Knitting and Knotting

Fall is here!

'Tis the season for hot chocolate, hot tea, woolly striped socks, and large crafting projects. I'm excited! Around our house we've been drinking up the last of summer, enjoying the warm days and packing the travel bag with fuzzy footie pajamas. (The only thing better than a toddler in footie jammies is the sight of TWO toddlers in footie jammies!)

Our yardsale was a success. It was especially successful for me, because I came out of it with two new pairs of pants, a new pair of shoes, an adorable wrap skirt, a sweater, and a nice pile of clothes for the girls.... all courtesy of my sister and sister-in-law!

One day last week the girls and I took a trip to Battle Ground. Greta wasn't sleeping, so on a long drive to try and get her to sleep, we stopped off at the Nature Center and went down to play in the creek. It's sometimes easy, living in a place with so much history, and so much to do, to forget about the little treasures that are right out your backdoor.

This past weekend was the annual Walk for Wolves out at Wolf Park. Anja LOVED IT. SO MUCH. It was really, really fun. Afterward we went to the river, hung out with family, and played in the water. Anja has been really into the idea lately of going to the beach... so an exposed sandbar in the river was good enough for the middle of Indiana. We caught a crawdad and Anja found a mussel shell that she wanted to make into a jewelry box. We are still looking for a tiny enough hinge for it, but we're working on it, and Anja probably will never loose her enthusiasm for it.

Last night we took a picnic dinner to Wabash College and ate dinner under a tree and then let the girls run around. We showed Anja all the places Daddy lived and worked and went to school. It was a gorgeous evening.

I bought a candle at Hobby Lobby the other day. It smells like fall and is wonderful. Every time I go to Hobby Lobby I remember how much I love it (they have EVERYTHING!) but I don't think I love it as much as Anja, who has been saying that her NAME is Hobby Lobby, ever since our trip there.

I'm knitting a wool diaper soaker and it's turning out GREAT! It's on straight needles--hoorah! I'm also close to being finished with Greta's sweater. Other projects include a chemise for Anja to wear to the Feast this weekend (it turned out amazingly cute, with cotton lace edging); a girl-sized quilt covered in adorable appliqued owls, using scraps from a box my mother-in-law brought to me from HER mother's quilting supplies; another girl-sized quilt started long ago and just getting finished; cloth diapers, thanks to Anne!.... and then all the Christmas presents. Also, I think I found the pattern for the sweater I will someday knit for myself. Not the hourglass sweater of Joelle Hoverson.... I've instead gone with something I found in "Knitting Noro" which is really cute and versatile, but which I won't be knitting in Noro.... I think I'll use a green I found at the knitting store from the Cascade "heather" line. Unless I look at it again and it seems too "heathery".... if you know what I mean.

And while I'm sitting at the kitchen table nightly knitting my wool soakers and baby sweaters, Martin is standing nearby, practicing his knots. He's tied many a knot around my wire stand that holds my fruit bowl. And when he's not knotting, he's filling our freezer with squirrels.

The Feast is this weekend! We might camp... wish us luck!

I have limited time, but I do have pictures..... So I'm going to post a few of them!