6.29.14

As I have said, I walk most days up to the end of the road. It is the same road every day, but the things I see and the views change almost hourly. Take for instance a neighbor's wood pile...

...a few months ago, looked like this....

and that lovely foggy view  from a few days ago, now looks like this....

I love the changes!

What hasn't changed much since we last spoke are the Teggala mitts. I got a bit distracted. 

A friend had a baby shower on Saturday.  My friend is a knitter... and her mother is head of the big Spartanburg knitting guild.... so I had to knit something..right? ...and since I design stranded work, it had to be something with color...right? 

Stranded Bear

What cha think? How'd I do?

I'm back on track now. Off to go knit.

6.23.14

I have a couple of things to talk about today.

First of all, I take a walk almost every morning. About 25 minutes up the road to a bald spot that used to be part of an apple orchard. The views of the mountains are pretty spectacular from up there.

This morning my golden and I witnessed slightly different views...

This was the view from our deck....

I know it is weird...but I actually love the fog. It's kind of mystical...and I'm a nut for fantasy/science fiction.

Ok, now that I've revealed that guilty pleasure...let's move on to what's on my needles.

Last month, I received a request to create a hat pattern for The National Needle Arts Association (TNNA) meeting. The request came from The Yarn Sisters, the American distributor of Zealana yarns (New Zealand company). It came with a few requirements....3 colors of AIR (cashmere, silk, and brush tail possum...can you say soft!!)...wound into 10gram mini skeins which equals about 194 yrds. Oh, forgot to mention, AIR is lace weight. Most hats require around 200 yards...so I knew it would be tight...yarn-wise.

Also..the request came in 2 weeks before TNNA. So designed, sample made, pattern written up, and sample photographed in less than 2 weeks. I ran a bit out of time...and had to compromise on chose of models, but I got it done. So here it is...Teggala, the hat.

Now I'm working on Teggala, the mitts...

The idea is to be able to make both the hat and the mitts with 3 full skeins of AIR. I'm working on both mitts at the same time so I can monitor the yarn usage, but it is not something I would recommend. The tangles have a mind of their own. ;)

I'll let you know how it goes.

Ok...I'm off to get back to my knitting.

Take care.

Next steps

I live in a small town. 703 permanent residents recorded in 2012. At least that is what it is the full time residents...the ones that live here year round. In the summer, the population increases by about 1000. Still a pretty small town.

We moved here from Atlanta. Yeah, I know. Somewhat of a culture shock...but not in a bad way. Believe me, we are loving every minute!

One of the things about a small town is there is no blending into the background. Hiding is kinda out of the question. So when asked to host the monthly gathering of community women...you can't exactly say no.

Ok, before you picture hundreds of women descending on my house in some SNL-type sketch, please know I am only talking 20 or so. It's a subgroup of the community at large.

Nevertheless, it has meant making the house presentable. Actually forget presentable, move straight on to passable. We just moved in. There are boxes everywhere!

Or were everywhere. They is now only a smallish mound in the garage...if you don't count my office.

My next task!