A Prayer...

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

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

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

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

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!

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!