A post from the Past: December 22, 2008

I am transferring my blog post from Live Journal over here to Blogger. I will start with the newest first so that the last post I post will be the oldest one from LJ.  That way you can scroll down and read it in order. 2008 to 2009.

December 22, 2008

 Our trip to Idaho was fun and exciting. We got up very early Sunday Morning to make a 7:54am flight to Denver.  We had no trouble arriving on time all ready for the cold. 
I had my Noro striped scarf on and my serpentine mitts!
Peanut had her puffy coat and was wearing her snow boots.
Here we are in the airport in Ontario California.

Peanut didn't want her pic taken.

This was peanuts first plane trip. She just loved it so much.  We first flew to Denver Colorado. Peanut was studying the safety folder.


It was a fun flight. I was disappointed that we only got juice, no snack, not even a freaking donut. :(
So we arrive in Denver. We had a 4 hour layover. We did go have a nice lunch. Then we had the info that our flight might be cancelled to Idaho Falls. The earlier flight was cancelled and the flight to Boise was cancelled. There were some people who had been waiting 2 days to get to Idaho Falls.
We did get on the plane. We had sun in Denver with 7 degrees F.  You could see the ice on the runway. (see below) The people who had the canceled flight were on stand-by for our flight. I feel sorry for them that they were not given seats and they just had to wait for people not to show up for their flights. I think the airline should add another plane to the line-up and get those people on their way. After all they did buy tickets for that flight on that day.
(notice I made my hair reddish-brown?) I like it.
All in all it was a fun trip with Peanut.  We were lucky to arrive in Idaho Falls. The pilot told me that he would land in any conditions, that nothing bothers him.
I guess they are use to a little snow. 
It was dark by the time we arrived. We were about an hour late.
The parking lot was full of snow and the roads were all white. It was so pretty. Bambi and Dustin (my son and his wife) were there to greet us. It was so wonderful.  We got to Dustin's house and it was still snowing.  But cozy inside.

Peanut on the plane, happy to be landing in Idaho Falls.

A post from the Past: December 24, 2008

I am transferring my blog post from Live Journal over here to Blogger. I will start with the newest first so that the last post I post will be the oldest one from LJ.  That way you can scroll down and read it in order. 2008 to 2009. 

December 24, 2008

We are having a very good time up here in Idaho. It doesn't even feel as cold as I though it would. To me it doesn't feel any colder than when it gets cold at my house. Maybe it is the length of the winters here that starts to get to people.

For now I am loving this weather and snow. Everything is all white, and clean looking. Peanut is having so much fun. She totally gets tired out after playing in the snow for a while. The first day she went out about 3 times. Then she came in and took a nap.

Here we are outside having fun.











We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.
May the love of Jesus bring you the greatest joy, the sweetest peace, and the highest hope! 

A post from the Past: January 18, 2009

I am transferring my blog post from Live Journal over here to Blogger. I will start with the newest first so that the last post I post will be the oldest one from LJ.  That way you can scroll down and read it in order. 

January 18, 2009

JANUARY 19 is my daughter Sierra's angelversary.  I want to remember her with some photos.


Sierra Carol  January 28, 1983 to January 19, 2007     She was 23 years old when she died.

Sierra Christmas 2000, a few months after her daddy died (my hubby).
This was our first Christmas without Richard. Usually we would decorate the house from top to bottom. Here we are so sad that our tree hardly have any ornaments on. Usually it is full of handmade ornaments from years of children making them and myself making them or collecting them. But we didn't even get out any of the old things.


  Sierra & Alexis 2006.   She died a few months after this photo.


1983 Sierra and I when she was only 6 months old. She was so beautiful. 


Sierra & Carol in Madrid Spain 1998

I miss her greatly.  Peanut misses her more.  You are always in our memories Sierra and forever in my heart.
Your mom Carol 

{This Moment}

A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, visit SouleMama leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.




Disneyland trip for Peanut's 10th birthday.

1-11-11

I had to post today because it is 1-11-11.  Isn't that cool.  I am assuming everyone understands but it means Jan. first, 2011.  Some countries put the day first and month second. So in that case today is 11-1-11.  Still pretty cool.

The uncool thing is that this afternoon my Peanut was under the weather.


She had a headache so she took a nap. Then she woke up feeling better but she had a fever. I know that she probably picked up a bug at church on Saturday evening. Well I going to keep her home tomorrow.  Poor baby.
The cat just hunkered down to sleep with her. She is in bed now and he is on her bed. But when she wants to hold him he runs all over the house.  LOL


Now I am going to show you some of my journal painting. I am having fun with it.

Inside cover of my new book which has watercolor paper in it.



This is some of my colors but I made up that wood paintbox.  The brush is one of my favorite brushes made of squirrel in France.


Here is my favorite pencil and then some sugar skulls.  The pencil is real but the skulls are my imagination.  I love Day of the Dead stuff.


Here is a painting from my imagination which is easy to see that without me saying it.
The animals are looking towards the star so I call this painting, "Waiting for Jesus".
 I did this before Christmas.



This is a little sketch I did when I was waiting in a coffee shop. I was drinking some yummy hot apple cider.  I tried photographing it in different lighting.

How about a Pumpkin sitting on a Moleskein sketchbook?  Here she is.

There also is a little village on the left.  Just for fun.
I have gone back and painted the table. You can see faintly the lines I drew on the table. I guess I just forgot to take another photo.  I like it a lot with the table done.

One of my favorite Bible verses I wrote at the top. AND ALWAYS BE THANKFUL.

With different lighting.
It was hard to capture the orange of the pumpkin. I need more practice.

I will end with a pic of Coraline. When Peanut and Oli snuggled in the big chair, Coraline curled up on the couch. She looks like she is thinking something.  What's on your mind Coraline???

Knitting and Spinning update

In looking back at what I have been blogging about, there has been a lot of time passing without any fiber news.  I have been knitting and spinning a lot.  I have many projects on the needles too.
So lets begin with the spinning.

Here is some Merino from Crown Mountain Farms  that I spun up. It is 2 ply and DK weight yarn. This merino is from Australia. I gifted this skein to my sister of  Design Diva Susan . She is working on a project for it now.
Info from CMF:

Merino Top

Australia where the real merino boom started.

What a fine fiber - staple length of 3-4 inches with a micron count between 19-24.Not to forget the crossbreeds with merino - the finest fiber from sheep. A delight to every spinner and knitter.

Above is what the Merino sheep look like.

Below is my fiber from the Norwegian sheep.

Here is fiber also from Crown Mountain Farms. I love the dyeing that Haas does. He is an artist.  This is Norwegian fiber (wool) from the fiber club. The color is called Mandala
Here is the description from CMF website.

Norwegian Top

The old norwegian sheep - also called Villsau - was widespread all over Scandinavia, the Faeroes and Iceland.

A special sheep breed to the famous vikings who made their sails out of wool to conquer the world in their ships.

Staple length of up to 4 inches and a micron count of 32 makes this fiber very interesting to all hand spinners.

Or better said to all spinners in the northern hemisphere who have to deal with cold winters and snow -

we here in the Pacific Northwest of the USA have sometimes no idea what a real winter is and therefor do not

understand the real value of some fibers - we just want it soft and softer - like our brothers and sisters in the South.

Above is the Norwegian sheep. He is from Norway.
Below is the norwegian fiber spun up. I navajo plied it.

Spun to a heavy Worsted weight.   I wish I had spun it thinner because it was hard to find a pattern to show off this beautiful fiber.

Knit into mitts.  I was surprised how the colorway turned darker on me.  I tried to mix up the dark and light as I spun but I guess I need more practice.
Also in this photo is the beginning of my watercolor/sketchbook.  It is a Moleskeine.

With the left over yarn I knit this granny square. I love how the colors look like a watercolor painting.  I only had enough yarn to crochet this one square.

Here is some Welsh Top.  It is also from CMF.  LOOK at the moss growing in my yard. I didn't plant it.  I really love it.  I love this fiber. It's coarse but rustic looking.
Info from CMF:

Welsh Top

From the mountains and hills in Wales comes this small, hardy sheep.They can withstand extreme weather conditions like high rainfall and freezing winter conditions. Their fleece is course with a staple lengthof 3 inches and a micron count of 36.You will find the fiber mainly in carpets and rugs.Hand spinners may create nice outer garments with the Welsh Top.Good for felting projects as well. 

These are Welsh sheep.  I really am loving spinning this fiber.

This is Welsh Top. It spins like a dream.  It is a little scratchy. I might use it to knit a purse or some French Press slippers.  Or perhaps more granny squares. 

This is Corriedale Top.  I will spin this after I finish with the Welsh Top.
Don't you love it?  It is also from CMF.  The colorway is Chinon.
Info from CMF:

Corriedale Top

The legend has it that Innanas (Ishtar) husband Dumuzi was the God who took care of the livestock in ancient Sumer - thousand of years before there was even a mentioning of the bible. But be it as it may - from Mesopotamia (Irak) one of the finest sheep breeds conquered the rest of the world. The phoenicians brought the merino sheep to North Africa and the Arab Moors brought it into Spain - which gave Spain  an advantage for many centuries over their rivals in the midevil worlds.

Of course the royal houses were interconnected so at some point in time the merino sheep from Spain made its way to France (Rambouilett) and Germany (Saxony Merino) and then to the colonies like Australia where the real merino boom started.

What a fine fiber - staple length of 3-4 inches with a micron count between 19-24.

Not to forget the crossbreeds with merino - the finest fiber from sheep. A delight to every spinner and knitter.

Here we have a perfect fiber for the spinner and felter - even the dyer. A staple length of over 3 inches and a micron count of 28.

Somewhere in 1860's on the South Island of NZ a new breed was created by crossing Merino dams with an english lincoln longwool sire.

A fabulous result for future generations. In 1902 the name Corriedale was given as the development started on the Corriedale Estate of Otaga.

In 1916 the first Corriedale Society was founded in Laramie, WY - USA.

Since then this breed spread throughout the world and adapted mostly in the Southern Hemisphere. From there we get our great fiber quality today.

This is a Corriedale sheep from New Zealand. 

I'm still knitting.

This is a sock knit in Bugga yarn. I have turned the heel and I am decreasing the gusset.  I have one more sock to go before Christmas.

I knit these mitts for my son in Idaho.  I finished these in October for his birthday.

They are of 2 colors of Bugga yarn. They are my own pattern and very soft.

Still working on the Farrow scarf.  It is of Malabrigo merino/silk DK. I only knit on it when I am in the car. Slow going.  Kinda boring.

Still working on my Sprossling Sweater by Anne Hanson.  I am using Bugga yarn. I love the colorway and the feel of the sweater.  When I work on this sweater exclusely then I really make progress.  I just get so distracted by my metal crafting and stuff like Christmas.  Good stuff.

The Sprossling sweater has finished:

1. Back 100%

2. Left front 95%

3. Right front 0%

4. Two sleeves 0%

5. Button bands 0%

6. Seaming 0%

7. Washing and Blocking 0%

Why do I feel like I am almost done?  I guess because the back is the largest piece of knitting and I am almost down with the left front.

I am going to knit the sleeves at the same time so that my tension is equal on both.  My last sweater has a tight sleeve and a loose sleeve because I let my tension loosen on the 2nd sleeve.  By knitting 2 at a time I will have the same tension. If I get loose then I will be loose on both sleeves.

I will wind up 2 cakes of yarn and knit the sleeves on my #5 - 3.75 mm needles. I'm not sure if I will use the straights or the circulars.  Both will give me enough room for all the stitches.  I'll use whatever floats my boat at the time.  I am leaning towards the circulars.

So that is all in my fiber world.  I am itching to cast on for the blankie that Christine is knitting.  It looks so fun.  I have a lot of left over yarn too.

I think I need to catch up on my projects before I begin something like this.

So now I will go and I will leave you with some photos of my Roses in Winter from my yard here in So. Calif.

This is BELLE STORY, a David Austin rose.

Here is THE PRINCE, a David Austin rose.  The fragrance is so mmmm yummy

And here is PERFECT MOMENT, a hybrid tea rose.  She is the whore with red panties in my yard.  Very gaudy but she does grab your eye in the yard.

Happy knitting

hugs Carol