Nebula Designs

2011 in Review

2012-01-06T10:12:00.000-06:00

What a year! It's amazing how much can really change in just one year.

There are several things I made that I never got around to posting about and even more that I couldn't post about due to being Christmas gifts. I'll try to catch back up on those as I really would love to show them to you.

Here is a mosaic of all the projects I did this year. Not just the knitting, but the spinning, weaving, jewelry, painting, sewing, baking...! Not being tied to a 9-5 job has really allowed me time and creativity to dabble in other things I've loved to do, but just never had the time. There's even more things I have done that never made it to completion so never got photographed. Some day they'll get finished, and then they'll grace the blog.

Hoping you all had a wonderful Christmas - ours was a little hectic with numerous little relatives running all about, and one of them getting sick in the midst. And also that you had a wonderful New Years. We might have been in bed at 11:30, then woken up by fireworks at midnight. We did manage to roll over and whisper "Happy New Years sweetie/honey" before falling back asleep. Sad, I know.

Thin Mint Cookies

2011-12-24T15:33:00.002-06:00

Apparently when I say 'tomorrow' I really mean '3 days later'. We have more family in town now, who we have been anxiously waiting for. So our extra time is starting to disappear, but we really don't mind! Tradition has us opening presents tonight at my in-law's and tomorrow for Hubby and I.

Now on to the Girlscout Thin Mint Cookies.

I found this recipe on Pinterest, where I seem to be finding some wonderful and unique recipes, and couldn't not try it.

My first warning on this recipe is to completely ignore the 'total time' the recipe lists. It is completely not accurate! I'll tally my time as we go here.

First up...the wafer:

Made from a box of fudge cake mix, flour, shortening, an egg and the smallest amount of water I thought could possibly work all mixed together. At this point I was extremely thankful for my Kitchen-aid mixer as it's a beast to stir. Once everything is blended together you chill the dough in the fridge for 2 hours.

So that's maybe 15 minutes to mix everything, and 2 hours in the fridge = 2:15

Second...the rolling and baking:

You're supposed to take out small chunks of the dough and do this in batches. I found the dough MUCH easier to manage once it warmed up a bit. Honestly I couldn't get it to hardly roll out at all while it was still fairly chilled. Depending upon how large your cookie sheets are, I'd take out more. They bake for 10 minutes per sheet and then need to cool completely. I let them sit over night.

More calculations: maybe 10 minutes to roll out the first set, cut, and put on cookie sheets. Then 10 minutes per round. If you can fit 30 cookies per sheet then that takes at least 40 minutes for baking (assuming you're finished rolling and cutting and prepping a 2nd sheet before the first is out of the oven). = 3:05 (not including cooling time for cookies)

Third...the chocolate mint goodness:

This part is fun, but becomes tedious fairly quickly. You take chocolate chips, shortening, and peppermint extract and warm in the microwave.

[next warning, you need 3/4 of these ingredients. If you make the full you'll have plenty of leftovers. I let mine cool on a waxed cookie sheet, chunked it up once set, then put it in a baggie in the freezer.]

It took me roughly 5 minutes to get the chocolate all melted. (I did 2/3 of the chocolate, then the other 3rd so I didn't have to use a huge bowl) Then there's the dipping, flipping, tapping, tapping, tapping, tapping, scraping, and gently sliding down the fork onto wax paper.

Here's my biggest tip - keep the chocolate blend warm! You'll be amazed how easier it is to coat the wafers and get onto the sheet when the chocolate is warm. They even come out looking a lot smoother and nicer (but that's the perfectionist in me too). The tapping comes into place with the cookie on a fork against the side of your bowl to get the extra chocolate off. Believe me, this is a must. But it does slow things way down. Then again, the warmer and smoother the chocolate - the easier this part is! Also - scrape off some of the dripping chocolate on the bottom of the fork and cookie on the side of the bowl when you're on your way to put it on the sheet.

Then they go into the fridge for 20 minutes or until they're set.

Final calculations: 149 cookies (hubby ate one - and the batch was only supposed to make 108?!?) took me 2 1/2 hours to coat in chocolate. Including reheating of the chocolate, and making another batch. I won't count any but the final setting time since the other cooled while more were being made, and that's 20 min. So that's a grand total of 5:30. Yes, 5 and a half hours!

If your cookies are thicker than mine you'd make fewer thus reducing the baking and coating times. But I'm happier with my thinner cookies than the thicker ones.

And I have received no shortage of compliments on these cookies! If you're up for the time and all the standing then I would definitely say make them.

[last warning, the chocolate doesn't like sitting at room temp once the cookies are set. We are keeping ours in the fridge out of necessity. After roughly 20-30 min of sitting out on a plate I picked one up only to instantly have chocolate fingers. But if they're in the fridge they aren't quite the temptation and last a lot longer! But it also makes them not as fun to have at parties.]

Time Flies!

2011-12-21T14:32:00.001-06:00

How did a month go by that fast? I'm still trying to figure that out.

In the mean time I am finally feeling a little bit relaxed as the list of Christmas presents to be made is: 2. It helps that Many of the items simply fell off the list when I found other things that I preferred to purchase. Yes, making things was my attempt to save money. But when sanity and the joy of the project comes into question it might just not be worth it after all.

"Here is your present...I detested the process of making it, and I hope you love it."
Yeah, just not right and I couldn't bring myself to do it!

Something I did do was make edible goodies for some stocking stuffers. I only have a few people who'll receive these who actually read this blog (if they still do that is) so I'm not too worried about showing them off. But since these aren't the only stocking stuffers...the full surprise isn't ruined.

Homemade Marshmallows paired with Swiss Miss Hot Chocolate.
I used this recipe, but left out the salt & peppermint - both completely on accident. But leaving out the peppermint was probably a good thing since several people receiving these don't like that flavor. I've tested these, and they work wonderfully in hot chocolate, though they don't melt away completely link the mini's do.

This was my first time making marshmallows, and it was quite interesting. Somehow I expected them to be firm...to which I give you the next image to proove they certainly are not!

The mixing, boiling, mixing & moving to the glass dish was nothing compared to the tedious cutting. Before every cut you need to coat your knife in butter. I used a stick straight from the fridge and simply rubbed it on. Once you cut through the majority stays on the marshmallows thus prompting you to either coat the knife in butter again, or get marshmallow stuck on it with the next cut.

When it came to the 2nd smaller cuts I was able to do multiple at a time since some of the knife still had butter on it. But still, that's a lot of standing! I had also never thought of using powdered sugar to take the edge off the stickiness (think of how you use flower while rolling out cookies). I certainly learned a lot with this experience.

If you make these I suggest covering the 'raw' sticky sides with powder after the first cuts (while they are in long stripe like shown above), then the other two raw sides once you make the individual cuts. Makes the whole ling a lot more manageable.

I opted to use small plastic candy bags from Wilton's brand (Michael's Craft Store) and used 4 per bag. Then I realized that it would probably be smart to give the hot chocolate too! That got me creative with a label, stamps, and some old ink pads that are about 6 years old (and amazingly still worked)

If you look carefully you can see a faint cream and slightly glittery coffee cup stamp. I had hoped that and the small snowflake would show up a little better, but they are delicate and give a little sparkle in just the right light.

Tomorrow: Homemade Thin Mint Cookies!

Oops

2011-11-20T11:10:00.001-06:00

I've been MIA for a while, my apologies! I've been quite busy lately, but have little to show for it. And even when I could have something to show for it my camera isn't on my person or somehow never makes it out of my purse. And since I've been so occupied my dream of finishing all the handmade Christmas presents this month most likely won't happen. And honestly, that's just fine!

In other news we got our first snow here in the Twin Cities. Of course it was on a day when I had a good hour drive to meet up with a friend, and then another hour drive to our destination for the evening. We both got home safe and had a lovely time.

Here are a couple more hats I finished late October.

A striped beanie for hubby's father. This is made with just over half a skein of both Jo Sharp Silkroad DK Tweed in 409 - Night (dark gray) & Berroco Blackstone Tweed in 2607 - Wintry Mix (medium gray). The Silkroad was leftovers, which worked out quite well here.

I love how it turned out! I made it a little larger and longer than normal. This way the brim will fold up just above the ribbing, and be able to fold down when there is an extra chill on the wind. If I had made it without the extra length (a full stripe's worth) It could have been closer to using half a skein of each.

For this 2nd hat I used just under 1 1/3 skeins of the Berroco Blackstone Tweed in 2607 - Wintry Mix. Both hats are identical in size, and this one will go to hubby's grandfather.

I have a feeling he'll really like the simpleness of it. Besides, the fabric from the Blackstone Tweed is incredibly nummy! If it weren't so pricey I would make a sweater out of it in a heartbeat.

Béret généreux

2011-11-11T09:44:00.001-06:00

The Béret généreux by Isabelle Allard is a free download from Ravelry. I stumbled upon it while we were visiting my parents. I needed a tam with a flower-like pattern on top for worsted yarn I had just purchased. If I couldn't find a pattern I would have designed my own, but having everything laid out for you certainly makes things quicker and easier. Somehow between waiting for planes, a flight, more waiting, another flight, and resting at home that evening I managed to get this done. Practically in one day! (cast on the brim the night before, and redid the brim a few days later)

The details:
Yarn: Plymouth Yarn Worsted Merino Superwash Solids in Light Moss (13) and Butter (20) 1 skein each. (I actually used just under half a skein of each)
Needles:US 3 - 3.25mm & US 6 - 4.0 mm

Changes:
I didn't have a good mental image of what the colorwork brim was supposed to look like, and I had trouble understanding the instructions. I blame it on a loud TV, a very cold house, and being fairly tired that evening. I opted to switch the brim to a K2P2 ribbing since the math would work out perfectly. I switched to a US 4 - 3.5mm needle instead of the US 5 - 3.75mm the pattern called for. I wanted a stretchy brim!

After blocking I realized that the brim was still too large. I cut the yarn just above the increase row and pulled out all the stitches attaching the brim to the body of the hat. I then picked up stitches on a US 3 - 3.25mm and worked backwards.

Here's how I did it - in all the gory detail (for those of you who actually wish to know)
(and there's even a little explanation to you non-knitters at the end of the post!)

The pattern calls for: 108 stitches CO, increase at the rate of K3, M1. Which gives you 144 stitches.
Reverse equals 144 stitches on the needles, Decrease with K2, K2tog, which gives you 108 stitches.

I took a gauge of my ribbing and discovered that my brim was 24 inches! Wowza. I wanted a brim that was around 22 inches instead. Here's where math comes in. 108 (cast on) / 24 (inches) = 4.5. Take that 4.5 x 22 (wanted inches) = 99. Rounding down, because it is ribbing after all, the nearest number divisible by 4 (for the K2P2 ribbing) is 96. Voila! A perfect match. And it was perfect because of one little detail: I was able to decrease evenly across the hat instead of at an odd rate.

To break it down even further, here's what I found. 108 (orig CO) / 3 (orig K sts between M1s) = 36. Multiply 36 x 4 (K sts + the M1) = 144. I wanted 96 sts....96 (new CO) / 2 (guessed new qty of K stitches between M1s) = 48. Multiply 48 x 3 (K stitches + the M1) = 144. The only thing that changed was the CO number, and the quantity of stitches K between the M1s, hence my considering it as 'perfect'.

What I did: started with 144 stitchees, decreased with K1, K2tog, which gave me 96 stitches.
Reverse equals 96 stitches for the CO, increase at a rate of K2, M1. Which gives you 144 stitches.

(CO = Cast On - K = Knit - M1 = Make one stitch)

I'm still not the best stranded knitter, but my work is certainly improving. I think having this thicker yarn certainly helped. I had just knit the Beaumont Tam (posting about that one soon) and I was fairly loose in my gauge. I easily tightened up and kept consistent with this hat and yarn. I couldn't be happier!

And for those of you who like to see the inside of color-work, here ya go...

For you non-knitters 'stranded knitting' means knitting with 2 different strands of yarn simultaneously. While you are knitting with one color the 2nd color 'floats' along the back of the work until it is needed again. At that point the yarns swap places and the first color 'floats' along the back. Above you will see horizontal lines 'floating' along the hat. These are exactly that - Floats. The longer the float, which means the longer you knit with the other strand, the more of a chance one of those floats will get caught on something. You don't worry about it so much in hats, but it's vertainly a concern in mittens. Which is why a lot of mittens that are knit in multiple colors with patterns will be lined. It's not so that your hands keep warmer (which is a bonus though!); it's so that your fingers or rings don't get caught on the floats and get stuck or damage the yarn, or even the pattern.

There, you are now a more informed consumer.

9 Years Ago

2011-11-09T12:55:00.002-06:00

E and I had our first date.

I remember it in such detail.

I even remember what we wore. E in a tan sweater and jeans. Me in a pink 3/4 sleeve t-shirt with a red peacock on it, and jeans too.

Applebees ~ the only respectable and cool restaurant in the little city where we went to college

Bourbon steaks ~ he actually ordered for me!

A virgin Mucho Mud Slide ~ because he said he'd share a dessert with me and that he liked unpredictable women. I though, "you want unpredictable? Fine now you'll have to share a Mucho Mud Slide with me on top of your apple streussel. Ha!" Yeah, he was absolutely shocked when that dessert came to the table.

Such a fun and quirky evening. One I'll certainly never forget.

And now 9 years later we're more in love than we've ever been. We'll even be going out to dinner tonight to celebrate, though it won't be to Applebees. The Bourbon steaks, if they even still have them, started to wane in quality around or 3rd or 4th celebrations. So we decided to make it dinner at one of our favorite places instead.

There should even be dessert at Starbucks afterwards.

This was us this past Friday night. We were invited to join some friends at the FMSC yearly Gala event in Minneapolis. It was a great evening, and they were able to raise a healthy sum of $$ for a focus in Africa this next year. I got to meet some wonderful people and spend time with others that we already knew we loved. Plus it's always a lot of fun to get glammed up.

~ Hubby ~

Thank you for helping to make the last 9 years the most magical of my life.

I love and respect you more every year

and am so thankful that you asked me out that night on the phone.

I never could have expected how things would turn out when I called you

just to tease you about something.

{smooches}

November

2011-11-08T09:35:00.000-06:00

How did it get to be November already? First we were carving pumpkins with friends (I didn't get any pictures of mine before the frost got to it) then suddenly it's the 8th of November!

We're still trying to hold onto what's left of a beautiful fall, but the wind is doing it's part to steal every last leaf from the trees.

This was the view from E's Mother's back yard 6 days ago. I am completely in love with the colors. If only I had the skills to turn these shades into dyed roving. Speaking of which I didn't dye a single thing this summer. I'll have to remedy that next year.

My November challenge is to attempt to finish making the rest of our Christmas presents. It's quite the list actually.

Knitting:
Stole (halfway done - new pattern too!)
Scarf (Was going to weave this but don't have enough yarn)
Piano Runner
Secret item
Sweater

Sewing:
Lounge Pants
Lounge Pants
Lounge Pants
Lounge Pants
Lounge Pants
Lounge Pants
Secret item

Jewelry:
Bracelet

Other:
Secret item

Finished:
Hat
Hat
Tam
Secret item
Secret item
Bracelet
Bracelet
Bread Basket Liner

Ooh, it's overcast outside! I need to go take some detail photos of some finished items...quick!

Vacation Pics Take 2

2011-11-03T10:00:00.000-05:00

While visiting my parents we got to drive into Ecola Park. That's right between Cannon Beach and Seaside. It's also the location for some of the filming of the Goonies movie. (think back to the scenes with the kids riding their bikes in the woods).

The roads back through Ecola park are incredibly windy. There were several moments when I was thankful I wasn't driving and I just stared at my knitting. This picture is my tribute to that road.

There are two vantage points you can drive to in the park. This first one was at ocean level.

Of course I had to get a picture with my sweet father.

Closer to the park entrance is a picnic area that is much higher up. It affords a great view of the Tillamook Rock Lighthouse and the rocks to the south. The tall rock near the center of the photo below is Haystack Rock.

Another angle.

And the view out to the ocean. The large rock below is the Sea Lion Rock Arch. If you look closely you can see the light shining through hole carved into it by the waves. (Tillamook Lighthouse is off to the right of this picture.)

This is also were E saw his first slug.

And where we counted over 30 of these Wooly Bear caterpillars covering the sunny pathways and grass. Did you know there is an Old Wives' Tale that the Wooly Bear can predict the coldness of the coming winter? The narrower the stripe = the colder the winter.

This same day we ran into a group of ladies who were in Seaside for a quilting retreat. About 6 of them collaborated on this quilt. It was being sold by raffle tickets in Montana some time this month.

Then on another day there was Long Beach in Washington.

17 miles (from what I remember) of beach.

We even got to see Jake the Alligator Man.

I laughed, E wasn't impressed.

And cranberry fields.

I really wish I had taken my SLR camera on the trip. It felt like my little Fuji just wasn't up to a good chunk of the photos I tried to take. Then there was the issue that we always seemed to be shooting into the sun. Oh Well.

All in all it was a great trip. I missed my parents before they even drove away from the airport.

Vacation in Photos

2011-11-02T17:31:00.000-05:00

...and a few captions.

November should be a very busy month for me. Instead of the traditional sweater challenge I'm challenging myself to get the majority of my Christmas gifts made. I already know what they all are (as I've previously stated) but I'm starting to feel the pressure. Before I start posting about that I must needs post about the trip!

I've had a bit of a hard time getting going this time around. I'm not sure why, but I'm going to push myself right along.

E and I had the special treat of having L & K pick us up from the Portland airport. We were all super hungry so we headed over to the Observatory for lunch.

This place was wonderful and certainly didn't disappoint. I would definitely recommend it. And what a cool ceiling!

Taking the girls down to Haystack Rock

Warming up at the Sleepy Monk in Cannon Beach

Looking super cute in that hat

Checking out buttons at the antique store (just a wee bit pricey, but very well displayed)

Walking to the end of the strip in Seaside

Climbing around the Peter Irredale Shipwreck on the coast.

Becoming even better buds

I miss these girls so much. I have to admit I cried after they left to go back to Seattle.

Girls, again, thank you! It meant so much to us that you drove all that way.

Home Sweet Home

2011-10-28T14:44:00.001-05:00

As much we love the Oregon Coast, Hubby and I are certainly happy to be home. And the kitties are certainly thrilled to have us back too. I've been in the office for a half an hour and this is the longest I haven't had a kitty glued to my side since we've been home.

The trip was wonderful! We got to spend some great, albeit short, time with K & L. We got to spend lots of time with my parents. And even time playing with their kitties and tormenting them by holding them or forcing them to sit on our laps for 30 seconds. Apparently they are now walking around my parent's house looking and crying for us. I think my parents might be crying a little too.

This is one of our views today as we take it easy sitting next to a window. Hubby is engrossed in a book while I'm knitting, cataloging new yarn purchases on Ravelry and updating projects there. I actually had quite the productive trip!

Finished the Bread Basket Liner for Hubby's Mother.
Finished a beanie for Hubby's Father out of Blackstone Tweed. (that stuff is simply amazing!)
Started the El Hatto Negro pattern for Hubby's Father's Father out of Malabrigo worsted. (about 1/4 of the way done)
Started and finished the Beaumont Tam for Hubby's Grandmother in Classic Elite Fresco.
Started and finished the Béret Généreux for Hubby's Aunt in Plymouth Yarn Worsted Merino (which I bought the day before we left to come home!)

Everything that is done from the trip is upstairs blocking. I'm a littler nervous that the Tams are going to grow too much and I"ll have to knit them again at a smaller gauge. Especially the Beaumont. I knit it on a size 7 and very loose. Of course I didn't bother to do a swatch as I started it after we made it out to the coast.

At least this certainly eats a chunk out of my Christmas knitting! Two of the hats up above were last minute requests. As is a shawl for Hubby's Father's Mother, which I found yarn for in Cannon Beach. Just goes to show Minnesotans need wool for the winter!

And now, not even 10 minutes later there is a kitty on my lap and another on the blanket next to my desk. Yeah...they missed us!

The Real Princess Tigerlily

2011-10-25T12:00:00.000-05:00

Sometimes I think Tigger actually believes she'll be a queen some day. Even if she would, she wouldn't be better than me. I can lay on the fuzzy red foot-thing for hours but she moves around all impatient.

That's me up there. I look like I'm sleeping but I'm not. If Tigger would just settle she could be queen. But the other reason she can't be queen is that she's kinda sloppy sometimes.

She could wrap her whole face in that tongue! And she hasn't smoothed out her whiskers in over a week. But she makes faces too.

I gotta go now. I can't stop laughing.

A Moment Away

2011-10-24T17:45:00.000-05:00

Hi again! Tigger is zonked on mom's fuzzy pillow so I thought I'd come say hi again.

We both miss mom and daddy but we get along just fine. The big silvery thing next to the kitchen spews food out every now and then and even though I sometimes think I'm seriously going to starve, more food comes out before I actually do. Tigger and I race to it whenever it makes the dingding sound 'cause she's hungry too and she thinks I'll eat everything out of her dish if she doesn't make it. I've done it a coupla times but not very much, and I know she did it to me, too, so we're even and we both race.

Today a leaf stuck to the porch door and Tigger acted like she didn't know what it was and pressed her nose into the glass like she could get it and tear it up. I just watched. I wanted to get it too but the only leaves we get are the ones mom brings in sometimes and puts into books and the ones she decides she doesn't want, sometimes we get those. They smell wild.

A Specialer Message from Chapstick #2

2011-10-23T10:00:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone! I'm not sure why Tigger thinks she's a princess but it's really fun to see her curl her her claws around the fake mouse thing with a really long tail that sticks into the wall. She gets gets all frustrated at it and makes this snuffing noise that's just a fast sigh just like when daddy tells her NO when she puts her nose too close to his plate. Mom gives us a sliver of orange cheese sometimes if I don't whine much or stand in front of daddy's feet while he's carrying a pot full of boiling water like that one time and he just about put a hole in the wall with his shoulder and then glared at me but mom

REFLECTION@!!

Sorry I thought I saw something but I guess I didn't. Tigger is running in circles upstairs (she calls them calisthenics) so I know I've got a few more minutes here before she catches me down here but I wanted to tell all of you HI. It's getting colder here now and I can't stay for much longer 'cause I'm all skinny now and I get cold faster than I used to and Tigger will steal my warm spot on the couch if I stay here too long.

Another Special Message from Princess Tigerlily

2011-10-22T10:00:00.000-05:00

Good day, gentle readers of the Knitter's domain. As you may have guessed by the glamorous heading of this delectable blog entry, I have once more generously allowed the Knitter and her Man-Slave to depart from my kingdom for a longer-than-entirely-necessary period of time. Along with my royal sister (whose figure has much improved since last year), I invite you to revisit us periodically as the the Knitter's absence is bound to bring some exciting opportunities of royal sister-tackling and fluffy ball-thing unraveling. I leave you with our gorgeous images hovering evermore in your mind's eye...

and a closeup of my unrivaled beauty.

There might have been a raid of the knitter's stash so that we stay cozy warm while she is gone.

Dawdling

2011-10-21T14:11:00.002-05:00

Tomorrow hubby and I are off to Oregon again. We'll be be flying to Portland then driving with friends out to the coast to see my parents.I'm so happy to see friends and family again. I just saw L and K in September, and now I get to see them again! Plus any time with my parents is always wonderful.

We have too early of a time to be at the airport.
Laundry isn't done.
We're not packed.
All I want to do is sit down with a chai tea and read through my library books.
But we're out of milk!
And it doesn't make sense to go buy more when we'll be gone for almost a week.

Lately I've been checking out a lot of books from the library. It seems it's becoming my Monday tradition. I roam the arts and crafts isles and pick out anything that seems interesting. A few non craft books tend to make it home too. Like the Alexandria Rediscovered. So amazing.

This was last Monday's haul. I even got a few more today that were waiting for me. I usually find at least one thing in each craft book that I'd like to make. When a book really strikes me and has multiple things I'd like to make I add it to my Amazon wish list. Then when I see it used for super cheap I pick it up.

In the mean time I've been trying to finish up more wine bags. This round had 44. Fourty-four! That's a lot for this person who struggles to make more than a few of anything.

I've taken the time to do them all in stages. But the pinking is taking much longer than expected. My lovely Ginger pinking shears are rather tight, and the slots aren't shaped well for something so difficult to use. I come away with really sore hands and now after cutting just a few I have to stop. Granted I'm cutting through multiple pieces of fabric at once. I have to admit I expected more from this brand. Adding some oil (the kind I use for my spinning wheel) has helped. Had I realized there was such a thing as a pinking blade for a rotary cutter before I bought these shears I would have just bought the blade. Oh well, another lesson learned! At least I got them for a good price.

Even Tigger was thinking I was spending too much time at the sewing machine. She ended up laying behind it and for a while even rested her chin on it. Such a desperate kitty for cuddles.

We'll be sure to leave lots of blankets around the house for them to cozy up on while we're gone.

Weaving Outtakes

2011-10-20T10:03:00.000-05:00

Hubby is so sweet and takes all kinds of photos of me during our photo shoots. Here's a few outtakes we giggled over and thought you'd enjoy too.

Hey, I swear I just saw a snag...

...and there it is. Couldn't be in a more obvious position.

Oh well, still love it!

2nd Weaving Project Complete!

2011-10-20T10:00:00.000-05:00

It's finally finished!

Well, it was really finished about 18 days ago. But blocking and trying to get just the right light when my photographer (hubby) was home at the same time proved to be a little more time consuming than I thought. Plus hemstitching both ends was a project I stretched over a couple of days.

This is made from Valley Yarns 2/14 Alpaca Silk in Dark Gray (6) on a 10 Dent (meaning 20 strands/ends per inch) heddle. It's difinately an open weave, which will be prone to snagging as I've discovered.

But it was the best I could do with what I had. And since I learned so very much from this project, and love the drape and texture of the resulting fabric I won't complain. Well, maybe I will once I've had to fix multiple snags.

And here's a better look at this coat! I found it at H&M in the U District in Seattle while on my trip. It was my $39.95 splurge and I am in love with it.

Hubby was quite surprised I attempted to match a gray scarf with it, but there is some gray in the fabric weave. Still doesn't look quite right though. I'll probably be searching for Natural or Cognac for a future scarf. But for that I'll wait for Web's summer clearance.

The weave on this certainly isn't perfect. Many spots are a little denser on the weft (side to side) weave. But that's my fault for not using (actually, not owning) a heddle with more dents per inch. But one of those is going to be on order in just another week here.

My Toy Dragon

2011-10-18T11:00:00.000-05:00

When I saw this little guy in this post (down at the end of the post) I instantly fell in love. I wanted to make him so badly! But there were so many things on my plate already and what do I need a dragon for?

A couple of days later I was still thinking about him and went back to that blog post to see him again. It had to be.

I did a google search thinking I might find something somewhat similar but wasn't holding my breath that I would find the original. Low and behold...there it was! A free Michaelmas Dragon pattern.

Hubby and I don't celebrate Michaelmas, but that didn't stop me from making him.

I even did an intro with the kitties. He was on the little table here with Tigger for maybe half a second before she batted him off.

I tried to put him back on, but she was having none of it.

Once I forced him back on she took to biting his perfect little ears.

Finally she subsided and allowed him to sit on her perch with her.

Chappy was curious, but not offended by the newcomer.

At first I was just going to take pictures of him, but then I realized you should see him to scale. Now I'm glad I did pics with the kitties.

A Spontaneous Project

2011-10-18T10:09:00.000-05:00

At the beginning of the month I spotted a little stuffed toy and it was so incredibly cute I couldn't resist wanting one of my own. Even hubby had to admit it was cute.

Two days later I still had him on my mind so I went to JoAnn's to pick up the necessary felt.

$.74

Yep, 74 cents is all it cost me for a spontaneous project. I had happened to hit a sale on felt, otherwise it would have been $1.48. (giggle) And now I have enough felt that I could make about 6 more!

For two days I pretty much worked on this project.

And it was so worth it!

Oh, and this is now officially my favorite marking pen. Any of my others seem to be a little picky on what fabrics they want to actually show up on. This guy doesn't discriminate one bit.

Working Away

2011-10-16T18:00:00.000-05:00

I've finished several Christmas presents already, but my list seems to just keep growing.

New to my list is a stocking cap for E's father, and a tam for Grandma. I had E help me pick out yarn colors and purchase them yesterday. So those gifts will soon be in the beginning stages.

Meanwhile I've been having to slow down due to overusing my right arm and back. Turns out crafting more means having to pace myself more. Weaving and sewing (with a needle & thread) make me use my right arm more vigorously than knitting ever did.

My mom requested a BUNCH more of the wine bags from me, so I've been working on those too. Turns out cutting 36 and ironing 20+ is my limit for the day. Thankfully I had planned to do them in an assembly style and will do the next step when my arm isn't hurting anymore.

When I need a break I'm usually knitting. But even that has it's painful moments. Not good!

So when I can't knit I've been reading. Right now I'm Reading Knitting in the Old Way by Deborah Robson. It's been a good read. I'm learning some new tricks and getting more confident in my understanding of how garments are shaped. I hope to some day design sweaters, but I feel like I need to understand a good deal more first.

I even scrapped the original sweater pattern for hubby's Christmas Sweater. The yarn and pattern combo just weren't complimenting each other. I've found something much more suitable. But as hubby reads this blog...you'll have to wait to learn more about it. I'm going to try to keep this one a secret. And that just won't be easy!

I'm really not an idle person. I find it difficult to even watch a movie without doing something with my hands. So this has been a good reminder that I need to be patient and enjoy whatever I'm doing despite my temporary limitations. Hubby's been great encouragement too. And so far he hasn't needed to sit next to me and hold my hands so I don't do something with them and injure them further. (oh yeah, he's had to do that a number of times)

[p.s. totally forgot to mention that these pictures are from the Bread Basket Liner from Kellelynne H. Riley that I'm making for E's mom for Christmas]

More and more craftyness

2011-10-11T11:08:00.000-05:00

It seems that everywhere I turn in our house more projects are being started than are being finished. And I'm learning a lot, most definitely!

Take this little guy for example. He was a test of a familiar pattern. Now that I know he works I have more in queue. Not that I doubted the pattern or the source (I've been reading her blog for years now), but I certainly doubted the ability of my fingers to create something small, sewn, stuffed and cute.

I had 8 more of these little guys half way done only to realize that a 'short cut' I took was definitely the wrong decision. I am now more experienced with seam rippers and have learned yet another lesson.

This woven scarf is for me. It's been on the loom for months. I started back in June only to realize that me and my inexperience messed up big time. Off it came, I re-warped it, and then took it easy redoing it again. This time it went much better and amazingly faster.

Once it was done I checked about a dozen book about weaving out of the library. Wow, just wow. Why didn't I do that sooner? I could have saved myself hours worth of headache. I guess this is the price I pay for being the type of person who sees something, figures out how to do it (though not the learned or ideal way) and jumps in head first. Quite often I have beginners luck and it works out wonderfully. Other times it doesn't and I come away completely frustrated.

Just one example of saving myself time - see that needle up there? I neglected to research how to finish off the scarf before I cut the ends from the loom. It would have gone much faster if it had still been taut on the loom for all that hemstitching. Oh well, another lesson!

Since I've learned so much from these books, well two in particular, I'll be getting some more weaving supplies (warp board, more heddels with different dents - don't worry, I'll fill ya in later) and weaving at least one gift for Christmas. I had a couple planned, but as it turns out it's easy to plan to overgift for one person when that one person absolutely loves everything you've ever given them. I've decided to scale back for that person and use those other gifts for other holidays or birthdays. The other perk is that my Christmas gift making load is now lighter, and I feel like I can breathe a little easier.

Now to go clean up the mouse more so I can breathe even better!

I've Got the Buttons

2011-10-08T15:50:00.000-05:00

A couple of weeks ago I was in need of buttons. I hit up my local Mill End Fabrics and got most of what I needed. I knew a trek to JoAnns was in order, but a really big part of me simply doesn't like their button selection. Unless I'm looking for a generic run of the mill style I always end up having to settle on something that wasn't my first or even third choice.

Then the idea struck me. Antique Store!

I drove the mile or so to our nearest antique store and asked one of the lovely ladies at the counter if they had buttons. She giggled and said, "wait here, I'll bring them to you." Upon hearing that I figured there was one location with a smaller selection. I certainly didn't expect her to go collect bin after bin and bring them to me.

But that's exactly what she did.

Before long 4 good size candy buckets, and many smaller containers, full of antique glass and plastic buttons were sitting in front of me. Overwhelmed I asked if I could dump some on the counter. The lady said that it was her intention, so I went to work! Some were a little more expensive then I would pay in a store, others where a fraction. (as seen below 50c for 12 clear/white plastic buttons)

I diligently worked through each container making sure to keep them separate and more organized than they started. I even had a little piles of selected buttons in front of their bucket. Turns out I didn't need to keep them separate since they were all from a single vendor.

Ironically I didn't realize the green buttons above were Girl Scouts buttons until I got home. Also not sure if they're really antique or not

Extremely ecstatic with my new antique button stash I set about the rest of my errand day. But I couldn't keep my fingers from opening that little brown paper bag on the passenger seat and peeking at my treasures.

I picked buttons I knew I would love use (seems absolutely preposterous for me to not) and that were a good price. I was serious when I said that these were a fraction of what I would pay at a standard retailer.Next time I'm on a button hunt, and nothing from my stash will do the job, I know where I'm headed out to look first!

Many of these came loose in little clear baggies. After looking through so many sewn to cards I knew I wanted to add the loose ones to index cards. Away I went! For the mushroom shape (can't think of what else to call them at the moment) buttons I decided to punch holes in the index cards and use yarn to hold them on. I have to admit this was by far the quicker way to sew them to the cards. For the others I punched holes with a needle then sewed them on similar to how the antique ones were sewn on.

I'm quite satisfied with my little organization project.
Do you have a favorite place to find buttons?

The Making of the Braid

2011-10-05T10:00:00.000-05:00

Somehow I didn't feel like making this Rapunzel braid would be as epic as it actually felt. But it was extremely enjoyable and I am thankful to have had the experience!

I used 720 yards of one skein (yes ONE skein!) in a medium yellow of Loops & Threads Impeccable Big! Solids. I found it at Michaels for $9.99. Ironically I had a coupon at home. This one skein has 858 yards in it. I figured I'd use about 65%. Nope! 83% I could have just purchased 3 of the smaller acrylic skeins, but they were either the color of butter or neon yellow. This skein was a perfect middle shade and seemed more realistic for a hair color.

I started off by placing two chairs in the living room. I laid down next to them making sure that they were further apart than I was tall. I didn't know exactly how long I wanted the hair, but I knew I wanted it to be longer than I was.

Once they were placed, with assistant kitties weighing them down, I walked in circles wrapping it around some the chair backs. After about 10 minutes I started getting warm. Then around 15 I started getting dizzy. Not a good combo for me. I took a break and had some breakfast with hubby. Then I was at it again.

After a while I actually stopped to count the rounds. I decided to even it off at 100 wraps even. That would give me 200 strands for the hair which I felt would be fairly decent and make a good size braid. Plus it actually seemed to use up a good deal of the skein which made me happy.

When I was done wrapping I cut the ends. It piled up like this on the floor and for a moment I was scared. Then I realized that I was going to have to separate it all out into sections anyhow. Everything was separated into sections of 10 strands, then individually put onto the headband and another strand of yarn was used to weave them all in a row. After that a braid was added over the few rows of weaving to hid them.

I wrapped 24 more rounds around the chairs making sure to wrap around one of the chair backs too for extra length for the braid. It ended up being too long, but that was easily trimmed later. I laid these new locks up one side to determine where I needed to start braiding and tied it off with a clear hair elastic (knotted on so I didn't have to pull all the strands through it multiple times). When I had braided to the other side of the headband another clear elastic was added. Then came the seaming. And boy did I seam! Both sides below the braid are tacked down to the hair/headband. That baby isn't coming off! I cut the elastics off and used the ends from the weaving to wrap around the braid ends.

After that it was just the braid down the back. Since I knew how many strands I had + the strands on each side for the braid I was able to evenly divide up the strands for the braid. Thankfully hubby lent me his head so that I could make space in the back for the head to go and the braid to start below.

A big tip for anyone attempting to braid something long - while you are creating a lovely braid above your hands the twisting action is also creating a braid at the other end. Simply grab one strand (or whatever it is you're braiding) and pull it all the way out of the other two that are now braided below your hands. The other two pieces will simply un-weave themselves. No need to go to the tips and un-braid.

Once the braid was done I secured it with a larger hair elastic, then wrapped another length of yarn around the elastic many times to hide it. I made a knot, hid it in the wrap, then let the ends hang down with the rest. I did one last trim to make sure everything was even and then stepped back impressed with what I accomplished.

Then all that was left was photos and play time!

Tangled...

2011-10-04T09:14:00.000-05:00

Once upon a 5th birthday of a sweet little girl there was a wonderment with the movie Tangled. There were dolls, coloring books, stickers, birthday cakes, story books, more dolls. There were even moments when this sweet, barely 5 year old girl would actually introduce herself as Rapunzel to other little girls. She had long hair that she loved wearing in a braid and loved to sing.

This is Little J. Not so little anymore. But since her mother's name also begins with a J, Little J she shall remain. Little J was on the Seattle trip with me (should you not recognize her from the myriad of photos) and her 5th birthday was only a few days after we got back. I knew I wanted to make her something, but what?

Obviously it needed to be Rapunzel hair! Why not? This crafty 'aunt' could figure out how to do it. My mind flashed back to another friend who had taken yellow acrylic yarn, made a forever long braid, and draped it around and outside the house for a birthday party. That got me a thinking...I can totally make this and attach it onto a headband. And thankfully I did.

Though this present was completed in a single day it certainly felt like an epic journey. And since it was going to be played with I didn't want it to fall apart anytime soon. Though I really can't do much about the braid getting snagged.

And just to give a hint about how long it really is, here is a picture of how much is dragging on the floor while I'm wearing it. I'm just under 5'4" and there is a good 10-12 inches, maybe more, sitting on the floor.

I mailed off the package to Fargo a few days after Little J's birthday. I knew she wouldn't mind. I only wish I could have been there to see her open it and wear it. Thankfully her sweet mother sent me the first picture up above.

I certainly hope this gift gets some good use. And knowing Little J, I'm sure it will.

Aidez

2011-09-30T15:10:00.000-05:00

Aidez

(Rav link)

(Free pattern link)

This pattern, Aidez by Cirilia Rose is great. It's a quick knit in thicker wool on large needles.

1,071 different people have logged that they are making this pattern on Ravelry. I'm obviously not alone in my love for this sweater. Ironically once I started mine is showed 1,000 projects. I might have been the actual 1,000th project! Then again with so many people making this sweater there were probably 15 of us starting it at the exact same time, if not more!

This is a lovely cabled raglan cardigan with no button or zipper closures. Just an open front to wrap around you. I knit mine as the 40" size for 4" of positive ease. Couldn't be happier.

The changes I made to this pattern were few.

1 - I opted to use the left and right cross-stitch cable on the front instead of the ear of corn column. Reason being is that I knit the back first and was enchanted with the unique construction of the cross-stitch cables. Real reason though was that I simply wasn't getting how to get the ear of corn to come out right. I blame it on my parents cats wanting to be on my lap and the incredibly loud TV that I had no control over. Either way I'm happy with my choice though the cables do seem to tend to pooch here and there.

2 - I added several rows to the 'neck' portion of both fronts. My original seaming of these neck pieces to the back neck was pushing the boundaries of a good fit. I had skipped right over the two shoulder stitches, and seamed with a 1 neck row / 1 back stitch ratio. The back ended up being too tight across the top of the shoulders, and my sleeves ended up being too short. Rip. Rip. Rip. Thankfully just needed to rip 10 minutes of seaming and no knitting. I added 5 rows total, seamed against those 2 shoulder stitches (each side) that I had skipped before and worked a 1/1 ratio on the back cables and alternated a 1/1 and 2/1 ratio on the reverse stockinette of the remainder of the back. The resulting neck is a little large at the edge, but I won't complain. If I were to do this again I would seam the same, but maybe turn those extra 5 rows into a little bit of short row shaping.

Many people have complained about the upper arms being too tight on the sleeves. Didn't bother me one bit, but apparently I have small arms compared to my chest size (more on that in another post). If I had wanted to alter the width of the sleeves I would have added 2-3 stitches total on the stockinette section of the sleeves (1 or 2 each side) and then when you do the first round of bind-offs (where you seam to the body) I would also bind off those extra stitches that were added.

One thing I've learned, and this sweater has proven to me, is that there are two different places to place raglan decreases. You can place them lower on the sweater, which will give you larger arm holes, and more shoulder stitches at the collar - or you can place them higher (as they fall on this sweater for me) which gives a shallower arm hole and fewer stitches (if any) at the collar.

The only thing I would have changed about this sweater would be to add several more rows of ribbing at the cuff of the sleeve. Mine are a little short on me, but it seems not to matter since I keep pushing the sleeves up.

Ooh, a 3/4 sleeve Aidez!

Where's Waldo?!?

2011-09-29T10:00:00.000-05:00

You may recall my Happy Birthday Hubby post towards the beginning of this month. I had noted at the end of the post for Hubby to find a present that was hidden for him.

This was it. The Where's Waldo? The Wonder Book.

I've been meaning to get E this book for years. Why? Because we used to have 'dates' while we were in college and we would sit at B&N together on those little kiddy benches at the little kiddy tables for hours and find Waldo and his gang. I call it 'dates' because we usually had another friend in tow who would find a comfy chair and speed read a book while we were hunched over the table in the children's section.

Now keep in mind that hubby is 6'3" and I'm 5"3.5". E is so sweet to have crammed himself in that tiny little space to share those moments and be close to me. And it's such a special memory for me that we needed to own this book.

Now it sits on the dining room table, or coffee table, or end of the couch, or next to the entertainment center....etc. Suffice to say it's being used. Though probably more by me than hubby.

I've been stuck on one page for a good while now, unable to find the camera or the wizard. Then I had a light bulb moment. I could use think paper, cut out windows and view only a small section at a time! But I didn't want a dozen pages with holes, so I experimented with post-its on how I could get 4 cuts in one large piece that I could simply rotate. It turned out that I didn't have any card stock or cardboard large enough for this project. Then the second light bulb went off. I have some cardstock that you put behind comic books (for support) that I use for organizing my fabric stash. I grabbed a couple of them, measured, cut, and here we are!

I can flip and rotate these two pieces around to show me each of the 16 segments on the page. Of course the page isn't really divided up like that, but this will show me 16 different windows. I felt like a genius.

And of course Tigger wasn't going to be left out of a picture.

It's already helped. I found the wizard. Now it's just that little camera...

Wine Gift Bags

2011-09-28T11:55:00.001-05:00

One of the projects I was working on last week was wine gift bags for my parent's shop. It was a good use of some of my stash, remnants and a few fat quarters.

I couldn't resist buying the doggie bone fabric. People in the PNW seem to be obsessed with dogs, and especially so in the town where my parents have their shop. So I thought these would be perfect. You can't really see it, but the cream fabric on the bottom is covered in gold sparkles. I'm not much of a gold person, but it's lovely.

After making the first one (green snowflakes) I decided to make the rest in an assembly line fashion. It worked beautifully.

These two on top are my favorites. Especially the one with the leaves. I was a little sad that I ended up with barely any scraps left of it.

I'll have to plan a scrap project for the new year. If these sell well I'll be making more (still have some good stash left) and will end up with more scraps. This would be an excellent way to use the leftover fabric from our Christmas bags! Speaking of which...I have 5 more to make this year. E's oldest sister, her hubby, and their 3 little guys are all here for Christmas this year. I already have the fabric, some of which was bought after Christmas last year on clearance, so I just need to get them sewn up.

Making jewelry

2011-09-27T16:15:00.000-05:00

It's true, you always find something in the last place you look.

Such was the case yesterday with these jewelry pliers. I rummaged through the craft/writing room for over an hour looking for them. I found things I haven't seen in a couple of years, but no pliers in sight. Let down that I would need to purchase more since these were MIA I came downstairs to dink on the computer. Twenty minutes later I decided to go hunt again. I turned around in my desk chair and my eyes landed on the tool bucket that is tucked under the corner of hubby's desk. There were two little yellow handles peeking out at me. If that bucket had been turned at all I wouldn't have seen them, nor would I have looked there because these are for crafts.

These were the only thing that was keeping me from making some necklaces, and away I went!

I also learned that my white fabric marking pen leaves a wonderful temporary mark on leather. Just get something a little moist (I just licked my fingertip) and away it goes. And a great source of leather - purses. I found this one at my local thrift shop for $5. The same ratio of leather, but not the same quality, at a fabric or craft store would have easily been $25+. And I wanted something thin and very delicate. Win!

I even bought an awl. One of the ladies at JoAnns considered it a 'sewing necessity'. I don't know about that since I've obviously survived this long. (not that I'm an amazing seamstress or anything) But it sure did make punching holes in leather easy. I've had this bamboo cutting board for years. It didn't have a finish on it when I brought it (and others with finish) home from Trade Goods so I exiled it to the craft room. I'm very thankful that I kept it as the awl certainly makes some good dents! I'm not even sure where I would have found some scrap wood around to use for this had I not kept this board. All in all, an excellent day!

My accomplishments:

Two Christmas presents done

Advanced my skill in making jewelry look 'professional'

Stepped out of my style box while making something for someone else

Acquired a couple of new skills and tools

I'm even borrowing some fabric scissors and pinking shears from a dear friend and kindred spirit. Fabric and sewing here I come!

Time Flies

2011-09-25T22:04:00.001-05:00

I really can't believe it's almost October already. Being away on vacation will do that to you I guess.

Life has been interesting since I've gotten back. And in an incredible way.

Last Monday I had an epiphany after leaving my Ciro's office. I couldn't remember what I used to do everyday before I left on vacation. That might seem silly, but not having a 9-5 job, and not having a schedule at home can do that to you. It was a blur.

Then it hit me. I was given a restart. I could make my schedule anything I wanted it to be. I had the ability to start fresh in a way I hadn't experienced in years.

That morning I had quite a large list of places to go and things to do. It set the stage for the rest of my week which has been a whirlwind of accomplishments. Idle time has been minimal and I couldn't be happier for it. It almost feels like I have started/finished more this week than I did in an entire month before I went on vacation. I'm still exhilarated from it!

This was the view out of our upstairs craft/writing room this evening. We often call it the Non-Reflection Room, meaning that we don't play with the kitties in there (i.e. no reflections for Chappy to chase). In the past the majority of my time in this room has been organizing or going through my ever-growing yarn stash. E uses this room for writing more than I do for crafting. This week I took over and was in there for a slew of things: weaving, sewing, hemming, replacing a button, sewing, jewelry making, knitting, sewing, organizing new buttons, ironing, de-cluttering, drawing, cutting up leather purses...and the list goes on. Soon I hope to share some of these little tasks/wonders/adventures with you. Several will be Christmas gifts, so I will be limited in what I can show. But others will certainly be highlighted here.

Tonight while I sat at the mammoth Ikea table that is up against the window shown above I was so thankful to have this sort of room to use. Also for the seemingly random collection of various craft tools and notions. With all the crafts and presents I have coming up being 'bored' is not an excuse for idleness. In fact the only things holding me back from finishing already started tasks is that the things I need, in order to finish them, are in the mail (or simply not ordered yet). Piking shears and real genuine authentic fabric scissors, please hurry!

Here's hoping this urge continues and that it becomes a lovely habit.

Post Trip

2011-09-24T10:00:00.000-05:00

There really was a Section E to the trip, but besides a few pictures of my parents cats I have nothing to show. I do have some wonderful memories of being with my parents though. And sometimes what we experience without being behind a camera can feel just as magical as those moments captured with that camera.

I spent my time literally just 'being' with my parents. It felt like everyday life for them, which I was happy to experience. I did start on my Aidez sweater out of Cascade Ecological Wool. I began it on a Friday, or was it Saturday? And I finished the last little bit on the following Thursday on the way to Fargo (to get my car). If I hadn't have messed up on part of the back and hadn't been distracted by boardwalks with mum and perusing the car show with dad I would have finished it sooner. No regrets.

As I mentioned a few posts ago I had intended to go back to WA with Liz's family and drive back to Fargo then MN. But my parents, being the sweet and generous people they are, opted to help me fly home thus giving me 5 days with them. Suddenly I had less room to pack things, and many metal things the airlines would rather I not attempt to travel with. Thus two boxes were shipped back to MN. And wouldn't you guess it, my seaming needles were in those packages.

There sat the 5 blocked pieces of Aidez patiently waiting for the following Monday to roll around so that they could become a complete sweater. Monday finally came.

Trip ~ Section D

2011-09-23T10:00:00.000-05:00

Cannon Beach
One of my favorite places.

This was the day, the final few hours with Liz and her family. We walked out to the beach and I was able to share the breathtaking view with a hand full of people that mean the world to me. I'm thrilled that I was able to introduce Liz to Cannon Beach. After driving through town and getting out of the vehicles Liz turned to me and said, "I see why you love it here." When we got out onto the beach she looked at me and said, "let's run!" And we did. We sprinted almost half of the distance to Haystack Rock.

Now more favorite moments are logged into my memory...

Watching the kiddos fly a kite

Enjoying a break from the fog to see the beach and the waves

Running towards Haystack Rock

Spending the last few moments with this amazing family who treats me like one of their own kin

Experiencing the Sleepy Monk Coffee Shop

There was tears and everlasting hugs. Liz was right, there wasn't a more perfect place to say goodbye.

Trip ~ Section C

2011-09-22T10:00:00.000-05:00

Seaside Oregon
A bustling tourist town nestled on a sandy shore.

Later in the week Liz's family drove me down to Oregon to see my parents. After 2 days in a mini van another 6 hours in a larger van seemed to fly by!

And there it was, the same old Seaside. The foggy beaches. The sand that never looks the same twice. But this time it was different, more magical...

There were charming little people there

There were graceful friends frolicking in the waves

There were glances around where the horizon seemed to dissapear

And other times where the homes on the shore dissapeared too

All were on the hunt for sand dollars

Some weren't too happy to be wet and chilly

But the beaches were wide and empty thanks to the weather and dozens of these:

There was an antique car show in town that weekend. They were so beautiful they made you forget that they clogged up the main artery towards the beach.

Trip ~ Section B

2011-09-21T10:00:00.000-05:00

Being back in Seattle was only partly like being home. For starters my parents aren't there anymore. Then there is all the new construction that I don't recognize at all. I was a little nervous that going home would make me feel odd. What if it really was "home"? I came to MN in 1999 for college. And while I'm still here a part of my heart has always ached for the Pacific North West.

Now I can say I know exactly what I miss from Seattle.

1 - friends

2 - the weather

3 - the mountains

But there were other treats as well...

Trophy Cupcake stores

Anthropologie in the U District

Giant kitties - this one is Turkey

And a new American Girl Doll store

I never had a doll while growing up. And I'm fine with that. While walking through the store we found two cases with dolls that you could choose to resemble yourself. We found #39 for my match. "Light skin, caramel hair, blue eyes." And this is close enough to owning the doll for me!

I did do some Seattle yarn shop touring with Kelsie. This trip included three new shops to me and one old staple.

Bad Woman Yarn - Seattle
Weaving Works - Seattle
Acorn Street Shop - Seattle
Main Street Yarn - Mill Creek

Conveniently the three Seattle stores were within 3 miles of each other.

Bad Woman Yarn was in this beautiful building with a bunch of other shops (where I took the Trophy Cupcakes shot above) W of I5 and the U District. This was a fun and colorful shop with some great natural lighting. The variety was good - saw a few yarns I haven't seen in MN. The prices were great - made me want to buy yarns that are here in MN. We bought some Madelinetosh Merino DK to make a Rikke hat for Kelsie.

Weaving works is in the old U District shops area. Full of yarn, fiber for spinning, and yarn for weaving I found myself a little overwhelmed. I found many yarns I have never seen in person let alone in MN. I treated myself to some Frog Tree Alpaca Fingering and got some weaving yarn for a Christmas present. I found a few sheep rovings that I haven't spun with yet (or are waiting in my stash) but only let myself pet them. There was no way I was going to have room to take it home.

Acorn Street Shop was just north of the newer shopping center in the U District. This shop was smaller but was packed with a lot of yarn staples including a huge wall of Cascade 220. I found a few more yarns I hadn't seen in person before. But nothing was tempting me. I had been telling Kelsie about a lace weight yarn (Classic Elite Silky Alpaca) that was a gorgeous deep teal that caught my eye in the Bad Woman shop. No sooner had I finished telling her than I walked around a corner and it called my name. It reminds me of that emerald/blue sheen from a blackbird's wings. It's destined to be another shawl pattern some day.

Trip ~ Section A

2011-09-20T21:50:00.003-05:00

Oh what a trip it was! Two solid days in a van with 4 adults and two kiddos. We learned a good deal the first day about how to help the kids handle the drive better. Needless to say the 2nd day was a vast improvement.

We still didn't get into Seattle are until about 1:30 am (Pacific time) on Saturday morning. Considering I was still on MN time (two hours ahead) it was a long day. And no, I didn't nap.

But there was.....

Jokes made at little towns that were barely big enough for 2 gas pumps

Expansive countryside in ND

A little girl who learned to snap

The first signs of the pine tree forests that would soon surround us

A little gentleman who helped a young lady by holding up her circular needle and yarn while she knit

And a wild hunt for an open auto parts store in Spokane WA at 7pm on a Friday. We drove by at least 4 before finding one that was still open. The problem? Spokane is a smaller city than we thought. Or maybe we were just in the old part of town. Oh, the problem with the vehicle? We needed more oil.

After that we sailed into the Seattle area and my lovely hostess drove over to pick me up and take me to my home of 5 days.

I'm back

2011-09-18T18:27:00.002-05:00

I'm back. And I'm exhausted.

Well, technically I was back on Tuesday evening. The first thing I did when I saw hubby at the airport was give him a big kiss. I knew I would miss him, but I couldn't imagine just how much. 13 days is the longest we've ever been apart. I told him that when he makes it big as a writer and goes on book tours that I'll need to go to. (of course I'll be checking out the local yarn shops...but still)

Wednesday was spent relaxing about the house. E took the rest of the week off of work so that we could be together. Such a sweetie.

Thursday the jet lag hit me. Of course this was the day we chose to drive to Fargo to get my car. (8+ hours on the road to do this) Hrm...didn't tell ya about that did I? I was supposed to drive to Seattle and back with friends. Instead my parents opted to fly me home so that I could stay with them for 5 nights instead of just one.

Friday was errands and being with family.

Saturday the travel lag hit me again and I was fairly worthless.

So yeah....this is how well I was doing yesterday. Tigger says it all.

Happy Birthday Hubby

2011-09-08T08:00:00.001-05:00

Happy Birthday to the most wonderful man in my life.

Hubby,

Another year is past and you are wiser, stronger and more passionate. I love your dedication to us. I adore watching you be a father to two rambunctious kitties. I know that when the right time comes you will be an amazing father.

I hope you have a calm and relaxing birthday. I wish I could be there to share it with you.

But since I can't be, I hope you make yourself some fried eggs for breakfast, and try the hash browns my father told us about.

Love and smooches
Wifey & the Kitties

p.s. there might be a special present for you behind my dresser.

Anniversary #7

2011-09-04T10:00:00.001-05:00

It's hard to believe that 7 years ago today we were getting married.

I woke up in a panic because I remembered I had forgotten to make the top of my cake the night before. Classic Celeste move. My maid of honor and I rushed out of the apartment and on to the local grocery store. I asked if I could buy a 6x6 inch cake with no frosting on it. The nice lady behind the counter looked at me like I had just asked her for mithril. I explained that I was getting married in x amount of hours and that I had forgotten to make my cake topper the night before. Her eyes grew as large as saucers and she rushed into the freezer and pulled out a new layer of white cake. She quickly cut two 6x6 squares and put some whipped cream frosting between the two layers. My MoH and I giggled on the way back to the apartment where frosting that matched our 'fake cake' was waiting.

7 years. It doesn't feel like it's been that long. But at the same time it's been 7 amazing years with the love of my life. And I wouldn't want it any other way.

I love you so very much Hubby. We're 7 years in on this wonderful journey. I know no matter how hard or delightful the future will be that you will always be there next to me holding my hand.

/smooches

Dearest L

2011-08-31T09:25:00.002-05:00

I can't believe the time is finally here. I've been dreading and thrilled for today for months. Dreading because my best friend is moving away. Thrilled because you are beginning a new chapter of your life.

I never would have guessed that back when I was 13 that I was meeting one of the most influential people in my life. I could never had imagined how close we would become, and that we would be living so very close to each other 1,600+ miles away from where we met and grew up.

We have both grown and matured so much over the years. You are truly one of the biggest blessings in my life. Get ready for a lot of texts and G-mail messenger messages from me!

I'm so thankful that we got to go to the Witch's Hat Tower one last time. It's just a shame we couldn't get into it. I remember driving around just to discover more of Minneapolis one summer and seeing this tower with a cool hat-like top poking out of the trees in the distance. We drove around until we found it. The view was beautiful. Every summer/fall after that we came back. It was our place.

Now we both have buttons to remind us of it. And the card you gave me with the art-deco image of it (which is still one of my favorites) will one day be framed.

Love ya chica. I'm thrilled that I get to drive out to Seattle with you today. To get to help you move and settle in back 'home'. I can't think of a better farewell.

Handspun Berets for Him & Her

2011-08-28T13:19:00.002-05:00

Back when I finished my Rose Red (aka) Green Thumb I wore it around the house a good bit. One of those days I was feeling silly and placed it on top of hubby's head. He was on the couch writing away on the lap top and there he sat wearing the girly green beret for quite some time. I went about my tasks and a couple of hours later realized he was still wearing the beret, although he had changed tasks and locations in the house. I think he actually wore it most of the day. It was so soft and cozy that when he took it off his head got too chilly and back on it went.

The next day I asked if he wanted to wear it again. He obliged me but mentioned that I 'could' make him his own 'if' I wanted. My comment was that I would love to, but definitely one that was less girly.

Just a short while later I had finished spinning up my Merino/Alpaca/Silk blend from the Tour de Fleece. The yarn was underspun and I knew that if I ever actually knit it up that it would need to be something that didn't get a lot of wear and tear. Then the light bulb clicked on. The beret for hubby! Almost as soon as the Tour was over I was casting on for this beret. I had a few chunks that had broken apart that I didn't count toward my final yardage. What a perfect place to use those scraps! And the best part is that you can't tell.

My first attempt I got about 2 inches in, blocked a section and realized my gauge was too large. Rip. My 2nd attempt, which I completed, was just too large overall. It slipped over my eyes and past my ears. Hubby's too. He did wear it none the less.

I had enough yarn left over that I decided to attempt round 3. I shortened the distance between the brim and the first round of decreases. I even altered the distance between the decreases. The result seemed perfect!

What to do with that too large beret? Why rip and knit a beret for wifey of course! E is sweet, but sometimes silly, and likes to match. We don't do it very often, but there was times that he would try to coordinate or match the colors I was wearing when we went out to dinner or church. Now he settles for matched tones sometimes.

This 2nd beret (round 4) has been done for a couple of weeks now at least. I just got around to blocking it about 4 days ago. And silly me never actually took it off the plate until after I photographed it today.

I came downstairs to the office wearing my beret, and put hubby's on his head. He looked at me and said, "boy are we sexy!"

I love him.

My writer/nerd husband now has a beret that he wears when he's writing. This fairly completes the wool socks and wool sweater combo. (one of our rooms is a little chilly, so he bundles up when he's writing in that room)

Georgia Sleeves - The Pattern!

2011-08-23T20:20:00.002-05:00

I'm very happy to introduce the Georgia Sleeves pattern.

I finally got the itch to finish up this FREE pattern. Yes, I decided that I needed to release this one freely into the wild. (But please, out of respect don't sell the pattern, make the sleeves and sell them, or make any form of a profit out of these)

Originally designed for a Pay it Forward gift for my lovely friend Georgia over on the West Coast.

Normally I can't get myself to make more than 2 of something before I get completely sick of it. To date I've made 7 pair and I still love making them. They take just the right amount of concentration and the perfect amount of sock yarn. You can get 2 pair from a single skein of Malabrigo Sock!

Details:
Yarn: Malabrigo Sock - 220 yards / 201 meters – Small and Medium sizes
240 yards / 219 meters – Large size
Needles: Size US 0 (2.0mm) and US00 (7.75mm) 36” circular needle, two 24” circulars, or DPNs
Notions: one stitch marker

And here is the link to the free PDF!
download now

Paper Boxes

2011-08-20T14:30:00.000-05:00

Mailing a hand made present as delicate as the necklaces had me wanting delicate small boxes. I didn't want to run out to the store to hunt for jewelry boxes that would most likely be used just for shipping, so what to do?

Then it hit me - check out Pinterest! A quick search for Paper Box and I was inundated with options. I decided to use this one: Origami Gift Boxes originally posted on the Prudent Baby blog.

via SpartanGirl on Pinterest originally posted on the Prudent Baby blog.

Ideally I would have loved rectangle boxes, but as it turns out these fit perfectly side by side in another shipping box I already had. Plus there was room for some Swedish chocolate goodies I found at Ikea.

In order for the lid to fit over the base I chose not to make the points meet in the middle (first folds. Instead I opted to make them about 4mm away from the center. I then kept all additional folds to the 'center' to this new point I had created. Worked perfect! (note, I did this for the lids only, the bases I did exactly at the tutorial shows)

Pinterest for the win!

And just per chance you're curious...yes I do post to Pinterest myself. You can find me there at awalkintherain.

Nell

2011-08-20T14:22:00.004-05:00

I've said it before and I'll say it a thousand times ~ I have amazing friends and I love them. Another huge perk to having these friends is the variety of styles they have and that I'm surrounded by.

My friend Nell, in particular, adores quirky things and is often unique in her style. Early this year we were shopping, well browsing is more like it, at some great boutiques and found a fabulous necklace made out of t-shirt material. It was ridiculously expensive but oh so fun.

Several months later Nell gave me a magazine cut out that she found of a knitted version of the same style of necklace. It's Amy Butler, but for the life of me I couldn't find the pattern anywhere.

More months later I realized I had completely forgotten Nell's birthday (I know, horrible friend!). I really needed to make up for my slip, but how? Light bulb! I would make a mixed style of i-cord necklace without a pattern, and I would make it my own way.

I had recently found Berroco Flicker at my LYS and the i-cord style of the yarn would easily lend its self to the making of the necklace. The next day the yarn was in my hands.

Since the jewelry clasps I had were smaller I opted to make two necklaces that could be worn separate or together. One with just the yarn as is. And a second with the yarn knit up into i-cord on size 10.5 needles.

I love how it turned out. Dearest Liz even agreed to model for me.

Nell just called a little while ago to say she got her package in the mail and that she loved loved it. I couldn't be more happy!

More Handspun

2011-08-17T22:50:00.002-05:00

I enjoyed spinning so much during the Tour de Fleece that I quickly started spinning some more fiber early this month. This was my 'should I fly through my Tour goal I'll spin this too' backup. I bought this a couple of years ago at Shepherd's Harvest. It was my only dyed fiber that I purchased that trip. Everything else was au natural. And now I'm so happy I bought it.

This Merino is from Old Man Wool Farm. Deborah does have an Etsy shop, but nothing up at the moment.

I loved spinning this stuff. It made me realize why people can have so many of these braids in their stashes. After spinning a couple of coarser wools during July this felt like I was spinning clouds.

I opted for a navajo ply (3 ply) to keep the color sections together. I also figured I'd get a DK weight but the soak bloomed it right into a DK/Worsted weight.

I might have also forgot about it while it was soaking in the sink for 20+ minutes. I came back to a rather red sink, and a skein that was a lot more evenly toned that it had been pre-wash. That's ok though. I still love it.

Now what to do with 310 yards of a striping Worsted weight yarn. Any suggestions?

Necklace Tree

2011-08-07T18:15:00.004-05:00

I've been wanting a necklace tree for years. Something that was unique, and held a bunch of wide necklaces. I could never find anything I like for under $100 that was great in quality.

This spring I picked up a few little twigs while walking in a park with hubby. I was able to put them into a weighed down vase and used that. My problem seemed solved, though it wasn't ideal. Fast forward a month and my necklaces were drooping on my dresser top. Yes, I hadn't let the twigs dry out enough and the weight of the necklaces bent the mini branches.

Before adding necklaces

Over a month ago I spotted what appeared to be the perfect replacement. It was tall, and the little branch tips weren't too long. It was actually still attached to a tree, though this chunk had recently died. I actually talked hubby into breaking it off for me. It's been drying in our laundry room until this morning when it took its place of honor.

And now I have a necklace tree that I'm totally in love with. I even love the contrast from the copper tube straps.

All totaled, this baby cost me $1.06 + 4 nails. And I still have 3 tube straps left over.

Dying with walnuts

2011-08-05T12:53:00.003-05:00

I did a little experiment over the past month or so. E's parents have a couple of walnut trees. And for a few years now I've been trying to beat the squirrels to the walnuts. This year I finally succeeded. Granted they're not at their full dying potential yet, but I figured something is better than nothing!

My first attemp was with 5 little baby walnuts that had fallen from the tree. I soaked them for about 4 days in water, then in a canning pot boiled them for an hour, then added 4oz of BFL fiber and simmered for another hour. I got this lovely creamy color. I was a little dissapointed since I was hoping for brown, but I have really come to love this shade and it's little spots of a deeper khaki spots.

My second attempt was about 3 weeks later. I managed to gather or remove from one low branch (the trees are tall!) over a dozen still young walnuts. A few were starting to mold, but I figured I could wash them off. Yeah...

I allowed this batch to soak in the canning pot for 5 days before boiling them for an hour. And oh wow did it stink! Since I didn't have any quick access to some moderates, and since a good number of them are sulfur based, I decided to add a cup or so of vinegar to the pot. This batch turned out much darker as you can see. I was a little disappointed at first in the large shade range of the variegation. I still find myself wishing a little that it was all the darkest shade. But given time I'm positive that I will learn to love this as well. After all many times the beauty in something is it's imperfection!

I think I'm done with the walnut dying. The last batch stunk up the entire house so badly that I was breathing through my mouth for several hours and at one point was wearing a towel over my face like an old-western bandit. Our house doesn't have great circulation when you open the windows, so that wouldn't have been much of a help. That and the fact that it was 90+ outside. Several scented candles and some cold cold AC (for the circulation) certainly helped!

I'm not sure what I'll do with these 8oz, but I can't get the thought of a sweater out of my head. There are so many cute and lightweight sweaters on Ravelry that I'm sure I'll find something. And of course it will need to be striped!

I'm considering making this the next project on my spinning wheel. But first I need to get some Icelandic finished up.

Linen Straps ~ Tutorial

2011-07-27T16:37:00.004-05:00

Inspiration struck me this morning, so I set out to tackle a craft project that might solve a little organizing headache. More specifically, I've been wondering how to inexpensively organize our linen closet for years and a solution has finally presented itself.

Fabric straps (or belts) to keep your linens (sheets specifically) together.

Back in January of 2009 I saw the above image in a Better Homes and Gardens magazine. I clipped out the page for its organizing tips and stacked it with other magazine clippings, where it sat until yesterday. When I saw that little green ribbon, it all came rushing to me. It's so easy to make little belts with D-Rings. Why not make some for our sheets?

I stopped at JoAnn Fabrics and found the D-rings at 50% off and this ribbon clearanced for $.97 a spool (9 feet). I couldn't have been more excited! A short time later and I had 8 straps waiting to be used. Now if only my dryer would dry quicker I could fold up another set of sheets with these little lovelies.

Linen Straps ~ Tutorial

Materials:
D-rings - two per strap
Fabric ribbon with pattern on both sides - 36" for a Twin/Full set, 38" for a Queen/King set
Coordinating thread
Pins

1. Cut your ribbon accordingly (see notes at end).

2. Slip 2 D-rings over the end of your ribbon.

3. Make a fold in the end of the ribbon 1/4" long. Fold over again and bring past your rings so that this fold is 1" from the edge (see image below left), and pin.

4. Take opposite end and create a 1/4" fold the opposite direction. (if you are using one sided fabric, make the fold the same direction as shown below right) Fold over end again and pin.

5. Starting with either end sew along top of the fold, removing pins as you come to them. Back stitch at beginning and sew to end. With needle lowered, lift the foot and swing your fabric around the opposite direction so that you can sew along the same line you just created. Back stitch at end.

6. Repeat step 5 for opposite end of strap.

7. Remove your paper backing (if used). Hold the ribbon by the side near the seam and the paper at the same point. Pull the paper away from the ribbon like removing a bandaid. Remove any remaining paper beneath stitches.

8. Clip thread ends

9. Wrap up your sheets, stand back, and admire!

Please let me know if you make some straps. I'd love to see them!

Notes & Tips -

1. Length - I fold my sheets rather tightly. If you aren't as picky in folding as me, you might add 6+ inches to start. Before cutting sew the ring end, wrap around your sheets, then determine where you would like the strap to end. My spool actually had 9+ feet, which allowed me to simply fold the ribbon in thirds and cut. The robin's egg sheet set is Queen size while the light blue/navy set is Full size and isn't shown with pillowcases.

2. Pattern on ribbon - After making one strap I learned that pattern is needed on both sides of the ribbon. The side of the ribbon coming out of the rings once fastened is the back side. Since I had one-sided ribbon I made a single flip of the ribbon beneath the sheets.

3. Paper Backing - I found I needed some support behind the ribbon while sewing, otherwise my needle would push the ribbon into the machine. I normally use newspaper as a backing, but used a post-it since I was out of newspaper. The sewing creates a perforation and the paper is easily removed once you are done sewing.

4. Storage - When storing the sheets, I will place the pillowcases on top, side by side and horizontal to the strap. This way the top of the stack is flat and other sheets will stack better.

5. Sewing - Sewing doesn't have to be done on a sewing machine!

More Sleeves

2011-07-26T09:03:00.003-05:00

I seem to have finally found the knitting pattern I can knit over and over again. It's my Georgia Sleeves pattern that I've yet to release. I just keep getting distracted with other things. Imagine that!

These are for L. I offered to make her a pair and asked what shade of Malabrigo she preferred most. After looking at the color card page for a while she came away with two possibilities. I chose the Rayon Vert because I thought it would translate well in the sleeves. And I'm very happy with the results. They remind me of grapes and grape vines.

If you happen to look at our Harry Potter costume post you'll notice that L is wearing them. I got them done just in time to allow her to use them.

I really love how these turned out and, and as usual, I'm a little sad to see these go. The best part of it is that I can get 2 pair of these little lovelies out of one skein of Malabrigo. So I have the yarn to make myself a pair if I so choose!

Tour de Fleece - Complete!

2011-07-23T15:18:00.003-05:00

Well, I did it. I finished up the last bit yesterday, plied it and it's now dry.

Here is the CVM 256 yards of a DK/Worsted weight yarn.

Thinking this might end up as mittens.

Chubby couldn't resist getting up close and personal with the yarn. She got shoo'd away when she started licking it!

Tour de Fleece - update

2011-07-22T16:42:00.003-05:00

And the Camel is done, dry, and photographed!

148g (5+oz) - 468 yards of a light sport/heavy fingering weight yarn.

This stuff was wonderful to dream. Would certainly buy more of this fiber if I had the chance. Now I just need to figure out what to do with it!

I actually finished my CVM/mohair blend today. It's hanging to dry at the moment. Hopefully it will be dry enough tomorrow for photos.

Rose Red - or - Green Thumb

2011-07-18T14:01:00.004-05:00

I started this Rose Red beret back in April when we were in Texas. I started it just before we left there, then spent half of the next day (while in the car) knitting on it. I got over half done and then it just sat. And sat some more.

Then when I had a break between designing stuffs I pulled it back out to finish it up. It flew off the needles in one day. And now I have a green accessory to match my green fettish!

Details ~
Pattern: Rose Red by Ysolda
Yarn: St-Denis Nordique - 1 skein of Bottle Green
Needles: US 6 - 4.0 mm
Size: Small

Notes: Didn't even attempt to get gauge. Just knit. It ended up a little larger than expected for my 21" head, but it still is wonderful. The yarn is amazing! I keep dreaming up new ideas of what to knit with it.

I actually bought this yarn back in March before E's brother's wedding. I was considering making a sweater with it and got the green for a gauge swatch knowing that I'd make this hat when I was done. The sweater never happened, but the hat sure did!

Tour de Fleece - update

2011-07-18T13:57:00.002-05:00

Here is my Merino/Alpaca/Silk blend.

I underspun this in an attempt to get some good loft. This is 405 yards fingering weight. I have another 100 or so yards that kept falling apart on me, but now that it's blocked it seems to be hanging together a little more.

I'm thinking a stockinette beret would be amazing with this yarn.

I have less than 1/4 of the camel left to spin, then I'll be plying that up.

Tonks & Ginny

2011-07-15T12:10:00.003-05:00

We did it!

E and I got to the theatre at 9:30 for a midnight showing of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2. We thought we'd have to wait in line that long for good seats, and we weren't wrong. Thankfully there wasn't another movie playing on our screen before the midnight showing, so we were allowed into our room right away. I think we got the last 3 seats in a row that weren't on the ground floor. L got there an hour after us.

(Doesn't L make a great Tonks? I did her hair, but it was quite dark and I missed some spots.
My hair ended up a darker shade of red than I anticipated, but it certainly works.
Not sure I was easily recognizable as Ginny though.)

We knew we'd be surrounded by some crazy fans, but we didn't expect to be completely surrounded by crazy, sometimes obnoxious teens. E brought a book, I brought knitting and used E's headphone until L got there. It drowned out some of the noise quite well.

The movie was great. It deviated from the book, as all the other movies did at some point, but it certainly helped the movie along. It's nearly impossible to stay 100% with a book and make an excellent movie.

I brought a whole box of tissues as I knew we'd be crying (L and I, E only needed tissues for the jalapenos before the show started), and I'm so glad we did. It was also fun to have the audience appreciate different parts of the movie. You could tell many of them were invested in the characters. There were many points where the audience cheered, clapped, and wahoo'd at the screen.

So glad we went!

Squeal!

2011-07-14T19:58:00.002-05:00

Guess where I'm going tonight...Midnight showing of the last Harry Potter movie.

I might be wearing the school uniform
And carrying a wand
And have red hair

Yep, I'm Ginny for the evening!
Pictures to come

Tour de Fleece

2011-07-10T13:44:00.004-05:00

I am a week or so behind on posting about this, but the wedding and friends posts were higher priority. Plus now I really have more to share with you!

Right now the Tour de Franc is going on in France. Alongside that tour is another tour. One that is much more up my alley. I'm participating in the Tour de Fleece. Yes, fiber junkies are passionate and just a wee bit nerdy.

I'm part of the Knitter's Palette team (local yarn shop here in MN). We all have various goals. Some people are spinning a sweaters worth of yarn, others spinning for x amount of time a day.

Me, I'm spinning 17oz of fiber. Funny thing is that until you see all 17 of those ounces drafted (ready for spinning), fluffy and taking up a lot of space...well. I might have bitten off more than I can spin in 22 days. The Tour officially started on the 2nd. Yep, right in the midst of all the friends and house guests. And the tour ends on the 24th.

My challenge:
5oz Brown Jacob
30z Merino/Alpaca/Silk blend
5oz Camel
4oz CWM and Mohair blend

Here is the in process Jacob and the finished product - 541 yards of 3 ply (navajo) heavy fingering weight yarn.

First bobbin full

2nd bobbin in progress

Final skein

Close-up

Next up, and actually already half way spun, is the Merino/Alpaca. And oooohhhh it's so incredibly soft! E kept picking it up and commenting on its weightlessness. I'm planning on a 2-ply of sport weight.

My Seattle Girls

2011-07-06T16:00:00.000-05:00

Me and my Seattle girls out and about the 4th of July weekend.

I have to admit I didn't want this last weekend to end. Surrounded by friends is something I don't get very often. All four of us came to MN for college over 10 years ago. Some went back home only to come out here again after school. We all live within 3 hours of each other for now.

Yes, one of us is moving away. My dearest L is moving back to Seattle this summer.

When you grow up with someone you always dream that you'll still live in the same town, and see each other every week. Or at least I did. Going to college together was natural for us. We were always together anyway. I had the added blessing of living across the street (ok, highway) from L for 5 years now. Whenever I tell people I'm neighbors with a girl I grew up with in Seattle they are shocked. It's only now that I'm an adult that I realize what a huge blessing this has been over the years.

Going to go now before I cry...

My Seattle weekend in MN

2011-07-06T10:33:00.003-05:00

It's not every day that me and my Seattle Girls can get together. But when we do it's always wonderful.
This past weekend one of our friends got married. Another wonderful reason for us all to congregate and celebrate!
Weddings can be very enjoyable, especially when you're surrounded by friends. Even more so when you get to see several old friends from college that you haven't seen in years! And it helps when you have great food and amazing cake! Ok, so I'm joking...but it does help.
The bride and groom are such a lovely couple. It was a great blessing to be able to be part of their special day and to be able to witness the magic.

TomKat ~ we wish you an amazing marriage overflowing with blessings!

More Ambrosia

2011-07-03T10:21:00.002-05:00

Ambrosia was a really fun pattern to design. Usually I dream up a pattern and find the yarn to suit it. But for this pattern I had the challenge of working that in reverse.

It all goes back months ago. Mira, a lovely yarn painter from Cali, contacted me about partnering for a new design. She would supply the yarn, I would supply the pattern. And here we are!

Baah! La Jolla sock yarn is wonderful. It has a great twist and beautiful colors. I especially fell head over heels for the blue color that I got to work with. I will definitely be using this yarn again!

If you're specifically looking for La Jolla to knit Ambrosia with, here are the stores you can find it at:

. Yarning for You, San Marcos, CA

. Shepherdess, San Diego, CA

. Needle Craft Cottage, San Diego, CA

. Alamitos Bay Yarn Company, Long Beach, CA

. Daily Fiber, Murrietta, CA

. Designer Hand Knits, Riverside, CA

. Soozoo's woolworks, Costa Mesa, CA

. The Close Knit Circle, Tarzana, CA

. Knit Culture, Beverly Hills, CA

. The Little Knittery, Los Angeles, CA

. Let's Knit Yarn Shop, Gardena, CA

. By Hand Yarn, Sonora, CA

. Sheep's Clothing, Kennewich, WA

. Yarn n Things, Chehalis, WA

. Jacci's Yarn Basket, Dayton, WA

Ambrosia

2011-07-03T09:58:00.002-05:00

Ambrosia
(Ravelry Link)

A shawlette knit from the bottom up in one of two sizes.

This shawlette features a lace bottom and a textured stockinette top.

Pattern features written and charted instructions.

Details:
Yarn: La Jolla by Baah! 400 yards merino.
Needle: Size US 7 - 4.5 mm
Price: $5.00 USD

Time Flies!

2011-07-01T09:11:00.003-05:00

It seems like we'll have nothing on our calendars for a long time, then suddenly we're booked solid!

This past weekend was the yearly Jazz Festival in St. Paul. Hubby, L and I went to two different clubs to listen to the free Jazz. The first was alright, but we were seated in an area far away and not at the best angle to watch. The second was really interesting as they had two grand pianos on stage and three stride piano players: Butch Thompson, Jon Weber and Paul Asaro. (Link is of Jon Weber playing "It's Only a Paper Moon" in the 'stride' style.)

Friday night Hubby, a friend and I went to Minnesota Public Radio's live taping of Wits. The guest host was Neil Gaiman, an author we both really like. I never listen to the radio and none of us had any clue as to what to expect. They had a live Twitter feed projected on a screen before the show, during intermission, and after. They also had a musical guest, Josh Ritter.

We were completely surrounded by nerds! I consider myself a nerd, but I usually miss a lot of the references because I'm not always up to date on pop culture (we only watch movies on our tv). There were also a couple of call ins - Adam Savage from Mythbusters and Wil Wheaton from the Big Bang Theory. They even had the two guys from Mystery Science Theater there.

I think the best part of the night was Adam Savage impersonating Gollum singing "I Will Survive".

(Neil Gaiman on the left, John Moe on the right)

At the end of the show the guests, a quintet, and orchestra came on stage to sing "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" by the Beatles. They even put the chorus up on the back screen so that the audience could sing along. And boy did they!

We had also planned on going to a Shakespeare in the park Saturday night, but it was rained out. All in all an excellent weekend.

This weekend? We have company from out of state and L's roommate is getting married which is bringing in more out of town friends. So we're ramping up for another busy weekend. And that doesn't even include the Holiday!

Now that is a lot of yarn

2011-06-16T00:22:00.003-05:00

Several months ago I started spinning some buttery soft merino. It was so soft that at first I actually had a difficult time spinning it. I couldn't help but spin it super thin, and my first sample ended up a super duper lofty 3-ply. I wasn't in love with the result and decided to go for a 2-ply instead. After a bit of struggling with the super soft fiber slipping out of my hands I decided to take a break for a short while and work on something else.

I worked on it now and again, but a couple of weeks agoI was still only part way through my first bobbin. I knew the chances of actually finishing the spinning was quite slim if I rarely worked on it, so I pulled the wheel back down and dove in.

Flash forward to Sunday. There I was with two bobbins almost full of singles and a LOT of plying ahead of me.

5 hours of plying to be exact. Thankfully it was broken up throughout the day.

How much yarn can I ply in 5 hours? 890 yards to be exact. That's just shy of 9 football fields end-to-end at 100 yards each (not including end zones). And to think I was hoping for 450 yards so I could make some super comfy socks.

Yeah...this stuff is WAY too soft for socks. Now what am I going to do with 890 yards of a light fingering weight yarn besides pet it?

I showed the skein to E tonight. He picked it up and held it like a baby in his arms (it's big! it pretty much was the length of his forearm) and said "this is like the Chipotle burrito of skeins!!"

And I take that as a compliment.

I needed this

2011-06-10T19:21:00.003-05:00

After a stressful afternoon I feel completely blessed.

Why?

Because Summer is taking a nap and Fall is blowing me a kiss.

It's 58 degrees outside with random sprinkles. (and it's June in Minnesota!!)
I've pulled out my knee socks and 'tall' jeans.
(please note how short I am, they're rolled up 2x and still dragging on the carpet)
I've been dreaming of knitted cables and alpaca scarves all day.
The soft light coming in the windows is gray in color.
My wool sweaters are patiently sitting in the closet.
My Docs are waiting for me by the door.
And a chai at Starbucks is calling my name.

I can't think of a more beautiful start to a weekend.

Could I be more obviously a Seattle girl?

12 years in MN hasn't broke me of my love for PNW weather yet.

Well, Falls here have won me over...but so far that's it.

Random Thoughts

2011-06-10T10:25:00.000-05:00

Random thought #1

We discovered tonight that Tigger likes asparagus. Steamed asparagus specifically. She was meowing non-stop and stretching up to our laps while we were sitting at the dinner table eating spaghetti and the asparagus. The only scraps of food they get are what fall from the counter (though I dive to beat them to any chicken or other meats). On a rare occasion I'll let the kitties try a veggie while I'm sitting at the table. Because why would I have an offense to my kitties eating veggies? (weird I know!) They don't usually eat my offering. Anyhow, I offered Tigger some of the tip of one sprig...and down it went!

Random thought #2

While growing up I often misunderstood the lyrics of songs and just sang whatever word I thought I heard. This was often regardless of whether or not that 'word' was a real word or not. It wasn't too long ago that I realized the lyrics of "Fools Rush In" was actually "some people say only fools rush in." Never mind that I never knew the correct title of the song. What did I think the lyric was? "Some people say only fools rushe" (pronounced rush-ey) What did I think rushe actually was? Absolutely no clue. I didn't figure it out until that song came up on Pandora and I sang "rushe" at the same time I read the title. I might have embarrassed E.

2011-06-09T09:00:00.003-05:00

I've been overwhelmed with wonderfulness lately. And I'd love to have more of it.

Naps where both kitties join you. Normally if one is sleeping by (or on) you the other is jealous. And quite frequently only one can be with you at a time as the other will run away.

Friends! Especially missing those who aren't just around the corner anymore.

Sweet juicy watermelon. We're going through our giant watermelon much faster than anticipated. My attempted diligence is paying off.

Fun crafts

These are going to my mum's shop.

What have you been enjoying lately that you'd love to have more of?

One question

2011-06-05T18:15:00.002-05:00

How is the weekend already over?

I have to admit that the days are flying by for me. I feel like I'm doing more housework than ever, but not really feeling that the house is that much cleaner. To me that translates into - we have too much clutter! That will be one of my summer projects. Slowly, and sometimes quickly, de-clutter the whole house.

I've been busy making more felt rosette headbands. These two went to a lovely young lady who was the Jr. Bride's maid (in lieu of a flower girl) for our wedding. She graduated from high school a couple of days ago. Makes me feel older. Note, I didn't say "old" just "older."

Since I'm also sending a dozen of these headbands out to my mom to sell in her shop I figured they'd need some cards to help support the rosettes. These are what I came up with this time. And I'm loving them! I even made little strips that are folded and stapled together with space for a hole punch at the top should she want to hang them. I'm almost as proud of the display packaging as I am the flowers. So silly, but that's me!

I might have made a green one with navy ribbon that I kept for myself...

...maybe.

One too many UFO's

2011-05-23T13:34:00.003-05:00

Sometimes the way we work on or approach projects can be their demise.

Me? I get all excited and consumed by a project. But if I get distracted, or pulled away from a project... Well, it might never see the light of day again except to be bagged with the pattern and put into a trunk.

Hence the reason you don't see a lot of knitting from me lately. I'm nervous that one or more of my new patterns I've been working on will die a mysterious death in my mind. I've already had that happen to several over winter. And I really don't want it to happen again. It feels like such a waste of time.

The Un Finished Objects that I've recently collected and set in a 'to work on soon' location:

1 - The NaNaWhoMa sweater with raglan sleeves that just didn't work. And of course I figured that out after the sleeves were sewn on. I'll have to rip the seam, and most likely reknit the sleeves. Come to think of it, the body didn't have as much ease as I had intended. Meh.

2 - The Vespergyle Mittens that need thumbs and liners. These might be too tight for liners, hence my procrastination. And I do need liners with them or the floats on the inside will consistently catch my rings. Hrm, maybe I can make mitten blockers?

3 - The socks I was knitting E last July that were too short. I just need to rip back past the heel (these were toe up) and lengthen these. But where did the pattern go...

4 - The Hexagon Sweater that I had issues knitting the hexagons on. I think I have the front, back, sleeves all done. Maybe not one sleeve? Either way there are a good amount of Hexagons to knit, and my work on DPNs seem to always have ladders (gaps) between the needles. Might have to try again with circular needles.

5 - That Herringbone sweater (with colors that were very different than they seemed online). I know I finished the back, but where in the world is it?!? I think this one just needs a good ripping. While I love the pattern for the sweater this yarn just is NOT going to do it for me.

Now if I can keep from getting enticed with new projects.
I'm wondering if posting these here will embarrass or encourage me. I hope the latter. I can't be the only one to do this.
It could be that I wait on these until I'm in a dry spell with new patterns.
Ooh, I need to take FO pics too!

FMSC

2011-05-19T12:21:00.002-05:00

Feed My Starving Children.
You may recall that during the Hati crisis in 2010 I donated half of a month's worth of sales from Wandering the Moor to Feed My Starving Children. Not only can you donate $$ (24 cents purchases a meal) but you can also donate your time by packing meals. I had wanted to go pack, but they were booked for months and somehow I never signed up. Over a month ago I remembered and asked E to sign up with me. He gladly agreed.

E & C after packing and cleaning up stations

The date of our volunteer packing finally arrived last night. I really didn't know what to expect except for hair nets. Needless to say it was a wonderful hour and a half of our time. It was such a blessing to us that we're planning on going regularly once a month.

A view of the packing room and the station

The low down - Groups of up to 50 volunteers meet several times a day for 1.5 - 2 hour increments to pack as many meals as they can. I have added tags to these pictures over in Flickr (links below the photos). It will tell you more about the stations, and what all the 'tasks' are. If you're interested please do go check it out as the tags on the photos won't carry over to this page.

Close-up of a packing station

A meal consists of - a scoop of chicken powder (think similar to the powder in a ramen noodle package, but MUCH healthier!), a smaller scoop of dried veggies, a mug full of soy chunks, and a mug full of rice. Those 4 ingredients, in that order, are placed into a plastic bag with a label, weighed to ensure proper ingredient amount, sealed, and added to a box.

When preparing the meal a cup of boiling water will be added to the "Manna Pack" and cooked. Once ready it will serve 6 meals. Now 180-200g of ingredients and a cup of water might not sound like it would cover 6 full meals. But imagine a starving child who simply can only eat a fraction of what we consider to be a full meal. Yes, these meals go a long long way!

The 15,785 (or was it 15,875?) meals that our group packed in under 1.5 hours

When you arrive they tell you how many meals the previous group packed and encourage you to beat them. The tasks and stations are all set up to be as functional and basic as possible to ensure the ease of quick packing. The faster you go, the more meals you pack. Simple as that.

Over 20,000 meals ready to go onto a truck

Now imagine 50 people bustling in the room with the work stations, and about 6 guys running around the warehouse getting everything done in a 1.5 hour shift! I got to do the bagging/weighing at a station and E was scooping soy and rice.

FMSC even has a small gift shop with some product commercially made (t-shirts) and made by some of the cultures who receive the Manna Packs, with all the proceeds going to purchase more meal ingredients.

While we were walking to to check out the merchandise this lovely red bag instantly caught my eye. It's labeled as a 'children's bag'. So I'm not sure if a child or adult made it, or if it was referring to the age of the person it is sized for, but it does have the seamstresses' name attached.

As I was looking at it E said, "New knitting bag?" I asked him what he thought about that since I really don't need another bag. He smiled and nodded at it.

This $20 bag purchased 83 meals. I'm still flabbergasted about it.

While we were driving away I had the bag sitting on my lap as if it were a precious gift and not a souvenir. And my eyes started to overflow with tears of joy. How did I wait this long to help? Even now I'm getting teary-eyed. It's amazing how much of a blessing I got from this experience when I was trying to be helpful to others. If you live in the Twin Cities I highly encourage you to donate your time to go pack. Just once. I can't imagine how you could regret it.

Birthday Presents part 2

2011-05-18T13:00:00.000-05:00

I've been curious about making these fabric flower headbands for a while, and this was the perfect opportunity!

Only the headbands were a little difficult to find.

I followed the gist of this tutorial but did mine quite differently.

And since K is only getting one hair elastic I made her this clip. Made from little scraps of fabric and a good dose of fraycheck they were so easy to make. Still trying to figure out why it took me so long. Oh yeah, that sore shoulder... Seems like I'm always getting injured somehow.

I was a little nervous about the fabric getting folded or bent out of shape so I made some cards to protect the headbands as well as the slip and hair elastics.

And because I was on a roll I decided to make me a couple of little things too.

Couldn't love these two more.

The fabric used for the purple flowers above is just a wee bit from the leftover fabric from the bride's maids dresses from my wedding.

Birthday Presents part 1

2011-05-17T12:46:00.003-05:00

This last weekend my nieces turned 13. And true to my tendencies I couldn't think of just what to make/get them so my present is late.

A weekend ago L & I were at Anthro and I spotted some hair elastics (ponytail-holders) with beads made into flowers. I loved them, took a pic for reference and knew what I was making for the girls.

It wasn't that difficult. And I had all the supplies save the hair bands on hand already.

All it takes is:
5 tear-drop beads or 5 oval beads
10-12 small glass beads (enough to go in a circle around your center bead)
1 rhinestone or center bead
metal wire (can't remember the size since the wrapper is gone, but it's for jewelry and quite bendable)
hair elastic.

After a few tries to determine how many beads it took and what I thought looked good I had my first success. This reminded me of K, so I knew it'd definitely go to her. Sadly I only had enough of the sea green beads to make one.

Then it was on to R's. I found these tiger beads in my stash and though they would be a great match for her. After a big of digging I found some light green beads for the center. These were given to me as part of a birthday present when I was 17. I've had these for 13 years! And now they're getting passed on to someone I love.

I couldn't be more thrilled with how these turned out.
And because I can't just send these I had to come up with something else.
Headbands!
Tomorrow...way too many pictures just for today.

Ambrosia & Caponi Art Park

2011-05-15T17:35:00.003-05:00

Spring is definitely 'springing' around here. I can't say it has 'sprung' since it's still in the process. The apple and cherry blossoms are in full swing and even those trees that wait until the very last moment are finally starting to show a slight green haze about their branches.

Yesterday it was cold and rainy, a perfect day for a drive. E and I drove along the Mississippi river towards Minneapolis yesterday making sure to drive along both sides of the river. I haven't been that far on either of those roads before and it was beautiful. The water was really high too! More pics to come. First I had to show you these outtakes!

Meet Ambrosia. A new shawl/scarf pattern from yours truly. This blue one is the 'small' and I'm in the process of starting the large and knitting it by the written instructions instead of the chart. Or at least attempting to. I can have a hard time testing my own patterns since I tend to follow the next logical step when knitting lace while forgetting about the pattern. I've found that there is a really big mix of people who prefer charts, and those who prefer written instructions. So this pattern will be featuring both.

E and I went to the Caponi Art Park since it was such a beautiful, yet very windy day. We love to go there for other events...Shakespeare in the Park!...but had never been to the sculpture garden. While there we found this snake sculpted into an embankment.

I have to admit, I hate snakes. Well, not really hate, it's more of a detest since they turn me into a blubbering little girl who has just been thrown into a panic attack and can't breathe or move. I couldn't help but think of the Basilisk from the Harry Potter series too.

But I couldn't hold the 'creeped out' look too long. E on the other hand had no problem standing next to this giant thing.

And now back to knitting I go!

Shepherd's Harvest 2011

2011-05-11T11:06:00.004-05:00

It was that time of year again! Shepherd's Harvest is held yearly on Mother's Day weekend in Lake Elmo MN. Thankfully we came back from vacation a day before the event began. We had the option of going on Saturday or Sunday. Ellen and I decided on Saturday (we were so anxious!) and I'm glad we did. Rain was in the forecast for both days, but we didn't see a drop on Saturday. It's probably because we packed rainboots and a raincoat.

A modern-day Sleeping Beauty! But without the pricking of the finger, an evil witch and sleeping.

My first year I got a few things. And I've spun all but one of those items. Last year Ellen and I both got a good deal of loot, and I haven't spun much of it. I've been too busy knitting, designing, and crafting! But because of that I couldn't justify purchasing much this year. Ellen has been off to school and therefore hasn't touched her stash. So while we were both longing to purchase a lot we just couldn't bring ourselves to do so.

This year the event seemed to be a little smaller than last year. Maybe it was because we weren't spending as much time looking at everything (since we weren't purchasing much). Maybe it was because one of the animal barns wasn't being used. The Llama/Alpaca barn was open, and so was the smaller sheep barn. But the barn that is sheep/goats wasn't open. And that's the one that normally held quite a lot.

Ellen was enthralled by the bunnies again. And I was highly amused by a pack of llamas that were consistently pacing their pen. They barely stopped moving! All the others were as far away from people as they could be.

I'm still not sure how Ellen managed to not buy anything. That girl has some strong willpower!

Since I had so much fiber left over from the previous year I only wanted to look for things I haven't spun or didn't already own. In the end I found 2 things I was interested in.

1 - 4oz of Icelandic Roving, which I've never spun before.
2 - A Corriedale/BFL fleece (dark dark brown). I still have a white Corriedale fleece from last summer, but this new one is a mix and a lovely dark brown. Watch, all the dark chocolate color will wash out! And this one was expertly sheared and already skirted (picked over for large veggie matter and poor cuts).

Here we are with our little loot shot.

And here is the Icelandic. It's so soft. I'm really looking forward to spinning this one up!

Dallas - Part 3

2011-05-10T10:00:00.000-05:00

Wednesday was just as sunny as Tuesday and a wee bit warmer. It was starting to feel like the Dallas I expected, but still no where near as bad as it could have been. E, H and I got out and about again. We took H to her first meal at Chipotle. How odd that someone related to E hadn't eaten at Chipotle before!

After a little bit more shopping we ventured home for a relaxing afternoon. E got more reading in (a friend's book) and I got some more knitting time in as well as packing up our suitcases.

All too early Thursday morning we were on the road again. Armed with Starbucks and Funyuns (both official road trip items) we were ready to take on the day. I really wanted to drive straight through, but E was a little leery. We ended up getting into Kansas City at 5pm, right on schedule. Only we made it there at the same time as a thunderstorm we were attempting to outrun and the same time as the evening rush-hour.

We stopped for dinner and Starbucks and I opted to get a Vivanno with Macha powder. I knew it would give me a 6-7 hour buzz that would allow us to easily get home while I was wide awake. E can struggle with driving at night, so I knew the charge would fall to me.

And we did it! A 16 hour road trip in one day. We got home just before midnight and two kitties were thrilled to have us home.

All in all an excellent trip. We only wish we had more time down there. H started asking us when we were moving down quite early in our visit. One evening she had actually pulled up a real-estate website and had me looking for houses! I don't see us moving any time soon, but it wouldn't be as bad as I had first thought.

Dallas - Part 2

2011-05-09T10:00:00.000-05:00

Tuesday we were quite lazy in getting ready for the day. The rain had finally stopped late the night before and it was starting to look like a beautiful day. Temps were still low, mid 60's, but there was no way I was complaining about that. Even if all my summer clothes were still sitting in the suitcase.

E, H and I went driving to some local yarn shops, The Woolie Ewe and the Shabby Sheep. Both were so much fun. The Woolie Ewe had the largest collection of Noro that I've ever seen under one roof. Most of the yarn wasn't up my alley, but I really didn't expect it to be so in a state that had long hot summers. I am, after all, a wool girl. The Shabby Sheep was so cute and fun. The majority of the yarn seemed up my alley, and I even found Spud and Chloe Fine (sock) yarn. I had never seen it in person before and couldn't resist buying some. I actually had E pick out two colors that he'd like for socks. He wears handknit socks so much more often than I do that I couldn't justify purchasing more sock yarn for myself. Besides, I get to knit it and that's what I want.

Later we went on a walk to the park and brought the dogs along. It was so beautiful outside. I expected Dallas area to be half dust and half scraggly shrubs. Instead beautiful and full trees and grass met our eyes. I was really taken aback.

I think I could quite easily live here as long as I had some good AC. I think I'll pass on having dogs though. I'm definitely a cat girl.

Dallas - Part 1

2011-05-08T20:49:00.003-05:00

Right after Yarnover last Saturday E and I hopped into the car for a 16 hour drive down to Dallas Texas. Since we weren't able to leave until 1:30(ish) we decided to stop in Kansas City for the night. That made the first leg of the trip 7 hours leaving 8 hours for Sunday. Not too shabby.

When we left MN it was raining. We found some beautiful weather in Iowa and paused long enough for a few photos at a rest stop.

Shortly after this my allergies kicked into high gear and I was blowing my nose for the rest of the evening. Thankfully we stopped at a grocery store so that I could pick up some Puffs Plus (with lotion) and Allegra. Otherwise I would have had a rather raw and red nose for the trip! And that's definitely no fun.

The next morning we took off early after a quick stop to Starbucks. On through Kansas and Oklahoma we went. Once we were in southern Oklahoma we hit another storm only this one was hailing on us. Just about the same time we hit some major traffic in the middle of no-where. We still have no clue what the holdup was. At one point we saw some emergency vehicle lights in the distance. But once we got to that spot they were long gone. We literally brought the storm into Dallas with us.

Monday it was cold and wet enough for jackets and scarves. I was so shocked! Where was all this 70-80 degree weather I had packed for? It rained all day with a high in the 50's.

There were many plans for Monday since the Nieces had the day off of school. But the rain restricted us to groceries.

E and R got some good model making time in. And K and I made some sandwiches. Then it was movies movies movies!

It's so great to visit family. So many laughs, hugs and love.

Yarnover

2011-05-07T08:05:00.003-05:00

For the past 25 years the Minnesota Knitter's Guild has been hosting an event called Yarnover. It's a wonderfully large gathering of knitters, vendors (local shops, individuals, farms...etc.), and teachers.

I actually took my first class (Shawl Shaping) ever and was blessed to take it from Romi Hill. She was an absolute sweetheart and I only wish I could have gotten one-on-one time with her.

The first half of the class we talked about shaping and different methods used while knitting shawls. The second half we started knitting her Maia shawl in an attempt to understand how it was constructed. Romi is pictured holding hers, and I'm holding what I was able to knit in a short while.

I also got to meet some rather famous people of the knitterly fame. I'm sure most knitters, if they are anywhere around Ravelry at all, have heard of Jared Flood.

The man is not only an amazing knitter and designer, but he has his own yarn line. He was here to teach a couple of classes. I happened to see him zipping past me in the morning just after I arrived. Out of shock I said "Jared?" He graciously posed with me. I get really nervous when I meet famous people, so I couldn't think of anything to ask him besides how his trip had gone.

More famous people! This is Mary Heather and Sarah - part of the Ravelry Crew that consists of only 4 people. They are so sweet and also posed with me.

Again I couldn't think of much to say and my hand was actually shaking while I took the photo. I was so nervous that I actually said "look at my hand shake!" And then something else that was probably silly and quite obvious.

I also got to talk to Susan of the Rainey Sisters for just a bit while I was at the Knitter's Guild booth (which I'm now part of for the year). I didn't bring out my camera as she was quite distracted and busy working. But hey, I met her and got to say "I read your blog."

The event lasted all day. I was there at 8am and many vendors already had their booths set up. I took an AM class, but there were also All-Day and PM classes. I was good and didn't buy anything despite being surrounded by wonderful yarn fumes. Part of that was because I had to book it out of the building soon after class because Hubby and I were leaving almost as soon as I got home.

Leaving for where you might ask?
Dallas!
But that's another post.

Fixing Mistakes in Lace

2011-04-26T12:23:00.003-05:00

Can be quite challenging.

Thankfully for my mistake (a dropped stitch) I was able to drop back stitches and fix it.

Also thankfully, I needed to drop an entire repeat of the lace pattern.

Why that's great is that it was easy to knit back up an entire short repeat that's already memorized than trying to figure out what few stitches I needed to work on.

I like to use a separate pair of needles when fixing things like this.

That means that I don't stretch the neighboring stitches or risk making other mistakes.

But keeping tension even can be tricky.

In the end, it's all worth it!

The Last Sibling...

2011-04-18T08:03:00.005-05:00

...in E's family is now married!

E was best man, and I helped keep people organized at the event. I had the title of coordinator, but since the ceremony and gathering was small and sweet there was so little for me to do that the bride hadn't already organized.

One really fun little detail was that we had a Lego favor at our tables at the reception. They were in the colors of the wedding and made for a lot of fun. People were sharing and building larger objects. Someone even made a Lego Groom and a Lego Bride (complete with veil). I was at a bad angle or I would have taken a picture.

E somehow always struggles at keeping his eyes open for pictures. Here he is making sure he doesn't blink. Makes me love him all the more.

Oops

2011-04-18T08:00:00.003-05:00

While logging into Blogger this morning I realized I had a slew of comments in the moderation page that were hanging there. It used to be that they'd stay there until they were published, so I thought it was the same. Apparently now they have a tab for published comments, which is the first thing you see now. I ended up deleting the comments from my last 3 or 4 posts.

Sorry everyone! Please know that I still have them in my e-mail (where I've been publishing them from) and still appreciate each one!

Time for something new

2011-04-13T08:31:00.003-05:00

Things can come and go easily in our lives, often when we don't expect them to.

I had a really really big surprise Monday morning at work. After 6.5 years of working for the same company I was laid off. It's still such a shock to me, and I was a wreck on Monday because of it.

A lot of it doesn't make sense to me, but I'd rather it be that way then being told I was the weakest link...etc. It was just a 'lay off' not a firing. This is really allowing me to rely on my faith and trusting that God already has a new plan for me. One that hubby and I have been wanting for several years.

I'm going to attempt to be a 'stay at home' and build my pattern business. I've been dabbling in dying fiber, as you've all seen, and I'm considering building that as well. I also have a backlog of patterns I've been wanting to work on. And I just might, cough cough, have the yarn for most of that already.

As frustrating and painful as this is I have no doubt that before long I'll be rejoicing and adoring sleeping in every morning (I woke up early today and got to see hubby off to work). Plus the kitties are taking every moment they can to get on my lap. They are even pouting when they're not the one on it. Being home will also allow me to get all those projects I've been wanting to work on done.

It'll take me a while to get used to this, and I'm sure that will lend to me being in this space more often, which I've wanted for ages!

But for now, it's just one day at a time and deep breaths. It's sort of refreshing that this new chapter of my life is hitting the same time as Spring. The trees and I can grow together.

Handspun & handknit scarf

2011-04-04T19:20:00.002-05:00

My New Favorite Scarf!

(Rav Link)

One year ago (and a half a month) I fell for some Ashland Bay Merino Tussah Roving at the Knitter's Palatte in MN. Merino in chocolates and oranges, a hint of green, a section of tan, tussah silk...I just couldn't walk out of the store without buying some. It called to me. And I drove home with 4 lovely ounces with it.

Last June I finally got up the nerve to spin it. I had no clue what I was going to make with it, but after having several lovely rovings fall short in the yardage department I decided to go as thin as I could while spinning.

I ended up with 817 yards of a lovely 2-ply fingering/lace weight yarn. (Dime in pic for comparison)
And then it sat
And sat
And sat

Until this January when I was really sick and I needed something more or less mindless to knit. And believe me, stockinette in the round with two twisted stitches was about all I was good for. I knit often for roughly a month, dropped some stitches intentionally, snipped some yarn and I had this wonderful scarf!

There is a pattern for this scarf out there (Rav Link), but I admit that I just did my own thing and considered it 'inspired by'. And no, I'm not sharing any details other than to say it ended up 65” long and 15” wide with 5.5” of fringe.

Wool knit on large needles is still warm, but not overbearing. I don't even care that the stockinette curls along the edges (length).

And something that was annoying turned out to be a little blessing in disguise! When I was done spinning I noticed that I had slightly overplied the yarn. I figured that a good soak once knit would get it out of the yarn. You never know. But what happened was that all my fringe started to clump and twist up. I separated it out into 3 strands or so (depending on the thickness of the handspun) and then helped twist it back up neatly.

I had just enough time while riding in the car from our house to our favorite french cafe to knot all the ends. (This was back in Feb during the birthday week - just to show how behind I am in posting!)

I'm really happy with this project and can definitely see myself making another.

A new love in my life

2011-03-23T18:39:00.003-05:00

There is no way this could replace the Love of my life. Or my two little furry feline loves. But this is definitely something I heart.

The Aeroccino 3 for the Nespresso.

No we don't have a Nespresso machine, though several of my friends would be at our place every day if we did. But my passion for Starbucks Chai Tea lattes led my wonderful friend L to suggest the Aeroccino to us. It can not only make some amazing froth (hot or cold) but it will also heat up your milk for you. And, here's where it's perfect for me, I can put my Tazo or Oregon Chai Tea in with the milk.

And viola! A Chai latte whenever I wish! It took me several attempts to find the perfect ratio, but now I've got it dead on.

This little baby now graces my kitchen counter thanks to a bonus from work. It will definately pay for it's self before long. And now I'm even more thankful there is now a Costco on the way home from work (so that I can get my Tazo Chai cheaper and in bulk!). I just need to be careful to not love it too much....or my hips will never forgive me.

Princess Celeste

2011-03-20T15:57:00.004-05:00

65 year ago a little boy sat on the edge of his bed listening to his aunt tell him stories before he went to sleep. One story he particularly loved to hear about featured a charming princess. Her name was Princess Celeste.

Princess Celeste was very beautiful with long golden hair. She was incredibly sweet and tender-hearted. Everyone loved her and she was graciously kind to all she met.

As the little boy grew up he would never forget the story of Princess Celeste, for she had stolen a little bit of his heart.

35 years later this little boy was now a grown man. A man who would be having a little child of his own. Before the doctors could even tell, this man knew he was going to have a little girl. And that he would name her Celeste.

30 more years later, Celeste is still her father's little princess. Over the years the memory of the storybook Princess Celeste faded, but they were replaced with memories of his real little princess. And here she sits before you today.

The crown featured here was made especially for me by a dear sweet friend. Georgia lives in sunny Cali and makes some of the loveliest things I've seen in years.

I love this crown more than I could say. The colors are amazing, and every little detail is hand placed. I wore this crown out to dinner with friends the night of my birthday. I received some of the sweetest looks from people.

I believe Georgia is a princess too. You have to have princess blood to dream up little wonders like these. Here's a link to her shop. You know you need to go check it out.

Utopia

2011-03-13T15:13:00.002-05:00

{written with a pencil and paper Friday night at Starbucks}

What is it about music?

A single song can transpose a mood.

It can replace a forgotten memory.
It can pull a tear from the strongest
and anger the softest.

I have this dream. My ideal home, the ideal atmosphere. I'm not sure if it came to me in a day dream or if it's a compilation of a hundred little lovely details I've gathered. It's unique - and there is a mood that always accompanies it. I call it my "Utopia". When I see something that matches the mood or style of my dream I point it out to E. Sadly I've never seen a non-imaginary version of my dream home (that I can recall at least). And I've been looking.

Imagine this if you can...

It's late evening, a slight chill and a dampness is carried on the air. You're walking over a bridge with a river flowing beneath it. The sound of the rippling water is one of the few sounds in the urban neighborhood. There are lamps every 10 feet or so along both sides of the bridge, little stars lighting your path home. You walk along a sidewalk lined with trees and come to a brick home at the end of the block. You climb the half flight of stairs to the black front door and open it. When you enter warm lights greet you and so does some lovely music.

That is part of my dream, my Utopia.

While I've been keeping an eye out for this home I've been compiling the music. Whenever I hear these songs from my "Utopia" play list I'm immediately calmed and introspective. I can't help but relax and feel a calmness flood over me.

While the home of my dreams hadn't presented it self yet I can at least find it in my earphones.

Here, I'd like to share a little bit of my dream, my Utopia with you...

Want to know something silly?

2011-03-01T21:24:00.003-06:00

Every time I watch UP I cry in the beginning. Thankfully Hubby is usually around for hugs.

I started to get depressed at the end of last week that I had to go back to work - hence missing the posts from the latter half of the events of the vacation week.

Fish freak me out (live ones that is) especially koi.

I have a bad case of startitis (constantly beginning new projects without any thought of finishing current ones).

I have a huge case of spring/cabin fever.

I found the oddest knot ever in my skein of yarn that I'm knitting the Vespergyle mittens with. 3 ends, all tied together. What the 3rd strand was doing there...I have no clue. Thankfully I'm a huge fan of spit/split splicing. And since this is a woolen style yarn it lends to this type of splicing.

I found the above knot while at Starbucks last Friday. I spliced it there and might have gotten a couple of odd looks for putting yarn in my mouth (it's not called spit splicing for nothing!). Of course the silly looks came from a duo of late-teen girls with mini skirts, thigh-high stiletto boots, more curls than Shirley Temple, and 6x the hair product. Oh, and it was 15 degrees outside. Who's silly now?

I actually got so home sick for the Pacific Northwest today at work that I got teary eyed.

30 - Day 4

2011-02-24T13:06:00.002-06:00

Tuesday was a nice relaxing day.

Hubby and I went to the Starbucks that L works at and spent a couple of hours writing and knitting. I got some excellent work done on my Verpergyle Mittens that I have barely touched since our trip to Oregon back in October. And to think I was so proud of myself that I was working ahead of the cold then!

A short trip to a yarn shop allowed me to get a new Addi Lace circular needle so that I could work on my Kusha Kusha scarf. I wasn't going to start a new project, but to quote Hubby, "It's our vacation. You can do whatever you want." When I got home I looked at my Ravelry queue to discover that I added it to the queue back in October of 2009. At least I haven't had the yarn that long! I'm about 40 rows into it and sailing along.

The rest of the day was spent in relaxation and more knitting and more writing. And maybe some silly pics of Tigger being herself.

This is the birthday cake I requested of E's mom. A white/chocolate swirl cake with cream cheese frosting and blueberries on top. She had added raspberries too, but they were quite fragile and started turning super quick. I might have had this for breakfast this day. Just might have...

30 - Day 3

2011-02-23T16:17:00.003-06:00

On Monday hubby and I were extremely thankful we were on vacation and didn't have to drive to work. The snow storm that started on Sunday was predicted to last until 6am on Monday. Before long the snow storm warning was extended until late morning. Then until late afternoon. It seemed to finally stop around 9pm.

When we get snow predictions we usually end up with one of four amounts. A - half of the minimum. B - the minimum. C - Half point of the min/max. D - more than the maximum. This was definitely the last option for this round with more than 18" at our place.

The drift at our front door was taller than me on the left side, and only a few inches tall on the right. Again, we were happy we didn't need to be anywhere besides home.

And to think we had a 50 degree weather not 4 days before this snow. And 3 months worth of snow on our deck was almost all gone! I had even ventured out of the house with no jacket one day last week.

Hubby wrote a lot
I knit a lot
Tigger and Chappy did this:

30 - Day 2

2011-02-23T16:09:00.003-06:00

Sunday and Monday brought MN a decent size snow storm. Sunday alone we got 14" at our place. We also live on a fairly windy stretch, so the drifts can be taller than me.

We had plans to drive to E's parents house for a little celebration for me, so we did venture out into the storm. The drive there wasn't too bad, but the drive back certainly took us a while.

Hubby after brushing off the car. Once he got back into the car not only was his hair white from the snow, but it almost looked like he hadn't brushed off the car at all.

These two pics pretty much sum up our drive home. Stay in the center of what looks like the road and take your time!

30 - Day 1

2011-02-22T11:17:00.002-06:00

How can it possibly be that I only took two pictures this day?!?

Hubby and I got to sleep in until about 8:30. Then he made me pumpkin pancakes.

I released Evania, a pattern that has been in the works for some time now.

Hubby took me to lunch at Punch (my one birthday request)

We came home, despite freeway traffic attempting to get us stuck twice!
(note to self - never go to the Mall of America on President's Day weekend. EVER!)
(second note to self - avoid driving by it on that same weekend if possible)

Then I went shopping with L.
We love us some 50th and France shops so we headed out to Anthropologie. The store must be in a between season transition since it was about as sparse as I've ever seen it. L found a treasure, I just found this book. But the stingy person inside of me knew I could get it cheaper on Amazon, so someday I just might.

After that it was back home again. This time with no freeway delays.

Then at about 6:30 hubby and I took off for another unknown (by me) destination. Soon we were pulling off the freeway and headed towards one of my favorite little cafes. And another surprise and even better yet, soon after some friends we hardly get to see met us there.

We didn't get home until 10:30 or so.

I still can't believe I didn't get any pictures this evening. I was wearing my gift from Georgia...again to be pictured later in all it's glory...I'm just cruel by teasing you this way!

All in all a very lovely Birthday!

Guess who's 30!

2011-02-22T10:12:00.003-06:00

Yep, it's that time of year again. Only this time it's more significant. For the next 9 years I'll have a 3 as the first digit of my age.

I officially turned 30 on Saturday and Hubby had a few things up his sleeves in the way of celebrations that started on Friday. Sadly I don't have photos of the Saturday celebrations, or of me wearing the beautiful birthday gift I got from Georgia, so I'll have to stage some.

Here are some pics of our Friday night. We went out to dinner with L to the Loring Pasta Bar in Dinky Town (next to the U)

The three of us had walked past here once before last summer and it looked beautiful and intriguing. I was so excited when E finally broke down to tell me what we were doing that evening and that I had my choice of two restaurants. Loring it was!

You should follow the link above and check out the photos. It's even more magical at night when everything is candle lit and imbued with the mood lighting. Another sweet surprise is that every Friday evening there is a Blues/Jazz musician who plays. They had a mini stage set up for him, a bass player, drummer and two sax players. Nothing too wild or somber, but excellent background music.

We got to sit up in the main balcony along the railing at a tall table, so we got a great view of most of the restaurant as well as the kitchen. The food was excellent as was the tiramisu we had for dessert. Yumm

I highly suggest this place. Our waiter was super sweet too!

Evania

2011-02-19T11:26:00.003-06:00

Evania

A delicate scarf featuring a lace center bordered with stockinette ruffles.

Evania is knit lengthwise with a center lace panel and ruffles that grow from increases in a stockinette border.

What you need:

Yarn: 1 skein Zephyr Wool-Silk 2/18 Skein – Lace weight, 630 yards (576 meters); Shown in Indigo
Needles: Size US 3 (3.25mm) 24” circular, or longer, to achieve gauge
Crochet Hook: same size as needle used – for provisional cast on
Stitch Markers: 26
Blocking wires, bendable – and/or Pins
Waste yarn for provisional cast on

The pattern features written instruction along side charts and some directional photos.

Pattern available as a PDF for $5.

V-day

2011-02-15T20:54:00.002-06:00

Hubby and I went out to dinner for an early Valentine's day last Friday. You beat the rush, and who doesn't like prolonged celebrations?!? But even though we celebrated early I couldn't not want a nice dinner on the 14th. So while hubby was making mashed potatoes I was putting some fun music on the Zune and just happened to peek at my blog reader. So many people had posted about the 14th that it suddenly made me stop and wonder why I wasn't too?

For years I lived behind my camera. Then a blog. At some point I grew away from both and am trying to find a happy medium with both. And yes, I certainly haven't arrived there yet!

So when I went back upstairs to finish some dishes I saw this.

Hearts, just waiting for me. (look on at the reflection on the towell) And I suddenly remembered that inspiration in photography is sometimes in the little things.

Sometimes it's because we want to document something fun.

Sometimes it's because we want to capture a moment

Or even a special gift from someone afar.

Sicky

2011-01-30T15:17:00.002-06:00

Boy have I been hit over the head big time with a cold. What started as a head cold first thing Monday morning quickly turned ugly and then into a sinus infection. I ended up staying home several days this last week from work because of it. Friday I barely got out of bed, but I had the laptop, Notting Hill, the Labyrinth and knitting to help me out with that day. Oh and kitties! They stayed on the bed with me almost the entire time. They are going to be so horribly dejected when I go back to work tomorrow. I'm not usually one to want to stay in bed all day. But this cold has certainly done that to me. And since hubby's vacated the lap top I'm tempted to go back up.

Today has been the first day that I've felt even a sliver of back to normal. And I decided to celebrate with taking some photos of finished projects.

First up some amazingly overdue pics of some washcloths that I finished back in June of last year. I had a 3rd on the needles, and had picked it back up to finish when I realized why I stopped. Something had gone wrong, and try as I may I couldn't figure out what it was. Riiiiiiiip! Sitting on the needles for half a year was definitely long enough for me to not care about a washcloth any more.

You know, it's easy to take a photo of a washcloth. But an attractive and creative photo? Especially when you're not at half your potential? So this is it and they're being put into the washcloth life cycle.

Another recent knit are ankle socks for hubby. Now why ankle socks for a guy?

1 - that's all the yarn I had (2 skeins of Jo Shark 8ply DK is little over 100 yards ea)
2 - doesn't matter if they're ankle, apparently, since hubby always wears cotton socks under his wool socks.

The good news is that he loves them, and had been wishing (but not asking) for a thicker pair. I destashed, got a fast project done, and made us both very happy in only about 6 hours per sock. Less than that if you don't count that I had to rip out both toes because I forgot that I increase his toes every third row instead of every other.

In fact he loves them so much that I've pulled out some dk weight llama yarn he picked out at an alpaca fair over a year ago, and more socks are on the needles.

Oh, and sock blockers are home made from place mats from Ikea.

A recap in pics

2011-01-20T22:09:00.003-06:00

Has it really been 20 days since I've posted last?

It's amazing how time flies.
I've been examining the way I do things recently, and even my habits. And I've observed that letting things overwhelm me tends to lead to me avoiding them (if I can). Laundry and my clogged blog reader are two perfect examples!

Here I was not reading any blogs because several tumblr blogs among others were clogging my reader. Yeah, sitting down to get updated with my friends only to find 2,000 unread posts is a little much. It also leads me to miss big events.

It's also been keeping me away from here. I want to post something wonderful, or show a picture of a finished project, but not having much to say, or any photos to share (but I did get a new memory card!) has been keeping me away. I really need to stop that.

I also like to achieve goals. I didn't really have much of a focus of what I wanted to accomplish last year. And after having a big goal the year before (100,000 stitches) it resulted in a year where I felt aimless in a way. Tonight I sat down to make my little mosaic of the knitted projects I made throughout the year and came to realize that there was a reason I didn't knit as much as I thought I could have. I was busy working on other projects too!

So here are my mosaics with a spattering of knitting, spinning, dying, paper crafts, cross stitch, weaving, painting...

Definitely more than just knitting!

And apparently I'm super proud of that swatch because it snuck in a 2nd time.

I also have a goal for 2011. But that's for another post.

{Insert Here}

2011-01-01T19:29:00.003-06:00

{Insert Here} the post I meant to write about Christmas, how lovely it was, and how I had hoped you all enjoyed yours!

{Insert Here} the fun pictures I didn't take at Christmas because I was having too much fun opening presents and enjoying every one else's expressions and presence.

{Insert Here} the fun pictures from New Years Eve that I didn't take because we were all exhausted and went to bed 5 minutes after midnight.

{Insert Here} the adorable pictures I took of Chappy this morning that I can't share because my computer thinks my camera memory card is corrupt (but they still show up on the camera).

But here is what I can do:
I can wish you all a fantastic New Year!

May you all find comfort and love from your friends
(even the furry kind), and family (even the adopted kind).

May you all find peace within and a desire to grow and better yourselves.

May you find joy in the little mundane every-day
things that many of us take for granted.

May you find happiness in the fact that you can bring light
and joy to someone else's day.

May you be able to smile during the hard times,
and cry tears of joy during the great times.

E and I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas
and wish you all a beautiful New Year!

Whew!

2010-12-26T21:27:00.002-06:00

What a weekend this was. So much happening and, thankfully, two days off work too!

Thursday I powered through the rest of the mitten ornament and it's done and beautiful.

I did add a wee bit of stuffing. Then took half of it back out. And just before I shot these photos I took half of what was left out too. It doesn't take much.

I still have the polar bear and jacket to make, but I've allowed myself to be very distracted and starting all sorts of projects.

Thursday I also punched a bunch of circles for a tree garland I had intended to make, but completely forgot about. I have to admit that I didn't get far as the punch starts to hurt after a while. I hold it at a very odd angle so that I can see what I'm punching from the bottom. I'm silly and don't want to waste paper by being too far away or too close to the previous punch.

I also started work on a lap throw for the car. I have this little teeny blanket I crocheted one year out of chenille yarn. It's not anything amazing to look at, but it has kept my thighs warm in the car during the winter months. One day while in the fabric store down the street I spotted wool fabric. Of course that would make a better mini blanket for the car! I purchased a couple of yards (should I want to make more, mess up on the first...etc) and there it sat for half a year.

Thursday I had some last minute shopping to do so I stopped at Michaels and finally picked up a grommet plier that also punches eyelet holes. It was a little more tedious than I expected, but still wonderful to watch the progress and see the idea I had months ago become a reality.

Oh yeah, I didn't mention this...I'm adding a crocheted lace border!

I folded down the edges to create a hem and started the first round of crochet with Fishermen's Wool yarn. The only problem now is that I don't know what to do next! At least I'm at the point where I can pick it back up quickly when inspiration strikes.

I started many more projects too, but I'll save that for another post.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!

The Bird and the Bee

2010-12-13T17:43:00.002-06:00

I have to admit that Hubby and I are hooked on Pandora.

{we are sorry to disrupt your normal reading of the blog, but Tigger apparently has a special message. She is blocking the keyboard by sprawling out of my lap with her arms placed straight across said keyboard and causing me to make many errors which I will correct after she moves. Her message is apparently this:

"I need to human-nap this woman so that she will feed me in daddy's absence. Now go away so she will stop typing."}

Anyhow, as I was saying...

We are consistently (there goes the stretched paw again) finding new music, which is really great since we don't listen to the radio if we can help it. When we hear a few songs from an artist we'll try out their CD. My newest find is The Bird and the Bee. Their song "My Love" has pretty much been running through my head all weekend. I hope you enjoy it.

19+ inches of snow later...

2010-12-12T21:36:00.004-06:00

We survived the blizzard of 2010!

Saturday was interesting. The snow started just after midnight on Friday and lasted until about 5am this morning (Sunday). Add to that winds of 18-30mph and you'll see that I really do mean 'blizzard'. Several times I had looked out the window to see the snow blowing horizontally. By the time if finally stopped we had 20 inches of snow in the Twin City region.

Hubby had to go into work again on Saturday. Thankfully they sent everyone home sometime after lunch, which meant hubby didn't have to worry about driving in all that snow in the dark!

My attempts at 'special dinners' went well this time with Beef Stew on the menu. Being one of hubby's favorite dishes it was hard to go wrong. And no burns or accidents this time around!

Speaking of which, thank you all for the well wishes and prayers. I am finally pain free and very happy to be so. Here's an updated image. Not too bad considering how much oil I had on me when it happened. Just a little red down the right pinkie (which still looks a little swollen) and the two spots on my left hand/wrist.

At first I really didn't know what to do with myself, but soon found that I could cross stitch and do various things on the computer (though that was only with a few fingers from each hand). I did finish the front of the Selbu Mitten ornament. Now I only need to do the back, remove the waste canvas, trim, and sew them together.

I had originally planned to go Christmas shopping on Saturday, but that was obviously out. So hubby and I went today instead. After he cleared a path for the car we were happy to be out of the house for a while. Hardly anyone was out before lunch, but that soon changed and the roads got busier than I expected. The mall was packed (we only drove by thankful we didn't have to go in) and so were several other shopping areas.

Hope the rest of you had a wonderful and lovely weekend!

A post from the Hubby

2010-12-05T12:59:00.002-06:00

Ding! The coffee is done. The bagel leaps from the toaster, and the husband catches the lightly browned, slightly sweetened loaf with a hole and spreads cream cheese across the top. Kitties stretch near the window while the white shroud falls lazily from the sky, gently resting upon the cushion of yesterday's flakes. Something like Frank Sinatra floats through the air, and as the husband hands the bagel-laden plate to Celeste, she cringes just a wee bit. She can't bend her fingers.

Actually, Celeste can barely move her hands. She was being such a sweet, loving wife for her HH, who had to work six days this week, that she decided to cook something new and different for supper on that sixth day.

Ratatouille is a peasant dish originating from France, and when the HH came home from work, she soon had him chopping onions while she minced garlic. Next, they sauted zucchini in olive oil until it was lightly browned. After the zucchini joined the onions and garlic in a pot, the husband replenished the olive oil in the skillet, and Celeste, with her hands over the pan, released two large handfuls of summer squash.

Now, the pan was quite hot, but the fresh oil was calm; at least, it was calm until the squash struck the pan. The moister from the squash immediately burst into vapor, sending the boiling oil splashing onto poor Celeste's knitter's hands.

Pixar's five star rendition of ratatouille didn't include any oil burning. The two would-be cooks looked at each other in shock for a second, and then the HH dragged the little wife to the sink, where she plunged her hands into cold water from the tap.

Needless to say, oils burns are particularly painful. Celeste's hands remained in cold water for the large majority of the rest of the evening. Thankfully, nothing blistered, and she should be right as rain (very cold rain) in a few days. In the meantime, she is going to continue her cross stitching, as it is one of the few crafts that doesn't require her to move her pinkie fingers or her left wrist.

My Saturday Morning

2010-12-04T16:07:00.002-06:00

Waking up to a fresh blanket of the white shroud when you don't have to leave the warm house can be quite enjoyable. We got another 8 inches of snow last night/this morning. Sadly hubby had to go to work (all 4 Saturdays between Thanksgiving and Christmas). I actually woke up before the sun rose, but managed to not get out of bed for a good 40 minutes.

After spending a good while attemting to catch up on my blog reader (let's say I hardly looked at any blogs the later part of Oct and all of Nov) I sat in the beam of sunlight to work on an ornament kit. This is the Snow Day felt ornament kit by Alicia Paulson (Posie gets Cozy) . I had forgotten how tedious cross stitch can be, but it's still a 'do this for fun' project which is great. I'm working on the Selbu Mitten right now. I know! it's going to be adorable (follow the ornament link to see the finished project)

The kitties weren't impressed that I wouldn't let them on m lap this morning. Cross stitch makes me move my hands/arms much more than knitting does.

I know I'm biased, but I just adore Tigger's thumbs!

And here is the cross stitch an hour later. I had discovered I was off one stitch on one of the selbu snowflake arms which resulted in pulling it out and starting over.

Since hubby had to work for the 6th day in a row I decided to surprise him with a fun dinner. I'm going to attempt ratatouille for the first time. A jaunt out to the store and I had all the necessary veggies (including egg plant which I have never used before) and a pomegranate called to me from a display table. I've been sitting here just nom-noming awayy on these beautiful little seeds. If they weren't so tedious to open and remove I'm sure I'd eat them quite frequently.

NaNaWhoMa - a Recap

2010-12-03T20:46:00.003-06:00

(So I had intended to post yesterday. Getting home an hour late from work to a sun that sets 30 minutes after I usually leave work isn't conducive to getting project photos)

What a month. November flew by, and somehow it seems like it was quite a long time ago already. And it's only December 4th!

A recap of my November goals - and what I actually accomplished.

Spin 1300+ yards of 2-ply yarn - Spun 1300+ yards of 2-ply yarn
Design a pattern - Designed a pattern
Knit a sweater from that pattern - I knit a sweater from that pattern
(I just didn't finish it)

Here's where I ended:
Front: knit up to underarm & blocked
Arms: knit up to underarm & blocked
Back: knit just past waist

I decided to knit the back in stockinette for two reasons. 1 - I just didn't want to have to go back to spin more yarn since I was fearful I'd run out. 2 - I think it will actually look better with a solid back since I have so much stockinette on the sleeves and some under the arms on the sides of the front.

All in all I'm really proud of myself for what I accomplished. At the same time I'm happy for what I didn't accomplish in that I didn't push myself into the ground. I was a little nervous that this would cause me to loose sleep or would stress me out, which was not my intentions at all. I wanted a challenge and to use up all the fiber that was just sitting in my garage - I accomplished both. I had never knit a sweater with all over (or extremely close to it) cables and I did that. I had never spun yarn out of fiber I cleaned and carded and I did that.

Therefore I'm considering this NaNaWhoMa to be a complete success! Thanks for those who followed along and cheered me on. It was excellent encouragement and I am happy to have shared this with you.

Should I have not had A) a job, and B) family visiting for a week I know I would have finished this sweater. Alas, some things just can't be avoided. And in the case of family, why would you want to?

Thanksgiving

2010-12-01T19:37:00.003-06:00

I hope all of you stateside had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I know we did. Surrounded by people we love, missing those who couldn't be near, but always thankful for what we are blessed with.

Probably the most special part of this last week was being with my nieces. They are such dear sweet girls and we all seemed to hit it off immediately.

Monday (22nd) I took the girls shopping to get fabric to make some no-sew blankets for them. We also surprised their parents (E's sister and her hubby) with a blanket of their own. So the rest of the week was working on blankets, crocheting, making pom-poms, playing games, making puzzles, decorating and of course eating!

I love being Auntie Celeste. I just wish these two sweeties were a lot closer.

I'll be back tomorrow with a NaNaWhoMa recap. And no, I didn't make my goal. But still I did a huge amount of work considering how busy I was. And that in an of it's self deserves a celebration.