Spin Knit and Life

A Visit To The Mississippi River

2011-11-18T14:13:00.000-06:00

Last week DH and I decided that we wanted to "get out of the house" for a while so we headed west. I love the Mississippi River and have also been in search of Trollbead dealers since there aren't any here in Huntsville. So we "got out of the house", found a lovely Trollbead shop in Southaven, Ms. and walked along the Mississippi River. It made for a nice little trip.

Happy Memorial Day

2011-05-30T10:35:00.000-05:00

Thank you to the men and women who serve to protect our country.

Parade Of Flowers 2011

2011-05-03T11:05:00.001-05:00

My prayers go out to all of those who have lost loved ones and homes during the past week.
After all of the destruction the state of Alabama has suffered from the tornadoes that struck a wide path through Northern Alabama and Tuscaloosa, I thought it would be fitting to show the beauty of nature instead of the ugliness.
Most of you know that I love photographing flowers on my morning walks. I thought I would share just a few of those photographs.

Easter

2011-04-24T10:06:00.001-05:00

Wishing everyone a blessed Easter ✝

Rose

2011-04-02T09:32:00.001-05:00

Rose
Originally uploaded by spinknitandlife

I photographed this lovely rose on my walk this morning. I was really surprised to see roses blooming so soon.
Enjoy,
Phyllis

Gadgets For The Gadget

2011-03-08T12:14:00.001-06:00

I love to photograph flowers. Now that Spring is nearly here we are beginning to have an abundance of flowers popping up everywhere. I have been thinking lately that I would like to purchase a Macro Lens for my DSLR camera. Considering how expensive the lenses are I have decided that I am not ready to give up an arm or leg, lol.

A person on the Facebook Pentax group as well some of the photography books that I have been reading have recommended the use of close up filters. Considering the difference in price I decided to give the filters a try. I recently purchased a +1,+2,+4, and +10 Diopter Filters from Amazon. I am so glad that I chose the filters over the Macro lens.

Below are some photos taken with the +2 and +1 filter.

I promise this isn't a monster about to gobble you up even though it looks that way.

It's up close and personal with one of my Phalaenopsis Orchids.

I am very happy with these filters. I haven't tried the +10 but am anxious to see how the pictures will turn out.

I still need practice on the focusing.

Here is the DeBroth Deluxe 7 pieces filter kit that includes the filters and case, 5-Piece camera cleaning kit, lens cap strap, lens cleaner brush and extra cleaning cloth. All of these items are little extras that I think a good photographer will find handy in keeping their camers in tip top shape. Amazon has the kits to fit various cameras.

This is the +1 filter.

I have also found some books that have been very helpful for this beginner to learn the ins and outs of photography.

Digital SLR Photography All-In-One For Dummies and Scott Kelby's Digital Photography Books, Volumes 1,2, and 3.

Available at Amazon for your Kindle or as regular (kill a tree) books.

Enjoy life,
Phyllis

Spring Flowers

2011-03-02T09:17:00.001-06:00

This is my favorite time of year to photograph flowers. Beautiful blooms are popping up everywhere.

My neighbor kindly gave me permission to photograph his Blooming Tulip Tree, aka Japanese Magnolia. I am blessed to have this tree right outside my kitchen window. I have been watching the buds appear and anxiously awaiting the blooming season. This is one of the most beautiful trees I have ever seen. The pink colors are magnificent. I hope you enjoy my photographs of this beautiful tree as much as I enjoy the daily site of this natural work of art.

Enjoy life,
Phyllis ♡

Bean Soup

2011-03-01T10:21:00.000-06:00

The other morning at 3:00 am I awoke to the most amazing aroma. It was my slow cooker cooking bean soup. The previous day I soaked a variety of dried legumes and added them to my trusty Crock Pot that night. A big thank you to the inventor of the Crock Pot. I love adding foods in the evening and waking up the next day to a fully cooked meal. This one was particularly easy. I simply added the soaked beans, one small sliced onion, a dash or two of dried Italian Seasonings, sliced baby carrots, a smidgen of garlic and a carton of low sodium chicken broth. Yummy and healthy according to the Mayo Clinic . The only thing missing was the cornbread which I intended to make but never got around to. Oh well, next time ;)

Enjoy life,
Phyllis

Happy Valentine's Day. Celebrate With A Bourbon Ball

2011-02-14T15:38:00.000-06:00

Have a Kentucky Bourbon Ball.

I have been making bourbon balls for probably 40+ years. They are my favorite sweet treat. I only make them once a year because it is so difficult for me to resist these little treats.

Here is a link to an online recipe that is very similar to the way that I have been making my bourbon balls. I really don't have a particular recipe that I follow. It's just a little bit of this and a little bit of that. I usually add more Bourbon for soaking the pecans than the 5 tablespoons called for in the online recipe. I like mine heavy on the Bourbon. I use the same ingredients as the online recipe, just different amounts. I think the secret to good bourbon balls is to let the chopped pecans soak overnight in the bourbon. I don't really care to drink Bourbon but I do like it in certain foods. I do love it in Kentucky Bourbon Balls and Derby Day Pie. When I was very young my Mother would make a concoction of bourbon, honey, and lemon for us to drink if we had colds and congestions. Oh, how I hated the taste and still do.

I add approx. 1/2 cup of bourbon to the cup of chopped pecans. Seal in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator overnight.
Next day, mix the powdered sugar, pecans, butter and nuts. I do use real butter. It would be insulting to use margarine in the bourbon balls ;)

I also like to use Kentucky bourbon. In my case I use Makers Mark.

After mixing, I roll the concoction into little balls, seal in an air tight container and store overnight in the refrigerator.

Now for the dipping and in my case the least favorite and most difficult part of this recipe. I like to use a mixture of 18 - 20 ounces of Ghirardelli Premium Semi-Sweet Chocolate Baking Chips and Ghiradelli 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate Baking Chips. Melt over a double boiler.

Once the chocolate is melted, dip your rolled balls into the chocolate and place onto a plate and top with a pecan half.

For those of you who don't want to make your own I can vouch for Ruth Hunt Bourbon Balls. They are delicous.

Happy Valentine's Day

Winter Wonderland

2011-01-17T11:05:00.001-06:00

Sadly, I think it is time to say goodbye to our beautiful winter wonderland. They say this snow was the third largest to every hit this area. I believe them. The interesting thing is that it has lingered for so long. Our temperatures have remained below freezing until the last couple of days. I'm serious when I say that it will probably be another decade before we see another snow like this. I have never seen so many snowmen, snow women,snow statues in my entire life. Growing up in Kentucky snow was a common occurrence in the winter months. I think I made one or two snowmen during my childhood and then it become "old hat". Down here everyone wanted to take advantage of this snow and build, build build. The nice thing about snow is that it makes for great photo opps.

DH captured this snow unicorn during the very early hours of his morning walk.

I know this photo belongs on my fibercrafts blog. I just couldn't resist ,the blue looked so pretty on the snowy white background.

I miss it already.

Enjoy life,

Phyllis

More Snow

2011-01-12T20:15:00.000-06:00

Guess what? We have snow again! I love it. It's the third largest snow to ever hit this area.

Our street covered in snow.

Footprints in the snow.

DH shoveling snow.

Looking down our street

Nandina Bush in the snow.

Stay warm and enjoy life.
Phyllis

The Moon

2011-01-07T10:26:00.000-06:00

I peeked out the window last night and saw this sliver of a moon and thought "photo opp".
I still need to practice with the camera settings and learn to photograph in the darkness. This is an improvement over my first nighttime pic. Everything was totally dark in that picture. I guess I could have labeled it A Study In Black ;)
Looks like we have another winter weather alert out for Sunday evening and Monday. The weatherman is predicting 2-4 inches of the white stuff. I suspect all of the shelves in the grocery stores will be bare. Especially the milk, bread and egg areas. I don't think it will happen since we have already received our once every decade snow on Christmas day. Who knows?

A Bit Of Cooking

2011-01-03T13:33:00.001-06:00

Let's start the New Year out cooking. After DH retired and DS moved out on his own we decided that we wanted to have our main meal of the day at lunch time instead of dinner. We both prefer a light meal in the evenings so that decision has worked well for us.

I decided on Salmon for today's meal and it just so happened that Allrecipes.com sent their newsletter out this morning with a Garlic Salmon recipe that looked and sounded delicious. Btw, for those of you with ipads they have an app for Allrecipes. I rummaged around the kitchen and found all of the necessary ingredients.

The recipe was quick and easy.

Going into the oven.

Coming out of the oven.

Add some mixed vegetable, a croissant and grapes and we are good to go.

Yummy, yes.

Enjoy life,

Phyllis

Another Gadget and Let's Take A Walk

2011-01-02T12:08:00.003-06:00

Several months ago I started thinking about taking the plunge and moving up from a point and shoot camera to a digital SLR. I searched the internet camera sites, read books, browsed through Flickr photos and finally decided that I was ready to make the move. In my research I found that the Pentax KX is a great entry level DSLR. So then I started reading Pentax KX reviews joined the Pentax Forums,(I have a link to the forums on the sidebar) joined photography groups on Ravelry and Facebook, talked to other KX owners and the major influence were the exceptional Pentax photos on Flickr.

Here she is. These two photos were taken with my Nikon Coolpix. DH inherited the Coolpix.

I have so much to learn about this camera. It has the usual bells and whistles and an operating manual that has over 300 pages. I'm taking my time reading the manual. I like to take the camera with me on my morning walks so that I can practice. It currently has an 18-55mm lens and I would eventually like to add the 50-200mm to photograph nature.

The Ivy Patch.

I'm wondering if those little marks on the tree trunk have been made by woodpeckers?

Oh, by the way, any SLR photography tips would be greatly appreciated.

Enjoy life,

Phyllis

Happy New Year!

2011-01-01T09:51:00.000-06:00

Happy New Year to all of my wonderful Blog Buddies.
I hope that 2011 will be a safe, happy and healthy year for everyone.

The Purple Flower

2010-12-28T07:47:00.002-06:00

Good morning, Dear Blog Buddies. I need help in identifying this flower. Calling ~S~

Thank you.

Thanks to Ann. The plant has been identified. It's Ruella.

Snow For Christmas And The Day After

2010-12-26T14:51:00.001-06:00

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. I know I did. Number One and Only Son joined us for Christmas Day and we had a great time together. We had a very filling meal with yummy desserts followed by the traditional viewing of The Christmas Story which still makes us giggle even though we have watched it numerous times.

Oh, and did I mention we had SNOW for Christmas. Snow in Alabama. Can you believe it. Not just a light dusting either. It snowed most of the day and even a little bit on the day after.

The day after Christmas we always have our Traditional Kentucky Hot Brown meal to use up the leftover turkey and ham. All of this snow and Hot Brown have made me homesick for Kentucky. All I needed to top it off were some good ole Kentucky Bourbon Balls. My good friend Cissy provided us with the Alabama version of Bourbon Balls. Yes, they were delicious.

I have to tell you about the china in the picture. The dishes originally belonged to my Memaw. When she died they were left to my Mom and Dad and about a year before my Mother died she gave them to me. I remember my Memaw used "the good china" for company. I was mesmerized by these plates as a child. I think it is the deep dark red color that caught and held my attention. It isn't often that you see china of this color. I cherish these dishes and we use them for holidays. Although, I'm thinking that we will use them more often as they bring such good memories. Why keep them stored away in the china cabinet for only special holidays.

I hope my little Rosemary bush survives the snow.

Yes, it's really and truly snow.

The Abominable Blue Snowman and son out "playing in the snow"

See how fast the flakes are falling.

Back yard trees covered in snow.

Enjoy life,

Phyllis

Christmas

2010-12-21T11:22:00.000-06:00

"And it was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge. May that be truly said of us, and all of us!"

And so as Tiny Tim observed, God Bless Us, Every One!

To all my wonderful "Blog Buddies" Merry Christmas to you.

Quote courtesy of Charles Dickens.

Merci, Mon Ami

2010-12-12T15:08:00.001-06:00

Merci a mes amis francais blogs de visiter mon blog.

Ole Man River

2010-12-12T14:52:00.000-06:00

I really enjoy walking along the banks of the Mississippi River. This time of year it is a bit chilly and breezy. That's okay, that's my kind of weather.

That is amazing to see that the Mississippi reached such a high level during one of the floods.

A barge floating along the river

Plant life along the Mississippi.

After my walk I decided to take a break and do some sock kntting.

Enjoy life,

Phyllis

Yarn Shop Time !!!!!!

2010-12-03T10:24:00.000-06:00

In my never ending quest to find yarn shops I came across Hank of Yarn. A lovely

shop in Southaven, Mississippi. As soon as I walked in the door I was amazed at all the lovely colors of yarn. Splashes of bright colorful yarns were everywhere.

The folks in the shop were extremely helpful and friendly even suggesting another yarn shop that carried a particular brand of yarn that I had been searching for which they did

did not carry.

Those colors are amazing.

Be sure to stop in the next time you are in Southaven, Mississippi.

Happy Thanksgiving.

2010-11-25T17:50:00.001-06:00

I am so thankful that God has blessed me with a wonderful husband and son. I am thankful I have a sister. I am thankful for my faith in God and my friends. I am thankful that I live in the U.S.A. I am thankful for all of the blessings and opportunities that I have had throughout my life.
I am thankful for all my wonderful "blog buddies". I am thankful for life.

Life - Color, Color Everywhere

2010-11-08T12:12:00.010-06:00

I just love Crystal Palace's Mini Mochi Yarn. I started out knitting a scarf with the yarn but at 7 stitches to the inch it was taking forever. :( The entire time that I was knitting I kept thinking that this yarn would weave up nicely. I decided to rip it out and weave. I am so glad that I went with my gut feeling. Both the warp and the weft are Mini Mochi Color 101-Lot 17. Machine washable 80% Merino, 20% Nylon. I wove the scarf on my Ashford 12 Inch Knitters Loom using a 10 dent heddle.

The finished scarf is 10"Wx74"L with 3.5" fringe.

I twisted the fringe using the ever wonderful little Leclerc double clip Fringe Twister.

I like the light weight drapiness of this yarn. I am so pleased with this scarf that I really want to weave another with Mini Mochi in a different colorway.

I have been anxious to start on my color gamp study weaving and finally found all the yarns that I wanted. You can find the Color Study kits online but they were all in thin cotton yarns except for one which was offered in wool. I really wanted that kit but at $80 the tightwad in me said no.

I have a huge amount of Cascade 220 yarns left over from my knitted Log Cabin blanket so I thought why not use those. I ended up purchasing an extra orange and green to complete the project yarns. I used my little color wheel to help arrange the yarns in an attractive order. I warped my 32 inch rigid heddle loom and have just started weaving the header. I'm using the 5 dent heddle I'm really excited about this project.

For some reason once I download pictures onto the blog, blogger won't let me re-arrange them. The yarn picture at the bottom of the page should be the first picture.

Arranging the yarns in their proper order.
Enjoy Life,

Phyllis

004

2010-10-29T10:34:00.001-05:00

004
Originally uploaded by spinknitandlife

Finished Projects - It's About Time.

2010-10-16T16:35:00.009-05:00

My latest handwoven shawl project is a combination of factory spun yarn and my own handspun yarn. I really like weaving with my handspun. The warp on this shawl is Rowan Cashsoft gifted to me by my DS for Christmas one year. It's been marinating for just the right project. The weft is my handspun Merino/Silk blend yarn. The shawl is 80"Lx20"W and 4" of twisted fringe.

I should be able to wear this soon as the weather is finally starting to cool down.

I saw this little woodpecker on my walk this morning. He was so busy he didn't notice me.

This is some yarn that I just finished spinning. The fiber was gifted to me by my friend Cissy. She has an Etsy shop where she sells lovely handyed fiber and batts.

Latest drum carding adventure for my Etsy shop. This is a blend of Merino, BFL and Silk. Nice and soft and easy to spin. By the way all of my Luscious Ditty Batts are marked 30% off.

Handwoven scarf. Warp - Brown Sheep Prairie Silk. Weft - Handspun wool spun by Ny from ilashdesigns
Ny and I did a trade. I traded fiber for her handspun yarn. It matched the Prairie Silk yarn perfectly and was wonderful for weaving.

I added the finishing touches of an Icord strap to my little Fair Isle experiment. I finished this while on my trip to Tennessee.

At last, the Log Cabin Blanket is complete. I was starting to tire of knitting on this project and on a very cool day while I was spinning I grabbed the unfinished blanket and threw it over my lap for warmth. I decided then and there that it would make a nice lap blanket size so the bind off began. I may knit a 2-3 row border.

My latest spindle addition. Bosworth Mini, Tulipwood Whorl, Birch Shaft, .7 ounces. I love the grain of the Tulipwood. As usual with a Bosworth it's a great spinner.

Enjoy life,

Phyllis

Smoky Mountain Spinnery - Or How I Disappeared For Two Hours

2010-10-13T07:39:00.000-05:00

I visited this lovely shop while we were in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. I enjoyed myself so much that I returned for a second visit before leaving the area.

The Spinnery is chocked full of spinning and weaving supplies. I think you could consider it more of a weaving and spinning store than knitting. Although, knitting yarns were offered the majority of the inventory is fibers, fiber related tools, gadgets etc. The owner was very helpful and answered all my questions and was happy to let me browse without being overbearing.

She had a lovely selections of Hazel Rose looms, spinning wheels and some unusual spinning fibers. She even stocked Guanaco fiber.

Alpaca fiber.

This cute little alpaca was weaving.

Beautiful Bluster Bay boat shuttles.

Fiber prep DVDs.

This is the yarn room.

More spinning fibers. These were sold by the ounce.

Handspun yarns.

Warping yarns.

Handwoven items for sale.

New and older fiber, spinning,weaving and dyeing books.

This cabinet was full of luxury spinning fiber. Those little drawstring bags on top of the cabinet are Guanaco fiber.

Jewelry for the fiber enthusiast.

Handmade buttons.

Hope you enjoyed these pictures as much as I enjoyed my visit.

Phyllis

Wool Week

2010-10-06T16:57:00.004-05:00

Wool Week October 11 - October 17

The Campaign for Wool

World of Wool - Did You Know link

Can you imagine life without wool?

Blog Buddies

2010-10-04T16:33:00.008-05:00

I have the best blog buddies in the whole wide world. Earlier this year Jody from the Gypsyspinner blog and I decided to do a fibery trade. I have known Jody, since I have been blogging (2008). Jody has her own sheep and works at Hubbert Farms in Ontario. Jody is an accomplished, award winning spinner and knitter. I sent Jody spinning fibers and batts and she sent me some wonderfully knitted items. I was overwhelmed by her kindness. Now all I need is some really cool weather so that I can start wearing these lovely items.

I have always wanted a Lacy Baktus scarf and now I have one and in my favorite color.

The lacy shawl that Jody knit is exquisite.

I just love the pink mittens and the fingerless gloves. I will get plenty of use out of them this winter.

I love the Fair Isle pattern and these are knitted from Jody's handspun Alpaca.

This is some of the yarn that is sold at Hubbert Farms where Jody is the Fleece Manager and Yarn Designer. There are some gorgeous yarns and spinning fiber for sale on their web site.
This is a lovely blend of Suri Alpaca, Gotland Wool and Bamboo. It is extremely soft. I already have a weaving project in mind for this beautiful yarn. If you are looking for Alpaca yarn or fiber this is the place.

Enjoy life,

Phyllis

I'm Singing The Blues - Indigo Blues

2010-10-01T10:03:00.012-05:00

Today is Indigo dye day. I love the color (my favorite color) and have long wanted to successfully dye with Indigo. I came upon an article on dyeing with Indigo crystals (instant Indigo) and decided to give it a try. If you are interested here is a link to Paradise Fibers where you may purchase the crystals and a link to the Indigo dyeing information.

We start with the usual 30-40 minute soak in water. While that is soaking I mix and dissolve the crystals in warm water. I also start heating the water in my enamel pot. When the crystals have dissolved I gentle pour the mixture down the side of the of the heated water pot. The water looks a bit scummy but that's okay. The scum is actually a good sign. When my fiber and yarns have finished soaking I very gently slide the fibers and yarns into the pot. You want to avoid adding oxygen to the pot as it will hinder the dye process.

I soak my fiber in the Indigo pot for approximately 30 minutes. When finished I transfer to a plastic container and take outside to dry.
When you remove the yarns and fibers from the pot you will very briefly see a greenish color which will turn to blue.

You should dry your fibers and yarns 24 hours before rinsing.

These yarns and fibers have been dried, gently soaked in warm water and a tiny squirt of baby shampoo and rinsed in warm warm with a glug of white vinegar and dried. They are ready for spinning and knitting.

Did I mention that I love the color blue?;)

Happy Indigo dyeing.

Phyllis

The Knitting Nest

2010-09-30T14:31:00.000-05:00

On our return home we passed through Maryville, Tennesse. Of course, I had to stop at the Knitting Nest. If you are ever near Maryville do visit the Knitting Nest. It's well worth the stop.

This is probably the most attractive yarn shop that I have ever visited. Decorated in warm cozy colors and beautiful wooden floors and shelves. Even the bathroom was beautiful ;)

Extra long table for lots of knitting elbow room.

Even the tissue box was part of the knitting decor.

Those are the largest knitting needles that I have ever seen.

This little guy was just sooo cute knitting his own wool.

The wall of Cascade.

Some lovely wooden Nostepinne. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this tool here is a link.

Like I said, be sure to stop for a visit if you are ever in that neck of the woods.

Happy knitting,

Phyllis

Visiting Gatlinburg, Tennessee.

2010-09-25T14:11:00.011-05:00

We just recently returned from a trip to the Smoky Mountains. I thought I would share some of the pictures. The weather was warm and humid but we did manage a few hikes and some nice shopping. The shopping pictures will come later.

The Little Pigeon River

Laurel Falls

Thanks to my friends Susanna and Margaret for helping to identify the wildflowers

Hearts A Burstin With Love plant

Smooth Yellow False Foxglove plant

Partridge Berry plant.

A lady scarecrow in the herb garden outside the Wild Plum Tea Room

The Wild Plum Tea Room.

Fiber, Weaving, Spinning, Fair Isle 101 and A Little On The Fringe

2010-09-14T16:39:00.016-05:00

I have had a week filled with fun fibery projects. My friends Evelyn, Cissy and I headed out to Little Barn this past weekend and were overwhelmed by such a huge selection of fiber on the shelves. I think it's the most that I have ever seen at Little Barn. Silks, Alpacas, Merinos, BFLs, and so much more.

I brought home this soft, smooshy, 64 grade dyed Merino. I love the various shades of pinks.

I purchased enough to spin and weave a scarf or even a small shawlette.

Evelyn and I have decided to try something new. Neither of us are familiar with knitting from a chart or knitting Fair Isle. So we thought we would have a little Fair Isle Knit Along. First we want to start with a sampler pattern from the Philosopher Wool Shop. It's great for a beginner Fair Isle project.

This is a small purse that shouldn't take long to knit.

Once we master this we hope to move on to an Alice Starmore pattern.

I'm sure you can see my many mistakes but I look at this as a learning experience.

I finished spinning some Crosspatch Creations Handpainted Tussah Silk. This is my first time spinning Crosspatch. I ended up with 102 yards. I love the feel of this silk. Unfortunately it did loose a good bit of it's beautiful color when I set the twist.
This particular colorway is Nymph. I have another bag in the colorway Fresco. I hope that Fresco is less likely to bleed and is more colorfast.

My friend Cissy has just opened an Etsy shop featuring her beautiful Bodacious Batts and handyed rovings. Below is just a sample of what she has to offer.

Last but not least I finished another shawl. This one is woven from Mountain Color 4/8s wool and Cascade Heritage. The Mountain Color yarn is the weft. I wove this shawl extra long so that it would wrap around shoulders and not fall off.

I have to tell you about this wonderful little gadget by Leclerc. It's a two clip fringe twister.

You twist two groups of yarn together and the let them twist onto each other and tie a knot. Voila! Instant fringe, almost. It's a great time saver.

Enjoy life,

Phyllis

From This To This

2010-08-18T14:22:00.004-05:00

Almost sheep to shawl but not quite.
Just finished weaving this shawl last night. I am so happy with the results. I only wish we had some cooler weather so that I could start wearing it. lol
The warp yarns are Mountain Colors Silk and Ewe, Harmony Mist Colorway. The weft is my handspun yarn from Spirit Trail Fiberworks Blue Faced Leicester. Woven on my Ashford 24 Inch Rigid Heddle Loom. The fiber colorways are A Case of Blue and Blue Green Special. Spun 2 ply on my Ashford Traveller spinning wheel . It measures 80 inches long plus fringe and 22 inches wide. I started working on this project the first day of the Tour de France 2010 bicycle race. I began my spinning of the fiber at that time. Spirit Trail fibers are a dream to spin. Jennifer creates lovely handyed fibers that are so very soft and easy to spin. I enjoyed this project so much that I would love spinning and weaving a similar project in another colorway.

Happy weaving,

Phyllis

Life - Weaving,Etc.

2010-08-14T10:20:00.007-05:00

Fresh Off The Loom

This is a scarf that I wove from some very lovely handspun yarn that I acquired in a trade with one of my fellow Etsyians. iLashDesigns. I traded some of my Luiscious Ditty Batts for some of Ny's single plied hand spun yarn. The warp is Prairie Silk Yarn and the weft is the handspun. This will make a nice warm scarf for this winter.

Other than my early morning walks I have been staying inside most of the week trying to avoid the heat and humidity. Our temps. have been in the 90s with high humidity. Our heat indexes have been 100+ I am so looking forward to Autumn.

My Memaw's quilt is complete. I attached a red binding to the edge last week. I think she would be very happy with her quilt.

Currently I'm weaving a shawl using Mountain Colors Silk & Ewe yarn for the warp and my handspun Spirit Trail Fiber yarns for the weft. The Mountain Colors and Spirit Trail are almost identical in color. I can't believe how lucky I was to find the two matching colorways.

My Surprise Lillies are blooming this week. True to their name it's always a surprise when I walk outside and see them blooming.

I am currently working in the basement (where it is nice and cool) on finishing my 32 inch rigid heddle loom. I am applying a poly-acrylic finish to the wood before assembly. I decided to leave it unstained. It's the same wood as my spinning wheels and I really like the natural wood color.

That's about it for now. Hope everyone is staying cool.

Enjoy life.

Phyllis

Happy Dance - Happy Weaving.

2010-07-13T09:58:00.006-05:00

I'm so happy to say that I finished weaving my shawl. :) I was a bit apprehensive about this project. It's only my second shawl woven on my 24 inch RH Loom. The yarns that were used in this project have been in my stash for a few years. I originally wanted to knit a shawl. I'm so glad that I decided to weave one instead.
The yarns are by Mountain Colors - Mountain Goat in the colorways of Winter Sky, Evergreen,
Columbine, and Mountain Twilight.

The above picture shows the lovely copper shawl pin , Waves of Compassion, that I purchased from Crystal of Star and Crossbones. Copper is one of my favorite metals and I really like the fact that 50% of the purchase price goes to help with the clean up of the oil spill.

The shawl measures 24 x 104.
I was able to weave this in less than two weeks. A much faster progress than if I had knitted the shawl.

This photo will give you an idea of the size of the shawl.

Now, if I only had cool weather I could wear the shawl ;)

Enjoy life,

Phyllis

Spin Sunday Among Other Things

2010-07-11T15:32:00.010-05:00

Tour de Fleece handspun Spirit Trail Fiber Works BFL - A Case of Blue

While at Yarn Expressions today I found a lovely wool/silk blend, blue/green Mountain Colors yarn.

I plan to use it as the warp with the "A Case of Blue " handspun yarn as the weft.

Making slow progress on my Mountain Goat yarn shawl. I am almost halfway :)

Making progress on my garter stitch scarf of Mini Moochi Yarn.

Keeping with the Tour de Fleece spinning I chose to spindle spin my Spirit Trail Fibers BFL while at the Sunday Spin group.

This is Meg's beautiful handyed, handspun and knitted Morning Surf Scarf. It's absolutely beautiful, Meg. I love these scarves and hope to one day knit one.

Meg of Yarn Expressions hosts a monthly Sunday Spin Group and today was the day. It's fun to watch others spin on the various wheels and see all the lovely spinning projects.

Bethany brought her daughter Lizzie along to learn to spin on her new Hitchhiker. I think Lizzie will make a great spinner. That little wheel is just her size.

As you can see Meg has many beautiful and colorful yarns to tempt us while we spin.

Robin was spinning a lovely Cross Patch Creations (I hope that is correct). She is planning on plying it with the light aqua yarn.

Happy spinning,

Phyllis

TDF 2010

2010-07-09T10:10:00.003-05:00

Just a quick TDF update. The race has been very exciting. The scenery has been beautiful as usual. I love looking at all the old Chateaus, Churches and castles. Way too many crashes on the Tour.

I'm starting to catch up on my spinning. I now have two bobbins of Oatmeal BFL ready to be plied.

Happy spinning,

Phyllis xo

TDF Day 1 and 2

2010-07-05T16:35:00.003-05:00

Picnik collage
Originally uploaded by spinknitandlife

As you can see, I have gotten off to a very slow start with my spinning.
Truthfully I didn't want to stop weaving to spin ;)
The Tour de France has been full of crashes and carnage. The rains have made the course slippery along with some very sharp curves. I feel so sorry for the cyclists, they work so hard. Hopefully the race, the weather, and the course will improve.
Hopefully my spinning will improve.

Life

2010-07-03T18:00:00.000-05:00

Happy 4th of July.

Tour de Fleece 2010

2010-07-03T13:44:00.007-05:00

Get set, Go!!! Time for the Tour de Fleece. I am on two Ravelry Teams this year.

I'll spin the Oatmeal BFL for Team UFO and the Blue BFL for Team Superfleece.

Good luck and see you on the Tour.

Oh, and Go Team Radio Shack.

Happy spinning,

Phyllis

Weaving, Knitting and More Weaving

2010-07-02T11:35:00.009-05:00

I know you are going to be completely shocked;0 I have actually completed another knitting project. :) It's a garter drop stitch pattern knitted with the yarn that I purchased when we were in Canada a couple of years ago. The yarn is in my favorite blue and a blend of Silk, Merino and Qiviuk -Jacques Cartier Qiviuk, 28 grams, 144 yards. It's oh sooo soft and was very easy to knit.

I have two new projects on the loom. One will be entirely woven of handspun yarns. The weft is handspun and handyed(Kool-Aid) BlueFaced Leicester wool.

The warp is coral handspun and handyed Llama.This yarn was dyed with Kool-Aid. The white is a blend of Alpaca and Silk gifted to me by one of my Knit Night friends.

On my 24 inch loom I am weaving a shawl for Moi. Both the warp and weft are various colors of Mountain Colors - Mountain Goat yarn that has been in my stash for many years. I am really looking forward to wearing this in the Winter.

My completed project are scarves woven on the Cricket loom.

The warp is a cotton/tencel blend and the weft is Debbie Bliss Denim Cotton Aran. It's supposed to fade just like denim. This was my first venture into cotton weaving and I must say weaving cotton is easier than knitting cotton.

This is a scarf woven with Nature Spun DK Wool as the weft and handspun BFL from Gale's Art Fiber in the Crayon colorway. I love Gale's Art fibers. They are so colorful.

This scarf was also woven on the Cricket loom with Lynne Vogel handyed sock yarn as the warp and Lamb's Pride Limeade as the weft This was a really fun and fast weave.

I'm still having problems with my selvedges. I would appreciate any tips from weavers on weaving straight selvedges.

Happy Weaving,

Phyllis

More Weaving

2010-06-23T16:05:00.008-05:00

Remember these yarns from a previous post. Well, I finished weaving a practice shawl on my 24 inch Ashford Loom. The yarns used in the warp are Galway wool, and the yarns used in the weft are all handspun, undyed, natural fibers. They are a mixture of Llama, Alpaca, Angora, Mohair, Silk and several breeds of sheep wool.

It took less than a week to weave this shawl. I certainly couldn't do that if I were knitting. It would have taken a few years;)

As you can see in the pic I do need to trim the fringe a bit. It also needs to be washed and air dried.

I hope you aren't bored with all this weaving "stuff". It's just that I am trying to tempt a certain blog buddy of mine to buy a loom. Are you listening, Vicki?

My latest spindle acquition is the Bosworth Zebrawood whorl, Birch Shaft, 33 grams. I find it very difficult to resist Bosworth Spindles. In my opinion they are the best on the market. Although, they do have some very stiff competition. They offer such a beautiful selection of woods and their spindles spin forever. The scarf under the spindle is my latest woven scarf. The warp is Koigu wool yarn and the weft is my own handspun and Kool-Aid dyed yarn. Woven on my 10 inch Cricket Loom.

On a final note I thought I would tempt you with a picture of DH's Father's Day Cake. Yummy!

Those little chocolate shavings on the side are my favorite .

Enjoy life,

Phyllis

WWKIP Day And A Finished Scarf

2010-06-12T19:46:00.008-05:00

World Wide Knit In Public Day. The local event was held at the Barnes & Noble. It was nice to see everyone's knitting projects.

Finished weaving the red scarf on the Cricket Loom. The warp is Merino superwash wool and the weft is my handspun yarn.

Enjoy life,

Phyllis

Weaving - This Is Awesome!

2010-06-11T08:48:00.007-05:00

I am having so much fun with weaving! I hope to tempt as many people as possible in the next few weeks. It's fun and fast. For those of you who like instant gratification, the loom is the way to go. Actually it isn't quiet instant but close enough. I can weave a scarf in 2-3 days. The warping is no longer a fear for me. It isn't one of my favorite pastimes but I think of it as a necessary part of weaving. Without the warping I wouldn't be able to weave.

I'm giving it serious thought to expanding to the larger rigid heddle loom in order to weave shawls.

I still love the Cricket for scarves and smaller projects.

Below is an idea I have for a woven shawl. I want to use the light tan Galway yarn as the warp and the hanspun yarn as the weft. The handspun are various yarns that I spun over the past year. The grey is Polland from Hamish Black's Chocolate New Zealand Farm, The brown is CVM fiber purchased from Little Barn Inc. and the multi-color yarn was spun from a variety pack of fibers from Blue Goose Glen. To that I added some of my own natural color fibers. It's a variety of Alpaca, Llama, silk, mohair, and various sheep wools. It should be a fun weave and a fun shawl to wear.

The red is the current project on the loom. The warp is 100% merino yarn that I purchased from Yarn Expressions. The weft (the diagonal yarns) is fiber that I won in the 2009 Tour de Fleece. It's a superwash British wool from Wildcraft Fibers. I'm coming into the home stretch on this one.

The aqua and pink is one that I just finished. The warp is a combination of Morehouse Merino yarn and sock yarn that I found in my stash. The weft is my handspun yarn from a fiber that was gifted to me by my knitting friend Bethany. This fiber is from River's Edge Weaving Studio in the colorway Beachcomber.

Last but certainly not least is a scarf that is near and dear to my heart. The warp is Blue Sky Baby Alpaca yarn purchased at SAFF last year and the weft is a gift of 100% Cashmere yarn purchased from Carodan Farm and gifted to me by my DH. It's been marinating in my stash waiting for just the right project. I'm very happy with the way it turned out. It's oh sooo soft and I love the Grey color.

Happy weaving,

Phyllis

Life - Weaving

2010-06-02T18:58:00.004-05:00

I could get used to this weaving thing. It's so much faster and easier than knitting. I wove this scarf in 2 1/2 days. Plus, I destashed some of my yarns in the process.
No new yarns were purchased for this project:) I like that.

The warp is a combination of Koigu and Jaeger Matchmaker yarns that I have had in my stash for several years. The weft is some yarn that I handspun a few months ago from Yarn Expressions HooBody Fibers.

Enjoy life,

Phyllis

Life - A Little Weaving, Destashing, Spinning and Knitting

2010-05-26T11:24:00.007-05:00

My little Schacht Cricket weaving loom arrived yesterday. Happy dance. It was fairly easy to assemble. It's so small compared to most looms. I'm looking forward to weaving scarves and other smaller items. I just have to decide on my first project and start warping the loom. Not one of my favorite things about weaving. I have been watching some youtube videos on warping a Cricket and they have offered up some really interesting tips for making it less a chore.

I have continued in my efforts to destash, re-organize, downsize and "get rid of". I'm starting to see some progress. I have been working on the "Wool Room" the last two days. I have come across things that I had totally forgotten about. I unwrapped and hung my handspun yarns on the doorway.

Reorganized my spindle corner.

I still have this section to work on. It's still a bit cluttered.

This is some yarn that I spun from some leftover Cotswold and silk noil nubs. Normally I don't care for the silk numbs but they do give the yarn a bit of texture.

I have decided on my fibers for the Tour de Fleece 2010. The Tour de Fleece is my favorite spinning event. I love spinning and watching the Tour de France. I have signed up on Ravelry to spin with two groups this year. Team UFO and Team Superfleece.

The blue is A Case of Blue from Spirit Trail Fiberworks. 100% BFL , Superwash.

This will be spun for the Team Superfleece. Spirit Trail Fiberworks and The Knitters Book of Wool have teamed up to form Team Superfleece.

The Oatmeal Blue Faced Leicester is from Blue Goose Glen. This I will spin for Team UFO. I've had this fiber a while and I just want to spin it. It's soooo soft.

Now for some knitting. SHOCK! I'm knitting my version of the Dr. Who Scarf. It's all garter stitch with a slipped stitch edge. The yarn changes colors which I love. The yarn is Mini Mochi from

Yarn Expression. It's a blend of 80% Merino and 20% Nylon. It's really soft and very colorful.

The colors are what attracked me to this yarn. If I have enough left over from the scarf I would like to knit socks or a hat.

That's it for now.

Happy spinning, knitting and weaving. Oh yes, and organizing.

Phyllis

Spinning - Wash Day

2010-05-22T13:55:00.005-05:00

It's a nice day today so I thought I would wash some of my raw fiber. I have been putting off the chore for several weeks and now it's time to do some work.

I purchased the Suri Alpaca from an Etsy shop, the H. Alpaca I purchased at the Kentucky Sheep and Fiber Festival and the Mohair and the Gotland wool I bought on line several months ago.

The alpaca fibers aren't too bad. They do have a good bit of vm and some animal doo-doo:)). The Mohair and Gotland are a whole different story. The Mohair is covered in a greasy film known as Yoke. EEEEWWWWW. I think that it is far greasier than sheep lanolin. After three washings in extremely hot water it still needs another wash. A Facebook/Fiber friend suggested using ammonia with the hot water and soap. That's exactly what I did on the 4th washing.

Time to dry.

Happy spinning,

Phyllis

Spinning - Summer Closing

2010-05-16T17:13:00.002-05:00

I am closing my Etsy shop for the summer months and would like to reduce my inventory before closing.
All Luscious Ditty Batts and Ditty Luxe Batts have been reduced to $20.00 each plus shipping.
No further reductions will be made.
Thanks,
Phyllis

2010-05-08T19:51:00.000-05:00

Happy Mother's Day to all the Mothers in the world.

Life - Hearts, Art and Soul

2010-05-06T11:22:00.007-05:00

The other day a package arrived in the mail from England. I hurriedly opened the envelope and out popped this beautiful heart. What a delightful surprise. My blog buddy Carolyn from

Love Stitching Red sent this lovely heart to me. Thank you, Carolyn. My camera just doesn't do justice to this heart. It is covered in laces, beads, threads and a sea shell. Carolyn lives in Cornwall and her blog is full of beautiful photographs of the Cornish landscape and her gorgeous art work. Her art work has such beautiful color and texture. She is also the author of these blogs. Carolyn Saxby Mixed

Media Textile Art, and Textile Art Links. Be prepared to be dazzled when you visit her blogs.

While we are on the subject of art I have included a link to a web site that I recently joined.

Total Art and Soul. Another feast for the eyes. This web site welcomes artists of various mediums. It encourages and showcases their work.

Enjoy life,

Phyllis

Life - A New Play Pretty, Update And A Little Quilt

2010-05-05T13:03:00.007-05:00

I started this Crazy Quilt over a year ago and set it aside after working on it for a few days.

I saw it the other day while going through my stash and decided that it is time to finish the quilt and put it to good use.

It was an easy top to piece I just lost interest in it last year. It's going to be my spinning lap quilt. I finished pin basting yesterday and will start quilting it the next few days. I'm hoping all the little stray spinning fibers will land on the quilt while on my lap as I spin.

My newest "Play Pretty". It's a Midi Bosworth Spindle, Mahogany whorl and birch shaft.

Just a little peek at the Gotland/Mohair Shawl. As you can see I am inching along. I hope I finish this by Winter. I am afraid that it's becoming a bit too warm to knit. I usually try to knit a row in the evening when I have cooled off a bit.

We have enjoyed several salads from the garden. Unfortunately, our lettuces are way ahead of the tomatoes. We have harvested most of the lettuces. I planted some lettuce seeds for a second crop. The seeds have sprouted and begun to grow. Hopefully by the time the second crop is ready to harvest we will have tomatoes with the salad.

Enjoy life,

Phyllis

Life - Hiking The Trail

2010-05-03T10:10:00.000-05:00

DH and I decided to go for a hike. He chose the Walls of Jericho Trail because it was only a short drive from where we live. The hike review stated that it is 6 miles, strenuous and full of nature. It took us about 2 1/2 hours hiking down into the trail and 3 hours hiking out. They weren't joking when that said strenuous. The trail was full of rocks and very narrow in some places.
It was so peaceful and quiet. No traffic noises. No sounds of civilization. Just birds chirping and a few woodpeckers.
Enjoy the pictures.

You know me and lichen. Gotta take a picture.

It was worth the trip just to see the beautiful butterflies.

Crossing the creek without the help of a bridge. It was okay as long as you didn't step on any wobbly rocks.

This bridge was so narrow that you had to turn sideways to cross.

I have no idea of the name of his plant. Just thought it looked really interesting.

More lichen.

Some of the most beautiful ferns were growing along the trail.

Enjoy life,

Phyllis

Blog Is Under Construction

2010-05-02T09:43:00.002-05:00

I think the Gremlins attacked my blog a few days ago and I am now trying to restore order to chaos. Things should be up and running again in a few days.

Life - Garden Update

2010-04-24T08:46:00.003-05:00

Harvested my first full head of Romaine Lettuce this morning. I wish the tomatoes would grow.
I have lots of tomato blooms but so far no tomatoes.
Hope my little garden survives the severe weather that they are predicting for today.

Enjoy life,

Phyllis

Life - More Signs Of Spring

2010-04-07T09:43:00.005-05:00

DH and I walked together this morning. Normally he rises early and walks around 6:00 a.m. I usually walk anywhere between 7:00 and 10:00 a.m.
He wanted me to see some of the flowers on a street that I don't usually walk. I have to say that he did an excellent job of scouting out flowers for me.

I'm particularly fond of this pink tulip. It's such a beautiful shade of pink. I'd love to have some yarn that color. Wouldn't it make a lovely shawl?

Can you see the dusting of pollen on the dark petals.

More pictures in the upcoming weeks. Don't want to overwhelm you with flowers.

Enjoy life,

Phyllis

Life, Spining And Knitting.

2010-04-06T10:58:00.005-05:00

Just a few signs of Spring.

I'm currently working on a knitted shawl from my handspun Gotland /Mohair blend yarn. It's a pattern from Ann Norling called Simple Lace, from the Six Lace Scarfs Leaflet Pattern #46. I like the simple part. I'm using lots of stitch markers to help me remember the stitch repeat. It's only a one row repeat so it's an easy lace pattern.

I thoroughly enjoyed spinning this yarn and hope it's just as much fun knitting.

I actually went to Quilters and Crafters yesterday. It was the first time in a very long time that I have attended. It was good to see everyone. Roberta gave us a peek at her current project. A Jigsaw Puzzle quilt. Isn't it lovely? Roberta pieced the quilt and Mirna quilted lovely meandering stitches on the quilt. Wish I had a close up of those stitches.

I love all the bright colors.

Enjoy life,

Phyllis

Easter

2010-04-04T11:13:00.003-05:00

The Third Day He Rose From The Dead;
He Ascended Into Heaven,
And Sitteth On The Right Hand Of God The Father Almighty.

Life - A Little Gardening

2010-03-27T16:32:00.003-05:00

Beautiful weather = Time To Garden.

I filled my Grow Bags from Gardener's Supply with a soil recipe that I mixed in the wheel barrow.

Planted lettuces, tomatoes, and peppers for the salads and Italian Flat Leaf Parsley,

Oregano, Basil, Thyme and Chives for the seasonings.

I can almost taste those salads now.

Enjoy life,

Phyllis

Spin - A Little Before And After

2010-03-20T10:40:00.004-05:00

Below are some before/after photos of my recent handspinning
The first picture is a photograph of some Polland fiber that I purchased from
Spun Out in Australia. If you don't mind the shipping rates it's a great shop. Spun Out stocks plenty of fiber and spindles for your spinning enjoyment.
The service and fiber are awesome. The Polland fiber came from the sheep of Hamish Black's Chocolate Wool NZ Farm. It's a soft blend of Polwarth and Gotland wools. This fiber is right up there with Merino as far as softness goes.

This is a photograph of Gotland Top and Mohair that I drum carded and handspun. The Gotland Top was purchased from Paradise Fibers and the Mohair from a vendor at SAFF. Very easy to spin and oh so soft. Yummy. I intend to one day knit a shawl.

As you can see from both photographs I still have fiber left to spin.
If you have never tried Gotland do give it a spin. I think you will be pleasantly surprised.
Happy spinning,
Phyllis♥

2010-03-17T11:08:00.000-05:00

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

Spin - Blog Giveaway Link

2010-03-14T09:57:00.003-05:00

Just a little FYI. I'm having a blog giveaway over on my other blog Spin Knit and Life Fibercrafts.

Knit - Yippee! I Won.

2010-03-10T13:55:00.003-06:00

I won a blog contest. The prize was a novel, The Knitting Circle by Ann Hood. Thank you, Tina.
I have recently discovered a great blog, Peacefully Knitting. Tina the author of the blog is also a fellow Etsian. Tiny is an amazing knitter of scarves and hats and other items and has created patterns for these lovely items that she sells on Etsy. Her cable work is gorgeous. Do stop by her blog, Peacefully Knitting, and her Etsy shop. I know you will enjoy your visit

Happy knitting,
Phyllis

Spin - Spinning, Dyeing and Knitting Optim

2010-02-24T11:10:00.011-06:00

From this.

To this

I decided that the Optim that I spun a few weeks ago was just too bright white. It needed some color.
After 14 packages of Ice Blue Raspberry Lemonade Kool-Aid, two blue Easter egg dye tablets and a small bottle of blue McCormick food coloring and simmering on the stove for a couple of hours we have dyed Optim. .

I Decided to knit a garter stitch scarf on large needles. I wanted the scarf to be light and airy.

Happy spinning, dyeing and knitting,

Phyllis

Spin - Handspun Revolution

2010-02-14T13:45:00.009-06:00

If you are a spinner you have probably heard of Pluckyfluff aka Lexi Boeger. Lexi is the author of the spinning books Intertwined and Handspun Revolution.

Lexi is hosting a spinning camp/workshop in Lillehammer, Norway in May.

During that time she will also present a museum exhibit, The Handspun Revolution, at the Gallery Zink in Lillehammer. Spinners from all over are invited to submit their handspun yarns for inclusion in this exhibit.

Here is a link for more information.

I have spindle spun and spindle plied my contribution. It's 100% Gotland Wool.

Double plied.

All you spinners out there get those yarns ready.

Happy spinning,

Phyllis ♥

Life - Everything

2010-02-13T09:51:00.009-06:00

I have some of the nicest blog buddies in the whole world. Jan from Jan's Musings sent me this cute project bag. I just love it. It has several outside pockets for my knitting tools and loads of room on the inside for my yarn and project. I love the sunflower fabric. Jan is a very accomplished quilter and seamstress. I wish I had half her talent. She also sent this fabric postcard. I had never seen one until I started visiting her blog. Apparently quilters exchange these lovely cards. I love the colorful threads on the card. Do stop by Jan's Blog. Be prepared for some gorgeous quilts. Thank you, Jan. ♥

Sweet little Chickadee. I saw this little cutie on my walk this morning.

Hubs brought this beauty home for Valentine's day. He sure knows the way to a girl's heart.

Hubbs isn't a big fan of plants, but has admitted that he enjoys looking at the blooms of the Orchid plant. That's good since I have taken a strong liking for these plants.

We have a new species of Ivy here in Alabama. It can devour a tree in no time at all.

Told you! ☺

Happy Valentine's Day

Phyllis ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

Life - My Latest Obsession

2010-02-11T11:00:00.003-06:00

Orchids. Beautiful.

I am in awe of these beautiful flowers. I have three of the phalenopsis variety. I have to learn to spell that word. Every time that I write it I have to look it up. My first orchid I bought around 2 years ago. The second I bought in August, 2009. The last one was purchased last week. All three were blooming when I bought them and the oldest of the three has bloomed one time since it was purchased. I have been searching Google images for different varieties and some of these flowers are breath taking. I joined the Orchid groups on Facebook and Ravelry. Hoping to pick up lots of helpful growing tips from these two groups . I also purchased the Orchids for Dummies book. Love those books.
I think the Dummies book will be of great help.

I didn't realize that some of these flowers are extremely expensive. I have come across some on the internet that are priced over $1,000.oo Don't think I'll buy any of these in the near future.

I know you have seen these pictures before but I think they are worth posting again.

Any hints and tips on growing orchids would be greatly appreciated.

My first Orchid.

This one is my favorite. I purchased it in Kentucky while I was staying at my Mom and Dad's home last year.

My latest acquisition. I couldn't resist the brilliant color.

Blue is my favorite color and I have heard that there are blue orchids. Would love to find one of those. I'll keep searching.

Enjoy life.

Phyllis

Life - Reflecting

2010-02-02T09:30:00.009-06:00

I'm speechless today. I thought I would post some of my pictures from the past.

Enjoy life,

Phyllis

Spin - Batt Folding

2010-01-28T10:42:00.010-06:00

I have been asked for the "how to" on folding batts into little round puffs. It's an easy technique but hard to explain without pictures. Ah Ha! Time for a blog post tutorial.

The fiber comes off the drum carder in a nice long strip like the above picture.

Fold the fiber in half lengthwise.

Grab the strip on both ends and give it a little twist or two.

Fold the two ends together. Give it another couple of twists.
Run your hand through the loop and grab the two ends.

Pull the two ends back through the loop gently.

Stop just short of pulling the ends all the way through.

Voila!

Now your little batts are ready for storage.

When you are ready to spin, gently unroll the batt, open up to full width and give it a gentle shake to re-fluff. Now you are ready to spin.

Thanks to Kristin for inspiring me to write this post and thanks to DH for the hand photography.

Happy spinning,

Phyllis

Spinning - Spindle Bags

2010-01-20T11:59:00.005-06:00

If you are in need of a spindle bag look no further. Zig Zag Stitches on Etsy is the place to go. Catherine makes a variety of padded spindle bags, kitting project bags and needle cases. All are made in gorgeous, colorful fabrics. I like the padding in the spindle bags as it offers extra protection for the spindles. As you can see in the photo there is plenty of room for fiber and spindle. I have even carried two spindles in one bag. Do visit Catherine's shop.

Happy spinning,

Phyllis

Spinning - Getting Organized

2010-01-14T10:50:00.001-06:00

The inside of my spinning and knitting tote is a mess. I love my tote bag. It has enough room to carry all that I need. It just doesn't have many inside pockets or compartments. I remembered seeing advertisements for purse organizers and thought that one of those would work for my tote. I found some on the internet that were made of quilted fabric that were quite lovely. I got to thinking that since I do have a tendency to be a little tight with the purse strings, I could probably make an organizer if I could just find a pattern.
Off to Google. I love Google. What would we do without Google. I found, or shall I say, Google found a free pattern that looked easy enough for my lack of sewing experience. I rummaged through my stash and found enough fabric for the outside and the lining. Whipped up my first organizer in less than a day.
It was easy (it had to be for me to sew).

The two pieces of fabric and the very stiff interfacing required for the organizer.

Voila! Enough pockets for my wrist distaff, note pad, mini niddy noddy, orifice hook, a snack, WPI Gauge, spinning wheel oil, Nostepinne, and a slot for my camera.

Once you load your organizer with your spinning and knitting accessories, roll it up and place it in your tote bag.

Can you see it down there?

Here is the link to the directions for the Purse Organizer .

My thanks to the The Giving Flower Blog for the wonderful and easy directions

Happy spinning,

Phyllis

Life

2010-01-01T09:15:00.002-06:00

Happy New Year!

2009-12-24T13:30:00.004-06:00

Luke 2:7-14 (King James Version)
7And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.
8And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
9And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.
10And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
11For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
12And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
13And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,
14Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

Knit - Toe Ups

2009-12-19T10:44:00.005-06:00

That's right. Knit. I'm working on my first pair of toe up socks. This is a method that I have wanted to try for a very long time. Just couldn't get my brain to wrap around the instructions. I couldn't decide on a cast on. Several nice folks over on Facebook offered up various toe up cast on suggestions. I decided to go with the provisional cast on. Fortunately, I do have a copy of Lucy Neatby DVD Sock Techniques. It has specific instructions for the provisional cast on. I'm one of those folks that has to see it in action. Reading about it won't quite get the job done. The yarn that I'm using is one of the very first yarns that I ever bought. Yes, it's that old. It's a blend of wool and cotton that I purchased from Patternworks. I used to love to look through their old knitting catalogs.
Anyway, as you can see I am almost finished with the toes. I think I can handle the foot. Do wish me luck with the gusset and heel.

Happy knitting,

One more thing. Merry Christmas to all of my very dear blog buddies. Stay safe and warm and as Tiny Tim would say " God Bless Us Everyone".

Phyllis

Spin - Optim

2009-12-16T11:05:00.012-06:00

My latest spinning adventure has been with Optim. What's that, you say? It's Merino that has been stretched to the max. Knitter's Review has a good description and review of the yarn Optimum. Optimum is Southwest's version of optim yarn.

It's super soft, almost cashmere like in texture. I found it to be a difficult spinning fiber. It was difficult to pre-draft, draft and spin a consistent yarn. Even so I am determined to spin the entire batch. The easiest way for me to draft this fiber was to pull apart a strip and draft it width wise first, then length wise When setting the twist in the first batch it wanted to float on top of the water. I finally managed to spin, ply, set the twist on my first bag of Optim. After the yarn had dried, I noticed that the strands wanted to stick together. Strange.

I'm wondering if it will be this difficult to knit. It's definitely next to skin softness. Because of it's snow white brightness I do think that I would like to dye this yarn.

Happy spinning,

Phyllis

Life - Time To Curl Up With A Good Book

2009-12-12T14:26:00.006-06:00

I recently watched the movie Julie & Julia and just loved it. If you are interested in cooking or the life of Julia Child I think you will enjoy the movie . Meryl Streep gave an excellent performance as Julia. She even talked like her. Is that surprising? I liked the movie so much that I am now reading My Life In France by Julia Child. It's a memoir about her life and love affair with food and France. I can already tell that I am going to like it.

The movie is about the blogger Julie Powell who decides to cook every recipe in the book, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, and to blog about the meals. That was quiet an accomplishment to have cooked all those meals. I would be very happy to be able to cook just one meal from the book. I borrowed Mastering the Art of French Cooking from the library. I hope I can find an easy recipe to try.

bon appetit

Phyllis

2009-12-12T10:21:00.004-06:00

Yippee! It's snowing on my blog. Thank you Carolyn.

Life - Spinning and Facebook

2009-12-08T10:33:00.007-06:00

I think it's safe to say that I have been spending way too much time on Facebook and Twitter. Being a person who doesn't enjoy talking on the phone much I find that Facebook is a great way to keep in touch and up to date with my friends and relatives. Soooooo, if you are looking for me and can't find me I'll be on Facebook.

Hubbs is still recovering from the surgery. I'll have to say that in all the surgeries that he has been through ( shoulder, back, shoulder) this is the worst as far as recovery goes. He has been in a great deal of pain and breathing through one's mouth for a week is definitely not a picnic. He returns to the doctor on Thursday to have the surgical parts removed from his nose and hopefully he will be able to breathe through his nose again. Hope that wasn't too much information.

I have been spinning and carding this week. They are great de-stressors. You all know what a stressful time of year this can be.

Here is the yarn that I spun from Meg's Hoo-Body fibers . I still have one more bobbin to ply. I love this yarn. I'm very happy with the color and feel. It's South American Fine. Hop on over to Yarn Expressions before the sale ends. She has lots of yummy fiber and yarns.

I have been working on some new Luscious Ditty Batts for Etsy. I have been experimenting with blending more than one color and trying to prevent an over blending. My previous batts have mostly been a blend of white and a single dyed fiber.

I have blended reds with blacks, blues with blacks and blues with greens.

The results have been deeper, bolder colored batts.

I'm pleased with the results.

This is the yarn that I spun from the Romney teal and Romney blue fiber that I purchased at SAFF this year. The Romney fiber was a delight to spin.

Well, Christmas is almost here. Are you ready? Most of my Christmas shopping has been online and it certainly beats fighting the crowds at the stores. I despise mall shopping no matter what time of year.

Happy spinning,

Phyllis

Life - Let It Snow

2009-12-05T08:17:00.003-06:00

Yippee Skippie! We have snow.
It will probably be melted and gone by noon.

Enjoy life,

Phyllis

Life - We're Home

2009-12-03T15:06:00.004-06:00

Hubbs is home from the hospital and the surgery went well.

Glad it's over with. Now for the recovery.

He had a repair on a deviated septum. Hopefully he will be breathing better in a couple of weeks.

Spin - Hung Out To Dry

2009-11-28T15:54:00.006-06:00

Aren't these leaves gorgeous. I saw them on my walk this morning. I'd love to have some yarn or fiber that color.

These are the yarns that I have been spinning on yesterday and today.
The white is Alpaca. The red is Apple it's a fiber that I won in the Tour de Fleece 2009 from Wildcraft Fiber. Thank you, Karen. It was a joy to spin.
The Blue on the far left is my own Luscious Ditty Batt - Cast Iron Blue. I like this so much that I have already ordered some more dyed Merino and Alpaca to blend another batch. The blue on the right is Ashland Bay - Merino - Denim colorway.

Happy spinning,

Phyllis

2009-11-26T07:33:00.002-06:00

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone.
Phyllis

Spinning - Meet Elizabeth

2009-11-25T13:00:00.007-06:00

Say hello to Elizabeth. DH presented me with this lovely lady in celebration of our 34th wedding anniversary and my birthday. She is a lovely spinner and I'm looking forward to learning how to spin on a double drive wheel . My other wheels have all been Scotch tension so this will be a new learning experience for me. I had the opportunity to spin on one of these at SAFF this year and just loved the way she treadled and spun. I'm looking forward to many years of spinning on Elizabeth.

The Quilt

2009-11-24T14:53:00.001-06:00

I almost forgot to show you DH's basketball quilt. I finished it a couple of weeks ago. He has it in time for basketball season. It's just like DS's only different school logos. I used wool batting for his and cotton batting for DS's. He seems to really like it.

Spin - Check One Off The List

2009-11-18T15:02:00.006-06:00

A Forrester Drop Spindle. This little beauty has been on my "Spindle Must Have List" for a few years. Thanks to Annette, who alerted me to a spindle sale over at the Bellwether, I was able to remove this one from my list.
It's a Zebrano Wood whorl with a Beech Shaft. 37.4 g - 1.32 oz.

I see why so many spindlers covet the Forrester spindles they are very NICE.

I only have one left on the list and that's the Tabachek. When I first started spinning there were only a few spindle makers out there. Fortunately with the increase in popularity of spinning I'm seeing more and more folks turning to the lathe and branching out to spindle making. You'll find spindles made from clay, stone,plastic, CDs and good old wood. I prefer the wooden spindles. There is just something about twirling that little wooden gadget between your fingers with a puff of wool. The stresses of the day just fade away with each twirl.

Spindle with Jacob sheep wool

Spin - Got Sheep

2009-11-14T10:29:00.000-06:00

I stumbled across these sheepy links on the Ravelry "It's Only Natural" group and just loved them. This is a group for those of us who are fond of the natural undyed fibers.

If you have a fondness for the fibery sheep I think you will find them interesting .

Wool Information

Sheep 101

British Wool Marketing Board

Mother Earth News

and one of my favorites - Oklahoma State Breeds of Livestock

Happy spinning,

Phyllis

Veterans Day

2009-11-11T07:27:00.003-06:00

A special thank you to all the veterans and their families today.

Life - Apple Valley

2009-11-08T06:43:00.008-06:00

On our recent trip to North Carolina we drove through the small community of Apple Valley. Well, they weren't joking when they named it Apple Valley. This place has to be the apple capital of the world. I have never seen so many apple orchards in all of my life. There were numerous apple markets. Several of the apple trees were still loaded with apples even though it was apple harvest time.
We love apples in this family so we couldn't resist buying a bushel. We were allowed to mix and match our bushel so we chose a good variety of Red Delicious, Gala, Fuji and Cameo. These fresh apples are a great improvement over the hard, waxy apples that you find in the grocery stores. This one market had huge bins full of apples.Yummy! I hope the old saying "An apple a day keeps the doctor away" is true.

Just a little reminder, the fibery blog giveaway on my other blog ends on Wednesday. Over seventy comments have been posted. I have had such fun reading the fiber preference comments. I believe the Blue Faced Leicester is in the lead.

Enjoy life,

Phyllis

Spinning - Blog Giveaway

2009-11-04T10:02:00.004-06:00

Hello all you spinners out there. I'm having a spinning blog giveaway on my
Spin Knit and Life Fibercrafts blog. I'm giving away a bag of Little Ditties. Little Ditties are small samplings of my drum carded Luscious Ditty Batts. Hop on over there for more information.
Happy spinning,
Phyllis

Life - Visiting North Carolina

2009-11-03T10:56:00.010-06:00

I wanted you to see the beautiful North Carolina scenery. I photographed these pictures in and around Asheville, Lake Lure and Chimney Rock, North Carolina during the week of October 25, 2009.

That is a picture of a deer in the early morning hours. Sorry for the dark picture.

Enjoy life.

Phyllis

Quilters and Crafters

2009-11-03T08:00:00.004-06:00

Just a quick note about my activities yesterday. I had a chance to stop by the Quilters and Crafters group that meets at our Church on Monday afternoons. Because of our frequent trips to Kentucky this year I have been unable to attend the group as often as I would have liked.
It was nice to see everyone again. I missed the group's quilt show this year but understand that it was a great success. A couple of the ladies in the group have started on their Christmas projects. Bertha is working on a table top. I love the fabric with the written holiday greetings.

Bertha said that this is a project that will help her practice her skill in making points. I understand that points are a bit difficult.

Alice is working on a lovely Christmas quilt. I love the reds in this quilt top.

Nice work, ladies.

Nice to see everyone again.

Happy quilting,

Phyllis

Life - SAFF 2009 Fiber Animals

2009-11-02T15:53:00.012-06:00

As much as I love the yarns and fiber and spinning gadgets at SAFF I believe that seeing the fiber animals probably was at the top of the "favorites list".

Growing up on a farm in Kentucky I was around many farm animals and learned to love them. Now that I live in Alabama I rarely see farm animals so this was a real treat for me.

Next blog post will be about the lovely North Carolina scenery.

Those two are one of my favorite sheep breeds. The Blue Faced Leicester Sheep.

That poor fellow had three years worth of sheep hair to be sheared.

The Angora goats supply us with mohair fiber.

Jacob Sheep.

The Llamas

Isn't he beautiful?

I tried my best to lure this fellow out of his stall so that I could take a better picture. He was camera shy. I have never seen a spotted llama.

Angora Rabbits. It was really hard to take a good picture of the bunnies through their cages.

Hope you enjoyed the animal pictures.

Phyllis

Life - SAFF 2009

2009-11-01T10:46:00.016-06:00

We returned from North Carolina last night exhausted but happy. It was a great trip. DH's brother and significant other joined us on Wednesday and spent the rest of the week with us.

I attended SAFF and had a wonderful time. Attending SAFF is something that I have wanted to do for several years.

When we walked into the SAFF arena I was totally overwhelmed by all of the yarns and fibers.

It was amazing. If you ever get the chance to visit a future SAFF do so. I don't think you will regret the visit.

Today's post will cover the vendors. My next post will cover the SAFF Fiber Animals.

Enjoy the pictures.

Those Old World Santa beards are sheep and mohair.

Vreseis Organic Cotton.

A few handwoven items. Most of the weaving yarns that they were using were Brown Sheep.

Sit and spin.

I fell in love with this wheel. It's the Ashford Elizabeth 2. She was beautiful and spun like a dream.

Gita Maria Enamel Buttons and shawl pins. Lovely.

The wool drying basket class. While in Asheville I visited Earth Guild and purchased the legs for this basket. I hope to some day dig out my basket reed stash and tools and weave a wool drying basket.

The fiber police forced me to purchase this fiber before leaving SAFF.

Happy spinning,

Phyllis

Life - Yippee! I'm Headed To SAFF and A New Blog

2009-10-21T14:34:00.006-05:00

I am headed to SAFF (Southeastern Animal Fiber Festival). I am so looking forward to this trip.

DH and I enjoyed our last visit to Asheville so much that we have wanted to return. I have wanted to go to SAFF for several years. So, we decided to combine a vacation and a SAFF trip.

I am so anxious to see all those fibery animals and all that yummy fiber and yarn. I hope to bring back some wonderful new blending fibers for the Ditty Batts.We are both looking forward to some cool crisp air and nice woodsy hikes.

I hope to take lots of SAFF pictures and nature pictures for the blog.

Now, about the new blog. Most of you are aware that I have an online fiber shop on Etsy. Don't get me wrong, I think Etsy is wonderful, but you have to do your own advertising if you want sales. I have always felt a bit uncomfortable about "pushing" my fibers/Luscious Ditty Batts and hanspun yarns on the blog. I'm sure that some of my readers/followers aren't interested in spinning fibers and yarns. So as not to bore my non spinning and knitting friends I decided to create a blog that would only feature my fibery items that would be appearing in my Etsy shop. I will blog about shop updates and sales. I'm also planning on linking to other fellow etysians on the blog. The name of the new blog is Spin Knit and Life Fibercrafts. I you are interested here is a link . As always, I would love to read you comments and suggestions on the new blog. I do plan to continue with this blog.