My Forgotten Blog

Good Grief!  Look how long it's been since I posted!!! 


Seriously ... the Gods of Blog should strike me dead and send my worthless carcass to Outer Bloggolia for disposal. 


Not really .. it's been a busy time for me this year. Nothing notable really, but I've been putting more effort into eating properly, exercising and getting caught up with little unfinished things before the weather drives me inside to craft during the "unfit to go out" months. I've had moderate success in all endeavors. My checkup revealed a weight loss of 25 pounds and I have a bit more energy. The house is cleaner in general and the dogs get daily walks. The grocery bill is less and most of the craft odds and ends have been finished up. I have a few commitments ahead to complete before Christmas but haven't overburdened myself this year. 


Soooo .... Ripley is growing up pretty quickly. She's a chunky little thing compared to Daisy, but really sweet. I just wish they'd both stay off the sofa!

The little buggers just wait for me to leave the room then up they go ... 


Here they are ... caught right in the act. Daisy is trying hard to appear deep in sleep. Ripley is too nosey and had to open her eyes to see what I was up to .... haha. 






Oh yes, I've decided to grow my hair long too. It's been years since I let it grow. Whaddaya think? 
                             










I've been pretty busy getting geared up for the local Christmas Craft show. I have a few new items this year ... and I still have to make some Woolfins. 


Here are a few of the trinkets. 

Stitch markers. Everyone who knits needs some of these.
















Then I got on a little Kumihimo kick. Once I learned how to do it, I became bored with it. I did make a few interesting little items before that happened though. 










And for those who like to read and don't yet have a Kindle ....

Inexpensive ... simple ... 

I did a lot of these ... those little hands are sooooo cute! 

Ah yes ... another one of my learning accomplishments. This shawl has a rather interesting story (or not, depending on how bored you are.) The learning part is that it is knit in the style of Estonian lace. I've never knit one before and I must say, there will definitely be more (larger!) of these. They're fun to knit, but you must be able to concentrate as there are many changes in the pattern. 


On to the story ... it's about the fiber that it is made with. I have done some swaps with a couple of lovely ladies in the States, and this came in one of them about a year ago. Apparently, it was from the collection of Sandy Ryan   of Homestead Wool and Gift Farm in Wisconsin and came from her well loved flock.  It was an orange and dark brown roving of Romney (dyed orange) and Shetland (dark brown and the sheep was named Toshi ) which I had a hard time trying to figure out a use for, since orange isn't a color I like at all. I had a bag of lovely Coopworth roving in white so did singles with each and plied them together. The end result was a marl that really toned down the orange and inspired this piece. I only had enough to make a small size. My next endeavor will be a much larger one. I thought that Sandy Ryan might be interested in this story as her fiber has finally become an end product. Now I'm wishing I'd had a bit more of this so the shawl could have been larger. This would fit a small person quite nicely ... but not big old me! 


Ciao for niao!