Taking a Break!

I have decided to make some changes in the way I am blogging. Because I have a lot on my plate right now I am taking a break from it. But in the mean time I will be gathering material, pics, patterns, and recipes. I want to start doing contests too.

Please don't give up on me! I'll be back posting soon!

The First Day Back to School

 The first day back to school has come again. But because they have only had each other to play with these last few weeks, they were happy. Elizabeth started the 5th grade. She made a few friends the first day and has asked if she can learn how to play the flute in early morning band. 

Issac is my shy guy. He has played with a few of the other boys. He has always preferred to stay close to mom or play by himself. He hasn't made any close friends just yet, but I have confidence that it will get easier. Being new to a school is scary sometimes.


There is a doe and her twins that visit an apple tree twice a day. Drive Isis crazy, but the doe knows that she is safe with a fence between them. The babies a a bit more shy and run for cover when the dog starts barking. My sister says the same mother had another set of twins last year too.





On top of school starting, my daughter is turning 10 on Monday. It has been such a great joy raising her. Always quick to smile and eager to help when she sees it is needed. It can not be easy growing up with a bi-polar mother, but she is strong and has been able to hold up against my ups and downs.  

Finally finished the hat! I broke down and picked up some Peaches and Cream. I found the instructions for a simple daisy in the book The Harmony Guide to Crocheting . The same book that I am still borrowing from my mother when I taught myself how to crochet. The daisies are really easy, but good morals and copyright laws keep me from giving you the pattern I used from the book. But i think my take along projects for a while will be crocheting little hearts, clovers and flowers. Having small projects like that is healthy for the creative spirit. Here is a FREE DAISY PATTERN that is very close to the one I used. 

Never enough time!

I am trying something new this week with the blog. Instead of writing it all in one sitting, I am writing a little at a time. This way after about an hour I don't feel like working on it any more I can save it and work on it later. Other wise I end up rushing to finish it.

There are so many different things I want to try or learn how to do in the world. Today I think I told Kyle that I want to refurbish old furniture, start wire wrapping, perfect my embroidery, and try my hand at graphic design. But there isn't enough time in the day to work on projects that I have already started. Oh yes, I need to add pine needle basket weaving and graphic design to my  list of "want to do".



I like personalizing my social media sites. Or rather I like the idea of personalized sites. I don't know very much about graphic design so I have decided to do what I have always done and teach myself. I download the trial to Adobe Photoshop Elements 11 (a.k.a. APE11) and after watching the brief tutorial I jump in feet first. There are three different ways you can edit. Quick, guided, or expert. I tried the guided, hoping I could familiarize myself with the program. But after about an hour of frustration of the program not letting me experiment the way I wanted, tried the expert. I still have no idea what I am doing, but I could manage the program better when I had the freedom I was looking for. If you want to try the program HERE IS THE LINK . I tried posting a pic of what I had been working on this morning, but either the trial version isn't going to allow me save it as a file that blogger accepts or I haven't figured it out yet. Maybe I'll find some videos on YouTube that will help me.

I almost finished the hat I started. I want to add little crocheted flowers to make it more girly for Eli. unfortunately Any crochet yarns I  would have in my stash are either still packed away or were left behind. It was very sad to have to leave so much stuff behind. We just didn't have any more room in any of the vehicles for a few things. I think I may try just using yarn instead or I'll hit up the thrift store.      

My Grandmother (Yaya in Greek) was always creating something. Whether it was in the kitchen, the garden, or one of many different mediums one uses when creating art. She introduced me to canning and baking in the fall. And even though I am not the most proficient gardener, I give it my all and try to remember to water. But she unknowingly taught me that art isn't just paint on a canvas, it is in anything we create with our hands that give a person a strong positive emotion. She allowed me to be creative every time I came to her house and encouraged me to try new things. Here is a picture of a small piece she made during her pottery phase. She is going to be 92 this year and my family and I have moved in with her so I can make sure she lives the rest of her life in comfort. On evenings she is feeling up to it, she has her great grand children climb in bed with her and they watch old movies together.

My sister and I attended Placerville's annual Craft Fair. I think I may rent a spot next year. The turn out was really nice and there were places for more booths. It was really nice watching our girls hold hands and sit together.

After seeing all of the different things that people had made a feel more confident that what I make will do just as well. ( I really need to learn how to take more pics lol)

I had shown my mother a pair of finger less I had made and now she has requested a pair. muhahaha guinea pig! This basket is about 2 1/2 feet tall and about a foot at the widest part and I have filled it to the brim with small roll lags. Now all I need is a quiet afternoon to spin what I want to use for her gloves. My mother wears a lot of pinks, so I am thinking painting the fiber in shades of pink and maybe embroidering it with vines or maybe some simple daisies. I can't wait to see what they look like finished and on her hands.

We Moved!

It's unfortunate but we had to leave our beloved Washington. My family needed some one to help take care of my grandmother and I was having a tough time finding a job that would cover all of my bills. So I sold a majority of our belongings and headed back to Placerville, California.

I want this to be a year of positive thinking. So even if I had to leave Washington for a bit, my children get a chance to get to know their great grandmother and the rest of my family. My sister and my mother haven't seen us in about 6 years. I get to finally meet my first niece, Izzy. (She is a cutie b.t.w. I can say that because I am in no way biased.)

When I was a little girl, my grandmother had a huge garden with several fruit trees. As a little girl I remember climbing the giant fig tree in her back yard. I still love figs. She had everything from persimmons to black berries, asparagus to egg plant. Plus she had all the other regular garden veggies like zucchini and tomato and bell peppers. She grew up during the depression so we did a lot of canning during the summer.

I did get to go to the 2013 Yarnival. It was my first fiber event ever and I am ashamed to say I didn't take any pictures. I was located at the Boeger Winery just out side of Placerville. Kyle and I went alone and had wonderful time. It was very hot, but there were vendors selling food and drink with shaded picnic benches. I picked up some hand painted roving of merino  and bamboo. It was the first time every working with anything besides wool. I have the fiber a beautiful sheen to it and it is so soft. I am thinking about making a pair of socks out of it. . . one day.

Yesterday and today I have been working on a hat for Elizabeth. I am using some of the fiber I bought while I was living in Washington. I have also decided this is not only the year of positive attitudes but trying new things. I have worked with knitting patterns enough to know there are somethings I would love to change to make them more unique, but I am still enough of a novice that I do not feel comfortable altering anything. So I have decided to give recipes a try starting with  Paper Sensei's top down hat. It's a  free pattern and a very easy hat to stitch up. But learning how to start a hat with no gauge is a little scary for me but I am trying new things and I WILL master it!

When I grow up I wanna be a fiber artist!

Well, I have a very good reason as to why I haven't been posting regularly. I have been spinning every day (nearly) sense I bought the thing. I love it my Ashford Traveler with the double drive. It's so easy to use. I am still learning about how to adjust tension and how much twist I should use. But with the wonders of youtube I'm figuring it out. 

I have also decided to become serious about fiber art. I know I have been playing around with many different fibers over the years, but I don't feel I am skilled enough to be able to call myself a fiber artist. So I decided to start at the beginning with all of my fiber crafts. Starting with knitting and spinning, I have modestly chosen a few scarf patterns (around 500) to choose from. I wanted a wide range of techniques to choose from. Then I'll allow myself to pan out from there. 









At the moment I am working on The Soda Fountain Scarf. I like the retro look it has in the picture. I decided to use some of the fiber i had already spun up. 100% merino wool. I had thought wool was very scratchy and had resigned myself to wonderfully warm but scratchy clothing. (Maybe I'll blog about different fiber at a later date.) Now The pattern said that you can use yarn you have with any needle size, preferably 1 size larger than the recommended label says. The red scarf to your left isn't mine...the green and pink is. Maybe it is too soon to start knit picking (har har) my work. 

Well, that's it for today! Thanks for reading. Please feel free to comment.

First spinning wheel

I am so excited! We did our taxes and I'll be able to buy my first spinning wheel. I have never touched a spinning wheel and I honestly don't know what got in my head to start making my own yarn. Probably the cost of natural fibers or the concept of making something from the very start to finish, or maybe being able to do something so ancient as spinning wool into yarn that has me so focused on learning how to process the fibers fresh off the animal. Not to mention that I am also passing on this knowledge to my two children. Both of my children will sit with me and pick wool and Elizabeth keeps asking me to teach her how to spin with my drop spindle.

So were to start...I had no idea what I was looking for. So I started off on you tube.  Found a few videos about different wheels from some of my favorite video makers. I also went to my spinning group on Ravelry "Spin Love" and asked there. So between a number of you tube videos, my Ravelry group, and also talking with spinning wheel dealer I have decided to go through. I have narrowed it down to 2. 

The Ashford Traveller is thus far my top choice. It seems to be very portable and doesn't seem to take up much room. It seems sturdy enough to last a few years and I haven't heard anything bad about them. It is very hard to really feel 100% sure about something you haven't even used yet. So I found choice #2. 

Quite a few people had a lot of good stuff to say about this one. It is very obvious that this wheel hardly takes up any space. I have heard more than once that this is a good wheel for beginners. But i just don't know. I still need sit at one and try it out. It's strange, I feel like I have spun in a past life.

Catching up

Well, Happy New Year......I haven't started any official "resolutions" thus far, but I am sure it will contain the usual; Eat better, drink more water, spend less money and exercise. I also want to complete more projects, finish old projects, learn how to spin on a wheel, and start a container garden.

I have been knitting like a mad woman. I took my yarn off of etsy, I want to make a patchwork blanket out of all the colors I dye. I also started a pair of socks for the Sock it to me KAL. Each month we knit up another pair of socks. I wish I had used a different color...I have yet to fall in love with mine. or complete the second one for that matter.

My father came up from California late last summer for a visit and brought up a few bags and boxes I had left tucked away in a closet at my parents house. One of the bags held many strips of green and blue strips of cloth...the very first log cabin quilt had ever started. It was originally for my brother, but I think it is too girly for him....looking at it now i can see what he meant. Fresh out of the basic training and his sister is trying to make him a quilt with dragon flies and swirlies. But Issac likes it so I am making it for him. I am not a quilting genius or anything. I can honestly say I have a lot more started quilts than finished ones. I decided to give hand piecing a try while at work. Then yesterday i pulled out my sewing machine
and realized just how "first time" this quilt really is. my strips were not cut strait, math all wrong, and when i did get a block done there was no way it was going to be squared off properly. So I'm making do with the best of it and calling it rustic.








I also wanted to share with you the bulk section at Winco. I love the muffin mix. I have been making these blueberry muffins at night for my family to have for breakfasts on the days i work. muffin papers, a muffin tin, mix water and 15 min in the oven is all you really need. I make the small ones and let the kids have 2 in the morning.