Friday, April 30, 2010

Books...

How I love Amazon.com.....:)
I loved the Susan B. Anderson book Itty Bitty Hats so much I ordered her other books. They are just as fantastic!
Itty Bitty Nursery has forty adorable items....jackets, mittens, toys, slippers, pacifer clips, an adorable mobile, a knitted tea set (which I adore and might make for myself!):)
Itty Bitty Toys is chocked full of adorable toys to make...think I want to make every single one in the book! They even have reversible toys which are totally awesome. For example the frog can turn into a turtle or an egg becomes a bluebird. Soooo cute!
The Sweetgum Ladies Knit for Love by Beth Pattillo. Once a month, the six women of the Sweetgum Knit Lit Society gather to discuss books and share their knitting projects. Inspired by her recently-wedded bliss, group leader Eugenie chooses “Great Love Stories in Literature” as the theme for the year’s reading list–a risky selection for a group whose members span the spectrum of age and relationship status.As the Knit Lit ladies read and discus classic romances like Romeo and Juliet, Wuthering Heights, and Pride and Prejudice, each member is confronted with her own perception about love. Camille’s unexpected reunion with an old crush forces her to confront conflicting desires. Newly widowed Esther finds her role in Sweetgum changing and is surprised by two unlikely friends. Hannah isn’t sure she’s ready for the trials of first love. Newcomer Maria finds her life turned upside-down by increasing family obligations and a handsome, arrogant lawyer, and Eugenie and Merry are both asked to make sacrifices for their husbands that challenge their principles.Even in a sleepy, southern town like Sweetgum, Tennesee, love isn’t easy. The Knit Lit ladies learn they can find strength and guidance in the novels they read, the love of their family, their community–and especially in each other.
Sweater Quest by Adrienne Martini. Martini writes about her choice to knit the complicated Alice Starmore Fair Isle sweater pattern, known as Mary Tudor, and records her 12 months’ experience.
Spinning Forward by Terri Dulong. Sydney Webster's comfortable New England life comes crashing down when her husband dies suddenly, leaving her penniless and evicted. She had no idea about his huge gambling debts, and is getting no sympathy from her hurt and angry twenty something daughter. With nowhere else to turn, Sydney takes shelter at a college friend's B&B in Cedar key, Florida, where she begins to form a plan. As Syd turns her talent at spinning wool and knitting into a retail venture, other doors begin to open. She steps into the embrace of a community rich with love, laughter, friendship...and secrets. And soon she faces a choice: spin a safety net, or spin forward and never look back. Entertaining and heart warming, this superb debut will win readers over with its real-life challenges and quirky and compelling characters.
After I finish these three novels I'll have to go stalk Courtney's shelfari...she's always reading great books!
Looking forward to Saturday Stitchin' at my lys...tomorrow my friend DawnRene is bringing her notebook and going to show us all a software demo. My homework from her was to knit a swatch, recording all the sts./rows/gauge/needles etc....then she'll plug this all in and presto changeo a sweater pattern will pop out!:) Can't wait to see this work, although I have the feeling I'll probably want this once I see it in action!:)

Thursday, April 29, 2010

Dogs on Thursdays...DOT!

Fuji snuggling up to Jimmy on her birthday as he's doing some school reading!
She loves her brother.....sometimes!:)

Snuggling up with Jimmy scored Fuji this cute dog toy!


Notice how she's holding on to it...."it's mine," she says!:)

I made Fuji this dog bone...even has a squeaker inside it!

Hangin' out with her new bone!
April 27 is the day she was actually born...but she has another birthday on my birthday when I really got her!:) The bone was a really quick crochet...although when your making it, others around you will wonder if you are doing something X'rated....just saying probably in a neutral color wouldn't be a good KIP project!:)
Happy DOT!!



Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Wednesday Ramblings...

"Talk to the hand"
Went to Valencia today to Jimmy's dental appointment....no cavities! Whoohoo!
We then drove towards home (45 minutes from us) and went to Panera for lunch (yummy fuji apple salad)...went to Petsmart to get superworms for our bearded dragon...Kohl's to get James some more slacks...and a couple other places looking for Mommy's Day stuff. Busy, busy day! Off to knit night tonight...I'll probably fall asleep!

FreckleFaceFibers
50% alpaca, 30% merino, 20 % silk
Seems like I've had this on the wheel forever...since October I know of! Wow, but now it's done! It is 446 yards of fingering/lace weight; 2 plied. When I finished plying it I wound it off onto the chair, well I wound really good and couldn't get it off the chair, poop it took me 1.5 hours just to get it on the chair!! Had to wind it onto my swift from the chair (2 hours) so I could collapse the swift to get it off. Then I went to Soak it, supposed to soak for 15 minutes...completely forgot about it till the next day! I have know idea where my head was with this!
When I first started spinning it I had a project in mind for it but since its been so long I have no idea what that project was now!:) I know a shawl but can't remember which one! Really like how it turned out...now to spin something else! Was extremely excited to hear that TN Dawn is starting to cross over to the dark side of spinning! So cool to hear about her progress! Soon we'll be hearing her buying a wheel!:) She has a friend letting her test drive one right now!:)


Tuesday, April 27, 2010

What is it??

What am I?

Do you know what kind of flower this is?
Last year in this tree there were just the straight, spiky leaves...
This year they have these buds on them and opened up into these flowers...
I looked at all different kinds of flowers, thought it was an iris but I actually planted iris bulbs and this is what they look like...

This is the iris I planted...the leaves are also really thin and cylindrical ( oooh big word too much geometry with Jimmy ) and not straight or spiky like the other. The other one has a thick, bumpy yellow thingy too? Pretty...but strange!

Monday, April 26, 2010

Bunny Hat FO!


This bunny hat is from the Susan B. Anderson book Itty Bitty Hats....I want to knit every single one in this book. They are soooo cute! Fast, fun, quick knit!


On a side note: Free Shipping at http://wolfefarms.net now through Mother's Day....great gifts for Mom! Come check it out, Mother's Day is May 9!

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Saturday's Stitchin'

Had a wonderful turnout for the first Saturday Stitchin'!
Dr. Gemma, Needles (Carol), LakeAlien, Loretta1031, Ravensnest (Kim), Rose Marie, Erma, Kris, Ladybuglola (Dolores), Katnmouse (Jackie), Dawn Rene, Pam, Pam's mom, Nancy, Angie, Dean, Kitty...couple more stopped by too.

Chris and Pam talking about glass needles!
Chris is the one who makes the Pyrex Glass needles, crochet hooks, dpn's and much more!
He found the yarn shop by knittinwolf's blog!:)


Helping Dolores with a mini sock...helped Pam learn to knit and learn the stitches...helped Kim with a market bag....Rose Marie learning to knit a hat (we'll work more on that next week) :)....ripped out Nancy's pedicure sock and got it back on the needles for her....


Loretta crocheted a whole owl while she was there! DawnRene, Jackie, Kris, and Carol working on socks....Gemma was working on a shawl LakeAlien was working on a hat....lots of fun stuff and lots and lots of gabbing with the girls! Tons of cookies to munch on and water to quench your thirst!:)

Looking forward to next week! So much fun!

Even before the meet....went to Panera's with Dolores and Jackie, so much fun to catch up and chat with them!

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Happy Earth Day!

MMMMM fresh lavender smells so good!

Earth Day 2010!!

Happy Earth Day!
What are you doing to celebrate?
Eco-friendly products? Plant a tree? Turn off electronics? Recycling?


James planted six trees this past weekend! They're beautiful, they provide shade, consume CO2 (that's good), and they produce oxygen. Bought more plants to plant too! Also doing a lot of cutting to make more and more trees! We recycle...we use earth friendly cleaning products (vinegar)...compact fluorescent bulbs in the house...to name a few!

Happy Dogs on Thursday too!:)





Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Kool Fun!

I'm wanting to learn all the forms of dying this year.
Starting out with Kool-Aid dying...
Wound some sport weight wool into a skein form.
Tie it off in certain areas to keep it from coming undone.
Soak it in some Soak or Dawn water...
Mix the Kool-Aid (no sugar) with water in your jars to the desired colors you like.
I put1.5 packs of Grape in one and 1/2 in the other. Don't overfill with water or when you add your yarn it will overflow. For the Cherry I did 1/4 in one and 3/4 in the other. Take your wet skeins and gently squeeze water out...add it to your colors! Where you have the ties holding your skeins together make sure it is able to absorb the dye (I didn't think of this). Also another good thing to do is wear gloves or you'll have purple/red hands (yup forgot this too!) Place jars into a pot with about two in. of water and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and let cool. When its cool take out your skeins and rinse them off...gently squeeze excess water out and hang to dry! What is totally awesome is when you take out the skeins the water in your jars is clear....clear because all the color went into your skeins! Jimmy thought this was cool!
Whalla...finished skeins! Wind into a cake when dry and get your knit on!:) So much fun! Hopefully I'll get time to try Easter egg dying today!

On a side note was able to get back to swim today...took it easy and worked out in the pool for about 1/2 an hour...felt so good to be back in the water sniffing chlorine! Also finished the preemie hat I was testing out the square needles on. Wish the cable was a wee bit bigger but love working with them. I do feel like I'm going to rip that cable right off, don't know why but it just doesn't feel that strong to me! The needles are guaranteed so I guess if I do we'll see how there customer service is!

Mother's Day is just around the corner....great gifts for Mom's at wolfefarms.net!




Monday, April 19, 2010

Grandma's Yarns...

Grandma's Yarns & Notions
45239 N. 12 th St. East
661-723-YARN
Hours: Tuesday-Saturday, 10:00-6:00

Hung out at the lys this past Saturday....hadn't seen the "Grannies" in a few weeks! Had a great time catching up on things. Bought these rainbow of colors to make the Marley hat, it should make a couple of hats with all this yarn, can't wait to cast on for it! Need to finish the Hemlock Ring Blanket first though! Went home for lunch and Angie texted me that they got in glass (pyrex) dpn's! Went back to the yarn store to try them out (just down the street from me)!:) They are awesome! Casted on a preemie hat to test them out. They didn't screech, the yarn grips well to them, they're not slippery, knit really well! I'm used to my dpn's being 6in. long but these didn't hurt or bug my hands. They also have straight glass needles too where you can choose from the beautiful toppers and have customized to your liking. Also they have crochet hooks too which are fabulous! I've tested them all and they are all fun to knit/cro with!:)

April 24 between 2-6 the Grannies are starting a knit/cro/spin time....looking forward to hanging out and having some fun! So if you're local come on over and get your knit on!:)



Saturday, April 17, 2010

Some trip pics..

Love this pic of James....one of my favorites!

James and Jimmy....they were tossing pennies into the wheel at Apple Farm.

Looking for sand dollars on Pismo Beach... only found broken ones!:(

Pretty bird!

Captain Sea Wolfe getting hooked by the naughty pirate!



The Northern Elephant Seal, Mirounga angustirostris , is an extraordinary marine mammal. It spends eight to ten months a year in the open ocean, diving 1000 to 5000 feet deep for periods of fifteen minutes to two hours, and migrating thousands of miles, twice a year, to its land based rookery for birthing, breeding, molting and rest. The Piedras Blancas rookery, on Highway 1 seven miles north of San Simeon on the California Central Coast, is home to about 15,000 animals. The area is open for viewing every day of the year and there is no admission fee or reservation required.



Thursday, April 15, 2010

Dogs on Thursdays...DOT!

Fuji helping me prepare the goodies for the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival!
The 37th Annual Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival
Saturday May 1 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM & Sunday 2, 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM, 2010
Howard County Fairgrounds 2210 Fairground Road West Friendship, MD 21794-9604
Kiping It Real Podcast is doing goodie bags and Jackie is doing a meet and greet with the Knitmore Girls, Barknknit, and Stitch It! Should be a great meet up!

Wishing we were attending so we could meet all the fun people!

Big Yawn.....all finished and shipping out now!:)


Happy DOT!




Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Village Spinning and Weaving....


Village Spinning & Weaving Shop
425 Alisal Road
Solvang, CA 93463
United States
Tel: (805) 686-1192

This is the same store that I bought my wheel at last year. Extremely wonderful service....last year they spent four hours with me testing out wheels and then another four hours when I went back and purchased one. Tons of fiber to choose from, wheels, looms, books, yarn, notions.....

This time I had to pick up some fiber...of course I went for the greens at first but decided a different color would be best!:) This is a salmon color merino...soooo soft!

Monday, April 12, 2010

Eileen's Treasures....

859 Oak Park Blvd,
Pismo Beach CA 93449
Excellent selection, lovely displays, great prices, friendly service. I was feeling really bad when at this store so was hard to pay attention to details. Lots of Noro, Cascasde, Regia all the workhorse yarns....nothing super spectacular. After being at the Knit and Pearl Boutique with all the fine yarns it was hard to review it without being disappointed. They had tons of yarn and had lots to choose from. I was looking for some lumpy cream yarn and some tan cotton to make an itty bitty lamb. Also wanted to try the Kollage Square needles so got a size 6/24in cable. I'm very impressed with the smoothness of the cable, no twists, kind of scared that its going to break but they are guaranteed. I cast on a preemie hat to test them out and they are knitting quite nicely. They are supposed to be ergonomic and I've gotta say my hands haven't cramped with them yet. They are also supposed to prevent any kind of laddering....we'll see when I finish the hat!:)

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Knit and Pearl Boutique

5 E. Figueroa Street
just off State Street,
downtown Santa Barbara
(805) 963-3930 • knitandpearl@gmail.com
Monday 11am – 7pm
Tuesday – Friday 11am – 5:30pm
Saturday 11am – 5pm
Oooooh think I've found my new favorite yarn store!! I took pics of the inside but was using my phone and they blurred :(.....You walk in and there is a big display of classes being offered with the pattern, yarn etc, right next to the cashier area to your right...to your left is a floor to ceiling oak bookcase filled with all the different Manos yarns (drooooool) around the corner from this to your left is a huge nook with a couch, chairs, coffee table, wonderful lighting to sit and knit.....next is an area of baby yarns....a rack of Malabrigo,mmmmmm....Rowan, Spud and Chloe, Blue Sky Alpaca, O-wool, organic cottons, hemp....so many fine yarns to even name...all the popular, fabulous yarns you could think of...Namaste bags all around....Lantern Moon......alpaca, angora, bamboo oh my.....in each section there were pattern ideas/patterns placed for each yarn....beautiful knitted items hung and displayed all over. A knitters/crocheter's heaven!! The owner was extremely friendly and helpful and gave me a full tour pointing out different stuff throughout. It will definitely be worth a two hour drive to go back when I need some more fabulous yarn! If you're ever in Santa Barbara, CA you've gotta go to this store....was very, very impressed and look forward to going back sometime!
I bought my friend, Alana's pattern, the Cedarleaf Shawlette and the Manos silk blend to make it with, of course in green!:) The Rowan Cashsoft is for a baby hat I need to make.....such a wonderful yarn, so soft and scrumptious! Wish I could cast them on right now but still working on the Mr. Greenjeans (I'm on the sleeves), started and restarted the Hemlock Ring blanket, started a preemie hat.....

Saturday, April 10, 2010

Home...

Came home early from our trip up the Central Coast. I was having such sinus migraines that I was just miserable so decided to come home early. My Dad was also having some medical problems and felt bad for my Mom to have to keep going back and forth between our houses to take care of our critters and my Dad. My Mom had also mentioned to me that Fuji's chin area looked puffy, thought she was just thinking Fuji is pudgy.....well we get home and Fuji has some hives on her too. I gave her a good bath, soaked her in cool water to reduce the hives, it looked better. She wasn't acting her normal self, hiding under Jimmy's bed, not coming out socializing....kept checking on her and then around 9:30pm her face was more swollen with huge hives that she looked kind of cyclopsy. We rushed her to A.V. Animal ER and they immediately took her back and gave her some injections. They think she was bit by something? She's not an outside doggy so have no idea what got her. We got to bring her home and gave her Benadryl through the night and she's doing better today. The ER place even called and checked on her today and if any more hives wants to see her again. She's acting more normal today, played with her frog a bit and following me around!:) So glad we came home early! Gave me quite a scare, wish they could talk! Poor puppy! Within the next few days I'll post the few goodies I found on our trip!

Monday, April 5, 2010

Wrapped in Hugs and Kisses





Our Wrapped in Hugs and Kisses Crochet Pattern was created by knittinwolf and crocheted for her Grandma Wilma as a gift for her 90th birhtday. She is the one who taught me to crochet so thought it fitting to design a crochet pattern. The stitch pattern make Xs and Os, hence the name “Hugs and Kisses”, so wrap yourself or someone you love in hugs and kisses.

The finished wrap measures approximately: 72 in. by 16 in. Crocheted with worsted weight, required approximately 945 yards.

This will come to you as an emailed PDF file, so you won’t have to wait long to get started.
For more information, see: http://wolfefarms.net/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=22&products_id=107
This was published into the Ravelry database yesterday and I've already sold one! So exciting!





Sunday, April 4, 2010

Friday, April 2, 2010

Contest Winners!!!




Drum roll please…………


The WINNERS are:


Lavender Deluxe Gift Basket: Robin R. karmen01

4 pack soaps: Dawn S. dawnzknitz Let me know the scents!

Soap/Lotion set: Mary Jo
HedgehogMJ Let me know the scent!


Everyone whom I’ve received a blanket from will also be getting a special thank you in the mail!:)

sillyfru will also be receiving an extra special something for mentioning Wolfe Farms and this contest every single week on her podcast….above and beyond…she knows how special this was to me!:)


Thank you all so much from the bottom of my heart!




A little heads up….the next Wolfe Farms Charity Contest will be starting in June and run till Sept. 1……..preemie items!

Thursday, April 1, 2010

CA Poppies!!

Visiting the poppy fields...

Lots of sniffin....

more sniffin....

Kissin' Mommy....


Fuji kept wanting to be held because she didn't like the poppies and weeds hitting her bare belly! Then she went major watch dog when some other people came to take pictures...full ridgeback with her hackles up!:)

Happy Dogs on Thursday....lots of smiles from Fuji!