Wool & Alpaca & Silk...Oh My

“The thankful receiver bears a plentiful harvest.”
William Blake

Yesterday, in a dim moment, I received a box. A plain white box. When I opened it, a bounty of colorful fiber sprang forth. They appear here in no particular order, as I could not select a favorite if I tried really hard. The first three were dyed specifically with me in mind.
During the dye process, my name was written on each loop of yarn. That story made me cry. The absolute best yarn dyer in the world, Qutecowgirl (and no, I didn't know her before purchasing my first skein of yarn from her and no, I couldn't tell you how many I have purchased from her...let's just say a lot), knew I was going through a difficult time and look what she did:

These first three will stay with me, as socks or mittens or.....whatever. They are mine.

I asked her if she could recreate beach glass. Bruce and I love to walk on the beach.

This alpaca is truly wonderful to just sit and touch....

Black Cherry.....wow.

"Every Color" & "Monet" are really quite incredible in person. Remember my favorite yarn dyed by a five year old young girl not too long ago? She and her sister had a hand in these. They can dye for me anytime. And I am sure they will be asking to....:)

And now, for what I have really been getting to, the caramel colored yarn I asked her to dye. I want to knit Anne Hansen's Honeybee Stole. Of course, being female, I may have changed my mind. I also have fallen in love with her Dovecote Shawl. Take a trip through her shop and see what you think. It really is hard to decide.

Ladies, I don't ever leave many skeins in Qutecowgirl's Etsy. Go often and take a peek, you just might beat me to a beautiful gem. Tell her I said Hi!!

Sunday Again

"Success is following the pattern of life one enjoys most."

Al Capp

My employer sent me out to Florida for a couple of weeks, but I am home now. It was a good trip, but I turned into one of the statistics CNN is talking about recently. I, along with a full plane load of people, sat on the tarmac in Florida just long enough to miss my connecting flight in Atlanta with no more flights out to South Dakota, or anywhere that could have gotten me home, that night. So, I spent a night there. I have to tell you, the people I met in Atlanta were all very nice and helpful.

Meet Bruce's little buddy, Henry. How long has it been since you have seen one of these? I know for me, it has been way too many years.
Yesterday, I attended a workshop at Athena Fibers in Sioux Falls on dyeing yarn with KoolAid. I met some great women, including a young lady who was 8. Her yarn was just beautiful. The yarn above is Treadsoft and I dyed it with orange, lemon-lime and lemonade. It smells as good as it sounds. The ladies in the group named this "Melon" and it should be mottled. The color that looks white is actually yellow.
My first attempt was with grape, lemon-lime and pink lemonade, this one should be self-striping. I haven't come up with a name for this one and I am open to suggestions. I thoroughly enjoyed the whole process and learned a lot from my teacher.

I do love hand thrown pottery. I picked this beauty up at my favorite thrift shop recently. It may be the prettiest piece I own.

Almost Sunday Moments

These socks are really quite incredible, not because I knit them. A 5 year old girl hand dyed this yarn. She did an exceptional job. This yarn, Child's Play II, came from Qutecowgirl, my favorite designer. All I can say is Wow! The picture doesn't do the yarn justice.

On a side note, I will be taking a two week hiatus....God Bless.

March Socks

Why slap them on the wrist with feather when you can belt them over the head with a sledgehammer.
Katharine Hepburn

The socks for my sock club are done. March. Ta Da! Again, this yarn is a simple joy to knit up. The colors this time are splendid. Check it out before I get around to buying all her hand dyed.
And now....I was one lucky girl. I checked the sock blog on the 8th of March to see what my cohorts were making. As I scrolled down, I saw my name, in big black letters. I had won the February drawing for having my socks done and posted in time! This hand dyed yarn from Peru is a delight to the senses. I have never worked with DK yarn before, any suggestions?
And these lovelies were in the bag that came too. They are snag proof markers in purple, which is rapidly becoming my favorite color. Thank you, Zonda!

Surprise!!

Things which you do not hope happen more frequently than things which you do hope.

~Titus Maccius Plautus

Imagine my surprise when I opened the mailbox to find this gorgeous hand dyed yarn. The surprise was not so much the yarn itself, since I did order it from my favorite yarn person. The surprised was how quickly she got it to me. I just ordered this on Friday....late. By the way, if you like this yarn, you can find Qutecowgirl on the right hand side of my blog at anytime under favorite artisans. This yarn is even more richly colored than the photos allow. Just beautiful. There are more socks to be knitted in my future. There is a generous amount in each skein, too. Look at the beautiful stitch markers she sent me. And Dexter was dying to know what I was taking pictures of, that is his handsome mug in the right hand corner, where he is not allowed.
Midnight, in the socks I am knitting right now, was the first yarn I ever bought from her. I am very pleased with the way it is knitting up. It is just beautiful. I think she may be surprised on how this is turning out, too. I never know what to expect when I am looking at yarn in a skein. I just pick colors that I think are beautiful and let the pattern develop from there. My friend Penny is excited about them, too. She tried on the first one last Friday and it fits like a dream. I am thrilled.
Another treasure, fresh from the dishwasher, I bought at the flea market this last weekend. It is smaller than it looks here. I am thinking berry cobbler like my Grandma used to make.

A Little This, A Little That.....

Everyone thought I was bold and fearless and even arrogant, but inside I was always quaking.
Katharine Hepburn
One of the most admirable women ever in show business, I do and always will admire her. I believe she is quite possibly my favorite actress of all time.

How beautiful is this hand dyed yarn? Qutecowgirl has her own Etsy page, really, take a look. I am in love with her designs.
I am excited about these February socks. The yarn is called "Remember When". It knits beautifully and looks great when it comes together. Someone is going to be very happy with these socks! These are great and small and go with me everywhere because you never know when you are going to be stuck somewhere for a few minutes.
And now for the continuing saga of my Brother-In-Law's quilt. I have decided that I really hate the PVC quilting hoop. I would pick this quilt up and work on it for a few minutes and set it back down. On Sunday, I finally kicked it to the curb and got out my trusty wooden hoop and I am loving working on this quilt. I think when all is said and done, I will give him his choice of quilts. The original heart quilt that I posted in November that he and my sister liked so much or this one.