Celtic Cast On

No your eyes are not deceiving you that really is snow! Yes I said snow, and its October 14th…… *sigh*

Sarah posted a few days ago that they got a skift but I did not think the “chance of snow” the weatherman talked about was THIS MUCH!!!

This is what our yard looked like just as the fluffy stuff started to fall….

Amazing huh??? Apparently the trees weren’t prepared for this either, they are all bent over and we even lost one on our trail down back, I had to detour through the pine trees to get around it this morning.

Molly was not impressed with the wet flakes falling last night….

but when she realized the fluffy edible stuff was back to romp around in she was ok with it.

Boston enjoys being outside in any weather but I think he too is a bit partial to the fluffy stuff. He’s just waiting for a snow bank to perch on top of so he can survey his land.

I on the other hand would prefer that my winter jacket buttoned, my snow pants zipped and that I wasn’t currently wearing the winter woolies I would usually be donning in February!! Tadpole will get a shock to the system when he arrives!!

This last week I’ve been quite miserable as I seem to have caught a cold that I really needed to get with just over 2 weeks to my due date. I seem to be getting a bit better but it will be nice when I have some energy back and can breathe through my nose again.

I have WIP’s, FO’s and packages to get caught up on so I best get posting.

Enough already with the SNOW!!!!

At 8 o’clock this morning I was out shovelling snow from the fence, no not the driveway the fence!!! 

We’ve had to dig a trench all the way along the fencing of our property. There is just sooo much snow that it was actually higher than the fence we put up and Boston was able to just walk right out on to the road. Leave it to my little devil to find a way out.

We were blattered with 30cms of snow in a meer 7 hrs in the early hours this morning which easily filled the previous trench we had dug on saturday. This morning it was back to trench digging while Moose plowed out the driveway.

All that work for this little Bohemian trench jumper!!

I did of course have my trusty trench guard on duty to make sure there was no trench jumping while I dug it out again. 

After 3 hours of digging we’re back to a jump free zone only to find out we’re getting another 5-10cms before the day is out.

PLEASE SEND SPRING!!!

January was bitterly cold, wool hats, helmet liners, snowpants, nothing seemed to keep you warm. I had finally accepted the fact that I was going to be cold when I was outside and I’d just have to suck it up and get warm when I came back in.

 I cast my wellies aside in SEPTEMBER because my feet were too cold and I needed my winter boots to keep  my wee tootsies warm. Moose however continued to wear his throughout the winter and  I just assumed his wellies had  winter liners in them and thats why he was still wearing them even though his feet were always cold when he came in. I asked him if he’d like me to make him some winter socks to block out the cold and was pleasantly surprised when he replied that yes he would like a pair.  I thought “man he really must be feeling the cold!” he’s always sweating.

I started knitting the socks and then realized that Moose had been wearing plain old  rubber boots this whole winter, no liners and with only store bought socks on his feet. GOOD GRIEF!!! We immediatley went out and bought WINTER boots, apparently the ones I THOUGHT he was wearing this whole time had started to leak so he through them out .  I  worked solely on his socks, so I could get them on his feet pronto,  no knitters’  household should have cold feet!

The day before our anniversary he asked if the socks were done yet, geez he really did want these things. I was almost to the toe on the second sock so I told him I would have them done sometime the following day.

Pattern: Briggs and Little Heavy Socks

Yarn: Briggs and Little Tuffy

Needles: 3.25mm dpns

Start Date: January 3rd 2009

Finish Date: January 15th 2009

They fit to a T! They are very warm and most of all, HE WEARS THEM!!!

SUCCESS!!!! This goes down in history as the first pair of socks made for and worn by Moose…. maybe someday he’ll actually wear sock yarn socks….. or maybe that’s still wishful thinking!

While knitting these my dad complained about the cold, he works outside in it everyday and wears 2 -3 pairs of socks sooooo I wasn’t about to let that go unnoticed. He tried on one of Moose’s liked them, said he’d wear them so I told him I’d put him on the list.

 Mum and Dad are actually on vacation so I started them in hopes of having them finished by the time they got home. I chose green for his and am off to a great start….. I can foresee winter socks for the whole family in my future!!

The socks were definitely worn during a big ice storm we had in January. There was at least 4 inches of ice on our main road so Moose took that opportunity to go skating.

He actually skated up the driveway and out onto the road, it was crazy!!

 Poor Boss was stuck behind the gate, watching all the action!

We’re gearing up for another storm this afternoon.

Stay warm!

Pardon the unexpected blogging break but I changed  hosts making the blog  down for a bit. The lovely Missa at Knitblog hooked me up. I love my new template, that punch of colour is just what I needed. I think  I’m going to be much happier with this host.

I may not have  been able to blog but I most definitely have been knitting!

Pattern:  Thorpe by Kirsten Kapur

Yarn: Handspun from a local farm

Needles: 5.5mm ’s

Start Date:  January 6th 2009

Finish Date: January 22nd 2009

 The last few weeks have been bitterly cold on The Ridge with temps dipping down to the -40’s with the wind chill. I had a dire need to cast on for some wooley necessities that would make the month of January go by a bit easier. The first project I was in need of was a warm winter hat. Snowshoeing with the dogs has become a daily event and the hats I was wearing  just weren’t keeping out the cold or covering my ears. Thorpe had been in my queue for quite some time and seemed like the perfect fit for what I needed.

The yarn has been in my stash for quite a few years, the only handspun I’ve ever owned. I knit it doubled for extra warmth and used Queensland Kathmandu left over from Moose’s Cobblestone for the trim.  Knitting the hat itself was quite a chore… I didn’t have circs in the right size so the whole thing was knit on dpns, talk about annoying. It didn’t help that I had to start the thing 3 times either! I’d noticed alot of Thorpe’s on Ravelry that were knit in the large size and were loose fitting, I wanted mine to hug my head so I cast on for the small. About half way through I realized it   was wayyy to small so I frogged and started again with the medium. Let me tell you casting on 4 stitches on 4 different needles is no easy feat, I deemed this would be the last time I cast on. The medium just didn’t seem be enough again so before I went any further I put a life line in the last increase for the medium. *had my thinking cap on that day* Once I reached the end of the increases for the large I was still unsure that it would be big enough *top down hats and I aren’t the best of friends* so I increased a few more rows and carried on my merry way. It wasn’t until I had the hat finished and tried it on I realized it was loosing fitting…… just how I DIDN’T want it.

Thank goodness for life lines!!!

I ripped back to the medium life line  added the few increases back up the the large and knit on HOPING this would produce the final Thorpe. This one fit to a T!!

  The result was a warm and snug hat perfect for all our snowshoeing adventures.

Thorpe is a very popular pattern around the blogs right now. If you haven’t knit it your already you should only just make sure you try the large size first

It all started on thursday when we decided to rent a post hole digger to drill some holes at the top of the driveway for some fencing. We had a skift of snow wednesday but we were good, the ground was’t frozen and we still had a while to get the fencing up before winter was really upon us.

This is the post hole digger and let me tell you its every bit as heavy as it looks, if not heavier. Pulling that thing up and down through the dirt…. or in our case ROCKS was no small feat. Dragging the frigger from hole to hole was also a treat!

After much tiresome work and the occasional angry outburst we succeeded in getting all the holes dug and still had time to get a load of sand before it got dark. Load was an understatement, we piled the truck soooo full of sand that we had to drive 40km all the way home because the front of the truck was raised so much and wobbling all over the place. I tried to tell him it was too much but you know what men are like…… nough said!

In order to relieve some of the pressure off the poor truck we unloaded about half of the sand into a pile leaving half on the truck to fill in the holes with. It was too dark to do anything with it that night so we left it…. for two days. At the end of day one the sand was completely frozen…. both the pile AND the sand on the back of the truck grrrrrrrrrrreat!!

 That was yesterday, this morning we woke up to a full blown winter storm…. could this get any better. Its been snowing since late last night and it is now 3 in the afternoon with no sign of it letting up. Big massive snowflakes falling down, piling on top of the foot thats already there.

Needless to say the holes we dug, are nowhere to be seen. At this point i’m just hoping for one sunny day so we can get that fencing up before we have to bunker down for winter. Fingers crossed all our hard work wasn’t for nothing.

Now how about we forget that its snowing madly outside and focus on some knitting k?

Pattern: Mystery Beret by Woolly Wormhead

Yarn: Cascade 220 Heathers

Needles: 4.5mm

Start Date: November 7th 2008

Finish Date: November 13th 2008

This was an enjoyable knit! The cascade blocked out beautifully to show off the wonderful pattern. This beret is alot lighter than my gretel beret. I couldn’t believe how weightless it feels when its on.

Think this one is going to be tucked away as a pressie.

Wow!!! Thank you everyone for the wonderful comments on my hair. Its reassuring to know you all thought my decision was a good one. A few of you are worried i’m going to freeze this winter with no hair and while it did cross my mind that I wouldn’t have my hair to use as a scarf anymore I had a plan.

*Picture taken before the chop!* 

Neckwarmers of course!!

Pattern: Tudora by Cheryl Marling

Start Date: September 25th 2008

Finish Date: September 26th 2008

Yarn: Cascade 220 colour 2452

Needles: US 6 / 4mm straights

I’ve had this neckwarmer in my queue for quite a while now waiting for the right yarn. I just happened to have some yarn left over from another project *haven’t blogged about it yet* and thought I just might be able to squeeze a Tudora out of it. I cast on and wouldnt you know it I ran out with about 10 rows left. Heidi, luckily had made a gorgeous Drops Asymmetrical Jacket out of the same colourway so I messaged her to see if she might have any left overs hanging around that I could steal.

She had a couple of little balls, enough to finish Tudora with a little bit to spare. Thanks Heidi!

I knit pretty much the whole thing while watching a couple of episodes of 24. I cast off on the way into town the next day with mum. I showed her the pattern…. and she wanted one too!!! She’s got great taste what can I say! Pics of Tudora #2 coming soon!

This pattern is perfect for my new hair, its is VERY tall, the front comes up over my chin so no doubt it will get alot of use this winter. No worries folks I WILL be warm!!! There will be more neckwarmers too!!

Pattern: Cashmere Neckwarmer by Kim K.

Start Date: September 1st 2008

Finish Date: September 1st 2008

Yarn: Queensland Kathmandu Aran in Brown

Needles: US 11

This was a quick little knit I polished off while watching my newest obsession 24. I’m nearing the end of the first season and can’t wait to get stuck into the next 6.

Queensland Kathmandu is such a yummy yarn, I had two balls left over from Moose’s Cobblestone so I thought i’d whip up a nice little neckwarmer just in time for fall. The weather here as been rather fall ish with the odd hot day here and there so i’m thinking i’ll be using this soon rather than later.

It’s long enough that I can tuck it into my jacket for a little bit of extra warmth when it gets really cold…… I’m trying not to think about that yet but it will be fastly approaching!

I finished it off with a nice chunky wooden button, delic!!

I have been getting geared up for the cold season, but this week, and for the last few months now I have been sweating my hole off piling wood. We ran out of wood last year so this year we ended up getting 6 cord and it was lucky me who gets to pile it.

Last years process took a LONG time because I was using a small 4 wheeler trailer to cart the wood from the pile, to the basement door and then wheel it inside with the wheelbarrow. Not this year, this year I have the tractor and a large trailer that I am piling as high as I can get it before taking it around back.

I was doing pretty good, the pile was slowly but surely getting smaller with each load but I was really getting sick of seeing that pile of wood everytime I walked out the door so I grabbed Moose on Sunday and we assessed the damage. He figured I had a good 6 trailer loads full left before the pile was finito so a challenge was born.

My challenge was to get it done by the weeks end. If I did two loads a day for 3 days it would be done. Of course things and appointments happen that cause 2 loads not to get done in a day but I still figured I could get it done by the weeks end. Today is Friday and baby I just finished the last load of wood!!!!

I had one load left to do and was determined to get it done today and then I wouldn’t have to look at another wood pile until next year.

Of course it had to be boiling hot out!! The heat factor paired with coveralls, gloves and wellies makes it sweaty work. I did however have my trusty helper.

And….. my not so trusty helper……

Sweet victory was mine when I picked up the last log from the trailer!!!

Those coveralls look hot huh *wink wink*

Challenge complete!!! Done for another year!!!

*you can’t see them but there are two more rows behind that one*