Sunday, June 26, 2005

Good Morning

Good morning everyone....What an absolutely gorgeous day here in NH. Summer has finally arrived. It was in the 90's yesterday and to be the same today.We were on the lake till almost 11:00 last evening. My husband is an avid fisherman. I always back my bag with a book, crossword puzzle and my knitting/crocheting. I will fish for awhile then I get bored. Last night,I made a pair of the crochet flip flops for my 7 year old niece.She picked out the yarn and the flip flops. They are just adorable. The fish did not seem to mind that I was crocheting.I started to read Dean Koontz, "Taken". I had just finished "Life Expectancy", the other evening. I have read every book he has written. In knitting news.........I am working on the Branching Out Scarf. It is a great pattern and working up nicely. I am using some laceweight Frog Tree Alpaca from my stash. I am making this for my Mother in law for Christmas. I finished a pair of socks too. They look a little funny in the photo. I still need to block them. I started the "Go with the flow" socks from Interweave Knits Summer issue. I had about four inches of the cuff finished. I was using "Sockotta" for yarn. I did not think the pattern was showing up with this yarn. I decided to frog them. I need to find solid sock yarn. My LYS never has solid sock yarn in stock.I am hoping Elann will replenish their supply of solid colors. I think I may start the "Cable Rib" socks from the IK Fall issue. I have some left over "Ruby" Mountain Colors Bearfoot. That is the yarn I used for the Shapely Shawlette.I also liked the Brioche helmet hat from that issue too. I am going to make a few for my Hat and Mitten tree.I guess that is all for today. I am going to head out and enjoy this beautiful day.

Socks/

Branching Out Posted by Hello

Saturday, June 18, 2005

Island Pond Spinners and great friends...

First, I would like to acknowledge some wonderful things I have received from blog friends. Maureen over at Batty for Yarn sent me these incredible coasters. They were a thank you gift . These are so beautiful.... I am not sure I can set a drink on them. Check out her blog, it is always a fun read. The lovely Anne, from How the West was Spun sent me the gorgeous roving in the picture. She also sent some lighter brown roving. I have used that to practice with my spindle. Thank you Anne for feeding into my new obsession. I have met the most wonderful people online. They always go out of their way to answer a question or offer advice. Which brings me to my next thank you. Caroline over at Fiber Arts and Furry Critters invited me to attend the Island Pond Spinners. The meeting was last night in Hampstead, New Hampshire. I would say it is about an hour and fifteen minutes from house. I had such a great time!!!! The evening just flew by. Caroline makes the wheel spoke spindles like the one in the picture. I bought one of them from her and it spins wonderfully. She is a wonderful and patient teacher. She spent quite a bit of time helping me work on my technique. I actually was making something that resembled yarn. The women in this group were warm and friendly. One of the ladies let me try her Ashford Traveler. It was pretty comical to watch me with the double treadle. Several of the women had Ashford Joys. I did not try out that wheel. Then Caroline brought in her wheel , which is a Kromski Minstrel. It was the first time I have ever touched a spinning wheel. I was having such a great time, I hated for the evening to end. They meet every Friday at 7:30. I am sure I will become a regular. Of course, I was all fired up after trying the wheels. I drove to the Elegant Ewe today. I tried out a few wheels while I was there. I decided I really need to know more about them before buying one. It is a huge investment and I want to take my time picking the right one. Well....I guess that is about it for today. Hope everyone is enjoying their weekends.

Coaster/

Anne's roving/

latest spindle Posted by Hello

Saturday, June 11, 2005

New pets?

I can't remember if I blogged about the families of geese on the lake. This is one of the families that likes to come and visit. There are nine goslings in this family. That sure seems like a huge brood. The other family had five goslings. The third family has three. They have grown so much in the last few weeks. I'll try to get a picture of them all swimming into shore.Can you see Dad standing on guard over his brood? He really starts squawking if I get to close to his brood. Off to turn the heel on my socks.

Geese



geese Posted by Hello

Wednesday, June 08, 2005

Patternworks tent sale....

I have been meaning to post all week. Last Friday I drove to the Patternworks tent sale. We had to wait about two and a half hours to get into the tent. They hold this event where Keepsake Quilts is in Center Harbor. I think most of the people go for the quilting sale. There were many people in line when we arrived at 8:00 a.m. I remember saying last year ,I would not go and wait in that line again. We had a good time chatting with others in line. I was the only one around me that was there for the yarn. As you can see from the pictures ....I made out like a bandit. I tried to only buy yarn with projects in mind. The three dark grey Galway will become a "Lucy" bag. I love the grey with speckles.Galway is one of my favorite yarns. I am going to make some felted clogs with some of the Galway. The single skein of Cascade 220 will be a pair of the Ballerina felted slippers. The two skeins of light blue nature spun will be a "Flared Smoke Ring"(http://www.heartstringsfiberarts.com/a49.shtm). I won the skein of Brown Sheep Burly Spun. I had to answer a knitting question while waiting in line. I am not sure what I will do with a single skein of that. I know you are just dying to know how much I spent. It all came to a grand total of $38.00 ! You had to go out of the tent to check out. I thought I had spent much more than that. I was tempted to go back in the tent....But, at that point I would have to wait in line again. I was hoping to find some sock yarn too. So..All and all it was a great day and fun was had by all. I just received my Green Mountain Spinnery book in the mail. I am looking forward to sitting down and reading it. I am hoping to practice with my drop spindle later this week. I have been frustrated with still trying to find a spinning guild. I had some wonderful emails from people on the "Spindler" list. I made two more calls today , only to find they have disbanded. There is a guild that meets in Hampstead which is about an hour and twenty minutes away. I may end up going and checking out a meeting there. I was really hoping to find something in the Seacoast. Well....I guess that is it for my update. Happy Knitting friends!

stash/

Posted by Hello

Stash/

Posted by Hello

Wednesday, June 01, 2005

Kool-aid Yarn...

Do you remember the yarn I dyed with Kool-aid in February? The chocolate yarn became a hat and mitten set. The lovely bright green became a pair of cable mittens. I am tucking these away for my hat and mitten tree at the salon. I wish I had thought to take pictures last Christmas. The tree was beautifully loaded with hats and mittens. I received another thank you from the local homeless shelter. The pattern for the mittens is an older Green Mountain Spinnery pattern called Bulky Mittens. It is supposed to be two strands of worsted weight yarn. I used the one strand of the Bartletts because it is a bit heavier. I just ordered the Green Mountain Spinnery book from Overstock the other night. I am anxious to get it in the mail. It is supposed to have thirty of their original patterns. I have not played with my drop spindle this week. I hope to practice some more later in the week. I am still trying to locate a spinning guild in my area. Patternworks in Center Harbor is having their annual tent sale this Friday. I swore I would not go after waiting in line three hours last year. I had a friend ask if I wanted to go....Of course I thought of all the bargains I might find. So...I am off early on Friday morning to drive up to Center Harbor. It is supposed to be a gorgeous day. I will be sure to post all about it this weekend. Off to cast on another mitten....

Koolaid hat & Mittens/

Cable Mittens Posted by Hello