For the Love of Fiber

Marching On

Another Sunday. Signaling that the weekend is coming to a close. It's been a beautiful one here in southwest Ohio. Sunny, cool, crisp. Love it! The temps in the mornings have been in the 30's. This morning, the day started off at 29 degrees. It warms up to the 50's which is very pleasant for a nice walk or a sit in the sunshine. Wrapped up in hand-knits, of course.

Martha and I were heading to spinning last Thursday night and spotted one end of a rainbow. I pulled the car over and both of us took pictures. Then, we proceeded on. We grabbed a Starbucks coffee at Kroger's to take with us to spinning and when we came out, both ends of the rainbow were visible. So pretty.

Yesterday was Saturday knitting at Dorothy Lane Market. We had a small group but big fun, as usual. 

Ande was knitting the Easy Drop Stitch scarf. You can find the free pattern here. Quick knit on #10 needles.

Christie had finished a nice warm hat for Max, her grandson, who loves grandma's hand-knits.

Pam was working on her Oregon Tote.

I worked on my sock yarn blanket and yet another pumpkin hat.

Tracey stopped by with her little monkey. She knit Ian a sock monkey hat several months ago and has made him a sock m monkey suit for Halloween to match. His suit is made out of 2 pairs of socks and comes complete with a tail! He was so cute!

Andy has been working hard in the basement over the last several weeks. There's a very real possibility that he may have go to Virginia to work when his plant here in Ohio closes. They will probably want to keep him on for awhile to help them get everything set up and running at the Virginia plant. I have mixed feelings about this. If he hasn't found another job by then, the plus side will be the continued paycheck. the negative - I HATE the idea of helping this company do anything. They've been so nonchalant about moving him (us) to Ohio, cutting his salary, working him seven days per week for months, wanting him to go back to Virginia, etc. All after 39 years of hard work, long hours, and sacrifice on his part. I hope he finds something else soon. Can you tell this is a hot button for me?

Anyway - back to the basement. He's been working in the basement lately to try and get my studio ready to go. There are now walls and a door separating the furnace and water heater area from the rest of the basement (top photo). The bathroom walls and door are up just waiting for the toilet and sink (photo on right). The space under the stairs is now walled off for storage and has a door (photo on left). A lot of the outletsare done, as well. We still have to paint the new walls, do the ceiling, lighting, and floor (tiles).  We also have to put in the stove from my old studio and a sink in the kitchen area where I'll make soap and dye wool and yarn. There's a lot to do but we're making progress. I can hardly wait for it to be finished so I can get everything in its place. 

Next weekend begins the holiday season in Waynesville, OH with Hearth Warming Holidays. Haberdashery (and here) is a cute shop on the main drag in Waynesville and Patti carries some of my products. Currently she has soap and sugar polishes. I was in the soap pot today making holiday soaps - Mistletoe, Apple Jack, Orange Spice, and Peppermint Twist - for her in time for next weekend. She may add lip butters, as well. I'll post pictures when the soap comes out of the molds. They smell like the holidays!!

Have a good week! 

Precious Punkin'

Bet you can't guess what Landen is going as for Halloween!

A PUMPKIN!  

The cutest pumpkin in the whole big pumpkin patch!

Or, maybe he's just in disguise!

These pictures are just adorable! What a cute idea. I'm not sure Landen totally
agreed, though. 

There were a couple of pictures where he looks like ----

OK. Nice trick.

HEY!, Where'd they go??

They're not going to leave me in here, are they??????

MOMMAAAAA! 

Oh, how I wish I could read his mind!

A Bit Frosty

It was just a bit frosty Saturday morning. 37 degrees. Nippy. And, I LOVE it! 

When there's a chill in the air, the colors seem sharper and I have so much more energy. 

I worked a bit overlooking the pond with its steam rising. The orange of the mums and the pumpkin seemed to glow they were so bright.

Then, it was off to knitting at Dorothy Lane Market. 

Karen finished her froo-froo scarf. The color is perfect for her. 

Donna was almost finished with a baby hat from the 60 Quick Baby Knits with Cascade 220 Superwash. She has to knit and add the bow. This is a great book full of terrific patterns. Plus, who doesn't love Cascade yarns? Quality yarn that's reasonably priced in tons of wonderful colors.

I've been moving right along on my Sock Yarn Blanket. I took this picture on Saturday but have knit about 6 or so more squares since then. 

I also finished Landen's new (bigger) Candy Corn Hat. I'm sure this one will fit. However, it looks cute as a decoration all over the house! I had fun taking pictures of it amongst all the other Halloween decorations. Gotta get it in the mail today so he can be wearing it this week.

Now, to just get a picture of the hat on Landen's head!

Happy Monday, everyone! 

 

 

Pink Ribbon Spinning

Thursday night is a spinning night. A small group of us meet at Chapters, a used bookstore, in Lebanon from 6:00 PM through 9:00 PM to play with fiber.

Last night, we honored Martha who is undergoing treatment for breast cancer. This is her second go-round with this ugly disease and we, along with a lot of folks from Ravelry, saw fit to shower her with gifts to encourage and support her. 

So many people from Ravelry groups that Martha belongs to sent gifts and cards. There was a yarn bowl, handmade soap and cream, lots of lots of roving and sock kits, a Bosworth boat shuttle, a Moosie spindle, etc. 

We had a great time together and Martha will have lots of things to keep her busy while she fights and heals.

Martha's daughter, Greta, is a new spinner and joined us. She's doing a great job - just spinning away. Since Martha has sheep, alpaca, llama, and Angora goats, Greta will have an endless supply of fiber to spin.

Lisa was spinning a gorgeous roving staight from the fall trees. With its deep forest greens, rusts, and golds, this roving screams  AUTUMN! The roving is one of Kimber Baldwin's creation. You can check out her site, Fiber Optic Yarns, here.

Missy, Lisa's daughter, was spindling roving that looked like cotton candy. 

Kathy is a spinning fiend! She was knitting the Saroyan Scarf from a ball of handspun. She also had four other skeins of handspun yarn with her that she had spun. All were just beautiful! She was knitting a gorgeous shawl spun from Fiber Optic roving in bright colors. So pretty! 

Kathy recently gave into temptation and ordered a Golding spindle. Here it is! Golding spindles and wheels are fantastic. I had the opportunity to test-spin one of his wheels at Maryland Sheep & Wool one year and it was different than any other wheel I've tried. I think if you looked at it hard, it would spin all by itself --- that's how smoothly and easily it spun.

I took my knitting and worked on my sock yarn blanket and a new (bigger) candy corn hat for Landen. I'm plying on my wheel and it's just too cumbersome to haul the wheel, the bobbins, and the Lazy Kate.    

A couple of neat sites re: breast cancer - The Scar Project - a haunting collection of photos featuring breast cancer survivors. You can view the video of the photos here. Theres's another site that is very clever - Tit-Bits. You can make your own tit-bits or make some for a friend with this pattern published by Knitty.com.

Tomorrow is knitting at noon at Dorothy Lane Market in Springboro. If  you are in the area, please stop by and join us.

Hope your weekend is productive and relaxing!

Back In O-H-I-O

We made it back home Sunday. It's a really easy drive to / from Ohio and Virginia --- just too long. 

Wanted to show you a couple more pictures from our trip. Of
course, they involve babies! Landen - since I can't post pictures of Blakeney. 

Here is Landen enjoying a stroller ride up and down and up and down and up and down the street in his pumpkin hat. He really likes to GO! Loves to be walked around and loves to ride in the stroller. He really likes the breeze and just looks all around.

Eryn and Brian gave him a little toy that suction cups to surfaces. Here he is while we were eating dinner just laughing at that toy. It made all kinds of noises. He loved it!

Mom and Daddy drove up to Richmond on Saturday. This was their first meeting with Blakeney, too. I'm so thrilled that they get to experience two great-grandbabies.

Here, Landen is just hanging out with his Dad, Taylor, on the back steps at Brian and Eryn's house watching the backyard activities. We had a good time playing Cornhole and throwing things for Darby (one of Brian and Eryn's pups) to fetch.

Darby is amazing! Brian has worked and worked with her on agility. She is a very smart pup and just watches him to see what he's going to tell her to do next. She would fetch balls and Frisbees until your arm fell off from throwing them. When your arm fell off, she'd fetch that for you, too! She's getting some Frisbee action in this picture - jumping over Brian's back to grab it.

Here, Landen enjoys sitting in his Mom's lap. Rachael is such a great new mother. So relaxed with him. And, have I mentioned on here how I love how she laughs? Landen will enjoy that, too - no doubt. She will definitely bring a sense of fun to his life.

It kills me not to be able to show off Blakeney but I promised! Again, you'll have to take my word for it -- she's precious!

Now, on to fibery things.

I started the Tuscany Shawl by Amy Singer and featured in the book, No Sheep For You, last year before all the baby news and marathon baby knitting. With the pumpkin and candy corn hats done (although, I need to knit a bigger one for Landen) and before the stocking cap knitting begins, I want to finish this shawl. I LOVE it. More details later on the yarn I'm using but I can tell you that it's merino wool, silk, and bamboo. Very soft!

Last night, I went to Main Street Yarns and participated in a Sock Blanket Knit-Along. Lisa has been working on hers for months and it's gorgeous. I think enough of us bugged her about showing us how until they started the 3rd Monday of the month Knit-Along. I did four squares and started on a fifth. It's SO much fun! I'm using a #2 double pointed needle. I'm using double points just for the short length - don't need to the two points. You can find pictures and the free pattern here on Ravelry. This is such a GREAT pick up and put down project. Very portable, too -- just sock yarn scraps, short needles, and scissors. If you live in the Mason, OH area, we'd love to have you join us at the yarn shop on the 3rd Monday night at 6:00 PM for the Sock Blankie KAL. It's absolutley addicting!

Tonight, I taught another felted bag class - the Oregon Tote. Two of the gals had finished theirs and everyone else is close to the end. Here is a picture of Maureen's (on the left) and Elizabeth's (on the right). Several of them added pockets to the inside or outside. Here you see Maureen's cell phone pocket. Elizabeth is almost finished with a second bag!  Marian also started a second bag. All of these ladies, Pam, Amy, Marian, Maureen, and Elizabeth, were in my beginner knitting classes over the past two months and really did well. When they finished the beginning class, they started right into the felted bag class. You go, girls! Knit ON!

'Til next time!

Fun In The Commonwealth

Here we are in Virginia - the good old Commonwealth. The weather on the trip down was rainy and cloudy. Better to drive in than bright sunshine, I think. The foliage colors were very pretty. They always seem brighter once we cross into Virginia.

We planned our visit to Richmond to meet our grand-daughter, Blakeney. She's a little over one month old now and just as cute and sweet as can be.

We picked this time to visit because Rachael is on fall break from college. She arrived last Wednesday, also. So, we're getting to see BOTH grand-babies on this trip. Landen has changed SO much since we saw him in June. 

I made Candy Corn and Pumpkin Hats for each baby but Landen's Candy Corn hat is too small. Will have to make him a new one pronto because Halloween is coming! 

We met Rachael, Taylor, Landen, and my friend, Nicole, at Baker's Crust for lunch today. Landen liked walking around outside in the breeze better than sitting inside at the table.

Here's Landen modeling his Pumpkin Hat. He's not quite sure about it.

I have been taking pictures of both babies like crazy. My son and daughter-in-law have asked that I not put any pictures of their daughter on the internet so you'll just have to take my word for it that she's absolutely precious!

Gorge-ous

I am lucky enough to have to cross the Caesar Creek Dam overlooking Caesar Creek Gorge just about daily. I love it!

These cool mornings, there is usually mist rising from between the trees. The colors seem to have already peaked and a lot of the trees appear to have lost their leaves. Maybe it was just the light -- I think it's more colorful in the morning light.

If I turn my head and look off the other side of the dam, I see the lake. 

I love watching the seasons change in these two areas - especially the gorge. 

It's just gorge-ous!

We Went, We Saw, We Ate Kraut

We headed to Waynesville early this morning. We got there in plenty of time for the 9:00 AM opening time of the Sauerkraut Festival.

This smiley balloon was floating overhead to greet everyone. It looked so close - just floating along right over the Highway 73 and 42 intersection at the entrance to Waynesville. 

The weather was just perfect for an outdoor fall festival. 

The Sauerkraut Festival, for those of you who have never attended, takes place on the main drag of Waynesville, OH. The main street is about one mile long and there are vendor booths set up along both sides of the street. They are also set up along both sides of several side streets, also.  In addition to the festival vendors, all the shops are open, too. Lots of possibilities! 

There was a lot of crafty stuff there and then there's some very nice arty stuff, too. Something for everyone's taste and wallet. My favorites - Susan E. Hunt's enamel work (pins, earrings, and framed pieces), Maria Pfropper's folk art, and of course, Jason Bove's pottery.

There was lots of food vendors - pork tenderloin with sauerkraut, potatoes with sauerkraut, sauerkraut pizza, sauerkraut balls, kielbasa bites, mini-donuts, funnel cakes, fudge, taffy, cotton candy, candy apples, apple flappens, pulled pork with sauerkraut, brats and Polish sausages with sauerkraut, Reuben sandwiches, fried mushrooms, deep fried candy bars and Oreo cookies, etc. We sampled the apple flappens, the mini-donuts, the mushrooms, and dined on sauerkraut pizza for lunch.

I complimented this fellow on his millinery finery. Loved it! The girl in the sock monkey hat wasn't bad, either. The sausage and kraut hat was definitely a festival fashion statement.

I would love to know how many people the festival attracted in its two-day stint. Gazillions, I'm sure! This picture shows about half of the street. Wall-to-wall people as far as the eye can see! 

Well, it's back to pumpkin hat knitting for me!

Mum Is The Word

The mums in the pots on the dock are gorgeous! They're much more orange than in this picture. And they're perfectly round. I love orange - such a happy color!

No good news on the job front for Andy. He had an offer for a four year stint in China setting up a plant but I don't think that's a good option. So, keep those fingers crossed - the days are flying by.

He's been busy working in the basement on my "studio". The painting (Golden Fleece by Sherwin Williams) is done except for the new wall he's put up to separate the furnace and water heater area from the rest of the basement. He also has to put up walls to make a small bathroom area. He's into wiring now. I can hardly wait! I'll finally get to unpack all our stuff from the move. I'm missing SO much stuff.

Our chef son, Taylor, moved to Richmond, VA on September 30th. He and his business partner will  be opening a restaurant there in a few months. They are busy working on the theme, PR, etc. I'll keep you all posted so those of you in the Richmond area can go try it out. I'm nervous as can be --- so hope it will be a huge success. Rachael and Landen had to stay in Columbia, SC so she can complete her senior year in college. I hate that they have to be separated but this was an opportunity that Taylor (for him and his little family) just couldn't pass up.

Landen is four months old now and went for his check-up this week. He's 17 lb., 27 inches tall, and cutting two bottom front teeth! In this picture, he is sampling chocolate fingers. MMMM good! What a sweetheart!

This week will find us traveling to Richmond, VA to see Blakeney (born August 29th to Brian and Eryn) and Landen! Rachael will be on fall break so we timed our trip just right. She's coming to Richmond for her break so we'll get to see everyone. Mom and Daddy will drive up one day, also. This will be our first meeting with Blakeney. I can hardly wait! I have candy corn hats and pumpkin hats all ready to go! The cousins are a little less than three months apart in age and I'm thrilled that they will be in the same city eventually.

This weekend is the 42nd Sauerkraut Festival in Waynesville. Traffic was crazy insane today and probably won't be any better tomorrow. People who have driveways near town are charging $5.00 per car to park. I saw one corner eating establishment that is charging $10.00 per car. The weather was great today and will be tomorrow, also. Perfect for an outdoor festival. Andy and I will do our usual - go early tomorrow morning. We can make it all the way down to the end of the street with no one in front of us. Then, we turn around to head back and there are a gazillion people to walk through. Of course, there is tons of good food - lots of it sauerkraut related but I go for the mini-donuts rolled in cinnamon sugar. YUMMM!

Happy weekend, everyone!

October

It's October!

I think I've told you before that I LOVE autumn. Fall of the year means rich colors in oranges, reds, and golds. It means crisp mornings and crisp apples. It means stews, bonfires, and toasted marshmallows.

I could go on and on and on but you get the picture.

With October, comes my Daddy's birthday! He is 83 years young today. If I was in Virginia, we'd be having cake and ice cream tonight for his birthday dinner. I'll just have to pretend. Happy Birthday, Daddy!!!

October means the start of the decorating seasons - first Halloween, then Thanksgiving, and then finally Christmas. I get this from my Mom. When you walk into my parents' home, you can tell what season it is by the decorations displayed here and there. I enjoy walking into my house and seeing a  pumpkin here and a ghostie there. Makes me smile!

I got three pumpkins - one for the table on the dock and two for beside the front door. I even pulled up the plants that I had planted in the pots beside the front door so I could plop the pumpkins on top of the pots. Their days were numbered anyway with the cold temps on the way. I LOVE orange! What a happy color!

Having the knitters over yesterday, prompted me to get going inside, too. I pulled all the Halloween and fall stuff out of the basement and placed touches of autumn everywhere.  

We also hung lots and lots of pictures. When I was packing to move to Ohio in 2009, I ran across an envelope from my grandmother. It was a brown envelope full of calendar pages. The envelope was dated 1951. The pages were bird prints. I chose six of them - birds that were familiar to me - and had them framed before I moved.  We hung these on the wall going up the stairs. They're so pretty and will look even better once the wall is painted the pale gold that we've planned. Here's the robin - of course, it's my favorite. There's also a cardinal, a bluebird, a black-capped chickadee, amockingbird,and a goldfinch. The prints also include state flowers and trees. I love the colors!

Colors -- well, they're a discussion for another day!

Have a great week!