Spring - Finally!

It's finally starting to warm up and that means getting the fish into the pond for the summer!

Last weekend, Wilson moved them all out to the pond.

If you look closely, you can see one of "our" ducks enjoying the pond with the fish swimming underneath him! We have a pair of ducks that come every spring and are getting a little tame. They aren't bothered by my pups, and I can get within about 3 feet of them before they waddle away. Now that the fish are in the pond though, we are on Heron watch, so we have a motion-activated sprinkler set up which, unfortunately, also scares off our ducks.

I finally did get the Mighty Wolf loom warped and am currently making some more Fiesta towels - this one with a different draft from my first set that I had done on the Baby Wolf.

I'm currently on the 2nd towel (the blue one). The blue line that separates the two is my cutting line for when they are off the loom and will need to be cut and hemmed. I'll probably get one more towel in this warping. I've already got the next project in mind - I'm going to do some holiday colored table runners.

And I've been knitting up a storm too!
I finished a cabled cardi a week or so back. I had knit this one in case I decided to go to Shepherd's Harvest, so I would have a new sweater to wear. Well, the day that we were going to go wasn't the best weather-wise, so we ended up going to the Mpls. Farmer's Market instead. Oh well, I'll have a great sweater to wear come fall.

I've also been on quite a lace knitting kick lately and finished this lovely shawl. The pattern is Baltic Blossoms and the yarn is Tanis Fiber Arts Pink Label (laceweight) in her Peacock color.

This was a fun project! Lots of nupp action going on!

Long Term Absence

I truly didn't mean to be away from the blog for so long.

Suffice it to say, it was a long winter with some not-so-blogworthy happenings (or people that I would soon rather forget), but there were some nice things too!

I became a "Gamma" again. This time to a darling little baby boy, Mason James. We've been lucky enough to have to babysit him on a couple of overnights and he is charming and delightful!


I got another tattoo late fall. I'm thinking that I need one more.




I also figured out that I love weaving. Of course, that means more equipment! I am now the owner of a Schacht Mighty Wolf. I brought the Baby Wolf into the shop (which was the plan from the very beginning).


I'm so into weaving right now that I even signed up for a class later this summer. I'll be traveling to Puget Sound, WA for the 5 day class. Wilson is going to come with. We are planning on driving straight through there and back, but we have a lovely cottage reserved for us while we are there. I'm excited! I haven't been anywhere for so long.

Of course, there has been LOTS of knitting over the winter also. Not quite so much spinning, but with the warmer weather and longer days, I have a feeling that I'll be back to the wheels in no time.

And SPRING is here, finally. I don't mind winters, but this past one was LONG.

Lack of Posts

Sorry for the lack of posting the past month.

Of course, Christmas has come and gone and we are now into the New Year.

I must say, 2011 has not started out very well so far. Stomach flu for me early New Year's morning, Koby threw his back out New Year's Day and a husband with severe depression about sums of the first 2 days of the New Year. Yay.

I hope to be back soon with an update on projects and pictures of the new grandson (born earlier in December).

In the Thick of It

It's that time......Thanksgiving is now a distant memory and Christmas is a mere few weeks away.
YIKES!

But back to Thanksgiving - we had a small gathering at our house. Tiffany and her girls made it down from the Range on Thanksgiving afternoon just in time for dinner.

Dani was home (much to the puppies delight - they do love her so).
It was a smallish gathering, but the food was good and it was a nice way to spend the day.

I have been busy getting some projects done (so I can start the holiday knitting - can you believe that I haven't started yet????).

First up is a cardigan that I knit out of Rowan Felted Tweed called Peasy (you can find it on Ravelry).

One piece construction, and the fit is great! Now to find a nice top to wear underneath it.

Tiffany's baby will be here any day, so I started a baby blanket a week or so back. I'm done with the body of the blanket and am working on the never-ending edging. I am loving how the yarn (Tanis Fiberarts) is knitting up and the pattern (Rosebuddy from KnitSpot) is very well written and easy to follow. I hope to get this all knit up by the end of the week and then will get it blocked this weekend.

I have a spinning project for a friend that I need to bucklet down and finish too, but I'll leave that for another post.

In the meantime, I'll leave you with a shot of Wilson and Jojo together - she really looks like she wants down, doesn't she????

Winter Wonderland??

Our nice, beautiful, long fall weather has come to a screeching halt!
This was our back yard yesterday morning. All in all, it looks like our area got anywhere between 7 to 10 inches of snow.

Our shop parking lot was a mess yesterday - quite a slow day at the shop. I think quite few poeple just decided to stay indoors yesterday. We held a class yesterday morning that was to have 5 students and only 1 made it in.

It sure is pretty outside though! I'm not sure how long the snow will last, it is of they heavy, wet variety that tends to melt quickly.

I did manage to finish up the plying on my polwarth roving. I navajo plied the yarn and ended up with 452 yards of fingering weight yarn.

The color is way off in the photo. It is actually a purple/silver color. I'm thinking of knitting it up into a neckwarmer.

Last Sunday we took a trip up to the Iron Range for my daughter's baby shower. Although it was a long drive up and back, we had a good time. Wilson did some handy-work for her while we were there, and Dani drove up with us. Unfortunately, I didn't get any photos!

Sleepless and Heartsick

Yesterday, I found out that the business next door to me is closing as of today. They aren't able to finish out their lease. I can't tell you how hard this has hit me. As tired as I was last night, I could not get my mind to turn off so I could sleep.

I know how much time, effort, money, personal sacrifice and so much more goes into running a business. The owners next door are nice people who tried very hard to make a go of their business in the bad economy and having to deal with unsympathetic property owners/landlords who refuse to work with you. It's no secret that the business owners in our shopping center have been struggling since our anchor tenant pulled out 4 years ago. The surprising thing is that the owner of the center does not seem to care how many more businesses have to shutter their windows and close down their business.

I'm broken hearted for my neighbors.

Yes, I do still spin and knit!

Yes, I do still spin and knit! Actually, I do at least one of the above every day. (Hmmmmm....you would think I would have more finished projects to show off, huh?)

I finished a sweater a week or 2 back -

This is the Effortless Cardigan and I used Madelinetosh Tosh DK yarn. It was a quick and easy knit. I love the one-piece construction patterns.

I'm also spinning up some Polworth that I got from a fiber club that I'm in. The color is a little off in the pictures. It is actually a purple/silver colorway. I'm spinning my single pretty fine and will navajo ply when the singles are spun.


It's the end of October - it's very hard to believe because our October weather has been spectacular. I don't remember an October as nice as this one. I, for one, am ready for the cold weather though. Cold weather should equate to busy times in the shop and I'm ready and waiting!!!

Yesterday, Wilson and I spent a good part of the day with the youngest daughter. It's always fun to hang out with her - lots of laughter all around.

The oldest daughter has about 9 weeks left to go in her pregnancy. I've got a little sweater all knit up, but it still needs to be seamed together.

I'll leave you with a pic of the pups! My buddies.