New possibilities

A year is ending and I'm in that dormant part of my year, that week between Christmas and New Year.  I'm tired of
it being so dark in the morning, sad this year passed so quickly, and happy
it's almost over (I am a person of many contradictions).

All the while, I'm trying hard to will myself out of a much too long creative slump.  I knitted a box full of donation scarves for the St. Elizabeth's homeless shelter in Santa Fe, and while that gave me great purpose, it wasn't creative and inspiring.  I'm sort of half way enjoying myself crocheting a shawl right now, trying to use up my stash of Manos del Uruguay yarn. 

As I was cruising blogs tonight, I found a lovely posting about us on Phat Fiber's blog.  It made me realize that all I need to do is stop and take another good look around for my inspiration.  Then, as I was cruising some photos I took this fall, it really reinforced that I just need to remember to keep my eyes open. 

My best wishes to all for a safe and happy holiday.  May we all have a
great new year, one with possibilities yet unseen and optimism for a
new future.

'Twas the day before Christmas...

Just a fast one to tell you that I hope you all have safe and happy holidays.  I know it's a hard time in our history, but I hold a hope that this new year is going to start turning all that around. 

Thanks to all who have hung with me through all the changes, and have remained our friends...be you near or far.  Having good friends is the best possible gift I could wish for this holiday season.

Lastly...here's another photo I took the other morning on the way to work.  It's another for the "There's Lots of Color in Winter" series.  Enjoy.

Solstice

Not much to report these last days...the biggest news being that on Saturday we actually had some blue sky for a while.  (That's really big news to me.)  We're having snow showers now and three storms are backed up and headed in. 
Not much hope of more blue for days to come.

The book I'm reading (Mexican Enough) is compelling me to go to bed earlier than usual each evening to get back to it.  It's the story of the author's search for her family's roots in Mexico...her dad is Anglo but her mother's family came from Mexico three generations ago.  It's especially interesting to me, as we have the same "biethnic" profile (she actually refers to herself as biracial).  My grandfather came from Mexico to Arizona, where he married my grandmother (also Hispanic) and my dad was born in Tucson.  Anyone who knows me knows how very very Anglo I look...so I jokingly refer to myself as a crypto-Hispano.  It's like having a happy little secret you carry around in your heart on some days, and on others it's like having your face up against a glass wall, looking in, but no one can see or hear you.

We had some interesting snow curls off our roof the other morning.  I decided to share a couple of photos with you.  I love finding fun in the little things. 

New widget

I got up too early this morning (read that: not quite daylight) and decided my first priority was to reconfigure this blog and give it a cleaner, fresher look.    It was somewhat cathartic...like moving furniture around.  I hope it works for you; it was good for me.

I have added a new widget:  a link to Amazon.com showing one of my current reads. 
I'll only point you in the direction of something I'm truly enjoying...not that we'd all enjoy the same things, but because I'm a tireless pusher of books I love.  This particular book (Mexican Enough) has me laughing out loud in some places...something I don't get to do often enough.

If, by chance, you have read any of the same books, or read them as a result of my recommendation, I'd love to hear your opinions.  I have few people in my world to discuss my books with and it's something I long for.

Waiting for the storm

These grey days are killing me.  We're supposed to be having snow...but yesterday's snow just blew the heck right out of here with high winds (the ski valley reported gusts in excess of 70 mph...brrrrrrr).

Yesterday was spent waiting.  Mr. Sunflower made a fire, I ignored the computer and hung out at my spinning wheel.  I could share with you that I was watching the Waltons, but that might further your suspicion that I'm totally weird.  OK, so I gave myself a set of all their programs for Christmas.  So now you know, for sure.

In the meantime, everyone else around here was bored.  Since Maynard died, we've come to learn that Larry and Bob hate each other.  That's just swell, since Bob is the kitten I got to keep Larry company.  I managed to catch a portrait of Larry in between him yelling at me.  If I haven't mentioned this before, I think he's the tortured soul of someone trying to get a message to me...he almost never shuts up.

And the dogs...well...they called a truce too...and for once, I actually caught them napping together.

Almost winter...

We had a storm a week or so ago and got enough snow to make it look like the seasons have finally decided to change.  More is due this weekend.  I took my annual first walkabout in the snow, looking for animal prints, and surprisingly, found none.  I guess they just hadn't ventured out yet.

Once upon a time I looked for tapestry ideas everywhere in my world.  These last years I've not had the time to think much about weaving, let alone tapestry ideas.  However...I found the snow on this stack of blue stones worthy of considering as a design.

The first year my friend Chris lived here, she told me winter here was ugly, with no colors.  I told her to just look around a little more closely.  They may be subtle, but they're there.

Battmania

The other day I finally moved my drum carder and all the related stuff down to the shop where I actually
have room to use it and can see what I have to card up (things have been sort of smooshed up here at home).  I've been reacquainting myself with making batts and remembering how much fun they are to make. 
I've also been bringing some home (as mentioned in recent posts) and refreshing my memory on how great they are to spin...especially for art yarns.  My last batt listed on Etsy is Party Girl.  It made me think of my years of working in an office.  You get all dressed up for work and then go party like mad afterward (well, maybe you don't, but we sure did where I worked).  Here are some photos of Party Girl.

Rain chain

When our greenhouse was finished a few months ago, I was told something called a rain chain
was on order.  I had no clear picture of what this could be until it appeared earlier this past week.  It's hanging off the end of our catchment gutter, directly above the drain that's set up to direct rain water to one of our many catchment tanks.  I think this is pretty cool, on all counts.  I decided to photograph it today and then watch it as it accumulates ice over winter.

Playing with plying

When I was at the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival last May, I fell in love with a giant ball of roving that had been dyed in shades of greens and browns and rusts...almost like a camouflage.  I started spinning it in a two ply worsted weight, thinking I'd make another pullover sweater for this winter.  Then...that sad moment we all face with some of our projects...I realized I didn't have enough of it to make an entire sweater.

I just put it on the shelf and didn't give it much more thought until October.  I was rifling through my rovings one day when I found two rovings I had purchased from my friend Ginny at Fat Cat Knits.  One was called Ode to Joy, and had white, rust, and various shades of lilac and purple.  The second was called Roger...mostly brown with some shades of rust and golds. 

Inspired by a conversation I had had a few weeks early with Lori Lawson of Capistrano Fiber Arts, I decided to get really zany (for me) and ply these two together.  Well, that opened the flood gates.  Before I knew it I had added some of our own hand painted rovings to the  mix and voila!  Enough to make my sweater.  The colors are subtle, but I took a photo to share the results with you.  I'll wash them this weekend and hopefully, start the sweater next week.

And now, I'm off to find more rovings to spin and mix together...

Phat Fiber

Fun, fun, fun...we were recently invited by Jessie of Phat Fiber to send some of our fiber samples
for her monthly sample boxes.  Check out her blog and her Etsy shop for more info...she's taking a list of folks interested in buying sample boxes that she's putting together once a month...you get 20 or more samples of all kinds of fiber related goodies (could be yarn, stitch markers, fibers, ???).  What a great way to find new sources for all those things you love to work with!

There's probably lots more specific information, but that's my story, and I'm sticking too it.

P.S.  Our samples are either going to be in the January or February box...not sure which at this time.  Also...check out her blog for giveaways...we've also donated a skein of our hand painted roving for one of these!

 

Phat Fiber

Fun, fun, fun...we were recently invited by Jessie of Phat Fiber to send some of our fiber samples
for her monthly sample boxes.  Check out her blog and her Etsy shop for more info...she's taking a list of folks interested in buying sample boxes that she's putting together once a month...you get 20 or more samples of all kinds of fiber related goodies (could be yarn, stitch markers, fibers, ???).  What a great way to find new sources for all those things you love to work with!

There's probably lots more specific information, but that's my story, and I'm sticking too it.

P.S.  Our samples are either going to be in the January or February box...not sure which at this time.  Also...check out her blog for giveaways...we've also donated a skein of our hand painted roving for one of these!