A Busy Month

Whew! What a month! So much happening - School's been out for the month now, the kids have gone and come back from their respective camps, 3 knitting classes, plus alot of work.,Alice started her new job teaching swim lessons, weddings planned and gone to, Old friends visited. And my Maddie turns 21 TODAY!

My college friend, Carol, came through Montana. Memories came flooding back - too many - I was told. I can't help it I have a good memory for certain things! I haven't seen Carol for over 25 years, the last time I helped her move to Washington D.C. to live. She looked great - the same really - her daughters are gorgeous with intense eyes like their mom's. Thank you to Carol for making the first step to reconnecting our lives.

Some Knitting has been taking place - I taught 3 classes in June (and will again in August) Two hat classes and the pillow class. The beanie class was the most popular. The Urchin hat class was more challenging than anticipated, so I'm glad the August class will be split into two classes instead of one. Here is a pic of the Camo Beanie.

I also finished a couple of fun projects - One is a gift and one is for me. I started this sweater in March with some totally fab yarn from a shop in Seattle. Incredible colors that reminded me of the sunset colors from R.C. Gorman prints ( I worked for him in the 80's when Jim and I lived in Albuquerque, New Mexico.) This is the project for me! And by the way, I haven't made something for me to actually wear since I first started knitting 25 years ago!)

Jasper's band, Kolor Blind (he's the drummer) 6/4/2008, Lewis & Clark Talent Show

I never thought I'd be a mother of a rock'n'roller!

A Real Shawl, Not a Prissy One

I"m knitting a shawl. A real shawl. Not the foo-foo kind that really has no practical use at all. I mean, really, what is the use of a lace shawl, except to wrap it around my shoulders sitting in a rocking chair while I"m wearing a white high-neck blouse with puffy sleeves and a skirt that covers my feet. And then I guess I'd be knitting ANOTHER shawl. Hmmm. That is a vicious circle I'm just not willing to enter. This will NOT be a prissy shawl, the one that people will comment, "What a beautiful lace shawl", and and really be thinking " What an idiotic excuse for a shawl, She'll freeze in that. . . stupid girl."
So I'm making a different shawl, knit out of a Rowan yarn, a really nice merino tweedy wool. Chocolate and a deep lavender. This will be a shawl that will keep me cozy and keep out the cold. This a shawl that will be useful and beautiful. This will be a shawl that will inspire others to, well, wear one, I guess.

Life Takes Over

Wow, It's been awhile since I've taken "pen to paper" (so to speak) So much family stuff has been happening! Mother's Day weekend had us helping Jim's folks move into town from their cabin on the Stillwater. It was a beautiful landscape with boundless memories for Jim's parents, Jim himself and of course, our children. It was a sad time to leave, but at the same time, a time of hope since they will be closer. Honestly, I think, the grandkids will miss it the most. When they would come, it was just playtime. No work for them getting ready for camping and campfires. They loved sitting around the campfire, with Uncle Joe and Jim playing their guitars, singing the old songs. Grandpa Les inevitably blowing on the harmonica or accordian (yes, accordian)

To commemorate the move, Uncle Joe presented a beautiful picture-perfect painting of the view of the land and the river.

Since then, we've been doing plenty of helping out at their new place, lots of putting the kitchen away, adding shelving, deciding what stays up and what can go down! Whew, we're still not done! (Honestly, It's mostly Jim doing the doing)

You scrubby little urchins!

This has got to be the QUICKEST knit EVER! This beret is made up of 7 panels of short rows - it took me 15 minutes to knit up one of the panels, so that means a total of 1 hour and 45 minutes to knit this. there are so many bulky yarns to use for this, every one will look totally different! The pattern is from Knitty, called urchin (due to it's odd sea-urchin shape), This is going to be a class at Wild Purls this summer.

LOOK AT THESE:

Knitted out Farmhouse Lumpy Bumpy, I still had plenty of yarn left.

This was knit out of Noro Iro. My thought is it's the most flattering;

 so soft and fuzzy, a lot better drape 

 (especially on my model, Karen!)

Knit from Plymouth Lana D Oro, this was certainly the easiest. It was the first , because I wanted to be able to get the feel for the pattern and didn't want any "yarn" distractions. It was a good plan, laying the groundwork and confidence to race in the others, knowing they would be both quick and beautiful.

But will the Bride like it?

The scallops are perfect. The sewing is finished. The pictures are taken. But will the Bride like it?
Hopefully, she’ll appreciate the work involved. The scallops took alot of practicing and in the process I found out from TanisKnits that there were some errors in the scallop portion of the pattern.
The bag itself was very easy, the scallops were a new technique for me - challenging, but fun! I had to order the hardware from the source listed in Vogue Knitting, and added the lining, which I think is very important to add structure to the project.

Finished Nature's Colors Pillow