Clearing blue sky,
A promise in bare branches.
In winter there are sunny days.
In adulthood, childhood can return.
Deng Ming~Dao

So far, in the Northeast, we are having a wonderful winter.  As you know, I live up north in ski country and the last few years have been lean ones for the ski mountains….but not this year!  Last week alone we had 4 snow storms…wheee!

One of the things I love best about winter is the time inside.  Time to work on things that get put aside on warm summer gardening days.

This weekend was an enjoyable one working on a few of the things that I have not had much time for lately.  There was some soapmaking and gift wrapping…………..and a little spinning…….

I finally found a little time for one of my favorite girls….Mariah Anne.

Such a patient girl she has been for she has been sadly neglected, during this busy autumn.

With winter now upon us, I know that she and I will be spending a lot more quality time together.

I managed to finish spinning and plying the first roving that went onto her bobbins and I am thrilled with how wonderful this wheel spins and plies.  I think this might be the most consistent yarn I have had in a very long time. 
I am not sure if it was because I had the time to just sit and spin, or if the wheel made the difference. 

Mariah’s big wheel moves so effortlessly…:-)

……..and of course, marshmallows roasting by an open fire…..
There truly is no better way to end a day than to light a fire and spend time with family.  Hannah and Courtney snuggled with Maggie, Ken snuck in some reading and I worked on some Christmas knitting.  With the wind howling and the fire crackling in the fireplace, it was the perfect ending to a very enjoyable weekend. 

Yes…….sometimes she actually finishes things 🙂
Pattern: Smocked Mitts
Yarn:  Woolen Rabbit Opulence (merino/silk)
Needles: US size 2

Why is it that purple and red are so hard to photograph?  We have had numerous grey, snowy days up here, which has made taking pictures challenging. 

The color of the yarn is more accurate in the second photo, but I did want to have a photo with 2 finished mitts, just to prove that I do finish mates now and then…<grin>

You can find this free pattern on Yarnophiliac’s blog.  It is a fast, fun knit! 

New beekeepers are told that the way to find the elusive queen is by first locating her circle of attendants.
–The Queen Must Die; And Other Affairs Of Bees and Men

I love the above picture……those markers look like bees milling around the entrance to their hive, don’t you think?

This sock kit has been such a fun project for me. 

Picking up my little book tonight to find a verse suitable for today’s post, made me want to read this book all over again.

After all of the research that I have done on bee keeping, both the online papers and blogs, I know without a doubt that there will be 2 beehives here this spring. 

I truly have been fascinated by the little community of bees…..the girls!

Did you know that the majority of bees in a hive are female?  They are the worker bees, who not only forage the flowers to produce honey, but they also tend to the nursery, protect the hive and attend the queen.  Did you know that these girls also know how to dance?  Yes sir…these girls know how to shake their little booties and produce pheromones.   Go take a peek at these girls waggling……fascinating I tell you!

The drones just hang around eating honey and for the most part do not contribute very much.  Did you know that the worker bees will push the drones out eventually?  I can just see those little hands waving and their heads bobbing saying…."Yo…no slacking allowed here!"   

I want to take a moment to thank all of you who pre~ordered Bee Sock kits.  The pattern is finished and proofed and the kits started mailing today.

I had offered bee markers for the first 25 kits that were pre~ordered.  I’m calling those makers the Queen Bee Markers :-).  I had inadvertently ordered smaller than expected beads the first time around and instead of returning them, I am going to include a smaller worker bee marker with all of the other kits….tis the season…..fl la la la la la………..

Anne will be listing the pattern for sale on her website Wednesday with the fabulous model shots that we have come to expect and love.  This pattern is such a fun pattern to knit……..you will love it!  I will also continue to sell the kit and the pattern 🙂

In parting, I will leave you with another bee gift.  I first found this song thru a fabulous blog….  Yep…this song has a way of growing on you the more you listen to it.  Buzzzzzzzzz…………………

You breathe,
Frosting mountains white,
Exciting trees to verdant flame,
Dancing sparrows on your wing,
Swirling waves into long sighs
You breathe….
Deng Ming~Dao

Well, winter arrived here Monday with a bang!  14 inches of freshly fallen snow for the dogs to romp in.  No easing into winter this year for us…but that’s ok by me for I LOVE winter! 

It is the perfect time to curl up on the sofa with a mug of steaming eggnog coffee, a good book, a crackling fire and some knitting of course. 

As this has been a week full of knitting….perhaps I can convince Ken to load up the fireplace tonight so that I can finish these projects :-)…mmmm

Belvedere……

Over the last few nights, I have been working on a few test projects.  One to see if my yarn will work for the pattern and the other to make sure the pattern is free of bugs for my good friend Anne.

This seagreen sock is the Belvedere sock that I test knit a few weeks ago for Kirsten. Oh my..  the lace…..the swirls….I just fell in love with the pattern!

So much so that I asked Kirsten if she wanted to work a kit into this pattern with some new merino/nylon sock yarn I had picked up.  The pattern works beautifully with the yarn, so I am excited to offer this kit in 2 new colorways.

Marie Antoinettes…….

Bee still my beating heart, for Anne asked me to test knit this incredible sock pattern for her along with Jocelyn, who is an amazing test knitter!

What can I say that has not already been said about Anne’s talents?   She is simply amazing!

I am truly enjoying each and every stitch,even if this queen bee has shown us that she can be a bit fussy and demands attention…but in the end, she works her magic and gives us some honey!

I am hoping to finish up with this sock tomorrow, which may make the pattern and kit ready for the weekend!  This sock is relatively easy to knit and moves along quickly….and is fun!

I am hoping to finish both pair (yes you read that right…these girls WILL have mates) over the weekend…as I have another test knit that I am excited about. 

Go take a peak at Susan’s Morocco…….oh.my!  It is absolutely beautiful!!!  I have to admit, that I was not sure that my bee colored yarn was going to work with what Susan had in mind, but I have to admit again, she has magically turned that honey into Moroccan spice!  Now I need to come up with an Arabian Night to balance those Moroccan Days 🙂

So that is what has been happening here in my little corner 🙂

As I close this post, I encourage you to go read Margene’s post today.  Margene said what I was trying to say the other day…only much more eloquently.

Sometimes as we move forward not only with our knitting, but in life, we have to take a few steps backwards in order to move forward.  I had this exact conversation, almost verbatim with my son last week, who is walking thru some difficult pathways right now.  I told him even if he had to take a few steps backwards, as long as he keeps his toes pointing in the right direction, he can take babysteps forward……..one step at a time.

….and isn’t that what life is all about……..moving forward…one day at a time 🙂

Remember the old saying from the Olympics…."The thrill of victory and The agony of defeat?  Well this week here has not been as dramatic as agony, but there have been little bouts of victory and little spells of defeat.

It would appear that my post from a few days ago regarding WIP’s
stirred up a bit of interest.  I will admit, that I was a little taken
aback by the good natured jabs on numerous posts, feeling a bit defeated…. but then
I smiled victoriously, for it seems that I am seeing more works in progress again
and grrls……….part of why we knit is the process…so keep sharing!

The Agony of Defeat….
Ok…….I will start with my real life little defeats this week, so that I can end my post with the good things that have happened, as we all know life is a series of ups….and downs.

See that hand above?………that is the hand of a daughter wearing a very tight mitten……sigh. 

This daughter has long thin hands, so I thought I was going to be ok with this gauge, even though that little voice in my head kept whispering in my ear… "Too small….Too small". 

Geez…when am I ever going to listen to that voice?  Well you know the end of this story…..ripppppppp.

Now my dilemma is….do I just bump it up a needle size as the stitch was a bit tight as well, but not so tight that I didn’t like the fiber…or do I add stitches which means doing some math…and I think I told you how I feel about the math….I guess I will have to think on it some more…  Uggh

Today was a busy day of making soap, dyeing wool, working and making hand cream.  Tis’ the season to be busy with the holidays right around the corner.

I was feeling pretty good about my pace until I opened the new bag of caps for the new glass jars that I use for handcream.  Slam on that brake sister….for the caps in that bag are much much too small.   

Frantic call to the bottle company with assurances that the new caps will be on their way tomorrow, but what do I do in the interim?  Hmmm…I wonder if wet papertowels under saran wrap will keep them happy….uggh…

Then there were the beads that I ordered for markers that were much smaller than I envisioned when I opened the package.  (note to self, learn measurements in mm’s)….and then the 4 oz of lavender essential oil I had chilling in the freezer for soap that daughter #3 with the long thin hands spilled all over the freezer and floor….ugggh

...and the Thrill of Victory…

But thankfully there were small victories as well!

I am working with Kirsten on setting up a kit for her Belvedere socks and for once I came up with colors that I loved almost immediately.  Colorwork can be wonderful when it clicks and ..well…lets say I have given some yarn away to the children on more than one occasion when it didn’t.

This week it worked.  The yarn is a new blend for me.  An 80/20 merino/nylon superwash yarn that is extra soft and extra cushy, so I am excited about that…….yay (more about the yarn when it is ready to be sold)

…and my website….  I was thinking to myself this week…."thyself, if you are paying for this website…then don’t you think you should learn how to utilize it?"

Well, after much digging around in the various help folders, I finally figured out how to send a newsletter.  With lots of new things happening on that site, I was pleased that I was finally able to figure out how to utilize this feature, so …..yay again!

…but the biggest yay came today when #2 daughter stopped over for a visit and a chat.

She told me that she had been discussing what "success" is with some of her co-workers..and then contemplated on it some more.

She told me that her idea of success is doing what makes her happy.  Working with the land and learning about self sustenance in a natural way.  She wants to learn how to work with herbs, make tinctures….. and garden. 

She wants to build her own home….. and spin.

She wants to help our earth……….and learn to knit. 

How much do you want to bet she is going to want bees too……buzzzz!

………..and I smiled for yes……..I have raised her up well.  A victory indeed!

How was your Thanksgiving?

Even though the day was busy with activity here, it was enjoyable just the same.  Don’t you just love the smells of Thanksgiving?  MMM…pumpkin pie, apple cider and roasting turkey.  YUM!  Hard to believe we will be moving on to that next big holiday in 4 short weeks.  Yikes!

Scottish Lamb Jean came up with her family to spend the holiday with her NH relatives and we managed to squeeze in some visiting time with her as well.  Jean made the beautiful silver pendant especially for me….isn’t it wonderful?  On the flip side is a picture of our little Skyy-baby!  Thanks Jean!

I was thrilled to meet, Lucky the newest 4 legged member of Jean’s family.  What a dear sweet dog he is and so lucky that he was rescued from the puppy mill that he nearly died in.  Go take a look at the blog that Jean put together for him…..too cute! 

Thank goodness for the dedicated rescue people who work tirelessly for our breed!  You can read more about Cavalier rescue here and here .

…and a little knitting….

Remember the little pumpkin hats that I made for the Fryeburg Fair?   Well, this summer when I was working on them, Ashley’s boyfriend, Brian had mentioned to her that he would love to have one for himself.

I had to chuckle as not too many adults have inquired about having one made…in fact not a one has, but Brian really wanted one, so on the needles it went.  This was his birthday/Thanksgiving gift 🙂

He promises that he is going to wear it hiking, so if you see a pumkpin headed hiker, say Hi!

All in all other than Thanksgiving Day, it was a pretty quiet weekend here.  My MIL was here visiting, so alot of time was spent sitting and talking, which gave me time to work on Bee.

I am working on the hive portion and really enjoy the rhythm of this lace.  Even though the lace is worked on both the knit side and the purl side, I have found Bee easy to follow along.  It is a treat working with pure merino yarn instead of sock yarn for a change………an enjoyable knit all around!

In addition to the stole, I have also been working on some new dye colors and my next to the youngest daughter made me promise to start her mittens now that it is getting cold out here.

The yarn that she chose is some handspun from some CMF roving that I received last year in a swap.  While pink is not my color, Courtney claimed it the minute she saw the roving….so hers it shall be! 

I think I have a few things to keep me busy… 🙂

Ok….Terry got me good on her post the other day, so you can be sure I will be posting WIP here..haha!

You see that yarn above?  It’s a familiar colorway to some of you, but the yarn is different.  This is a lightweight 100% superwash merino yarn that I purchased this summer. 

When I first opened the box, I wasn’t sure that I was going to like it as has a very high twist, so I sat down and did up a swatch.  Lo and behold the yarn created a very very soft fabric, but the added twist gave it good durability.

Now, it is no secret here that I have been shamefully fascinated with bees, since the reading of one good book and the creation of a beautiful shawl….so I spoke with Anne early in the fall and asked if she might consider creating a bee sock for this yarn.  I sent the sample to her with some yarn to be sure that she felt it was a suitable yarn and she agreed…a bee sock it would bee :-).  Anne has been working on the design, so go take a peek.

I will be offering it as a sock kit when it is finished and if I can
get my butt in gear, I may tuck a little bee-u-tiful surprise inside
🙂 

Can you tell how excited I am?

Yep….very excited, because there is more.  Tonight, Susan emailed me a peek of what she has been doing with some of the lace yarn that I sent to her.  Susan originally had asked if I was sick to death of the Tupelo yarn and if I was not, she had a design in mind that she wanted to try with it.  Silly girl………it’s no secret, that colorway is my favorite, so I told her to go for it and go for it she has.  Her swatches and bead colors have truly piqued my curiosity….I can’t wait to see what she comes up with.  You can take a little peek here.

 

If you can stand it….there is even a little more excitement here at home as well.  I have been gently hinting for the last few years how much I wanted to turn the downstairs of our barn into a studio that would fit my big loom.  A studio that could also be a casual storefront.

Imagine my surprise when Ken told me this weekend that perhaps we could slowly work on getting the lower barn redone for a fiber studio. He says that he will work on what he can over the winter and we can finish it up in the spring….whoo hoo!

Ken, God bless his soul, has seen me through my various obsessions.  He has helped me with the dogs, frequently hauling crates and doing the early morning walk at dog shows.  He has helped me pack and unpack spinning wheels and looms.  He has lugged the bags of bunny poop to the dump and empties them in the organic dump piles (can you believe it?) and just this weekend he actually walked the grounds with me contemplating where the bees will go, even though he thinks I have lost my mind.

My husband………..I think I’ll keep him 🙂

Remember when I came home from Rhinebeck and I had no pictures to post of fiber goodies purchased?  There was a good reason for that……….a big chunk of my allowance went towards that large wheeled purchase.  There was one fiberish item however that really grabbed my attention.

This stunning rectangular shawl that was hanging in Chris of Briar Rose’s booth, jumped out at me.  Whilst it was hanging up on the wall and I couldn’t reach out and touch it, I knew how highly Chris’s yarns were held in regard by another friend, so I took a chance and ordered the kit as it was already sold out by the time I noticed it.  (yep, we all loved that shawl it seems!)

Given that my house is always full of yarn, it is really hard for me to justify a yarn purchase, but this one needed no justification, it was stunning all on it’s own!

Well….the yarn and pattern arrived this week and it truly exceeded my expectations which were already quite high.  The yarn is absolutely divine and the pattern is exquisite!

As I was reading the pattern, I did a Google search on the designer of the pattern.  Lo and behold it was a woman who had recently purchased some yarns from me.  Susan and I emailed each other a few times once I discovered who designed this beautiful shawl and she agreed to design a few patterns for my yarns as well  I can’t wait to see what she comes up with as she is VERY talented!  Go take a peek!

I am now into my 4th year of blogging and I feel that as a fiber artist  I have truly grown because of blogging.  I  have been incredibly fortunate to meet and become friends with designers that I hold in high esteem such as Anne Hanson, Mim Felton, Susan Lawrence, Kerstin Kapur, Kate Gilbert and now Susan Pandolf.

I have such an incredible admiration for the women who design patterns for us as I can not fathom having the ability to design.  The minute I even consider giving it a try, my brain takes a siesta.  "Looks like a math word problem, sounds like a math word problem, therefore it must BE a math word problem". You know what I mean……remember that question…..if a train is traveling 200 miles an hour, how long will it take………see you DO know what I mean!

Perhaps it is one of those right brain/left brain kind of things, but I am grateful that the designs that these ladies come up with inspire not only me, but many of the women and men who dye the yarns that the designers and then ultimately you knit with.

Lately I have sensed a slight wind of change in blog land, where it may not be considered politically correct to show knitting in progress on blogs, but rather wait until you are finished and unveil the newly knitted item in it’s finished glory. 

This makes me a bit sad, as I really do enjoy watching the process.  I enjoy watching the designers show us how they create and I enjoy reading about the process of your knitting.

Yes, perhaps some of it does not turn out the way that we hoped it might, but I believe that we all learn not only from our successes, but from our failures as well.  While I would hope that no one delights in someone else’s failures, I do think that we all can learn from it.  So for now, I will continue to discuss both my success and failures on my fiber journey and I hope that you will too :-).

A moving door hinge never corrodes.
Flowing water never grows stagnant.
Deng Ming~Dao

It always amazes me how quickly the days pass by.  Perhaps it is part of growing older or maybe just a very busy life, which I can lay claim to both. :-).  In the few short days since I have last posted, I have lots to share with you………nothing important or special, but I feel as though I have been away from my friends and I need to catch up. 

I think that Carole and Margene have the right idea with posting daily, but I can never quite get my butt in gear to do that, so I will share a little bit today and perhaps a little more later in the week. 🙂

First the knitting………

I finished the first of my Belvedere socks and let me be the first to tell you, it is a fabulous pattern! Busy enough to keep my attention, but not so difficult that it would be discouraging.  Kirsten is a very talented designer!

Even Hannah, my sock model was pretty impressed with the design.  The colorway that I used was Raspberry Lime Rickey.  As I tend to knit on the loose side, I dropped down to a 2.25m needle instead of the recommended 2.50m.   I love this sock so much, that I am actually 1/2 way down the second sock which for me is an accomplishment.  No single lady here……….her mate is on his way 🙂

A Special Swap

I have mentioned Lynne’s special swap in the past as being one of my favorite of all swaps and this swap session was no exception.  My swap partner this time around was Keri of Knitty Gritty Thoughts .

Keri sent me some FABULOUS gifts.  Pictured above is some absolutely gorgeous Blue faced wool from Gale’s Art in a colorway that could not have been more perfect for me, if I had picked it out myself.

Also included is some scrumptious Sockenwolle sock yarn that is very hard to come by as well as a sock knitting bag that I have wanted very much after seeing a similar one owned by my friend Terry.  Keri also tucked in some edible goodies of chocolate and shortbread….Yum!  Thank you Keri!!

…and finally the dogs ……

Now if you remember……the reason I was away was a dog show.  While we didn’t win any major ribbons, both girls did well.  Cleo placed second in a tough class all 3 days and little baby Skyy placed 4th Sunday in a very large jr. puppy class.

Of course if MIss Cleo had not been chewing on her ears, I am sure she would have done better, but given those ears, I am very pleased with her placement.  She is just the dearest dog that ever was.

Can you tell how much she is enjoying the bed that a dear friend of mine made for her?  Well….hmmm……it is supposed to be for all of the dogs, but Cleo has made it clear that the bed belongs to the princess and a princess she is!  LOL!

Without too much trouble,
One can keep to the main road.
But people love to be distracted,
And perspective is difficult.
Deng~Ming Dao

Wow……..this kind of sums up today’s post.  So far I have been pretty good about staying on task with my knitting and devoting myself to one project at a time.  Well, not totally devoted as I do have those single ladies still looking for a mate…but that’s a story for another day :-).

I have also been very busy, updating my store website.   With winter heading our way, I have ordered some new yarns that will be posted in a few weeks, listed some patterns and I am working with a few designers on kits that may be ready over the next few weeks.  If you have any suggestions for what interests you as a fiber friend, please don’t hesitate to give me a shout, as I am in the baby stages of updating the site 🙂

Test Driving…..

Currently I am test knitting this absolutely beautiful sock, Belvedere for Kirsten.  It was hard to capture the wonderful detail in this sock in the dull November light, but trust me……….it is just lovely.  As I am hoping to finish up this sock tomorrow, I started contemplating my next project, and this is where I have become incredibly distracted.

……and the distractions…….

This beautiful shawl pattern has been sitting in my office on my file cabinet quietly winking her beautiful eye at me as I work.  Today I opened up the package and oh my…….the colors are just beautiful.

I had the lucky fortune to actually watch Mim knit this as she was testing the pattern.  Mim is an incredible knitter!  To be able to knit lace as you are walking around a fiber festival and talk to people all at the same time…….well, what can I say, other than the girl is just amazing!

No sooner had I thought that I might start working on this shawl, did I receive an email from Knitty with their surprise patterns.  Go take a look at this!  Go ahead, I will wait.  OMG…………I was nearly drooling on my keyboard.  So…hmm….maybe?

…….but then this ever patient siren has been quietly buzzing in my ear as she too has been sitting in my office, patiently waiting.  Twice I gave her away to a kindred spirit, yet here she is again……bzzzzzzzz and bumping me.  After petting each skein on it’s lovely head, I could not walk away from the golden amber shades of Tupelo.  It is she who will go on the needles next. 

Speaking of bees, I have been doing some dyeing work for Lark of Skylark Fibers.  With the box of yarn she sent to me this week, she included a stunning book for me. The book is called The Life of the Bee, by Maurice Maeterlinck.  Originally published in 1901, the version she sent to me is the 1912 issue, filled with the most incredible bee artwork I have seen to date.  How can you not fall in love with these pictures?

………..Thank you SO much Lark for sharing!!  I am heading out tomorrow to a dog show, so the bee shawl and the bee book will be snugly packed in my bag…bzzzzz!