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/

Arrivals and Departures

I arrived home on Sunday evening after spending most of the week at the West Virginia State Folk Music Festival. What a wonderful time I had there. It is my second year to attend this festival in Glenville, WV. I am one of the artists who has a tent and participate in the artist's market, selling my handmade jewelry. My calendar is already marked off for next year's festival. It will be the 58th Annual. I met another knitter there and we had a number of friendly chats about our knitting. She spotted me sitting there knitting one day and that led to a wonderful conversation with a new friend.



Another arrival to report - my new knitting books had arrived while I was in WV. My great granddaughter and I anxiously opening the boxes and took turns looking through them. It was Christmas in June!

I will depart tomorrow for a trip to Austria and Germany that I do every summer. I have my bags packed and my knitting projects ready to take along. I have knitting ready for taking on the flight over in my carry on bag. And, packed in my check in bag is the directions and needles for the Irish Walking Scarf. I will buy the yarn for it when I arrive in my village and begin working on it there. I joined the knitalong for the Irish Walking Scarf recently so I intend to post photos of my progress on that site once I get it going.

Joyful Frogging

Katia Florida"Wildflowers"

This yarn is so beautiful - I love TOUCHING it!

I have been knitting the Katia Florida Summer Top (see blog below). Today, I decided it was not going to fit me properly and that sent me back to look at my pattern instructions. Seems I must have had a lapse of thought when I started this because I was using the wrong size needles! Nothing to do but to begin the frogging process and start all over again. I was using size 6 needles, instead of the size 10 that the pattern calls for. I am back on track now, and the frogging fun is over for now. It does take patience and tenacity to knit, doesn't it?

The second photo shows my progress on the Katia Florida Summer Top that is on the needles. This is the one I started again, after I frogged the first one. I am nearly finished with the back and will begin the front tomorrow, hopefully. I want to wear this sweater when I leave on a trip in two weeks. If is so nice to touch and I think it will feel so good to be wearing it. I am crazy about this yarn from Elann.com

Shopping For Shelly

Yesterday I had a wonderful adventure with my artist friend, Myrna. We had decided to meet for lunch and then I wanted her to go with me to a fantastic yarn shop, Yarns Unlimited in Sewickley, PA. It was our dessert for the day. We touched everything that caught our eye and we just went from one stunning yarn to another, throughout the entire store.


I told the friendly sales lady why we were shopping - we were looking for just the right yarn for Shelly, my California "Secret Pal" for the One Skein Knit Along project. Not only did Myrna and I engage in touching and feeling in our quest of the "right" yarn, the sales lady joined us in our adventure. There was lots of giggles and breathless ooooohhhhssss and aaaaaahhhhhhs while we worked our way through that shop. We would carry some skeins around for awhile, thinking that just might be "the one." Then, we would find another one that seemed even more like what we envisioned Shelly might like. We think a California lady might like "bright" and "happy" colors.

Finally, after nearly an hour of serious selecting, we made our decision. It will be flying all the way from Western PA where it is rainy and very dreary today, to California where I imagine the sun must be shining, the sky cloudless and still, and the birds singing with joy in the springtime.

That is all I will say about this yarn for now. I would not want to ruin a surprise.

Elann.com

This is the Katia Florida Summer Top that I started working on today. Katia of Spain is the manufacturer of this beautiful yarn. This photo is from the website http://www.elann.com The yarn I chose for my sweater is a soft peachy color called "Wildflowers." It has peach, ivory, and pale lavender in it...all very soft. It will be so perfect for traveling to Europe this summer. I am hoping to get it finished up in the next two weeks so I can be wearing it as I take off for Munich on June 20th.

The yarn feels so good as I am knitting it. I began the knitting right after I opened the box that arrived from http://www.elann.com I have never ordered from them before and when I found the website I was excited to see the beautiful things available and I immediately knew I had to have a couple of them. The order arrived very quickly and the packing is the best possible. Shipping was very quick. I am delighted with the yarns I received.

I had ordered yarn to make two of the sweaters on the website. The patterns are free and I ordered the yarns suggested with the patterns. I will take photos as my sweater progresses. I just can't tell you how silky soft and nice this yearn feels as I am knitting. And, the colors are so luscious. I am a satisfied customer and expect to be a return customer in the future.

WhileI enjoy walking through a local yarn shop and feeling and touching all the yarns before making final selections, it was still very exciting to order a yarn I had not touched and had no idea what it would be until it arrived. I am pleasantly surprised. I am very glad I just took a chance and ordered the yarn because it is fantastic.

More Knit for Kids Guidepost Project

This is the second sweater I have knit from the Guidepost's Knit for Kids pattern. I did this one as a Christmas gift for my great granddaughter and will just keep it till then. I had decided to knit as many gifts as I could this year, and this is my first finished project. I plan to do two more of them for two great grandsons, too.

Meanwhile, I have begun a second one that will be sent to Guideposts for this project. I would like to do several of them and send them off in the fall so that other children will be blessed with a nice handmade sweater next Christmas. I am using Red Heart Super Saver yarn since it is 100% acrylic and washable.

http://www.dailyguideposts.com/help/sweater.asp

Cornelia Tuttle Hamilton

- The Cornelia Tuttle Hamilton Project -


It is around 11 p.m. and I have just finished the SURSA shawl that is in the book, Cornelia Tuttle Hamilton Hand Knitting Collection, Book Number two. It is knitted out of Noro's Silk Garden with a ruffled edge out of Cash Iroha. The pattern specifies that double yarn is used throughout the entire piece. It moves along rather fast when you are knitting it because it is on Size 15 needles and the yarn double strand.

I first saw this piece at the Pittsburgh Knitting Festival ( http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06052/658522.stm ) last February. One of the yarn vendors was wearing it and I just had to have one for myself. As I searched through a table of books at the festival, I found the pattern in the Hamilton book. Later on, I visited one of my favorite yarn stores, Yarns Unliminted in Sewickley, PA where I found the Noro yarns I used for this shawl. (http://www.post-gazette.com/lifestyle/20031207ggyarnshopsp8.asp)

Knit for Kids

Will I be knitting any gifts this year?

Yes, I have already begun thinking of Christmas gifts for family members. I have started a sweater for my great grand-daughter, Delaunay. She will be 9 years old by Christmas. I am making her a sweater from the

- Guide Post's Knit for Kids project.-

I knitted one to give away for that project, and I liked it so much I wanted to do another one for Delaunay. She will be delighted with it and the one I knitted to be sent to a child through Guide Post's project will be happy, too. And, it makes me happy to know that two little girls will each have a nice new hand knit sweater next winter.

At the top you can see what this sweater looks like. I made this one to send off to the project. Family members loved it so much that they want me to make one for them, too. This sweater is one of three different designs designated to be done for this charity project. It felt so good to be making this sweater for a child I will never know. You can get information on how to make the sweaters and how to send them to children who need them at this site

http://www.dailyguideposts.com/help/sweater.asp

I plan to organize a group of knitters where I work to make sweaters as a group project this fall and send off to children who need to be kept warm this winter.

Vertical Netting

During the past few months, from February through April, I took a number of beading classes to learn some new things. I have had so much fun learning to do Vertical Netting. I began to do the white and gold one in the class I took AT cRYSTAL BEAD BAZAAR in Pittsburgh. www.crystalbeadbazaar.com

Then, after that class was over I came home and spent the rest of the day and into the evening working on it. I think I finally finished it up about 3 am. Then, the passion has remained alive as I have now completed two more. One is is blue and pinks; One is red and purple. I just completed a fourth one in soft pewter silvers and spring greens. Number 5 is now begun, using cotton candy pinks with brilliant reds and opalescent beads.

Here are some photos of the Vertical Lace Netting that I have been doing. It keeps me up into the late nights. There is something about doing this pattern that really excites me and motivates me to keep on going with it.

I can see my tendencies taking over as I envision more and more patterns and color combinations in the future in this type of bead weaving. I think I have just been won over to the Seed Side of the discipline. I find myself shopping for more and more Delicas and other wonderful Seed Beads and a few months ago I never even knew what that meant.

The next thing I want to begin to explore is combinging beads and yarn. I love to knit, and I love to make things using brilliant and sparkling beads.

7 Questions

7 Questions from One Skein Secret Pal Exchange

1. Which yarn is most like my personality?
I recently made the scarf in the photo. It is done in the FEATHER and FAN pattern, using Cascade Yarns Bollicine Etoile. I absolutely loved working with this yarn and this scarf feels so wonderful when I wear it. I am wild about the brilliant spring greens and the softness of this yarn that is 70% kid mohair and 30% acrylic. It's wonderful!!! The scarf is much, much more beautiful than this photo shows. You just cannot capture it in a photo.




Currently, I am wild about Noro Hand Dyed Silk Garden Yarn, Noro Kureyon Yarn, and Mountain Colors Bearfoot Hand-Painted Yarn. I love Brilliant Color! I made a beautiful scarf in modular knitting out of the Noro Kureyon.

Right now, I am finishing up a lovely stole out of the Silk Garden yarn. And, made a modular knitted scarf from one skein of Bearfoot. It was exquisite. I gave it away to someone who is very ill and I told him it is a "comfort scarf." He said he could sure use some comfort. I intend to do another modular knitted scarf from the Bearfoot for myself out of soft pastel colors. I normally wear strong colors and very seldom have anything on that would be pastel.


2. What is my favorite color of yarn to knit?
I tend to favor the earthy colors of golds, russets, and brilliant oranges and bittersweet colors. I imagine that is because those are the colors that look best on me. And I also favor brilliant and clear colors like lime greens and fuscias and indigo blues. I NEVER wear pastel colors and I don't like wimpy colors. I like color that is strong and stands out in the crowd, just like me.


3. Do I use verigated or magic yarns? Heavens, Yes!


4. What fibers do I favor?
I am just wild about mohair. I like any blend of mohair and wool. I am very fond of Moonlight Mohair currently. But, anything with mohair in it just compels me to touch and feel it and buy it.


5. Do I prefer to work with pull skeins or hanks?
I do a lot of yarns that are in hanks. I use the yarn ball winder and enjoy spending a few hours in mediation while I am making the hanks into usable balls. I like to stack them up and see them just waiting to be made into something. Thre is something that I like about making the hank into a ball.


6. Have I worked with organic yarns?
Not yet. But, I did buy some skeins of organic yarn at the Pittsburgh Knitting Festival in February and I plan to do a poncho out of it. Soon. I am always willing to try most anything.


7. Wow, what projects have I made in the past year?
Can I count them? I don't record my work anywhere, I just make things. I have made many, many scarves. I am finished up a kimono right now out of Moonlight Mohair. I have made ponchos for a number of family members and two for me. I have made myself three Shrugawls that I really enjoy wearing.




There are 7 more questions. I will answer them in my future posts. Seven is enough for now. Besides, there is knitting to be done yet today.

My FIRST EVER "Secret Pal"

I am very excited because tonight I received my "Secret Pal" from the One Skein Secret Pal Exchange.

My new pal is Shelly, from Stockton, California. I wrote to her immediately to introduce myself. I visited her blog and scanned it over when I received the letter from One Skein. It is late at night right now, after midnight, so I will take a better look at her blog tomorrow so that I can get to know her. I did drop her a little email letter just to say hello though. Ah, I see she is also owned by her two cats. We have that in common. I love cats and could not imagine my life without a cat friend or two.


Well, it inspired me to visit Shelly's blogspot tonight. In fact, it urged me to begin to take my blogspot seriously and to begin to learn how to post there. I have finally figured out how to put a photo up on my blogspot tonight. I chose one of the Untersberg (mountain) in clouds. It is in the village where I live in the summers, near Salzburg, Austria. Anyone who visits me here will see the mountains I love as an introduction to me. I will figure out how to photograph some of my art, knitting, and jewelry and get them up on this blogspot in the near future.

The other thing that inspired me when I got Shelly's information is the fact that someone has received MY information, too. So, somewhere out there in cyberspace, I have a new pal, too. That is really amazing and I can't wait to hear from my secret pal as well. I decided I better learn how to do this because someone is probably looking at my blogspot to learn more about me just like I learned about Shelly tonight.

My friend, Chris, also joined the One Skein Secret Pal Exchange so I can't wait to see her tomorrow morning at the gym to see if she received her new pal's information. This should be a lot of fun. And, I am glad I have a local friend to share it with.

Beadz 'n Yarn Works

You have arrived at the blogspot of the Knitty_Prof.
I believe we can create art "out of anything."
Crazy about Beads and Yarns?
Obsessive compulsive about Beads and Yarn?
Do you keep adding to your stash, like a magpie lining her nest?

Me too!



In this place I will be posting creative works in Jewelry, knitting, art, and poetry.

Right now, I am excited about the newly published book, ONE SKEIN. I have joined in the One Skein Knit-Along project. Have you heard about that? We'll be knitting projects from the book, or other projects that require only one skein of yarn. It's a great way to use some of the lonely balls of yarn in your stash. Or, you can go buy only one skein of a beautiful new yarn, and then figure out what project you want to do with it.

For my first one-skein project I think I will do a scarf done in modular units using Mountain Colors, Mountain Goat yarn in a lovely pastel of pinks and blues that I just bought. I rolled it into a ball yesterday and will begin my project this weekend. What can you do with only one skein? Why not join the Knit-Along and find out?