Sunday, May 28, 2006

LILAC, LILACS, EVERYWHERE


When I was a little girl, our next door neighbors had huge lilac bushes. My sister, their kids, and I used to play in those lilac groves for hours and we beat a path in amongst them that allowed us to wind our way through. We had different areas with different names and spent hours roaming through them playing games. I can still close my eyes and remember the smell of those sweet flowers. I always felt so safe sitting amongst those lilacs - like no one could hurt me and it was peaceful.
As a grown up, we moved to a house with a few of the old fashioned lilacs that seemed to be mistreated, without much love and attention and little nutrients for them to grow big and flower grandly every spring. My husband is a lovely man - who loves to tend to flowers and bushes. He will move a sapling or small sprig of perrenial 700 times - until he finds the perfect light and soil for it.
He has taught me some of his gardening skills and I am fortunate to have found out that there are more than one kind of lilac! There are single, double, triple petal flowers . There are ton's of colors from mauve, pink, white, yellow, deep purple magenta, and the list goes on. The nurseries claim that there is a blue lilac - but it always looks purple to me.
As my husband and I build a life without small children and move gracefully into those years, you can often find us searching for a new lilac, hosta, or lily. We travel to antique stores, yard sales, nurseries, and flea markets to collect the things we love.
Enjoy the picture and look closely at the blossoms for the subtle differences!

Saturday, May 20, 2006

BABYLAND - FO OF THE WEEK!




So, since I am on leave from my job due to a lovely case of vertigo, I have been knitting up a storm! Half finished projects - that needed some courage to complete have been swirling into the FO category!
My hope is to someday be a grammie! I can hardly wait to have little chubby arms to snuggle with - and to smell that sweet aroma of warm baby! Not any time soon but somewhere in the distant future. My oldest daughter and her husband want children in the future and rather than be a harping mother with the age old question - "SO WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO HAVE BABIES?". Instead I have chosen to knit all the baby items I want to and keep my mouth shut! I think that is very grown-up of me - Don't you? (Lyndsay if you read this don't answer that last question please!).

The baby duck sweater is a Dale of Norway pattern and I chose Frog Tree Alpaca for the yarn.

It is so soft - I think I want one for me!

The baby Poncho is a Fiber Trend Pattern made with Encore worsted and JellyBeanz yarn!

Saturday, May 13, 2006

HOUNDSTOOTH FELTED BAG WITH ROSES


Nicky Epstein's new book - Fabulous Felted Bags. I made a few changes to the size of the bag and the handles but am happy with the outcome!

HOPING FOR GRANDBABIES SOMEDAY!

Knitted with self striping sock yarn! Way too cool - size 1 needles
Frog tree alpaca with a fuzzy knitted brim - Won't she be adorable in this?
Frog tree alpaca in a flame pattern!

Babies first Halloween - The Great Pumpkin!

MY FIRST FAIR ISLE


A Philosopher's wool kit that I bought on line - Came out pretty good for my first fair isle project!

SOCKS - SOCKS- I LOVE SOCKS!!

These socks are also from Sensational Knitted Socks - a false cable stitch!

This sock yarn just screamed dress socks for my husband! Size 1 needles (yes - I love him very much) with a cable down each side! Scrumptious Moda Dea Sassy Stripes yarn for hubby - He says the toes and stripes don't match - The problem with self striping yarn!

One of my first pair of socks - Yes, I do have big feet!

i love to make socks!!!! These socks are from Sensational Knitted Socks using KnitPick Parade yarn on size 3 needles!

I have made many more pairs of socks but gave tons away as Christmas gifts! Always a sock on the needle!

MY FIRST KNITTED AFGHAN


Knitted from the book Knitting in the Round

Wednesday, April 19, 2006

AND YOU THINK YOU ARE ADDICTED TO YARN?

THE PERFECT KNITTING BAG ACCESSORIZED!



For all my friends on Knitty.com - Here are the completed pictures of my knitting bag with all the accessories!! So far everyone has loved it and thinks that I have included everything!!
P.S. For all of my family - All I want for my birthday is a decent digital camera - PLEAAAAAAAAASE!

MY COLLECTION







My husband is an avid collector of 1950's and 1960's records. He spent hour after hour on ebay searching for the records of his dreams. His ebaying didn't bother me one bit - it allowed me to knit peacefully on some nights while he searched ebay for rare copies of Elvis and Beatles records. He was happy and so was I!
I was truly just a beginner knitter and was discovering the properties of different knitting needles. Bamboo, Rosewood, Nickel-plated, long and short, circular and double point were all new to me. I was having a hard time finding these precious items at the Local Yarn Stores - so darling husband thought he would help me by introducing ebay to me. BIG MISTAKE!!
I found all sorts of lovely needles, knitting estate sales, and OH MY GOD - Vintage Knitting Totes! I cannot make any sense of this obsession to collect them but I am absolutely spellbound with these totes from the past.
Maybe it is a need for something from the past or simply a love of gorgeous vintage fabrics. Everytime I find a vintage tote - I am fascinated with the idea that someone owned it long ago. I wonder if it was a Christmas present or simply a treat for the knitter who had to perform the task to provide warmth and clothing for her family. I wonder how much love came from the knitted items made from these totes.
I have tried (rather unsucessfully) to discover the manufacturer of these totes or when they came into being. An elderly lady told me that originally, in her family, the women covered Quaker Oats boxes with oilcloth and poked a hole in the top - so that their yarn would stay clean and untangled while knitting.
I hope you enjoy the pictures and learn just a little bit about something from the past. Should you find yourself in an antique/collectors store and inquire about one of these for yourself - and the salesperson tells you that he sold one to a very crazy/overenthusiastic psycho last week - just know that I was there first!
P.S. If you should feel the need to get rid of one of your totes or have some knowledge about their history - Please e-mail me!

Sunday, April 16, 2006

HOW IT ALL STARTED

Two years ago, my darling children flew from the nest. My daughter graduated from college, my son graduated from high school, daughter got married, and son went off to college. I lost 45 pounds, got healthy, exercised everyday, and rekindled the flame with my darling hubby. I spent more time working my way up the nursing clinical ladder and took on more responsibility in the ICU. Something was missing.......
It had been years since I had done anything remotely creative. I have always sewn, painted, done floral arranging, quilted, etc..... If it was a craft then I have done it. I even had a floral design business that I ran out of my home when my children were little. Then I went on to nursing school while raising 2 kids, working, trying to save my marriage........ No more creativity for me.
Last Febuary, my darling daughter said that she would teach me how to knit. As a child, I had tried to knit but could never make anything that didn't have a giant hole growing in the middle of it. (I think that I never had the patience to perfect it the way that I could with other crafts).
My daughter lovingly showed me knit and purl - I was hooked!
Now I have a room dedicated to my new found love! (It happens to be my daughter's old room)
I always have a knitting project in my purse and my creativity has become a joyous thing! I look forward to quiet evenings filled with knitting and wonderful weekends spent searching yarn stores with my lovely daughter or my wonderful husband for the perfect colored alpaca yarn for a baby sweater I want to knit for future grandbabies!