Two Cards

I have not been doing much knitting or paper crafting lately . . . holidays, snow, etc. So today I made some time just to play around, starting with a background technique on pages from a French novel. I started with the idea of making Valentine's Day cards using two Artchix images, so I stuck with a palette of pinks and reds, with black. But in the end I left off any sentiments and will just let the cards be whatever they want to be. It just feels good to start to get back in the groove of making something.

Thankful

I am thankful for:

family

friends

health

happiness

creativity

my job

Life is good this Thanksgiving Day.

Notre Dame 21 Navy 23

Everything about Saturday's Notre Dame - Navy game at Notre Dame stadium was wonderful, except the final score. The day was cloudless and warm -- an unbelievable 70 degrees on November 7. The campus was beautiful, the atmosphere was festive. The quads were filled with the smells of grilling hamburgers and brats from various student concession stands. Leaves rustled underfoot. The strains of the marching band's music could be heard in the distance. The day was full of traditions -- the players' walk from the basilica to the stadium; the band marching from the administration building to the stadium. The stadium was beautiful and filled to capacity. It was certainly a day to remember and I enjoyed it all, despite the score.

Canadian Stash Enhancement

I did buy some yarn on my cruise at the beginning of September -- but only in Canada, as it turned out. First, at Loop in Halifax, I got a skein of Tanis Fiber Arts merino laceweight yarn in the Lagoon colorway. Then at Cricket Cove in St. John I got some Handmaiden yarn -- a skein of rumple (a 100% silk with a nice boucle texture) and another skein of rumple together with a skein of angel hair (70% kid mohair, 30% nylon) in coordinated colorways. Each came with a hangtag pattern for a shawl. I thought that was a clever idea -- no need to wonder what to make of the yarn or whether you would have enough yarn for the pattern.

Bar Harbor 2009

Probably the best day of our Canada-New England cruise was our day in Bar Harbor, Maine. The weather was fantastic -- in the 70s with a clear blue sky. I walked around the town, looking at the Victorian homes, many of which had been turned into inns. Then we had lunch at the Quarterdeck restaurant, on the second floor by an open window with a view of the harbor. Jeff had lobster and I had a lobster roll, followed by blueberry pie -- a yummy lunch. I didn't want the day to end.

NYC

I love going to New York City. I love the energy. I love walking everywhere -- fast, and jaywalking at intersections when there are no cars coming. This is walking as transportation, not a leisurely stroll. I love looking in the shop windows. I love watching the people. We usually stay in the Affinia Manhattan when we can. It is right across 7th avenue from Penn Station, so you don't need a taxi. And Madison Square Garden is right above Penn Station, so this hotel is super convenient when we go to watch Duke basketball at the Garden. And there are two Catholic churches less than a block away. My favorite is the Franciscan church, seen in a view from my hotel window on this trip.

Silk Garden Kerchief

Knit obsessively on the silk garden kerchief until I had nearly used up the two balls of silk garden sock yarn and was afraid to start another stripe lest I run out of yarn before I could bind off. Bound off on Wednesday night. Blocked last night. Sewed in the yarn ends this morning and now it is done. It will be a nice accessory in the fall and winter. I'm pretty pleased with it. Back to knitting on wisp??

Shawl That Jazz

I finished knitting Shawl that Jazz while in Roanoke and took time off from obsessively knitting the Silk Garden Kerchief today to sew in the tail ends of yarn so I can truely say that it is finished. I used Brooks Farm Solo Silk yarn that I got at MDSW in May. Loved the yarn. It's a mix of silk and wool with a wonderful sheen, and it is dyed in beautiful colors that flow into each other (this is greens and blues) with very little pooling. A really beautiful yarn that made a nice shawl with good drape.

I can't help it!

I should be knitting on Wisp. Beautiful yarn. Easy pattern. I started it to have something to knit on my trip to Seattle in April, then put it aside when I got home. Picked it up again for my trip to Roanoke. I was determined to get it done, and I did get a lot of knitting done on it. It's maybe halfway done at this point (I am thinking I am going to make it longer than the pattern directions instruct). But then, that Noro Silk Garden Sock yarn that I bought in Roanoke this week was calling my name, and I found a great pattern for it on Ravelry (the Silk Garden Kerchief pattern, which I am going to knit until I run out of both skeins of yarn, so it'll be bigger than a kerchief). It is the perfect pattern to show off the Noro color changes with two-row striping of two different skeins -- the same seductive lure of the two-row stripe scarves in Noro Silk Garden. Sigh. So I diligently knit on Wisp this morning and cast on the Silk Garden Kerchief this afternoon. Got pretty far on it, too.

Stash Enhancement

While I was working in Roanoke, VA this week, I managed to make time to spend almost an hour at a wonderful yarn store: Yarn Explosion. (http://www.yarnexplosion.com/). A very friendly lady -- one of the three owners -- greeted me and showed me the layout of the store and we chatted a bit as I looked at all the fabulous yarns. They have lots of knitting yarn, a good amount of needlepoint supplies, and some smocking supplies, too. They only opened in October 2008. They had more Noro silk garden sock yarn than I had ever seen in one place, so I picked up two skeins either to knit another clapotis or something similar -- maybe a Sunday Market Shawl. I also picked up two skeins of Ella Rae laceweight merino in a beautiful colorway mingling turquoise blues and browns that reminded me of the southwest. This is a yarn that I don't remember seeing before. And I picked up two skeins of local hand-dyed yarn from a place called Unplanned Peacock Studio (http://www.unplannedpeacock.com/) -- one laceweight silk and merino in a pink colorway called hummingbird and the other some fingering weight superwash merino and nylon (sock yarn . . . but I am thinking it also might be good for something else) in a mostly pink with some blue colorway called lobelia. Even the bag was great: a translucent plastic shopping bag with colorful stripes and circles. Who could fail to be happy after this shopping experience? I would highly recommend this shop.

Family Photos

I have so much stuff and I am trying to get my house in some kind of order. Today I cleaned off the top of a cabinet in the dining room and arranged some family photos on it. I printed the four larger ones, backed them with cardboard and paper, and embellished them a bit. The small one of Chris & Steve was already framed. I had two empty frames that I filled with a picture of Matt when he was visiting DC and a picture of Mom on her 80th birthday.

4 cards

Sunday afternoon I played around with making some cards and got on a roll with some Victorian stickers. It was fun to try to find a paper that would play up the colors in each sticker. I enjoyed painting some of the papers to make them blend better. I ended up happy with the cards.

Inspiration

Ever since I watched the Claudine Hellmuth video about beeswax collage at Mom's earlier this summer, I have been thinking about trying a beeswax collage using Claudine's techniques. I have been looking without success for a photograph to use as the basis for the collage until yesterday, when I found one on Nina Bagley's blog. A picture of her hand holding a morning glory flower & leaf. Simple enough to try, I thought. So I did. A pretty amaturish result, but OK.

Niagra

I just visited Niagra Falls for the first time. Rode the Maid of the Mist -- what an adventure! Not only was there mist, there was a downright rainstorm coming off of Horseshoe Falls. Sometimes the simple things are the best.

Just ignore the commercialism that has grown up around the falls, and thrill to the beauty and power of nature.

More Tags

After a long dry spell, I've working on my crafts again. These are two tags I made from grunge paper cut in a sizzix

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Create Something

Wow. I haven't posted in a long time. Nothing has been going right with knitting. I finished a sleeveless top to discover that I will have to rip about two-thirds of it out and re-knit because the top part is too big, even tho' I tried to take make adjustments to the pattern to make it fit better before I started. Next time, I think I'll make a muslin.

I did make two cards this week, and two today, just to do something creative. These are the two that I made today.

Another FO

My knitting is suddenly yielding some finished objects. In just a few days of steady knitting, I was able to finish a Storm Cloud Shawlette out of some mystery purple sock yarn from my stash (probably from Ebay or Etsy). I'm not sure how useful this will be, but I will figure out how to wear it when it is cooler.

Truly Tasha

May has flown by! I bit the bullet and finished the Truly Tasha shawl pattern by Nancy Bush. I used Knit Picks Wool of the Andes in Black Cherry, almost 8 full skeins. I love the way it turned out, and it was pretty easy to knit -- lots of mindless garter stitch and an easy garter stitch edging once I got the hang of it & memorized it. It will be a nice, warm shawl -- too bad I finished it just as the weather is getting warm!

MDSW

I finally made it to the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival for the first time today. Jeff drove me up, and was shocked at the half-hour back-up of cars to get into the place at 9:30 a.m. (it opened at 9, and my friend Trudy had gotten there at 8). It was raining when I first got there, but it let up. I ran into Trudy a little after noon, and while I was talking with her, a coworker of hers (JessMary) and her friend came up. They had gotten there at around 10:30 and had just come from the Ravelry meet-up. I'd completely lost track of the time, so I missed it.

The crowd was huge. I did manage to buy some yarn -- my first purchase was at Carolina Homespun. 2 skeins of Curious Creek Fibers Meru in the Moonshine colorway. 51% wild tussah silk, 49% merino wool 50 g - 450 m. Hand painted. Lovely lace yarn. Next purchase was 5 skeins of Silk 'n Kid yarn at Kid Hollow Farm. 40% kid mohair, 40% silk, 20% wool. 2.2 oz and 165 yds. Tie dye colorway. Third and final purchase was 3 skeins of solo silk at Brooks Farm. 4 oz. and 400 yds. 50/50 fine wool and silk in a mix of blue & green.

Queen Anne Afternoon

After I finished work last Friday, Kathy and I spent the afternoon together. It worked out perfectly! She got finished with the training she was doing in the morning, and called me as I was in the elevator going up to my hotel room. She was outside the hotel! So I merely dropped my work things in the room and drove off with Kathy -- first to Pike Place Market for some pad thai lunch, then up to Queen Anne hill for the afternoon. Her blackberry with Internet access and GPS navigation is very impressive, and we found Hilltop Yarns without having to go back to my room to pick up the information. After a lovely browse in the yarn store, we went down to the corner to Teacup for a pot of fragrant tea. So relaxing! We decided we liked the ambiance of Teacup -- clean and modern -- better than the chintz-y frou-frou of the tea shop near Acorn Street yarn. We just aren't the tiara type. Then we went to Nancy's Sewing Basket, where Kathy used to shop when she lived nearby. We had a nice chat with the woman in the ribbon room. I found so many ribbons I would have bought, but restrained myself. Everything from woven ribbons with flowers to hand-dyed silk ribbons to woven measuring tape ribbon. Plus beautiful buttons made from old molds. After checking out the fabulous fabrics, we hopped back in her car and found the house in which she and Chris used to rent the upstairs apartment. I have vivid memories of the large corner window. She pointed out all the changes in the house and yard, and we were astounded by the new rental price on the sign propped against the house: $1,450 per month! Then we found the little overlook park with a classic view of the Seattle center and downtown. Kathy took any of us who visited her on Queen Anne to that park for pictures back in the old days. The woman in the ribbon room had given us directions. We spent the rest of the afternoon sitting on a bench in the sun, enjoying the view and talking. The mountain was out and it was beautiful. As dinnertime came, she stopped a couple walking their dog and asked for a recommendation of a local restaurant. We went to Sorrentino on Queen Anne Avenue. We split appetizers of classic tomato bruchetta and warm eggplant Parmesan. Then she had gnocchi in a cream and Gorgonzola sauce, and I had thick spaghetti in a sauce of pork and cauliflower. It was delicious and the service was very nice. It was a great choice for dinner. I was back in my hotel room by 7 p.m. to pack up and sleep before flying home early the next morning. It was a wonderful afternoon.

Tulips & Turkeys

The first weekend that I was in Seattle, Kathy & I went up to the Skagit Valley to see the tulip fields. Unfortunately, the unseasonably cold spring weather had delayed the tulips, so that the tulip fields were just beginning to blossom, but the daffodil fields were seas of yellow and the tulips in the demonstration garden were beautiful.

We also went to LaConner, where we discovered that there is a flock of turkeys that roams the streets of the town. I have never been so close to a live turkey in my life. A lady came out of here house and fed them bits of bread.

Home Again

I got home yesterday from a week working in Seattle and visiting with Kathy, Chris, and Matt. I had a great visit with them, but it's really good to be home. My dogwood trees are in full bloom now, but it has been in the 80s for a few days, so the blooms probably won't last much longer.

Tea Party

Yes, there was a tax day "tea party" in Washington, DC, but it did not go entirely as its organizers had planned. There were supposed to be two in close proximity -- one in Lafayette Park, across from the White House, and one by the Treasury Building, which is next to the White House. Apparently, the Secret Service overruled the DC permit for the demonstration by the Treasury Building, so they combined into one demonstration in Lafayette Park. I checked it out at lunch time. They could not dump the tea bags they had brought to the park, as they had planned. And it rained -- pretty hard at times, too. But they had a go of it with speeches held under a little blue awning. Not a terribly big crowd, as these things go.

I Dreamed a Dream

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY

This is an absolutely inspirational video from Britain's Got Talent.

There was a time when men were kind,
And their voices were soft,
And their words inviting.
There was a time when love was blind,
And the world was a song,
And the song was exciting.
There was a time when it all went wrong...
I dreamed a dream in time gone by,
When hope was high and life,worth living.
I dreamed that love would never die,
I dreamed that God would be forgiving.
Then I was young and unafraid,
And dreams were made and used and wasted.
There was no ransom to be paid,
No song unsung, no wine, untasted.
But the tigers come at night,
With their voices soft as thunder,
As they tear your hope apart,
And they turn your dream to shame.
He slept a summer by my side,
He filled my days with endless wonder...
He took my childhood in his stride,
But he was gone when autumn came!
And still I dream he'll come to me,
That we will live the years together,
But there are dreams that cannot be,
And there are storms we cannot weather!
I had a dream my life would be
So different from this hell I'm living,
So different now from what it seemed...
Now life has killed the dream I dreamed...
(Les Miserables)

Are We Having Fun Yet?

Since I work only a block north of the White House, on the other side of Lafayette Park, I went over to the White House at lunch time to see if I could catch a glimpse of the Easter Egg Roll today. It is held on the south lawn, so I thought I could see something from the ellipse. No such luck.

There was a line down 15th Street from Pennsylvania Avenue along the side of the Treasury Building for a whole block. And that turned out to be the VIP line.

The National Park Service had taken over the ellipse for the real line, with snow fencing and rope lines for crowd control. The line of parents and children snaked back and forth, back and forth. But nobody was going in the gates. I figured out it was the 12:15 ticket holders, who still had a half-hour or so to wait before they would enter the White House Grounds.

You could easily identify those who had already been inside -- a child with a design painted on his or her cheek, and an adult holding a white plastic bag with the Easter Egg Roll logo in grass green: a green circle containing the silhouette of a running white bunny rabbit, encircled by the green words "White House Easter Egg Roll 2009."

I hope they had a good time.

Cherry Blossoms

Today is cold and rainy again, but yesterday was beautiful. I went down to the tidal basin at lunchtime to see the cherry blossoms. Oooops, my batteries went dead, and I did not have any spares. I did get some good pictures, though.