Today's post was going to be about the fun Thanksgiving that we all shared, but I decided to leave that for another post as I was excited to receive a group of photos today and wanted to share them with you.

Remember that new knitter that I talked about in this post? 
Well she has been a diligent student it appears.  I haven't taught many people how to knit and truly if you want to know it has been exactly 3.  Hannah when she was super young and she never stuck with it.  McKayla, my granddaughter who wanted to make a scarf, and my daughter Ashley, who really wants to learn.

With Ashley I changed my tactic as knitting a scarf can be super boring, especially when you are learning because you want some gratification that you are actually doing something.  This time around I gave her small challenges. 
Swatches!   Genius..rignt?  Never to early to explain how important a swatch is.
A swatch is not too big to be overwhelming or boring but just big enough to learn skills.

So, with Ashley I was a task master.  I showed her how to cast on (I cast on the first one) and had her knit, knit, knit.  She had to rip it back a few times, but I gave her the website, knittinghelp.com, which has some wonderful reference videos to study and they helped to reinforce her casting on skills.  I can't say enough good things about this website.  I have used it many times myself as an experienced knitter.

Once she mastered the knit stitch, I showed her how to cast off as she and her husband were getting ready to head home after Thanksgiving dinner.
Her next assignment was to cast on and purl a swatch after I demonstrated the purl stitch. Even though I told her it would look exactly the same, she called me the other day worried that she had done something wrong because it did look exactly the same.

When she called me, she asked me why she wasn't seeing the "v's" that she had seen mentioned in things she had read, so I explained to her that was referring to stockinette knitting, which is knit one row then purl one row. 
Today she sent me the above picture, with the comment, What is my next lesson. 🙂
I think she is ready to learn how to knit in the round and make that hat she really wants to knit.

As the Mom to 4 daughters….this makes my heart very happy!
I will have to use this method to help my granddaughter learn as I know she is eager to succeed as well.

Seeing those nice stockinette stitches done with my "Grace" yarn reminded me that I wanted to bring this yarn back in a limited quantity.  It's not an easy yarn to dye consistently in some colors, but in other colors it comes out lovely, so I will dye up a few colorways and list them after Christmas.
~
Knit on!

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In celebration of the wonderful Holiday Season to come, we are doing a Small Business Saturday Sale

15% off your entire order and we are extending it through Sunday.
(12 am Saturday through Sunday 11:30 EST)
Free shipping on orders over $150.00 ~ discount is taken off at checkout.

(Pattern~ Milkweed by Anne Podlesak  Yarn~ Pearl in Cornhusk)

All orders are custom dyed just for you!

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Ken was away last week for a few days visiting his family in Pennsylvania and New York.  It's always such a long stretch for me being home alone now that the kids are all grown and on their own, but someone has to stay behind and care for the dogs here.

A few weeks ago Ashley told me that she received a free organic turkey for Thanksgiving and thought it would be a good donation for our large Thanksgiving family dinner.  Um yes! 
I was very happy when she told me that she was going to come home this weekend to bring the turkey …… and……. she wanted me to teach her how to knit!!
Whaaat???  One of my 4 daughters who has full access to a yarn shop every day, actually wants to learn how to knit?
All of you knitters out there know just how I felt.  Remember the Grinch as his heart grew bigger and bigger?
Yes, this!  As a friend said this weekend.  "She is one of us!"

So for a few hours we sat together knitting.  God bless her, she was concentrating so hard learning how to knit with her right hand as a lefty.  She knows that all of the help videos online are demonstrated by right handed people and after learning to play the guitar left handed, she felt that as a new skill she could do this, and friends…she rocked it!

While she was knitting, I worked on a swatch with a new yarn that I am trying.  This is an organic wool worsted weight natural yarn and I am excited about it.  I was a joy to knit and blocked out beautifully!  Look for it in the next few months.

Happy Knitting!!!

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This is the end result of those pieces of rubber that I was playing with over the weekend and I am so happy with it! 
I wish I had added a stem to the pod at the top, but I can carve an individual stem or create a few different stems to add to the seed pod as I go along.
Ken is going to help me make some plexiglass bases to mount the stamps on to make it easier to apply to the fabric.

I'm not going to lie, it took me a number of tries to get a feeling for the carving tools that I am using.  Lot's of rubber scrap bits that had to be tossed, but it's all about the process, isn't it?  I really enjoyed mixing the paint colors to create a color that was pleasing against the natural linen as well.
I can tell I am going to have a lot of fun with this!

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…and delicious wooden carving tools…oh my!

A few years ago, I discovered the world of block printing and the ability to create your own fabric using different mediums such as rubber and linoleum.  In my excitement, I ordered a few books, watched numerous videos, but life got in the way and my enthusiasm kind of fell by the wayside.
You know how that goes.

Well… over the last few weeks I have finally managed to find some quiet time to play, and I love doing this!  I am creating stamps that I will be able to transfer to fabric and next weekend while Ken is away, I am going to do my best to create a respectable screen for screen printing.

I don't know about you, but I LOVE learning new things!
It keeps life interesting, don't you think?

Now that I am working full time along with running the studio my weekends are usually pretty full with taking care of things around the house that need attending to and working in the studio, but this last Saturday I took some time off to enjoy a lazy morning with numerous cups of coffee.

On one of those trips into the kitchen to fill up my cup, I heard an unexpected knock on my door.
It was my friend Tamara, who I have come to call her my friend through her friendship with my daughter, Ashley.
Tamara is a very talented potter and is one of the owners of The Community Clay Center in Plymouth NH.

A while back Tamara and Ashley came here for a visit and Tamara being a knitter as well wanted to see my yarns and my studio.  It was so fun to watch her reaction to all of the yarn and equipment here.  Because I am always surrounded by it, I never give it much thought, but it is fun to see it through someone else's eyes.  I sent Tamara home with some yarn to make her smile, so when she showed up at my door with these lovely hand thrown mugs for Ken and I, I smiled as well.

I love that my friends are kind people…and some of them are pretty darn talented!!
Thank you Tamara!!!
(PS….I would love to take some classes on your glazing techniques. 😉 )

 

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The foliage has been losing its freshness through the month of August, and here and there a yellow leaf shows itself like the first gray hair amidst the locks of a beauty who has seen one season too many…. September is dressing herself in showy dahlias and splendid marigolds and starry zinnias. October, the extravagant sister, has ordered an immense amount of the most gorgeous forest tapestry for her grand reception.
~Oliver Wendell Holmes

Have a wonderful weekend!!

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What a beautiful way to spend the last day of summer on the lake, kayaking and visiting with the loons who call this place home.

I will admit that I have not been the best of bloggers this summer…nope not at all and truly, I wish I had spent more time visiting here, but somehow the hours and days managed to get away from me, even though I did have the very best of intentions.
What I have done however, was to get out in the big wide world and enjoy what life has to offer.  This summer was a mixed bag of the best of times with some challenging times tucked in between, but isn't this what life is?

I can honestly say that I thoroughly enjoyed this summer, it has been one of the very best ones ever.  In between my days working at the vet hospital and dye pots, Ken and I managed to spend our free time enjoying leisurely days at the ocean, kayaking on the many lakes we are surrounded by and lazy Saturday afternoons playing games of bananagrams, tending to the gardens and reading.

So while I have taken a gazillion pictures that never made it to a blog post, the memories of this summer will carry me through the winter months that surely will follow my most favorite season…Autumn.
This song will remind me that Summer will come again and these beautiful birds will be singing to us once again.

This week's Ten on Tuesday is…..Ten Things I Did This Weekend:

1.  Started the holiday weekend off with a day of work, but it's ok because I only have a 2 day work week as a reward.

2.  An unexpected trip to the hospital after work on Saturday.  I'm ok…no worries.

3. Headed to Pine Point Beach on Sunday ready to pick up arm sleeve stitches.

4. Failed at picking up sleeve stitches.

5. Enjoyed an amazing September day oceanside reading one of many books I have surprisingly read this summer

6. Took advantage of Craftsy's sale this weekend.  One of the two classes I took was on picking up stitches. 😉

7. Successfully picked up stitches and moved 1/2 way down the first sleeve.

8. Spent Monday lakeside on Lovewell Lake, a new paddle for us and even though it looked smallish, it was a wonderful paddle.

9.  Bananagrams, snacks and a visit from Courtney to close out the weekend.

10….and a little peek at what an amazing moment I had on the lake…
 

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In between work and dyeing I have managed to squeeze in a few extra things this summer. 

  I have really enjoyed reading again which makes me smile because books always filled in the quiet spaces of my life when I was younger. Even though my schedule is crazy busy I read 7 books this summer which is super good for this very slow reader.   I love how easy a kindle has made reading on the go.  I toss my kindle into my bag and squeeze in some reading time at lunch or just before falling asleep at night and always at the beach.

I have also been knitting and sewing and the bag above is my newest bag.  I love this fabric!  It is a heavy weight canvas that is neutral and colorful all at the same time.

This time I put a zippered pocket in.  I love the little gray birds poking out here and there in this cheerful fabric.

Sewing these bags is a fun challenge.  They do take a lot of time, but I enjoy the process.

Next week I will share my sweater that is almost finished.  Knitting a sweater in fingering weight yarn is not an easy feat for this slow knitter, but I can't wait to see it finished now that the end is near!

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