Yarn A.D.D.

 It has been a humbling thing to admit, but I had to admit that I couldn't get enough yarn dyed myself to keep the shelves stocked with yarn at the quilt shop, Raccoon Hollow Fabrics, in Waterloo, IL. As you might recall, I'm renting a corner of the shop and I'm trying to turn it into a small yarn shop. I already have lots of knitting needles and crochet hooks. I have a few books, too. But even though I felt like I was dyeing like a madwoman, as my husband can attest, I couldn't get the shelves all filled up. So I decided to buy some yarn. And the box came in this weekend. OMG! I already have trouble concentrating  on one project at a time. I lay in bed at night, trying to go to sleep but my mind won't let me. I keep thinking of what scarf I want out of which fibers. Which fibers would blend together well. And colorways that would be attractive. And now I have this! (shown left)

And this!

AND THIS!

I can't concentrate on one yarn long enough to do anything with it. sigh.  Luckily for me, it was my Fiber Guild's annual retreat this weekend. We 'take over' DuBois Youth Camp in DuBois, IL each year at this time for a weekend of fellowship and just plain ole good times! I threw a bunch of the yarn into a basket and took it with me.  I caught up with the lives of some of my dear old (old as in years of friendship, not age) friends, ate great food and knitted. And we laughed alot. I mean a-lot! Its great to have friends that you can lay around in your pajamas with, no make-up on, and eat as many cookies as you like. And talk. and knit. and knit till your hand starts cramping up. then eat more cookies. Yeah, I had such a great time! lol It helped me work through some of my yarn a.d.d. (attention deficient disorder). I fell calmer and ready to tackle that pile of yarn in the workshop to get it in order to take to the shop. 

This is the main room in Hickory Lodge.

I got a cute little summer scarf knitted. Take a look:

Its made with a yarn  called Petals. It does look like it has little petals, doesn't it?  I'm a couple of days behind on my Nemesis Scarf so I guess I'd better go catch up with it.
                         
                                                         Talk to you soon,  Tammy

Inch By Inch

Remember the old 3 Stooges? I grew up watching them (yeah, it says alot about me now). One of their old routines was the Susquehanna Hat Company. Every time someone said Susquehanna, Curly would go nuts. "Slowly I turn, step by step, inch by inch...". It cracks me up because this is what I'm thinking every time I look at one of my current projects. Slowly I turn in my workshop and look at it. Then  step by slow step, I go towards it. Then I knit an inch on it. So, inch by inch, I'm working on this scarf. I'll start from the beginning:

Here is my nemesis last week. It looks innocent enough. I wanted to make a man's scarf out of Griffin's fleece from last year. It is a nice light fawn. Not too frilly since it is for a guy. I don't know what I was thinking! lol Look at those little toothpicks it is being knit on. It is taking freaking forever to knit. It is a simple knit 1, purl 1 pattern. It sounded easy when I started. But after about 6 inches of it, I was done with it! It needs to be several feet long! With my other 'not finished yet' projects laying around, I do not want to add another one to the pile. So---inch by inch! I am knitting an inch on the scarf every day before I start working on anything else until it is done. I am trying to be very disciplined about it. I hope it gets done in this calendar year. (((giggle)))  I'm getting ready to go out into my workshop. And there it will be sitting on the table. I will slowly turn and look at it. Step by step towards it. and inch by inch.................

The scarf today.

Knit happy!

Talk to you soon,  Tammy

Foot Fetish

Yes, I have a serious foot fetish! Not only do I like to look at the feet of alpacas, I like to take pictures of them, too. To the left are Diesel's baby feet. Aren't they cute? And all spotty? I'm not sure what it means. The fact that I am I'm facinated with colorful feet or if the colorful foot patterns have anything to do with genetics and color traits. I don't know and don't really care. I like what I like and that's that.

These are Percy's baby feet. Nice and colorful and rosegrey. His feet have alot of potential.

These big feet are Blizzard's. They are dappled and spotted.

These feet belong to Venus. Grey, black and white.
She has black toenails, too. Some animals have black and some have white. I have noticed through the years that the white toenails are thicker and thus harder to trim than the black ones. It is like that with sheep, too. just fyi.

These fun feet are Aztec's. They match her colorful body. Maybe its because I'm a Pisces (with Pisces rising) that I'm so infatuated with feet. With people as well as animals, foot health is important. If I have a foot pain, it ruins my whole day. What about you?

The feet on the left belong to Apollo and the right are Tricksee's. Both good-lookin' feet.

The last set of feet belong to Griffin. It is hard to see it, but he has feet and legs that look like a leopard's. When I saw him as a cria at about 10 months old, I fell in love with those legs and wanted him. And got him, too. The fact that he has spots was a bonus! I guess the moral to my story is that healthy feet help make a healthy body. For animals and people so take care of your feet! lol

Talk to you soon,  Tammy

Resolutions

How about you?

Did you make any?

I'm still working on the ones from last year.

I have been dyeing some yarn for the quilt shop. Once I get started dyeing, its hard for me to stop. I can be working on one colorway and then get an idea for another colorway. It goes on and on! I 'get lost' in my workshop. I lose track of time. But I come out with some pretty rockin' yarns!

                         Like this one: Antique Rose  (I know--not another  Rose, but I must admit that I am running out of cool names)

And Clemetis.

And Autumn Fire. The colors pictured aren't as vibrant as they truly are. (my hubby named this one)

And Seabreeze. I'm working on a hat in this colorway now. I wish I had more hands to knit something in each of these colorways! But I don't so I picked this one first. I've been pretty busy dyeing yarns as you can tell. At least it keeps me out of trouble. But I still haven't taken down all the Christmas decorations because all my time has been spent dyeing! I am getting tired of seeing Sants Claus, though. I'd better get my nose back into the house before I start having nightmares about zombie Santas....

                                                                Talk to you soon,  Tammy

Cloche Hat

You may remember my project from New Year's Eve. I was knitting away on a hat. It looked awkward and for the longest time it didn't look like a hat at all! It was because the side flower and the hat were one piece and knitted at the same time. Yeah, it took a while for me to start seeing it, too. I followed the directions, line by line. And kept my fingers crossed.

Remember this picture? It was a wad of knitting. I kept faith in the directions, though.

Here it is on Jan 1st. I wound the long end around in the flower shape like it was supposed to be. It finally started looking like it work out. My fingers were still crossed. 








And here is it! It is so cute on! The pattern is called Escargot in the Ravelry pattern library. If you decide to knit one, trust the instructions. I did add the vintage button in the middle of the flower doo-dad. And in doing so I got to spend some quality time with my buttons. : ) 

                                                

Talk to you soon,

Tammy

Winter Rose

Inspiration. Such a good word. Its hard to describe it without using the word inspire. But to artists, craft people, fibery people like me, it means the world. You need it to get fired-up. To get off your lazy bum and get something accomplished. It drives you. It makes you want. Sometimes without it, I can get depressed. Very blah. The main focus of my day is what to cook for supper. And then I get "inspired". I walked out my back door and looked to the left. It has been starting to get kinda cold at night here. Down to the mid-twenty's. The trees have long lost their leaves. And then I looked to my left and saw my rose bush which is planted at the base of the house. It still had some roses on it! A little frost had nipped the outer petals but in the drab surroundings it stood out like neon. And I was inspired! I had an idea! It pepped me right up and I got kinda giggle-y. Off to the workshop I went and spent the rest of the afternoon there. Supper? Awwww.....they can breathe air for supper. I'm busy!

And I ended up with the most beautiful yarn. I really like it and I'm sure I will make more of it. It will become one of my standard "colorways". Winter Rose. I hope you like it, too.

                                                          Talk to you soon,  Tammy

Knitting In The New Year

While my family was having a heated        
pinochle game, I was in the next room
knitting. I was a bit tired, and my mind
didn't feel up to all the numbers and
keeping track of all the tricks. So, I
sat several feet away in a cozy
recliner working on a new hat. And
I was happily clicking away and felt

loved because my family is finally      
respecting my love of knitting and
leaving me alone to do it. Its been
awhile in coming but I was very
happy that it was there. And to put
the cherry on top was my grandson,
who is now 6, came running upstairs
with assorted friends and younger
cousins and came running up to me
and one asked what I was doing.
And my grandson said, "she's knitting.
She likes to knit." Very matter-of-
factly and they went running away.
I thought, "just how cool IS that!"

So, I ended my year knitting and I
also began my year knitting. Even
the next morning after breakfast.
The family was back at another
card game (did I mention how much
they love pinochle?) and I had a corner
of the table watching the game while
knitting. I was still quite sleepy, not
getting much sleep overnight, but

the repetition of the needles going
around and through the yarn is quite
comforting to me. And sitting around
the table with family playing cards and
me knitting was a wonderful way to
start out a new year. I hope you have
a Knitty New Year!!

Talk to you soon,  Tammy

p.s.  why is it that you can put your yarn and needles in a project bag and take them with you just fine. but when its time to go home, they have all exploded in size and won't fit into the same bag? its like they have been chocolate chip cookies or something. ooooh! that's right---I am
still eating all the cookies. a new year's list of resolutions will be included in the next blog.