Hidden Talents

I have a confession to make! I am struggling with my SLOW dial up service and am having a hard time uploading photos to any site, here, Ravelry, etc. It has been going on for quite some time now hence one of the reasons for lacking blogs. Let's face it. It's just not as fun to explain or to show what I'm doing without the pictures! Be patient. I am trying to find alternative online service.

In the meantime, I came across this and thought it was fun. Enjoy!

Your Hidden Talent

You are both very knowledgeable and creative. You tend to be full of new ideas and potential - big potential. Ideas like yours could change the world, if you build them. As long as you don't stop working on your dreams, you'll get there.

What's Your Hidden Talent?

I'm Back!!!

Holy Smokes, Batman!! Time has gone way too fast. It was a very busy spring and summer and now that the kids are back in school, I hope to play catch up with knitting, spinning and blogging! It was a wonderful summer and we travelled quite a bit in July. I'll share pics later.

Since it's been awhile between blogs, I feel like I almost have to introduce myself again. To get back into the swing of things, the following was an introduction into a Ravelry group and I thought I'd share it here. Feel free to use the same questions to use on your blog so we can get to know each other better.

Knitting or Crochet or????? Knitting mostly; haven’t done crochet in years.
Do you drink Tea or Coffee? Tea, herbal or noncaffeinated, like to blend different looseleaf teas at whim
Are you Sane or crazy? A little bit of this and a little bit of that… makes life more interesting that way! :-D
Do you have a Cat, dog or ?? Both, 80 lb Rough Coat Collie, 4 cats THEN (at my part time job: 2 lions, 1 cougar, 2 white tigers, 5 golden tigers and 2 black leopards)
Favourite Flowers? Daffodils are my absolute favorite, violets make me smile
Favourite Foods? CHOCOLATE…favorite is DeBrand’s Key Lime Truffle!!!
Favourite season/time of year? Autumn, beautiful colors, warm sun, cool breeze, clear blue sky
Are you a morning or night person? A night person
What is one thing that makes you happy? Nature
What is one thing that irritates you? People who are cruel to children and animals
Country or Countries you’d like to visit? Canada, England, Ireland, Scotland, Sweden, Norway, Australia, New Zealand

Silly String, Serenades, Salamanders and Snakes???

Sorry no pictures this post. I have been having too much fun caught up in the utter silliness of the day!

I was awakened this morning by a rampage of my husband and two children screaming "Happy Birthday!" and spraying me with Silly String! Pink, blue and yellow strings covered me, my pj's, my bed, etc. better than any Black Widow spider could even dream of! Haha.

After escaping the confines of Silly String, I followed them downstairs only to see a Happy Birthday Banner and tons of balloons being weighted down by my children's stuffed animals. Simba, our 80 lb Collie, caught up in the commotion was parading around with a balloon tied onto his collar and bringing me his toys. Mr. J., my son, was serenading me with a helium induced munchkin voice and then decided to play "The Chipmunks" CD. Only to have my hubby and Miss A., my daughter, tie ribbons onto two of the cats tails as they whirled and twirled in time to the music. Yes it was pandamonium; however, it was the best birthday morning I've ever had! We took a moment in the celebration to each grab a helium balloon or two and step outside into the morning. We each made silent wishes and watched them float away into the sunshine.

We proceeded to go to the Potawatomi Inn for breakfast where the chatty omelet man flippantly said "Happy Birthday" as he dished my omelet on a plate. I laughed and said, "Thank you. It actually is my birthday!" We both laughed at the coincidence. A waitress overheard us and next thing I know I am being serenaded with a candle in a blueberry muffin with ice cream by a flabbergasted waitress. The reason why she was flabbergasted is as she did her "presentation", the next table said, "You have the wrong table. The birthday is over here." And then she looked at the table to the other side of us and said, "So I suppose you are going to tell me you have a birthday too." The funny part is, they did too. What are the chances of 3 tables in a row having a birthday on the same day?? J's comment was, "That's Random!" Haha. Too funny.

We finished a great brunch and then went down to the beach and walked out onto the ice of Lake James. It was about 27 degrees and nippy but sunny. Miss A. and I continued walking thru the forest path to the Nature Center while hubby and J. got the car to meet us there. At the Nature Center, we serendipitously happened to arrive when they were feeding the critters. So we saw, frogs, toads, turtles, salamanders, and snakes being fed. The kids loved it; especially A., who LOVES all things froggy and toadish and was able to help feed them. And hey, how often is it that you can see a rattlesnake fed on your birthday?

Thanks, family for the fun and the smiles! I love you all very much!

Twirl A Whorl

Sometimes loads of enjoyment comes from the simplest of things. I haven't felt like spinning on the wheel lately or knitting much. So I started to just twirl my whorl for awhile. I have a bunch of little leftovers of dyed fibers that I've acquired throughout the years. Some are Cherry Hill Tree's Powder Puffs purchased here. You can get an assortment of 65 little "puffs" that total 6 oz. They are used for needle felting but are fun to dink around with on a spindle. I'd like to eventually spin and ply a whole bunch of little skeins of different colors/fibers/hand dyes/solids...you name it. Put them all into a basket (just like the cover of Spin Off Magazine Spring 2003) and then just play by knitting them into something scrappy. I've always had a fondness for playing with bits of color and textures in my rughooking and quilting. Now I would like to play more with them in my knitting.



Here is the spindle I am using. Don't you just love the little rabbits chasing each other? I picked this one and some bright roving to brighten the days a bit until spring is finally here. I purchased this spindle 6 years ago from here. When I saw Lynne Vogel's hummingbird spindle in "The Twisted Sisters Sock Workbook", I wanted to try one too. By the way, that one book originally gave me the inspiration to learn to spin and knit again. The color combinations of her hand dyed rovings and knitted pieces are wonderful! I automatically knew what I wanted to do with my own dyeing experience from rughooking!

In the meantime, I'll keep twirling my whorl for awhile. I had forgotten how much fun it was and how little increments of time here and there can really add up. So sing along with me...

"Here comes Peter Woolly Tail. Hopping down the spinning trail. Hippity Hoppity, yarn is on it's way!"

Great Things Come In Small Packages and a FO

Great things come in small packages. Look what came in the mail for me yesterday! It was like receiving little flowers from the mailman. I recently joined BlankieMania group on Ravelry where we are doing Shelly Kang's Sock Blankie from leftover sock yarn. On this site, Ann agreed to swap some sock yarn leftovers with me. This is the wonderful box I received from her. The amazing thing is, they are all new yarns for me and mine were new to her also. Thanks, Ann!

So...I need to pull out this and get working on it again....

Thanks to Shelly Kang's wonderful idea, I started using up some of my leftover sock yarn and scraps from friends. I started this blanket before I moved and it has been hibernating for most of the past year. It is a LONG term project for me. Iwant to wait until I get a variety of sock scraps...so if you have any, send them my way! I'll probably finish it when I am 193 but it is fun to pull it out once in awhile and add onto it. It waits patiently and enjoys seeing the light of day once in a while! It will be seeing more sunshine soon as I work on the new colors.

For years, I used to quilt. I loved to handpiece and handquilt. When my husband saw this blanket in a basket one day he said, "Hey! You're quilting again!". It does remind me of a crazy quilt. I think that's the fun of it. I get to play with colors, each striping yarn looks different knitted into different squares and I also get the instant satisfaction of finishing something...a square!

Speaking of finished objects and great things come in small packages. I will be mailing the Peaks and Valleys Scarf to my SIL, Penny, this week. It is from Socks That Rocks Lightweight yarn, color Chapman Springs. I asked her to pick her favorite colorway. The pattern I adapted from the "Peaks and Valleys" sock pattern from Mountain Colors.

I have a previous post on it. I laughingly call it my "Scarf of Perserverance" since it started as a shawl. Then I thought she would get more use from a scarf. Then I swatched several different patterns; had one I loved and the yarn pooled so I went back to the drawing board to try a new pattern. Then I had the scarf more than halfway finished only to realize the next time I took it out that about 8 inches of borders were knitted wrong while I was knitting by feel on a dark car trip. SO...it was easier to rip back than repair... with all this and much time hibernating in between, I am glad it is finally finished. I absolutely love it. I think this pattern really enhances the yarn and vice versa. Hope she likes it too!

Afghan and Lace Leaf Love

TA DA!! I thought I would share the progress of the Noro Silk Garden Afghan. It is currently 2 feet long. I will post it when it is finished. AND I will share the pattern with you on my blog at that time. It is mostly a "weekend" afghan in that it is my main weekend knitting. However, it did not get a chance to be worked on this weekend. Other things ensued.

It was mid 40's, rainy and windy on Saturday before the next cold spell hit. (Note: It is 10 below windchill today.) I was not up to par over the weekend to do much of anything while I was battling the sniffles. Besides that, I was just plain sick of snow, ice and winter. So I decided that I needed a bit of spring knitting. A shawl...hmmm...with a colorway named Herb Garden, who could refuse?
So I got out a skein of Alpaca Sox by Classic Elite and cast on for the Blue Jeans Lace Leaf Shawl. I wanted something that would fire the old neurons in my sluggish and stuffy brain but not put it into overload. The picture does not do the yarn justice. It is lovely, soft, subtle shades of grey blue, olive and gold. The pattern was fun but the yarn was too subtle of colors for my rainy day knitting. A handspun skein from my stash kept calling very insistently to be knit. I finally, no willpower at all, succumbed to this...
It is approximately 5 oz of Blue Face Leceister spun as a singles yarn at about 668 yards. It has been in my stash for a LONG time. Noticing the yarn was spun thick/thin varying from fingerweight to sport/dk, I know that I spun this in my early spinning days. It was from a nonrepeatable roving hand dyed by Lynne Vogel of Twisted Sisters Sock Workbook Fame. I loved the aqua, turquoise, tan colorway from the moment I saw it. It reminds me of a far away exotic beach filled with surf and sand. (Hey, give me a break. I live in NE Indiana where it is 10 below at the moment for heaven's sake. A girl has got to have a dream!)

I spun it as a single to get the most yardage out of the roving and to keep the colors vibrant. So being the very impulsive and fickle knitter that I am...Herb Garden was dropped like a hot potato and I cast on this....

It is soft, light, lofty and engaging. It makes me wonder why I don't knit EVERYTHING with handspun. It was just what I needed to perk me up! I am definately feeling the Lace Leaf Love!! :-D (Eventhough as all lace knitters know, it looks like nothing but a bunch of Ramen Noodles before it is blocked.) It is amazing that we can get excited over a bumpy lump of nothingness!

I think this will have to become a priority project. (SHHH...don't tell the others; they tend to get jealous!) I can't wait to see it finished and blocked!

Afghan Inspirations

We've been in the new house for a year now. It is interesting how many of the things we have "collected" (using that term loosely) over the years seem to have a place in this new house as if they were meant to be. For instance, my husband brought home this print one year and it sat in our old basement forever, never finding the right place. It was instantly welcomed in our new home above the fireplace as if it were purchased exactly for that spot.

Our living room is very neutral with tan couches and chair so I wanted to bring in a little more color into this room and emphasize the colors in the print. So last spring I happened to come along a colorway of Noro Silk Garden that I thought would be wonderful. It was one of those instances where the moment I saw it, it had to be mine. It was #245 ( last picture). I started blocks for the Lizard's Ridge Afghan but after completing two, it was stashed in the closet for later. I realized I did not want to do that afghan with this colorway.
So this January was a month for reading, looking over old "Spin Off" magazines, taking a break from spinning and very little knitting. It was like I was in hibernation mode. I didn't feel like working on anything in particular. However, that afghan wiggled it's way back to the forefront of my brain.
I tried several different patterns and ripped them all out. Then all of a sudden, last Saturday, I sat and played with a few stitch patterns. I knew I wanted something simple to make the most of the colorways. I knew I needed something simple because my brain still seems to be in hibernation mode.
So I cast on and ripped and cast on and ripped, until I found the right pattern for what I wanted. All of a sudden, I was excited about knitting this and I found myself picking it up at odd moments and watching it slowly grow.
And then...as it frequently happens with me...I find that I am working with the colors in my surroundings. Often I am knitting away and then notice, "Hey, that's like what I'm knitting!" My eyes focus on the "malachite" green tiles of the fireplace, the gold, copper, grey, black and touches of blue in the print above the fireplace. Looking out the window, I see the dark bark of the trees with touches of white snow and shadowy greys, along with the brown crispy leaves and the evergreens hinting a promise of the green to come. And...unconsciously, with the foggy, snowy grey days of winter, I wanted to bring more light into our home and I recently purchased simple candles. I found inexpensive glass containers and I added colored pebbles (anything to bring nature indoors)...but look at the colors...hmmm. Last but not least, is the quilt from my Aunt Marilyn which is the last thing I see at night and the first thing I see in the morning as it covers me while I dream.
So, I guess it's no surprise that this is the yarn I picked. Although it has been stashed away until recently, my subconscious has been working on this project for quite some time. Now I am off to curl up and knit my afghan and take comfort in it's warmth as it continues to grow. Hmmm...maybe a hot cup of tea and a good book would also be welcome.

Finished Objects!! Finally able to post...

Whoo Hoo!! With Blogger download problems this month and extremely SLOW dial up service, it has been extremely frustrating to try to blog. Hopefully things are on the mend.

Here is the 2nd Noro Striped Scarf which I knit for a surprise for a good friend of mine, Judy, in WI. I used Noro Silk Garden: 2 balls of #34 olive/brown/lavender and 2 balls of #88 soft neutrals of tan/grey/lt green. I loved how it turned out. The pictures here make it brighter than it actually appears.

I finished it at the end of the year but I had to wait for Judy to receive it and for Blogger to work in order to post it. Thankfully, she loves it too. With this cold snap, hopefully it will be a welcome addition to her wardrobe.

The Felted Kitty Bed is finished and since I held one strand of alpaca and one strand of miscellaneous, Noro Silk Garden, grey merino and handspun together, I used up 1022 yards of stash which goes towards my knitting a mile for Stash Knit Down 2008. YIPPEE. I followed Wendy Knits pattern but did an extra increase row and knit several rows after that. For the decreases, I did 3 decrease rows with 5 knitted rows after each decrease. It blocked to a diameter of 17". I wanted it bigger to accomodate various sizes of cats: 5 lbs, 7 lbs, 14 lbs and 17 lbs. Since my colors were so muted, there was not a lot of variation in the piece after it was felted. After finishing this one, I decided that the cats would just have to share. One was enough for this household. So....

Olive has graced it with her mouse on a string but hasn't taken to sleeping in it.

Jaguar and Pinky were snoozing and grooming.
And Tigger found it a cozy place to cuddle. Good thing I made it extra large! All of this was done on the first day it was on the floor. So the results are in....(drumroll please)....

3 out of 4 cats prefer the Felted Kitty Bed. :-D

Pinky's Seal of Approval

Mary asked me if I thought the cats would actually use the Felted Kitty Bed. Pinky couldn't even wait until it was finished and felted! She snuggled right up in my lap while I was knitting. I am SO close to getting the knitting finished; I keep adding odds and ends of yarn. However, it is quite the challenge to knit in the round with a kitten inside! :-D

Stash Knit Down and Kitty Beds

Noro Silk Garden #88 and Alpaca With a Twist worsted from my stash to start the Knit A Mile Challenge on Stash Knit Down 2008. The purpose of the challenge is to knit a mile, 1760 yards, out of yarn from your stash from Jan 5th to Feb 19th. I've been a little late in starting. I have a few smaller projects picked. However, I decided to knit Wendy Knit's Felted Kitty Bed. So I started this one Tues afternoon. This is the progress so far:
I love how the one strand of the Noro Silk Garden and one strand of the alpaca are knitting up together. I can't wait to see it finished. It should be soft and cuddly.

Why the urge to knit kitty bed(s)? Well, if you read my post, Animal Tales, you already know that I have two cats , Tigger and Jaguar, which were abandoned on the road as kittens. We found them just in time. They are great cats and deserve kitty beds. However, they are now just getting acquainted with their two new sisters:

Meet Olive. In my post, Animal Tales, you may have read how my daughter lost her best buddy, Shadow the hamster. Well to fix a broken heart, she needed a new buddy. So last Saturday, we found Olive at the Humane Society. She is a little over a year old, is 7 lbs of fluff. Poor Olive has been at the shelter since September. There is no other history on her. My daughter picked her out from a roomful of cats and said to me, "Mom, meet Olive." She said the name just popped into her head as soon as she looked into Olive's HUGE bright green eyes (which look like olives). Haha. Cute name so it stuck. Olive came home yesterday and is in kitty quarantine in the downstairs bathroom for three days while she is being treated for fleas and earmites. She is a wonderful, laid back, lovey cat who likes to chatter to you. Meet Pinky. She just came home Tues night. A. had seen Pinky's picture posted on a pet store bulletin board and that was where we were headed when we stopped at the Humane Society. As soon as I held Pinky, it was love at first sight (or purr). She is a little lovey motorboat purr baby. She is a Blue Cream Torbie ( I'll have to look that up on the internet as I've never heard that term before). Anyway she is buff/cream colored with light grey and her belly is very light cream with grey dots. It looks like a snow leopard's. Very cute. She has the most beautiful amber eyes but when her pupils are dilated, her eyes look so dark compared to the rest of her.

Pinky was named by the animal rescue foster home. She is 5 months old and ended up in foster care 3 weeks ago. She was found living in a car with a woman and 7 cats. All except Pinky and another kitten were euthanized. How sad! Pinky fostered in a home with 5 dogs and several cats so eventhough she is TINY, she is not fazed at all by our 80 lb Collie, Simba. She takes all the animals in stride. In fact they are more cautious of her than the other way around. Jaguar, 14 lbs, thinks she's fun to watch. Tigger, 17 lbs and scared of his own shadow, chooses not to look at her when she is sniffing him. It's like "if I can't see her, she's not really there." Too funny!

We love the name Pinky. I have a friend, Judy, in WI who has a cat named Pinky and we always loved that cat and name. I apologize for not the greatest of pictures. Neither cat wanted to stay still; they are more interested in being petted.

So it looks like 4 kitty beds will find their way to my knitting needles!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Wishing everyone, laughter, love, health, and prosperity. Enjoy the ones you love and engage in the pursuits that make your soul sing.