Scenes from the last few weeks

A few shots of what I've been up to over the last few weeks. Time sure has flown by quickly. It has been cold, really hot and now kinda chilly. I've been to the beach twice, the pool many times and got sunburned, yet again. King Thing and Thing 1 refurbished our deck and built a pergola at the beach house. We celebrated the end of the school year for the Things and are so ready to officially kick off the summer in a big way. I've been knitting a bit, spinning a ton, solar dyeing on the deck and am learning quite a bit about dyeing with natural flowers, etc. I planted a garden for the first time in ten years and have been nursing a cold for nearly two weeks. Phew! I'm tired just thinking about the past month.

Clickie if you want to see the pictures even bigger...



Thing 2's year end art project



The beach house pergola project with King Thing and his best bud



Finished my first skein of yarn from my 2008 Maryland Sheep and Wool fleece purchase



Solar Dyed BFL bumps



Gradiant dyed BFL singles



Solar dyeing BFL roving in Copper Penny blue solution



The beginnings of my Morning Surf Wrap at the beach for Father's Day



Our piggie chillaxin on the beach with us



Thing 1 catching a croaker in the sunset at the beach

In Memory of Melissa Valles

I've hesitated for many months to write this post. I'm not sure why. Perhaps because I did not want to write something about someone with whom I'd never met or nor have a connection. I can't even remember how I first learned about The Mother's Day Project almost a year ago. Participants agreed to embroider the name of a woman who had lost her life in the war in Iraq and return them to the designer who would stitch them into a fitting memorial. The concept seemed simple enough. A few weeks after registering, I received a little piece of mostly naked fabric save for the name "Melissa Valles".




What was I thinking? I hadn't embroidered since college and wondered if I could do her memory justice. I meditated long and hard on that fabric before, during and after I finished the simple stitches in a lovely variegated metallic thread. And then I mailed it off, thinking that her name would become a faded memory. But here as another Mother's Day has passed and Memorial Day fast approaches, the name Melissa Valles still floats around in my head and weighs heavy on my heart.





On July 9, 2003, Army Sargeant Melissa Valles was the second woman to die in the Iraq war. She was only 26 years old. At 26, I had just given birth to Thing 2 and our family was finally complete. It saddens me that Melissa never had that opportunity. One of the hardest things to read about her was that her family was stunned to get the news about her death because they believed that "the war was over". Though her death was ruled accidental, her family is still trying to get more information on exactly what happened. I am eternally grateful and humbled by her sacrifice for our country.



I'm no stranger to military life. My dad was career Navy and was at sea on 3, 6, 9 and even 12 month cruises most of my childhood. Memorial Day on a military base and in a military church is a very different observance than in the civilian world. Most in attendance have either lost friends and family to war, are serving in the military, are retired from the military or are military families or friends. But growing up with the military doesn't make it any easier to accept or even begin to comprehend the concept of war. My brother's army reserve unit was activated over two years ago and I pray regularly they they won't be stationed in the Middle East. I'm a nervous wreck that in a few months Thing 1 will have to register with selective service. What if he's called into service? How does a mother prepare for something like that? How did Melissa's mother handle the news when her daughter enlisted in the army? From what I've read, she's still devastated by her death.



During the oddest times, I find myself saying her name out loud. I think its because I don't want to forget it. Ever. I can't help but look into her eyes and see pride. I don't know why, they just speak to me. I will be personally thanking Melissa, her family and the many thousands of military men and women who have died for this country this Memorial Day. And no matter how I feel about war, I will remember that freedom truly isn't free.

Wild Kingdom of Southwest VA

Does anyone remember watching Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom when they were kids? I guess it was the precursor to the Discovery Channel. Between Marlon Perkins and Jacques Cousteau, I was riveted to the tv to get my nature fix when I was a youngster. However, its not so fun to live it if you're a city girl at heart. Over the past couple of weeks, many different birds have converged on our home, making nests in our dryer vents and pooing all over the deck and the cars. I love nature but it has been hard listening to the constant squawk of baby birds til all hours of the night and their skittering in the vents if we wake them up by accident. One nest has flown away and the others are slow to leave. For the second morning in a row, a woodpecker decided to knock on the windows next to my front door and greet me when I opened it as if I was expected to give him something. Do I look like Dr. Doolittle?

The scariest brush with nature was Sunday when a coyote ran through our front yard and disappeared into our neighbor's across the street - all of this in broad daylight. Thanks to the many skunks, deer, foxes and turkey buzzards, I was already skittish about going outside but now I have to worry about coyotes? Mavis was always nervous about going outside at night and perhaps she knew something that we didn't. People, I live in the burbs, albeit adjacent to a golf course which I understand is the culprit. Every year we live here, a new woodland creature appears. I wonder who's next.

Last week, I was in Charm City - Baltimore, Maryland - for a conference. It was nice to be away for a few days without cooking and cleaning duty. I got to see Cal Ripken, Jr., Bishop Desmond Tutu, eat fabulous food, network with 1800 of my colleagues and visit quite a lovely city. I did some knitting during workshops but sadly only finished this one afghan square for Rae's blanket our fiber group is making. The yarn is the Kaffe Fassett Regia sock.



As usual, I had visions of finishing many squares and am not quite sure why I'm always so delusional about how much knitting I can get done in a short period of time.

My favorite part of visiting Baltimore? Getting to visit with Ei and H for the second time in one month. We did ate, drank some great wine, did some spinning, and had lots of laughs. Its so wonderful to pass on a craft. They are far better spinners than I ever was when I first started. I'm so impressed with what they're able to crank out. I worked on spinning up the rest of the 5 oz of the Ruppert's fleece I washed a couple of weeks ago and started plying it last night. I'm thinking of spinning up a bunch of it to make the Drops version of the Hanne Falkenburg Mermaid Jacket. I love the turquoise and blue version but the ivory is so very pretty too. Perhaps I should keep spinning and swatch before I settle on what colors to dye the yarn. I'm not entirely sure that the yarn will have enough drape to showcase the pattern. Keeping my fingers crossed.

Memorial day is fast approaching. I'm looking forward to lots of knitting on the beach, grilling and spending quality time with family and friends. Hurray for warmer weather!

Random Fibery Goodness

Flashing ya some pictures on the fly. I've been on the road quite a bit for both business and pleasure. Attended yet another wonderful, rain-free Maryland Sheep and Wool. Bought some hand cards, ordered a Robins custom wheel (3 yr waiting list so no photos yet), a Woodstock WPI tool (it was his final show before retiring), some yak/merino and yak/silk and BFL from The Fold (sorry not a STR fan so none here) and scored this gorgeous fleece from Rupperts Corriedales (which happened to have a couple of the prize winning fleeces in the show this year).



4.8 lb. Fleece (It's so clean, it brings a tear to your eye)



Close up of its crimpy goodness...



Spinning it up into yarn...

After starting her over a year ago, I finished Sahara just in time to wear her to church for Mother's Day with MacGyver (Mom) and Ebayman (Dad)





Cast on for the Swirl Shawl that was also purchased at Sheeps this year...



Busting the stash of some Malabrigo laceweight in the color Brisa (yummy stuff)

Praying hard for those suffering from natural disasters in Myanmar, China, the many tornados that continue to ravage the US (Virginia has been hit many times over the last couple of weeks) and our local knitting friend, Rae, who lost her home and beloved kitty in a fire last week.

Spin, spun, span?

I've been spinning over the last couple of days. I plan to take Arwen (My Majacraft Little Gem) with me to Sheep and Wool this weekend and needed to get back on my game. Oy, do my poor outta shape knees hurt. But I'm happy to say that I was able to spin up some delightful roving that my fiber pimp - aka Robin - scored on my behalf at last months Knit/Spin group.

Delightful Dave Simpson's Fiber Blends - Lily's Garden
Approximately 4 oz, 26 wpi, spun from the fold





Picked up an old UFO and if I'm lucky, I'll have something to show before I leave for Sheeps. Hope to see some of ya'll Thursday night.

Whirled Peas

Just quickly popping in to say "howdy' and show off the little bit of knitting I've done over the last few weeks. Work has kept me far busier than I've been in ages and I rarely have time to browse blogs, not to mention post. I get a break until mid-May, just long enough to visit my MD peeps at Maryland Sheep and Wool this year and to take a breather (we'll miss you this year, Kels).

Some of the stuff I'm knitting, I can't show just yet. I'm still reworking some patterns in hopes of posting them (easier said than done) soon. To appease those who wonder if I even knit anymore, I present to you a bevy of peas...



The main character from the children's book, Little Pea. What a cute book and a fun toy to knit. The story is about a pea who must eat all of his candy before he can have dessert which is a bowl of spinach. And in case you're wondering, yes Little Pea has freckles. I must give credit to mamaurchin.com/2006/12/23/the-progress-of-a-pea'>Mama Urchin's inspiration. I simply added the mods for the mouth. I made a couple of sizes but my favorite is this smaller pea that uses the Chichi body with the mouth mods.



The smaller pea was given with the book and a baby blanket was used as gift wrap for a baby shower. The larger pea was given to a friend's grandbaby for her first birthday. And the others are still waiting for their faces and just might end up in my Etsy shop.

Happy Spring - Sneak peak at a new pattern

Happy Spring everyone! I finally was able to log into Blogger this morning after many tries yesterday and write this post. Anyone else have trouble with Flickr and Blogger yesterday? Anyhoo, I've been stashing this pattern since August. Now that spring has finally arrived, I can give you a preview of my little flower friends.

Introducing the first of Las Florecitas - Rosa



Florecitas are palm sized flower dolls. Their arms are willowy leaves and their faces are modelled on real flowers. They are designed to sit firmly on surfaces. Suggested yarns include Manos, Malabrigo, Rio de la Plata and other kettle dyed, chunky weight yarns. Rosa is shown with Baby Sweet Pea who will be included as part of an accessories pattern.

(Scroll down for additional photos)

I plan to release several more of the Florecitas throughout the Spring. The pattern will be available through Ravelry but I'm still on the waiting list to add a storefront so it will be a bit longer before you can purchase it. I'd rather give Ravelry the percentage of sales than Lulu or Payloadz so I appreciate your patience. From what I understand, you will not have to be a member of Ravelry to purchase a pattern through them.

I have so many wonderful test knitters to thank for fine tuning this pattern. I'll send them mad props when I post about the pattern going live. In the meantime, enjoy the warmer weather, the longer days and the beauty of the emerging world this wondrous Spring. And Happy Easter, too!

40 Days - Past the halfway point

I'm on Day 26 of Louhi. She had to go into time out the better part of last week because of a challenge I had with one of the charts. Found out that it wasn't me but the chart and after a bit of surgery, I was able to pick it back up and work on it over the weekend. There are a bagillion stitches in each row so progress is slow but steady. I'm not giving up hope but I'll be hard pressed to finish this in 40 days. Here's a quick shot of her Week 3:



Last week was a busy week. It started with a pleasant bang, with a request for me to meet with the Governor as part of a small group of early childhood educators and supporters. You could have knocked me over with a feather. Needless to say, I was in a tizzy all week. And for nothing. Gov. Kaine is the most down-to-earth, laid back public figure I've ever had the pleasure to meet. Here's a shot from the blurb that made it on the news. I'm the one in the shockingly bright green top...



We "chatted" with the Gov. for over 30 minutes. No one ever gets that kind of time with him. What an honor to have been a part of that opportunity. I even got to talk with him afterwards. I'm still shocked that I was asked to join the group.

The day before meeting the Gov., I hosted a Filipino cooking party. Some friends of a friend came over and taught me how to make lumpia and pancit - two of my childhood favorites! Yummmmmmmmmm.





And while Louhi was in timeout, I cast on for a Hokie bird version of Anna's latest creation, "Which Came First?"



and a Baby Kimono using Bernat Cashmere



Yes, indeedy. It was a VERY good week :)

Heartfelt Dolls

(Cue the french music)

Introducing a couple of little additions that were late arriving for Valentines Day.

Pierre



and Jean Claude



Specs:

Pattern: Berroco Heartfelt

Yarn: Araucania Nature Wool Chunky

Mods: Added needle felted eyes, moustache and hair using roving and i-cord arms

These little cuties are so quick to knit up and would have made great Valentines if I'd found out about the pattern sooner. I don't think it was included in the Berrocco Knitbits newsletter and I only found it through Ravelry's new newsletter.

40 days

For Lent this year, I decided to make a commitment - a challenge of sorts - instead of giving up something for 40 days and 40 nights. My challenge (albeit a shorter version): The Louhi Coat by Finnish designer, Tuulia Samela.



If you're on Ravelry, you can access her profile and designs HERE. Click HERE for her blog and the Louhi pattern.

I had forgotten how much I love cables until I started swatching for this project. The twists. The turns. I am so enamored with how each one develops. I'm 15 days into the project and I have a sleeve and am 70% finished with the hem strip.





All out knitting of the body will hopefully commence by this weekend. This thing is going to be blanket sized before its all said and done. This is the only instance where I'm glad that its still cold and will use it to keep me warm in the evenings. I'm sure that I'm overly ambitious in thinking I can finish this behemoth in 40 days but damned if I'm not going to try. By the way, the yarn is Patons Classic Wool in Denim Marl.

Ya'll, I miss my little puppy more than I can put into words. I came home after dropping Thing 2 off at school, opened the door and forgot that her little nose wasn't going to push it the rest of the way open in a possible effort to run away. I swear I think I saw her. I burst into tears, the kind that stain your face for hours and make your chest ache.



These sweeties have helped ease the pain. I can't help but smile when I see them guarding my knitting.





Just look at the detailed paws. Too cute for words. Order your favorite pet or animal from Wee Ones, if you must have some. Thanks CM. I. LOVE. Them!

Superbowl Shaun

I had the most fun watching this year's Superbowl than I have in ages. What a great game and what fun ads. For those who don't know, I'm a HUGE fan of commercials. I might have been the only person in the US who was using the DVR to rewind the commercials instead of the game. My favorite - the Bridgestone "Screaming Squirrel". La casita de Muse loves rodents so we're a bit biased. I had to give the Tide "My Talking Stain" a strong second place. It reminded me of the Steve Correll mumblese from Bruce Almighty.

Oh yeah, knitting. There was quite a bit of that during the Superbowl. I cast on and finished 80% of Shaun the Sheep from the original Patons pattern I was able to find thanks to the kind peeps on Ravelry.



I still have to finish his legs and I'm not sure I will make the sweater or not. And there was no way that I was going to knit and seam a bazillion little pieces so I knit everything in the round. I used Berroco Plush for the body and its not a bad substitute for sheepy looking wool. I used the same ball of yarn for my Snome and had just a titch left over. I love the softness but its hard to keep up with the stitches and its pretty dammed expensive for novelty yarn.

Last week I was in sunny, warm Coconut Grove in Miami Florida. This is the view that I woke up to each morning...



Alas, my trip was for work so there was very little fun except for a wonderful poolside Mojito at our hotel, the Sonesta Bay (their's was hands down the best of all I tasted while we were there) and dinner at an incredible Cuban restaurant. The locals were "freezing" and it was 75 - 80 while we were there. If that's freezing, count me in!

Whilst in the meetings that started at 7:30 and ran until 7 pm each day, I worked on the Wollmeise wrap that I'd cast on the week before.



Thanks to Ravelry, I now have a crazy insane love affair with German and Scandinavian patterns. I decided not to make it a mobius as written because I get claustrophobic. I cast off on Saturday only to find that I'd like it to be a bit longer (its currently 60"). I want something that reminds me of the mountains and bodies of water from the region and love how the main part turned out. I'm going to add on to at least one of the ends, maybe both, and use a drop stitch pattern that will look like rain to add to the motif. I found all but two skeins of yarn in my stash and about 1/3 of it is handspun (Yippie! I'm finally starting to do something with it). I'll do a photoshoot once I can really wrap it around me. This is a very fun and funky pattern!

In non-knitting news, I bought one of those nano ionic hair styler thingies. Doesn't sound exciting but then again, my current blow dryer is 24 years old and refuses to die. Yes, you heard me right, I've had it since I was 14 and its still going strong. Anyhoo, this thing works so well I could just cry. It used to take me 30 - 40 minutes to dry my hair and now I'm done in like 15. For fun we straightened Thing 2's naturally curly hair and POOF, Leif Garrett appeared in our living room. Scary, huh?

Snow Day!!!!

After many weeks of hearing from Thing 1 and 2 "when is it going to snow?" We finally got a decent snow and thus school was closed today.


View from the front door


View from the deck

I love a good snow day as long as we don't get too many of them. Some of the magic of a snow day has disappeared since I've been telecommuting for the last four years and am home most of the time anyway. But it is nice to watch big fluffy flakes of snow fall quietly outside of my office/knitting room window. Even the piggie got to play in the snow though I can tell you that she doesn't like it nearly as much as she does the beach.

Piggie in the snow



Brrr. Let me in guys...

As I mentioned in my last post, I've been a spinning fool since the holidays. For some reason, I hit my spinning stride every January and don't slow down until late Spring. Robin told me about NaSpiMoMo - National Spin More Month that was started by Margene. Its cool to see what people are spinning up daily around the globe. And I'm glad to know that I'm not the only one who tends to spin and pet the resulting skeins of yarn. I hope that this is the year that I actually figure out what to do with some of the yarn.

One of my spinning goals for 2008 is to spin finer weight yarn. After lots of practice and disappointing results, I've finally been able to harness the power of sweet Arwen, my wheel and spin fingering weight plied yarn. These two practice skeins came off the wheel within the last week. Both are 28 WPI (plied) with approximately 110 yards per ounce.

Woodbridge "Raja" gifted to me by Robin




"Creatively Dyed Corriedale"



I'm thrilled that I can spin this fine though its not something I want to do all the time. I feel like a spider spinning threadlike singles except not as fast. I have two ounces left of the Raja and about 6 ounces left of the Creatively Dyed fiber to spin this fine and then I think I'm going to take a break from fingering weight fibers. The fun part about spinning the Creatively Dyed roving is experimenting with how I split the roving. The first ounce was split in half and then torn into 8 inch sections in an effort to produce long lengths of color. The second ounce that I'm working on now was also split in half but then I split each length into 6 sections. I can't wait to see how different each ounce spins up.

Not much happening on the Jeanie front. I've knit almost an inch over the last day or so its almost mini skirt length.



Since Jeanie will take many a fortnight to finish. I plan to periodically distract you with other FOs. Like these convertible mittens that were finished and gifted to a friend's daughter after the first of the year.



I'm about to cast on a couple of Shaun the Sheep projects to help break up my current knitting boredom. Anyone have some ideas on what I should cast on next?