Sanity Check

Every year, in mid winter, we question our sanity for living in a big tent in the mountains. And then we talk about getting an apartment in the city for a couple of months until the worst of the cold has passed. But we're hanging in there!! The woodstove is blazing, and we've had to crack out our back up propane heater for the nights that are bitter. This morning I woke up and my water glass next to the bed held solid ice...Aurora looked up at me plaintively from her water dish, which was also frozen solid. Brrrrr!!! We're concerned that maybe as we get older, we're losing our sense of adventure or that maybe roughing it is losing it's romance....No, that can't happen!! Never Say Die!!

I'm back to working on artwork for the spring show. I have 2 and 1/2 months until the show, and that may sound like enough time, but I have my doubts!! So I'm back in the studio in high gear!!

And here's another thing that's keeping me warm!! Check out this yummy goodness that I got from Twilight!! I got four beautiful skeins of her homespun beauty!! She's such a sneak...she bought these gorgeous rovings at the Taos Wool Festival while I wasn't looking!! She's a Goddess in disguise, I'm sure of it!!

LUCY

This is taken from the LFA newsletter I got today. Hopefully they won't mind that I'm cutting and pasting the information here!!



Download LUCY from iTunes and Support Finding a Cure for Lupus


Musicians James Scott Cook and Julian Lennon are doing their part in the search for a cure for Lupus. For both men – this is personal. James’ 92-year-old grandmother, Lucy Cook, has lived with lupus for many years, and Julian’s childhood friend, Lucy Vodden, recently passed away at the age of 46 after a long battle with the disease.


You may already have heard the story that one day four-year old Julian brought home a watercolor painting of his friend and classmate, Lucy Vodden. Julian told his dad that the drawing was “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” which inspired his father, the legendary John Lennon, to write one of his most famous songs of the same name.


To honor both of these women James and Julian have partnered to release the song, “LUCY.” A portion of the proceeds will be donated equally to the Lupus Foundation of America and the St. Thomas Lupus Trust in Great Britain to support lupus research.Download LUCY Today!From now until March 15, 2010, 100 percent of the proceeds from each download of the “LUCY” from iTunes will be donated to lupus research.


Don't have iTunes on your computer? Download the software here.Let’s keep the momentum going! Help us spread the word and invite others to support raising awareness of and funds for lupus research. By taking just a few minutes you can honor someone in your life who lives with lupus, just like James and Julian are doing.


Send an e-card (up to 10 per day) to your friends and family, and ask them to join you and “band together” to support lupus research by downloading “LUCY” from iTunes.Learn MoreLearn more about the story behind LUCY on the LFA website.

Twilight's Gift

It's gift exchange time again!! I do love gifts!! I love making them....and I love getting them!!

I made Twilight a pair of legwarmers! She said she wanted some, and she's been talking about knitting some for a long time, but I saw no sign of her casting on, so here they are!!

I knit them with Mountain Colors wool/mohair blend. The stitch is a twisted rib, knit TBL. The best part is that she loves them and they look awesome on her!!! This is her, walking her dog Sieben in front of their house. Look at that view!!! Great legs too!!

It's Still Lupus

Hey there! This is short Lupus Diary entry.

I've been down for a bit. Last week, we went to Santa Fe, Thursday was great, went out with friends for dinner and had a wonderful time!! But I woke up in the middle of the night hallucinating that the hotel was on fire. I could smell acrid smoke.....like an electrical fire. I ran around checking every device and outlet...I checked the hallways...and Daniel reassured me that it was in my head and I went back to sleep. Big D of course checked online...and found out that this is a sign of brain damage. LOL, thank God for the internet!!
Friday was rough, I woke up still smelling fire. I was tired and emotional all day.
Saturday I woke up in a full blast flare. Headache, nasuea, aches and pains, exhastion, couldn't stand up....very dizzy. Had to have help to pee. So I spent a few days in bed. Didn't get as much knitting done as you'd think. My hands and head hurt. It hurt to look at things.
Daniel really is my greatest treasure. He waited on me hand and foot, and played a book on disc to entertain me while I lay around.

BUT, now I'm feeling better. I'm up!! I'm going again!! YEA

Girls Knit Day Part Two: the yarn

So after a great two hours of knitting and catching up, everyone headed across town to a big stash sale being held by a few of our favorite local ladies! Meredith jumped into Laura's truck, so Twilight and I jumped into the back of her truck for a ride. The weather couldn't have been more beautiful for a November afternoon!!!

The yarn sale was awesome! I can't imagine how these ladies have developed the stash that they have, because with all the yummies they were parting with....what must they still have at home??

Laura is buying a spinning wheel this week...so she had to be good and not buy anything!! Meredith managed to be good too somehow. She showed marvelous restraint! But guess who didn't...check out that giant bag of yarn!! OMG!! Let's ask her how she smuggled that into the house past her husband!!! (I got a couple of goodies too)

Girls Knit Day Part One: the knitting

I finally got out for a wonderful Girl's Day!! Twilight and I went to our knitting group, and you all know how it is! Lots of talking, laughing, knitting, eating, and coffee drinking!! Here's the group! Be prepared, alot of pics for this blog post!! I got kind of camera crazy while I was having so much fun.

These are my favorite knitting girls here!! Meredith, Twilight, and Laura!! I love these ladies so much!!

And of course....me and my sista Twilight!!! My partner in crime!! My evil Twin!

My Koolhass Hat

I just finished my first Koolhass Hat, design by Jared Flood. I did this in KnitPicks City Tweed DK, color Orca. The yarn gets two thumbs up!! It's a super soft alpaca blend! I love the finished hat, but I struggled with it a bit. It took me a while to get the hang of it, and it felt awkward getting started. None of Jared's patterns are no brainers, they all seem to require one's full attention and nimble fingers! I wouldn't have had to do so much Tinking if I had only read the pattern carefully to begin with!!

I love the waffled texture!!

This one is for my BIL, Nathan, who is such a sweetheart! He gifted me copies of everything Star Trek, including the original series, Next Gen, and all of the movies! I was never a Trekky as a kid, but he thought I'd enjoy having fun stuff to watch on my computer as I'm snuggled in for the winter evenings. He was right! I love the cheese!!! All he wanted for a trade was a hand knitted hat....well I'm making him a scarf too!! Just so I don't feel guilty when I ask him for the next series I want!! LOL The scarf is a sampler with many different stitches to give a wonderful saturation of texture....to compliment the Koolhass Hat. I used a total of 4 skeins.

Veterans Day

My friend Polli just got back from Italy, where she got to spend two weeks with her man Dave. Dave was there finishing his training before deploying to Afghanistan where he'll spend the next year serving as a Pilot in our Airforce. We got together to celebrate/commiserate our Veterans. Polli is desperately missing hers, and trying to sleep at night without worry, and I'm greatful that mine is done with war, has already served his country, and is at home safe and sound. My heart goes out to Polli and all of the women and families who are holding up the fort while their soliders are at risk!!!

I made Polli a pair of handwarmers as a comfort gift! I was still putting on the finishing touches while we were chatting!! She had just recieved the text that told her Dave had landed safely in Afghanistan, we shared some tears and alot of hugs. She loved her handwarmers, saying they were perfect for still showing off her pretty rings and bracelets!

New Rug Progress

When I started this rug, I pictured it under my feet next to the fire in my knitting spot. But, when my husband looked at it and admired the colors...he seemed to assume that I was knitting it for his office space. I didn't have the heart to argue!! So when the weather turned nasty cold last week, I bound it off and let him use it before it was finished. Our wood floors feel so cold!! Now we're having a beautiful Indian summer, so I took it back to put on those finishing touches. I'm outside working in the shade on the deck.....enjoying the repreive.

It's about 3 and 1/2 feet across, and I'm still in debate about adding gray fringe to the outside edge.

I had some good sturdy canvas material to back the rug with. I'm prepping it now. It definately requires a backing to help it hold it's shape. Even though it's Garter stitch with bulky yarn, it's still kind of flimsy feeling.

But I still have a ton of bulky recycled yarn in my stash!! So I've started another rug for my knitting spot!! It'll be a matching one, but not identical of course. This one will be colors mixed with tan instead of gray. I'm hoping to hold out against winter and make this one a good 5 feet across. Wish me luck!

Thanksgiving Skirt

I got this skirt at a thrift store, it's a machine knitted wool skirt in a very coral/orange color. I mention that because I'm still struggling to learn my new little digital camera, and the color seems really off. But the skirt was terribly plain, without much personality, so I wanted to jazz it up a bit.

I sewed up the hem, and used a little crochet hook to CO some beautiful wool/silk/bamboo mix that Twilight gifted to me from the 2008 Taos Wool Fest. The color match was absolutely perfect. I picked up the stitches on the inside of the hem to give it a layered look.
I decided to go with Feather and Fan lace. It's one of my favorites for a ruffle, so feminine!
Then I used some left over yarn for the I-cord....and some leftover sock yarn scraps for leaves and petals.

Now I'm in the process of sewing it into place. I plan on having it done to wear to our yearly Thanksgiving Day gettogether with friends and neighbors. I really love how it's turning out!!

Inspiration: Mandy Greer

I want to showcase Mandy Greer, who has without a doubt become one of my all time favorite artists. Her Fiber Performance Art goes beyond inspiring me...it thrills me, literally gives me goose bumps. I find myself lost in the images of her work for hours. I read every article and piece written about her that comes up in search engines, and it's still not enough. I dare say I could easily become obsessed. When I dream about the direction of my own art, I find myself wanting to follow in her footsteps, and knit large elaborate installation pieces. She combines my two favorite themes: Nature and Fiber, with a whimsy, fantasy and freedom. These images have been borrowed from her blog. I recommend to everyone interested in Fiber Arts, check it out! These images are from her show Mater Matrix Mother and Medium. The waters of your face. Enjoy!!

Another Fun Rug

I glimpsed this idea in a book somewhere long ago. It was a pattern for using up scrap yarn I think. So I apologize to the creative person who came up with this first...in spirit I'm giving you credit even though I don't know who you are!!! Thanks!!

This is basically one long strip of stockingnet, about 18 sts. wide on size 7US needle. Although I worked in smaller lengths, more portable, and sewed them together later. It's wrapped around a one inch thick cotton cord and seamed up, then coiled and sewn together. It's fat and luscious! The colored parts are scrap yarn left over from various projects, and the gray is ripped recycled yarn from an old sweater.

This rug is the best! It has become well loved in appearance. I use it as a meditation mat, and sit on it when I'm going to spend a couple hours in front of my book cases searching old magazines for patterns that I've promised to make. Last fall, I threw it into the back of my friends open pickup bed when we went riding in the country to enjoy the scenery!! I have another bag of leftovers started so I can make another one someday!!

A Blanket of White

Ok, this is funny. We live in a Yurt, and it has a domed sky light on top, in the center, that can be opened and closed with a very long pole. We sleep in the center of the yurt on our king sized bed. So last night Daniel opened the sky dome inorder to keep down the smoke from the woodstove, but he forgot to close it again. This morning I woke up early....and realized that we were covered in a blanket of white! Yes, snow. Huge white flakes were falling down on us through the open dome. It was too early to cope, so I pushed myself further down under the covers, figuring I'd deal with it later. The comforter is still drying!! And this was the view from my front door this morning!!

Rugs: Past & Present

So here I am at home laid up on the couch. I majorly messed up my back yesterday while I was arranging the shelves and things in my studio. It was bad last night, but nothing like it was this morning when I woke up!!! So I had to cancel my Girl's Day in town today. I'm so bummed, but inorder to cope, I started a project long put off because of Wool Festival.

This is a new rug I'm starting for the yurt. I have a few others that I did back before I started blogging, so since I'm on my butt, this is a good time to blog about those old things too. This is my just started rug, done with the Ten Stitch cicular pattern. I'm using stash yarn that I ripped and recycled from some old heavy duty fisherman/ski sweaters. The yarns are bulky weight and I'm using a size 10.5 US. It's delightfully easy and I'm just going to keep spiraling around with different colors.

These two are little kitchen rugs that I knit out of acrylic yarn, backed with canvas and fringed. They've been great, kept their shape and color...and have been washed alot. I think acrylic belongs in the kitchen! This is the Log Cabin quilt sqare design, found in the book "Knitted Rugs".

I've made two braided rag rugs, and have strips cut for a third. These are made out of recycled cordouroy and velvet. (the combo makes them thick, cushiony and heavyduty) Thanks to my good friend, Jesse, who runs one of the thrift stores in Taos. She set aside many many things for me as they came into her store. That's where alot of my old sweaters came from too! I still had to pay for them, but I got first pick of all the goodies!
This is my first one. I spent so much time drooling over beautiful rugs that I could never afford, and I was determined to have nice rugs for my beautiful wood floor. I've learned that even with grown children, we are extremely hard on rugs!! So I'm glad I never forked out hundreds of dollars!!!

This is the second rag rug I made! I love the colors I had to work with!! I backed them with burlap to keep down the wear.