Spinning in the Sunshine of June

I love summer. It's definitely my favorite time of year. I have to consciously savor every moment of it, because it slips by so elusively if I am not paying attention. Summer affords me the time to spin with reckless abandon. I've been cranking out the yarn.

I received an amazing Phat Fiber box for June. The theme was Sci-Fi. I love the spindle shot.

I took an amazingly memorable trip to the Midwest for my godson's wedding. I had the time of my life. Check out the beautiful country. Dark black soil in contrast to my familiar sandy soil. So quiet. No traffic on these country roads. So different from my bustling Washington, DC suburb. Just beautiful.

I love this place. My grandpa's house, home of so many precious childhood memories.

I spied this in the dusty garage window. It's the sign that used to hang in front of Grandma and Grandpa's country store. As children, we had free run of the place and it's old fashioned candy counter, ice cream case and soda machine. We were allowed to take whatever we wanted. We took full advantage in the way only little kids can fully experience. I brought this sign home with me. It brings me joy every time I look at it.

Life is very simple there. I love it.

In other summer kick-off news, # 5 celebrated her first double digit birthday.

In the tradition of summer, I did it. Yes, I did. BUZZZZZZZZZZZ!!!! I am still surprised every time I catch a glimpse of these precious best friend brothers. It's shocking, really. Makes me smile; so funny looking:)

Happy Summer!

A Weekend to Remember

I kinda wish this past weekend would have never ended. I loved every minute of it. I spent Thursday and Friday at The Hotel Monaco with my husband extraordinaire. Such a great guy and a great gift giver! It's a charming and eclectic hotel just outside D.C. We had lunch here at The Charthouse overlooking the Potomac.

After lunch, we had a little artist's date at The Torpedo Factory . It was so inspiring to watch the artists in their studios. I'm intrigued by all of the different mediums. The gallery had an exhibit called Baa-merica which was right up my alley. All the sheep were crocheted using mixed media and modeled after pop icons. No photography was allowed. It was quirky and fun.

We strolled the streets of Old Town Alexandria in the way that parents of 7 without any of them present would do. It's a beautiful city, very similar to my native Annapolis.

Seriously old fashioned, this place.

Wouldn't you love to have drinks on this charming rooftop deck?

I had drinks on this one instead.

We took a water taxi on the Potomac over to the National Harbor.

That's the Woodrow Wilson Bridge joining Maryland to Virginia. You can see the Washington Monument and the Capitol building from this bridge.

Check out this sculpture in the sand. Do you see the little girl for scale? Very cool.

I returned home to all my little loves and found they had made this sweet birthday cake for me.

How cute is that? Foil knitting needles.....

Here's some happy faces with candy and the biggest gumball I have ever seen.

Someone lost another tooth!

Good thing it fell out before he rotted them with all of this candy!!!

I have been waiting for a big chunk of time to learn to weave. I've had a lot of starts and stops since getting my loom, so I am still amazed that I got this thing warped. I did it!

Tying onto the back beam

Direct Warping

Pulling warp through the slots

Tying warp threads onto the cloth beam

Woohooo!!!

Last, but not least

Winding the weft yarn onto the stick shuttle

I found the best tutorial for warping a rigid heddle loom by jenonthefarm on ebay.

Just for fun,and just in case this post is not quite long enough, here are a few yarns I finished this weekend and last.





What a great birthday week. My Irish twin would agree. "It's a wonderful life" indeed.

Sunday Comics

I keep a special journal for each of my 7 children. I write them love letters on birthdays and other special occasions. I took out #7's journal to write him a letter for his 4th birthday. I had written down his reaction to waking up and realizing it was his birthday last year:
"Happy Birthday!" I greeted him. Feeling grouchy, he replied, "Huh, I NOT having it! Humph, humph, humph." Funny little crankster!


one helluva gumball

Hot Pink and Orange

I'm smitten with hot pink and orange these days. The evidence:



It may have started with this luxurious gift of merino/silk from Dragonfly Fibers. I spun it as a fine lace 2 ply to crochet into a shawl of whatever design I fancied up in my head. I'm diggin' it so far. Every time I pick up a hook, I am so grateful to the crochet goddesses who taught me. You know who you are:) and I just love you!

The love affair with the pink and orange continues. I think my heart skipped a beat at the sight of some Corriedale that Kate had dyed in this color family.



I've been on a spindle kick and I literally wound off what was on my favey fave Greensleeves Black Ebony and grabbed a handful of the Corrie and spun. Just like that. No prep, nothing. It was the nicest spin ever. So smooth. I still cannot believe how it drafted. I never quite understood the mad love Kate had with this vendor, but now I do. I will be visiting this Corriedale vendor next year at MDSW for sure! I only had a handful of this amazing stuff, but knowing what I did not yet know about this fiber, Kate stuffed another handful in my hand as I was walking out the door. She's just amazing like that. And generous with the fiber love. Speaking of fiber love, here's a must have colorway.



Dragonfly Fibers Redbud Dragon Sock, which coincided with this Summer Mystery Shawlette. You know what happened next.

Babylove

Babylove is not a baby anymore. Today he turned 4. Why is the passage of time so hard for a mama to believe? Apparently, he couldn't believe it either, because he would exclaim to anyone who would listen,"I can't baweeve (believe) I'm four!"


I'm so appreciative of every little moment together. So much fun in our future, little buddy! Happy Birthday to you!


You are so loved!