The redesigned Alison Tank Top

After months of saying I was going to redesign this tank top so my daughter would wear it, I finally got around to doing it.  Originally, it had a low back and long skinny straps.  She refused to wear it because,  the long straps made the front neckline fall lower than she was comfortable with.  I tore it apart, added a few inches onto the back and gave it kind of racer back shaping.  She's much more comfortable wearing it now, although she'll always wear it layered over something.

In other projects.  My sweater is moving along.  I have one sleeve finished and started the other one last night.  My hope is to have the second sleeve done and both attached by the weekend, so I can start working on the yoke, which I'm sure will go fast.  I'm going to an art fair the end of September and I want to wear it then.

Writing a book

I'm starting a new project, but not a knitty one.  I'm writing a book, or at least trying to.  I've made several trips to my home town this summer; my parents still live there.  Due to road constitution I've had to take a different route though the back roads and farm country and I've been hit with a very severe case of nostalgia. As I drove though the farm country that I couldn't wait to get away from as a kid, I've come to realize just how much I miss it.  My book will be memories of growing up in rural Wisconsin, with my own experiences and some of my Dad's stories that he's shared about his childhood.  I have a feeling his will be more entertaining than mine.

I'm having a problem though.  When I sit down to write, I have a memory in mind that I want to write about, but the words just don't flow.  I can see it in my head like I'm watching an old home movie, but I can't describe it.  Then when I'm in bed and I think about what I want to write, the story just flows beautifully and I think I have to remember this, but it's gone by morning.  I'm a much better writer in my sleep.

Current projects

Even though I've been busy working this summer, I've found some time to sneak in some knitting.  I'm working on a lightweight cardigan for myself, but it will probably be next spring before I get to wear it.  It's been very slow going. It's a bottom up, in the round sweater, that I started in May.  I'm a few inches from being able to divide the front and back for the sleeves.  I wasn't exactly sure where I was going with it when I started, but I've decided now that I'm going to do a plus size version of Women's Eloise Eyelet Cardi

 

I'm also reworking a tank top I made for my daughter.  She didn't like the straps or the back.  I ripped it out yesterday and reworked the back so it has more of racer back shape.  I need to finish the front and straps in the next couple days so she will actually wear it.

Finding happiness on top a tractor

My husband along with his 3 brothers and mother own and run a sod and landscaping supply company.  In the 15 years that we've been married, I wanted every little to do with the family business.  I had my own job and my own life and I didn't want to feel tied to the farm 9 months a year.  But that all changed this spring, when I lost the job that I absolutely loved working as an Education Assistant at a local elementary school.

Due to some changes in the family business, they had an opening for me, if I wanted it, mowing the sod fields.  I really didn't know if I wanted to take the job or not, because I knew I had to work even when it was hot and I don't do hot, I knew it was going to be long days (10 hours), and I had never driven a tractor before.  I reluctantly  took the job, saying that I'd give it a try for the summer as long as I could start looking for another job after the the kids went back to school in the fall.

Here we are it's the beginning of August and the unthinkable has happened.  I realized yesterday as I sat in my tractor in 90 degree weather, that I really do like this job.  I don't feel the heat to much as long as there's a breeze.  I like that despite the noise of the tractor, it's peaceful, I know that sounds weird but it is. I like that I get to see wild life that I normally wouldn't.  Yesterday a bald eagle was roused out of some near by trees and swooped down in front of the tractor, I'd never seen one so close.  It made me wish I had my camera.  I also get to see some wonderful sunsets. Every day I'm in awe of how beautiful the farm really is, and I never noticed before.

Me and my tractor

Finished Sweater!

Took a little longer than expected, but I finished my sweater  I started this project with some trepidation.  Although I've knitted several sweaters before, this was only my second attempt at making one for myself. I was worried it wouldn't fit, that I'd run out of yarn, that I wouldn't like it, or that I'd really mess something up.  But I have to say although there are a few elements in the sweater that I should of done different, I'm very pleased with the end result.

Knitting this sweater was definitely a learning experience, and I learned a lot.  I learned how to take measurements properly, how to knit set-in sleeve from the top down.  I learned that my perception of my size is larger than it should be (I could of gone done a size) and that I could probably benefit from some shaping for a better fit.  But most importantly I've learned how to re-size a pattern to fit my needs.  No more pattern lust!

No happy medium

Well I was hoping to get this sweater done before the weather got to warm, but spring came early and I'm still working.  We had record temps the last couple days; almost 80 degrees.  That's unusual for March in Minnesota.  Being that it's so warn, it's getting really hard to concentrate on knitting a winter sweater.  But I'm doing the best I can.  If I could just get the darn sleeves right.  I've knit one sleeve so far and ripped it out twice.  The first time the cuff was to wide, the second time the whole sleeve was to tight.  I've redone the math and hopefully the 3rd times the charm.  Keeping fingers crossed.  Once I get the sleeves perfected, then I have to rip out the hood, but I think I know what the problem is there.  At this rate, maybe I'll have it done before next fall.

Summer knits

I'm still working on my sweater, but summer will be here before we know it and I hope to have my current project done before then.  In the meantime, I'm planning my summer knits.  I have the Alison tank that I've realized the upper torso needs to be ripped out and reworked.  The armhole shaping and the back aren't quite right, it should be a simple fix.

 I've also been eyeing up this asymmetric vest from Drops.  I haven't decided what yarn I'll use yet, but I'm planning on going to the Shepherd's Harvest Festival this spring so maybe I'll find some yarn there