Accomplished!

Accomplished--according to the thesaurus this word relates to 'skilled, proficient, able, gifted, talented, finished' Yes, finished fits here! But, just because these two items and projects are 'accomplished' doesn't mean they or myself are skilled, proficient, able, gifted or talented.....it just means two UFO's are off the list and now tucked into the appropriate storage unit and hopefully, they will appear in the near future to be clad upon one's body.
Here are the mystery socks (and yes, they are indeed socks!) and looking lovely lying on the sofa.
This was the Nancy Bush 'mystery' pattern and quite fast to knit. And the other 'accomplished' project are the wrist warmers, using the handspun yarn from a summer art roving from "Orchids" painting. Instead of one large project, this yarn was used on smaller projects. Earlier blog showed the headband "Quant" Interesting that the latest issue of Interweave Press "Handspun" magazine featured several of these headbands with the use of handspun. modeled by granddaughter's lovely hands.
Yes, Finished is a good feeling. Now, to tackle the pile of other UFO's waiting in the wings.

More Good Stuff!

As promised here is more of the weaving exhibit/sale. Wonderful baskets! Even Christmas decorations!
Home furnishings!
linens perfectly suited for any kitchen and a few of the lovely wearables.

Over One, Under One

The weavers in our area have made a great show of themselves and their productions! The Contemporary Handweavers of Houston hosted their annual show and sale this weekend and a mighty fine exhibit it was! Sale was awesome as well. The exhibit/sale was held at Houston Contemporary Craft Center--the perfect location for this function. The lighting is good, the layout is excellent and the space is outstanding--the organization couldn't ask for anything better than that. From the minute you walk through the doors you are amazed! The colors, the fabrics, structures and variety--where does one begin? From the table with handwoven scarves and lovely jewelry to the racks of linens, placemats, you have a hard time deciding what to buy--all this eye candy!
A table with handfelted socks
And more scarves to choose from: Plus a table with handspun yarns! Just too many wonderful things to show here so next blog more photos!

What is a Quilt?

Recently, on a visit to a quilt exhibit, there were several interesting quilts on display. One of the reasons to look at quilts 'up close and personal' is to see 1) the pattern 2)quilting design 3)setting of blocks and borders 4)different layouts of blocks. Here are some quilts of interest
But, there were about three or four 'quilts' that were exhibited that had us questioning, what is a quilt? This is called 'Swedish needle weaving' or huckery or Swedish Huck weaving or Huck toweling. In my younger days, my hands 'wove' a many of these towels; not on a loom but with needle and thread! But, here were 'Huck toweling pieces' displayed as quilts--no two layers or three layers sandwiched together, just one single layer of toweling--of course, it was on the scale of bed size and there was an impressive amount of work, but to call it a quilt? Interesting in fact! Each exhibit has it's own guidelines and obviously, these fit into their 'quilt' category

Mid America!

There is nothing like driving across mid America--We took off east on Hwy. 36 out of Colorado to head across Kansas. Little aside here--do NOT drink two large cups of coffee before heading down the road--there are few towns across that part of Colorado and when you do find a town, there is nothing open at the time of day that you are driving (we were early morning). There are no gas stations, no cafes, no nothin' to stop at. Then we come upon a small park in the middle of nowhere--thank goodness! There sits an out building that looks like a rest room--zoom--of course, we went past it! "Stop! That was a rest room back there". Around we go to the park and it was a small rest stop--pit toilets, but we cares.
And on the back of the door is this sign: Relief!
We crossed over into
where you can find interesting historical events that happen in mid America.

Can't read the sign? It's about Bloody Benders and along the way we spotted several signs for Prairie Spirit Trail and then you know you're in Kansas when you see this advertisement.
We were entertained along Hwy 36 all across Kansas as it was the weekend for US Highway 36 Treasure Hunt We have never seen so many 'treasures' in our entire life! Anywhere there was a town people had put out their 'treasures' for the seekers. Too bad we were on a time schedule and couldn't stop to seek our special treasure. You've gotta love mid America!

Mystery Socks?

"What's the mystery? You know they are going to be socks!" The brown haired kid replied when she heard that 'mystery socks' were the task for the month of September.
Yes, the finished product will be socks indeed, but the mystery is what will each week bring in the way of design. This 'mystery sock' pattern is being brought to us by sock knitters anonymous group on Ravelry . Every other month there is a 'mystery sock' pattern presented each week so by the end of the month, if you have kept up, you'll have a completed pair of socks (that is, if you do two at a time or a fast knitter to do one at a time). September mystery pattern is written by Nancy Bush, well known knitter. What a treat to participate in this free (yes, free) venture. So, here we go--sock yarn on hand, knitting needles poised at the ready and we are working on clue 3 (which is the heel section) this week. Here is what has been knitted so far: front, lacy and back straight forward.

Let The Bugling Begin!

It's that time of year when we head into the mountains to see some golden aspens and hear the bugle of the bull elks as they round up their 'harem' of cows. Why do bull elks bugle? During the September-October mating season, bull elk stage their own passion play of sorts. The characteristic rutting call of bulls can be heard from just before dusk to dawn. We head to Rocky Mountain National Park to view these elegant creatures as they have come down from high country to participate in this annual ritual. It's a cold and rainy day as we drive along the parkways looking for the gathering of these small 'harems'. . This is one elk that is 'bugling' his mating call to warn off the nearby waiting younger bulls.Frankly, these two younger males do not stand a chance with this regal bull with his large rack of antlers. During the winter months when grass is not plentiful the elks will eat the bark from the aspen trees. Here you can see the scarred aspens.
The higher we drove into the park, our rainy day turned to a snowy day! What a treat to see those lovely large snow flakes dropping from the cloudy sky. The temp also dropped to 32 and snow was sticking to trees, ground and unwarmed surfaces.
Back on the plains, we stopped in the small town of Niwot where we ventured into the local coffee shop for some liquid refreshments.
Riding the back seat offers the opportunity to do some knitting and work was done on fingerless gloves, Full o' Win Mitts. Photo to follow on next blog--want to tie up the loose ends and find some nice hands to model!