Knitting with Alison

Alison and the kids came down to visit this weekend! I love when family visits! They arrived Friday afternoon and spent the day with us on Saturday. Homeschool co-op is done for the year, and Alison has finished studying for her interior design license exams. That meant we could spend some relaxing time together.

I wish I had remembered to take pictures of all the things we did. Lugging around a camera of phone so that I can take pictures seems like such a bother. I have so many pictures on my computer, it's nearly impossible to find a specific photo that I remember. I guess I should take the time to organize them in to albums, but I'd much rather do other things.

It was cool enough Friday night and Saturday morning to work on daughter Carol's waffle stitch afghan. I accomplished quite a bit while we watched Mr. Roberts, one of my favorite movies. I remember watching it on t.v. with my sister Janet and my mom when I was in high school.

We let the kids sleep in on Saturday morning, and I was able to finish a few more rows. The kids are old enough to help out with meals, so cooking and cleaning up are much more fun! Aidan helped with the cooking. He's always enjoyed experimenting with spices, and he did a great job adding flavor to my otherwise boring menus.

After morning clean-up we headed to Yarn Hollow, a new little yarn shop in Crete, about 15 minutes north of us. The owner wasn't there, but we were able to meet one of her test knitters, a very friendly lady who showed us which yarns were new to the shop. Alison chose a beautiful hand-dyed skein in shades of grey. I chose a skein in shades of turquoise and grey. Alison has a fabulous sense of color, and she steered me away from other colors that I liked, letting me know in a gentle way that some that I chose just didn't suit me.

On the way home we stopped and did a little grocery shopping. Then, Eva and I prepared lunch while Alison and Aidan packed the car with items they had been storing at our house while house hunting. Dave brought home the new chickens in the early afternoon. You should have seen the excitement from Henry the rooster and the older hens! Henry puffed up and crowed, flew at the fencing, startling all of us, and the hens clucked up a storm! Luckily, the new chicks were safely inside the new fenced in area with the ducks. I think it's going to take a bit of time for the old chickens to accept the new ones.

Even though co-op is over for Eva and Aidan, they are still taking classes over the summer. So, while the kids spent time working on math and writing, Alison and I sat down to knit.

As you can see, I made quite a bit of progress on Caesious from Curls by Hunter Hammersen. I like the way the curl develops, but I am not especially fond of this pattern. It's easy enough to follow, but it's pretty boring to look at. When I laid the piece out to take a picture, I could see several spots where I knit the first stitch instead of slipping it. That's something I'll watch for from now on. I don't have enough of this yarn to make a full neck scarf or wrap. This is left-over Mandala from Alison's waffle stitch afghan. However, it will be large enough for either six-year-old Sophia or three-year-old Kara. I'll probably have to make another to keep them both happy!

Alison chose to start Reyna after seeing the one I recently knit. She was able to knit the first garter stitch section and start the first mesh section before dinner. She's hoping to finish it in time for her trip to Europe in mid-June. I think she'll be able to finish if she's able to carve out a couple of hours a day for knitting. If not, at least she'll have a good start!