The Woolen Rabbit

WIP Wednesday...

As a person who usually has more than one project on the needles at a time, I feel as though I never get things finished.....but then all at once it comes together and I will have 2 or 3 items finished and it feels good!

Earlier this winter, I whipped thru my first Marie Antoinette with gusto and of course in my typical fashion managed to get side tracked with Oh!Canada and Bee.  I loved working on this sock so much though that when I did pick her up again, I whipped thru the second one.  These socks are completely fun to knit and so very pretty when finished.

I am really looking forward to wearing them this spring with open back clogs.

With Marie Antoinettes and Oh!Canada finished, Miss Bee now has my full attention.  I have finished the swarm area and will move onto the Bee and Honeycomb panel.

I do have to admit though that I have already been tempted my another siren.....this pattern has truly made my heart flutter a bit!

Snow....yes once again

Before I leave, I just wanted to share a picture of what our corner of the world looks like.  The snow this winter has been insane!! 

Last night another foot of snow was dumped on us with probably an additional 6 inches expected later in the day.

Let me tell you how sick of shoveling Ken is!  Can you believe that snowbank?  YIKES!

Keep warm!!

Moroccan Days and Arabian Nights

Golden lights skims azure bay,
Dense air heavy with laurel.
Windless dusk smears to night,
Sonorous pool in a sheltered grove.
Deng Ming Dao

The rest of the verse goes on to say, that though this world is turbulent, there are still days and places where we can be afforded some tranquility.  Renewal is a profound tonic.  With sanctuary and rest, we can prepare to go forth again.

Interestingly, I was only looking for a verse that would lend some color to these shawls, but when I read the verse, I took away so much more.  Some times we all need a little bit of tranquility in our lives to help us appreciate the beauty that surrounds us.

Susan has finished the pattern for this stunning shawl!  The lacework is so intricate and incredibly beautiful.  The talent that the girls who design these patterns never ceases to amaze me! 

Give me any pattern and I can knit it, but ask me to design even an edging on my own and my brain freezes.....feels like a math problem.  You know what I mean....if a train is traveling 500 miles an hour....ya, that kind of math problem. 

The kit is available on my website in these 2 colorways.  Custom colorways are welcome, but will take a little bit longer.

As much as I would like to join the KA for Moroccan Days, I am working on my beloved Bee, so I will have to catch up later.

Bee has my full attention now that SPA has come and gone.  I really really love this shawl.  The pattern is so easy to follow along with....another shawl with a relaxing rhythm.  Who knew I would love purling through the back loop so much...not me...but I do!

Speaking of Spa, I was unusually well behaved in my purchases.  The only thing that came home with me was this lovely roving from Amy of Spunky Eclectic .  Ummm.....do you see a trend in what I like to work with?

SPA 2008

Honeybees depend not only on physical contact with the colony, but also require it's social companionship and support.  Isolate a honeybee from her sisters and she will soon die.
The Queen Must Die and Other Affairs of Bees and Men

I know I have posted this quote before, but somehow it was appropriate again for this weekend.

Winter in New England can be interminably long.  The days are short and the long cold nights seem endless at times, so when SPA rolls around in February the grrls(and Dave) are ready to spend some long awaited quality time together and have some fun....and fun  was had by all for sure!

I did managed to get Oh!Canada blocked and ready for her SPA debut and she was very well received.  Anne's pattern flew off of the table and it's easy to understand why.  The pattern is such a relaxing and rewarding knit...each and every stitch is a joy.  I was sad to finish this stole but I am looking forward to finally wearing her!

As usual, I didn't get many pictures as I was much too busy chatting away with the grrls.  I know, it's hard to believe.....:)

Going back to that sisterhood thing, I have to say that I was completely blown away by the generosity of my sisters in the various ways that they looked out for me this weekend.  Treats from Starbucks.....offers of help when unpacking and packing.... and when I was frantically looking for ones and fives for change, the grrls were there to help me out.

Fiber people are by far the most generous of all souls that I have ever met in my various walks of life!

My dear friend Terry, made sure that I had some fabulous, out of this world, yummy hot tea throughout the weekend and I swear, she may just convert this life long coffee drinker.  She has some of THE most fabulous teas ever!  Thank YOU Terry!!!

As the weekend was winding down, and the booth was packed back into the car, I snuck down for one last visit with the grrls.

I think this pictures sums up the whole weekend. 

Love you grrls!!!

A True Woolen Rabbit...

I only have time for a short visit as I am wildly busy getting ready for the NETA Spa, but I wanted to stop in and say hello, if even for a minute.  I apologize for not being able to respond to comments last week, but as always, I LOVE hearing from you :-).

Last fall when I was working at Fryeburg Fair, I made a few beautiful purchases.  Every year we have a "special" fiber artist whose work is on display for the entire week.  This past year, the fiber artist was kept quiet until we all arrived to set up our spaces.

We were all quite surprised to see our very own Gale Belleu's work featured.  Gale is the woman who works tirelessly for the fair, year after year, putting our schedules together and seeing that everything runs as smooth as possible for the week....and she does it well.

Gale found a new and different way to work with fiber.  She calls it Hairlock Painting.

As soon as I walked in and saw that beautiful woolen rabbit, I knew that this woolen rabbit needed to have it.....but at the time, it had been promised to another.....Gale's mom.

At the end of the week, Gale came up to me and told me that she felt that the rabbit should go home with me.....and I agreed!

If you look at these pictures, the paintings are done on felted wool backgrounds.  The painting itself is done, lock by lock with Llama hair.  They are truly amazing.

As much as I love the rabbit, this little guy is my favorite.  How could you not love him with his sad little inscription .

Haven't we all felt like this now and then?  He is just so precious!

I hope that you enjoy my new little friends as much as I do!

Hopefully next week I will be back at full steam again....until then....enjoy your days!

Friday's Sky

Winter in the North Country can be brutal at times, but how can you not love it when you have a day like this?  Our mountain may not be the biggest but it truly is one of the prettiest.

The last few days have been glorious!  The sun, which has been a rare sight this winter was shining brightly and thankfully melting some of this snow.  The weather was almost pleasantly mild, you could say.

Look at the snow on that mountain!  Do you not just love it?

As much as I love looking at the snow on the mountain, I am not quite so fond of the mountain that is growing by my back door....right now it is about 9 feet tall, I kid you not....YIKES! 

Oh....and just in case you think I am stalling with Oh!Canada pictures....well, I admit it....I am. :)

The stole is so pretty that I want to do it justice in the final block, so as I head off to Patternworks with Jean tomorrow, lace blocking wires are on my list.

Have a great weekend!!

Happy Valentines Day!

Be with us in the circle of our love,
      Even if by chance you are alone.
      Our greetings we have hope your heart will move,
      Uniting our good wishes with your own.
      Remember there are those who think of you,
      Vested in the will to be a friend.
      As distant hills give depth to what we view,
      Let these words some grace to your day lend.
      Each life is lived behind a sheltering veil,
      Not lifted but for love. Yet when we will,
      There is a wind that shifts the rampart frail,
      Invading with sweet scent the spirit still.
      Now may we all enjoy this fragrance fine,
      Each each other's secret Valentine.
http://www.poemsforfree.com/bewith.html

Today on this day of Valentine I went searching for a light hearted poem.  However, the very first poem that I came across was this one and it just made me sigh.  You know how I have mentioned in the past how I think of my fiber grrls as sisters....sisters in that proverbial hive always looking out for each other.  Somehow this little sonnet has truly embraced that thought for me on this day.   
Happy Valentine's Day Grrls!

Now you may be wondering why I have that picture of Cleo up.  Look close at the picture.....move in just a little closer.  Do you see it?  Why yes, Miss Cleo has a perfect heart on her shoulder.  Can you believe it?  I never noticed it until a small child pointed it out to me as I was standing in the show ring with her....and why yes, I did see it too.
The girls keeping in stride for the holiday, wore their special Valentine's Day Snoods for breakfast today.....silly little dogs...

And now a little fiber....

I decided to join Margene in this month's SpinKnit.  What it entails is spending some time spinning in February and then knitting what we spun in March.  Doesn't that sound like fun?

The roving above is some that I had dyed to bring to the NETA SPA with me next weekend, but I couldn't resist snagging some of it for myself as a little Valentine's gift, so this will be my February Spinning and this is what I plan to make with the roving. 

These grrls were so generous to share this beautiful Valentine's  gift with all of us here in blogland.  Thank you!!!

Grafting and Snowing......

A solitary crane
In winter snow
Needs no jewels.
Deng Ming~Dao

The Grafts....

Oh!Canada is finished!  I took one evening to pull out the graft, which was not an easy feat and then I spent another night reworking the graft again.  Better to do this in baby steps. :-)

I have to admit that it took me a few tries to get the pattern to line up, mostly because my working yarn was on the wrong side.   After a little creative finangling it finally lined up and the rest went soothly until the very end.  It is a teensy bit off there, but not enough that I was going to pull it out again.

If the idea of grafting has put you off from this pattern....please don't let it.  The pattern is such an enjoyable knit and it would be a shame to pass it by based on that.

The graft is the very same kitchner stitch used to close up the toe on a sock just on a bigger scale.

Once the first 5 stitches are lined up properly, the rest should line up without too much trouble.

She will be bathed and blocked tomorrow and hopefully be ready for pictures on Tuesday.

I can't tell you enough how much I enjoyed working on this stole.  I think next to the Wool Peddler shawl, it has been my favorite knit!

The Snows.....

This has been a CRAZY winter with mounds and mounds of snow up here in the North Country!  What makes it so wild is you only have to drive south an hour and a half to find almost no snow.  The upcoming week promises at least 2 more dumpings of the white powdery stuff, so if you ski.........come on up!  It doesn't get much better than this!

Take a look at those snowbanks.....no really, take a look at them!  I have a HUGE barn and my husband barely needed a ladder to climb up onto the backside of the attached shed to shovel it.

Speaking of shoveling......God Bless Ken, last year we told my Dad...no more shoveling off the roof.  Ken had told him that from now on, he would be doing it.  Wouldn't you know that this winter it seems like every 3 days he is going over to shovel Dad's roof, rake off ours, shovel a path to the propane tank that the plow man buries every time he comes and now we are having to shovel the perimeter of the dog yard so Maggie can't climb out.

That buried fence is a 6 foot fence....but Maggie could clear it in one jump right now.  Thankfully she is a dog that respects boundaries.

Cavaliers on the other hand....boundaries....what is a boundary?  Thankfully they are small dogs!

Is it Spring Yet?

Umphh.. Muffins don't like to sink into snow drifts that come up to their necks.

Oops...

The other night I finished the last round on Oh!Canada and I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed this knit.  The yarn was beautiful to work with and the pattern had a soothing rhythm to it.  I was almost sad to finish it.

So last night I sat down to work on the center seam graft, with a glass of wine and American Idol on the screen. 

The seam....easy peasy or so I thought.  About a quarter of the way through it, I held it up to check on the progress.  Zoinks!.......it would appear that I was working on the wrong side.  Not only was I working on the wrong side, but the pattern was not lining up correctly. ...oops!  I guess I don't have to tell you what I will be doing again tonight.....I think I may skip the glass of wine though :-)

While I am sad to finish up with Oh!Canada, I am looking forward to getting back to some of that golden goodness in my WIP basket.

This week's goal is to graft and block Oh!Canada and to finish the Bee Sock.

I can then I reconnect with the beautiful Bee Stole again.  I had reached the end of the hive section when I put her down, so I am ready to move onto the swarm section.  I'm looking forward to working on her again :-)

The snow it just keeps continuing this winter.  This week we had 6 inches on I think Monday, another 3 inches yesterday, topped off with a bit of ice and this morning we woke to at least another 6 inches or so.  Here are a few of this morning's pictures........so very pretty, but one wonders if we will ever see grass again!

Paler shades of Gray.....

Another day of snow........it just keeps coming and coming and coming this winter!

My thoughts on the Superbowl.... "WHAT THE HULL was Belicheck thinking wearing that red hoodie?"....sigh.....