Short Story Long

I posted the other day about one of my patterns, Margin .  Here's more technical info on that!  The pattern is available from Windy Valley Muskox but we are working on the website - hopefully wrapped up shortly. Yarns I used: -purple is WVM Merino in 7015 Thai Basil, one skein.  This merino is heavenly, I also have stranded mittens in this fiber! -gray is WVM Majestic Blend in 5030 Fog Bank, two skeins.  This yarn is a blend of silk, merino, and qiviut .   I have designed a cute hat with this one before. This pattern uses just about every inch of these yarns!  That's a total of about 650 - 670 yards.   You can find more info on the Ravelry pattern page, here . I also had it test knit.  Olivia did beautiful work with this, including lovely in-progress and finished pictures.  So pretty, I had to share with you: Here's her finished shawl, I swiped this picture from Ravelry (with permission.)  Gorgeous, right?

I've been meaning to post a lot more about my knitting projects, but it always seems like I have too much or not enough to say.  So today's the day! If you know me at all, you know I LOVE knitting.  I like it so much, it might be a problem.  I wash the dishes so I can use the sink to soak finished pieces; I do the laundry so I can have towels to block my projects on.  I clean the house so I can find all the yarn I've left various places!  I found my Thing in life; that Thing that makes me feel like I was born to do something specific.  I definitely knew it was not science!  I'm good at a lot of things, and I know not everyone can say that.  But for me, knitting is the thing that I'm great at, that flows with little effort and lots of joy. Along with personal fulfillment, knitting has opened up a world of opportunities for me - meeting people, making money in several ways (teaching, test knitting, contract knitting), expanding my photogra...

I think I might finally be done with canning for this season.  We didn't do as much of any one thing as we've done in previous years - like back when I only did apple butter , when I got a box of peaches from my mother-in-law , or when I bought a bushel of cucumbers.  But we did a bit of each, and a lot from home and local friends or farms.  I did have to buy peaches and apples at the store.   spiced peach preserves - I always forget the cardamom, but I love that you can see the little vanilla beans.   bread and butter pickles, by request apple butter And finally, some raspberry jam - we separated the gold from the red, since they cost more.  What's the point of getting them if  you mash them into the reds??   The general consensus is that they do taste sweeter / better than the reds we picked at the berry farm, although our own red bush is sweeter than those as well.  We ended up with four small jars of gold raspbe...

It's a cool and cloudy day, here; rather unlike that one 13 years ago.  My boys are home from school (teacher conferences) and we have an easy schedule, with room to appreciate our little life.

Ah, August in Colorado; that perfect blend of summer-into-fall.  Some days ripe for watergun fights, some for knitting and sweaters.  Fresh veggies and fruits from the garden, ready for pickling, grilling, eating from the vine.   This morning, my oldest son and I went to the farm where we get eggs; we've also been helping in the garden, mostly weeding, in trade for vegetables.  They've got greener thumbs and much more room than we do, though we do still have a little garden.  We came home with basil for pesto, cucumbers and onions for pickles, fresh eggs and zucchini for zucchini bread.  Since I'm doing pickles, I might as well do apple butter, so we stopped and got organic apples at the store.  I was happy to find golden beets again, so we'll be having grilled vegetables with our chicken and pesto tonight.  It's a rare day that I don't knit, but today other things need to be put in jars before summer is gone.   It's Wednesday, a...

Explored on Flickr!  It only took me several years and one trip to the ocean :)

It's about time to decide whether I'm knitting any gifts for Christmas, and for whom, and what will it be?  And which yarn?   I've just finished a sweater for myself, which I'm excited about.  I'm in no hurry for cold, but when it does arrive, I'm going to be ready.  Ends are being woven in, today, and then it may live on a mannequin at the yarn shop for a week or two.  I've knitted several items of my own design; I have four new patterns available through Windy Valley, and will have another two or three at my local yarn shop next month.  If you went to Stitches, you may have seen the Windy Valley pieces.  A photo shoot is in the works soon!  Unfortunately, I don't have a lot of finished pictures, but I do have a few in progress pictures. One of my new patterns, Margin , a 650 yard shawl.  This one's my current favorite...   This scrumptious yarn is going to be Asunder , pattern from Lisa Mutch on Ravelry.  I'm ab...

I do know it's been awhile, we've just had a busy summer.  Nice busy, lots of travel, family, company, knitting, swimming, gardening.  A few photos from our summer... pelicans in La Jolla the deep end!   I was invited to a very nice tea party...   sunset over the Pacific of course, some knitting:  a sweater for me,  and lots of samples, fun stuff, gifts!!   More soon, I promise!

Watermelon Salsa  One of our family's summer faves; a fresh twist on a picnic and barbecue staple! 4 cups finely chopped watermelon (no seeds) 1 cup finely chopped cucumber (no peel, no seeds) 1/2 cup finely chopped red onion 1/2 cup finely chopped sweet pepper - red, or your favorite color 2 tablespoons finely minced fresh basil 2 tablespoons finely minced fresh mint leaves 4 tablespoons honey 1 lime, juice of, that is (no seeds) Optional:  1 jalapeno, seeded and minced 1/2 cup minced fresh cilantro Combine honey and lime juice.  Combine all fruits and herbs; toss in honey and lime juice to coat. Refrigerate at least 2 hours.  Serve with tortilla chips.  Make more!!  

I recently finished this shawl... for myself.  This yarn languished more than a year in my stash, as I contemplated whether I should write a pattern for it.  I go to all these yarn shows, wearing store-bought sweaters and my favorite hoodie; I'm a great knitter, and I looked like a scrub.  So in the end, I decided knitting it and wearing it was more of a priority than being able to say I designed it myself.   Yarn:  Pure Qiviut from Windy Valley Muskox, 3-ish skeins of Red Valor, one skein of Scarlet Pattern:   NoFa Shawl from La Maison Rililie - great pattern, easy to follow. Mods:  I did modify the striping sequence because I did not know for sure how much qiviut I had, and I wanted to use it ALL!   I think I finished this last week, but hadn't taken time to block it, which made me sad every time I went somewhere and thought, "I could be wearing my shawl if I'd block it already!!"  This week, I did finish a sample knit, ...

I collect tea cups but they're in a box, sadly.  They need a more illustrious home.  Maybe this year?  In the meantime, this one caught my eye at a local antique booth:  And coincidentally (or not?) I am knitting with a similar color, something from Cheryl Oberle's Folk Shawls book.

I know, it's been a long time since I have blogged.  In the meantime, I have: ...gone to Vogue Knitting Live in New York!   I was excited to go; I've been to New York City but it's been upwards of 20 years.  Plus a few more.  I was excited, but I was afraid of being mugged, I tell you.  I went with Dianne, from Windy Valley yarns.   We stayed in Times Square - I loved it.  You can take pictures all night and they look like daytime; it was bright!  Our luggage arrived a day late - after our free day for sight-seeing.  We waited for hours , and by the time we finally decided to go without make-up or clean clothes, we didn't have time to see much.  I spent $33 on eyeliner, deodorant and aspirin.  Don't shop at the hotel.    I did not get mugged, and after a day or two, I went outside and up and down a few blocks, by myself.   There are so many places to eat!  We ate at Carnegie Deli, and I had a hot d...

For the 113-in-2013 photo challenge, I did not manage to get a great shot of each item that I was pleased with.  However, it did inspire me to get out and take pictures of things I would otherwise pass by, and that's the reason I do it.  Here are three of my favorites, all shots which I actually took specifically for this challenge. #5 one word #41 trees in a row #99 somewhere to sit You can see the whole set here .  I'm pleased that I got as many as I did - 74.  Better than the previous year.  I signed up for the next group, 114 in 2014.  I'm not sure how much I like this list.  In the past year, I found my self struggling to go out and shoot things, like "a baby picture of yourself."  I just don't find much room for creativity there, unless I spend an inordinate amount of time coming up with a crazy concept.  On the other hand, I know it stretches my thinking, and I enjoy the camaraderie of the group.   One...

Just one more on Christmas, for my mom.  Christmas traditions from my childhood that we've adopted into our home include the Advent Wreath, which I previously wrote about , wow, three years ago.  This year we finally incorporated the Thanksgiving Chain.  Each day in November , we each write something we're thankful for on a slip of paper, a link in the chain.  Guests for dinner also get to write something, and become part of our chain.  In December , we hang up the chain around the room and attach Christmas cards we receive on it.  It's a festive addition to the decor, and cards don't get lost!  In January , we take down the chain and put all the cards in a basket.  Each night at bedtime, a card or cards are drawn out, and we pray for the sender.  I like that we talk about who these people are, since my kids don't know all of our distant friends and family, and I like that they are so good about praying for other people.  It's ve...

Rounding out the end of December so that I can move on to other things...! One of the things we did in December that I enjoyed, was getting up early a couple of mornings for some frosty, wintry pictures.  It's cold; people complain, but then the fresh air takes over and we see magical things.  Unfortunately, we did not have a white Christmas, even at my parents' in the mountains; the frost and snow was all gone by then.