Cherries, Tomatoes, Tomatillos...and Us

A friend's mom has a Cherry tree in her backyard that gives the most delicious sweet cherries. The cherries look like miniature plums--a small sphere, deep merlot in color and when you bite down on them the juice just flows out.So tasty! The tree was loaded with cherries and they offered some to us. We went yesterday and picked about 20lbs of them. Now, they have all transformed into cherry jam. I am so excited to have made it and I hope that the kids like it enough to have it for awhile as I made 26 pints--that is enough for a year's worth of PB&J sandwiches. 

Our little garden has given us our very first tomatoes too. They are nice and plump!

 

We also have some tomatillos...we planted 6 plants and we have for some reason over 12 plants in our garden. Apparently some of the seeds from the tomatillos that we planted last year spread all over the garden and they have voluntarily bloomed. We are going to have an over abundance of tomatillos. It is alright though, I am planning to boil them and canned them to use throughout the year. They surely make the most delicious green salsa.

 

Unlike the tomatillo plants, our peppers this year have not been doing so well. We planted 8 plants and so far, only 1 has given us peppers, actually one pepper, pathetic. Who knows what went wrong this year. Last year, we had enough peppers to go along with the tomatillos, this year we weren't so lucky. But despite the pepperless garden, we are doing quite well. I'll bring you pictures later of our lettuce and our small pumpkin patch.

Loom Kniting Socks Book Giveaway

The enthusiasm for the book was so great that I have decided to give away a few extra copies each week, until the release of the book, on August 1.

This week, we will have 2 copies of the book up for grabs. To win, simply answer the following question by leaving a comment below (on the blog).

Q: Besides loom knitting, what other hobby do you enjoy doing and how long have you been doing it? Do you have a blog where you share photos of this other hobby?

Two winners will be chosen on Monday, July 27th--enter your comment by midnight Sunday, July 26 MST.

Today's picture shows the lovely pair: Blooms for Bethany. It comes from the colorwork section of the book, it uses Louet Gems in white, pink, and willow. One of my favorite pairs in the book.

___________________________________________

Winners Announcement

1. Wilma Becker

2. Mary Beach

Email me with your addy and I will have the book sent out to you the week after Aug. 1st. Thank you for entering!

Loom Knitting Socks: Book winner

Your enthusiasm for the book is phenomenal! Now, without further delay, our winner of the book is....

Jamie Winebarger who answered the question with the following

"I want to loom knit socks because my wife and four year old daughter just love those knit socks you buy at Wal mart. I would much rather them be made by me because Walmart can't put the love in it that I can. Also, I would like to make some for my mother 'n law who has a bad heart and therefore has poor circulation to her feet and legs"

Congratulations Jamie! I hope the book inspires you to loom knit many pairs of socks for your family.

Another sneak peak of another sock pattern in the book. This one comes from the Fancy & Cables section. It uses lovely Louet Gems sock weight yarn in Pink!

 

Swing by tomorrow for another chance to win another copy of the book...yes, there will be another giveaway!

Again Congrats to Jamie!

Loom Knitting Socks, Sneak Peek

Many of you want to see what's inside the book...here is a little sneak peek of two socks.

 

First, a look at about 90% of the socks that went in the last package...lots of pretty colors and lovely yarns.

The first sock comes from the Basic section of the sock patterns in the book.

 

It uses the lovely yarn: Malabrigo Sock Yarn in Chocolate Amargo.

Our second preview is of one of my favorite socks, it comes from the Fancy & Cables section of the book. Check it out:

 

You may remember the Hourglass hat I designed awhile ago and I told you that it was as a test for something else, well, this was the something else. Aren't these cool. I love them! Yarn used: Berroco Comfort. Superb yarn with awesome stitch definition.

More sneak peeks next week...stay tuned.

PS: Don't forget to leave your comment on the previous post to win a copy of the book.

Loom Knitting Socks Book

The door bell rang and the DHL guy brought me the latest and newest book in Loom Knitting. What's that you ask? It is all about Socks...50 designs to be exact! Get your signed copy from DALooms! Fun, show-n-tell pictures to come.

Enter to win your very own copy by leaving a comment answering the following question:

Why do you want to loom knit socks? 

Enter your comment by Friday, July 17th. Winner will be announced Saturday, July 18th!

Polka Dot Blue

I couldn't resist any longer. I had to make another bracelet to go with my jeans, you know, something blue. I found the perfect beads too--handmade polka-dot light blue and dark blue. The moment I saw them, I knew that they were supposed to be for my bracelet. I sure love it!

The polka-dotted beads are handmade out of glass (my pictures do not do them justice). I don't know how they do it, but I love the uniqueness of them and I wish I could learn to make my own beads (idea coming up in my head!). I was visiting this evening with a friend and I had to admit to her that I made another bracelet, it appears that although I am not knitting/loom knitting right now, my mind still wants to design/create something. I am glad I found the watch bracelets as an outlet for the creativity bug.