MAYBE IN MAY???

Hi friends , lots of maybes in May.  Maybe in some places things would start getting back to normal, however what is the new normal.  So many conflicting reports of how things really are, who to believe??  I am grateful - so thankful to report that my family and friends are well.  I don't personally know anyone who has been infected.  I know plenty of people who  have been horribly affected in other ways by losing their jobs or being furloughed or are in danger of losing their businesses.  We keep praying every day for the safety, financial well being and health of our country.  We pray for all, known to us or unknown to us.

 I have been blessed to be working every day, in my own office with the owners our company and feeling very blessed to work for such a wonderful family for all these years.  They have worked very hard to keep all our associates employed and keep them paid a normal wage.  Things in the car business are very bad. If you are in our vicinity and you or your family or friends have vehicle needs  - please let me know.  If you are out of our area - please seek out a family owned car dealership and try not to buy from the big box corporate stores who treat their employees terribly and are a detriment to the industry just like Walmart has ruined small town America - so have these big box car dealerships almost wiping out the small town dealerships who were there day in and day out to provide reliable service and parts to the locals.  A place for generations of families to purchase their vehicles, so sad …………….

on to the fun stuff - can you believe this is all I have left of my oldest hooked WIP.  You can see a bigger photo of this B&W prim bunny rug in my blog header.  I am really going to finish - yes I will finish it in the not too distant future.  I'm trying hard to work on it a few minutes every week and before you know it - it will be done - almost 2 decades in the making and then on to the next big rug WIP in my wool cupboard.  There is more details about this rug on a prior blog post If you are interested.

my long term blog readers know what time of year it is ????  it's CAMP LOOPY TIME!!!  Starting June 1st - a small group of my friends are going to be setting off to Science Camp this year.  it's the 10th year of this virtual camp and owner Sheri of the Loopy Ewe shop in Colorado does a great job with this event.  There are discounts on yarn purchases and a challenge for each month of the summer.  The first one for June was to create a science lab of mixing - mixing colors, mixing fibers/weights, mixing in beads etc.  As  you can see I'm mixing colors.  I always try if possible to use a new-to-me yarn for Camp - this is Magpie Fibers - I think they are from Maine.  Gorgeous 80%wool 20% cashmere DK weight yarn.  I will be doing a scarf - actually several of us are doing this same scarf for the first challenge.   

 next up is more yarn from LYS day - what is that?  every year shops around the nation team up with hand dyers of yarn and designers to create a special colorway maybe for their shop only or for this day only and make one run of this yarn and when it's sold out it's gone.  My not so local yarn shop is Four Purls down in Winter Haven.  I have been there several times in person.  They even have a very cool yarn truck which hits the road and visits areas of the state where there is no LYS or fiber festivals, etc.  It is owned by a lovely couple who have 4 children - their 4 purls.  Their 2 daughters dye wonderful yarn under this "EMMA" label - the one daughter Emma started dyeing wool at 16 yrs old when still in  high school.  The yarn you see below was my choice of many different color combinations they offered for their special pattern for LYS day.  Sad that all the shops were closed to visiting in person but it was almost as fun to order online and still feel like I was participating from afar.  I let my DH pick the color and he picked Ice Ice Baby paired with Mexican wedding dress on the left.  They are a bit out of my comfort zone (my preference is much more drab like the colors above) but I like to involve him and you'd be surprised how much more interested the DH or SO will be if you just give them a chance to have some input about simple things like choosing colors.  works for me anyway.

 This is my small start on Queenstown Sampler Hannah Longstreth.  New at market - Hannah is a Quaker sampler from PA.  I have the 2nd motif almost done and my hope is to do one motif every month.  It will be tough during the summer when every minute I feel like working on stuff will be devoted to Camp loopy projects.  it's ok if I can't do one a month.  it's not going anywhere and it isn't a race.  She is stitched on the wonderful new Colours and Cotton linen color Tea Leaves using NPI silk called for.

 Last is actually a finish !  YAY!  it is Home of a Needleworker Squared by Little House Needleworks.  I will get this framed and it was my first challenge finish with our EGA chapter duClay.  I have a long way to go, some friends have actually finished their whole list.  Oh well - again - it's not a race - I just have to be finished by mid December!

I do so love hearing from you.  Please do leave me a comment and let me know how and what you are doing during this shutdown.  Have you resumed normal activities or just testing the waters slowly.  I  hope June bring hope and happiness for us all.