SEPT, OCT AND NOV GONE !

How can this many months have gone by without my venturing back to blogland to visit? August was a good month, we had a long 10 day vacation to the No Ga. and Smokey Mountains in Tenn with my folks. Mom had a birthday we celebrated on the trip. **edited to say that my photos are all at the bottom of the post. The photo of my dear husband was taken on his birthday in November. It was a terribly hot summer in the deep south. September was pretty normal, nothing too exciting with me. I just can't believe it's been so long since I posted. I have missed being in blogland but frankly when I started having trouble posting I thought I was going to have to give up my decade plus blog. BOOOOOO that would be hateful! I've "met" so many wonderful people blogging, some have quit blogging but I still see on Facebook. I finished all 3 of my Camp Loopy challenges for this year, YAY ME! I got a pretty skein of Wollmiese fingering yarn and some stitch markers from Loopy for my completion. OK I'm still having trouble but I'm going forward this time. I can't see my photos I've uploaded only this code type stuff. The skein of Wollmiese is at the bottom of the list of photos. The finished shawl is my camp loopy for August the in progress shawl is Rockpooling by Helen Steward that I got while on vacation in August. I'm almost done. I am always knitting a lot and have been stitching and finishing a few things trying to get my EGA chapter challenge completed by this Saturday. The inside and outside of the blue jewelry case was a gift for my mom;s AUgust birthday. It was a Mindy canvas and was done in mostly silks. my sweet bunny rug finish is upside down dang it all ! I am about to try a new way of binding which is really more like binding a quilt I'm told. I'm hoping to give that a start tonight since it's quite cold here in the deep south. Yes, I'm wrapped in a yummy wool shawl here in my office overlooking the gorgeous sunset over the river. Oh and the little witch hat is one of my challenge finishes. I'll come back soon before Christmas and show more - I'm sorry this is so discombulated but just lucky to eek out a post. If anyone is still out there reading my blog - I hope you had a great Thanksgiving and are looking forward to a lovely peaceful holiday season.

JOLLY JULY

HAHA!  those of you who are stitchers thought I had something to post about Jolly July Christmas stitching.  Well guess what !  I have made very few stitches in anything this month but I have almost finished the needlepoint project I was doing for my mom's August birthday.  I'll show it next post when it is fully finished.

In the meantime - all there really is to show and talk about is my Camp Loopy knitting for July.  Halleluiah !  I was able to power thru and get July done with a few days to spare.  This is Tailfeather and the yarn is Uncommon Thread Lush Worsted dyed in the UK - it was awesome to work with and I loved the pattern too. It is a medium gray with just a few colored speckles.  Thus perfectly mimicking feathers.  I had to restart my camp project on July 4th as the first pattern I picked was oddly written and I was really hating it so I knew I wouldn't be able to finish.  I had a hard time finding a pattern that complied with the challenge rules of being 600 yards or being a pattern that would fall into the Science lab theme.  WHEEEEEE  another finish in the pile !

 Camp Loopy August is this lovely merino/cashmere blend by Dream in Color.  After doing typical Mel drab in June and July I needed to amp up the color selection.  This is prickly pear and haywire.  WHOOOHOOO!  Love the greens with a bit of speckle.  I'm doing a Woolenberry pattern called Moon Dust.  the challenge is 800yrd or more this month - SHEESH!!!!!  Some years I can do 800 yards and some years I have failed - actually more than a few years I have failed in August. BOOOO - but I'm going to try real hard and might even be up at midnight tonight to cast on.

 Yes this is how every close I am to finishing my oldest rug WIP.    SOOOOO close.
If I just put a couple of hours into it this weekend I would be finished.  I've run out of many of the greens so now I;m agonizing about what greens I can use to finish up and I would like to do a new to me finish on the edging.  We were supposed to have a rug workshop in August but that just got canceled.  Don't get me started on everything that has been canceled.  Anyway I was hoping to learn this new way of finishing the edge with hooking wool instead of whipping with wool yarn to bind.

 

Well it's the end of another month.  I know many of you are still staying home and not going out or not going out much.  I do hope whatever you do and where ever you go you will find peace and happiness.  I d love to hear from  you , thank you for your comments on my blog

JUDICIOUS IN JUNE

Yes - here we are at the end of June - last day of the  month and the year is half over.

I'm sure many of my blog friends are getting tons of stitching, knitting/sewing and hooking done during these difficult times. I started Camp Loopy an annual event for me at the beginning of June so most of my free time has been spent knitting on that project which I will show you later. 

I wonder how many of my friends are all bogged down mentally and physically exhausted dealing with this virus??  I know I am sure tired of it along with everyone else. Down here in NE FL - we're open - ooops - we're not open - can't help but feel so sorry for these restaurant owners and employees who are barely scrapping by and then these rioters come and burn them out or tear up their establishments.  It's so sad to see this destruction of our national monuments and yes even the civil war monuments.  It's given the haters a license to destroy which is not a good thing. Erasing our past is a very dangerous, erasing any part of history is dangerous. Desecrating graves and monuments in cemeteries is just the worst.  I'm very opposed for many reasons which I will not bore my readers with. 

I want my blog to be a place to see happy things so I'll move on from the dreaded virus discussion but just know that I am praying for all my friends and everyone around the world to be safe from the virus.

The highlight of this month has definitely been my day trip to Thomasville Ga with my friend Jen to visit the Fuzzy Goat.  What an awesome shop in the historic downtown area.  For many years I visited Thomasville regularly and spent lots of time as the owners of the company I work for owned a car dealership there.  So I knew my way around even though a lot has changed in 10 years + since I've been there. 

Here's the inviting colorful storefront !  Let's go in

 Owner Cadence was like meeting an old friend.  Such a warm friendly person.  I had ordered online from her before so it was nice to finally meet her in person.  Mask wearing is required at this time but she removed her mask to show her pretty smile.  I believe that is the "lounge" area of the shop.

 Gotta love those existing brick walls full of pretty yarn.

 Lots of shop models and look at those lovely wood floors.  Just what I would dream a shop I might own would look like.

 Next door is an awesome bagel shop which could be a potential stop for lunch.  However we had scoped out a wonderful historic home on our way in Monticello FL just on the state line.  Carrie and Co. had an interesting menu and was definitely *THE* place to be in Monticello.  I'm sorry I didn't think to take a photo of the wonderful knitting bag with the Fuzzy Goat logo on it.  Needless to say it came home filled with wonderful Farmers Daughter yarn, Addi needles and a few accessories.  When I visit out of area yarn shops - I usually prefer to purchase yarns that are new to me or in this case I've seen on Cadence's wonderful Facebook live posts.  If you want to visit a quaint place with lots of appeal - put Thomasville on your list.  Also the home to the world class creamery Sweet Grass Dairyhttps://sweetgrassdairy.com/ - over a decade ago when I was visiting Thomasville they were just starting out.  if you are a cheese lover - please read over their accolades and hear of their world class cheeses and of their awards in the industry.  They have a cheese shop/café a few blocks over from Fuzzy Goat and of course that was on my list to visit and yes we brought a cooler and yes we came home with a few awesome cheese selections.  Again - sorry I didn't get any photos of Sweet Grass Café or the wonderful coffee shop Grassroots across the street. 

 Also among the activities this month were finding a new vehicle for my husband.  Sadly our owners had to sell off their store in Savannah Ga.  For the past 15 years we have been very happy clients of the Mazda store.  It was very hard to say goodbye to good friends in the store and to get into a new brand.  This is our new Hyundai Tucson Limited.  I have not driven it yet but my DH likes it and I think he will adjust quickly.

 As I mentioned above - it's camp loopy time - long term followers know that every summer I do a virtual camp with The Loopy Ewe.  This is my 10th year.  Some years I have been successful in completing all 3 of the monthly challenges.  Not sure how this year will go.  I seem to have trouble focusing and since we are cooking more at home I seem to be spending more time on shopping, cooking and cleaning up even though my DH does help me tremendously.  Maybe we are just getting older and less productive or less energetic.  Anyway - I did meet the June challenge and finished a few days ahead of the schedule.  For any knitters out there      - this is Budis a biased scarf pattern.  I always try hard to use new-to-me yarn when choosing yarn for camp.  This is Magpie Fibers DK and it is a merino/cashmere blend - truly glorious yarn I would use again.  I am very pleased with the result although my DH sure has his eye on it.  I could see it being a manly accessory.  We might have to have joint custody!

 Next up for July - A new to me yarn Uncommon Thread Lush worsted.  Its a gray color with a mult-color splash of specs but so subdued it doesn't really qualify for a "speckle" in my book.  I am making a shawl called Fly Forward. by Veera.  It was hard not to get red as the model is sooooo striking and red is a good winter color.  So if I am up at midnight tonight - I will cast on for the July challenge.  Wish me luck on knitting 690 yards in a month.  Last month I did 500 yards.

So that about wraps up my June news.  I did very little stitching.  I am starting the HATS SAL for Jane Fiddes for any stitching friends out there.  WHY?  not sure - peer pressure from friends no doubt LOL !  and you know who you are (Jackie!) I have accumulated the chart, several choices of linen and about 1/2 the silks needed for the first part of the chart.  I will not be doing any stitching to speak of or blog about all summer long.

I hope this email finds you well and happy and I would love to know how you are spending your summer free time.  Hugs and be well !

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.

APRIL ANXIETY

Well blog friends - April is more than 1/2 over - we've had Easter and my birthday in isolation.  Distancing even from my dear parents, no Easter togetherness and no blissful birthday celebration.  Most important - we are all safe - everyone I know personally is safe.  that is the goal here right!

I changed out my blog face FINALLY!  I had just not been motivated to do so.  The bunny rug I featured is my oldest unfinished rug canvas.  It was the first "away" rug camp I attended in Chattanooga TN back in 2002. Got on a small plane and flew up there all by myself.  Didn't know a soul, stayed at Castle in the Clouds which is now a Christian college but used to be a hotel. It was actually where Elizabeth Taylor and Eddie Arnold (?) had their hideaway honeymoon.  To me it was a creepy place and knowing what I know now about ghostly inhabitations in old places/old grounds I would NEVER do that type of thing now nor would DH let me go or certainly not fly alone. I got picked up by someone volunteering for this on the rug camp team.  This was successful camp for decades.  I do remember it fondly because I met several people there who I am still friends with after all these years - Torrie T was in my class - it was her first camp and we became and still are fast friends with much in common, Dianne Kelly - a wonderful teacher, creative designer and awesome dyer of wool along with Susan M who I'm pretty sure was in my class and many subsequent classes over the years.
 Hard to believe it's been that long but in a way it does seem like a very long time ago.  This rug was heavily altered but improved in my opinion by my teacher and good friend Dianne Kelly from Hiram OH.  She drew in all those cabbages and lettuces in the background - there was nothing but a big blank background which even as a novice hooker - I had a vision for how I wanted it to look and Dianne interpreted by wishes perfectly!  I added a few greens collected from other teachers at this camp, especially excited that I got to meet Mary Williamson and pick up a few pieces of her wool.  She also drew those random spots on the bunnies and improved their faces.  They had pointy rat faces which looked horrible IMO.  It's hooked entirely in a 6cut.  I am pretty dang close to being done at this point.  Since this photo was made - I have tried hard to keep working on it.  It's very primitive , I'm not a real prim fan - big flat animals are not my thing, however this rug is dear to me for so many reasons - I will display it proudly when it is finished.

Last year my DH purchased this beautiful kit from  Stephen and Penelope a  yarn shop in Amsterdam for my birthday last year.  I was trying to think of something he could get me this year and looked thru their website again, the shipping is so dang expensive from over there and then I remembered - HEY - I never even took that kit out of the bag since last year - take it out and start the project and it will be all new again which is what I did.  The yarn is the lovely La Bien Aimee from France which is not readily available here in the US.  The project is one of Stephen's (westknits) designs called Café Knitting and so far  I love it.  The colors of this yarn is gorgeous.

 Happy Birthday to me !  I was enjoying my pity party when I got this email from not-so- LNS Needle Orts and reminded me that I LOVED that tasseled bunny canvas.  The owner was saying the class was going virtual because obviously they were not able to have in the shop.  WELL !  even though I sure didn't need another project - this canvas is so happy and colorful and I do love my bunnies, I thought I needed to do this class.  After all I need to support local shops right !  So I have the canvas and part one of the stitch guide with threads.  For any needlepointers out there - it is a Shelley canvas.

The other big event this month - my new vehicle was delivered right to my office from one of the dealerships in Auburn that our owners operate there.  Lynch Nissan

 did a great job - doing the deal entirely on line.  this is my second Murano and it is the most comfortable car I have ever driven and I've had friends compare the comfort and ride to that of the comparable Lexus.  So if you're in the market for a new or pre-owned car - please let me know and I will hook you up with one of our dealerships in FL or AL.  they deliver !

This is my lovely fair isle cowl - pattern Genner by Rowan and designed by the Norwegian team of Arne and Carlos.  They did a design feature for a recent Rowan magazine.  Rowan is in England and this design really intrigued me. Rowan is a favorite of mine for many years, I love their yarns.  I had done some fair isle knitting years ago - I mean decades ago so after brushing up on you tube for the way I learned to knit fair isle two handed - I thought I could do it.  So I ordered the yarn from a new to me shop in Illinois called Wool and Company .  Seems like a first class shop, easy to order from, packaged beautifully.  I would order from them again.  The yarn is Rowan Cashmere Cotton - perfect weight for Florida.  Worked entirely in the round - finished in about 6 mos. which is amazing for me since some of my projects can span years in the making.

 I'm ready for another fair isle project - I found it to be very soothing, knitting the patterning with 2 colors on every row, watching the design materialize.

well friends - that is my mid month catch up.  I hope this post find you, your family and friends all very well and getting thru the virus isolation in the best possible shape.

Keep praying, keep crafting, keep cooking, keep smiling and keep in touch.  I love hearing what you all are doing and how things are going for you.

MARCH MADNESS

Hello blog friends - I truly do hope this finds you all well and hunkered down at home with family doing your preferred needlework and staying healthy and sane at the same time.

March madness of a nasty kind has come down upon us.  There is not a person on the planet I don't think who is unaffected by this virus - some lives will never be the same and many will lose their lives.  I certainly hope March madness is not followed by April Anxiety but at this point it seems that we can expect something of that sort.

I have not had time to do any more needlework than usual.  I am still coming into the office every day.  I work in a beautiful historic home with the owners of our company and 2 other associates who are not family.  one is part time so my exposure to lots of people on a daily basis is limited thank goodness.  However I do have to keep going grocery shopping and my DH and I went out to a small local bakery on Saturday.  We have been picking up some to-go food here and there thinking we are helping to keep these favorite places going in hard times but I'm not sure how safe it is to eat food being prepared in other kitchens by unseen people.  I guess you can only hope and pray the management is making sure their associates are well if they are coming in to work.

I did have a big finish last month - February shot by me and I didn't get a blog post made.  Here is my Rodeo Drive poncho.  Been in the making for a couple of years but of course I put things away for weeks and months and then decide to work on them again.  My DH took these photos and yes I was in my nightgown but it fits well and I even got to wear it once at the beginning of march it was a very cool day when our EGA chapter met.

 This shot is more true of the color I think it's called Polar Morn- taken in a different room under an OTT light. It's is a grayish blue color. The yarn is Malabrigo Dos Tierras for those knitters who might like to know.  When I bought it in the fall of 2018 it was brand new on the market.  It is a lovely 50/50 alpaca/wool blend and I would definitely use it again.

 still working my Joji Suburban, it's growing. I had a terrible time coming up with another color to add in - the brownish one is what I came up with - it is a better compliment than it looks from this photo as it has some tinges of the dark salmon color so it does pull it in.  I think once I keep adding the brownish in other areas of the shawl it will work.  It better work !  this shawl has been a lot to keep track of pattern wise.  The lace panel to start was hateful and I almost gave up 2 or 3 times.

I'm still stitching as much as my eyes will allow.  Always tons of stuff I want to stitch.

I didn't go crazy on market purchases, a couple of big samplers and a couple of spring pieces from With Thy Needle and a new christmas monthly.

 

Lots of people are using this down time to get WIP's out and finished.  All I seem to want to do is start new things.  I guess that is just part of the affliction of wanting control in my life.  Wanting to feel like I still have a choice.

 

I hope you all pray to the same God I pray to and that you are praying often for God to wipe this disease from our earth.  I wish you great peace and many healthy days to come.  Please read Psalm 91- many are praying this Psalm every day but speak to God in your own words - he hears us.  love hearing from you and what you are doing to keep busy during this difficult time.  Blessings to you and yours, God willing I'll be back in April and things will be better for us all.

FAREWELL JANUARY

The first month of the new decade has flown by in a whirl of activities.

Most exciting thing I do every Janaury is Off the Ocean rug camp which is held in Orange Park where I live.  It's nice to be a commuter and sleep in my own bed every night.

I had one of my favorite teachers again this year - Diane Stoffel.  I revisited a rug I started in 2018 and never worked on since.  It is the Strawberry Thief, a William Morris pattern and the rug was from Encompassing Designs in Canada.

This photo is were I left off 2 years ago but I believe I did get the right thrush finished before I put it away.

 This photo is where I ended up after camp this year.  I feel I made great progress on it in 4 days.  I am loving the color plan but then that is why I keep coming back to Diane year after year.  Her wool is just stunning and she has the most outstanding eye for where to place the colors.  This rug is done almost entirely in a 4 cut - maybe a few details in a 3.  The colors you see are about all the colors in the rug.  Everything else is many shades of green for the foliage the thrushes are rummaging thru looking for strawberries.  It's a lovely rug and I am so pleased.

 Halleluiah - my Adam and Eve cube stool was beautifully finished by my DF Katie Puckett.  I had done 3 of the seams and then got scared about fitting it over the wooden base and padding the base and all the details of making it work.  Here is the Adam panel in the rug exhibit at Off the Ocean

the Eve panel is probably my favorite - you can see her reaching for the apple in the serpents mouth.   Lots of glare from the strong sunlight in the gallery where the rug show is held.  You can see the tail of the snake on the Adam photo above really well.  This stool pattern was purchase a long time ago when Kim Nixon was still alive.  We had her leave 2 sides of the stool blank and Katie adapted motifs from the A&E antique sampler Jane Atkinson throughout the 4 sides for me.  Even has the burning bush on her side of the stool.

 The little deer and oversized flower , more motifs from Jane Atkinson.. Oh and I won 2nd place in a lovely exhibit for the fine cut division.  My friend Katie presented the prize.

 The lovely shell rug was the first place winner in fine cut, hooked by my dear old friend Sara Beth Black who is a native of Jacksonville.  She has won many time before with her lovely work.
Not sure whose rug that is below hers on the floor.

 This is the 3rd place winner in fine cut - a Carla Gerard rug co-hooked by friends Nan and Joanne.  it is so colorful.  Joanne is known for her love of bright colors.  I am really proud that 3 of us "locals" so to speak cleaned up in the fine cut division.

 

I wanted to get this post done before January hit the history books.  I've been knitting a lot and hopefully next post will have some progress photos of shawls I have been working on plus my fair isle cowl.  I enjoy reading all  your comments - please do pop in and tell me how January has been for you.  See you in February !