We've been busy...

The afghan yarn arrived last week in all its glory and I finally decided on a first square, the one by Barbara McIntire (below in white).

My progress so far:

I've decided I really like cable knitting quite a bit. Don't get me wrong, nothing is more relaxing than an easy "knitting in the round" project but with cables it is so cool to see the cable pattern start to pop.

The Sugar Snap Peas are already about an inch tall!

In other news, we finished planting our fall garden and my eldest is insisting her name is now "Garden", correcting me every time! I've added a box to the right that lists what we are currently growing (beets, carrots, sugar snap peas, kale, broccoli and brussel sprouts). I'm really excited to have fresh beets and carrots to use in our juicer through the winter! The rest of it pretty much gets picked over by the girls as they snack throughout the day and never actually makes it to our kitchen.

Meet Roxanne, Billie Jean and Penny Lane. They're about 4 months old and finally have a place to sleep at night that is NOT a box in our bathroom.

Our chickens now have a proper home.

Notice the wheels!

I am so grateful to have friends who can (and are willing to) design and build a chicken tractor!

Commitment Made

So the book arrived this afternoon and after a bit of reading I figured out how much yarn would be needed.

SIXTY BALLS OF YARN.

Yes, you did in fact read that right. I just placed an order for 60 balls of yarn, or 6600 yards for a single project. Yes, I am freaking out a little. This afghan (will be bedspread by the time it's all over) is a huge commitment!

What it boils down to is 30 12" squares.
The book has 24 squares so I'm going to have to find patterns for 6 more squares that are equally as awesome. If anyone has a suggestion of afghan squares you just LOVE please feel free to post them!


What I've been working on this week:
Pumpkins!!

These hats have been so relaxing to make while hanging out in the evenings , watching a movie with my husband. Both of my girls just love them although I guess they look a little silly wearing Pumpkin hats 2 months before Halloween. It's got me thinking about what other fruit and veggie hats I can knit!

On the family front, both of my girls were allergy tested yesterday. The eldest was diagnosed with a mild cat allergy- totally doable. While our youngest, well here is the list:

cats
house dust
cashews
eggs (yolk and white)
dairy
casein
peanuts

There are still more tests to be done in the future.
Yesterday we came home with an epipen and four pages of foods V can't eat. Feeling very overwhelmed I got on Amazon and found a few cookbooks that looked promising. I'll probably order this one first and go from there. I'd love to hear other experiences of having children with allergies. Please forward my blog on to anyone you think might have advice or experiences to share!

waiting for mail

Well, it's official. I've just ordered the Great American Aran Afghan (GAAA) book from Amazon and now it's just a matter of waiting for my mail person to deliver it!

The yarn that's been chosen by my sister and her new husband (the afghan is a wedding gift) is Twilight from KnitPicks.

Stay tuned for the arrival of my new book...