House on a Hill

Sooo, the last time I played with clay, this is what I came up with. . .

Yes, I made another attempt at the millefiore, with a House on a Hill. It looks pretty much like I imagined it should, except that the hill became very tall and skinny during the reducing. . .but, it still looks like a hill. So, like a good little crafter, I cut and baked the pieces (along with some more sheep, you can never have too many sheep!), and I glazed everything while watching the Wednesday episode of American Idol that we had DVRed this week. . .

I LOVE that I can craft and watch TV with the hubby and sleepy kitties! And I am pretty pleased with how my finished pieces look this morning!
I think the sheep like them, too!

Look for these beads to appear on row counters (and maybe some stitch markers, too) in my Etsy Shop in the very near future! Ohhhh, I am so excited to put those together! I should stop blogging and get to it!

Thanks for stopping by, and Knit in Good Health!

Down on the Farm

Pretty Knitty spent a good part of last Saturday afternoon "down on the farm" at That'll Do Farm in a nearby town. I love the farm, the alpaca and goats, the dogs and the chickens, and especially the llama, Joey. But in February, I love the great indoors and the company of yarnigans most of all!

I especially love that the knitters are quite the happy bunch!

Happy, happy, happy, with yarn on the needles, and. . .and. . .*AHEM!*
. . .*Ahem!* Pretty said "Happy," not bi-polar!

I guess many of the knitters are emotional creatures. . .changing their minds and moods on a whim. . .it just comes with the territory. You know what else? Lean in close here, because this may be kindofasecret. . .many of the yarnigans are bi-craftual! You know, they knit and they crochet, or they knit and they spin. . .some are even multi-craftual! This one is a hooker:

Not that kind of hooker! What are you thinking? This is a family blog! She's a rug-hooker!, and she made some pretty good progress on her sunflower leaves last Saturday afternoon. We all made some progress last Saturday afternoon. . .that's why we are a happy bunch!
Pretty actually walked out of the farm with knitted fabric, and a good amount of it, for her re-knit project, Hey Teach!, recently ripped out at the Frog Pond.

And before we all left the farm, to go back to our own boring houses in the city, there was one happy knitter who noticed something strange in the parking lot. . .apparently the white cars are keeping quite the eye on those sneaky, sneaky blue cars!

I have heard that blue cars can be tricky. . .sooo, wherever you are, whatever your weather, be safe this spring and watch out for those blue cars! lol

Thanks for stopping by, and Knit in Good Health!

The Frog Princess

Good morning, Blogger (and blog readers)!!! It has been an interesting couple of days in the frog pond. . .you see, on Thursday I could not find anything that I wanted to bring to knitting. I was losing my motivation to cast on a new project GASP! I mean, I have new yarn just waiting and begging to be knit into sweaters, but I could not start one. . .I thought and I thought, 'til my thinker was plum thunk out, but I finally figured it out.

You see, this knitting princess has made herself several sweaters in the last couple of years. That's good. Furthermore, she has at least three sweaters in her current wardrobe that she loves-beyond-reason. That's also good. Add to that the fact that the princess is particularly proud these days of some recent weight-loss success. Now, that's tremendous! Unfortunately, the sweaters the princess loves-beyond-reason. . .
. . .all knit in yarns she scrimped and saved for. . .well, they are all knit in a size that no longer flatters the princess's figure. . .and she is sad and confused. . .but, she knows what she must do! So, she brought all her sweaters to knit-night, with plans to frog them (rip-it, rip-it, rip-it out!) and reuse the yarns she loves so dearly. "Honestly, how long could it take to rip out three or four sweaters? Surely four hours is plenty of time!," thought the princess. And so she poured herself a cuppa coffee, and took pictures of her three favorite sweaters (the fourth did not photograph, or wear, very well. . .it was not a favorite, but she still liked the yarn). The first, in soft pink Tamaty Tweed cotton, was her very favorite. . .two years old, it had seen lots of wear, and the princess planned to re-knit the same pattern in a smaller size. Seams were carefully, in a painstakingly slow process, cut and ripped back. . .ends were carefully, in a painstakingly slow process, un-tucked so edgings and sweater pieces could be ripped back. . .and the yarn, with accidental cuts and unexpected breaks, was carefully, in a painstakingly slow process, wound into many soft pink balls of various sizes! There was much lost yarn, which might have caused the princess to pause, but since she will be knitting the new sweater in a smaller size (yay!), she is not too nervous! Still, pink fuzz was everywhere, and when all the knitters decided it was time to call it a night, to get home before the start of the winter storm that the weather men had predicted, the princess packed up her pink balls. . .. . .(and three full sweaters, not even touched during the evening) into the knitting bag to go home. True to their word, the weather men provided the predicted storm, and the princess awoke to this (thanking her lucky stars for the handsome Prince with his shovel)!
Even though the princess had plans for the day, she did not live on a lily pad in a warm climate, and so she found herself making new plans from her sofa, plans that did not include venturing into the frozen tundra. . .plans that did include a less-than-favorite green sweater in cotton yarn, now frogged down to this. . .

. . .and while she was at it, why not this favorite shapely tee sweater, in a yarn that called her name from across the crowded yarn shop last summer? After a trip to the frog pond, that sweater, too, is reduced to colorful balls of cotton yarn. . .

The fourth sweater, that coral number up there, has yet to pop into the princess's pond party, but it's days are also numbered. However, for today the Frog Princess is going to take a break from the pond to work on replacing her favorite pink sweater! Here I come, knitting! Don't start without me!

Thanks for stopping by, and Knit in Good Health!

The difference a day makes. . .

Sooo, another winter storm in the land of COLD, gave me this on Monday morning. . .
. . .it totally looks just like a Monday, doesn't it?

True to the gray skies and icy sheath on the world, my Monday was pretty sucky. I don't usually let the weather get me down, and I work really hard to not let crappy circumstances ruin my positive outlook, but I was low on Monday, and I was tired by the time bedtime rolled around. I didn't even knit. I prayed alot, and that helped my attitude. . .and a better attitude helped me to behave a little better. . .and sleep a little better. Even if the only thing that changed is my attitude, I'm good with that. After all, the only person under my control is me.

As if in answer to my prayers, my Tuesday morning looked like this:

All of the issues in my life were still there. All of the difficult people I may have to deal with this week are still there. The stuff that makes life hard was still there, but the outlook was way brighter. Thanks, God! You are good, all the time.

And after all of the sunny, shiny, sparkly goodness that was revealed to me on Tuesday. . .

I feel like knitting today! I worked a little on my fingerless glove pattern this morning, and maybe I will knit something with beads soon. . .I wonder if I can mimic that wintry beauty with beaded knitting? I suppose it's at least worth a try. . .I'll let you know how it goes.

In the meantime, I hope that your skies are blue, your hearts warm, and your dispositions sunny! Thanks for stopping by, and knit in good health!

It was a Marvelous Night. . .and Day!

Last night I stayed at the church to scrapbook with some friends. It's a monthly activity, and it's fun to spread out all your paper and pictures and pages on tables where your good friends will see them and occasionally remark about just how cute your kids (or your family) are! Bonus!: there are no cats at church to "help" with the crafting by batting your stuff out of order, off the table and into the next room! I had a great time, but I ran out of sticky stuff, so I went to Michael's for more. . .it was just past sunset, and the moon was rising, still low on the horizon, bright and full. . .magical! The kind of moon that makes Van Morrison play in your head, and stirs the soul to find love. . .I half thought about heading home and scrapping the scrapping to seek my Sweetie!

I tried to capture the moon with my amazing 8 megapixel camera, the one on my Droid, but I was highly unsuccessful. So I just went back to the church, and I put together 3 2-page layouts for the family album. . .then I went home and went to sleep. . .because that's what you do after 6 hours of scrapbooking, especially if you are a woman in the middle of life, and you are getting home after midnight!

This morning, I tried to recapture that magical moondance feeling. . .but "the night's magic seems to whisper and hush," and morning sounds are often a little more harsh. . .the sounds of hungry kitties chasing one another around the bed, then pouncing with claws and teeth that elicit mews and growls from the partner cat. . .I tried to settle in with some knitting, to still my soul. . .
. . .but even my fingerless mitts were seeming less than magical. You know, on a normal wintry Saturday, I like to spend my day like a cat. Sometimes perched on the sofa, looking for something to happen. . .

. . .sometimes stretched out in the warmth of a sunny window, waiting for something to happen. . .

. . .sometimes snoozing, not really caring if anything happens. . .

But today, the day after the magical moon, 'neath the cover of February skies. . .with Old Man Winter starting to finally melt away. . .

. . .well, today I was itchy to get back to it. Back to the warmth of spring and summer sun. Back to the routine that was a walk every weekend in the park. I am such a baby in the cold weather, and I am soooo ready for winter to be over. Sweetie must have felt it too, because even though today's daytime high temp was scheduled to be 36 degrees F (!), Sweetie suggested a walk in the park. . . I won't lie, I balked at first. Then I bundled up and off we went. . .and look what I found:

Yep! The magic is still out there! Even though the moon isn't out, the sun is making up for it today! It was a cold walk, and I have yet to knit a single stitch so far today, but I feel full of magic and promise. I wonder if the moon will give us another "fantabulous night" tonight?

Either way, tonight I will count my blessings, and look forward to whatever comes next. . .oh, and I think I may knit a bit! Thanks for stopping by, and Knit in Good Health!