I have found out something about myself recently. 
I LOVE things that glitter and sparkle.  Who knew?

Last Sunday when Ken and I were getting ready to take off for the day, I grabbed my camera.  It was a cold morning and the morning dew was quite frosty, making the leaves and grass just sparkle with light.

It was SO pretty…..the field looked as if it were glass…glittery glass.  Such a beautiful morning.  It had me thinking about a few recent purchases that I had made.

It's no secret that I have some lovely spindles that I rarely use because I have never really enjoyed that process.  I so enjoy looking at the spindles because most are made of beautiful woods.  For me it has always been about the wood…until….

…these little lovelies made their way into the studio of The Woolen Rabbit.  Now I will be straight up with you.  Normally I would have looked at these spindles and maybe found them a bit garish…definitely not what you would expect to find here at all.  So what happened?
Well a friend who enjoys leading me down the path of temptation had purchased one at SOAR.  I looked at it and thought it was pretty but not my cup of tea.  It wasn't until she gave it a whorl that I understood why she purchased it… the glitter….the sparkle was just amazing as it spun around and around.  Like a beautiful fire fly.
  Agghh….I knew I was sunk.

I took a few videos today to share some of my glitter with you……

 

 

I love watching these girls sparkle so much as they go round and round that I am actually using them!  Who knew….. 🙂

Passion is but a prelude to years of gradual unfolding..
Den Ming~Dao

Many of you know that my daughter Ashley recently married her long time boyfriend/fiance, Brian.  You also know that my life has become very busy and full, but I had promised Ashley a shawl for her wedding……

So one day when I was talking to Ken about what I was going to make, he said to me……"why don't you have someone else knit the shawl?…you have enough to do."
BRILLIANT idea because I have been outrageously busy and another deadline would mean added stress, which I really did not need.

I thought on it some, and then contacted one of Anne Hanson's test knitters, Karolyn.  Karolyn is an amazingly fast knitter and I can attest to the quaility of her work….it is so beautiful.  The pattern Ashley and I had chosen was Anne's Ice Fantasia.  I knew that Karolyn had already knit it once, but I hoped she would be willing to knit it again.  When she said YES..I was SO thankful!!

So I bundled up a few skeins of Lark Lace in it's natural state along with some pearl seed beads and Karolyn worked her magic.  Magic indeed! 

When I opened up the box that Karolyn sent to me I gasped…..such incredible beauty!  It still amazes me that a string of yarn can become something so beautiful.
Lark Lace is a very soft blend of Alpaca, silk and cashmere, so you can imagine how soft and warm it is….

Thank you Mr. Woolen Rabbit for your wise suggestion, thank you Karolyn for your amazing work and thank you Anne for your beautiful pattern.  Together we all produced a beautiful heirloom shawl for Ashley and Brian's family going forward,

I love when my girl sends me a song…………

This song so reminds me of being a little girl……..love it!  Thanks Ash!

A solitary crane
In winter snow
Needs no jewels.
Deng Ming~Dao

Do you believe in Karma?  I do.
Earlier this spring out of the blue I was contacted by a man named Tom Livernois.  He had found my contact information via my blog.  It turns out that he had read this post from 2007.

Anyone who knows me knows I jumped all over his note regarding the revival of the Magnus Drudik Spinning wheel.

Tom and I emailed back and forth and he told me his story of how he had been apprenticing with Magnus over the last year and was curious as to if people would be interested in purchasing these wheels made by him under the direction of Magnus.

Hmmmm…..again…..hmmmm….
Of course not knowing Tom or seeing his handiwork, I had to admit that I was extremely curious and hesitant all at the same time.  I told Tom that if he had a wheel in birdseye or curly maple I would love to see it……and wouldn't you know….yep, he had one and would send me some pictures…

  There was a tiny part of me that was almost hoping that this wasn't true….that the wheel would not be that special…because you know me….how would I be able to resist?  Refer back to the old post that Tom found……yes, it is indeed a sickness.  A sickness that I keep telling Mr. Woolen Rabbit that will take better care of us in our old age than our 401K. ;-).

The pictures of the wheel in the beginning stages of production arrived and I gulped.  Yes…even in it's unfinished condition, I could tell that this one was special, and I was intrigued and VERY excited.  Excited not only for me, but for all of the spinners out there.
Many of our beloved spinning wheel masters are aging and there is the fear amongst us that the craftsmanship of these wheels will disappear with them.  Magnus has been considered a master spinning wheel maker and his wheels have been coveted for as long as I can remember, so to know that Magnus is training up someone to take the helm for him…is well, just wonderful!

Over the next few months Tom and I conversed back and forth via email about my wheel that he was making and wheels in general.  I think that he and I share a passion for wheels that speak to us.  Just this evening we were saying how each wheel is it's own entity and has it's own energy….and should have it's rightful owner.

I believe this amazing wheel has found her rightful owner and I am so thankful that Karma led Tom to my blog.  In turn I want to send some of that Karma back to Tom by introducing him to you.  He is such a kind, enthusiastic and kindred spirit and you can reach him here.

In less than a week SOAR will start right here in New Hampshire and I will be working as a vendor Thursday, Friday and Saturday.  I am so excited!! 

There are still a few classes open and of course the Market Place is open to the public, so come on up or down, visit and say hello!

Pattern:  Rene
Yarn:  Woolen Rabbit Grace
Colorway:  Scottish Heather
(no…I did not make this stunning sweater…the talented designer did)

A number of years ago….at least 5 if not more, I had the good fortune of meeting an up and coming Pattern Designer, Anne Hanson, at the NETA Spa weekend.  We spent some time chatting at the booth where I was vending and then more time later when the vending part of the weekend was over and I was able to sit, spin and enjoy the company of friends.

Over the course of the weekend, I realized Anne was a kindred spirit and therefore a lasting friendship began….it has been a continuing source of joy in my life.

While Anne was visiting in my booth, she purchased some "man colored" yarns and mentioned how much her husband enjoyed hand knit socks.  Well, as a dyer, not every colorway comes out as you envision, so I used to send those skeins to Anne for her husband,David, instead of tossng them into the never to be seen bin again. This was long enough ago before I even sold yarn on-line, so I never thought much about it other than I hoped it would make she and David smile.  Back in those early days I actually had extra time in my life to look at my blog stats to see where hits were coming from and every now and then my stats would go absolutely crazy and I couldn't understand why until I looked a little closer….

This I think was the first….Teosinte Socks

next… these scrumptious lovelies…..

Tesserae….still one of my most favorite socks to knit

…and the beeutiful Marie Antoinette's that I begged Anne to design…because as you know, I have this small love affair with the little sister bees. 🙂

 
This one was very exciting for both of us when it made it into the Twist Collective line up…."Leaving".  The beeutiful Birch Beer colorway came into existence from a picture of a dyeing hosta that Anne sent to me and to date it is still my best selling colorway.  Those hostas left a beautiful parting gift. 🙂

As the years have gone by, Anne and I have worked together on a number of various projects and they have always been so much fun because as I mentioned before we are kindred spirits and usually tend to think on the same lines when it comes to color and patterns.  More important than all of the yarn and patterns however is the friendship that has been forged over these years.
Yes…a sister of the hive….thank you Anne! 🙂

It's been a busy time here in the Woolen Rabbit household.  Planning and keeping Ashley's bridal shower a surprise has been a big part of the busy around here.We actually had planned to have her shower almost a month ago, but a girl named "Irene" had different ideas…aggh!  I can't tell you how I labored over do we cancel or do we have it, but in the end concerns for everyone's safety won out and thank goodness it did because Irene certainly left her mark on the North Country up here.

So…Sunday was the big day.  Ashley knew she was having a shower, she just didn't know when.  I am sure that she was starting to wonder if it really was going to happen.  She says she was totally surprised, but hmm…she was a bit dressed up.  I guess she figured that every weekend until the wedding she should not go out in her usual flannel shirt and jeans…LOL

 I
My oldest daughter Stacey did most of the planning, which included a few fun games.  This one is a question form that Stacey had Brian fill out and then Ashley had to guess the answers.  For every incorrect answer, Ashley had to eat a big piece of bubblegum.

Oh~oh…..there was a LOT of gum in that little mouth…just sayin'

A look of panic as she unwrapped a box from Victoria Secret.  She looked over at Brian's mom and said…."Don't look"..haha!  Brian's Mom got a good chuckle as did we all from that.

 
Why of course……the naughty nighty, which Stacey gave to her. It was very pretty….what very little there was of it. 😉

We played a few more games, had a lovely luncheon and oohed and aahed over the lovely gifts that she received, but I think the part that Ashley loved the most was being surrounded by so many of the women friends and family that she loves….her own community of "sister bees".

The strongest and sweetest songs
yet remain to be sung…
~Walt Whitman

Stay tuned for the second part next month….It's going to be a fun wedding for sure!

 
Now that the weather has cooled down just a wee bit and the feeling of Fall is in the air, I started to think a bit more about knitting.  My little Whitfield Shorty is finished, and I am anxious to move on to some new things. (I will have pictures of Shorty soon)

I have decided to knit Anne's Hourglass throw with Grace.  The yarn is a custom color to match my sofa….it was actually an accidental colorway, but it works nicely. 
It always amazes me how consistent I am with the colors that I like…see how nicely the yarns match my new door rug?

I am also thinking ahead to fiber shows and samples, so the green yarn, which is "Ribbit" in Lark Lace is going to become, "Almost Ovals".  I LOVED that pattern the moment I saw it, so I am looking forward to knitting it now.

I have also become re-acquainted with my Vitamin D sweater.  I had to put it down during the summer as the combination of camel and silk on my lap was just too darn hot. I was sad to do that, but it was necessary for sure.

This is a terrible picture….I had to use my phone today because the battery on my big camera had conked out on me.  It gives you an idea though as to where I am on the sweater journey.  I ended up having to pull it back to the first set of short rows due to losing my notes as to where I had left off….ggrrr!  After spending the better part of an hour trying to figure out where I was, it was just easier in the end to rip it out.
It's nice to be working on it again. 🙂

So….that's what I am working on…how about you?  What are you planning for your Fall knitting?

Be still to know the absolute.
Be active to know the outer.
The two spring from the same source,
All of life is one whole.
Deng Ming~Dao

What an amazing day it is today in the Mount Washington Valley….you would never know that a Hurricane/Tropical storm passed this way yesterday…until you go for a ride through the community.

This little video was taken in Jackson, NH which is a small community about 20 minutes away.  I lived there a few years back with the kids and it's still our favorite place for Pizza and wine.

Thankfully here other than some drippy ceilings, this is the most damage that we sustained.

Needless to say while I spent some time out in the beautiful sunshine today, I was thinking of my friends and saying a few prayers for the communities that have been devastated around here.

I did manage to get my little Whitfield Shorty blocked today. (this color is SO hard to photograph..Anne got it much closer)  It is my goal to get it finished for my grandson when he visits on Wednesday.

I also prepared the little nest of garlic for autumn storage.  I had quite a bit more when I harvested the garlic, but I gave a good amount of it away to friends and family.

Such an amazingly beautiful day here after an amazing storm.
My thoughts are with those who are going through a hard time right now. 

 
Ring around the Rosy
A pocket full of Posies….

I used to love to play this game with my children when they were young…heck I even loved it when I was young…and….. that was a very long time ago…LOL.

 
A little while back I received an order from a fairly well known pattern designer for a sweaters worth of our WW Kashmir yarn.  Even though I had no idea what Cecily was going to do with this yarn, I was very excited at the possibilities, as I love so many of her sweater designs.  They are very classic in style and so very wearable.  I currently have a number of them in my ravelry queque of knits that I hope to knit in my lifetime. 🙂

I was beyond delighted when Cecily Glowick MacDonald released her newest e-book, called Rosy Days.  This little e-book has 3 sweater designs with yarns created by independent dyers such as myself.  All three are so pretty, but I have to admit, I love this one, Bella Roma, the best. I love the classic lines of the sweater and the sweet lace inset on the sleeves.
  I am always so humbled and amazed when a designer chooses to use my yarns in their designs….thank you Cecily!

If you get a chance go take a peak at Cecily's work…..her patterns are lovely!!