Of Sticks and Strings. . .

I made a hat!

Yes, today I felt like knitting so I found some yarn from our sheep, beautiful grey yarn-- I like grey! I have started many knitting projects and have not finished them. I have finished a scarf before. I have a hard time following knitting patterns I know some of the abbreviations but not all of them. If a pattern said to do this:

Row 1: *k1, p2, sl 1, k1, rept from * to last stitch, k1.

I could do that easy. But when they get like this:

Head
CO 6 stitches. Distribute among 3 needles (you can use 4 needles if you prefer, once you have enough stitches) and join for knitting in the round. PM.
Round 1: K all sts.
Round 2: Kfb into each st. (12 sts)
Round 3: K all sts.
Round 4: Kfb, k1, kfb, k1, kfb, kfb, k1, kfb, k1, kfb, k2 (18 sts)
Round 5: K all sts.
Round 6: *Kfb, k2*, rep 5 times (24 sts)
Round 7: K all sts.
Round 8: Kfb, k3, kfb, k3, kfb, k4, kfb, k3, kfb, k3, kfb, k2 (30 sts)
Round 9: K all sts.
Round 10: Kfb, k4, kfb, k4, kfb, k6, kfb, k4, kfb, k4, kfb, k2 (36 sts)
Round 11: K all sts.
Round 12: Kfb, k5, kfb, k5, kfb, k8, kfb, k5, kfb, k5, kfb, k2 (42 sts)
Rounds 13-17: K all sts.
Round 18: ssk, k5, ssk, k5, ssk, k8, k2tog, k5, k2tog, k5, k2tog, k2 (36 sts)
Round 19: K all sts.
Round 20: ssk, k4, ssk, k4, ssk, k6, k2tog, k4, k2tog, k4, k2tog, k2 (30 sts)
Round 21: K all sts.
Round 22: ssk, k3, ssk, k3, ssk, k4, k2tog, k3, k2tog, k3, k2tog, k2 (24 sts)
Round 23: K all sts.
Round 24: *ssk, k2*, rep 2 times; *k2tog, k2*, rep 2 times (18 sts)
Round 25: K all sts.
Now’s the time to embroider the eyes, while there’s still room to move your fingers around inside the head. I used satin-stitch rectangles for the eyes, but feel free to make the eyes another way if you wish (beads or buttons would work if you’re not concerned about a choking hazard). If you would rather wait to place the eyes until the ant is completed and you’re certain where they need to go, the eyes can easily enough be done at the very end.
Now, stuff the head so it is firm but still squeezable.
Round 26: ssk, k1, ssk, k1, ssk, k2tog, k1, k2tog, k1, k2tog, k2 (12 sts)
Round 27: K all sts.

I get all boooggggglllleeedddd. (by the way if you understand the above and do what it says you should get an ant. At least to my understanding!!3)

So, I'm betta off just knitting on my own. No pattern.

That's what I did! I cast on in a round to my best understanding of how. It was not perfect but it worked! I knit and knit all day determined NOT to give up. I totally surprised everyone at the end of the day with A HAT! That no, did not turn out exactly like I thought it would but it is fine! Mama did not know that I was making it at all- I kept it a surprise :) She was the most surprised. Nathanael goes "You finished it?" "Yes, I did."

Now I'm sure you would like pictures of my hat?

It kind of fits like a beanie on me, and I think it would look better on a child.

Now, you need to tell me what YOU think of it!

Speaking of knitting I just found a site a couple minutes ago that seems like a nice site!

Here is think link:

www.knittingpatterncentral.com

GIveaway :)

Dear Mrs. Gretchen over at Fashinably Modest Patterns is having a giveaway- and a wonderful one at that! Check it out!!!

Yesterday & Today

Yesterday first...

When we got home, Mama had all of us children except David make dinner.

Grace and Enoch made Quesadillas in the farmhouse kitchen and Nathanael and I made Latkes with Avocado Sauce in the Kitchen. It was alot of fun. We had them with new potatoes, the first peas of the year, collard greens, cilantro, limes to go on the cilantro and coleslaw.

Me and Nathanael being funny. . . in case you don't know, we are sort of the "funny ones" of the family. I think every family has at least one "funny one" (if you know what I mean) :D

Cooking

Now, we will run up the path to the house. . .

we find,

Grace and Enoch!

Mmmm...!

And Mama,

making coleslaw!

The finished Latkes (Nathanael did the garnish on this one)

Avocado Sauce (I did the garnish on this one)

The Quesadillas

The Peas

The New Potatoes

After dinner (which was SO good :) we had s'mores made with HUGE marshmallows!

Mmm!

I know this is blurry, but I think it looks kind of neat :)

Roasting

Eating

Roasting

Eating

Roasting

Now, this is how we like to make s'mores taught to us by our friends (see their daughter's blog here)

Screw one cracker onto the stick followed by the marshmallow(s). Take the other half of cracker and put it on a log or like we do, a brick that is near the hot coals. Put your chocolate on the cracker and begin to roast your marshmallow.

Then, slide both crackers together making a s'more.

Now you eat it!

Then we watched a movie, prayed and went to bed.

Today, was very wet and rainy. Grace and I did kitchen work and then we sang and played guitar and fiddle/violin for a couple hours or so. We would switch instruments off and on but Grace played the violin and I played the guitar for most of the songs. It was fun.

After that, we made dinner together. Lentils, poached eggs, bread, cilantro (with limes!!), lettuce, and salsa. Mmm! I just really like food like that!

Now I need to go and tidy up the kitchen, back some cookie dough I mixed up, and let my brother do a post on his blog.

Before I go though, I would like to share this picture of me happy :D! Didn't I tell you I like running in the rain and that it makes me happy, in just my last post? I sure do!

Blog Parade. . .

Rebecca Jane over at Sewing in the Past is having a blog parade which I joined. . .

What I have to do is, list 10 top things that make me hApPy!

1. My nephews

2. Laughter

3. Music. God glorifying music, especially Celtic!

*

4. Playing the piano

*

5. Our new dog, Teasel :)

6. When my friend Haley and I have tea together. . .

we dress up proper! This is how Haley looked the last time I saw her in person. We live many miles apart now but I hope I can see her soon! Here is a recent picture of one of my dearest friends. I have known her since she was five.

*

7. Working with my family in the kitchen!!!

8. Getting letters in the mail

9. Running in the rain

*

10. God makes me HAPPY!

all the images are my own except the ones with a * next to it. Those ones are from google images with the exception of the second picture of Haley.

I hope to do a post about our day sometime-- maybe tomorrow!

A Praise Report!

My Grandpa came home today! Daddy talked to him on the phone yesterday and he seems to be doing well. Thank you all for praying!

I did do a post here also. . .

I was Awarded

It's been a while since I have done any awards or tags :)

I was awarded by Sveta.

Here's the rules for the award:

1. Thank the person that awarded you
Thank you Sveta!!
2. Share 10 things about yourself

1. I slept with Nameless last night. In the early morning I wondered what she was chewing on. I looked, and she was cleaning her nails.

2. I shop craigslist and keep up with the ads by at least checking them once a day.

3. I don't like electricity and wish we lived without it. Yes, even living without blogging would be okay! But since we have it, I use it! :P

4. I would really like a fiddle ( I think I write this on almost every tag I do!)

5. I collect stamps (SEND ME SOME!! I would love it haha ;)

6. I love making my friends laugh just because I love laughing with them. Do you know how I make them laugh? I just laugh. And I laugh my biggest laugh-- that laugh makes them laugh, it makes me laugh and then we all laugh. I love laughing! {hahahahaha}

7. I have always wanted a pittbull. My family did not like pittbulls. I found a mutt on craigslist and the people thought she might have pitt in her. We met the dog and I knew she had quite a bit (like 90%) pitt in her. We all fell in love with the little cutie and now- ta da! We have a pittbull!

8. I feel sorry for people who don't like or have never tried mold ripened cheeses.

9. I made a video of myself yesterday that cracks us up every time we see it. It's pretty stupid really, but just funny- especially when you speed it up and/or play it backward. You won't see it posted here. My nephew thought it was hilarious but he laughs at almost anything--- something in common with a certain Auntie...

10. I hope our friend go camping soon so we can visit them at their site and go kayaking, canoeing and boating!

Pass the award along to 10 other bloggers who you have recently discovered and who you think are fantastic!

Let's see, I have new followers since my giveaway but have not checked out all their blogs yet!

So, I'm awarding...

Desiree

Jess and Rachel

and the next 8 of my followers who comment.

4. Contact the other bloggers you've picked and let them know about the award.

Bless The Lord

Bless the Lord

Laura Story

You give and take away for my good.

For who am I to say what I need?

For You alone see the hidden parts of me

that need to be stripped away.



And as You begin to refine,

I’m learning to let go and rely

on One who walks with me, as hard as it may be.

You’re teaching me all the while to say:

Bless the Lord, O my soul.

All that’s in me bless Your name,

Forget not Your power un- told,

not Your glory or Your fame.

For You came to heal the broken,

to redeem and make me whole.

Bless the Lord, O my soul.

This is a song I heard on the radio today when I was washing a bunch of dishes in the Kitchen.

I thought I'd post the lyrics here so the rest of you could be blessed by them as well.

Here is a video I took of the potter who was at the Dairy Festival. I uploaded it on Saturday and thought I'd share it now. It is such a beautiful picture of the way God makes us into something beautiful and useful for Him!!

And now one more thing,

Please go here to my sister's blog to see if you can help us out in name ideas for our new dog!

A Winner was PICKED!

A basket full of 423 entires- and one out of all those is the winner!

I used some extra paper that I had to write all the entires on and a couple of the sheets had some writing on the back. As I was mixing up the entries, this one came to the top and caught my eye:

Isn't that funny?

So that's what we did. We drew a name. . . I held the basket up above Daddy's head and he picked out the winner!

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And the winner is

~DESIREE~!!!

Congratulations Desiree! Please email me here:

nanniedoons{at}gmail{dot}com

and we will go from there!

Thanks to all of you who entered! You made this fun for everyone!