My First Inkle Weaving

My First Inkle weaving…  

Schacht Inkle Loom - a gift from the Hetter Family


I always wanted an Inkle loom. Thank you to the Hetter family for your generous gift!  I will treasure Mrs. Florence Hetter's inkle loom knowing that she had made beautiful items on it for her family and friends.  I look forward to doing the same for mine. 

My First Inkle Weaving - Close up

I took my first inkle loom class on-line today with Daryl Lancaster through Weavolution, an Internet weavers’ network. 

What a joy!  I can hardly wait to design my own trim, ribbons, bands, belts, shoe laces... the possibilities are endless!

Artisan Bread

It's not that cold out today but baking bread always makes the house smell so good and it gives me that  warm, safe and homey feeling!

After second rise, ready for the oven.

White Boule, fresh out of the oven. 

The perfect chewy crust and soft, moist crumb.

And it tastes so good!

Simple but Savory

Shepherd's Pie made with Ground Beef

It’s a week after the holiday season, a week after all the rich goodies and celebratory food and drink.  We have been craving something simple for dinner.  This time of year I like to dig out our favorite comfort food recipes.  Over the last couple of years, we have overhauled our diet to reduce the amount of red meat we consume; however, there are times when a good steak or a hearty shepherd’s pie made with ground beef really hits the spot.   

Comfort Food

So tonight it was oven-baked shepherd’s pie made with ground beef in brown gravy with sautéed onions, mixed vegetables and topped with oven-browned mashed potatoes. 



September Peaches - Summer in a Jar.



The perfect complement to this dish is a jar of home canned peaches from mid-September. 

Clean plate club!!

Baby Socks

Finally!  The baby socks have been made and delivered last Monday!  I wish they had come out exact... oh well.  We will instead consider this as the wabi sabi aspect of something handmade.

Infant socks to match Father and Son Hats

Daddy Hat for Christmas

Remember the baby hat from my previous post?

I received a call Tuesday evening, December 13th,  from Stacy, the recipient of the baby hat.  At the time of her call, the baby was not quite a week old yet.  Even over the phone I could tell she was all smiles and obviously elated to be a mom.  And I know from our previous conversations that her husband is every bit as excited to finally be a dad.  They are madly in love with each other and now the baby makes everything even that much more wonderful.  It’s heart-warming to be an outsider looking in on such a happy family. 

Stacy thanked me over and over again for the baby hat.  She couldn’t say enough nice things about it adding that her son wears it all the time.  She loves it so much that she got the idea to ask me to make a matching Daddy Hat as a Christmas present!   Not only did she order the Daddy Hat but she also requested three additional baby hats, one for her best friend’s newborn baby girl and two more for her son.  I feel so honored.  How could I disappoint someone like that?!  I told her I needed to check on yarn availability and would try my best to get it done in time for Christmas. I was prepping dinner as we talked so it had to be close to 5:30 p.m.   By the time I got off the phone, got dinner in the oven and looked up the phone number for the knit shop, it was 5:59 p.m. and the shop closes at 6 p.m.! 

Charlene, the Stitch In Time shop owner, picked up and I thanked her profusely.  I requested the yarn and she reassured me it was still available and even in the same dye lot.  Whew!  Since I had guests coming to visit in a couple of days, I had groceries to buy and food to make, a house to clean, and a tree to put up for the holidays, I knew I had to get the yarn ASAP.   I also had to come up with a pattern that was close to the baby’s hat since Stacy is hoping they would match.  It took a bit of searching  but I found a similar style adult-sized hat online at a fellow Raveler’s  Ravelry page that took me to her blog/website: http://www.purlbee.com/whitneys-70s-ski-hat/  for the FREE pattern.  Perfect!  It’s as close as I could get without writing out my own.  The next morning, I made the trip to Howell to purchase the yarn.



Provisional Cast On (white stitches) to be removed later.



My guests visited that Friday and we had a really nice visit.  Friday after dinner, I dug right in and started knitting like a maniac.  I had never done a provisional cast on before… pretty neat trick!  We will be using that again!  I checked gauge, did a little "frogging" (rip it, rip it) and then finally got the hat started.  I finished by 10:00 a.m. Monday, December 19th -- guests, cooking, chores, errands, and all.  I got my Christmas shopping done the next day too!  Isn't it wonderful when something is "meant to be" how it all fall into place.

Daddy Hat

That Monday morning, I called Stacy to arrange for drop-off or pick-up.  She planned to be in town for the baby’s first check-up on Thursday… perfect!   Unfortunately, I had to explain that I only had the Daddy Hat for her at that time.  Regardless, she was tickled that it was done before Christmas and she planned to have a belated Christmas celebration with her girlfriend New Year’s weekend anyway, so all was well. 

But after I got my errands done and shopping out of the way, I realized I would have Wednesday afternoon to try and knock out the baby hats.  Lucky for me, Stacy changed the order to one hat for her son and one hat for her girlfriend’s baby.  The hats were completed, labeled and the box was delivered to the pick-up point.  I didn’t hear from her for almost two days which made me a bit nervous since the self-striping yarn will stripe differently on a larger item (larger stripes on smaller garments, smaller stripes on larger garments).  It was Saturday, Christmas Eve, when she returned my call to let me know she loved all the hats and how pleased she was that I got them all done!  They sure are colorful! And I can just imagine how sweet the babies are that will be wearing them!

Baby Girl and Baby Boy Hats

Here’s to warm hearts and warm heads for all!  Merry Christmas!

Winter Sunrise: Red Sky in Morning...

Chelsea Milling Company "Jiffy Mix" plant silos illuminated by morning sun

This photo was taken the winter of 2010. It caught my eye out the window as I reached the top stair on the second floor of my house.

Color and Baby Cuteness

Laps in the Chelsea Wellness Pool

For the last two years I have invested 2-3 hours,  3-5 days a week exercising at the local wellness center.  I’m either in the swimming pool swimming laps, participating in water aerobics classes, working out on the equipment floor, or I’m taking floor classes in the studio.    

For at least a year and a half of that time, the bulk of these classes have been taught by a very special young lady who announced earlier this year that she was “officially pregnant” after experiencing two prior miscarriages. 



Stacy, our mother-to-be

 Needless to say, this baby is very special and we are all so happy for our mommy-to-be.  We have been there through the entire pregnancy sharing in her experiences, her doctor’s visits, her ultrasounds and her cravings for pickle pancakes with peanut butter on top.  When asked if she knows the sex of the baby we are told that they have decided against finding out in advance.  So we are all waiting with great anticipation.    


About a month ago, the facility employees threw her a pot luck baby shower and invited her long-time students to participate.  She received many beautiful gifts and commented on being so very blessed.  We feel the same.

About three weeks following the shower, we were once again in the swimming pool as our instructor taught from the deck this time one week before her due date.  The conversation changed focus when someone asked if she is ready for the “big day” which prompted a barrage of suggestions and questions.  She reassured us that the car is packed with all the necessary winter survival equipment, and her bag is packed, etc.  The exchange slowed as she called out the next exercise. 


She started up the conversation again recalling that she and her husband had taken inventory of the clothing they had for the baby and couldn’t help but notice how generic everything looked – in other words cute, even beautiful, but not much color.  One of the class members, a neo-natal nurse, suggested she hang onto the little cap they put on the baby in the hospital because it really helps them sleep.  Our instructor said she was sure she will wish she had more than one hat.  So, I piped up and said, “I’ll you make you another hat.”  Her eyes lit up with delight and she exclaimed, “Oh, I know you’ll make me a colorful one!” 

Baby hat made on my circular sock knitting machine 

My assignment… make a “colorful” but gender-neutral hat.  Since I only had a week before her due date, I got to it right away.  Luckily, I was able to make it and get it to her the day before her due date.  She had the baby early the next morning, December 8, 2011.  It’s a boy!  He was born at 3:45 a.m., weighing in at 7 lbs. 6 oz.

I feel a pair of baby socks coming on! 



The start of a hand knit baby sock