News From The Nest

Out Of The Closet

These guys are out of the closet where they spend their off-season.

They sit on a bench at the top of the steps. They'll warm - or should I say cool with snowmen - until at least February. That means I'm guaranteed a smile every time I climb the steps for the next several months.

It's great to see them - they've been missed!

Hats Off...

...to Andy who turned 58 today! That doesn't seem possible. We celebrated by eating take-out from the nearby pizza joint and having his favorite, apple pie with vanilla ice cream. And, he has a job interview Thursday so cross your fingers. Maybe one interview will lead to a great can't-say-no opportunity or future job interviews. This is the first interview he's gotten out of the applications he submitted.

The picture to the right is the outside light with snowflakes flying! It has rained here for three days straight and our pond is almost touching the underside of the dock. I'm glad to see it full - looked pitiful most of the summer.  Roads are also closed due to high water.

Tonight, the rain finally turned into a very wet snow. It was coming down in big wet flakes. I don't think there's supposed to be much accumulation - probably just enough to be messy.

I finished a sample hat for Main Street Yarns and love it! It's the Kilter Hat. I used Araucania Panguipulli in Color #10 (blue-green). I really like how the colors turned out on the finished hat. I enjoyed using this yarn and knit the hat using #13 and #15 needles.

The band to this hat pattern is very interesting. It's tedius to knit but totally worth it. I love the tight fitting band combined with the slightly slouchy top. Also interesting is that you knit the band and then turn the hat inside out and continue knitting. This makes the purl side appear on the outside but you didn't have to purl, you knitted all the rounds because you worked it inside-out. Clever.

I think it's a very attractive design. Now, I want to do one for me!

Taylor, Rachael, and baby Landen didn't join us in Danville for Thanksgiving. They went with Rachael's parents and sister to Myrtle Beach, SC to spend the holiday with her grandmother and other family. They spent some time on the beach taking some of the sweetest pictures! 

Landen will be six months old later this week. Hard to believe!

I love these sandy feet!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our lives have changed in 2011!              

Our family has grown!                     

1200 Miles Later

I made it home in record time. Just took me 7 hours from Virginia to Ohio with one stop for gas and a delay on I-77 due to two wrecks. There was a beautiful sunset to see me home. 

Friday, Mom, Daddy, and I went to Boones Mill, VA to Woolly Sheep Farm. Mom is an avid magazine reader and read an article in her latest issue of Early American Life. 

Woolly Sheep Farm is the home of Hazel and her husband. Their place is a step back into the past.

Hazel is a collector of the past - of memories, talents, and times gone by. The house holds treasured pieces collected from many states including right here in Waynesville, OH.

There was an outbuilding that was two tobacco barns put together to make an adorable cabin with a sleeping loft upstairs. There were herb gardens, an Old English Sheep dog, a Shetland sheep, a Jacob sheep, two donkeys, and numerous chickens. 

I love antiques - early / colonial ones. There was so much beautiful wood in Hazel's home. Wide wooden floor boards, wooden counter tops, etc. So warm and welcoming. Right down to the hammered copper sink basins.

Hazel is also a rug hooker and had several pieces displayed in the house. Her neice, also a rug hooker, has recently moved to Chillicothe, OH. Hazel has a studio in her basement with wool and rug hooking patterns for sale.

Hazel was all decorated for Christmas and was having an open house today. We were lucky that she let us visit her Friday since I was driving home today.

I stopped by Mom and Daddy's house this morning before getting on the road. She visited Lois' boxwoods this morning and broke off enough to fill two trashbags for me. That will be enough for me to make my two Christmas wreaths. There's nothing like a boxwood wreath. Nothing. Love them. I miss our Virginia property when I start decorating for the holidays. We had huge and wonderful trees - cedars, magnolias, pines, spruces - and then there were the Nandinas with their red berries and ginormous English Boxwood bushes. Instant decorating - just break off branches or sprigs.

I snapped a few pictures of Mom, Daddy, and Lily and wanted to pack them in the car and bring them all back to Ohio with me. What fun we could have! They would so enjoy all the holiday festivities that are planned for this area. Well, they'll be here soon for Christmas so I'll just have to wait. So until then, I'll just take pictures!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wishing you lots of turkey with all the fixins and blessings too numerous to count.

(This little edible piece of poultry was made by Merry.)

My last post was November 16th. I've been busy trying to get and keep my ducks in a row so I could take this week off.

I left Ohio on Monday.

I passed this sign and then this sign.

Most of my trip looked like this. Foggy. Finally, the sky cleared a little and the Blue Ridge Mountains peaked through.

I arrived in Richmond, VA around 6:00 PM and spent the night with Brian and Eryn. My grand-daughter has
changed so since our visit with them in October. She's gotten so big!

Tuesday, I headed to South Boston, VA and spent the night with Andy. He's there for work. Looks like his company is going to keep him on with the design team in Dayton, OH. He will support the South Boston plant. He still has applications out to other companies so we'll see.

My friend, Avis, came over to the hotel and we sat in the lobby and had a great time knitting and talking. I've known Avis since the early 1980's. She's one of those friends that no matter how long it's been since you last got together, you can pick up right where you left off. It was great to spend time with her.

Avis is one heck of a knitter and rug hooker and quilter. Last night, she was finishing up a gorgeous Pleated Wrap (Debbie Bliss pattern) in Christmas red. 

Wednesday, I was off to Danville to see Mom and Daddy. Lily, too, of course! Mom and I popped over to Greensboro, NC. We went to Gate City Yarns and had lunch at Liberty Oak Restaurant & Bar. I got yarn to make two Pleated Wrapys - red for me and black for Mom. Can hardly wait to knit these.

Wednesday night, I met Timmie and Gaye at Starbucks in Danville for more knitting. 

Gaye had a gorgeous shawl with her that she recently finished. Made of sock yarn that didn't want to become a pair of socks. It was so pretty!

Timmie had a felted dumpling bag with her. Very cute! She was working on a children's sweater - Boheme.  

I finished a One Row Scarf knit from Noro Silk Garden. This is a terrific pattern - so super easy - and makes a great reversible scarf. I also added a few squares to my sock blanket.

You should see what I brought with me for the trip. I have one suitcase, a rolling bag full of knitting projects (each bagged individually), a tote bag full of sock yarn, and another huge bag full of sock yarn. That's my only complaint about the sock yarn blanket ---- you can't just take one or two skeins of yarn with you to work on the blanket. A girl's gotta have choices!

Today, Brian, Eryn, baby girl, and Andy are coming to Mom and Daddy's for Thanksgiving lunch. We'll have all the regulars and I can hardly wait! There will be turkey and dressing, sweet potatoes, corn pudding, cranberry salad,......

Hope your Thanksgiving is YUMMY!

Alpaca - Take 2

I promised that I wouldn't bring home an alpaca on the hoof but I didn't say anything about OFF the hoof!

I purchased this gorgeous alpaca blanket from Maegan. This was from Smokie's 2010 shearing. Smokie produces some beautiful fiber!

Alpaca fiber is not as dirty as fleece and doesn't require the scouring that wool does. Wool has lanolin and alpaca has oil. Even with the natural fiber oil, it feels very dry when compared to wool. Alpaca fiber is primarily dusty. Many spinners spin it without washing it first and a lot of the dust falls out. Once the fiber is spun, they wash their finished skeins. 

This blanket is so pretty. I expect it to be an exquisite shade of silver once washed. It's so silver-gray that it has hints of lavender and blue. I don't really like 100% alpaca yarn so will probably blend some wool with it when I spin it.

So much fun to be had........

"A" Is For Alpaca

What a fun day I had today!

Susan, a fellow knitter and spinner, and I went to Alpaca Bella Suri Farm in Morrow, OH and took a class with Maegan of Little Patch Alpacas. There were three others there for the day. Maegan and her husband tend a herd of about 70 Suri and Huacaya Alpacas - some belonging to them and some to the farm owner. Then, they have visitors from time to time being boarded or there to be bred. Maegan does the shearing and uses the fiber any way she can.

Today, she led us in a seminar from skirting the shorn alpaca blanket to what to do with the fiber.

We each received a goodie bag with a bag of natural color alpaca, a bag of dyed alpaca, and then a bag of specialty things. My goodie bag had gorgeous tan and cream natural fiber, yellow / orange dyed fiber, yellow silk noil, purple/mauve wool, a little firestar for sparkle, and recycled plastic soda bottles. Yes, you read that right. The recycled plastic bottles was pure white and very soft.

First, we went outside to Maegan's back porch where she had set up skirting tables. She made these - wooden frames with plastic chickenwire-like "fabric" stretched and stapled in place. She had two large ones perched on chairs. They would make great fiber / yarn / sweater drying racks, too. We spread two alpaca blankets out and looked for vegetable matter and second cuts - pulling these out as we admired how incredibly soft the fiber was. Sorting through the fiber on this open table also allows a lot of dust to fall through.

Maegan explained and demonstrated the equipment she uses to process her fiber. She has a Box Picker and a Big Tom Motorized Drum Carder - both Fancy Kitty products. She also demonstrated using the hackles she made from sturdy hair combs. For a diz, she used the pop top off of her soda can from lunch. Very ingenious!

We could process our goodie bag fiber however we chose - do some or all of it - pick it, card it, whatever. I chose to put my natural and dyed alpaca through the picker and then card everything into one batt. The yellow-orange dyed fiber dulled down when mixed with the tan and cream alpaca and purple/mauve wool. I love my batt (1.3 ounces) and can hardly wait to spin it up!

During our discussion, Maegan talked about how she washes and dyes her fiber. Very interesting to learn her process.

We also went out to the field to meet the animals. There were chickens, Oreo, the cat, and lots of alpacas. Their natural colors were so pretty. Some were solid, some were spotted, some were two-tone. These two posed for my camera. They were very curious about us and then went on about their business. Here is a cute picture of Maegan's son, Brock, holding one of the chickens.

It was great meeting Bernie, Julie, and Mary today. After today, I'm even more anxious to get the studio finished so I can unpack all my dye paraphernalia, drum carder, etc. etc. I want to do SO much! Just need more time...........

Saturday Again!

Today was Knitting At Noon and we had a great group. Lots of knitters and lots of projects on and off the
needles.

Merry brought not one but two finished shawls - the Peaceful Shawl (shown here in shades of red and folded) and the Pembroke Shawl (in shades of gray).

Donna also finished her Pembroke Shawl (off-white). She also finished an adorable baby hat and one of two baby socks to match - Bebe Hat & Socks - for a baby gift.

Theresa is also knitting a baby gift - hers has a bumblebee theme. She finished the socks and cast on for the hat today. She's going to stripe the hat to match the socks. She will mail the socks and hat off with a little bumblebee book. Too cute! 

Theresa's daughter, Gracie, modeled her purple Jelli Beenz yarn by Plymouth Yarn Co. Theresa has knit socks for three of her four children now. All have been knit from this great sock pattern.

Jeanette finished these fingerless mitts but I didn't catch the name of the pattern. 

Tonight, the wind is whipping around the house like crazy! We had nighttime temps down in the low 30's and high 20's this past week. Today, the temperature reached 61 and tomorrow is supposed to be nice, also. I think we're in for more cold temps toward the end of next week.

I cut the Lemon Verbena and have all the leaves drying. Lemon Verbena leaves yield a wonderfully fresh fragrance - very lemony. I crush the dried leaves to use in my Lemon Drop soap. I should have plenty of leaves to get me through the winter of soap-making. I need to bring the big pot of Spearmint in for the winter. The sunporch is getting very full. It becomes a greenhouse in the winter.

Tomorrow, Susan and I are going to a class - "Alpacas - What to do with their "fur"..." at Alpaca Bella Farm. Meagan is going to lead the class. She spins with us on Thursday nights and we are excited about going tomorrow. Should be fun. Meagan has an Etsy shop -  Paca Patch 25. You'll find her web site, Little Patch Alpacas, here. Do you think Andy would notice if I snuck an alpaca home with me? Maybe I can say it was a doorprize! I'll take lots of pictures so check back!

November Already!

How did that happen?! Where do the months go?

Speaking of time flying -- I miss my 35th high school reunion Saturday night. From all the pictures, it looks like everyone had a blast! I didn't notice a single female with gray hair. Does that mean that I'm the only one?

I went to both knitting groups on Saturday - Panera and Dorothy Lane Market. I had to turn in some knitting at the Panera group and could hardly wait to show them my sock yarn blanket. I got there and dug through my bag and NO blanket. I left it at home! I had to go all the way back home to get it so I could take it to the second knitting group.

There were lots of interesting projects in the works - socks, bags, scarves, hats, etc. A few Christmas presents being knit.

Lois finished a cute ruffled scarf for her grand-daughter.

Merry finished and modeled her froo-froo scarf in purples. Purple is her color! Jan is sitting beside Merry and is working on a potato chip scarf.

Theresa had finished a pair of socks for one of her sons and was working on a pair of bumblebee socks for a baby gift.

Elizabeth was finishing up her ginormous messenger bag that she designed. It's for her daughter and looks great in black and brown. Can hardly wait to see it felted.

I am so lucky to have found both of these great knitting groups. Such great and creative women.

My last pumpkin hat for this season  is almost "ripe" and ready for "picking". I need to get it finished and in the mail. It's a gift for a friend's grand-daughter. It's time to move on to snowmen hats and stocking caps. 

I also worked on my sock yarn blanket. This is so addicting! It's like reading a James Patterson book. His chapters are so short that I find myself saying - just one more before I stop. It's the same way with this blanket. The squares are small and so easy to do. Just one more before I stop!!! I need to start working on the edge squares or I'm going to end up with a triangular blanket.

Waynesville held its Hearth Warming Holidays this weekend. Andy and I walked around a little Saturday night. The shops stay open until 8:00 PM and I like to go after dark so everything will be all lit up. The street and shops were all decked out in little white lights. We grabbed a quick dinner at one of the local places and when we came out, someone was shooting fireworks up from a field in Corwin. They were great!

This year, the participating shops gave out recipes for
appetizers. They started this a year or so ago -- you got your binder and rings and then went around to participating shops and collect the recipes. One year it was cookies. What a fun idea! I hope they give out the recipes again during their event the first weekend in
December -- I only picked up about three recipes last night. 

The picture here is a corner of the front porch at Haberdashery. It is such a cute shop! And, you'll find my soap inside!

Today, I worked outside most of the afternoon. I pulled up all the dead stuff in the vegetable and herb gardens. I picked up every cherry tomato that was on the ground. I just didn't feel like having to fight a hundred stray cherry tomato plants coming up at random next year. I also worked in the flower garden trimming and pulling up stuff. Lots and lots and lots of voluntary sunflowers - thanks to my winged friends. I trimmed the mums on the dock and the daisies in the bed by the pond. Then, I tackled all the dead stuff in the pots on the back patio. Next, I checked all the bluebird houses and had to clean out two out of the three. After filling the thistle feeder, the safflower/sunflower feeder, the peanut feeder, and the suet feeder, I was DONE! I need to get the hanging baskets off the front porch but they will have to wait until another day.

You may remember that my chef son, Taylor, has moved to Richmond, VA to open a restaurant with his buddy, Tom. Taylor will be the chef. They are moving right along with opening planned for early 2012. Lot of construction to be done. The restaurant is named 525 At The Berry Burk. Berry Burk was a very well known department store back in the day. Now that area of Richmond is considered to be the historic district and people are working to refurbish the area. Hopefully, the restaurant will be a grand hit and people will flock to it! Check out the link above - that's their Facebook page - and you can see some of Taylor's culinary creations. Yumminess!

Until next time - thanks for reading and KNIT ON!

S & S

S & S stands for soap and sprouts.

Four new soap scents are ready to be boxed and labeled. These are holiday fragrances (L to R) - 

Spiced Apple, Peppermint Twist,

Orange Spice, and Under The Mistletoe.

My house smells so fragrant! The scents seem to take turns "singing". First, you smell one. Then, another scent takes over and you smell that one. Next, another and so forth and so on.

The Orange Spice has ground cinnamon in it and ooooooh, it smells just like the holidays!

Patti, owner of Haberdashery in Waynsville, OH, is stopping by tomorrow morning to shop for soap and maybe other products to add to what she already has for sale. This weekend is Hearth Warming Holidays so Waynesville should be hopping!

We pulled up the Brussel Sprouts yesterday and cooked them for dinner. Some of them are no bigger that
green peas. I know now why they sell the sprouts still attached to their stalk. What I don't understand is why anyone sells them off the stalk. It's so hard getting them off. I got in the groove after a bit and would shove each one off the stalk with my thumb. They were very tasty even if they were teeny-tiny.

To close - a fall shot of our house with the flaming red Burning Bush in front of the house. Wonder why the person who planted all these bushes didn't plant anything on the right side of the house? He was probably worn smack out! I bet there are at least 70 Burning Bushes. That's a lot of holes to dig! We plan to pull all of those in front of the house up to landscape next Spring. We'll leave the ones along the parking area. I love these bushes - great fall color - but I don't like them as a hedge that has to be trimmed.  

We're enjoying a few last autumn days here in Southwest Ohio - our temps have been in the mid to upper 60's with just a little crispness in the air. Just beautiful!