It is birthday time again for my mama.  I am not quite sure how to say how much I love and admire her.  I count my self one lucky gal for having her in my life and she is just 15 miles down the road so I get to be with her as much as I can as an adult and raise my family near the love and support her and my dad as well.


This last year I taught just the basics of knitting and she picked up on it pretty fast, she is my crafty influence!  My mama is also a fan on the Biltmore mansion in Asheville North Carolina.  I went there with her as an adult and she has been there several times with my dad.  So I heard about this yarn that was created a couple years ago and dyed with a re-created dye called Coolidge Red coined by the Biltmore Industries.  This dark red was the most famous color created in Asheville in the early 1900's.  I was excited and also heartbroken to discover this and find initially that is was done as a small batch and most likely no longer available.  Until I was watching one of Ninja Chickens podcasts last fall (where I first heard about this yarn) and she had learned from Echoview Fiber Mill that they found some more.  I called them up that week and ordered some and stashed it away for my mama.


So I gave it my mama today along with the information I could find online about the store all wrapped up in a bento bag for her knitting projects.  I am looking forward to many more opportunities to cozy up with my mama (yes, her grandma name is Meow) and share another common thread!

A part of my personality left over from a pretty simple childhood is my love of field guides!  I have shared a few times that I had a much loved, pretty simple childhood.  I was surrounded by the country, explorations in the woods, old houses, old barns, and lots of books.  At a very early age my mama instilled in me an appreciation of books and libraries.


Somewhere along the way I came across a "Golden Field Guide", I think my first one was of fish.  I loved to look over all of the scientific names and drawings.  I would then type out the names on our old typing machine.  It is a wonder I did not go into science!  As a parent I would also get field guides for my boys to look at and explore.  Now that they are teens and quite independent of their mama's suggestions for reading material, the beloved field guides are tucked away in my grandma box for future readers.



As I have been exploring some moth energy lately I decided to grab a moth field guide from the library to enjoy.  That has inspired me to make a little moth learning set for the shop!  I knit up a little leaf from a free pattern on Ravelry from some gorgeous moss green wool from my stash.  It is an Wensleydale Longwool spun in England from a company called Sheep Shop.  The cocoon is knit from some leftover Brooklyn Tweed Shelter in hayloft color way.  This set is listed in the shop and ready to ship.

So I will make another cup of tea on this slightly chilly day of spring and peruse this field guide a little bit more before returning it to the library.


Cheers to childhood memories and a good field guide, the only difference now is that I need some reading glasses!

Well, it seems as though maybe spring weather has decided to arrive so it is time to start thinking about packing up some of my woolens this year.  I have never really paid much attention to packing away my hand knits but this last year I discovered some moths had munched on one of my hats from last year.  It was my total eclipse hat from 2017 so I was pretty bummed and had to just unravel and try to salvage the yarn the best that I could to try and work into another project.





So this year I am making some little lavender sachets and packing up my woolies.  Hopefully that is enough to deter them!  I am going to get a couple field guides on moths from the library to learn a little bit more about them, but in the mean time I updated my moleskine "moth hunter" pocket journal and added it to the shop; you know in case you know a knitter that is an expert moth hunter!

Remember those 2019 fiber goals I mentioned?  Well I am combining two of those together for some lunar knitting.  I was inspired by the Hedgewitch Shawl KAL that ran from the full moon on the past winter solstice to the lunar eclipse full wolf moon in January.  Many thanks to Fiber Trek and Gentle Knitter for inspiring me to do knitting project that is only done of the full moon of each month.  I would treat each day as a self care day of knitting with reflection and intention going into each stitch.


I decided to knit a shawl for this project since this was also on my 2019 fiber goal list.  I picked out the Betula shawl.  It is rustic design with a wide wing span and the suggested yarn creates a subtle moon like color pattern.  I will be able to learn a new knitting skill of short rows with the project as well.





I have been assembling some tools and am getting ready for the first round of lunar knitting on Tuesday, the Snow Moon.  There is a new video chat highlighting some of the tools a little more closely if you would like to check that out.  Below are some links:



Pattern:  Betula by Melody Hoffman (Mandarines)
Yarn:  Retrosaria Beiroa
Needles:  Lykke fixed circular needles
Yarn Bag:  Bento Bag by Sweet KM
2019 Moon Calendar:  Hammond Hill Farm



Happy full moon all- I think there is some more snow in our forecast for this Snow Moon!

You may have watched my latest video chat and seen that I am mentioned that I had seen a KAL that is being hosted by the Gentle Knitter and Fiber Trek that started on the full moon last month that was in conjunction with the Winter Solstice and is ending with the full moon in January.  The January full moon happens to be referred to as a wolf moon and it also happens to be a super blood lunar eclipse.

I realized that I would not be able to jump in on the KAL for the Hedgewitch Shawl and get it done in time so I would make a big chunky wool scarf in neutral undyed winter white color and add some grey fringe at the end.  I usually don't knit in neutral whites because I am worried I will get it filthy but I am going for it and figure I can always dye it if I don't like it.  So far I am really liking it and am planning on having it finished in time to wear it outside the night of the lunar eclipse and snuggle up with it.

I am not using a pattern, I am just holding the yarn double and doing 2 rows of k2p2 and then 2 rows p2k2 and keep repeating that pattern.  It is babble like and kind of reminds me of popcorn!






With that upcoming event and with the 16 plus inches of snow we got this weekend I was able to make a wood wolf and moon set for the shop as well.  These are in the shop and ready to ship.  The wolf has a rustic copper colored Malabrigo yarn from my stash.  The little moon has a little wool piece that comes with it that let's you eclipse the moon to celebrate the celestial event.

This is a good spot to put in your location and it will show you when the moon will be eclipsing.  I hope that you are enjoying the winter weekend and if you are like us here in the Midwest and got tons of snow; I wish a slow winter evening of knitting.

Not much a New Year's resolution gal but I do have a mind to set myself some fiber goals for 2019!  So I popped a cork on a favorite beverage that I have discovered since my body had decided it is not liking wine these days.  Anyone else get headaches even after just one glass of wine?  I tell you what, this aging business is quite a ride!  So sour beers it is, and Krieky Bones by Firestone Walker Brewing Co. is delish!


With my beer in hand this weekend I made myself one of my sheep journals to write down fiber goals and notes when I see/hear about different fibers and patterns.



So far my goals are:

• Finish Midtown Cardigan
• Make a winter scarf by the first full moon (super wolf moon with eclipse)
• Make Log Cabin fingerless mitts
• Make Cascara fingerless mitts
• Learn to make socks
• Make at least 1 shawl
• Make a full moon knitting project
• Continue to find/explore midwest yarn base for natural dyeing

It is time of our annual little "having a pig" tradition for the boys in ringing in some good luck on New Year's day by giving them a little marzipan pig to eat.  Luckily there is one shop in town that carries theses that I always snag in December.  It is a german tradition that we like to do for the boys that have plenty of german ancestry in their blood.


Since it is also the Year of the Pig in the Chinese horoscope I also made a little set of seasonal pigs that I listed in the shop.  On each side of these natural poplar wood pigs I wood burnt a seasonal symbol to bring in prosperity and luck all year long.



If you are not too squeamish I thought I would also share some pictures of our ham that we started curing last month.  Unfortunately both our hams that we cured last year went bad so we are hoping for a bit more luck this year!  We heard from some other folks in our area that it was a warmer winter and that can affect the process.





As you can tell it is a process with a generous amount of salt and sugar in the cure that is applied to the ham before it is wrapped up and hung outside in the ham shed to cure until the spring when we then pull it, scrub and clean off the cure and any mold that may have formed before rehanging for aging.  It is a really neat process and I happen to love country ham!




So cheers to all of you on this New Year's Day and let's hope 2019 brings us all a little luck!