My mind has been wrapped around lace! I am eagerly awaiting a book or 2 from Amazon and I just joined The Summer of Lace YahOO group. Just to learn and to be a silent observer until I plunge into the depths of lacedom!

Before I do that - I feel the need to organize and use up some of my stash. I guess I need to declutter before the small needles and even smaller charted patterns come out to play.

Being a small fiber biz - I 'guess-timate' that I have approx. 100 pounds of clean wool here and there. Over the week, I have been spinning & plying odds and ends of fibers that have taken root on bobbins and spindles. These will become wonderful warm woolies for charities!

The Dulaan Project 2006; The B/CC for Afghanistan; and The Helmet Heads - just to name a few. There is a zillion organizations looking for and needing volunteers!

These skeins were my project last night! Don't you think they will make a great hat?? Comments .... please!

I managed to do a bit on the Aran Pocket Shawl over the weekend. YAY ... especially since I am seeing a TON of other projects I want to start - NOW!!

Lois commented: Is the Peace Fleece scratchy at all or is it soft to touch... Well, I happen to LOVE Peace Fleece, the sheepiness of it; the durability; and the colors!! Those saturated, eye-popping colors - OOO La LA!! But, softness isn't really a word I would use to describe this yarn. It is sturdy and most excellent for outer wear. I plan to wear this shawl OVER sweaters. I would also like to knit a scarf & mitts to compliment this colorway ... it has the slighest tidbits of fuschia and orange! Can one be a DIVA with mittens??

Do you like to sail?? Oops ... I mean SALE?? The Sheep at the Beach now has SALEing pages! The studio is getting an overhaul and Stasia came up with the idea to add some goodies on the BloG! Well, a whole new BloG has been created! It is time to set SALE ... the maiden voyage has begun!! Comments - please!

The Aran Pocket Shawl is coming along nicely. I do like the texture - an interesting 'woven' pattern is developing. While the photo doesn't really 'show' the nice ridges, the Peace Fleece yarn holds the pattern quite well. This is going to be one warm an sturdy shawl. (Color: Buffalo Browniski.)


As far as Illustration Friday goes - suffice to say, my inner critic was running at warp speed last week. To many starts, stops, and throw aways. My recycle bin over flowth with sketches that were mediocre at best. Hopefully, I will do better *this* week.

Last Friday, the goal was 'Reflection'. While I didn't do an illustration, I did snap this photo .... Comments - please.

My third ClaPpY is finis! I will post a photo once it is all blocked. Yes, I will be blocking it as this is for my MoM. MoM is a no nonsense kind of gal ... no curling-in edges for her.

Now, my focus is on the Aran Pocket Shawl, worked in Peace Fleece, from the Folk Shawls book by Cheryl Oberle. This is my first shawl from this collection.

The pattern itself is EZ PZ - my frustration lies in the proof reading. While I typically follow written directions over the charts provided (thanks NAN for hitting me upside the head with a wet skein on the 'bennies' of chart reading) - in this case, even the errata on Interweave's website is incorrect. Sigh ... I am kind of nuts about throwing out good money over books that have boo-boos in them. Publishers ... please don't be in such a hurry to make a buck that you cause grey hairs and sore heads over patterns that don't make sense. AND - don't assume we all want to follow the charts - "as it *is* our safest bet to sanity and a properly finished piece!" If that is the case - why include written directions? - to cause anxiety and divorce? Husbands don't like to be stabbed with knitting needles gone awry. MoMMa Mia!

On a brighter note .... I lowered the prices on my Be Knotty apparel! Feel like being shoppie? Everyone needs at least ONE spindle spinning sheepie shirt! Comments .... please - methinks I need some wine!

YiPpEE SkiPpEE ... I finished a pair of sox! Yes - they are for MOI! I LOVE hand knit wool sox. Aren't these fun?? They are dyEd in my Cocktails on Nantucket colorway. I am totally looking forward to cooler temperatures ... 'cocktails wearing wool' is sounding REALLY good to me after WAY to many days in the 90's!


My dear friend
Stasia has me thinking of lace, lace, lace! A delicate wrap covering my shoulders in the Fall seems pretty ideal. While I still have to finish my third ClaPpY - I am wondering what I should do next - there are so many wonderful shawls/stole patterns from which to choose. Hmmm ... a point to ponder!

Naturally, I have yet to finish my piece for Illustration Friday. I am stymied for some reason. Wish me luck - I plan to keep plugging away at it!

Have a ZEN day ... tags and comments - please!

Got to LOVE surprises!! Thanks Jean for the awesome stitch markers!! Aren't they most adorable???



Today is Illustration Friday - this is my first Friday. Hopefully, my creative muse will get jumpstarted! Join me in illustrating "Reflection"?? Have a zen day .... Tags and comments, please!

I KNOW you guys can relate ... whether it is new fibers or yarns, spindles or wheels, pattern books or needles ... sometimes we just WANT. We WANT for a variety of reasons ... to have, to hold, to love and sometimes we just fall hard.

That is where I am with "Cameron".

I want him: to have, to hold, to love.

I am trying to be realistic as my other 2 beasties might not agree with my strong attraction to this dog. "Cameron" is up for adoption. Please inquire at Great Dog Rescue of New England. (Apologies to them for 'borrowing' their photo, but I WANT this pup to have the *bestest* home ever!)

I hope you WANT to have, to hold and to love him forever too ... If YOU can - can *I* be his 'Fairy Dog Mother'? (Just for the record, if I was his - I would REname him "BlueFish" - Long story ... ) Tags and comments ... I need some tissues!

Please forgive my blatant boast: I am in LOVE with my latest fiber arrivals!!

For those who have tried my "Kitchen Sink Batts - you know that I find some pretty interesting fibers to play with. Looking for plain or even rainbow rovings?? - I don't have them. If your looking for something on *the edge*, say, some Curly Horse fiber??? Toy Pony - is for you!! Neat huh??? It is my quest for EWEniqueness, that has me doing 'reconn' for interesting breeds.

That is why I am in LOVE with "LeAnn" and "Venus". The former is a teeswater/wensleydale x and the later is a wensleydale/rambo x. AND - in my dare-devilness, I tried a different fiber processor!! Bonnie did an OUTstanding job on these rovings!!! WOW!

Check them out ... Here is to a ZEN day! Tags and comments .... Please!

Being on 'auto-pilot' is a safety net without sensory experiences. They (not that I know who *they* are!) say it takes 28 days to break a habit ... oh boy! I am going to be 'stichin & bitchin' until mid-September when I become a total Dare-Devil! I am hoping that with each new found experience ... a subtle glow will over come me - just like Monica on the TV show "Touched By an Angel" in the closing 10 minutes.

Tonight - I tried something new in the produce section of my supermarket. I had recently read in a cooking magazine to try something NEW with each vist: a new spice, a new fruit, a new SOMETHING! It will expand KNOWLEDGE! Hey, what do *I* know??

Monstera Deliciosa was my first attempt at Dare-Devilness. One would think I should have found this website before hacking into the poor, unsuspecting fruit with a machete. Needless to say - the fruit was UNripe, I swear it burnt my face (I keep checking for either blisters or rash) and it was promptly disposed of in my compost bucket. MoM would be horrified - I actually spit!

Guess to be an official Dare-Devil - one must make a feeble attempt at research before FLYing.

This past weekend was also my 3rd BloG Birthday! WOW ... 3 whole years of web journaling ... amazing. Of course, no Bday can be complete without gifts - so I attended a local Cultural Survival Festival and purchased YARN! Not just any yarn - but yarn with a purpose. This yarn was dYed with 'prickly pear' cactus and spun from Churro sheepies. The Migrations site has a host of weavings, jewelry, wool, and fiber tools awaiting YOU. Of course, it all helps the Navajo, and it continues a vital way of life for their cultural survival. My skein was spun by Betty Nez ... Thank YOU, Betty for this gorgeous art form!

Here is to a ZEN day! Hmmm - wonder what 'prickly pear' tastes like?? Tags and comments .... Please!

Recent events this past week have me thinking of 'mortality' and how most
of us go thru life on 'auto pilot'. Not really experiencing - just doing. Even though the last few days were ones of prayers and wishes - they were also filled with the slighest tinges of "I could have done more". Lucky for me, I have the opportunity to do so - I have been blessed with "more time" with someone very special. I hope that you take that extra few minutes that you have every day and cherish someone with them. "Time" is truly *the* best of gifts!

Got time for a new 4 footed friend?? Goliath needs a forever home! Don't you just want to hug the big lug?? If you are so inclined ... spread the word that this soul needs the chance at a forever love.

And while the subject of 'auto-pilot' was briefly mentioned above ... I am breaking free of my 'box'. You know what I am talking about ... the 'safe' Sox! The 'perennial' scarf! The mittens with the funky thumbs! Not to say there is anything wrong with those -- I am just loosening the Yarns That Bind! Since I am putting the brakes on my 'auto-pilot' and becoming a newbie dare devil... Look what I ordered today:
Snowflakes!!
Holey Moley .... I am feeling faint! The air is thinner up here in Dare Devil Land!
TAGS and Comments .... Please!

You may be surprised to learn that I have never owned a yarn swift. Only recently did I make the plunge of 'procurement'. I now own my very own swift!

It didn't take much deliberation on my part. The taller, umbrella looking things scare me - so they weren't an option. (I imagine that if Stephen King ever chooses to do a knitting horror movie - those umbrella things would come to life and create some unimaginable terror for us fiber folk!!)

So ... I chose a Mama Bear Table Swift. Love it! Love it! Love it!

Yes - you do need 'table room' for it ... but it works wonderfully. I have been 'balling up' everything in site. Heck, if those umbrella things ever do come to life - my army of yarn balls will take care of them post haste!

On the swift?? ... Brooks Farm Duet, Biscayne Bay colorway for the third ClaPpY!!

TAGS and Comments .... Please! (Oh, by the way, I have recently found out that FREE tag boards - like mine - have a pop up embedded somewhere in it's code. I am still trying to find the little bugger!)