End of a Year

Christmas was quiet this year. I had no desire to do any of my usual baking and candy making - but hunkered down and knitted to keep my mind as peaceful as I could. I made the family and my parents socks which they all opened christmas eve. It was a fun moment.

I've also had the huge honor to design the covers of the new Angel Company "Inspiration book & Catalog". I also did several of the pages inside. It was a great way to get through the medical hiccups that I've had this fall. Creativity calms the mind... So, here are the covers:

As far as a medical update... this mass in my breast will have to wait a few months and then I will have another MRI to assess any changes. The problem being that my breast tissue is so dense that this "thing" doesn't show up with mammograms or ultrasounds, and so getting a biopsy proves a problem. So, with the doctors assurance that if this a common cancer that it won't grow catastrophically in the next few months, I shall wait. I will focus on the esophagus/stomach surgery still scheduled for the 15th, and healing from that. It will surely be an interesting road ahead. Anyone up for going on a month-long liquid diet with me after the surgery?!?!?! :)

An Update

OK, Just a quick update (excuse) for not keeping the blog updated!

Medical nonsense. Yep, the last couple of months it's all been about medical nonsense.
I've been having such fun medical procedures that I haven't had the energy to log on here and post. Excuses, excuses, right?

In a nutshell... I will be having surgery to repair my stomach and esophagus in a few weeks (waiting for the biopsies for those was excruciating - just found out yesterday that they were fine - no cancer there). WHEW!

Meanwhile I had my first mammogram, got a call back to have another and an ultrasound as well. 2 strange lymphs inside my left breast. The radiologist told me that I shouldn't worry about it, and that I was too young (35) etc. etc. etc. HA!!! I wanted to scream! Well, thank goodness my regular doctor felt as strongly as I about it. So I had an MRI 2 days ago. And what do you know, the found something even worse in the same breast!!! I will be seeing a surgeon for it soon, and will have it removed. We're hoping that if it is cancer, then we've caught it in time. With a Sister, Mother, Aunt that have had breast cancer, I wasn't about to let this slide.

So, is that enough of an excuse for neglecting the blog?? :)

Have a fabulous holiday season!!!!!

Not really abandoned...

Good grief! It's been forever since I've posted. Life has been crazy busy!

I'm currently working on a plethora of projects for upcoming holiday sales. I'm also in the process of setting up an Etsy shop. I'll put a link here when it's up and ready!

Paper crafting, dying, spinning and knitting. The wool bug has certainly bit me again. :)

Here is a bit of Mohair that I dyed.

And the resulting artsy yarn that I spun with it. It was really fun to work with.

Off to work on a knitting project - or ten. Have a great week!

Busy as...

this sweet little bee working hard in our carrot field.

This is how our carrot field currently looks. Beautiful. Full of hardworking bees.

Here is a glimpse of my work area.

Still here...

The new Angel Company catalog has been released!!!
It's been an exciting spring. I was so honored to be one of the designers in the catalog this year! It was hard keeping everything under wraps, but such fun! I wasn't able to go to Seminar this weekend in Kansas, but thanks to my upline, Char, I had the amazing opportunity to talk to many of the Seminar atendees, including Mischelle and Kevin, the owners of TAC!! Thanks, Char, for making it feel like I was a part of it all!!


As a side-note, here are my new wheels. I'm having a great time going on bike rides with the kids, and with the trailer we're able to go on longer rides! Our 2 year old loves riding in it. And, except for steep hills, I hardly notice that I'm pulling it!

The boys and I have went on 3 camping trips so far this year, and have a couple more planned.

This month is dedicated to 4-H. The boys are busy getting their projects finished up and gearing up for fair.

Summer is certainly here!

Busy...

I've been busy.

Yes, I have.

Knitting a sock. (actually 3 different ones)

I planted out my tomato plants today.

Knitting on lacey shawl.

Planted some flower seeds.

Knitting with some special stash yarn. (from a couple of my favorite people in Italy)

Deciding if the pattern being used for this special stash yarn is worthy of special stash yarn.

Dreaming (drooling) over the stack of Rick Steves travel guides to Italy, Germany.....

Ripping out a sock that was WAY off gauge.

I've been busy.

Oh yes, I've also been busy beating myself up for not figuring out some way to get to the Yarn Harlot's book signing. NEXT YEAR!! (hope she comes next year)

I have no photos. Too busy to take them. Too dang busy.

Ciao

Dreaming and Planning

I've been a dreamworld as of late. My friend and I have decided that we will be taking a trip to Europe. It won't be until November 2008, but the planning is well under way. I love to plan, so it's consuming every waking minute that I can spare right now!

We will have the perfect travel guides, as my Brother and Sister in law live in Italy! We will tour parts of Italy, visiting Venice, Florence, Pisa, and Rome to name a few Italian stops. Then we will travel to Slovenia, Austria, Germany and Switzerland.

This is such a dream come true! My goal will be to collect yarn and other crafting goodies throughout those countries. If anyone has any advice on this, let me know your tips!!

Oh, this is a photo of Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany which we'll be visiting.

Remember Them

Even if you don't support Bush's war, please don't forget our soldiers.

Here are two links that make it easy to let them know of your support for them.

Page of Thanks

"Regardless of personal politics, there is a tremendous desire in our country to express thankfulness to the many sons and daughters deployed overseas in the military."

Operation Gratitude

"OPERATION GRATITUDE sends packages to members of all military branches deployed anywhere in the world. To date, packages have been sent to Iraq, Afghanistan, Kosovo, Korea, Africa, Kuwait, Bahrain, the UAE, Guantanamo Bay and onto ships in international waters."

Gasp...

(Yes, I heard you gasp, Aunt Cheryl! )
I am actually adding a new post!

We just got back after a few days out of town. We made it to the beach on a beautiful day. Saw many good friends. Visited with relatives from out of state. Took flowers to the graves of loved ones. And, started the process of designing my parents headstone! Yes, that's right, down to the color of the stone. They want me to design the images to be etched on the front. We visited the plot that they have bought as well. A beautiful site, I must say.


I managed to fit in some knitting time. These tiny socks are made of a baby alpaca wool from Italy. They are so soft and sweet.

I also started a lace shawl with the pattern from Stephanie Pearl-McPhee. The snowdrop shawl. Can you see that I've already made a couple of mistakes? What to do? I think that I can hide them when I do the stretching/blocking when it's finished. It would be a real beast to rip out now. Hmmmm..... (NOTE: I continued on for a few more inches... then RIPPED it out.) :)







And last up (finally) is a pic of the felted hat that I posted a while back. It's the one that my 2 year old is wearing (down to his knees).

A Finished Pair!

I did it! I did it!

The second sock syndrome didn't get me this time!

I started a new project this weekend. A lacy, fingerless glove. I have 3 fingers left to do. I have also discovered that it is incredibly hard to knit with fingering-weight BLACK yarn! Good grief! Especially in the evenings, it is less than enjoyable to knit with! I just can't see what I'm doing! SO, I broke out my reading glasses. Now, a year ago when I filled the prescription for the glasses, I was in a bit of denial about needing them, so I got the least expensive lenses - heavy glass. So, when I need to use them I have to debate on which kind of headache I prefer. The kind I get from eyestrain, or from wearing heavy glasses.


I also started reading a book last night. It's a hoot! "Yarn Harlot, the secret life of a knitter", by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee. It had me laughing out loud. Oooh, I just found her Blog.

Knit on!

Springy

This is a page that I recently submitted to The Angel Company.

(click to see the components used)

It was a fun little page.

Books!

I had a blast creating these first two books. The paper from Cosmo Cricket made it even more enjoyable! :) I used my bind-it-all to bind them.

Next is a book that I made this weekend for my Mother for Mother's Day. It is all about thanking her for many of the things that she taught me to love growing up. Sewing, cake decorating, gardening, books & reading, camping... I used one of the new board books from The Angel Company, along with their paper and stamps.

Happy...

National Scrapbooking Day!!

Now, go scrap a page or two!

A Finished Pair!

I finished the wool knitted/felted clogs! And love them!

This is a photo of one finished, and the other in the pre-felting stage. It's amazing to see the transformation of a felted item.

I also finished the hat I was working on.. but have yet to get a picture of it felted... Just to see how huge it was after knitting and before felting, here is my 2 year old wearing it:

Tagged

It seems that I have been tagged (see comment in last post). I guess this means that I am supposed to name my top 5 favorite blogs... this is proving to be extremely hard. So, I must put more thought into it.

I did finish the felted hat I was working on. I'll try to get photos of it posted later.

I have the paper crafting bug today... off to play!

As Promised...

Here are some of my latest WIP's - first I'll start with the knitting:

My favorite sock so far. It has little shells and is oh-so-soft. I'm using one of the naked wool yarns from knitpicks (see sidebar).

Next is a sock that I started to play with stripes. The pattern is one of Cat Bordhi's in the soaring on 2 circulars book. I have two other socks in the making, but they are at somewhat boring stages, so photos will come later on those.

And here is my first felted clog! Made from the Fiber Trends felt Clogs pattern. It was SO fast and easy to knit up! Unfortunately I ordered the wrong amounts of yarn so have to wait to make it's pair.

Oh, and this is a HUGE huge hat... that will be felted when done. Pattern from "Knit One, Felt Too".

Now, on to paper goodies. I recently I got a new little toy - the Bind-it-All by Zutter. Such a fun little friend! So, many of these are bound with it.

GOALS!!

It is my goal to update this thing tomorrow!! I've got many WIP's - including 4 different socks! I finished my first felted clog - but ordered my yarn wrong so will have to wait to make the mate until the yarn fairy comes again. (hope it's soon!) Busy, busy, busy, with more designing as well (paper-wise).

More tomorrow....

The Farming Life...

Well, it's official... we're farming for ourselves. My husband has always worked in farming, and we've finally taken the plunge to be on our own. The farmer that he works for now (and will continue to work for for the next few months) is ready to retire, and has been great in helping us get started. This year we will be growing carrots for seed.

Were you ever curious about how carrots were planted? Well, let me show you a little bit of that world.

First, a load of carrots - yes, whole carrots - are loaded into the planter. They go over the whole field and plant the male carrots first. Then they go back and plant the females. I'm still not sure if you can tell by looking if it is a male or female carrot... :)




Four workers sit and drop carrots into a spinning carousel.









Oh, did I mention that the planter, the dumper and the roller were all made by my husband? Pretty cool.



The last photo is of the carrots being rolled over to make sure they are firmly in the ground. Now, if the deer will just stay away.....


Oh, and this makes me a bookkeeper... Yikes...

Felting Away

Here is what I made using the roving that is pictured in the previous post. It spun up beautifully! I then knitted an oversized bag and then felted it. I added in some natural colored handspun yarn to add more bulk for a thicker "fabric" when finished. The darker contrast color is some wool that I had on hand. I love the results!! It's quite sturdy and fuzzy!

Fiber-liscous!

Spring break ended with a fabulous trip to a fiber fair! I picked up some scrumptious goodies. This is some lovely roving that I began spinning right away. It's just beautiful!













Next is a felted wool bag that I made while away on spring break.












And, I finished my first PAIR of socks!!! I started a toe-up sock (also from the "Socks Soar on Two Circular Needles", by Cat Bordhi), but lay it aside for a while. I think that I need to make another pair of top-down socks before attempting toe-up.








The last photo is of the silly deer that entertained us at my parents house. They come right into the yard to beg for apples! At one point there were 8 of them chasing each other and racing about all over the field, and in and out of the woods. They put on quite a show for us!

Still in Action...

I have been so very busy I haven't managed to take the time to post! There are so many things that I'd love to show here - but for various reasons - can't! Some will be able to be revealed in a couple of months...

Here is a couple of my current knitting projects. Yes, that is going to be a PAIR of socks!!! I am amazed at how my knitting has progressively gotten better. When comparing the sock tops, it looks like two different people knit them! I've also started on another wool felted bag, which is below the socks. A dear friend, who was my midwife's assistant with my last child, requested it!

Happy Spring!!

Cheers... to great guys!!!

Yes, there are still some good ones out there!

This weekend two of my friends and I had a fabulous time at a scrapbooking convention. On our first day we had an amazing - but exhausting - time traversing the huge amounts of booths. When we got to the friend's house that we were staying at, her husband (great guy #1 of the weekend!) made us some very pretty blue drinks! The name of which won't be mentioned here... ahem. Then he made us cosmopolitans and finished up with chocolate covered cherries (also a drink). After we were sufficiently relaxed we took out our knitting and had a great time just kicking back.

The next morning we went to the local cafe. It was the greatest place with an amazing atmosphere. We had breakfast and coffee there and were off to another day of fun at the convention. We had a little mis-hap, though, only one block away from the convention center! Parking was already full in the garages, and we were searching for a place when it happened. My friend was driving, and I must say did an amazing job at keeping her wits about her!!! :) The front bumper of the car was tore away leaving the metal part of the bumper hanging by a thread. The man that we collided with wasn't exactly nice.... but then enter great guy of the weekend #2!! He was a vendor heading in to the convention center. He stopped and helped us, when nobody else did! He ripped off the fiberglass part that was left, and wired up the metal part of the bumper for us!! He was our hero!!! Dan, you're the man!! We were able to drive the car home safely without any trouble.

It is refreshing to know that there are still people out there that are truly caring.

I must also mention a thank you to my husband for watching the kids so that I could get away.
This was the first time in about 7 years that I was able to be away overnight without kids!
All in all it was a really fun weekend. I came home with some delicious papers and other goodies.
Cheers!!!!

One is a Lonely Number...

For a sock!
I did it! I knit a sock!! I must say it was quite an accomplishment for me! Now, if I can find it in me to make another! In most things, I find it hard to make two of the same exact thing. I did come across a way to knit 2 socks at once, on 2 circular needles... may have to try that!




Next is a simple scarf that I made the last 2 evenings.








Last, is a hat. I still haven't closed up the top - and then am not sure if I will felt it or leave it as is. If felted, it would end up quite small - and should fit my youngest.

What to knit next?? :)

Published...

Well, kind of... You can see one of my creations here. The one on the left. It was a fun project. Three of us were sent the same supplies. We had creative freedom to make whatever we wanted.

I also have a project here. See, I have been busy - just haven't been able to post most of it here!

Oh, and I'm still knitting... almost finished with my first sock!!!! And I made a hat!

Jeez....I hate to post without a photo... hmmm... what can I add? OK, here is a card I recently made for a TAC challenge. The green frame is matboard covered with TAC paper - popped out with foam dots. Love the tiny paper flowers.