One of the things I miss most during Winter is the ability to get out and walk.  It's just too icy to walk on the sidewalks with sneakers, so this year I convinced Ken that we should give snowshoeing a try, and he was game!
Fortunately someone he works with had some spare snowshoes that they were willing to lend us so that we could give it a try.

Wow…what a treat to get out and enjoy the beautiful area that we call home!
We live very close to the Tin Mountain Center in Albany, NH, which has numerous hiking trails that are also good for showshoeing.  It is 10 minutes away and such a quiet woodland oasis with beautiful trails that are well markedl.

Sunday on our first time out we chose what looked to be the shortest trek on the Tin Mountain Map, figuring best not to try something that we might not be ready for…or if we even would enjoy it.  It was the Maple Leaf Trail.
Well..hey!  We loved it!  The trek was pretty easy, even for 2 old farts and so beautiful.  I can't tell you how much it made my heart smile to hear all of my bird friends singing away on this beautiful sunny day as we sloshed along.

Ken and I both had Monday off and we decided to give it another try to see if we really liked this enough to invest in some snowshoes of our own.  This time we tried a bit more challenging trek.  This hike had has going up and down some steeper hills (and yes, these were just hills, not mountains) and it was fun to see how well the snowshoes helped us go up both up and down the inclines. 
I have to tell you, I am not the most graceful person…truly, gravity is not always my friend, but I felt like I was on top of the world with these snowshoes on!  Well..maybe not on top of the world, but on top of that small incline…but I didn't fall off, so it was a win!

Ken has already purchased a pair of snowshoes and I will look for some when I am away next weekend in Freeport at SPA.
Hopefully there will be some snow when I get back home.

Last week we had 30 inches of snow dumped in our back yard, but this week we will have a week of crazy warm temperatures, so maybe I will be buying sneakers instead? 😉

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It's been a while since I have worked with Anne Hanson on a project, so when Lisa of Indie Untangled asked us to work together on her yarn club project I was happy to reconnect with an old friend.
Anne and I came into the fiber world right around the same time and spent many years working together on numerous projects…many of which are still my most favorite patterns.

When we work together, Anne usually sends me a picture inspiration along with a description of what she is looking for.  This time around she send me a beautiful picture of deep red roses climbing up a large garden trellis.  A stunning garden photo!  In her note she asked for a deep chocolate red…and this is what I came up with…..

The base is Dove and the colorway is called..
"Forbidden Fruit"

I love, love, love the pattern that Anne created for Indie Untangled.  It is called
"Shared Rib"

Anne drew inspiration from the Rose bramble with the never ending entwining branches interlocking over and over again…a beautiful garden of Eden.

This colorway will be available on my website this weekend and I'm sure that Anne will have the pattern available very soon as well.  I know that I will be making one of these very soon!

Ken and I celebrated a quiet Valentine's day at home, choosing to save a little money instead of going out for a big dinner.  We are saving for some snow shoes to get us through these long winter months up here in the mountains.
Instead I made a scrumptious dijon mustard pork loin roast and we shared a bottle of wine that my son gifted me for Christmas….and a chocolate each from a local chocolate maker, The Bavarian Chocolate Haus, which Ken gives me ever year.
..and let me tell you…it is amazingly good chocolate!

Happy Valentine's Day from The Woolen Rabbit!!

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Nothing makes my heart smile more as a knitter than to see my children enjoy the hand knits that I have created for them.  Every knitter out there knows just how happy!

There has been quite a bit of knitting happening here even though I haven't had a chance to show you the finished items on the recipients.  This lovely scarf was a gift that I gave Hannah last year for Christmas…….let me rephrase this…..I gave her a ball of yarn and a promise..ha!  She has been a patient soul and I finally finished the scarf just before this Christmas

I did change up the pattern a little bit because I wasn't sure that Hannah would like so many different pattern changes within one scarf, so I knit the first three patterns and then repeating those same three patterns backwards creating a big circle. 
I'm happy to say she loves it!

Pattern:  A March Through Time
Designer: Christina Campbell
Yarn:  Sporty Kashmir
Colorway:  Cornhusk

The headband is one that I made a while back when I made about a gazillion of them because I LOVE this pattern designed by the talented Bonne Marie of Chic Knits.  My girls all wear and love them!
(shhh….Hannah has it on inside out…LOL)

Pattern:  Elisbeth Headband
Designer:  Bonne Marie Burns
Yarn:  WW Kashmir
Colorway:  Chimney Sweep

  Hannah had spent her afternoon hiking in the mountains of Franconia Notch not too far away from where she goes to college, using the presents that we gave her for Christmas.  A backpack with a waist belt to keep the weight off of her shoulders and some trekking poles to help stabilize the ankle that she sprained badly this past summer.

I love that my children who have grown up here in the mountains of New Hampshire love and enjoy the beauty and bounty that these mountains have to offer.

 

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Weekends certainly go by so much faster than the work week don't they?

Even though I stayed home, this weekend was a full one.  There was a lot of cooking and baking happening.  This Cranberry Orange Pecan bread was made with some of the cranberries that I used for Christmas Decorating.  You can find the recipe here.

In my year of Harmony I am trying to be more organized, so this weekend I made all signs of Christmas and Winter go away in this old house and replaced them with some early Spring and Valentines Day decorations.  I know…we still have lots of winter to come, but it gives me something to look forward to.

 

I did spend some time working out in the shop, but not too much time.  I had a big order going out to my friend, Elizabeth Doherty of Bluebee Studio.  While the yarns were dyeing it gave me some time to work on my quilt.
All of the pieces have been cut out, pinned and ready to be sewn tomorrow.
I love these cheerful colors!

What did you do this weekend?

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Pure light is all colors.
Therefore there is no hue.
Only when singleness is scattered
Does color appear.
Deng Ming~Dao

Wow…it's been a busy week here, but when Elizabeth sent me a copy of her newest ebook, "Hat Trick", I stopped for a breather, poured a cup of coffee and took some time to look at the patterns with their beautiful stitch textures.

Elizabeth and I have worked on a number of different designs and I have loved every one of them, so when she approached me about sending her some yarn for these hats, I was very happy to do so knowing that whatever she used them for would be something that I would enjoy knitting myself.

I really love this grouping of very wearable hats! This pattern, "Crosscheck," was knit with my WW Kashmir yarn and comes in two sizes.  The beanie style closer fitting hat worn here by Elizabeth's handsome model is one I know both my son and son in laws would be happy to own and the the slouchier style shown on the woman in the first and last pictures is one that I would enjoy wearing myself

Thank-you Elizabeth for always making my yarns look amazing!!

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IT'S A GIRL!!

4 years ago, I saw this quilt on "Cluck Cluck Sew" and fell in love with it!
I loved the combination of colors…yellow, brown gray and PINK, so much so that I purchased the fabrics that she used hoping that one day I would have a reason to use it.

Then I had one grandson…and another grandson and somehow I knew that the pink fabric would just not do, so I knitted in green and quilted with reds and blues while this cheerful fabric continued to live in my stash…..
Until today!

(no….this is not mine, but Cluck, Cluck Sew's picture, I will post my progress as I go along)

I knew that today was the day that my son Miles and his wife Jen would find out what sex their baby would be at their ultrasound appointment.  I knew how very much Jen wanted a little girl after having 2 boys, with the youngest one being…well…a challenging 3 year old..ha!  He is such a little cutie even when he is being a 3 year old.  I just love him!

So when Miles called me this morning, in typical Miles fashion, he kind of led me to believe it was going to be another boy before he blurted out they were having a baby girl who looks healthy and strong.
Everyone would have loved another healthy strong boy, but I can truly say that we are all excited to be looking forward to welcoming another girl into the family, it's been 16 years!

Congratulations Miles and Jen!!!

 

 

Weekends go by so quickly don't they?  
This weekend I spent most of my time knitting, cooking and working out in the studio getting a yarn club mailing ready to be mailed out.  I have joined with Anne Hanson for an Indie Untangled mailing next month and I love the colorway that we will be using.  I will share it with you when I can.

 Saturday evenings most always include.s appetizers of some sort and a few hours of a brain game such as Bananagrams, Racko or Quiddler.
(the last 2 games were Christmas presents.) 
I need to keep this aging brain working and flexible..ha!

This recipe that I found on Pinterest was scrumptious!  Little wonton cups filled with arugula, lime sour cream and topped with spicy shrimp.  You can find the recipe here.

Ken spent most of his weekend working up in the room next to our bedroom.  We are on the last leg of refinishing this old house.  This room is going to be a small living room for either us or guests to watch television, read or in my case use my spinning wheel.  We certainly could have used this room when the kids were growing up, when they had their friends over for sure!  Hopefully when we sell this house in the next few years the new owners will appreciate this space as much as we would have.

That's pretty much it.  It was SUPER cold up here, but thankfully we missed the dumping of snow that our Massachusetts friends were blessed with, so all in all it was a good weekend.

What did you do this weekend?

 

Thunder and rain at night.
Growth comes with a shock.
Expression and duration
Appear in the first moment.
Deng Ming~Dao

Things can not remain in stillness forever. 
Winter storms may destroy some things, but they also prepare the way for life.  If things are swept away, it is appropriate.  There must be an opportunity for new living things to emerge and begin their own cycle.

~thoughts to think about over the weekend…

Have a wonderful weekend in your corner of the world!

 

 

One of the ways I have been creating more time for myself has been by visiting social media sites, especially Facebook, much less.  I love Social Media, especially Pinterest, Instagram and FB, but I find that not only do they quickly suck up so much of my time, but I often find myself feeling anxious.  Pinterest with it's wonderful pictures and ideas can make me feel overwhelmed at times from the overload of choices and FB with so many political posts definitely makes me a bit more anxious about our future and that of our children.

 

The upside to backing away from the computer a bit is that I have had a lot more time for knitting.  In the last few weeks I have finished 2 infinity scarves that I will share once I get the recipients to show them off, 1/2 of a mitten set and this lovely cowl designed by Ann Hanson.
This is a new yarn I am trying and holy moly, this stuff is incredibly soft!  It is a DK weight blend of Merino, Yak and Silk.
Once I finish the cowl I will block it out and wear it for a little bit to see how well it holds up and if it does, I will definitely be adding it to the line-up here at The Woolen Rabbit.
Check back soon 🙂

“Out of clutter find simplicity; From discord find harmony; In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.” ~Albert Einstein

My word for 2017 is "Harmony".

When I started thinking about which word I would want to embrace for the upcoming year, the first word that came to my mind was "Organize".  Now, if you know me, you know that I am not the most organized person on a good day….well, I should rephrase this.  I am surprisingly organized in my chaos, but that chaos always leaves me chasing my tail.

When I mentioned the word "Organize" to my husband and a dear friend, I could tell from their expressions that they were not sure that this was the word for me, and knowing myself I could understand their apprehension.

My friend made a comment that made me think on it a bit.  I can't remember her exact words, but it had me search some of the synonyms for organize.  One of the words made me smile because it was "create" and all of my life this has been a word that has guided me.  The other word that jumped out at me was "harmony".  Not in the musical way or even world peace, but what jumped out at me was the balance in the word harmony.

As I get older the need to lighten my load gets stronger, both in the volume of items that I own and in the space that occupies my spirit. One of my goals for this year is to downsize and reduce my stuff.  I think that it will free my that spirit of mine.

Also as someone who is ADD to the nth, procrastination is always my companion.  I always get what I need to get done, but when you procrastinate you know you will pay for it on the other end by working incredibly hard in a short period of time, which takes a lot of joy out of the creation.
This is something that I really want to work on in this upcoming year, which I know will be a challenge.  I have found tools online that I hope will help me learn to stay on task better.
I know that no person can completely change, but it is my goal this year to work on creating better habits.  I am told…if you do something for 21 days it becomes a habit.

So for 2017, I am going to strive for harmony and balance in this new year.

What is your word for 2017?