I have started to spin with a drop spindle and decided to follow through and finish my second spinning project before 2012.

After spinning 6 ounces of corriedale roving, I found a hat pattern to knit with # 10 needles, since my yarn is bulky weight.

Add a local ceramic button and I’m done!

 I finished it in time for a New Year’s party! I’m ready to start my next spinning project using Blue-faced leichester roving in variegated colors.

The Menorah shares a table with Buddha

Porter decorates the tree. It requires a tall person because the tree is on a table. Its a sweet tree.

Nice Job Porter!

Handmade items already there!

My husband Porter has taken on painting our house. It was 10 times harder than he thought it would be, but he’s getting close to finishing it! I choice the color , which I really love!

These are pictures of both sides of the house

Thats Porter up there in alcove.

The color goes with everything from berries to pumpkins!

Time to try this dyeing method. I needed more orange & red wool batting for the store and decided to try to dye them myself.

The bad stuff about dyeing wool with kool-aid are:

1.The smell is too fake fruity and a bit nauseating. The whole house still smells like fake orange & cherry.

2.It’s hard to find a full range of colors. The two stores I went to only had lemonade, cherry, orange, and grape. I guess most people these days don’t want to drink lime, blueberry, or pineapple.

3. The lemonade doesn’t work to good as yellow and pineapple is not available.

The good things about dyeing with kool-aid:

1. It’s non-toxic and you can use regular cooking pans.

2. It makes a vivid acid dye for wool & silk.

3. You know when the dye has taken when the dye water turns fairly clear!         

Glow in the dark embroidery thread

Mrs Thom stopped by the store today with a need to craft! Of course she just had to make a “glow in the dark” spider web! So we finished out the day embroidering.

Glow baby glow!

Had to make the spider glow too! Oh I forgot our sing-a-long with Doc Watson’s “South-bound”

She teaches lessons in her home. Contact me on facebook and I’ll put you in touch with her if you are interested!

https://www.facebook.com/rose.sabeldodge

There is a lot more to knit in our mystery shawl this week! I dedicated Sunday to working on it and still have a ways to go! The next instillation is Sunday/Monday.

I had a happy surprise phone call from my dear friend Laura! She popped over and we visited and knitted on my front porch and time flew by! I enjoyed the batter of neighbors coming and going with the exception of one crazy traveler on foot, who walked by across the street screaming obscenities to two innocent neighbor children and anyone who told him to move on (me and my big mouth included)!

This week got more fun when my friend Pat and I decided to do our “homework” together! We hung out in her backyard and followed the instructions together. We both like how our colors are working out in this mysterious mystery shawl.

We chatted and visited with her chickens, who all appear to be on the same schedule of eating, sleeping, & playing.

Pat finished earlier than I due to my storytelling and her silent knitting!

Looking forward to week four!!!

I decided to pick shades of brown and just having seen the BBC production of”Tess” made me pick a peasant farm girl color feel, although I have no idea how Steven West will put it together. I splurged and bought MadelineTosh light superwash fingering weight yarn in three shades: Rosewood, Moccasin, & Trodden.

Next step is winding them up:

Winding the yarn on the umbrella swift

Making the balls

Ball Winder

Yay week two: Now to cast on and get started:

Homework completed for week two- still a mystery!

Knitting a cotton baby ball

Impromptu tea party with knitting neighbor Susan. We sat in my porch/outdoor living-room. We knitted drank tea and talked about knitting, children, and solved major world problems.