Win some, loose some ...

Went to see My Little Felt-tea Farm Tea Cozy at Marblehead's Festival of Arts. Yesterday was the last day for the art exhibits and I wanted to check out the competition, see if I won anything, and then take my cozy home when everything was over after 5. I didn't win anything ... nope, no ribbon ... but we had a good time looking at all the art; crafts, paintings, drawings and photographs. I really did want to look over the competition in order to make my plans for next year's entry also. I have an idea now of what I'm up against and plans are going on in my head for what I might do next year. It'll still be Needle Felted, but I'm working on the project idea.

So here's just a few pictures for you all to see. The guitar got the People's Choice and the Clock got Best of Show in the Craft division [which is what my tea cozy was in]. The guitar was gorgeous but my DH wasn't impressed with the clock. But then, he's not usually fond of the unusual [like me, tehe] anyway.


The only other needle felted project there were these cute little puppies ...
Lots of painting and drawings ...

And we walked around to see what else was going on. Nice walk before we had dinner at The Landing. M-m-m-m, I had wonderful crab cakes, yummy. Wish we could have walked around for a while longer but ...



Then we went back to pick up the tea cozy. While my DH and SIL went to get the car, I waited for the pick up time and talked with some really nice people. Hope I see one or two of them at the Seed Stitch sometime. Maybe in my needle felting class in the Fall?

In the meantime ...
let's see if I can get those plans from my head into Needle Art.

Birthday Meme and a Quiz ...

Found this on Shelley's blog and decided I should "tag" myself ...

Directions:

Go to Wikipedia and type in your birthday (month and day).
Next, post 3 events, 2 births and 1 holiday and tag five people.

Since I don't like to tag, I'll invite anyone who feels like taking part to do so. Let me know if you do and I'll go read your answers. It'll be fun! Trust me.

My Birthday is: January 8

Events

• 1867 - African American men granted the right to vote in the District of Columbia.

• 1958 - Fourteen-year-old Bobby Fischer wins the United States Chess Championship.

• 1973 - Watergate scandal: The trial of seven men accused of illegal entry into Democratic Party headquarters at Watergate begins.

Birthdays

• 1935 - Elvis Presley, American singer and guitarist (d. 1977)
• 1942 - Stephen Hawking, English physicist and author

Holiday

• Commonwealth Day is celebrated in the Northern Mariana Islands.

And now ... an interesting quiz. How do you rate?

45%How Addicted to Blogging Are You?

Just 5% more and I would have to consider getting some therapy.

Honestly!

ʇnubuıɥɔʇıʇs ǝɥʇ ɟo ǝɯoɥ

Catching up while falling behind ...

What a busy weekend. And all of it involves something to do with knitting too!

This month's STR Club arrived and is no longer a spoiler so I'm posting a picture of my goodies now .... well, I think most people have already received theirs & done this already. The colorway is Firebird. Love the color! But once again, I'm not into the sock pattern. I'll look it over more thoroughly before I give it a thumbs down. It might surprise me and knit up nicely. So I'll let you know. But I can't even begin to knit this one until the Math Whiz is done.

Thursday night I got my Mystery Stole 3 swatches done. Well I only needed to do two. The first one is on size 4 needles with only 2 pattern repeats and the 2nd is on size 5 with the beads knit in with 3 repeats. I tried out the matte black beads and the shiny black beads on the Zephyr Ebony lace yarn. I love this yarn. It's wool & silk and feels so nice while knitting as well as after blocking.

Can you tell which beads I'm using? Bet you can barely see the matte black. Didn't think so ... which is why I'm using the shiny black. You can see those at the point of the 1st row of yarn overs. The matte is in the middle row and just blends right in. It would make no sense to use them here. Okay, I'll use them in another project someday, 'coz I'm really liking the fact that I'm knitting with beads. I'm on row 51 of the mystery stole and have only 49 rows to go before the next clue comes out next Friday. BTW, I can only do this lace knitting early in the morning with no TV on or DH up and talking to distract me. Even then I've developed a twitch in my right eye lid. What's up with that? It stops after I've put the knitting down and away, LOL. I hope it doesn't happen every morning while I'm working on this. I need to do at least 10 rows a day in order to get them done before the next clue comes out.

FOB here ...

but I can't give you a picture of me modeling it until Thursday night's Community Knitting at SSFY. It's not for me tho. It's for my Mom. She use to wear a shawl/jacket I crocheted for her years ago. But since she lost so much weight in her shoulders it keeps falling off so I knit this one for those colder evenings during the Winter in Florida. It has cotton & nylon in the yarn so it won't be too hot but just warm enough to keep a chill out. I'll ask someone to take some pictures since the DH just doesn't do as well in that department. Hope Kendra will be there 'coz she's pretty good at it. In fact, she took a good picture of me with the felted sign at Seed Stitch Fine Yarn. Will show you that below.


But first, here's another new project ... a WIP. A little Summer Cardigan in green Shine from KnitPicks. Their green is more like a Kelly Green to me ... I like it! The back is almost done already. Can I possibly get this done before the Summer is over?

Here's the sign hanging in it's permanent home. I think I'll do some more shopping at Seed Stitch Fine Yarn ...



Yup, I see more yarn coming home with me. Don't you? Some for a felted vest and some for another Lily Chin jacket. Haven't taken the pictures yet though. No time right now, but I'll tell you more about it after Thursday night when pictures of the pink & orange jacket are taken.

I did take a picture of a little blanket I bought there ...

It's a Crispina by Fuchsia, Inc. They make new items from old used items, such as wool sweaters, denim jeans, corduroys and t-shirts. This blanket is from wool sweaters. And I love it!

It was perfect today sitting outside to knit altho it was cooler and breezier. So I just covered my bare little toes with my little woollen blanket and knit while DH read his book. Cozy huh?


In fact, that's where I'm going to be for the next hour or two. Hope your weekend was as lovely as mine.

See ya in a few days ...

with knitting needles in my hands!

Why didn't I know ...

that Lady Bugs come in Orange as well as Red?

And some with black spots and other without one little spot on it at all?

Until now, I always knew and saw the lovely little lady bug to be red with black spots all over its back. But after all these years [and it's been a good many too], I finally come across another variety that is Orange and No Spots at all. Fascinating!
I found her sister in my garden too, but she just wouldn't stand still for a picture.

They're keeping the flowers in my garden healthy and the birds happy ...


At least these guys don't eat Lady Bugs!

Leaving well enough alone ...

I'm done with the Open & Closed sign for SSFY.


But I have got to stop fiddling with it right? Does it look okay? Is it the best that it can be? Will Victoria like it? Will it suit the style of the shop?

Do I like it and is it really done?





I thought I was done yesterday. Thought no doubt about it. Until I got home. It had dwelled in my mind all day while I worked.

Needs some final needle punching to show off more details I think. Okay, work at that a little. Take some pictures. I'm done right?

Put it aside before I go nuts and ruin it. Why can't I? I've got other things to work on besides this one project. Other felting projects. Other knitting. And a really good book to read that has captivated me.


Got up this morning and ...

Oh ya, I need to add something else. Something I felt [yuk, yuk] it needed.

Isn't it a sign of a good artist [or even a writer?] to put a project aside, sleep on it so to speak, and look at it later or on another day? Ideas come to you in your sleep maybe. Additional elements appear in your mind's eye for improvements or changes that would make it better. In writing you edit and edit and re-edit, right? Does an artist do that also?


I don't know, but I think I could drive my self nuts if I let a project take over for too long. But now it's done ... Or is it? Do you see anything else that it needs? No?


Good. So I better get this out of the house soon before it takes on a life of it's own!



Back to that really good book [the other thing taking over my life right now.]

[Thanks to Laini Taylor]

The fingernails are not mine but ...

This blew me away!

You Are a Ring Finger

You are romantic, expressive, and hopeful. You see the best in everything. You are very artistic, and you see the world as your canvas. You are also drawn to the written word. Inventive and unique, you are often away in your own inner world. You get along well with: The Pinky Stay away from: The Index Finger

What Finger Are You?

Could this be right?

And why not? I have grandchildren out there ...
and they know this is the way I am and how I live my life.
No sh*t, really!! [stop your laughing, Hi.]

Three day weekends may get me into trouble!

The weekend started on Thursday night for me and what a great day it was!

Look at the wonderful luscious homespun fiber I received as a gift from Weaver. She's the sister-in-law to another blogger at MIT and she just thought that I needed to try some homespun since I have never done so before. Sort of like having my fiber obsession cemented and ingrained into my very being so that I'll never wake up to my previous life again. I'll be hooked forever to knitting. I touched this Orange baby and it's now got a place next to my chair where I can pet it every night until I decide what to knit it up into. A Scarf?

And the pink ... well I've already got plans for that. How about something like the bag made up by Through the Loops! I simply love that bag. Perfect for knitting socks on the go. Yah, I need the right bag so I can knit my socks while I walk. If I want to loose more weight I need to do more walking and of course I don't want to take that much time away from my knitting either. That bag ... is my solution right?! But ... I know, I know ... that means I need to get out the sewing machine also. And I better make it soon if I want to get any walking done this Summer. Thank you, Weaver for contributing to my present affliction ... Yarn! Thank you, thank you.


And why did I say that "Three day weekends may get me into trouble?"

Well just look at my new local yarn shop [LYS] Seed Stitch Fine Yarn. Soon they'll be open 7 days a week. That's including Sunday afternoon. And considering how much I love to go there even if it's just to sit and knit the afternoon away, well it's also pretty tough not to buy anything while I'm there.

Front Street has become my most favorite street in Salem. Take a look ...
Head on over to 21 Front Street, Salem, MA.

Beautiful street huh?

And look at all the color when you step inside.
All this fiber is intoxicating!


and this is the perfect place to sit and knit ....

Could you resist?


Didn't think so.



And look .... just look what's across the street ...

CHOCOLATE and ICE CREAM!!!


The best street in Salem is also home to a candy/ice cream shop, boutique, flower shop, coffee shop, needlework shop, BEAD shop, and Quilting shop.

I've died and gone to heaven!

[Did I tell you I could walk here from my house if I wanted to?
It's less than a mile away!!]

No wonder I can't resist telling you about this place huh? But the trouble is ...

I came down here Saturday afternoon to buy this lamp at a Lighting Shop on the next street over and ...



spent 2 hours at Seed Stitch talking and knitting and ...


went home with ...



All of this ...

Yup, the bag and books. Not that I didn't want to fill it with yarn, but I had knitting with me so I put it in to keep me from thinking I would have to fill an empty bag. LOL

Somebody STOP ME from spending any more money! Please!!

Oh look who I'm talking too ... other knitting addicts. ;-)



I'm not done yet ... I have a confession to make. Mafia ... Cynthia, I made a mistake ... I'm not knitting the Math Whiz with Sophie's Toes "Grandma's Blueberry Pie" ...

When you mentioned that the color was brighter than your's, Mafia I went on home and dug through my stash and found the real "Grandma's Blueberry Pie" .... so what was I knitting with? Ah, "Old Blue Eyes" ... here's two pictures for comparison.

I discovered

a little more purple in Blueberry Pie and Old Blue Eyes is much bluer. You were right ... it's brighter.

I didn't knit much on the Math Whiz over the weekend tho. I had another project ... and it's almost done. I'll show you the start of it ... it's for SSYF's front door.
But you're only looking at what I started. Hope to have it done tonight and then I'm working on another needle felting project for my class in the fall.
First the sign ...

BTW ... the other side will say "Closed"

And there just isn't anything funny to say about that!

I'm a grape? ... Huh.

How interesting. Intriguing ... m-m-m-m-m. Well if I hadn't lost another 3 1/2 lbs, I might add that my body is round enough to be a grape. But I've lost 15 lbs so far so I'm on my way to becoming a "skinny grape". Isn't that a raisin?

Oh ... I'm the color Grape. I see, LOL!

Give it a try ... what color purple are you?

You Are Grape

You are bold and a true individual. You are very different and very okay with that. People know you as a straight shooter. You're very honest, even when the truth hurts. You are also very grounded and practical. No one is going to sneak anything by you. People enjoy your fresh approach to life. And it's this honesty that makes you a very innovative person.

What
Color Purple Are You?