New names and a revelation (I'm boringgggggg)

Windy Hill Knits......
After two years, I thought I'd start anew with the name we've claimed for our homestead. It's a fitting name, Windy Hill. Sometimes we love our breeze, say in the summer, when it's 110 degrees and we think we might melt. Other times, we hate it, say in the winter, when it's 10 degrees and our nostrils freeze. Oh, our house. The wind has ripped off so much siding, it's pathetic. (Hate the wind then.) We have a leaky window, and no matter how much caulk we fill it with, still seams to leak like a sieve when the rain (what rain? we're in the middle of a hideous drought!) blows off the porch roof, inbetween the siding and the window and down into our living room. The roof line is starting to look a bit bowed. We've talked about adding on, moving the front door location, remodeling the kitchen and bath and switching their locations. None of it will happen. Most likely. I'm not expecting it anyway.
Last summer, I started working as the assistant secretary at the high school. Our high school. It was weird at first, since some teachers from our time are still there. But, I like it. I feel as though I might be making, not a difference or an impression, nothing that lofty, but a positive spot in all those kids lives. Hopefully. We've made some changes to the office. It looks great in there, with new paint and a furniture move. It was time. It's looked the same for about 25 years atleast. I've liked the time off this summer. Being on the same basic schedule as my kids has been wonderful! And two months in the summer has been a dream. Going back on the 8th. It's gone by too fast. Haven't done anything fun this summer. Thought we'd have a mini-vacation at least, but we had to fix the AC and the sump pump needed a new motor. And the Yukon needs new tires. The list is endless. We're going to try to go to Wildlife Prairie Park in Peoria next weekend. My last weekend.

I don't know how suited to blogging my mind really is. I never really kept a diary or anything as a kid. And there's always a little person asking me about something or talking incessantly about a particular topic.

I've been knitting a lot. Can't remember the last time I picked up a crochet hook. easier to find patterns I guess. I hope I can get this cabled sweater done in time. It's a beautiful dark red wool, and I don't wear red nearly as much as I should. My coloring is suited to red, but my personality is not. We'll see how it looks when I'm done.

I guess that's all for now.

I'm Baaaaaaaaack

Oh my goodness, it's been soooooooo long. TWO YEARS!!!! Let's see what's happened....
I've gotten the hang of knitting. I've made mittens, stuffed animals, baby clothes, hats, a blanket for charity, a top for myself, socks and a shawl. Right now, I have a cabled hoodie on the needles for myself.
I work at the local high school as a secretary.  Lots going on there. Nearly time to go back to school, too.
I'm sewing curtains for Lorenne's room. All she had was sheers so I'm using those and some cute aqua colored fabric to fashion some new ones.
Lorenne will be in junior high this year. :( And Kellen will be in first. :( My tiny babies are getting big and it's super sad.
We started going to church again last year. Josh got baptized and it was AWESOME!! We're growing in Christ more every day.
I'll have to fill in more as I have time. Can't believe I even remembered the password to get in here. LOL!!

Lately.....

I've got a few things on hook and sticks. On Sticks: A scarf for a friend's birthday that I thought was later this month. I found out it was at the end of last month. (CRAP) On hook: A granny ripple afghan in scrappy leftover yarn in a range of colors for ourselves. And a pretty little granny square baby blanket in dusty lavendar, cream, and brown with a matching cap for a friend's baby girl due in two months. It's been lots of fun.
Summer has been hot and humid. But I have loved loved loved staying at home with my kids. We've been trying to come up with some ideas that could make me staying home all the time possible. I've been asked by quite a few people if I give crochet classes, and I'm now seriously considering that. It could be a lot of fun, I think. Just need a place in town where I might be able to hold them. If I have them at the library, I can't charge a fee. I suppose there is the Village Hall, but I don't know how that might work. I suppose some research is in my horizon.
The guys who farm around our house came today to mow the ditches. Josh caught them after one of them had come up one side of our lane and told him to quit. We like the ditch grass long and full for all the wildlife that live in it. The guy didn't even know we owned the lane. LOL He said he just gets told to go mow in certain places. He called his boss on the radio and told him what Josh said, and Josh heard the boss say, "Well, get the h*** out of there then!" Hahahaha. Oh well. At least all the wildlife can move over to the other side of the lane.
Ahhhh life....

Necessity Hat

Necessity Hat

So the hat that began out of necessity has finally made it here. Why out of necessity, you may ask? Well, because in my search for a crocheted cabled slouchy hat with an interesting design and twisting cables, I came up empty handed. So, I made one up myself. This pattern will be for sale, I think. But I need to do some testing on it and see how the pattern works out. It's not for the faint of heart, as there are a lot of cross-overs and go-backs and "where-the-heck-am-I-supposed-to-put-this-stitch?" type of stitches. I finished it just in time to wear it out and about at the tail end of the cold weather, but I got quite a few compliments on it. Let me know if you want to try your hand at testing the pattern.

Thirty years and counting....

Thirty years. Seems like a long time in some instances. But in the course of a lifetime, not so much. I feel like I'm really starting to live my life. I went from being someone's daughter to someone's wife to someone's mother with no real stops in between to learn who I am to myself. Those steps I took ten years ago, to marry my dearest, most beloved friend were exactly what I needed. He's a solid rock of a man, which was and is something I desperately needed. College wouldn't have worked for me, at a time when I would've made stupid mistakes and bounced around like a game of pinball. I'll get to college eventually, when I've made up my mind what I want to do. For now, I'm contented with being a Mrs. and a mommy. I have a happy family life, which is all the little girl inside of me has ever wanted. We live in a leaky old farmhouse, we drive 11 year old vehicles, we don't have fancy clothes or go on vacation. We do have love in abundance, love in the face of adversity, laughter in even sad times, camaraderie in everything we do. We're evenly yoked, he and I, sharing our strengths and shouldering the weaknesses. So, instead of figuring myself out, my family has taught me who I am, and who I want and need to be.


I'm knitting (yes, knitting) myself a new bag. I got some super SUPER cute material at Joann's and just had to do it.

The blue of the yarn and the background of the fabric is more intense than what is shown in the picture. It's going to be a much smaller bag than what I carry right now, but that could be a good thing. Better for my shoulder anyway. I'll post another picture when I'm done.

W.J. Mowzer

Mr. W.J. Mowzer is destined for Josh's cousin's new baby. When said cousin was little, Josh used to scare the bajeebies out of her with a little white mouse. He'd hand it to her and she'd shake all over and get creeped out. Since she had a baby of her own last week, I thought I'd make a new white mouse for her.

Hook Size: F hook
Yarn: Caron Simply Soft in white, a small amount of pink and gray

Note: The first stitch of each round will be worked into the same st as join.

Gauge: Does not matter. Just make sure your stitches are tight so the stuffing will stay inside.

Body:
Make an adjustable ring, and sc 8 into ring. Join with slst to first sc. Ch 1. Pull to tighten.
Round 1: 2 sc in each (16 sc) Join. Ch 1.
Round 2 and 3: work evenly, join, ch 1.
Round 4: (2 sc, sc 7) twice. Join, ch 1. (18 sc)
Round 5 and 6: work evenly, join, ch 1.
Round 7: (2 sc, sc 8) twice. Join, ch 1. (20 sc)
Round 8 and 9: work evenly, join, ch 1.
Round 10: (2 sc, sc 9) twice. Join, ch 1. (22 sc)
Round 11: work evenly, join, ch 1.
Round 12: (2 sc, sc 10) twice. Join, ch 1. (24 sc)
Round 13: rep R 11.
Round 14: (2 sc, sc 11) twice. Join, ch 1. (26 sc)
Round 15: rep R 11.
Round 16: (2 sc, sc 12) twice. Join, ch 1. (28 sc)
Round 17: Rep R 11.
Round 18: (2 sc, sc 13) twice. Join, ch 1. (30 sc)
Round 19: Rep R 11.
Round 20: (2 sc, sc 14) twice. Join, ch 1. (32 sc)
Round 21: rep R 11.
Round 22: (2 sc, sc 15) twice. Join, ch 1. (34 sc)
Round 23: rep R 11.
Round 24: (sc2tog, sc 4, sc2tog, sc 9) twice. Join, ch 1. (30sc)
Round 25: (sc2tog, sc 3) rep around. Join and fasten off. Weave in ends and stuff with fiberfill or yarn scraps.

Base:
Make an adjustable ring, and sc 6 into ring. Join with slst to first sc. Ch 1. Pull to tighten.
Round 1: 2 sc in ea. (12 sc)
Round 2: (2 sc, sc 1) 5 times. Join, ch 1. (18 sc)
Round 3: 3 sc in first, sc 4, 3 sc in next, sc 3, 3 sc in next, sc 4, 3 sc in next, sc 3. Join, ch 1.
Round 4: sc 1, 3 sc in next, sc 6, 3 sc in next, sc 5, 3 sc in next, sc 6, 3 sc in next, sc 4. Join. Fasten off leaving a long tail for sewing.
Position base over opening in body. With a yarn needle, whipstitch base to body. Fasten off and weave in ends.

Ears:
Make an adjustable ring, and sc 4 into ring. Ch 1. Turn
Row 1: 2 sc in ea. ch 1, turn. (8 sc)
Row 2: sc 2, (hdc, dc) in next, 2 dc in next 2 sts, (dc, hdc) in next, sc 2. ch 1, turn. (4 sc, 2 hdc, 6 dc)
Row 3: sc 1, 2 sc in next, sc 1, (hdc, dc) in next, dc 4, (dc, hdc) in next, sc 1, 2 sc in next, sc 1 switching to white yarn. Ch 1 Turn.
Row 4: Working over tails of pink and white yarn, 2 sc in first, sc in each to last, 2 sc in last. Do not ch 1. Turn (pulling on the pink and white yarn tails that you worked over will help cup the ear and give it more shape.)
Row 5: Slst into ea st. Fasten off leaving long tail for sewing.
Whipstitch ears to sides of head.

Tail: with white
At back of body, near basein the middle, attach yarn, leaving at least a 6” tail. Ch 35, wrapping long tail over working yarn before making each chain. With both ends tie a double overhand knot. (cross ends, pass one end around and through twice, pull tight) Cut end.

Face:
Pull a double strand of gray yarn through a spot for the nose. Tie two double overhand knots for nose. Tie overhand knots into yarn at desired length away from nose. Cut yarn off after knot. Using gray yarn and a yarn needle, make two French knots for eyes.

Haven't tested it yet, except for the second ear. Let me know if anything is amiss.

Birthday parties.....

I've had the week off from work, sort of a spring vacay, and it couldn't have come at a better time. My daughter turns 9 today(!!!) and four little girls are coming over to spend the night tonight (!!!) so I've been busy cleaning and cleaning and sorting and dumping and setting aside and rearranging. It's been nice to be home, I don't know when I would have got all this done if I'd had to work too. But, that's all the news for today. It's too cold out and I want warm spring breezes to tussle my hair as I sit barefoot on my porch drinking coffee in the morning.