Spring and new beginnings

It has been a long, cold wet winter for many people this year and while today the temperature is only in the mid-50's, it is sunny and there is a daffodil festival, so I have hope for warmer days soon.  There hasn't been much happening in the way of fiber crafts here at the Sheep Shack, owing to some intense studying for a professional certification. The test is in my May and I am in full panic mode at this point. It is a tough test, but many others have passed it so I know I can too!

There hasn't been much time for reading anything not related to the exam either, I'm afraid. But there is promise for so much catching up to do when all is said and done with the test. I have a my Kindle Fire HD which I love, but haven't been able to fully enjoy and I am looking forward to that. My local library just got ebooks and so I plan to make sure of those, not to mention all that is available on Amazon.
and the upcoming books by Dan Brown and J.R. Ward whet the reading appetite a bit.

And the writing of my own book can get back on track.

I hope each of you are having a wonderful spring like day!

Tubular beadwork tutorial (Chenille Stitch): a simple idea for a tubular...

It's Not too Early to Think December!

One December mitten finished this evening.

This is part of a kit I purchased last year from KnitPicks and my first project blending more than two colors. It has gone quite fast and I'm ready to cast on the mate tomorrow.

Don't you just love fall!?

It is a lovely and crisp day today. Perfect for throwing open all the windows and hanging laundry on the line!

Yesterday was beach day! It was a wonderful constant ocean breeze! Here are a few of my favorite pictures from yesterday:

Head Over Heels for Your Books!

Tears for Fears, Literary Version


And the original. . .

Head Over Heels - Tears for Fears

How do you take your TfF?

A Little Quiet Time

I have a little quiet time this morning. I got up early to walk down and take care of a neighbor's kitty while she is out of town. He is such a sweet boy, I wish I could bring him home with me. He has the loudest pur! He is a little camera shy, but he has beautiful blue eyes, too.

So my intent was to come back and do a little knitting, but I got wrapped up in watching a podcast and then got inspired to do a little blog work myself, so here I am.

The podcast was "Knitting Blooms I loved it. I wasn't familiar with Knitting Blooms until I saw it this morning in my G+ stream and thought I'd give it a try. I'm so glad I did. I highly recommend it. It is entertaining and informative. I have often thought of a podcast of sorts for Stitches and Stories, but I'm afraid I am not so photogenic and a little intimidated about putting my face out there. But, I do think it would be found to podcast our Tuesday knitting lunches at work. We have great discussions on projects, yarns and books. So it could be quite fun. I'll have to talk to the girls about it.

One thing I noticed in the podcast this morning and I have many knitting friends who do the same thing is, the obsession with the amount of stash one has. I mean converting it to miles, what to count as stash and what not to count. Knitters putting themselves on yarn buying restrictions because they have "X" number of yards/miles of stash? I mean no disrespect to any of my fellow knitters, but I don't get it.
I mean, why? Who cares? And I don't mean who cares in the sense that we are not interested in stash, we all are, I mean that is part of knitting, it is like little kids with baseball cards you always what to know what your friends have and what they are willing to buy/sell/trade. What I mean is who cares, if you have a lot of stash, having a lot of stash is a good thing. I mean you're a knitter and possibly a spinner and/or weaver as well, you're supposed to have stash! Friends, the more stash you have the better, it is like money, is there really too much? It is all in what you do with it right?

So fellow knitters and fiber lovers don't punish yourself for you stash, celebrate, buy or spin more! That is what the fiber life is all about! Have hundreds of yards/miles of stash and go buy/spin more! Do it now!

In other knitting news I am 10 rows away from finishing my Freya Shawl, you may remember that was my project for the Ravellenic Games. Yes, I know, the games are over and I am still out there trying to get it done. But the urgency left me when the games ended and I haven't worked on it in a couple of days. I also started a pair of socks, as the green blog that is the shawl has gotten too large for me to want to tote around. So at the Tuesday Knitting Club, I've been working on my socks. I will hopefully get some time to work on it today, especially if I get off the computer and go to it.

It is a perfect morning for knitting in the garden.

I hope you all have a wonderfully fiber filled day!

A little gardening tip for cucumbers

Cucumbers are a wonderful thing, they can be used for all sorts of things, soups, salad, facial creams,  you name it. But what you cannot do with them is freeze them.

So what to do when you have made all the soup, salad and facials creams you, your friends and family can stand?

Drink them!

A simple drink Cucumber and basil slushy. Yum!

1 small cucumber

1/4 basil

1/4 vodka

1/4 water

3 tablespoons of honey (sugar if you prefer)

3 1/2 cups of ice.

Put it all in the blender and garnish with a cucumber slice.

A nice cool drink on a hot summer day and you can put those cucumbers to good use!

Cheers!