Wheat Chaff Wrap knitting pattern

Halloo, everybody!
If you're like me, you've been waiting for what seems like forever for sweater season to be over. As soon as the temperatures start to get above 50* upon occasion, you're hauling out the tee shirts and sundresses. For me, the first spring dress comes out Easter Sunday and then they stay out.
However, no matter how much we want it to be warm it's still going to be cold. If we're to be honest with ourselves, 50* is not warm enough to go out in a strap-sleeve dress without some sort of protection from the frigid temperatures. As an easy and fashionable solution is a lacy wrap; therefore, I give you:
The Wheat Chaff Wrap!

Still trying to figure out how to have a pleasant smile for the camera.

It's knitted with a simple lace pattern on huge needles, and is a great beginner lace project!

The wrap is very light (yet surprisingly warm) and thin, so it can also be used as a scarf!

Spring Fever

Hello all!
Following is an important article describing the common ailment known as Spring Fever, its symptoms, treatment, etc. (I may add some pictures in eventually but I can't find my camera)

(Note: If you haven't much of an appetite for a page or two of yammering, you can wait until I post something more worth your precious time, you stick in the mud.)

Spring fever, that miserable disease that plagues everyone living north of Oklahoma at some time or another, is upon us.
A simple description of the ailment is this:
Spring Fever (Not to be confused with Fruhjahrsmudigkeit or Spring tiredness), also known as Summer Fever, Cabin Fever, etc., is a non-contagious illness that can and will strike at every man, woman and child who ever lives through any sort of snow or cold weather. It is often considered a more common and less severe case of seasonal affective disorder (SAD)

Free knitting pattern: Garter Stitch Hat for 18", American Girl Doll

Hey all!
Recently I've finally gotten around to knitting up some 18" doll clothes. My most recent pattern is a simple garter stitch and eyelet hat, so I thought I'd share it with you.

Although this pattern is written for knitting in the round or on 4 double-pointed needles, there is a note at the bottom for how to convert it to flat or two-needle knitting.

Here's the pattern:

Easy Knitted Garter Stitch Doll Hat

By Mary Schaefbauer

Fun Stuff I Made this Holiday Season

I went a little crazy with stuff this Christmas.
I made a lot of presents this year, and I was planning on taking pictures of them but of course I forgot, except for one gift (plus a few other not-gifts). This is the gift I worked the hardest and longest on, and was for a very dear friend of mine who is even more of a Tolkien nerd than I am.

Shiny!

The gift was a hand-written (in fancy Hobbit calligraphy) hand-bound book, whose content was nearly every poem or song from The Hobbit and The Fellowship of the Ring.

DIY: Make a Living Mini Christmas Tree from Pine Branches

Now that February's a-coming and Valentine's Day is on the mind, let's post something about Christmas!
If you don't want a huge tree this coming year or just want a little tree to brighten up an extra corner, this post is for you! Instead of trying to find a tiny tree that isn't really scrawny, arrange some pine branches in a bucket, and with a little trimming you'll have the perfect "tree"!

Of course I didn't get a picture until half of the needles fell off. Oops.

That's what I did this year, and I'll give you a play-by-play of how I did it.
But first, a story!

Back in the Figurative Saddle Again

Hello everybody!
I have decided after way too many months to get back into this blog. Kind of a New Year's resolution of sorts, one could say. Now, I'm not going to try to go back and cover everything that I missed, I'll merely jump back into things like I never left, and try my hardest to keep up and stay on a somewhat regular schedule, but no promises.
I also think that I am going to make this more of a "journal of my life" kinda deal, because I've got a lot more going on than just knitting and farming that I want to share. I'll still stay with my original intentions of crafty and farming stuff, etc., but also add some more fun random stuff because I am a random person. We'll see how it goes.
So hold onto your hot cocoa mugs, because I'm back!

~Mary

Violet Jelly

Jelly made out of flowers? Yes, you heard me right. A small purple flower can be used to make a delicious jelly:

We've had some lovely weather here in Minnesota the past few days, and the back field is full of violets.

They are one of my favorite springtime flowers.

My camera doesn't take very good closeups, so here is a picture I found on the Internet!
Click to go to their page

This is a Common Blue Violet, (you can view the Wikipedia page here) but every violet is edible.

I remembered reading once about how violets are edible and are used to make syrups and jellies, so I searched it up on the amazing Internet and found a recipe, that I revised a little after some trial and error.