April...drought...brings new projects!

We need rain! It has been so long since we've had a good drenching rain here, which is not at all normal for this time of year for Missouri. We have 275 gal IBC totes to collect rain water, and they have barely been half-full since we hooked them up in February. It only takes an inch or two of rain to fill them, so we are really hurting for some moisture around here. A lot of my "free" time has been tending to the plants that we've been trying to start, planning the garden for this summer, planting perennials, weeding, and watering what we've already got. I love perennials! I love watching them burst through the soil, seeing the first signs of life for the year. Many plants (like creeping phlox) appear dead during the winter but just when I think it's not going to come back, every inch of it turns green, and then lilac with the beautiful flowers that last for a couple of weeks. It is truly magnificent to see it in full bloom. Even though I've been very busy with the garden, I have managed to find time to complete some projects. I've got a pair of socks that are just about off the needles that I'll showcase next time, but I've got some fun neck jewelry for this month!

I finally finished my silk woven cowl! I've had this on the loom for a couple of months and watched a friend finish two projects in the time it took me to weave one, but I'm very pleased with how it turned out. I hem-stitched it on the loom on both ends, as well as zig-zag stitching with my sewing machine. Then I cut off the fringe, folded it over twice to bury the ends, and sewed both ends together. I don't love how that turned out, but until I get my sewing machine out again, it'll stay like that. I love that I can double it over, and the silk lays really nicely and it's not too bulky.

Next up is this gorgeous shawl that has been sitting in a bag for over two years. I had over 50 ends to weave in because of all the color changes, but it was so worth it! I LOVE these colors together!! The pattern was so much fun to knit, I enjoyed all the different sections. It was like knitting a sampler. The pattern is The Knights Who Say Knit on Ravelry and it was a mystery knit-a-long (MKAL). At the time, I was participating in 4 KAL's, and I really enjoyed each of them. I still have one shawl that needs ends woven and blocked, and the other is a little gnome that isn't quite finished yet. Those will hopefully be done by the end of May. The other KAL was a sweater, and it's going to be the last to be finished.

My little L'aig was trying to finger-knit a scarf over a long weekend using Bernat Blanket Alize. He does a row here and there, but isn't committed to it yet. I bought yarn for all 3 boys but he's the only one that seems interested so far.

My new knitting bestie, Sharon, is so crafty! She taught me how to sew these super-cute flat-bottomed drawstring bags, so I bought fabric for all the kids and my family for Christmas. She also taught me to use my needle-punch to finish this kit I bought myself for my birthday last year. I enjoy the craft, although I think I still need some practice. It's fun and a great way to use up scrap yarns! I helped her figure out how to warp her loom, so we are happy to share with each other.

Here are March's and April's homeless sets and potholder/dishcloths gift sets. Since we were gone at the beginning of March, this was practically all I worked on from the time we got home until mid-April. I was so ready to do anything else after 4 weeks of these things! I got to work on my socks that I mentioned and finish a couple of other WIP's at the end of April and I was thrilled before starting on May's sets. I'm about 3/4 of the way finished with May's Christmas gifts.

This was another WIP I started on the cruise and finished in April. I used yarn I bought in Colorado Springs and crocheted this beautiful reversible cowl. It's very warm and a little stiff. I love how the colors look together.

Last, but not least, is this adorable little purple guy my son bought on vacation. He asked me to finish it within a couple of days after arriving home, but it's amigurumi, and it hurt my hands. I was finally able to finish it about a month later, once I figured out how to do the finishing. I don't mind making all the tiny pieces, it's the sewing and finishing that either makes or breaks a cute stuffie. I think this one turned out pretty precious. So that's been the last month and change! Hopefully next month I'll have a pair of socks, a shawl, a gnome, and maybe even a blocked cardigan to showcase. I don't really know what I'm going to be knitting in May, but I would like to warp my loom with some worsted acrylic, and making some very soft scarves with Homespun yarn. I need to re-sew my woven cowl and start cutting out bags for Christmas. We have a trip at the end of June, so I'll be starting another "vacation" project then, so I might just work on one of my blankets for May. Not that I want to be covered in wool all summer, but those are the next big things I need to complete to work through all my WIP's this year. I do have a colorwork scarf I can knit if I get tired of that, as well as a sock monkey and some other stuffie ideas. I might even make another stegosaurus in a bigger yarn for each of the big boys. I also bought supplies to make my own lye soap, cheesemaking, drop-spindle spinning, and natural dying. I need to try my hand at those before my busy fall kicks in. We'll see how I feel after this heat wave!

Back in the swing of things...

We made it through the Bermuda Triangle and home again! It was a lovely trip, and we enjoyed it so much, we've booked another cruise for next year! We didn't get to take all of our children, and weren't planning to take any of them, but we couldn't find someone to watch our littlest for 11 days, so he got to go with us.

Our shipmates

Beach knitting!

Sunset on Sunset Cove, Key Largo

I was able to take 4 projects on our trip, and ended up working on all of them at some point, but I finished one that has been in the works for 2 years. It was a MKAL from 2021 that got too hard when I got to the lace, so I put it in a bag and stuffed it in the closet. Since I'm trying to finish my WIP's this year, I pulled it out and got to work. I finally finished it the last night of our cruise and blocked it when I got home.

Loving the Shetland lace sections!

Beads are so much fun!

Long wingspan

I love how the lace turned out! I had to make an Excel chart of the repeats to finish it, and counted after every. single. row. It was tedious but I really like it.

I also finished a set of cotton dishcloths and pot holders in February. The rest of the month I spent working on the shawl. They are Chiefs' colors and my family are big Chiefs' fans, so I already know where they're going.

February's Christmas gifts

Up next are some precious little hearts I made with leftover yarn for Valentine's Day. We didn't do anything special for our kids or each other, since we were planning our cruise, but my little Blessing got me at bedtime that night. I was putting him to bed and he asked if we were going to go out and get something for them while they were sleeping. He said, “Not candy, but a card or something.” My heart broke and I said there would be something for him when he woke up.

When your sweet little snaggle-toothed baby flat out asks you for a valentine, of course you stay up two hours past your bedtime crocheting him and his brothers something!!

For my sweet valentines

While we were in Florida, I found a GREAT yarn shop that I wish was in my town. I was looking for something local. I had already ordered sock yarn from String Theory Colorworks that was amazing, and she gave me the best customer service experience! I thought it would be fun to find something from Miami and we had some time to kill before our AirBnB was available, so we went to Sheep Thrills. I found this awesome yarn from Circulo there and bought 4 skeins of it and had it hand-crocheted up the first night we got home. I'm keeping my WIP's in it in the living room. My little shipmate also picked out a cute stegosaurus amigurumi kit that I've been working on since we got home. 

Circulo Jumbo XL

I also had another pair of the Candyman socks on my needles. I'm ready to do the heels on them but haven't had a lot of time to work on them since we got home. I also took a hat to start with some yarn I got in Vicksburg last summer, and some yarns I got in Colorado Springs a couple of summers ago and started a crocheted cowl. I finished the hat but don't have the pom-pom on it yet, so I don't have any photos of it. I am about halfway done with the cowl. 

Other than these things, I've been working on my homeless sets for March and April, and I have finished March's Christmas gifts and started April's. I also have a cowl on my loom that I've been weaving on occasionally. Oh, and my new knitting best friend showed me how to sew project bags, so I've got one of those I need to photograph. I'm making them for all the kids for Christmas. 

Silk Ella Rae yarn from our Arkansas trip last fall

It is garden season and along with a new cruise to plan for, we bought a shed for the backyard. It should be installed by the end of April, so we'll be filling it with garden supplies and yard equipment. We'll be cleaning out our sunroom and garage, so I might not have as much time to craft this month. Also, we'll be planting annuals and our veggies. The daffodils and hyacinths waited until we just got home to bloom, so I'll leave you with some sunny flowers!

Let's see if we can make a habit out of this...

 Two, TWO MONTHS in a row!! Woo-hoo! I won't do that every time, but I'm proud of myself for getting to do something that I planned. 

I tried to take photos of everything I finished in January, so here is a "photo drop."

Snowflake ornaments I added to Christmas gifts this year

Little people and the hats and fingerless mittens I made for Christmas

50 curly-q "vines" I made starting in November for VBS at church

Headphone covers my husband asked for two years ago...

My newest skill! Weaving on a rigid heddle loom

Slippers my brother asked for on Christmas to replace his that wore out

Leftover yarn from his scarf that I knit into a simple ribbed hat

Still loving his cat after all these years!

So some of the projects pictured were actually from 2022, but they didn't make the cut last month. I'm amazed that my little guy still carts his beloved "Bobo" around every day and even though she's been repaired more than once, she goes everywhere he goes.

I also made my first weaving project! Warping the loom took quite a while, especially since I had to keep checking the instructions, but the project turned out wonderfully and my hubby loves wearing it already. I realized that it is much nicer to have vertical stripes rather than horizontal because there are far less ends to weave in when it is complete. My in-laws have a couple of projects requested that will be more "tartan" like this plaid, but I think I'll try to keep the stripes in the warp otherwise. I've already got a cowl warped for this month, and I have a friend that is learning to weave along with me. 

My first finished weaving!

I was able to get all the ends woven in on the fingerless mitts and cowls for the homeless, and dropped them off at the shelter this week, along with a hot meal. It was so cold during those few days, so I just took them all, instead of waiting until the end of this year. I should have 11 more sets by the end of 2023. I am halfway through the stash of red yarn I purchased for this endeavor, so hopefully that will make a huge dent in that.

20 crocheted hats, 13 pairs of fingerless mitts and 5 cowls for homeless in our town

I bought a huge stash of cotton yarn for gifts for this year. It has been a few years since I made dish cloths for family and they wear out, and I'm making matching pot holders to go with them. These will be gifts for some of our neighbors and church friends as well as family. I am able to get two sets out of each color set (2 solid and 2 variegated skeins), so 2 gifts completed each month! These are January's:

4 potholders, 5 dish cloths for gifts for Christmas

I also branched out and tried my hand at focaccia yesterday in addition to my rustic sourdough loaf. We're having it with dinner tonight, and it smells amazing with all the herbs and olive oil drizzled over top. We also have some seedlings that need attention, but we're trying to get onions, broccoli, cauliflower, artichokes, asparagus, and indigo for my natural dyeing started indoors this winter. Things are busy around here but we do have some time for fun and games too. I've been teaching the boys how to play solitaire so soon we will be able to play Nertz and I can whip them ;-)

Christmas presents and sandwich loaves of sourdough

I'll be on a cruise this time next month, so I might not have a chance to post, but I should have some great photos for April! I can't decide what to take for knitting on the plane, if they'll even let me. I might have to take a book! Ha! Until next time...