Pete's Greens Prize sweater at the new barn--construction site.

Woo Hoo! It's done, knitting, photography and everything.

First of all, I want to send a big thank you to Susan and Jenny at Juniper Moon Farm, who made this possible. The giveaway/fund-raiser they put together raised over $11,000.00 to help rebuild the barn. I am so moved when I think about it.

This seemed so far away back in January when I learned about the fire at Pete's Greens. Construction has begun on the barn, and you can read about it on the farm blog, here. It is definitely mud season. My husband, also a Pete, tried to get photos last week, when construction was really just beginning, but it was just too muddy and he and the three older kids had not brought their mudboots. Don't worry--they made sure to keep the sweater in its plastic bag until absolutely necessary!

They drive right by Pete's every week on their way to and from their violin and piano lessons, so he gave it a try again this Thursday, and they brought their boots. They had to walk a quarter mile down to the barn site, and really there's not much to see besides mud, but the kids are standing next to the walls that have already been built. In fact the wall you see is a 30" thick wall for a freezer, if I understand correctly from the blog. Fintan's mud boot got stuck in the mud, and his foot came right out, so that he fell down--he doesn't look too upset about it.

This has been such a lovely experience for me.

Gavyn's Sweater

Here's the little sweater I made for Gavyn. He likes it, but doesn't really want to wear it. It was a fun quick knit, and marks the fifth of five family sweaters this year. Mine is next, and I've already started swatching.
Isn't this the cutest little piece of embroidery? Sophia did it yesterday afternoon. She amazes me. She's been doing tiny little cross-stitch pieces all week, and then just whipped this out. I love it.

Hey Teach

I can't believe I waited so long to post this photo. I finished Hey Teach on March 12, and here it is. That's about all for now. I'm still working like crazy to finish my mammoth editing project and beginning three more all to be finished in the next two weeks, so I have not much time for blogging.

Another Snow Day Blog Post

So what does one do on a snow day? You know, I work at home, so I don't really get snow days, but today was so very snowy, and it was our youngest's birthday--he's four! So I took the day off, and let my husband have the day off from childcare. He did some work on the third volume of the book I'm editing, and I did a lot of stuff.
1. heat up Chinese food for breakfast. That was a surprise and a hit.
2. make spicy chicken broth for myself. I am determined to beat the virus that downed my family for nearly three weeks. So far so good.
3. pin out the fronts and back of "Hey Teach." I wove in the ends last night and gave them a very long bath.
4. make tomato sauce
5. make meatballs to cook in the tomato sauce all day. Spaghetti and meatballs for the birthday dinner.
6. decide that I need to make jam for a filling for the cake my daughter is making for the birthday.
7. make said jam
8. make lunch, including warmed strawberries from the freezer. The birthday boy loves berries.
9. finish the sleeve caps on "Hey Teach." I knit the beginnings of the sleeves last night, so just had the shaping to do. Then I gave them a bath, and they are drying on the blocking mats too.
10. start Gavyn's sweater. It is his birthday after all. I made it about five inches so far. There's something so rewarding about quick easy knitting.
11. make dinner. Spaghetti and meatballs, with edamame from our garden--so delicious. and more of the strawberries. This dinner was so fun--Gavyn enjoyed every single bite, and was so unconcerned about the cake. And then while eating the cake he was so unconcerned about the presents. He just enjoyed eating.
12. eat cake. even though I don't eat wheat much anymore, this particular meal had to be an exception.
13. watch Gavyn open and share his gifts--especially the Legos. All four kids playing relatively peacefully together--Gavyn using the lego catapult Sophia built to shoot beans all over the kitchen. He was delighted.
14. wash the dishes for the sixth time today (too mundane to include elsewhere in the list)
15. stories and songs and serious talk with kids
16. decide I am not going to spoil this snow day by working tonight. And decide that I'm not up for finishing a sweater tonight. Hey Teach can wait.
17. post here.

Not too bad. Here are the photos, which should help explain why I felt entitled to such a perfectly lovely day.



Hey Teach ready for a bath.

Sleeve caps ready for a bath.

Okay, see how much snow is in our doorway? And it kept on snowing! That's about five feet of snow right there.
Gavyn told my husband that opening his mouth is smiling for the camera.

So Gavyn and Fintan are standing where Pete has been shoveling in our driveway. See the mailbox? No? It's completely buried.

Pete's planning to shovel the whole thing by hand. I don't really plan to help, to tell the truth. It's not only cold, it's windy. Hence the huge snowdrifts.
Oh, yes, I took a photo of these socks that I finished up two days ago. I started them in October or something like that, knit about three inches on the first one and then put it away. I picked them up last week after I finished Fintan's gold sweater. I always try to have mindless knitting around when I'm watching the kids. Gavyn's sweater is taking up that role now.
Hey Teach blocking.

Did I mention we had some snow here?

What looks like a horizon line is actually the top of the snow in our driveway. It's only about 18 inches right where the garage door opens, but it's about five feet where the van should be driving in and out of the driveway.

Where's the van? I'll spare you.

One done, another begun

One begun: Hey Teach, cast on 24 February. I've completed the first row of the lace pattern.this is really nice yarn.

One done: Round yoke sweater. Done, and it's big, so Fintan can wear it for a while. The yarn just glows. Such a lovely color.
An editor's best friend.

I'm not sure how the knitting is getting done, but worsted weight is good for production. Fintan's sweater was knit when I drank my coffee in the morning and after dinner. Hey Teach is in progress in the very late hours after work, if I can stay up, and is accompanied by a nice peaty scotch. yum. I was hoping to get a short reprieve from kid knitting, but Gavyn asked about his sweater this morning. "You said you were going to make me one." He's even stopped saying it would be rainbow colored, I guess he knows that since blue is what I have, blue is what he'll get. He's angling for green on his next sweater.

My new computer has such a huge screen I have had to raise my seating and keyboard arrangement to save my eyes. The new arrangement is good for my flexibility, but a bit hard on the knees for now--it's basically a raised platform with pillows for added height. I can work on my posture, but it is tough both reading and trying to be conscious of one's posture for so many hours each day. My Webster's 3rd International is filling in as a keyboard holder for this project. Hopefully I won't need for its normal use in the immediate future.