Christmas in October

My Christmas Cactus has bloomed! For the second year in a row this sad and neglected specimen has burst forth with a profuse number of fuscia flowers. I guess spending most of the spring and summer in an east facing corner of the deck has its merits.

You would think that being a florist I would have a lovely and thriving garden at home. Not true. Everything stands pretty dried up and withery here. Right now the only thing that gets tending at my house are beads and fiber.

Too Many Stitches on the Needles?

Is it possible to have too many projects going at once? Or should I be asking myself...why don't you ever finish anything?

Four projects are in various stages, although two will most likely be for Stone and Fiber. I am running out of cable needle extensions, so I will have to finish one completely and quit this jumping back and forth nonsense. Well... two can be worked in front of the TV or on road trips, but the lace scarf, usually a lunch hour project and the cabled vest require a lot more paying of attention.

There are currently six fleeces...shhhhhhh...in random conditions in the closet. Only two need scouring. They are all thinking about what they want to be. And then there is the 23 Year Quilt.
I haven't told you about that one? Oh boy. In the fall of 1986 I decided to make a pieced patchwork quilt and sew EVERY STITCH BY HAND in order to feel what it was to be a pioneer woman. I remember shopping for the fabrics with my infant son. The quilt top is finished, pinned and the quilting started...all without a sewing maching as promised. My son was 24 this past July. My pioneer family would have frozen to death.

Rocks Around My House

Anyone that knows me knows I love rocks and stones. Always have. I collect them, bring them home from faraway places and people give them to me as gifts. For years my kids have given me rocks...just because, and I treasure them all. Sometimes I even have one or two in my car.

Maybe I have such a fondness for rocks because I feel that they are as close to the earth as you can get. Rocks have a strong but peaceful energy. They're everywhere and most of us have no idea how old they are.

Last summer I took a day trip to Howe Caverns http://www.howecaverns.com/ in upstate New York. I was truly in rock heaven at 156 feet underground. When I closed my eyes I felt like Mother Earth was giving me a giant hug.

In the Lime Light

Today Stone and Fiber's Lemongrass Knitted Neckwarmer was featured in a treasury that appeared on the front page of Etsy. http://www.etsy.com/ That treasury was curated by an Etsy Treasury Team teammate of mine - Tuckooandmoocow

http://www.etsy.com/shop/tuckooandmoocow and is called Green Tea in the Morning. Check it out here:

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4cc3054b8c1d8eefd4035624/green-tea-in-the-morning

Stuff for me

I spend so much of my free time working on creating for my Etsy shop and promoting it, that I have gotten away from creating for myself. The lace knitting class I took at Rhinebeck was just for me. I purchased a few skeins of creamy white shetland dk weight yarn there and am working it into my first lace project - a winter scarf for me!

I also need to get back up on Ravelry and update my stash and projects. I was pretty bad with the digital camera then and I'm almost afraid to look at the photos I've posted there. Many of my pre-Etsy Stone and Fiber projects will have to be finished and passed on to my daughter, as I was a bit thinner eighteen months ago and yarn will only stretch so far!

Either way I need to find a better balance. I absolutely love having my own business, but the amount of time I need to spend on the laptop is sucking the life out of me. Good thing I don't Tweet and gave up Farmville!

The Last Day

...of my vacation passed too quickly. I did manage to make a few pieces for my Etsy shop and a special order. Two more fleeces were washed and I'm really getting in the mood to start spinning again. Any day now the box of black walnut hulls from my sister's tree should arrive. They should make fabulous chocolate brown dye for my yarn. Now the only obstacle is my day job!

Rhinebeck Fiber Festival

My first post is appropriately fiber related in a big way. The New York Sheep and Wool Festival ran this past weekend in Rhinebeck, New York. I don't think Chelsea was there though, at least I didn't spot her. For those of you that don't know, each year this quaint little artisan town is inundated with spinners, knitters and other needlework aficionados and novices from the tri-state area who lust after hand spun yarns, raw sheep fleeces, handcrafted buttons, gift items and more. For a first time attendee, as I was last year, this whole event is sensory overload to the max.

I must admit that after a few hours of browsing the vibrant colors of each booth started to run together as a blurr. I did however take a class this year, one of the many offered, called Introduction to Lace Knitting. Four hours later, my confidence bolstered, I headed home to make the wonderful fine lace shawls that danced in my head. Yeah right.

The main reason I attend is to run with the bulls, oops I mean to buy fleece at the famous fleece sale. It's like running with the bulls. The raw fleeces in clear plastic bags, entered for sale by anyone who has access to sheep, are laid out on long banquet like tables to be inspected and judged for ribbons. Judging completed, the gates are opened and the fun begins. The quest to find that perfect fleece is on. Ten minutes later, dragging four, yes sir yes sir four bags full I swiped my Visa and was on my way. We won't talk about the three I still have from last year. Well two. One of them is almost spun up completely.

So the remainder of the week, I will be scouring and picking them. I promised myself they would all be finished by the time this vacation is over. We shall see.