Favorite Things

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

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!

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

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

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!

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

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