Merino wooly goodness!

Here are more images of Dianne Nordt's wonderful Merino wool. I found out that she has only 3 Merino sheep, a woman comes to sheer them in the spring, then the wool gets sent off to a mill to be spun. This current collection is from three year's worth of shearing. Erika is "modeling" some yarn that Dianne dyed with black walnut leaves. I love that she gets two brown shades from the leaves. I've one pair of fingerless gloves from the single-ply yarn and love the way they look and feel. Dianne wants me to make a pair for her and two other people that I saw at the market want pairs. Woo hoo, I've got to get busy knitting!

Knit news

While I've taken my knitwear off of Fritzi, my Etsy shop, I'm still knitting. I got a wonderful organic wool (O-Wool.com) at The Yarn Lounge .
I made the jacket for Zelda, my Blythe doll, finger-less gloves for myself, and am now working on a scarf. I love the pale "sage" green color.
I worked at the farmers' market yesterday, selling lovely organic produce grown by our friends, the Collins, from their Victory Farms. We were so busy that I had no time to take pictures of the gorgeous produce. Someone said to me, "did you see the yarn for sale?" Oh dear, danger! I took a brief break and checked out the stand. Lovely hand spun, from the sheep on the Nordt Family Farm, which is in nearby Charles City. I was NOT going to buy any yarn, NOT, but I did. I got one hank of singly ply, merino. I'm not sure what I'll make with it, but it feels and looks so wonderful.

Last night, I finished a pair of finger-less gloves out of mercerized cotton, the color "viola." I love the way they feel. It's the first time I've used cotton to knit and want to do more of these.

I just love knitting. This summer, I'm determined to learn how to knit socks. That's the goal.

Elflog & more

On the 19th of Oct., a stone with the word "Peace" written on it, reappeared on the shelf. I'd placed it there on the 9th, which I know because I dated the stone. Where was it for 10 days? On Saturday, there was a tiny pink rose bud and a yellow flower, as well as an assortment of pebbles. I think that the smiley face sticker will remain for a long time. Today, I'll put a stone in place that says "hope."



Check out the trees in front of our house! We call them Stick Trees. Some trim job, eh? This is the first time in many years that we've been able to see the house from the street. The Rock garden is planted with shade plants, which are now in the sun. Oh well!

I wanted to share two, no, three, things that make me happy. I've been helping my friend Amy at her new shop (Alchemy, in Carytown) and she has the coolest things. So, I had to shop (this from ME, the non-shopper!) I got this little clutch purse made from kimono fabric, perfect for when we go salsa dancing and I only want to carry a few things. Then I got a holder for my cell phone, made from recycled polyester. I decorated it with some charms and an owl pin (which reminded me of Hedwig) and I use it when I walk the dog, when I want only my phone, a piece of ID, money for the newspaper. It attaches to my purse strap, too, where I can find it easily. Amy said I'd love it and I do.

I knit my self some wrist warmers this weekend. I'd made some before but these turned out the best and the yarn feels so good. It's merino wool. Now if the weather only would get cool..it's going to be 80F (26C) today and tomorrow.