Favorite Color Swap

OK, I joined a fourth knitting thing. It is the Favorite Color Swap. http://favoritecolorswap.blogspot.com/ This one is a SWAP and not a knit-along as the others are that I am into. You find out your Secret Pals' favorite colors then prepare a package of gifts that are in her favorite color(s) and they are chosen to fit with her personality and her interests. I thought this sounded like a lot of fun. I got my "downstream Pal" this morning and immediately wrote to her to begin our conversation. She lives in The Netherlands. Now, how cool is that! I am delighted to have an international pal for this project. I have sent her the list of questions so I can begin to think about her gifts.

I will post the questions here, along with MY responses to them. Now, my "upstream Pal" will be consulting my list and she will be shopping for ME. I think this sounds like so much fun. I love surprises and I love to give gifts and receive gifts. I will really enjoy this project.

Favorite Color Swap Questionnaire

1. What are your top three favorite colors?

At the TIP TOP of my FAVORITES LIST is the ORANGE family. I love the color and I love the word. I like every shade of orange that is imaginable. But my all time favorite color is YELLOW-ORANGE. But I love the entire range from Yellow-Orange to Deep Russets.

Second on my list would be AQUA. I love Aqua Blue colors such as in Turquoise stones from Arizona.

Third on my list would be BLUE-VIOLET.

2. What crafts do you really enjoy?

I really would never call myself a “crafter.” I am an artist who likes to knit and I approach everything from a fine art point of view rather than a crafter view. There IS a philosophical difference between crafting and art and it is a very deep one. For me, it is Knitting, knitting, knitting. I have been knitting since I was a young child and nothing captivates me like knitting. I love knitting, weaving, working with beads (weaving them).


3. What products do you really covet?

Fine yarns. I could go crazy shopping in a yarn store because I want to buy everything I see there. I can’t stop touching them all and looking at all the colors. I am the same way with luxurious beads such as Murano glass from Venice; Swarovski crystal from Austria; Bohemian crystal and Amber from Czech Republic.

4. What other activities do you enjoy besides your favorite crafty things?

I have two studios.
The largest one is for beadwork, painting, and bookmaking. In this one is all my canvases, beads, paints, and papers.

The other is for weaving and fiber art. I have a Macomber loom in this one, and my sewing machine, and my STASH of yarn.

5. Is there anything you collect? My OH My! Do I collect?
Here are a FEW of the things I collect:

Zuni Fetishes, Puerto Rican Santos, Art (paintings, pottery, sculpture), books of contemporary poetry, books on African American poetry, books on contemporary art, Hazel Atlas dinnerware, Viking Glass…and more.

6. What is your zodiac sign and/or Chinese zodiac symbol? Virgo but I am not into that at all.

7.What are your favorite……scents/smells?

Favorite scent for bathing is Patcholi,

Favorite Perfumes are Estee Lauder’s White Linen, Cool Water, and Angel…

types of music and/or bands? Classical, Appalachian Mountain Folk Music…

authors? Annie Dillard, Robert Bly, Yusef Komunyakaa, Rita Dove…

animals? Griffons…

places to shop? Neiman Marcus and yarn shops…

season? Winter…

yarn/fabric/paper/other craft supplies? Kid mohair yarns are my favorite.
I love the bloom of them.…and the feel and the colors

candies or goodies? Expensive chocolates and licorace from German Candy shops

8. Do you have any wish lists? I turn my wishes into goals and go get them. Nothing comes to mind right now that I can think of. I am pretty content with life at the moment and really don't have any strong desires or wishes. Contentment is good.

9. Are you allergic to anything? Don’t think so

10. Do you have any pets? Yes, I love my 2 cats, Angel and Blaise. I am definitely a CAT person. I like dogs but have no desire to own one, at least not right now. They require far too much attention and human interaction.

11. My greatest passions in life are in the fine arts. I am wild about art and poetry.

It is so worth it!

First, my One Skein Secret Pal, Shelly, sent me photos of her wonderful yarn room with her yarns stashed neatly on shelving. I was envious of her organization. http://theyarntart.blogspot.com And, I kept thinking that I needed to be more organized. All my yarns are scattered about the house in overflowing baskets. They look nice, but it's hard to know what I have and I keep adding to my stash on top of all the yarns already in the baskets.

Then, I was talking to my daughter, Heidi, on the phone and told her I needed to organize my yarn stash and my fibers studio but that it seemed to overwhelming. Heidi is a bead artist and painter and has a fantastic studio in the PA mountains. http://www.geocities.com/sassifrasshill Heidi told me that it is a lot of work to get things organized in the studio, but in the end "it is so worth it."

I remembered her words and they became my inspiration to begin the job. It has taken me a few days but now I can stand here and look over my neatly "stashed" yarns and things related to knitting. I think I could put my finger on most anything I want right now. And, yes, it is so worth it. Thank you Shelly and Heidi for helping me get motivated to get my stash in better order. Of course, there are still baskets around with yarns and that is because they look so pretty and make my home look cozy and I like them!

Lilac Yarn

I received my JUNE GIFT from my SECRET PAL for the One-Skein Secret Pal Exchange. http://www.oneskein.com

The photo is of a skein of FEZIA Kid Mohair, made in Italy.

I absolutely LOVE my gift. Thank you, Secret Pal! You could not have chosen a yarn I would enjoy more than this. This color is so soft and luscious with a shimmer of silver running very quietly throughout. The yarn is so soft you want to reach out and just touch it. I have never worked with a "kid mohair" before and look forward to making something from this skein. I am thinking it will be a "feather and Fan" lace scarf.

Want to make a FEATHER AND FAN SCARF? Here is the pattern for it.


Materials:
YARN - worsted weight, 2 skeins
NEEDLES - US size 7 needles
GAUGE - 5 sts per inch in pattern st.
SIZE - When finished and laid out flat, the piece measures 7 in. wide and 80 in. long.

DIRECTIONS -
Cast on 36 sts.

PATTERN -
Begin pattern. Pattern is a multiple of 18 sts.
Row 1: (RS) knit.
Row 2: purl.
Row 3: *(k2tog) 3 times, (yo, k1) 6 times, (k2tog) 3 times* rep between *s to end. Row
4: knit.

Repeat rows 1-4 until scarf is 80 inches long or desired length. End with row 4 of pattern, and then bind off knitwise. Weave in ends and block.

Blog Membership

These are the three BLOG Knit-Along groups I am participating in right now. I decided I wanted to do cables, so I thought the Irish Hiking Scarf would be the place to begin. I am making progress daily on it and really enjoy doing the cables. http://irishhikingknitalong.blogspot.com/ -- - - - - - - - - -

I bought the One Skein book, joined the One Skein Secret Pal Exchange. It started in June. I have sent my packages to my downstream "Pal" in California. I really enjoyed shopping for her for both packages and enjoy communicating with her so much. I am working on my August gift to her. I started it when I was in Austria in June/July. It is a challenge, I had to frog it several times, but I think it will turn out really nice. I have also heard from my upstream "pal" and will be recieving a skein of yarn from her soon. Both ladies are really enjoyable to talk with and I am so glad I joined this challenge. http://oneskein.blogspot.com- - - - - - - --- - - - -

I joined the Year of the Sweater to keep me motivated and making sweaters this year. I have two on the needles right now. One is a Lilly Chin designed sweater that I am knitting out of two yarns that I have combined to get the look and feel that I wanted. The other is a Japanese Kimono style sweater that I am doing from Moonlight Mohair. Talk about soft! http://yearofthesweater.blogspot.com- - - - - - - - -

A Year of Creativity

I am very slowly reading the book by Brenda Mallon, A Year of Creativity. I really started it about a year ago. It is one of those books that has to be read in very small doses, then dwell on what you have read and let it settle into your soul awhile. I love this little book. I have no idea how many years it will be before I have finished it. Sometimes, I read only one paragraph and have to spend days on just the thoughts I have from that one small paragraph. Other times, I don't even look at the book for weeks on end.

I have decided that I will begin a year of daily artmaking on my birthday, August 27th. I will do one work-on-paper each day for an entire year, to celebrate my 63rd birthday. I am thinking now about how I will do this and I know this book will be a central part of what I will be doing. Stay tuned for more on that in the next few weeks as I get ready to begin this year long project.

On Page 27, the author lists a number of exercises to teach us how to recognize the inner Muse. As an artist, it is critical that I am in touch with the Muse. Daily mundane activities often intervene and make us forget our intuitive link between who we are, what we see, and how we feel. This little book brings me back to who I really am, a created being who is a creative person.

"Our inner Muse speaks

when we are willing to listen."

The challenge Mallon makes is to turn off the tv and radio for a week. Stop reading newspapers and begin to listen to the sound of creative silence. You will begin to hear the inner Muse. Listen, and take notes!

I remembered this advice today and decided to take my knitting outside to the patio instead of listening to music on the stereo or turning on the television. Instead of the electronic sounds surrounding me, Nature came to visit me and what a delightful time I have had.

As I sat there knitting away, a number of birds came by to take a look and gossip about what was in their garden. There was quite a bit of bird chatter, calling back and forth about this "something" new that was on the patio. We feed the birds and other wild animals every day, so there is always a gaggle of things moving about out there in the shade of the Hemlock trees and giant old Maple. First the brave Blue Jay landed within five feet of where I sat. He did this a few times, testing the waters. You see, there is cat food on the patio and he wanted it. But, there I was right by the cat food. He would land nearby, take a quick look at me, look around, then fly off to a nearby branch. A few times he circled so close that I could have touched him, hovering above the cat food.

There I sat for a couple of hours, knitting away so quietly it seemed like magic. I could feel the smoothness of the needles passing quietly in and out of the soft cotton yarn I was knitting. They seemed to glide like a pair of skaters dancing on ice. Smooth and quiet with just a very soft sound that I could feel in my hands as I moved the silver needles in and out of that yarn. I am making kitchen towels to give as Christmas gifts to my granddaughters. I like to think that in some way this magic will be knitted into my gift.

I looked up to see a squirrel hanging upside down, looking at me from a nearby tree. Many black birds, cardinals, morning doves, sparrows, and other small birds were coming and going like planes in an airport. And, meandering about in the thick ivy were a number of rambunctious little chipmonks darting about. They chirped and got my attention a number of times. They seemed to be playing joyfully with me. The English ivy was shaking vigourously as they scurried about underneath the broad deep green leaves, giving away their presence. Occasionally, I would see a head or tail pop out. I continued the rhythm of my knitting. Knitting to the sounds of nature in a landscape that surrounds me was a delight.

It was a glorious morning of knitting there with the wild creatures in thier world. I highly recommend knitting outdoors, absorbing the rays of light as our bodies were created to do and getting a good dose of Vitamin D from the sun at the same time. I will make this a daily habit during the summer months and into the fall. I would bet the Blue Jays will soon just drop by, eat the cat food and pay me no attention. They seem to be rather fearless birds and they are so curious about this new thing knitting in their garden.

Find you own way today to get in touch with the silence of your inner Muse. Time will stand still as you enter into a state of timelessness.

Lilly Chin Shawl-Collar Wrap

I have started a sweater jacket that is featured in Better Homes and Gardens Hip Knits, 65 easy projects from hot designers. The design is by Lilly Chin and it is called a "Shawl-Collar Wrap" in the magazine.

I am using yarns I purchased at the Pittsburgh Knitting Festival from a vendor who was there, Newton Country Yarns of Anaheim, California. The yarns were purchased separately and then I made two different yarns into one yarn by using a yarn winder.

One yarn, the solid orange one, is Italian Cashmere (60%) and Merino (40%). It is very fine and thin and the color is a bright & clear orange. The yarn I mixed the solid orange color with is called "Puff-and-Stuff" and I was told by the vendor it is a wool yarn from Paris. The colors of this yarn are a muted orange and blue gray mix. It is a little bit squiggly with blurbs of color mixed throughout.

I love this soft mixture and the colors I created. I have the back finished and am now working on both fronts at the same time, on the same needle so they will move along slowly but they will both be finished at the same time. I like that idea! Here are some photos of this yarn and how it looks as I am knitting it up.

Yarn Shopping in Austria and Germany

Here is some of the yarns I bought while traveling in Austria and Germany from June 20 to July 6. I visited my two favorite yarn shops in the little Alpine Village where I live and bought sock yarns. I have never knit socks yet, but I plan to give it a try soon. I also bought the suggested double pointed needles that the lady in the shop recommended to me. I plan to gift one of the sock yarns and one set of needles to a friend I work with who I think will be very surprised and glad to have them.



Then, while in Germany I found a wonderful yarn shop where I bought some Lana Grossa BASICs yarn , hp No. 31 to make a summer top. I could have bought much more yarn, but I kept thinking of having to carry my suitcase so that put a stop to my gluttony.

Italian Yarn bought in Austria

I have just posted the progress I am making on the Irish Hiking Scarf on that blogspot. This is one project I started in Austria, worked on in Germany, and will finish up here at home. I love this yarn, Gedifra Fashion Trend in Stripe. It is very soft, made of 49% Acrylic and 51% New Wool. I found it in a small shop in an Alpine Village in Austria. I highly recommend it for it's wonderful feel, softness, and it's elegant colorways. http://irishhikingknitalong.blogspot.com/