We Moved!

It's unfortunate but we had to leave our beloved Washington. My family needed some one to help take care of my grandmother and I was having a tough time finding a job that would cover all of my bills. So I sold a majority of our belongings and headed back to Placerville, California.

I want this to be a year of positive thinking. So even if I had to leave Washington for a bit, my children get a chance to get to know their great grandmother and the rest of my family. My sister and my mother haven't seen us in about 6 years. I get to finally meet my first niece, Izzy. (She is a cutie b.t.w. I can say that because I am in no way biased.)

When I was a little girl, my grandmother had a huge garden with several fruit trees. As a little girl I remember climbing the giant fig tree in her back yard. I still love figs. She had everything from persimmons to black berries, asparagus to egg plant. Plus she had all the other regular garden veggies like zucchini and tomato and bell peppers. She grew up during the depression so we did a lot of canning during the summer.

I did get to go to the 2013 Yarnival. It was my first fiber event ever and I am ashamed to say I didn't take any pictures. I was located at the Boeger Winery just out side of Placerville. Kyle and I went alone and had wonderful time. It was very hot, but there were vendors selling food and drink with shaded picnic benches. I picked up some hand painted roving of merino  and bamboo. It was the first time every working with anything besides wool. I have the fiber a beautiful sheen to it and it is so soft. I am thinking about making a pair of socks out of it. . . one day.

Yesterday and today I have been working on a hat for Elizabeth. I am using some of the fiber I bought while I was living in Washington. I have also decided this is not only the year of positive attitudes but trying new things. I have worked with knitting patterns enough to know there are somethings I would love to change to make them more unique, but I am still enough of a novice that I do not feel comfortable altering anything. So I have decided to give recipes a try starting with  Paper Sensei's top down hat. It's a  free pattern and a very easy hat to stitch up. But learning how to start a hat with no gauge is a little scary for me but I am trying new things and I WILL master it!