Well, I missed both Ten on Tuesday and Wednesday's Work, so I thought that I would combine them here today in one post.
Carole's prelude into her Ten on Tuesday was this:
"Valentine’s Day is just a few days off and I thought it would be fun to focus on love for this week’s Ten on Tuesday post. Not necessarily people I love (you all know I love Dale and Hannah and my stepkids and the rest of my family) but things I love doing, and things I love having. So, I am finishing the sentence “I love …” ten times for you."

• I love the quiet snowy days of winter.  My brain quiets down on these days and I can hear myself think.
• I love to knit, but that is no big surprise, right?
• I love to sew….I wish I had more time for it.
• I love New England Sports!!  Not long before Spring training rolls around for the Red Sox!
• I love Tai Chi
• I love kayaking….I can hardly wait for late Spring to get our our little boats in the water
• I love sunny warm days at the Beach!!
• I love Martini's, but you already know that about me. 😉
• I love the birds who call my yard home.  I look forward to their return, especially since they chase those darn pigeons away!
• I love starting a new knitting project and that lovely red yarn is going to become an Elisbeth Cap.  Time to change it up.  I love the hat and the color, so it will be an enjoyable knit!

In honor of Valentine's Day, I am going to give you the gift of Red!
All of our yarn bases in the Red Riding colorway will be on marked down 10% off on
Saturday. 🙂

What can I say?  It's life in New England, right?

A lot of the weekend was spent dealing with shoveling off roofs, roof raking and snow clean up in general…three days of snowing will do that.  I'm not complaining though. It's true…we have more than enough snow up here, but our friends who live in the Boston area have been buried. With reports of at least one more snow storm heading towards New England, it doesn't appear that winter is going away any time soon, so we just need to settle in and accept it I guess.

Ken and I spent Saturday down in Portland Maine, having a few recalls on our van fixed.  I can't say enough good things about Berlin City Honda in Portland.  We arrived at 9:30, dropped off our van and they had a free shuttle over to the mall, which was great as I needed to go to the Apple store to have a glitch in my phone worked on.  They picked us up a few hours later and the bill ~ zero.  Sweet!

Living in the boonies definitely has it's drawbacks.  We have outlet stores and mountains to ski at, but we do not have the stores that most people really want to shop at, like Micheal's. Usually I have to resort to online shopping for so many things….thank goodness for Amazon Prime!
So, given that we were in Portland, why not take advantage of wonderful shopping choices, right?
Ken was kind enough to accompany me into the deep end of Micheal's while I looked for a few things for my One Little Word project.  Normally I hate having him shop with me, but on this day, I was glad he came along and spotted that little corner cutter that perfectly cuts round corners. 
It saved me a lot of money!  Instead of purchasing a kit, I was able to do it myself with card stock, an old paper cutter and this little tool.

Yes….winter's in New England can be long and boring, so we have to find the things that make us smile when we can. 😉

No need to say more……
Have a wonderful and relaxing weekend!!

Wow, this week has flown by.  Here it is Thursday and this is my first post of the week!
I've been pretty busy taking new yarn pictures as I have been dyeing and working on the website and just like that…whoosh, the week has almost passed me by.

Today however, my back was squawking at me enough that I decided to listen to it and take the day off to catch up on office stuff and a few things that have been waiting in the wings for me to do.
One of those things is the "One Little Word" project that I signed up for.  I wasn't quite sure what it was all about, but when Carole mentioned it to me, I thought it might be a fun way to explore the word that I chose for 2015.

Today I finally found the time to listen to the January video and download the prompts and I think it is going to be fun.  I am not super scrapbook crafty, but with some modifications, I think I can have fun with this and maybe learn something about myself along the way.

I also took a little time to get reacquainted with my Morning Coffee sweater.  I have just finished my 4th headband this year and felt it was time to move onto something else for a little bit, so I dug down into my knitting bag and pulled this out.  I quickly remembered how much I enjoy mindless stockinette knitting, so much so that I have almost completed the entire back.  I did a lot of that knitting today listening to the One Little Word Videos, so even though I was not out in the shop working today, I feel as though I still managed to be a little productive.

Sometimes we just need to stop and listen to what our bodies are telling us to do and I am glad that I did just that today.  I enjoyed the quiet time knitting and listening. 🙂

"Never let anyone dull your Sparkle….."

Last Saturday after our Tai Chi class, my friend, Donna, handed me a lovely hand made box and tucked inside were these beautiful nesting pins.  She reads my blog and knows that my word for 2015 is "Sparkle", so she gifted me this special treat. 
OMGoodness!!, every day I look at these lovely art deco pins from the 1930's and I smile. 
Yes, Donna…you know me well!!  I will treasure these forever!

Donna, who not only has given 3 of my dogs the most wonderful home, is also the person who introduced me to Tai Chi and for that I will forever be grateful for as well.

~

Today when I visited Facebook, I had a congratulatory note regarding this picture appearing on Chic Knits new Winter Newsletter.  What?? 

I had forgotten to change my email address at Chic Knits, so I didn't receive my newsletter from Chic Knits today.  Needless to say that I was beyond excited and flattered to have Bonne use this picture of Ashley in her lovely Elisbeth Headband!  Thank you Bonne Marie!

As you can see in the first photo, tucked underneath those beautiful sparkly pins, is another headband heading out today for the very generous woman who purchased it during the auction I mentioned last week.

Two sparkles in one week that have made me smile big! 
If you look hard enough, there is always a little sparkle somewhere.

Sparkle On and have a wonderful weekend!!

Ha…so much for an artistic picture…LOL.  It's been one of those rush, rush weeks, so I wasn't surprised with the photography fail.  It was a good chuckle, so I left it as it is.  A slice of my life's ups and downs. 🙂

This week has been a week full of helping my parents, dealing with a snowstorm, all the while trying to maintain a normal flow, both with work and with life in general.  In spite of the craziness all around me, I did manage to work on headband #3, made 2 loaves of soap and finished a bag protype that I am finally happy with.

The headband is finished and #4 will go on the needles tomorrow, the yarn sale yarns are all dyed and mailed and I actually managed to squeak in a Tai Chi class today…whew!

Thankfully these crazy weeks are not the norm here, but when they hit, it's like a whirl wind! 
I'm happy that it has quieted down to a dull roar. 
I enjoy the quiet now and then. 🙂

 

Today's Ten on Tuesday subject is one of my favorites….
10 Types of Footwear You Own.

I'll admit it…I love shoes!  Here are some of my favorites.

1. Ariat Fat Baby Boots.  Yes, I have more than one pair, but how many pair, I'll never tell. 😉
2. Dansko…mostly summer sandal versions
3. Keene's have always been a very go to comfortable shoe for my wide feet.  I have casual ones, dress ones, boot ones
4.  My ugg boots for the same reason.  Very comfortable.
5. My favorite Fluevog pumps that I bought for Ashley's wedding.  I am not one to wear heals often because I am not very graceful, but these are like wearing air.
6. My favorite casual summer sandals. Taos with just that little bit of sparkle that I love
7. These Wolky shoes are SO comfortable.  This is about as much of a raised show as I like to wear if I can get away with it.
8. My tai chi sneakers.  They need to have flat bottoms and while mine are just plain black Bob's, I saw these and yes…yes!!  If you click on the link, you will know why.
9. My trusty sorrel slippers.  I probably wear these more than anything else.
10. My walking sneakers…I am pretty picky about what is comfortable and keeps my shin splints at bay.  Currently I am wearing Nike Fit Sole sneakers and my shin splints rarely bark, but they are wearing out, so I will be looking for something new come spring.

….and that's it.  Even though there are only 10 listed, there are certainly more than10 pair in my closet.  😉

I didn't get a chance to post yesterday as I was busy in the shop and had my parents here for dinner.
Our weekend was spent watching this little cutie while his parents went to the Portland Brew fest.  Such a sweet boy!

We also spent a lot of time helping my parents find a new car.  One that they both would feel safe and comfortable in.
The accident has really shaken them both up, but hopefully this will be the first step in putting it behind them.

~

I hope you had a nice weekend as well!

        

I spent some time thinking abut how I would incorporate the word that I chose for this year into my life and decided that I would dedicate my Friday post to celebrate and share the word that I chose, "Sparkle".  So, until next year, my Friday posts will have a little sparkle sprinkled in somehow. :) 

I love this little encouraging post that I found on facebook a few weeks ago and thought it would be a nice one to start off with.

I hope that you all have a wonderful weekend and Sparkle On!

One of the things that I mentioned in a previous post that helps me get through the dark days of winter are flowers.
Beautiful vibrant flowers…and maybe a little wine.

Something I have missed participating in during this busy season, is working with the skills that I took away from my still life class, Start 2 Finish, with Kim Klassen.

So today while the man who fixes my machines in the shop was occupying my space, I took some time to work in Lightroom and Photoshop. I don't want to forget what I have learned.  It is so amazing what you can do and my knowledge of either of these programs is maybe 5%.  I can only image what you can do when you really have a clue..ha!

On my way home from Tai Chi today, I stopped in the market and picked up a bottle of red wine for the pot roast that is now in the oven filling my house with such delicious smells and I grabbed a bouquet of flowers to brighten up a spot in my kitchen that I walk by every day.

My photoshopped picture is not bright and cheery, but rather moody and mindful which makes a beautiful picture, but today I am happy to look at the cheerful version in my kitchen too!
Enjoy your evening!

Pattern:  Chicknits Elisbeth
Yarn:  WW Opal
Colorway:  Through The Looking Glass
Needles:  US 8

I bet you couldn't tell how much I enjoy making these headbands.  They work up quickly, are warm and fun to wear.

Remember the sad rescue situation that the Cavalier World witnessed in Alabama that I wrote about?  Well…one of the Cavalier Rescue groups ran an auction as a fund raiser to secure the funds to get the dogs out of the auction house.  I donated as much as I could afford to financially and then offered the only thing I knew that might raise additional funds in the auction….my knitting skills.
4 of these headbands will be keeping ears warm and the funds helped to keep our sweet Cavalier sweeties out of the Amish puppy mills and into loving homes.

For someone who hates to knit that second sock, I really enjoy knitting these headbands.
Bonne also has a beautiful slouchy hat in the pattern booklet that I am going to knit next…it's lovely!
Thank you Bonne for your beautiful designs!