Breaking up is so hard to do...

Whether it's a boyfriend or a spinning wheel it's so hard to part with your first one! I loved this Double Treadle Ashford Traditional Wheel, but the time had come. After I got the Majacraft Pioneer, which is much easier for me to haul around, as well as my Navajo Supported Spindle for those really small spaces, I needed to move the Ashford along to someone who would appreciate all it had to offer. One really can't handle more than one at a time - come to think of it that goes for men too! 


I'd installed one upgrade, I'd replaced the little things that hold the spindle onto the maiden with the newest versions. They enable me to switch spindles quickly and easily. Maggie Casey had kindly looked it over while I was taking her popular Beginning Spinning Class at her shop in Boulder, Colorado. She declared it "a nice little wheel." Since she's sold them since the 1960's she'd know, and I certainly agree. She also suggested the upgrade I made to it. Maggie mentioned that she thought it had some pretty "tiger wood" on it...see the back leg in the picture and it's natural striping. So, I no longer have to look for a good home for my baby - it's gone to a Crochet designer who wants to be a new spinner and who loves it already! Gonna miss it for a while tho' - just like my first boyfriend!

I'm what? Cleaning....

I watched the Olympic's, lots and lots of Olympic coverage. I knit, lots and lots of knitting, and I drank tea, lots and lots of tea. I really enjoy the Winter Games!


The pattern that started the entire hat obsession was by Susan B. Anderson from her book Itty Bitty Hats. Once I got started I couldn't stop! I'm blaming Susan and her book. I knit hat, after hat, after hat, eleven of them! 


When DGD was visiting us she picked out the Heart on a String hat pattern from Susan's book, as well as the yarn colors for her new hat. After they got home Mom had to buy a new coat for her and low and behold it was a perfect match for the hat. Here's the hat...

Here's another of the darlings...The Little Pink Cupcake Hat. It's smaller than the others and soo cute, if I do say so myself...and I do! 

The I Love Violets Hat (on the left) was the second one I threw in for DGD. Naming them might be almost as much fun as knitting them.

After watching the Olympics and doing all that sitting and knitting I seemed to have been galvanized by all the energy I didn't use watching athletes do their thing in snow and cold and on ice. So now I'm using all of it organizing, cleaning and organizing....Truly, I've amazed myself! 


The closet and bed in the second bedroom have developed into major problems areas, they grow clutter when I'm not looking! Suddenly all the available space, very unfortunately, somehow maxes out. The bed gets totally full and the closet? Much the same. I tossed some stuff out, organized and sorted a lot of things that were already here. And I also dragged like things from various places around the house to be here with their buddies. Oh joy! And, oh ouch! I spent two days recovering from lifting the now sorted and re-filled plastic bins back into the closet.


And that huge Ekorness Stressless chair and ottoman that's been cluttering up my living room has finally gone. gone. gone. AND to a good cause.

A knitting friend's husband and the pastor of their church came to collect it last week -- oh the joy!! They took it off my hands along with a whole bunch of other stuff that I'd been saving and sold it in their semi-annual fund raiser. Color me very happy! But hey, that corner of the dining room now looks a little, hmm....bare? Funny how you get used to things filling a space and don't pay much actual attention to them until they're moved.

It's such a relief to have it just go.  So, tomorrow the garage?????

Navajo Spindle

I've had an impossible time trying to learn to drop spin. After looking at some wonderful videos on YouTube I decided that supported spindling on a Navajo Spindle just might work for me. I have neck and shoulder issues that prevent me from being able to hold my arms up for any appreciable length of time. It's felt awkward and then, after a short while, darned painful.

A friend posted this YouTube video showing Master Weaver, Clara Sherman carding and spinning on a Navajo Spindle. Watching this convinced me that if Clara could do it so could I. Of course I'm ignoring the annoying little buzz in my head that says Psst! She's been doing it her entire life! Then I fell totally in love with a beautiful hand made and decorated spindle called Navajo Sun by Roosterick from his Etsy shop. Along with Navajo Spindles they also sell unique and interesting pewter buttons.

I'm waiting with bated breath for the spindle to arrive....oh I do hope I can make it work. Some places I knit are crowded and have little available floor space to set up even my lovely smaller Majacraft Pioneer spinning wheel. Also it sometimes is just too much to take all the extra stuff along with the wheel and my knitting. This should prove to be much more portable. We'll see how I do.

I recently received my replacement Bass Pro Shop order. The first one smelled very unfortunately of mildew! A fishing rod? Noooo...a Bait Bag...to use for circular knitting needle storage! Mine is the double. 
Details and more pictures can be seen on my Ravelry project page.

Flowered Strips Scarf

  So this test worked out somewhat well. I emailed this from my BlackBerry. I thought it was suppose to end up in "drafts", not be posted directly, as it was. I need a bit more practice. 


This Flowered Strips Scarf is one of the newest scarves for a whole series that are being donated to a DAR home for rescued children. I had fun concocting this. See it on my Ravelry projects page.

'Night 'Night

Here is a worthy use of time and resources you might just have sitting around in your house: Project Night Night. Recycle nearly new children's books and stuffed animals and either make or purchase a blanket to add to the Night Night Bag. The bag is donated to children's shelters accross the country and is the first thing that greets the rescued child when they enter. Many times this is all the children have if they have to be rescued quickly, or come from homes that were destroyed. You can also start your own local version of this by purchasing their bags:
Home page: http://projectnightnight.org
Short video - scroll to second one: http://projectnightnight.org/video.html


A just got back from CO, via a business trip to CA. He enjoyed visiting with out daughters and granddaughter and returned with a calendar. All the pictures are from DGD C and it was created by DD#1. It certainly warms a grandmother's heart...and a grandfather's too! I flipped through them over and over....and I'm sure I will look through all the months again and again...

Round and round

Just found an excellent knitting tip for stranded work in the round on Ravelry: knit it inside out!


The BBerry came back to life after some work and now I have a new problem, double screens when I turn it on. Apparently it reacts slowly and I move fast! I have discovered the red phone button can cure many ills, at least temporarily. I do enjoy using the Storm 2's built-in camera and being able to email, message or send photos directly to Flickr. But using my Bberry seems to be a case of what's going to happen next? I do feel as if I go round and round with it, get one thing figured out or fixed and have another issue....start again....of and the inevitable once a week re-boot, that means you take the battery out. I suppose this clear the cache and whatever else it needs to do to 'think' clearly! :D 


Meanwhile I'm thinking of putting all my FO's into a pile along with the WIP's and trying to finish them all off by entering them into an event in Ravelympics2010. This so I can stop moving them from here to there and around and around, while starting new projects. Which just frustrates me and leaves them unfinished. 


Holy Mackeral....this Oatmeal Cookie Neckwarmer from Mod Cloth is very cool! It really would not be that hard to knit. Or you can buy it from them at $49.99.

Grafting made new.

OMG from a knitting standpoint this is a fabulous new technique for grafting: 
http://www.jonquilmom.com/JonquilMom/Easy_Graft.html