Happy New Years!

2008 is coming to a close, and in a few minutes, 2009 will begin.
May you all have a blessed and wonderful New Years!

As the New Year begins, we think of what we want to do, and have accomplished since the last. My knitting accomplishments are getting longer every year. But somehow I always have more projects I want to knit still lined up. Go figure.

Tomorrow I will spend several hours at Delightful Ewe during the annual New Years Sale. I hope to see alot of my friends there, and find yarn for several projects too!
And don't forget, if you can't make it there, to watch the Rose Bowl!

Go Penn State!

Merry Christmas!

Just a quick post to say:

Merry Christmas to you and yours!

Schwab Estate

A few months back I had the pleasure of visiting the gardens at the Schwab Estate in Loretto , Pennsylvania. At the time I took a mass of pictures intending to blog about it later that week. Well that certainly never happened, so today I decided to show you some of the pictures I took:
As you walk up towards the gated entrance:

You notice its a walled garden, when I visit I feel very much like visiting " The Secret Garden". I feel this way even more so when I read this sign:
The view inside is breathtaking to say the least. I have visited this garden alot, having found it when I was in college a few miles away. Some friends and I would make the trip there almost every week, sitting on the stone benches I would study, and work, and enjoy the surroundings. The statues are some that really makes you feel you were visiting in a different age:


The Fountain above is an original to the garden, the Estate is now owned by the Franciscan Monks, but the folklore is that Charles Schwab, the steel magnet, had some very risque' statues in the garden. He built alot in the area, including the Cloistered Nunnery a few miles up the road, said to have been built for his sister who was a member of the sect. Rumor has it that while his sister was praying for his salvation, he was having wild parties at the estate.

What ever the truth, some of the statues have been replaced by the Monks, such as this one:
Most of the area is pretty much the way it was when built, as you walk the gardens, you can gaze up at the Mansion sitting at the top of the waterfalls:
A trip to the top of the stairs allows you to view the mansion better:
I love to visit there at least once a year, if not in each season to watch the changes in the garden. Even in the dead of winter the beauty of the stonework and evergreens is present.

Makes one wish that era lived on still.

Monday errands

Every Monday morning I start the week the same way, by taking a nice drive into Sinking Valley to a wonderful Amish farm to get milk. Depending on the time of year and what I need in the house, I will also stop at the produce stands (spring - end of Oct) or the dry goods store.
Its my time to think, and enjoy the slower pace of the valley.

I love the valley. I even have a farm picked out that someday I would like to live at. Its so quaint that part of my time is spent on the drive thinking of how I would decorate the house inside. Now, mind you, I have never been in that house. But,that doesn't stop me at all.

I can picture one of the 2nd floor rooms overlooking the meadow, with looms and a wheel. One of the side windows in the downstairs living room, I would have a bobbin lace pillow set up on a frame beside a wing back chair. It would be one that received alot of morning sun for good lighting in the morning.

(Yes, you have caught me, I have mentioned another craft. One I am itching to learn, but trying to be patient, and get things done that I have already started. So technically I haven't started any, so I am not actually adding another craft to my arsenal. YET)

If you have never seen Bobbin Lace being made here is a picture of some being worked at MD Sheep & Wool this past spring:
My daydream of the farm with sheep in the pasture, is one I visit every Monday, as I have for the past several years.

This week as I drove past the pastures with the sheep, horses and cows grazing, I enjoyed the colorful falling leaves drifting in front of the van as I drove. The fields have all been harvested for the most part. I shall have to work at remembering to grab the camera and get pictures of the corn stalks stacked up in the fields. It almost feels like I have stepped back into time on this drive. As I get closer to the house, I see the faint thread of smoke from the chimney and can smell the wood fire. Clothes, freshly washed, are already hanging on the line behind the house.

I finally pull into the drive, and park beside a buggy, and am greeted by the smiling faces of the children peaking out the window and waving. The smell of bread baking drifts from the house as I approach the door. The children are used to me coming to visit and chat with their mother, before retrieving my milk and heading back to the fast paced world we all live in. I think they are as curious of me as I am of them sometimes.

Occasionally there is a sheep near the driveway, that runs back and forth as I drive up. The chickens are out scratching and looking for bugs.

Life is simple there, all the problems of bills, appointments, work seem to disappear when I am in the valley. I could spend all day there.

Of course Chey is wondering why I came home, she is, after all, comfortable!

It was 2 mos till Christmas, and all through the House;

Its 2 Mos till Christmas!
I am coming up from my pile of yarn to report what I have gotten done so far.
I have been knitting a bit lately, trying to get caught up with everything. So far I have finished a few items that were custom ordered:
1 pair of blue mitts:
2nd, a pair of black, grey and brown mitts:
3rd item: Brown shetland handspun socks. Pattern from the book "Handknit Holidays", with some modifications:
I am now in love with this pattern. Its fast, and I really enjoy the rhythm of the knitting. I am starting a pair of handspun one for myself. I will have to get pictures tomorrow when the light is better.
I can't believe its almost the end of October, I am still wondering where the month went. I know I keep saying that every post, but this year is really flying by. Last Saturday I attended my nephew and niece's birthday party, where we pulled names for the Christmas exchange. I went about my whole week in a nice delusion of having lots of time till Christmas, so no big deal. I have projects planned for the person I got. Lots of time - right?
Then Saturday I was at Delightful Ewe, admiring the beautiful designs of Lisa Carnahan of Lisa Knits, and chatting with her and the other customers. When it dawned on me.

Christmas is exactly 2 mos away!

Panic has ensued. I am trying hard not to fall victim to what the Harlot terms as "IT". For those not in the habit of reading her blog or books, "It" is the delusion I will get all the items I want done for gifts done by December 25th. Note the word DELUSION.
Enough said.

So, in the delusional state I am currently residing, I decided to make a list and then to do what any sane person would do. Devote a certain amount of time to each project every day.

That will work, yep, it really should.

Can someone let the family know I will be in seclusion for the next 2 mos? Please?

Bedford Fall Foliage 2008

That time of year has come and gone again, and I was once again at Bedford Fall Foliage spinning on a wheel. This year we had a change of location as the Church from whom we rented the hall for the last 27 yrs decided they wanted to do something new this year. So after much looking, and debate we rented the Old Bedford Jail across the street from the school building we had been in.
Its a interesting building, having been built in 1800's and is still in pretty fair condition after being used by county for several years.
The windows are original, but some of the walls need fixed, as there are cracks showing. I had a strange type of a booth, one that stretched across a doorway.

Now all of the yarn on that table above is hand spun and/or dyed by me. The exception is the small amount of yarn in the wire basket on the table by the yellow rose doily. The doilies were made by Carla's mom Peaches.
I spent most of the weekend in that spinning chair working on the Majacraft Rose wheel. Much as I enjoy demonstrating, it was a cramped space to work in this year.
One could also tell that the stock market was in trouble and people are worried. While we had alot of lookers, not alot of the people were purchasing items it seemed.
I managed to do only fair this year, and am a bit disappointed at the lack of sales I made. However this is a boost to most here in on the Internet as all of the items here will soon be listed in my Etsy shop.
I am going to prolong the fun and only add a few items each day, so keep checking back to see what will be added next.

Congrats Sarah & Andrew!

Today I had the honor of watching a young lady I have known for years, my "adopted daughter" Sarah:

Become a married woman:
She married a wonderful gentleman, Andrew.
May they have a long and wonderful life together!

What have I been working on?

This past month has had me working in the kitchen a bit, making grape jam. I figured I would share some pictures of the fun with you. I started with a bowl of concord grapes:

I removed 1/2 of the skins of the grapes, but set them aside:
I then simmered the rest of the grapes in a pan. Finally after removing the juice and adding the saved skins, I left it cook until it jelled:
While all that was happening, I also worked up some salsa for the winter storage too. You start with some fresh tomatoes:
Wash, peel, dice, and add the spices , and cook until it is nice and thick like this:
Then using a ladle, pour it into the hot sterilized jars :Finally after a days work you have this:
That is just a small shot of all the canning that has been done. I also did the green beans, and several other items.
Now its the week between Bedford Fall Foliage Festival, and I have been knitting like mad on some moebius cowls to have for sale this week:


There are 5 in that photo. If they don't sell you will see them soon on my Etsy shop. I go tonight to get the items I placed in Hollidaysburg Farm Show. I haven't been back to see if I got any ribbons, but I was more interested in showing that knitting is alive and well. Speaking of Knitting, don't forget to stop by Delightful Ewe and check out the new class list for fall!

Its amazing how fast time flies if you are busy. Soon it will be time to start baking biscotti for the Holidays!
I will try to update again next week, or sooner if I get the chance to!

Its been almost a month.

Can you believe it has been almost a Month since I last posted on here? To help take your mind off the long delay, I give you a array of pictures of things that have been keeping me from blogging.Brown Shetland in a fingering weight. Beautiful. I can not say enough about how I am in love with spinning Shetland wool. It comes in such beautiful natural colors too:
Black Shetland spun to a lace weight, have I mentioned it wants to be a shawl?
And of course, White Shetland Lace weight. I also have a dark brown, light grey, and dark grey. It is to go to Fall Foliage next weekend with me in the booth for sale. The Juried show of Craftspersons is being held in the Old Bedford Jail this year. If it doesn't sell, you will be able to find it in my Esty shop for a bit. Although it may get snagged to become some wonderful natural colored Latvian mittens.

I have also been busy with getting a new line of Tadpoles for Ewe yarns done, and the Woodlands Collection was introduced at Knitters Day Out, last weekend.
The top yarn is Mountain Majesty, and Woodland Flowers is below it.
Autumn Skies, which is sold out at this point, but will be restocked soon.
Harvest a wonderful fall colored yarn,
and Forrest. These are all sock yarns and have 400 yrds. They are available at Delightful Ewe and they do mail order!

I have more to show, but I will save that and will post again soon.

Why its Pink - of Course!

The past week has been somewhat of a blur, as I had a small bump in the road with a minor surgery. Thankfully I am healing now and I did manage to get some things done. Dh took the time off to stay home and keep me from getting up on a chair and hanging wall paper border. It really worked out as he had vacation this week.
So I took the time to knit. Now understand, it took me ALL DAY to get 13 row of 50 stitches in ribbing done after the surgery, but I was determined.
I finished DH's Sweater today and it is on its way to be entered in the Cambria County Fair this that is running this coming week.
Rochelle was after a tween style room, so after the past few weeks, we had a bit of fun and finished her room.
Its Pink, with some blue as you can see:
We think it turned out great, she got surprised with it.
Now to keep on knitting, I have a wallaby on the needles now thanks to my dear friend Nancy who is a horrible Enabler. Its also for Rochelle and is also matching her room. In what color? Pink of course!

What do you mean its August already?????

Okay, so somehow I missed the entire end of last month. Put it down to being busy around here. I did get some things done:

First I give you the Undulating Waves Scarf in Schaefer Heather:
This was a fun scarf to knit, and the pattern is addictive. But I did manage to finish the first one in a week. I love how the beads lay in the yarn overs.
Being smitten then with beads I quickly cast on another beaded project:
This is the beaded shawlette, and although this picture does not show the beads very well, they are there. Thanks to my dear friend Carla, who took this item and the Dainty baby sweater to Bedford County Fair - I actually have gotten my first ever ribbons! I got a 2nd for the shawl, and took a 1st for the baby sweater!
I have to admit, I am now smitten with the fair bug, so have plans to enter the Cambria County Fair and the Hollidaysburg Farm Show also this year.
On the needles: I have Roy's sweater. I did get the back done, and I am doing pretty well on the front so far. I finished a pair of socks, and have another on the needles. Sad to say I just haven't kept up with the summer of socks like I planned. Hope to do better next year.
I have been doing some spinning, and will be getting pictures and putting up new stuff in my Etsy shop this week.
With all the rush of the past weeks, I am actually looking forward to school starting and things to slow down. Roy and I went to the Toy's for Tots Poker Run, to help, and the guys managed to raise 5k on that! Way to go!!
So hopefully I will keep updated here more. Thank goodness Fall is coming- oh wait- does that mean Christmas is not that far??
UGGGHHHH.

Hot weather and weddings

Last weekend was a hot one, and this one is no better. We did get to go to a beautiful wedding. The bride arrived being pulled by this gorgeous guy:My sister made the cake for the wedding - look how great it turned out! It was a white cake with a layer of strawberry filling inbetween the layers. She says she is not that good a decorating - I beg to differ on that!
And Finally a picture of the bride - Darla, with her flower girl in arms, and her new husband Alfe'. The gal on the left is my baby sis - Jan.
I loved the wedding- it was great - just wish the dang heat would leave. Have I mentioned I rather like cool weather?

What happened to the time?

I have been busy lately, and haven't blogged for a while, but Marion was nice enough to remind me I should. I guess I have been so busy with summer things, I forgot to blog. Please forgive me lol.
Things are growing like crazy and I have been torn between knitting, spinning, cleaning, gardening, and canning. I have also been confused about the days. I tried to send Rochelle to camp on the 16th even though I knew it didn't start till the 23rd, but I still was confused enough to try.
But now I will try to get back on track. Opal has asked how the garden is doing, so I was good and took some pictures.
First I give you a picture of my garden today. Not doing too bad at moment. The broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and tomatoes are growing well at moment.

The beans have shot up and weeding is now very minimal.
Sweet cherries came in, so I canned up some Sweet Cherry and Almond jam, and even tried my hand at some Mulberry Jelly today.
I was trying to find a picture so you could see some diffrences in the back yard this week, I only could find one of the old garage in this one:


Now you see it above, and below, its gone!It actually came down in one day, although they are still working at getting the remains cleared out. It has made the alley easier to see for both myself (which is a good thing) and the dogs (which is a not so good thing) as now they can see others there too.

I have been working at the shop a bunch and have also been knitting up a scarf in the past week. I found the pattern easy to memorize and fast to knit, although I do admit to getting a bit tired of the color at some points. It took only a week to do , though, and was a fun time with the beads.Pattern: Heather Undulating Waves Scarf
Yarn : Schaefer Heather
Beads: size 6
Needle: Size 5
I really was sort of sad to see it finished, but I am also glad. I can now start another project to get done. This one is now at Delightful Ewe as a model. Don't forget to check the new class list!

Now to work on other projects, and as I am going to be celebrating my 7th yr anniversary soon, DH is off on vacation this week. Will keep you posted on what we get into, maybe a trip or two to a Amish sale, or some green houses.
Have a safe week.

Roses..... Love them!

June is the month for roses, and my yard is providing me with alot of them.
So I was out snapping some pictures of them before they all fade away.
The one above is one of my favorites, a simple pink rose.
This one however is like the old fashioned cabbage roses. I so love the scent of them, heady and wonderful.
How could one not love the bounty of June? Did I mention that strawberries came in this week too? It will be a good week.