My other passion next to knitting is natural/healthy living. Since I love coming up with new recipes and talk about my crazy homesteading ideas, I thought I would start a new blog devoted to that, my crazy homesteading ideas. I'll share recipes that I come up with, mostly gluten/dairy free since my body doesn't like those two wonderful foods. From cheese making to simple quick snacks and meals. I'll also include some of our adventures in homeschooling.
I'm not giving up on this blog of course. But since my time is being consumed by homeschooling and feeding my intolerant body (my kids are gluten intolerant as well), I don't have time to come up with patterns like I used to :-( Whether I'm writing patterns or not, I'll always be knitting. Knitting=therapy.
Since I know everyone is going to ask, yes I am pregnant again. Due May 6th. Yippee!
I got some cute shirts this summer and wanted to be able to wear them through the winter. Since temps can reach -42F here in the frozen tundra of North Dakota (that's actual temp not with the wind chill), short sleeves are out of the question. My simple solution... arm warmers!
The med size will fit someone with an upper arm measurement of about 11" and a wrist measurement of 6". The large will fit an upper arm of 12" and a wrist of 7". If you need more room, just add a few more stitches to your cast on row. Customizing instructions will follow (maybe tomorrow). It's made with 10% negative ease for a tight fit.
Materials:
Noro Silk Garden Lite or any sport weight wool.
US #3 and #6 needles or size needed to obtain gauge. Dpn's or 42" circulars for Magic Looping
Gauge: with larger needle 5.5 sts per 1"
Abbreviations:
KLL: Knit left loop. Use any increase method you prefer.
KRL: Knit right loop. Again, any increase you prefer.
Directions
With smaller needles loosely cast on 28 (32) I prefer this tubular cast on, video by Ysolda Teague, for a neat and stretchy edge.
Switch to larger needles. Join in a round place a stitch marker to mark beginning and work k1, p1 ribbing for 1.5". If you prefer a k2, p2 ribbing, any ribbing works fine. Choose your favorite.
Row 1: Knit even.
Row 2: KRL, knit to end, KLL.
Rows 3-7: Knit even.
Row 8: Repeat row 2.
Repeat 2-8, increasing at the beginning and the end of every 6th round until you have 54 (58) sts. You can try your arm warmer on as you go and stop increasing or add more increases for a perfect fit.
Knit even until piece measures 16.5" from the cast on edge. You can adjust the length here, just knit even until the piece is 1.5" shorter than the length you would like.
Switch to smaller needles and work k1, p1 ribbing for 1.5" (or whatever ribbing you did at the beginning).
Bind off as loosely as possible. The best I've found is a tubular bind off: 1x1 grafted bind off. It matches the tubular cast on.
To help keep the arm warmers up, I like to duplicate stitch elastic thread into the inside of the upper arm ribbing.
It's Maelstrom by Cookie A. I wish I could claim credit for this awesome design, she has some great ones. I love how she worked the spirals into the foot. Most spiral patterns just end there. The pattern repeat is simple enough to memorize but hard enough to keep it interesting.
First off I want to thank everyone for their kind words of encouragement. As much as I hate to hear others have gone through similar things, I found comfort knowing I'm not alone. I'm honestly doing much better now. Losing little Daniel was the hardest thing I've ever gone through, but I am getting back on my feet. I didn't realize how much I actually work until I took my little break. It was much needed, but I think I'm ready to get back to business. To celebrate my return, I'm releasing the Sideways Britches pattern!
Sideways Britches instant download $8
Lots of hem choices and waistbands. Knit completely seamless and even includes a gusseted crotch.
I don't recommend this pattern for beginners because it is so strange. You can't really see it take shape until you're almost done.
I thought I would let all my loyal followers (all 10 of you, lol) know why I've been missing for so long. We lost the baby 2 1/2 weeks ago at 16 weeks gestation. We did find out he was a boy and we named him Daniel. He apparently died from trauma to the umbilical cord. Honestly, I've been having a hard time with it and just need a break from everything. The last time I pick up my knitting needles was to knit a small blanket to bury with Daniel. I just haven't been able to knit since then, too much time for my mind to wander.
I will continue to try and answer emails/questions but for the time being all patterns in the works will be put on hold and I'm taking a break from doing custom knitting.
Thank you so much for your understanding and thanks to all for you words of comfort. You all have been so great and supportive.
ETA: I forgot to mention that all my patterns are still available for sale. Thank you Ravelry for your awesome automated pattern delivery service!
Yes, I'm alive. It's been almost a month since my last post, ugh! No good excuse, just busy with the boys, spring cleaning, gardening and all. I've hardly been online at all.
As far as knitting goes, I haven't even been doing much of that lately :-( All my plans for new baby patterns are on the back burner. I think I'll find my muse once we know the sex of the baby.
I'm still working on "plucking" my goats. We went out to shear them one day and just discovered the the old fleece pulls off fairly easily, called plucking. It's not hard to do, it's more hard finding the time with James since it's easier to do with 2 people. Dulce is about 3/4 done and Sam is 1/2 done. Poor Willy, the biggest stinker, is next.
I just love this as a quick snack so I thought I'd share it. This is so simple and so tasty and so good for you.
Put 1 cup of raw whole almonds (with the skins) in a container that will hold at least 2 cups. Fill with water. Refridgerate for 3 days changing the water 1-2 times a day. At the end of 3 days, drain of water and enjoy. It will keep in the fridge for another week.
Completely not knitting related unless you are sipping it from this super cool, "Knit One, Sip One" cup. The stitch pattern on the cup is not only purple, but it looks like the stitch pattern on Ripples and the "One Skein Hat and Wristlettes" patterns. This cup was made just for me (or so it seems).
This recipe was inspired by my wonderful friend Christi who was helping me come up with a caffeinated beverage that wasn't coffee or Mountain Dew. With 3 kids (4 counting hubbie), pregnant, and being a wahm, I NEED caffeine. Just a little to get me going in the morning. I was a major coffee addict, but this morning sickness has made me lose all taste for coffee. I am sad. C'est la vie! But finding this recipe has made me much happier.
Pomegranate Raspberry Green Tea Lemonade
8 bags of Stash Pomegranate Raspberry Green Tea 1 quart of boiling hot water 1/2 cup honey (I prefer raw) 1/2 cup Real Lemon Juice
1 quart water
Steep tea in water for 3-5 min. Remove tea bags and add the honey. Mix well ensuring the honey is dissolved. Mix in lemon juice and remaining water. Refridgerate until cold.
You can play with this recipe easily. The basics are 1 part double strength green tea to 1 part lemonade. Frozen concentrate works just fine as well as freshly squeezed. I like to add a sprig of fresh mint before adding the boiling water.
We woke up to a welcome site this morning. The river is down a good 1.5' and keeps going down. There is still a good amount of snow yet to melt up river, but it looks like the flood scare is over here.
Thank you so much for your thoughts and prayers! Now I can get back to concentrating on knitting.
If I disappear for a while, it might be because we needed to evacuate. We live on the inner curve of a small river with the water slowly creeping closer and closer to the house. Luckily it still needs to go up a couple feet before it hits our sandbag dike and it seems to be holding steady today. It's supposed to crest by tomorrow so we'll know for sure by then.
Here the river is about 18.5'.
Same view before the big melt:
It's not quite to the sandbags, but too close for comfort.
