Lady Watkins

The Come End of 2010!

2010-12-30T03:49:00.000-06:00

Well this has been an interesting to say the least. I have been battling depression and trying to get things pulled to gether for our move to FL. The VA has been pulling us through the wringers, but praise God we have had victories along the way as we continue to move forward. The first house we bid on we found out that we were the high bidder but the bank decided to foreclose on the owners instead. Then we spotted another home in a nice area with "big" kitchen and a garden tub and separate shower in the master. Our bid was accepted and then about a week into the deal the realtor called and said there was trouble with the title. So now we have decided to lease for awhile in FL and then we can take our time finding the right home that the Lord has for us. Sometimes we make plans and God laughs, because his plan is bigger and better for us.

Christmas was nice at midnight on Christmas morning I sang Happy Birthday to Jesus, I know you think I am crazy but that is something that I started doing. I have decided to invite the Lord into the activities of my day and when I do this I find I have less pain and I can get more done. There are a few people that we will miss when we leave TX. One special friend is Enid our post lady she is just so awesome, if we have packages she brings them to the door and rings the bell so we know that we havev packages and even puts the mail with then for us. She is just great always goes above her duties. I mean she could just put a notice in our box and we'd have to drive to the post office and stand in a long line waiting to pick them up. With things being tight this year we still wanted to give her something special. So I decided to make a Peach Blackberry cobbler and cookies for her and her family. We gave it to her yesterday and she was so happy.

I love to do things like this for peole and also knit them things and so forth. this year I've done quiet a bit of knitting as you can see: The first one is of the back of a "big" slochy beret that isi of my own design that I knitted for a swap.

This is the back view of the beret that is going to my friend Beverly Ann, who lives in Surrey, BC where it can get very cold in the winter months.

This is the side view of her hat.

This blue one I have not decided who will get this one as of yet. I might send it to my friend Lina in the Netherlands. I mailed a shrug to her 2 years ago and she never received it so I might take another chance and send this one to her this year.

I love the way that the decreasing makes a swirl pattern on the back of the beret.

This here is the front of the beret I designed. Yep as you can see I am still struggling with my damn weight. I just wish they would stop all the games and just schedule my surgery and get it over with.

Anyway I need to get some sleep but I want to finish the movie first. I am watching the American with George Clooney. The house is quiet even hubby is not snoring tonight :-). Well I hope to make another entry into this blog before the new year begins. I really need to get myself back into blogging.
So it is later gator for now!

Curve/bump in the Road ~ When we make plans God Laughs

2010-09-23T05:54:00.000-05:00

Well we're still packing and stacking, Friday they come to take pictures and then we'll see. We might take another trip to FL to look at other property. It seems that after 17 days of waiting the bank has decided to let the propertry foreclose and not accept out offer or the other couples offer. So we are searching again and have found another potential that is quite a bit lower that what we bid on the other place. Has more square footage and with what we save what we get from selling this place we can have a screened in room and pool built. So we are excited, we never know what the Lord will do for us and it just amazes me because this new option seems better and it is exactly 2.5 miles and a six minute drive from Sista's house!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WooHoo yes Lord thank you Jesus!!

Packing packing oh my lol

2010-09-05T17:22:00.004-05:00

Well it is official we are headed for Ocala, FL. We put our bid in for our new home, we saw it last month and when we walked in to do a walk through it was like we were finally "home". A place where we can grow deep roots. God is good and the doors are opening for us. Yes we have had a few obstacles but it is amazing, cause when God says this is it and go you step out in faith and trust him and man things are just popping an falling into place. Plus the interest rate we got is 1.5 - 2 pecent lower that what we are paying here. The home is bigger, better designed and the kitchen, everything is in the right place!! The pool area is screen in and we can have a run right off of the pool area for the dogs so they can enjoy the out of doors more (Rita will love that). Michael will have plenty of space he needs for his trains and hotwheel collection. He has already been talking to some of his friends who live in FL and they are so excited that he will be tops 2 hours or lest away from them. Plus I will be about 10 minutes away from sista which is just awesome. It has been 6 years of hell in respect to being so far from here, we've always been less than 20 minutees away an noiw the 6 years of draught so to speak is ending. We'll be able to have tea by the pool and discuss the scriptures and sermons of Pastor Tim. We'll be able to do some powerful praying as well as having an afternoon tea and BBQ's for friends to come and share good food and friends time. The Lord has let us now that our time and season in TX is now over an he is sending us to the next level in our journey and next chapter in our lives and man is it exciting Praise God!!!!!!!

The above is the kitchen notice that I have 2 deep draws that will hold my pots and pans!!!! No more standing on tippy toes to reach things thank you Jesus!!

This is part of the pool area, we'll be getting a white fence or a pressure treated one put up to keep our little dogs in and other dogs out.

This is looking down into the family room. The sliders lead to the pool and the 3rd bathroom. There are also sliders in the formal dining room to the pool and also access from the master bedroom as well. We just love it!!!!!!!!!!!!! So I am back to packing now, will post more pictures of our new home is the up coming entries.

Have an awesome Labor Day and week y'all!

CW :-)

Wow April is almost gone

2010-04-15T02:49:00.002-05:00

Boy how the months have been flying by lol. I have been busy between voluteering for the rodeo livestock in March and learning how to weave. I went to my first WOW meeting on Apr. 1 and it was great. WOW stands for Weavers Out West. Thursday night 4/15 is guild meeting and I am going. I am going to run for the office of membership. They have an opening and I believe I can do the job! I have also started a new blog called weavingontheedge.blogger.com. It is dedicated to my weaving. So now it is official I am now a multi-tasking fiber artist lol. Boy if I had a camera I'd have a priceless picture. Michael is sleeping, Rita is curled up on her pillow sleeping, Angus is at the foot of the bed sleeping and McKinley is curled up behind me sleeping. I just need to get some sleep and then I will feel better. I need to wind a warp for the baby wolf, and then dress Camelita in the Magic Carpet ride warp that is long enough for 2 scarves to be woven. Well I should drink my herbal tea and turn the light out and sleep. Tomorrow is another day!
Night for now!

:-)

Another week done ~ Spin like the Wind

2010-02-20T02:57:00.004-06:00

On the Cocobolo spindle I am spinning up a yummy blend of 80/20 merino/tussah in colorway called Venetian that I purchased I believe from Frecklefaced girl. I got a littl over 7 ounces. I just love the colorway. I was going through that blues/greens mode lol. This is what it is looking like.

Well I am going to start to spin this awesomely beautiful, yummy squishy soft fiber. It is a 50/50 blend of camel and tussah silk that I purchased from Far Out Farms at the Januaru Spin-in that was held in Destin, FL last month. The colorway is called Starbirth and I purchased 2 - 2 oz. containers of this color. I think I will make a nice lace scarf to wear. I did spin a little up on the Kundert but I feel that the spindle is a little too heavy at 1.4 ounces. So I will spin it up using my traditional wheel.

It is 3:27 Saturday morning and I still have to do a little knitting on my lace bed socks that are entered in the Team Bluemoon Ravelypics team Hockey Socks. I need to take another picture to post on ravelry of the socks. Anyway I need to post picture of my weft colors for my first weaving project. I am hoping to have my first lesson on Tuesday. Well will have pictures later today from the Train Show we're going to see later today in Houston!! Have a wild an crazy, but safe and warm weekend y'all!

Ciao!

Winter Swap from Rainbow Swap Group

2010-02-14T22:12:00.004-06:00

Below is the picture that shows the detail of the Alpaca Bed Socks that I am knitting for the Team Bluemoon for the 2010 Ravelypics. I have to have them done by the end of the closing ceremonies. I am using Bluemoon med. weight Water Wave yarn in the colorway called "Hot Flash" which reall explains the phase of life I am going through now lol. The 2nd picture shows the actual color.

This is what McKinley did to a custom made detal guard. How she got it I could not tell you but tht is what I found and boy was I ripped. Thank goodness that the VA has an excellentdental clinic so I will call them Tuesday to see if they came make another for me. It really helped knock out the headaches I was waking up with in the mornings.

Well look at the goodies I got in this swap from Moosh on ravelry:

The sock yarn is something that I will be asking her where she got it so I can get another skein of it. It's called Stardust colorway is Sea Salt Spray by Dream in Colr. Oh it is so squshy and soft! It was a great swap package too! Well it is damp raw and raining yet again, though earlier the sun was out and it was a "warm" 57. I truly hope tht it warms up a bit more this weather is like what I was dealing with in RI lol. Anyway I hope that this week will be a good one and that we'll get some news about our hearing soon. Well time to go and do some more knitting before calling it a night.

Peace y'all,

February the 2nd Month of 2010

2010-02-09T23:37:00.003-06:00

Well so far this has been a good month, I am having a great time spinning up all that awesome fiber that I got at the Spin-in held in Destin, FL. What an incredible group of people I had the privilege of meeting and spinning with. Next year we'll have a bvetter time because we will be arriving 2 days before and staying 2 days after the event. This way we will be able to enjoy the beach and some of the local eateries and shops in town. Just look at this bag of yummy fiber and the 2 new spindles I purchased. The fiber is 925 grams of Polwarth. The fleece was dyes these beautiful colors called Ashes of Roses. This fiber came from Francine of Rovings which is in Canada. I already have one 9"-inch bobbin spun up and a 2nd bobbin already started. I also brought more of her fiber but in roving form.

This fiber below is 4.5 ounces of a 85/15 blend of shetland mohair blend in medium blue color. I think this would make some nice socks, or maybe a nice hat. I got this fiber as a gift from Kim at Far Out Farm. She had some incredible fiber I was ever so supportive by purchasing "A LOT" of it. I am talking beautiful Chasing Rainbow Colors and some outstanding dyed Camel/Tussah blend. I purchased 2 Star Birth packages and 1 Opal. This fiber spins up nicely on a spindle but I am going to try it on the wheel to see how it looks and feels. This fiber will be for a beautiful lave scarf.

This bowl is now filled with silk hankies and two rovings on the right from RiversEdge Weaving Studio. Carol and Debb have some incredible fiber and she even offers a sheet that explains in detail the fibers and blends that they use and their benifical qualities. They're awesome and lots of fun too lol. I am looking forward to spinning up some of their fiber. the fiber to the left is Chasing Rainbows Shell Box a 50/50 Merino/Tussah blend. This tiome around I am finding that I am buying more "Quality" versus quantity.

This bowl of fiber is filled mostly with high end and luxury blend fiber. AThe 2 rather vibrant rovings are from Dicentra and they are just awesome in one of my favorite fibers BFL. Lisa's dyeing is just vibrant, rich deep and clear, these two colorways Pilneer and Elowyn are just the bomb as our oldest granddaughter would say. I think they'll make some really happening socks!!

This is one of the Ravelry woman whose group I was part of and spun with. Look at this beautiful wheel, it is just awesome. I had such fun and fiber people are really awesome. I felt like I had known a lot of them for a long time, I think I spent about a good deal walking around and talking as I did spinning. In my next post I will have more fiber to share and also I'll strt posting pictures of the great place that we stayed at. We have an awesome view of both the pool and the beach being on the 10th floor and all.

Well my friends I need to recharge the batteries and hopefully I will have some good news from one of my new friends regarding selling my stitch markers. Well I will say ado to you all until tomorrow ;-)

As the Year 2010 begins

2010-01-18T00:46:00.003-06:00

Well we are already one month into the new year heading toward the second month. I look back on 2009 and thank the Lord for briong us through another year. We suffered 3 loses, but one the other hand I know the suffering has ended. I've had to change quitew a bit in my life health wise and that is for the good. Being diabetic has made me very aware of just how much sugar in it's many forms and sodium amount other things is in the foods we eat. Michael and I suffered a terrible blow in March, but I thank God that I listened to that still small voice and our marriage is stronger than ever now. For awhile I though I was seriously ill because I kept falling when I was in the house cause I was loosing my balance, but it turned out to be medication that needed to be adjusted.

We now have a new dog named Lady McKinley Yasira she is a 6 month old Black and Creme Phanton Toy Poodle and she gives Sir Angus Seton a run for his money. She is such a joy and she has taught Angus how to play. Michael got her for me because Rita is getting old she'll be 10 this year abd she is now totally blind and he said that having McKinley will make it a little easier when Rita passes. We are getting things in order and taken care of so that when we get the green light to go we can move to the country. We have decided to move to a 10 - 20 acre hobby farm. It will be wonderful to go out in the morning and sit on the porch and have morning coffee before gathering fresh eggs for breakfast. I will have a spinners flock and so far I think I will have shetland and blue faced leicester sheep. I know that we want to also raise some other animals to provide food as well. I will have an incredible garden and have enough to take to the farmers market to sell as well. I look forward to this year as be a healthy, happy and prosperous one not only for my family but for you my family and friends. I hope everyone has an awesome week!

Ciao,

What a beautiful Anniversary weekend !!

2009-09-14T16:20:00.004-05:00

I tell you I am truely blessed to have such a caring, loving and God fearing husband. This past weekend we celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary. He took me to Kemah, TX and all I can say is he spoiled me like I have never be spoiled/treat in my life!! This is us in the Lobby of the Boardwalk Inn in Kemah. What an incredible time!! Our room was relaxing and we had a waterview as well as a view of the grand stand and we listened to an awesome Jazz/Zydeco band Friday night. We did a lot of walking and took naps so we could get our second wind to go and do more walking and window shoppin lol.

I love Kemah and I got to sit along the board walk and just listen to the surf and smell the salt air. We had an incredible time, it was rather nice being able to sleep and not have the sound of Angus snoring or Rita's sighing during the night lol. We meet an old friend of Michael's from back in the day when he used to go to Kemah when their was an Air Show in the area he and a few other soldiers stayed at the in. It was nice to meet Janet, a wonderful spirit-filled woman of God.

This ride here was interesting to "watch" I am really not that much of a ride person and I just enjoyed looking at others who chose to get there minute or 2 of thrill and scream their heads off lol. They had this one ride called the "Inverter", (the ride to the left in picture, you can see the top of the red and blue column) sweet Jesus up in heaven. This ride swings back and forth but it goes up and it is "inverted" so that you are completely upside down. I watched as these crazy people got on this ride. One little girl ran off the ride and clung to her mom for about 5 minutes she was so scared after riding on it.

They also have this huge roller coaster called the "BEAST" and the tracks are wooden. It is being serviced so it was closed. I'll have pictures posted on flickr later this week. The below picture is of our room it was very nice and relaxing there was the pool and spa on the 3rd floor. But we did not get to use them.

To top it off hubby said that he would like to take me out for dinner on my birthday too!! Yes I am truly blessed to have a hubby like my Michael he spoils me rotten which I am not accustomed to (yet) lol.

Catch ya later gator!

Nana he got me & The beginning of my first knitting design

2009-08-31T00:46:00.004-05:00

Another thing that happend this weekend was my little granddaughter Gianni got bite under her eye by a damn spider. She looks like she was in a boxing mathc lol. Thank God there is no infection or damage to the eye, just inflammation. The picture was taken a little after when the swelling was going down. She said Nana I got busted by a spider I just chuckled when she said that one. She is a big girl now she start kindergarten this year ans the tooth fair already has paid her a visit!
Anyway I have chosen the yarn for my design and then I was thinking that I will also have to make another one where I use a lighter weight yarn for warmer climates as well. But first the initial design. I have cast on already and I think I will do two pattern repeats then add the contrast for a repeat or two. But I now need to find a yarn shop where I can have them order the Louisa Harding Sari Ribbon yarn for me, unless the local yarn shop will order it for me. I figure if I order 10 skeins 5 different colorways that wouldbe a good order for them to place for me.

Well that should be it for now I need to get my strawberries with lime and go sit knit and watch a movie before I call it a day. I just hope that I will be sleeping well before 6 a.m. I've had a few days where I've not been able to go to sleep until that time and man tht does make for a very long long day for me. So catch ya on the flip side. Oh yes the kids are back in school WOOHOO! It is now safe to do to the mall to walk or shop during the day without being over taken by unchaparoned kids lol!

Ciao!

Marian is done

2009-08-30T22:01:00.003-05:00

Let's see Iggy went on an adventure "OUTSIDE" of his domain and sent Angus into "TERROR" mode lol. I mean that little guy was barking and growling like a crazed animal when he saw Iggy in the hall way. It was not until I started screamed that Michael came running. You see I do not handle Iggy at all and when he gets loose Michael hauls hiney to get him. It was so funny to see him try to runny on the tile floor and even funnier when he got on the rubber floor in his domain he looked like a awkward road runner on 4-legs lol.

Well I have had one crazy week end and I only hope that this week will be much better lol. I made this it is a ravelry pattern called Marian and it was so darn easy to knit up. If I was not watching a movie I probably would have had it done is less than 90 minutes. The designer is an awesome person too.

I just deleted the picture of the yarn for my pattern I designed so I will have to put it in another post. Anyway I hope you guys have a great week and will write more in about 15 minutes or so!

Back in a few!

Wee Hrs. of Monday Morning

2009-08-24T00:08:00.005-05:00

Well I am still up not unusual for me to still be up lol. Had a pretty good day, though the stomach gave me a few issues. I had spinach salad with crispy chicken, bacon, hard boiled egg, apples (not I removed them lol) with balsamic dressing it tasted good and I felt fine. But at around 11 Sunday morning my stomach started. Last night was Iggy's turn to play escape artist lol. Michael was working on his models, painting them and he has to sit at the other desk (he has 3 one of which is in a closet) . Well I guess Iggy wanted to see what papa was doing because papa left the office so he got down off of the shelf and monitor and proceeded into the hallway. Well all I heard was oh damn, we've got an escapee on the run. So I am figuring that it is Ganster again. Then I hear him say oh there you are you better get back in the room before moma catches you.
Well he crawled up on the hamper and it looked like he was trying to hide behind the rug shampooer lol. He looked so funny, but let me tell you when he got on to the floor and started to run I snatched up my baby Angus (toy poodle not human child) and did my rendition of the moonwalk lol. I thought Michael was going to bust his gut he was laughing so hard lol. Anyway I hope you all had a nice Sunday and I will write more later today. It is time for some tea and a movie while I work on the shawl (I know, but I can watch when I finish each row lol).

Anyway I finally got the hang of the provisional cast on. I found a Lucy Neatby tutorial video and I did the crochet on one and wow it was real easy in my own opinion. Anyway I am on row 9 now and tis is definately a pattern that until you have it down you best not talk or try to do anything else when knitting it cause you'll mess up. How do I know cause I had to back track (I so hate the words frog or rip) 4 times before I got it right lol. I even made some special stitch markers for the project as well. I made the especially for sock or lace knitting. These though are special I used fresh water pearls, red coral, carnelian and mother of pearl. I think I might even make a pair of earrings too, because they look so nice together.

Well it is time to sign off so I can have my tea and watch my british detective program (I love the british programs). I taped PBS Mystry they are running the Inspector Lewis series 1 now. I was watching the insoector Morse series and Lewis was his partner. Well I will add more later in the day and might has some new pictures as well. Have a blessed week all!

Knittin', spinnin' and grinnin :D,

Cheryl

Where has the month gone!!

2009-08-22T23:33:00.004-05:00

Well the picture to the left is my new wheel (used) Majacraft Rose. I think I will pick out a guy's name for this one. I got this at a steal of a deal and I am very excited about it too! This month has been crazy and horribly humid and hot. Nothing worse then walking into your pool and the water is like bath water and this is around 10:30 at night. Or going outside and the air feeling so heavy, I have basically stayed inside except to go for my daily walks early in the morning. Rain where the hell is the damn rain!!!! We need it so badly here it is not funny. The only thing that is growing is the damn weeds and somehow my hibiscus lol. I saw a humming bird on Thursday morning getting nectar from one of the bright red flowers, it was so cute and boy are they tiny. That is the first time I've seen one up here since being down in San Antonio back in March. I used to see them every morning when I would go out for my morning smoke lol.

This here is the 3-amigo's sleeping, this is what our room looks like at 3 in the morning when I can't sleep. So I decided I was going to take a pick. When I can't sleep I sit on the chest at the foot of the bed and spin or I will sit in bed propped up with a pillow or two and knit, play computer games on lap top or spin via drop spindle an watch a movie. I did finish spinning up 8.8 ozs. of masham wool in Turkish Delight that I have already stated to knint into the Boxleaf Triangle. Which is a knitspot.com pattern, it is a beautiful shall and it comes in 3 sizes. So in order to do this shall I had to teach myself how to do a provisional cast on and I watch a tutorial video and got a crochet hook and did it. It was a little tricky the first few stitches of the cast-on. So I am really going to try to have this made by Sept. 10 which is our 3rd anniversary. But isn't the yarn coloring gorgeous? I got 340 yds. of single ply at about 24 WPI's. I have another 7.3 ozs. to spin up so that I will have 700 yds. complete project the project.

This here is the escape artist Gangster. He got out of the cage last week Saturday and for several hours we looked for him and I finally found him on the shelf way in back against the wall behind Michael's head band and a piece of wool sleeping. What a little bugger he is. We have to get him a play mate now because he is escaping to look for one of his own kind. So we will see Doris and Don next weekend to see if they have any girls that we can get. We figure get 2 more and that will work as for his company. Though we will have to keep them apart for about 2 months so the females will be bigger. Gangster is almost 6 inches long and he loves to thumb wrestle with Michael and he gives Michael a rash of crap too lol.

This hat below is the second baby hat that I have made. This one is for Parker Sletten and I am making one for his brother Jaxon the same colors only reversed. So I am working on the shawl, Daja shrug that I have to frog all of the contrasting part of the sleeve because I have to knit I think 12 more rows of the black then the contrast. That's what I get for putting it down for a month then picking it back up. I forgot that after you finish one sleeve you take the other one off the stitch holders and knot "BLACK" first then contrast dah moment. Then I will do Jaxon's hat. I also have another baby hat that I am making for the KNOW guild project. There is a young lady that is getting her Goal or Gold badge which is what is needed to she can be the female version of an Eagle Scout. Well it is late and my lower back is creaming must be fixin' to rain or something cause the joints are starting to hurt so I will go and take my bedtime sugar reading get my beverage and take me knitting and retire. Tomorrow is early to church for class then knitting with the gals at Starbuck's for a couple of hours.

Have a reat Sunday all!

Hello World

2009-08-07T01:14:00.003-05:00

,

Yes it has been a long time since I've blogged. June was both a sad and happy month. My Aunt Adeline died in June due to diabetic complications, while I was in hospital. then later in the month our grandmother celebrated her 90th birthday!! July was crazy having to get used to being newly diagnoised diabetic. Anyway as far as fiber goes I have been doing pretty good keepin busy. I have been working on Daja's shrug it will be finished so she can wear it in Sept. I finished a baby hat and I have started another that is part of a set for twin boys. I purchased the Boxleaf Shawl pattern from knitspot.com pattern shop and I spun up the yarn myself. I used the fiber from the Southern Cross Fibre Club that I joined through ravelry.com. I love ravelry, I have made some very nice friends there. I have pictured of the hat and the fiber and the begining of the spinning. I also have pictures to post of other things I've been up to. I hope to get a lesson on how to start the actual weaving process next week then watch world cause I'll be weaving like a crazy woman lol.

This picture is of the start of the new hat I am making for the Sletten twins. This is so easy and I love Fair Isle knitting too so easy and to think I was afraid to do it and have so far knitting 2 different patterns though both have been hats. I hope to make a felted purse next month.

This here is the Masham wool fibre that I got for my May installment of Southern Cross Fibre Club. I ordered 8 more ounces so that I would have enough to spin up for my Boxleaf Shawl that I am anxious to start knitting. The yarn is drying now, and then once dry I will wind into a center pull ball and start knitting my goal is to have it done by Sept. 9th so I can wear it for our 3rd anniversary.

Here is the baby hat, it was fun knitting it and it would have taken me only 3 days had I not had a few days that I was sick. I am already starting the other 2 hats that Iwant to get done by a week from next Monday.

Here is a side view of the little hat.

Well this is short but will be adding more later this weekend. I need to get back into the blog mode again. I am going to stop for now it is late about 1:40 in the morning and I need sleep.

So you have a great Friday and a awesome weeked!!

,

Yipy I fixed it!!

2009-06-07T23:57:00.003-05:00

This I thought was going to be a lost cause but thank you Jesus I was able to save this! It took me a bit and I tried all the suggestions that my friends had given me. Then I decide to cut the yarn and unravel it a bit. Well at first I was worried when I got 3 separate pieces come loose. But then I got the end and I was able to open it up a bit and then I just added new fiber and bingo she is back.
This is such a beautiful colorway called "Turkish Taffy", it is Masham wool and it is one of the fibers that I got from the Southern Cross Fibre Club. I blong to the group on ravelry and let me tell you every month I get fiber and each time I am pleasantly surprised. Savid does an outstanding job with his colorways and the choices of wool as well. Anyway I just had to add this tidbit in before calling it a night. Tomorrow is sort of a busy day, usual Monday "NOT" and Tuesday is dentist but just for a cleaning and to have a crown cemented back in. Plus a blood draw have to have the ole comoudin level checked ugh!!!!!!!!!! Well I guess it must be late cause Mr. Angus is sleeping on their pink bunny pillow and he is just snoring away lol. Sometimes if he is sleeping near my pillow I think it is Michael snoring lol. Have a great week all and enjoy the summer time!

Ciao!

2009-06-07T17:31:00.003-05:00

Well today has been sort of a work and lazy day for us. I have pictures of these beautiful flowers. Wondering why? Well this is how I get some of my ideas for color combinations for dyeing fiber and now also for making warps for weaving. Look at these awesome rose petals. I can totally see a warp in these colors and also mybe even silk hand painted in these colors.

The pink roses would be a nice one where I could use both colors in the warp and then use the lightest one in the weft.

But this one ah, yes this one would truley make a beautiful fringed shawl with maybe even beads on the fringe! I tell oyu weaving has opened a whole other door to fiber arts for me.

This is what the pool looks like now we have power washed it and next we will patch the 3 small areas and then fill it back up again. When the water is in the pool it does not look like it is "that deep". Our neighbor Scott has been a great help to use, he's let us use his power washer so that saves us money. I think once this is all done we'll have a BBQ and invite him and CArmen over.

This is part of the Edward batts I received this week. The picture does not do them justice there colors are more vibrant and richer. I can harly wait to start spinning them. The loom is finally dressed now I am ready the section on "throwing" the shuttle part lol. "Duck, run for cover " lol, no for real I won't be throwing in a sence where somebody better watch out, it is a term used when oyu slide the shuttle throw the shed. I have had to regroup my stitch markers and will be making all the sets with six. I do not know why I thought that they came 4 or 5 to a set lol. Well I am off fornow I have to see what I will do for dinner, maybe we'll go out or order a pizza. I've lost 2 more pounds, "DO NOT" ask me how but I did and that makes me a little happy. Well I will post again later so that I can show off my latest fibre arrival for the month of May from the SCFC. David does an awesome job with his dyeing of the fibers. Plus this is a great way to try new fiber out and then you can decide if it is something that you want to add more of to your stay lol.

Ciao,

Etsy :: Teak and Bronzite

2009-06-07T17:02:00.001-05:00

Etsy :: Teak and Bronzite

Shared via AddThis

Lovely June ~ So far

2009-06-03T20:55:00.004-05:00

Wow June has arrived man the time is flying by this year. Today was great we got a lot of things done and are just relaxing well I will be going back to getting the front room in order. Then tomorrow will shampoo carpet in the master and guest rooms. I have been sorting through cloths and shoes that I no longer wear that are in good wearable condition and will be donating them to the resale shop my friend Sis. Charlene has. So that makes me happy, yesterday we went to LaPorte, TX as I needed to get my next set of Perle Cotton for my next projects that I will be weaving.
(This is my swap I got from one of the online group from ravelry.com, look at all the skeins of yarn I got!!)

Most of the new colors are 3/2 cotton and only one was a 5/2. Which is ok because if I use the both sizes my woven scarf or shawl will have a bit of texture since one is thicker than the other.

I have been using my Trindle spindle and it spins like a dream and I am spinning a silk cap that I dyed myself. I will use the silk and ply it with the red pencil roving or the orange pencil roving that is already spun up.

The summer is here and hopefully it will not be as humid as last year. I really did not enjoy venturing out last summer. I have Tom Tom GPS navational system so now I will not get lost when I go somewhere by myself lol. All the animals seem to be doing good Yeah! Clean their cages on Friday. PK likes his daily romping around the front room. He is matted so I work on cutting the matts out for a bit then he is set free to go an play with Angus. It is so funny to see then chase each other. Rita could care less she just chills on her spot on the couch. We are going to price materials so we can fix replace the water damaged wood out front and then replace the flimsy column with the proper sized one. This is after we hand in a permission form and get an approval from the HOA. It will be great when we no longer have to pay HOA dues and deal with them. Some of them can be really ridiculous I tell you. Anyway I have new pictures to share hope you enjpoy them and have a great week and enjoy the upcoming weekend!!

Ciao,

PS: Tomorrow sometime I will actually be posting items in my Etsy.com store, I know do not pass out or fall down or anything like that lol.

Busy Day

2009-05-27T19:30:00.003-05:00

Busy Day today ~ Tracy came by and showed me how to dress the loom. It was so much easier for me since I was able to watch someone physically do and explain while doing and I took helpful notes. I also learned that I did the warp correctly except I counted wrong and ended up with 30 in each counting group so I will have a shawl and not a scarf for my first project. So I am presently taking a break from threading and figured I'd do a blog entry. I am just about finished with my 2nd batch of stitch markers. Then this weekend I will start pulling some yarn that I spun out and lable it so that come the 1st I can start posting my items online. So excited, last night Michael and I looked at property in MO online and we saw some very nice places. One had 40 acres with 2 creeks one tht was spring feed year-round and the other was seasonal. Plus 2 pounds. It was fenced and cross-fenced had several out building a workshop that was 40x75 and had a kitchen and bath in it. @ barns for animals and one for hay, gardens galore some of which were for flowers and it was about 1.5 miles off of the main road, so that means peace and quiet lol. I tell you I can almost taste those farm fresh eggs, plus it will be great to hang clothes out to dry in good weahter. This plae also had a wood furnish which is awesome and there is plenty of room to put up solar panel grids as well. Plus a stocked pond, which means Michael could fish till his hearts content lol. Yes MO get cold in the winter but nothing like NEW Englad cold and I am looking forward to having the 4 seasons again. A friend already said that she would set us up with some sheep!! How cool it that so we are just waiting to get VA crap cleared up. I am praying that the Lord will mak things right so we can move before Christmas. Well I need to get back to the loom and will have pictures to show later tonight or tomorrow. I hope y'all are having a good week!

CW

Crazy Busy Month!!

2009-05-24T15:04:00.008-05:00

Ok,
This month has been a somewhat crazy month and I did get some things accomplished. Finally got the loom in a good spot in the livingroom. I have spent 2 days straight working on stich markers and different color set-ups and this is the end results. I think I will use Artfire.com as my store since they only charge a monthly fee versus what other online selling avenue offer.

The tins I am using are the wilton favor tins. I thought this would offer a little more protection in shipping them along with padded envelopes!

I sat an I just cranked them out an then I put them in their little "shipping" disks.

I did another warp for the loom (a SHORT one), the first one was just way to long and it got tangled up. This one is only 3 yds. and not 11 yds. I will make one scarf at a time to start out. My friend Margaret was right when she said you might want to go with a smaller project to get used to weaving at first. Now I just have to link up with Tracy so I can actually see and do what the next steps require.

I have spun on bobbin for the weft and I hope that I have spun it correctly. I will use 3 colors, at the ends of the scarf there will be a lavender and hummingbird ( beautiful sort of metallic purple) stripes on each end and the middle will be the same color as the warp which is Carribean, a pretty blue color. Below is the Carribean and Hummingbird colors I just don't have a picture of the Lavender though.

I have been coming up with ideas for the other weaving projects. I have been coming up with color combinations and I have been logging them into my "weaver" sketch and color book. I did start the process of cleaning my office and did make a little headway, but I think once I get my other shelves in I will be able to get things in order. I have been feeling like crap for several weeks now and I eat when I feel hungry only to end up feeling like I have to hurl. I have been cramping up something fierce, Friday night wa the worst!! I kept having charlie horse cramps in my stomach, ribs and in my neck. The ones in my neck would go from the bottom of my neck right to the base of my skull.

So I walked around smelling like a mint stick lol. I used the absorbine linament and that seemed to help a bit. Plus I feel like I have a lump in my through, ya like when you swollow the wrong way and you get that lump in your throat until it goes down. So Monday I place a call to my doc to make an appointment to see what going on. Thing on the home front are good, getting ready to lock horns with the VA regional office yet again, somtimes I can understand why some veteerans would rather not use the services we have, cause they sometimes cause more problems than they're worth! Right now we are gettin estimates on what it would cost to get the outside of the house done. Since now that the home owners association has sent out a list of new fines. We need gutter work and the water damaged wood has to be replaced all stuff not covered by the insurance. This is damage from Ike. So now once we get all the estimates in we have to submit them to the FD depatment to get approval. Then I think once all this work gets done we will look to move.

We are done with TX, it may have some advantages for it's veterans, but the "personal" cost is not worth the headaches that follow. Plus they are building 2 hospitals less than 10 minutes away from where we live and the traffic is already a bear at certain times so this will only get worse. So we are looking to move to one of these areas MO, FL , Northern Arizona and Northern New Mexico. So anyone in these areas know of any 5+ acre hobby farms for sale? Have an awesome week all and I will be posting more pictures later this week of stuff. Right now I am going to put dinner on the table. I made Michael's favorite Liver smothered in onions & mushrooms with gravy, mash potatoes & corn. I'll have small piec of live with onions and shrooms corn and a salad. The question is will I be able to eat, so far I have only had a small slice of strawberry cake and that was at 6:30 this morning with my coffee. I got sick and went back to bed. Oh well, I am losing weight but this is not a healthy way to do so.

Y'all have a blessed week,

Wow this month is flying by wicked fast!!

2009-05-11T20:38:00.004-05:00

Well things have been moving along at a pretty good pace. We have finally gotten the loom in it's some what permanent place until I think it will look better somewhere else in the front room lol. For awhile I thought I was out in the Amazon. For several night we had a Toad serenade, it was mating time and let me tell you I wanted to go and spray sleeping gas in the damn yarn. They maybe be small but sweet Lord in heaven they are wicked loud especially when you have 25+ in your back yard and they are all looking for a potential mate. I mean even with the bedroom windows closed they were loud. Every few hours Michael would have to do toad rescue and fish them out of the swimming pool. Then there was the "Big Bopper", yes the big bopper was about the size of a silver dollar and that was the green tree frog. I swore that our neighbor had a duckling in his yard until Michael caught the little guy. Man they are loud little ones as well, but the mating season seems to have finished. Thank you Jesus now I can listen to nice instrumental music at night to sleep by. This here is the "Big Bopper":

I have been busy doing my reading and what not for weaving. I have already done my warp on the warping board and Michael will help me tranfer that to the loom. I am for ever grateful to Clare for allowing us to get this loom on installments. I purchased a 288 pg. sketchbook that is now my Weaving book, and in it I have pictures of ideas for colorways for weaving and also will have the picture of the color(s) I want to reproduce, the way I want to warp the colors and also samples of the thread/yarn used to weave the project. So I am really excited about this I also have to finish up the yarn that I am using as the weft for my second project. I am also still working on yarn for my mom as well. Then I have my swap that I am doing this month and I am looking forward to doing another Fiber swap with the Fibre Swap group from ravelry. I just love being part of the ravelry community. I have meet some awesome creative women and men there. It is just wonderful, I am hoping to go to maybe 2 Fiber festivals this year. I will be going to the one in Boerne, TX in November hubby already let it be know at last years that this was going to be a yearly thing for us to do. I would love to go to the one in Taos. I know that we can't do the Estes Park one in CO this year because it is next month and finalcially we can't do it. Well I am off to get some things done before going to bed. Have an early day tomorrow I want to hang the drapes in the front room and then finish the warping.

Have a great night all,Ciao,
CW

Here she is in here new home

2009-05-02T18:34:00.004-05:00

Hi Y'all Happy Cinco de Mayo,
Finally the loom is set up though not warped yet lol. After wiping her down and getting the dust off I rubbed on/in Matco's refurbishing oil and let it set for about 40 minutes and then wiped it off. The wood has a beautiful Carmel color and I named her "Carmelita". Here are some pic's of her and the accessories:

She is not warped yet I am doing my home work reading an then watch a video on how that is done first. Have moved things around in the office to now accommodate Mr. PK now. He has been partially groomed, tomorrow after church I will groom him a little bit more. I figure if I do this with him say 30 minutes for the next 4 days he should be matt free and his new coat will have a

better chance of producing a good fiber harvest. Well I am dog tired did the flea market walk then Wally world for a few things and we got a nice sized charcoal grill. This year I will have a cover for it and when not in use it will be in the Gazebo. Well time for me to lay down for a few before getting dinner ready. ,

The Loom's ETA is ......

2009-04-30T19:40:00.004-05:00

Hi y'all,
Boy has this been a busy time for me lately. I have to do another bunny butt cleaning and then tomorrow trim the area and that should take care of any future problems. I also have pictures of the flooding in local areas not far from where we live and it was mind boggling to see how the water has risen in these areas that we normally drive thru!! Look at these pictures.

Now I have to rearrange the furniture in the front room. I think I will move the rabbit into my fiber room/office and the sugar glider into the guest bedroom hmmmmmmmmm. Then this way I will have plenty of room for the Loom. I am so excited I think I will get 5/2 perle cotton from tracy and dye it a beautiful color to use first on the loom then graduate up to using the tencel. Anyway here it is the loom, I am just so jazzed, excited tickled every color of the rainbow over this new venture that I have been blessed with. I want to come up with at least 2 signature colors that only I have and a certain way to weave a design so that no one else can copy it and then that will be my unique mark! I have been getting ideas for color set ups by looking at pictures I've taken of flowers. Plus I have been working on some new batts that are unique in color as well.

Notice the draw in th bench I can keep the small things and shuttles & bobbins in there for now!

Well I have to run so y'all be good and try to stat dry if ya live in this here area.

Ciao!

She is now completely finished!!

2009-04-19T23:36:00.004-05:00

Hi all,
Well today was a lazy day for us, we over slept and got up at 1:30 cause we talked till 2:30 Sunday morning. We ran an errand had lunch and then came home and I had a doozy of a migraine starting so I took some meds and laid down and got up at 8 p.m. Then I started to put the wheel together and let me tell you it was easy at first until it came to the upright and the darn bottom and I thought I was gonna have a fwe choice words. But alas, I got the power drill and asked for hubby's assistance and got it done. I call her Walela which is the Native American name for "Hummingbird". I hope the pictures come out nicely on here:

Well it is late and I need to get some sleep I have a busy day tomorrow and I need to have a clear head for thinking things through. So everyone have a great week and be blessed, and for those of us how Spin, spin happy and knit on!!

Crazy Times

2009-04-19T02:07:00.002-05:00

The past month and a half has been the most craziest and stressful time ever so far this year. I hope I do not experience it again. I have not done any spinning in 48 days and I am so glad to be getting back to the fiber world. I stenciled my new wheel, it's a Adiandre wheel. The front side of the wheel is stenciled with hummingbirds and flowers. I will put the high gloss sealer on it after I come home from church . I had my hair cut an dyed and now a couple of weeks later my hair has fallen out. I was over processed and it will take about 2 to 4 months before I'll attempt a different color. This time I want a color that works with my complexion. So I will go to John Michael and let him find the right color for me. In the mean time I will have to deep condition my hair and let it grow out. I received serval fiber packages since I was away and will show picures in the next post. I did finish another project for a friend and I have knitted one gauntlet for myself. I seem to have a certain problem with the cable part for some strange reason. I will be spinning up some new fiber and also will be sending out some fiber to be processed as well. I have to sort through Tunis fleeces as well as the Lincoln Longwool fleeces. I think I will sell some of the as well. Any how it is rather late 2:27 in the morning and I have class in the morning at 9 before morning service, so I best end for now. I must do much better with my blogging, I need to make at least on entry a week so as not to have such big gaps in my entries and also include more photos. Well everyone have a great Sunday and a awesome week.
Ciao,
CW

Wow March Already

2009-03-01T22:11:00.003-06:00

Well,
It's been a real long time since I've blogged. I've been just depressed and not feeling like dowing much of anything except keep house cleaned and take care of hubby and animals. But things are on the upswing. Last month was a hard month with losing my cousin MJ. He was the sweetest little boy and he had a million dollar smile that went on for days! But he is smiling, running and teaching the angels some dance moves now and he is no longer suffering. My cousin Nancy is/was an awesome mom and women. We pray for her and the family daily. As for my spinning well I have started that again working on finally I hope coming to the end of my mom's yarn. I have taught myself how to do Fair Isle knitting and finished a hat!! My first FO for 2009 and I hope to have the gauntlets done shortly and my granddaughters shawl. I am working on a shawl for Nancy and for La'Nae'. La"Nae" is going in for "major" surgery on Tuesday "19" hours long and I will leave for SA tomorrow and be at her home taking care of our nephew Tre'.
So today I went and knit with the gals at the Starbucks, I love the Sunday afternoon knitting group I can relax and knit an chat. That is the only time that I can actually talk and knit with others that love to knit as well. I got my first knitting bag. Not your average one either, it is a "NAMASTE" Laguna in "Hollywood Pink" and I just love it!!. I can carry several knitting projects in it and there is enough room for my wallet, cell phone and etc. It has pockets and zipped compartments and a pocket and zipped compartment on the outside. I also got a real nice surprise yesterday, my hubby gave me the deposit for the knitting cruise in Nov. and I am completely stoked abpout it too. It'll leave from Gavelston going to Mexico. It is gonna be great to meet dinfferent knitters and take all the different workshops as well. Oh here are pictures of the finished hat and the kntting bag:

The picture wasn't taken in good light, it is actually a little brighter. But it is so nice to not have to take a purse and knitting bag when I go anywhere now. I had to put a little bit of that nubby shelf liner on the strap and it now stays on my shoulders.

Here is the hat (above), it was a little bit of a challenge but I accomplished it, though I will not snug up the floats anymore. I did on this one and it will not fit my head but hey, I got a jump start on this Christmas lol. Then below as you can see I was in one of my dyeing moods and did some orange dye on some tunis wool and the scarlet is lincoln long wool locks. I used cushings dye and I like it but I have found a place where I can get the Landscape dyes which I like much better. Well it is 10:31 and I still have to pack and make the liver for Michael. I have been making up dinners so that all he has to do is just reheat food while I am away. I know that he will be calling me several times a day too.

Also while I am away I am taking my supplies so I can crank out the stitch markers and get them pictured so that when I come home I can upload them and start selling. I have gotten some really nice beads this time and will be maing sets of 4, 6 and 8. Well y'all have a nice week and will catch ya later!

Ciao!

HAPPY NEW YEAR

2009-01-02T00:06:00.003-06:00

I wish you all a healthy and prosperous New Year!!
We had a rough 7 months until Novemeber, but things are getting much better Thank You Jesus. We are hoping to be in a new home within the next 18 months. Our friends have just gotten their new home in MO. Small house and 2 barns on 20 acres, we are so happy for them. We are believing in the Lord for our next home that will have property and land so that we can raise our own animals for fiber production as well as to supply some of our food as well. Plus gardens and orchards to provide produce and so frth enough to share and barter with our neighbors. This year I will learn how to weave on a triagle loom to make shawls and so forth. Things have become so built up in our area in the last 2 years that it is feeling congested to us. There are several extended stay hotel/motels being built in the area. Anyway our Christmas was a quiet one, just the 2 of us. Which was nice since I have been battling this viral flu bug or what ever you want to call it. All I know is it is going on week 4 and I still feel rather tired and sleep a lot. Only this week I can actually do a bit of cleaning around the house before I have to lay down and rest. But there was a time when I sleep on and off for "3" days!!

We spent our anniversary (of our first date) with some friends and brought the new year in. It was rather nice we had a seafood feast, but let me tell you after doing the cooking whn it was time to eat I really did not have much of an appetite lol. But we had seafood left over and Michael had shrimp and fries for an early dinner so that was nice, I just had to reheat things. Today he put up the surrond sound speakers and the nwe need to exchange our "new" cableHD box because it is not workin right plus it does not have a spot to plug the dvd player. I got a Sony Walkman MP3 player and I am having fun ripping songs to put on it. I have never had one and it is so nice to be able to sit in bed at night when I can't sleep and listen to music while I knit. This way I do not disturb Michael and the little bed hogs stay sleeping too. I also got a Sugar Glider for Christmas so he is among the newest of the 4-legged kiddo's in our family. Michael named him gangster. We are still in the bonding phase an I have to start to handle him more during the day so that he'll get used to me. But when I was first hit with this flu bug thing I did not because I did not want him to get sick. But I keep him in a bonding pouch that I wear around my neck, tucked inside my shirt and carry him around with me during the day. He definitely knows the sound of Michael's voice cause he makes his little crabbing noise everytime he walks into my office lol. As I type this entry I have Rita and Angus with me they are sleeping on their pink bunny pillow and let me tell you that little guy can SNORE pretty loudly lol. It is amazing because one night I woke up because I thought it was Michael and it turned out to be Angus, now that was funny.

This year is going to be the year that we want to have saved up a nice nest egg so that we'll have a descent amount put aside for when the Lord gives us the green light to sell and move. It might be FL or MO. MO would probably be the best because this way we'll be just 1.5 days drive from our parents either way. We lost 2 family members at the end of 2008, Ada was a very had one that hit us extremely hard and unexpected. But we look at it as the Lord has a special job for her in heaven and that the job he had for her on earth was done. But one day at a time is how we take it and we find ourselves from time to time chuckling over something that reminds us of her. It is strange but in her death we have recoinnected with another cousin. Let me tell you La Nae is like a sister to me and we have long talks on the telephone and we'll be going up to Ada's grave site to plant 2 Eteni-trees. Nae's neighbor had then sent to her instead of flowers, and they are "2" of Ada's favorite trees, which are Ginko Boloba and Japanese Maple. I have been spinning and hope to have mom's yarn done in a couple of weeks time. I have to order more of the brown pencil roving to pla the darker wool with. I am finishing up my friend Suzanne's gauntlet/fingerless gloves. I finished my cousin MJ's hat and then I have to spin up some yarn to make Skylar her hat, then I am making Sista something as well.

I do have to finish the socks for Michael too, I tell you the heel part is what I am dredding, I am knitting them the majic look way and so far it has been a breeze until you hit the heel. Maybe what I'll do is put the heel stitches on DPN's and work the heel that way and then go back to magic loop. Anyway I should stop since I have an appointment tomorrow and need to get some rest. One of my goals this year is to blog on a more regular basis. I do have pictures to post of my purchases made at the Kid-n-Ewe fiber festival as well as others. So I wish oyu a great week in the New Year!

& God Bless,

Wow how time flies!

2008-11-15T17:48:00.002-06:00

The last 2 months seemed to have flown by!! We have had two good events and one bad. The first thing that was a good event was that we brought out house guest to the Airport Nov. 5 and said good bye to her and Rusty. They are now back in Ca and settling nicely. The the other good is tht this year my hubby went with me to the Kid-n-Ewe Festibal in Boerne, TX. We stayed in San Anotoni at the Candlewood Suites and oh my gosh it was awesome, each room hae a kitchenette with a cooktop,fullsized refrig, micro wave utensils and dish and glassware. It was just great to stay there.

My spinners workshop was at 9 in the morning and that was just great. I learned what I was doing wrong when it came to the Long draw and I corrected it and then I learned who to spin flax. No that was something them I was shown after class how to Navaho ply using the wheel and that I must practice. But it wa great fun. Then I had my space dyeing class and that was totally awesome!! This type of dyeing is so cool and easy too. I think I might even teach a space dyeing class after the first of the year. By then I should have all my dyes in by then and it will be fun. Then I got some fiber too. Not as much as last year because I knew what types of fiber I was looking for this time. I have some awesome fibers to spin too. I also got some fiber goodies for my friend Suzanne. Then Michael had put my name down for the silent auction which I didn't know and I had put my name down for 2 auctions for hand dyed fiber. Guess what I walked away (had to pay for them lol) with 3 items.

I also made some new friends they had a booth in the Alpaca ranchers barn and looks like we could possible be doing business togehter in the future regarding my stitch markers. So that is exciting and I got lots of complements on my felted [urse as well. We got home on Sunday night around 9:30 after we picked up our little dogs and around 11:45-midnight the phone rang and we got some very bad heart breaking news. Our cousin Ada at the age of 35 had died from a massive heart attack. We were just stunned, we had talked with her on the 5th and she emailed us a beautiful email at 2 p.m. that have a beautiful picture of flowers with a prayer. We drove up to Calwell on Thursday and I met some of the family. We went to the funeral palor and then we got our room and went to have dinner. We were back to aunt Tina's in the morning for Ada's home going service. I like the words Home Going or Going Home service better than funeral because after all the person is going home to the Lord.

Ada was a wonderful, giving and thoughtful person. The type that would give you the shirt off her back if she felt it would help you. Through this whole ordeal I have meet Toni, LaNee and Terry and Ify Ada's boyfriend all of whom I believe will be dear friends for life. Ify is a wonderful man that Michael and I met. He is very bright, articulite and loving. He speaks from his heart and his speaking is very eloquent. He shared a letter he wrote to Ada, she was his big girl, the love of his life. They were both going to school Ada was gettingher degree here in TX and Iff was getting his PhD at university in Louisiana. They were both made for each other, and they were to be with Michael and I this weekend. I was going to prepare a feast and we were gonna just sit and enjoy each other's company. We told Ify that he is family and is always welcome in our home and we will keep in contact with him. Well I will stop for now I need to get some (more) sleep I an just feeling totaly drained of energy so I am going to get some much needed rest. Once I down Load the pictures I will post them.

Enjoy the weekend,
CW

Wow how time flys

2008-11-15T11:51:00.002-06:00

October was a crazy month with things wizzing and sipping around. I am glad that we are now into November. The weekend of the Nov. 7-9 we were in San Antonio and Boerne, TX for the kid-n-ewe fiber festival. We had a wonderful time. Itwas different than last year. Not as many venders. But it made it a little easier to move around the boths of those that came. There seemed to be a lot of mohair vendors this year. Boy the dyed colors that they had to offer wwere great. I even got a funky pair of hand combs for my wool that I bet I can make for a lower price and sell them at a fair price. Anyway, we got home on the 9th at around 9:30 after picking up the dogs and around 11:45 -midnight our phone rang and it was cousin Tony calling to let us know that cousin Ada had died from a massive heart attack. She was 35 years old and had finally met an fell in love with the man of her dreams. Michael and I are taking things one day at a time.

We left Thursday and there was a small wake and then Friday we had the Home going service for Ada.. We met her boyfriend named Ify and he is a wonderful person full of light and a bright spirit like Ada. Our Pastor drove up from Katy to attend the dervice. That ment a lot to mom Cora and Aunt Tina. We are back home know and I am just plain oh exhausted and I am going to go an lay down now. I will have kid-n-ewe pictures to post later.

Cya,
CW

PS: I won 3 silen autions and that was fun. Next year I will enter the skein competition.

Spinning Wheel Fairy Godmother has blessed me!!

2008-09-22T01:52:00.004-05:00

Ok,
so I am trying to make up for not posting in a great while. Any way some of you may know that I had been bidding on a unique spinning wheel but lost the bid to someone else. Well one of the groups I belong to had a woman who had to sell someof her wheels and I went to her web and "BAM" there it was the Moswolt Hammer wheel. Talk about over joyed and spinning freinzy mind flip! I contacted her and the wheel is mine now!! happy dance oh yeah! Well I received an wonderful surprise the other day. Kathy emailed me with some incredible news, she contacted her wheel dealer in the Netherlands to ask about the hammer wheel since she had some others who were interested in one. Well she found a better one for me. This one comes with a lazy kate and a skein winder. I think I will call my new wheel Boudica who was a femal British warrior or I could name her MayaLou after Maya Angelo a strong, power and successful Black woman. So what do you think? Here is some pictures of the "Hammer". My hubby is supposed to be getting me a Majacraft Rose wheel for Christmas. I am really excited about that one too because I will have so many different ratio's to spin fiber with. Anyway it is 2:15 Monday morning and I need to get to bed.
I have to call a roofing and structural contractors to inspect the damage from Ike. It could have been worse, but I am thankful that no one in our family got hurt. So many people are dealing with utter devastation and loss. A friend of lost two family memebers who died from carn dioxide posing. They had the generator in the garage when it was running. Well I will have more pictures to post during this week, of the new skeins of yarn that I have spun up.

Below is the wheel I am getting now, this is at Henri's house in the Nehterlands. It is being shipped to me this week!!

This wheel was the one I was getting originally. This is just way to cool, look at how unique it is!!

& Good mornin' ,

Pictures from RI Trip

2008-09-22T01:37:00.004-05:00

Finally I have time to post some pictures from our RI trip this past June. We had a lovely time, though way too short lol. Michael was just tickled to death once he met everyone. He really had a great time talking with the guys and with dad especially about army stuff and old movies. He said to me the other day I know where you get all the facial looks you give me now. You get them from mom. Anyway enjoy the photos!

This is Daja in a tree grove on the grounds of the Breaker's Mansion in Newport, RI We had a great day with her. She walked the heck out of her Nana, but Papa Mike enjoyed walking with someone who could keep stride with him.

These are the front gates leading to the mansion. It was a great day as we were there the fog was rolling back out to the ocean.

This one shows the ornate carvings in stone as you enter the mansion. The doors are huge !! They weigh a lot also. As usual no pictures were allowed to be taken inside the mansion :( This is the surprise we pulled off on our daughter Tanya at her job. It was her 29th B'day and Michael got her good too. Now she knows just what a character her step-father is.I tell you if you ever get to RI you have to go to OV's diner on Allens Ave. The food is great!!
This is the Ferry landing, where we were waiting for the office to open up so we could get our tickets to go to Newport. This ferry was fast and as usual it put me to sleep. But coming back we sat below inside, in nice comfy seats and I had a nice snooze cause I was just exhausted from a day of sightseeing and walking. Next trip up will be longer and we'll probably spend one night in Newport and then go up to Maine to visit friends as well.

Finally ~ Sign-in problem fixed!!

2008-08-26T10:18:00.002-05:00

Hi y'all,
Boy did I have a time trying to log into this here blog. I have ton's of pictures and such to share. First, some exciting breaking news at the Watkins residence!!We have 2 new kids coming next month!! !! I have rearranged my office and I can accommodate 2 24x24 stacking cages and these will be our newest kids come next month! Everyone meet:

This is Mandino he is a Fawn Colored EA Buck and he is just beautiful!!

Then comes MS. Evening Star. She is just adorable, she will be showing at a OK rabbit show then she'll come to us. I think she'll do great!

That is the latest news now, I know you are waiting to hear about the vacation to RI. We had a lovely time but it was way to short. Next time we'll go up in the fall and stay a little longer and be able to visit a lot more place at our leisure. Michael just loves his in-laws and he had a blast talking about the army and watching old movies with dad. He really enjoyed the blueberry muffins that mom made and now I have to make him blueberry muffins every weekend lol. He was overwhelmed by the way that Tanya and the grand babies greeted him. Now you should hear him boast about them. He got to see how mom and dad react to each other and he said that will be us in 20 yrs. His biggest thing was "all" the food we had, I said look when this family gets together be prepared to eat, food is always involved one way or another!! Well my next post will have some pictures of our trip and the rest will be on flirk.com. Have a great week everyone!!

Fiber fun ~ Spin-in 7/12/2008 ~ 1st Swap arrived!!

2008-07-14T20:44:00.004-05:00

This is my 1st Swap fiber I received from the Ravelry group. Beautiful Merino

This what a Fiber addict looks like after a Fiber Fix!
This is one of Tracy's finished projects. Does she do an awesome job with weaving!!
This is Lynn ( of Lynn's Texas Fibers) letting Ms. Peggy draw the first door prize name. I won!!
Notice that all the spinners, spin in their bare feet.

Ok what happens when you save rainy day money for 2.5 months? I'll tell you what happens you end up with a severe case of the need for a "Fibre Fix". Let me tell you my friend Suzanne came down from Magnolia and had a blast! She won a dye day work shop as her door prize. I won 8 oz. of Mohair, now I am itching to dye it. Plus I also received my first fiber package from the Ravelry group called Fiber Club Swap Group. Hope sent this awesome 4 ounces of dyed merino. I will use it to make our cousin MJ something special. Well here are a few pictures from the swap and spin-in all of them will be placed in my flikr.com album shortly.

I tell you fiber ,

CW

We had a awesome time in RI

2008-07-14T11:56:00.003-05:00

Gianni wearinf Papa Mike's hat ~ She was just as cute as can be an so smart. Come on you tell me what 4 yr. old will say "So you two are married right?" I thought Michael was gonn fall off the edge of the couch. When we responded yes, she replied "oh, that 's very good."

These are our girls~ Daja Tanya and Miss Gianni. Michael said I am proud of my little family and the girls are just beautiful. I think we'll need several Bradley's and a Sherman tank to keep the hounds away lol. He is just too funny at times.
This is me showing Daja how to flick the spindle while spinning yarn. She was spinning in 10 minutes and likes it so I am going to make her a special drop spindle.

y'all,

What a beautiful time we had on our trip!. Not much to see driving up everything was green trees. No interesting rock formations or anything. But what a blast we had!! Michael was just beside himself. He thought he was going to feel odd you know the "new family member" thing. Not with my family, he did more laughing and talking than I've seen him ever do. He enjoyed speaking to dad about his experience in Korea and dad asked if some of the things that he had seen during the Korean war were still there so that was nice and they both enjoyed watching the old movies and comparing notes and so forth. He meet his new daughter and granddaughters and at times they left him misty eyed. Especially little Ms. Gianni and her little voice, every time she said Papa Mike he melted. I do have some pictures for this post and I am getting ready to put a RI Road Trip album together on flikr.com

We spent one day in Newport with our oldest granddaughter Daja and what fun we had. We took the high speed ferry down. We went to one of mine and her's favorite mansion the Breakers used to be the summer "cottage" of the Vanderbilt's and this time we also went to the children's play cottage. Let me tell you with a little paint and slight remodel of one small area that would make a awesome Fibre studio!! Yes always thinking of fibre. Not to mention the fact that I taught Daja how to use the drop spindle and in 10 minutes she took to it like a duck to water and was just spinning her first fibre . So I am going to make her a special drop spindle just so she can spin. I told her you spin the yarn then send it to nana and I will set the twist and save it and the next time we come up I will show you how to crochet with your yarn!

Well I need to get a package ready and print the postage for it. So we can have Enid our mail person pick it up when she delivers the mail.

Happy Birthday Mova ~ Knitting projects

2008-06-24T00:23:00.003-05:00

This is Angus wqith his buddy PK. Every night they get to play in papa's office fr a half our. He's giving his little buddy some love lol.

This is the Rona Lace Shawl I am knitting I had nicknamed it S. O. B. because it was real tricky getting it started lol. This is one the project that I will work on when not in the car, because it has some intricxate repeats.

This is the newest color combo I have spun up. I call it Caribbean Sunset. It was fun to spin and ply. I am getting better at plying. Practice makes perfect.
Another view of the shawl.

Hi y'all,

Today my grandmother is 89 and we're all going to see her at the end of this month. It is sad when a loved one gets hit with Alzheimers. But at least she seems to be happy and can be fiesty at times when she wants to be lol. Anyway I do hope that this time I can post the pictures I promised before. I have several projects I am knitting and I am spinning up a storm both on the wheel and drop spindles.

Yeah a real entry today!!

2008-06-16T19:41:00.002-05:00

Finally,
A quiet moment to get some much needed blogging done. Hope you all had a great weekend. Mine was a little crazy but fun. We did the usual flea market thing and let me tell you my hubby who can spend 2+ hours there, was done and ready to go back home in 90 minutes!! He called me on the cell and said “where are you, I am at the back gate ready to go.” So Bev and I told him we had to go back and get the new cage for the arrival of the newest family member and we’d meet him at the car. We got back to the car before he did lol. Last week I ended up with severe heat exhaustion and the sheriff ended up taking me back to the first aid office. I mean it hit me like a bullet train, the weather was hot but there was a nice breeze blowing and I was drinking water and all but I did not have my base ball cap on. This past Saturday I was armed with a small cooler that had ice and water and that was in the bottom of our flea market cart and I had a cap on.

But after going to see the doctor he basically told me that the DJD is getting worse and that I will more than likely be walking using a can by the middle of the fall (not if I can help it). He is glad that I am losing weight still; I just hope that after I lose this last 27 lbs. that they will do my surgery!! I now do water walking in the pool 3 days a week. I went to the VA doctor today and he is just slightly concerned about my BP it was 150/80 so when we get back from our trip to RI he wants to see me again. I was off the med’s for 6 days waiting for it to be mailed to me. So I should be back to normal by then. But he is still worried about my lack of sleep so he is giving me another med to try and see if that will help. I average about 4 hours sleep. He said it is a good thing that I take an afternoon nap. He said “everybody should be doing that.” She said on the who the fact that I do my spinning is great at relaxing and calming the mind and body and also mentioned that Ghandi also did spinning to relax and calm his mind and body.

We are so excited about leaving for our trip even though it is so that we all can meet and see Mova before she has total memory lose. I know that if she still had a sharp memory she would love my hubby and have a blast joking with him. I have the new camera so I will have 2 camera’s that I will be using to take pictures and down load onto the lap top. Michael found one for $30 it is old but since we just use it mainly transfer pictures from camera and read books it is just fine. We’ll also pick up Prince Falaroy from Niheeta and then stop in AR to get a beautiful Blue Angora doe from Mallory of Millennial Way Farm. The pictures are of just some of the things I have been working on. I have 3 knitting projects plus my spinning of some more yarn for my mom’s project. Which I will take the wheel with me so I can spin when not visiting with family. Well I need to stop for now, have some housework to get done and also feed PK. I know when it is 6 p.m. because he starts to thump if I am not putting food in his dishes lol. What a nutty little guy he is. Well have a great week all, and enjoy the warm/hot days of summer!!
,
CW

PS: I've tried 4 times to upload some pictures but they won't upload so I will post the pictures of my latest knittnig project tomorrow.

Short Post

2008-06-13T23:51:00.003-05:00

y'all,
Just a quick shout and yes I know I have fallen badly behind in my blogging. Can we say busy and crazy? LOL. Here are some new pictures of the animals to look at and will post later this weekend. Right now I need to skein more yarn and then knit for 1 hr. on my latest project.
,
CW

Can you hear me now?

This is Iggy shedding again look at his awesome color and markings!

Help let me out of here!!

Playing chase with ping pong ball in papa's office.

The lovely couple sunning themselves.

Pictures for you to see!!

2008-05-15T23:42:00.003-05:00

Ok,
So now you know I had an Ooops and forgot to post the pictures in the last entry lol. Yep time to go to sleep land lol. Enjoy the pictures!!
CW

Here I am with our new "son" Polunu Kemeah (PK for short) He is such a lovely Rabbit and oh so soft!!

This is one of Suzanne's dulcimers this is a McSpadden dulcimer. Check out that ebony wood fret !! This is my Mother's Day present from the family I just love it!! There is a women in church that makes them.
These are the stitch markers that I finished today and mailed so they should arrive at their new homes next week. This is a sample of what kind of things I will have on Etsy!!
Look at PK, he is in the "MAN" cave with his papa. The floor is the rubber safty blocks and PK has a ball in there.

Yeah No Cancer & Goodies I received and stuff

2008-05-15T23:22:00.003-05:00

y'all,

Well the results came back from Michael's throat surgery and "NO" cancer . We are very thankful and boy did we praise the Lord for the victory!! I have been busy doing stitch makers, I did a batch today that I mailed out for the swap I am a part of. Plus I am also trying to get things done for the Etsy.com store. I have cut the fabric out for the spindle and sock project bags. PK is better he has almost finished his antibiotics, he was sneezing when we picked him up at the airport and then 5 days later he was still sneezing. So I did not think he was sneezing due to stress. It turned out to be snuffles,so now he is perky and can be loud (Thumps) when he wants to be lol. Tonight I was cleaning his cage so he was in the "man" cave with his papa.

Too funny cause when the cage was cleaned Michael brought him bck and put him in the cage and then I heard him say "I got bunny pellets on my floor". I could not stop laughing, he has safety mats for flooring in his room so that was an easy clean-up for him lol. I have a few pictures to share with y'all. Did everyone have a nice Mother's day? I got a wonderful basket and then relaxed for the day, the darn weather was acting up and my bones and joints were telling me all about the changes in the weather lol. I have met a wonderful gal pal for the Christian Artisans and Dye Happy yahoo groups I belong to. Her name is Suzanne and boy talk about kindred spirits. We both have a love for anyting fibre and music. I love the sound of the dlcimer and I will be learning how to play!! Am I happy you better believe it.

She came down for lunch last Friday and we chatted and spun togehter and then Saturday I went to a Spin & Strum with her and met another great group of women. It was great se all satout on the back porch and spun and fellowshipped and then later after lunch we went inside and while they played the dulcimers and psaltry I spun and enjoyed the music. So this Saturday coming up I will be going to the Dulcimer group with Suzanne and also on Sunday afternoon to another function. I feel as though I've known Suzanne for years when we get to gehter we talk non-stop lol. Well I also went to the post office and mailed the present we got for dad's 82nd birthday. Last week we mailked things to the grandchildren Daja's birhtday was the 9th and hten we sent Gianni a gift box as well. Well hope you enjoy the pictures and have a great Friday and !!

CW

I've been tagged ~ Thanks Kim ~ New Spindle

2008-05-05T01:13:00.004-05:00

Look at this spindle!!!!!!!!!!! Isn't it awesome, it's a Bosworth Spindle and it's a Moosie. Moosie you say? As a matter of fact the whorl was made from a mooses antler that was shed. It looks beautiful.

The picture below you can see that it sort of looks like Ivory. It has a creay color and it is soo smooth!! The shaft is Movado wood. I love it and I have had many complements.
In this picture here I have it laying on some Lincoln Longwool. To me the whorl just seems to glow. What I like is that the whorl is notched and that really makes sinning a joy. No more fiber slippage when spinning now. Saturday I was in Jamba juice waiting for my order and I was spinning. This woman came over and asked me wht I was doing. She was so fascinated by the way the whorl spun and how the fiber went from fluffy to yarn (or string as she called it).

This is my first Tagged so I hope I have done this right lol. So here it goes:

I've Been Tagged!!
Kim at The Misplaced Midwesterner (I met through ITE, has turned out to be a good friend)
Has tagged me with a double tag. I have never done these but here it goes anyway!!
Part #1
These are the rules:.

1) Pick up the nearest book of at least 123 pages.

2) Open the book to page 123.

3) Find the 5th sentence.

4) Post the next 3 sentences.

5) Tag 5 people.

This is the book nearest me, it has 494 pages it’s called The Guardian by Nicholas Sparks. I love reading his books. I have several of them.
"Why on earth was she living in a small town like this? Julie, he thought, belonged in a city, a place of crowded sidewalks and flashing signs, quick insults and snappy comebacks. She was too sharp, too stylish, for a place like this"

Ok, these are the 5 people I tag:

1. Maryanne at http://knittymuggins.wordpress.com/ ~ I met thought a Christmas Swap what a blast that was.

2. Roma at http://www.blogger.com/profile/16994663555087507015

3. Kena over at http://knitsandwhatknots.wordpress.com/

4. Sarah at Keeping me sane -http://www.blogger.com/profile/06249024668059216564 - She got me twice when we did different swaps that was funy.

5. Debbie at http://fruityspirit.com/ I met here at a swap and what a wonderful person.

Well I have many new pictures I need to post and will do that tomorrow. Then I will be away from my blog for abit as Michael is going in for surgery on Wed. Have a great week all!

CW

10 Days just fly by!

2008-04-18T18:18:00.003-05:00

Wow,
Well let's see I have been cleaning and getting the last things for PK's arrival. Beverly arrived from Eureka and is settling in as is Rusty. Oh yes Ms. Rita has a man now yes she and Rusty are a pair, sunning themselves on the deck. We have never seen her play like the way she does now.

Angus was always being rough when he played, where as she and Rusty play chase. As you can see Angus is not amused lol.
We assume this position after he's been sleeping for a bit and you should hear this lil' man snore lol. I onced acussed Michel of snoring and it was Angus , OOP'S.

Today I did some more dyeing and the fiber is drying will take pictures of the latest group for a later post. But I do have one of the last dyeing day. These are 2 new colorways. The one on the left is called "Tuscany Fields" and on the right is "Sunset at Red Rock". Anyway Michael and I have been discussing our trip to RI and I think we are going to drive since it is only 28 hrs. He really does like his driving when it comes to road trips. We leave at like 9 or 10:30 at night when traffic is very light and by the time rush hour rolls around we have covered muh ground and we are usually stop to have a nice relaxing breakfast and when we're done the morning rush is over!! Well yes this is short I have to get moving on the stitch markers. Yes this is the first swap of the year for me. I have four people to make markers for and they have to be in the mail no later than 15 May. This time I think I'll add a fwe treats as well. Time to give Michael his dinner, Split-pea and ham soup. I made it yesterday and it simmer in the crock pot all day. Oh drats tomorrow is phase 2 of "Spring Cleaning", trying to get it completed before Michael has his surgery (thta will be in another post). We are bring quite a bit of things to the Godwill donation center. Now I'll have room for my cloths and shoes that I actually wear. Oh yeah almost forgot I am learning how to knit socks doing the magic loop method so far so good. When I get to the heel I will email Ms. Patti and get a private 1 hr. lesson on how to do a short row heel. Then next month I will take a lesson on how to knit a pair of socks at the same time on circular needles. So next post I will have pictures of my progress on Michael's sock, my sock and the yarn I am spinning for my mom. She is making a sweater and I will spin 1,125 yards for her.

I've been in Dye Heaven

2008-04-08T14:55:00.004-05:00

This is a short post as I have a knitting assignment, Monday I took the magic loop class at the LYS and it was fun, but boy the cast on was a abear!! Since I have to be differenrt I am working Well it has been a bit since my last post. Also I seem to be getting comments from this person: Gardagami I do not know who this person it but do not click if you get comments from this person. It brings you to some program. Anyway I have been in Dye Heaven, yes me and the Easter Egg dyes lol. I have 3 new colorways so far and I have found a supplier of White pencil roving so I am set and ready to rock and roll.

The top one I call "Cotton Candy"

This one was first dyed with food coloring and then over dyed with Easter Egg dye.

These 2 I left them wound up in a skein and dyed them that way and I love the way they came out. The one aboveI call"SUNSET at RED ROCK".

One pair will be for Michael and the other for me . I finally have my temporay bridge in and let me tell you it was now trip in the park either. So I don't drink a lot of cold stuff, I am trying to lose the last bit of weight so I can have my darn surgery. Anyway need to wash the lunch dishes. Have a great day one and all!

Ciao!

Afew more vacation pictures

2008-03-31T01:14:00.003-05:00

good morning y'all,
Ever feel like time just flashes by on you? Seems like that is how this month has been for me lol. So many things going on and happening. Michael's ministry is taking off and he now has added responsibilities at the church an I am so proud of him!! My spinning is getting better everyday, and I will be sending my mom som awesome yarn that I have spun up. I love Lincoln Longwool and has asked Cory if I can reserve the same fleeces for next year as well. I will be getting a Border Leicester fleece this week so I am happy about having another yarn to spin will. My goal is to ultimately spin up enough yarn so I can make myself the real pretty shug. Yes I have move vacation pictures to share with you. I have to reload the camera program onto the computer before I can down load the pictures from the Livestock & Rodeo show we went to. We had so much fun. Michael carded the wool and I spun it and he was great at explaining what he was doing and why. One of the things he said was "I am preparing the wool so my wife can then spin it and at a later date she can knit something with it.
I have enough fiber now that I can spin, ply and then post it in my Esty store. I hope to have at least 6 things posted by the first and then will as things daily. I might even post a a few small project bags I am making as well. I will also be making project bags for drop spindles as well!! Anyway here are some more pictures. I will post some of the new yarn that I have spun that I have to ply.

Anyway y'all,
CW

This was near Flagstaf I think am not sure, butit was such a pretty site to see. So is good IF only for a little while lol.
Michael in deep thought while driving , he was thinking that we needed to stop cause he needed another caffeine boost lol. If I drank as much coffee as does I would be awake for weeks and weeks My caffeine meter would be stuck in the overload position .

This is some awesome art work done on a big rig tht I spotted as it was getting ready to pass us. We did see some amazing art work on the rigs! More pictures later!!

The Band is back on my finger!!!

2008-03-14T11:14:00.003-05:00

Thank you Jesus!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Michael found my wedding band this morning. He was in the garage smoking a cigarette and he was sitting down he was looking over where I had unloaded a case of TP and he saw something blue winking at him. My ring fell out of my pocket and landed in between the netting of the orange nylon mess close hamoer that I now use for drying my wool!! I tell you I think I should super or gorilla glue it to my finger lol. Anyway I am going through some other pictures from our trip and I will post them on flickr. Well have a blessed day all and ,
CW

Getting ready for next week

2008-03-14T00:04:00.003-05:00

These are the 2 handspun , plied and skiened yarns I did tonight.
Below is a batt I purchased called "Pot of Gold". Isn't it beautiful!

all,

Well still haven't found the wedding band but we are still looking. We will spead plastic out on driveway and go through the garbage with a fine tooth comb. Can you say "Stiny, Yucky" lol. I will be one of the demonstrators at the Livestock Show in Houston next week for 2 days I am so excited!! So I will be pulling fiber this week end to take with me. I chose the 10 a.m. - 1:30 this way we will beat the rush hour traffic coming home. Tonight I skeined up my hand spun yarn and also washed some of that yummy black fleece I just received. I already have a go sized mound of the white that I lightly carded which I added some of Angus's clippings to so I can make a hat for the breeder and send it with the small photo album we made for them.

Michael has been busy getting the media department in order plus helping everyday because this weekend is the church's 8th anniversary as well. I am back singing in the choir again and it feel great!! We will be doing a song that the chior in RI did and when I sing this song I sometimes forget where I am and just let it rip lol. Tomorrow I will wipe down the changing table for Sis Rebekah. She is due I think in about a week or so. We seem to be having a baby boom at church lol. We are getting ready to get the geust room painted and pulled together. We also are getting ready to have minor repairs done to the house to get it ready to sell sometime next year. We need more room lol!! Not just for our hobbies but for entertaining family and friends but also visiting ministry as well.

So I will say for now as need to check on the wool that I washed to day have to turn it over so itwill dry evenly. Plus email a fwe folks as well. Everyone !!

Good and not so good news

2008-03-12T23:41:00.003-05:00

Yes it has been quite awhile since I last posted. Have been doing spring cleaning and spin like crazy!! I just got my 3rd fleece from Cory and has reserved the same ones for the next shearing season.

This is Ayria's fleece. It is a rich black and weighs in at 2lbs. 8 ozs. I will wash some of it tomorrow and then dry it. I think I will try my hand at carding in some gold metalic yarn and maybe try to get some nice Angelina to give it some bling/sparkle. I have a yarn swap and we have to spin yarn with some bling/sparkle and/or dangles for our partner. But we haven't been assigned partners yet so I figure can't hurt getting alittle jump on things.

No the not so go news is I some how misplaced my wedding band. Don't ask me how I just did I only take it off if I am going to be washing the wool because I wear surgical gloves and the marquise will rip the glove or if I eat grapefruit because I peel and eat them like you do an orange. So I will now put the engagment ring in the jewelry box don a pair of gloves and go through the trash in kitch wast can. I am just miserable and angry with myself about this you can't even imagine. Anyway I hope to have posted some more trip pictures later this week.

Have a ,

New Friends rom NM

2008-02-16T14:33:00.003-06:00

Hey all,
Well I did promise I would put up some pictures from our trp. Here is an awesome couple we met in Faiur Acres, NM Michelle and David Saxton. They met the same way that Michael and I did via the Internet!
How ironic is that huh, anyway they were very helpful with suggestions and so forth when we were shopping and they've even invited us to their wedding in May of this year. That is way cool I think.
This sign was just great the bottom states: Violators will be dragged out back and hung lol. The next picture is of the sun setting this was taken on our journey heading back to TX. Sort of sad to return since we were having such a wonderful time!! Well I need to get to sorting the pictures I took on this trip.
How many do you ask? I'd say well over 150 pictures. Thank goodness Michael took his lap top because we just down loaded them each time I reached 85 on the camera. Well hopefully will post again on the grey, drab funky Saturday!

CYA,
CW

Back from visiting the in-laws ~ What an awesome time we had!!

2008-02-15T23:10:00.004-06:00

Ok, before I even get into the trip and so forth. I just have to show y'all "THE" ring. My hubby got me my wedding ring set. He wanted something that was totally unique, awesome, outstanding and maybe even rare in fashion! I love them ~ can you say

Here they are:

The other stones are fire opal and they just make this whole set dance!! I just had to show ya and now I am off to bed I am still regrouping from road trip and fire ant stings (when we got home). Will have more to enter and lots more pictures that will be posted over the weekend!!

Pictures of ROC DAY

2008-01-27T13:56:00.000-06:00

The above piture shows the wheel (on the left) called the Robin Wheel made by Gilbert Gonsalves from I think Me or NH. He used to ne a boat engineer. This wheel is absolutely gorgeous. I am waiting for info becaue ZI might put my order in. It takes 2 years before I will get it. That is ok I can what the craftmenship is outstanding!!
This is my new friend Cora she was spinning in the class room with me. She has a Kromski Marzuka Wheel it is "double" drive. With a nice dark stain.
I do not recall the 2 women on the left of the picture, but Peggy has the white design on the shirtand nextto her is Penny they have been friends for year and are just a hoot!! Then there is my friend Linda she has been spinning for a while now.
This spindle ha spun LLama on it which I am going to give a try to spin it on the wheel.
This is the llama fleece I wil be spinning from. His name is Solo and his fur is just beautify.

He there, I finally downloaded the pictures from ROC daya that we had at the Lone Star Loom Room on January 19th. I meet some awesome spinners and since there are quite a few spinners in Katy we will have our own spinning group!! That is so awesome, I have had to get back on track with my knitting since I am doing all this spinning the yarn is starting to mount up now lol. Well I am off and running spin a little then take a small nap before dinner. Have a Blessed DAu all!

It is official ~ I am a fiber addicted Spindle Spinning Diva lol

2008-01-24T00:40:00.000-06:00

The top picture is the roving I dyed in class on 8 Jan 2008
This is the Punta Wool-Colorway Beauty spun and wound into a ball. It is 1-ply. Below is the roving be fore being pre-drafted.
Below is the Mahogany Wool (Merino) Roving and the next picture is it being spun on the wheel. It looks better in person the flash washes it out.

Hey all,

Last Saturday I went and took part in ROC Day and there where many women at the Lone Star Loom Room to celebrate as well. Some did drop spindle and others did spinning with wheel and one lady was knitting. It was a nice time and I have pictures to show. An awesome woman named Conie she sat and watched me for a bit and told me exactly what I was doing wrong and showed me how to adjust the brak. After that I was off and running I left home with a naked bobbin and retirned home with a full bobbin (plus also more FIBER). Lynn of Lynn's Texas Fiber was there, she also teaches spinning lesson and she brought lots of fiber for us to fondle and purchase. It is amazing at all the different types of wool fiber they have out their. I brought 4 ounces of Punta wool roving in the Beauty colorway. It has bright blue, yellow fushia in it and spins up quite nicely. I also spun and plyed some of the pencil roving that I dyed. Right now I am working on Mahogany Merino roving and the color looks more intense when it is spun. I spin for about 3-5 hours a day and the rest of the time I answer emails, clean house and read books on fiber and sheep. I sometimes dream of being in a room full of iber and I am told tht it hasbeen given to me as a gift. Talk about wishful thinking lol. So my knitting has taken a back seat for a bit. I did start he shawl for my grand mother and hit a snag so I thin I will give her the first one that I made. Well hope you enjoy the pictures and will post more over the weekend.

Nite' all,

Finshed Last swap for 2007 and joined another KAL

2008-01-19T00:11:00.000-06:00

This here is the Fibre Center. I still have more fibre to organize.

This is the Sewing; Stitch Marker and Jewelry making Centre.

This is the Yarn Centre; I still have yarn to organize so far I hae them broken down into natural fibers; novelties and snythetic/polyester yarns.

folks,
Well I had to delete a comment and ended up deleting the Jan. 3rd post . It wa a spam thing. Anyway I love my stitch markers and I have a special box to store them in when not in use. The pictures show how I have partically organized my office/hobby craft room. I still have 3 lbs. of raw llama that I have to put in the mid-sized bins for storage and they'll go on the top shelf. Tonight I started the Secret of the Stole ii. I am using knit picks shadow in the sunset colorway and size 3 addi lace kniting needles. Tomorrow is ROC day and I will be going to the Lone Star Loom Room with my spinning wheel to spin and enjoy chatting with friends. I have to wind up my spindle that has the chocolate brown wool on it and then i have to use Gorilla glue to secure the hook in the shaft. I guess I draft hard and wrap more than once the fiber around the hook before I spin. Anyway it needs to be fixed. Plus I also need to get some wood treatment paste to keep my spindles looking sharp!!

In the afternoon I am going to try my hand at dyeing with food coloring and vinegar. Next month if I have enough left after our trip; we are going to see my in-laws in Nevada I hope to purchase 3 plain white silk scarves so that I can try my hand at dyeing them and if they come out great then I will add them to my esty.com. Well I need to take the dogs out for their potty run yet again. It is 41 and raining out right now yuk!! But at least we do not have snow !! Tomorrow it will be 57 and sunny out. Friday I went to my local yarn shop and I meet Louisa Harding and she gave a wonderful take and then signed books. So now I have 2 books signed by 2 different authors. She is a really down to earth woman and very personable. Well I am beat and need to catch some sleep, I have posted pictures of my progress in getting office straightened out.

Well I had to stop blogging for a moment, my husband fell and poor Angus thought his papa was playing and he started barking. I am thankful he id not whack his head. The bottom hem on his sweat pant lgs drag on the ground. Well he went out side in the rain to get his lap top w/o his slippers on and feet and hem on sweats got wet and he slipped on our tile floor. he is now sitting on the couch waiting for me so we can watch a movie. I told him if he moves off the couch I will duct tape him to the floor lol.

Anyway & ,

CW

Quick Post

2008-01-13T00:44:00.000-06:00

Hey there,

Have been rweally busy doing "Spring Cleaning" early this year. I am getting the second shelf set up tomorrow after church so I can get everruthing up where it should be and then tackle the guest room and that closet. Anyway I have some photos of my dye class I took on the 8th. Man oh man I love dyeing and look forward to getting my own supplies to dye with. I dyed white corriedale roving 2 different colors;and dyed 1 lb. of white wool pencil roving. So these are teh colors. Notice that the pencil roving back is less vibrant than the front and will look awesome I think when I spin it!!

Well tomorrw I hope to have pictures of the stich markers I have made. I also have to send out packages to family members this week too. Plus I have a special birthday gift for our niece Lauren Renee. Well time to head to bed I think I hear my pillow calling my name lol.

& ,

Well tomorrow

HAPPY NEW YEAR ~~2008 Year of NEW Beginings

2008-01-02T00:54:00.000-06:00

What a Year 2007 was and now we're into 2008. Did you know that the number 8 represents "New Beginings" . So this is the year that new and hopefully exciting things will happen. Michael and I had a quiet night. Dec. 31st we celebrate our first date, as well as New Years Eve. I made a special dinner of proscuito wrapped sea scallops, bacon wrapped pork kebobs, grilled shrimp with steamed veggies and a salad. I had a small piece of everything, my stomach has shrunk and can't eat a lot. We toasted with Sparkling cider and watched the fire works and the Dick Clark Rockin New Years Eve show.

Then we watched a fwe movies then went to bed and listened to a cd and I read my night time book which is Ysabel. It is pretty darn good too, I have trouble reading certain books if I can't visualize what I am reading. Anyway this one is a real page turn. So Michael reads his gaming magazine as well. HE is getting better but it is a slow process and it drives him crazy because he really can't do anything except rest. But from now on the is "NO BASKET BALL" allowed. The doctor said it would be about a good month before the pulled rib is completely healed. So my ministry at present is taking care of my husband. He misses the fellowship from church.

So I am invinting people over for dinner on Saturday I will cook a crown pork roast with steamed veggies and so forth. Tomorrow I will deliver the cookie treats and so forth that I have finished baking. Plus I have some fudge from scratch for Sis Lavelle. Plus cookies for the Pastor & Sis Shara's Family. Today I hung 2 shelfing units in my little office and it is finally looking like is should. I used the new cordless 18v drill Michael got for Christmas. I told him that I need a tool belt. I love working with power tools and making improvements on the house. But I only do the ones I know I can do lol.

Anyway my last swap was the coffee one and Sarah got me some starbucks coffee, now I am from the New England area and had a choice between Dunkin Donuts and Starbucks. I was notice key word "was" a diehard DD fan. But then I got a bag of the Christmas Blend and let me tell you I just love it!! I haven't tried the other coffee yet though I am savoring this one. Sorry DD I also drink SB now too. But one thing will never change and that is I an a diehard "PATRIOTS" fan and the boys are kicking hiney presently and I just "LOVE IT" Well I should stop I need to get some more yarn off the drop spindle so I can spin some more of the corriedale so I can have enough to make a small felted bad. My wheel on the spinning wheel sort of wobbles in the frame so I need to take it in and have someone look at it for me. So I have been practicing treadling for now.

Well enjoy your new beggings all,

PS: Did you notice in the stores they have and some even have stuff on the shelves. Jeeze can't we get a small break Plz!!

My swap package for the Winter Wonderland Coffee Exchange is here

2007-12-24T22:19:00.000-06:00

Hi all,

I am so happy today at 6:35 this evening I heard talking outside the front door. The inside door was open a little way but the storm one was closed. Well I opened the door and the Post Person had just delivered another package to me. An guess what it was from Sarah!! Yes the same Sarah that sent me that lovely felted purse. She some howgot matched up to me in this swap as well. Look at these goodies. I told hubby I'll share coffee and the bread when I make it but sorry there is no negotiating the pretzels lol. I eat them 2 at a time I only allow myself 4 a day if I need to have that crunchy sound. This way they last quite awhile!!

I got 3 skiens of Plymouth Gall way yarn, 2 balls of ribbon yarn, Snowman Tea Light Lamp, A beautiful tea cup & saucer, Pumpkin Bread Mix (it's in the oven now ). 2 kinds of Starbucks coffee one is Holiday blend and the other is Sumartra (Yummy), a red heart ornamnt with a snowman on it (on our tree now) and of course 2 half pound bags of the Hard Sourdough pretzels!! My hubby said I am a spoiled lady lol. He is going to flip when I tell him tomorrow how I hid his presents in plain sight for almost 2 monts lol. Well I also finall got my yarn order from Mystic Yarn Creations. What an ebay killing I made anyway will show that loot in my next post. Michael's not feeling well so I need to take care of him now.

& ,

My weekend projects

2007-12-14T18:12:00.000-06:00

folks,

Well this weekend I will be redoing my chair. I have the fabric and have found the staples for the staple gun. I will also be trying to figure out how to start a bobbin lol. I got late to class and missed that part. Hey half the fun is figuring out what works best for you as long as the end results are the same right? Tonight we are going to the children's pageant at church so I must get ready. Hey have you seen my lovely daughter and grandchildren lately? No you say well I have posted some pictures for you. Of course the chair for the before shot lol. I just love Fridays it is date night for us too lol.

folks,

Some new fiber and gifts

2007-12-13T23:59:00.000-06:00

Here is some of the new eBay fibers that I have won. I have Tristian (tri-color) alpaca raw; Bright colored mohair rovings; Chocolate, black, white wool/mohair roving, Silk/Camel 50/50 roving and some beautiful Louet Picaso roving. Then I got my Christmas around the world knitters swap package from Shama, and my Market bag from Beth from the Bag-a-holic group. This is a short post as I am going to go watch Bourne Ultimatum.

Have a all,

It has come My life is for ever changed!!!!!!!!!

2007-12-12T21:06:00.000-06:00

Well the bell rang at 6:30 last night and I yelled for Michael to get it. I was drying off Angus. Yes he had to learn the hard way not to follow his sister so close. He was running after her and she stopped short and he bounced off her butt and "splash" right into the cold pool water. Thank goodness I was there to get him out. Anyway Michael get the door and I hear him talking then the door shut. I hear him moving things in the front room. So I come out and he said "is this what you have been waiting for? Santa came early, hesaid this took up too much room in the sleigh." Yes hallelujah the wheel is here!! Talk about fiber over loud!! Francelle whom my hubby purchased the wheel from packed it with bags of fiber in addition to packing wrap. I have 6 -6 oz. bags of corridale wool, 4 bags of a nice dark brown w/grey-siler strands in it. Another bag of grey wool, a bag of a lovely sky blue color wool, another bag of white wool dyed light blue!! Plus 2 lazy kate's and "six" bobbins

I put the wheel together and used citrus oil cleaner on the wood and in January I will stencil humming birds and ivy on the wheel and give it a coat of polyurethane to protect it. Now I just have to choose betwen two names. These names are: Erlina which means Noble Woman or Walehla which means Hummingbird. So I have a picture of my new wheel and of my dh and Iggy. Y'all should have seen Angus jump when Michael let Iggy down on the floor it was too funny. Well this is short I have to finish the last 2 swap boxes so they can be mailed this week. Then it is on to finishing family gifts to go up to the North East.

Have a great night spinners and knitters!

My Wheel is on the way!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2007-12-07T00:44:00.000-06:00

I am so excited my Ashford Traditional wheel will be here sometime next week coming all the way from WY.My dh got it for me for Christmas. I had one "non" negotional term and that was it had to be used. Once I get the hang of spinning then maybe for my birthday we can look into getting a new one. He won it on eBay!! I am truly blessed because of all the "extra" things that are coming with it. I'll have "2" lazy kate's and "6" yes "6" bobbins, plus a poop load of fiber as well. Plus last week were at the KCM store and we found this vintage sewing chair. I purchased remnant fabric and will reupholster it. Then I can store my spindles and other small things inside of it. I am just having a ball. I am still working on the shawl for my grandmother and hope to have it finished by the first of the year or sooner. I finally nished the bag for the bag swap I joined now I am just pulling together my Christmas swap and then my next one is due I believe in January it is a coffee swap. Well it is late and need to get some rest. Tmorrow I will post pictures of my daughter and granddaughters. I miss them and my parent very much as do all my family memebers that live in other states, especially my best buddy Deb who I call sista. Hope to visit her sometime next year.

Well all,

My first spindle full of yarn

2007-12-01T02:10:00.000-06:00

Well here it is my white angora with the grey tips. From a French Angora bunny, Then my 9 ounces of bamboo. Then the Majestic colorway merino roving and my Cocobolo wood top whorl spindle. Well this is sort I know but I will post longer over the weekend and will have some more photos too!!

Christmas Around the World

2007-11-27T23:33:00.000-06:00

Well I have most of the goodies that I am going to send now I just have to find the right pattern and yarn to send to my partner. Then I also have a bag I am making for the Bag-a-holics exchange. The Winterland Coffee exchange and I think that might be it. But then again I could be wrong lol. This years is hand made gift giving for me for the most part. I will start the sewing tomorrow when I return from doctor's appointment.

I have used my new swift and ball winder today and ya know what? Life is good lol, I do not have to go to the LYS to wind my yarn now. So I save time now, plus I am getting ready to wind my first ball of yarn that I spun on the drop spindle it is gerat fun. But I have a bit much on the spindle so time to wind it!! Well it is late and I need to get some more things done before calling it a nice will have some pictures to post this week.
,
CW

Rita is back to her normal self & More fiber photos

2007-11-20T13:51:00.000-06:00

Y'all

Wow last week was a crazy one for us. Our litle Rita got very sick from dog food that we had been feeding them. She is older than Angus by 5 years so it hit her real hard. She was treated for Hemorraghic Enteritis and Pancreatits. We alsmot had to put her down, but that good for alternative medicine!! she is just about done with her meds. Angus just had runny poops for a bit but her is ok so far. It is almost time for Thanksgiving I will get the last of the things tomorrow it's just me, hubby, Rita & Angus plus the girls. Their grammy has to work that day. Right now it is nap time and I am able to make this entry in my blog. Well I went to the spinning class on Saturday and I had such a great time!! There was also another lady that did not know how to spin so I did not feel left out. This was the beyong Basics class. I am proud to say that I can use the double treadle now. I practiced and adjusted the tension and now I am doing good. I just need to be shown how to start a bobbin. But the spindling is great!! I am using the tiger eye spindle and I had a fair amount of yarn on it. It is not great yarn but hey, you have to start from the begining and with pratice one can only get better!

I am workin on the bag for my swap partner Beth and had to change the pattern and yarn but it will come out just great!! I have my coffee partner and my Christmas around the world knitter exchange partner as well. But next year I think I will limit the amount of exchanges and swaps I do lol. Any way here are more pictures from the fiber festival. The yarns there were out of this world. But I had to make a choice between yarn and fiber, so since I have quite a bit in my stash already for yarns and more on the way from my eBay winnings I chose "FIBER". Right now I am spindling fiber from a llama called Spotlight. So far I just love using the raw llama. One reason is it does not have to be carded and it is pretty clean just a few pieces of alfalfa now and again. So I just put the bag on the floor and grab the fiber as I need it. I am working toward getting a full spindle worth and should have that done by Friday. I wanted to get a used wheel to start for my spinning but Michael wants to get me a new one, since he is paying for it new is the way we'll go. That is the only present that I know of so far lol. I already have one of his gifts already hidden here in the house. Well I need to get the salmon out to dethaw so I can steam it for dinner tonight.

Okay now I'll tell you what the pictures are: 1: Wool yarn & Boucle yarn from Rosewood Yarns; Fawn colored Hucaya Alpaca; Cream colored Suri Alpaca; Wool tapestry in progress and the last one is bags of Raw Llama fiber. I will post more photo later in the week. So for now adios!

Some Photo's from Kids-n-Ewe~Part 1

2007-11-12T22:32:00.000-06:00

Well here are some of the pictures. A little late getting them posted. A charming older woman was making the lace that is on green table. The next picture is of a dyeing class, then this is a "Suri" alpaca. The fiber looks like dread locks. The bottom picture is 3-3 oz. bags of jewel-toned bamboo fibers ready to spin. Been a busy day and then we went to Golden Corral for dinner. Dinner was free for veterans past and present. I was good I ate veggies in my salad and had my protein. Well I am exhausted and have to get up early since I have to go to the Lone Start Loom Room to sign up for the spinning class on Saturday. Tons of fiber to spin!! Will post more pictures tomorrow.

Kids-N-Ewe Fiber Festival

2007-11-12T01:10:00.000-06:00

Just wanted to make a quick entry. I had an incredible time!! I never laughed so much and the fober show part was unbelieveable!! I cam ehome with money still in my purse!! I got tons of fiber so I can master the drop spindle. Michael just as me again to find my spinning wheel so he can orcer it for me. I love this man anyway it is way late and I need to get to bed now. Will post more later including some pictures!!

Ciao!
CW

Nuked, poked, stuck and tilted ~ I drove to Houston ~ Whacked my right toe, but Praise God I can still knit lol

2007-11-08T00:10:00.000-06:00

Ok ~ I guess I need to explain the title for this entry. Some of you know that I have to go through cardio and pulmonary clearance before I can have the surgery. Well last week Wed. & Thurs. was the "nuke, , poked, stuckand tilted day. I swear that I have had so many nuclear test that I should glow in the dark by now lol. Monday I got the green light from Cardio doc. Monday was the trial by fire for me. I drove to Houston with my friend Cat. Michael stayed home with the babies. We went via the beltway and traffic was not too bad but made me a bit crazy. I'm sorry y'all but some of these drives down here don't use directionals they just glide into the lane they want. What makes it bad is that I am not used to driving on 6 lane highways.

Then on the way back I followed Cat in her car. She told me when we get into traffic you stay on my bumper. Don't let anyone get between use. Talk about anxiety!!! I kept telling my self to breath. When it can time to get over a lane to pay the toll the person to my left kept speeding up so I had to stay where I was. Thank goodness she waited for me to go through the toll. Then I had some "jerk" who was trying to squeeze past me when I was waiting for a break to get into traffic in the u-turn lane. He kept beeping an edging toward me in his big shiney black F150 diesel. When I finally go into the flow of traffic he zipped past me only to go from the far right lane in fron of me to get into the lane for the on ramp. He could have stayed behind me and just taken a left, but no he has to be a big shot. We traveled the feeder roads back since CAt picked up her car. I kept tell myself to breath, I had clammy hands had to turn the air on because I was feeling hot. I prayed "Dear Lord, keep Cat on these roads and not the freeway. Traffic up on the freeway was a horror!! When we got back to the house I walked in the door an said to my hubby "I survived Houston Rush hour traffic, thank you Jesus". Michael laughed so hard lol. I pack tomorrow for my trip and I am excited will take many pictures so I will post them when I get back!! Well the children just left with their grammy and I am off to do a little knitting in bed. Michael is working on the N acale trains he has for about another hour. So Rita , Angus and I are going to listen to some music and knit. They'll just get in their respective night spots on the bed as usual. Have a great Thursay will write more later!

Good night,
CW

Red Sox World Series Winners & Patriots hauled hinney and kicked but on Sunday!!

2007-10-30T02:08:00.000-05:00

Well my granddaughter Daja was celebrating cause her team (Boston Red Sox) won the series I was excited about that as well. But I tell ya the Patriots kicked some serious butt on Sunday and all I can say is Woohoo src="http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/23/23_30_125.gif" width=83 border=0>, , , , , . Yes I am a die hard Patriots fan. I know some Texan fans do not like it but hey DEAL WITH IT!!
I will have some pictures to post after my trip to the Fiber Festival with my friends Sonya and Linda that is next Friday and return Saturday night. A Knitting ladies weekend .
My friend Sonya is so awesome and such a wonderful and caring person. She gave me the directions for the entrelac bag and even had the one that she made at the KANG meeting and it is "HUGE" and I thought that the colors looked nice. I will be using black (as my base color), camel, espresso and rust for my other color choices.

Was a crazy weekend had the girls over the weekend. But not Sunday night and I did nothing but sleep I was totally exhausted. DH was doing the dinner theater they had at church he had a part to play in it. I'll get to watch the DVD of it. Tomorrow is part one of the stress test that I need to do both parts so I can get surgical clearance for my surgery. I will also be having my foot checked again and find out when that surgery will be. Well I am off to bed need to be rested for the test!

Ciao!
CW

Winter Wonderland Coffee Swap

2007-10-26T02:45:00.000-05:00

Yes , I am doing another swap! I know you must think I am nuts lol. No just need to keep busy and I find the ones that I have joined and those I have finished have been such a joy to participate in!!. Anywa moving right along here is the answers tothier Questionnaire:

Coffee

What are your favorite kinds of coffee? (Brands, Roasts, anything at all you'd like to share!)
I love different types of gourmet and flavored coffee. Right now I have Green Mountain Blueberry coffee and my DH likes their Dark Espresso. I also belong to the Green Mountain Café club. So I get to try different coffees and we also just joined the Gevalia club as well.

Do you prefer whole bean or ground coffee?
I prefer whole bean, I love o grind the coffee fresh every morning.

This time of year, there are often Holiday Blends available, and many flavored coffees - do you drink flavored coffee? Do you enjoy special blends?
Yes, I drink flavored coffee and love the holiday ones tht come out. Last year we had this yummy French Vanilla Caramel. It was already ground, but that was ok and it was heavenly. I also like to try now and again special blends.

How do you take your coffee? Cream and Sugar? Straight up? Decaf?
I like cream and “raw” sugar, or sometimes I use Splenda. It all depends upon the type of coffee it is.

Do you prefer drinking from a nice thick mug, or a matched cup and saucer?
We have more mugs that I care to mention. So I have started to collect tea cups and saucers. I think it is real neat to drink using them. This way I won’t get spills on the table or my computer desk. My DH likes mugs but I prefer the latter for myself.

Winter and Holidays - PLEASE be descriptive! Your pal will need this information to be sure to put together a package you will enjoy!

What is your favorite part of Winter?
It used to be walking down snow covered trails. That was until I moved to TX, now I guess you can say that having a tree trimming party with friends and the fire in the fire place and good food and drink.

Do you celebrate a holiday in December, and if so, which holiday?
Yes, we celebrate Christmas.

If you celebrate Christmas, do you put up a tree?
Yes we usually have a 9 -12 foot tree.

Would you enjoy items related to the holiday, or would you prefer a Winter themed package?
Since it does not get winter cold her where I live I think a Holiday themed package would be wonderful.

Do you collect anything? Are there any holiday or winter-themed items (Snowmen, Angels, Snoflakes, Santas, etc) that you collect?
Yes, I collect Tea Cups & Saucers and Angels.

Do you wear scarves? Mittens? Hats?
I wear neither, too warm here. Last winter it was 65-70 out. (I live just outside of the Houston area).

What is your favorite holiday or winter treat?
Egg Nog made from scratch and Hot Mulled Cider.

Please share a favorite Winter or Holiday memory.
That would be the Christmas, when my daughter got up before the family and had opened all the presents that were under the tree. I think it was my mom who helped me wrap everything back up. It was so funny she thought that Santa has left all the presents for her.

Yarn and Crafting

Do you Knit or Crochet? For how long?
I knit, took a 20+ year hiatus and now I am knitting all the time. How much do I knit I always have at least 2 projects in my knitting bag. I knit when we drive into Houston or anywhere. I knit at the church fellowships, before service and after while waiting for my DH to finish doing the video work. I even knit while I am waiting for the doctor to come into the exam room. We go to the flea market almost every Saturday and I bring my knitting. When I get tired of looking and walking I just go and sit down on a bench and knit until my DH catches up with me. Guess you can say I am addicted to knitting. I will be learning to crochet again. My grandmother taught me how but it has been a long time since I picked up the crochet hooks.

Do you like wooden, metal, or plastic needles\hooks? Circular or straight?
I like bamboo needles I have 3 straight pair and about 6-8 circulars; I have 3 circular s that are Addi’s. 2 are Turbo’s and the other is their Lace circular size 4. The only plastic ones I have are my Denise needles and they awesome because I can change the lengths. But I just received a pair of glass circulars from glasspen.com for my birthday. They knit like a dream. They’re a size 9 with a 47 inch cable. You can have them custom make the cable length. My DH got them in the African Queen design. I have my shades of blue Forest Canopy Shoulder Shawl by Susan Lawrence on them and they feel awesome in your hands!!

What sort of projects do you enjoy making?
I love to make shawls, felted bags/purses and lace work.

What are your favorite types of yarn to work with?
Schaefer Anne; Kuani in rainbow; Trekking XXL; Nashua Handknits worsted & chunky; Tilli Thomas – Flurries; Hainde Maidens - Silk Maiden; Luoisa Harding's- Grace & Kimono Angora and Nashua Handknit's Cilantro.

Do you spin or dye?

I am going to a Fiber Festival next month and I will be taking the workshops on Drop spindles and dyeing. I am so excited to be learning these 2 new things.

Do you do other crafts such as scrapbooking or needlepoint or anything else?
I make jewelry using semi precious gems stone/beads and Swarovski Crystals and sterling silver. I also use the same materials and I make stitch markers also. I do ceramics and I sew -quilt too .

General

When is your birthday?
September 18th

Do you have any children? (Furry kind count!)
1 daughter 28, 2 granddaughters ages 3 and 11; and 4 step children. Plus we have Rita a Chinese Crested (Hairy Hairless); and Sir Angus Seton Black and red Phantom Toy Poodle.

What are your favorite colors?
I love the rich and brilliant colors of the jewel tone family, plus Fuchsia and royal blue.

Do you have any allergies?

Long haired cats make me sneeze, highly allergic to Bee & Wasp stings.

Okay now that is done and I can now get to bed. Today is 5 hours I go to see the Pulmonologist then at 11:15 I go to see the Cardiologist to get surgical clearance for my gastric by-pass surgery. Well it is 3:45 AM and I am off to bed need to get a little sleep before these tests.

& ,

Going to my first Fiber , Yarn etc show!!

2007-10-23T01:21:00.000-05:00

Hi all,

Well today I finally got a chance to call my friend Sonya today. She is going to teach me Entralac I am so excited !! Plus she has invited me to the Kids n Ewe & Llamas too fiber/yarn Festival event that is going to be in Boerne, TX from 11/9-1111. I am so jazzed about it because they are having work shops and ther are 3 that I want to take. One is Drp spindle spinning and the the dyeing workshops. I do want to learn how to spin with the wheel but that will have to wait till the spring or next fall. But drop spindle is easier and spindle is not as costly as getting muy own wheel.

I have transfered my shades of blue Forest Canopy onto my glass needles. I think I like these better than the Addi Turbos. I mean these needles feel so sleek and lovely in my hands. I think I might get my mom a pair for either Christmas or Mother's Day!! My DH said he will get me another apir for Christmas. Yes he does spoil me, he said it makes it easier because he knows that I really enjoy knitting so much that he can't go wrong with getting me things that are connected to knitting.

I have laready gotten 2 of his Christmas gifts lined up. A digital camera and a dragon to add to his collection. Plus now since we watch the little ones during the day I get to run errands by myself and I can get things and he won't see then lol. We are planning on taking a trip this year and I am checking the prices for 2 types of travel flying or driving. It will be wonderful to take a trip together. Well it is late 1:30 in the wee hours of Tuesday morning and I am off to bed but not before I post picture of my daughter , grand daughters and grandmother and my parents. I miss my family dearly and hope tht they will be able to visit soon. Well blogger is having a problem with the upoad link so I guess I will post those pictures later today. Have a great day and enjoy the "brisk" fall weather!!

Ciao!
CW

The finished purse & Looky looky I got my purse from Sarah

2007-10-20T22:29:00.000-05:00

y'all

Well I took the package for my partner Robin to the post today and ended up using one of the so called mail plus places. Never again they're highway robbery people!! My packaged weighed 5 lbs. 12 ounces and I was charged for 6 lbs. It was 22.95 to send package . From now on I will make sure I have the correct time the PO is open or I will use the online pick up via USPS online.

Anyway I received my package from Sarah (last picture on the right) and all I can say is , , . I love the colors and the size is perfect to carry one if not two projects in. I actually used my purse today when I went to wedding with my DH. He really likes it also and I got some nice goodies the candies he scooped them up and I said ok you can have them. But the Pretzels well sorry Charlie hands off, these be mine lol. I got some cute post-its that are the perfect size for me to use for marking the place of patterns I like in my books. I also got a pattern and some yummy Trekking yarn. I have never used this yarn before and I am anxious to fine the right pattern. I like to wear shorty socks about 1-3 inches above the ankle or ones that are hidden when you wear them with sneakers. I received several comments on the purse when we were at the wedding.

I also have pictures of the finished bag and goodies that I have sent to Robin (those are the top photo's). I think she will really like the purse. She wanted something that she could carry some things in addition to knitting projects. I lined it with gradient colored satin and added 4 pockets tht are outlined with black grograin ribbon. It was so much fun creating this purse I used my own pattern and it came out better than I expected and that makes me feel real happy. I stuffed it full of goodies too! Well it is late the girls arrived at 9:45 tonight and grammy will pick them up at 8 tomorrow morning and then they'll be back Sunday at 7:30 p.m.

Oh and my needles from Glasspen.com arrived today. They are one of the things from my wish list that Michael got for me. The color is called "African Queen". So I will be transferring the blue shawl to those needles tonight!! So I will have that picture posted tomorrow in the blog.

Well y'all have a great night I going to take my coffee (yes I have culers in my hair till it dries, then they come out.) Can't sleep in them any more they hurt my head lol.

& ,

Finally Bag is felting!!

2007-10-17T14:45:00.000-05:00

Finally it is done!! I finished bag at 4 this morning and felted it, put in dryer on the shaper for 10 minutes and now it is air drying the rest of the way!! Talk about having fun this is the best one so far that I have felted and shaped. The bottom of the bag did not felt as well as the rest but that is okay because this one will be lined. The first picture shows bag on floor. Why is it on the floor you ask? Well Rita and Angus decided they did not want it in moma's chair and pulled it off. Thank goodness they aren't the type that likes to pull the yarn lol.

The lining I chose is a satin lining with gradient purple coloring, and the handles are black beaded ones. This time since the bag has a wider opening I will make a draw string closure. I an now trying to figure out how to make a zippered pocket on the inside, and I will have one for some needles and one for yarn to be held. I just love doing things like this. Well when I finish it I will post another picture of the finished project. I have the goodies to go in the box as well as some yarn too. Today the weather is a little humid after the rain, but at least we did not get a deluge of rain. Whgen I post the package I will begin my next purse for another exchange and also make a hat for the cure in a pink colorway. Well I need to get dinner started so will stop for now. Have a great day!!

Ciao!
CW

Help I am surrond by sick people

2007-10-07T21:12:00.000-05:00

This past week has been so crazy and draining!! My DH got sick for 2 days and seemed to get better only to get hit hard again by this flu or what ever he's got. But I think it could be something else and I am praying it is not walking pneumonia. Today was a free day for me as the little ones spent the day with their Grammy. they will be back tomorrow and the sound a little children laughing will fill the house again. I love watching the babies for our dear friend Cat. The youngest is almost 3 months old and so alert now and she loves the bouncy seat I got her. So now when she is fussy I just strap her in and push the button and it gentle vibrates the seat and the motion seems to quiet her down, I call her my little lamb chop. Her big sister is 17 months and she is scooter bug lol. She is a sweety as well. I have them on a schedule so things are a bit better. So that helps not only me but their Grammy as well.

My knitting has been neglected for a few days since I've been Auntie and nurse to everyone. By the time I sit down I am exhausted and all I want to do it sleep a little lol. I am working like crazy to get my bag done for the fall felted bag exchange. I am just finishing up the knitting then the felting will be done and I figure it will take maybe 1-2 days to dry and then I will decide if I will line it or not.

Then I have to finish gathering the goodies for the box! I am going to send some pictures to my mom to ask for her advice on the stole. I am participating in the secret of the stole and I have 3 different beads to choose from and I would like to get her input. It boils down to this do I want shiny contrast, or matte rainbow or go with shiney nuetrals. So a second opinion will be nice. Well it is 9:31 and I need to check my little man Angus I think he has scatched his ear and broke the skin so I want o check it our and treat it with antibiotic ointment after I clean it so it won't get infected.

So y'all have a and even though tomorrow is Monday, ,

CW

Check out my yarn score & Granny's cold Remedy

2007-10-04T08:55:00.000-05:00

Well it has been a crazy few days her in the Watkin's household. DH had the flu and it finally broke last night and now he looks and feels much better now. The girls have colds, and I have the sniffles. But my great garand mother's cold remedy is hot at work kicking out what ever I have lol. The remedy is: 1 small onion thinly sliced; 1.5 lemons thinly sliced. The put in a pan with 1 cup of water and boil till onions and lemons are just about transparent and most of the water is gone. I add a little ginger root to it as well (my little addition). Then add a little over .5 cup of honey and turn flame down and cook until everything is a nice golden brown then add .25 cup of good bourbon whiskey. I use Wild Turkey 101 and cooking until thick. Then let it cool down and put into a small mason jar and let it sit on the counter and take 1-2 teaspoons a day until cold is gone. It may take yucky, but boy I'll tell you it works better than antibiotics.

Then there is the matter of my yarn score. I got 20 balls of Louisa Harding's Kimono Angora , I call it a "BIG" score because it is being sold at 40% discount!! So instead paying $220, I paid $132!! This is the yarn that I have selected for the special shawls that I am making to honor the women in my family. The first one is going to my grandmother, she is 88 and has Alzheimer's and in a nursing home. She was back in the day a force to be reconked with. Well I need to get my butt moving as I have to go to the VA this morning will right more later! Have a great day!

Cioa!

Finished Lina's gift and moving right along

2007-09-23T23:05:00.000-05:00

I am just about done with my tote I am making for the felted bag exchange. You can see that I am having fun mixing up the yarn colors and textures too! Just have to figure out what type of handles to make or buy.

What a crazy weekend we've had. I was sort of sick. I slept on and off "ALL" day. Didn't go to prayer meeting Saturday nor did I make it to churck. I just sleep for the most part today. I feel like all my energy has been drained. Anyway I stayerd up till 3:30 due to a migraine. So I dimmed the lights and knitted a little. While knitting I am not thinking about the pain in my head. I was able to finish Lina's gift. I made her a shrug like I did for my daughter only I used the Nashua Hand Knits' Cilantro in Aqua and the trim I used the Bright white. I am in love with this yarn. It is stretchy whick makes it great for this pattern I think. Anyway I hope it does fit her.

Our friend Cat has her grandchildren for a while long story but we are helping her out by baby sitting for her. Senna is a cutie pie, as I type I can her the squeak of my rocker, Uncle Mike is rocking her. She is a tough little cookie she does not like to go to sleep at night. Angus has finally stopped his barking now. Anyway here is picture of Lina's shrug and also picture of the new yarn for the 3rd Forest Canopy shalw I am making.

I have the yarn on hold at my LYS for the Shawls I will be making for my grandmother, mom , aunts and my daughter. I will be using the Forest Canopy pattern because I like the way it turned out and it is an easy knit. I also have a picture of that yarn. I wanted something extra special for these shawls for the "Blunt" womenso I am using the Louisa Harding's Kimono Angora and this is it:

I will be making the edges a different color so that they'll each be unique, but also the same if you can understand what I mean. Then I will begin another one for the Bag-A-Holics swap. I really do enjoy these! Qwll I am off now Little Senna is still up so now it is Auntie Cheryl's turn to sit and rock her. Everyone have a blessed and awesome week!!

Love ya & ,
CW

New Things in the home

2007-09-15T23:50:00.000-05:00

Well I just realized that I need to post some new pictures. This past week was a great one my new TV/Monitor from DELL arrived on Monday. I wasn't expecting it to arrive until Friday! I am back on track now I can read emails and etc. without having to wear my glasses now. Plus Angus can take up his rightful place laying infront of the monitor now because there is room for him.

On Tuesday my DH cut his shoulder length hair. It was hard on me because I loved the fact that he was growing his hair out. But we are in MIT class at church and it was one of the requirements/preferences for where we attend church currently.

But let me tell you I think he looks younger and sexy with short hair. I tease him, every once in a while I will whistle at him and he turns red lol. Now I just havve to show him how to use a little gel and he'll be all set. Well that is all for now I am going to go and knit a bit before calling it a night. Will post again soon!

Ciao!
CW

Fall Felted Bag Exchange ~ Progress report

2007-09-15T18:30:00.000-05:00

These pictures show the different colors I am using. I figured that I would use black to make a odd band in the striping sequence. I'll do that row later this evening.

Well I have been working almost every night on this project. It relaxes me so I tend to work on tis at night. I am using the following yarns for this one: Cascade and Cascade Quattro; Nashua Handknits in worsted, chunky and wooly stripes and Bernat Boa. It is beign done in the garter stitch so far I might toss in maybe a little purl row here and there just to make it a little interesting. I am trying to decide if I want to make a flap for this or not. Then the straps I am looking at thick knitted one(s) or maybe double I-cord looped through grommets. But I have plenty of time to decide. I hope my pall will like it.

Anyway I need to stop will make another entry after dinner and when we come back from church. Tonight is prayer and we are going becuase tomorrow is a special day for Michael and I. Catch up to ya later my gator!

CW

My Latest Exchange

2007-09-12T16:01:00.000-05:00

Ok ~ So this is only a portion of the yarn that I am using for the Bag/tote that I am making for the Fall felted Bag Exchange. I just love sitting down at night and knitting this. It is a simple pattern (my own) and I can watch television while doing it. I just thought that I would give you a little peak at what's in the works. Not sure if I will line it or not. I am getting ready to switch to down a size in needles to the bag with have a different felted look in ceertain sections. Well I will post angain later but I need to get this one in for the contest!! Happy Wenesday!

Ciao!

Today is 1st Anniversary ~ The waiting game ~ It's killing me

2007-09-10T12:39:00.000-05:00

Today is our first wedding anniversary. A year already!! WooHoo, it is strange because it does not seem like a year has passed. Michael wanted to surprise me by taking me away on Sunday night to Kemah broadwalk, but something needed to be taken care of. He was really upset, he said he wanted to do something very special for me since I surpised him for his birthday. I told him not to worry, to me it is the little things that count. I got him a nice card and I am going to cook a special dinner, he got me a dozen of Flash Baccara roses and a beautiful card. We are going to go and have our picture taken today as well. Anyway on with the knitting chapter:

WAITING for the yarn

Well I have been waiting for my yarn to arrive for the Secret of the Stole Kal that begins in October to arrive. I am going batty with anticipation. I have never used Cashwool before so I want to get my hands on it "NOW" lol. I am also going to be doing the Mystery Stole Kal and I am toying with the idea of als doing the Heere Be Dragons Kal as well. I just love lace knitting though I have to learn how to do grafting, but I think the Yarn Doctor can help me with that one. Plus I need to find a tuturial on the backward loop cast on. I have been working on several things so I have been busy.
Plus I called DELL on Thursday regarding my 26" monitor/tv. It just switched off in the middle of me typing a document and would not go back on. Well when I called DELL they said the warranty had expired. When I told them that it was purchased in Dec. 2006 from Aarons the customer service rep asked me to hold the line. When she came back on she said that it was not fixable. Then she said where do you want your order shipped to, I was confused so when she told me that DELL was sending me a brand spankin' NEW one!!! Ok, just knock me the heck out ok. I could not believe it!! So gave her all the pertinant information. She said it would take 3-5 business days. Well Guess what arrive just 10 minutes ago on the bright, sunny and hot Houston day? My new Monitor. When Michael gets home he will hook the new one up and then we will use the same packaging and box to ship the old one back to DELL. I tell you DELL is an awesome company to do business with and they stand behind thier products 100%!! Well I need to get moving have to shower and get ready so we can do the pictures. Plus another special event will be taking place (no I am not pregnant to relax y'all) will explain in the next post! Have an awesome week y'all.

Ciao!!
CW

Christmas Around the World Knitter Swap

2007-09-06T13:57:00.000-05:00

Hi all, well I finally finished the questionaire!! Had computer problems. My Dell monitor crashed it stoppped working. The on/off but just quite. But I got an unexpected surprise, though I called Dell and they are replacing it!! So I will have a brand new 26" monitor/tv in a few days!! Talk abou thunder struck!! I am a happy woman let me tell you. Any way here it is:

1. Are you religious? I have a strong faith in God, right now we go to a Pentecostal Church.
2. How long have you been knitting? I have been knitting for about 1 year now but that was due to a 20+ year hiatus. Would you consider yourself a Beginner, Intermediate or Advanced? I guess intermediate since I venture out and do different knitting techniques. Lace is a favorite with me.
3. Do you have any other hobbies besides knitting? Making jewelry and stitch markers, sewing and quilting.
4. Favorite color(s)? Geeze I have several they are: Jewel tone colors; fuschia, royal blue, purple, ruby red and Teal.
5. Do you collect anything? Yes sterling silver, crystal, tea cups and saucers.
6. Are you allergic to any fibers or animals? Cats make me sneeze sometimes.
7. Do you have any pets? Yes we have 2 dogs. Rita a 6 yr. old Chinese Crested and Sir Angus Seton a almost 2 yr. old Black and red Phantom toy poodle.
8. Coffee, Tea, or Hot Chocolate? I like them all.
9. Cookies or Sweets? I really not much of a cookie eater, but I do like Short bread cookies if I have them.
10. Do you knit socks? Not really, I am very slow knitting them lol.
11. If not socks then what? I love to make lace shawls and scarves.
12. Do you put up a Christmas tree? Yes this year we will have a 12 foot tree!!
13. Favorite holiday treats? Scandinavian bread and the traditional Dresden Stollen
14. Favorite holiday smells? Pies & cookies baking in the oven, and a warm fire burning in the fire place.
15. Do you celebrate Christmas in a traditional or unconventional way? We do the traditional way. Since our families and children and grandchildren live out of state we have friends come over. On Christmas eve I make a seafood dinner and we decorate the tree and some of us exchange small gifts. We have good food and fellowship. We also invite at least 2 people to share Christmas dinner with us. This is something that I have done and now being married we continue this tradition. We also do this on Thanksgiving too!
16. What are your favorite holiday traditions? Having the Christmas eve tree trimming dinner and decorating the tree.
17. Finish the sentence: “For me Christmas is all about the meaning and reason for the season and that is to celebrate the birth of Christ.”
18. If you were a Christmas ornament you would be? I would be a Waterford Crystal Ornament that would glint and sparkle in the light.
19. What was your favorite gift you've ever received or gave? Last year I made all the gifts from knitted scarf’s, cowls and hats to jewelry I made. I think gifts that we make are appreciated me because we take the time to make something special and it shows that we cared enough to take the time to do it.
20. When do you start your Christmas? We do the twelve days of Christmas theme and each day we open a little box and see what is inside. Its fun and we enjoy it.
21. Do you send Christmas cards? Do you make them or buy them? Yes we send out cards and I do both store bought and I also make them.
22. What is your favorite Christmas dish? Wow, I have several favorites but if I had to choose one I’d say the Apricot studded, orange glazed ham.
23. Carolers are at your door. What do you do? We open the door to listen and then offer something to drink. Sometimes we join them and sing along.
24. When do you open presents? Christmas Eve or Christmas morning? We usually will open a small gift on Christmas Eve them wait till the morning to open the rest!!

Busy Lady that's me

2007-08-31T23:32:00.000-05:00

This is yarn that will be used for the Bee Fields Shawl

Well as you can se I have been busy changing things on my blog. I am somewhat please so far with what I have done. I hope to be adding more things and music in the months to come. But I wanted to get the buttons of most of the kals that I am either doing or getting ready to venture into. I have just added some new things. Anyway I am off to get started FINALLY on the Bee Fields Shawl (by Anne Hanson) I got that pattern and the Honey Bee Stole pattern today. Lord help me I am in Lace Heaven lol.

Y'all have a great Holiday weekend!!

Ciao,

3-2-1 Contact for Fall Felted Bag Exchange

2007-08-28T23:10:00.000-05:00

Ok, now I am really stressing because I cannot figure out what happened to my link to the fall felted bag exchange. It soes not appear in my list of blogs and how will I be able to post to it? Any ideas HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok here is the contest info:

1. What is your favorite yarn for felting, and why?

I have only felted one purse and it was using Nashua chunky and worsted weight yarn. I like the way it felts and the colors meld together.

2. Name one person in the swap who is not from he U.S. and tell us where they are from, and link to their blog.

Penny she live in Central Canada and here is her blog: http://pennypurlsandkittyknits.blogspot.com/

3. Find one person in the swap who has a dog, and let us know the name of their dog(s) and link to their blog.

Kris W. she lives in NH, just took her son to Norwich U and she has 2 dogs their names are: Annie and Toby and this is her blog: http://knottyknitterkris.blogspot.com/

4. Find one person in the swap who has a child or grandchild and link to their blog.

Joanne P. she has 4 grown children and 5 little grandchildren and her blog is here: http://capesoxknitter.blogspot.com/

5. And finally, tell us if you like October or November more, and why! (Yea, I know part of September and November are technically fall, but for this question, only October and November matter!)

I love November because one of my favorite holidays is Thanksgiving and I love going on harvest rides and pumpkin picking. Also things seem to be slowed down by this time of year. That is just before the Christmas dash for holiday shopping lol.

Well I am going to see if I can email the host of this group so I can get the link again strange how things happen. Anyway have a reat night y'all.

Ciao!
CW

Close-ups of First shawl and 2nd one

2007-08-24T21:41:00.000-05:00

This is the second Forest Canopy that I am knitting it is made out of pure wool so I will have to use some type of rinse when I block it to make it a bit softer. But it will be great to where over long sleeved shirt in the fall and when you just need to take the chill off. That is for those who live outside of the TX area lol. This one is destined for a Christmas gift.

The above shot shows the point details. Yeah I know some are a little off but for the first time blocking I think it's darn good!!

This picture above shows the detail a little better. This was such a joy to knit and rather fast. I bet if I worked on this several hours a day that I could complete one in 2.5 maybe 3 days!!

Here is another shot of the shawl this time I took the picture with it on the ecru floor tile. I can hardly wait to wear it for the first time!! That is it for the shawls I will post again with some of the other recent photo's I've taken. Have a great Friday night all!

Keep them needles busy!!

Questionnaire Done

2007-08-21T20:54:00.000-05:00

Well I finally finished the questionnaire for the Felted BAg Exchange and here it is:

1. How long have you been knitting or crocheting? How did you learn? or from whom?

I can’t remember how old I was when I starting knitting I know that when I was 25 I tried to do serious knitting and got annoyed and put the needles down until October 2005 and I have been knitting like there is no tomorrow now. I believe it was my mom who taught me how to knit and the when I was older my grandmother taught me to crochet. I need to do a basic course in that again as a refresher.

2. What was your first felted object, and why did you decide to try felting?

The first was a scarf in December 2005, I wanted to see what it would look like and then I joined the International Tote Exchange IV and I designed, knitted and felted my “first” HUGE tote. I just had this design in my head and I ran with it and picked colors as I went along. It was a blast!! I am getting ready to do another felted tote for ITEV!!

3. What are your favorite colors? Any you hate?

I am a lover of jewel tones. I am not fond of bright neon clothes if it is clothing, otherwise I like them all. The neon’s are ok for an accent color an nothing mre when it comes to my personal taste.

4. What are your favorite styles\types of bags? (Long straps? Short handles? Handbags? Totes? Embellished? Plain? Include links to patterns or photos if you’d like – give your pal an idea of what you enjoy!)

Since I’ve gotten older I sort of lean toward the short handles (but do have a few with long handles) these days. I like totes because I always carry a knitting project with me. I love embellished bags, They let the knitter express their creativity. These are links to purses/totes that I love: http://internationaltotexchangeiv.blogspot.com/ ~ go to the hall of fame page and look for the following names: Toro,Ohio; JoanB-Connecticut; Trika – Estonia Europe I love both bags; Deb Brown – Georgia; Two Sticks and Yarn-Maine; Jane-Maine. This is the ultimate one, look for Christina Coghill-Indiana.

5. What handbag or bag are you carrying today? Do you use a separate bag to carry your knitting?

I use a knitted Cable purse and I carry a separate tote for my project too, my DH sometimes calls me Bag lady lol.

6. What other things do you enjoy knitting or crocheting?

Lace Shawls; Baby Caps, Scarves, Cowls/Smoke Rings and shrugs.

7. What sort of needles do you enjoy working with? (Straights vs. circs, bamboo vs. aluminum)?

Actually I love working with Addi Turbo’s and Addi Lace Circ. Needles, though some yarns do better on bamboo circulars. I like to use the straights when they are in “BIG” sizes because then they are short needles not long ones.

8. What’s one project you’ve not yet tried but are dying to make?

Barbara’s Shawl using the Kauni EQ colorway. Really any shawl using the Kauni yarn(s) would be grand, but I love the EQ-Rainbow colorway. That is what I would love to have in my yarn stash.Actually at the moment there are 3 lace projects I’d love to start in the next 3 weeks. They are the Honey Bee Stole; Bee Fields Shawl by: Anne Hanson, Barbara's Shawl by Jean Townsend

9. What’s one yarn you’ve not yet tried but are dying to work with?

I have 3 actually they are: Quivit ; Kauni and one of the Silk and/or Silk & Wool yarns from the Schaefer Company’s Memorable Women collection.

10. What other hobbies do you have? Do you spin? Sew? Garden?

I sew and in the process of making a tote + purse combo bag so I can have room to carry things from my purse in addition to knitting. I also make jewelry and stitch markers. I am a chef and enjoy preparing meals as presenting what I have prepared.

11. Besides yarn, do you collect anything?

I like to collect the following things: Antique Tea Cups & Saucers, Sterling Silver, Lead Crystal, Swarovski Crystal, Glass paperweights to mention a few things.

12. What kind of goodies do you enjoy? Sweets? Salty? Anything you hate or are allergic to?

I love hard candy (sugarless), Sour dough pretzels; Honey roasted nuts. I am not that crazy about chocolate. As for Goodies well crazy or unusual stitch markers, earrings etc.

13. Do you have any kiddos? (Furry kind count!)

Yes I have a 28 yr. old daughter and 2 beautiful granddaughters. I also have 4 stepchildren (2 boys and 2 girls). Plus we have 2 (soon to be 4) furry children. Miss Rita is a hairless Chinese Crest Dog she is almost 7 yrs. Of age, I got her when she was 4 yrs. Old. Then the baby is our Sir Angus Seton. He is a Black & Red Phantom (rare color markings) toy poodle. We sometimes call him BA (bad ass) because he can pretty feisty at times. He plays with DH and they rough house. Yep you should see my little 8.5 pound wonder kick butt, but he also is a Casanova. He just loves to give kisses, but let anyone come near me and he can be a force to be reckoned with. He is very protective of me.

14. What kind of project best personifies you and why?

Lace knitting, I guess because of the many different facets and sometimes intricate patterns/stitches that are used and yet most of it is simple knitting. My DH says that I am like that because I can adapt to most situations with tack and finesse. I have a way of looking at certain situations and can see the easier way of getting things done when others only see a long drawn out process. He said at times I can be complex like lace and also laid back and relaxed.

15. What is your favorite part of autumn? You can also share a special autumn memory if you'd prefer!

Oh that would definitely be the changing of the leaves. Foliage season, driving up in New England in the NH & ME areas and looking at the beautiful colors on the mountains and the nice sweet, crisp apples and cider that you can get from road-side stands is the best!! But that is one of the drawbacks of living in TX, the do not have the same breath taking colors of the fall, like the North does.

16. Tell us 3 things you would do if you won 10 million dollars in the lottery.

I would give 10% to church and charities like Susan Komen Breast Cancer; Inner City programs for disadvantaged children, then I would pay off any and all our debts. Buy 2 smaller, easier to manage homes for our parents. Set up educational trust funds for our grandchildren. Then we would buy land and build the house of our dreams and have all the animals we want like horses, Alpaca & sheep since I am going to be learning how to spin my own yarn it would be fun to raise my own animals for fiber. Then maybe even some Brangus, Black faced herefords. That would make for a nice ranch that could also be a B&B.

Birthday Surprise ~ Gotcha Michael

2007-08-19T21:50:00.000-05:00

I got his so good with this one. He has no idea at all that I was planning this for him. I told him I was helping plan a baby shower and that is how I was able to buy groceries etc. in the open. When he was taking his afternoon nap I went and got ballons etc and little odds and ends. I was just so thrilled to be ale to do this for him. I wanted to show him just how much I appreciate him and how truly blessed and honored I am to have him as my husband, the man that God has chosen for me. Plus the party also helped him in away that he knows that their are others who appreciate him and love him and will always be there in his life. Well I need to get moving the chicken is don and while it is coling I will make a nice summer greens salad for him with veggies steamed with Asian Giner marinade. I go for my weigh in this Tuesday and also see the surgeon on the 27th to schedule my surgery date!! So I wll say "Later Gator"!

She be Finished WooooHooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2007-08-19T21:16:00.000-05:00

Well here it is, the Forest Canopy Shoulder Shawl!! I did have a minor problem but thanks to one of the owners at the LYS I was able to do a little creative contrast color and it cam e out awesome (I think). The pictures of the yarn shows the original dye lot to the right and the same colorway but different dye lot is to the left. Yes I was almost in a knitter’s coma on that one. But a valuable lesson learned. The darker one was from a project I started in February of this year and I frogged it to make the shawl. The other yarn picture shows the contrast yarn that I used. Louisa Harding's Grace and it went well with the Handmaiden's Silk Maiden. I am so happy and pleased with my first lace shawl. I have started another one that will be for one of my aunt's for either a Christmas or birthday present.

I am getting a jump on knitting for holiday gifts as well this year, so I have a few things lined up to do some knitting, some will be done with sewing pattern and some will be jewelry gifts this year. Well I have to chicken in the oven and I have given the little ones their baths and what did they do? Roll around on the lawn!! Right doesn't seem to mind it as much as Angus, he is not crazy about the dryer aspect. They both have dental appointments at the end of the month, Rita for routine cleaning and Angus is having the baby teeth removed that he still has along with cleaning and being micro chipped. Next month on the 10th we'll be celebrating out 1st anniversary. It really does not seem as though we have been married a year, I guess when you marry your best friend things work extremely well. Plus I guess the fact that we have a strong communication foundation and we have a "couples" journal has really worked for us.

Well I ought to go as I want t get some knitting done on another Forest Canopy. I will be starting the Bee Fields shawl next month and I just have to decide on what yarn I want to purchase for it. I just might get it as a kit and not have to worry about where to get the yarn. So I shall say catch ya later for now. I will post some pictures the next time of the surprise birthday party I had for Michael. It would have been nice if mom could have come up from NV for it, but we hope to be going to visit her sometime in January. I know that we will be going to my 30th class reunion this November. It is going to be wonderful going this time because I will have my husband along with me and my friends can meet the man that has stolen my heart! Have a great week all!
Ciao!
CW

My Prize Package from ITEIV arrived today

2007-08-16T19:46:00.000-05:00

My Surprise package I won for the most posting during the ITEIV !

What a nice surprise to see my package from Jane that I had won. After a day like today (can we sayrow boat needed). what started as a crappy day due to the weather ended on a good note. Just look at the goodies I got!! The lime colored yarn was dyed using Kool-Aid, I love it is sort of goes from a deep lime to almost a sherbet colored lime. I am going to look for the pattern in the book I got to make a few for the Christmas Holiday as gifts!! Well this is short Michael is not feeling well so I need to check on him, the drive to and from Houston today was an absolute bear and people seem to be just "BUTT" heads when it is comes to driving in the rain. Tomoorrow I will post an updated picture of the Forest Canopy Shoulder Shawl. I am making another one for a family memebers' birthday. Can you guess who it will be for? Well you'll just have to wait an see lol. Stay dry and cool ad enjoy what is left of the summer!!

I'm in Yarn HEAVEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2007-08-16T02:31:00.000-05:00

Talk about yarn coma? These are the latest eBay yarns that all came in today. I was beside myself in yarn nirvana. They are so soft and smooth especially the 4 hanks fo MYC Wool/Silk yarn from New Mexico. It is a thick -thin bulky and I have 560 yds of that. So I figure maybe a scarf or hat will use up 280 yds. Then I will save the rest of that colorway.

The 3 pictures are from Mirari Crafts from Scotburn, NS Canada. The first reminds me of a Macaw Parrot and this is 1-ply pure wool @ 450 yds. The second is the same type of yarn and remoinds me of the Christmas holiday and the 2 hanks give a total of 900 yds. the third picture is from same company and the colorway reminds me of a desert sunset and this too is 900 yds. The final picture is yarn from Yarntopia Treasures from New Mexico it is a Superwash Merino Wool in fingering weight (1-ply) 560 yds. So now I do need a ball winder for my yarn. I have the yarn swift already. My office craft room is about half way done just 2 more walls to paint the base color and then I will just havethe stenciling to do. I figure if I stencil some "huge" 18-inch circles in say an antique white that will off-set the bumble bee yellow walls, plus I will be able to then stencil inside of these also and them make smaller circles whre I can stencil encouraging and creative words. Well it is 2:47 in the morning and I still need to get some sleep cause the sun do rise arely in the mornin' lol. Everyone have a nice day!!

Joined a new Swap

2007-08-09T23:45:00.000-05:00

Hey all,

I forgot to mention that I joined a new swap called Christmas Around the World Knitters. I think that is the correct name. Anyway I am so excited to find out how this one will run. Today I got my Addi needles that I won on eBay and also some new yarn as well. The ran is for another shwl but then agaon it might be 2 scarves instead. I am trying to get a jump on the Christmas holiday thing this year. Anyway it is almost midnight and soon to be Friday and I need to get some sleep busy day tomorrow must finish up painting this weekeend. Then get my office craft room done so I can start putting things back in their. Well the little onese are quiet now. They have had their share of barking at kitty. Kitty is our housemates cat. So far so good no major happenes between the aniumals thanks the good Lord lol. Y'all have a nice night an will write more this weekend.

Ciao!

PS I thought I would showl you my lateset eBay winnings!!

My eBay winnings

2007-08-05T22:05:00.000-05:00

Hand dyed Pure wool ~ 900 yds. Fingering yarn from Mirari Crafts -Canada
Hand dyed Pure wool ~ 900 yds. Fingering yarn from Mirari Crafts -Canada

Hand dyed 50% Wool 50% Silk yarn from Mystical Creation YArns in New Mexico

Hand dyed Pure wool ~ 450 yds. Fingering yarn from Mirari Crafts -Canada

My new adjustable yarn swift made out of Oak. I got from Tim Hale in Rosemont, IL .

Hi all,

Boy this past month has been rather quirky, but things are leveling out now. Let's see we are back on the internet after dealing with Comcast. Bot glad that is over lol. I have gotten some awesome yarns and a swift through eBay and also some incredible deals on Addi Circ. needles!! The pictures are from the site what I won and I will post my own when the yarns get here.

Just look at the yarns!! I can hardly wait to get my hands on the new ones!! I might even have to do two posting to show everything. I have saved quit a bit too, but I will always make my monthly LYS purchase though cause I just love the things that they have and will be taking classes as well. So as you can see the yarns and swift above. I am going to have fun knitting, I am talking knitters heaven. I can hardly wait to feel and do the yarn nuzzle lol. Some of this yarn is already slated for Christmas gifts, the next tote exchange and the Christmas around the World exchnage.

Then to top my day/night off I won a prise for the most postings for the ITE IV!! Me of all people!! I did not think I would win any of the contests let alone the most posting, I was off line for a few weeks!! Well it is sort of late I will post aontherentry tomorrow to show some more of my eBay booty lol. Have an awesome week y'all!!

The Perils of Hand-dyed; Hand-painted Yarn

2007-08-02T22:34:00.000-05:00

Wow !!

I can't believe I have not posted in such a long time. Have had internet wows and then some other things popped up. But I have been knitting to that ias a good thing cause my nerves were frazzled lol. Well I am going at a good clip with my Forest Canopy Shoulder Shawl. I am really pleased with the way it is coming. Well I ran into every knitters horror having to get more yarn to finish project. Well I called my LYS and they had more of Hand Maiden's S8ilk Maiden in Vintage. I was excited to here that news. So I go and get 1 more handk and Amy winds if for me. I notice after it's wound that hummmm....... This looks a little off but Amy gave me some suggestions and I was off.

Well I get home and get ady to sit and knit I pull the new yarn out and grab my shawl tote and take out my work. I thought I would pass out. To my horror it had changed, not slightly but a drastic change. I looked at teh rich jewel tones of the yarn tta I had frogged to make the shawl and the new ball and they were so opposit it wasn't funny. You see the scarf that I frogged was the one I had started in February when I took the Easy Peasy Lace class. They colors in the new lot are not the vibrant, rich jewel tones. They are subdued and there are 2 new colors in it.

So back to the LYS I go and I showed Sheryl and she said I had two choices one was to start over using the new yarn and get another one so I would have enough or pick a color in a solid that would match and incorporate it.

So that is what I did so I have this very pretty sort of reddish brown that I will work the middle of the shawl with and the finish it with the rest of the Vintage I started it with. So I found the brown in the Louisa HArding Glace yarn I believe it is color #12. So in the mean time I have posted these pictures to show what I have done and the differences in dye lots and the new solid I am going to use. After I finish and block it and if I like that way it came out I will use aonther colorway and make one for my grandmother for Christmas. I think I will use one of the Schaefer yarns from their Memorable Women Collection. Anway I need to get moving I have a lot to do tomorrw and I need to get some good sleep. That's it for now.

Ciao!

Frogging time

2007-07-16T11:14:00.001-05:00

Yes,

The dreaded word in every knitters vocabulary. I will frog these and use the yarn for another project. The homespun yarn will be used for a fast and nicer looking shawl. The Hand Maiden , Silk Maiden yarn will be use for another pattern that will show iff the colors better and I will use that for something for me a shrug perhaps. The Schefer Anne sock yarn is already slated for a shawl pattern that I have in mind and it is a "LACE" pattern and I will be using beads. That mystery stole3 has me hooked on lace now and the beading is so easy that I am not into that as well. So I will be making the Christmas gits starting now so I can ship them in plenty enough time to get then where they need to be "before" christmas this year lol.

Well the sun is out but I have een hearing the rumble of thunder in the distance so I have an idea it might drizzle or rain lightly. I need to do some cleaning, ironing and mending in addition to taking Salmon out for Michale's dinner tonight. I am 9 punds away from my goal . Then it is on to surgery and the new healthier and energized me!! Excited about that very much too. Well have a Blessed week until next time Ciao!

Wiil off line till August 10th

2007-07-16T00:20:00.000-05:00

Just a quick entry before I go off line. This was a crazy strange day. Church was great as it always is. The weather was strange it was sort of muggy, humid raining but not for long. But I was awfully sleepy when we got home I had to take my med's and that put me right out I woke up as Michael was leaving for evening service. My bones were hurting terribly. I drifted back off to sleep only to be awoken by this God awful noise coming from the television. There was a special on the travel channel and I woke up to the sounds of the Holler Monkeys. Talk about a rude awakening lol. Anyway I finished my sister's tote and will post a picture of that much later as I won't have intenet access from home. Anyway this week we will be painting my office and then I will have before and after pictures to post as well. So everybody enjoy the next two weeks and until next post God Speed and Blessing!
CW

The Mystery Contniues.......

2007-07-14T19:13:00.000-05:00

First came the swatch seemed pretty easy, but that was just the swatch.

This shows the Zephyr Lace yarn in Mahogany and the Czech Glass Beads in Rainbow Red.

This was when I hit row #50 can we say Yippy Thank you Jesus!!

This is another shot if you look real close you can see the beads. I will have to take a better close up next time, but hey what do you want for taking a photo at 5:01 in the morning.

Now look at this little cutie pie. Here is momma's boy he went to the groomers yesterday and he looks great this is his summer cute and he seems to like it very much. We have an awesome groomer too she is very nice and she has a very nice home and I feel good about leaving Angus with her. She does a great job too!!

Well I am 9 pounds away from setting the date for the surgery and I am excited about that. I think I can lose more than 9 by the 24 th of this month. I am really enjoying the Mystery Stole. I exchanged a pair of circ. needles and paid the difference and I have the Addi lace needles now. Ok ~ can we say Addi addict now, say tht 5 times fast and see what happens lol. Today it rained but not badly the sun is back out so tht is good. I am getting used to the new medication I am taking so I feel sleepy a bit more during the day and nap often, but by next Monday that will be in the past. One of the med's I take for pain and infflamation of the joints is awesome as in I have no pain like before. I can move freely and not have to worry if I get up will I make an ugly face? Well I need to take a nap now and then it will be charging forward with the Addi's. Y'all have an awesome weekend.

Ciao,

Tote Finished

2007-07-06T21:37:00.001-05:00

This is the yarn and beads for the Mystery Shawl3 Knit A long I have joined. The yarn is Zephyr in Mahogany from the Yarn Barn a 4 oz. cone. The beads are Czech Glass beads in Red Rainbow which look just awesome with the yarn. They add just the right amount of contrast. Everyone started their shawls last week. Some of those gals knit like greased lightening!! I am quite a bit behind but that is ok, there is no set time limit, so I will take my time. This is going to be a early birthday gift to myself and I want it to be a stunning shawl that I can wear out for my 1st Wedding Anniversary.
As you can see it is finished and it is "big" just like my pal had wanted. I hope she likes it. I had such fun making it. I also made a book mark to go along with the book I put in with the goodies and also a Sterling Silver and Turquiose Chip and Tiger eye bracelet. I also make some stitch markers. then I got a nice chicken soup book, some tea and a nice knitting mug star fish plushies t hang from shelves and a little spring clock.

Now I will be starting the other project. I joined the Mystery Shawl3 knit along. My Zephyr yarn I odrered is 50% lace and 50% wool in a nice Mahogany color and I have chosen Red rainbow beads that look just awesome with it! It is my first real "big" lace project and I am excited about starting it. I will so my swatch first and see how it looks. We chose our own yarn though the designer gives us some ideas for colors and we chose our own needles. The smallest circ. needles I have is a size 5, but I think I will try my size 2 straight needles they are 14" long and I think I will be able to fit 99 stitches on them. Well I need to get to working that swatch. But first will check on hubby he had his final oral surgery done today and he is feeling kind of crappy. Have a great weekend all!

Ciao,

Can you say Rain Rain go away!!!

2007-06-24T14:45:00.001-05:00

Aren't they just the cutest!! These are Suger Gliders. Friends of ours raise them and we visit them almost every weekend at the Traders Village Flea MArket. They are so precious but since we will be doing a bit of traveling we will wait before we get any of them. But at present I am aching all over my joints are screaming in pain!! We have had about "6" days of on and off rain and the barometric pressure has been going up and down and my bones know it!! Usually we mow once a week but with this rain we hve strated to mow about every 6 days now because it grows so fast.

It was just sunny out and then over cast and then I heard thunder and then the rain I mean do TX have a "rainy" season now lol. The kids do not like it cause when they go outside to go potty they do not like getting their little paws wet. Then I have to dry their pawes off or else paw prints on the couch lol. Yesteday I wa in a cooking mood so I made a tray of stuffed shells and pu them up in the freezer and also lasagna too. Tomorrow I will do some chicken, this way just have to reheat things and not have to get the whole house hot with cooking. I have been knitting another litle bag to go with the tote for the exchange that I am participating in. I am so excited I can hardly wait for the next tote exchange to begin. I felted this tote I am giving to my pal and I am addicted to felting now. I found a beautiful pattern for a felted purse that I will be making for myself and if I like the way it turns out I will make it for my next pal. I am also doing some felting for holiday gifts. I figure might as well get a jump on the holiday season. This way I can do like last year and ship them all to my parent's house and then when they meet at my aunt's they'll get their gifts that way. Well I had the biopsy and ultra sound done on Friday and now have to wait till next week Friday to get the results. I would be telling a fib if I did not say I am a bit nervous , but I have faith that all will turn out just fine. Michael is taking it hard and I am trying to get him to think on the positive side of the matter. Well have to run have to get dinner ready. Well post again later in the week!

Ciao! CW

Tanya's gift done!!

2007-06-17T15:14:00.000-05:00

Well,

I finally finished the Glamprye Shrug . I decied to give to my daughter for her birthday gift. I used Debbie Bliss Stella in 38009 colr. That is a nice rich red, the yarn is 60% silk, 20% rayon and 20% cotton. I will tell her to wash on gentle cycled or hand wash and hand to dry. I think she will look very smart in this color. Can't believe she'll be 28 at the end of this month! Boy how time flys by. It is raining and thunder storming like crazy today, I am surprised that our back yard did not float away. The pool over flowed 2 times so we lowered the water yet again. I am glad that it is an in-ground pool. We have special drains along the back of the house which drains it into the street. Well I have so knitting to tackle am working on a baby blanket, a throw for the doctor as a thank you gift and making some accessories as well. Hey a girls' gotta keep busy.

Happy knitting and have a great week!

Talk about Busy lol

2007-06-13T04:08:00.000-05:00

Wow has been a few days since my last post. I have been knitting like a storm. I have several things on the needles will have to post those pictures later. I am going to do laundry now then go to bed.

The above picture shows some lace being done for a scarf. I have yet to get back to doing lol. Anway adios and catch ya on the wild side !

G'Day

2007-06-05T05:11:00.000-05:00

Well I am believeing it will be a good day. Even though I hve yet to go to sleep, yes I have been up over 24 hours. I just do not feel sleepy. So I am knitting on different projects. I hope to have an appointment at the doctor's soon. So that I can have this lump taken care of and removed. My husband is so afraid that something will happen to me. I told him , have faith the Lord is in control. Well I am going to knit 15 more rows then go to bed, I should be tired by them lol.

Hve an awesome day!!
Cheryl