sheet's worth (repeat to desired amount!)

Pre-heat oven to 400deg.
Place Wax Paper or equivalent on flat surface for cooling.(easy clean)
Cover Cookie Sheet with Non-stick Aluminum Foil for easy cleaning- and less oil use.
In large bowl, Mix:
3to4cups of rolled oats
~1/3to2/3c of desired fruit/nut mix(I use a fruit salad trail mix-we don't do nuts. And I add sweet-flake coconut as well)
~1/4c oil(your choice- vegetable, canola; I haven't tried olive, but it would probably work) use more oil if you don't have Non-stick Foil!!
~1/2to2/3c of warm honey

Mix until well-coated, scrape onto cookie sheet. Spread it out flat-ish for even cooking. Bake until golden brown on top and edges.
Remove from oven and mix by folding edges of granola in and under the center. Flatten again and place back in oven until golden brown on top and edges again.
Remove from oven and spread onto covered flat surface until cool. Enjoy!!

There it is! I hope you enjoy it! It is possible to do small batches (I think I did once upon a time before there were children under my feet....), but I think it saves money to buy bulk....

Welcome to my busy life

Hi! Welcome! I have no cool pictures to show you today. Just thought I'd get that out up front so you weren't disappointed. I have been knitting; but can't show you b/c it's design stuff that has to be "released" at the right time. I have been taking pictures of my kiddos; but I'm not showing them off today.
I thought I'd give you an idea of "a day in the life" in my world today! This is a very basic picture- every day is different when you have four busy kiddos... :-)

12am- sleeping, but not for long.
1am-Babybug wakes me for a diaper change and a snack, and has a hard time getting back to sleep; but we eventually get there again
5am-Babybug is awake. He wants breakfast, and wants to play. I give him breakfast, try to get him to go back to sleep, and finally give up 45minutes later and let him wake Joel up. My amazing husband gets up, takes the baby, and closes the door on me in a dark room knowing full well that I am not getting out of bed(he even did it on purpose!).
7:10am-Joel has to go to work, so he brings Baby back to me.
7:20am-I have managed to get some clothes on and move myself and Babybug out to the couch. Not claiming awake yet.
7:30am-Get breakfast for the other boys. Daisy's already had hers.
7:40am-Get my own breakfast while checking email and holding Babybug.
7:50am-Babybug needs second breakfast. Feed him while frogging this sweater(remember this one? the Nordic sweater in the middle- scroll down. I just don't like the fit, I never wear it; but I do like the yarn and I am going to make something out of it that I WILL wear).
8:10am-Babybug is back in bed and I am here! On the computer, blogging and checking out what all my internet friends have been up to. Ian's unloaded the dishwasher, and Daisy's doing dishes, while Asher folds the diapers from the drying rack.
8:30am-School time! (yes, I know it's spring break. We had 3 months off when Baby was born- we still have some catching up to do.) I'll do some cleaning in b/w instruction- if there's not something glaringly filthy, I might even knit at the table while they study....
11am-Oh, yeah, Lunch. hmmm. What to fix? Somewhere b/w 8:10 and 11, Baby will probably have woke up- and it's time for his lunch now too.
12pm-Feed myself and the other 3 kids.

This is when the schedule really gets flexible. Today, the kids are clearly very tired, so after lunch, they will have quiet/nap time in their rooms while I deal w/ Babybug. If Baby goes to bed then too- I might get a quiet hr for some knitting. That's always nice. :-)
Today it's raining- inside games after quiet time. Maybe a video while I make dinner tonight. Puzzles for Asher- he's loving them right now. Play-doh anyone? While Baby sleeps, the other kids play well, I can usually get some designing in. But ya never know- yesterday Baby didn't sleep much and picking up the needles was a laugh.

Evenings are the very best time of day. When Joel gets home from work. :-) It's a breath of fresh air in our house. He plays with the kids, gives me adult conversation and a renewed perspective. Dinner together is always a good time. Laughter really is the best medicine. ;-D

Round 2 of the Lord of the stRings Sock Club

I am horribly late with this post- these socks went out to club members in February. (Sorry, been busy around here!)

One Ring
Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,
Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone,
Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die,
One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,
One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
JRR Tolkien Lord of the Rings

There is a lot of imagery in this sock. The One Ring attached to the other Rings of Power. (Count 'em- 3, 7 & 9) as well as the symbolic colors used.

I loved designing this sock. I love the cuff not being traditional ribbing- I love the way the colors flow. And I'm a big fan of afterthought heels, so this was a great design for me.

I hope you like it too....

Magazine Publication #3

Here is my third magazine published pattern!

The Erratic Argyle
Argyle has been used in knitting for a LONG time. This is argyle taken a slightly different way.

This was one of those designs that just kind of smacks you upside the head. It came to my mind complete, ready to be knit. I love it when that happens.

The yarn is SWTC Tranquility in Black, Aqua, and Lemon. It's a relatively quick knit up on 5.0mm (US 8) needles. Currently, it is available in Yarn Forward Magazine, Issue No. 23, March 2010.
For gauge and other specifics- look on my Ravelry design page, here.

Love the Forest Cowl

It's been awhile since I have been able to post a new design here!

Here is my latest:


Love the Forest Cowl

This is a case of the yarn creating a design. I couldn’t bear to make socks with this luxurious yarn; the cashmere in it just had to be something that would wrap a neck and be snuggled. The colors begged to have a woodland theme; double moss stitch created a bark-like texture. As this was designed during the XXI Winter Olympics which began on Valentine’s weekend, hearts were needed as well. And the Love the Forest Cowl came about. I hope you enjoy it.

Pattern available for $4.00 on Ravelry.