Bonnets and Skulls

It Has Begun

2011-01-17T22:05:00.000-08:00

So the new shop is open at 3rd Floor Creations.

And the new blog is up and already has two posts at 3rd Floor Creations.

And that officially closes Bonnets and Skulls! Hope to see you at the new location!

Closing Down and Opening Up

2011-01-08T17:12:00.000-08:00

For those who are still visiting this site, thank you so much for your continued interest in Mary and my doings! It's been a year since I last got on here and I am now closing Bonnets and Skulls down.

But never fear! I will be creating a new blog to follow the start up of my new etsy shop, 3rd Floor Creations. The shop will be focused on my painting, knitting, paper crafts, and photography. There may also be some bits and bobs along the vintage jewelry and pottery as well.

3rd Floor Creations will open on January 17, 2011 at etsy.com. My seller name is WeeHoursCreatory. I will be taking custom orders for some items, such as the knitted Veske and note card sets and photos, but the rest will be one of a kind.

I hope to see all of you at the new blog site, 3rd Floor Creations!

Sew Crazy

2010-01-30T09:55:00.001-08:00

Long time, no posts. Partly because I'm investigating other bloggy avenues. Also, there has been an unhappy amount of spam in the comments area, which has now been cleaned up. Unfortunately, I am no longer allowing anonymous comments here because of it. You will have to have a google account to leave a comment and all comments are now moderated. Grrrrrr.... EVIL SPAMMERS!!!!!!

Ok. Now I'm done ranting, I've been doing all kinds of insane things over the past few months. Mostly involving my sewing machine. :) Another evil thing: More hobbies than your budget and time allotment can support!!! LOL! So, I started quilting. Yeah! Love fabric. Love sewing. So why not!?!?

My first ever quilt. Used a moda Layer Cake in Soiree and just sewed them together. Nothing fancy. Used DreamWool batting inside. This thing is so warm!

My second quilt. Much more difficult than the first, especially with the slanted corners. This is two charm packs and some yardage in moda's Cotton Blossoms. The back is just unbleached muslin. Gave this to my mom for Christmas. :)

About four years ago, I bought a bunch of 1/2 yards of various Amy Butler fabric. Finally found some use for them! This is a pattern from In Stitches from AB. I'll be using it in my new office at work.

Wanted a felted/fabric basket, so designed this. Used Noro yarn I forgot I had, leftover AB fabric I used to make a tunic (will be seen in a future post) and extra thick template plastic to create the shape. The clipboard I bought unfinished at Craft Warehouse and covered with paper and put my ode to geekism on the front.

Leftover AB fabric and some other stuff that I bought to make a shirt (also to be featured in a future post). The design and layout is just from my head and the size pieces I had available. The back is teal/aqua/pink striped yarn-dyed fabric I had used to make a skirt that didn't end up fitting.

Ok. Now the travel edition of this blog. Went to the ocean at Thanksgiving. It was awesome. Cold and windy and stormy. But the sun's rays coming through the clouds were perfect.

Interesting chunk of driftwood.

Light on the waves.

Serious wave action. Would not want to be swimming in that!

Went for an early winter walk down by the Yakima River. This shot is my ode to JJ Abrams. :)

I know this one is out of focus, but I love the colors and the blending. I just put the camera on the ground and snapped this without looking. :)

Everywhere was layers and layers of ice. Took a closeup to see how it would come out.

Mary T. setting up her camera to take both our pictures. I like this shot a lot. Mary in her element!!!!

So that's all for the pictures at the moment. I have many other projects going, but it is time to clean my house. It's amazing how a cat can be so untidy!!!! ;)

Fall Fiber and Fun

2009-10-30T20:38:00.001-07:00

This fall has been super interesting and here's the pics to show for it! We've had the Kittitas County Fair, which was awesome. We won the Black and White Barn Award from the State. :) Also, been re-designing my house interior. And knitting and spinning and just having a good time!

Office Fun: Me with Sasquatch

Me as Pirate LaRue

The view on the way to work, October 30.

The Fall Fiber Festival, October 17. Good turnout this year!

Karla Kaatz demonstrating weaving at the Fall Fiber Festival.

Joan teaching drop spindling to a new spinner at the Fall Fiber Festival

Would love to dive into the middle of all that wool! Suri alpaca. *sigh*

The girls out for a stroll. They're finally laying eggs. Talk about the best thing ever! Fresh eggs are the bomb!!!!

Sidewalk Sunflower. Found this beauty over on 3rd and Kittitas on the way to Fred Meyer.

Ummm... Which way do I go? Sign at the Kittitas County Fair.

He looks so sweet!!! Yeah. No. One of the bulls for the Extreme Bulls Rodeo event.

My project basket got Judge's Choice. Yeah!!!

Fair display for the Fiber Arts Booth. Lots of variety in fibers here.

The moon from my backyard. I took this with my Cybershot just standing and holding the camera. I was pretty impressed that my camera was able to get that kind of detail. You can see the craters on the lower right side.

A purse I made using a pattern from Interweave Knits magazine. The exterior I spun from a blend called potluck. The fabric interior is leftovers from a skirt that I made.

So that's been most of what's going on this fall. I took two photo series, one of the color orange and one of the signs of Ellensburg. I will get a link up to the galleries soon.

Providence

2009-09-02T20:54:00.000-07:00

As promised, here's the pics from my adventure in Providence, Rhode Island. First off, I never ever thought of going to Rhode Island. At all. But it is the east coast, and I've always wanted to go there! Providence was very different than Seattle as far as large cities go. The people were friendly. Sometimes a bit too friendly! Anyway, here's my trip in pics.

Mount St. Helens from the plane during take off. I sat next to a wonderful naval pilot and a mission doctor from Cambodia. They were awesome.

Mount Rainier from take off.

Signs on a street in Providence across from the First Baptist Church of America.

View from the hotel, the Radisson on the Harbor.

The First Baptist Church of America, founded in 1638 by Roger Williams.

An eagle carved into the pillars of the gate at the State House.

Columns are a common sight in downtown Providence.

A trumpeter swan on the Woonasquatucket River.

The braziers for the Waterfire show. I missed it because I was flying back to Seattle the afternoon of the event.

Buildings on Westminster Street. This street was beautiful.

Loved this shot from the Skybridge between the Westin Hotel and Providence Place Mall.

Me in front of the State House. And yes, I found a Starbucks the moment I got into town!

Dorrance Street was one street I crossed the most. It was right between Starbucks and the Convention Center. It also was quite beautiful.

View of boats on the harbor from the hotel.

A black and white rendering of the red door on the Grace Episcople Church founded in 1829.

Another great view from the skybridge. I'm not sure which of the churches belong to these steeples.

Leaving Rhode Island. I was told that this is the bridge between Newport and the mainland.

Black and White of Philadelphia as we were flying out. The original picture was sooo hazy and cloudy, you could barely see anything at all. I did some serious work on this to clear it up, but black and white was really the only way to see it well.

A meandering river somewhere in the middle of the USA. Could be the Mississippi, I suppose, but I'm not sure.

Mountains and glaciers and an alpine lake still frozen over. Not sure if these are the Rockies or the Cascades. I'm thinking they're the Rockies.

Don't know which mountains these are either, but I like the perspective, how they stretch on and on.

The final bank coming into SeaTac Airport. This was a beautiful sight to come home to!

NEXT POST: Kittitas County Fair and Life through Orange Colored Cameras!

Best of Summer 2009

2009-08-05T21:55:00.000-07:00

Here's some pics from my summer. Went hiking. Lots. And to Mary T's cabin twice. And to Rhode Island (those pics will be in a separate post). So enjoy the pics!

Ducks huddled together at the cabin.

Sunrise at the cabin

Sunrise at the cabin.

Earlier sunrise at the cabin.

Algae at the Yakima River

A little pond that appeared on the river walk.

Wild river water

Panoramic Yakima River (This is 3 photos stitched together)

Sunny Yakima River

Clouds over Eastern Washington

On our canoe adventure, Mary and I saw a momma loon with a baby hitching a ride on her back.

Little lizard up at Red Top Mountain

Red Top Mountain Lookout. Yeah. We went all the way to the top.

View from the lookout tower.

Jeep ride up the Manastash

Vintage Kittitas Valley

Waterfall near Lake Kachess

Lake Kachess. No hiking due to snow and logging.

Gingko Petrified Forest and Wild Horse Wind Farm

2009-05-18T17:50:00.000-07:00

It was Saturday, May 16, 2009. A beautiful, slightly hazy warm day in eastern Washington. There was a bit of a breeze. After a short pounce down to the Farmer's Market and a spendy stop at Mountain High Sports, Mary, Stefan, Jubal, and I took to the hills between Ellensburg and Vantage. The desert flowers were in bloom and the sage smelled sagey... LOL! Anyway, it was a super fun day. We stopped at the interpretive trail hike about 3 miles west of Vantage and took a roughly 3 mile hike up a little hill.

A picture of Mary taking a picture of the landscape from the trail

Some very pretty flowers along the trail.

A petrified douglas fir. All the wood has been placed by silica.

Stefan and Jubal. Your standard Point and Shoot shot. :)

After the trail hike, we found our way to the Gingko Petrified Forest Interpretive Center and saw some amazing examples of petrified wood, rocks, geodes, agates, etc. And a really interesting movie called The Trees of Stone. It's one theory of how the trees became petrified, though not terribly accurate.

The view of the Columbia River from the Interpretive Center.

Some petrified logs at the center with the Columbia River in the background.

Some petriglyphs. We came up with our own interpretation of the symbols.

The iron horses on the ridge on the other side of the river. My zoom was a bit better than I thought!

Stefan and Jubal at the Gem Shop, posing with the dinosaurs.

Me and the river.

Flowers up at the Wild Horse Wind Farm. They were really pretty.

The view from the Wind Farm. I drew an arrow to show where Mount Rainier was. Click on the picture to make it large enough to see... if you squint reeeeeaaaally hard... and use a bit of your imagination. LOL!

The Chickens Have Landed

2009-05-12T20:16:00.001-07:00

Houston... We have chickens! LOL! These five little furry gals are soooo cute! And since I took these pictures last week they've grown tremendously! They even have real wings with feathers now! The chick in the picture at the top of the page is mine. She's Spartan 117 or Sparty for short. The orange and black chick below is Pippin and the orange and gray one standing behind her is Naruto. You can see Bombur in the back corner and the beak and forhead of Sparty on the far right. Merry, pictured by himself, was very obliging and stood still for her picture. Right now the lot of them are in Mary's kitchen. So far the cat and dog haven't been overly interested in them. Yeah!

Maria from Jerrol's stopped by work on Friday before Mother's Day and gave us some beautiful carnations. This is a picture of mine. I love the way the light shows through the petals. Pretty!

The lovely staff at HopeSource congregated at Olmstead on Friday and helped prepare the flower beds for seasonal visitors. We weeded and weeded and weeded! It was an amazing day weather-wise (though I did get a rather nasty sunburn!) and we had some yummy snacks, provided by Ada Graaff, my boss Susan Grindle's lovely mother. She provides our office with the most delicious cookies every Thursday or Friday. And she was recently honored with the Spirit of the Red Cross award at the American Red Cross Real Heroes Banquet at The Lodge at Suncadia. She has been volunteering with the Red Cross since WWII and is just now retiring.

Below is the picture of the Olmstead homestead.

On Saturday, Janelle, Mary and I attended the Fiber with a Twist Spin In down in Richland, WA. It was another beautiful, warm day. The place was pretty crowded with folks spinning and vendors. Lots of great people and great wheels. I purchased four bumps of handdyed merino... from Janelle! LOL! All the way down there and I bought stuff from the person I went down there with! The wool was too gorgeous to pass up. I also bought a bump of Potluck in Midnight Mulberry that I will spin fluffy, knit big, and felt into a purse.

Our stuff awaiting the doors to open.

Janelle's half of the table she rented.

So also this weekend, I finished my black cardigan and made a cute red camisole top to wear with it. The cardigan was very easy to knit, though it took much longer than I anticipated. The sizing is perfect. I made a large and it fits exactly like I wanted it to. The camisole is from McCall's Easy Stitch 'n Save pattern number M5787. It's a little big, but I like it too much to alter it. I used one yard of Kona Bay fabric and some red solid left over from an apron I made last year. It worked out perfectly.

EYELET CARDIGAN
PATTERN: Eyelet Cardigan from Blue Sky Alpaca
DESIGNER: Alison Williams
YARN: Julia from Nashua, an alpaca/wool blend
NEEDLES: Size 7 24" circulars
NOTIONS: Yarn needle, fabric-covered buttons

Thrift Sense

2009-04-12T16:37:00.000-07:00

So I've been a few times to Goodwill and St. Vinnies....

Ok, maybe more than a few times. :)

Here's some fun stuff I've found that I really like.

Brown Faux Leather Purse
$3.99

Straw Bonnet from Frederick and Nelson: Seattle
$1.99

Handmade Pottery Bowl
$0.49

Bright Kitchen Towel
$0.99

Angora/Cashmere/Wool Coat from Facconable
$5.99

Fossil Purse with pretty fabric lining
$3.99

Grey Wool Dress
Wool Fabric: $2.99
Amy Butler Fabric Lining: $4.50
Pattern: McCalls 4319 (This is a pjs pattern, but the nightgown was so cute that I used it to make this dress.)

Sometimes I'm amazed by what I find at Goodwill and St. Vinnies. Sometimes I'm more amazed by how much I actually spend there! LOL! Then I'll go over to Fred Meyer or Mountain High and look at how much it costs to buy clothes and stuff new and I'm so thankful that we have Goodwill and St. Vinnies.

In other news: Today is Easter, the day that celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Messiah. Blessed is the King of Israel! Hosanna!

2009-04-05T14:51:00.000-07:00

Yeah!!! It's finally spring! It's GLORIOUS outside this fine Palm Sunday. We had an amazing service today at church followed by one of the best potlucks I can remember. The food was spectacular!

For those who are curious as to what I've been up to, check out the pics below! (No, they are not in chronological order. LOL!)

Flower Tote
PATTERN: Easy Stitch 'n Save M5362
FABRIC: Outer, flower linen I picked up at Goodwill
Inside, satin brocade I picked up at Goodwill
EXTRAS: Snap closure I cannibalized from another purse
Brass Broach that was my grandmothers
NOTES: Super easy pattern that took me all of 3 hours to sew (would have been less if I hadn't messed up and had to pull out a big section. I modified the pattern by adding the clasp.

FLOWER POWER SKIRT
PATTERN: Easy Stitch n' Save 5566
FABRIC: Green: from Sew Much More (now the Sewing Corral)
Unbleached Muslin: from Goodwill (I bought 10 yards for $8 bucks!)
EXTRAS: Various bits of lace from various places.
NOTES: So this is what happens when you read the wrong part of the pattern and you don't have enough fabric. I wanted an all green skirt, but the 3.5 yards I had didn't match up with the 6.5 yards I needed. So I improvised by putting in three cream colored panels and cut out several flowers which I zigzag stitched on. Then I added bits of cream lace to the cream panels (not visible in picture.) I modified the pattern by doing only 6 gores instead of 8.

BUTTONY
INSPIRATION: An awesome button necklace from Anthropologie. (It had more buttons and red yarn)
MATERIALS: Cream antique bone and shell buttons in various sizes and designs, green buttons in two sizes, handspun soy silk I made up as a sample for a Seattle fashion designer.

SOMETHING NEW
So I decided I needed a change from the usual, so I checked out some fun hair magazines and some knitting magazines and some websites and found that I really wanted bangs and a total make up overhaul. Kacy at Hanna Marchel Salon took my idea and made it way cooler than I thought it would be. I even invested some money into some good make up and watched a few videos on how to put it on appropriately! It's amazing how much better I feel when I put effort into what I look like instead of just throwing a hat on and not bothering with the make up. And I've even been trying to dress a bit more professtionally for work (I even bought some heels!). Though there are days when I just want to grunge out and feel good about doing so.

COZY
PATTERN: Cozy from Danielle Schoonover at Knitty.com
YARN: Kid Mohair Blend from Sublime in 0022, 6 balls
NEEDLES: Size 8
NOTES: Beautiful shawl that is just what its name states: cozy. The yarn is gorgeous and feels great. But... it sheds terribly. Don't wear this with black! The shawl seemed to never end. No matter how much I knit on it, it didn't seem to grow at all! Still, it's a great pattern and if you're looking for some mindless knitting to do in the car or while standing in line at the DMV, this is certainly it!!!

FRENCHY HANDBAG
PATTERN: Frenchy Handbag from Amy Butler
FABRIC: Wool suiting I found at Goodwill for the outer
Poplin from Denver Fabrics inside
EXTRAS: Bit of lace for the inside pocket, flower pin I found at an antique store
NOTES: Great pattern! Super fun and easy. I really love this bag and will be getting a lot of use out of it!

PRECIOUS CHOKER
MATERIALS: Fine silver wire from Fred Meyer, pink beads and clasp from The Agate Shop
PATTERN: None. I placed the beads on the wire, then cast on 4 stitches and increased every other row until I had 12 stitches, then knit for awhile, then decreased back to 4. Knitting with wire is fun and a lot easier than I thought it would be.

So that's all for now. I've been thrift store shopping a bit lately and will soon put up a post with all my findings!

Happy Palm Sunday! Hosanna!!!!

February Stuff

2009-02-13T19:47:00.000-08:00

Ok. So I decided to get into shape this week. Actually, I've been gearing myself up to it for awhile, but today was the day I finally started. I went to Mountain High and got some shoes, Salomon XA Pro something or other running shoes with Gortex cuz it's wet out. And I bought some sweatpants that are soo terribly comfortable I'll have a hard time wearing anything else! LOL!So this afternoon I went to Morgan Middle School and walked a bit around the track. Briskly walked, actually. Then I ran half a lap, walked half a lap three times and then walked home. It took all of 20 minutes and I realized that my leg muscles have nooooo idea what running is all about! So. I'm hoping to be able to slowly build up to real running and not just this stop and start thing.

Knitting items of note:

I finally broke down and bought the yarn to make the Klaralund. I've been wanting to make this sweater for about 2 years, but couldn't justify spending that much on yarn (Noro Silk Garden is not extraordinarily expensive, but there's not a heck of a lot of yardage per skein.) I had tried a couple of times to knit it with my handspun, but never had enough of anything. I finished this on Wednesday and wore it Thursday and thoroughly adore it. I'm so glad I knit this!!!!

Pattern: Klaralund from Cornelia Tuttle Hamilton Hand Knitting Collection Book Two
Yarn: Noro Silk Garden in 245
Needles: Size 8
Joy Factor: Yipee!!!

I am now working on a pretty green wrap for the shop. And a pair of socks that I'm certain will be the death of me! I love the pattern, but it is seriously taking forever to knit!!!!

Also, I've joined Facebook and have been hanging out there a bit lately. And I've started playing Guild Wars. Talk about a time suck!!! It's way fun though. My character is named Cludda the Deathles and is a Ranger/Elementalist. Right now she's a level 15. It's taking forever to level now. Grrrrr.....

Finally a New Post!

2009-01-25T07:27:00.000-08:00

Hello all! Been knitting and painting and haven't had a chance to put anything on here! Also, I got Guild Wars and have been playing that quite a bit. I am still keeping up with laundry and dishes and work, though, so I don't feel too bad about the hours I spend online killing skales and Grawls and Charrs.

Anyway, I finally broke down and bought some of the new Noro Silk Garden sock yarn. It's GLORIOUS!I love how the colors came out totally different from one sock to the other. One has a lot of pink and one has a lot of orange.

Pattern: Whitby from Knitting on the Road
Designer: Nancy Bush
Yarn: Noro Silk Garden Sock in 284
Needles: Size 3

Also, I finally used up my 12th Planet handspun corriedale that I got at the Shepherd's Extravaganza last year.

Pattern: Notions Purse
Designer: Me
Yarn: The 12th Planet Coiled Yarn
Needles: 9 circulars

I had a really hard time trying to figure out what to do with this coiled yarn, especially since I had so little yardage. It finally came to me when I was hunting around my dining room table for my yarn needles tin. It's lined with black cotton inside and has a snap closure.

Pattern: Felicity
Designer: Wanette Clyde
Yarn: The 12th Planet 2 ply
Needles: Sizes 4 and 5 16" circulars

I totally love this pattern! I went down a needles size on both and added 20 stitches because my handspun was sport weight and not worsted.

Pattern: Moria Cowl
Designer: Me
Yarn: The 12th Planet 2 ply
Needles: Size 5 16" circulars

I really enjoyed designing and knitting this. The colors and the way it fits reminded me of Moria. The leaf pattern is from an old pattern book that I have and after the first repeat I started taking out some of the decreases and adding rows so the leaves get bigger and bigger.

I've also knit a few things for the LYS. You can see them at The Dancing Ewe Yarn and Teas or at the Ravelry link to your right.

Ok. I guess that's all for now. It's snowing as I type this morning. I'm glad.

Stuff That's Happened...

2008-11-20T20:02:00.000-08:00

So. Long time, no chat. Lots has been going on. Since the Kittitas County Fair we've had two massive spin-ins. The Fall Fiber Festival in Ellensburg in October was an amazing success. We had many come for the day and many more that heard about the event through the local paper and through random comments at our local farmer's market. Also, we had several gals visit who heard about it on Ravelry! Only two of the pictures I took weren't blurry, so here they are.

Everyone and their wheels!

Janelle creating some beautiful yarn.

Also, we had the Veteran's Day Spin In at Terry's house out in the country east of Ellensburg. I did get some good pictures from there. A lot of ladies were there and all of them had beautiful wheels and even more beautiful fleece to spin! Terry made some lovely lamb soup and someone brought pumpkin cookies (my favorite kind!) and there was plenty of coffee!. So here's some pics from the event:

My wheel in the sunshine.

Terry spinning on her Polonaise.

Some of Terry's sheep enjoying the sun.

A couple of weeks ago everyone at work went to the Wild Horse Wind Farm just east of town. While there I got some awesome photos.

The Kittitas Valley from the wind farm's meeting hall.

An old windmill with the new windmill behind. I like the old one better.

And then a few days ago we had one of the most amazing skies I've ever seen and so I took pictures of that so I could paint it.

About a month ago I decided to try my hand at painting with watercolors. I must say that I thoroughly enjoy it and have created several paintings already. If you go to my Flickr site you can view them there. Below is the first one I did which I gave to my dear friend Wendy for her birthday. It's of a garden in Montana (Great Falls maybe? Could have been Helena. Don't remember.)

So I would have let you all know about my knitting adventures, but it's taken two hours just to get this far and now it's time for bed. Good night and dream of the knitting to come!!!

Kittitas County Fair 2008

2008-09-06T08:07:00.001-07:00

So, I spent most of last week at the Kittitas County Fair manning the Fiber Arts division with Mary and Wendy and Sue and Julie and Lynette and Amy. Yeah! It was really fun. I got only two red ribbons, the rest were blue and I won Best of Class for my 12th Planet Coiled Yarn. Mary won Best of Class and Superintendent Choice for her 1/2 Project Basket. She got all blues on her stuff, too!

Hope to see you next year!

Fire and Butterflies

2008-07-13T20:02:00.000-07:00

I've been working on a lot of different stuff. Unfortunately, I have only successfully completed a few things. It seems like every time I start a project that I think is going to work out, it doesn't. And now that it's super hot out, I'm not much in the mood to knit or spin at all. I did some sewing, but even that didn't turn out all that great.

Here is the final pics of the Socks for Veronik that I actually started in January and finished finally last month.

YARN: Aracaunia Ranco Multi
NEEDLES: Size 1 double points
PATTERN: Socks for Veronik from Interweave Knits Holiday 2007

I loved the pattern and I love knitting with this yarn. But the socks started felted within a few hours of wearing them, so I won't be able to put them into the fair. Bummer.

Also, I used the Light My Fire yarn that I spun dk weight and knit a cute vest. It went very fast and is really comfortable. And it fits perfectly.

YARN: Handspun Superwash Merino in the Light My Fire colorway.
NEEDLES: Size 5 and 7 24" circulars
PATTERN: Tank Top, Long Version from Twilleys of Stamford, catalog 455
SIZE: Big enough to fit me! LOL!

I really love the way the yarn striped and how different it is from front to back. I have quite a bit left over, so I'm going to knit some socks to go with it.

Mostly my mind has been on God and what He's doing in the church, here locally and throughout the world. And I've been reading a lot. I just finished a book called Blessed Child by Bill Bright and Ted Dekker (Ted Dekker is one of my most favorite authors!) It was very intense and really made me want to see the Kingdom of God in a new way. The other books I'm reading is Red Moon Rising by Pete Greig and Under the Overpass by Mike Yankoski. I keep wondering what I can do that is daring for God, like these guys.

I was leaving this morning for church and discovered a visitor in my lilies next to the front door. He was having way too much fun and didn't mind me watching him, so I ran back inside and grabbed my camera, hoping he wouldn't fly away. When I got back outside, he wasn't in my lilies anymore, but I saw him hopping about on the lilies next door. I crept over there and got some awesome shots of him.
It wasn't long before my cat, Gus, decided he wanted to know what was up. He crept up to the deck above the flowers and stalked the butterfly for several minutes. He made a jump for the little visitor, but looked more like a falling brick than a ferocious cat and didn't get the snack he was looking for.

BTW: The cabin in the banner is the Olmstead family cabin at Olmstead State Park off the Kittitas Highway. I went with a rather large crew from work and volunteered time to pull weeds and lay chipped wood on the trails. It was really fun, despite the heat and the mosquitos. They would love to have volunteers out there any Wednesday and Saturday. For information, just click this link!

Sorry!

2008-07-08T05:55:00.000-07:00

I have really been neglecting this! No posts since May and it's already July! I will try to remedy that this week and get some new pics up of fun stuff I've done and projects I've finished, etc. It's super hot here, like in the 100s quite a bit. It cooled off for Independence Day, even had a beautiful thunder and lightning show that morning!

I'm going to leave y'all with a picture from the local Dachshund's on Parade and I'll be back in action here shortly!

Not Too Sick to Knit

2008-05-11T17:34:00.000-07:00

I have spent the last week in bed with mononucleosis. But, I have not been too sick to knit and have finished two projects! Yeah! The first is the lovely Tangled Yoke Cardigan:

PATTERN: Tangled Yoke Cardigan from Interweave Knits
YARN: Rowan Felted Tweed in Phantom
NEEDLES: Size 5, 4, and 0

This pattern took me a little over a month to complete. I purchased the 10 balls of yarn that the pattern called for, but only used 7. Also, I used size 4 24" circulars and size 0 double points instead of purchasing the 40" circulars that they wanted me to. I did use the size 5 40" circs, though, in order to fit all the stitches on there once you get the sleeves added. The pattern was very simple to follow. I truly love this sweater more than any other I've knitted to date. Particularly because there are no seams anywhere. I hate sewing up seams!

The other project I finished was the Frock Camisole:
PATTERN: Frock Camisole from Interweave Knits
YARN: Royal Llama Silk
NEEDLES: Size 7

This pattern was super easy and only took about a week and a half to knit. The size ended up being perfect. I used all 7 of the balls of yarn I bought, with enough left over to make some wrist warmers. The yarn was great. Really soft and not at all itchy. The color is great also.

A little while ago, I used some left over Blue Sky Alpaca Alpaca Silk to make these Wristlettos that I found in a recent copy of Spin Off Magazine. I really like them and plan to knit a couple more pairs in different colors.
Some other stuff I did, was last week I went to The Dancing Ewe's one year anniversary dinner at The Palace. It was really fun. Several of us brought knitting and I got to hang out with some really great ladies who love to knit. There were door prizes and cake and yummy food, also.

I also got a skein done of the Light My Fire fiber I bought over in Puyallup. The results are awesome and I'm excited to knit with it. I'm going to knit a vest, I think.

Ok. That's all for now. Mary and I were both too ill to go to the Fiber with a Twist Spin-In down in Richland. The first time we've missed it in years! Oh, well. I have enough fiber to spin and yarn to knit and if I'd gone, I'd have only spent money! LOL!

Wooly Birthdays and Stuff

2008-04-27T19:16:00.000-07:00

So, I'm sort of back in the land of the living. I've been battling a nasty cold for the past month or so and am finally starting to get some energy back. In between bouts of bed rest, I've done many things. Like design a cute little handbag for a cables class.

YARN: O-WOOL Balance, about a skein and a half
NEEDLES: Size 6 16" circulars and size 6 double points

I also went with Mary T., Janelle, and Cheri to the Shepherd's Extravaganza at the Puyallup Fair. The trip was wonderful, if quick, which was a good thing as Snoqualmie Pass was closed down shortly after we made it back home. It was cold and wet and windy at the fairgrounds and the piroshky place had yet to receive their shipment of salmon and cream cheese goodness, but a good time was still had! I bought a pound and a half of some really beautiful wool from a German dude named Klaus from Yelm. I just liked to listen to him talk because he had such a great accent. LOL! Mary bought a ton of wool also and some Polish pottery that is truly beautiful. Janelle and Cheri also got some great wool. I only ended up taking one picture while I was there, so if you wanna see the fun, you'll have to check out Janelle's blog. You'll find the link over there on the right. Here's some pics of the stuff I bought.

This is some superwash merino. It's called "Light My Fire." :)

This is what it's looking like spun up.
And I got some Corriedale in a color called "The 12th Planet"

Also, I tried to spin some angora top and failed terribly, so I used my handcarders and blended it with some superwash merino I a bought at the Shepherd's Extravaganza last year. The result is beautiful and soft.

Also, I used my new book Intertwined and created my first skein of fabric yarn. I totally love it, but I have no idea yet what I'll do with it. I used a cotton thread for the core and then 1 inch strips for the fabric part. I used some old wool I had laying around for the "glue" and made little bows with some extra strips of fabric.

Also, Mary had her birthday and spin-in this month. It was really fun with lots of beautiful desserts and fun gifts and decorations. Everything was pink and white.

Lori made the cakes, which were amazing. I used my china that's been passed down to me from forever ago and bought all the other decorations.

This is the happy group spinning and knitting away.

And this is some silk that I won from Janelle's blog. It's dyed with cochineal, which are bugs. Lots of bug bodies ground up into a dye. Don't look at me like that! It made a super pretty color and I'm gonna knit my bug body silk skein!

I also went to a concert up at the college. My driver, John, is the lead singer of a band called Mon Marie and they'll be going on national tour this summer. I wish I could have stayed longer, but being still not well, I only hung out for about 5 songs. My pics didn't turn out so great, but here's a few of them.
Lots of fun the last two months! Also, I went intertubing and drove to the Tri-Cities and almost finished knitting a sweater, and many many other things. Maybe I'll post more about that someday, but it's getting late and I'm ready for bed! Night all!

A POST....

2008-04-14T18:08:00.000-07:00

Will be coming soon from Mary and Sarah! Stay tuned and Happy Spring!

Intertwined

2008-02-17T19:23:00.000-08:00

I was down at The Dancing Ewe and spotted a book called Intertwined from Lexi Boeger, the Pluckyfluff Handspun Revolution. I had seen it briefly on Amazon.com, but was anxious to get my hands on it and so I purchased it and lugged it home. Besides the pictures of these artful yarns being rather mind-blowing, the chapters of designer diaries are fascinating. I was instantly inspired to try my hand at some of the techniques presented, so I pulled out some wool I didn't particularly like (just in case my attempts were a total mess). I tried the Super Coils first and below is my first attempt. I love it! The colors, bland and boring on their own, blended well together and the feel of the squishy coils is glorious. I knit a cute little neck warmer since I only had about 30 yards of yarn by the time I was done.
The cowl is part knitted on size 13s and part crocheted with an N hook. This yarn is a bit difficult to work with because the coils don't want to pull through the loops. I cast on seven stitches and knit garter stitch for four rows. On the fifth row, I knit one, yo twice, knit 2 together until the end, then knit straight across the next two rows. It took every inch of the yarn to make this. It's super warm and cozy. The buttons are just plastic ones I got in a grab bag over the weekend.

The other yarn I tried out was a boucle with little nubby twists and sparkle. The roving I used was merino. I think it's too busy and the mohair takes away from the nubs and sparkle. I think I'll use this for the ends of a scarf and just spin the sparkle and nubs with the rest of the roving for the main body of the scarf.
The other yarn I worked on was some beautiful hand-dyed alpaca I got from Janelle. The colors are subtle and beautiful and I mixed a bit of sparkle in with it to give it a little extra pizazz. The result is a soft luminous yarn that will make a great... something... LOL! I have no plans for this other than to drool over it! I only have about 5 ounces of it, so my idea of a cuddly bed jacket won't work until I knit it with something else.

I've also been out thrift shopping and so I'll leave you with some of my favorite most recent finds, a wire basket with long evening gloves, a pincushion tea cup, an architectural drawing, a pretty tea cup, Laura Ashley curtain, a set of antique plates, a pretty white and blue mini tea pot, and some pretty fabric to recover my cushions for my couch:

Aprons Galore

2008-01-29T18:07:00.001-08:00

So, I've hit the apron making insanity phase. I so love making aprons! They're fun, they're fast and you can learn all kinds of new techniques for sewing on something that is small and mostly inexpensive. I use a lot of fabric from Goodwill when I find stuff I like. I just got nearly 10 yards of unbleached muslin for $7.99 at Goodwill. THAT was a good find!

Here's my latest apron. The red is just plain cotton and the polka-dot material is left overs from Christmas projects. The patch is something I added on after I had already finished the apron. I embroidered the birds using four strands of embroidery floss and the tree with only three strands.

I also made one with some fabric from Goodwill. It's also the Mary Jane Butter's IdeaBook apron and I really like this one a lot.

I also made the Frenchy Shoulder Bag from Amy Butler and even used some fabric from her line. The inside lining is civil war rose print, but still matches well enough. The pattern is super easy and only took me an afternoon to cut it all out and an afternoon to sew it all together. I did get a little annoyed when I fell short of the exterior fabric by about 2 inches. I had to get another 1/8 of a yard so I could get the straps made. But otherwise, no complaints! I used the leftover scraps to create a wallet. I even put a zipper into the top flap so I would have a place to put loose change!

I've also done a bit of spinning, though I had to miss the January Spin-In at Ace's house. This is the merino that Janelle dyed for me at Christmas. I'm going to make Elizabeth Zimmerman's Mitered Mittens with it. I'm excited! The colors came out beautifully and the whole 8 oz spun up like butter. Next on my list of spinning is some 100% angora. I've never spun it, but I am going to try!

SHOPS!!!

2008-01-17T20:31:00.000-08:00

So I finally found Small Meadow Press again. This site was a delight during my letter writing days and rediscovering it has prompted me to want to start this wonderful past time again. Lesley's creations are beautiful and functional. The Pigeon Holes make you want to get organized and the calling cards make you want to visit people you know won't be home just so you can leave them one. LOL! And when she sends the box with your lovely goodies, it is always wrapped so beautifully that you don't want to open it.

On a local note, The Dancing Ewe has a great web page that lists products and classes and will soon feature a newsletter. I have greatly enjoyed being able to hang out on Thursdays and during lunch hour with the local ladies and talk and knit. The owner, Kathy, has just brought in some great stuff, including a Schacht Ladybug spinning wheel and some sock yarn called Flatfeet, which is knitted on a knitting machine, then dyed, then you buy it still knitted up. You unravel one end and start knitting your socks straight from this. Clever, no?

If money were no issue...

2008-01-10T20:06:00.000-08:00

Taking my cue from the lovely lady at Bits and Bobbins Blog, I have decided to post what I might own if money were no issue. I really had a hard time thinking of things since I love to shop at Goodwill and yard sales, so the thought of spending lots of money on something not big (like a car or a house) seems quite weird to me. Anyway, these are the things I decided for.

First thing I thought of was that I would want an Irish Wolfhound. They are such adorable, gentle animals and they are HUGE!!!! I totally adore them with their whiskers and eyebrows and long faces.

I saw this sweater at Victorian Trading Company and fell in love with it. It looks so cozy and comfy and cute! I'm not so keen on the color choice, but I still love it. It's $169. Which is probably what it would cost for the yarn if I knit it myself. Hmmm...Tempting...

This dress is also from Victorian Trading Company. I fell in love with it about two years ago and I still drool every time I see it. The color is rich and the material is divine. Another expensive bit of clothing.

This sofa is from the same place as the sweater and dress. It's so fluffy and I love the miss matched fabrics. It looks like something you'd want to curl up on with a wool blanket and some knitting. :) It's $2995.

This ring is from Tiffany & Co. and is 24k gold with diamonds. I've been eying this thing since I first saw it in 1998. It's $16,000. Yeah. I haven't even bought a car that cost that much! EEK! I can't imagine owning a piece of jewelry that is so extravagant. But it is beautiful. And it reminds me of Lord of the Rings...

And of course last, but not least, I would SO own this spinning wheel, the Habetrot, from Golding Rings Wheels. The price is somewhere around $4,500. But with the beautiful craftsmanship of the wheel, I think it's totally worth it. I would love to just spin on one and see how it worked. If it spins as wonderfully as it looks. I love my Schacht, but it isn't very pretty...

So there's my list of things I might own if money were no issue. I'm sure there are other things, like cashmere yarn, and knitting needles in every size, and a Starbucks gift card that never ran out, but I figured I'd only list these. But since it is unlikely that any of these shall be mine, I am quite content with the beautiful things I find second hand.

Happy New Year!

2008-01-06T20:45:00.000-08:00

Here it is January 2008 already! I feel like last year sped by far too fast. Besides having a wonderful Christmas with my family on the West side of the Cascades and a great New Year's Eve with my best pal, Mary T. and her family and friends from church, and a fabulous New Year's Day at the local yarn shop, The Dancing Ewe, with my other super cool friend, Janelle, I've gotten a lot of stuff done!

The trip to the west side was incredibly fun, if a little long. I took the airport shuttle because my car is on its last leg and I was very happy I did! The driver had to stop and chain up because the snow was so bad. And the cops were out making sure that those without chains got turned around and sent home! I've only had to put chains on once since I moved to Ellensburg and quite frankly I'd like to keep it that way! I spent a couple of days with my dad, Bill, and his wife, Doreen and enjoyed their company and their Direct TV. LOL! I got to go see my brother, Ben and his significant other, Sandy. It was the first time I've seen their apartment. It is a very awesome place! Then we went to my mom's, Marla's, and hung out with her for the evening. She also has a great apartment. We had a lot of fun just chatting and being together. Then on Christmas Eve I went to my Aunt Connie's and Uncle John's and got to visit my Grandmother Lorraine and my Uncle Jimmy. We had chicken enchiladas and spanish rice and refried beans. Not your traditional holiday meal, but it was very good! Connie had found my Grandma's diaries and a bunch of pictures from when she was a very little girl, so we spent some time just enjoying the pictures and letting Grandma reminisce on her life. Connie even found the pink silk bonnet that Grandma wore as a baby in one of the pictures! It was really cool. I got some fun gifts, but had more fun handing out the little journals that I made. That night I rode the airport shuttle home. We left at 11:30 pm which put me in Ellensburg at 1:30 in the morning. Mary's husband was gracious enough to come pick me up at the local Starbucks and I went home and crashed. The rest of the week I spent in bed with the flu. Oh well.

I managed to finish several projects that I've been wanting to get done. Mostly I met with success, though I had one rather disappointing failure.

I got out my sewing machine and made two aprons and a shirt. The first apron is the Sunday Apron from Vanilla House. The fabric came from the local fabric store, The Sewing Corral. It was very fun to make!

The other apron I made is the disappointment. Though it is incredibly cute and a bit more functional that the one above, it is a bit too small. The pattern is from Mary Jane's Farm Ideabook. Front

Back

Close up of button and fabric. The buttons came from the local fabric store. The fabric I found at Goodwill.

The shirt I made is a Simplicity pattern. The fabric is from Hancocks and the buttons are made of glass and were found at the Antique Mall.

As far as knitting goes, I've knit a scarf, two hats, a cardigan, and a pair of socks! I didn't realize how much I've done since Christmas until just now! WOW! I don't feel like such a slacker anymore! LOL!

The scarf is just a simple garter stitch that I knit to go with the hat I made from the Viking Patterns for Knitting book by Elsebeth Lavold. The pattern is Ragna and it's the second time I've knit this hat. I want to make the sweater also, but haven't had a chance yet. The yarn is Cascade's Jewel.
The other hat is Jared Flood's Koolhaas from the Holiday Gifts 2001 Interweave magazine. The yarn is Malabrigo Pure Merino Worsted in Marron Oscuro and is soooo incredibly soft and bouncy! And I think that until my hair grows back, I'll be wearing hats quite a bit more. I can't believe how cold it is without any hair!!!

The cardigan I knit is from the Lion's Brand website. I used my own handspun for this: some Romeldale that I picked up at the Puyallup Spring Fair last year. It was such a joy to spin, but it took me quite a while to find a pattern I liked that was simple and would show off the yarn.
The socks were another pair of the Bazaar Socks that I adapted from a pattern by Priscilla Gibson-Roberts. These went into the Dancing Ewe and have been so loved that I will be teaching a class on Fair Isle for your Feet in February (the alliteration was unintentional, yet catchy!). I've never taught a knitting class before and I'm quite excited about it!

This week I'm working on the Barcelona Layered Skirt from Amy Butler and a hat for a friend of mine at work. I'll hopefully be starting a pair of socks from some handspun Merino that Mary T. dyed. I'll use some Suffolk for the heel and toe so they'll last longer. Yeah for wool!

Photos and Captions

2007-12-15T19:59:00.000-08:00

I realized today that when I don't update this thing regularly, I end up with a ton of pictures to post! I can't believe how many pics I've taken since I bought my digital camera in October 2006. Now I want a serious upgrade. Something along the lines of the Canon Rebel digital something or other. Anyway, this post will mostly consist of photos and captions. Have fun!

These are some curtains that I just bought at St. Vinnies for $15 all together. They're actually green, not silver. But they're quite beautiful. The ornament came from Leavenworth, WA and my mom got it for me. I can't remember if it was last year or the year before! Oh well.

Some fabric I found online. It makes me smile. I'll not ever buy any, though. Not at $35 a yard!

Some mohair locks I got at the recent spin-in during the gift exchange. I can't wait to learn how to spin boucle with it!

More mohair locks that I got at the Spin-In.
This is what Mary T. got during the gift exchange. It's Potluck in Pumpkin Spice. It's gorgeous!

Mary T's scrumptious apple pie, made with Ace's delicious apples. I had quite a large piece.

I've had a slight obsession for fabric lately. This is a stash that I bought this week. I only needed less than 1/4 of a yard of each to make my Christmas gifts, but I got 1/2 yard of each and will make a patchwork tote bag out of the leftovers.

This is the gift I made for Mary T. this year and why I needed the fabrics. It's a portfolio based on the free pattern on Amy Butler's website. Mine doesn't look quite so professional, but a seamstress I am not! LOL!

Inside Mary's portfolio were four pretty journals made from paper from Bohemia and Fancy Pants. Mary loves to journal and keep track of things God tells her. I wish I would be so dedicated! I had several dreams this week that I'm certain were significant, but I was too lazy to get out of bed and write them down. Perhaps I should make one of these for me and keep it by my bed. Then I would have no excuse! Mary gave me a gift also, but my camera's battery died before I could get any pics of it. Parts of it are beautiful and parts are functional and some parts are both!

This is Janelle's box that is part of her Christmas present from me. The box is from the Dollar Tree and was embellished with leftover fabric and stamps. I had great fun making this and filling it with tea necessities and a handmade ornament. I also found a beautiful antique teacup and saucer for her as well. My pal, Wendy received a similar gift in different colors.

My sewing frenzy also resulted in me getting the above fabric, very loud, very retro, so I can make the pattern shown. I making shirt D and using some antique glass buttons I got at the local antique store.
Some very cute ornaments I found at Goodwill. It was $0.99 for a set of 12. I gave one set to Mary and am looking for happy homes for two of the other sets.

This is the roving that Janelle dyed for me for Christmas. It's dark and moody, which is so what I've been looking for and love! She also gave me a tin of Harney & Sons Holiday Tea. I didn't like it the first time I tried some, but now I've had three pots of it and am wondering if it's too late in the evening for maybe another cup. It is so yummy with sugar and cream! I think I was just having a bad day when I tried it the first time! LOL!

I got this prairie dress from the local antique store for $12 a couple of weeks ago. I was shocked that it fit and that it's incredibly comfortable. The dress is a very light green with little brown flowers on it. It's from Recollections and retails for about $199.00.

Geek Love

2007-12-02T17:42:00.001-08:00

I have very little to report really in this post. It's been snowing for two days now. Mary's husband, Jon, has been riding his snowmobile around my yard. LOL!The snow is beautiful, though got a little slushy as it warmed up this afternoon. Still, I've had a blast shoveling my walkway and jumping around in it in the front yard. :) Gus, on the other hand, has not been impressed by it and he dug a hole under the house so he could get into the basement. I have a very silly cat!

So, here is what I've been working on. I just finished a pair of leg warmers that have cute little Space Invaders on them. After I finished these, I thought, "Hmmm... I should make a hat to go with these. And maybe a hat for Frogger and Pitfall, too! LOL! So those are bashing around my noggin'. Maybe after Christmas is over and I've gotten all my gifts done, I will try to do that.

Space Invaders Leg Warmers
YARN: Jaeger Super Fine Merino
NEEDLES: Size 5, 16" circulars
PATTERN: Adapted from the BMP pattern on Knitty.com

I cast on 80 stitches, hoping they'd be only slightly baggy. Unfortunately they are quite a bit baggy and much shorter than I wanted them to be. I wore them today for church anyway and they kept my ankles quite warm, which is the point of them after all.

I'm also working on a hat that I've adapted from a scarf pattern on Knitty.com. It's black with green binary code. A guy I recently met on Firestream said I should "be uber geeky, learn binary and have it spell out a message." I am giving the hat to my brother... (I don't think he's ever read this blog, so I'm sure it's safe he won't find out about this) who works at Microsoft. I was thinking of putting "Microsoft Sucks!" or "My other computer is an Apple" But after much research for an easy way to convert such slogans to binary, I have settled for a random selection of ones and zeros and hope that if anyone sets about reading it, it doesn't say something like, "My foot wall chicken is." Anyway, here's a pic of the progress of said hat.

Other things I've been doing is enjoying my Christmas tree and seeking out fun decorations. Below is a pic of my tree as I spun my camera around while snapping it. I thought it looked pretty cool and tried moving my camera in different ways to get different light effects. Then, I was at St. Vincent de Paul's to seek out some fun Christmasy things and found these adorably ugly dolls. I'm thinking they're from the fifties or sixties. I totally love them, despite how hideous they are. I've always been against that super giant headed little children image, like precious moments. They always make me wonder if they got stung by a bee and they're having an allergic reaction... Hehehe... The last picture is of the snow falling in my front yard. There's an image just right of the tree that I'm not sure how it got there or even what it is. Might just be glare coming from the porchlight. Or it may be an angel. Who knows? But I like it.

One last note: My dear friend Ace stumbled across a terrific site called, Antiblog by fallingblox. The site takes knitting into geekdom and makes it even funner and cooler than it already is! His disclaimer and description of an antiblog is hilarious and worth the time to read. Double knitting is something I've always avoided because it involves a tremendous amount of thought. After seeing his Crow II scarf and Dragon Hat, I think I will have to try my hand at it.

Totaling the Turkey

2007-11-24T09:41:00.000-08:00

Another super busy weekend that started with the joy of what my coworker calls, "Totaling the Turkey." Mary T. cooked and boy was it tasty! We had turkey, ham, three kinds of stuffing, yams, mashed potatoes, deviled eggs, stuffed celery sticks, and grandma rolls. Mmmmm.... Mary's mother brought some delicious jello molded goodness. And there was pumpkin pie, apple pie, and chocolate mousse pie. And real homemade whipped cream. Delicious. I took my knitting with me in hopes that I would get something done, but Mary's mom brought a Charles Wysocki puzzle and I spent the entire evening working on this 1000 piece insanity. But I finished it! YES!I also decorated my tree (which I bought on Wednesday) and decorated the rest of the house. This is a little tree I made after seeing a similar one at Starbucks.

I also put decorations up outside, which I had never done before. It was very fun, but very very cold. It's been regularly in the teens here and not getting up much past the mid-20s during the day. Brrrr....

Yesterday I did what I always avoid doing. I went shopping on Black Friday. Yes. What struck me was how totally dead it was. Fred Meyer wasn't crowded. Goodwill was a little on the crowded side, but not too bad. It was strange. Mary's husband was even sent home early from Costco because there weren't any customers! Anyway, I made a killing at Goodwill and bought some clothes, a pair of Doc Martens, Christmas ornaments, a purse, a necklace and pin, and some other decorations for less than $25. I was happy.

Also this weekend I finally made it to Moments to Remember and The Streets of Bethlehem. I have tried every year since I moved here to go and I always forget about it! LOL! Despite the super cold, I had a great and wonderful time. It started with the tree lighting at Safeway, where they were giving out free cider and cookies. Then the standing in line for the Streets of Bethlehem. This is a living nativity that takes place down one of the alleys downtown. Centurions guard the alley entrance and beyond is a host of angels singing. Gabriel stands on a tall podium and gives comfort to a frightened Mary. Then the three wise men tell of the star and how they have been following it for so long. Further on is a market with fish sellers and goats and rugs. An innkeeper turns away a weary Joseph, but offers him and his wife some shelter in his stable. More angels sing as the wise men finally find the end of their search in a manger. The baby Jesus is quiet and content to listen to the voices singing.

Nature of Night in the Snow

2007-11-18T17:19:00.000-08:00

This weekend has been chalked full of fun and exciting things! First off, on Saturday, Mary T., her youngest son Jubal, and I headed off for a fun day at Central Washington University where they were holding the annual Nature of Night interactive exhibit and the Bubble Planetarium. I got Jubal jazzed up by telling him that there was a dark tunnel you had to crawl through to get inside the planetarium. And indeed there was. Mary and I were both happy that we did not wear dresses that day! The planetarium was incredibly interesting and if you've never gone into one, you should. It's a great big gray parachute-like bubble that gets pumped full of air with a fan. It's quite large and can seat about 25 people inside if they sit in a circle. Inside is a projector that casts the stars onto the inside surface of the planetarium. Dr. Palmquist simulated what the stars would look like that evening, starting at 6:30 pm and going until 6:30 am. Then we visited with a Great Horned Owl named Samantha, who was injured by a car and lost one eye and is blind in the other. She was very patient with all the children and all the noise. We also made batwings and learned about the noises that bats make, and looked at how light is reflected in animals eyes. The eyes of mice shine pink when light is shone into them, and the eyes of rabbits shine red. We also learned about putting icing on star-shaped cookies. Very very important.Jubal and Mary making batwings.

There was crocheting at the cookie booth. :)

After all that was done, I can't really remember what all I did. Hmmm... Anyway, moving on to Sunday. It snowed. This season's very first snow fall, and it's been beautiful all day! When I awoke this morning and looked outside, hoping to see a white blanket of snow, I instead saw a very wet blanket of leaves. Bummed that it hadn't snowed yet, I went about my business of getting ready for church. By the time I stepped outside to walk the 1/2 block to my church, it had started snowing and already was sticking to the grass! It did not stop after that and after a few hours, it was sticking to the road and sidewalks, too! I was so happy!Hollyhocks in the snow.

Little orange flower

Cozy afternoon.

My Keens advertisement pic. LOL!

After church was an incredibly wonderful Thanksgiving potluck. I had turkey. I had mashed potatoes. I had sweet potatoes in yummy candy sauce. I had deviled eggs. Mmmmmm.... Then Mary and I went to her place and knitted while our friend Cindy S. and her children visited from the west side. Cindy used to come to our Monday Night Knitters group, but her husband got a great job with the railroad and they had to move to the west side of the Cascades. It was great to see her and her two children. Jubal was quite excited to have a playmate this afternoon.

Right now I'm reading an incredible book called Blue Like Jazz, by Donald Miller. The man is amazing in his truthfulness and humility. I'll talk more about this book when I finish it. If you haven't read it, get it, read it, and smile.

This upcoming week is a short week for me at work. Only three days. Yeah! That means much more time for more important things... like knitting, and creating Christmas presents, and digging out my ornaments and my Christmas tree. This is certainly my most favorite time of year. I can do without summer. And that terrible month they call February when I get depressed and spend money and time lying in a fake sun booth getting a tan.

Spinning Madness

2007-11-14T19:52:00.000-08:00

On November 12, Mary T., Janelle from Janelle Knits, Wendy M., and I all piled our fiber, our wheels and our bodies into Mary's Suburban and headed for the beautiful countryside of Kittitas County. Was it the annual Veteran's Day Spin-In at the lovely log home of Terry Niles? Oh yes. Was there excellent food to be had? Yes, yes. (I will say, I hate nuts, especially walnuts, but the creamy pumpkin pie-thing was so incredibly delicious, I didn't care one bit that there were walnuts in it!) The gathering was a bit smaller than in the past, but it was a great time and I learned all kinds of amazing things about natural dyes, a subject of which I am in serious ignorance, and got to spend time with all my favorite people doing one of my favorite things.

Mary T. worked hard on her Bazaar Socks and finished the heel. Janelle spun some perfectly prepared and super bright "Pastels" from Louet Sales. The colors were so NOT pastel, though apparently that is the name of the colorway! LOL! Wendy brought her wheel, but instead worked on beading snowflakes for her Christmas stocking. I worked on some wool (that is all the information I have on the fiber content) that Janelle dyed. I spun half a bobbin, then Navajo plied it to see what it would end up looking like. I totally enjoyed it and the colors are going to be quite fun. I think I will knit legwarmers from it. I have a couple of pairs of legwarmers that I knit, but would like something bright and cheerful to wear.

This is some of the fiber that I was spinning.

This is what it looked like spun up.

This is the Barbie doll that presided over the spin in. The clothes were all dyed, spun and knitted by Terry Niles (whose vest appeared in Spin Off Magazine!). I love the little drop spindle!

In other news: Demon Hunter's new cd came out on the 7th and I was all excited to go pick it up at Fred Meyer. But when I got there, they had sold the last of them. I will have to wait until next pay day to get it. Darn! I have heard some of the songs and they are amazing! The message is what gets me. Always positive. Always looking upward toward God. And if you ever get a chance to check out Ryan and Don Clark's (the lead singer and guitarist for DH) business, Invisible Creature, you should. It's a graphic arts studio in Seattle that does covers for bands like Falling Up, Zao, He Is Legend, and Dead Poetic to name a few. Anyway, it's interesting and the art designs are awesome!

In other other news: I have fallen in love with the Flickr group wardrobe remix and have posted a few pics of some of my own remixes. Not only is it fun to see what kinds of things people are wearing out there, it's inspiring. Inspiring to my own wardrobe that is mostly Goodwill, handmade, or Old Navy (because ON is cheap and I have a card there.) and needs some fun and excitement as I move a bit away from my black phase. But also inspiring to my checkbook. I have found some incredibly expensive items recently at Goodwill: a Dale of Norway $400 sweater for $7.99, a 100% cashmere $200 sweater from Bloomingdales for 6.99, Doc Martens in nearly perfect condition for $4.99. I have always loved thrift store shopping, but always felt a little "orphan" like because of it. I have gotten over that for the most part because of living on my own with a minimal paycheck and having to pay rent, utilities and everything else myself, and because of awesome friends like Mary and Susan L. who encourage the 7:00 am Saturday rush to garage sales and keep their eyes open for the All You Can Stuff In a Bag for $3 sale at St. Vinnies. So anyway, here's a parting shot of my wardrobe remix for 11/14/2007. (Note the awesome bag that Matthew made for me for my birthday!)

Queen Mary of Ellensburg

2007-11-07T18:55:00.000-08:00

It's true. Ellensburg has a queen. A Queen Mary T-. Long live the Queen! Hehehehehe... A find at the local bookstore, Jerrol's, has given both Mary and I a grin that was much needed. Especially the daintiness of the crown compared to the straightforwardness of the yellow market apron! LOL! In the '50s women did housekeeping in heels and pearls. Nowadays we've upgraded to Keens and crowns... :)

Speaking of Mrs. T-, she has been busy busy busy! Besides the homeschooling, collecting firewood out in the wilds of Kittitas County, and cooking up a storm (some flavorful AND beautiful edibles, I might add) she's been finding time to knit! The item she has just completed is so awesome, I might have to steal the pattern from her and knit one for myself. Not that I'm a die-hard Volkswagon fan. It's just that whole granola thing that makes me smile. Here is her seven year old modeling this killer hat.
Remember the Bazaar Socks I knit with the blue and brown Debbie Bliss yarn? Well, Mary fell in love with them and has decided to knit a pair also. She's using two shades of purple in Cascade 220 superwash. The result is subtle (as subtle as these purples can get) but very fun. (The colors are much brighter than my camera would capture. )What have I been up too? Well, I just finished the Cameo Capelet from Crystal Palace Yarns website. The colors are great, but I had to take it out and start over a couple of times to get the gauge right and to make it fit me the way I wanted. I hoped to use up all the yarn I spun to make it, but had a whole skein left over. So I knit a pair of matching wristwarmers to go with it. It's very comfortable and is warm without making me feel like I'm in a straight jacket, which some of the shrugs I've knit sort of feel like. EEK! Anyway, here are some pics of the FO (finished object).

I also just completed two scarves, one from some bulky buttery softy merino I spun like ages ago and a fun little scarf with a very big button from yarn I spun from a $1 grab-bag of random bumps of merino and CVM wool. I'm not posting pictures of them just yet. I'm working on a hat to go with them (another hat. Yes it is true). It's almost finished, but I wanted to show it all off together.

Recently I've subscribed to Interweave Knits newsletter, Knitting Daily. What I've noticed between it and several blogs is the prevalence of UFOs... No, not the kind that leave crop circles or fly across the corner of your vision simply to tease you into thinking you might have seen something. No, I'm talking about the ever-evil... UnFinishedObject. *sigh* Knitting Daily had the gall to create a poll asking about how many UFOs are hiding in baskets, closets, and under the beds of knitters worldwide. I decided, against any kind of proper judgment, to participate in this poll, I pulled out those abandoned articles and discovered I had only seven. Now I have only six because I felt somewhat guilty about that buttery merino scarf. I don't write about this to set any of you into a panic. I simply thought it odd how many other knitting bloggers were also peeking into their stashes of UFOs. Maybe it's just that time of year when we're indoors a bit more or we've been going through various hiding places to find our holiday gear to display and have had to go through our UFOs to reach it. I don't know. But there is my confession. Six castaways. I am certain that four of them will never reach completion since I cannibalized the yarn to finish them for various other projects. LOL! I refuse to commit to the other two, though one is supposed to be a Christmas gift this year.... Oh... Oops... Actually, I forgot about....

Metal Sunday

2007-10-28T19:06:00.000-07:00

So I've finally recovered from the abundance of spin ins over the past couple of weeks and have settled into my new wheel. I've discovered some quirks about it and had to get out my tool set to tweek it a little here and adjust it a little there. Now I'm spinning some lace weight camel/tussah silk blend on it and it's so glorious! The other gloriousness is that it is finally officially fall. The leaves have turned and are falling, the sun is going down far sooner than it once did and frost has covered my car every morning for the last week. But the thing that makes it most official is that I've gone down into the basement and have turned off the outside water. Yes. That is the first true sign that summer has gone! LOL! As I was walking around Mary's house on my way to work, I saw a sunflower that was just giving up on the blooming season. Its petals hanging down, I couldn't help but think it was weeping. And I couldn't help but take a photo of it.

I have finished spinning the Goldhill from Lorna's Laces. I started knitting the Cameo Cabled Capelet from Crystal Palace Yarns, but wanted the stitches to be tighter, so I used a smaller needle. And after nearly getting halfway through, I realized that the capelet was going to be far too small, so I took it all out today and have put it aside until the other items I'm working on have been finished. Or not. This yarn is so wonderful and so perfect for this time of year, I may have to get working on it again pretty quick.

The other items I've been plugging away at have been the Lacy Hug-Me-Tight from knit2together, a great book that I may have to purchase here shortly. I'm actually using the yarn it calls for, AlpacaSilk from Blue Sky Alpacas, only I'm using a pinky/red color (#123) instead of the blush color the pattern calls for. I actually swatched this one (yes, it is true, though I had knit about 3 inches before I decided it wasn't looking right and needed a swatch!) and discovered that if I used the needle size recommended I would be getting about 30 stitches to 4 inches instead of 20. So I bumped up the needle size. Now it actually looks like what the model is wearing! Yeah!

In other news, it was my birthday today. Yeah. Or something. Mary T. gave me one of her Longaberger baskets! A little tiny one that hangs off my wheel. I can put all my little goodies in there and not loose them as I've been known to do quite often! My dad and stepmom came over and went to church with me this morning and then took me to El Caporal, the local Mexican restaurant. It was a great time! And I got a call from my brother and my mom and Matthew and an email from my online friend Khalid, all wishing me a happy day.

And it was a good day. I have been listening to some of Demon Hunter's new songs, enjoying the sound of their album, Storming the Gates of Hell, that will be released in a few weeks. Right now I'm listening to Pillar. Though I haven't like much of their older stuff, their song Frontline totally grabs hold of me and makes me jump around like a crazy woman. LOL!

I spent some time while I have been cleaning house, decorating it as well. I bought a cute little Christmas tree at a yard sale over the summer and love it so much, I've kept it out. I decorated it with some garland I made from some tags and various buttons and ribbon and hemp and wound that around the tree. Then I pulled out my airy orange ribbon that I bought from Meadowlark Farms and draped that around the tree. The effect is wonderful and I find myself enjoying it as much as I would if it were decorated with Christmas ornaments and tinsel.

The Fall 2007 Spin In

2007-10-21T20:29:00.000-07:00

Two Spin Ins in one week! Aaaahhhh!!! I thought I'd be stressed. I thought I'd be psychotic. I thought I'd be overwhelmed... But no. It was a BLAST! And it wasn't stressful at all. I was in charge of the decorations and making sure there were name cards on each table and for each kind of soup and for the coffee. Though I got very little sleep, I had a great time coming up with fun ideas and using my computer and rubber stamps.

So, we had six vendors, all bringing something entirely different from the others. I really enjoyed the eclectic style of Janelle's booth and went back several times to find more things. And she bought my lovely Ashford Traveller for $350, which paid for the Schacht I bought last weekend. And she sold her Ashford Traditional for $3oo so she could pay for my wheel! How 'bout that for confusing. Mary T. also sold a wheel this weekend. A Louet for $150. Yeah!

We also had a couple of ladies from Rowan Tree Woolery who brought a ton of roving of various kinds as well as necessities like lavender scented spinning wheel oil and a stack of various sized knitting needles. Karen Dodson brought her stash of Ashford items, from looms to wheels to combs to dye kits. She also brought one of those newfangled picture frames that scrolls through your digital pics. On display was her trip to Norway. Yes. I drooled. I envied. Another lady brought some loom parts and pieces that you don't normally find just lying around. I loved her bundles of heddles and took several pictures of them just because. Ace Fields in Thorp brought her Mill Race Farms soap that she makes out at her house. She also brought more squash than I've ever seen in one spot as well as some great old issues of Interweave Press' Spin Off and Handwoven magazines. Another lady brought her weavings. After viewing them, I decided it's time to dust off my table loom and get back in the game! I have only woven a few things because the entire process scares me. But I plan to spend some time this winter, as it gets cold and icy out, warping it up and getting those weaving jitters out.

Mary T. bought some beautiful forest green wool and some handpainted roving of fun bright colors to go with it. She will be spinning on that shortly and plans to make a fair isle shrug, using the green for the background color and the handpaint for the design work. It will be beautiful! I bought way too much stuff. I got 1.5 pounds of some teal/blue/aquamarine roving that is from an animal called a Potluck. I can't remember if it is a sheep or a goat, but the wool is a gorgeous color and I plan to knit a sweater from one of the Noro books. I also bought another Lorna's Laces Wool Top for Spinning. This time I got Tuscany. It's the same colors as the Goldhill, but instead of pink, there's blue. LOL! I didn't realize that until I put them side by side. Hehehe... I also bought some camel down/tussah silk blended fiber that looks amazing. We'll see if I can actually spin it or not. And I got some of that sparkly StarFire stuff just to see what it looks like spun up.

You thought that was all huh? Well guess what? I got more! I bought some space dyed alpaca and some other space dyed wool roving from Janelle. She does such an amazing job dyeing her wool! I also got some angora top, some handmade paper, and a beautiful knitted wire bracelet with beads.

We also had FOOD! A Soup Potluck that had some of the best soup and other fun goodies I've ever had. Whoever brought the little scones...those were delicious! And the pea and ham salad was excellent. Mary made her famous Cheesy Corn Chowder. Yummy!
We also had Door Prizes and a Raffle Basket. Everyone won a door prize, and the leftover items were open to whoever wanted to haul them away when the spin in was over. Lynette Miller won the Raffle Basket and Janelle's mother won a bag of Columbia fleece to be processed and enjoyed.

Thank all of you who came and supported this Spin In! You were all lovely and I had a super great time just hanging out with you all!

Eastward Ho!!! The St. John Spin-In

2007-10-14T20:26:00.001-07:00

7:30 am: Mary T. and I started out for the far reaches of Eastern Washington. The area was foggy... So much so, we couldn't see anything around us. The only variation was the shift in colors of the fog, from gray to pink to green to peach. Then we came up over the hills and was greeted by a beautiful blue sky and the sun.

Once we passed Moses Lake and hit the long stretches of wheat and hay fields, we started to see the enormous old barns of a time that is quickly receding into the past. This red barn was still in good repair, though unfortunately most had been left to the decaying forces of wind, weather, and time. When we reached the Palouse, an area of Washington and Idaho that truly surpasses even the beauty of the mountains for me. The rolling hills of bright green, rusty orange, dusty tan, and dark brown don't roll out as far as the eye can see, but hem you in closely, their velvety textures inviting glorious peace. As we passed Ritzville and turned at Sprague to head south to St. John, we passed this round barn. We swerved off the road to get a few pictures of this rarity. The barn was run-down, yet still functional. Two others stopped to "help" us out, assuming we were broke down. One lady was actually going to the same place we were going! By this time, the early morning rise, the lack of coffee and the the bright sun in my eyes most of the morning had converged into a headache and I was quite frightened that I would be entirely unable to enjoy myself.

9:30 We finally reached St. John. As we cruised through town, I spied a food mart, guaranteed to carry at least bottled coffee if not the desirable freshly made kind. As I found the goodness, the cashier, seeing my rather pitiful state, informed me that I could find some "real coffee" at the floral shop two doors down. "Are they open?" I asked, astonished really to find anything open at all in this little town. "Oh, yes," the cashier replied. "Jessica's already been over this morning." I bought the bottled Starbucks anyway, then rushed out the door and quickly told Mary T. that I was going to the floral shop. She followed me over and what I found was a glorious little shop with even more glorious coffee. Once I got my fix, we headed back to the car and I snapped this pic of the General Mills building. I would have liked to have spent the day just taking photographs, LOL! But there was spinning to do!

10:15 Mary T. and I finally reached our destination and hauled our piles into the old schoolhouse. There were already plenty of people there and plenty of food to save us from our two hour drive. The first thing I saw when I walked in was a Schacht Matchless Wheel for sale. For $250.00. I immediately wanted to buy it, but assumed something was vastly wrong with it, so I ignored it the rest of the morning. I perused the other vendors and found a great many things I loved, but nothing I really needed, so I set up my Ashford and started to spin some Lorna's Laces in Goldhill that I had gotten at the local yarn shop, The Dancing Ewe. In between spinning strips, I visited the food table and worked my way through the vendors a few more times. Another lady began to try to spin on the Schacht and looked to be having some serious problems. Finally I went over and asked if I could help. I was able to figure out the problem, a bobbin that was sticking and not allowing the yarn to pull in. Mary T. then came by, fixed it and I turned to the woman selling it and said, "Will you take $200?" The lady nodded her head and I walked away with a Schacht Matchless Wheel, three bobbins, and a lazy kate for $200.00. Other than that, I bought some bits of fleece fore four bucks, some weaving yarn on cones for $2.00 and 10 beautiful handmade cards for $1.00. Not a bad haul, though quite a bit more than I had anticipated spending.

Besides spinning and chatting and shopping, there were some very cute and cuddly baby angora bunnies there for purchase. Though I probably spent as much time playing with them as I did spinning and taking pictures, I did not buy any. Whew! It was tough to leave them there, but given Gus' "one pet only" disposition, I feel that I had made the right choice.

A Prayer...

2007-10-10T21:20:00.000-07:00

This last week has been quite interesting in many ways. Opportunities seem to be jumping up in front of me so quickly, I kind of feel like it's my first time at Disneyland. Too much too see and do and don't really know where to start. As I sort things out and make decisions about the future, I'm learning just how much closer I am to being the woman God has made me to be. Many times at work this week, the old nature has grabbed hold of me and then I go home and feel like I've been slimed. By me! Did I really say that? Did I really do that? Wow! Part of the battle of overcoming sin is knowing what it is in the first place and being willing to see it as that. It's hard in that I tend to get extremely depressed and self-loathing when I'm forced to see my trash for what it is. But as this process has been playing out over the last week or so, I've noticed that I'm not even upset. I'm just saying, "Hey, God. I screwed that one up. Forgive me and help me do better tomorrow." I know that He's going to help me do better and others have definitely seen it come forth more than I have. Anyway, I came across a prayer a friend of mine sent me about three years ago. I kept it and have prayed it for nights on end when God's impressed it upon me to do so. I feel now that it needs to be shared with my friends here. So here it is:

Father, I ask you to bless my friends reading this right now. Lord, show them a new revelation of Your love and power. Holy Spirit, I ask You to minister to their spirit at this very moment. Where there is pain, give them Your peace and mercy. Where there is self doubting, release a renewed confidence in Your ability to work through them. Where there is tiredness or exhaustion, I ask You to give them understanding, patience, and strength as they learn submission to your leading. Where there is spiritual stagnation, I ask you to renew them by revealing Your nearness, and by drawing them into greater intimacy with You. Where there is fear, reveal Your love and release t them Your courage. Where there is a sin blocking them, reveal it and break its hold over my friend's life. Bless their finances, give them greater vision, and raise up leaders and friends to support and encourage them. Give each of them discernment to recognize the demonic forces around them and reveal to them the power they have in You to defeat it. I ask You to do these things in Jesus' name. Amen.

On a knitting note, I have finished the Tyrolean Socks pattern and here are the results...

NAME: Tyrolean Socks
YARN: New England Highland in Oatmeal
SOURCE: Interweave Knits Fall 2007
DESIGNER: Ann Budd

I used size 3 double points and a small cable needle for these. They were a blast to knit and did not take nearly as long as I anticipated they would. The yarn is super soft 100% wool spun by Harrisville Designs in New Hampshire. It took two skeins, 200 yards each, to make these socks. And that's for my tiny size 6 feet. If you're looking to make these and you wear a size 7 or larger, you will need three skeins. I have a third skein on hold and plan to design a hat that matches these. Hehehe....

Speaking of hats, I just finished yet another one! It's insane! How many hats can one person wear?

NAME: Urchin
YARN: Alpaca/Merino/Silk blend
SOURCE: Knitty.com
DESIGNER: Ysolda Teague

I knit this with size 11 needles with some worsted weight yarn I had spun and 2 plyed at the May Spin-In held annually in the Tri-Cities. The fiber came from Reflection Farms here in Washington and was purchased in April at the Western Washington State Fair in Puyallup. The yarn is yummy soft and the color is incredible. I totally love this hat! And it was all short rows, a thing of fear for me for many years. It was easy and only took me a few hours to knit up. If you haven't been to Ysolda's website, GO!!! Incredibly beautiful patterns with a classic feel.

And if that wasn't enough, on October 20, Mary T. and I are hosting a lovely Spin-In at the Kittitas County Fairgrounds. If you're in the area and love a soup potluck and enjoy fiber-related activities, come join us! It starts at 10:00 and goes until 4:00 and is under the Grandstands. If you would like more info, just leave a message and I will get back to you pronto!!!

A Tour of Thorp Mill

2007-09-30T20:54:00.001-07:00

This week has been a week of changes. At work, personnel are moving out and moving in, and the Central Transit is now back in full swing with a new route. And I cut all my hair off because it was buggin' me too much! Here's my new do:
My camera's batteries kept dying, that's why the pic's so blurry. I love the new cut! It's super easy to style and looks really cute with a knitted beret! The weather here is also changing. Fall is definitely in the air! I even got my furnace a new filter and turned the heater on yesterday to burn off all the dust from the summer. And yes, all my smoke alarms roared into life for about 20 minutes. I was so nervous the fire department would show up! LOL!

Today it was rainy and a tad bit foggy in the evening. A perfect day to bundle up in a comfy wool sweater and an orange and brown plaid skirt and head off for an afternoon getting myself rooted again. Mary T. called and invited me to go to the Thorp Mill, built in 1883, and take a tour of the old mill. Being there brought back memories of Mary Jane's Farm in Moscow, Idaho, and the amazing time Mary T. and I spent there. It also rekindled my love of all things old, yet useful. The mill is in excellent condition and could still be run if it needed to be. Our tour guide, a chap named Tanner who wore a '30s fedora, suspenders, and a hand-embroidered silk tie, kept us on our toes as we tried to keep up with his stories of the mill and his many cups of coffee. I took my camera, but because the batteries were nearly dead, I was only able to get some pictures and then only one or two at a time before the screen went black. Anyway, I thought I'd let the pictures give you all a better description of our tour... OH! And there was a contest where we were asked to guess what certain items from the 1800's were. One of the items was an extremely heavy piece of iron with two levers that rose up from the side to meet in the middle. When pressed down, it would staple into whatever you placed between the plates. Anyway, most guessed it was a stapler of some sort, but I put down that it was a belt lacer, though I had to confess when I won the prize that the actual object has "BELT LACER" stamped right on it and all I did was copy that onto the form. LOL! They still let me have a prize, and I chose a book about the mill called, Listen to the Millrace by Barton Porter.

The lacing on one of the huge belts that run the wheels.

The turbine that runs the whole thing.

The turbine as it was actually running. I'm looking down through the flooring of the turbine house.

An old speedometer for the turbine. It used to sound an alarm when the turbine ran too quickly. The thing was gutted shortly after being installed...

On a knitting note, Mary T. has started a ruffled scarf from some handspun that is to DIE FOR! It's going to be a beautiful piece of wearable art when it is finished. Also, a long time ago, I sent in some yarn to Spin-Off magazine for their sock yarn edition. While I didn't get published in the magazine, I did make it onto their website! Go to this link and see my sock yarn! :)

My Life in Hats

2007-09-20T17:53:00.001-07:00

I realized today as I was frantically looking for my black beret that I usually wear when I wake up too late in the morning to do anything with that mop of brown and red that sits on my head, that I have knit far too many hats this year. And coupled with the hats I've bought, I could do an entire calendar (or two) in just knitted hats! LOL! I just finished another one this week.

NAME: Tashkent Hat
YARN: Mohair, Wool, Alpaca blend, spun on my Ashford Drop Spindle
NEEDLES: Sizes 4 and 5 16" circulars
PATTERN FOUND: The Knitting Emporium by Jo Sharp

The color of this yarn is so rich, that I've used it in a lot of photographs. For the fair, this hat was my Half Project Basket. I actually had forgotten about this particular category until the day before my entry paperwork was due, so I speed knitted the first half of this that night just so I could make sure I'd have it to enter. This is what my basket looked like... well... it's really sort of a pitcher, but you get the idea... :D

While Mary T. and her family were at our church's Family Camp last weekend, I hibernated inside my house fighting a rather obnoxious cold. Mary informed me that camp was great fun and their mondo-tent that they bought was perfect for the four of them. Lots of people were there enjoying the hikes and games. The camp was up at Mission Ridge at a little lodge called Squilchuck. I was set to go as well, and even bought a new sleeping bag just for the occasion! But the cold had be whipped, so I stayed home... except for Saturday morning when I went yard saling... and Sunday when I went to Goodwill and St. Vinnies... Even though I wasn't too beat to bargain hunt, I was too tired to knit and hardly did anything at all all weekend. Monday I slept all day and Tuesday I finally went to the doctor and got some rather nasty tasting medicine that is supposed to help me get better. So now it is nearly Friday, I'm still feeling rather ill, but I'm back at work and that, some will say, is a good thing! LOL!

So what did I do all weekend if I didn't explore the great outdoors or knit? I spent a lot of time watching movies. Stranger Than Fiction, which I had already seen, but love it so much I'll watch it many many times. Premonition. Good, but incredibly sad. And Chronicles of Riddick. Extreme cheese, but some fun action scenes and who can knock Vin Diesel's sexy lisp? Hehehee... Also I spent a lot of time checking out opacity.us, which I haven't visited for awhile. If you haven't checked out this site, go to the right and find the link and click it. Then surf Mr. Motts incredibly beautiful and poignant photographs of societies forgotten. These photographs are not just capturing the decay of decades old buildings, but also give haunting insight to the people who worked and lived in those spaces. Anyway, check it out.

And here's a parting picture:

I just couldn't resist this one! :D

A Visit and a Fair

2007-09-11T21:11:00.000-07:00

The past week and a half has been a bit of a whirlwind for me. I got all my stuff done and entered into the fair and Mary T. entered some beautiful items as well, even won Judge's Choice for her beautiful shrug. Terry Niles, a fellow knitter, spinner, and all around fiber artiste, won Best of Class and Superintendent Choice for her amazing shawl. I got two Best of Class ribbons, one for my Kool-Aid dyed Shetland and one for my red 2-ply Romeldale. I also got Superintendent Choice for my black alpaca shrug and Best of Show for my brown and pink baby alpaca lace scarf. I also received quite a few second place ribbons along with some great comments regarding what I could do better in the future.

Not that the fair was fun enough, I had the immense pleasure of visiting with my beau, Matthew Eunice from Florida. Until September 1, he and I had only emailed each other and talked on the phone. Needless to say, I was very nervous and excited when I arrived at the airport to pick him up at 12:45 am. What does one do in an airport at that time of night? Observe!

Yes, the Starbucks at the security gates is open 24 hours! PRAISE GOD! My dad and stepmom joined me in greeting Matthew because, "The parking garage of an airport is not a safe place for a young lady at that time of night." LOL! It was perfect though. Matthew was one of the last to come through the gates and I cannot even express how relieving it was to hug him for the first time and just be in his presence! The week and a half he was here was incredibly fun! We went to the fair, went to church, had a BBQ, went hiking at People's Pond and in the Umtaneum (where we encountered a nest of rattlesnakes!), drove around Manastash and visited Craig's Hill and the Japanese Garden and Arboretum on the CWU campus, tromp around Pike Place Market in Seattle (after I took the wrong exit off I-5 and got us lost! LOL!) Here's some pictures from our week together! The best part of the week was the hugs! I couldn't get enough of them! :)

Me and Matthew at People's Pond

The Yakima River from the Canyon Road.

The train at Umtaneum.

Matthew in Seattle across from Pier 59. The Seattle Aquarium is the building behind him.

Somewhere in all that I managed to finish my Harf from SpinCycle Yarns and spin a skein of black and white alpaca. I miss my man and look forward to seeing his beautiful brown eyes again soon!

Wee Hours Creatory

2007-08-25T12:05:00.000-07:00

So there has been a change in the name of what I hope will one day be a steady hobby business. From LaRueCraft Designs (sort of boring sounding and includes the name of my ex-husband) to Wee Hours Creatory (kree-ay-tor-ee. quite fun, yet elegant and old fashioned.) The new name came to me as I was working on some Christmas presents at 1:45 in the morning. It seems that my funnest and bestest ideas come when my brain is too tired to think reasonably. LOL!

Also, I created a hat pattern that made me smile and now can't wait for summer to turn to fall so I can wear it. I really wanted something that was cabled, yet the texture of the twists would be subtle. What I came up with was a hat that only had purl stitches in the ribbing. The cables blend into the surrounding stitches, yet pop out when worn.

NAME: Cabley Warm
YARN: Some mystery wool my step-mom gave me
NEEDLES: 8 16" circular and 8 double points

On my way to St. Vinnie's for their "Stuff It" sale (anything you can stuff in a bag, you get for three bucks! Woot!!!), I stopped at a rather large yard sale and found the bike I've been praying for sitting off to the side in the shadows. Beneath the cobwebs and dirt, the tag said, $5.00. Yes, it is now home with me, awaiting a few free moments to clean it up and get some air in the tires. I found a cute little basket for the front of the bike, but haven't yet found the dual basket for the back. Oh yeah... it's red. :) I can't wait to ride it to farmer's market and fill up the baskets with flowers and fun finds! Yeah!

Yesterday, Mary T. and I spent the day at the Kittitas County Fairgrounds receiving entries for the 2007 Fiber Arts contest. We were not prepared for how long and BORING the nine hours would be. I finished a sock and knit half a lace hat out of burnt orange merino/silk from the Dancing Ewe downtown. Mary T. finished her beautiful shrug, which will be presented on here as soon as it is blocked. The saddest part of the entire experience was that our entries were about a fourth of what they were last year. We packed everyone's spinning booty into three cases last year and barely had enough room. This year, we have only two cases, but really need only one. And not only our entries were down, but everyone's entries were down by about the same amount, knitting, sewing, scrapbooking, canning... It breaks my heart that the county fair seems to be going out of fashion. *sigh*

On a happier note, my Matthew will be here in less than a week! Yes!!! I am so excited and am frantically cleaning both inside my house and outside. Mary T. is quite excited to meet this young man as well, always saying that it seems like he's already part of the family. LOL!

ADDENDUM: I just finished a great lace skull hat yesterday and haven't had it off my head (except to sleep) since.

NAME: LaceCap

DESIGNER: Adrienne Robson, from knitty.com
YARN: Dawn, 50% New Zealand Merino, 50% Silk in Burnt
NEEDLES: Size 2 16" circulars and size 2 double points

This hat was super fun to knit and was quick also. I love the burnt orange color. It reminds me of fall, a season I am very much looking forward too!

Already August!

2007-08-07T17:19:00.000-07:00

I cannot believe it's already August! So much is happening this month, I'm beginning to feel a tad bit overwhelmed! But first things always first. This post will have a lot of pictures, more than I usually use. Yeah!

So far this month I have gone to a wedding at the Ohme Gardens in Wenatchee, Washington. The drive there was beautiful, if hot (no ac! EEK!) and the wedding was even more beautiful! On the way home, we were able to view the stars and even see a couple of shooting stars in between games of "I Spy" and "Rock, Paper, Scissors" with the 7 year old. LOL! Here's some pics.

The barn at Swauk Creek.

The drive up Blewitt Pass.

The Barr Wedding.

Mary T. and Jubal resting for a quick cuddle

Also, this month, I've managed to finish two projects. The black shrug that I started awhile ago (there's a picture on one of these posts when I first started it).

NAME: Drop-Stitch Shrug (Interweave Knits Free Patterns website)

DESIGNER: Meema Spadola, contributing editor of Interweave Knits

YARN: Black baby alpaca that I spun 2-ply at 9 wpi

NEEDLES: Size 5 circulars. This shrug is very narrow and knit from wrist to wrist, so a 16" circular was perfect.

The other project is a pair of socks that I love so much, I've already started knitting another pair.

NAME: Breeze! (Knitty.com website)

DESIGNER: Jennifer L. Appleby

YARN: Regia Cotton Top Color in #4076

NEEDLES: Size 1 double points

I am also working on creating a business card. I like where it's at so far, but it needs some tweaking. And I think a lot of the information, such as blog address and more details about what I do, will appear on the back of the card. Anyway, here's a quick preview.

Other events this month? Well, there's the kickoff for the Kittitas County Fair and Ellensburg Rodeo. I am rigtht now working on my fair entries, trying to get all my knitted projects looking as fabulous as possible! And the biggest, most bestest thing is that Matthew will be arriving at SeaTac Airport on August 31st. I'm so excited to finally meet this amazing guy in person! Whooo HOOOO!!!!!!

And I think that's all for now... Happy spinning and knitting!

July Spin-In

2007-07-25T18:05:00.000-07:00

Hello, one and all! Last Friday, Mary T. hosted a July Spin-In! Who came? Me, Mary, and Sherrie E. Though the count was small, we all got a lot done and had quite a joyful time as we worked on our various projects. And Sherrie was kind enough to bring some scrumptuous hot applesauce with cream. Mmmmmmm...... Below are some pics.

This is Sherrie carding out some yellow wool for needle felting.

The end result was a pile of little fluffs of yellow that reminded us of baby chicks!

This is Mary T. showing off a pair of beautiful handspun, handknit socks she recently finished.

This is a shot of Mary's buttery colored Falkland (in the foreground) and the fun red and purple Rameldale that I'm spinning (in the background).

Coming up next weekend is the "Would you like to be a pioneer?" workshop as well as Jazz in the Valley. Mary and Wendy have been asked to spin down at the pioneer workshop. I was going to go as well, but with family coming, I'll only be visiting. But I shall take pictures!

So It's 105 Degrees Out...

2007-07-18T17:14:00.000-07:00

And I'm still knitting and spinning! LOL! Despite the heat, my thoughts are always on the winter and what I can create to keep me and the people I care about warm. This weekend I had the lovely privaledge to spin with Mary T. and Jenelle. Mary is working hard to finish some Falkland wool in a beautiful natural cream color while Jenelle was trying her hand with Firestar, Merino, and Mohair. The result is a fun and slubby boucle that I am excited to see knit up! I worked on the rest of the merino I used to create the little tea cozy. Also, I've been working at making a pattern for the tea cozy and will soon have it up here for sale. I will have more information soon. If you think you might like one, please post a comment or email me at laruecraft@yahoo.com so I can get a feel of how many to print up. :)

Other things I did this weekend was knit a pair of baby booties. I don't know who for or why, but the pattern was just too cute to let slide by without trying. So here are the specs:

NAME: T-Strap Booties

SOURCE: KnitSimple, Spring/Summer 2007 issue

YARN: Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino (left over yarn from the Bazaar Socks I made awhile ago)

NEEDLES: Size 6 circulars and a G/6 crochet hook

Another project I finished this weekend is a felted backpack. I started it in December or January and knitted it all up, but kept forgetting about it when I was over at Mary's. I have a front load washer, which doesn't allow the option of felting. So finally this weekend I managed to remember it and got the pieces felted and all sewn together. Take a look.

NAME: Checks & Spirals Backpack

SOURCE: Felt It! by Maggie Pace

YARN: Philosopher's Wool and Cascade 220

NEEDLES: #11 26" circulars and #11 double points for the I-Cord

I also finished a pair of socks that I started about three months ago and went to the farmer's market and got some beautful Sweet Peas, Larkspur, and Daisies to pretty up my dining room table. And I spoke with my dearest Matthew on the phone for a very long time and enjoyed every second of it! (Picture me smiling big and blushing!!!) And I played a significant amount of Doom 3. There is some satisfaction in blasting demons away. LOL! Even if only in a video game! :)

Making Do

2007-07-09T17:18:00.000-07:00

One of the greatest things about living on a limited budget is the ability to make do with what you have or what you can get for a $1 or less. It's a farmgirl trait that, although I've never been a farmgirl and only a borderline country chic, I have been happily blessed with. This weekend, after the joy of ridding myself of years of items that have been given to me or I've splurged on only to discover that I truly had no use for them, I took a look at what I do own and what I can do to make it different. I had purchased 7 yards of green ticking (for $3.99) to make a slipcover for my couch, but since I scored a free slipcover, I no longer needed that. But what every couch does need is a host of pillows to accomodate any kind of relaxation. So, using the green ticking and an old pillow and some left over buttons from a previous project I made a pillow. Then, I realized I had yards and yards of twill tape and a drawer full of Stampin Up stuff. So here's the result. I have two other pillows that I will be making knitted covers for. I haven't decided if I will be designing the covers myself or using a pattern.

My other project this weekend involved the yarn I finished to create my tea cozy. And I also completed the tea cozy itself. I used size four double points to create the main body of the cozy and the little flower on top. The bottom I created using a size G crochet hook and portions of a very old pattern I found while I was cleaning out the garage for the yard sale.

Yard Sale Saturday!

2007-07-07T20:02:00.000-07:00

Today Mary, me, and several others had a lovely yard sale! I made out well and found homes for several knick knacks and other items so I wouldn't have to haul them down to the local Goodwill. And I scored a slipcover for my love seat for free! It's creamy rose patterned brocade and fits my couch perfectly! Now I won't have to make a slipcover for it! YEAH! Also, I bought a nifty Starbucks Co. bag that will tote around my knitting quite nicely. And a great book by Winston Churchill regarding the Revolution. I'm anxious to start reading it!

Also, I finished the alpaca doily that I started last week. It was so fun to knit and I realized that I enjoy knitting things for my home. I spend a lot of time knitting things to wear and don't think of all the awesome things I could be knitting for my home. So now I have plans to knit some pillow covers to go on my couch as well as a few more doilies to pretty up some of my tables and such. Oh, and the pictures are of my brother, Ben, on the left and my dad's wedding on the right, though you can only see me and my brother and part of Doreen, my stepmom.

Favorite Things

2007-06-30T15:28:00.000-07:00

WOW! Where to begin? It seems like so much has changed in my life in the last two weeks. First, I have rediscovered my love of tea and changed over to black tea in the morning instead of drinking coffee so much. It's been fun trying new and exotic flavors and the picture to the right shows the ones that are my favorites. It's so relaxing to get out the tea tray and my china and tea pot and just brew up a cup of goodness in the morning instead of rushing through the line at Starbucks on my way to work.

Something else I've discovered this last week is actually a someone. A very handsome, Godly, and goofy someone who makes me smile more than I have smiled in a very long time, who makes me think about the hard things, and who is incredibly comfortable to be around. And if you're reading this, Matthew, I am talking about you! Hehehe...

Also, I've finished the alpaca lace scarf. It was so fun to knit and it was actually cold enough last week to wear it. It's so soft! Here's a close up of the pink lace part.

I ended up with a lot of yarn left over after I finished this project, so I'm using the brown to make lace edging on some pillows and the pink I'm using to make a knitted doily that I discovered in a knitting book from the early '80s. It has a pretty tree design and will look great on the dresser. Also, I'm spinning up some fun wool that Mary T. dyed to make a tea cozy for my Stump Tea Pot. And I've finished designing the slip cover for my couch, I just need to cut it out and sew it all together.
Another past time I love greatly but haven't made time for was rediscovered last weekend. HIKING! I hadn't been out on the trails for years and Mary and I and her 6-year-old son put a lunch together and climbed to the top of Manastash Ridge, which overlooks Ellensburg and Thorp. The hike was difficult, especially with how bad of shape we're both in. But it was fun nevertheless, and we made it to the book at the top and signed our names in it. Here's some pictures:

Cocooned in Lace and God

2007-06-16T21:30:00.000-07:00

This week I have begun a new project. Well, several to be honest! I have begun a lace scarf from some alpaca I spun last year and the year before. The pink is a singles that I spun about two years ago and couldn't decide what I wanted to make with it. The brown is 2-ply, but the same wpi as the pink.

The scarf I am knitting from it is the Cocoon Lace Scarf from Evelyn A. Clark (Fiber Trends). I'm using size 7 needles, with the brown for the main body of the scarf and the pink for the scalloped lace border.

I am on the 11th repeat of the pattern now, and am excited to have it finished so I can start on some other things!

Last week I had the pleasure of going thrift store shopping early in the morning while the good stuff was still to be had. My finds were incredible! Several things I have been really praying for and looking hard to find were a couch that is both comfortable and easy to update with slipcovers and a tea tray big enough for my teapot, two tea cups, a creamer dish and a sugar bowl. I found both! The couch for $14.99, as well as enough of the most perfect material to make a slipcover for it for $3.99 and a silver plate tea tray for $1.99! Yeah! But God kept the blessings coming with two paintings, an antique tea strainer, a coffee mug with sheep on it, and several other little tidbits that make me smile whenever I see them! The pic on the right is what my living room looks like now. The quilt that's covering the couch was handmade by my stepmom, Doreen. She's an antique hunting, sewing, knitting nut just like me! :D

This week God has been showing me many things. Mostly to do with where my heart lies and what in it needs to be given up and cleaned out to make room for what He wants for me. Below is Psalm 63: 1-8. It where I want to be. To worship God when my hope is weary and my heart is dry.

O God, You are my God; I shall seek You earnestly; My soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You, In a dry and weary land where there is no water. 2Thus I have seen You in the sanctuary, To see Your power and Your glory. 3Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, My lips will praise You. 4So I will bless You as long as I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name. 5My soul is satisfied as with marrow and fatness, And my mouth offers praises with joyful lips. 6When I remember You on my bed, I meditate on You in the night watches, 7For You have been my help, And in the shadow of Your wings I sing for joy. 8My soul clings to You; Your right hand upholds me. (NASB)

Decorating and Yard Work: A break from knitting...sort of!

2007-06-09T17:37:00.000-07:00

Accomplishments. Sometimes I can work and work and work and feel like I've gotten nothing done. Other times, like this week, I feel like I've overwhelmed myself with completed projects! I started and finished a hat. It's sooo funny! The first time I knit it, I used size 11 needles and the hat was so big it came down below my nose! So, I tried it again on 9s and it worked like a charm! I don't have a very good pic of it, other than the new one of me and Mary in the About Us area of the blog. It has little ears because it's knit as a square. I got the pattern from Easy Knitted Accessories by Jeanette Trotman and used handspun yarn that was 4 wpi. Though I'm happy to have made it, it was not on the list of things to get done. LOL!

Another thing I finished was the lace scarf to go with my beret. The pattern is a traditional arrowhead lace that I repeated until the scarf wrapped around my neck twice and tied. Then I did two rows of single crochet around the edges to give it a bit of a border and added the same flower from my hat. It was fun to knit and it's been cold enough lately to actually wear it!

Mary has spent the day in the yard, well....yards, hers and mine! LOL!... She managed to mow my front lawn, weed around her flowerbeds and mine, trim up her honeysuckle plant around the arbor, water everything, plant marigolds, and make chocolate chip cookies! She makes me exhausted sometimes and I stay out of the yard as much as possible! Also, she is nearly done with her shrug.

Another project not on my list, but has raised its head again, is the drop spindle project that I started a year ago. The wool is alpaca/mohair/lincoln and very beautiful. Once I have it all spun, I plan on crocheting the short sleeve bolero from the Happy Hooker book. But drop spindling is a slow process when you don't carry it with you everywhere you go! When I started this project, I would spin while I walked to work, or when I was in line at the grocery store, or when I was meeting with friends because I don't have to really look at what I'm doing. But the wind makes it too hard to work on it outside and I put it in my basket and entirely forgot about it. It does make for a nice photo and I think I will enter this one into the fair and see if I can win some cash for it!

The other thing I accomplished this week is that I redecorated my room for under $30! Yeah! The design was heavily influenced by India. It is quite lovely in there now! The orange sarong that I'm using for my curtain makes the entire room washed in a warm sunset glow. :D

Ummmm.... Other accomplishments have to do with breaking free of some things that have been emotionally and mentally eating away at me. They are lies that have been cast on me or that I have brought upon myself and I am giving them to God and replacing them with His truth. It's not easy and everyday these lies jump at me and try to get me to pay attention to them, but so far this week I have managed to keep my eyes where they belong, on the Lord.

Sarah's Insanity

2007-06-02T13:33:00.000-07:00

Yes. It is true. My insanity has been embodied in a PROJECT LIST! EEK!!! I love projects! And right now I have more than I can possibly do all at once! I did finish one. The Debbie Bliss socks have been completed. Yeah! I used size 3 needles and two balls each of the blue and chocolate to make these. The pattern is from Priscilla Gibson-Roberts and was modified quite a lot since she has it set for size 0 and 1 needles and thin sock yarn. And it should have been knit from the toe up, but it was more mental work than I cared to do, so I knitted it from the top down.

And now I'm working on a scarf from the remainder of the Twilleys of Stamford Freedom Spirit yarn that I used to make a beret. It's coming along well. But I still have my alpaca shrug on the needles and another pair of socks that I actually forgot that I was knitting! Then there's the blanket that I'm going to start weaving, the sweater that I have a great idea for, the roman blinds I'm making for my dining room, and the general cleaning of my house and mowing the yard. I've also gone through all my shoes and clothes... again... and weeded out all the stuff I really don't wear and certainly don't need. All of it will be down at the local Goodwill tomorrow. Yeah!

Today I spent some time down at the laundromat. I haven't had to go in awhile and I was amazed by how peaceful it was. Even with the noise, Shrek was on TV and the Hispanic radio station was being played over the top of that, and there were people talking and a guy vacuuming and then the sound of the washers and the dryers, it was awesome. My quilts and blankets are all now on the line outside my house, which makes me quite happy. Mary and I have been dying to have a laundry line, but haven't been able to convince the man in charge, Mary's husband, that it was a good idea. But now it is up and I am using it! Huzzah!

Sunday Knitting

2007-05-27T12:53:00.000-07:00

It is spring and the wind has come! But with it, so has the sun. Morning service was rockin' and there was not much time for knitting, but I did get some pictures of Mary knitting a pair of pretty pink socks! Mary says, "I'm blessed that we go to a church that listens to the Spirit and follows Almighty God (and is free enough to allow knitting during the sermon)."

Yesterday we spent the morning hustling from one yard sale to the next in search of books, clothes and various booty (aargggh) to clutter up our respective houses. I was looking for a beach cruiser bike from the seventies and a tea tray since I have officially become hooked on tea time. But, alas, I found only a jean jacket, a sweater, and two cute little tins (all for the lovely price of $2.25!) Mary was in search of a mattress cover, which she found for $2.00 and some wonderful old books, including The Neverending Story, by Michael Ende and The Trumpeter of Krakow. She was also looking for tools and anything else she didn't know she needed.

Saturday night I spent the evening searching for my Kool-aid dyed yarn from two years ago. I never did find the extra bit I wanted, so I unraveled an unfinished sock that I didn't have enough yarn to finish an actual pair in order to make a cell phone cover. It was fun designing it, but I don't particularly like the button and am looking for a wooden leaf instead. I also spent some time with my dad and my stepmom from Federal Way and we had a great time looking through the new yarn shop. And no, I didn't buy anything!!!

Let There be More Yarn!

2007-05-23T17:39:00.000-07:00

First of all: Dear Anonymous Weekend Dyer: I used distilled white vinegar in my Kool-Aid dye, but I didn’t measure out how much. Just dumped it in because I’ve done so much of this kind of dying. I have several different recipets and the general consensus is one cup of vinegar to eight ounces of wool if you’re dying it all one color on the stove like I did. If you do your dying in the microwave or sun dye it in a jar, then the amount changes. And Dear Janelle: I think I’ll make socks out of it, since I didn’t dye a whole lot of it and socks are my favoritest things to knit. :D

Second of all: I took some pics of what Mary’s been working on today. Yeah! Here’s some of the Falkland she’s been spinning. Even I’m excited about this! And also a picture of her Monet’s Garden as she sets the twist. Beautiful stuff! She says she will be knitting a shawl with it. It will be incredible. I’ll post pictures as she knits it so you all can see its progress.

Third of all: I have given up on the We Call them Pirates hat from the Hello Yarns website. Not totally, but my alpaca yarn is far too bulky to knit that hat with, and so I am doing a drop stitch shrug with it. The pattern is a freebie from the Interweave Knits http://www.interweaveknits.com/freepatterns/wraps.asp website. I’m excited with how it’s already turning out. Also, I have a picture of the Cashmerino socks I've been working on. Now that my monetary issues have been sorted out, I'll be able to buy the rest of the yarn to complete these this weekend.

Precious Things

2007-05-21T13:57:00.000-07:00

I have no knitting or wool related pictures today. But I do have to share some love and beauty with you all. The first thing, is that the peonies are blooming in Mary's yard and they are beyond beautiful! Mary is an amazing gardener and her front walk always look amazing! I am not such a great gardener and my front walk usually is brown and lifeless! LOL!

The other precious thing is a website/store that I fell in love with almost two years ago. It's called Small Meadow Press

(http://www.smallmeadowpress.com/) and is operated by a woman named Lesley Austin in Virginia. Her creations always brighten my day. I have several of her products, including the Jane Austen Missives and the Pigeon Holes. One of the things I love about her is that her products arrive at your door in packaging just as beautiful as the product inside. And she's pretty quick with getting your order to you.

In contrast to these two things above, I listened to Deliverance, Vengeance Rising, and Armeggedon this morning before going to work. Nothing like a serious dose of heavy metal to start your morning! LOL! I finished one sock out of the Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino that I purchased a few weeks ago and realized that I don't have enough to finish the second sock! I'll have to buy two more skeins. These are some pretty expensive sockies! I also started spinning some Baby Camel Down last night. I'm trying to make it lace weight, using the highest speed whorl that I have on my Ashford, but I'm thinking it's not high speed enough. I'll have to ask for the lace flyer for my birthday this year! (hint hint) :D

A Weekend of Dyeing

2007-05-20T14:30:00.000-07:00

My plans this weekend were thwarted by a checkbook error that kept me from visiting my parents over in the Seattle/Tacoma area. So, since I had some time on my hands, I figured that I'd dye. :D

The process went quickly, much more quickly than I anticipated. I gathered up all my dying equipment and my packages of Kool-Aid and my giant bottle of vinegar and went to town! The colors I used? Orange, Lemonade, Cherry-Watermelon, and Black Cherry. The results? Beautiful!

I have a plethora of grey heathery Shetland wool that I bought two years ago (see left) and I was wondering what on earth I could do with it. I had already spun some into a heavy worsted weight 3-ply that I used to knit a shrug. But I still had a pound of it left! So I wound of four sets of fourteen strips (I don't know how much each section weighed, but they were a yard and a half each strip) and started dying, mixing four packets of each color into a pot of almost boiling water with some vinegar.

Once the water was clear of color, I drained the wool in the sink, then hung the strips outside in the wind to dry.

It didn't take very long to dry the strips and by Saturday evening I was already spinning it. I spun several lengths of one color before switching to the next, then Navajo plied it to create sections of color that will stripe when knitted up.

I'm really excited to start knitting this, but I already have so many projects going!

Update on Mary T. She is knitting socks from some gorgeous Romeldale she bought and spun awhile ago. She's also done spinning the Carribbean Delight (which she actually calls Monet's Garden, my bad!) and has only one bobbin left to ply. She says hello to all our spinner and knitter friends! :D

Sarah's Finished Projects

2007-05-18T09:02:00.000-07:00

I have finished the Log Cabin socks from the Holiday Handknits book and I wore them yesterday and they are sooooo soft! I really enjoyed knitting them! I thought I'd have to modify the pattern to make them fit my size 6 feet, but I didn't need to at all.

The other project I finished last night was a cabled cowl from the Hello Yarns free pattern website. I used the bulky singles I spun thick and thin and size 11 needles. The knitting went fast and I was able to get the whole thing done in a couple of hours. I wore it to work this morning and it is so warm! It'll definitely be a winter item. And with how cold it gets in Ellensburg, I'll be wearing it quite often. Here's a detail of what the yarn looks like when it's knitted. I like the contrast of the super poofy slubs and the tight twist of the thinner sections. I'll definitely be making more of this kind of yarn!

Sarah's First Novelty Yarn

2007-05-16T13:11:00.000-07:00

I spent the evening spinning up some thick and thin novelty yarn from the Lorna's Laces that I purchased in the Tri Citites last weekend. It came out quite fun and I think I'll do one more skein like this and then the rest I'll do a thinner boucle yarn. I'm not sure what I'll knit with it yet, though.

I also set the twist in the merino/alpaca/silk that I spun over the weekend. It came out quite nice and will look great with the black alpaca I spun a few months ago. As soon as I get the Log Cabin cable socks done, I'll be starting the We are Pirates hat from Hello Yarns.

Today, I had the fortune of visiting the Brooklyn Tweed blog (see links). Jared's knitting abilities are astounding! Every piece of his work made me drool in jealousy! Someday I hope to be even half as good a knitter as he is! Check out his blog. It's amazing!

I also thought I'd post pictures of the dog I gave Mary (his name's Zeke and is a half beagle, half black and tan coonhound. We call him the stretch beagle, LOL!) and the cat Mary gave me (his name is Gus and he's a massive spaz! He actually fell off the couch yesterday. Didn't even try to land on his feet either!)

Psalm 27:13-14

2007-05-15T15:11:00.000-07:00

I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and let your heart take courage; yes, wait for the Lord.

Sometimes this verse is about all that gets me (Sarah) through the day. Today, I can only want to believe that there will be some goodness for me while I'm alive. Today, despair is trying to win out. Thank God for the prayers and love of those at Firestream.net. They have truly encouraged me and helped me through times that I thought I wouldn't get through.

Mary's Caribbean Delight

2007-05-14T17:54:00.000-07:00

Here's some beautiful green and blue wool that Mary T. has been spinning since we started this blog.

And here's a pic of her Jesus toe ring. I totally love toe rings, but find that I can never wear them without pinching my toe!

Men in Kilts

2007-05-14T13:16:00.000-07:00

Mary T. and her husband were looking for a kilt for him and came across this website...

http://www.utilikilts.com/

WOW!!! *ahem* I read through some of the product descriptions and giggled like crazy. Last summer Mary, her family, and I went to the Scottish Highlander Games in Enumclaw, WA. It was so fun! The Seattle Knights did an awesome sword fighting show that was very entertaining.

I have finished plying the singles I spun at the spin-in and am anxious to get the twist set so I can begin knitting! I'm making a hat and mittens pattern I discovered on the website Hello Yarn http://helloyarn.com/. The background will be black, but the white in the picture will instead be pink/purple/white varigated. I'll have to modify the pattern since my yarn is a bit thicker than what is called for.

Tri-Cities Spin-In

2007-05-13T14:26:00.000-07:00

Mary T. and I went to the Tri-Cities, WA for the spin-in put on my the Northwest Regional Spinners. Its was so fun! There were eight of us and all our spinning wheels and wool crammed into a Suburban! I haven't done a road trip like that in a very long time. I bought some beautful black and white alpaca to spin and some really neat wool from Lorna's Laces in the color Pioneer.

It also has pink in it, which you can't tell from this picture. And it's unspun wool... But anyway. I got a bobbin and a half filled and knit a beret out of the Twilleys of Stamford yarn. I have pictures of the stuff I'm spinning and the beret, but my laptop won't connect to the internet for some strange reason, whether I use the wireless or the DSL cable. So I'm at the library and trying to do what I can here in the short amount of time I have available.

Also, I received a great cd from the man behind Transfigural Form. Awesome stuff! And I've only listened to some of it!

And it's Mother's Day! So, Happy Mom's Day to all you moms out there! :D

Cable Socks

2007-05-10T16:00:00.000-07:00

Didn't get to knit last night due to the franticness at work and getting my Mother's Day cards created and mailed out. But as I said, I'd post a few pics of my progress so far. The pattern I'm using comes from Handknit Holidays, a great knitting book if you're looking for patterns that aren't super difficult. The color of the yarn isn't quite that salmony, but much more pink. My camera does strange things sometimes with the colors and I haven't taken enough time with the manual to fix the problem. Hehehe...

TF and a Whole Lot of Knitting

2007-05-09T13:09:00.000-07:00

What a day! This is Sarah L. and I started the morning on time (a total miracle!) I rocked out to Transfigural Form this morning while getting ready for work. It's hard to get eyeliner on properly when you're dying to headbang! LOL!

I've almost completed a pair of cabled socks from the pretty pink Cashsoft that I posted a pic of last week. I'll have a pic up here tomorrow of my progress. The yarn is soooo soft! I can't wait to wear them! I aslo just bought some Debbie Bliss' Baby Cashmerino and Twilleys of Stamford's Freedom Spirit (pictured above in Fire). Wow! So much yarn! And I still have POUNDS to spin!

This weekend will be an exciting time for me and Mary. We'll be going down to the Tri-Cities with four other women and a whole lot of spinning wheels for a spin-in and potluck. We had a great time last year and will probably make it an annual event.

Aprons (from the Mary Jane's Farm site)

2007-05-02T15:46:00.000-07:00

Aprons by Mary T.

The sign of domestic authority I have noticed over the years that aprons - honest ones - carry in themselves an air of domestic authority. When an apron is worn by a woman who is hard at task, it is like a uniform. Business is at hand and there will be no shilly shallying. There are serious tasks to be accomplished. Fruit to be canned, food cooked, chores to be completed. One does not usually put on an apron just to lounge about or to go on a visit. No, aprons stay at home and tend to the work that must be done to keep the home fires burning.

All her years, my mother wore an oriental apron called a mamason. She always had a Kleenex in the front pocket and other oddities picked up from a days work: i.e. miscellaneous Legos that strayed from my brother's room, or a straggle of old yarn or fabric from some wild project I had cooked up. Sometimes treasures appeared from the pocket, candy or money for a swim at the pool. You just didn't know what was to be found in that mysterious cornucopia.

When I became a wife and mother I sewed my first apron. It took several days to take apart an old momason of mom's and make a pattern from it. After 20 years of washing and use the pieces had fused with the stitching to become what seemed a seamless garment. But patience paid off and I was proud the day I showed off my apron to my mother. I had graduated from girlhood. That winter I sewed a new apron for my mom from the pattern I had made. It must have tickled her to receive that gift. In my teens I was a radical activist, not a domestic engineer. But after joining the ranks, of course ones mind is likely to change. And so I marched into my new life of home schooling and whole wheat with my apron and not a few lofty goals.

I've been hard at work as a domestic engineer for more than twenty years now. I've had several aprons to my credit over those years. At present I'm flush with several high quality aprons. This is an unusual occurrence. I've not had more than two aprons at a time ever. Having an eclectic taste that verges on DID, my present collection ranges from demure to modern chef. From a lovely blue calico to screaming solid yellow. My momason has long since departed and the last apron I sewed lasted some years. It is a bit ragged. It looks like something a Russian Babushka (granny) might wear. Black with red stripes and little beets and yellow corn embroidered in between the red and green pin stripping. Alas, it is at the bottom of the tired apron pile now. Some good friends knowing my .unusual taste. gave me a groovy apron for Christmas. It is covered with VW beetles and peace signs. I wore it like crazy. So this year I had to set out on a search for another serviceable apron. Serviceable meaning: covering you nearly from head to foot. I'm creative: meaning messy. After a lengthy search I came upon a website for modest clothing. It had Amish dresses and bonnets and beautiful aprons. They are handmade and fit all requirements - including pockets. This is the most lady-like apron I have seen. (Donna Reed will be jealous.) A heart shaped neckline and scallops over the shoulder. And an inset waist with white piping covering all edges. Quite lovely. It is now my favorite. Except for those screaming yellow days when I wear my Pike Place Market apron, another gift from a friend.

Your aprons should speak to who you are and what you do. Even eluding to what you dream of. It should be something you are content to be in again and again and always enjoy. I have deep admiration for aprons. Over the years they have been a symbol of femininity, love, commitment, and frugality. Women have gathered food for their families in them and flowers for funerals. Aprons have been cried into, twisted into knots during times of great anxiety. Hidden behind when a new blushing brides dinner didn't quite come out to perfection. I should think there is more than one prairie wife who tore up her petty coat first for bandages before tearing up her apron.

Yes, a useful tool of womanhood is an apron. I think I will go sew one for my only daughter. She will become a mother this winter. How can a woman survive life, let alone motherhood, without a sturdy apron?

The Dancing Ewe!

2007-05-02T13:09:00.000-07:00

Yippee! The Dancing Ewe yarn store is now open! This is Sarah and I bought some beautiful Merino/Cashmere blend yarn from RYC and a cute little blue Stump teapot. This store has an amazing selection with prices that beat out even some of the online stores!

I think I'll have a very hard time staying out of there! I'd better start putting a savings aside each month so I can indulge! :D

Weekend Fun, Monday Madness

2007-04-30T13:14:00.000-07:00

This is Sarah L. and this weekend was great! I finished knitting a sock from some beautiful orange and yellow wool I got at the Puyallup Spring Fair this year. And today I just learned my favorite band, Demon Hunter, is working on their next album and will be releasing it in November! Yeah!

This is them:

They're a Christian nu-metal band. They've got killer songs that glorify God.

Also went to a concert this weekend. Fivestone and Nate Weller Band. That was awesome, too, though I missed Fivestone because I was hangin' out with some gals from high school, which was way funner than seeing the band! LOL!

Today, Monday, has been insane! Some kind of rodent has died somewhere in the back room of my office, but we can't find it! SMELLY!!!! Ick! I think we need an office cat. A cute little mouser to take care of this problem! LOL!

Plenty of Fun!

2007-04-27T13:46:00.000-07:00

Hello! Welcome the the Bonnets and Skulls blog! I'm Sarah L. and soon I'll be joined by my pal Mary T. as we bring you all things rockin' and all things plain! As well as knitting projects, gardening projects, band info, and fun discussions about God, Jesus, and the Holy GHOST!!!

Here's a pic that I used as a Christmas card last year!