First socks!

I started teaching myself to knit over ten years ago specifically so I could knit my own socks, and now I have finally made some socks!   Actually, between fall and spring, I've made five pairs, and I'm sick of them.  They are so much easier than I imagined them to be, which makes me think I should try some really intricate stuff soon. 

My favorites

My second favorites

Newborn hat = compulsion to USE ALL OF THE YARN!!

Dungeons and Dragons

Collective storytelling!  We started this story waking up captive on a ship.

After rescuing our animals and throwing the pirates overboard, we learned some disturbing information about the politics of the continent.

The campaign didn't last very long, but it was lots of fun. 

Pantsweather

An inside joke becomes a community holiday.  "Pantsweather" is both that time of the year when the temperature cools down and the personification of autumn.  So fall equinox came in with a "Welcome Home Pantsweather McGhee" party.

Party banner painted by Maddy

Alas for no photos of the mountains of maple cookies and cakes, apple cider doughnuts, carved pumpkins, the leaf-stuffed scarecrow.  Turns out that jack-o-lanterns make poor lighting for photography!

At the Clothesline

I think laundry is one of the best jobs on the farm.  Cold and rainy?  Work inside.  Warm and sunny?  Work outside.  Although I am sometimes guilty of using the dryer when I am in a hurry, I use the clothesline whenever I have time.

My favorite laundry task is hanging wet sheets on the line.  A dozen or more sheets on several rows of a long clothesline creates a cool, damp tunnel.  Maybe the breeze blows them against your skin as you walk between.  Sometimes I put on a flowing dress and do laundry barefoot.  Summer grass feels good on the feet, and a skirt that billows in the breeze connects the body to the wind.  Here I am, asking the elements of nature for their help in completing a task, and they provide.  Earth is nice like that. 

Our laundry line is in an area heavy with foot traffic.  Sometimes I chat with people walking by, and sometimes I can snag someone to hang out for a while.

the ever-wonderul Wren

Liberty!

For twelve years I've been wanting to make this Liberty Cap.  Twelve years ago I wasn't too sure about using double pointed needles and didn't know where to find red wool.  Twelve years, and all it took me when I finally tried was a week!

The pattern I used is popular among reenactors.  I'm not sure about its accuracy to French and American revolutions, but the association is still there: Fight the power!  The pattern is easy enough for a beginner, really, and it can easily be adapted to flat knitting on two needles.  Some use this pattern to make a Link costume, and I also think it would be good for a Night Before Christmas "...Mama in her kerchief and I in my cap...."

Oh, remember the fake Liberty Caps from last year's Bastille Day?

How To Catch A Rainbow

Wonderful Shannon is visiting for a few weeks.  Maybe she'll teach me how to catch a rainbow.

Fairy Mitts for a Best Friend

I have a dear friend in Seattle.  I do not live in Seattle.  We've been best friends for 18 years, the kind that might only be in touch once a year, and might be roommates.  But we're always friends.

Friend, mini friend, pride parasol!

She's very crafty.  This one time, she made a baby (some people are into cross stitch, some people are into babies).  Soon after, she made a gorgeous rainbow pride parasol, blowing a basic doily pattern out of the water.

Modeling on the bus.  Camera phone?

So I saw this fancy rainbow yarn and decided to make rainbow fairy mitts for her. A nice easy pattern that shows off the yarn, is small (and cheap!), and knits fast.  Love for a silly, nerdy woman. Wish I could be there in person.  <3