16 + 16 = SWEET!

16 years ago these two sweet babies were born!

Still sweet after all these years!

Happy Birthday Sweet 16s

Some FOs and a Prize for Me!

Another clutch - this one knit with Paton's Merino and needlefelted flowers on the flap.

This cute little bag is based on "A Little Bird Told Me....." on Knitty.com. I knit it in the round instead of flat and used an i-cord for the drawstring and strap, and needlefelted the heart on the flap. Which leads to the next picture .....while I was looking through my needlefelting wool, I realized that I have somehow developed a stash of roving, even though I haven't learned how to spin yet. Looking at this will give me more incentive to learn!

And the prize.............

I won a drawing over on the Carefree KAL and got to choose two skeins of Crystal Palace Yarns. On the left is Merino Stripes - a fuzzy, soft, wool, that I think might become a cowl, and on the right is Taos that will probably get felted into a small clutch. What a cool way to get to try out two new yarns! Thank you CPY!

Hurricane Bill Says Hi to Downeast Maine

Hurricane Bill waved at us on his way through today. These awesome pictures were taken by one of my friends at Schoodic Point, Acadia National Park, in Winter Harbor.

Unfortunately tragedy struck - not here at Schoodic Point, but over in Bar Harbor at Thunder Hole where three people were swept into the ocean. Two were rescued and one little 7 year old girl died.

Beautiful - but dangerous ocean when it roars!

Phat Fiber

Last Saturday I sat at my computer at 5 minutes before 10 a.m. EST, hitting the refresh button until three boxes finally showed up. I clicked on the one that said "Just Stitches" then on add to shopping cart, then checkout, and confirm purchase. Paid with paypal -and whew! In just a few seconds I scored a Phat Fiber box. In another minute they were all gone! What is a Phat Fiber box? You can read all about it here. This was the first time I ever attempted to get a box, and I got lucky! Now - all that was left was the wait for it to arrive in the mail. That happened this morning when the mailman brought the mail to my door (that only happens when there is a package too big to fit in the mailbox - those are my favorite days!) Do you want to know what was in it? (warning, if you are not a knitter you probably won't get too excited about this!)
The box - see all the cute stamps on it?


On top - the popcorn bag (the theme of this month's box was "At The Fair") with cards from the contributors in it, plus a rose quartz stitch marker from Page's Beaded Designs, a felted "P" keychain from Calizna Designs and a mystery beaded thing that I have to go to wwwmemarcienee.com to find out what it is.

If any of the contributors see their cards here, I will be paying a visit to your Etsy Shop soon! Now a look under that striped tissue paper!

Fibery samples from Etsy shop contributors -

Including some other goodies like jelly beans, candy corn, and hand lotion (from The Spinning Sheep).

The next box drop will be in September.......

Off to play with my new toys.

Hot, but not too hot to knit!

A couple of weeks ago Maine Fiberarts sponsered a tour of fiberarts studios in Maine. There were only a couple on the list that were within 60 miles of my house, but I did make it to a couple of them. One was Fiberphelia, in Orono, ME. It's a great little yarn shop, with a very friendly owner and a large room for knitters to sit and knit and chat. I spent about an hour there and came out with two balls of Wooly
Silk yarn by Elsebeth Lavold that I knew had to become another Smoke Ring (I think everyone will be getting these for Christmas this year). Love the simple lace pattern and the yarn was great to work with. I even have enough left to make a skinny scarf - maybe beaded? There was also a 40% off shelf where I found Jojoland Rhythm in a pretty green/blue/pink. I haven't decided what it will become yet. The other studio I visited was Essentially Felt in Old Town, Maine, where the artist (and she definitely is an artist!), Sandy Spiller, showed me her beaufiful felted slippers, hats, ruanas, and felted silk scarves. She is going to give a class on the scarves in October which I am hoping to take.

Although it is way too hot to be thinking about cowls, I've had this hand spun & dyed wool/bunny blend yarn since last summer when I bought it at the Fiber College weekend in Searsport, Me. It really is as soft as the bunny it came from!
I found this pattern for a Chevron Lace Gaiter while browsing through my knitting magazines (Creative Knitting Nov. 2008.)

I don't remember growing older - when did they?

My baby (youngest son) turned 35 yesterday and my baby granddaughter will be 10 on Tuesdayand her mom (my dd) and dad will celebrate their 20th anniversary this week!

Tori had her birthday party with her friends on Friday at the lake, which turned out to be a perfect day.

A budding rock star?

Blowing out the candles on her cake at her 'Rockin' Hannah Montana Beach Party".

What does your workspace look like?

Knitty Sue is having a contest on her blog and she wants us to post a photo of our work area. I have a couple, but I think this is my favorite. Next to the rocker are bags with my knitting projects - small ones in the smaller bags and usually a large project in a big bigger bag (I like to switch off). Right now the pink bag has a dishcloth project in it, the brown one has an Old Shale Smoke Ring (cowl) going on, and in the large one is a felted bag project. On the footstool is a portable CD player with an audio book in it to listen to while I knit. Today it has "Heartsick" by Chelsea Cain in it. On the other side of the rocker is my magnetic row place keeper from knitpicks - couldn't knit a pattern without it, and a small tin box with knitting gadgets in it - stitch markers, scissors, crochet hooks, etc. The round box they are sitting on is filled with yarn. The picnic basket on the floor is also filled with yarn (who would guess?) as are the other three round boxes on the left. (and DH has no clue!) On top of the picnic basket is my pouch for my circ. needles, and oh, yes, a bag of chocolate! The basket is filled with knitting magazines and catalogs, that I can't fit in the magazine rack beside the chair. In the background is my computer desk where I can run over to Ravelry to look for patterns, check facebook, my yahoo groups and my e-mail when I want to take a break from knitting. The bookcase is filled with knitting books and notebooks full of patterns. On the computer desk in the background is my "Never Not Knitting" Yarn Harlot calendar, a phone, file box for mail, CDs and DVDs with photos on them, my digital camera, and the desk is usually littered with patterns I have printed out and have not filed yet. That's my knitting workspace. Want to see my scrapbooking workspace? Maybe tomorrow!

You asked for it Sue!

beaded scarf

I finished my beaded scarf for our Whoduknit KAL. The yarn is Zen Yarn Garden handpainted merino/bamboo/nylon and the beads are from Earthfaire. I loved knitting with the beads. If I made this pattern again I would add more than the 9 rows on each end that the pattern called for. I also added fringe and strung a few beads randomly on each strand then tied a knot under each one.

I haven't blocked the scarf yet, and I'm not sure that I need to.

Using up Stash

Is my goal this summer! And here are some of the results. The little change purse was knit with two strands of yarn held together (a Noro and a solid) in a k1, sl 1 pattern like the stash bag below. The gold & yellos clutch is Cascade 220 and the striped is Noro. What a difference in the felting process. The Cascade took about 10 minutes total to felt, while the Noro took about 45 minutes and you can still see a little bit of stitch definition.

Brown & Gold Felted Clutch:

About 50 yards of each color

Size after felting 8"x4 1/2"

CO 76 sts.

on 16" or 24" size 10 1/2 circs and join. K in main color for 4 1/2 "

Dec. 2 stitches in next row. Attach CC color - knit for 4 1/2". Dec. 2 sts. in next row. BO 36 sts.

Knit in st. stitch for 4 rows, then decreast on each side every other row until 10 stitches remain.

BO. Crochet around flap and opening (optional). Sew up bottom seam and felt. Sew on button and cut a slit in the flap for button hole.

Noro Felted Clutch:

Size after felting 8"x4 /2"

One skein of Noro Kuryon (I used every bit of it)

CO 76 sts on 10 1/2 circs and join. Knit around for 4". Dec. 2 sts. in next row. Knit for another 4", Dec. 2 sts in next row. BO 36 sts. K 2 rows. Dec. on stitch each side every other row until there is just enough yarn left to sew up the bottom seam. Felt. Sew on button and cut a slit in the flap for the button hole.

Change Purse:

Size after felting About 4" x 4"

Small amounts of 2 colors of

worsted weight yarn

On size 8 needles CO 20 sts.

Row 1: K1, Sl 1 across

Row 2: Knit across

Repeat rows 1 & 2 until piece is about 10" long.

Next row: K 8 sts in sl st pattern, BO 4 sts. K remaining 8 sts in sl st. pattern.

Continue in pattern until piece measures about 11".

Fold bottom up about 3 1/2" and sew side seams. Sew on button.