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…….

Pattern:  Wood Hollow Mittens by Kirsten Kapur
Yarn:  Woolen Rabbit Worsted Weight Kashmir
(soon to be released)
Colorway:  Pussy-willow
Needles:  US 5 double points

These mittens were fun to make!  Such a fast knit as well, which is good given that I knit the pair twice…

The first mitten had a big, glaring boo boo.  I twisted right when I should have twisted left…or was that left when I should have gone right?  Aggh!  It was also a tetch big for me, so I reduced the number of stitches by 2 and it fits much better.

So Hannah and I went outside today to shoot a few pictures.  It was the first sunny day we have had in what feels like a very long time and we were feeling a bit silly.

Hannah was trying to explain and show me how to smile with my eyes ala Tara Banks .
(can you believe she copy righted the phrase??  Sheesh!)

In between giggles and laughs, we got a few good pictures. 

I think I did ok with those smiling eyes, but then I AM Irish and you know the song….

"When Irish eye are smiling"….
It was fun to be out in the sun today.  It's a good thing because it's going to be awhile before we see the sun again.

  Earlier this fall I was contacted by Patti Waters who wanted to know if I would be interested in collaborating with her on a pattern.  Having seen Patti's work, I was in! 

Patti sent me a picture of an idea that she was working on and asked to do up the sample in Pearl.  I was thrilled as Pearl really is my favorite sock yarn so far of the blends that I have.  This gave me a good excuse to knit another pair of socks using it.

I love the simple yet detailed look of the cables and done in Mystic Mountain Pine….it reminds me a little of black-watch plaid.

Patti was kind enough to send me her pair of socks to bring to The Gathering as a sample.  I was just too darn busy at the time to knit a sample of my own up.  Hannah was gracious enough as well to sit on the wet bail of straw for pictures..haha!

Yesterday I finally had the time to sit down and get started on my Rosalyn sock and I am really enjoying the knit.  It has enough cabling to keep it interesting, but not so much that you start to feel like you might want to poke your eye out with the cable needle. 

I have been dabbling again not using the cable needle, but I keep dropping stitches, so I think this time I will just use the cable needle.

If you get a chance click on Patti's link and look at her work….she is a very talented young woman. 🙂