I continue to work with the drop spindle and “spin” some yarn each night. As with all things practice works the kinks out of whatever you are doing … most of the time. My first attempts were oooookay but I wanted better than okay and have been working to get my yarn down to sock weight. I’m thinking I have a better chance at a sock than a sweater as slow at producing finished product as I am.

I am “playing” with the new items Clover will be introducing this fall at FALL QUILT MARKET trade show in Houston, TX, October 28th – November 1. Can’t tell you what they are just yet but quilters and especially appliquer’s will love this new template. I have had so much fun working with it and find that it lends itself to many facets of crafting and needlework. Keep checking to see what it is. The sunshine is calling so I’m heading out to the deck to work on some models for…

This is so exciting I’m thinking of calling CNN or maybe Oprah and let them know that I am taking a SPINNING CLASS!  My Dr. will probably be excited to hear….hopefully she will think I mean the bicycle class that involves E-X-E-R-C-I-S-E! As a child I watched my grandmother “card” cotton in the evenings on the front porch of her rural Mississippi home.  Once I learned to knit and crochet I equated carding cotton or wool with spinning yarn but never could remember her doing that.  My Mother reminded me…

For the Craft and Hobby Association Show Being from the cool Northwest I usually dig in the back of my closet for “summer” clothes to pack for this show. Chicago is an energizing city to visit so it’s with great expectations that I pack and prepare to head out for the CHA show. Who wouldn’t be excited to get to wander around in the land of magic for crafters? Although the lobby looked deserted on set up day, the next morning, bright and early it was filled with thousands of excited craft…

The most common questions I receive regarding this form of lace making is: 1.  How do I accurately measure my strips of lace? The best way to measure your hairpin lace strips is by counting the loops on one side of the strip as you push it onto the waste yarn (check your hairpin lace instruction sheet)  holding the strip as you form the loops. 2.  How do I join my strips of hairpin lace? There are several ways to join your strips and this is what makes the project…

Another beautiful morning to wake to .. our last!  We quickly packed and headed out paying fond farewell to the Lady of the Lake as we hit the road. Remember I mentioned earlier that all pictures were taken from a moving car….well….this day the car was moving even faster.  We returned home through eastern Oregon which is absolutely beautiful.  The wildflowers were in full bloom and I could not get Hubby to slow down ( heaven forbid we should actually stop) to get pictures.  I did get one shot when…

Day 5 dawned bright and sunny.  It has come to my attention that people who live in sunny areas seem to enjoy  E-X-E-R-C-I-S-E !!  Amazing!  They ride bikes, walk, hike, water ski, swim…..I’m worn out just watching them.  Surely I have lost weight just watching all this activity! Our quest today was to find the most elusive yarn shop and we dedicated the whole day to just that task…no matter how far we had to go. After a little over an hour of breathtaking scenery we came upon a little…

Dawn comes early when you are on vacation but we hit the road with a little “Mickey D’s” food and coffee… we had 500 miles to cover. Yosemite here we come.  When I say I am going on a road trip with John I literally mean we are on the road most of the days.  I love the scenery and time to reconnect with him.  Our busy schedules keep us going in different directions most of the time. Three days looking for a yarn shop and no luck.  We made…

This the view we wake to each morning and look – people here actually exercise and seem to enjoy it…amazing. We drove over the mountains through Carson, Virginia City and Gold Hill.  Seeing the old mining towns was interesting and the museums fun to wander through. The scenic drive today  didn’t let us down in the ooh and ahh category.  The lake is so huge it can be seen from the top of the mountain ridge. The old mining towns that create so much of the history of this area…

Driving through the Sisque Mountains this morning was a feast for the senses.   How beautiful Mt Shasta might have been had the clouds lifted long enough to see it.  In size alone it was magnificent so I have no complaints.  Washington’s Mt Rainier has been known to hide from time to time. Further down the road Mt Lassen was more than happy to pose for all the tourists.  I learned yesterday to put down the lace knitting when beautiful sights were coming and today had only 4 rows that had…