I am a "wood ho"

A few of my friends like to tease me because I am forever purchasing drop spindles that they know I will never really use for more than a few minutes here and there.

I hate to admit it, but it is true.  There is something so inviting to me however when I see freshly carved wooden objects.  The smell of turps and stain, the patina of newly applied Danish oil…..I just LOVE it!

Years ago I used to restore antiques and it was for the very same reason…the feeling of a beautiful old patina under my hand that let me know that the item was once well loved and used….and the smell of those turps again. 

It gave me enormous pleasure to take an old dirty piece and restore it back to it's glorious self.  Now that I have a little more free time, I may use that time to restore a few old pieces that we have here. 🙂

So it goes without saying that I would carry my love for well crafted wood items over to my current life with fiber.  The bowls above are yarn bowls made by Yellow Dog Farm.  The bowl on the top is made with Cherry wood and the other I don't quite remember what the wood is, but I just love the grain. I can still smell the oil while I knit and it makes me smile.

…I have a particular fondness for curly, birdseye, spalted or quilted maple.  This niddy noddy made from quilted maple matches the special Robin wheel that she came with. There are only 2 of these wheels made from this wood and I am very thankful that I own one of them.  I love the soft light maple surrounded by the darker bands and the grey quilted veins through out.

…and then there is my double pointed needle holder used when I am knitting socks.  Not only is it beautiful, it is functional, keeping my needles together and all of the stitches on said needles. 

This holder is made by Knitzi and is made again with Cherry.  I love the little carvings on the ends.

 
Soooo…I guess it won't surprise you that my love for wood spills over into my everyday life as well.  Last week this little beauty made in cherry arrived on my doorstep and I immediately loved it!

Can you guess what it is called?  I will show you tomorrow. 🙂

Yes….Kelly, I am an addict and I freely admit it. 😉

 
I hope you had an enjoyable Valentine's Day!  Did you do anything special?

It was a relatively quiet Valentine's Day here, so I thought I would try my hand at baking some cookies in between packing up dog club paperwork. 

Now every year for some strange reason I get an urge to bake for this holiday…I'm not quite sure why, but I do.  Some of my creations have been successful and some…well….SO not.  My kids would be happy to tell you about the epic failures…LOL.    (I am no Martha…just sayin')

 

This year I gave this recipe a try.  The recipe says that the dough will be dry and crumbly and the author wasn't lying.  Making these cookies was a workout for sure, but the flavor of the cookie is nice and mine would have been much better had I not over baked them…..mine are little heart hockey pucks…LOL.
(I should stick to dyeing)

Oh well, maybe next year I will Carole's cream puffs a try.  At least I know those are yummy…at least that's the word on the street. 😉

According to Chinese tradition it is said that the Rabbit brings a year in which you can catch your breath and calm your nerves.  Sounds pretty darn good to me…how about you?

I am excited that the year I decided would be my jumping off point into my own business is also the Year of the Rabbit.  It must be kismet. 

To start off the New Year, I am going to share a few of my favorite things with you.

First up is this nifty little oil sprayer, called Misto.  Of course having ones gall bladder out does make one look a little closer at their diet.  As a way of eating a little lighter while not only saving money, but the environment as well, I invested in 2 of these sprayers….they work great!  I have one filled with Olive oil and one filled with Canola Oil….no more Pam sprayers here.

Next up on that list is Morro Fleece Works.  Remember all those bags of wool that I shipped out back in September?  Well they have been rolling in at a steady pace and I have to tell you I am completely blown away by the quality of Shari's work.  Many of the fleeces that I sent out were Merino blends and honestly not a nep to be found.

Laurie and Terry persuaded me to give Morro a try and I am so happy that I followed my friends advice. 🙂

Blurry picture since I snagged it from their facebook page, but third on my list of favorites is Tastespotting.  Not only is this the perfect time-waster, but it is a wonderful source of new recipes.

Looking back to #1…..tastespotting has helped me find some new and nutritious meals for my family.  Of course there are some not so good for you treats as well, but that's ok now and then too.

Last on my list is my new favorite app for my ipad called Reeder.  I was completely bummed when bloglines went away and found that I just wasn't reading many blogs any longer because I hate google reader.

Somehow I stumbled upon reeder in the app store and saw how many good reviews it had, so I plunked down my money hoping I wouldn't be disappointed.  It is by far my favorite way to keep track of my RSS feeds now.  I am even more excited to see that this will be an app for Mac's soon.  Yes, I am moving into the world of Mac's.

As part of my Registration job, I have always had a PC that the club supplied for me.  Now that I will be retiring from this position I will be returning the PC.  I went back and forth between a PC and a Mac, but finally decided that now was the right time to make that jump over to a Mac.

See…..it's a new year all around for me and I'm very excited!  I hope that you enjoy a few of my favorite things too. 🙂

I recieved these lovely flowers while I was in the hospital….a little Spring in the winter. 

Have a wonderful weekend in your corner of the world!!

This is the moment of embarking.
All auspicious signs are in place.

In the beginning, all things are hopeful.  We prepare ourselves to start anew.  Though we may be intent on the magnificent journey ahead, all things are contained the this first moment; our optimism, our faith, our resolution, our innocence. In order to start, we must make a decision.
Deng Ming~Dao

Whew….what a month this has been!  I am not even sure where to start, so I will start at the beginning.

The above quote is so meaningful for me in this beginning month of 2011 as I have given my notice in my real job to commit myself to The Woolen Rabbit.  I will be working both jobs untill the end of February….and then I will be able to focus all of my attentions on fibery things.

I will fully admit that it is a bit scary, but still very exciting all at the same time.  It is going to be crazy busy here until the end of February however, so my postings may not be as regular as I would like them to be, but come March there will be new things happening.

 
January has proven to be a challenging month on the health front as well.  Some of you may know that my dad underwent an unexpected heart procedure.  Even though he is in fabulous shape at 76 years old, he needed to have a few stents put in to help the old ticker.  We weren't quite prepared to find out that the total amount of stents was 7!  Yikes! 

Needless to say we were very concerned, but he is feeling so much better now.  The doctors told him that his regular exercise program has kept his heart in great shape…just a few blocked arteries.  (another reason to commit to exercising!)

Less than a week after Dad's trip to the hospital, it was my turn….emergency gall bladder surgery.  Ey yi yi…didn't the health goddess know that I am much too busy for this?  Orders to be filled, yarns to be dyed, patterns to be knit.

Needless to say that the orders have had to wait a bit as the doctor has told me no lifting more than 15 pounds…and that means heavy dye pots.  Thankfully people have been understanding and patient.

What I have been able to do is knit….yay!  The pretty blue mitt above is a kit pattern that was designed for the girls over atYarn4socks.  It is part of their sock yarn club. The girls at Yarn4 Socks say there are 8 kits still available, so hurry on over to order one!

  The pattern is called Eliza, designed by Anne Hanson of Knitspot and the yarn is a new Woolen Rabbit yarn named Lucient.  Lucient is a MCN blend, but with an extra dash of cashmere in a 3 ply yarn.  Very soft…and will be available later next month.

The other little bit of knitting that I have managed to work on is a Curling set of hand mitts and a neck warmer, made from the same Lucient yarn, this time in Birch Beer.  Love, love, love this pattern!

Well, that is it for now.  The next few weeks will be about healing and getting ready for Spa, so posting may be a bit erratic here, however I am SO looking forward to March and new things.  

Even more than that….. I am looking forward to spending more time with you all here.

Until then…..stay warm in your corner of the world!

Pattern:  Wing of the Moth
Yarn:  Woolen Rabbit Whisper
Colorway:  Red Hot Chili Peppers
Needles:  US 6

Can you believe it took me well over a year to knit this shawl?  Not because it is difficult, because it really isn't.  In fact it is actually one of Anne's easier shawl patterns. 

I started this back in the summer of 2009 and really moved right along on it.  With Anne's usual consistent flow, it was easy enough that I took it to Fryeburg Fair to work on.  That is where the trouble began….you see…..when the fair was over, I somehow managed to lose my chart keeper with all of my notes….grrr! 

I tried a few times to figure out where I had left off, but by then I was distracted with other knits and this one was cast aside for a rainy day.

This fall was when that rainy day came around.  Determined to finish up some of the UFO's kicking around here, I finally pulled this out of my knitting basket and figured out where I had left off.

Once found, I whipped right through the last element design and quickly remembered why I had enjoyed knitting this so long ago.  I finished the shawl right after Thanksgiving, but did not get around to blocking it until just before Christmas.

The timing was perfect because it gave Courtney a chance to model it for me.  This was the first time Courtney actually was willing to model for me as she is another one of my girls who does not like to be the center of attention. The coloring in this shawl however was just so perfect for her.  The soft golden terra cotta and browns are perfect with her golden brown hair, freckles and hazel eyes.  Thanks Courtney!  See….it wasn't so bad now was it? 

 
All in all I really enjoyed this knit!

I hope that Santa was good to you all…….Merry Christmas!!

 
Hmmm is right.  Back in January I had set a goal for myself to knit 6 pair of socks and sadly I will not meet that goal.  The Rosalynd Socks, designed by Patti Waters, knit in Pearl will be completed before the year is out, but it will not be number 6. 

Having completed the first sock I am working on the second one.  Somewhere around the middle of the first sock I bit the bullet and started cabling without a needle.  A bit tricky with such small stitches, but it saves fiddling with that extra needle.  I will admit that cabling on socks is not my favorite thing to do, but I love how they look so I persevere.

The first socks of the year were my French Quarter socks, designed by Anne Hanson made in Kashmir. I finished the first one and started the second one, but I have to tell you cabling on size 0's is a challenge for this slow knitter.  As soon as I finish Rosalynd though I am going to finish the second French Quarter sock while I am in a cabling mode. 🙂

Next on tap were my Angee socks designed by Cookie made with Harmony.  I really enjoyed knitting this pattern and I wear these socks all the time. 🙂

 
By early summer my Hayricks, designed by Anne Hanson made in Pandora were ready to be worn.  These are a perfect lightweight sock for those cool spring/fall days.  I really love these socks……..almost better than any of them. Comfy without being too hot.

….and finally my Keukenhofs designed by Anne Hanson, made with Pearl.
These socks are my most favorite!  The yarn is soft and cushy and the pattern makes me smile.

Yes…..I failed, but not really because I will have 5 new awesome pairs of socks…just for me.  Having said that, I realized that I have not knit anyone else a pair of socks in some time.

After reading Carole's post about Dale's new socks and how it has been 2 years since she knit him a pair…I was shamed.  You see, it's been about 4 years since I knit Mr. Woolenrabbit a new pair of socks, so come January his socks made with this hand-spun will be the first socks of the new year. 🙂

A friend is one to whom one may pour out all the contents of one's heart, chaff and grain together, knowing that the gentlest of hands will take and sift it, keep what is worth keeping and with a breath of kindness blow the rest away."
– Arabian Proverb

Whew!  I was so afraid this day would get away from me before I could post, but here it is only 30 minutes before tomorrow, so it is not to late to wish my very good friend, Terry, a VERY Happy Birthday!

I have said it before and I am sure I will say it again,that the people who I hold most dear to my heart are the friends that I have made in the fiber world through blogging.

Terry is one of those friends and even though I have only known Terry for about 8 years, it is as though I have known her all my life.  Terry is an amazingly talented knitter who has that rare gift of "kind" sarcasm.  When you read her words on her blog it is exactly the way she speaks to you….I can hear her voice in her words and that is such a gift.  Best of all you never have to guess what she is thinking, because she will be the first to tell you….LOL!  This is what I love most about her…….that and the fact that she is one of the kindest and most generous people I know.

I'm sure you are wondering by now what these shawl pictures have to do with Terry.  Well….late in the summer I commissioned Terry to knit a shawl for me using my Lark fingering yarn.  It is no secret that I am a very slow knitter, that coupled with my work load leaves me with very little knitting time.  I asked Terry if she would be willing to knit a shawl for me using 2 skeins of Lark and I was thrilled when she said she could do it.  I mailed down the 2 skeins and told her to surprise me……..

…….imagine my surprise when I opened up the package that contained this AMAZING shawl!!  The shawl that Terry chose was a free pattern from Ravelry called Echo Flower.  The pictures here do not do this shawl justice………it is SO much prettier in person!

Thank you Terry for being such a kind and generous friend!! 

Happy Birthday!!!!

 

You may be capable of great things,
But life consists of small things.
Deng Ming~Dao

We had a most enjoyable weekend here at The Woolen Rabbit.  Saturday was spent organizing Christmas decorations and shopping.  Sunday had Stacey, Ashley, Hannah and I attending a bridal expo at the White Mountain Hotel where Ashley's wedding is going to be held, followed by a Christmas Party with friends.

Of course having Ashley home gave me a perfect opportunity to twist her arm for a little photo shoot of the Wood Hollow Hat/Mitten set.

Pattern:  Wood Hollow Hat/Mittens
Yarn:  Woolen Rabbit WW Kashmir
Colorway:  Pussywillow
Needles:  US size 5 and 6

This is such a fun pattern to knit and it works up ultra fast!  Perfect for a quick Christmas gift.  Kirsten offers the patterns either separately or combined as an e-book here on Ravelry.  I will have some of this yarn up in my webstore later today. 🙂

Back to the wedding planning…

Even though the wedding isn't until next October, it isn't too early to be thinking about wedding plans.  We were so fortunate that the bridal expo this weekend was held at the place where Ashley and Brian are getting married here in the Valley. 

This is a picture of the Gazebo where the ceremony will take place.  Ashley and Brian love the outdoors which includes hiking and camping in the White Mountains, so this is a perfect backdrop for them.

This is another view of the mountains from the hotel.  It was a bit of a dreary day, so you can imagine how pretty it is on a sunny day.  The end of October usually has some pretty foliage on the trees as well.  A bit past peak, but still very beautiful.

Ashley was a bit overwhelmed with so many choices and decisions, but we came away from the expo with a wonderfully talented local florist to do the flowers and colors were chosen, so a good step in the right direction. 🙂

………and while Ashley drew inspiration for wedding colors from pictures of beautiful summer/fall flowers, I took a quick opportunity to snap a few pictures for color inspiration here in the dye~pot.  I really love the subtleness in this picture.  Hmmmm…….