Surprise!

Look at this surprise that showed up yesterday...



It is the first of what I hope is many Nasturtium flowers. Yay!!!

Survival of the Fittest

It appears that my herbs and flowers survived the somewhat traumatic transplanting from last month. I'm not really sure how big each type of plant should be right now so I don't know if they are on track or behind schedule. But they aren't dead and that is a victory in itself.



A few of the flowers are struggling, which I expected they might since the package said Nasturtium don't do well with transplanting. One is definitely looking good with strong green vines and bright color while the others tend to fade from green to yellow on occasion. The dahlias are getting taller and the Johnny-Jump-Ups seem to be progressing. Ironically I've forgotten which plants are the forget-me-nots. I'll know when/if the flowers bloom.



The herbs are doing well - from left to right is basil, chives, parsley, thyme, rosemary and lavender. They took some injury during a tremendous downpour a few weeks ago. The water cascaded from the roof of the building directly into the container. I rescued them when I saw what was happening but some damage was done, especially to the basil and chives.



The small pot of basil is looking great. Time will tell just what a mistake it was putting all these plants into one container. Perhaps all I'll need to do is transplant them to more containers. It they do well, there will be an abundance of pesto made this summer.

Completed Project: Ocean Waves Baby Blanket - the last one!

This blanket took waaaay too long to finish. Sure, I was distracted by other projects and life in general...but there's no good reason why this blanket wasn't done by the end of March instead of the middle of May. But now - finally! - it is finished. The baby boy for whom it was made is still shy of 5 months old so I think he'll still get plenty of use out of it.




As always, full details available on Ravelry.

I really love the color combination and prefer the bolder hues to the pastel ones I thought I might use. The border is different form the one in the pattern which made it bigger (finished size is 26" square) and gave it more texture and visual appeal. It's Lion Brand's Baby Soft yarn that is machine washable and dryer friendly - a must for baby blankets I make.

The completion of this blanket also completes an item off my list of crafty resolutions for 2010! Yay!!!

Birthday on the Shore

My wonderful husband took me to St. Michaels over the weekend to celebrate another anniversary of my 29th birthday. The weather was absolutely gorgeous - sunny and warm but not hot and not humid. We took a 90 minute boat cruise on the water where I was able to get a few rounds done on his socks. I was glad to be on the easy part of the sock because the scenery was distractingly beautiful.






After docking, we had lunch at our favorite restaurant in town. This was then followed by a leisurely stroll through town which included a stop at Frivolous Fibers. I had seen a couple of patterns at their booth at MS&W but thought I would rather get it at the store than carry it around at the festival. The patterns are for purses - both knit and both with the option of felting. I decided to buy the handles for both patterns, too.



The handles were a definite splurge since the horse bit looking handle was $30 and the other was about $15. But I loved them both, I knew I could not find them at Joann's, I knew that they would be way more expensive with shipping to buy online, and I was supporting a local business. Not to mention, it was my birthday. (Aren't I great at justifying yarn store purchases?)

I looked at Sean and told him honestly - these bags may not be started until a year or two from now. He just smiled. And then I smiled. And then we both laughed. I so appreciate that he puts up with me and my fiber addiction.

I don't think I posted about this yarn, Knitcol Trends, that I also bought at Frivolous Fibers, though it was from a trip back in March. This should (fingers crossed) be a quick project of a baby hat for one of the babies due in November. If I run out of time to make a blanket, at least the little one will get a warm hat to wear.



We walked around town a bit more, bought some treats for Seamus (who had to stay home since he would not have been allowed on the boat), and got Sean a new hat. It was such a wonderful day but before we knew it, it was time to get back in the car to drive home. The only thing sadder than the trip being over was arriving home to find that one of my DPNs was gone. I guess it liked the boat so much it decided to stay there.

Sheep & Shenanigans 2010

It takes some time to recuperate from a sheep and wool weekend and this year's Sheep and Shenanigans was no exception. In fact, it feels as though I needed more days than ever to get back to real life thanks to the absolutely wonderful weekend I had with my girls. Hence, the story of the weekend is being posted more than a week later.

Instead of giving you the play by play of events (which would be an epic blog post considering al the hilarity and randomness packed into the weekend), I'll share just a few highlights. There was talking and catching up, giggling about boys and cooing over the bebe, lots of feasting and merriment, and a few Wii sporting events. Seamus had a wonderful time and was his usual social and bouncy self. It was a lot for him as this photo will attest. I give you - the tiredest puppy ever - and this was only on Friday afternoon! He was playing with his stuffed animal and promptly fell asleep mid-play.



The festival was wonderful as always. While the weather was beautiful and sunny, the temperature was a bit too warm to handle. We headed to the big barn first, not only to avoid the major crowds but also to avoid the heat. The barn gets hotter as the day goes on, from the lack of air circulation and the ever increasing mass of people. When we got there, it was already crowded but not as bad as I had feared it could be.

Though I didn't have any plans to buy yarn, I did come across a yarn company I had not previously heard of - Miss Babs hand-dyed yarns. And, though I didn't have plans to buy anymore sock yarn given the numerous skeins I have at home, it was beautiful sock yarn that caught my eye. They are sitting in a beautiful Carnival glass bowl I bought recently from Etsy.



Something new that caught my eye this year was a weaving booth, as in basket weaving. I'm sure it has been there previous years; this was just the first year I stopped by to look. I found what I hope will be an easy to weave hair clip. The kit makes two so I have a backup if I mess up the first one.



After the main barn, we made our way to the smaller barns of goodies. After pushing my way through one barn, I had had quite enough and volunteered to watch Bebe's stroller as the other girls walked through the remaining barns. I did get a chance to walk through the sheep barn and take some cute photos. A few are below or you can see them all on Flickr.



It was close to noon when we made our way to the shelter of shade beneath a large tree to eat lunch. It was another great idea this year to bring our own lunches. I find the festival food to be overpriced, not very tasty and for the most part, quite unhealthy. We did treat ourselves to some ice cream, as is tradition, and at only $4 for a dipped cone it was worth the price on a hot May day.

After calling our chariot to retreive us, we made our way through some other lanes and saw other vendors, trying in earnest to find out where Brooks Farm had gone. A number of vendors had moved this year to a larger area which was great for their booths (more space) but a bit frustrating for us (hard to find them). One of the vendors who moved and whom I wanted to see was the artist, Conni Tögel at the Charisma Art Gallery. I bought one of her small prints a couple years ago and it now hangs in the craft room. I was hoping to find another print for the craft room, though it would need to be one that I absolutely loved - not just one that I sorta liked. While flipping through the prints, one caught my eye immediately.



It's called "Beside Still Waters" and I just love it! The colors, the trees, the happy sheep - all of it. I'm going to get it framed and either replace the flowers photo with it or hang it to the right side of the cabinet in the craft room.

When Sean arrived, we climbed into the van, tired and hot but happy and content. And also sunburned - bright red on my arms, chest and ouch! my head where my hair is parted. (Note to self - next year remember sunscreen and big, floppy hat.)

Tradition continued with a viewing of Auntie Mame and a dinner of pierogies. Sadly Perches and Bebe had to miss dinner and a movie. They needed to head home a day earlier than planned which was probably for the best considering the rest of us were up until 3:00 am. Or was it 4:00 am. Whatever it was, it was waaaaay too late because Sunday morning arrived too soon. It was time for breakfast, and lots of it. French toast, homefries, bacon, sausage, eggs, fruit, yogurt - so much of it and so delicious. Food that was great for a hangover as well as keeping us full until dinner time.

After breakfast, there was time to knit, crochet and talk. But alas, the minutes moved so quickly that it was suddenly time to drop off the girls at the train station and airport.

And thus, before I knew what happened, Sheep and Shenanigans was over. A whirlwind of activities and laughter and much needed girlfriend time had come and gone in what felt like hours, not days. But my soul was recharged so there was no sadness, leave for the fact that MS&W 2011 was now a full year away.

Thanks to "C", we've got a notebook in which to chronicle our shenanigans, not only for this year but for years past and those in the future. I'm not sure how next year will top this year, but I have no doubts that it will.

Shenanigans!!!

The Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival is only a week away. Oh, how excited I am! The girls are flying, driving and taking the train to my house for a weekend my husband labeled - Sheep and Shenanigans! He came up with the name last year and we instantly adopted it as the new title of the weekend. In fact, we love it so much that this year, we had t-shirts made.

This weekend will be spent preparing for all the festivities that kick of Thursday of next week. I'll be cleaning, shopping, organizing, and checking my list of things to do about a million times.

This will be my ...holy crap.

This will be my FIFTH sheep and wool festival.

While the last three are on the blog the very first one was chronicled on my former not-exclusively fiber related blog (which has since been taken down but you can see photos here).

Let's take a look down memory lane...

In 2006, it was just me and the Queen and we were MS&W virgins. We had such an excellent time though we were somewhat overwhelmed with it all. I must be honest and share that I still have all the yarn I bought at the festival and only just this year did I finally find what I wanted to make. I'm not sorry I bought the yarn - I'm just sorry it took so long for me to figure out what to do with it.

In 2007, Funky Duck made the trip with the Queen. Another fabulous festival, fun weekend, and some additions to my stash that are still lingering today. Not all, but most. Still - not a bad thing. Maybe by next year I'll know what to do with it.

In 2008, two new additions - The Mistress from California and KMP from Louisiana. The Mistress was building upon skills she learned earlier in the year at Stitches East. But KMP came along just to hang out with the girls. She was not a knitter and had absolutely no desire to learn. NONE. We couldn't coax her. We tried but she resisted. But there was a creative fire brewing that none of us expected.

In 2009, one more addition - Bebe had arrived just a few months earlier. Turns out that KMP's pregnancy helped her find her inner crafty momma. The skills she's learned and the projects she's accomplished over the past two years are astonishing! It was another great weekend with Bebe to coo over in addition to yarn.

Now - it's 2010, and there is an addition for this year as well. Seamus arrived just a few weeks after last year's MS&W. While he has met and adores KMP and Bebe, I don't know if he knows what he's in for when the other girls are here. So it will be me, the Queen, Funky Duck, The Mistress, KMP, Bebe, Seamus and ... my wonderful husband.

Sean is so wonderful to put up with our shenanigans every year. Thank you, honey! I love you! (And I hope you love the new TV that is going up in the bedroom so you have a place to hide should when the shenanigans get out of control next week.)

Green Thumb?

While I did pretty well with the little seedlings, the true test of any presence of a green thumb has begun. On Thursday, I transplanted all the little plants from the indoor seedling planter to the new hanging planters on the balcony. I got it done but it wasn't pretty. There was dirt everywhere as I tried to get the little plants out of the containers. There was also way too many basil plants to put in the planter with the other herbs I'm hoping to grow.

But this is my first time attempting to garden from seedling to full grown plant in a container garden - so I'm giving myself a little slack from my usual need for perfection.

Two things I've learned so far:

1) Don't plant multiple seeds in the little containers. They will grow so you don't need to hedge your bets by planting a bunch.

2) Read the seed packages carefully for how far apart the plants need to be planted. It doesn't matter as much when you have a decent swath of dirt in the ground to work with - but when dealing with containers on a balcony, you can't really keep plants 12 inches apart.

As you may have guessed, I learned these things by doing them.

To illustrate number 1: I have too many little plants of thyme and chives growing in clusters. Not only was I unable to delicately separate them but there also wasn't a lot of room for tons of them in the planter.

To illustrate number 2: The basil seed packet says the little plants should be planted 12" apart. That just isn't possible given that the planters are only 36" or so long. So they are planted into one end of the planter in a cluster - and because I had a bunch of seedlings left over, I planted those in a cluster in a small flower  pot. This was mostly done so I didn't have to throw out any unused plants and also in case the ones in the planter don't make it.

One other thing I learned is that I am not a delicate gardener. There was dirt everywhere as I was transplanting. Though I was trying to be gentle and precise when planting in the containers, the little plants are in more of an abstract pattern than anything logical.

But again - I'm cutting myself some slack with this first time gardening experiment. Even if it doesn't turn out to be the lush container garden I envision in my head, it has been a lot of fun to watch the little seeds grow into green, living plants.

Lovely Things Indeed

One of the items I included on my Year of Lovely Things was already a year in the making. I had purchased some beautiful fabric in February of last year with the intention of making curtains for the craft room. I bought it because there was an incredible sale and I so loved the fabric. I just had to get it lest it disappeared. When I brought it home, I thought it would only be a few weeks until I had new curtains for the room...

Flash forward more than a year...

...to Saturday night. I had finished assembling the companion cabinet for the craft room and was reorganizing and moving about the remaining craft items when I looked at the bolt of fabric propped up against the wall. Suddenly I had the urge to sew. With the new cabinets and the new light fixture, the beautiful fabric transformed into curtains would finish the room.

(I should also mention that part of the motivation came from having played our new Wii console for many hours. I think I needed to balance the high tech, virtual activity with some low tech, tangible product activity.)

It was quite an undertaking as I pulled out the six foot folding table, iron, sewing machine, and sewing box and proceeded to take over a large area of the living room. Sean was ever patient with my sudden and random need on a Saturday night to sew curtains from fabric that had sat untouched for a year. :)

(Another item worth mentioning - instead of making a big mess by starting this project on Saturday evening, I should have been cleaning the house in preparation for my sister-in-law's visit on Sunday. There was no guarantee that I would finish in time and while she may miss seeing the curtains completed, she would probably appreciate a clean bathroom to use.)

I unfurled the fabric, measured (sorta) and cut, ironed and pinned, and then sewed. Saturday night, I finished one panel, but was too tired to try the second. I thought it would be much better to get some rest and see if I could finish in the morning.

With determination and a very strong cup of coffee, the second panel was completed Sunday morning. Next I installed the curtain rod (miraculously, it's level!) and then hung the curtains. They are just two simple panels but the curtains add so much to the feel and look of the room.

I cannot tell you how pleased I am with the final look. But before I show you that photo, let's first take a look at what the room looked like when I moved in:



After unpacking these boxes, we first used it as a formal dining room (and when we sell, we'll bill it as such) but it didn't take long for me to move in a cabinet or two and start keeping my yarn there. Here's the room when it officially became my craft room:



You see the old light fixture and cabinet are there. Some small things were moved and changed but not until the purchase of the new cabinet did it start to really take shape.



And now - here is the finished room:



I am in deep smit with my redecorated craft room. In fact, I had a very hard time convincing myself to go to work this morning instead of staying home and sitting in the papazan to knit and crochet all day.

You can see in the photo that I moved my sheep painting entitled "Happiness" to above the papazan - because when I sit there, in this beautiful room, that is exactly what I feel.

Happiness. :)

Different...but Sorta the Same...

Welcome! Glad you made the switch from the old blog to the new one. (Or if you just stumbled upon the site, welcome to you, too!)

Not that it is really a new blog - it's the same blog, just with a different name, new address and new logo. And the same crazy crafter at the helm.

The reason for the change comes from my pursuit to make my crafting - from designs to handmade goods to contracted crocheting and knitting - into a real business. A very small, unprofitable business to start, but a business nonetheless. While a logo and new blog wasn't specifically outlined, it's still part of my crafty resolutions for 2010.

I should note that in addition to the blog address and name changing, so has my Ravelry name - I'm no longer CrochetCommuter --> I'm now OnHooksandNeedles. My email address will also change - but that may take awhile until it's official. I need to make sure I update a ton of registrations with the new address.

The logo you see had been in my mind for a few years. It is the name of the yarn store I hope to own someday. Until that happens, it will serve well as my online business - for the blog, Ravelry and Etsy. It was created by a friend of mine who took my rudimentary sketch and make a great graphic out of it. Her name is Sarah and if you're looking for a great graphic designer who understands the needs of the fiber fanatics, check out her web site at www.pricedes.com/Price_Design.html. I also need to thank my close friends who provided some excellent and honest feedback of the logo drafts. I love the finished product! What do you think?

I was able to export the posts from the other blog to here which is great - except that none of the shortcuts to previous posts will work. So if you find broken links in past posts - sorry about that. I'm not going to go back and fix them all. The old blog will stay up for a while with a link to the new site. I'll be slowly deleting old posts from it but as mentioned earlier, those posts now reside here.

With the new logo will also come some marketing items which I hope to pass out at the Knit and Crochet show in July. If I can get them made in time, I may also have a few to hand out at the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival.

So stay tuned for more developments and changes. I appreciate greatly those who read the blog, like my patterns, leave comments and otherwise let me know that there is an audience out there that enjoys my ramblings. I hope you like the new blog (or it eventually grows on you). Your comments/suggestions are always welcome.

Cherrs!

Year of Lovely Things Update

More updates on my Year of Lovely Things list:

1) Plant an herb garden

Planted this on March 18th and just two weeks later, look at my little garden!



I've got flowers and herbs in there, such as rosemary, thyme, basil and forget-me-nots. I'm looking forward to picking out some containers for the porch once these little guys are ready for transplanting.

2) Take a road trip

Went to Atlantic City over the weekend for a quick overnight visit. I managed to keep most of my money after playing poker for a few hours. That was quite a feat!

3) Try a new restaurant

Best. Dinner. EVER. We went to Izakaya, the Japanese steakhouse at the Borgata in Atlantic City. It was heavenly - from appetizers to dessert, and some delicious wine selected by a friend, it was hands down the best dinner I've ever had in a restaurant. EVER. Delicious!

I hope your year is moving along at a lovely pace, too.