Ishbel III July 8, 2012

Sometimes you find a pattern that you just love. Ishbel was the first triangle lace shawl that I made and I suppose it must have a special place in my heart because I’ve now made three of them. The first, I made in malabrigo lace and followed the small instructions. The second, I made in alpaca prima and followed the large instructions. This one is made in Ella Rae Lace Merino and I’m calling it a medium. I followed the small instructions through the stockinette section and the large lace chart instructions. I just barely squeaked by with 5-7 yards left.

November So Far November 23, 2011

It’s been awhile. Really, it’s been far too long.  I think about my blog often but the days never seem long enough to do everything I want to do.

Anyway…

Here’s what I’ve been up to for the past few weeks.

I went to the Breaks Interstate Park with my mom.

I made a couple of commissioned baby things:

 

 

 

I made a shawl for a sweet little lady that I’ve adopted as my grandma.

 

 

And, I turned 30.

Eleanor Wears Cashmere May 31, 2011

One day at work a package arrived filled with the most amazingly soft yarn, Miss Babs Sojourn (65% cashmere and 45% silk). In it was one skein (their last skein) of a color called Mystery Mine. Although there were threats of hair pulling and mud wrestling, I came out victorious! The skein was mine! I loved it so much I wound it by hand instead of using the ball winder.

It was 200 yards of fingering weight heaven that I knew I needed to make an item that would be close to the skin. The Eleanor cowl from Knitty was the perfect solution, especially since I love lace.

Last night I bound off and this morning I seamed it. If it wasn’t going to be 93 degrees today, I’d wear it all day.

A Likely Yarn on WCYB January 19, 2011

Yesterday, a local reporter dropped by and did an interview with our owner and recorded a few clips around the shop and we were on the 6 o’clock and 11 o’clock news. The clip includes interviews with another shop in Johnson City.

The link is here, but I don’t know how long the video will be available.

Here’s a screen shot of me from the video. I’m teaching a toe-up sock class.

Fly By Post… August 25, 2010

First of all, I LOVE my new job. L.O.V.E. I’m starting to adjust to the new schedule too, which means I may be able to get back to blogging regularly soon. Also, I love that I get to see my family much more now. I’ve been alternating having lunch with my mom and lunch with my dad & grandma on my days off. I’m also starting to exercise in the mornings before I leave for work. Now that the heat has broke for awhile, I’ve been able to get out and walk again.

Ok, now on to the post…

Between adjusting to the new schedule and the sun trying to slow roast us for over 3 months, my plants aren’t doing so well. My oregano cannot be stopped though. The “apple bush” was loaded this year and the rose bush keeps randomly blooming one or two blooms. But, I seem to have been infested with lady bugs. I had a small pumpkin on the porch that was nearly devoured by them in a matter of days. They ate the honey dew plant just as it was about to bloom and they ate all the pumpkin vine and I’m assuming the rest of the pumpkins are going to receive the same fate.

Right now I have 3 really large pumpkins (larger than basket balls) but their stalks have been the entry point for bugs. This saddens me because, although I don’t eat the pumpkins, I do use them as my yearly jack-o-lanterns and I don’t expect these three to make it until the end of October. You can see in the photo of pumpkin #2 the hole near the stalk where bugs are coming and going.

I did have a random bush of poke berries sprout up near the pumpkins. I’m assuming that this was a gift from above (aka bird droppings LOL) since there aren’t any poke bushes near my house. When these ripen, I’m going to use them for some natural dying.

I’m still working through my Wild Thing fleece and last week I picked up another fleece that is a Dorset mix breed. I washed up a small sample of it and it is a lovely butter color and is pretty soft. I can’t wait to start washing it up too.
This is some of Wild Thing drying on the porch today. It’s not completely clean but what is left will come out when I card it.

I haven’t been doing much personal knitting lately but I have been working on a whole bunch of stuff for the shop. I designed this crochet stole/scarf as a pattern that is available with purchase of the yarn. I made it from one skein of sock yarn.

I’ve also been doing a whole lot of spinning. I spun CJ Kopec’s Indian Corn as part of the August SAL. When I split it in half, I thought I had gotten it pretty equal but I ended up with a whole bunch left on one bobbin after I plyed it. I spun up some black alpaca to ply with what was left. The two yarns I ended up with, I’m calling Withes Brew (which is photoed with the small pumpkin pre-lady bug infestation) and Bubble Bubble Toil & Trouble.

Right now, I’m spinning Poodle Skirt by Scarlet Fleece, crocheting a doily for my grandma, knitting two sweaters, a pair of socks, a shawl, a large tote bag, and I have some other things I’ve had to put on stitch holders like the Nightingale socks and the second La Vie de Bois sock. Also, I started buying yarn for my Christmas knitting/crocheting. I swore I wasn’t going to do it but, I came up with some really great projects and I’m starting early. I just hope the gifts are appreciated this year… sometimes I wonder if they are or not.

Episode 18 of the Craft Culture Podcast July 29, 2010

Here’s the link to episode 18 of the Craft Culture podcast that includes me I had such a great time with Dani and I’ll be posting photos as soon as the dust settles here in my life.

Abingdon is a stop on the Craft Culture Summer Tour! July 16, 2010

Dani of the Craft Culture podcast is on her Summer Tour. She is visiting five cities in the Eastern US Chicago, IL, Cleveland, OH, Newark, NJ, Abingdon, VA and Greensboro, NC along with her home town of Anchorage, AK during the tour. She is traveling around to meet knitters and knitting groups to discover why, how, ins and outs of what we do.

Sunday evening I’ll be picking up Dani from the train station. (I’m so super excited to see Dani! Squeee!) Monday we’ll be visiting Thistle Cove Farm and Dreamland Alpacas and seeing the sights of Southwest Virginia.

Tuesday, July 20th, You’ll get the chance to meet Dani! She’ll be at A Likely Yarn from 3-8 conducting interviews with our area knitters & knitting groups. Come by and say Hello!

Paper Kitty’s Wellness Challenge for Craft Addicts – Week Three June 24, 2010

Check out Week One for all the details of how to the Wellness Challenge works and how to join in and be eligible for the monthly giveaway.

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“Try and fail, but don’t fail to try.” – Stephen Kaggwa

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Did you know that it takes an hour of walking 2.0 mph to burn approximately 225 calories but you can burn 250 calories in just 30 minutes of dancing or swimming.

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Don’t be a Debbie Downer. Keep a positive attitude to keep your dreams alive. If you think you can’t you never will. If you dream it, it will come.

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This month’s giveaway: One Crafty Kitten Recycled Mixed Paper Journal stamped with the word or phrase of your choice. (Try to keep it to letters only, I don’t own a number set yet.) Winner will be announced on July 8th.

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So, last week I became vegan… how did that work out you ask? Well it started out fantastic. I ate a whole lot of fresh fruit and veggies. I tried new vegan alternatives to meat that were fantastic. I love soy milk. I hate soy “cheese”. I had kept to it with only one slip up over the weekend… until Tuesday. I had been haunted by the thought of ice cream for days, then I let myself get too hungry, and then the “I want a heavy comfort food meal” feeling set in and I was done for. I caved and went to McDonalds. Yes, I know I could have picked something healthier but my tummy threw a temper tantrum and I gave in. I’ve done much better since then though.

That leads me to this week’s goal. I’m going to try adding back diary and eggs. I think that with those, I’ll still keep up the healthy veggies and fruit but I won’t feel deprived.

This week I’m thankful for the loving and supportive people in my life. My life is getting ready to change drastically and it’s all because there are people out there willing to take a chance on me. I love each and every one of them dearly.

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So tell me, what’s your small goal this week and what are you thankful for?

Oh, and please invite your friends and help spread the word

Friday FO’s June 18, 2010

I finished my Vanilla with a Twist socks this week. They started out as a plain vanilla pair of socks but I decided to put a tight cable up the back of the leg to hopefully give it some support. I used the rest of my Intentions sock yarn to make these.

Wednesday WIP’s June 16, 2010

Sunday I started spinning CJ Kopec’s Jester (2/3 merino and 1/3 colonial). It is incredibly soft and practically spins itself.

Monday I went stash diving and came up with a bunch of destash yarn and some other yarns that I want to knit but have been hanging around for awhile.

I cast on the Dandy Neckerchief in Summer Linen which is a cotton & linen blend. It’s been great to knit with since the summer has certainly arrived. It’s been far too hot to knit wool.

I also cast on a blanket in Cherry Tree Hill cotton/rayon bouclé in the colorway Winterberry. I have four 440 yard – 8 oz skeins. It’s not something I would make a garment out of so he only thing I could imagine making was a blanket. I love the colors! It’s basically a giant Grandma’s Favorite Dishcloth.