October light

The light is changing 'round here. Shadows lengthening, days shortening. I've been surprised lately by where the light is coming from, and how it  illuminates the house's objects...

We are appreciating every moment of sunshine these days, when her light floods through the windows like this, for we know she'll be covered by rain and clouds soon enough!

a cable hat

For yarn along this week I'm pulling another project from the archives. I wanted to share the finished raglan sweater for my daughter, but she has strong opinions about clothes (and everything else!) and has so far refused to put it on. We'll give it a little more time and see if we can't get a little photo shoot once she warms up to it. In the mean time, there's this...


...my first project with cables. I very regrettably lost my favorite hand-knit hat in the park last spring and needed a replacement quickly. So I found this pattern and used some of the hand-spun yarn I still have from my mom's spinning days. It's course and bulky and you can feel the lanolin in it--perfect for repelling rain and snow. The pattern is a great introduction to cables--I'd definitely recommend it.

I finally finished All Creatures Great and Small, after savoring it chapter by chapter over several weeks. Such perfect bed-time reading and I'm missing it so. (Just put the next book in the series on hold at the library!) But many more books are calling out to be read--right now my shelf is full of various herb references, reflecting my growing interest in all things herbal. I have to say I'm still looking for a favorite volume or author in this area...any suggestions?

Looking forward to more knitting and reading inspiration at Ginny's Yarn Along...

simple hand-made gifts

I wanted to share a couple of very simple sewn gifts I've been working on lately. They're rather common little items, but they can be embellished to one's heart's desire to make them special and unique for each recipient.

The first project is a little lavender eye pillow--a wonderful use for the lavender we harvested and dried from our garden this summer.

It is the very simplest of sewing projects--just two rectangles sewn right sides together, (leaving an open space of a few inches to turn), turn right side out, fill with flax seed and dried lavender flowers (chamomile is nice, too), then sew up the space. These seem to be loved by just about everyone, and especially by those needing a little extra TLC. The lavender is so soothing and bestows the recipient with a very tangible feeling of peace and well-being.

The second project is yet another birthday crown. They are my favorite gift for little friends these days.

Mr. Z certainly enjoyed receiving this one, and looked like quite a superstar wearing it.  I used Nicole's tutorial at Frontier Dreams for my first crown, and have been improvising a bit for each crown since then. 
For this one, I realized I could machine sew the decorations on, which saved a lot of time from the hand sewing I've done previously.

Have you seen the Handmade Holidays inspiration over at Plain and Joyful Living? I'm looking forward to the ideas that will be shared there every Monday, and hope to post a few projects myself, as we head into the holiday season. For now, we are enjoying the arrival of autumn!

{this moment}

Joining in with Soulemama today...
In her words: "{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember."

Fall in the garden: cover crops, clean-up, and garlic planting

We've been busy in the garden the last few weeks, harvesting the last bits, planting fall crops, and cleaning up. We had such a good experience growing garlic for the first time last season that we decided to triple our planting this fall--to one and a half of our 8x4 ft raised beds. We met some wonderful farmers--Matt and Cyndee of Matt-Cyn Farm--at the Corvallis Farmer's market when we visited a few months ago. We tried several of their unusual garlic varieties and enjoyed them so much that we asked if they would sell us some seed garlic. As you can see below, they obliged by sending us a box of beautiful specimens (hand-written note and all), and it feels so good to know exactly where our garlic came from.

Planting garlic is quite easy. My husband experimented with double-digging the bed prior to planting, but this isn't required. He worked in some compost and all-purpose organic fertilizer with the pitch fork, planted individual cloves in rows about 6 inches apart, and covered with 1-2 inches of soil. Then he covered with straw mulch (and the netting we use to keep neighborhood cats from using the bed as a litter box). The garlic will establish root systems this fall, rest through the winter, and grow in the spring until the 4th of July, when we'll harvest it. (See this summer's garlic harvest here).

Yesterday we did a bunch of garden clean-up--composting spent plants, weeding, etc. We let the chickens out for the first time in a long time and they were so happy to scratch around to find slugs and bugs. Now that our remaining edible crops are protected in beds, we can let the chickens roam without worrying so much about damage to our food (they are fond of crimson clover seed, though). They have been molting and looking a bit ragged these days. Hopefully the extra protein from their slug snack will help them along.

And we have a spider city forming in the back corner of the yard by the chicken coop. I counted nine webs in a 5x5 foot area. They're looking quite plump and healthy!

We also sowed cover crop seed this weekend. After we remove the spent summer plants from their beds, we loosen the soil with a pitch fork, broadcast seed, and cover with a little compost if we have it. Our favorite cover crop is crimson clover. I wrote a tribute to it (yes I love it that much) which you can read here if you're so inclined. Cover crops are wonderful because they reduce erosion, prevent weeds, add organic matter, and some even fix nitrogen in the soil.

The bed in the back has garlic covered by straw in one half, and crimson clover seed in the other half. The front bed has daikon radishes, mesclun mix, leeks, and carrots--all crops that thrive in these cool, wet days of autumn. We planted these veggies at the beginning of August, after we had harvested the garlic and carrots previously planted.

And amazingly, bees are still buzzing (though more slowly), and cosmos still blooming!

{this moment}

Joining in with Soulemama today...
In her words: "{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember."

my shalom

 (thank you to Dan for the photos!)

This post has been a long time in the making. I first fell in love with the Shalom cardigan after seeing Soulemama's post last year. I had never knit a sweater, but felt inspired to try, and loved the simple beauty and the fact that there were no seams on this one. (And the pattern is free! Found here). So I jumped in last fall, and finished in the spring. It sat waiting in a drawer through the summer until last week, when the chilly weather prompted me to bring it out to block (and wear!). I didn't make notes as I was knitting, unfortunately, and can't remember exactly what I did. But my gauge was a bit bigger than the pattern called for. This was ok with me, as I wanted a slightly larger size. I also left out the waist decreases. All this led to a fit that's bigger and more boxy than I had hoped for, but I think it falls into the "good enough" category. It is certainly warm and cozy enough for wearing, if not perfectly fitted. I love it's name--Shalom. Invokes a prayer-shawl quality, which suits it well. (Speaking of shawls, I've just been noticing all the beautiful criss-cross ones on the women of Larkrise lately--love them!)

A few specifics--I used Cascade Yarns 128 Chunky and US 10.5 circular needle. Full Ravelry notes here.

Wishing you all a Shalom-filled October! 

For more knitting inspiration, visit yarn-along at Small Things.

farewell tomatoes, and a bit of writing inspiration

I spent some time out in the rain this weekend harvesting the last of the tomatoes and peppers. Most of the remaining fruit was rotting and slug laden, (the chickens had a tasty snack!) but there were a few left to salvage.

There were just enough tomatoes to make a batch for drying.  The dehydrator is running now, filling the house with tomato-ee aroma. By morning, (about 12 hours) they'll be all dried and ready for storage.  They're great for quiche, polenta, and anything that calls for sun-dried tomatoes.

 I also saved a few green tomatoes to ripen inside.

The tomato plants are piled high waiting to be chopped and added to the compost bin.

And inside, we've been inspired by Kathy's post about vision and values and purpose and collaging. I had forgotten all about making collages, and thought cutting up magazines might be a fun mother-daughter project. I bought my daughter some scissors for very little hands, and she loves cutting magazine pages into little bits (with some help and supervision still at this point). I saved the glue and Mod Podge for nap time, though, and made myself a happy little inspirational collage.

When I was a kid, my most frequent answer to the what-do-you-want-to-be-when-you-grow-up question was, "a writer." I wrote daily in a journal for years, but with marriage and motherhood, that habit slipped away. Lately, though, the urge to get words down on paper has been sneaking back, and it seemed worthwhile to listen to that desire and give it a little attention. So I checked out one of my favorite books on writing, Bird by Bird, by Anne Lamott, bought a sketchbook at the 50% off sale at Michael's, and added a personal touch with the cover collage--just like high school and college days. Now I have a blank journal all ready to be filled with dreams and observations, thoughts and ponderings. We'll see if this bit of attention will help to nurture that tiny writing spark into a nice warming fire. And next on the writing book re-read list are Writing Down the Bones, by Natalie Goldberg, and On Writing Well, by William Zinsser.

What about you? Do you have old ambitions you'd like to give a little attention? Have you found inspiration to pursue an old dream?