Wow did we have a GREAT time in southern Utah! The canyon lands are amazing and we hiked until we couldn't hike one more trail. We made home base in Cedar City and went into Zion National park several times and from different directions. Here I am taking a break in the shade and of course there is knitting in my backpack! Imagine :)Our daughter and her boyfriend stopped in Boulder Utah and we picked them up there. I am afraid they found the desert to be grueling riding, but amazing scenery! This part of the trip had amazing hills and at one point there was a 14% grade they would have had to ride up. They did hitch a ride back to Reno with us and are leaving for the Northern California Coast on Saturday (not so hot) . I couldn't believe that they rode what they did ride, WOW! It was really...

So, I know it's been a while since I last posted but I have been spending most of my free time working in the garden. We finally got everything planted last week (now that it finally stopped thundering and lightening over my head) so that should free up a bit more of my time for knitting related things. I am so happy to finally have everything in the ground though! I am SO looking forward to those first garden-fresh tomatoes. Here's a little look at my labor of love:I have, however, found a little bit of time to knit. Crazy, I know. I decided while things were so crazy that I needed something fairly mindless to knit on. I absolutely fell in love with the Sublime Kid Mohair that we got in about a month back that I just had to make something with it. Normally I can't stand to wear Mohair...

The much-anticipated Spud & Chloe yarns and patterns are in and on the site! I spent the better part of Saturday morning getting...acquainted...with the patterns while adding them to the system and I have to say, I'm really *really* excited for this line!First off, it's all machine washable. Perfect for me (yeah, pretty much no-nonsense) and Cory (who has um, washed my hand-me-down cashmere bathrobe then put it in the dryer--by some miracle it didn't shrink!!!). After the wedding I'll be off my yarn diet...and I'll be in the clear of the 'sweater curse'...so it might just be time to knit him a sweater. In the meantime, he's been asking me for an earflap hat for years, so I might step outside my diet 'boundaries' for a moment and knit us up a set of Boy Meets Girl Hats.Besides being machine...

Well, I'm slowly digging my way out of the new-baby abyss... and am slowly (read: very slowly) working on a hat for the new addition...I'm making Huck his first hat - using 2 balls of Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino (a personal favorite)... once stitch at a time, of course. Of course, it might be too small for him by the time it's done, but at least it will have been fun. As far as a pattern goes, I'm making this one up. He weighs almost 8 lbs right now and his head is about 12 inches around. I figured that the hat should be 4.5-5 tall and I cast on 110 sts with US 2 Needles. After joining in the round, I have been working every row as K3, P2. I think that i'm just going to knit for 4.5-5 and then do a 3 needle bind off, so the hat will be square on the top. We'll see! (and i'll keep you posted).Oh...

I am leaving on Thursday to meet up with my daughter and her boyfriend, who are extremely hearty souls. They are bicycling from Green River Utah to Sedona Arizona! Phew, it makes me tired just looking at them here with their bikes on a test ride. They are taking all back roads and the mileage will vary from 600 to 1000 and their goal is to be in Sedona by the 4th of July. After that who knows, as they have saved up for a full 2 months on the road! Oh to be footloose and fancy free!We will log about 1400 miles on our own (in the comfort of our truck and trailer :) so I am planning out my knitting arsenal. Let's see my husband will drive initially and I am working on a scarf/table runner in Classic Elites Yarn, Allegoro (one of my new favorites for sure). I can knit that up without too much...

Well...it's done, and I have to admit (and doing so I'll try not to inflate my ego too much) that it's beautiful!I'm starting to notice that there's a certain degree of psychology involved in knitting. Well...for me at least. After finishing my Gayle jacket (an eleven-month marathon knit interwoven with buying a house, moving, and planning a wedding) I immediately picked up the Eyelet Halter...knit on size 3 needles....and began my top-secret bridesmaid knits (um, that may or may not be finished in time for the wedding...but the thought is there) also knit on size 3s.Yesterday, I just looked at these pipsqueak-gauged projects...and snapped. I rifled through my stash until I found 4 balls of Big Wool Fusion (sadly, it's discontinued) and cast on the cover knit from the Holiday 2007 Knit Simple....

Well it has been raining here in the high desert and my veggies are HAPPY! This rain has been really unusual and I have been imagining being by the northern California coast which is one of my favorite places to hang out. In Reno we say just wait ten minutes the weather will change, so to have 8 days of rain in a row has been kinda neat.I have been thinking about all kinds of crazy knitting projects, how about a knitted parasol, or fan? I have seen great patterns for the fans, but have yet to find the fan frames for them. It doesn't stop me from dreaming about lovely little knit things like that. For now I will have to be happy with working on bigger projects like my Shoal Water Shawl by Fibertrends. It's so pretty and I am now into the third repeat. I just love working with the Noro Silk...

I apologize for the late blog (I'm usually on like clockwork at 10:45 on Sunday night) but I was finishing feverishly into the morning hours.All that remains now are one sleeve, the seam down the side, a few ends to weave in, and the crocheting of the button covers. I can't believe how warm (and heavy!) this jacket is going to be. Sure it's wool, and wool is warm but this is not your average wool. The fibers are thick and wiry and I'm quite sure that this jacket will be equally good defense against the wind as it is against the cold (forget that it's intricate and beautiful--I'm all about function haha).This has been one of those projects that you just drudge through, knowing you have to finish it but not really seeing the end in sight, or the sense of accomplishment that will come when it...

Whew! It's been a crazy week. First of course there was the arrival of the newest little bean Huck, who has us all starry-eyed and shmoopy. Then there was the arrival of the newest color of the month, Jimmy's Journey, which is absolutely stunning! Finally, it's been storming like crazy here in Reno--that of Pacific Northwest proportions! We've been having the coolest thunderstorms followed by rain every day for the last week or so. For the high-desert, that's a lot of rain! My garden is extra happy because of it.In all of this craziness, I still had time to begin a new project this week (add that to the other 9 or 10 I already have going and it's way too many). Anyway, I decided that I need a basic black cardigan so I bought 5 skeins of Malabrigo Worsted Merino in Black (which is...

Our littlest Bean is now here in the world and is absolutely the cutest baby ever! Of course I am biased as one his many Aunts. I bet he will be knitting in no time, but for now he is just being a cutie and has won the hearts of all the Bean's here in the shop.He was born on May 28th and weighed in at a perfect 7 lbs 3 oz.! Laura looks fantastic and Doug seems to be fairing quite well with no sleep :) His name is Huckleberry and we will call him Huck for short.Join us in celebrating this sweet new life and congratulating Doug and Laura. Anyone who is a parent knows that the best is yet to come on this special journey! Welcome to the family little Huck, aka the Rock! As always Happy Knitting! Jeanneaddthis_pub = 'laurazander';addthis_brand = 'Jimmy Beans Wool'; addthis_logo = 'http://www.jimmybeanswool.com/images/headerlogoSmall.gif';addthis_options...