Summer work...

I want to thank so many of you who called, texted, messaged, emailed me and commented on my last blog post! Thank you, thank you for your many offers of help. It is very heartening to know I have friends out there in the wide world.

I have been feeling exponentially better each of the past three days. I was so thankful (thank you, praying buddies!), because it meant I was able to go to the Detroit airport to see my little, baby girl off on her three week trip to Australia.

Neither of us is looking too great, but such is life.

She is journeying there with People to People in a group of 41 middle schoolers. By the end of today, she will have cuddled a koala. Sigh.

But, work has not waited for me. In the past few weeks, I have done the final edits for Michigander Mittens, my contribution to the Midwest Knits! book, put out by Sweatshop of Love's Allyson Dykhuizen and Carina Spencer. Estimated time it is on the shelves is mid-August. It's available for preorder via the link above.

I also am excited to be finalizing plans to teach at the American Swedish Institute this October and give a talk to the Minneapolis Knitting Guild during the same visit. More details to follow. 

In the meantime, I'm going to enjoy this amazingly cool weather we're having for July 1. Happy Canada Day, Canadian friends!

Summer Sickness

Five weeks ago we had a major event in the family, and at the same time I got sick with a whopper of a cold. It lengthened and elongated, and now, for two weeks I have been stuck in bed.

For some (hint: my teenage son) this would be a dream come true: lie in bed and read books. I got over the novelty of it in the first day. I can't do house work; I can't do work work; I can't even knit.

So many people say, "If you don't have your health, you don't have anything." I can say with authority, that that isn't true. In health or in sickness, I am still in God's hand. At times, when I feel worried or frustrated, I have been reminded of all of God's blessings in my life: a house, a wonderful husband, a family, and a content soul. Like Corrie Ten Boom, who wrote the Hiding Place, I'm even trying to be thankful for the things I don't understand. For Corrie it was lice. For me, it's a dog.

What are your biggest blessings?

Adventures in Knitting

Last Tuesday, I had a great time speaking to a group of Knitting Off Broadway knitters at the Scotty's Brewhouse in Fort Wayne, Indiana. It was good food, good conversation, beautiful works-in-progress, and a fun time during dessert when I presented on my two projects in the current Knitting Traditions magazine.

The Knitting Off Broadway gang at Scotty's Brewhouse, May 2015

Despite backing up as much as I could and standing on a stool, this was the best shot I could get. Hannah is wearing the Jeanne Baret cap I made, and, actually, made a cute model for the sweater and hat combo. Here is Hannah wearing both. The hat is reversible and here she is wearing the other side facing out:

I was able to share some of my research and talk through the life and times of adventurers Jeanne Baret, first (known) woman to circumnavigate the globe, and Prince Roland Bonaparte and his photographic expedition to the Sámi peoples in the late 1800s. Both these knitted pieces are inspired by their exploration.

This week is the last week of school for my three kiddos. The last hurrah for them AND me. This week, I cram in all the work I hope to accomplish for the next two and a half months. This week's plans, this includes charting and writing five patterns for an Interweave ebook, and submitting several more submissions to print and web magazines. I better get cracking! 

When I resurface, I'll be teaching at the Michigan Fiber Festival in Allegan, Michigan August 14 & 15. Come join me for my Skolt Sámi Motifs class, Irish Crochet Motifs or Kautokeino Sámi mittens!

Busy Spring

The last two weeks have been heavenly, and largely found me out in the garden. Chris and I finally landscaped the yard last fall with bushes and trees, and this spring I have been adding lots of perennials: shasta daisies, valerian, brown-eyed susans, and sedum. The list goes on.

singles in Sweet Georgia

I also have had a bit of a spinning kick. A couple weeks ago I finished a lovely three ply of some Blue-faced Leicester. Then, I dove in my roving stash and nabbed up 100g of a Sweet Georgia brand 75% bfl / 25% tussah silk. I spun and I spun and I spun. Overall, I was pleased with the singles I am able to produce. I filled two spools half way and then double plied a very pleasing light fingering weight yarn. If I calculated correctly, I have 512 yards of this. Now, I have to find the perfect shawlette pattern.

finished, washed yarn. Unfortunately, the color bled quite a bit!

I have been working on a pair of Sámi mittens for the Nov/Dec edition of PieceWork. I am almost done, and they are lovely! Other self-publications have gotten bogged down at the various stages. Maybe I can finish those up before the kids are home for summer.