It’s been far too long since I have tried to revive my blog, and quite a bit has happened. Last summer we spent a lot of out time growing our veggie garden. We also learned a lot about pressure canning, and really trying to get things set up to be able to have our vegetables canned, instead of frozen. One of my concerns was that if a bad storm came through, or something, we could lose a lot of our frozen vegetables. But, canned would be able to just sit there and be fine.

I was also able to keep going with my designs, and managed to release quite a few. Then October hit. My father in law went down hill quickly, and unfortunately passed away at the end of the month. He spent the month on hospice, surrounded by family, and with many visits from friends. It was a very difficult month, but it was beautiful to watch my husband and his siblings bond and get closer to each other as the rallied around their father to take care of him. With his passing, our need to be living where we were was suddenly just not necessary. We had a small property with an HOA, that made it difficult to do anything more than what we were already doing. And we felt the call to expand. There was never going to be a way that we were going to be able to grow what we needed to be self sufficient. Now, that doesn’t mean 100% of every single thing, but as much of the main things that we could. That kicked off the house search.

After months of debating what we wanted, and where we wanted to be, a house popped up on the market that was as perfect as we could get. We wouldn’t have to compromise on the size/quality of the house, nor would we be stuck in another HOA situation. The only compromise I had to make for now was not having the same space for my studio. The house didn’t have a finished basement. We will finish the basement in the next couple years. What it will allow us to do is create a homestead. So we went for it, and in April we moved in. We have already planted 10 apple trees and 16 blueberry bushes. We moved all of our planters from the old house to here. They are still sitting in our barn. It’s not a large barn, but a 4 stall horse barn that was converted from horses to be more of a storage situation. One side is open, which allows parking in three of the bays, and one bay that houses our mower. We don’t park there with our vehicles right now. The planters are shoved in 2 bays and then we have a utility vehicle in the other. There was also a huge paddock that will become our garden area. It’s 100ft by 100ft. Huge!

That has meant some time off from designing as we have been moving and getting this settled here, while also selling the old house. Thankfully that has now sold. We are now just working on getting the garden set up. We have our plans drawn, and will start getting the planters set over the next few months. We also need a huge delivery of dirt. The goal is to be ready to grow in February. We’re really looking forward to having everything set up.

One of the great parts of being in the new house is that we have 30 acres of land with a lot of quiet. And it’s a great place for inspiration. I’m looking forward to being able to get back into designing full time, and embracing my creative side.

And for a look at our new view, here is our front porch, which actually overlooks our main field, as opposed to our driveway. 😀

Wow! How is it March already? We are starting to get the veggie garden going, which will start taking a lot of our mornings soon. So far we have planted Bok Choi and Celery in the main garden, transplanted the strawberries into their new home, planted a ton of seedlings and just direct sowed some lettuce. We have some lettuce out in the main garden that was planted last year that sprouted this spring. hehe So, we’ll have some decent lettuce in a few more weeks. I just discovered that yesterday. The Bok Choy has a pest cover on it now because we have deer and rabbits around that will eat it all. It’s already sprouted, so I wanted to protect it. The metal raised planters are all from Vego. I absolutely love them. The deck planters have pieces in the bottom that not only keep the dirt in place, but also hold water to keep the plants more consistently watered.

In the land of knitting and crochet, I am full into Sock Madness right now. Round 2 should start early next week, so I am taking the opportunity to finish some things. Last night I finished my Finding Your Way Cowl, designed by Lilinette Crochet. It’s a fantastic pattern, and I loved venturing into Mosaic Crochet. She includes both written and charted directions, so it’s a great way to learn mosaic crochet.

I also finished my Yathrib recently, designed by Arabian Knits. This is a gorgeous sweater. I absolutely love it. The pattern is so well written, and I wear this cardigan a ton.

In amongst all the knitting, crocheting and gardening, I have also had some design time. I have two hats that are about to go for testing or editing. First is my Snowflake hat. This one has different decrease charts for each size hat to give a slightly different look to each hat. Just like you would have unique snowflakes, you can get more unique hats. This one will start testing next week, hopefully.

Next is my Butterfly Garden Hat. This one just went to editing, so it’ll be a couple weeks before testing starts. This one has a double layer brim and will be warmer than a lot of my other hats.

I’m also about to get going on some sweaters. I have three that are about to go to an editor, if I can get the patterns squared away. I will start sharing those as they are off to the editor. 😀 I also have a sweater that my mom requested that I’ll be starting today. I just need to get my spreadsheet set up for sizing and things, and then I can get going on that one.

So, things are pretty busy around here. Hopefully this year I will actually keep this blog active. Thanks so much for reading!

Another sale has started! This one is for all my non Ravelry friends. I know that many people still suffer greatly from the website changes on Ravelry, and some people have just never wanted to go back. With that in mind the Fasten Off Yarn A Long (FOYAL) was created, and I was very happy to join along! There are over 90 designers participating this year, and the sale will go on until the end of the day, December 8, 2023. But, apart from the sale there is a Discord channel where everyone talks and plays games until December 31. You can find the link to the Discord channel by going to the website, How To Play, and Platforms.

If you are looking for my sale patterns, you can head over to my shop on Payhip, and if you use the code FO2023 you can get 25% off everything. I decided to list all my patterns for sale this year, so you can stock up now to knit along during the FOYAL or for later. I have to say that there are a lot of amazing patterns for sale in the sale bundles that you can access from the website, though. So, be sure to go dig around a bit, and see what others have offered.

Have fun!!

Now that Thanksgiving has come to an end, I am going full into the Gift A Long crafting. My first project is a crochet scarf called UNsquared Granny Super Scarf. This scarf is a twist on a traditional granny square and is worked in a rectangle. It’s a great project for learning how to crochet, as it has both written directions, as well as charts. I find crochet charts to be a bit confusing, so this is a great way to learn how the symbols work compared to the written directions. It’s helped a lot! It also has very simple stitches.

I also love that it’s not just a great project, but it’s great to work on while watching tv, or while travelling. I chose yarn from my stash that is from Yarn Bee. I picked a greige color, along with a darker grey. It gives a wonderful contrast and some visual interest, while staying neutral. You could very easily use more bold colors for a pop, or alternate with a different color every single round. I highly recommend checking it out!

Remember the Indie Gift A Long sale is going for a few more days, but the fun will continue until the end of December. Head over to the Ravelry group to join in the fun!