mid september update

thanks for another wonderful birthday everyone.  friday at the shop some of the girls surprised me with a cake and gifts and i spent saturday morning at country market being totally spoiled!  (i'll get back to low carbs soon!)  you all made my day super special and i realize how very lucky i am to be blessed with such beautiful friends in my life.  this year, since i turned 59 and this is officially the beginning of my 60th year, i am going to take a photo a week so that on my next birthday (the BIG one) i will have a 'flip book' of my 60th year.  i tried to do this a few years ago but at that time was trying to take a picture a day.  bad idea - no one wants to look at 365 pictures, but i think 52 is doable.  so for those of you who constantly have new grand-baby pictures, its pay back time!

WHAT'S NEW?

with fall officially arriving in a few days, i recently received some leather leaves beautifully crafted from homestead heirlooms, maker of high-quality leather handles.  multi-colored oak leaves and bright green pumpkin leaves are  perfect embellishments for a fall purse or a felted pumpkin.  i have some which have been fashioned into pins for a coat or sweater as well. 

what else is new?  custom peg looms made by pat kintigh.  these looms are very versatile.  you can weave rugs, placemats, table runners, and even scarves.

  pat makes these looms in various sizes.  the loom pictured is 36" but they are available in 12" and 24".  this is a great way to weave a project without the expense of a table or floor loom.

i've said it before but now is really the time to start working on christmas gifts!  someone mentioned that there are only 14 weeks left - i dont know who spends their time counting but it will be here soon so better get started.

birthdays:  birthday greetings to jana kula on the 26th, dottie westerveld o the 29th and linda sue on the 30th.  and belated greetings to sherry on 9/7 (sorry baby cakes!).  

dates to remember:

wed, sept 18 close knit girls - panera murrysville 6-8

tuesday sept 24 1-7 KA

thursday, sept 26 noon purlin girls at the bean

saturdays, sept 21 and 28 craftique fiber art group 9-12

shop open every friday from 10-6

upcoming classes:* 

thursday, october 17 

dottie westerveld returns to teach a beaded pendant class with branch fringe.

 

wednesdays, october 9 and 23rd

wet felted bowl class**

*see website for complete details, which will be posted within the week.  advance registration is required, as class size is limited.  

**option to have a daytime and evening class

where's raggz?  

ligonier country market every saturday from 8 to noon through october 5

flax scutching was a lot of fun last weekend.  the weather was beautiful and although i was only a vendor on sunday, it was so enjoyable listening to great music, including cathy rhoades who imitates patsy cline and enjoying the sounds of the hit and miss engines.  got to see a lot of old faces there as well.   

i recently completed two computer classes on dying silks and hand weaving the silk or turning it into hand-made knitting materials. i hand wove a small scarf out of the silk and also knitted one as well.  these photos show what i have made out of them so far.  the photo on the right has the silk being knitted along with yarn while the photo on the left is all silk fabrics.

 toodles!

september 1 2013

august came in like a lamb and went out like a squirrel!  three baby squirrels came into my life, one right after the other...  it was like having a baby again waking up for middle of the night feedings. i was thrilled that paula's mother and dad got to see them here at the shop.  we have about six playful squirrels in our yard who amuse us on a regular basis and i had JUST made the comment that i had never seen a baby squirrel.....  so watch what you say! although one little guy died, the other two have gone to the animal refuge in youngwood so i am hoping if they survive, they can be brought back to my yard for release.  it was a fun learning experience indeed.

september is one of my favorite months of the year - not just because its my birthday month but it means that soon fall will be here and then my favorite season - winter!  i have never been a fan of hot, humid weather and september gently reminds me that it will all be over soon and the beautiful colors will soon be appearing on the trees.  i feel blessed to be another year older and another year happier. 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY WISHES go to donna on 9/6, beth gray 9/10, and ali mock 9/13.  have a great birthday month girls!

donna's one year anniversary for her cancer diagnosis was august 21 and to celebrate her beating the odds, we had a party for her at the shop last friday.  we coupled it with shirley taylor's birthday and a great time was had by all. 

 



NEW STUFF IN THE SALE BINS ON THE PORCH at long last.  i've been so busy with wet felting, i hadnt really been going through yarn stash, but i'm back to de-stashing again, so come on out and start digging!

WHAT'S NEW???

pagewood farms garden party and gossamer yarns.  garden party is a delicious thick/thin yarn with larger, three-dimensional flowers; and gossamer is silk chiffon ribbon with flowers needle felted here and there.  both will make a really special project. 

                                




i did a woven scarf with garden party:

august 25th was a fun day for me.  i got to meet laurie ball-gisch, owner of the lavender fleece farm in midland michigan.  i made a trip to ohio because she was making a trip to ohio to pick up some leicester longwool sheep.  since this saved me a few hrs of driving, i met her there and purchased some of her icelandic fleece and a rug she had hand woven for me out of the leicester longwool.  i also purchased some of her lavender products made on her farm.  such a nice lady and i will be heading to her farm next year to purchase icelandic and leicester longwool lambs and i will have my own flock of beautiful sheep.

                     

 ALSO on august 25, for those of you who dont already know, i got to meet my half brother, rich.  i only found out i had a half brother and half sister (who lives in nebraska) two years ago, shortly before my mom died.  he lives near where we met laurie so the day was double delicious!  here we are!  

dotty's bead class held on august 29 here at the shop was fun and informative. we learned how to make a spiral rope and we all had much success.  classes like this not only teach us something new but we realize we can apply the priciples to other crafts, such as making a purse handle out of larger beads with this same method.  dotty will be teaching a beaded pendant class with branch fringe in october.

dates to remember:
monday, 9/9 fiber art meet up group at panera greensburg at 2*
tuesday, 9/10 Knitters Anonymous at the shop* 1-7
thursday 9/12 Purlin Girls at monte's 12:30 (rsvp to monte please)
saturday and sunday 9/14 and 9/15 flax scutching stahlstown
*these events are open to everyone

WHERE'S RAGGZ?

ligonier country market every saturday from 8 to noon
september 14 greensburg art center - 'different dimensions' show art opening from 6 to 8 (all three of my items juried into the show... woohoo)  my first art show ever!

mileage contest ends!

well the drama is over.... drumroll.....  the mileage contest was won by none other than..... purse guru KIM MCGUIRE!!!  kim is the lucky winner of a skein of her choice from either pagewood farms, imperial yarns, or mountain meadow.  she guessed 6,527 miles.  see the odometer photo below for the actual miles from my july excursion:

and last of the photos - i promise!  remember the five kittens i had at the shop in july?  well, here are the two i have left.  they are so cuddly and adorable.  dont have names for them yet but am open to suggestions.

happy knitting and felting!  hope you got to see the andy warhol knit the bridge project, as it will be dismantled this week some time.