one more for the pile

remember my "goals" post?  i had 3 goals for the year.  
1) learn to embroider
2) learn to crochet(for reals)
3) learn to to knit socks- the toe up way(sigh)

well, i forgot to add one-now that the year is almost half over-(holy crap how'd that happen?) i have done nothing in the goal tending department and now i have decided to add yet another goal to the pile.  why do i do this?

anyway- most of you can guess it-yes, it's quilting.  just simple basic quilting-nothing fancy.  time to dust off the old singer(yes, i still have the one i got for my 8th grade graduation-wonder if it's made it to "antique" status yet?  hahahhaha!  i crack myself up sometimes.   i've always loved old quilts and have a deep need and desire to make them.

so yesterday, i was in search of buttons to put on some hand knitted baby sweaters i have finished.  and low and behold most of our fabric shops are shut down.  except ben franklin and frankly (hahahah-there i go again) their buttons do nothing for me! i love our ben franklin but their button department needs some serious help! Humble fabrics and crafts is great but they didn't have the colors i needed.

so, i google the next big town-auburn.  no go.  out-o-luck.  i ended up at "the tin thimble" in loomis.  58 fricken miles from my house just to find buttons. but what a treasure trove this place is.  yes, i found my buttons and oh so much more.  i got some fabric for my very first quilt!  hooray for me:)  if you are ever in loomis you must stop by- it in an old historic fruit and veggie packing shed.  they have all tons of groovy stuff antique patterns, fiber for felting projects, antique buttons, fabrics, classes and much much more! website. and the employees are very helpful and friendly.  that's important to me.  be sure to check out their facebook page!

you see thay had this quilt hanging-made by one of the employees that never made a quilt before- i fell in love. it is blogged about it here.  please check it out.  i took the pic from their blog.

i love it that the corners don't quite match up perfectly and it puckers just a little-it's just so me!   i couldn't afford to get enough fabric for this size-so i'm starting out small for my first one.  here's my fabrics:

awesome, huh?  oh yes, and my buttons-the damn things i went in there for!

 

love my vintage buttons and they match perfectly for what i wanted them for. and yes, i bought a few more for future projects. (of course!)  i will keep you abreast on my quilting adventure. i know i must first wash may fabric. that will happen today!

oh!  almost forgot!  there's some antiquey type stores around there too.   look at this antique wire basket i got for for my craft fair booth displays.  great for holding my dyed yarns or rovings!!!

 enjoy the day- going to sew my buttons on:)

spring delights

spring is definitely here!  the hens finally started laying again.  i was not happy buying eggs and chicken feed!  driving the canyon to town this past week the bush lupines, indian paint brush and blue dicks are blooming!  even the laundry on the line smells fresh and alive.

our lettuce is doing mighty fine.  i just planted some radishes, kale, rainbow chard and more salad greens.

 looks like i need to do some thinning!

i've been knitting up a storm lately.  trying to finish katie's cowl-made from luscious baby alpaca-ran out of yarn.  my lys is out and they are trying to find me a skein so i can get this to poor katie's cold neck before summer.
 

here is my dark and lovely merino/cashmere ananke shawl.  the yarn is from pigeon roof studios.  love her stuff!!!  so bummed she was not at stitches this year.  the picture does not capture the colors at all.  so much better in real life.

my daybreak shawl which i renamed "north sea quarry" is turning out nicely.  western sky knits dyes wonderful colorways as well.

how's that for a quick update.  now i must get out and walk the dragon!

Stitches west revisited!

leaving "stitches" early was a bummer.  but i knew where i needed to be.  home with my sweet boy.  see previous post for more details.

after i got on the road to head home hubby called to say they were going to wait for surgery.  i was stuck in san jose friday rush hour traffic.  i knew there was no turning back.  even if i did return to stitches-i couldn't enjoy myself.  it took me 6 hours to get home- what a nightmare. san jose has the worst radio stations! can't believe folks deal with this traffic on a regular basis-insanity!

one of my favorite items i came home with was a soxchik original totoro project bag!  check out her etsy shop here.  i need to get a better picture.

my new buttons:

 
 i usually like to give my opinions on the market place each year. keep in mind that i only saw about half of it-so it's not a fair evaluation. but here are my thoughts and a few awards:

prettiest booth once again- a verb for keeping warm!  sorry i didn't get any pictures this year.  check out their blog-you can see some there.  verb's booth is always so warm, inviting and cozy- you just want to stay and hang out-and sell yarn for them. the wonderful and amazing knit designer romi was sharing a booth with them.  i bought her kleio shawl pattern and had a great chat with her about the edmund fitzgerald.

my favorite "newbie"  booth award goes to sweet fiber from british columbia!  i bought some yarn in the color way "shipwreck" for my edmund fitzgerald shawl.  although they were a bit young to appreciate my edmond fitzgerald chatter they humored me and pretended to care.  here's a photo i stole from their blog- click the link above to see the rest of their pictures!  yum!

the award for funnest booth of all times definitely goes to fickle knitter!  kindred spirits at that booth i tell ya!!! you simply must click on the link which takes you to fickle's recap of stitches!  you can watch the stitches harlem shake flash mob.  i mean what other booth has an abundance of fun masks, devo hats, a disco ball and a karaoke machine???  unfortunately, liam's accident happened before soxy and i had a chance to try out the karaoke machine.  maybe this is a good thing?  fickle has awesome patterns too!

this is how i want to remember this years stitches adventure- gazing into the eyes of a a real life unicorn- stitches west rocks!!!!

stitches west 2013

February was quite the month i tell you.  feeling rather exhausted from it all.  i entered a new decade-which shall remain nameless.  thanks to AARP for reminding me.  guess i shouldn't feel so bad michael jordon got one too.

as the west coast fiber community knows- February is also the month of stitches west-the most amazing fiber convention ever.  it takes place in the santa clara convention center.  it's my yearly treat of fun and fiber and many many belly laughs.  so good for my soul.  

this year -stitches had an unfortunate ending for me.  here's the scoop:  i arrived on thursday-alone.  my friend and partner in crime known as "rebel rhodi" was unable to attend this year.  rhodi has accompanied me every year.  stitches would definitely not be the same without her in tow!

i had a 1:30 class -intuitive chart reading with rock star cookie a.  what a great class!  cookie is an awesome teacher!!!  while i was in class soxy sue aka sox chik flew in from michigan!  the fiber trash girls were assembling!!!!  after class, met up with everyone and got ready for the thursday nite market- my favorite thing at stitches.  crowds are manageable and special deals abound.  it's great to take your time and browse. 

i made my usual stops.  imagiknits for some malabrigo goodness, a verb for keeping warm, western sky knits, becoming art, knitwhits and many others.  here's my score from the thursday market.

soxy found a devo hat at the fickle knitter booth.  what more could you ask for????? 

 and yes, the other hat is a roasted turkey hat!!!  after the market we retired early for once.  getting ready for the big friday shopping spree.  i brought soxy some wine to help her unwind from her travels.

note: the name of the wine.  "old moon"  i felt the need to purchase this wine.  why?  you may ask.  perhaps it was the fact my bday was approaching.  perhaps it was the fact that a few weeks previous my not so darling hubby called me a crone. "i'm still bleeding," i shrieked!!!  (no offense to you crones-but i'm not quite there yet!)  he denies it now. excuse me? i may be perimenopausal but i know what i heard!!  anyway- when i saw the wine at trader joe's i just had to get it.  in honor of us crusty ole moonies.

friday morning came- soxy and i enjoyed a great breakfast in the lounge! 

best raspberries ever!!  we headed over to meet up with the rest of the fiber trash girls when we spotted the best dressed stitches attendee of 2013.  isn't she fabulous?

here's a close up of her skirt: i want one!  she said she got it on etsy!

  
her fishnet stockings and fur boots were the perfect touch!  oh yeah- nice sweater too!   

we wanted to do something special for friday market day and barbara sue has an extensive vintage(1960's) big smith overall collection.  perfect!

   
our dream was to have the whole fiber trash girl clan wear them.  but it didn't work out as not all folks were there yet.  she brought like a dozen pair!  you rock Bsue!!  we were ready to hit the market!

the yarn fumes had gotten to us and we were wandering in a daze when we realized we really needed to go row by row cause we missed so much the night before.  next thing we know-it's lunch time-soxy finished up at the habu booth and we were going to head back to the room for lunch-and then, my phone rang.  bummer. big bummer.  it was liam's school.  he had fallen on the stairs and broken his ankle.  long story short- i split.  docs were talking surgery and i needed to be there.  as i was leaving the rest of the fiber trash girls were arriving-boo :(
    
i leave you now with a photo of felted morning glories.

stay tuned..more to come!

goals

i decided not to have any new year's resolutions this year.  instead i have chosen 3 crafty goals to achieve.  this really excites me rather than creating a daunting  feeling of formidable failure which always looms over me when i make resolutions.
my goals:

1.  learn to knit socks in the toe up format.  i've avoided this method for years and it's time to learn a new way of doing socks-if i hate it- i can at least say i tried it and never do it again.  besides- i really want to make knee socks and this seems to be the preferrred method when it come to calf shaping etc.

2. learn to embroider!!!  i got this great book at ben franklin called "doodle-stitching"  by aimee ray

looks like a great book- i can't wait to start!  i stumbled across a blog i want to share with you-"one sheepish girl."  very inspiring- she embroiders too-click here to see her embroidery creativity!! 

3. learn to crochet for reals!! i fell in love with this hexagon blanket.  i saw it on ravelry and fogwalker(her ravelry name) used "malabrigo"  for god-sake!!!  no red heart for this girl-  it must be the softest thing ever!!!! here's her project page if you are interested. here is a picture:

now you can see why i want to learn crochet.  i really really must have one of these blankets.  

i also want to learn to quilt but i think i'll save that for next year.  i think i'll be plenty busy as it is.  damn- i have chores awaiting-i'd rather be creating........why do these things always have to get i  the way of my creativity-why oh why!

birth of a geysir!

despite many commissions and UFOs(unfinished objects-knitter lingo)  i joined one of my favorite knitting designers, stephen west, choreoKAL in november.  it was fabulous-  for 10$  you received a month long issue of patterns-a new one each week, along with stretching videos to help with the body getting tight while knitting.  quite entertaining too!  there were bonus patterns as well!  best 10$  i ever spent.  the first pattern was the geysir stretch shawl.  one look and i knew i had to cast on immediately!!!!  i was determined to use yarn from my stash.  i had some awesome yarn i got at my LYS this summer at the annual parking lot sale.  just call me little miss thrifty!  the yarn was-get this----1$  a skein.  yes, you read that correctly.  only one freakin dollar per skein-and it called for  four skeins of worsted weight yarn.  my four dollar shawl.  skeins were originally 17$ per skein.  that would have been a 68$  shawl.  yes, major pat on the back!!!  the yarn is "knit one crochet too"  meadow silk.  a wonderful wool silk blend with nice drape.

 

 it took about 4 starts to get the color combo and gauge that i liked best.  worsted weight yarn on size 9 needles this is a quick satisfying project.  i finished it the first week in january. the 2nd to be exact!  amazing for me- as it takes me forever to finish projects cause i keep starting new ones!  my pattern notes are here if you want more info.

this shawl grows quickly!

i can't resist a photo shoot of this beautiful shawl- i love it so much.  bear with me!

blocking on the kitchen table

collected my breakfast and couldn't resist to add it to the photo shoot!

 

stephen encouraged people to look around in their environment for color inspiration and take a photo of it and then share a photo of your yarn(color) choice.  very cool to see what people came up with.  i started looking around at color combos much more than usual.  but being that i was stash busting, i didn't get to choose my colors this way.  but as i was knitting i kept thinking of a robin's nest with eggs.  after i completed the shawl i went on google images and found my photo inspiration-ha!

i have some of the robin egg yarn color left and i think i'll make a little hat to match.  too cute!

and the winner is................

while the boys were away i did a bit of New Years cleaning-i know hard to believe.  i moved a stack of boxes(full of fiber no doubt)  and low and behold i found underneath something my mother would have been horrified to find.  not me-i was fascinated.  so, the other day on my facebook page i ran a little contest -who ever could guess what i found would win a prize.  wow!  that woke folks up!  people love to win things-i didn't even list the prize.  i did get a winner pretty quickly-the answer wasn't exact but close enough.  i didn't want to spoil the fun right away and tell people i had a winner-so soon.  i was getting some real good answers!  in fact they were so good i decided to add a second prize for the answer that just cracked me up-out loud. here's the list for you to enjoy.  i just cut and pasted the list- too lazy to retype-hence the caps!

"petrified lizard, a dead mouse under the sofa, dead dehydrated bird on top of a beam, an old old old Easter egg, dead snake? a roll of 100 dollar bills equal to a thousand under the kitchen sink? dog turd, cool yarn stash, dried Frog, mummified Cornish game hen, growing mushrooms,  MUMMIFIED EX BOYFRIEND- THAT HAD BEEN LIVING IN YOUR ATTIC!, AMELIA EIRHART!!!,  JIMMY HOFFA!, MOHAIR YARN WITH MOTHS IN IT!, MOUSE NEST MADE FROM MOHAIR YARN,  D.B. Cooper, a little stash of teeth that a pack-rat collected(because they were pretty),  D.B. Cooper's money? an uncashed tax refund from 2001,
grilled cheese sandwich!, yer kid's very old and dusty diaper, Cooter!!!!!, an expired yarn gift certificate,  a deer leg, that your dog brought in!, sheep pellets, mummified bat, ancient dog barf and lastly owl Pellets."  wow!  what a great list!!!  could become a great children's book someday. Aunt Betty's Cleaning Frenzy!!!

 okay-i know you all are at the edge of your seat. drum roll please!! the winner is sharon campbell!!!! 

sharon guessed "a dead mouse under the sofa"- but it is just the head of a dead mouse and it was under a box of fiber.  and i remember the night Kitzie (may she rest in peace)  brought it in the house, tortured it and chased it behind that stack of boxes. i didn't want to deal with it at 3:00am. then forgot about it.  wondered what that smell was later on.  sharon you win an original woolydaisy hand dyed skein of yarn- woowoo!!!  please email me your mailing addy!

the second prize winner goes to lee from the north coast.  the mummified ex-boyfriend that was living in the attic just had me crying-so very norman bates-just loved it.  although i loved all of the answers!!! the stash of teeth was a close one-was that lee or marzel? i did have a dog once that was always finding deer legs and wanted to bring them in the house!!!  he just couldn't understand why i wouldn't let him do that!  and yes, i do have a collection of petrified lizards and owl pellets.

and yes folks i'm a sucker for prizes too-so third prize winner is marzel for her excitement, enthusiasm  and passion for this contest. marzel-you get a skein of my hand dyed  yarn as well- and lee, yours is a surprise!

 i leave you with a couple of pics of my hand knit socks.

 more to come!!!


 

the voice of reason...........damn you!

here it is 2013!!!!  welcome!!!!  it's the first new year's i've spent alone in....wait.  it is the very first new year's i've spent alone in my whole life.  oh- don't pity me.  i love alone time.  it's not often i get special "wooly"  time all to my "daisy"  self.  the boys are away on mountain bike adventure to so. cal.  check out our new '98 subaru!

unfortunately, everytime i do get "wooly" time something happens that challenges me.  i think the last time it was an eleven day power outage. this time- a touch of the stomach flu or possible food poisoning from that manhatten veggie clam chowder i made.  is it often that canned clams are bad?  but i'm enduring and pushing on.  i WILL enjoy my self damn it!!

it wasn't long after the boys left that i went freakin uber ape shit and started pulling boxes and bins out of my closet studio- i began 3 new knitting projects and a spinning project as well. not to mention winding skeins for dyeing!  i was crazed! a lunatic-practically foaming at the mouth.  running around the house knitting 5 minutes on one project, 5 minutes on another project, 5 minutes of spinning, on the phone to neighbor and fellow fiber trash girl rhodi-"quick, do have a size 13, 36 inch circular knitting- oh please oh please!!!!"  yes, score!  there's another new project--yehaa!!! 

i was acting like a meth head with a table piled high with meth!!!  totall bliss.  but then, the loud voice of reason came crashing down on me like john henry's hammer.

 that's me-the spike! rained on my parade.  damn you loud voice of reason! whisper you did not!  i came to my senses. brought back to reality-out of my fiber induced frenzy. i have many commissioned projects i need to finish first and my geysir stretch shawl is almost finished. just 6 more rows and the bind off!  it's fabulous pattern by the fabulous stephen west.  quick knit except the edging seems to be taking for-EVAR!!!!!  which makes me want to start a new project...  i think it's time to hunker down and watch "flash dance"-(it's newly added to netflix you know) and just get it done!!!

well, i've dabbled enough on this machine......i need to get me cold arse outside and feed the chickens, walk the dragon, pick up the house a bit and then settle in for a day of fibery bliss......................... oh wait one more thing.  you've got to see my new project bag i gifted to my precious self at solstice.  katie from dancing sheep made it.  check out her etsy shop!  no more disgusting plastic bright yellow grocery outlet project bags for this fiber trash girl...yes, i know the plastic bags are more trashy-esque.  but come on, let's get real.

JUST SAY NO!

it's been a long haul...............

i can't believe it's been 7 months since i last posted. and blogger has completely changed!!!  argh!!!!  sigh.  heavy sigh.  do you know how many blog posts ive written in my head since then...too many to count.  i write in my head constantly- and when i'm alone i write out loud(i.e. talking to myself)  my dog thinks i'm nuts!  besides stephen west hasn't blogged since april 25th.  so, i'll try not to feel too bad about it!

my hubby asked me once if the reason i hadn't posted in so long was because of all my time spent on facebook.  i thought about it for a second-as yes, i am on facebook a lot.  but that's not the real and whole reason.  i realized it was.....depression.  there i said it. i don't like blogging about depressing downer stuff-who wants to read my  whiny-ass complaints -or about me on my pity pot-how pathetic.  but then i realized-the title of my blog is "the woolydaisy-a window into my world"   my world.....my world isn't always as rosy, peachy keen and awesome as i portray it be. i only write about the cool and fabulous stuff. but  my life is just like everyone elses-up and down, good and bad-a constant ebb and flow.  yet 2012 seemed particularly hard on me.  i struggled and still am struggling with many things. 

between a minor bike wreck and bad physical therapy i managed to rupture and tear a disc in my lower back(L5-S-1 vertebrae)  the pain was unbelievable....  i was unable to do anything-sitting and driving were the worst!  i'm a very physical person-and being forced into a  seditary life was just too much- everything hurt-i couldn't bike, hike,spin wool or sit to knit, load the dish washer-let alone go to the bathroom without crying. ( i know i know tmi)  but when you start fearing the need to go to the bathroom-you know your life is sucking.....big time.  simple things you take for granted-poof!   the doctor wanted me to do the steroid injections into my disc-that just didn't sit right with me.  -i decided to take the slow less invasive route-i got off the pain killers except ibuprophen, boosted many natural supplements and took it as easy as possible.   what a long haul it's been...if you've never been in chronic pain before you don't realize how depressing it is.  your life is taken away from you.  i'm still on my daily doses of ibuprophen but i'm feeling better and stronger and see light at the end of the tunnel.  i can take walks now- flat ones.  driving no longer makes me cry.  no movie theatres for me  but i can do more and more each day.  and look forward to the day i can ride my bike again.  you see- i was getting really strong and in great shape-best ive been in years.  i felt great.  i was planning on training.....training hard to race the downieville classic in my 50th year.  i turn 50 soon....very soon.  there will be no such race for me.  i've come to terms with it, but i'm still disappointed.  i set a goal.  and it crumbled.  i realize now my back will never be able to handle the "trail of tears" -i know that sounds negative-just being realistic. the beginning of the race starts with 8 miles up the mountain-known as the "trail of tears."  taint gonna happen.   2013 is going to be spent rebuilding my body, getting healthy and getting my mojo back!  onward and upward!

a quik update for the latter half of 2012:

our youngest, liam graduated 8th grade-which brought my 14 years of homeschooling career to an end. very very emotional for me.  he is now attending an early college high school in town.  it's is on the community college campus and he earns college credit while also attending high school classes- for free!  it's a fabulous school and program.   best of all he really likes it.  i was so worried about the adjustment-  i mean homeschooled your whole life-then put into 5 days a week public school- i've been going thru a mini version of the empty nest.  

liam has grown and still enjoys his mountain bike racing.  he is now on a high school mountain bike team they have been training and the racing starts in february.  this past summer he did some major races-  i am so proud to say he placed 2nd in his division at the downieville classic-a big accomplishment!!!

beginning of race in sierra city

happy racer!

i won't go into too much detail about his racing as he has his own blog now.  check it out if you are interested
sierra singletracks.  it's a great blog!!!!

we got a new car this summer-her name is ruby-aint she sweet?-we traded her for a our old funky vw bug.

racking my brain here....what else???  we had another fabulous and wonderful annual fiber trash girls retreat in forest city again!  besides tons of fiber fun we enjoyed many goodies:

you can't beat bacon beer and corn whiskey!

big plans to do a whole fiber trash girl retreat post-someday-yeah right~~

i put some fibery stuff in the county fair.

wow!  it's been a long time since i've posted- now my brain hurts.  i can't think anymore-that's it in a nutshell.  i'm tired.  wrapped up the year the best i could . i have tons of fibery project i should be working on!  so-have a great new year!!!!  may the new year be filled with much fibery goodness!!!!