Maine Mitts

Maine Morning Mitts are finished and gifted to my DS girlfriend. The key to this simple pattern is the yarn. This pattern is perfect to show off striped yarn like Noro or the yarn I used Boku by Plymouth Yarn.





One skein of Boku makes one pair of mitts. I used color #1. Bree loves tye dye so I thought this yarn would be perfect. I should mention that I did hand wash the mitts when I was finished to soften them up. Good thing I did. The color bled and needed to be rinsed 4 times. The yarn softened.





I really liked the way the thumb gusset was done. I also learned a few different ways to increase. M1R and M1L. All in all it was a nice, interesting knit.





Bree was really happy with her first mitts. Isn't she just adorable?! I felt kind of weird asking her to model them. My son explained to her why I needed a model and wanted her to see my blog. My family knows about my blog. I also have a few friends that know about my blogging. I can't explain why it felt weird, it just did. Have you ever felt that way? Do your friends and family read your blog? Just curious.





The silver lining in this project is I can finally knit a pair for my DH! He's not the hand knit kind of guy. He doesn't wear sweaters or scarfs. All he will wear is a hat. I cast on for his mitts last night. I am using 100% Alpaca in classic black. I am using the same pattern. He wouldn't go for cables or anything like that. It must be simple.

Second Harvest

It's harvest season in my area. The farmers are out all day and most of the night reaping this years crop. The colors in the fields are amazing. It reminds me of spun gold. I love this time of year. The sound of the combines harvesting across the countryside is so comforting to me. I relax when I hear the hum of the engines.





I'm hoping for a second harvest of my own. I planted some more lettuce and radishes a few weeks ago. I'm planning on baby greens for a Thanksgiving Day salad. Sounds good right? I know what you are thinking because I'm thinking it myself. I'm crazy, nuts, unrealistic so on and so forth. That may be too much to expect. Usually my garden has been put to bed by now. I can't seem to let this gardening year go. I purchased a 60"x50' roll of garden row cover. It should keep plants safe to 24 degrees. Maybe, just maybe I can make this work.





Last night it got down to 28 degrees. Brrrr. I uncovered my tiny little plants carefully. Looks like the garden quilt works. The lettuce is safe and sound.





On the knitting front I started another fingerless glove project. I picked out a very simple pattern to show off this colorful yarn. This is the first time I have knitted with Boku by Plymouth yarns. Hopefully it will soften more when I block it. I'll blog more about it next time. Hopefully I will be finished by then.
On a personal note thank you for all the well wishes for new new position. This is my first week with my new employer. So far so good. I fell very blessed.

Felted Pumpkin Patch

It's that time of the season to pick a few pumpkins. I have a few surprises growing. Want to see?





I have a wide assortment of pretty pumpkins out in the garden. I have a few white pumpkins and some rare potimarron squash.





These miniatures are my favorites. Wool Winder designed one of the cutest felted pumpkin patterns I have ever seen.





Don't you love the way they turned out? My fingers are itching to knit up some more. I have given away a couple of these cuties. I am pondering the thought of an entire Thanksgiving arrangement. I can just see felted pumpkins all over the table!






I used Lambs Pride by Brown Sheep Company in a few different colorways. Orange you glad, prairie goldenrod and orange creamsicle. This pumpkins is orange you glad.





For the stems I used Lambs Pride colorway forest shadows. This was the tiniest little hat I have ever knitted. It's so sweet! It's the perfect cap for the pumpkin.





Here is a closer look at the Malabrigo pumpkins. The color is called Rhodesian. The variegation of the yarn adds a realistic depth to the shape. Give these little cuties a try. I promise the mini's will put a big smile on you face!

Finally Friday

Hmm, can you tell I'm in fall mode? I adore all of the warm, rich colors of this season. I'm working on a few fun knits. I'm just giving you a peek at this project. Some of you may already know what I'm making. As soon as I'm finished I promise to show you the end result. As you can see from my sidebar there is a really cool quilt giveaway going on. Pigtails and Snails is having a contest. Go check it out!




I'm also working on some sewing projects. This is some of the fabric that I picked out. I can't wait to get back into my sewing room. I'll show you more later.





We had our second frost last night. As the sun started to rise and burn off the fog I couldn't resist taking a picture. I covered the basil and peppers. The lettuce and beets didn't mind the frost.






I found the entire scene mesmerizing.





Our colors are almost at peak time. Another few days and the finale of the fall show of color with be here.




On a personal note I have given notice at my current job. It was a very tough decision to make. I'm not a person that likes change. I have been with my current employer for almost 4 years. I will miss them and all the people I have met through the years. I believe God has another plan for me. That plan included a choice of 2 jobs. The one I chose is in my same field. The position will be more challenging. That's just what I need. My family and friends are rejoicing with me. Only the Lord could deliver two opportunities for me in this tough job market. Praise be to God! I give Him all the Glory!

Lake Geneva by Boat

How about a fall boat ride? The weather is perfect. It's 84 degrees and sunny. I promise that on this boat ride you won't get sunburned. On our boat everyone gets nicely bronzed. Today we will relax and enjoy all the colors of fall.





This will probably be the last boat ride for the season. Everyone in my family wants to come along. The two men in my life are sharing the captain's position.





My DD and my DS's girlfriend love to sit where the action is. If you want to sit in the bow of the boat you may get a little wet.





Even little bear loves a great ride on the boat! By the way, you look great in your bikini! Wow, you have lost weight. Your looking 15 years younger!





There are some huge mansions on Lake Geneva. It's so neat to cruise around the lake and dream about living in one of these homes.





I found some info here on the web for this estate. Stone Manor (officially Younglands), the 18,000 sq' magnificent Italianate palace with a 250' veranda and an expansive lawn visible from downtown Lake Geneva. The estate was built in 1900-1901 by Otto Young, a man who made his fortune buying real estate along State Street in Chicago following the great fire of 1871. It was constructed for over $1,000,000 and features such as gold-plated fixtures, a basement bowling alley, and a third floor miniature golf course astounded even the wealthiest resident. The property was a single family home until 1939 when it was presented to the order of St. Anne to be used as an Episcopalian private school for girls. The school was discontinued after only a few years. Later the mansion housed an elegant French restaurant Around the 1980's the mansion and remaining property were purchased for back taxes, reportedly for $74,000. It has recently been restored and converted to 6 condominiums ranging in price up to $1.6 million.




This mansion is my DD's favorite. Richard H. Driehaus Estate is awesome! It sits on 36 acres. I can't even imagine what the price of this estate would be.





I don't even think that I could afford this little shack! Ha Ha!




You can take a romantic steam boat ride on the Lady of the Lake. I hope you enjoyed this little tour of Lake Geneva by boat. Please make sure to get outdoors to savor the fall season!

Fabulous Fetching

It's been a busy week. I didn't have a lot of time to knit. I did finish Fetching. What an easy pattern. In my opinion it's a classic glove design. The cables are divine and the picot bind off is so cute.





Here are the details:

Pattern: Fetching published on Knitty.com

Needle size: 6

Yarn: Alpaca with a Twist- Baby Alpaca- one skein 110 yards.

Color: 5004 it's the color of the cornfields in my area right now.






This is all the yarn I had left. It's the perfect one skein project. I am planning on knitting more for gifts. Next time I will bind of the traditional way just to see how it looks.





The thumb method used was very different than any design I have ever attempted. Basically you knit the thumb onto waste yarn. When you are finished with the glove you pull out the waste yarn and pick up the stitches. The first time I pulled out the waste yarn I was a bit concerned that I would loose my stitches. I found a great tutorial on this blog that really helped.





I leave you with this photo of the sunset that greeted me when I arrived home last night. I am always in awe of the works of the Lord. I know a lot of people are very concerned with our economy myself included. As I watched the beautiful sunset this scripture came to mind:

NASB:Isaiah{41:10}

Do not fear, for I am with you;
Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you, surely I will help you,
Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.

The Results

We have some winners here! I was very technical about the picks as you can tell. I wrote each name on a slip of paper and put the names in my Amanda hat. I then chose 4 names. Here are the winners.

Quiltersal

whitestone

Debbie

joyfulsister

I wanted to give a prize to the person that has left me the most comments. Tracy at Woolwinder has left me 68 comments. Thank you Tracy!

I still couldn't stop drawing names. I have some pretty stitch markers and such to give away. The runners up are:

Ariel

Mari

Karrin

Susan


Congratulations to all of the winners! I want to thank everyone for entering. I also want to say a big thank you for reading my blog and taking the time to leave me a comment. Thank you all for inspiring me with your projects!
Please e-mail me at:

cinnamongirl93@gmail.com so I can get all the winners their prizes.

Have a wonderful day!!!!