Rose Garden Fibers

Still Stitching...

2012-02-08T15:33:00.001-08:00

In a perfect world (which I obviously do not live in) I would have posted a picture a few days ago of the stitching currently done. This did not happen for two reasons.

The first - I have lost my ability to tell what day it is at times. This is partly due to some things going on in the personal life, and the fact I have had so many appointments and errands I have not had time to stop and think about what day it is.

The second reason - and more the reason of it all, I have had to tear out one section now 2 times. Make that three times, as I have to tear out the same section again tonight. Before I do that I wanted to show how much I have done:
Do you see the part towards the right side? Above the line of the deep blue? The grey/brown and the gray/blue, that is one whole line down - and needs to be moved up one line. So tonight I shall take that all out.

On another note, my darling dog Cheyenne.. a German Shepherd who has my heart, is currently having some issues with her hips. She started on a new supplement this week to try to help her some. She is a constant companion when we get into the hot tub, not just there to keep an eye on us, but she just loves to chase water drops. I tried to get some pictures of her in action earlier this week:I am hoping the supplements will help with her hips. We have known she has hip dysplasia since shortly after we adopted her from the Humane Society. The hope it to give her the best life possible before this horrible thing takes her quality of life away.

So far we have given her over 5 years. I am being very selfish though and want to have her around longer.

Vincent loves having her keep an eye on him when he visits!

Cross stitching

2012-01-29T15:25:00.000-08:00

Last week my son and I went to do a few errands and ended up stopping at the local needlework shop, Moore Stitches. I had planned on getting some yarn to do some of the mittens that the Yarn Harlot had designed.
I did get the yarn and was merrily heading out the door when I got to chatting with the owner and a old friend. The talk eventually went to the Mirabilia pattern I had started about 10 yrs ago.

It was the Santa's Magic pattern and had about 2/3rds done with it when I put it away so it would not get messed up over the holidays. Somehow, it has disappeared. I have found the original pattern, envelope, and photo of it. But, the project is still missing.

When I was looking to see if the shop still had a copy of it I found the newer Santa pattern - Winter White Santa. It was beautiful, and part of me wanted to buy it, however, I had just bought the yarn for several pairs of mittens.

Nope, I was not going to buy this pattern.

I don't need to get back into cross stitching. Not going to go there, or look in the UFO bin of projects I have to finish. So I went to put it back on the rack when my son asked to see it.

He proceeded to go to the counter and purchase it for me.

I was sunk.

But, I decided I would finish the 2 projects on the frames before I even think about starting the new project.

So once home the frames were pulled out and I started working on the "Queen of Freedom". It was the project with the smallest amount done on it at all. Only a bit of the stitching by the small red area was done. Which satisfied my desire to start a new project while not really starting it.
Right?

This is being done on 32 ct linen. Stitching done 2 threads over 2.

Anyhow here is the current amount of stitching done so far:

Its going well, and I am enjoying it.

The mitten yarn is still in the bag. Lets not discuss it.

Black Ice

2012-01-19T17:43:00.000-08:00

What a strange winter we are having. There have been 40 degree days lately. Winter was taking a vacation - until yesterday am. I was on my usual rush of a week when Mother Nature had decided I needed a wake up call.

I was heading to work like I do most Wednesdays, when I realized the road looked a bit more wet than it did a few miles back. Almost glass like. Actually, I thought to myself, it almost looks mirror like in a way. The temperature gauge on my dash, it had dropped several degrees in a very short time.

The wind was whipping the snow across the roadway, making it a bit difficult to see. Traffic was slowing and I had been following a plow truck when it suddenly turned off the road near the small private airport. As I passed the airport I noticed about 10 tractor trailers pulled off and sitting there in front of the now stopped plow truck. Somewhere in the back of my mind an alarm went off.

Black Ice.

I slowly turned the wheel and drove towards the edge of the roadway. Apparently I was not alone in this idea. Two coal trucks in front and some in back decided this was a good idea. I left the car just slowly come to a stop, placed it in park, and took a good look around.
Vehicles were sliding and slowing on the road. In the distance I could see an emergency flare burning. Vehicles on the roadway came to a stop.

I called work and told Mary(Boss and little sister) what was up. Called my husband and left him know. Then, I did what any sane person in the situation would do, I pulled out a sock and began knitting. Mary called, they were shutting down the road. I kept knitting. I had coffee, food, heat, and knitting.

Best part - No Interruptions!

I worked on a sock and finished the leg portion, worked on the heel flap, turned the heel, picked up the gusset stitches and started the decreases. I was sipping coffee, watching the snow fall, and enjoying the time alone.

Finally, after about 1 hour or so, the traffic started to move again. I watched for a bit - and finally set down the knitting. The sun was up and the ice had gone. Slowly I eased the car back onto the roadway, and getting to the next exit I turned the car around, heading back towards home.

One blessing of a large family - I have a few places I can stop at on way to work and back. I stopped at my youngest sisters which was about 10 min from where I had been pulled off. Got to spend a bit of time with my nieces and nephew. After spending the day there I headed home.

Now most would think Black Ice would be a reason to think a day was ruined. But, thanks to that, I got to spend time with some tiny people, and enjoyed some mandatory down time. Sometimes, we need to listen to Mother Nature. Taking a break and just being alone is a good thing at times.

Some times I need that kind of reminder.

The quiet time of the day

2012-01-14T20:08:00.000-08:00

This is the time I look forward to. When everyone else is in bed and its just me, the german shepherd, and my glass of wine. Add to that some knitting or as in the case tonight, some spinning and it is the perfect end to a long day.

Earlier today was a bit busy as we spent 2 hours exploring the newly opened Hobby Lobby. It was a bit overwhelming. I am not sure I have recovered from it yet. The space was previously a nice sized grocery store and a AC Moore. Now it is combined into one large mega store. The good part - I was walking around the whole time, although I did stop a few times here and there.
I managed to escape pretty unscathed. It was close though. Thankfully, I did get 2 small pillow covers, one Tim Holz texture fades- the Damask & Regal Flourishes set A2, and some things for the youngest.

It made for a nice day. Add in the spinning tonight on the Jensen Ultimate Production was the icing on it all.

I wish you all a wonderful end to the week like this. Its been a crazy, cold, windy, snowy week. This quiet time now? Perfect.

A New Start

2012-01-02T08:52:00.000-08:00

So last year is finally done. Thank goodness.

I won't go into how glad I am to see it gone, suffice it to say I am looking forward to the New Year.

But before the end of last year I had the chance to visit the National Coverlet Museum in Bedford Pa. and get some pictures of the displays.

A Scottish coverlet

Jaquard Woven Coverlets

The amount of information and beauty of this museum is so wonderful. I could have spent a day just looking at all of the detail.

If you get a chance to go - Please do! It is more than worth the time.

Other notes - I have closed the fiber shop. After a year of considering what to do about it, I finally made the hard decision. While I love to spin, knit and dye things, I don't have the time to maintain a shop too. So it is closed.

At the moment, I am happy to knit and spin for myself. I promise to share more of the projects with everyone this year.

One of the things that has been keeping me busy, other than family, is working at SMart Resale LLC.
The chance to help recycle, reuse and keep things out of landfills is so important. This year we are hoping to grow the business even more. As the business grows, and we are working with not only used IT equipment, but with some wonderful vintage items.
This past year the business became a Microsoft registered refurbisher, and affiliated with a electronic recycler to securely recycle outdated and broken IT equipment.
The business not only works with large corporations, but individual persons. If you have something that is no longer of use to you - Please contact them to see if we can help you. One woman had some old toys she mentioned she wanted to throw out.
Instead of putting them in the trash, she brought them to SMart Resale. Each item was researched and the suggestion was made to see if we could sell them. That box which would have ended up in the trash instead gave the woman over 400 in cash. Talk about "Found Cash"!

Visit the website and keep us in mind if you have old laptops that are just becoming large paperweights.

Happy New Years all.

Knitting is not tough? What?

2011-08-19T17:49:00.000-07:00

So I stumbled upon an article today that you can read here. All of a sudden, while reading it my world started to spin. What was the author trying to say? That knitting is not tough enough to be a female pursuit in today's world?

Obviously this is someone who does not knit, and is a total Muggle about it. The writer then made her next big mistake in choosing The Yarn Harlot as a blog to link to, with the idea it would show how "girlie" knitting truly is. Never mind the fact that The Harlot is one of the best examples of a woman who is making a difference in this world while not giving up the fact she is very much a woman. Makes me wonder if anyone edits these articles before they go live.

But I regress. Why would someone think that knitting is not something a forward thinking woman would do today? Knitting takes talent. Yes, it is just 2 stitches, but by using those together with some yarn overs, increases and decreases, one can make something that can take ones breath away. Or it can be the article of clothing that will keep away winters chill in subzero temperatures. Knitting is a different as the people who practice it.

What would make one think that knitting is "girlie" and to do it you are not tough? Apparently this person has never stayed up Christmas Eve to finish that sweater the child wanted so badly. Or been madly knitting that last row during a knitting challenge. One has to be tough to keep going even though you have been bored to tears with the pattern and you want to be done, yet you have 600 more yards of lace weight to knit.

Knitters are anything but weak. They have been known to knit in the most trying times. I still have the pair of socks knit while my husband was having valve replacement surgery, and the pair of socks knit while my Father had by-pass surgery. I have knit when stuck in traffic for 45 minutes due to weather, when stuck in construction, while working the poll booths during elections, at football games while watching child in band, at pro baseball games, on trips. Instead of buying a souvenir, my knitting becomes part of the memories.

I can look at a knitted article, and remember where and when it was knit. I learn from each project, and take that lesson with me in my life. Patience and perseverance is something that will be rewarded with a finished project. Just like saving and planing for a trip.

Knitting is tough. You have to be to keep knitting, and knitting, and knitting to get to the end of the project. You learn so much about math while knitting, how much to decrease, what the stitch count is for the lace row you are on. Which decrease will give the right effect you are looking for. What patterns you like, and what you don't.

When I was young, and in college taking the certified occupational therapy assistant program, I had to look at many different crafts. Not for fun, but to think about how that could be used to help someone recover movement after a surgery, injury, or when they have a disease. Its amazing how easier it is to get someone to do something if they are enjoying it, rather than just doing a movement.

Knitting is not "girlie" nor is it "non-feminist". It is very much a choice of someone who is very particular on what they want. The knitter does not follow the stream, they are the ones going the wrong way. They appreciate the craftsmanship, the fact that this pair of sock they are making today will be around for many years beyond what the commercial items will be.

It takes time, energy, ability and most of all part of the knitter to create a object. I have yet to see a Television set hand you something other than 42 min of semi entertainment that someone else has decided you should watch, with many plugs from items you don't need.

I take offense to that article. Yes I knit, I cook, I bake, I spin my own yarn, I enjoy creating things for others. I also love being a female, and I would hate to have to fit into the authors idea of what a modern feminine woman should be.

Oh yes, one more thing, probably the biggest reason I knit....

I knit ---- So I don't kill people.

You have been warned.

The view from inside a glass of wine...

2011-08-13T20:10:00.000-07:00

Wine is a perfect thing. It is a great way to preserve some grapes too.

It is the perfect thing to accompany a good steak or a great piece of salmon grilled to perfection. Or in my case, lace. For some reason, knitting lace can mess up rather quickly if knit when sober in my experience. Lace is something that requires concentration. For some in this world, that is hard to do. At least to just pay attention to one thing appears to be a struggle for me.

However, when paired with one glass of wine, everything becomes clear. Maybe it is the fact that in days of old, when they knit with the gossamer yarns spun so fine we can just marvel at them today and then knit into lace. This sometimes seems like a incredible feat.

But we should spend a bit of time looking at the society at the time, and the food. They did not trust the water. Wine and beer or milk was consumed. Tea in some places. So lets think of this, a group of women, knitting and drinking.

What would happen when one made a mistake and created a hole? Well then it is a mistake. However if you continue to make mistakes regularly, then it becomes a pattern.

If one looks at it in this way, it is not hard to see how lace began. Personally, relaxing after a long day ( and I put in at least 9 hours not counting the hour drive each way to work) and knitting some beautiful lace is the best way to end a day.

If you are having problems with a pattern, it may not be due to you not paying attention. Instead it may actually be due to over attention. Take a deep breath, have a glass of wine, and enjoy it.

Don't stress. Look at it through a glass of wine, preferably a red or rose', and you will see it in a whole different light.

Knit on.

Becker Family Reunion 2011

2011-08-01T16:52:00.000-07:00

Family Reunions

A time to meet with new relatives:
Size up how everyone is growing up

Take random pictures of those taking random pictures.

Enjoy talking about Alpacas and fiber animals.
Especially to those who would like some even if their husbands have other ideas.

Win some cool prizes.
Hang with cool people at the pool.

Laugh and play in the water.
Enjoy some good food.

Take random pictures of people eating.
Share stories of the crazy things kids do.

Even time to ponder about some.

This might take more than a few moments to ponder.
Obligatory picture of food being consumed for Mary.

Just keep one thing in mind.
No matter what.
There will always be someone for you to talk to or play with.
They have to.
You're related!

Couldn't Foot it - Sock Summit 2011 challenge.

2011-07-31T12:23:00.001-07:00

The past few weeks have been brutal. The heat and just life have had me so busy, I have not had time to do much.
The craziness finally decided to slow a bit this past week, and some knitting was getting done until the realization that Sock Summit 2011 was happening this weekend.
Considering that the Sock Summit is held on the other coast it has never been someplace easily to attend in this economy, but I wanted to live vicariously through those that do. The best way to keep up is in the forums on Ravelry.

Then a friend showed me the "Couldn't Foot It" thread with the challenge to knit a pair of socks in 4 days. The rules for this challenge were simple: cast on at the same time that Sock Summit begins and finish the pair before it ends. The sock patterns to choose from are ones that the Yarn Harlot has made.
As it lasts 4 days, and making a pair of socks in 2 days has occurred in my past, this should be fun. But, it's to be a challenge, right? So, take away the vanilla socks, and the pairs previously made. Add in the fact that there is a family reunion on Sat, work on Friday, and most of Thursday is to be tied up in errand running.... what could possibly go wrong?

So of course, one needs to choose a pattern that will also challenge them. The Pearls of Wisdom socks. Yes, those would work perfectly and any sane person would choose those.
I cast on Thursday night, and managed to get the first cuff done.

Work on Friday was busy and due to some very strong storms. Which made the ride home was longer than expected. By the end of that commute, being able to concentrate was not up to par, and it took all evening to get the ribbing done on sock 1 and the start of sock 2 on needles.

Saturday started out with good intentions, and cuff design was began. It was going well, optimism was at a high. This goal is going to be reached. Dh left to pick up and transport Grandson and parents to reunion, and then was going to swing back and pick up youngest DD and myself, to allow time for knitting. Unfortunately, a child with Aspergers sometimes decides to suddenly demand attention. Patience is something DD lacks at times, and no knitting occurred during that period of time. At the Reunion, time visiting, and playing with Grandson took center stage, and while knitting occurred, not as much was done as hoped.
Leaving the Reunion at 6pm, an hour driving was required to return Grandson to home, then another quick run to parents home to deposit some leftover items.
Finally sat down to knit at 8 pm and worked hard from then 'til 2 am, during which time two things were realized:
1. Charted Knitting needs to be enlarged for easier reading.
2. Paying attention to chart is required for the set up row or multiple trips to frog pond will be required.
Slept 'tll 8 am and resumed knitting.
10 am - starting to think the charts are against me. Frog pond visited 5 times this am.
Noon - wondering if this might be a bit more knitting than previously realized. On chart 4 of the first sock. 7 hours 45 minutes to go.
1 pm - still thinking it can be done. Visited frog pond again 2 times.
2 pm - finished chart 4 on first sock.
3 pm - finished chart 5 finally. Lost count of frog pond visits. Beginning to wonder about sanity, still only on first sock. Heel is going well, but still have two more charts to complete till toe can begin after heel is done.
3:20 pm - realized that to do last 2 charts for foot, one needs to chart them out personally. Start looking for graph paper.
3:30 pm - Only about 4 hours remain. Realization that even if knitting non-stop occurs, high possibility of not making deadline. Continue knitting a bit slower.

3:45 pm - decide that as much as it would have been great to accomplish this in the time frame given, it is not going to happen. Gracefully admit that this challenge + my life = not happening.

Then I smiled for a bit, walked around a bit, and knit some more. Poured a glass of wine, and toasted to those who did accomplish the challenge. Think some on what went wrong with my choices.
What could have been done differently? Probably choosing this pattern was not the smartest thing, but the fact is that several things have been gained by it, such as:
1. If decreasing is needed and doing colorwork in bands, do the decreases on a solid rows before the colorwork looks better. If done in the row after, it causes the colorwork to be altered and will not give desired effect.
2. Purl rows when knitting a sock are not as fast as doing them on a larger project.
3. The Master Knitter program has altered my thinking from just knitting, to making sure it is done to the best of my ability.

Would I try again?
Yes - but would try to choose a pattern without influence of wine.

Bobbin Lace

2011-06-09T10:12:00.000-07:00

After several years of avoiding the sirens call of Bobbin lace, I have finally given in. Got a small kit at Md Sheep and Wool, and down the rabbit hole I am headed.

I have managed to get 2 bookmarks done and decided that I might need a roller pillow to help with the lace edging I wish to make next for some pillow cases.
So I looked up some tutorials online. DIY here I come.

First step, get a pool noodle. That was the only purchase I had to make for this. Everything else I had on hand.

Then I cut a 6 inch length of this. A serrated knife works best I discovered.

The next step was finding some cotton batting. Thankfully several king size pieces of quilt batting are still around here, so this was not hard.
Next, cut 7 inch strips of batting, and tightly wrap them around the noodle base. I am happy that this one has a hole in the middle that is not large. The noodles with larger holes did not seem as stable as this one. Also I am planning on having this in a base, and having a dowel through it so it will work great.

Trim edges. Now to do the basic cover. I started with a scrap of fabric from the stashed quilt fabrics:

Cut the fabric to length and add a few inches, add 2 inches to the width of the side. Turn under 3/4 of a inch on the long side and sew a casing as shown here:

Now string a chord through the casing. I used some scraps of the cotton clothesline from the replacement line this spring.

Whip stitch the edges together, and then pull the edges tight. I used a bit of felt under the pricking, and here it is ready to go:
Not a bad job for the first one. Will make a nice cover for it in a while, but now- I am off to play with it!

What? Its been a Month?

2011-03-07T06:53:00.000-08:00

So where did it go? I know it was right here a few days ago.
What happened to February? Has anyone seen it?

That is one of the many reasons I dislike February. Its short. Very short. Why does it not have the shortest name? Its too short to get anything accomplished in.

Last month I realized that March was coming up. That means a Grand baby would arrive. So I began to cross stitch and embroider the top of the quilt I bought for the baby...

So far so good. I had forgotten how long it takes, and have been working on it some. I had made each of my children a different style of quilt, so this will work.
When I did Royce's quilt - it was a shadow quilt pattern. Very soft and pastel. Its so pastel that pictures of it show up very faded even, but this is one of the blocks:

There are 4 blocks on it total, this was the bear with the rainbow block. Then I spent time looking at quilts. Knitting has suffered. I got disgusted with the swatches for the Master Knitter level 1 so have purchased new yarn. Will start over here in a bit on the swatches.

March came as a Lion here - the truck has decided it wants a new engine. This comes after the van needed new wiper motors on front and back and new tires. So at moment we are down to one vehicle.

But everything in the world stopped on Friday at 12:53 for me when I was told this person has arrived:

Meet Vincent Joseph Kajka. Born March 4, 2011. Weighing in at 6lbs 6 ounces and 19 inches long. I am so in love with him at moment, everything from the past month can be forgotten.

Socks, interrupted.

2011-01-30T08:16:00.000-08:00

I had started the twelve pair of socks in twelve months. My first pair was originally going to be a pair of Pomatomus made out of some Regia yarn. I had gotten a good start to it as you can see.

Then suddenly, life decided to interrupt me.

The first interruption came in the disguise of several pairs of my socks developing issues. These issues were holes and worn out toes that needed mending. Now I should have been better at keeping up on any issues with them, but I had been slacking in that department.

So one afternoon that should have been spent on the Pomatomus pair was spent fixing not one but FIVE pairs of socks! One pair had been repaired a few times before, and at this point it required both of the toes to be replaced.

The good news is I now have several pairs to wear till the new sets of socks are done, and then they shall be put to the emergency only pile to wear.

Then Life decided it needed my attention again - this time in the disguise of some pretty severe medicinal side effects. I am not going to go into much detail, other than to say, I am not in any way a fan of Intuitiv for ADHD in children at this point.

So I decided to make my DD a few new pair of socks. So, I took a trip with my dear Cousin and Yarnie in training to Stitch Your Art Out. Stash enhancement was needed:

The Mini Mochi is color number 111, and after scanning for a few patterns to make it with the colors screamed Fruit Loops. So the first sock was started.

Enter the next interruption - Snow.

Last Wednesday, Jan 26, my drive to work was a bit delayed. When I left for work the roads were totally dry, no snow. I had listened to weather reports were listened to and read online that no major snow was projected, only 1-3 inches of snow and a 40% chance of precipitation. Driving should not have been a issue.

So travel began in the good old trusty tank - the van. The ride to work was fine.

At least until Route 22 just passed Ebensburg. Then I ran into a wall of snow. Now, snow does not scare me, having survived the huge snowfalls of the 90's of 36 inches every week, and while driving from Philipsburg, Pa - Clarion, Pa on I-80 daily. All done without four wheel drive. So this is nothing, just a squall, it will pass.. and it will be fine. Right?

Got to work, and got into the groove. Around 3pm, suddenly we got a few phone calls. There were over 3 inches on ground in Altoona, and wrecks were occuring. Roads were being shut down. New projections of snowfall 3-6 inches of snowfall and treacherous driving conditions with blowing snows and possible white outs.

Thankfully I work with a very cool boss, my sister Mary.

Needless to say I did not go home, but stayed with her. We had some wonderful pierogi pizza, wine, and watched some Pawn Stars. I had a very nice time visiting and working on the sock:

Its now done and the second sock is on the needles. While it is not the Pomatomus, I am going to finish this pair and call it my First of the Twelve.

I think that works.

Finished items.

2011-01-12T16:32:00.000-08:00

A few years ago my dear friend Opal came for a visit, We had a wonderful time and went to Md Sheep & Wool to enjoy the fibery madness that it is. She had given me a beautiful mitten kit from Riihivilla. I started them, but as life usually does, projects for others pushed them to the back burner. Until last week.
It has been a bit cold out , and my hands were screaming for some warmth. So, it was time to pull out the WIP and finished them up!

I have to admit I love them. I blocked them inside out to allow the floats to relax. The result is amazing - soft and beautiful. They have worked well so far this week with the storm blowing outside.
I also finished the Reader Mitts for Amy. They are perfect for her as she loves her phone and would be devastated if she had a pair of gloves that would not let her use it. These are made from some wonderful Cash Vero DK yarn. This yarn is amazing and soft with just the right amount of cashmere to make them perfectly warm. This pattern is becoming a very big favorite of mine, as it is fast, yet so elegant looking.

The scarf was also for Amy, made from Noro Kochoran, it should help to keep her nice and snug. The name of the pattern is escaping me at the moment. It used one skein to make it, and is very entertaining to knit.

So now to finish one more pair of fingerless mitts, and it will be time to work on more things for the shop.

Swatching and ideas...

2010-12-31T08:21:00.000-08:00

So last night I couldn't sleep. I spent a crazy amount of time before bed looking at information on blocking and that got me to thinking on swatching.
One of the articles I had stumbled upon after reading through TKGA Forum on Ravelry was this one - called " The Swatcher's Manifesto".
This got me to some thinking. When I knit socks, I get hit or miss results. This is because, I never think to swatch for socks!
Now, swatching has been given a bad name. Not many will admit to liking to swatch, and even less actually take the time to wash and finish the swatch to see how the yarn really reacts.
But I have grown very tired of misfitting socks, sweaters, tops and other items.
Now, to get a true reading from the swatch itself, you need to actually not knit one but two swatches. One is washed and finished as it would be during use, the other is a control swatch.
Some people advocate only swatching in plain stockinette, but I tend to go with the other opinion and do a pattern repeat, as yarn will react differently in different patterns.

This year I intend to do the 12 socks in 12 mos.
My plan is to use 12 different patterns for these.

Which means, I need to do 24 different swatches at least. Also, taking into account that knitting in the round gives a different tension than flat knitting does, how do I make the time involved in this count?

So, I have devised a plan.

I will find my bag of leftover sock yarn, and shall use it to do the cuffs for 2 socks. I will then use each as a place to swatch the pattern and yarn for the 12 pairs. One will be washed, the other will be a control.
Once the normal length for my socks is reached, I shall do the heel and foot for them in another yarn. If I am figuring this correctly, I should have about 1-2 inches for each pattern repeat. So I will have a few extra pairs thrown in and will also have a great way to see how the yarn reacts.

Any suggestions or comments about the plan?

Almost finished

2010-12-30T15:40:00.000-08:00

So work has been taking time out of things. I finally had to admit, after reading The Yarn Harlots blog, that I needed to relax and enjoy Christmas.
This means I had a few projects yet to finish. Today, almost a week later, I am down to 3 more projects to finish or do. I am patting myself on my back as I type this. Its an amazing feat for me to do.
Part of the reason I am still not finished, is I have been working for my sister. Most of my days are spent there at this desk:I have to admit although it looks messy, I know where everything is. Also - for those curious - That is one of Connie Togel's beautiful artwork as the background of the computer. I change it every week.
The business I work for is the brain child of my little sister Mary - shown here:

The decorations around her window were added while she was on Safari in South Africa this year - she loves Dr Seus! Just for the record - she is an awesome shot and managed to bag more than a few animals in South Africa. She is having some of them mounted, and I will get photos later.
She is an amazing gal ( no I am not in any way biased) who is so full of energy. I am proud to have her as my sister. The business is called - SMart ReSale LLC. We get in off lease laptops, and after they are wiped, and the operating system reinstalled, we check them over and list them on eBay.
Then they get put into the boxes, and ready to be shipped.

But even with work, I did manage to get a few things done. The 2 Santa hats I made for my young nieces turned out to be a hit. Maddie got the red one with white trim and was happy to pose with her mom Janet here:
Sophia, the youngest niece, was not into posing with her hat, so Maddie jumped to the rescue with the help of her dad, Jonathan, and her Uncle Roy in background.
Instead of making New Years Resolutions this year, I have decided to make Christmas Resolutions.

1. Get Christmas Presents started now for next year,
2. Follow the 12 pair of socks in 12 mos like The Harlot.
3. Get exercise
4. Stay positive.
and
BLOG!!

On The 2nd Day BEFORE Christmas.....

2010-12-23T13:42:00.001-08:00

I was feeling good, and thought I had everything done for Christmas. So good, I had thought about working on the Master Knitter Level 1 swatches.

Then it hit me....

It is 2 days before Christmas, and I have 4 pair of fingerless gloves to make, one hat, a blanket to put together and oh, one pair of regular gloves to finish.

Right now, this is what the knitting looks like:So for now, I am knitting, probably the next 24 hours or so straight.
Wish me luck

Christmas is coming......

2010-12-13T05:03:00.000-08:00

I have been working hard on knitting and trying to be good. Except when I get angry and forget the restriction of not to lift more than 10 lbs.
So far I have learned that crawling on the floor is not a good idea 2 weeks after surgery, neither is picking up the loom bench you have smacked your toes on the 4th time.
Needless to say, remembering restrictions is not one of my strong points.

The good thing - on the 8th of December the packet for the Level 1 of the Master Knitter program arrived. Perusal has begun as has the work on the swatches. One swatch is done at least for now, that is if it continues to pass muster here. The amount of information and learning is so exciting.

The one thing that seems to be a bit hard now, is not tearing out and re-knitting all of the projects that are on the needles. Where once the knitting looked good, now there appear glaring issues.

Healing is going slow, but Saturday I talked DH into driving me to work. Once there, I managed to work about 5 hours before we headed home. Originally I had planned on heading to work today, but the threat of white outs and the snow storm have me staying home.

Snow is coming down now, and knitting is occurring. Slowly the house is beginning to look like Christmas. Will get some pictures of all the completed projects later today, and will post them tomorrow.

Knit Happy!

Trying to be a good patient.....

2010-11-29T05:53:00.000-08:00

So the Surgery went well, and I am home recovering. I am to take it easy and not lift anything over 10 lbs. No driving until 3 weeks after surgery.
So I am working on some knitting. How come, when you have lots of time that you have to rest, you want to do other things? I can see all sorts of things I could be doing while home, but I can't do them at moment.... but I digress...
Anyhow, I have gotten some knitting done. I have the left front of the Winter Wonderland Coat, and have the right side cast on. I finished the back of the sweater for Liz, and have started the front. I actually knit the Brambles Hat from Knitty. I still need to block it. Its beautiful and I really enjoyed the pattern.
Speaking of blocking. I am so excited, I have been awarded the TKGA Memorial Fund Scholarship!! I can't begin to say how excited I am about this. The award will be used to pay for TKGA Master Hand Knitting Program Level 1. This is a 3 part correspondence program to help knitters to become the best they can be. Since the beginning of the program in 1987, there have been less than 230 people who have completed this successfully.
I have spent some time in the past days since surgery reading up on TKGA Group on Ravelry (if you are a knitter and have not yet been to this site - I urge you to check it out! Its free and amazing). I am realizing I have so much yet to learn about knitting. I am waiting for the program information to be sent, so I have not officially started, but reading everything I can to prepare for it.
After doing a Inter-library loan, the book "Principles of Knitting" arrived for me to peruse. This book should be listed as a text book! The amount of information in it is amazing. The one problem in purchasing this, is it is out of print. Supposedly it is to be reprinted, at least that is what several press releases from Simon & Shuster in the past years has said. The last one stated the book would be released in Fall of 2009. I hate to tell them it is now almost the end of 2010. If one finds a copy for sale on eBay it is going for at least 150 and up, Amazon is the same or more.
I would love to own a copy of this, but I am afraid it is going on my wish list. At least until some one decides to reprint it and the cost comes down.
So for now, I shall spend some time with it until it is due back at the library.
Time to get back to knitting, and enjoying the Christmas Movies on Hallmark channel.
Knit Happy!

Finding my way back to blogging....

2010-11-13T18:15:00.000-08:00

In case you have been wondering where I have disappeared to let me solve that mystery. A few months ago I started working for my sister three days a week.
She has a awesome business called SMart Resale LLC. She has a shop on eBay here. I spend most of my time there listing the laptops on eBay. I get to spend time with 2 of my sisters while I work.
Family has become the most important thing to me after last winter, when DH had the heart valve replaced and I nearly became a widow, it really drove that home. Then my dear cousin Amy lost her DH to cancer. So I figured, before I get a third reminder of how important family is, I am listening up and taking stock.
So focusing on family and helping them has become a priority to me. I am spending more time with family and dear friends.
Working has been fun, and I get time to spend with my sisters. But, it has put a huge dent in my knitting time. I have been trying to get a bunch of projects done. So far not getting them done fast enough. I started to knit the Winter Wonderland Coat. (Ravelry Link) I have the back done, and I am almost done with the skirt on the left front.
I also have a baby blanket on the needles. It is for my first Grandchild who is due in March. We are expecting a Grandson on St Patrick's Day. So the knitting of baby items has begun.
This coming week I am having some surgery on Wednesday. Finally after struggling for over 10 years with issues, I am having a total hysterectomy done. I am very ready for it. I am still slightly worried about pain I will have after. After having a high tolerance of pain for most of my life - this past year I have lost that tolerance and now have Fibromyalgia. The pain is now a constant in my life, the exhaustion is terrible. Problem is I don't look any different from last year. If you have someone in your life who has a chronic illness please check out the Spoon Theory.
The great thing about this -- I get a few weeks of recovery that will require me to take it easy. For those of you who are knitters - this is code that means LOTS of KNITTING TIME!
So I am hoping to get back to blogging some too. At least I am going to give it a good try. Of course, the end of this coming week may be a bit slow going. I am planning on taking the laptop with me, but it will depend on the pain and drug levels.

Knit Happy!

busy busy busy.....

2010-10-14T18:25:00.001-07:00

Yes I am still alive.
Yes I am still spinning and knitting.
But I have been so busy I have not had time to sit let alone do anything else.

Will update soon---- Promise!

Happy 4th of July!

2010-07-04T07:10:00.001-07:00

A few weeks back I took a trip to Tennessee and had the opportunity to visit Smoky Mountain National Park.
Today on the Day we celebrate the founding of our country I give you some pictures of the way the beautiful land we live in must have looked to our founding fathers...

Enjoy!
Have a happy and safe 4th of July!

New Rovings

2010-04-15T10:01:00.001-07:00

It has been a bit, but I am trying to catch up with everything now my toe is finally mended enough. I did manage to dye up a bunch of roving, unfortunately I have not managed to get pics of everything yet.
Two of the rovings are now up for grabs in the shop:

Crayonbox :
4 oz of Shetland roving

&
Peach Sunrise
4 ounces of Shetland roving

Keep an eye out - more to be posted soon!

I'm Up and Moving, Honest I am!!

2010-03-25T07:16:00.001-07:00

Well, at least I am trying to. This dang toe is really beating me up some. For the record, on March 2 of this year I had a cyst removed for the 2nd time from a toe. To try to keep it from coming back again (this last time it only stayed away for 6 mos), the doctor this time scraped out the joint to fuse the bones. It also has a pin now in it.
This has been very painful, and is limiting my movements around the house, as it is my right foot, driving is out of the question. Thankfully next Monday I *should* get the pin removed.

I did however do some dyeing of roving this past weekend. I had been asked to do a special dye job for a friend, and that was the first one I worked on.I was enjoying the day and had an idea to dye one of the rovings from a deep mauve/red to a very light pink.
This is the result:

4 Ounces of shetland roving in a colorway I am going to call Rosebud I think.

I listed some new hand dyed sock yarns in the shop this past week, and this one has to be my favorite of all at moment.

I keep hoping someone will buy it before I cave in and wind it up to use myself.I am hoping I will be much more mobile next week!

Flowers are blooming

2010-03-11T16:21:00.001-08:00

Maybe not everywhere, but the signs of spring are slowly making their way to us. This week we have had several days over freezing. This is cause for some celebrations.
I decided that I would name some new sock yarns in honor of the breaking spring weather, so I listed Crocus in the shop today.
Just like the first flowers seen here, it went very fast. Don't miss out on the other offerings.

There is a beautiful 2 tone rose with green that is listed as Wistful Roses.

Sticking with a rose theme I love the Rosemary Harkness rose coloring, so tried to dye up that too.

Finally for the day I listed Midsummers Night Dream.

Miss me?

2010-03-08T17:12:00.001-08:00

So I have been trying hard to get things done, but somehow I have been laid up for the past week. Last Tues I had some surgery on my right foot. Which now looks like this:
Needless to say, this has put a huge damper in my daily activities. Keeping the foot elevated is the most important part. That and keeping the pain meds close.

Who knew that a silly toe would be this painful. I am however hoping this is the last time I have to be off my feet due to this.
The cyst that has been bothering me for the past few years has been totally removed, and we are fusing the bone to keep it from coming back.

Needless to say, I have not been up to doing much at all. Being fiberless is really not a good thing for a fiber fanatic.
Knitting can be massively messed up if knit under certain medications. Especially intricate lace knitting. So working on my Queen Susan Shawl is out.
So what to do?
Thank goodness for drop spindles. Its not something that one can hurt themselves on when in a medicated state.

I pulled out a beautiful Bossie from my collection and began to spin a wonderful batt I won from Abby Franquemont. Of course, reading her new book is also to blame too.

I will just say it is AMAZING. If you have not seen it, find it. Search it out.
You will not be disappointed at all.

However your wallet may be a bit lighter at the end when you discover you are missing some interesting spindles in your collection. You have been warned.

On the Yarn front - the new yarns are dyed up and I hope to be listing them very soon. Till then, I shall leave you with some eye candy.

The Snowicane has hit, and so have the yarns!

2010-02-26T14:12:00.000-08:00

The storm has settled in here, and there is no reason for me to leave the house. Instead, I spent the day taking pictures of the yarns I dyed up on Weds.
I started taking pictures of the various yarns, and I had a hard time deciding on names. Thankfully some dear friends came to my rescue and helped.
I give you: Snapdragons

All of the yarns have the same
Yarn Vitals:
Yardage :306 yards
Weight: 3 ounces 100 grams
Yarn Size: sock weight
Fiber Content: 92% superwash wool, 8% acrylic

This is Parrot Tulip,

Then there is Cornflower, which is a nice 2 tone blue, but somehow it managed to obtain a few stray red flecks. See them in the pic?

Sweetheart Roses turned out so pretty, I can see it becoming a beautiful pair of socks, or even the main design coloring of a pair of warm mittens.

Finally I leave you with Hydrangea.

The first two are listed in my shop now, the others will be going up soon.
Stay warm this weekend!

Colors Spring to Life

2010-02-24T17:27:00.001-08:00

Today was a dye day for me. Yarns arrived and skeins were tied.

Then the magical dyes were opened and colors began to scamper across the skeins.

There is a storm that is to be moving in, and I was thinking about that as I started. But soon the spring that will come came sweeping into the dye pots, and beautiful flowers began to jump into the skeins. While some of the skeins may look similar in the above picture, they truly are each one of a kind skeins.

Waiting for them to dry tonight, and tomorrow I will get pictures. I am thinking of re-skeining them, but I may leave them in the skeins as they are now.

Keep an eye on the shop - the beautiful spring sock yarns will begin blooming soon!

From Roving to Yarns.....

2010-02-18T12:34:00.000-08:00

In keeping with the earlier post this week on habits, I pulled a roving from my shop and decided to spin it up. The first colorway I pulled was the Portulaca colorway of handpainted Superwash BFL.
I decided since I am going to be refeshing the shop with new fibers soon, I was going to play with the various techniques of spinning the rovings.
For this one, I divided the roving in half length - wise and weighed it. Then I divided each half into 4 smaller lengths.
I spun trying to keep the color stripes in order, but there was some variation in each length. The resulting yarn is soft, lofty and has some thick and thin sections that vary from sport to worsted weight in spots.

The colors softened nicely once spun and plyed giving me a wonderful marled effect.

The variations and flow is so nice, I can see this being used in scarfs, hats, or even a very nice pair of thick fair isle mittens. Especially if paired with a solid cream color to allow this yarn to take center stage.
I almost decided to keep it for myself, but decided to offer it instead. Its listed here and here. Another beauty shot:

So now I have pulled another colorway, this time I chose Firecracker, another Superwash BFL roving.

Once again I split it length wise and weighed it.

Then divided each half into two sections. I am going to try to keep the colors a bit more defined.

The first bobbin is done:

This yarn should turn out about fingering, but it really puffed up when washed, so since the last skein did that, I am spinning it thinner.

I hope to finish the 2nd bobbin and ply it tonight.

Its turning out really cool, don't you think?

Habits in Business

2010-02-15T07:48:00.000-08:00

Habits -
defined in Websters Online Dictionary definition
6 : a settled tendency or usual manner of behavior
7 a : a behavior pattern acquired by frequent repetition or physiologic exposure that shows itself in regularity or increased facility of performance b : an acquired mode of behavior that has become nearly or completely involuntary

What habits do you have? Most times I hear the word habit I think of negative connotations. But habits can also be very beneficial. When we try to make new habits, we often refer to them as resolutions.Sad that we only are encouraged to make new resolutions on New Years. I came up with a whole list of new habits or resolutions yesterday, a bit late for it to be a New Years resolution right?

I pondered this a bit then realized - Yesterday was Chinese New Years! I was right on time.
So I give you my resolutions of new habits for this year:

1. Blog 2 times a week minimum. This might be the hard one to get into. But I intend to do this. You are warned that some posts may be lame.

2. Work on promotion of Shop. Look into more ways to do advertising, and do it daily!

3. Get your packaging items in all one place, keep them stocked and be prepared.

4. Make a to do list weekly for the shop. Do not put this off.

5. Work on a new business plan. Set reasonable goals. Put it into action.

What new habits are you going to do? Feel free to let me know of other habits you find helpful in your business!

Shop Update!

2010-01-14T04:21:00.001-08:00

Wow, this month is just running away. I have finally managed to get a picture of the last project of 2009.

This is the 2nd Whisper Scarf pattern in the Fiddlesticks knitting pattern packet.

I did a bit of modification on it - as I only did the required 2 repeats of chart B. But when I got to chart C I realized that it was going to be shorter than I expected.

So I added 2 more repeats of Chart C, which has a rose in the edge detail.
Pattern: Whisper Scarves from Fiddlesticks Knitting (this was #2)
Yarn : Schulana Kid Seta Melange in a dusty rose colorway.
Needles : size US 4

I have to say, I really like this pattern. It is well written and the charts are wonderful. I may have to make these scarves again.

I did do an update in my shop this week, make sure you take a peek at Sparkling Roses.

This is some yarn I really love, so much I have gotten 2 more lbs of the roving from the breeder/seller of this mohair blend.

I originally purchased this fiber at MD Sheep & Wool. Somehow I lost the contact info on it, and spent some time looking for the seller.

I finally found her - however she had just gotten a new batch of this blend. So its just a bit different from this one, as the dyeing of the fiber is very hard to match from batch to batch.

So I am offering this yarn for sale.
Its a wonderful blend of colors - gold, yellow, purple, green, blue and some firestar gold glitz to add sparkle. This is a mohair blend with over 700 yrds in total!
Some lucky knitter will enjoy knitting with this luscious yarn. Hurry and check it out here. It may not last long and you don't want to miss this for that special project.

January - the time to stay in and knit.

2010-01-07T04:29:00.000-08:00

The whole country seems to be in the deep freezer at the moment. This is the perfect time to stay in and knit.

I was just checking my previous posts, and saw I had not posted a picture of the finished whisper scarf #1.
So without any delay - here is the picture I took when the blocking was done.

I did manage to get the #2 whisper scarf done on New Years Eve. Just in time to allow me to cast on the Queen Susan shawl at about 20 after midnight on New Years Day.

I got the yarn on New years eve, promptly wound and got ready to cast on.
While working with yarn that is the size of sewing thread at first scared me a bit, I have found it very relaxing to work on.
So much so that I now consider it my reward in the evening for working on other projects during the day. This will be a project that will take a bit- if my calculations are correct ( I do not even attempt to say I am good at math), it looks like the center section is going to take me around 3 mos or so.

Once the project gets a repeat done ( 38 rows) I will get a picture of it to show.

Last evening Chey came in the house - minus her collar. She some how has figured out how to throw it off her head every now and then.
So we headed out to look for it, unfortunately finding the chain collar in the snow pack is a bit of an adventure.

So I enlisted her help.

(picture is her with it on a few weeks ago)

So far, no luck. But she is enjoying digging the snow when I throw a snowball in a spot and let her dig.

Guess who is getting a new collar this week?

End of Year - and Goals!

2009-12-31T04:32:00.000-08:00

Its been a long year. Crazy things have happened, but one thing has continued - I still am in love and daily play with fiber.
So instead of making resolutions for the next year, I have decided to take a page from Ida at Knit-A-while, and make some goals for this year.
Here is my list so far - ( there is no actual order )

- to knit a few shawls. I did join the 10 shawls in 2010, but not sure I will get that many done.
- do more weaving and try some different weaving patterns. Challenges are always good.
- spin and knit a sweater for me.
- knit the Queen Susan Shawl. This is a huge one for me. Wish me luck. I plan on casting on as soon as I get the yarn.
- play with more scrapbooking and other fun crafts.
- knit and finish the 12 days of Christmas Sweater. Honest. This is another big one.
-continue to strive to be the person my dogs think I am.
- be happy.

May 2010 be the year that makes you happy too.

Clogs, Finally Done!

2009-12-10T20:00:00.000-08:00

For the past several weeks I have been working on several projects. One was my Husbands sweater, and the other was the 7 pair of clogs for my friends nieces for Christmas.
I finally got the knitting part done, one pair on top - the yellow, has been felted. To save him from being overwhelmed trying to remember which was what size, I made it easy for him. All of the clogs with the pink uppers are medium sized. The purple uppers are large. He asked for one pair of med to be yellow, so they are easy to figure.

Once I got all the knitting with bulky yarns and large needles done, I was craving something thin and detailed to knit.

Lace fits this very very well. So Sunday night at about 8 pm I cast on the Whisper Scarf 1 from Fiddlesticks knitting. As of today, I have this much knit so far:Not bad for a few days. I am past the half way point called for in the pattern, but I may do a extra repeat of the one section to make it a bit longer. I have to say after all the time spent on the thicker yarns the past few months, I am so enjoying this pattern.
So much so I bought a skein of yarn to make the 2nd scarf in the pattern pack next. I am still working on several consignment projects too, but this is my carrot to help me get those done.

I hope to felt the rest of the clogs tomorrow and will get a picture to show of all of them when done.

Taking time

2009-12-09T19:03:00.001-08:00

The past few days I have been busy with some family things. Spending time with family is the most important thing we can do.
Last night we had a bit of snow. Today Cheyenne was a very happy pup doing the one thing she loves to do when you are supposed to be shoveling the snow.
Playing in it!

(For the record, she catches every snowball and eats it with great joy!)
Take time today to love your family and enjoy the small blessings that make up life.

Need for Prayers, and cards too!

2009-12-04T17:53:00.000-08:00

Last night before I went to bed, I caught my "Adopted Daughter" Sarah on Facebook. I was going to share the fun I have been having with the new loom, the spinning, the knitting and even the scrap booking. When she told me some horrible news. Her niece, Alexis, was just diagnosed with Leukemia.
Needless to say, this quickly took the wind out of me. This little gal is 2 yrs old, and so sweet. Somehow, due to the swine flu, her symptoms were not picked up on as quickly as they should have. Thankfully now, she is in Pittsburgh's Children's Hospital and treatment will be beginning soon.

As Sarah and I talked we came up with a few ideas to help everyone deal with this and to help Alexis too. We know Alexis loves to open things, so we are going to get a card shower going - inviting everyone to send a fun card to Alexis.
Please send them to:

Alexis Battisti
1007A East Atlantic Ave
Altoona PA 16602

The second thing we came up with was that due to the Chemo she is going to loose her beautiful hair for a while. What can we do about that? Well, this will be devastating, but instead of making it a sad thing, why not turn it into a fun thing too?

Besides, what does a Knitter do when faced with bad things?
We Knit!

So I am asking everyone for some help, Please leave me some links to your favorite Hat patterns - so we can get started.

Let us make Alexis the Hat Princess !
Lets give her a different hat every day of the year!

Tags, Tags, who has Tags???

2009-12-03T15:44:00.000-08:00

As one knows, I love all sorts of crafts. When I heard The ScrapYard Scrapbooking shop was moving into the center where Delightful Ewe was, I tried to convince myself that I was not going to be sucked in.
It was bad enough that every May when I go to Md, Carole tries to slowly indoctrinate me into scrap-booking and stamping. Still I tried to stay strong. Even when Sandy, the sweet owner of the Scrapyard began to learn to knit, I continued to resist.
Now I could give you a very good and even possibly a sane reason why I fell into it by saying I was trying to help find something that sparks Rochelle's intrest. Add to the mix that Carole was nice enough to show me Tim Holtz's 12 tags of Christmas, and well. . .
Suffice it to say I am now doing some of it.
Well maybe more than some.
Okay, I am SUNK!!

So I started innocently enough. I was looking at some of the tags he made and thought - oh I could possibly use that for a card. So I played a bit with Rochelle's supplies and this was the result:It was my take on the tag Tim made for day 1.
I was kind of pleased with it, and truth be known I have played with making cards myself before. I do have some stamps, and inks and well, it is just plain fun!

So Day 2 of tags I played a bit more as I did not have the items Tim did, but I made due with some other things:Then I discovered that one could chat with Mario and Tim on Facebook! Oh man what fun. I had a hard time pulling myself away to bed last night. I was so excited to get up this am and see what Tim had created for Day 3. All that was spilled during the chat was that he used some black distress ink.
Today was so awesome. The tags for day 3, and yes you read that right - the TAGS! He made not one but 2 with the technique. I was desperate to try the plaid out. So I went out to the Scrapyard, and came home with some alcohol inks and a mat.
Now, understand, I checked 3 places for the gloss cardstock, without finding any. So it was once again time to make due.
I bought some white cardstock, that is smoother than the others. I played with loading the ink pad with some blending solution until it would glide on this and I was off:I now understand why Tim made more than one tag. This is addicting. I found so many different plaids I could make with just 4 colors, well its entrancing to say the least. It was actually hard in a way to stop making the plaid and make a card.

Now this is what I have done so far - but I am still not sure it is done. I am thinking it needs a ribbon or raffia and a charm yet.But till I can figure out what it needs, I need to finish 2 more pair of felted clogs. I have one of them almost done, so will try to behave, work on them, and not stay up all night with Tim & Mario on Facebook.
Wish me luck!

Tuesday, trying to be good.

2009-12-02T09:04:00.000-08:00

So yesterday I decided to catch up on my blog reading. Catching up on the goings on of the Yarn Harlot, and other knitters. I was also drooling at Tim Holtz's blog featuring the 12 tags when I got to Fleegle's Blog.
WOW is an understatement to say the least. After several discussions with FiberJunky, I decided that this shawl would need a very special yarn.
I had gotten a few lbs of white shetland lamb roving from Briarpatchfibers a few mos ago, and after pulling it out to sample it on a spindle, I think I have a match.
While sampling it on my Golding spindle, (FJ has its matching sister spindle)(note - the fiber shown is not the white shetland, but another fiber I had spun a while ago)
I spent time reading the information on the ravelry group about the shawl. Realizing it requires over 5k of yardage, I believe it will be spun on my Jensen Production wheel to save my sanity, or what is left of it.

I did manage to finish a pair of simple guantlets for my brother to wear today hunting. Simple as ever - cast on 44 stitches, join in round and knit 2 purl 2 for about 14 inches. I used worsted weight yarn and size 4 needles. Make 2 for the hunter you know who does not like to fiddle with gloves, ect when the deer comes into view. I finished these so fast I took them to my brother without getting a picture. So here is a picture of a pair I made before:

So now I am working on finishing the last 2 pair of clogs for a special order, and working towards getting the yarns spun for another special order before I start the yarn for shawl.
Yeah, that is the plan.
We will see how long it lasts.......

Distracted to say the least.

2009-12-01T11:38:00.000-08:00

So its been a while.
Here it is December, I have lost the end of October and all of November some how. What a whirlwind of the time it has been.
In October, DH had open heart surgery. That was a bit of a life changing event to say the least. Most of October was spent dealing with the surgery, and when that settled a bit - problems began with eldest son. After getting all of the issues with him settled a bit, I was then slapped with reality that it had somehow turned into the first week of November.

I had almost forgotten I was planning a surprise party for someone special. . . . .
That went over quite well, although he states he figured it out about a half hour before the party. I don't think so. We had a good time. He did think briefly of grabbing his chest when they yelled surprise, but thankfully he didn't. I think after everything I might have actually killed that love of my life if he had done that. Stress I tell you - the man causes stress!
The weekend quickly passed after the party - speeding me to picking up the new to me Mighty Wolf Loom.
Needless to say, after the stress and loss of sleep for the past few weeks, I decided I was in need of some play time. After all who doesn't like to play with a new toy? So now I am working on finishing the items needed to be done ASAP! I am also starting to make Biscotti for sale during the holidays too. No rest for the wicked I guess.

Its been a Busy Busy Month

2009-10-24T08:51:00.000-07:00

This month can't be over fast enough for me. Its been so crazy here, I have not gotten much done at all.
I did have items at the Bedford Fall Foliage show, however I only was there 1 day as things here at home went crazy. Dh had to have some surgery, and thankfully is now at home recovering very well.

This week looks to be much slower, so by the end of the week, watch the shop. I will be adding some wool soakers to it along with some other goodies too.

Soakers

2009-09-29T18:25:00.000-07:00

Soakers are interesting items. Made from wool, they work much like rubber pants for the cloth diapers. The wool is lanolized, which means that lanolin has been added back to it. This makes it more water resistant.
Knitting them, is fun and enjoyable, and they are so cute! I will be listing them in the shop soon. So check back soon.

Not Procrastinating at all. Nope, Not me!

2009-09-12T18:03:00.001-07:00

So if you are wondering where I have been, or what I have been up to. Well I would love to say I have been immersed in wonderful fibery fun. Alas that is not really the case.
I will say that I have begun my frantic scurry to gather items ready for the Bedford Fall Foliage show that I am vending in. After all, why wait till the last minute.
Did I mention that the Fall Foliage Show is the first 2 full weekends in Oct?
Yeah.
So if I am not posting much, you know why.
Now I think I put that spindle under this pile of wool. Nope. Maybe this one? . . . gulp. Off to find it.

Staycations are HOT!

2009-08-31T08:31:00.000-07:00

Staycations have been very popular, have you joined in the trend? This is one of the easiest trends to get in on. You don't need to book a airplane, catch a bus, ride a plane, or jump a train to get there.
Want to read more on them? Check it out HMN!

Helping others

2009-07-07T15:59:00.000-07:00

While I am not happy with the Pa Government at this time for not passing a budget, and it is causing things to be tight here at home at the moment. I know this is temporary (although if you were to buy something from my shop that would be a help).

A friend of mine, Larry, is dealing with something much more pressing. His Life.

Please read, and if you can help out please do. He is a great guy and I hate to see anyone faced with this.

Larry Hamm over at Chelsea Lynn Designs on Artfire is a friend of many in the world of handmade, he is also the voice of The Crazy Train on Blockhead Radio. Larry has a fantastic wife Janet, and an 8 year old son Jacob who live with him in Lansing, NC deep in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Larry is a friend to everyone and just an all around swell guy. He is most definitely the "shirt off your back" kind of friend. Right now, all of Larry´s friends and Blockhead Radio are teaming up to help him out in a tough time.

Larry is a disabled diabetic who currently has lost his health insurance. His medication alone monthly is over $2,000. Larry is not receiving disability, he has not been approved yet. His wife is the only source of income and she doesn´t make enough to cover his medications. Larry´s doctors have given him an outlook of only 18 months to live if he doesn´t receive a $17,000 gastric bypass surgery as soon as possible. Larry and his family need all the help from their family and friends they can get! Jacob and Janet need Larry to hang around here with them as long as he possibly can! All of his friends surely want Larry to stick around too!

All of us at Blockhead Radio are gearing up for the biggest Radiothon you´ll ever be a part of! July 24th at 6pm until July 26th at 6pm, Blockhead Rod will be live on the radio for 48 hours straight raising money for our friend Larry. A silent auction of donated handmade goods will also be going up on the home page of Blockhead Radio with 100% of the proceeds going to Larry.

If you would like to be a part of this wonderful event, please email DeDe Sorensen at: 48forlarry@blockheadradio.com Please donate any handmade items you can for the silent auction have your emails in with your donations by July 22nd. If you would like to donate cash for Larry’s prescriptions and surgery please visit Blockhead Radio July 24th through July 26th. There will be plenty of ways to get your donations in.

Keep listening to Blockhead Radio for fantastic indie music, and how you can help Larry Hamm of Chelsea Lynn Designs.

Please Feel Free to Copy and Paste the above for your blog/site/fb/etc.

If you would like to donate and item to the silent auction please email DeDe at 48forlarry@blockheadradio.com.
We ask that you hold onto the item and mail it out. Please provide the following information:
Title of Item
Image
Description
Link to your shop/site
retail value
and if you will ship intl or U.S. only

Bidding on the items will begin at 6pm eastern time on July 24, 2009 and the highest bid recieved by 6 pm eastern time on July 26, 2009 will be declared the winner. All the donations will be going straight to Larry's Paypal account and he will notify you of the winners name and address.

Half Way There

2009-06-27T18:56:00.000-07:00

Today I spent most of the morning out on the deck. That sounds like a nice relaxing way to spend the morning does it not?

While a morning spent out on the deck relaxing would be a great thing, that was not the case this morning. Not even close.

This morning the first thing on my agenda was to dye up 11 - 4ounce sections of Superwash BFL Roving. So bright and early I was out playing with the dyes. A few hours later I had some beautiful colored rovings ready to get photographed and placed into my shop for everyone to see.

So I will give you a sample of them to drool at here:
The first colorway is in honor of the Blockheadradio.com Morning BrewHaHa, aptly named Brewhaha
The next is Lilac:

Carnation:
Yankee Doodle:
Field of Sunflowers:
I do hope you noticed a difference in the pictures, as I also spent some time creating a light box to use when I take pictures.
I have to say that it was not a hard thing to make and the difference it makes in getting good light in the photographs is amazing.
So Tomorrow will be the day I dye up the Superwash Merino rovings, stay tuned for more eye candy, and check the shop for the other new ones!

What is wrong with this picture?

2009-06-26T19:26:00.000-07:00

Next week it will be July. A new month, and a new fiscal year for the State of Pennsylvania. Well, maybe.
You see the State of Pennsylvania has yet to pass a budget for next year. If they do not pass a budget the State will have to lay off State employees. But what about those who work in the Health and Safety areas?
The ones who protect us from criminals, help to keep the streets safe and keep those who have been sentenced to serve prison time behind bars will still have to go to work. They can not shut down a prison very well, nor will those criminals take a day off on the streets if the State Police are shut down.
Nope, they will have to go to work.
Without Pay.

Now that news alone is very disturbing, but what comes next is even more disturbing:

While Corrections Officers are not being paid,
the Inmates they are guarding will be.

What is that telling our children in this State? Sorry kid, if you work hard, and live right you will have to go without pay. Tough luck
However, if you break the law you get a room with 3 meals, a great law library, free education, letters mailed for free, TV service that is subsidized and even get paid while those who are watching you do not.

Don't believe me?

Check the news article here.

Or for more information - go to BlockheadRadio on Monday June 29 2009 at 9 am EST. Don't forget to make sure the speakers are on. The morning Brewhaha will be devoted to this topic.

Counterpane Sweater started, and general life

2009-06-22T17:28:00.000-07:00

The past few weeks have seen a lot of activity here, I have been working hard on a sweater that is done in pieces. Its from Knitting in America and designed by Nicky Epstein called the Counterpane Sweater. I have a bunch of the triangles done so far. I am doing it out of Tatamy Tweed yarn and I am really liking the way it is turning out so far:
On last Friday I had a bit of a set back on several things, as I had to have some surgery on my toe. It is healing nicely and I should be back to normal here soon. The boot was the big issue to deal with. It was like walking with a huge bucket on this foot.

Now that it is off and I have a small bandage, I have a feeling I will be getting back to the groove soon.

2009-06-15T16:45:00.001-07:00

Do you have a wedding in your future? Check out a way to make your wedding special: http://ping.fm/pDByW

2009-06-15T07:38:00.001-07:00

asks have you gotten your gifts for Father's Day? Need an idea? Check out here: http://ping.fm/ywxWc

2009-06-14T19:33:00.001-07:00

Need a good idea for a Father's Day gift? Check this out: http://ping.fm/8J5qQ

2009-06-13T17:50:00.001-07:00

Cool article on Hemp and Bamboo yarn http://ping.fm/UsG0U

2009-06-13T17:41:00.001-07:00

have you read HandmadeNews.org today?
http://ping.fm/KzcSm

2009-06-11T15:29:00.001-07:00

Asks if everyone has read the latest article on socks?
http://ping.fm/cCgVA

Time is spinning away!

2009-06-10T16:12:00.000-07:00

The time is still quickly passing here. I have spent a lot of time on promoting my shop and working on items for in it.
This past week I added a new yarn, Sky. While its only one skein, its a very nice one. I love the color and the original idea was that I would knit it up into a shawl. Probably from a pattern out of the Estonian Lace book.
But, I looked at all the projects on the needles here, and decided that until I get to that project on my queue, It will be up for grabs on my shop.So while I am putting it on the back burner, you have the chance at it here.

As many of you may know, I am now a columnist for HandmadeNews.org in the Craft trend Department. I can't begin to say how excited and happy this makes me. I encourage everyone to stop by and take a look at all the online paper has to offer.

2009-06-10T15:51:00.001-07:00

Just updated my Blog! Check it out here: http://ping.fm/d7WFe

2009-06-10T15:30:00.001-07:00

What does it take to make a pair of socks? Find a overview here: http://ping.fm/xz2Vt

2009-06-10T12:14:00.001-07:00

Why would people knit socks today? Find out some reason here: http://ping.fm/dAvtk

2009-06-10T05:04:00.001-07:00

Do you know what the oldest sample of knitting found is? Find out here: http://ping.fm/Cymuy

2009-06-08T08:40:00.001-07:00

http://ping.fm/JVROa Socks!! Got to love them

2009-06-07T18:36:00.001-07:00

Don't forget to visit my Shop and see the spindles, and yarns!http://ping.fm/8thyL

2009-06-07T16:33:00.001-07:00

Is sock knitting for you? http://ping.fm/vRhog

2009-06-07T08:01:00.001-07:00

Socknitters - Read a article about your hobby/craft here! http://ping.fm/ke3mN

2009-06-07T04:26:00.001-07:00

says the sun is shinning, coffee is good, reading cool article on Lace here http://ping.fm/dwamJ

2009-06-06T17:54:00.001-07:00

What a good thing to keep in mind http://ping.fm/CRn21

Slowing down, routines

2009-05-27T16:30:00.000-07:00

Since this week has actually slowed down, I had a chance to work on some new spindles to go in my shop. I am going to try to spend more time working on spindles and items in my shop.
The first one I did today is a new design :
The Sweetness Spindle

I finished those, and decided to branch out to other flowers. The first one that came to mind was the Sweet Pea. Then I found the glitter tube, and fun ensued. Here is the result:
The Purple Sweet Pea

I decided that I will try to focus on my business part of each day. The mornings I will start by reading my favorite online news here:

Then I will work on spindles, or fibers.
I hope to get more up in the shop in the next few weeks.

Family, News, Updates

2009-05-23T09:21:00.001-07:00

On May 8th, Rochelle's 6th grade class went to Washington Dc on a School Patrol trip. I got to go along as a chaperon. We took 2 buses. In one day we saw a lot of the sites. Due to time constraints, we did not tour the White House, but did get a group shot of all of them:

I was with these 3 gals all day. What a riot they are.
Haley, Rochelle and Megan.

I spent the next 4 days trying to recover while doing my normal running around to meetings, helping with some customers at the LYS my best friend Carla owns, and getting ready to pick up my BIL from airport on the 14.
Last weekend I was completely distracted by 4 men. My husband and his 3 brothers got together and what a fun time. I did manage to get some pictures of the 4 of them, first time in about 19 yrs! Sometimes men can be a bit frustrating. I have no idea why any of them are camera shy, they are all good looking. Of course I am biased some:

From Left: Roy, Rick, Rusty, & Rod.

Rusty flew home on Sunday, and Monday am I got a text from my baby sister. So now I was distracted by my side of the family, and the result was this:

I am an Auntie!!
Please meet Madeline Rose Bobby. Born Tuesday May 20th at 12:17 am. She is 5 lbs 11 oz and 19 inches long. Oh yes, she is a red head like her Mommy too. What a sweetie!

Finally I had time to work on a dress for my youngest child, Rochelle. She had her 6th grade recognition dinner and award presentation on Thursday this week. I managed to complete it, and she looked great as you can see as she stands beside her best friend Nate.

So between spending time with family, doing some spring cleaning, and working on knitting, sewing and general life. I have been totally busy.

But that is not all I have been busy with. I also recently was hired by Handmade News a New online publication full of great Craft and Handmade information.
Today I have another article in it, this one is on Lace. I encourage everyone to take some time and read it as you can. Its full of trends, information and lots of ideas! You can find me under the Craft Trends dept.

MD Sheep and Wool Hangover

2009-05-06T06:54:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was Maryland Sheep & Wool festival at the Howard County Fairgrounds. While it was not the best weather for it, it was still a wonderful experience.
When I arrived at the fairgrounds on Friday at noon I was greeted with this site:

While the outside was a bit damp it did not stop the fleeces from being brought in for sale at the fleece tables.

Saturday morning everything was bright and ready for the crowds.

The fleece sale was busy as usual, and fleeces left fast from the piles. The fun of seeing all the different colors and breeds was almost overwhelming.

Couple that with a plateful of Ribbon Chips, and the day is bright despite the clouds and occasional rain.

The colors of the booths was truely a feast for the eyes, and was almost as filling as that plate of chips was.

Each one held more wonderful colors than the next. It was almost like walking into the colors of the Emerald City after the drab gray world outside.

Sunday the rains came back in full force, causing most to stay under the safety of the barns and tents. The main walkway at mid day looked almost empty.

By Sunday afternoon the skies opened up even more, but the crowds kept coming.

I however was soaked to the bone, and my head was swimming with all the sights, sounds and colors I had seen. Ideas of what to make, spin, and work on were running through my head.

So I said a sad goodbye to the fair grounds, and I leave you with this sweet little gal:

Till next year sweetie!

View more of my trip here.

Supporting Causes

2009-04-26T18:08:00.000-07:00

Today was a exceptionally warm day. Actually, I think it may have been a record breaker. I had originally planned to work on some spindles, but I spent the day cleaning and doing laundry. I love to hang out the bed clothes on the line and always feel so good when they are all done.

As I was hanging out the quilts today, I was looking at the Rose bushes, and the Lilac. The leaves are starting to come out, and the buds on the lilac are getting big. Even though it was so warm, the feel of hope of spring was in the air.

Hope is something we all reach for. Hope is always there to encourage us that things will get better.

I had the opportunity to attend a fundraiser for the Fraternal Order of Police. After the horrible slaying of the 3 officers in Pittsburgh, it was wonderful to see the amount of people out supporting those who answer the calls never knowing what it will bring. If you have a chance to support the Police or Corrections Officers in your area please do.

Tuesday night I will be attending another fundraiser for Relay for Life.

As many know who visit my ArtFire Shop, I have a Drop spindle there that part of the proceeds go towards Relay for Life. The decision to do that was easy, as Cancer has touched my life and my husbands in many ways.

I will be introducing another new spindle in the next few weeks, this time with proceeds going to Autism Speaks. Autism is a cause near to my heart. So keep an eye out for the new spindle soon.

I urge you all to support those things that are special for you.

Fibers FIbers Everywhere. . . . .

2009-04-21T09:46:00.000-07:00

Or maybe I should say Rain, Rain, Go Away. . .
Its been very gray and getting a bit chilly today. I know this is part of Spring, and that the rain is very needed, but still. I would love some nice warm sunny days.

Maybe this is why I decided to look for something colorful to put in to the shop this week.
The first one I listed yesterday when it was very dreary is this bright colored one I called "Tonks":

The 2nd one is a corriedale roving I have named Juliet. Both of these are 4 ounce in weight, which if spun in a sock weight, should give you enough to make a pair of socks.
Spun lace weight one will have enough for a nice size shawl.

Looking at the calendar today reminds one that Maryland Sheep and Wool is approaching fast.

The vast array of colors, fibers, yarns and animals will surely overwhelm even the most seasoned fiber person for a bit. I expect to be blown away with all the wonderful smells and sights as usual. If you are close enough to go I urge you all to attend. There is something for everyone there.

This year I am going to try to NOT bring home a raw fleece.

Wish me luck. I will need it.

Blockhead Radio

2009-04-19T17:28:00.000-07:00

I have added a new link to my blog, Blockhead Radio.

Once again Artfire Crazy Train has started a run, and this time it has hooked a great radio station with it! If you listen you will hear some great ads for ArtFire shops.

You will find a link to it on the right hand side of this page below the Shop Now! link.

I can't say enough about Artfire, if you have not visited there yet, please RUN and check it out.

T-shirt quilt & Making Spindles from Scratch.

2009-04-15T17:25:00.000-07:00

So Monday, I pieced this together, and yesterday I spent time tying it.
This is what it looks like now:

The only thing left to do is to have a binding put on, and the person I pieced it for will do that. So today I turned my attention back working on drop spindles for in the shop. Since I had the camera out I figured I would get some pictures of what I do to make them.

I start out with dowels, cut them to length, and then glue them to the wheels. The pieces in the lower corner are what I start with.
I then sand, and prime. Sand again, and base coat with 3 coats of paint. Eventually I end up with some of these:

Finally, I do the decorative painting, and then top that with 2 coats of a outdoor sealer, and I end up with a nice shiny spindle. I drill the hole, and put a hook in, adjust it, and take it out for a test spin!
This series is now available here. I am donating $5.00 from each sale to the Relay for Life.

Sidetracked!

2009-04-13T20:06:00.000-07:00

I actually planned on putting the Ray of Hope spindles up in the shop today, but I got sidetracked. I am working on getting a Schacht Mighty Wolf loom. One of the things I am doing for the seller is getting a t-shirt quilt pieced and tied for her.
Now, before I go much further, I promise the spindles will be going into the shop on Weds, as tomorrow I have a full day of errands and a Guild meeting.
The t-shirt quilt is neat, but I am glad it is ready now to be tied. I hope to have it tied when I am away at some engagements tomorrow. At least that is my plan. While its a neat idea, the fact of the matter is, t-shirt material stretches. It stretches badly. It really need to be stabilized, and while all of the pieces had been, it still was horrible to sew.
Needless to say, I would have rather have spent the day painting spindles, knitting or just working on something else.
At one point I even vacuumed some, but I knew I needed to get this monkey off my back.

So, after I get done doing the stuff tomorrow, I will be back to making more spindles.

I do encourage you all to stop by ArtFire.com and look around. The place is amazing and the items up for grabs are so cool. Seriously. If I had a bailout I would be buying like nothing else.

Stay tuned!
And don't forget to Buy Handmade!

Happy Easter

2009-04-12T18:51:00.001-07:00

Just a quick pop in to say Happy Easter!

May the hope and promise of spring continue to bring good things to all.

Ray of Hope Rose Spindle

2009-04-09T11:42:00.000-07:00

As promised I have been trying to get better at updating the shop and letting you know about the new spindles coming soon.

Today I added 5 more spindles to the Shop. Hope you enjoy looking at them.

I wanted to show you a preview of a special spindle that will be going up soon. I am calling it "The Ray of Hope Rose" spindle. Part of the price of these spindles will be going to Relay for Life to help with Cancer research.

Top of whorl (hook not shown)

Each of the spindles will be numbered and will be limited to being made for only one year.

Side view of shaft and whorl.

Side view of whorlKeep an eye on the shop, these will be listing soon!

And the WINNER is.....

2009-04-08T06:41:00.000-07:00

Wow, this was a hard decision to make.
All of the names are so wonderful and original.

After thinking about it and really struggling with it the winner is - EvenRose by Loribird!

I am contacting her today and will be getting her spindle in the mail as soon as I get a snail mail addy.

Thank you all for participating in the contest.
The EvenRose spindle along with the others will hopefully be in the artfire shop today.

Have a great Day!

Technology? shudder

2009-04-06T07:24:00.000-07:00

Technology has always been something that I have not warmed up to. It scares me in a weird way, since it seems so complicated. Uncomplicated items are more my style.
Things that do not require electricity, like the spinning wheels, drop spindle, knitting, hand sewing, are more in line with the lifestyle here. Maybe it is due to not having much exposure to them when in school, as only a few students in my class were even given an opportunity to take any computer classes. But mostly it is due to being afraid I could not wrap my head around the information needed to understand it all.
The whole learning a new language thing scared me. What the heck is HTML, and code? I had no idea, but looking back to my attempt to learn German in high school, I was pretty sure I would not understand it much. (To my defense, I can still recite the phrase that Herr Healy drummed into our heads. "Arbeit Macht Dass Leben Zus" )
When I went to college, no one I knew had a computer in the dorm rooms, we used electric typewriters. The ones with the digital screen that you could erase the last so many letters were really neat.
A few weeks ago I started an Artfire shop. One of the great things is the support in the forums. Reading through those I had many "AH-HA!" moments. Realization also hit home that the shop needed to get more of a voice on the web. Not being one to jump on a band wagon right away, this old fashioned gal had never even visited twitter or facebook.
Now that is not to say I don't chat online, I do. Constantly.
I am on Plurk and AIM almost all day. Just ask my family lol.
So after taking several deep breaths, I finally took the plunge and joined Facebook (Shell Auker), and after a few hesitations Twitter(Rosegardenfiber) too.
So, if you are on either, please say hi.
Today will be spent on the spindles, spinning, and some knitting. I will hopefully have new pictures and items up on the shop this week. If I don't, please feel free to let me know on any of the spots above!

New Spindles on the way! Contest!

2009-03-30T07:52:00.000-07:00

I spent some of this past weekend working on new spindles for the shop, I have a few almost ready to go... Some of them are more of current designs, but the purple one is a new design.
I am still trying to decide on a name for it.
Any ideas?

Leave a comment if you have an idea for a name, If I chose your idea, you will win one of them! So make sure to leave your info so I can contact you.

New Start

2009-03-18T18:12:00.000-07:00

I have been very bad about posting here, but will be trying to do more from now on.
Please keep checking back as I will be posting more.

Welcome!

2005-01-07T09:06:00.000-08:00

hello and welcome, I am a handspinner who love to make yarns and use them too- I am wishing to make some of the handspun availible for others - if you see something you like- please email me and we can discuss the possibilities of the purchase. At times I may place items up for sale here- prices will be listed with items.-- Enjoy the stay and pics! Blessings! Shell