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.
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.
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.
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!
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!
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.......
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.
