Hello again!

I hope you all are doing well. It's been a busy spring here. Soccer season is coming to an end, the greenhouses are almost empty and the world is once again a beautiful green place.


My daughter took this beautiful picture of a tree blooming in our front yard. I'm so happy that spring is here!
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I've been busy with a couple of designs over the last month or two. Two were extra patterns for the Woolgirl sock club. This club is fabulous! If you ever get the chance to join, go for it. She puts together the best kits that I've ever seen. Every time I am amazed at the quality and creativity that goes into each shipment.
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I've also been spinning a lot. It's so relaxing and it just makes me happy.


These two are the last 2 Spin-along fibers from CJKopec. Inquiry and Midnight Desire. Both werevvery fun to spin and I love how they turned out. Midnight Desire will eventually become something lacy, but I haven't charted anything out for it yet.


This one is the Spin-along fiber from Uniquely Yours for last month. I spun mine with some mill-ends into a bulky single. I love spinning some fat squishy yarns!


Last but not least, and because I am determined to become a good spindler, this little beauty followed me home from the Spinning Loft last week. It's a Greensleeves McKenna Lee in Bolivian Rosewood with a walnut shaft. It weighs 26grams and spins like a dream. Now to actually use it instead of just looking at how pretty it is.

St. Patricks's Day Synopsis (wordy)

Ok, I'm not Irish, I don't celebrate, but I did wear green today. Does that count? At least I didn't get pinched.

A sweet friend reminded me to blog today, so I MADE myself do it. It's been a month again, so it was definitely time.

Things have been a good and bad kind of busy here.

The bad first: We had a lot of water in our basement last week (pump failure) and it has not been fun! We have 2 bedrooms, a family room, and large laundry area all finished down there. All the carpets had to be ripped up, baseboards torn off, EVERYTHING had to be taken out of there, and a cleaning company had to come in. It was ugly. Thankfully it's all dry now, the drywall is patched and we're just waiting to reinstall the baseboards and carpet. I can't wait! All the downstairs stuff NEEDS to get out of the upstairs. The clutter is driving me nuts!

On to the good....
I've been knitting and spinning as much as time permits. I worked on a big project for quite a while. A dear friend from our knit/spin group recently lost her hubby. We wanted to do something special for her, so we all donated a skein of handspun (or commercial or hand-dyed if not from a spinner) and I knit it into a shawl for her. It turned out really lovely and she just loves it.

Here she is, sling and all. She fell and broke her shoulder too. She definitely needed a warm fibery hug from her friends. Here it is on blocking. Excuse the ugly sheet.

It's even more gorgeous in person, and I really enjoyed working on this project. Friends are good. :)

Another great friend from our knit/spin group (Coby from CJKopec Creations) has been very inspiring to me. She can spin the best chunky yarns ever and is a carding master. She recently let me borrow her carder and this is what I created.

I carded about 6oz of wool batts with bamboo and sparkle. They are gorgeous! I can't wait to spin them. So far I'm thinking fingering for a shawl.

I've done a bit of traveling this month too. The first week of March my oldest daughter and I took a 5-day cruise, for her spring break. Then last weekend I went to a fiber festival with a friend of mine (Rita, from Yarn Hollow) to help her with her booth. It was a lot of fun, but hard work. This weekend I am going to a knitting retreat with my knit/spin group at a lodge. Should be lots of fun!

The weather has been great here for 2 days. 65 and sunny. Happy Spring!

Happy Heart Day!

Because I love you all so much, I have a Valentines Day present to share.

A new free pattern to enjoy! Thumbelina is a sportweight sock pattern with tiny twists. It's a very fun and easy pattern. Knit in sportweight yarn it's a fast knit too. You can download it for free here.

Enjoy and have a great Valentines Day!

Note: If you're not a Ravelry member (gasp - run and join NOW!!!), you can email me from the link in the sidebar and I can email it to you.

Over 4 months?

Where did the time go? I really can't tell you. The days fly by. The children grow up quickly. We get older. Time is fleeting, but life is good.

I decided to take a little blogging break and get some other things accomplished. I was talking to a friend today who made a goal for herself. I think it's a good one. She wanted to get back into reading blogs and blogging. I might copy her. I've neglected my blog and my blog reading, and I feel really bad about it. However, I must say I did enjoy my time away.

I've been busy spinning and knitting. Here a just a few things that I accomplished while absent.


Top to bottom, left to right.
1. Finished a pair of socks, well technically 2 and added the pattern to Ravelry.
2. Made myself a cute hat. I love that thing. Chunky yarn, super quick and CUTE! Ravelry details here.
3. Spun some Crown Mountain Farms superwash merino. This was traded to a friend for some cashmere. Oh I love to barter!
4. Spun some mystery dyer merino. I am really enjoying trying to spin a little more chunky.
5. Did some dogsitting for a friend. Isn't she cute?
6. Oh, and Brodie says hi!

I have many more projects to show you and a free pattern to share, but I will post those later this week. I'm so glad "hairy scary" is no long the first thing you will see here if you happen to visit.

Now to remember....

It's been so long I had to remember how to blog! I'm not even sure why I have been avoiding it. Sometimes I just don't feel like I have much to say or share, ya know?
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Anyway, life has been moving along like normal. Kids are in the school routine, oldest is adjusting to college, there's been knitting, spinning and working. Just regular life stuff.
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You won't even believe this if you really know me and my yarn snobbish tendencies, but I knit this:

Yes it's true, I knit that thing (which I unaffectionately call "hairy scary"). You see it all started at a family reunion with um, older relatives. It was mentioned that I knit, and it all went downhill from there. I left with this not-so-desirable yarn in my possession and a happy relative expecting a shawl in return. I did it. I thankfully do not have to wear it! It will be dropped off soon so I don't have to look at it anymore. Heh!
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I have been knitting fun things too. I just started my very first pair of handspun socks.

Who knew you could get so much satisfaction out of knitting with your very own yarn! I can't wait to start another project with handspun. I did finish a scarf from my yarn that will be a Christmas gift. More on that later.
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I have been spinning as much as I can. I am not a fast spinner. I have friends that can blow me away in the speed department. I enjoy the process though, so I really don't mind.
Here are a couple of my latest yarns:

This one I tried a fractal type experiment (I say experiment because I have no idea what I am doing). I love how it turned out. It was 3 separate solid colored rovings that I spun in a pattern. The roving came from this etsy shop. Love her stuff!
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This one is my very first single ply yarn. I am in love with this stuff. I hope I can do it again! It was a merino bamboo blend that I dyed myself. It reminds me of a melon salad.
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I will try to be more faithful and not wait for months to post again. I have a Baby Surprise Jacket and more spinning to show off later. Oh, and that scarf! Now to remember.......

A Month (or more) in Mosaic

Ok, since I am soooo far behind on blogging I have decided to do a little mosaic of just a few of the things I have been doing over the last month or so.



1. Stash enhancement from FatCatKnits.
2. Stash enhancement from Uniquely Yours Fiber Club.
3. Shetland handspun for a sweater for me (I hope I bought enough).
4. Handspun from CJKopec roving.
5. Handspun from above batt (pic #2).
6. Handspun sock yarn from Yarn Hollow wool/silk roving.
7. A visit to Windswept Farms. They have the sweetest sheep I have ever met!
8. I fell in love with a sheep named Zinc from the farm in pic 7.
9. Oh yeah, I had a birthday.

So that's part of what I have been up to in my lazy absence. There has been more spinning, secret knitting, hanging with friends, spinning group every Monday (the best group ever!), work, enjoying time with the kids, camping etc. It's really been a nice summer. Allegan Fiber Festival is next weekend along with another visit to the sheep farm, and I am really looking forward to that!
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We leave for camping again tomorrow. It will probably be my last time this summer unless we decide to head out for Labor Day weekend. I'm going to enjoy it while I can. In just a few short weeks the kids will be back in school, the weather will start to change and before we know it winter will be here. (I know, terrible thought.)
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I hope you are all enjoying your summer as well. Take care!

(If you want to make your own mosaic, you can go here.)

Summer vacation! YAY!

I am busy packing here. We are leaving for a week of camping tomorrow. The trailer is close to being ready, I have started my baking and most importantly, my knitting is packed! I took some socks, the Baby Surprise Jacket pattern (I'm a little scared to try that one), some sock yarn for mini key chain socks and yarn for some market bags. Hopefully that will be enough to keep me busy. I usually overpack and end up not having as much knitting time as I think I will. Better too much than not enough though right?
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We will be in Traverse City for the 4th of July festivities. I think the Blue Angels will be there and I am looking forward to seeing them! Hopefully we will have as much fun as we did last year. There should be yarn shopping, wine tasting, biking, beaching, campfires and lots of food! Sounds fun no? The only thing I am not looking forward to is public restrooms and showers. Sometimes they are just ick! I mean ICK!
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Have a great holiday everyone and I will see you all when I get back!