Intrepid Fiber Wizard

There has been knitting

Truly - there has ;-)
In fact...... just this afternoon, before I went out and raked leaves and cleaned gutters, I found these on my feet:

  and why yes... that is some actual sunshine streaming in across the rug!

Now the funny thing about this pair, is that in my sock drawer, I have another pair almost exactly like it....

yeah.. I know... I'm being silly...... so, here are sets for real.

  

The funny thing to me, is that you can truly see the difference between the sock that has been washed in each set, and the hot off the needles one. (new sock on the left in brown-eyed girl yarn, and on the right in the happy together yarn.)

The hand spun yarn really enjoys a good bath.

I am casting on tonight for two more singles, that will complete two more sets. yay..

It's been a glorious fall here.  I enjoy every moment of driving around, even during the rain that has been our constant companion until today.
 
Last week the trees looked like this -

And now this week, they look more like this:

And every once in awhile, you turn the corner, and your breath is literally taken away with the beauty:  

I recently discovered something else that is totally cool..... while admiring trees, and looking up at the sky, I saw that on the top of my office building, all four corners, there are gargoyles!! (well, griffins to be exact.. I think..) Aren't they incredible! They are original to the building, which was built in the early 1900's - one of the first "high rise" buildings out here (all 5 stories of it - grins). I have asked many of my friends who have lived here much longer than I have, and they didn't notice them either -
color me goofy, but I enjoy these little discoveries so much.

Life goes on

I have been missing my family, which is fairly normal I suppose after a lovely visit.

I wonder if those who actually win the lottery spend more time with their beloveds? - for my family and I seem to repeat the mantra "when I win the lottery, I will see you more"

I bought a ticket to the mega millions tonight. 
Music makes me misty - clouds make me melt -

Mom emailed me tonight, telling me of some gorgeous clouds she and Dad saw this evening, and how they both exclaimed that I would have wanted to take photos.
Indeed.
I was even shooting pictures of this evening's sunset as I left the grocery store. Did anyone see it? oh so pretty, and gone in a fleeting moment.

I find that as I age, I tend to enjoy the impermanence of things even more - a flower's bloom, a perfect ear of corn, a sunset that steals your breath away - these are things that matter to me.

There has indeed been knitting in wizard-land...........
two socks, past the heels....
and well on their way to making two new pairs for my sock drawer (lucky me - the mates are already complete!)

I also began a lace scarf with one of the newest yarn sensations, Zauberball...
I am totally enjoying it.
And it will look like something a bit more lovely, once it is blocked.
promise.
It will just take awhile (since each 20 row repeat takes me about 45 minutes. gack!)

I have been feeling sentimental these past few days - wishing that I had more control over the fates - yet at the same time, blessing the universe that I have no control.
M - next time you read this, know that you are still my favorite dance partner (for 45 years) - and this song has been playing in my head, wishing you were closer.

I made a batch of homemade Mac 'n cheese tonight. as you can see, it feeds an army. Anyone wanna hop on over for dinner??  It freezes pretty well, so I can save it if you cannot come by tonight :-)

A few more photos and a completion shot

I have a few more photos that I have now downloaded from my camera - I had such a wonderful time with my folks. Most mornings found me up around 6:15, and off to the beach to greet the sunrise. And at that hour, it was me, the pelicans, sandpipers, ibis and heron. It was a great way to greet the day.

(And if you are here to see some knitting, at the end of this post are some shots of the finished Casablanca sweater ) 

I am having trouble with typepad this morning, and my comments on the photos did not show up - and the writing I did about the sweater appears to be in the middle of a bunch of pictures of the beach..

go figure... and thanks for bearing with me. (grin)

 
 

 



 



 

And now, for some shots of Casablanca (finished end of Sept).
First of all, I love the Rowen cotton/wool blend yarn. It is heavenly to knit with, and does not stretch as much as pure cotton does.

This is a very clever pattern, knit from the top down, with 'after-thought' sleeves. I had fun learning some new techniques on this one.

The only part of the pattern that I thought was a bit difficult, was lining up the sleeve pattern when I picked

up the stitches there and did all the increases. It wasn't as easy as I imagine it should have been.

I ended up doing two rows of single crochet inside the shoulder edge, because it continued to want to fall off my shoulders.

     Worked like a charm.

And now, for my only disappointing situation....

Look carefully at the midriff section of this sweater, and you will see that there is a distinct line across my tummy... ahem... yup.. one ball of yarn is entirely different color.

sigh..

Sometimes dye-lots lie.

I have two balls left of this yarn, and someday I will rip back the bottom HALF of this sweater and re knit the whole thing.(grumble grumble) but for now, it has gone into the box of 'summer clothes' that I just put away for the season.

So, maybe next year ;-)

Next post I will show you some actual current knitting I am doing (smile). I knit two socks to just past the heel flap, and also a bit on a

sweet scarf.

Share and dance

This is a link to something that has been shared around the internet.

http://www.oprah.com/article/oprahshow/20090908-tows-flash-mob-dance

I wish I knew how to imbed the video here, yet I do not...
It is soooo worth watching.
20,000+ people in Chicago, dancing in unison to a song celebrating the 24th season of Oprah, and the song "today's gonna be a good day!"

absolutely amazing, and to be honest it brought tears to my eyes when I saw it this morning.
... because, if 20,000+ people can dance in absolute unison and cooperation to such a beautiful song, then world peace is truly not far behind.

let's all learn this dance. :-)

this morning's sunrise

hello dear ones - I just could not resist sending these photos that I took of this morning's sunrise, around 6:30-7:00 am..... I have had several amazing moments over the last few days, greeting the sunrise here. (again taken with my iphone!)
and for the few who asked, I'm on Marco Island in Florida.

I'm not certain that I can figure out how to answer comments from my cell phone (what with the new typepad and all) yet I will attempt it.
Please know that I appreciate all your comments and I will be home within the week.

 

and yes, it is so beautiful that it can take your breath away at times. And most folks here just have grown so accustomed to the beauty that a walk on the beach at sunrise has become only about 'exercise.' wow.
May I always notice, as I am today,  all this beauty and be thankful.

a view from paradise

 I've been here for a few days - and am truly enjoying the time with my parents.

it is paradise I tell you! I have been being utterly spoiled by my wonderful parents: great food, great company, their lovely home...and an amazing beach to walk within a mile or so... truly, what could be better!

And on one end of the island, there are the "Estates"... and I have decided that if I ever win the lottery, I will be buying a place down here, overlooking Roberts Bay. Spectacular.   (By the way.. these sweet photos are courtesy of my iphone - since I have no idea how to download the ones from my digital camera to their computer... ;-D)  

 

Autumn Mornings

I absolutely love this time of year. The mornings are normally foggy, and the air is filled with dew.

I grab a favorite sweater before heading out the door. It's a time for layered dressing - as our afternoons are normally mid 60's. The rainy season will begin in a few more weeks, but for now, the dahlias are popping up everywhere, the cosmos flowers are the size of salad plates and the maple trees are beginning to turn golden and red.

It is the season of spider webs. 
There is something about them that fascinates me (I think I have mentioned this before). I love the zillions of shapes they take on, the creative places they appear, and how some of them seem to float mid air like a lace curtain waving in the breeze. 

One of my favorite memories about my Dad from when we were kids is a time that involved spider webs. (and those of you who have been reading for years might recall me telling this story a long time ago).  I tell it here again for my brothers and parents...

Back when we were little, living in Upstate New York, my Dad was an MD with a full practice plus hospital rounds. He would rise early in the morning and go to visit his hospital patients before starting his office sessions. One morning in the fall, as he approached the hospital, he saw a sight that was so beautiful that he literally turned the car around, drove back home, and piled Mom and all four of us kids (who were still in pj's) into the car. We drove back and as we came up to the crest of the hill, we all saw what took his breath away -
it was an entire hillside of spiderwebs, woven together on the tops of the grass, dappled with morning dew and positively glistening in the sunlight - a hill full of diamonds.
I will never forget it.
nor the wonderful Dad who knew it was important enough to interrupt his routine and get his children.

I leave on saturday for  a week+  of vacation. I'm going to go and visit my wonderful Mom and Dad, down in sunny southern Florida. It's been too long since I saw them last, and I can't wait. 

Alas, the inevitable

I began knitting socks in 2006.
And soon thereafter, began spinning sock yarn for sale.
And alas... this morning... the inevitable has happened....
sock heel blow-out.

One of my favorites, I might add, a purple "monkey" sock!
Yet, not to worry, I have more of this yarn, and can knit another.
Overall, my evaluation is that 2-3 years of wearing a handspun, handknit sock is a good long time, and well worth the value.

It is only a couple of days until I make my 'get-away' to parts south on my vacation.  I have decided that I needed a few knit project s to take with me (since they are predicting rain for all 7 days that I am there visiting in southern Florida).
And what did I go for? well, socks, of course. The perfect, portable project.

Now, here comes the "confession" part of this post (heh heh).
Once upon a time, when some of you knew me way back when, I was part owner of a fiber/yarn business. And we traveled to many shows every year to sell our yarn & fiber and wheels. Each of these shows needed "booth samples". And since I was selling some very fabulous sock yarn that I designed, I knit SOCK SAMPLES ! (lots of them)
(here's the confession part) in most of the cases, I only knit one of the socks. ahem.
Yup....
and here's the evidence. 11 single socks.

And now, 2 years after the fact, I have decided to finish the pairs (as best as I am able). Thus far, I have found the yarn and patterns for four of the single socks. (and am trying to not act all smug about that !)
I will be taking a couple of these single socks along with me next week - and we shall see what I can accomplish.

There will be no "goal setting" involved, no "deadlines", no rush, no hurry... just a soft, gentle intention to finish up some much needed socks for myself or my kids (we all have the same size feet ;-D

Here it is, Socktoberfest... and I am offering a fun game to all my blogging buddies: show us your stash of single socks... we all know you have one!

It was great fun

Artswalk in Olympia last weekend was fabulous fun. Erin showed about 10-12 pieces, and got rave reviews from this local crowd. 

as with other Artswalk venues, the local businesses open their doors and sponsor   and artist inside their business. All of downtown Olympia was bustling with people until late into the night.
Erin's sponsor was a friend of mine,  Charles, owner of C & D Coffee in Olympia. and it was such a perfect place for her to show her work. By the way.... Charles   makes fabulous coffee, and if you get a chance, stop by and say hello, and tell him we sent you!
We hauled her display material (six enormous (and heavy) solid wood distressed doors) down from Seattle and set everything up in the afternoon for a long evening of fun.


Friends came from all over to see her work, and I am so pleased that the south end of Puget Sound is finally viewing her art. (Previously she has only shown north of Seattle and in downtown).

I took a few photos during the set up, and then quickly became far too engrossed in talking to people to take any photos (sorry).

We had a blast -


drank wonderful cider and coffee, AND.... the best news of all, is that C & D Coffee is going to sponsor Erin again in the Spring ArtsWalk. Hurrah!!!

Thanks to all you dear ones who stopped by and encouraged my fabulous artist. I love her work - and it was so good for her to hear that you did too :-D
(she's finally beginning to believe that it's not just me being "biased")

Both Erin and I came down with the "flu"  after the show (or whatever that nasty sore-throat-cough-sniffle-achy-icky-feeling crud was.) We are on the mend now.

Olympia Arts Walk

If you are in the neighborhood on Friday evening, please stop by and say hello!
My oldest daughter, Erin, will be displaying her original watercolor art.

When: October 2nd 5pm-10pm

Where: Erin is being hosted by C & D coffee shop at the corner of 4th and Washington; specific address: 203 4th Ave E. Olympia

This is a wonderful Arts Walk with music, and indoor and outdoor exhibits

We look forward to seeing you!!