Woolythyme

Weekending.....

 

 When you are 7 and 8, it's all about sports.  Notice the mixed-media going on....we have a football teeshirt,  a St. Louis cardinals baseball hat, and....Grandma's "basketball" jammies (we're just trying them on...they aren't to be worn in public!!!).

This week was our Quilt Week; thousands and thousands of quilters come for the show, vendors, classes, the museum, and activities.  So many folks come to our little town, that we're encouraged to open our homes (sort of a B & B) to help with the housing.   We had two appraisers (over the years they have become friends) staying in our little "house" in our backyard.  (originally, the cook's house in the '20s when our home was built--believe, me, no cook living out there now!!!)  

You just can't help but be caught up in the sewing enthusiasm, so out comes the sewing machine.  The boys asked for Grandma jammies a couple weeks ago.  (Also, when you are 7 and 8 you aren't very discerning about quality!)  Perfect opportunity to whip up a couple pair while the mood strikes.  I used Simplicity3987 and you can't imagine my delight when I discovered these jammie shorts bottoms (thank goodness they only want the bottoms!) had only one piece!!!  ONE piece!  This pattern was a definite winner! (I did have to cut that one piece twice, but hey, that works!) The boys like their jammies L-O-N-G so I added the contrasting band around the legs.  On the first pair, this was simply decorative---the second pair, hmmmmmm, I felt sort of like a quilter.....surely I have some "sporty" material that will work with the blue (that I ran out of)  in my "stash" (yes, I have a very mini-fabric stash).  Got lucky finding some basketballs to go with the UK basketball print.  (Rather be lucky than good.)  They're happy with their shorts and I got to play "quilter" this weekend.  I'm happy, too.

Flowers for Leontien

Joining A Rural Journey in sending love, prayers, peace and hope to Leontien.

Single moment.....

Joining Amanda at Soulemama for a single photo from the week.

 

Yarn along....WIP Wednesday

 

 

 My book this week is Sunflowers by Sheramy Bundrick, an historical fiction story about the tormented life of Vincent Van Gogh during the time he painted in Arles.  It is told from the perspective of Rachel, a young prostitute, who falls madly in love with the eccentric painter. So far, I'm enjoying it very much (close to a million years ago I was an art history major, so I'm always a sucker for a good art story.)  Ms. Bundrick is an art historian and professor at the University of South Florida; the book seems to be very well documented, and there is a nice bibliography for further study at the end--as well as reading club questions.  I still have quite a ways to go...I just got to the "ear-part"! 

 On the needles...is an Alice Starmore shawl I volunteered to knit for a friend.  This was a kit her mother-in-law bought years ago, and sadly passed away before she had a chance to make it.  Carol was the most incredibly talented, generous knitter I've ever known; I'm honored to have the chance to knit this for her daughter-in-law.  The instructions (for an Alice Starmore creation) are very straightforward....but rather than saying....

"repeat pattern for xxxx inches"  

it says:    "repeat the 12 row pattern 50 times.  600 rows in total."  

I can't help myself...when the pattern has a specific row count listed, I immediately start "doing the math"...if I knit 12 rows a day, I'll be done in 50 days, BUT if I knit that repeat 2x/day, then it's done in 25 days, and figuring somewhere I'll have an extra good day, this could be finished in 3 weeks!  It really didn't take ALL THAT LONG to do the 12 row repeat...maybe I could do 4 repeats a day...then I'll be finished and have it blocked and sent off by Mother's Day---Carol was her mother-in-law---that would be cool.  

(Of course, this will never happen, mainly because I spend so much time figuring out how long it will take to finish, rather than just knit.  And I really don't get it.....I'm totally a process person--not a product person..........unless they give me a row count.)

 

Joining Ginny for yarnalong!  Hop on over for great book suggestions and knitting inspiration.

There are buttons.....and then there are BUTTONS!!!!

A few weeks (months?) ago I made some Owl puffs.  They were fun to make and I decided to make more (and more).  I've got a plan for them, but it's sort of a surprise, so I'll save that for later.  In making these cute little critters, I quickly ran out of appropriate sized buttons for the eyes.  (NOTE:  like my yarn collection, I have NOT run out of buttons....just black/grey/blue eye-sized buttons!!!!)  

So today, I meandered to Hobby Lobby; rejected the buttons in the sewing department--too expensive.  Rejected the buttons in the craft section--too colorful.  BUT, the buttons in the scrapbooking section was JUST RIGHT!!!  (Did you know to look there?  I sure didn't--very helpful worker-person directed me.  BIG bag of assorted buttons--and it looked like there were a bunch of black and grey ones in the bag.  PERFECT.)

 Look at all of them.  There are enough "eyes" in there for dozens and dozens of owls.

 

But there is so much more......

Sparkly ones....

Fun ones....

(have you ever seen a tent button? or a pretzel? or a set of spoons????)

BUT, here was the real treasure.........

27 of them.... (TWENTY-SEVEN!!!!)

SWEATERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Weekending......

 

Road trip!!!  And it was a really really really fun one!

#1 Daughter and Miss V and I headed to Atlanta Thursday.  A six hour trip turned into about a nine hour ride...the lure of Target was too much to resist, and that put us just late enough to land right in the middle of Chattanooga's rush hour traffic.  Oh, well.

 Destination:  Stitches South.   We've all been to Stitches events before.  Actually a lot of Stitches events, and have taken a load of classes over the years.  This year...we  decided to go for just the market---and needlepoint classes.

Friday morning, found us here.

We discovered Cast-On Cottage years ago and at least one owner ago....when #1 Daughter and I took a class there with Vivien Hoxbro.  It is still one of my knitting highlights; a member of the Atlanta guild generously offered us a place to stay----and Vivien stayed there, too.  

Fast forward...... a new owner--and a slight change when Teresa combined the yarn shop with a needlepoint shop.  Two years ago when we last visited, we all bought needlepoint (#1 daughter still had the receipt in her bag, and her needlepoint pretty much hadn't been touched.)

I had put my piece on a frame.  That was about it.

  Miss V was the one who "organized" us, decided we all needed to take a lesson and get back into this, and what better weekend than Stitches??? 

They both really got into this.  Our teacher was great--and fun.  But, honestly, how could I concentrate on needlepoint when I was looking at this?????

Cast-On Cottage in Roswell, GA really is one of the nicest yarn shops I've ever been in.  Comfy chairs all over--an available computer to check out ravelry patterns (and stuff in my queue), lots of samples made up, and THE BEST yarn selection ever.  Just about everything I had on my "wish list" for the market, I found right here.   (and remember, my list was rather long!!)  I had a ball.  We spent the better part of Friday here, and I left the better part of my allotted market $$$$, but by afternoon we decided we really did need to at least cruise the market before the fashion show (for which we had advance tickets).

Isn't he cute?  He was the "greeter" in the market!  Maybe not quite as many vendors as in years past, and some of the "big" ones (Kansas Yarn Barn and WEBS) weren't there, but that didn't keep us  me from getting into major fiber trouble again...twice in one day. (You'll have to just keep checking back to see all that I bought--I can't bring myself to write it all down. )

The fashion show was fun.  We probably did more knitting than watching, but, then, that's what we always do.  Can you believe, though, I won a door prize????  A shawl kit!!!  Right down my alley.  I actually really liked that shawl, too.  (It's going to be in the summer Knitter's Magazine, so I didn't get to bring it home.)

Some of the best parts of these kind of weekends, though, is reconnecting with old friends and making new ones.

Being inspired...and humbled...

This is Cee Cee, the 9 year old who is responsible for the Elephants for Joplin.  She's been knitting since she was 4, has raised an amazing amount of $$$$ for the children of Joplin, and has big plans for expanding her mission work.  Isn't she adorable?

 

And of course, learning new skills.

Help out a friend, and never stop knitting...is that great, or what???

a single moment......

joining Amanda at soulemama with a single photo from the week.....

 

Liebster Blog Award.....

 

 

 

                                                                  

 Have you all met Amber?  I'm not sure how I stumbled into her blog--or if she hopped into mine first, but her Rowan and Oak is a must-read for me.  I check her posts daily.  She is a young mom with two of the most adorable red-haired children; she sews for them and for Alice (#1 dolly).  Her photography is amazing.  She's an herbalist and she shares incredible information about her herbs in such a way that you KNOW she LOVES what she does.  (I'm still looking for miner's lettuce--last week I didn't even know there was such a thing--now I NEED SOME!)  But the most amazing thing to me is that somehow we connected--and she's not a knitter.  (If I lived next door to her, I'm sure she would be.)  I love getting caught up in her passion for her young family and her herbs--and she obviously has gotten something from this grandma and my knitting, because she most generously awarded me the Liebster Award for small blogs.  (Before I could "accept", though, she had to show me how to get the little Liebster logo onto my blog----I'm hopeless....I'm always surprised when my posts actually POST!)

The rules here are pretty simple....you just pass the honor forward to three deserving small  blogs.  They, then, give the "award" to three others, and link back here.  Of course, I have no idea how to figure out how many people read blogs (and Amber tried to tell me, but honestly, one computer thing a day for me is my limit----and I'm pretty excited about the logo thing, because MAYBE  just maybe I can figure out how to get the Ravelry button on my sidebar????)

Anyway, I'm known to change the rules..... I haven't been blogging all that long, so these blogs I'm passing this award on to may have already won this award in the past, and may have (probably do have) so many readers that they don't  qualify as small blogs, but here goes:

Tracey at Clover was, I think, my very first blog friend.  Her blog is a tranquil escape....her posts a delight, her thoughtfulness so much appreciated.  Every post begins with a quote, and how she manages to match her quotes with her topic of the day never ceases to amaze me.  They are PERFECT.  Right on.  Never fails.  While she pooh-poohs her photography as just this little point and shoot (?????) it's stunning--and how she nestles her knitting amidst her gardening passion is breathtaking.  Her knitting....she calls herself a new knitter, but she performs like a pro.  She has a huge following.  I'm one of them.  I still think she deserves this award.

Karen at Pumpkinsunrise was I think maybe my second blog friend.  A knitter extraordinaire!!!  Such an inspiration--and such a kindred spirit.  We read the same books, we knit the same patterns, we have a grown daughter and grown son (although mine are more grown than hers!).  And her Frodo was my Freddy's first blog buddy.  I think she, too, has a vast following--see I'm not following the rules at all here--but just on the outside chance you haven't stumbled into her world....please do.  You won't be sorry.

My third nominee is a new-to-me blog....Laura's Sew.knit.grow.  Another young mom, doing it all, and doing it all right.  Such an inspiration--and she catches some of the funniest moments in the day.  Like I said---I'm new to her blog, but she's one of the reasons the sewing machine is going to make an appearance one of these days soon!

I'm in and out of so many wonderful blogs throughout the week--thank you all for sharing parts of your day with me, and for being a tremendous inspiration.  I send you all the above orchid...photo taken last spring in Costa Rica.  Our guide said it blooms for one day---once a year--and we were there for it.  (the next day, it was gone--I checked.)  I'm afraid I have no idea it's name.  I just call it Beautiful.*

 

*Amber thinks it might be a vanilla orchid.  I believe her.  It's still Beautiful to me.

Yarn along....WIP Wednesday

On the needles are some things that have been lingering a bit....the orange blob is the ethereal triangular shawl by Lakshmi Juneja.  I have quite a bit of the Classic Elite Silky Alpaca Lace yarn, so decided to make this a full size shawl; I'm on the seventh repeat of chart 1, and will probably do a couple more before the deep lace edging.  I'm in this one for the long haul.

The beige is Java socks for PapaGeek; one sock done and it fits and he likes it.  Too bad I showed it to him, because now he sort of looks at what I'm knitting....not saying a word, but I know he's thinking....what about my sock??  I love the madelinetosh sock yarn, so this one will get done sooner rather than later.

The stripey bright is the Berroco sox I got last weekend; mindless "vanilla-sock" pattern that's good for a read-along; I just started them, but they'll probably be the first of the three finished.  That's just the way things go sometimes. (They are PapaGeek's, too--he'll be happy.)

I finished reading Winter Sea from last week and just loved it--historical fiction with a modern connection.  Highly recommend it.  This week I brought home Almost Amish, and am not loving it quite as much.  It's yet another book on the virtues of simplifying one's life--using the Amish lifestyle as a model.  The writing seems a bit forced, slightly preachy.  I thought I would love this, because one of my all time favorite books is Plain and Simple: A Woman's Journey to the Amish by Sue Bender.  I pulled it off the bookshelf, flipped through it,  and immediately got sucked in once again.  A much better choice.  This is the story of Sue Bender's love affair with Amish quilts--her need to learn more about them--her attraction to the faceless dolls--and how they connected her to the Amish community--and ultimately how she spent a year living with an Amish family.

"Before the visit to the Amish, I was proud to make art--precious objects to be seen in a gallery......"    " (now) I looked at their life and saw it as art."  One woman's awakening to the importance of simplicity as well as a tribute to the community that helped her on her journey.  A really really good read.

joining Ginny for Yarnalong--what are you reading????

Ta-Dah Tuesday.....

It's official.  I no longer have enough of any one kind of yarn in the stash to make a sweater!  I can't believe it myself.  Now, don't get me wrong.  I have yarn.  Lots and lots of yarn.  Just not enough to make (myself or any other grown up) a sweater.  The last of the "sweater stash" turned into the Sampler stitch shawl.  I bought the yarn years ago for a cute little croppy pullover.  

1. I don't wear stripey sweaters.

2. I have too many croppy sweaters I don't wear.

3. This yarn is aran wt and I don't do aran weight sweaters.  

No wonder it's been in the stash so long.  I'm rather happy with it as a shawl (since I've obviously been on a shawl kick recently).  The yarn is Taiyo by Noro, a cotton/ silk/ wool/ nylon blend.  I think the long repeats of color work well with this pattern.  As so many of the Noro yarns, this had a lot of debris that had to be pulled out as you knit--and far too many places that were arbitrarily tied together.  I probably would have not been happy with this in a sweater, but really didn't care with the shawl.  

And my timing (for a change!!!) is impecible.....I leave for Stitches South on Thursday!!!  I go to the market with a 100% totally clear conscience!!  (and a very long list of sweaters in my queue!!!!)