S L O W K N I T T I N G !

I'm so pumped!  Slow knitting has come to Netflix!  Oh My!  What fun to

watch this program--Although it is in Norwegian, there are subtitles and from

the minute I clipped on the link and watched, I was hooked!

So much history in this slow knitting program--even a Harley Davidson

makes an appearance!

The patterns, the instructional videos, the fashion parade, the stitching--

ALL makes for exciting TV watching----

if you are a knitter.

But, wait--

there is also some spinning involved

and lots of 

knitting!

Go Watch--you'll be hooked too! 

Decisions By Committee!

There were five of us--only five, who met at the local coffee shop to just socialize.

But soon the conversation turned to study group business.

Since we were five of the members of this group, we could make some

'suggestions' about the upcoming year.

First, we had little show and tell from Karen I who pulled out this rag rug

section woven by a 7 yr old!  We were in awe that a 7 year old had this 

much know how to get some nice selvedges as well as lay the rags nicely

in the weft.

Gerry has a task at hand--she is preparing for an upcoming tapestry workshop

sponsored by the Guild.  The instructor sent out this photo that the participants

were to interpret in their tapestry

Gerry is using very fine wool/silk threads to create her sample

and do you see what she's using as her loom?  A snap together wooden photo

frame!  Inexpensive and easy to carry around--this is the way I began my 

weaving about 30+ years ago when I didn't have money.

Anyway, our 'committee' discussed what weave structure we would like

to study in the coming year.  It is also our guilds year to host the state conference in

2017--which means contributions to the goodie bag, luncheons and raffle basket.

We think, as committee, we have some good ideas!

Small committees DO did some things accomplished!

I've Really Got To Stop!

Okay, here I am--going through series of books that I would like to read......

Why?  Am I doing this to myself?  I already have several stacks around the house

just waiting for me to finish one book and begin another.

Here is the stack in the office!  Yes, some good reads here

so why am I investigating other good reads on Paperbackswap

and of course, Amazon.  There is a book club on Ravelry too!

Now, I'm reading two books at the same time--

Both of these books were recommended to me by an avid reader,

like myself.

Since it's Olympic time and we recently visited Germany,

This one is very timely and reads well.

Yes, I love mysteries!  so I'm hooked on good (!) books to read.

Maybe, one day I'll stop looking-----

NOT!

Social Security + Ice Cream = Brenham

How can you lump a visit to social security office and ice cream in one sentence?  We did it yesterday!  The blond headed daughter has recently obtained a divorce (yes, I know--a major event in anyone's life) and she has many chores to wade through as she picks up the pieces and begins a new life.  One of those chores is to change her name--hence, the visit to social security office.  We chose this office because it was in a smaller town and conveniently located.

And true to form in a smaller town, there wasn't as much traffic through the doors.  Whew!  That didn't take long.

Our next stop!  Well, we are in the town that creates ice cream--Blue Bell in fact!  our favorite.

BB had it problems earlier this year and just now coming back on line so there are no tours allowed yet BUT there is an ice cream parlor upstairs--YUM YUM!

Oh yeah, there is also a baseball museum of note!

Oh cool--ice cream!  We all scream for ice cream!

14 flavors ready to scoop--let's dig in!

We did it justice, that's for sure!!

Let's continue our happy day--to Independence for the Antique Rose Emporium

so many wonderful roses to view and smell plus lots of other wonderful

things to ooh and ahh over

The grounds are lovely!  A perfect day to stroll along the paths.

We finished our happy day with lunch in Hempstead, where blond head

daughter visited the drivers' license dept to do more name changes and

visit to Bluebonnet Herb Farm and their Classic Events Cafe--

delicious sandwiches, soups and salads.

Okay, we are making lemonade out of lemons!  Blond headed daughter

is making the best of the situation--life goes on!!

Well, I'll Be...............

It's Wednesday again!  Anything on your needles today?  Want to see what I'm working on?  I'm sure you are so anxious to see what my needles are doing............................. :-)

I'm hemming my woven towels.  They have been finished for several weeks and

the other day, when I had some free minutes, I cut the yardage into section

The blue plaid in the middle is my sewing basket (handwoven with indigo dyed yarn)

I did get three hemmed before I quit

It does present a problem when you have frayed edges--it would have

been smart (and I wasn't!) to run them through the sewing machine

and then cut.  Sewing two lines and cut in between is the smart

way to cut

This one is really frayed, but I'm thinking it was the warp end, where I cut

off the reminder of the warp

The pattern is dornick twill.

Almost! Almost! forgot to add my labels--but I didn't!

It would be nice to have labels that give the fiber content and care instructions.

That will be my next label that I order.

Prayer Flags

You know 'prayer shawls' but do you know about 'prayer flags'? 

 Prayer Flag has a long tradition that started in Tibet more than 2000 years ago with the hanging of flags by war lords as they went into battle. The Tibetan people took the idea and made flags to honor the nature gods of Bon, using colors of the five elements: blue for sky or space; white for air or clouds; red for fire; green for water and yellow for earth. The flags were hung over mountain passes and rivers to benefit all who would pass underneath.

When Buddhism was introduced to Tibet in the 7th century, it largely took the place of Bon, and absorbed many of the Bon characteristics, including the flags. The early flags contained both Buddhist prayers and pictures of the Bon gods who they believed protected Buddha. Over the next 200 years, Buddhist monks began to print mantras and symbols on the flags as blessings to be sent out to the world with each breeze and thus they became known as Prayer Flags.

This collection includes a book of prayer flag inspiration and ideas, a video tutorial from Prayer Flag Project Coordinator and artist Lisa Chin, plus supplies for using Lisa Chin"s techniques to turn your fabric into colorful flags with shibori, stencils, and sun printing.

Since these flags are small, it is a wonderful way to use various techniques--try your hand at these

small works of art.

Discover the history of prayer flags as a form of Fiber Art Written on the Wind. Learn what a prayer flag is along with its historical roots in Tibet. You’ll also get background information on the Prayer Flag Project, which was started in 2011 by Vivika Hansen DeNegre and a group of fiber artist who created prayer flags as a “living, breathing, kinetic journal.” For more information about prayer flags and the Prayer Flag Project read the full blog.

If you’re not sure where to start on your prayer flag journey, begin with a tutorial on How to Make Your Own Prayer Flags. There is no right or wrong way to make your flags because they can be any size or shape you desire. If you want to learn how Vivika, founder of the Prayer Flag Project, makes her flags read the blog here.

Holy SMokes! It's August!

Yes, hot dry August has appeared on the calendar!  What better way to begin the month than with a mystery KAL??

Anniken Allis is the designer.

I found this one on my favorite site--Ravelry, of course!

Okay, I can learn something new--what is Periscope?  Wonders never cease!--

here we have a live streaming site right on my phone--

always there is an app!

The Gondola KAL is a mystery knitalong (KAL) with a difference. You will be knitting along with designer as she design this crescent shawl inspired by Venice.

The designer will be taking you through her design process with weekly Periscope videos and blog posts. There will also be pattern specific tutorials. Updates to the pattern will also be released weekly as we knit this design together.

This shawl has not been knitted yet. Designer decided on the shape, the yarn she will be using and one stitch pattern. The rest will be decided during the KAL

Materials: 
Schoppel Best Of… (100% Merino Wool; 420m/459 yds per 100g), colour: 2233 x 1 skein 
or 
100g/400m sock/4ply/fingering weight yarn

4mm (UK 8/US 6) needles (80cm/32in circular needles recommended) 
Debbie Abrahams size 6/0 seed beads, 1 bag of 500 beads 
0.75mm (US 14) crochet hook (for adding beads)

The Gondola KAL is free until the end of August. Once the pattern has been tech edited and finalised you will receive a free copy of the pattern.

The pattern will be for sale to knitters who did not take part in the KAL from September.