Monthly Archives: April 2013

Fresh Veggies …

Posted on April 28, 2013 by | Comments Off on Fresh Veggies …

101_2678

- by Joan -

(www.mvobsession.com)


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Beets salad with goat cheese and greens

Posted on April 28, 2013 by | Comments Off on Beets salad with goat cheese and greens

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Clearly, I am in a salad mood lately. The beets are boiled until tender, then cooled and peeled and chopped. The greens are dressed with a squeeze of lemon and topped with goat cheese, beets, marcona almonds and salt and pepper. Dinner in a jiffy!

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Show & Tell, Stoffmarkt Holland and More

Posted on April 27, 2013 by | Comments Off on Show & Tell, Stoffmarkt Holland and More
Last weekend was the Stoffmarkt Holland in Freising (the outskirts of Munich).  It's held twice a year and this year the weather held up really well, and there were so many people it was a bit overwhelming.

Twice a year, vendors from the Netherlands, Germany, and Belgium travel around Germany and sell there wares at this market.  This year was no different, although it felt as if the leather vendors had already sold everything but their dregs before they arrived at Freising.  I had a shopping list in mind, and one of the items I had been searching for was a bit of leather to try my hand at making gloves (pun intended).  No luck this time around, but I did come away with some other goodies...

I recently purchased a used Bernina/Bernette 334DS overlocker from the 1980's and I am totally smitten by her hum and love feeding her lots and lots of stretchy jersey and knits.  So, one of my purchases was a bit of really nice jersey knit from the Serukid kiosk.  If you're looking for children's/baby fabric, cottons, terry-cloth, fleece, organic cottons, etc... they have really high-quality stuff there.


Another difficult-to-find item for which I'm always on the look-out is nice wool fabric.  Once again the market proved a success in finding mill-end wool.  This one is 100% wool fabric in a nice subtle check.


I also found some nice elastics for lingerie and everyday use.


I also found a great deal on pattern-tracing paper in large wide rolls which is great.  This way I don't have to tape together bits and pieces of my tracing paper.  I ran out of drafting vellum on the roll that I had had for nearly 10 years this past fall.  That went a long way!  But, still on my list of things to find are a bit of glove-quality leather and curved rulers bigger than my current little french curve.

In local news, Stoff&Co. recently moved to my neighborhood!  They used to be a bit far away, but now... they're temptingly close. Too close! They stock lots of pretty print fabric including Liberty fabric, and lots of lovely things such as this little sampler packet below:


And, now to concentrate my efforts and sew up some of this stuff!


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Landon’s Sweet Baby Blanket – FREE PATTERN

Posted on April 27, 2013 by | Comments Off on Landon’s Sweet Baby Blanket – FREE PATTERN
Landon's Sweet Baby Blanket
Well, it's a good thing that I actually kept notes and wrote myself a basic pattern for the blanket I made for our family friend's baby named Landon, it seems he's gone viral overnight!  I posted his picture last night on the Midwest Yarn Facebook page upon receiving the appreciation photo - actually, my husband got it texted to him with a follow up saying that the picture was too cute and he might want to hide it from me (because I love baby pictures!).

So Landon's Sweet Baby Blanket is quite simple to do and it's a perfect weekend project to whip up if you have a short deadline like I did.



Gauge:
5 sts per in on US 6 or size to obtain gauge

What you'll need:

  • 40" US 6 Circular Needle or size to obtain gauge (I used a US 5 because I wanted my stitches to be tighter together - big or loose sts mean little fingers can get tangled up in there)
  • Five 50g balls of Main Color - Sirdar Snuggly Baby Bamboo Color 157
  • Two 50g balls of Complimentary Color - Sirdar Snuggly Baby Bamboo Color 169
Glossary:
MC: Main Color
CC: Complementary Color
slm: slip marker
pm: place marker

Instructions:
Cast on 140 sts in CC.  Work in garter st until blanket measures 2" from cast on edge.

Switch to MC.


Row 1: Work first row of letter chart, pm, k to end of row.
Row 2: Purl to marker, slm, work next row of chart.
Row 3: Work next row of chart, slm, k to end of row.
Repeat Rows 2 & 3 until letter chart is complete.
Continue in st st in MC until blanket measures 28" from cast on edge, ending on a WS row.
Switch to CC.
Work in garter st for 2". Bind off loosely.
To complete borders, pick up about 3 sts for every 4 rows along side of blanket. Work in garter st for 1/2". Bind off loosely. Repeat on other side.
Weave in ends. Lightly steam to block.


L - Chart

Feel free to request a copy of a chart for a different letter by emailing me at info@midwestyarn.com, I'll happily send it to you in JPEG format and post a copy here for everyone else.  

Also, if you make this blanket and are on Ravelry.com, make sure to link a project to this free pattern.  I'm interested to see finished projects from this pattern and to know how you like yours.  :)


Update
Here are the charts for the letters that have been requested:

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Taking the sting out

Posted on April 27, 2013 by | Comments Off on Taking the sting out

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I’ve been making my own deodorant for awhile now but I found it was irritating my skin. After some reading, I decided the baking soda is the likely culprit so this week I made a version using bentonite clay as the deodorizer instead of baking soda. It’s a little crumbly so next time I need to reduce the amount of clay in my recipe but the sting is entirely gone.

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Probably something you would like…

Posted on April 27, 2013 by | Comments Off on Probably something you would like…

Cool Embroidery

 I would love to have these as a set of napkins. $28.

8621965084_e03a2a4966_cYsolda has written a really thoughtful post on the ethics of clothing.

Rolled Hem Bandana

This rolled-hem bandana pattern is a great way to show off all that lovely fabric you’ve been stashing because you don’t know what to do with it.

Best onesie ever!

I love this onesie so much! $24.

Tile

This is so sweet that it made me teary. $38.

Weeping Angel Cookies

Okay, I am throwing all my Dr Whovian readers a bone here. Weeping Angel Cookies. Cookie cutters available here for $6.50. Now don’t say I never did anything for you. (Actually, they have lots of badass cookie cutters even if you aren’t a Doctor fan.)

Baa-baa Bookshelf

You should know that I get lots and lots of sheep-themed gifts and I’m kind of over it. But this bookshelf made my  heart skip a beat. So, so ridiculously cute. Around $144.

What’s knocking your socks off this week? Share your links in the comments, por favor.

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Fiber Festival!

Posted on April 26, 2013 by | Comments Off on Fiber Festival!
Remember that Fiber Festival show that I had to withdraw from since life got so complicated?



Well it's this Saturday!  Powhatan Festival of Fiber, 10-4

My friend Diane of WOVEN GEMS offered to bring a few of my pots!  
SO get to her booth early, as they may go quickly.

I may see you there!


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Rose Water Socks

Posted on April 26, 2013 by | Comments Off on Rose Water Socks

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This sweet little pattern is the optional round for the Sock Madness competition this year. Mine will vary just a smidge from the pattern as it stands now because the charts have changed a little during the test knitting process.

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Amaryllis Progress …

Posted on April 26, 2013 by | Comments Off on Amaryllis Progress …

Thursday

copyright 2013

copyright 2013

Friday

copyright 2013

copyright 2013

- by Joan -

(www.mvobsession.com)


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Sum Total

Posted on April 26, 2013 by | Comments Off on Sum Total

This:

04.26.13b

Is the sum total of my knitting for the month.

Two measly rows.

To be fair, it’s been an insanely busy month.  I am starting to realize that April seems to be THE busiest month of the farm year.  Between babies being born, shearing being done and garden work going on, it’s exhausting.

Plus, Susan is moving, and we’ve been helping her take things to the landfill and storage as needed.  It’s been a fun and hectic month, but it leaves little down time.  In the evenings, when I would normally be knitting, Oona has decided that snuggles on my lap are essential.

I can hardly complain about that.

The good news is that by next week the majority of the garden prep and planting will be done, everyone will be settled, and things will calm down a bit. Then that yarn and I are going to spend some quality time together.


Tagged: Garden, Knitting

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