Song of the Ocean

As many of you guessed, I am quite the bead artist. I have posted in the past some of my Christmas Tree ornaments, and sometimes to challenge myself, I will set out to create something completely opposite of what I normally do.

Art Jewlery to me is about free expression and the merging of diffrent components into on piece. So after a trip (or three) to Shipwreck Beads in Lacey, I managed to collect enough of there components to create a free form bead embroidered piece that not only blew my mind, but reminds everyone who sees it of the ocean.

The piece is embroidered with Czech Seed beads, glass bugle beads, large blue quartz rounds, 24k gold plated seed beads, freshwater pearls, czech glass pearls, two oval abalone shell cabs, and Swarovski crystals. The clasp was hand made using seed beads and a second abalone cab, and is hooked using a hook and eye clasp that I hand made especially for the piece.

All beads were purchased at Shipwreck Beads in Lacey, Washington with the exception of the following materials: The large Swarovski Starfish in Crystal Golden Shadow, and the size 15 24k gold hex seed beads came from a booth at The Puget Sound Bead Festival operated by Beyond Beadery In Rollinsville, Colarado. the Caribbean Blue Opan Swarovski Crystal rounds in Palace Green Opal came from Fusion Beads here in Seattle, Washington. And the mint green alabaster size 6 Japanese seed beads are form bellomodo.com.

Anyhow, until next time I finally get around to blogging.

Sock Club times 2!

Hello again, I know it has been a very long time since my last update or post here, but I decided to take a diffrent route regarding my Sock club memberships this year since they arrive every month instead of every other month now. It's a time saver really.

The March shipment from Blue Moon Fiber Arts was AWESOME to say the least. It was just what I was craving due to the lousy and mostly dreary weather we have been having here in Washongton state. All thos bright colors mingled together made me just toss aside what I was working on and cast on these socks. They turned out awesome too!

Hazel knits was a great suprise as well. It is almost as if we have dyers that read our minds. It helps that they live here in the PNW, and experience the same cruddy weather too. (Snow in April, come on nature, are you kidding?) The pinks and greens reminded me of pretty flowers, and the pattern really set off the whole shebang by pulling both of the sock colors together in a nice little package that made me display them longer than the other shipments.

I can't wait to see what comes next time in the yarn club shipments now. I may end up ordering some more of that yummy colorway from Blue Moon Fiber Arts, and mabie the pink color from Hazel Knits in the pink colorway. I don't know if I will though, I have to save money for Sock Summit after all.

Hazel Knits Sock Club the first!

I just got the first shipment from the Hazel Knits Sock club for this year, and may I say that I LOVE the yellow. However, don't let the candy bar in the picture fool you, I did not let one tiny taste enter my mouth, instead I tossed it up in te air and enjoyed the show as my husband and son fought over the tasty treat.

I am geared up now for the Rockin Sock club now, and am over a barrell as to what to knit with the lovely yarn I just got.

An Update on my Challenge.

Hello everyone, and happy Valentines day to you and yours!

Well, I have gotten off to a strong start on my year long sock knitting challenge, and I am happy to say that I have worked on, and completed 5.5 pairs of socks. I have half of my Rockin Sock Club kit done, which makes the half of a pair of socks. With that said I now have 24.5 pairs of socks to go, and I have yet to run out of steam......... or sock yarn for that matter.

So far I have knitted the following:

1. A pair of plain black socks for the husband.
2. Eunice by Cookie A. (From her book Sock Innovation)
3. Genetian by Lisa Stichweh (Free Ravelry download)
4. A plain pair of purple and blue striped socks.
5. Raven Swirl Socks by Cookie A. (Available through Blue Moon Fiber Arts)

Hopefully I will finish the socks I am working on, and then move onto several other pairs I have planned.

Anyhow, I have much knitting to do, and my next post shoud have the first installment of the Hazel Knits Sock yarn club.

See you all then!

Sock Club the First!

This year I signed up for two diffrent sock yarn clubs, and the first of them has arrived at my doorstep. I was happy to see the Blue Moon Fiber Arts delivered as promised. I was disappointed however to see that both patterns were colorwork. The bane of my entire knitting existance. However, I am going to give it a go and see how it all turns out. If it is a disaster, I will frog it and forget it ever happened. There are other things to do with yarn after all.

Love. This. Book.

When I put this book on order at Amazon.com a few months ago (It was backordered due to demand), I couldn't wait to get my grubby little hands on it. I own Cookie A.'s first book Sock Innovation, and have been drooling over her other patterns on Ravelry.com over the last year or so, but I never thought I would love a book of sock patterns this much.

OK, from reviews on Amazon.com, I read that some people are not pleased that there are only a few new patterns in the book, but I didn't care because I really wanted them anyway but never had the money to fork over to collect them one at a time. So buying this book just made sense to me.

From the time I tore open the cardboard shipping materials and loveingly opened the front cover I was already dreaming of knitting all of these socks, and the vividiy colored pictures were a great jumping off point for my daydreams,as well as my plans for how much sock yarn I was going to have to invest in. Each page was filled with clear, well written instructions on how to knit up each sock, with clear diagrams in the margins explaining sizing and chart placement. Each part of the projects were even labeled clearly.

The only down side to this book I could see, was that the projects were leaning toward being yarn hogs, and some knitters (including myself), sometimes don't have the money to go out and spend on two and three skeins of sock yarn to complete a project. It's a good thing that Hazel Knits offers quarter skeins though.

2011 - Year of the Sock!

With the dawn on a new year, and a new decade for that matter, it came time again to decide on this year's knitting challenge. However, the truechallenge was to decide on what to do this year to make it stand out above all the rest. My first instinct was to continue in last year's theme and knit 11,000 meters of yarn, but that would get old since I had done that already. i thought to knit eleven sweaters or shawls, but sometimes, even I take a few months to finish anything larger than a mitten.

Stuck in my quandry, I began to look forward in the year for inspiration. Many of the events I looked at happen every year, and none had any themes that I could turn into a year long challenge. I was close to giving up when I saw it, the one event with a theme that I could use to make a year long challenge, and have tons of fun while doing it.

SOCK SUMMIT!

Now to make a long and boring story short, I plan to knit thirty (yes) pairs of socks in one year. And to tie it into my diet that I started at the beginning of the year, I set the following rules:

1. No more that two socks may be knit on a circular needle.

2. All ends must be woven in to consider the socks completed.

3. Socks must be made to fit a human being. No catsocks, no dog socks, or hampster socks.

4. If I cheat on my diet, I must deduct one pair of socks from the total number of pairs knitted. Ewample: I have worked three pairs of socks. I sneak a cupcake, I have to deduct a pair of socks, leaving me with two pairs of socks.

5. Socks started before midnight December 2010 may count toward goal, yet any socks not completed before 12:01am Janurary 1, 2012 may not count toward the goal.

With that, I have to get off the computer now and get working. Thirty pairs of socks is alot when you think about it, and well, I have 59 socks (Thirty times two is sixty) to go.

Happy knitting.

What a Long, Strange Year it has Been.

First off, let me say that I do not like writing these Year in review things. Frankly, no one really cares that Lindsey Lohan went to jail for the umteenth time this year after being caught with drugs yet again, (you want to shock me, tell me when she gets cought with a book) and if you follwo this blog, you pretty much know what is going on in my life. However here is an EXTREMELY brief synopsis of how the year went for me:

News Year Day, Madrona Fiber Arts, son turned 5, Sewing and Stitchery Expo, Husband's Birthday, signed up for the Hazel Knits sock yarn club, Disneyland and Universal Studios, new spinning wheel, Oregon Flock and Fiber, Snowmageddon four hour commute home, Thanksgiving, work sucks, Christmas, OMG! Final batch of yarn club shipment.

With that all said and done, I now give you the final shipment of the Hazel Knits Yarn Club for 2010!

As you can tell, Wendee has once again outdone herself, and included a great suprise in this shipment in the form of a project bag printed with a blue sheep to match the yarn colors. I had so much fun this year that I plan to sign up for this club again next year, as well as the Blue Moon Fiber Arts Rockin Sock Club. Awesomeness!

In other news I have the final totals for my year long challenge to see it I could burn down my stash by knitting 10,000 meters in a year. Well, it was a great challenge to see if I could keep from buying new yarn throughout the year, and I slipped up a few times, but I managed to do it and then some.

The total is (imagine a drum roll here): 12,047 meters of yarn knit in a single year!

I have a few ideas for next years challenge, but haven't completely decided on what to do. I will post it early next year though.

Until then, Happy New Year! See ya'll on the flip side.

Christmas Ornament 2010.

As you may remember from a prevoius post, every year I make a Christmas Ornament for my tree using beads and other interesting bits and pieces. However, unlike last year, I try to make five different color variations (Last year's ornament contained some hard to find vintage beads, and I could not find other colorways that I liked).

And now, the colorways.

Traditional: Red and Green are often the most common colors associated with Christmas, and I couldn't resist just making one like this, accented with 24 carat gold seed beads, and red and green Swarovski Crystals set off by bright white Swarovski Crystal Pearls, This on is definately a keeper

Nick: Sometimes I have no choice but to drag my little boy along with me on trips to the bead store, but he never seems to mind. So for this one, I Let the little guy pick the colors in this one. Of course he went for his favorite color (purple) and a rich emerald green, I decided that this one would be a bit diffrent, as I used Crystal Copper Swarovski drops for the corners of the netted fringe. This one is kind of my favorite because of the rich colors and the beautiful contrasts between the colors.

Carribbean: I was not sure how this one would turn out, but i fell in love with the Carribbean Blue Opal Crystal beads and I love the drops that I used in the corners of the netted fringe (Crystal Golden Shadow). This one actually turned out better than I thought it would, and I ended up really liking this one after all.

Lilac Summer: When Swarovski announced this pale lavender and light green as their new colors, I could not resist making another purple accented ornament. So this one was born, however to take some of the overwhelming gold out of the equation, I used the 14 karat gold seed beads instead of the 24 karat ones.

Vintage: This was another color selection I was not to sure about, but turned out wonderfully. I thought about making an antique inspired ornament and decided on a pale rose matched with the Palace Green Opal Swarovski beads, giving this ornament a bit of an Asian look with the jade greens. I went with the Nickel plated seed beads in the netted fringe here and really ended up liking the pale jade and pale rose seed beads in the body of the ornament as well.

Anyhow, that is the ornaments ffor this year. Perhaps next year, I will really go crazy!

Happy Holidays!

Port Gamble Ghost Confrence 2010.

I really meant to post this blog earlier, and to be honest I have three really good excuses as to why this blog did not get posted earlier and here they are:

1. The hotel I stayed in did not have the wireless internet that was promised to me and I had no access.

2. My son had me out for two hours on Halloween night Trick or Treating, and I was tired afterwards.

3. I takes a long time to go over paranormal evidence, and I have been quite busy.

4. I was being lazy

Anyhow, here is a summary of my adventures, and what I found:

The first evening, we got to meet the speakers and hear many interesting stories about their evidence into the paranormal. Some of them made us laugh, and others served as a cautionary tale to warn us of some of the dangers of paranormal investigating. I was excited to learn as much as I could though, and took everything in.

After the opening and introductions, We were all invited to go on a Ghost Tour of the historic town of Port Gamble, and we stopped at pretty much every building some of which include: the General Store, the Post Office, the church where an apprition of a one armed man is seen running through the churchyard, and the Graveyard.

It was a thoroughly interesting tour of an EXTREMELY haunted town, and I loved hearing the history of the beautiful town and some of the basis for the reported hauntings. However, the graveyard kept pulling me back and making me want to go back for a quick walk around for a secret tour. (I know, not bright.)

Anyhow, I stopped off at the pavilion where most of the Ghost Confrence was taking place, and sipped a cup of coffee while reading a book. I listened to people chat back and forth, and as people petered out and left for the night, I packed up my own belongnings and headed out to may car, but something about the graveyard was just talking to me.

Well, I walked up to the graveyard armed with only my camera and my car key and started walking round taking pictures of some of the headstones when something really interesting appeared and took me by suprise. This strange fog appeared with an image of a person's head and shoulders showed up, and it was a clear night with no rain. I even held my breath when I took the picture to steady myself.

Anyhow, after I took this picture, I headed back down to my car and headed back to my hotel in Plousbo where I found out I had no internet access. Frustrated, I went off to bed as it was going to be an early morning for me the next day. As well as a late night.

The next monring, I had a really hearty breakfast of Corned Beef Hash at the diner inside the General Store, and it stuck with me through the whole day, making me even skip lunch because I was just not hungry. I attended may great seminars and got some great information about the art of Ghost Hunting, and what not to do while investigating. (One being not to investigate alone. my bad) After dinner though, was the true moment of excitement for all of us, because we were going to take part in an actual ghost hunt.

That evening, at seven, the groups met and we all began our investigations. My first stop for the eveining was the basement of the towns Post Office/ Community Center. Historically, the basement was once the town's morturary, where all of the dead lumber mill workers and their families eventually were prepared for burial. About 22 seconds into my first investigation, I got an EVP of a person saying "What are you doing here......get out". My little digital recorder really paid for itself that night. As I caught several more EVPs there and some unexplained footsteps that seemed to come from above us.

Our second stop for the evening found us in the Community Hall, where we were trying everything from sitting on the stage, to asking questions to see if we would get anything, but nothing seemed to trigger any activity. Thinking outside the box, andther person and I began playing music on the piano that was sitting just off the stage on the right, and despite it being EXTREMELY out of tune, we were pretty good. After both of us left the stage, I snapped this picture and got some interesting Orbs that were perhaps triggered by us. Immediately after taking the pictures, A single note was tapped out on the piano. The group got me to go up again and try the little tune I tapped out on the piano, and to everyones suprise.......the piano was in tune. I tried the same song again, and the piano was no longer in tune. Is that cool or what?

After a very interesting visit to the Community Hall, it was time to move onto the Walker Aimes Mansion across the street, where there have been reports of full bodied appritions as well as unexplained sounds. I didnot get much for photographic evidence, but I did have something brush my hair in what was called the Nannie's room in the attic, and in the front sittin room, I was sitting alone when I could again feel something again lift the hair on the side of my head as if they were looking at my earrings. (I was wearing an old fashioned looking pair of lavender crystal earrings, mabie she liked them.) In the basement, we got some unexplained tapping, and again I felt like someone put their hand on my elbow, and my arm got ice cold around my elbow.

All and all, it was an interesting trip, and I am looking forward to next March, when husband and I are going back for another investigation with OPPS. This event is a charity hunt to raise money to restore the graveyard. It will be a fun advenure.

Better Late Than Never, October Sock Yarn Club.

Sorry about the lateness of this post, I have ben up to my elbows in other projects and getting ready for a two day road trip across Puget Sound. I will elaborate on that trip later though, right now I have some bragging to do.

Because my litttle model was a bit cranky this time around, I was unable to get him to do his obligatory pose with the yarn and swag this time, so I snapped this picture of my spoils.

I was suprised by this shipment not because of how unfall the colors were, but by how much I LOVED them both. I think the red skein has been spoken for with the awesome sock pattern, but the green is still up for porject yumminess. I may make a shawl, but I am leaning toward another pair of socks. One can never have enough socks you know.

Anyhow, stay tuned in for m y next adventure to historic Port Gamble for a special Halloween road trip and activity. I am leaving here on October 29 and spending the night over there and returning late on October 30. The plan is to post the first blog on the evening of the 29th and on the 31st (Trick or Treating permitting).

A Descent into Madness Part 5: Completion.

I finished the Lyra cloth tonight, and I am happy to say that it turned out great, after blocking it on a new set of lace blocking wires that I recently bought at Cultured Purls on my way home from work yesterday.

Now onto the next adventure.

My Fiber Bin Runneth Over: Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival 2010

From the looks of this fiber bin, I am not kidding too.

As many of the spinners and knitters around the area know, last weekend was the annual Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival in Canby Oregon, and I just had to go. We even got lucky too because after a couple of weeks straight of rain and all around yuck, we got a reprieve from the fiber gods, and the sun came out on Saturday.

My Mother, who tagged along with us spotted these really awesome baskets right off, and had to buy one to store all the supplies needed for her quilting projects, I even liked hers so much I ended up buying one too because it was so pretty. Mom even commented on how so many people were walking about carrying these baskets for their purchauses. They did come in handy despite my beringing along a few reusable market bags.

In order to please my son, and give him some time with things that interseted him, we then went straight to the barn to see all the animals and to give him a chance to pet some of the beautiful creatures. However, if I were one of these critters, and I were surrounded by people who wanted my fleece, I would be a bit nervous too.

Of course though, I told my son that he had to ask the owner of the animal before he petted them. And he could not run up on them, as it made them nervous. My mother commented on how sweet and gentle eyed these Alpacas were, and she could not get over how soft their fleece was.

However, there was much more to do and see at the fiber festival, and I had some shopping to do, and my son's college fund to blow (sorry Nick).

The lawn area was full of vendors and I really did not know where to start, so I just picked the outermost booth and worked my way to the other side of the lawn. There was so much to see that I couldn't help but take my time and just peek in each stand.

Between the lawn and the buildings, we decided to give our eyes a rest from the sensory overload and see what was going on in the penned off area near the spinning circle. What we saw made us laught so hard (no the dog is not hunting the ducks), that we had to stop and watch a while. The working dogs had their work cut out for them competing for top honors, and because of the size of the pen, and the anxiety it causes the lambs to be seperated from their mothers, ducks were used to show off the dogs skills. This dog was really good at his job, and managed to herd all six ducks into their pen, despite some dissention and bad duck words from his "flock".

After our rest, we decided to go into the two buildings, and found more treasures than our arms could carry. We had such a good dat in all, and made pland for next years festival along with a trip to Sock Summit next August.

One last treasure I managed to snap up was this knitting/spinning bag from Slipped Stitch Studios, along with some of their hilarious buttons, however I did not have a hard time finding goodies from other vendors too. I found treasures from : Sunset Fibers, Dicentra Designs, Chameleon Colorworks, Crown Mountain Farms, WoolGatherings, and Blue Moon Fiber Arts.

Looks like I have my work cut out for me now, spinning up all that fiber and making it into something amazing.

A Descent into Madness Part 4.

Well, here is the update.

I finished the knitting, but now need to block the darn thing. It took me two days to do the crocheted cast off, but I did it.

Now I just need a set of Blocking wires.

A Descent into Madness Part 3.

I know it has been a while since I have updated this blog about my ongoing projecct that is the Lyrs tablecloth, so here it is. I last left off on row 149, which took me up through a flower motif and I am working on the corner leaf panels. It is a bit difficult to remember sometimes though where you have to do pattern repeats to create the corners. I solved this problem by placing diffrent colored stitch markers right before the panel to remind me where to do the repeat from the chart.

I have also learned to ignore the prevous row as charted because I was getting confused as to what I was doing because the charted row I was knitting on made no sense in the charted row I had just completed. None of the symbols matched up and it was making me crazy. Sometimes you just have to let things flow.

Anyhow, until next time.

Sock Yarn Club! August Shipment.

So yesterday I found a great suprise waiting for me when I got home from work. I go another shipment from the Hazel Knits Sock Yarn Club. This month was another great suprise for me not only because of the AWESOME colors I got (The spicy brown was my favorite), but it came with two goodies this time. Wendee sent along an exclusive shawlette patter from Stick Chick Knits, and a cuite cookie cutter to make gingerbread men with. I sense a need to bake coming on now.

New Spinning Toy!

I would have posted this earlier, but I was having too much fun playing with my new toy.

I got a Kromski spinning wheel!!!!!! Nuff said.

I have been wanting one for a while because I really liked the quality, and they have gotten alot of great reviews from some of the sites I have visited. However, I was having a hard time getting the money together, but I was more than suprised to recieve it for my annivessary gift. I think I really need to thank someone big time now.

I wasn't even scared when I saw the box sitting in the living room, and remembered my complete lack of skills at carpentry. The DVD that came with this beauty was a HUMONGOUS help though, and it took me about two hours to assemble my Kromski Minstrel.

It turned out beautifully too. I it a really sturdy and beautifully made wheel. True quality and fine craftsmanship here.

The oriface is taller than my Ashford Traditional, which required me to find a taller chair.

I'm still doing a happy dance all over the house.

Now I am off to spin some awesome yarn.

Your Demotivatior for now.

It's been a while since I have blooged, and I can't think of anything to post right now. So, have a DEmotivator in the meantime.

A Descent into Madness Part 2

As you can see from the above picture, I finally lit a fire under my own butt and started the Lyra Doily. I have found the first few rows to fly by quickly and they have been somewhat easy to work. However, as I progress further into the project, I am finding it a bit more difficult to work, and sometimes have to rely more heavily on the chart as I go instead of my memory and my ability to repeat the pattern of stitches from it.

I've still got a way to go, but I think it may all go smoothly. However, I may be wrong.

A Descent into Madness: Knitting Lyra.

About a month ago, I made an aquisition that gave me a bit of a headache and made me swoon, not to mention scared the S**t out of me. I managed throught the Lacis website to purchause the pattern for Herbert Neibling's "Lyra" tablecloth pattern.

I then did the really dumb thing of buying the yarn and needles before recieving the pattern and now I am comitted to it.

Frankly, I may have to take a leave of absence from work and check myself into an asylum to knit this one.

However, I am comitted, and I will knit this amazing pattern for my Christmas Pattern if it kills my Family (note I did not say me).

I may need to order a set of lace blocking wires though.

Anyhow, Wish me luck as I go insane slowly.