Belated Blogiversary Celebration

Whoops! I missed the actual date by a few weeks. Needless to say, the beginning of the month was a blur but things are finally starting to settle down. So June 6, 2004 was the first time I posted in Bloglandia and that first post brought me headlong into the wonderful world of knitting, spinning and the people who inhabit it. I've made some wonderful "real" world friends, learned advance techniques, gotten tips for practically everything and tripped into spinning, dyeing and most recently weaving.

Speaking of weaving, here are a few pics of my first "real" planned project - a wrap - off the loom. Twas a success!









So how am I celebrating my blogiversary? With a little happy dance and another first - I'm PUBLISHED!!! I've been waiting and waiting for my copy of Feltique to arrive from the publisher and it finally arrived.



It just didn't feel real until I had it in my hot little hands. Guess what's on the first page of the book? One of my little felted fortune cookies - SQUEEEE!



The fortune cookie pattern is on page 99.



I also wrote a pattern for a felted floppy flyer (pretty much a felted frisbee but because of copyright issues, we couldn't call it that) that's on page 105.



Feltique is FABULOUS! I love the variety of felting techniques that you can find in this one book and how visually appealing it is. I love books that not only show you the finished product but also shows you how to construct the project. This book is one that I will carefully study and toy with for years to come. I'm so very honored to have been asked to be a part of this beautiful book.

I can't begin to tell you how many hours Nikola and Brookelynn worked with me to tweek the pattern, mailing samples back and forth and fine tuning the technical info. Now multiply that times 18 different fiber artists. That takes dedication. The entire process took nearly two years from start to finish. I must say that I'll never pick up a knitting/craft book and look at it the same way again, knowing now how much time, blood, sweat and tears goes into every picture and project.

If you want to see more of Feltique, please visit the website or check out the Craftzine feature that Brookelynn did on several of the contributors (I'm featured HERE).

Thanks for letting me have a little virtual party here on my blog. My family and non-knitting friends don't "get" it. I'd kinda hoped that being published might validate my craft but they still think I'm on the nutty side with regards to fiber arts. Oh well, guess I'm in good company :)

What a long strange trip its been

Busy, busy, busy. Its now my middle name. So much has happened in such a short period of time. I promise to add pictures before the end of the day (if you don't want to wait, check out my Flickr photostream HERE) but in the meantime here's an update:

Thing 2 was reassessed recently and was found to have severe ADHD and significant problems with executive function. (((sigh))) I know he could have worse things to deal with but I couldn't help but feel bad for him. And contrary to rational thought, I felt like a bad mom because its likely I have it too and passed it on to him. Long story short, we decided to give Straterra a try inspite of my anti-medication stance because he was quite miserable at school. Several weeks in and he's doing very well, no side effects and is thrilled with the ability to focus. Praying that he continues to do well into the future.

My best bud's sister had her twins (the ones that I made the stroller blankets for). I made them some cupcake hats to match their stroller blankies and some teeny tiny socks to keep their little tootsies warm.







We spent Spring break with The Dead (minus the late Jerry Garcia) - thus the title to this post. Thing 1 and King Thing went to the shows in Greensboro, NC and Washington, DC. Thing 2 and I joined them for the show in Charlottesville, VA. It was quite the 90s flashback for me and a first for Thing 2. Thing 1 made his rounds to several shows when he as a baby but of course he doesn't remember any of it. After the kids were quite appauled at first but eventually they settled in and had a blast people watching. I'm always amazed at how laid back everyone is and how the police don't bust anyone's chops. If only the weather had cooperated - brrrrr!





Sadly, during Spring break week, my grandma's sister (Great Aunt) and King Thing's grandmother were both hospitalized :( My great-aunt didn't make it and we said goodbye to her on April 24th. She was one of the neatest people I had the pleasure to know and her antics and eccentricities will truly be missed. I feel blessed to have known her as long as I did. While I'm sad that she's gone, I'm so glad that she no longer has to suffer.

King Thing's grandma is still in ICU, on a ventilator, trying to recover. We feel pretty helpless and just continue to pray. Her recovery is in God's hands and those caring for her now.

I hit Maryland Sheep and Wool in the midst of all of this crazy train that is life and was so glad to have had time to visit with my buds Ei and Heaz.







Look who else we got to visit with - Carrieoke! And we got to meet her sister, Ysolda and so many others at the Ravelry meetup this year. I think this was my fourth trip and the wettest to date - ick! But we still had fun in spite of the rain. Heaz is getting married soon - squeee! Ei and I coaxed each other into buying rigid heddle looms this year so I came home with a Schacht 20" Flip. Wee doggie, there is so much to learn about weaving. I feel like I have to learn yet another fiber related language. Warp, weft, sett, arghhhhh. It's coming slowly but surely and after three practice projects, I've warped the loom for a "real" planned project - a wrap.







Keeping my fingers crossed that I did the calculations right and I have enough weft yarn to complete the project. Math is NOT my forte so I won't be surprised if I'm off in my calculations. I'll just chalk it up to yet another learning opportunity.

So in general, life is crazy but good. The sun and warmth and green is back and I'm loving every minute of it. I've got some other good news to post about but that will have to wait for another post. I promise it won't take me two months to get to it :)