Party Time

There was a party in the house yesterday. It was our youngest DD's birthday. Our last year with a teen-ager.
She always requests a homemade cake for her birthday and this year she requested a Red Velvet Cake with cream cheese frosting. Putting frosting on a two layer cake has never been something I have accomplished particularly with cream cheese frosting but it was good in spite of the appearance.





A handmade Teddy Bear has been on her want list for quite some time. She's trying to explain the size of the bear she wants.











Born on August 1, 2010 Miss Toffit sized up to 5 1/2 inches and is a fully jointed little bear. She carries her new owner's heart close to her own. The Birthday Girl loved her.










This kid of mine must've come from the 60's era. She's a conservative thinker but a 60's dresser. Peace signs and tie dye everything are favorites. I leave nothing white around the house or it ends up in the dye pot.
A peace sign scarf will be her trademark clothing this year.






She has been begging for spinning supplies.
Her dad made a spindle and I made a spindle bag and carded some batts for her new hobby.
She took to spinning like a duck takes to water and is requesting wool in her college packages. I'm padlocking my wool room....LOL

Her grandparents gave her a DVD set of The Universe and several reading books. It was a lovely birthday celebration and I don't know where the years have gone.
Happy Birthday kiddo! We Love You!

Victor/Victoria

The e-spinner and I have become best friends. It's a she and her name is Victoria Vespera. She was named Victoria because my wonderful friends helped to overcome my disability in order to enjoy something I love, so victory it is.
Victoria and I spun some BFL roving I had laying around. A navajo plied worsted weight with a generous 250 yds. I still have a bit of the roving and will spin it to match.




My apologies to ravelry stalkers for the following post.
I carded some corriedale fleece with a small batch of alpaca and spun it on my Kundert spindle.











When finished I had approximately 500+ yards of a singles.
It grew up to be a Swallowtail shawl. Since there was so much yardage I added a few more repeats to the main part of the pattern as well as the edging.








It is unbelievably soft and I love it. I must admit (rather sheepishly, no pun intended)that I am so proud of this project I could bust at the seams.
It is drapped over an antique quilt rack in the bedroom and I gently touch it every time I pass the rack. From start to finish I think this project is my most accomplished project since I started knitting way back when at the ripe age of 9 yrs. Trust me, it's been a long time.

What do you think is your most accomplished project?

Date Night

Hubby called on his way home from work and suggested we go out for the evening. Since we haven't been anywhere to speak of for awhile. Date Night. Woo-hoo! Where did we go?
Well let me see, we grabbed a sandwich at the local diner, Wal-Mart (to get dog treats), the market (to get human food) and of course the evening would not be complete without a trip to Lowe's. I'm not a fan of Lowe's unless I can look at paint or I have a craft project in mind. Other than that....meh....not my kind of store. I stay in the car while he shops. Too much walking (otherwise known as hobbling in my case).


Lately I have been smitten with spindles and have wanted to try a support spindle for quite awhile. Cotton and angora are anxiously waiting in my fiber stash and they need a support spindle.
I've looked at them online and wiped the drool from the monitor for weeks now. I also wanted to try one first before I actually saved the cash to purchase one.
DH found a dowel, some kind of closet wheel thingy (don't ask, I forget the specific name of the thingy) and hooks. Cost? $4.36


At that point, Date Night was over for me, I wanted to make the spindle and give it a whirl immediately.
So we went home, we put away the groceries and at 9 pm last night, hubby made a spindle. Took about 15 minutes and boy is it a spinner. My youngest son is an artist and he made this bowl for me a long time ago when he was in high school. It is the perfect support bowl until I can find a smaller one. This little spindle spins forever and I love it.


There's a running joke between my sis and me about flamingo decorations in the Appalachian Mountains.
She presented me with a flamingo light set. Oh thank you so much, Sis.....LOL
So here they are in all their pink glory hanging on our deck.







Just so you get the Full effect, here they are lit at night.....













She also presented a package of Flamingo napkins for a future picnic. Now all I need is a Flamingo lawn ornament....LOL And if I wake up one morning and find a Flamingo lawn ornament in my front yard, I'll know who put it there.

Anyone know where I can find one of those dress-up geese? I have a sister who needs a lawn ornament.....LOL

I Did it!!!

I did it!! I honestly did it! Drop spindles and I have never had a good relationship. We fought. A few not-so-nice words flew from mouth as the spindle would go flying across the room. So I put my spindles in a nice basket and went to my wheels for easy efficient spinning.
Out of the clear blue sky I decided I was going to repair the relationship with my spindle again. It was a tough go in the beginning but lo and behold we worked together and finally created a "masterpiece." (perhaps setting aside my name calling had something to with it:).

The above is a result of the beginning of our relationship and as you can see it shows how rocky it has been. However, it's a continuous "string" and that's all that mattered at this point. I navajo plied the yarn and I love this little skein of "string." I will keep it and not knit anything from it so I can reminisce about "our" relationship.

This is the second spindle of yarn. Like any relationship as you move along it gets better and soon I was in the swing of spinnning.

This is just a comparison of the handspun on the spindle and my wheel. I'm pleased:)
I also navajo plied the newly spun yarn on the drop spindle. On the left is a sample of navajo plied yarn from my trusty wheel. The right is the navajo plied on the spindle. I know it's a little lumpy but the spindle and I are happy that we have rekindled our relationship. Much like relationships in life, there are bumps and lumps along the way but if one puts forth a good effort they become beautiful "masterpieces" of Life.
So I'm tossing a challenge to a few of you out there who have given up on your spindles. Give it a whirl, you just might rekindle a beautiful realationship with your spindles and create a masterpiece of Life.