Recent Knitting Projects

So I have a few Knitting projects I have been working on and would like to share.

Here is a little sack and hat I made for my newest nephew Lucas. 

He was born 10-21-12

The hat is the "Trendy Baby Hat" on Ravelry and the sack is the "Laural Love Cocoon".

All the patterns will be on Ravelry 

I made this hat for Charlie! I used extra yarn that I had and knit it up in an afternoon. the pattern I used is "Scandihoovian Hat" It is a very easy knit and very cute! It was my first hat that I knitted from the top down, its also my first hat with ear flaps.

I made these mittens for my friends little girl. I used the the "Give A Hoot" pattern but to make it kid sized I used size 3 needles. 

 I made hat and mittens for Natalie.

The mittens are the same "Give A Hoot" pattern and then hat I'm not sure if its on Ravelry or not but I got it out of a book "Holiday Knits" by Sarah Lucas and Allison Isaacs its called "Striped Stocking Caps" on page 63 of the book.

I'm also working on a sweater for Natalie that should be done before Christmas! 

If your wondering about Ravelry.com its a free web site that you have to sign up for but you can find thousands of knitting or crochet patterns on the site. Some are free and some cost money and its the only site of its kind that doesn't send you tons of e-mails once you sign up.

Morning Farm Chores

So I start off my day by changing diapers, getting kids dressed and then feeding them. Then I let the dogs outside and feed them and make sure they have plenty of water. Once we are all fed and dressed we all load up into the truck and go over to my in-laws house to take care of the animals. Today I took pictures so I hope you enjoy them.

The cows coming into the barn for some hay!

Indy and Cheerio eating some breakfast!

Two hens laying eggs in the hay bales!

Tiny the rooster checking out what I'm doing!

One of the hens checking out the combine!

Some of the "baby"chicks eating out of the hens food dish!

Some more of the "baby" chicks eating their food in the coop!

Natalie by the coop with her stick!

Tiny the rooster and some of his hens scratching in the leaves!

Rayne the dog chewing on a bone with Natalie in the background chasing a hen!

Some of the "baby" chicks checking out my truck!

So this is what we do when we come do morning chores.

First we let the chickens out of the coop so they can roam, then we feed them and make sure they have plenty of water, after they are fed and watered we check to see if there are any eggs in the nest boxes or in the hay bales in the barn. That's what we do for the chickens.

Then we goto the barn and make sure the cows have water and hay and if they don't we give them hay and fill their water. once the cows are taken care of we feed the cats and play with them a little. Thats morning chores! I hope you enjoyed our morning ritual.

My Random Thoughts and Tips

So I have some household tips that I thought I would share with everyone (my personal opinion).

1.) Did you know that if you put a wet or damp sponge in the microwave for 60 seconds that it kills all the germs! So I do this before every time I do the dishes, so I have the scrubbing power of a sponge and know that its germ free.

2.) Cloth napkins! I have a hard time using paper napkins, I just feel that its so wasteful. So in my house we have quite a few cloth napkins and depending on the meal you can use them for a few meals. I have some from Target and some from Crate and Barrel and I love the Crate and Barrel ones because they wash and dry so nice and don't look like like they need to be ironed before use, not to mention they are so much more soft then the Target ones. The Target ones are not as soft and after every wash look like they need a good ironing before use. So if you're going to buy some cloth napkins I would not recommend going to Target.

3.) Did you know that if you have mineral rings on your drinking glasses from water that if fill your glass with white vinegar and soak it for 20 min or so then wipe away the rings. If it doesn't all come off then repeat. I would say I do this at least once a month. But I really don't like rings on my glasses and try hard to keep them ring free.

4.) How I treat laundry stains, if I have stained clothing (I do every week, my kids are dirty) I start treating them by first getting all of the stained clothes wet and then I put powdered Oxi Clean on the stains and rub it in a little, then I soak them in the washer over night, when I'm filling the washer with water I add 1/4 cup Oxi Clean just for that extra cleaning boost. How I soak the clothes, I fill the washer and don't close the lid (I don't think it would work on a front load washer) and then I let the clothes sit in the Oxi Clean water over night to get a good soak, then all I have to do is close the lid and the washer runs its cycle and in general all the stains come out but if they don't I repeat as many times as needed.

That was on my mind and I needed to get it off my chest! I have many more random thoughts and tips so expect more tips in the future!