Contemplate in the morning.
Pull weeds in the afternoon.
The joys and labor of a single day
Are part of a whole journay.
Den Ming~Dao

I posted this verse once before, but in reading it again this
morning, as it is today’s quote, it meant something completely
different to me this time. I have been bemoaning the fact that I haven’t had time for
blogging.  I haven’t been reading many blogs, commenting on blogs or even emailing in general…..and am really
missing it, but my journey right now is a little different than it was
even a few months ago.  How does that happen?  How does life go from a nice even pace and then all of a sudden you find yourself in a whirlwind of busyness and not necessarily busy doing what you love?

To keep things in balance though, I have been squeaking in some knitting time.  This shapely shawl should be finished this weekend.  I think that I am going to add a beaded picot edging on it, to give it a little weight and dress it up a bit.

Judy’s yarns are so pretty!  The colors are vibrant and is a pleasure to knit with.  You can see a little of the shine in this merino/silk blend, although the pictures don’t quite give it enough justice.

Judy’s Spring Green colorway was going to be my next project, but Judy graciously sent me some of her new silk yarn to sample for her.  This is a new yarn for her, so it will be fun.  I think I am going to do a scarf in Barbara Walker’s Frost Flower pattern.  I haven’t written out how I am going to incorporate it into this scarf yet, but I have some ideas floating around in my head (that can be a scary thing…..LOL)

The  Puppies

Last week was the puppies first adventure in the big outdoor world.  I don’t yet have a doggie door, so to make carrying the babies outside a bit easier, I utilized my big canvas LL Bean bag.  As you can see from their little faces they were a tad confused about what the heck was going on

Slowly they ventured out of the bag into their little yard.  How fun it is to watch them experiencing something new with the tenacity and curiosity that only a puppy has.

Most of this week’s knitting was accomplished as I sat out in the yard for an hour or so each day, enjoying the sunshine, the fresh air and puppy antics.  You can see from these pictures, just how much they are enjoying Spring!

 

 

 

 

Every now and then a puppy will come along that causes a breeder to get excited……….this little girl is just that puppy.  Time will tell if she will hold it together as she grows, but for now, this little girl is my keeper, in this bunch of babies. 

We call her Bibbity, but I will have to start thinking of a real name for her.   Her Mum is named  Ballymena Winter’s Wind, so I am going to play off of the Wind part of her name.  Interestingly enough, Zephyr is a wind….who knew?  I am leaning towards Ballymena Wind in the Willow, but I would love to hear your suggestions too ;-).

My days are pretty full with caring for the puppies, dogs and kids right now.  Every morning, this is what I wake up to.  Eager little faces waiting for their breakfast……..

It is amazing how fast they go from blind, deaf, helpless little babies to happy, bouncy puppies, who eat their meals with such gusto.

Today the puppies will get their first taste of the outdoor world.  My summer pups are in the yard so much younger than this, but with the cold temps we have had and the very wet ground, these guys have not had that opportunity yet.  I will spend some time knitting as they have new discoveries.

Knitting
Speaking of knitting…..remember that Shapely Shawl I was working on last week?  Well here it is.  I don’t know what it is with my concentration these days.  This lace pattern is about as easy as they come, so why can’t I get the row count right??  As I was tinking it back for the umpteenth time last night, I decided it would be easier to just rip it back to the beginning.

I’ll give it one more try……before I work on this…….

The beads that I ordered to go with Judy’s yummy Spring Green yarn came yesterday.  I am really looking forward to working with this yarn/bead combination.  Judy did say that it took 2 hours per skein to string the beads, so I figured that in between working on the Shapely Shawl, I could prepare these skeins. Hopefully training on the easy lace shawl will help my counting concentration again, and get my brain in shape for the Dancing Leaves shawl.

Spring
Isn’t it wonderful how one day you are out in the yard and you hear……….noises, wonderful noises.  The birds are back!!  Every morning before I even have my coffee, I clean up the dog yard.  This week, I heard those glorious noises.  I haven’t seen a robin yet, but  I know it will be any day now.  I do miss the birds when they leave us in the fall.  So happy that some of them are back!

With daylight savings almost upon us, my thoughts are turning towards the outdoors.  We will be very busy over the next few months, putting in a new dog yard, which will be a huge undertaking, as they are getting a covered patio for the winter and their yard is tripling in size.

I will also be putting in a new garden!!  I used to garden and I loved it, but somehow, life got a bit too busy and I let that fall to the wayside.  After reading Norma and Liz’s garden tales, it made me realize how much I miss it.  How fun it is to look over the seed books again with renewed interest!

                     ~Spring Magic ~

The World is very old;
But year by year
It groweth new again
When buds appear.

The World is very old,
And sometimes sad;
But when the daisies come
The World is glad.

The World is very old;
But every Spring
It groweth young again,
And fairies sing.
Cicely Mary Barker

As a young child, I was always fascinated with fairies.  Many of the old fairy tale books, had stories of Fairies, Sprites and Wood Nymphs and I would delight in the pictures of the little people.  Growing up very close to a wooded area in Massachusetts, I would walk thru those woods with my friends and family and feel the presence of these little sprites, playing where we couldn’t see them.

Ahh….the imagination of childhood.

As an adult, I would buy my daughters dolls and books that made me think of those childhood days.Imagine my dismay, when these things did not hold the same charm for the girls that they had for me growing up.  Perhaps in today’s more realistic world of TV, the notion of fairies seems silly….or boring.  Somehow, it seems a little sad to me.

Today, I no longer buy these kinds of things for my daughters……I buy them for me ;-).  I found the Deluxe book of Flower Fairies a few years ago. The pictures and poems are such a treasure.  It quickly brings me back to those days of kicking leaves while strolling the wooded paths of my childhood.

"F" is also for "Finished"
In between playing with the puppies and all of the chores that goes along with growing pups, I have been diligently working on this sweater.  I am really trying to stay a bit more focused on my knitting projects.  As much as I have been chomping at the bit to work on some lace, I really wanted to see this sweater completed.  I have to admit that I LOVE it!  The fit is good and the malabrigio is incredibly soft against the skin.  I know it will probably pill and felt a bit, but once I tried it on, I knew it was worth it!

Pattern: Manos Textures Pattern Collection
Yarn: Malabrigio (black forest)
Needles:  US 7 and US 9
Started: Feb 14, 2006
Finished: Mar 21, 2006

Lacing Along Again
As soon as I finished the sweater, I went digging thru my stash to find the lovely merino silk yarns that I purchased from Judy last year.  Although I had wanted to start on the beautiful Spring Greens colorway, it would mean waiting for the beads that I ordered.  Not being known for my paitence…….the Eyelet and Garter Shapely Shawlette, with the other colorway that I purchased,  quickly went on the needles instead.  I first saw this shawl on Cindy, at Rhinebeck and fell in love with it.  Simple, yet elegant.  It is nice to be working on lace again!

Angles against lavender sky
Flung far across heaven’s vault.
Unfettered, swallows
Circle back to the nest

Deng Ming~Dao

As much as I love to travel, I do love to come back again…..much like the birds that are slowly returning from their southern journeys.

What a wonderful few days we had in Williamsburg, Va.  Every year, we take 5 days to head down to a dog show in Williamsburg.  We have been going for a good number of years and take the kids out of school for this vacation.  It is such a fantastic educational vacation, that I have never minded the few days that they miss.

 

You will notice that my focus was fiber in history. In the weaving, spinning and dyeing house on the Wyeth property, this lovely lady spent some time explaining the different types of looms that she was working on, as well as the wheels she was spinning.

 

The sheep that roam the yards of Williamsburg are long haired Leicesters.  The wool from those sheep are dyed with natural dyes and are sold in the various shops lining the streets of Historic Williamsburg.  Dyes from Turmeric, Madder and Indigo, along with Logwood and the red bugs (can’t remember what they are called…..LOL).

 

One of my favorite parts of this trip is the trek across the 20 mile long Chesapeake Bay Bridge.  This bridge runs right alongside the ocean on one side and the Bay on the other and has 2 tunnels going right under the water.  We always leave home at 4am on this trip, which puts us crossing the bridge right at sunset.   The sunsets are just breath~taking.

A little knitting

Needing a bait bag in blue for the show, I sat down Wednesday before leaving and cranked this bag out.  I love how nice Cascade felts………other than that, not much knitting has been done……..and I bet you can guess why…….LOL.  Some things are just worth wasting time on ;-)).   It’s good to be back!

 

 

 

 

Rain scatters plum petals:
Weeping stains the earth.
One can only take shelter
And wait for the clearing
Let us be sad;
it is feeling that makes us human
Deng Ming~Dao

I imagine that after reading the above quote that you might think that we have had some sadness in our lives, but no, we haven’t, thank goodness.   This was today’s quote in my little daily book of Tao devotions.

As I went in search of some of Deng Ming~Dao’s best quotes on line, this one was near to the top of the list, so I knew it was the one that I should use today.  Perhaps it will touch someone who needs it today.

Without any further ado……….. my D is Deng Ming Dao

I discovered Dao and Tao through the blog Changing Places.  I have found much balance and serenity in this little daily devotional.  There is such a calmness and wisdom in Dao’s words……and I for one am very thankful to have stumbled on the world of Tao, thru Donna’s blog.

The lovely silk brick surrounding the book was hand~dyed by a good friend of mine.  I will periodically be putting up some of her beautiful fibers up on my luxury fiber page……..they truly are luxurious!

I know……..I am really late with my D along…..but life has been a challenge the last few weeks.  Between the sick dogs (now better) and the sick child (feeling a bit better), the puppies and some very difficult and challenging things on the work force, I admit, I am waaaaaaayyyy behind on blogging, blog reading, blog commenting/responding and knitting, but I found a few free hours tonight ;-))

Fibery Stuff

It has been fun in the little free time that I have had to browse around at some of the wonderful things that were accomplished during the Knitting Olympics.  Great job to all of you gold medalists!!

Up until last week, I plugged away at my Malabrigio sweater.  The back and front have been put together and the neck ribbing added.  The sleeves will go on the needles sometime within the next few days.

I am not sure if I am happy with the decreases along the center of the "V".  Something just doesn’t look right to me and I’m not sure what that is.  The booklet picture is a drawing, so it is hard to tell what it is truly supposed to look like.  I figure I can rip it out later if I find out what is not quite right.

I put down the sweater last week to work on a few more hats for the preemie project.  The little Jester hat looks a bit silly as I forgot to roll up the brim before I took the picture……but you get the idea.:-)

I had hoped to get at least 10 hats finished this month, but life happened, and I was only able to finish 4 of them, but that means that 4 more little babies will have warm heads ;-))).  These little hats are fun to whip up..  Thank-you Tracy for making us aware of this neat project!

Puppies

Today was a big day in the life of a little puppy boy…….it was moving day!  Bliss’s babies are growing up and ready to venture out of the safe world of the whelping box.  Into the kitchen where life is a busy place in a new big pen and a LITTER BOX! 

I think you can tell from their expressions that they are not quite sure about these life changes……LOL.

Did you notice anything missing from the litter box above and something different in the Princess box?  Yes, that is Bliss’s little girl in with the little maidens. 

Bliss had decided that she was not really interested in nursing puppies with needle teeth any longer, so it was time for me to introduce the boys to big boy food.  Their sister however is not growing as quickly as I would like to see her grow.

Breeze being the "chicken soup" kind of Mum that she is will nurse babies forever. She was very happy to accept a newcomer to the "milk bar".  Even though Bliss’s little girl is 10 days older, she is much smaller than Bibbity, Bobbity and Boo.  Hopefully an extra week or so of nursing will give her a little extra boost.

Seize the mountain spirits,
Make them divulge their secrets.
Only with strength is there discovery
Deng Ming~Dao

Today when I was outside, I took a look at the garden bed that is against the house.  Imagine my surprise when I saw these little green Sedum heads poking out of the dirt!  Now remember, I live in the mountains….eek!  Is it going to be a glorious early spring……or is it Global Warming?  As much as I adore this early, warm weather, it is almost disconcerting.  Let’s hope that Mother Earth is just smiling on us this winter!

Fibery Stuff

I didn’t participate in the Knitting Olympics as I knew that my plate was much to full to put that kind of pressure on myself, but I have been unusually productive <giggle>.  The malabrigio sweater is moving along at a nice pace.  I have been spending so much time in the living room just watching the puppies grow and knitting, that this sweater is just growing right along with the babies.

It has been one of the most enjoyable knits I have had in a long time.  Have I told you how much I am enjoying this Malabrigio yarn?  Because I am 😉

I have managed to squeeze a little dyeing in this week.  I was so disappointed to miss the Spa, that I put the dye pots away last week. However, looking at the pile of naked merino, just begging for some pretty colors, was just too much to pass by.

I am looking ahead to the Denmark Sheep Festival in April and the Fiber Frolic in June.  Hopefully I will see you there 😉

Puppies
I put this down at the bottom, as I know………this is a fibery blog, but I just love taking photos of the babies and sharing them like a proud Mum.

"How’s That Olympic Knitting Coming Along…….only 7 more days to go?"

Fibery Stuff

Not much happening in this corner of the world.  Everyone seems to have recuperated from their ills for the most part and life has settled down to a calmer pace for everyone here.

DH is very happy that he escaped doggie duty this weekend. However, given that things seem to be staying down in doggie land ;-), he is
willing to let me out of my bat cave for a few hours tomorrow so that I
can visit with friends at SPA.  I am so looking forward to getting out of the house!

Added Sunday:  Sorry guys…..I just couldn’t get out to the
SPA……I tried though, I really did.   I hope to see some of you at
NH Sheep and Wool and Fiber Frolic ;-))

If you ever get a chance to try Malabrigo yarn…..go for it!  It is the softest (non angora) knitting experience I have had yet!  Even though I did read that this yarn will pill some, I went ahead anyways with the sweater.  I will wear it wisely.

I’m loving the size 9 knitting needles and the mindlessness of stockinette.  Quick as a wink (for me that is), the back was finished and I am starting the front tonight.  The front has a little pattern work, which will make it a bit more interesting……but then I will have to pay attention too.  Sometimes mindless knitting is a good thing…..LOL

Puppies

When puppies get ready to go to their new homes, they have been bomb-proofed here first.  When you have 5 children and 2 grandchildren, puppies get handled a lot……but very carefully and under supervision..  This is the first time that I have let my 2yr old grandson visit with puppies and he was mesmerized by them.  He thinks that  the tri~color pups are baby cows.  Of course he was closely supervised by Grammy and mother Bliss. 

 

McKayla on the other hand is an old hand with babies.  I have never seen a child be as gentle and as loving as she has been since she was barely old enough to know what a puppy is.  She knows that she must ask first, be sitting down and be very gentle in handling the wee ones.

Being the princess that she is, she opted to climb in with the 3 little maidens.  Here she is holding "Boo"

Bibbity, Bobbity and Boo haven’t moved much have they??  Haha……….but they are growing so fast that they are almost as big as the other litter!!

I have to admit that it is hard to get much fibery stuff done when there are puppies in the house.  My time with them is always too short and I just love watching them grow.   Look how much they have grown already!

 

Happiness is to love and to be loved

How can you not love a face like that?

Fibery Stuff
As you may have read on both Julia’s and Judy’s blogs, we had a
wonderful Saturday afternoon in Lowell Mass, at the Textile Museum.
There is so much that I want to say about our trip, so I am going to
devote an entire post on our trip a little later in the week.  I am
going to try to keep this post short ;-).

It has been a while since I felt the urge to work on a larger than sock/scarf project, but seeing all the lovely Olympic going on’s, the urge to knit big was too strong to pass up, so I dug thru my pattern books to find just the right pattern for the lovely Malabrigo yarn and came across this Manos book.

Now, I am not normally a swatch it kind of girl, however, this yarn is soooooo soft, I know that it wouldn’t take to ripping very kindly.  Can you believe, first try with the recommended size 9 needles and I got gauge….yippee!  I am going to knit the v-neck sweater in the middle.   

After working on size 0’s and size 1 needles, it is amazing how fast something knits up on size 9’s!  This yarn is incredibly soft and definitely something that can be worn against even the most sensitive skin. 

I am wondering though…….will it pill?  Has anyone had any experience with how this yarn wears?  I could be tempted to buy more….it is such a treat to work with!

I want to thank all of you who emailed me with such kind words for the dogs.  Most of them, seem to be feeling a bit better today, although my oldest girl is having a harder time.  Hopefully the next few days will bring about more settled stomachs  ;-).  If the girls are keeping their dinners down, I am hoping to sneak out for a few hours Saturday and join you for a Spin at the Spa, so fingers are crossed here 😉

I also want to thank those of you who appreciate the fiber work that I do.  I was amazed at how quickly so much of the rovings I posted flew off the shelves here.  I love working with colors and knowing that others enjoy it too, means so much to me…..You guys are awesome!    HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY!!!!!!!

I have had a few setbacks this week and was feeling a bit discouraged and defeated, but working on this tiny little hat for the Preemie Project, reminded me of all the blessings in life that I do have.  The saying on the little 5" Torquay plate says it all 😉  It is hard to believe that this tiny 3 inch hat would actually fit a baby, but it will.

One of the biggest disappointments, is that I will not be able to be a vendor at the NETA SPA.  My husband wasn’t too keen on me going away for a weekend and leaving him to care for the dogs and the puppies, but he was willing to do that as he knew how much I wanted to go.  This week however, 4 of the adult dogs became very sick.  I rushed Dora to the emergency vet the other night, as I was worried sick about her. What came back is that they have Giardia.  The kicker is, I think that they may have picked it up at the vets when I had the girls in for xrays.  Of course, it could have been dirty water from the warm, melting temps that we have had as well, who knows.  The bottom line is, my husband pretty much put his foot down about having to take care of sick dogs and medicating them.  Although, they should be on the mend by then, I know that this is not the year for me to be away……..I would be too worried.  Needless to say, this has been a shi**y week for me, in every sense of the word.  I apologize for my lack of responding to comments…..I really have not felt very well this week, but I appreciate each and every kind word!

Because I have been dyeing like a crazy woman in anticipation of the Spa, I will have new fibers to sell here.  This bunch that you see on the left, "Woodrose", is one that I dyed earlier in the week.  When I looked at the fabric that came from a stash sale, that I made a nice dent in, 2 days later, I had to chuckle as the colors are virtually the same……what does that say about me…..LOL?.  I do have a bunch of these rovings, but only 4 of the balls with the brighter green.  (that was a dyeing error…grin)

One nice thing to smile about this week is the Unloved Sock Swap.  At the PO earlier in the week was a package from Finland.  I couldn’t remember ordering anything, so I couldn’t imagine what was awaiting me. 

Ahh……the sock yarn swap!  Inside the package were 2 skeins of Regia cotton yarn, 8 beautiful buttons and the prize……a tiny pair of knitted fairisle mittens pin.  I am beyond impressed that anyone could do color work on such a small project.  Thank you Lene!  As you can see, the little preemie hat was made with this yarn and the rest will be a pair of socks for my youngest daughter, Hannah, who loves the yarn.  She is one who appreciates a pair of handmade socks!

Puppies…

Thankfully the Giardia did not seem to affect either of the mothers, nor their babies.  You can see that Bliss’s litter is growing…….can you believe this baby lounging on his back??  LOL……he is one dude that knows how to relax!

I will leave you all with this little collage of Bliss’s kids at 12 days.  Although I will not be participating in the Knitting Olympics, I will be with you all in spirit, cheering you on and raising my wine glass to your successes!