Wow its been too long as always. I will continue to blog in here but to all my ravelry friends I have to let you know to either email me or call me (for the select few who have my cell #) if you would like to buy any of my dyeing equipment. Some difficult decisions had to be made this month. We have discovered we are having two new grandbabies due in the same week in september on opposite ends of the country. We are excited by the prospect of new lil ones but room needs to be made in order for grandma to have a nursery in her home. The dyeing equipment must go. I have two microwaves, three crockpots, buckets, towels, measuring supplies, dyes, jugs for said dyes, active dyes, pans, kettles, and about 30lbs of wool/bamboo roving in boxes,drying racks, and gloves and other paraphanilia as well. I also have numerous pattern books and magazines for knitting, crocheting and weaving available and all of its for sale. For those of you into music I have a Casio keyboard and stand for sale in mint condition. And for those of you who enjoy reading I have a small library that must go, Mostly reference books and cookbooks and Bible reference books. At this point in time I will consider letting some of my stash go if I know it will be used for a good cause. For anyone who is interested please email me or call. I will check this blog weekly for messages. Thank you for all your help! --Grandma D.

another year gone by

wow i cant believe its been nearly a year since i last posted. today i happen to be home ill with a sinus cold. but this last year i have been on a shawl and sock run. sorry i havent uploaded photos yet but i have three new shawls with another on the hook, and five new pairs of socks with two pairs on needles as well as a sweater waiting to be armed....lol. most of my year has been spent training and retraining for new jobs and now that i am back to working full time needle time is hard to find. wh and i have been to arizona to meet a step granddaughter, and virginia to greet our new grandson! (just a note we have nicknamed the grandson Mr. Personality) most of my time has been behind the lense of a camera with all the additions to the family but i havent made the time to upload much. hopefully that will change soon. hope your year has been good and the needles are a clicking!!! toodles for now!

the shawl is aracunia 2 1/4 skiens crocheted. the socks are opal for the multicolor ones, cashmere and silk on the navy, and merino on the lime green ones. hopefully will have the silky wool navy sweater done by halloween!

frozen tuesday

Today should be cause for celebration....its one of my only days off of work! However I find myself torn between projects. My sister in laws prayer shawl, my mothers socks, my friends repair of a sweater her deceased mother left her, my seamless yoke sweater out of handspuns, or beginning my first PI shawl. I could just spin or shovel snow, or when worse comes to worse do housework. (ugh!) decisions decisions. In the midst of all of those wonderful projects I am stuck. Knowing that at 3:15am my alarm is going to go off and I will once again be in the lovely world of inventory control and shipping & recieving. OY!
I have however finished and have been wearing the lovely chocolate colored pullover I knit outta of nature-spun yarn this past two weeks. It is quite warm and comfy. This is one of the things that keeps me knitting, warm sweaters and socks...lol. Its too late to start a mitten advent calendar out of my leftover sock yarn but I could always start on it for next year....hmmmm....decisions decisions....!!!
Before you think I am hopelessly lost and confused I have one question for you....
How many of you are done with your Christmas gifts?

upcoming holidays

Well WH and I have had one of our 4 Christmas's and it was wonderful. We had our Christmas together a little earlier than usual ..... like last night when I finished working at the store...we had the new e-readers and netbooks come in so we decided to splurge on each other and get one of each. The majority of my morning has been spent on the phone with the internet help desk trying to unleach my 5 neighbors systems and add the two new devices. The remainder of my day will be working on the chocolate pullover, doing two meals worth of dishes and figuring what on earth we are having for dinner....sounds rough I know but seeing as how next week is a complete nightmare for those of us who do internet shipping and inventory for a living.....I can deal with it! I will post again soon, provided my cracked fingers ever stop bleeding.

Reconnected!

WOW!!! It's been a long time hasn't it. We have been traveling and working all summer and most of the fall. We have been to Arizona where I got to enjoy my annual visit with Lynn at Kiwiknits. And all found a lovely shop on our most recent trip to Wisconson where I found Fiddlehead yarns just a block from the DSD (dear step dtr) rental house. Lake Michigan was cold the desert was beautiful and this past Saturday we actually celebrated Christmas with a neighbor who is headed out of town until after New Years. Work is getting hectic with the holiday shipping so I havent had much down time to knit. However I did have the internet and cable reinstalled at the house for the winter so I am back in the land of electronics...lol. I have finished several hats and socks, began some mittens out of a beautiful jeweltone Jitterbug yarn, and am currently working on a crew neck sweater in a stone/chocolate colored Naturespun from Brownsheep. I am loving it more and more as I knit.
As a personal challenge I have decided to knit my way through EZ Knitters workshop between now and next Christmas. So far I am done with the first project, a fairisle hat. Next is a seamless yoke sweater which I am looking forward too!
Other than decorating for Christmas last weekend I have been finishing cleaning out the storage unit and downsizing in the house. I am also excited to have picked up 35# of wool I have processed at the Shepherd's Mill. A couple of 4H demo's were tucked into my summer schedule as well and were very interesting events to participate in.
And now for the grand finale.......wait for it.......I am now the proud owner of a new Majacraft Little Gem 2.......WWWEEEEEEEEE!!!!! I finally have a new wheel. I have been saving and eyeballing models since fall yarn school of 2008. The first week I had it home I spun four pounds of fiber! It is so relaxing to be able to come home after a long hard day of the shipping dock in the cold north wind and snow (yes we have had snow already) and sit in the rocker and spin. It is the highlight of my day most days. I am also happy to be back online and blogging. I have missed it and all of you so very much! Have a great day and enjoy the rest of your week, I will blog again soon!!!

too hot to breathe

What a whirl-wind these past weeks have been! And before I forget add three more funerals, two weddings, and an upcoming baptism to the list of the last blog! It has been eventful. I am however loving the Helloyarn fiber club! I have resorted back to using my drop spindles and attempting to learn how to spin and walk like most other cultures do. The book "Respect the Spindle" has helped. In addition to spinning wool I have recently learned how to spin cotton! Interweave Press has a wonderful DVD out on the subject. Now that my spindle collection is growing I am in need of another tahkli and an ahka. If any of you know of a great source or an independant designer who makes such creatures please email me!
As most of you can tell I don't make it onto ravelry as much as I would like so those of you dealing with my unGodly amount of favorites please bear with me...our local library has a time usage system with the computers and in light of that I have foregone the luxury of adding tags. Bear with me please!
I am not sure what part of the country you all are in but here in the regions of Western KS USA....its been too hot to breathe! 100+ days for weeks at a stretch are arriving as I type. It has been more humid than usual this year making the nights unbearly steamy and not in a good way! At least when I lived on the coast we had a nice ocean breeze....here in the midwest...hot gulf winds fly across the prairie making even the trees and vegetation miserable. Don't even get me started on the stash....lol.
For those of you who have also not noticed I have been on a crochet kick that I just cant seem to break! When my ex thought I would wind up a hooker I don't think crochet is what he meant......his loss..lol. Hope you all have a safe, and cooler summer! My merino and silk await a pattern that is lost in the recesses of my mind but will come out as soon as I pick up the hook....so for now....enjoy life! I have to go pet the stash....it is getting restless!

sweet Jesus!

This past week has been a blur. Okay I will attempt to start at the beginning... On Palm Sunday I married a dear Marine friend of mine and his lovely wife. The next day his Grandfather was life flighted to a regional hospital where this past Monday he died. His daughter (mother of the groom) is a dear friend of mine so she leaned on me for support. The day of her fathers wake her ex-hubby (and neighbor) died from self inflicted injuries. His funeral was yesterday. Today I get a call that one of her dads pall-bearers and her first cousin died in his sleep. Please keep this family in your prayers. For those of you not keep track that is 3 deaths and a wedding in the past two weeks in the same immediate family.
On a deeper personal note, on our block alone that makes 5 babies, and 8 deathes that have either directly or indirectly affected my family in 2 weeks time. As a pastor that is part of the job -- this I understand and am dealing with. However on Mothers day while visiting my mama my dear sister, niece and mother discovered that I know how to knit. I have kept this from them for such a long time I don't know what possessed me to blow it now. As a family of 19 (w/spouses and nephews and nieces) out of my dearly beloved Mothers mouth came the following words: "oh so this year for Christmas is everyone gonna get a pair of socks?" The sheer terror of handling life, two jobs, and a household came into immediate perspective as I heard myself utter these two detestable words...."we'll see"!!! It had to have been the yarn fumes....WH looked at me in disbeleif. All I could think to myself is "sweet Jesus what have you done??????" followed by insanely hysterical internal laughter that made me wonder is there even a stinking 19 weeks left in this year? An eldest daughter I am....wonder woman I am not! (please pray for me too!) What is next? imagining moths twitting around my light fixtures? Last time that occured I took out a ceiling fan fixture with a fly-swatter. Now with an afternoon to myself all I can think of is the dear immortal words of my lovely step-dtr...."what have I done, sweet Jesus, what have I done?" Just remember those tears running down your face are tears of joy! mine...not so much.