my version of Neveah

This is just a few pictures of the Columbia Gorge. That is on the Washington Side, just North and East of Hood River, Oregon. I drive the gorge frequently due to the custody arrangement. I enjoy the drive. Let's just keep it at that.

    

I was experimenting with my camera, and used the panoramic setting a few times, but still have some learning to do. like how far to move the camera after the first click, etc.

The I-84 sits right on the river, so what you are seeing are very tall, very steep cliffs. Some -well- Most of the best views of the Oregon side are when you are on the Washington side. (we are on the Oregon side. I held the camera high in the air for this one too see how it would work.)

Here's Joe. He likes getting his picture taken. It was VERY windy. We were just a few minutes ahead of the storm you see rolling off the cliffs.

My Christmas present to me: Stopping at the LYS in Hood River. With money. Not a lot of money, but still .. ;)

View of Knot another Hat's front door.

The cutest and softest booties I have ever seen! They have wonderful displays. You can order from them online as well. http://www.knotanotherhat.com/   they have a nice rewards program. (spend X amount of dollars, get X amount of savings)

I drooled over the hanks of yarn that were already beaded. Forgot to photograph that though.. you will have to look yourself!

Hood River is a beautiful town. I have tons of pics in earlier blogs. That day the streets were snowy, the town was full of shoppers, and it really felt like Christmas.

There is also a local Llama and Alpaca ranch up towards the mountain ( Mnt. Hood for you non-locals;) I petted some Llama yarn at the LYS and it's quite nice. Comparable to soft wool.

What did I buy? Oh. just you look. Creamy, soft, melty, buttery, I-can't-wait-to-make-something-with baby Alpaca!! Neveah!!

I noticed  that my camera lens is a little dirty. Must have drooled while taking pictures. This yarn is soft as a kitten! I am actually going to make something for Moi this time. Yes, me myself and I. I know! amazing, isn't it. Us knitters actually making things for ourselves. Rare moments, rare indeed.

My daughter and her friend are going to model some of the hats I have finished and will put them up for a New Year's blog to end the old year with pretty things.

Hope you are all having a wonderful day. I am! More details of that later. ;) Here's a teaser- Old boyfriend, new re-connection. 20 years. Very sparkly. We were so young...

Never enough time

Merry Christmas!!

I don't have a lot to say, yet I have tons to tell you. I need every spare moment I have to finish my sister's present. I forgot that when you make felted stuff, you actually have to felt them to get the end result one sees in the pattern picture. Meaning, my friends, that my sister will get WET clogs for Christmas instead of pretty dry ones. (insert colorful metaphor of your choice here).

Anyway, here is some eye candy.  I made these for my friend, Jill. "Susie's reading mitts" designed by Susie Rogers and Janelle Masters of Dancing Ewe Yarns.



Mitts for my good friend, Jill. Model: Mary (she wanted to keep them.)



I am going to have to make another pair. She didn't want to give these back.



Love the color! Brown Sheep Yarn Superwash wool in Deep Amethyst.



Everyone please have a happy, peaceful, and warm holiday! I will be not far, fanning felted clogs with my pattern and heater. I might just give up and buy her slippers...   make some socks- well- mitts- hm.. a hat?- what can I make in the next 16 hours.. hm..



Diligence

C. A good, strong, I-worked-really-hard-in-between-life's-curve-balls C. Working full-time, raising a family on my own, (well-Mom and sis help, but you know what I mean) doing all of this Textile Artist work,  and just plain having a life makes me satisfied with my C. I'm good with it. (I'd rather be an "A" at other things than Algebra anyway.)

I am sure those of you who read this are knitting, sewing, beading, and otherwise creating all those last-minute

these are crocheted. Sorry I forgot to turn the picture. I thought it would look okay like that. I'm now thinking.. "no".

Will post more later! I have to get to work and still have 5 blankets to make. You know, the easy-peasy Polar Fleece blankets you tie together. Kids love them. Plus the fabric was 50% off the other day at Jo-Anns. Hard to beat that.  Hope your Christmas creations are going well!

Even the crazy stuff works sometimes

I take my Pre-Calculus final tomorrow evening after work. Amazingly enough, I actually feel pretty darned confident about it. Been reviewing all weekend, and even with a 4x6" card for backup, I recognize how to do just about all the graphs, Logarithms, and rational equations. Maybe all this knitting and blogging is paying off somehow in the deep recesses of my neurological process. Well, that's all the big words I have for the day.. shall we move on?

My scrub hat pile at the Bazaar last Friday at Oakway fitness. There was a really good turnout, I sat next to the owner, Kris, who had a Pampered Chef table (love that stuff!). I was the only knitter there, most everything else was jewelry, birdhouses and  coffee. I am thinking of going back next year.

My second Mossy hat finished for a customer. She wants a  purple flower. This is Lamb's Pride 100% Wool worsted.

I am really liking this pattern. Still finalizing the details on the design before I publish it. I should find out how exactly to write a knitting pattern. Mine sounds like Mister Rodgers' version of knitting.. hee hee!

Mossy hat #3. This one is for Amy, my cheerleader and good friend. If you see her around Portland, compliment her hat! It's going to have a big red flower! What gets me is my camera and the color Teal never seem to get along. It's Jade Garden Lamb's Pride by Brown Sheep Company.

Mother's hat in progress. I think I blogged the kit earlier.. oh yes I did. working on this today. I want to get it done so she has something cool to wear since it has been pretty cold here.

 Now for the really cool part: I am on Ravelry, as some of you know, as desertflower66. I am in three groups so far, Oregon knitters, The WIP, and Self-imposed Sock Club (all hail the Harlot!).
I have been sortof bummed out because there hasn't been much activity on my blog, and started to wonder if other bloggers like me were feeling the same way. Then- SLAP! an idea hit me. Why not post something about it on Ravlery? I did, and so far have made several new blog friends! Here is their links:

http://beebonnet.typepad.com/  Eugene blogger, knitter, ezine-er. Great eye candy!

http://jeweledelegance.blogspot.com/  Oregonian who has all the details. I mean ALL. love!

http://hissystitch.blogspot.com/  Professor who knits. Humor-iffic!

http://mytinkertots.blogspot.com/- knitter, designer, lots of info. Love!

http://pdx-princess.blogspot.com/2010/12/i-finished-hat.html- Portland knitter, mom, designer. fun!

http://www.shesjustsaying.com/ - blogs about life in Bend. great page!

http://www.tiggywinkleknits.blogspot.com/-  some really good words about her creations. She has a cool "buy all things hand made" tag I'd like to have..

http://eweniquelyewe.blogspot.com/- good lord! you need to see the chenille scarf she wove! eeee! WANT!

I Hope I got everyone. Anyway so far, it has been a wonderful adventure in getting us bloggers together, link up and spread ourselves around like cheap butter. Ahhh.. can you feel the  All Things Handmade love?
I love this. Just filled to the tippy-top with Love for all of this..(No, I won't sing Kum-by-yah.. ew)..
Never give up. Never Surrender!

Knitting ADD(iction?)

Thanksgiving Day was one of the BEST holidays ever for me. I didn't spend it with my family this year.
(Not saying that I don't have great holidays with them, just telling the story).

What made it really awesome was that nothing went wrong. Nothing. How rare is that? JB and I kept the meal traditional, simple and yummy. But everything cooked well, came out to the table at pretty much all the same time, nothing burned, fell apart, tasted bad, or didn't get eaten. (That's the best kind of way to tell ;)

Everyone there was happy, funny, and easy to get along with. I made friends with JB's friends, and we laughed and talked and drank and ate late-late-late into the night.  JB got a hot tub and she was so ecstatic to have it all ready to sit in. Ahh.. nothing is quite as relaxing as far as I am concerned.

So after a day of food, fun, laughter, and friendship, the Hot tub was sure the grand finale. I felt like room-temperature butter. Slept like the dead. For me, I'm adding to the "best day ever" book. (It's getting fuller the older I get).

I have knitting ADD right now. I swatched a bunch of yarns to get in the habit, because yes, I am one of "them" that try and cheat and skip that step. It burnt me pretty good a few skeins back, so I decided if I were going to get really serious about all this, I need to behave like a true knitter that people will follow.
I only have one set of each size of Addi 16" circulars, and I'm in hat mode. I have started 4 different hats, and all require the same size needles. Yep, I frogged each . and. every. one. (eeeeeeeee!!!! I KNOW!!)
My sister got my name for Christmas, I put "16" circs-3-9 on my Wish List.

Started an entrelac scarf, and remembered the Knit Picks Entrelac Hat kit I bought a while back on clearance. Mom cut her hair really short- it's cute- and decided she needed some cute slouchy hats. I feel useful now..




Entrelac at the beginning. 8-Stitch blocks




Just a few short hours later..




Sock yarn swatch for a customer. Superwash Wool/acrylic.




Gull Stitch sample with Pink Wool heather.




Patons 100% Wool




Lace Pattern with my Red Sock yarn.




closer view of detail. Lots of Ktbl (knit two through the back loop) on this one.



My Kids getting ready to feed the horses.

Hungry girls!

So now, I am going to do lots of sewing and knitting this weekend, getting ready for my first Christmas Bazaar in a long time! I hope to get a few orders.

I will have some pics of the Entrelac hat by Sunday for you all to enjoy. Which reminds me.. I should get another video up. Too many things and not enough time! yeesh!

Winter is officially here

A dreary, cold, rainy weekend has reaped benefits in the way of me forcing myself to sit down and sew. Scrub hats are being made, swatches knitted, ideas sketched, alterations/repairs worked on. Joe likes to "help" me by making a mess with the fabric and yarn as I knit/ sew. It's annoying and endearing at the same time. I think about taking time to see if he would be receptive to learning to sew or knit as young as he is.
The kids in other countries learn handicrafts at a pretty early age, and my Gansey and Aran knitting books all have historical photos of children standing around with a sweater half-finished hanging off their bent needles.

I got the idea to write little "Thank-You' notes to everyone at work for a little Thanksgiving gift. We have been busting butt all year, and those of us that are still working (there's a huge turnover rate among surgery centers) I want to be the voice of encouragement. We have not had it easy. Four-hour days here, 12-hour days there, sometimes no lunch, no breaks and rarely does anyone get told "good job".

Not than I'm complaining. I am very thankful to have a job. I hear of so many who don't. It's just not my work of choice. That is why I keep creating, designing, brainstorming ideas and all that you see and read about.

It's too dark to take pics of what I'm working on right now. I will put some up tomorrow or later today after Joe and I have had our nap.

The rain is coming down so hard it sounds like rocks hitting the roof of my Redneck Condo.

Warm wishes, my Sunday creators. Warm wishes.

Kicking it up a notch

Christmas. Right around the corner. I wonder if our parents thought that time seems to go faster the older they got? I swear it was only July two days ago. Suddenly, it's drizzly and misty out, All the stores have Turkeys on sale and holiday meal deals, and you can bet your booty that aaaalllll the Christmas stuff is up and selling.

I signed up for my first Holiday Bazaar in .. wow almost  5 years. The last one I did was at the Caltholic Parish Hall in Junction City. (Oregon for you non-residents ;)  I had a great time, made a few dollars, and met several of the fellow vendors. One young mother made her own goat-milk soaps and lotions, another couple had simple leather goods, and a Mom- daughter team did beads and fuzzy scarves (they were the big thing at that time) .

I had a table full of my crocheted hats, scarves, afghans, two or three pairs of knitted socks, and  my favorite were the two 24 -inch-tall Navaho Dolls I made from scratch. The Body, velvet blouse, satin skirt, and white deer-leather boots with beaded embellishment all had my handiwork on them. They even had sterling silver buttons I had re-purposed of another blouse I found in a second-hand shop. I was so proud of those dolls. What I didn't realize at the time was that nobody appreciated my time and effort because I had several scoffs at the price, even an insult or two similar to "what makes YOU think these are worth $200?" *eyebrows furrowing*

The day was filled with all kinds of people coming and going. Some didn't hesitate to pay what I asked, others just smiled and walked away. Being my first 'real' selling gig, I was a  little worried I charged too much. But later that month at another Bazaar, I discoverd my things were less than half of what I should have charged.. live and learn, I suppose.

So now, I am jumping back into the Vendor game. I love meeting people, selling my things, and doing my part to make the world a prettier place.

Here's the latest I have for sale on Etsy:



Erin, my daughter's friend, looking awesome in the Mossy hat!



Another view of Mossy





Mossy's pretty gold flower. I can make this in any color combination.



My original design. I added a signature finish that ensures authenticity.



This will be my official first pattern I designed and have actually written down. I need to do a few more test knits before I publish the pattern, but what fun!

Well, I better get back to my homework and my family. Thanks for reading, my friends. Please comment or add me to your following list when you can. I appreciate your support!



Just when I though it was enough

I have been enjoying my newfound zest for projects. I think I have about...6 on the needles, and 3 on the hook. Here's another addiction. LACE. I want to knit it ALL. Now. Right now...

 Meet Greenleif. Ahhh... smell the fresh colors! This yarn was dyed by my good friend, Virginia, a few years back. I have been waiting for the "perfect" moment to start a pair of socks with it. Actually, I was waiting for the perfect pattern. Lo, and Behold, right as I was looking at this afghan book, it hit me in the face like a wet washcloth..

 Here she is! "Springtime" is in my 200 Ripple Stitch Patterns book I have come to use as quite a handy reference. I can take the basic stitch pattern from there and make my own creations. LOVE stitch libraries!

Virginia is my muse. I love seeing her creations! She did an awesomely rocktastic job with this yarn. I am really happy with the way it is turning out.

Math Class is going good. It's a litle challenging, and I find myself getting distracted by my knitting. I try to knit a row here and there in between study sessions. I don't watch TV or hardly any movies anymore. Too much distraction from my creative focus.

Ever feel like you're right on the edge of something big? I am feeling that. I hope I catch the opportunity to find out what it is before it goes away.

Hello world

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/pull-my-string

See that link? Yep. It is I, my dear Yarn Freaks, in person, showing you how I do the knit dance. Yes, it's crude, beginnerly and raw, but what the hell? You will learn how to knit. That is the goal. That is the plan. After that, you will learn to crochet. Then bead. And you can laugh at me as much as you want. I don't care. Know why? Cause I will be knitting. Making something. Contributing my knowledge to Cyberspace. I am in Neveah!

On another happy note, look at Joe with his new Pumpkin Hat!

I used Stitchin' Nation (why did she delete the "bitch" part? bummer.) in Clementine and whatever the green color is called. Oh yeah. "Thyme". it's "Full o Sheep" yarn,  100% Peruvian wool. Soft!

Look at the top! too cute!

Finally, here's  Sadie with her friend, Sydney, Vogueing the spy pose in their Homecoming dresses. Such pretty young ladies! I am so proud of Sadie. She has become quite the young adult. I am so glad she is so much smarter than I. >snif<

I am working on another pumpkin hat to sell, as well as lining up Christmas gifts to make.

I am happy with the results of the Math test. I really really love this teacher, and SO thankful  I understand the concepts this time.
Okay gotta get to work. Have a great Tuesday.

Picture worth all the words I have today

I am trying, I really am.

Visiting

I have been taking a Math 111 (that's college Algebra) for Fall Term. (I have taken it once before, but didn't do as well as I'd like.. too much on my plate that time around) I am also paying for it out-of-pocket, which wasn't planned, but didn't have much choice. The interesting thing about this time, is the teacher. She's Russian. She posesses a thick accent. She's kinda feisty. She has a PhD. And, she knows her math. What's even cooler than that, is I UNDERSTAND her. Every concept, idea, and discussion. Every word. Dudes, if any of you ever took math in college, or high school, you will feel the waves of jealousy flood over you.. (unless you are like me and think math is totally cool).

The other thing I did, was head to Eastern Oregon to visit family, and go to my cousin's wedding. Not only did I not get wedding photos, I even forgot to get some good ones of my soon-to-be 87 year old grandmother. How lame is that?

I did manage to take other pictures.

Just wandered around the ranch and took shots of things that interested me. I hope you enjoy them too.

Off to Math class, and learning more about Shifts, Reflections, and Transformations. It's amazing. EVERYTHING has an equation. Well, at least that is the claim.

I just prefer the paycheck at the end of this ordeal. ;)

Layke

I named this one Layke. This wool is from an old stash of my mother's. You don't find a good turquoise blue around much (unless of course, you make it yourself).. That, my pretties, is yet another course of action I intend to take as soon as I graduate from college. I will have a spinning wheel, oh yesss!

Another view, my pretty daughter's hair looking great with that hat.



The decreases were fun to design!





A view of the Diamond pattern. Just a 13-stitch repeat I was playing with. I think hats, mittens and scarves are a good way to practice a  stitch pattern for preparing to work up to a Jumper.

This is my very own February Lady sweater I started almost a year ago. I finally got it out of the UFO drawer and finished the increases (there were only two rows of increases left- what was I thinking!) and working the first Gull stitch repeat. The yarn is Cascade 220 in Plum Heather. Love this yarn!

You can see the heathered look in the fiber here close up. It's amazing how all those different colors enhance the purple.

I had forgotten about the stitch markers I made. Aren't they fun? Also a better look at the wonderful yarn. That's a Garter Stitch pattern for you that are curious about what I'm doing.

Here are a couple more stitch markers. I just used jump rings, some favorite beads and finding, and - Voila!

If you want me to make you some, I could put together a set of 8 for $30 to include S&H.

A couple more. I love turtles! These little guys really make knitting fun! Little luxuries other than plastic really make the whole journey through the process very satistfying. For me, knitting  is that and so much more.

And, finally, my pretty ball of Cascade 220. 

Now, I need to get back to the Math homework. First quiz is tomorrow! Equations of circles, the Distance formula, and Domain and Range are what's happening. Love it!

Happy Sunday!