Our Fowl Friends

Okay, so maybe they aren't really 'Friends', but it flows nicely... ;)
I was out in the farmyard the other day watching the Cayugas discovering the grand outdoors and snapped some pics of the birds.

They don't 'stand still and smile' so you may see some birds in more than one picture!  lol

Nehemiah is one month old!!!

Kids!

Heritage Family Fellowship Singers

My sweet babies :)

A Quilt for Ivy Jewel

This quilt is a surprise for my niece Ivy :)

I had SO much fun with this one!!  I loved making it and I hope she loves snuggling with it!

What's going on?!

I found a bunch of "drafts" in my blog folder and decided to share a few with you.  Look out the next few days for old posts...just didn't want you to wonder 'what in the world is going on with her'?  LOL

Fall Portraits 2010

Caleb Rains ~ 18

Molly Elizabeth ~ 16

Samuel Locke ~ 14 (he'll be 15 next month)

"As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man;
so are children of the youth."
Psalm 127:4

MaryVance ~ 10Elijah Jack ~ 8 (he'll be 9 next month)Isaac Jonathan ~ 7Joseph Timothy ~ 4Nehemiah Nissley ~ 2

Socks, socks, socks...

Sockies!!  I made this pair of ankle socks for MaryVance.  I just love how the yarn made such neat patterns!

Last week we made a trip to Hobby Lobby and each of the poikas picked out yarn for socks.  Elijah was first up... I love varigated yarn, you never know where it's going to take you. ;)

Elijah's

Isaac's socks

Isaac picked out the same yarn but asked if I could "please make my socks match" LOL...

Joseph's

and Nehemiah's!

Spring is Springing Forth...

I just love Spring in the Carolinas... the way it just gently unfolds... Not a burst of Spring... just a gentle unfolding...  peeks of green grass stretching toward the sun... the tops of trees beginning to bud... daffodils in full bloom... and babies!
Just in the past few weeks we have purchased ducklings and chicks... had a litter of kittens born... hatched from the incubator chicks... Spring, I love it!

Part of our first batch of feed store chicks

Cayuga ducklings

Silkie chick and Serama chick (she was a special needs chick who did not survive... :( )

The one on the right is a Silkie.  Nehemiah named them Queen Poop and Miss Fluffy.

Sam and Luke's little flock, they incubated the eggs... the small ones are Bantam chicks.

Spring.  I do believe it is my very favorite time of the year!

A Baby Quilt... for Isaiah

Bitten by the Knitting Bug

When Joseph was a baby I learned to knit longies (wool diaper covers) and really enjoyed it.  However, I didn't see a need or have a desire to learn to knit anything else since we never wore knitted things in Florida.  When we moved to SC it dawned on me *hey, I could pick up knitting again and make things we would actually use!* and thus began my Knitting Journey Part 2.  LOL.
I didn't really remember a lot about knitting and I was not confident in my abilities at all... all of this just happened to coincide with a visit with two knitting friends!  We were blessed to spend time with Kirky (of Knit One, Blog Two and Kirky Yarns).  She is a dear and really encouraged me so much.  I appreciate her more than words can say.  She gave me what I needed to really pick up the needles again.  We also spent time with our dear friends in WI and Cathy showed me the basics again.
On the way home from WI I stopped at a local store and picked up some yarn and needles.  I needed something to do on the trip home and I *needed* to knit again.  I started working on a scarf for Molly.  This is what I had accomplished by the time we got home.

And the beautiful and gracious Molly with her new scarf...

Next I made the logical progression to hats, caps, toboggans, whatever you want to call them.  Don't you just love my model?

Caleb asked for a wool cap that was long enough to cover all of his head and his ears...to use for running and doing outside chores...

Then (if you know me this will not surprise you...) I was bored with plain knitting and wanted to do something different... so I created this for myself :)

I made several other hats, I will spare you the photos... lol...
Then I wanted to make a sweater vest for the poikas (you know, my term for the younger boys... it's Swedish for little boy)  .... and, oh dear, what a process that was.  I used wool that I already had to make sure I could figure out what I was doing and came up with this one:

No, no, the fit is not quite right so I tried another pattern...

which looks okay until you see it on the child it was supposed to fit... lol

Um.. yeah... I'm obviously having sizing issues... roflol... but not one to be easily thwarted I tried again... this time I ended up about ten inches into the pattern that was supposed to fit Isaac with one that would fit Luke and I quit.  LOL. It will be pretty when/if I ever finish it...
So on to pattern number three and this is the result... a little 'roomier' than I would have liked but the fit is better...

Somewhere in there I made this for myself... a felted bag...

Now, I do want to attempt a sweater for the girls some day but I also really, really wanted to learn to knit socks.  A sweet friend had given me a pattern booklet for socks years ago but I never attempted them.  Socks are overwhelming.  Feet are weird critters to sew for... but, at last, I dug the book out and made my first pair of socks.  Before I started I watched a wonderful youtube tutorial on sock knitting and that is what pushed me over the edge to give it a try.

I followed the pattern (well, for the most part...lol) and they are looser than I like socks to fit.  Again, me and the fit issue... So I tried again with a pair of anklets for Molly.  This time I made them according to the smallest measurements given.  They are still looser than we prefer so I went on to a third pair with a different pattern, but I am getting ahead of myself.  Here is Molly's pair.

Okay, where was I?  Oh, yes, the third pair.  Kirky recommended a book (The Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns) so I read the instructions, knit yet another gauge swatch, and commenced to make Sam a pair of socks!  Whew... what an undertaking... his feet are way huge... lol

So... they are too big for him... really?  They fit "okay" but not as snugly as he would prefer.  Before I attempt a pair for Caleb I am going to see counsel from The Amazing Kirky ;)
I hope you are not bored with my knitting journey... be glad I spared you pictures of everything... lol.
Thank you again to Kirky and Cathy!  I am loving this knitting thing!