Busy New Year

The end of 2011 and beginning of 2012 have kept me busy with lots of projects.  Most of them I can't really share yet, but a few non-knitting related ones I can write about.  A few days after Christmas my husband and I took a two day trip to Savannah.  On our way there some sort of projectile hit the sunroof on our car and completely shattered it.  Luckily no one was hurt and after a very creative tape job with some plastic sheeting and contact paper we were able to continue on with our little vacation.  We brought along our dog, so the activities we could do were rather limited.  But we were able to enjoy some good food and visited Old Fort Jackson.  Being in the military, my husband was really excited to visit a civil war fort and he happily explained to me how the cannons worked.  I brought along a new hat I had made for him and found the perfect place to photograph it while we were exploring Fort Jackson.  I hope I can find some time soon to write up the pattern.  This one uses twisted stitches (one of my favorite things to knit!) and is worked up in a lovely mustardy yellow worsted weight wool.  Hubby might not look like he's having a good time, but he really was happy to have a hat to keep out the cold wind.

When we got home from Savannah, I found an Amazon box waiting on my doorstep.  It was a late Christmas present to myself.  I had received a canning set for my birthday and wanted the Ball Book of Home Preserving.  I successfully canned some spicy applesauce that turned out fantastic!  Next up are some pickled vegetables.  Along with the canning book I purchased Back to Basics: A Complete Guide to Traditional Skills.  I'm a big fan of the Little House on the Prairie books and always wonder exactly *how* they processed the wheat, smoked meat, milked the cow, etc.  My inquiring mind just had to know, so I got this book.  It explains the basics of how to do so many homesteading skills, I can't even begin to list them all.  For example: how to build a log cabin, how to dig a well, how to build a smokehouse, etc.  There is a whole section on handcrafts that include how to made natural dyes, and how to spin and weave.  While reading the chapter on how to grown your own vegetables I was inspired.  My New Year's resolution for 2012 is to get rid of my completely black thumb.  Thus far I have managed to kill every plant I have tried to grow either from over- or under-watering.  This year will be different!  I hopped on over to Home Depot and got an array of seeds and some little peat pellets that came in their own plastic greenhouse.  It is far too cold to grow these outside, so I tried to pick vegetables that will work in pots indoors.  I am happy to say that as of this morning I have some radish and lettuce sprouts!

On New Year's Eve my poor little doggie was sick.  He was acting funny all morning; several times he wanted to go outside but he wouldn't do anything then he would run back inside.  He hopped up on my lap and then I saw what the problem was.  A brown thing, about the size of a sunflower seed, was sticking out of his side.  This was my first experience with a tick.  Hubby wanted to pull it out himself, but poor little Che was sick to his stomach a few times so we ended up going to an animal hospital.  The vet there was very nice and pulled out the tick and gave us a few medicines to keep him from vomiting more and prevent any tick related diseases.  Che did not have a good time though, he jumped up against me in his "Mommy, save me!" stance.  He is ok now, and is very happy to take his medicine in lumps of cream cheese.

As far as knitting goes, the secret projects continue on and the calls for submissions keep coming in.  Better publish this post and get back to knitting!