THINGS HAVE BEEN BUSY...

That's my story and I'm stickin' to it. Actually, they really have been. I am moved and settled in. I was sick for a while (there's a really nasty cold going around this winter...), and I've been to 2 retreats, been busy knitting and quilting and....

Pictures will be posted in a couple of days, but it does amaze me how time just slips away. And I'll be brutally honest here...A couple of times, I've sat down to update the blog, opened up Free Cell just to get my brain going while I pondered what to write...and the next thing I knew it was time to go to bed! Another time or two, I opened up ravelry to get inspiration and once again, next thing I knew it was time for bed.

But I have to tell you - if you've joined ravelry, you have follow the thread "Ugliest FO" in the "For Love of Ravelry" Group. What a group of optimists! Some of these things, the knitter had to know a few rows in that this pattern wasn't working...but they persisted, in the futile hope that more yarn thrown at it would turn it into something lovely. I identify with these people (I have my own ugly object posted too) and I revel in their optimism. We should all live our lives like that - know that if we keep on keepin' on, it'll turn out beautiful...no matter what the evidence says.

Boy - it's been forever and a day, hasn't it? This summer/fall has just been swallowed up by moving in August and knitting and quilting all the rest of the time...plus I've had to show up for work to earn the money to pay for all the fun stuff.

Moved out of my manufactured home, into an apartment. A lot smaller. I've been wanting to simplify my life, I hadn't expected to do it all in one swoop, but it's mostly done. Went from 3 bedrooms to 2, but a pretty large living room, dining room kitchen to a small livingdiningkitchen room.

Still lots of 'crap' around, but not near as much as before - I was starting to feel like a hoarder. Now - my sewing room still has a ways to go, but it's shaping up...

Starting to get things color coordinated and actually do have a cutting area and sewing area set up that don't show in this picture. Right now I'm off to get ready for a retreat that's coming up in a little over a week, so I'll promise I'll write more soon...and include some better pictures.

Family

Just a quick note this morning - and it has aboslutely nothing to do with any kind of fiber...just family.

My grandsons are coming home this weekend. The younger one has been off visiting his grandfather and other grandmother for 3 weeks and they've been on the road visiting that side of the family and some landmarks along the way.

The older one is on his way home from Europe where he's spent the last 3 weeks as part of the People to People Youth Ambassador Group. (Dancing in Greece where they also helped on a community service project.)



So our little nest of family will all be together again very soon - for a little while - before they start winging off to other things as they get older.

And speaking of older...I ran across some sheet music of my grandfather's. He wrote and copyrighted it in 1900. He was a judge in Aberdeen SD - but his love was his music. He played drums in a drum and bugle corps. And - it appears - wrote a little piano music on the side. I finally got it framed. I have 2 copies. So one is placed to show the cover of the music. (Grandpa Sime is the 2nd from the left in the middle row) The other shows the actual music and the copyright. Hopefully this will help preserve for my grandsons...and the music will span 5 generations and possible more.

Vacation in the Hills

I don't know how many of you have been to the Black Hills, but the end of June is an absolutely perfect time to go. Especially to Hill City. The town now holds an annual sculpture show and this was my first time there (I usually go back for the quilt show). This was amazing! A couple of picutres - but keep checking the web site as I think it will be updated with more.

Best in show was absolutley beautiful glass work done by Jared and Nicole Davis:

Viewers' Choice by John Lopez:

(see if you can spot a couple of the hidden things...his work is like a treasure hunt.)

But as always, the best part of going back is seeing family. Mom is looking great (as seen here with grandson Jack)

And in June her back yard is to die for. Just luciously green and the creek (a little lower now - it was almost flooding) is picture perfect.

More later...

Festival Season has started...

We went to the Strawberry Festival in Burien yesterday. And the weather absolutely did NOT cooperate. Cold, drizzly - not summer festival weather. The entertainers and vendors soldiered on bravely, but I have to say...we chickened out and did our Knit In Public Day - in the store and not on the Greens with everyone else. There were brave souls who did stick it out, I wasn't one of them. Like I told my girlfriend Jeannie, "I have tons of stocking caps, shawls, sweaters at home - but it's almost JULY!!!! We shouldn't have to dress in wool @ the end of June!" (Now I do NOT want any of you throwing this back in my face when I start whining about how hot I am in August and September. ) Below are 2 of the brave entertainers.

I don't remember if I've told you about the rug I'm working on. It is going to be SOOOOOOO cool. Pattern is from the the 2nd Mason Dixon book - Outside the Lines. And it is so fun to knit. If you go to ravelry.com, you can see how everyone has made it their own but changing out the colors and every one of them is gorgeous. I'll keep you posted on how it goes - I'm only about 20 inches into the 60 in tube right now, but you knit on size 15's so it goes fairly quickly.

It will be felted as a tube and then steeked to lay flat as the rug. I can hardly wait!

Raffle Quilt At the Auburn Farmers' Market

Beautiful day to be selling raffle tickets for a beautiful quilt. For only being in it's second year, I think the Auburn Market is a very nice venue. It was a nice mix of vendors and a great location right in the center of town. And right next to the bus/train stop, so as you get off the bus, you can buy some fresh flowers and veggies to take home for dinner...And CHOCOLATE! A couple of places selling chocolate, some nice jewelry, and of course, Evergreen Piecemaker selling chances on this year's quilt.
Since the weather was so nice, it was easy to draw a crowd and sell them some tickets.

There are always veggies at the market - but Auburn had some unique ones...these kids looked like they were having fun - and everyone was taking their pictures.

There were Zoomba dancers - which I have to tell you looks like WAY too much fun. As you can see below - even the traffic volunteer got into the mood.

They have a 'gold' group, thats a little slower for beginners (in my case that can read as 'old and fat' but they were too kind to actually say that.) But I can see where you'd lose weight doing this and have fun at the same time.

A lot of fun! Be sure to check it out next Sunday.

Birthdays

Well, I'm now 59 years and 1 day old...6 years to go until I'm "officially" old...I think that starts at 65, right? State of mind? I'm 35. For some reason, I've always felt 35. My knees and hips tell a different story, but in my mind and heart, I'll never hit 40. What's that saying? "How old would you be if you didn't know how old you were?" I love that one. Makes you think about what's really important in your outlook on life.

I've known some people that at age 20 were mentally 70. They'd quit finding excitement in life, in meeting new people and trying new things. And you know - looking back - a lot of those same people had quit reading. Read to keep your mind open, to learn new things, to remind you why you hate bigotry, why you love mysteries. Read, read, read.

And now that I'm writing a blog (I know, not as often as I should), I understand what my mom has been saying for years. Along with reading - keep a journal. Take a minute or two everyday to write down what happened during the day. How did you feel about it? Did the day make you think? Did it frustrate you? Writing seems to help put it in perspective. Struggling to find the right word also helps in the struggle to find the true center of any problem that you encountered...and finding the center helps find the solution.

But enough philosphy. The picture above is the bouquet I got from my daughter and the vase and the chicken are presents from my mom. Helen also got me a gift certificate to the Yarn Stash in Burien, so I'll be shopping there this Tues.

Been busy finishing some knitting:

1) the pink Breast Center Scarf (for Valley Breast Center) and the blue/brown swirly scarf I've been working on for - what - 3 months? 4? Anyway, done! And done is GOOD!

2) my red socks that I can't even remember when I started them ( from the Little Box of Socks some cool patterns in there.)
Finished a cheater quilt:

And started a new quilt that I'm REALLY excited about.

This is the fabric...

You stack 4 repeats on top of each other and cut into 3 1/2 in squares. Each stack of squares become a block...for this quilt I'm using those blocks as the center of stars.

I just LOVE doing this. Each block is a total surprise. Here's the tentative layout.

So - on the cheery yellow/green colors of springtime, I'll sign off and get a few more stitches in before bedtime.

This, that and the other thing...

Well, it has been forever since I've written...mostly because of computer problems, partly because I've just been really busy.

As to the computer - well, I'm suffering through. I don't know what's wrong - a friend's husband suspects I need a new hard drive - so in a couple of paydays, I'll give that a try. (Right now it's property tax paydays, so extra $$ is already gone.) But today, it seems to be in mood to let me write, so I'll grab the opportunity while I can.

Also, I'm writing while the AAA gentleman is out looking at my battery. I had plans to go fabric shopping with my friend Amber - to a couple of shops up north. But when I got in my vehicle to leave for her house - nothing! Not even a buzz. Quieter than the house before Santa comes when not even a creature stirs...Enough poetry. Suffice to say, glad it happened on a Sunday instead of 6 am tomorrow when I'm leaving for work!

So we'll see what this costs. Just had oil changed, tranny fluid drained and filled and while the car was up, discovered I needed new tires. So might as well add a battery or alternator to the pile of expenses. I hear it running tho, so gonna go check...be back later....

****************************

I'm back - $120 poorer, but with a new battery so I can get to work tomorrow. Enough said. Except for - I really like the mechanic's shop where I go - Kelly's Auto Repair. It's so nice to find someone you can trust. It takes some of the pain out of the payment.

Anyway - my work schedule has been weird, but I have gotten some work at home done, too. Got my shopping bag finished. I really like how this turned out, made from some cotton/linen I had in my stash. Holds quite a few skeins of yarn - made for our LYS tour coming up in a coule of weeks. I've made one modification since I took this picture, I added fabric to the handle to stabilize it a bit. Makes it not quite as stretchy.

And I finished a couple of quilts...

I'm working on a quilt that I have on the design wall, and have one that I'm just about ready to put the binding on...so more quilt pics soon.

I'm almost done with my Knitting Olympics sweater...just one short sleeve to go, so the end is in sight...only - what - 3 months late? See this is why I don't do sports. Runners don't wait 3 months for a team member to finish, and they have very little patience for people who are sidetracked and distracted as easily as I am. I can work on 3 to 4 quilts and several knitting projects at the same time, hard to run in 7 races at the same time. I'm just not single-minded enough to be an athelete.

Enough for now - more to come soon I hope. I think the work schedule is calming down. And my life has to calm down a bit to get ready to visit my mom in SD in June. I should have some wonderful pictures for you then...Hill City is having a sculpture show!

sewing sewing sewing

It's been a fairly productive week - some pictures for viewing. A group of us got together at Evergreen Quilting in Tacoma and alot of them really got something accomplished. I got a lot of visiting done - but that's important too. Below is Gail and the bunny she made for her grandaughter. She had a couple of dresses done, so there might be another bunny lurking around too.

Shirley was working on one of the 5 yard quilts. Both Barb and Amber had finished ones, but like an idiot - I didn't get pictures of those - but doesn't Shirley look industrious?

A couple of other good shots of the group at work.

I've got a couple of things on the design wall. This first one is a "split nine patch" or disappearing nine patch" Should have it pieced and hopefully quilted in time for show and tell at our next guild meeting. I love these fabrics - they just make me happy.

I find I'm making more quilts for the happiness factor than anything else. So it also seems like I'm liking all my quilts more. There's been times that I've finished a quit and just been mostly pleased that it was finished - didn't really LOVE it. This one - I think I'll LOVE. I'm also working on an Asian fractions style that I think I'm really going to like too...the background fabric is wonderful.

And I've started working on my Mariner's compass for the BOM at Pacific Fabrics. I think it will turn out pretty nice, but it reminds me again why I don't like paper piecing. way too fiddly for me.Next - organizing my sewing room...gonna start on scrap quilts...

I love weekends!

We had sock club today...I had a sock to show...actually 2 socks, but only 1 each from 2 pairs. So I wore them together. I really think this should be a national trend. I know there's a lady out there who's designed some nice bright socks that purposely don't match. Well, if she can do it, so can I.

The one on the left is just a plain old sock...I love how they fit and how fast they knit up. The one on the right is from our sock club. I think the name was rainbow spiral and it was a little tricky - but that's why we're in the club right? To push ourselves and not get complacent in our knitting. I actually can't wait to do the second sock for both these. I like the color on both and I really like the spiral effect on the club sock. But maybe I should continue to wear them like this -then - just like the old joke, I could tell people I have another pair just like these in the drawer at home!

Mainly I wanted to write today to show you my circular needle holder that I made this morning. I've seen them in stores, but didn't want to part with the $20 they cost. So I took 4 fat quarters, a little scap batting to put in some stability and came up with this.

Sewed trimmed fat quarters end to end, made them into a tube , put alittle batting in half the length to give it some body. Folded it half and sewed channels across it about 2 in. apart.

I'd especially like to show the fancy closing method for hanging...after all, safety pins were invented before velco, right? And when you don't have velco...

It's not as pretty as the store bought holders, but I hope it will help me get a bit more organized. Now - off to get ready for quilting tomorrow. More pictures soon.

Spring time in WA

We had a little taste of spring, everything is blooming and now the weatherman is talking about things going back below freezing! Shades of South Dakota!

I've been busy knitting and quilting, so staying out of trouble. Worked on some fingerless mitts, a new pattern from Jen Hagan. Tons of fun to do and easy. In fact I'm working on my second pair.

The cable goes around your thumb! Very cool. She's coming out with a whole new line of patterns, so be sure to check out her blog and web site...

And I've been working on socks from the sock club I'm going to. You might have read about it on Trisha's blog and saw the pictures of her socks...amazing what a difference the yarn makes. She likes pastels - I go for the earthtones.

Our instructor Jeannie is also a quilting buddy of ours and she's been busy working on both knitting (she says our next month sock is really fun) and quilting.

It's amazing how many of us are intersested (and proficient) in both arts. Personally, I think it has to do with both the texture and the color. Sculpting would provide the texture part of the fulfillment, but would lack the excitement of the color. Painting would supply color to your life, but you'd miss that wonderful tactile feel of the wool and cotton. My life always feels more balanced when I have my fiber. (pun intended)

More pictures next time.

God'll get you for that, Walter.

Remember that from the old TV show "Maude"? Well a few weeks ago, a co-worker got sick - sick enough to stay home for a couple of days - and they were complaining about how boring it was and they couldn't wait to get back to work.

I thought to myself - boy, how dumb is that? If I were lucky enough to get sick and have to stay home, I could get a day or two of solid knitting in without interruptions.

Well - - Yesterday and today I'm home sick. I told you my grandson came to visit last weekend, he had a cold. Now I have a cold. I spent ALL day yesterday sleeping. Did not have the strength or energy to even pick up a pair of needles. I did manage to move from the bed to the recliner to sleep, but that was the extent of my activity for the day. This morning, I have managed to get out of bed (about 3 hours after my usual rising time) and move to the computer (it's all of 10 feet) to write this. My next excursion will be to the recliner to rest up after this workout.

Seems like once every winter I get one cold that just knocks me on my butt. And I should have known better when I was wishing for 'time alone to knit'...God was just waiting for the right moment, wasn't she?

Didn't get the gold...

but I think I should get a bronze medal for giving it one helluva try. Got the front and back of the sweater done! And the shoulder seams done. 2 sleeves yet to go, but they're short sleeves, so it's something I will get done. (these pictures don't show how pretty the color is, it's called Denim and is a lovely blue with almost invisible streaks of purple...)

I tried it on - and so far - it even fits! That's worth the gold medal just for that!

Now - as to why it's at this stage instead of finished...these are the distractions.

Right off the bat, I cast on the shawl - couldn't wait to try the pattern I got at Madrona - doing it in Kauni yarn. Nice long color changes that should get more interesting as the shawl grows.

Then I bought a book - 60 quick knits using Cascade 220. some very nice patterns in here and I just couldn't wait to start on this scarf.

Then there's the sock from class.

And the puzzle - my grandson Scott came to visit for Saturday - and he's always the priority. We watched teen-age boy movies in the afternoon (trust me - not my usual choice - but he loves them) and we worked on the puzzle in the evening. I can knit anytime, but can't always spend time with him...it was nice.

And this next picture is for Trisha (tlcstitches). We're both in the BOM class at Pacific Fabrics in Puyallup, but we've had to start taking it on different days, so we can't compare progress.



It'll be nice to fill in that hole in the middle (for those of you not taking the class - it'll be a mariner's compass.)

Now on to a post-Olympic life. (and to finish the sweater!!!)