Finished hat and gate.

I finished the Etta hat yesterday. I worked on it a little while at the restaurant with my mom and brother. Then in the car. Then finished it while watching The Middle last night. I want to start on another one right away!

My husband had gotten all the parts and concrete Tuesday to get the gate up. So he went ahead and set the big post in the ground that night so it would be ready to work on the next morning.

We got to it right after breakfast. It's not perfect. I have to lift up on it to get it to latch properly. But that's fine. It works! And it's dry right there! That's the main thing I wanted, to get out of the mud pit. The goats hated walking through that. I had boards laid out, but still had mud to get in. And we still need to get that tall post sawed off.

I was using a hack saw to saw the flat piece of metal that goes through the fence. My husband had just taken a drink of coffee and I looked up at him and said "really?" He laughed so hard, coffee went everywhere! it was so funny, I still laugh. The look on his face was hilarious! But it took forever to get that piece of metal sawed in half.

This is the old gate and the mud pit we had to go through every day. It was not fun at all.

The happy little goat family. Olga and Freya both got to go through the new gate to go to the milk room this morning. SO much nicer! And I cleaned the milk room this morning too! During the winter, when I'm not milking, that room gets piled up with junk, And bales of hay, so hay strings all over. Just a mess in there. So I got it all cleaned and organized and ready for milking now!

If only Olga would have some kids now. I am wondering if she's not pregnant, just really fat. Maybe a false pregnancy? When that happens, do they get really big udders? I don't know. She was bred, and I saw it happen, 5 days after Freya. So what is up with this goat????

Etta hat.

I started this Etta hat at Mrs. T's Sunday. I've had this pattern for several years. But now I felt like I knew enough to be able to read the pattern. I did have to look the ssk stitch up on youtube and the yarn over. I almost forgot how to do that already. I guess I just need to knit every single day so I don't ever forget anything I've learned so far!

I really like this pattern. And it is fairly easy to do. But I did mess up on that 1st section after the knit part. Where I had to ssk and yo, sometimes the yarn got twisted and was together, so I just knit those together. I finally realized what I had done when I was back to about 85 stitches. Si this is a learning hat. I will make another and do it right. It just won't be as slouchy as the one in the picture.

I got my Taproot magazine Monday! My favorite magazine. Haven't had much time to read it yet, although I have skimmed over it. There is a cabled hat and gloves pattern in this edition I might have to try.

Shawls and buttons.

My sister and her daughter came up Sunday & spent the night here. We were going through some of our dad's things and I came across an old frame I had developed in my 10th grade photography class. It was of my sister posing for me for a school project. SO long ago.

So I got her to pose for me wearing my shawl. I think she did a fantastic job! And it fits her too.  This just might be a Christmas present.

(You can just see my redbud tree behind Heidi. It's blooming!)

Yesterday, we all went back to that Mexican restaurant for lunch. I have got to stop going there. The food is so rich and there's just too much!

After leaving there, I went to my pottery studio for more much needed practice. I had been wanting to make buttons. So David showed me the roller thingy and I got to rolling the last bit of clay I had left. I had to buy another 50 lb. bag!

One of the girls that comes during the week said I should take this home to work on it there, because it takes so long and I could be doing other things. I had already done some, so I wrapped this clay up on the board and put it in the car. Got these done last night. I can't wait to see them all done. They will be a lot of extra work though. With sanding and smoothing and waxing and all that. But it will be an experience. These will shrink while being fired.

I also worked on 4 little pots I made last week. Then worked on centering the clay and making cylinders.

My husband and I were going to get this wider gate put in for the goat yard but we need some more parts first. So while he's in town, he'll pick them up then we can work on this tomorrow. Where the gate is now is down lower and it's just a mud pit. It never dries out there because of all those huge cedar trees. So I want a gate up higher so the goats can get to the milk room. And I'll be able to get the lawn mower through this gate!

Tonight is actual pottery class. I think we'll be learning how to make lids to fit pots. How fun!