BOSTON

No - I'm not talking about the fine city of Boston but the band Boston.

We attended their concert last night at the St Augustine Amphitheatre and to say they ROCKED THE HOUSE is an absolute understatement!!!!!!!!!!  They played all their great hits spanning over 30 years in the industry.  They played loud hard and steady - never slowing down one bit for one solid hour and a half.  We saw Boston in the late 90's in the Tampa/St Pete area with more of the original members however this lineup was nothing less than stellar.  The performance was AWESOME and if you are a Boston fan - get on the internet now and see if they are coming to a town near you.

 As you can see - we had great seats - front and center -The only drawback was the excessive heat - however there was a breeze off the ocean





Moving on to what else I've been doing lately.  Camp Loopy 2 with The Loopy Ewe started on 6/27.  Her requirement for this camping project is that at least one color in your project had to use a color in your nations flag and that the project be a minimum of 800yrds - WHEW - 800 + yards in a month - that is a tough challenge for me.  I chose the ever popular Stripe Study Shawl by Veera.  Lots of people have enjoyed knitting this one and I have never tried it - It is a garter stitch and the unsual shape is created by doing short rows and the striping of two colors.  I am using lovely yarn that I have never tried before by Skein - a hand-dyer in Australia - it is a fingering weight 80% merino and 20% cashmere and it is really lucious.  I am enjoying using it very much.

The dark rich red is Little Red and the other color is Sugar - I actually love the Sugar and am really liking the two together.  As of midnight last night - this is how much I have gotten done.  It's easy knitting now that I've gotten the hang of the pattern and short row shaping.

A little patriotic stashing this week when the pre-order from the Attic arrived.  This is the limited edition Star Spangled box by Kelmscott  and the July Wordplay by With They Needle and Thread

Patriotic stitching was dragged out from the bottom of the WIP/UFO pile.  America by Handwork is almost 1/2 done I would say.  It is worked on the called for treasured BOAF Sparrow linen with the designers choice of GAST threads.  I am hoping to make some progress on this over the 4th holiday.

Last thing I got a month or so ago and keep forgetting to show is another piece for my Liberty Hill collection.  The Stitchers Station sits right on my table by my stitching chair.  It has a cute rolling farm scene all around - which you can't see very well - a threadwinder and a 3" ruler was included.  I find it handy to stick my stitching glasses, my Brighton pen and I have the threadwinder loaded up with the beautiful Gloriana Florimell silk I am using for I Wait for God design by Hands to Work.  I don't have enough of this done to show you yet.  There was an awesome photo of someone who used the same color silk for the same design  I am using in the recent Attic newsletter.

Well my fine friends - I wanted to wish you all a very happy and festive 4th of July - I probably won't make it back to blog land to post this week so I'm sending you best wishes for all your favorite 4th foods and plenty of time for holding a needle in your hand.  Thanks for visiting my blog and leaving your comments - I always love hearing from you.

IT WAS A DARK RAINY DREARY MONDAY

night when I got home from work.  Debby is knocking on our back door - we have been saturated with rain here in NE FL - about 6 inches in 24 hours.  It was one of those creepy nights when it wasn't quite dark - somewhere between dusk and dark when I got home.

I stumbled into the living room and AAAAACKKKKK -  imagine my surprise to see my Peaks Island Hood being modeled by our crystal skull.

I think Jody thought this would be funny since I asked him yesterday to model this for me so I could take my photo for the Loopy Ewe camp loopy project.

Hope you enjoyed my attempt at Hitchcock humor

On to Camp Loopy 2 - are you with me????????

Have a great week !

CLOSE ENCOUNTER IN SAVANNAH

Just back home from a short trip to Savannah.  Had a real interesting experience in one of my favorite restaurants down in the historic district.  Circa 1875 is on Whitaker Street just a block down from Paula Deen's Lady and Sons restaurant.  I love this place even though they have a somewhat limited menu that is french - it is just a quaint little cafe.

Jody and I were eating our soup and in walks an odd collection of about 6 people - they sat over by the wall just a table over from us and Jody was facing them and he all the sudden says - see that guy - that's Donal Logue - So who is that? well apparently he is an actor - jody knew him first from  a Northern Exposure episode but he had a sitcom of his own a few years back called Grounded for Life - then there was this guy with them who had a british accent but his back was to us and he looked like Eric Clapton at a glance and w/o my glasses LOL - Jody kept listening to him - and he said " I think that is that guy from the Harry Potter movies - but he didn't know his name - so when I got back to the hotel - we discovered he was referring to Alan Rickman - FIVE FEET FROM ME - Severus Snape - the Sheriff of Nottingham from the Robin Prince of Thieves Kevin Costner movie - Apparently Donal Logue parent's were Irish from County Kerry and that's what they were talking about. they weren't loud but we were THAT close that we could hear them.
You always think you will ask someone famous for an autograph but NOT - I would not have even been able to get the words out of my mouth. I did consider snapping a picture with my IPhone but I was afraid it would flash or something and I did not want to attract any attention. Anyway - if you google his name you will see they are starring and co-starring in a movie about a NYC club called CBGB or something like that. I think even Debra Harry and Patti Smith - is here for the filming - anyway - that's my big news.  It was very exciting to think that someone as famous as Alan Rickman of Harry Potter fame was close enough for me to hear him speak.  They were all very relaxed - having a nice evening out.  Filming starts Monday according to something I read from the Savannah News on the internet.

Not much stitching has been accomplished since my last post.  I am frantically trying to finish my Camp Loopy 1 project before the deadline next week.  I have finished the hood section on my Peaks Island Hood

This very wide section is the hood portion.  It has been a very enjoyable project to knit - the yarn is exquisite both in texture, hand and finished fabric and the color is just stunning.

 I am not really a blue person but this is just a smashing color.  I am in the home stretch now - I hope I can do some turbo knitting and get this finished photo'd and uploaded to the Loopy Ewe website before the deadline.   After all - Camp Loopy Two is starting and it is an even bigger challenge as the project has to be at least 800 yards and must have at least one color from your country's flag.  I chose red for my country's flag color.

I've already received my yarn for the CL 2 project.  The good thing about these challenges is that Sheri at TLE offers a 20% discount on your yarn for these camp projects and extra little incentives if you finish on time.  I've selected Stripe Study as my CL2 project.  It is a shawl that lots of people have knitted in previous Loopy challenges and camp last year.  Another thing I try to do is use different yarns that are new to me.  This is Skein yarn which is an 80merino20cashmere blend dyed in Australia - it feels so yummy - I can't wait to get started with it.

But wait - there is yet even more knitting on the horizon for this summer - I have joined Wendy Knits Summer Soltice Mystery Shawl KAL. It has already started and I am sure I will be behind on this one but I purchased the pattern and will print all the updates and even if I knit it later and not with the KAL it is still fun to participate.

That's about all that's new with me - hope all of you are having a good summer so far.  I'd love to hear what you've been up to.  Thanks for popping by my blog and leaving your comment for me - I love reading them.

CAMPING AND AN OLD OBSESSION

Me - nah - I'm not the camping type - I need a/c, cable, nice restaurants, great light and a comfortable chair.  Now those big fancy motorhomes have all that but that's not really roughing it. 
Camp Loopy 2012 is what I am talking about - I know at least a couple of my local friends and several blog friends are doing Camp Loopy.  Sheri the owner of The Loopy Ewe devised this cute way of having everyone participant in a group project last summer.  She gives a discount on yarn and little incentives for finishing on time and so forth.  It's fun - plus there is lots of campfire fun over on Ravelry. 

I am doing a beautiful hooded scarf Peak Island Hood by Ysolda Teague a UK designer.  I am using hand dyed yarn from Three Irish Girls in an exquisite colorway called Niall.  I am enjoying knitting the well written pattern.  Thank goodness there are stretches of mindless knitting - I need that especially this week - I'm sorry but it has been the week from hell.  First Tropical Storm Beryl - dealing with the aftermath has been difficult for some residents of NE FL.  Thankfully we did not have any damage but a lot of cleanup of tree debris.  thanks to all my blog friends for sending comments and well wishes on that subject.  It was much appreciated.

 The old obsession part of the blog post title refers to my love of needlepoint.  I learned to needlepoint as a young girl - about 8yrs old.  It has been something I always go back to.  I've done lots of needlepoint classes incorporating fancy threads and intricate stitches but I think my favorite needlepoint is just classic designs like this one using beautiful wool or wool blend threads.  This canvas is using mostly Silk and Ivory a 50/50 merino silk blend.

 Here is a close up shot of the backround stitch for the blue.  I think this is going to be nice and I will do a different backround stitch on the yellow green portion - brick maybe.  Sorry this photo is not as crisp as I would like but you get the idea.

No I am not working this on any type of frame.  I'm sure most needlepointers would frown but I find holding a heavy frame to be tiresome and yes I have every type of frame and type of stand known to man - I just like to feel the project in my hands.  Just like with stitching on linen which I do 95% in hand.

Well the weekend is upon us.  What do you have planned?  I go to my EGA stitching group tomorrow but other than that - I am looking forward to a quiet relaxing weekend - after the week I've had with first the silly storm and then network problems for the past 36 hours - whew - I'm ready to chill out.  Enjoy !

BERYL BE GONE !!!!!!!!

No Happy Memorial Day around here.

We are in the midst of almost hurricane Beryl - AACCKKK - this storm came from no where.  I am working today since Memorial Day is not a holiday in our company.  I wish I could capture the tremendous howling wind and waves crashing over the sea wall in front of the historic home where I work.  It is quite a site to behold.  These photos were taken about 2 hours ago and it is much worse now. I have been here since around 9am and the wind has definitely picked up again. You can tell that during the last high tide the water came over the sea wall and flooded into our parking lot.

These shots are taken on the veranda outside my office.

 You can see where the water has come over the sea wall in this shot

Here you can see some of the debris that floated off the river in the high tide and wind - I intend to leave before the next high tide comes rolling in.

Just so my post is not all gloom and doom - here are some fun photos from our rug guilds annual hook-in last Saturday.  We had 25 members and guests attend and that was a pretty good turnout.  Unfortunately we did not have that many finished items displayed but here is a few.

Isn't this 3 D pumpkin cool - DK Becky was working on it at the St Simons Island retreat and it was nice to see her finished pumpkin.  It has a real pumpkin stem - I would love to do a set of these for a fall centerpiece.

I think this is an osprey which was hooked by a guild member - too bad I cut off her hawk next too it.

I'm not sure whose turkey this is but this is a neat seasonal rug and I love the pumpkins in this one.

Isn't this octagonal rug gorgeous - I'm pretty sure it was hooked in a 3/4 cut

This stunning WIP is a scene from a Vermont village.  The maker is a member of our local guild and she is toying with donating this magnificent rug to the local historical society which is actually one of those buildings.  I'm sorry it came out upside down and I did not correct it before I posted the photo.

I wish I could add an updated photo of the angry river now 3 hours after those photos I took this morning - it is really churning out there.

BE GONE BERYL - take yourself back out to sea.

MOTHERS DAY AND MONDAY

Monday Monday - who wouldn't love to be transported back to the innocence of the 60's.  I didn't mean for this post to become melancholy but for some reason I am having a blue Monday. 

We had a wonderful Mothers Day yesterday and I hope all of my blog friends who are mothers, grandmothers or were fortunate enough to celebrate the day with your mother enjoyed it as much as we did.

We had brunch at the beautiful and historic Club Continental which is about 10 blocks from my house.  It is a wonderful old estate home which encompasses 27 acres on the banks of the St Johns River.  The Italianate mansion was built in the 1920's by the Palmolive Soap family and is still owned today by the great granddaughter.  You can see the history of the club on the website if you have any interest.  I am so pleased there is so much of Florida's early history right in my own area.  When you enter the gates you feel like you have stepped back into old Florida - the 300 year old live oaks heavily draped with spanish moss - it just beckons you back to an earlier time.

Here are a few photos we snapped yesterday after brunch.

Mom and I are standing in front of the Club Continental - the courtyard includes lovely landscaping and a circular koi pond surrounds this island we are standing on.

This is my little family


 I don't know what my dad was doing - I did take another shot but my mom was looking goofy in that one so I opted for this one since she looks good and Jody looks good. 
A beautiful fountain dedicated to the memory of Caleb Johnson Massee - one of the recent owners of Club Continental who passed away in 2010.  You can see the beautiful live oaks surrounding the circular drive.

Here is a shot from that fountain back to the mansion - check the website for some much better views and shots of the interior.  If you are ever in this area - they have suites available to the public and it is the site of many weddings and other functions.

 just one parting shot of a beautiful shawl I started a week ago.  It is Saroyan and the yarn is Malabrigo Rios for any knitters out there.  It has a beautiful leaf border - if you look closely you can see it.  I thought it would be hard but if you keep careful row notes it is not hard at all and I love the colorway -  Indiecita

Well friends - I almost never do a Monday post - Working full time - Monday is usually a drag day - getting back into the work groove.  However after writing this post and looking over the photos of my dear family - I don't think I am having a blue Monday any more - I think I am having a really "blessed" Monday - I have the dearest Mom in the world - we share so much - I am so blessed to see her often - she is not only my mom but my best friend.  So this post is dedicated to her and to all the great moms out there.  Love you Mom !

ST SIMONS ISLAND RETREAT

Last weekend the No Fl Rug Hooking Guild and a few non-member friends made a short trip to Epworth by the Sea for a weekend of rug hooking, knitting, needlework, eating, sharing, laughing, shopping, eating, laughing and relaxing by the low country marshes. 

We were housed in top quality hotel type accomodations and just a short walk away from our hooking room which was full of natural light with a restroom close by. Just across the road was the dining hall - all locations had stunning views of the intercoastal waterway and marsh birds abounded. Sunsets not to be believed and balconies in each room overlooking all of the above. My mom and I shared a room and I think a wonderful time was had by all. I think we are all wanting to go by there again for another retreat or perhaps a workshop with a teacher.
Epworth is a Methodist retreat center and here is an excerpt from their website :
From Epworth, England To Epworth By The Sea... Epworth By The Sea is named in honor of the boyhood home of John and Charles Wesley, founders of Methodism. In 1784, John Wesley tenderly recalled his home by writing in his famous journal, "I rode to Epworth, which I still love beyond most places in the world." Though he is said to have ridden 250,000 miles and preached 45,000 sermons, Epworth still held his heart.

There is a lot of history on St Simons Island and the neighboring island Jekyll Island.  I have traveled there dozens of times in my life.  It is only a short drive from Jacksonville and makes a great day trip.  There are lots of wonderful restaurants and interesting historic sites.  Apparently Epworth is popular for weddings also as there were not one but TWO weddings held on Saturday.  Are any of  you familiar with Eugenia Price - she often wrote about the golden isles of GA and Savannah.  My DF Kerrie is a fan of hers and she said Beloved Invader was set in the area of where we were staying - I must try and read that one.  Eugenia Price also had a novel set in the area where I live near Fleming Island Fl and I found out from reading one of those books that the main family name in the book is a spanish name Fatio - that is the street I live on.  Another interesting fact is that our area is built on old plantation land called Laurel Grove.  I have seen photos of the plantation home that was in the area.  There are several structures pre-dating 1900 in the area.  Now I am rambling and getting off the subject of St Simons Island - I will have to do another post one day about the history of my area - I love historical facts and I just get lost in the subject sometimes.


Moving on to some photos of last weekend - here is the view from our balcony - just after sunset - I don't know why I didn't get any shots of the actual sunset

 I'm going to show all the projects that were being worked on by friends and fellow guild members.  I think I got everyone's projects except for one and I don't know why she didn't throw her's down on the floor.

This is DF Karen's rug - I'm not sure of the designer but I think maybe it was Maggie Bonanami from one of her books.  Karen most often hooks in an 8 cut.

Next is my mom's Polly Minick patriotic Uncle Sam hat.  I love the way it's coming out.  She could have finished that hat with just a few more hours work.  This was my own color plan using wool from my little red cupboard and some of Polly's wool.  You can't really tell yet but it has a confederate gray backround (why of course - we are intensely southern in case you didn't know) My maternal family is from south central GA for many generations and my paternal family is about 5 or 6 generations in NE FL. BTW - she is hooking it in a 6cut.

I decided to devote my time to the Angel Runner by Bea Brock - I got a lot done - I finished up two angels which only leaves 1 angel left to complete.  There are lots of fiddly details left to hook but those will actually be pleasant breaks from the backround. 

I love the backround - the color plan is by Diane Stoffel - I was very uncertain of all those blues and purples - not my fave but she said - just put it in - it will look great and I think it does. 

Next is DF Donna's beautiful BBD rug - I think it was from an earlier book of their's and is called Acorns and Pomegranates if I am not mistaken.  Donna was focusing on her border and got a lot done.  Beautiful colors in this rug.

Next is DF Starr's Church Ladies rug.  I love the neat fibers she used to enhance the hats and the stained glass border is such a neat feature.  I'm not sure who did the actual color plan but I think maybe it was Dianne Kelly.

 This was another focus of Starr's - she was learning fine shading and this is going to be a footstool cover. Pretty good for a first attempt but then with DF Katie mentoring - how can you go wrong !

 here is Katie's Jesus rug - she drew this rug herself and worked on it at a camp with Victoria Ingalls - it is amazing - all in a 3 cut.

Next is Nan's rug - it is pretty big - it has 2 tiny proddy mice - can you see them??  I think at least some of this color plan was by Diane Stoffel.  It photographs beautifully.

Another first attempt at fine shading is Sheila's chair seat - She made great progress on this chair pad.

This amazing rug is another Bea Brock design - Barn Symbols I think is the pattern - JoAnne started this huge rug in January - can you believe it and she works full time also.  Another beautiful color plan by Diane Stoffel.

Here is first rug by Michelle - we were happy to have Michelle visiting with us - she works at a local quilt shop and is a new hooker.  This bunny design I believe is another original design by Katie Puckett along with the color plan by Katie.

 Another beautiful shot of JoAnne's rug showing all the details - she is basically placing all the colors herself and doing an awesome job.

 Next up is DF Kerrie's Cow Lady Sampler rug - it is a design by Susan Quicksall and this rug is huge - Of course Kerrie did not do all this work in a weekend.  Katie is doing the color plan for her and the dyeing of course.  We are so lucky to have her - she is an amazing dyer.

This is DF JoyceAnne's needlepoint - she was a guest and the only non-hooker in the group. JoyceAnne and I are in EGA together.  We were happy to see the amazing counted canvaswork she does.  This is a freebie design by Laura J Perrin a needlepoint designer.  she was using all types of stashed threads for these.

Here is a photo of the oldest church on the island.  I don't remember the original name of the church but it is now called Lovers Lane Chapel.  Some of us attended church services there on Sunday morning and it was packed to the brim.  It was a lovely little chapel inside.  I could see why it is sought after for a wedding location.

 A little closer shot.

The weekend would not be complete without a little stash enhancement - there is a wonderful yarn/needlepoint shop on the island - The Stitchery of St Simons - this shop has moved around a lot in the 10 years or so I have been visiting.  It is located on Frederica road and if you are ever on the island - you simply MUST pay a visit.  Bo's yarn selection is awesome.  It is definitely worth the drive from NE FL - I intend to shop there more often since we've lost 3 yarn shops from the NE FL area in the past year or so.  Her needlepoint and fiber selection is good also.  JoyceAnne Kerrie and I visited there  while my DM went antiquing with another group.

She had an awesome selection of Malabrigo yarns - I've been wanting the Malabrigo Book 3 - She also carries Manos yarns which are hard to find.  This is a skein of Manos Lace I snagged.

 Here is the Lakedale Shawl by Stephen West which is in this book - I have been coveting this since I first saw it.  My colors are not exactly the same as this but are close.


here is my small beginning on lakedale - I got a pair of new to me needle also - can't remember the name right now but they are colored wood circulars.  They are pretty nice for inexpensive needles.  I have been enjoying working on this shawl - It is an 8 row repeat for the body of the shawl then that pointed lacy border - I like to have a mindless knitting project on the go for when I am tired and just want to relax before bed.  I've done several other shawls with malabrigo sock and I think it is a nice yarn for the price.

Well - that concludes my retreat report.  Hope you enjoyed visiting with me today and seeing our projects.  I appreciate all your comments - please do come and visit often.