Etsy Pattern 50% Off Sale!

Just for fun, I’m having a 50% off sale on my knitting patterns for a little bit – ONLY in my Etsy shop! 

Just enter the coupon code “FWYAY” (without quotes) when checking out. You will receive your patterns within 1-3 business days (generally, however, it happens within a few hours). If you purchase the 10 For Twelve washcloth pattern set, you’ll be receiving a zip file.

I’m not sure how long this sale will run – a couple of days, probably.

There will be a different promotion offered on Ravelry sometime soon, too.

Yep, vague! Like I said, it’s all just for fun.

You can follow this blog if you’d like to keep up with my random pattern sales! I really enjoy doing these and it’s been a while.

 

 

Morning Glory cowl pattern now available on Ravelry!

wow – mental clarity is finally returning.

ages ago I wrote this pattern for a cowl and I donated the pattern to an organization called Shokay – a non-profit that supported Tibetan yak herders and made yarn from the yak hair that they collected. My GOD it’s soft!

Well, a couple of years later and that pattern, and the sample that I knit and sent off to Beijing, disappeared – I did get a “we got it, we LOVE IT!” and then…  nothing.

Ah well! So many people have asked for the pattern that I’ve taken it back, so to speak – it’s been long enough of a wait (uh, YEAH!) – for those on Ravelry, you can find it here. I’ll have it available in my Etsy store shortly as well (I prefer that people buy from Ravelry, however, if at all possible – pattern update notifications are automatic there! I DO love Etsy, but Ravelry is definitely more convenient for pattern sales). I am also having this pattern sized for children and that will be available very soon as well!

Other than that we’re getting settled in here in Mt. Shasta – I am attempting to knit something – ANYTHING – with an “entertain me 24-7 toddler” – reworking my Motorcycle Gloves pattern to fix a MAJOR math discrepancy (had to hire a new tech editor and everything) as well as knitting something for myself – it’s somewhat similar to a design I’d envisioned in my head already, so I’m knitting this as a learning experience – and also, because it’s someone else’s pattern and all I have to do is knit it. There’ve been some late nights watching movies from bed while I count raglan increases, but I have been really enjoying both Malabrigo lace and Hiya Hiya’s “sharps” needles. Hiya Hiya, btw, is a small, family-owned factory in China that produces these needles together with their smalltown US distributor. I love them, even if they do come all the way from China. They have responded to pretty much every single request we knitters have made to them, and they’re a great, inexpensive set of interchangeable needles.

Anyway – that is all… I’ll let the knitters know when the children’s sized Morning Glory cowl pattern is available! Trying to get that out so folks have time to knit ‘em for Christmas.

And also – for Craftsy users, the pattern can be found here.

toddlerhood

so here we are…

we’re wrapping up a visit with grandma, who hasn’t seen my daughter in a year. She’s gone from a baby to a toddler, one who’s demonstrated quite a bit of personality since we arrived – lots of new words, a few tantrums, some potty training (and mishaps), and newfound obsessions (elmo and princesses, none of which i encouraged, both of which were surprises to all of us).

the princess thing appeared in a Marshall’s, when a sparkly little princessy dress appeared on a clothing rack. My daughter went apeshit for it. It was thirteen dollars and I indulged her. It is Halloween, after all, and she also seems to hate the frog costume I found in a thrift store in Mt. Shasta recently.

Mt. Shasta – that’s where we’re headed once we fly out of here on Thursday. Yep, surprises. Our time in Nevada City came to a close last month, also a bit of a surprise, but quite a relief too, actually – our winter plans were somewhat unknown, and the thought of living in a yome for the winter was a bit terrifying. It does get cold there in the Sierra foothills, and the yome, while beautiful, was a small space in which to entertain the two of us.

So, a short trip to Mt. Shasta turned into a weeklong adventure and a beautiful living space falling into our laps. It will be cold there, too – but we’re ready for it. I’ve outfitted us with down and snowboots and we’re really looking forward to being cozy.

And along with toddlerhood has come a little more independence. I’m hoping that it will allow me more time to get back to some creative projects that got left behind in lieu of baby-rearing.

Maybe that princess dress will give her some ideas.

We’re also learning about discipline these days. While my daughter has always been a pretty easy kid, she’s got quite a personality, and a definite will of her own now – and two hotheaded parents she’s probably going to inherit some behavior from. I’m doing my best to stay grounded though I’ll admit it’s sometimes a challenge. Having grandma around for a week has been lovely – I’ve been able to fiddle with some yarn and stuff for the first time in quite a while.

We fly out of here on Thursday. It’s an eight hour saga that will drop us off in Sacramento in the middle of the afternoon. I’m hoping I’ll have enough energy to head to IKEA before finding us a hotel room for the evening, and the following morning we’ll hit up the storage unit in Nevada City to load up a few essentials before a five hour drive to Mt. Shasta. I’ll probably bring our bed in and some toiletries and call it a night. 

God, give me the energy to survive this week!

yes, i know…

not a lot of activity here as of late… i’ve noticed my dishcloth pattern sales have been pretty decent lately – that’s about all anyone knits in the summer besides toys and baby clothes, anyway, right?

knitting? what *is* that, anyway?

i wish i had the time.

what’s going on here? well for starters, this land has turned into a full-on community at the moment as our friends and their baby have joined us here and so now there are six adults and three toddlers living here in beautiful chaos. community can be exhausting tho – there are days when i sort of just wish i could come in and have a cup of tea without seeing other people, but the benefits outweigh the annoyances, generally – and man it sure is nice to have more help in the garden. we’ve added one more mama to the mix, so now there are three of us out there with toddlers attempting to make it happening and harvesting the fruits (and summer squashes) of our labor.

yeah, summer squash. surprisingly, we’re just wallowing in crooknecks over here, and not zucchinis – for the first time since i’ve grown zucchinis, they’re sort of a delicacy. we only have one that produces, and it produces slowly (except for the couple that we missed that of course, were over a foot long). those early crooknecks are doing a number on us tho. they’ve been frozen, handed off, cooked, and…  baked.

i made a gluten-free zucchini bread using crooknecks instead. the only thing i’d do differently is use a little less of the squash, as they’re pretty watery and so i wound up having to work some magic in the oven in order to get it dry enough to make sense (yeah, and most folks are worried about the opposite). and i used honey rather than sugar, threw in some coconut butter for additional sweetness and creaminess, and used Pamela’s Baking Mix because the Grocery Outlet here had it on sale for $1.99 a bag so i stocked up because i’d rather do that than sit there with a buncha powder. i’m not the one for gourmet baking, i just want to make quick treats.

it’s so delicious i had a bite of it before the boys and babies left me with an empty pan to discover this morning. And while i’m not really one for the kitchen, this is a five minute whipper-upper thanks to that Pamela’s baking mix.

that’s the updates for now. we’re getting ready to build a composting toilet and a solar shower here and that’s about the most exciting thing my life has held other than my toddler in ages. trips to the river in this sweltering heat are happening a couple of times a week, too, and my 18 month old daughter is at the stage now where if we don’t watch our mouths, she’ll be cursing like a sailor within weeks. her hair’s also grown at least an inch, long enough to do stupid baby pigtail hairdos in. and we’re definitely doing some of those. it’s our parental payback, ya know, for the tantrums and cleaning up of fecal matter on the regular.

a little more Pinterest…

i’ve been getting into it a little more…  thing is, most of the images i come across these days are on facebook – i hardly visit anything other than facebook, google/gmail and ravelry, but…  

i *have* really started to develop a mild interest in pinterest. mostly i’m posting pics of dream homes (think crazy tent-like structures, earthen building, and treehouses), yarny things (a lot of toys – i’m into busting my yarn stash with knitted toys these days) and some covetousness (Nikon V1, anyone?). Paloma also has her own board for any cool toys we happen to find.

You can find and follow my Pinterest boards here.

We continue to plant here, continue to water relentlessly. The tulsi has started to flower and this leaves me with about an hour, daily, of deflowering (heh) tulsi – which also leaves me with an ounce or two, daily, of fresh tulsi for my tea.

tulsi is a wonderful herb, and i’ll be writing more about it in Sanguine Meander this week. I’m loving writing these letters so much, although I wish there were more feedback from folks – I write no matter what, but I sure do wonder if anyone’s actually reading it!

you’ll also be able to see, soon, a little story with photos about what it’s like to live in a yome over at Offbeat Home - I’ll post when that’s up.

and in the meantime, here’s my favorite pin of the day (apparently it became a favorite of many fairly quickly, lol): it’s a free pattern on Ravelry, too, and if I ever finish knitting this snake for Paloma (i want it really long) I’ll begin on some new things, like one of these fat-butted little guys. Or maybe some fruit finger puppets. At the rate I knit these days, that will be next year, or something – or, perhaps, by the beach this winter. I fully intend on that activity. Books, knitting, and toddler time in the sand (oh yeah, there’s that – Paloma FINALLY started walking – goddess help me!)

planting time

i haven’t touched a piece of yarn in a couple of weeks.

i have, however, put about 100 seedlings in the ground – tulsi, desert chia, melons, tomatoes, basil, peas, beans, corn…  and nicotiana. yes. tobacco. nicotianas are incredible plants, bug traps that bloom at night and scent the air. they are a favorite ally. we are growing some west virginia as well as a couple of native strains from Native Seeds/Search, including Makuchi.

paloma is talking and walking (Frankenbaby!) stiffly and repeating everything I say.

I’m still here, albeit tired and overheated, and I’ve been without a car for nearly a month – and hoping the culmination of those repairs ends this week, as I have never been the biggest fan of being housebound. it has always caused me misery – it nearly killed me when i lived in new mexico, but i’ve learned to deal with it here. there are enough of us at the moment to keep the personality variety in place, enough that i’ve had some personal time when i’ve needed it, too.

i sure would like to knit again tho…

i’ve been talking about bugs a lot on Sanguine Meander – mostly spiders and wasps. They’re here and they’re everywhere, and they are miraculous creatures, building nests and weaving webs during a time when i can’t.

pinterest – where’s my interest?

am i just the most old-fashioned person on the internet these days or what?

i’m trying to grasp pinterest – but i guess i’m just not a visual person, or something. i forget about pinterest until one of my facebook friends starts to follow me. sorry, i know – i am a disappointment.

i assume part of it is that it’s a walk for me to get to the internet. i’ve chosen specifically not to have it in my little round house. i’ve been TRYING to extend the main house network over to the shop, because i’m happy to “go to work”…

but also? i haven’t actually just sat down on got on the internet much other than a few trips to facebook and ravelry. and to think i used to make the internet my living (i almost said it was my “life” – and i suppose, at one point, those were one and then same, but no longer).

the farm is starting to get cleaned up – we’ve got a champ of a worker who doesn’t complain about hours of weedwacking, the quickest way to get the three-foot-high grass turned into mulch before it seeds…

we have a rat in the nursery and he has plowed through most of our food seeds and some of our sprouts – but oh, the herbs, we have so so so many herbs. i mean, how much rama tulsi can one grow? frankly i’d love to see this place covered in it, but we’ll have to figure out ways to get it out of here, too. we can vacuum-pack until the cows come home but if we plant every start we’ve got, there’s no way in hell we’ll ever be able to use all that ourselves…

on the other hand, the local herb collective is excited about getting herbs from us – and although yeah, of course, it’s far cheaper to fill the bulk bin with seed-ridden tulsi from india, we’re going to push the local aspect. ours is 100% certified organic, all paperwork in place, planted and raised with respect and love and concern for the environment, and with a lower carbon footprint.

i’m attempting to make a label as we speak. it will be going on our pots, and on our seed packets. we’ll never be a seed company and have no desire to but along with millions of tulsi seeds we’ll never have a need to plant we’ve got tons of anise hyssop and other medicinal herb seeds we really should share.

paloma’s father is also now working on this farm. it has so far been pretty easy to maneuver the situation, and paloma is so incredibly happy to have him around. she has fun with him, doing the sorts of things i’m often too tired or busy to do after taking care of all her other needs. and in addition to the beauty of this place and spring being upon us, i’m developing such an incredible relationship with women here – something i’ve really wanted for so long.

i value this, and i feel safe in it, and it is truly a blessing.

i should post some photos soon – it’s so beautiful around here and everything’s really going into bloom. i need to develop a relationship with my camera again.