Goodies Galore

I'm trying to win at the game of procrastination and thinking it's a no win situation. I received this box of goodies from Chan a week ago. A beautiful merino/silk roving aptly named Gypsy after my own little Gypsy. I love the colorway and it's from all my friends who sent the e-spinner to come live with me. Thank you all so very much. Miss Victoria Vespera and I will enjoy the spin.

Also in the box of goodies were scrapbooking stamps, instruction booklets, a skein of Ella Rae silk sock yarn and a book, The Mayflower.

Dearest Chan, you have succeeded in keeping me occupied. Housework has gone to the way-side and I'm knitting, spinning and now reading. Thank you, Dear Friend.

Of course there were goodies from Chan and the girl gang.
Miss Gypsy sniffing inside the box. She knows there are goodies for her in there.

I set the bag of cookie treats on the chest and Mr. Bettis could barely resist but he did. Because of his good behavior he was rewarded with a special treat. *sigh* Of course, he has no idea why he was rewarded but he was licking his chops and wagging his tail.
He and the gang send paw shakes to Sissy, Gretchen and of course their owners for including something for them in the goodie box.

I've been eyeing hackles for quite some time. They're a bit pricey and I would rather try one before buying. My dad made this hackle and presented it to me last evening.

Needless to say I've been playing. It works fine for me and I'm happy with it. The spinning DD is eyeing the hackle and the wool. I seriously need to padlock the wool stash room.

It's hot and humid again. Is it fall yet?

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!

In the Spin

Life. Somedays it's stressful beyond words which is why when I found this wine container I snagged it. Love, live and laugh are the words I plan to repeat daily.
It's not holding a bottle of wine although I may have to purchase a bottle if life continues to dole out stuff.....
It is the new house for a few of my new spindles :)





Hubby had some "mad money" stashed. Each of our daughters chipped in on the mad money stash and they purchased a few spindles for me. I will show the other two spindles in another post. These are from Zebisis Designs. This is a hematite rainbow and you know me, I love color.








The seller included this spindle and a small braid of mulberry silk FREE! Now that's customer service. These spindles are well made and a work of art. They appear to be fragile but they're no more fragile than wood.
I love the flower design and the photo does not capture the true color.
Hubby did well (with the help of our girls) and these are so much better than my normal gifts i.e. a swiffer.These mean so much to me as I know he and the girls saved their money to get something special for lil ole me. They're keepers in my book :).

We visited my parents over the weekend.
Mom and I dug around in her fiber stash (which rivals her yarn stash). I did some carding for her and she shared the above grey fleece with me. The staple is approximately 4-5 inches long with a beautiful crimp and I have about 13 ozs.
She also shared her Angora fleece and gave about 10 ounces to me. Trust me when I say, she still has plenty of stash...lol
Dad went to his garage and made us each a spindle. Mind you, it's not as fancy schmancy as the above spindles but because Dad made it for me, I'll cherish it. It has a great spin and is very lightweight so it's perfect for fine spinning.
Looks like I have a lot of spinning to do:).

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.

Rain

This was the weather last Friday going to the wedding. It continued throughout the weekend and unfortunately we are now on Day 7 with rain.

Mr. Bettis has just informed me that Mr. Opossum has returned. The squirrel taunts Mr. B in the fenced back yard and the rabbits have returned (yes, with an "s". Apparently they've spent too much time in the rabbit hole:). Birds have now found an entrance in the roof soffit.
I'm still working on the plans for that ark.


p.s. Thank you to all my friends for your supportive comments/emails on my previous post. It is greatly appreciated. You all are wonderful:)

Here we go.........again

This post is picture-less. I'm supposed to be packing to leave for Son #2's wedding which is on Saturday. We're leaving tomorrow morning. I would've been packed and ready but it seems there was a snafu. I have asked husband for 3 weeks to try on his suit. He refused and fussed that it was fine. I was not convinced and I reminded him that he had not worn the suit for a few years. He continued to insist the suit would fit. Well he tried it on this evening and guess what? The pants did not fit. So we had to make a last minute run to find dress pants. I'm curious. Do you think it is the evening bowl of ice cream that caused the pants to shrink? LOL

You should've seen the shirt he thought he was going to wear (eye-roll here). No, it wasn't the old flannel but it was close. Husband is a casual kind of guy.
We found the pants on sale and a new dress shirt that was on clearance in the first store. Not that we have a lot of store choices. So we were fortunate.

The knitting bags are packed. Yes, I said bags. One never knows which project to work on for the car ride and the down time during the visit.

Off to finish the packing........Have a good weekend!

Spin Forward

Knitting is on a roll here in between the spinning. Chan is making one of these so I had to snoop and find the pattern. Found it! Now to look in the stash for yarn. Found that too!
I bought this cotton fingering yarn at MD Sheep and Wool ions ago. I have no intention on making cotton socks. So I put the two together and started another project.
It's easy. It's mindless and I need this right now. It is a great project to drag along in the car. Love it!






This is a blend I finally spun. It is a mohair/wool blend. Those Mo's are a little scratchy (lol) so I'll be careful to make something that isn't close to the tender skin. I don't spin for perfection, I spin for enjoyment.

Spinning has taken a first seat to knitting these days. Of course, I have no support or encouragement from family members.
As Mr. Smarty Pants DH put it to the DD,
".....oh your mother gets on this wool thing every year at the same time right before the MD Sheep & Wool."
On top of that, Lil Miss Smarty Pants DD had the nerve to ask last evening, "...so how long is this spinning/wool thing going to last?" (she's just like her father)
I have no idea what these people are talking about. I admit there are a few rather large bags of wool in the spare room. Wet wool is drying on the deck and containters of batts and roving are in the rec room patiently waiting to be spun.





I love summer food. Although I'm still purchasing at the market, I just love the food choices. Baby greens, cucumbers, red peppers, strawberries & pecans. Add a little poppy seed dressing and Yum!

Laid Back Sunday

My BFF gave this cookie jar to me for Christmas. It's a Longaberger pottery cookie jar and I love it. She knows I collect cookie jars and enjoy baking cookies. This is perfect. I especially like the lid that seals in the freshness.
She also gave me an I Love Lucy calendar called Best Friends. A little stuffed black sheep was also in the gift bag and it has taken residence on the shelf in the bathroom.

So have a cookie while you finish reading the post. I'm eating one for you, Di:).

It was warm and sunny here today. The temp went up to 61 F. I cracked windows and enjoyed the sunshine. The dogs ran in and out a zillion times but it was okay because it was warm and it was an excuse for me to go out with them.

The 7 Day Itch

Remember in the former posts that I was going to get in the pool and have a nice swim and I was going to use suntan lotion? I planned to only be in the pool for 1/2 hour so I didn't bother with the lotion. After all, I tan. I never get a sunburn. Times have changed.
I have sun poison. Not just a little sun poison but A LOT! I am miserable. I burn. I sting. I ITCH! I should mention this is on my upper body. I spend my time sitting in front of the fan. I lay wet towels on it, I have lathered with baby oil and aloe vera and nothing seems to be working. I have even resorted to a concoction of yogurt and cornstarch. I have cut up t-shirts to eliminate sleeves, necks etc. I am now digging in the DH's shirt drawer for over sized loose shirts. The necessary garment (br*) has been eliminated. Desperate measures are in order at the moment.
I finally decided to start something new to take my mind from myself (any excuse will do). I started a wool sweater.

Unfortunately the more I knitted on it the more I thought of the I Love Lucy show where she gets a serious burn and then models a wool outfit. Makes my skin crawl. So I put that wool knitting WIP aside and decided a nice crochet doily would make me happy. I am almost finished with this and then it needs blocked.
I have to wonder though, why does every crochet doily have those teeny weeny picots on the final and very lo-o-o-ong crochet round?







This morning I'm trying to enjoy the cool temps (another desperate measure with the sun poison). I glanced in the window and there was Miss Phoebe. I grabbed the camera. The only thing separating her from the little birdies is the window screen.




Mr. Bettis saw me with the camera. He jumped and carried on like a bad kid wanting his picture taken. I told him to "SIT". It took several times of me yelling the word "SIT" in order for him to actually obey. He cracks me up, I think his one eye is cross-eyed.
He received a treat because he actually sat when told. Yeah, I know it took several times to get him to sit but Mr. Bettis thinks life is a hoot!


p.s. A friend thought I should've been a bit more photogenic and post pictures of my new "designer clothing." LOL Not Happening!

Frog, Monkey and Bear......oh my

This is a frog. I know it doesn't look like a frog, but it is. I started this as a sweater and decided against it.

Okay, okay.........I'll admit the true problem. I started this a year ago. One of those bouts of "Startitis" on a spring day. I remember it was supposed to be a sweater. (What else could it be with 98 stitches and 1 inch of ribbing completed?) I have no idea what sweater. So it is now a frog.
Hello Frog!




This is a monkey. It doesn't look like a monkey but it is. Monkey socks by Cookie A. I have been wanting to make a pair of these for a long time and after I frogged the unknown sweater, I decided I needed a new project. Yes, another new project. Hey! It's spring! Refer to above bout of "Startitis" last spring. I hereby vow Monkey will not become a Frog.
Hello, Monkey!




This is a bear. Could you tell?



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