Roanoke, Virginia

The front entrance to the Hollins University campus in Roanoke, Virginia. It's a very pretty campus.

The front yard of the campus.

This place was recommended as a good place for dinner but we don't think we'll go back.

A very cool sign in front of a restaurant that was not open on Sunday.

There Be Dragons . . .

Please take a moment to click on the dragon eggs in the right hand column of the blog. The eggs won't hatch if nobody clicks on them and we would hate it if they died before they hatched.

Thank you - the egg adopters

Up, up, up, up, to the Heaviside Layer

The moments of happiness . . .

We had the experience but missed the meaning

And approach to the meaning restores the experience

In a different form, beyond any meaning

We can assign to happiness . . .

The past experience revived in the meaning

Is not the experience of one life only

But of many generations - not forgetting

Something that is probably quite ineffable

Moonlight, turn your face to the moonlight

Let your memory lead you

Open up, enter in

If you find there the meaning of what happiness is

Then a new life will begin

Moonlight, turn your face to the moonlight

Let your memory lead you

Open up, enter in

If you find there the meaning of what happiness is

Then a new life will begin

Up, up, up, past the Russell Hotel

Up, up, up, up, to the Heaviside Layer

Up, up, up, past the Jellicle Moon

Up, up, up, up, to the Heaviside Layer

In Loving Memory of Jessica

beloved family friend

- may she Rest in Peace.

February 1999 - March 4, 2009

The Undone is Redone

So I knit Ishbel in the smaller size and had it all but finished - then decided that it was not going to be big enough to be very useful. So I ripped the entire thing out and reballed the yarn. I liked it though and it's a really quick knit, so I decided to redo it.

These pictures show the new object but the color isn't really accurate in either of them.

I went up a few needle sizes - the pattern calls for a u.s. 6 and I'm using a u.s. 9. And then I added a few repeats of the lace which meant adding several extra rows of the stockinette to get the extra stitches I needed.

It's quite nice - I like the texture and drape. It will probably be finished by tomorrow.

And this is a little present I bought for myself - a book all about the words in our language that were derived from textiles. It's very interesting . . . I'm just begining to read it.

We Will Remember

Our Helmet Liner's and their scarfs have been finished but I keep forgetting them when we go up to White House yarns. I will remember to put them in the car (they are on the kitchen table next to my purse but Andrew and mom have the car and are out shopping. Please Remember our Troops overseas and find a LYS near you that supports the Helmet Liner Project. CitizenSam has information about the Helmet Liner Project as well as other ways to remember our troops. Whether you agree with the war or not, the troops are sons and daughters, dads and moms, friends and neighbors and deserve everyone's support. Blurb from Operation Helmet Liner:

Operation Helmetliner The Tip of the Spear
The focus of Operation Helmetliner is the ground troops in war zones who are at the "tip of the spear". These soldiers are serving on the front of the war on terrorism and many are in remote combat outposts located away from the usual logistic system that provides to larger forward operating bases and air fields.
Our Armed Forces at those locations have no way of purchasing items they so desperately need. If someone doesn't mail those items to them, they can't get them. The helmet liners and scarves are only sent when there’s enough to outfit the entire unit so no one is left out. There is no deadline for this project. Please help us by spreading the word to other crafters. Thank you!

Weather Forecast: Brrr!

This is what it looks like this afternoon here in the deep south. And it is as cold as it looks, too. I probably should have waited until it quit snowing because there is supposed to be about 3" of accumulation. But the girls wanted to go out in it and I figured why not. This may not look like much to you guys, but Mom knows it's a lot for us here!

Little Furry Friend doesn't really like it - she wants to go back inside where it's warm and dry. But if everyone else is going to play in it, she may as well too! Do you know how well snow sticks to the hair on a Coton de Tulear? Yes, I guess you do, but I didn't really.

Oh yeah, I had the Ishbel Shawl in the Malabrigo Sock yarn all done - was ready to do the bind off and decided that it wasn't big enough. So I ripped it out, rewound the yarn and cast on again with a larger needle. There was lots of leftover yarn, so I'm thinking of adding a few more stitches to it too . . . .

Besides Shopping

Besides shopping with mom I have been knitting.

I have Jennifer's hat all finished (that's the blue one, Koolhaas with brim). Just waiting for her to come to town with Andrew. And I just had a call that they are in town and will be here before I get the house cleaned up.

I have Andrew's hat (Balmoral hat from Wild Woolies) all knit. Now, I just need to felt it but I need Andrew's head to do that. Then after it is felted I need to put the ribbons on.

Then I emailed knittycat after seeing the most amazing hedgehog and she graciously shared her pattern with me.

I made two hedgehogs, one mommy and one baby, for Jennifer to pin on her hats. The little one now has eyes and a nose.

Now, well after I clean the house, I have to finish the scarf, finish Andrew's kilt hose and the argyll scarf. Then, I can finish all the other projects that are started. Then I can be ready to do the Schoolhouse Press Joyce Williams KAL on March 9.

Don't laugh, it could happen.

Front Yard Pet

You've heard of 'back door' friends, right? Those are the ones who come to the back door and either knock or come right on in and call your name. Well, this is my front yard pet because it lives in my front yard. I'm wondering what it will take to tame it enough to get fiber off of it . . . and I'm wondering if he (she?) has any friends out there . . . .

Goodies in the Mail

So, you may or may not have noticed the Phat Fiber Sample Box blog listed over on the right, in the blog list. But it's there for a reason. I added it because I thought it was just the coolest darn thing I'd seen in a long time.

You know all those lovely hand dyed yarns you see on Etsy? And how about those hand spun yarns on Etsy and various other websites? Or maybe you've seen someone selling knitting tools and toys that they make themselves? And who hasn't seen patterns for sale by the indy designers? Then there is the fiber - oh the fiber . . . I want to buy the fiber from the person who gets it off the animal's back and processes it or maybe from the next person who has bought it after it's been processed and then dyes it or adds glitz. But how do I know which person selling fiber has something that I can actually spin? (Especially considering how little spinning experience I have.)

This, my friends is the answer!!! The Phat Fiber Sample Box from Phat Fibers. The nice lady who started this business, Jessie, contacted lots of independent vendors of various goodies and convinced them to send her samples. She takes these samples and divies them out into boxes which she then sells thru her Phat Fiber Etsy Shop which also has other goodies!

Once a month, these boxes go on sale in the shop and they contain the most wondrous goodies! In this pic you see some lovely lace weight yarn, two mini hanks of hand spun, some hand dyed sock yarn and a couple hanks of worsted yarn. These aren't full skeins, just enough for me to knit some little thing and see if I like the yarn. See that pink one from Aurora Fiber Arts? I'm either ordering some of that or some of the Sneaky Pig (pink, white, brown in a bag).

Then there is the fiber! It's gorgeous and soft and squishy and wonderful. There is wool, alpaca, silk, tencel and several mixes. Some of it is dyed and some is natural. Some of it is direct from the farm - see that bag with the purple/brown - that's from Moonwood Farms and if I can spin that, I WILL have more. Think I'd also like to order some of the Plum Crazy Ranch fiber - on the left in the long bag with the pink card cuz it's the softest thing I've ever touched. (See the little bag of dyed locks with a chocolate in it? Yum.)

And then there is the other stuff that shows up in the box - not yarn and not fiber and not even all knitting/spinning stuff, but still great stuff and fun to get! I got a knitting pattern, a magazine full of patterns, a diz that someone made, a stitch marker, a lovely yarn notecard, some goats milk soap and best of all a big, fat, fattening hunk of fudge! Other people got a knitting comic book, other knitting patterns, wood buttons, more stitch markers, shawl pins, hand creams, key chains, all sorts of lovely things made by hand by someone with an idea and a dream.

I'm thrilled with my 'try it before you buy it box' and I have plans to purchase more fibery stuff from some of these vendors. Now if only one of them would come teach me to spin better and maybe faster . . . .

New Knitting

I suppose I should stop knitting and do some housework, but I really don't want to . . . need to brush the dog, but I'd rather knit . . . those kids want to be fed, but I'm up to the fun part . . . husband wants clean laundry but I'm in the middle of a row . . . .

New on the needles - a shawl using the Malabrigo Sock yarn in the Stonechat colorway. This picture doesn't show the color very well.