The sun shines half a day,
The moon dominates the rest.
Even contemplation
Should have it's proper duration.
Deng Ming~Dao

Yesterday morning I received an email from some distant friends in the UK via another friend of mine here in the states.

A number of years back, the webmaster of the Cavalier Club website in the UK traveled to New Hampshire with his wife.  While they were up in my neck of the woods, they came upon an old picture taken at one of the railroads up here of two men holding Cavaliers.

They felt pretty sure that the rail-house they saw the picture in was at one of the houses in Crawford Notch, which is on the backside of the mountain. 

In looking at the picture that they emailed me, I felt pretty certain that the train was one out of our Conway Railway.  The date is blurry in the picture, but it looks to be around the early 1900's. I have to say that is a mighty fine looking early Cavalier!

It was such a beautiful day here in the Valley that we offered to take the 40 minute drive up to Crawford Notch to see if that is where the pictures was and to find out a little more information on when the picture was taken and if there was any documentation regarding who these people might be.

Unfortunately when we got up there, the Rail-houses were shut for the winter.  Of course the area was crazy busy with winter hikers, snowshoers, ice climbers and cross country skiers, but the little houses…..closed until Spring.

So….we meandered a bit, taking in the beautiful scenery.  The day was sunny and bright, although you could tell that there was a storm on top of the mountain.

I have lived up here now for almost 20 years and still each time I see the mountain, especially this backside portion of it, it takes my breath away.

I did of course take some "car knitting" with me……………..


I am test knitting Anne's Hoarfrost with a newly dyed color of Opulence.  I thought I might have been able to finish it on the trip, but the combination of lace and driving made me a bit carsick, so Acer got a good workout instead.  I am hoping to finish up with this stunning little neck warmer tomorrow. 🙂

Give the one you love an extra big hug today!~

Which came first,
Experience or meaning?
Deng Ming~Dao

Everyday this week I thought I would blog but somehow life got in the way.  I've been busy in a fibery way, but at the end of the day I just kind of ran out of steam.  I'm sure some of you know just what I mean.  The thought of jumping into my jammies and knitting overrode sitting in front of the computer to blog.  I will blame it on the mid-winter blues.  It's just been so gray out there…  There are days I think I should commit to daily blogging again………at least I blogged then…

Anyhoo, Acer is moving right along.  Kirsten's pattern is very well written and is a perfect midwinter project.

I read somewhere on Ravelry were someone described Beaverslide as a woolen polar fleece and I have to tell you that is THE perfect description.

The yarn is soft without being too soft and very cushy.  I have been needing a new pair of slippers and after seeing a few pair of ballet slippers from Felted Knits that I really liked, I'm thinking a pair made with Beaverslide would be just perfect!

Socks and stuff…..


I have also been working on my cabletwist socks.  With a new pair of needles, we seem to be on the right track finally.  Like Pat, I have decided to do a partridge eye heel and so far so good……but I need a little help from you experienced sock knitters.

Is there a set formula for figuring out what your heel turn is supposed to be?  I am working the heel over 30 stitches and need to figure out what the number of stitches I need to knit and turn, then purl and turn to set myself up to get the bottom of the heel finished.  Acck…..i have been knitting for 30 years but still can't figure this out without a pattern!  Is there such a thing as a formula for any number of stitches?

and finally……..


Beetrice should be making her debut soon………

Mother Earth

I learn from the river
how to keep flowing.
The trees teach me
to bend and sway
with whatever comes my way.
I learn from the sky
to keep my heart and mind open,
The snow teaches me
to fall with grace.

I learn from the sun
to shine bright,
to trust without fear or fright.
The mountains teach me to be humble,
to stand when I want to crumble.

I learn from the moon
to let go,
to embrace change,
Let her guide my way
to a new day.

Mother Earth helps us grow and flow,
So take it slow with that radiant glow
Learn to just BEE.
Traci Haselhuhn

Ok……I bet you are wondering what the heck that poem has to do with sewing.  Umm…actually nothing, except that Ashley read it to me today from a very special magazine that I will tell you about later in the week, and since this post is about Ashley, I guess it makes it relevant. 🙂

It's also a wonderful verse and a perfect way to start one's week, don't you think?

.

Anyhoo, this weekend was a weekend of stitchery.  Yesterday I took a machine applique class at our local quilting store and learned some new things that my sewing machine is capable of.  I am still in awe at some of the things that today's sewing machines can actually do.

I will let you in on a secret though………this machine quilting….not so easy.  I will admit to being a quilting snob in the past.  Not done by hand….cheating.  The truth is, some of this machine stuff is actually much harder than doing it by hand…that is at least until you get the hang of it.

Back to Ashley.  About a month or so ago, she mentioned how much she needed a new bag.  The one she had been using was one I bought for her when she entered her freshman year of college a number of years ago.  It was a corduroy bag that we picked up at the Gap or Old Navy and it was definitely old and tired.

I purchased the fabric right after she mentioned it to me, washed and ironed it and then there it sat next to my sewing machine.  One more thing on my list of things to do…..and you all know how that goes.

Ash called me earlier in the week to say she was going to come home to spend some time with her sister, Courtney…..and she mentioned her bag as well.

So, I quickly read over the instructions and thought…easy peasy, I will have it finished in an hour.  Well, 4 hours later, the bag was finished and filled.  Not as quick as I thought it would go, but still a fast bag to make up.

Ashley was thrilled with her bag as you can see. 

While we were eating dinner we were talking about how the 80's seem to be creeping into this year's spring fashions and my opinion about these fashions was a big ewww.  I didn't like them in the 80's and I don't like them now.

Ash was trying to define her fashion style, other than bag~lady fashion, when Ken nailed it…… "Annie Hall".  Yep, little Ash is another Annie Hall for sure…LOL

Pattern:  Amy Butler Swing Bag
Fabric:  Batik's from Keepsake Quilting

Lest you think I have tossed in my knitting needles for sewing needles I want to introduce the beginnings of Acer.  Kirsten has created a very enjoyable knit in this sweater!

Pattern:  Spiralucious
Yarn:  Woolen Rabbit Opulence
Needles:  Size 4 addi's

Another week has come and gone.  In many ways it has been a trying week.  One of my daughters (Courtney) is having a hard time with another girl who has been harassing her to the nth degree.  Not much bothers Courtney, but the constant harassment is wearing her down and as a Mom it has been REALLY hard for me to sit back and let her handle it.  This other girl really seems to have some issues, which is sad….but…..still…..

Courtney has a good head on her shoulders and I know if she really needs me to step in she will ask, but it's stressful for a Mom all the same.  Sheesh……

Ok…….on to better things.  It's been REALLY cold up here in the mountains this winter.  Most nights have been 15-25 degrees below zero.  Even I, who loves winter, is ready for it to warm up a bit. 

I'm not one to wear scarves that often but with this cold weather my neck does get cold.  Remembering how much I liked the first Spiralucious, I made one for me this time.  It keeps my neck nice and warm without scarf ends to deal with. :). 

There has been a little knitting here.  I have some socks on the needles, but the call of the Beaverslide has just been too darn hard to ignore.  Besides it's good to balance working with little needles with sweater size needles…right?

This morning after I finished Spiralucious, I sat down and swatched the Beaverslide for Acer.  Whoo hoo….I got gauge with the recommended needles.

I do need to work on twisted vines, but I really haven't felt like taking the time to pull her back to find where I was on the pattern before I lost my place.  Maybe if I have some quiet time over the weekend, but until then, I am looking forward to working with this scrumptious yarn!

NETA Spa Weekend

Many of you have heard of the SPA weekend that NETA puts on every February.

It's a FUN weekend and one that I have vended at for the last few years.  This year it is the last weekend of February in Freeport Maine and promises to be another fun fibery weekend.

It's been fun having an excuse to fire up the dyepots for roving once again.  I haven't a name yet for this colorway, which is ok…I like it enough that it just might stay. 🙂

I hope to see a few familiar happy faces that weekend!

Pattern:  Ethereal Fichu
Yarn: Woolen Rabbit Muireann (available soon)
Needles:  Knitpicks Options size 6

This shawl is such a dramatic shawl.  I am very pleased with the way this new yarn blocked out.  Lots of natural luster from the silk which compliments the nature of the fabric in the shawl.

The shape of this shawl however is very different than most triangles I have knit.  It has a very narrow bottom with a big point, which of course points in a big way to the one place you might not want it to point to…haha.  When you wear it over your shoulder though the way Stacey is in these pictures it is very striking.  Over all a beautiful pattern that makes a striking entrance.

The sun was shining on a freshly fallen 20 inches of new snow….if you could have seen me climbing the snowbanks trying to hang this shawl in the tree, you probably would have laughed, especially when I sank in up to my waist.  Thank goodness for camera straps….just sayin'.

A beautiful pattern to knit and quite easy once you get the rhythm down.  Stitch markers are your friend with this one 🙂

A few weeks ago a package of the much raved about Beaverslide arrived on my doorstep.  There was a slight problem though if you can believe it.

When I opened the package I was immediately reminded of the yarn that I knit Hey Teach in.  Different yarn….exact same color.  Sheesh, do you think I have a tendency to get stuck in yarn color ruts?  I really do love browns and greens, but knowing that I am going to be ripping Hey Teach out and re-knitting her in a smaller size, made me realize that this shade of Beaverslide was just not going to be the one for me.

I got on the phone and spoke with one of the owners and told her of my dilemma.  She was so incredibly nice.  I love it when a company that turns out such beautiful yarn is also fabulous in the customer service end of it as well.

I ended up choosing a colorway that is very different for me.  It's called chokeberry and is a burgundy maroonish color.  Very pretty and rich looking…I love it.  I was originally going to knit Acer with it, but just recently this sweater caught my eye and I am now going back and forth between the 2.

It's been fun thinking about sweaters.  The sweater I was originally going to knit with the aran tweed has been replace with Lisa Lloyd's pattern Harriet from a Fine Fleece.  Somehow I didn't think that the yarn was going to work with the curvy knit sweater, but I think it will be perfect for Harriet.

Then of course there is the Felted tweed that is destined to become a tangled yoke sweater.  I fell hard for this pattern when I saw a few of them walking around Rhinebeck this past fall.

Oh…………..


…and there has actually been a little bit of finishing things here and not just dreaming.  My Etheral Fichu Shawl is off the needles and blocked. I am VERY pleased with how this yarn blocked out, and will be bringing some with me to SPA in a few weeks. With 20 plus inches of snow arriving today however, the lighting for taking pictures was just not good.  Hopefully tomorrow. 🙂

If you ever get a chance to sit in on one of Barb's dyeing classes….go!  We had such a fun class on Sunday.  In addition to Jean, it was fun to see a few other familiar faces in the class too. Judy and Cindy made the trip up from Rhode Island.

    

Barb covered a lot of material over the course of the day.   Fiber preparation for dyeing, an in-depth explanation of dye stock solutions and ratios, methods of dyeing including low immersion, painting, crock pot and dipping.  It's always fun to learn new ways of doing things or streamlining a process and even more fun when you are doing it with friends!

These are 2 of my samples from the class.  Because we were covering a lot of information in a short period of time, there was not quite enough time for the remaining portion of the fibers to complete their steam bath, so Barb will be mailing out the yummy fiber when it is dry.  Included in that batch is her scrumptious cormo/silk blend and a camel/silk blend…..YUM

I never knew!!!

Now grrls, I am going to admit something to you that still blows me away. I have been to webs a few times and while I thought it was a great store, I didn't quite understand the huge attraction.  Yes, a beautiful show room with lots of beautiful yarn, but people buying bags of yarn?  I just didn't get it…

That is until Jean walked me thru the warehouse to show me where the bathroom was.  HOLY CRAP!  You could have peeled me off the ceiling.  I had NO idea that there was a huge warehouse that one could stroll thru as well…NO.IDEA!

Needless to say, a little of it came home with me.  I bought enough of this beautiful Silk-road Aran Tweed to make a sweater…..and I made sure to purchase a pattern specifically for the yarn, so that it had a use.    It is always hard for me to justify yarn purchases as I have a houseful of my own yarn…but I don't dye sweater weight yarn, so that helped make it a bit easier.  (I am seeing a number of new sweaters for me this year :))

Jean and I had decided to make a grrls weekend out of the trip and it was fun.  Staying at a nearby hotel made the trip an easy and enjoyable one.

We ate in a fabulous little Italian restaurant on Saturday evening and spent the rest of our time knitting and chatting.  (more on the knitting tomorrow)

You have to click on Jean's picture and see her great sheep jammies…..they are too cute!

 

While I have been staying faithful to only one knitting project, I have managed to find a little extra time to spin and sew.

Sometime around Thanksgiving, I dyed up this BFL roving with a dye method that was new to me.  I liked the end result enough to keep for me :).  Yes, it's pink, but I think there is just enough orange in it to warm it up sufficiently for my tastes.

Anyone who knows me knows that I am not usually a perfectionist….  Perhaps that is why Tao appeals to me in the manner in which it does.  I find if I think too much about the process something doesn't jive.

Take this yarn for instance.  I spent some time chatting with Laurie after her class with Judith McKenzie and Judith's ideas about spinning correctly.

In the past, I have not been unhappy with the yarn I have spun.  I have always found that once I settled into the rhythm of what the roving wanted to be, I am usually content with the finished yarn.

With this beautiful roving from Barb Parry , I thought I would try some of JMM's techniques.  I started over thinking what I was doing and how I was spinning and I can freely admit that I am not happy with either the 2 ply or the 3 ply that I finished.  The yarn is way over spun.  Now……I'm not saying that JMM's ideas are not fabulous, because they work for so many people, but for me, I find if I just let my wheel and my fiber tell me how it needs to be spun, I seem to do better.

I am spinning this BFL a bit thicker than usual for a DK-Worcestered weight yarn.  I am really trying not to think about my spinning this time and so far I am happy with what I am seeing.  Of course the truth will be in the plying.   I'll let you know how it finishes up.

There are times however when the perfectionist in me will not be quiet….and never more has that been true with Beetrice. (no..her eyes will not be yellow..eww…those are pins marking the spot).

Somehow the legs did not look right when I attached them.  They were much shorter than they should have been.  How can that be when I used a pattern?  At first I thought…well, I will just give this one to McKayla, but it bugged me too much to let it rest.  I did figure out how that leg came out shorter, so I recut a new one…but as I was cutting, I got another brainstorm about how Beetrice should look, so stay tuned…….. 🙂

I am off this weekend to Webs with Jean.  Barb Parry is giving a dyeing class which I am excited to take part in.  Jean and I decided to make a weekend of it.  Perfect timing for the winter doldrums :).

One of the number one things on my list of to do's in this new year is cleaning out the clutter!  We live in a rather big house with a big barn which makes it easy to lose track of just how much stuff there is.  As the kids have grown older and some have moved out, this is the year that I am determined to unload.

I told Ken the other day, I was going to start with our huge closet which has become a catch all for stuff we don't know if we want to keep or not.  As I was hoeing, I came upon my old needlework.  There was a time in my life that my passion for counted cross stitch could rival my now passion for fiber. 

Just the other day, Marcia and I were comparing notes in our similarities with the things we had managed not to get finished. We both had a pretty good list going and I had not even thought of my needlepoint…sigh.  Now that they are out, they are getting pressed and going to a framer to be framed! 

Here are a few of my favorites…
The little bunny above was meant for Hannah's baby room, you can see how that went….maybe Hannah's baby?

I so enjoyed working on Johnny Appleseed.  If you look closely you can see that I completed this sampler in 1987….22 years ago!  YIKES!  My sister in law had worked on this piece and I loved her framed version so much that I did one myself.  Framed?  Sheesh…of course not.

The ABC sampler that I made for Ashley's room when she was just a little one……….another present I will have for a future grandchild 🙂


This basket was also finished in 1987…I think I was on an apple kick that year.  Actually I love that brick red color.  It was my favorite back then and still is today.  Good thing….once framed they will fit in nicely here. 🙂

Now you all know that pink is not my color, but at the time I stitched this, I had a lot of pink in my kitchen and this would have fit in perfectly.  The pink is gone….but I love this little sampler enough that somehow I will find  a place for it.  It's such a happy little picture, don't you think?

…and finally….this one is my favorite.  I started this sampler back in 1988 and did not finish it until 1993.  This was another sampler that my then sister in law had done and I just loved it.  Worked on a very very fine linen, it survived my divorce, a death and finally a remarriage before it was finished.  This will be the first one that will be framed!  Sadly this is the one sampler that has a few stains.  I think that I will overdye the sampler with a tea stain to blend in with what appears to be either a water stain or coffee stain.  I'm sure it will be ok…it will just looked a bit aged…like me :).

  I am not sure how I forgot about these little treasures.  I guess it is a good thing to clean out the corners of one's closets now and then. 🙂