A few weekends ago we went on a shopping trip (a very rare occurrence!) since we had a gift card to use. B loves taking pictures, so we bought her her own digital camera. It is very basic, and she just loves it! This is how she can be seen quite often these days! 
The same day as our shopping trip, we went to a local pick-your-own farm and picked 7-8 lbs. of blackberries. B had fun, but I think that A enjoyed himself the most! It was a beautiful cool day after a week of 100*, and he just sat in the shade and ate every blackberry that he could find, green, red, black, he didn't care! Here he is catching a nap during the ride home. You can see the evidence of his enjoyment!
A has been walking around lately playing with all of the play food, but his favorite is the corn. He made short work of his ear of corn at dinnertime the other night!
When I was resizing the pictures for this post, I came across this one of B at about 15 months, just a bit younger than A is now. There is definitely sibling similarity here! 
I finished my bag over a week ago, but didn't have a chance to line it until last week. The lining was actually the most difficult part of the whole bag. I must have miscalculated on my first attempt, because the lining was way too wide! And then I had to stitch the top of the lining to the bag. I love to sew, but not that kind of sewing! But I like how the bag turned out, and it is a bit bigger than the one that I usually use now, which will be nice when out with the munchkins. 
I also finished my spinning for a swap that I'm in. This is a dyed corriedale top from TheFiberDenn that I spun from the fold into a worsted weight yarn with fairly high twist. There about 275 yds and 4 oz. I liked the top because it had sections of white, and then sections of various shades of green. I like the way it turned out, and would love to try other colors dyed this way, if I ever get the right equipment. 
I don't play the piano, but hubby does, and the munchkins love to "play " too. When Daddy gets home from work, they will often play for a few minutes while I finish dinner. Seeing them all together just warms my heart! Thankfully both of the kids seem to have inherited their daddy's natural musical abilities! 
Since we were taking a weekend trip, as much as I wanted to swatch for my Morning Glory project, I decided that it wasn't practical. So I decided to pick something more mindless and started this tote bag, which I got as a kit from Black Water Abbey yarns at Stitches East a few years ago. I love the heathered colors of the yarn! It will be felted when finished, and I'll need to find some nice fabric for the lining. I'm about halfway through the body of the bag, and it is going along well. The socks weren't complicated, but sometimes it is nice to play with some mindless fair isle, which is really just stockinette in the round! 
We don't have a very wildlife friendly yard, mostly because it is small and we are in a very heavily populated area. And this summer has been so hot and dry that we barely have any weeds growing. So imagine my surprise when I saw a pair of American Goldfinches foraging among my basil flowers. Here's a picture of papa goldfinch perching on the zinnias (they are drooping from the 100*+ heat we've been having) before joining mama on the basil. They were back again this morning. B especially likes to watch them. She informed us this morning that mama and papa cardinal didn't have enough room in their nest for them, so the goldfinches have their own nest! Oh the thoughts of 3-year-olds!
This picture is a few weeks old, but too good not to share! With all of the zucchini talk lately, I thought this was appropriate! They are both eating some zucchini picked straight from Grandma's garden. One of my friends shared a recipe for zucchini chocolate cake that I can hardly wait to try!
Another friend shared this recipe, which I also plan to try soon!
ZUCCHINI SALAD WITH RED ONION 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar 1 tablespoon olive oil coarse salt and ground pepper 1/2 small red onion, very thinly sliced 4 small zucchini In a medium bowl, whisk the vinegar and oil; season with the salt and pepper. Stir in the onion and let stand 15 minutes. Meanwhile, using a vegetable peeler, slice the zucchini into paper-thin ribbons (lengthwise) Add to the bowl with the dressing and onions, add more salt and pepper if desired; toss to combine.
The past week and a half has been all about sewing and socks. I took a few days last week during the kids' afternoon nap to work on the Roman shades that I've been wanting to make for a few months. Our bedroom had no blinds or shades of any kind when we moved in, so we had an old sheet tacked over the windows for privacy. It was less than attractive! So I found a great deal on some silk dupioni fabric in a nice grey that matches part of our comforter. It took less than 10 hours, so I don't know why I waited so long! And they are self-locking, so no nasty cleat in the wall either! Sorry for the picture quality, it was the best I could do. There are two shades, one for each window. 
I wanted to make a little bag for my Sockapalooza pal, but knew that I didn't have time to knit or crochet one, so I found some nice fabric, and sewed up this little drawstring bag. It is a lot like a brown paper bag in shape, with a ribbon tie. I used some decorative stitching for the ribbon casing, but forgot to take a picture of that. I have a few more bags planned, so I'll take pictures then. 
Here are the socks that I knit for my pal. I was not thrilled with the pooling/striping, but I tried several patterns, and they all had some striping. This is the second pattern that I came up with. I ripped the first sock just before the toe because I was afraid that it would be too snug. It is my first time trying a short-row toe, and it has a short-row heel too, which is my preferred heel style. I like this pattern, so will need to try it in a more solid yarn to show off the stitch pattern better. I used some Knitpicks Memories in Yukon, and it was easy to knit with, and stood up to my frogging well, especially for being merino.
And this is one of my pair of socks from my Sockapalooza pal Rachel, knit in Cherry Tree Hill Supersock in Jewel. They fit great, and I love the shorter cuff! I've never used this yarn before, so that was a really nice treat! She modified the Cabled Sweatsocks from the Interweave Socks book.
I also had a picture of the American Goldfinches that were visiting my basil plants yesterday, but I can't get it to crop properly. It was one of those times that I really wished that I had a better camera with a higher zoom. Oh well! I'll try to get it resized again later. Now I can get back to all of the other knitting and spinning that I have planned!
The same day as our shopping trip, we went to a local pick-your-own farm and picked 7-8 lbs. of blackberries. B had fun, but I think that A enjoyed himself the most! It was a beautiful cool day after a week of 100*, and he just sat in the shade and ate every blackberry that he could find, green, red, black, he didn't care! Here he is catching a nap during the ride home. You can see the evidence of his enjoyment!
A has been walking around lately playing with all of the play food, but his favorite is the corn. He made short work of his ear of corn at dinnertime the other night!
When I was resizing the pictures for this post, I came across this one of B at about 15 months, just a bit younger than A is now. There is definitely sibling similarity here! 
I finished my bag over a week ago, but didn't have a chance to line it until last week. The lining was actually the most difficult part of the whole bag. I must have miscalculated on my first attempt, because the lining was way too wide! And then I had to stitch the top of the lining to the bag. I love to sew, but not that kind of sewing! But I like how the bag turned out, and it is a bit bigger than the one that I usually use now, which will be nice when out with the munchkins. 
I also finished my spinning for a swap that I'm in. This is a dyed corriedale top from TheFiberDenn that I spun from the fold into a worsted weight yarn with fairly high twist. There about 275 yds and 4 oz. I liked the top because it had sections of white, and then sections of various shades of green. I like the way it turned out, and would love to try other colors dyed this way, if I ever get the right equipment. 
