Tag Archives: fun

Happy New Year! Welcome 2013

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It was a low key New Year’s Eve at our house last night. We welcomed in the New Year with a couple of friends, some food, drinks, games and lots of laughs.

2012 was a full year – a mixture of blessings and sorrow but without the sorrow, how can you appreciate the blessings. We said farewell to a beloved mother and an adored Cocker Spaniel. We welcomed a new great-nephew and a new niece. Celebrated birthdays and anniversaries. Entertained guests and family in Florida and Maine. Watched two children graduate from college and enter the “grown-up” world with new jobs. Joyously celebrated my big brother’s new liver and improving health. Enjoyed comfort and good health.

And now ahead to 2013! We entered the new year with a clean house, clean sheets, clean laundry and (most) projects finished. “Out with the old and in with the new!” I am looking forward to growing my business this year. To teaching more. To improving my website. To designing … or publishing some designs that I’ve created. To reaching a second level of certification.

Gone knitting!

Pantone 612U

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Several weeks ago, a Facebook creative friend put up a photograph of a bunch of Pantone frames that she wanted to do something with. People posted suggestions (as did I) about what to do with them. Lo and behold, I got a message from Kanella asking if I’d be willing to knit a swatch in the color to be framed and used as part of the art installment. Of course, I said, “yes!” So, today, I am finally getting around to starting the swatch so that I can get it sent back to Greece close to the New Year! Step 1 – what is Pantone 612U? (Thank goodness for Google!) And I just happen to love this color and have some wool in the lemongrass colorway by Patons (ha! Patons – Pantone … the names are even close!)

Frame + Googled + Yarn = Success!

Step 2 – Plan the pattern I love cables. They make me happy. So, I decided that three cables of six stitches would be about the right width of the frame. Cast on 42 stitches and it should be OK. (It’s all a guessing game when you’re swatching!) At the end of several rows of 42 stitches and the set-up for the cables, the swatch was way too wide for the frame. BUT, as cables do, when they were twisted, the cables pulled the swatch in beautifully and it will fit the frame just about perfectly!

Step 3 – Knit!

So, there you have it! The cables are going to be three stripes of wonderful in this rectangular piece of fabric. I’ve completed two twists as I write this and I think it’s going to be a very simple and yet pleasing pattern … perfect to show off the art of knitting and also to highlight the color of the yarn. The Pantone color.

I can’t wait to finish it up and fit it into the frame and then send it off to Greece!

Gone knitting!

Empty Houses

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Last one in the pool … three boys and one who should have been a boy!

While my family was here for an extended weekend, we celebrated being together. We celebrated my oldest brother’s second recovery from a bout with hepatic encephalopathy. We mourned the loss of N’s dog, Max. We laughed, set off fireworks, made Smores, took a road trip to the Maine neighborhood where we went as kids, ate a few lobsters, some fried seafood, some “incredible cheeseburger pie” … really enjoyed having the time to spend together.

Baby Mourning Doves in their hand knit “nest” – Scuttlebutt and Ringo

My middle nephew found this pair of baby mourning doves a few days before coming to Maine and had researched the care and feeding of baby birds. They were thriving under his hourly feedings. It’s not an easy job being a mama bird … especially for a thirteen year old boy. Sadly, the smaller bird on the left, Scuttlebutt, died after they left Maine. As my brother the veterinarian says, “that’s why birds lay more than one egg.” Death is part of the circle of life. Survival of the fittest. A valuable lesson for all of us to enjoy the time we have.

Cousins on Blueberry Hill

My niece from LA was here for the first time. She was making some new “firsts”. First trip to Maine, first time picking blueberries, first sailboat trip, first lobster salad … and the list goes on.

It’s hard to believe that this young woman (and the rest of her family, too) has been in our lives for only a bit over three years. It feels so natural to be together and we have so much fun together. I’m not sure whether family just fits together … or maybe we are simply blessed to have that ease and comfort with each other after so short a time.

Jumping Off

Now, after they’ve all left, only N and I and two little dogs remain. The house is so quiet. N is struggling with a sore neck and a hurting heart. The empty house has reminded him of his loss and we are both feeling the loss of our family in the house.

I haven’t done much knitting but have to “un-knit” the few extra rows in my sweater … that’s what happens when you don’t pay attention! There were better things to watch and enjoy!

Gone knitting.

Maine Fiber Frolic 2012

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It’s pouring and the brave souls who have fiber for sale in tents today … well, suffice it to say, I’m darned glad I went yesterday morning!

I was so engrossed with fibers and chatting with people (mostly vendors this year) that I neglected to take more than one photograph … silly me! Here is the one picture that I did take.

Beautiful critters!

I did happen to make a dent in my yarn budget, too. (The one that doesn’t exist!) Remember my former post where I said that I had brought up enough yarn from my stash in Florida (and patterns, too) to knit for the whole summer? I had promised myself that I wasn’t going to buy a lot of new yarn this summer. Fortunately it was a promise to myself and I’ve blown it!

I’m really excited about my purchases, though! I bought a couple of hanks of “Maine Lobstah” superwash sock yarn. (Clever Maine marketing!) I loved the color way and I have been wanting another sock project … now I have several! This yarn is super soft and I really hope it knits up as nicely as I think it will. Check out Maine Woods Yarn‘s Website!

Maine Woods Yarn & Fiber - Maine "Lobstah" superwash sock

I also splurged on six hanks of Seacolors yarns. These yarns are solar hand-dyed in seawater and it’s a pretty clean and cyclical process. They also happen to come from Washington, Maine where I went to summer camp (many moons ago). So check out Nanne’s site and see what a wonderful business and life she has created in Maine. And if you fall in love with her farm, you can even buy a “share” and spend a week (or more) there each year with Nanne and her precious pups.

I bought three colors: a salmon-y color, a green/salmon-y variegated and a blue. With my purchase I got a free pattern for a “Boxy Cardigan” which I plan to knit up. It will be salmon with some thin blue stripes and then variegated at the bottom. Sleeves will be as long as they decide to be but also likely in the salmon with blue stripes. This one will be unique and special. I just wish I had my winder and swift with me this summer!

Seacolors Yarn

We have the wood stove cranking today and it’s pouring and gray outside. It’s truly a stark difference (even) from yesterday. I’m so glad I chose to go to the Fiber Frolic yesterday … I was a happy camper!

I’m already looking forward to next year!

Gone knitting!

Nuno Felting Class

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I spent the day as a fill-in yesterday at the Orlando home of Terri Pike, Queen of Nuno Felting and all things felted. A pair of ladies had signed up to take the class and one needed to cancel, leaving a spot open … and I “nabbed”! Boy, am I glad I did! What a blast!

I’ve admired Terri’s creations over the months that we’ve been knitting together and listened to her felting stories.

We started the day with picking our silks and then choosing roving and other yarns, beads, etc. to use as decoration for the scarves in process! Decorating both sides of the scarves to make a reversible or two-sided garment/art piece.

Side one … my inspiration started out to be a Monet painting. More the idea of one than one in particular. Like a huge flower garden when you’re standing ten feet back and squinting (thank you Leslie for your theatrical perspective!) Anyway … you layer sheets of silk and wool roving and trips to make your design and then you carefully (with plastic wrap and long (I mean long!) pieces of insulation boards) flip it over.

Side two! This is the side that the fringe is on (if you want a fringe!) I decided to try it because I wanted to try just about everything possible to see how it’s done. And, you know, if I were a betting woman, I’d bet just about anybody with a pair of strong hands and a supplies list could do this successfully … IF (and that’s a big if) they were smart enough to use Terri’s videos!

So, here are some more photos of my scarf and Jane’s. It’s really fun to see how two people with the same teacher and the same supplies can make something totally different … and they’re both so pretty! Enjoy!

Jane’s beautiful scarf was on a rose colored silk with blues and pinks. More abstract than mine but I love the white “bobbles”  in the trip and on the other side she used a “sparkly” fun fur yarn as a trim.

 

 

 

On top of bubble wrap and under plastic wrap … getting ready to roll … and roll, and roll, and roll (switch) and roll, and roll ….

 

 

 

My scarf had to have a bee, of course! (There’s actually one on either side of the scarf!)

 

 

 

 

My scarf has been rolled (for nearly an hour and a half!) All the plastic wrap has been removed and it’s time to get it wet. The design is covered with a bit of netting while we get it wet!

After wetting and rolling and rolling, we shocked the piece with really REALLY HOT water and rubbed it by hand (more like wet felting). Then it was time to rinse!

What a great day!

Terri can bee (ha! Freudian?) found on Facebook and on the internet. Watch her videos, buy her e-book. Check out her website!

Gone to trim my fringe!

Fun and Games – Random Stripe Generator

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I found this wonderful knitting tool on a blog. (Does anyone else get lost following from one blog to another around the Internet?) Anyway, I digress …

I found this wonderful knitting tool on Caitlin’s blog (biscuitsandjam dot com) and it helps you create a random stripe pattern for your knits. If, for example you’re knitting a striped scarf, you can click on the colors of yarn you want to use and the number/numbers of rows in each stripe that you want to have in your scarf and the random generator shows you what your scarf will look like.

Better yet, if you don’t like the first pattern, refresh your screen and it will show you another and another and another until you love one. Scroll down and there’s your pattern! Marvelous!

Here’s the link to take you (magically) to biscuitsandjam dot com’s random stripe generator … have fun playing with stripes! And a big thank you to Caitlin (in Portland, OR) for the tool. And the fun blog!

Are You Going to (Common Ground) Fair? Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme … For Fun!

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Prize Winning Posies

A great weekend with my knitting buddy, Kelly. She arrived in Bangor on Friday night … just in time for a lobster dinner at the lake and it was good!

Saturday, despite the dreary and wet weather report, we decided to chance it and head to the Common Ground Country Fair (MOFGA) in Unity. N. took the truck for his Saturday morning visit to the Transfer Station and then we hit the road – Ethel the GPS, plugged in and working hard to direct us!

The fair was excellent! And it only drizzled a little bit – enough to be bothersome for a very (very!) short while. We had such a great time and I ran into two people that I know – feels like I’m almost a native Mainer!

Here are the highlights:

Yarn! Yarn! Yarn!

Yarn! Yarn! Yarn! The displays were amazing and spread all over the fairgrounds. I bought a couple of gifts to be given on birthdays coming up. Top colorful purple/yellow/green (like Mardi Gras?) and the ivory yarns are DK weight merino and alpaca blends, very reasonably priced, from Oasis Farm Fiber Mill in Otisfield, Maine. The pale pastels yarn is from Good Karma Farm in their sea foam color way. I love the colors of this yarn and it’s a wool and alpaca blend from Belfast, Maine. I had to visit every booth at the fair (yes, I mean “every”) to decide just which ones I was taking home (since I’ve still got a few from last year that I didn’t knit yet.)

The Fiber Tent was very interesting. We touched almost every single bag of fleece. We both want to learn how to process the wool all the way from animal to knitting needles. We ogled a few spinning wheels and the Wednesday Spinners in action.

Is Your Mama a Llama? Check out that underbite!

We viewed a bunch of critters … bunnies, chickens, a very noisy guinea hen, the most beautiful turkey (Best in Show!) with copper and iridescent feathers – a truly gorgeous bird! We saw the sheep, goats, horses, a couple of llamas and oxen.

Blue Ribbon Butts!

Veggies and flowers and preserved food, oh my!

Wall of Pretty Pickles, etc.

There was a tomato that looked like a duck and lots and lots of pretty flowers, beans, beets, pumpkins, gourds, squash, beets, radishes, onions, leeks, quilts, knitting (I may have to enter next year!), potatoes, pumpkins large and small … phew! I need to take a breath!

Tomatoes are Ducky!

 

Bee-Utiful!

Beans, Beans They're Good for Your Heart!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had such a great time. We drank organic blueberry soda, ate stir fried organic veggies, some vegetable curry, pad thai, and for dessert a blueberry cheesecake cone (if you’ve never seen or heard of this, it’s worth a look for one!) The food area was simply amazing … if the day were a bit longer, we could have eaten more!

I found a really special poster from their 1998 fair … it’s un-BEE-lievably fun for this Queen Bee! It will be framed and hung in my Atelier! I’d love to show you a picture of it but it’s all wrapped up and waiting to travel!

I have only touched on a tiny corner of the iceberg (so to speak) and there was so much more to see and experience but I’ve not got the time here. Suffice it to say that while our feet and legs and hips hurt, our hearts and tummies were full and our souls were fed. It’s a great weekend, and a wonderful place to spend an hour or a whole day – next year, I’m taking my knitting and will sit and watch the people! Good for a family fun day, a girls day out or just about any “reason.”

We had a wonderful time at the Fair!

 

We’re going on a Moose hunt!

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Boogie is looking for a moose!

We had the most excellent adventure today! The “crazy” dog got us up before six and we were in the car on the way to look for moose up near Jackman, ME (way up north!) by 8-ish.

 

We stopped at a “closed” picnic area on the way and found a beautiful double waterfall. The noise of the water was nearly deafening. And there was some snow left over from the winter – a wonderful opportunity to throw a couple of snowballs for Ned.

Since we were looking for moose, let me tell you that we saw lots of signs of moose.

Moose like to hang out in marshy areas, knee deep in mud. If you have the opportunity to drive up Route 201, watch the edges of the the road. We saw a lot of moose tracks (not the ice cream variety!) and even a dead moose. Ned had to stop to get a closer view, of course. Too many flies for me.

We walked up the Bald Mountain Road trail for quite a ways. Tons and tons of moose tracks – some the size of my hand! We even went off the trail a

Moose Track

couple of times into the woods (and mud) to see if we could find some moose antlers. This is the time of year to find them according to the woman who fed us lunch at the Four Seasons restaurant in Jackman, ME. (Her husband is a taxidermist in his free time. You learn taxidermy by working with a taxidermist or by watching videos! Go figure.)

On the way back down the trail we picked up 17 beer cans and one Nestles chocolate milk bottle. Don’t the loggers or winter snowmobilers know to carry in and carry out!? Saw some pretty flowers and had a great walk. At the bottom Ned found some moose (we think) bones. I’ll get pictures up of them soon. Very cool, though!

 

So, we had seen a dead moose, moose poop, moose tracks, and moose bones but no chocolate moose and no moose. Even without seeing the big creatures, it was a great day. I got out my knitting for the ride home and was knitting away and what to my wondering eyes did appear?!

A moose …

MOOSE!!!

It was across the street and since they’re very shy, it didn’t wait for me to get the picture any better than this … what a great way to end a wonderful day in Maine!