Sorry...and there was shopping!

Three reasons for the apology:

1) It's been so long since this next installment of my Haliburton adventure!
2) Some of the pictures are posted on their side.
3) I'm Canadian.

So yeah, back to Jan Knits where I picked up the yarn that was actually called for in this Knitty pattern.
Just tilt your head to the right.

And here is some fibre waiting to be spunnnnnn...

Again with the head tilt.

After much debate and a couple (or three) visits to the shop, we came up with this yarn for this sweater designed by Fiona Ellis in the latest Vogue magazine. When I told Jan that I was looking for sock yarn for a sweater she knew exactly which one I was talking about as she too, is looking forward to making it!

Tilting is over now.

Haliburton is home to a number of different artisans and there is a gallery that I always like to visit, where I picked up these gems.

The cup is done by a local potter which is now in my new bathroom...the cup; not the potter. The card is done by fibre artist Jane Selbie. I went to her studio a couple of years ago; it is quite inspiring! Bits of fabric everywhere; no wonder I have trouble letting go of my scraps when I see all the potential that's there! There was another card that I liked that had an old school house on a hill; the different fabrics and textures really appealed to me...and then I saw the sheep. So there you go.

One last bit of Yarn Stash Enhancement.

This year I was lucky enough to be in Haliburton when there was not only the Artisan Fair, but also a quilt show! So, I'm walking around the show (in obscene, stifling heat) admiring some wonderful workmanship...did I mention it was stupid hot? And came upon some yarn, honestly the stuff just jumps out at me sometimes, I recognized the lady, but no sign. Marty's is the local Health Food 'Emporium' in Haliburton; with a yarn shop. I know, those two things go hand in hand in my mind too. Anywho, she had a booth set up with some needlecraft things available to purchase and I found a kit for this purse that she designed. She said that she taught this to her beginner classes and I just thought it was a nice little learning Entrelac project; felting's not a bad thing either...I think I'll line it with some pretty fabric though, you know, because I have difficulty throwing out scraps.

Oh, I also bought a quilt kit for a sewing room wallhanging. Boy it was hot!!

**Update**

I haven't starting knitting any of these purchases. I HAVE, however wound all the skeins into balls. A girl's gotta start somewhere!

Home With A Few Things To Share!

We had some good weather this time around at the cottage that meant lots of beach time, but I still managed to get some time in for the things that I love to do!

Here's the pieces of my Linen Scarf. Technically, the holiday ended on August 8; so last night I did the final 450 stitch three needle bind off, and so it counts as a completed holiday knit. It's blocking now; I'll show you how it all turns out soon.




I did get to try out my Spinolution Bee Travel Wheel with some fun red Fleece Artist. (move the curser to the far right)

(The pedicure has held up pretty well since last post hasn't it?)

This is the B E A U T I F U L yarn that I made.
I spun singles.
I plied it.
I wound it around upside down table legs (my kids were, once again, freaked out with my resourcefulness...I think the name MacGyver was mentioned).
I soaked the yarn in some shampoo I had.
I hung it out to dry on a tree with a wonderful cottage breeze to dry it.

I wound it into a hank and set it upon the driftwood that is on "Driftwood Beach" and took a number of photos (again the children were watching with looks of concern and wonder. HA!!)

I then started on some Sweet Georgia Yarns BFL that I brought...and it was a wonderful thing.

With my one red hank and my one gold single I went back into town to see the lovely lady at JanKnit's Studio in Haliburton to show off my accomplishments.

I'll show you what I may or may not have picked up while in town....I admit nothing...at least not today!

Still here....a random update.

Yeah, still here and I knew I wanted to write something, but wasn't sure what exactly so I looked at some of my most recently loaded photos and came up with this random update:

1) Linen Stitch scarf:

I've been asked to teach this class at Pick Up Sticks and decided to make one of my own. I'm using Dream In Colour from my stash. The pattern calls for Koigu and commented that "any colour combination works well," so I chose 3 'stand alone colours' and as I worked the first pattern repeat, I wasn't too sure that I agreed with the "any combination..." statement.


And then I brought in the pink again! Wow!

It's a very Zen like knit and I'm modifying it a bit as I go (because that's what I do), one tip that I did take to heart was the suggestion to put a marker every 50 stitches to help with the 450 stitch cast on and keep the pattern in check as well. I plan to get it finished while I'm away over the next two weeks and hope to get a picture posted around the second week of August.

2)This is my roomy Jenn. She really is my favourite roomy!

Now, why would a married woman with two kids, a dog, two cats and some fish have a favourite roomy named Jenn? Because we are part of the Red Hot Mamas and when we go for our annual weekend away (hopefully a full week in a few years) she and I share a room and it works out just great. This year, as we enjoyed a quiet, rainy day, she says, "I can knit", picks up my sock and knits! She was a little hesitant because she "didn't want to mess up my knitting", but I was so excited to see her (or any of my 'mama-sista-friends') knit I assured her, 'I can fix anything. It's only knitting.'

I love that I've figured that out!

So she knit until she ran out of needle, because this four needle business is a little intense.

And I was very happy; not only was I happy, I was....

Oh Yeah!

**So, we're off to the cottage for a couple of weeks. I have wine, wool, (yarn and rovings), a spinning wheel, but no whoppers....yet. I'll let you know how everything goes. Keep cool and knit on!**

O.K. Maybe This Time...

I have tried to get a post or two up here before now, but as I've learned the hard way, I guess it wasn't meant to be...

So just to keep things current.

That previously mentioned knitted item is no longer a knitted item; it is officially part of the stash once more. As it turns out, I wouldn't have had enough yarn to finish it anyway; so another time and in another place, with another yarn I may try to knit it again.

And maybe take pictures.

Enough about that.

I used to bake a lot! My husband tells me that's one of the reasons that he married me. (That, and I had furniture.) I've entered fairs and won prizes; I think I may even be more proud of that accomplishment than (well some) of my knitting ribbons. I guess because I can see the competition in the knitting categories, but when it comes to baking...well, we don't get to taste the other entries, now do we?

Anyway, over the past few years it's been hit and miss as to how much energy I wanted to put to work in the kitchen. I used to just "feel like baking" and there would be a batch of cookies, bars or a cake appear, but "I lost that baking feeling" (yes, sing like nobody's listening!) and did what I had to, when I had to, or guilted myself into.

But last week?

BAM!! Betty Crocker was here again!

The other morning I felt like Blueberry muffins. So, I made blueberry muffins (a double batch) AND just because I could, I also made my famous (it's a recipe out of a magazine, but around here it's me that's famous for making them) Date 'n Nut Bran Muffins. Tim Horton's used to have a muffin like this, but they haven't made it for years. Yummy and healthy!

A couple of batches of muffins in the morning? Well, stranger things have happened...

How about a double batch of Brownies the night before???

I love my Brownie recipe. LOVE IT!! I quickly wrapped a bunch of these up to freeze for lunches this week, because the last time I made them...

WHOOOSH!! They were gone.

Back in the day, when I would bake for fun, living alone with nobody to eat this baking, that I did for fun. I would only wish for people to eat my creations and there was a family I would visit whose mom would complain about how people (the kids) ate everything as soon as it was made. I told her I was throwing my stuff out, because there wasn't anybody there to eat it...I'm not sure if she thought about that again, but I know I do whenever the cookie jar's empty...and I don't say a word.

In fact, I still get upset if I have to throw the stuff out!

Now, here's the part that I was trying to post about back in June.

My daughter has taken ballet for many years. Over the past few years we've (the moms and the girls) get together for a lunch or dinner after the ballet exams are finished. It's a pot luck, it's casual, the girls really do work hard to do well and they are all lovely ladies to spend time with-- the moms and the girls.

To reiterate, I like to bake; I bring dessert.

Here's what this years cake looked like:

I love that I get to make a doll cake! The girls all look forward to it now and expect it. My daughter said, they just get better every year.

Wow. A compliment. Wow.

I had each of the girls tell me their favourite colour and then put stars on the skirt for each of them. They used Spanish fans in their exam; so I fashioned fans for them too. The gathers on the skirt were a complete accident, and I love it. I got to spray paint the dress; always wanted to do that! The ribbon, just kind of glitzed it up and hid any boo boos on the bottom and you know what the best part was?I had NO IDEA how I was going to decorate this cake until I started!

I went into Michael's and the Bulk Barn to get some supplies and just grabbed a few things and thought, "I'll figure something out." The white detail at the bodice was inspired by a excess piece of fondant. The fans?! The fans were made out of a round cookie cutter shape cut into four! (Four girls took the exam...well, our four girls) I was kind of stressed about that, and really, it couldn't have been much simpler. We enjoyed the cake and I've already been volunteered for next year! I've made purple dresses two years in a row now (their costumes were purple); I hope we get a different colour next time!

So, we're sitting in about a thousand degree weather and I'm baking and knitting scarves.

I'm soooo Canadian. Cheers!

I Now Know Where To Begin

First, make a point of going to Fabricland to get the plastic table covering to complete the aforementioned (see previous post) project.
And forget to buy the plastic.
Picked up more fabric to (hopefully) someday become a dress, but forget alllll about the plastic.

Second, decide that enough is enough for all this little, portable, sock knitting and get your teeth into something that will actually turn into something substantial and requires a bit of brain power to complete.
Then screw up 4 rows of 400 plus stitches each and prepare to "TINK" all of the stitches because the project is not conducive to ripping back!

Yeah, I know where to begin; go back to where you started and step back 3 steps. Geez! I think I'll go to the garden. (to eat worms yum, yum --- now I'll have that song stuck in my head all day)

Where To Begin?!

First, let me say, once again, June exhausts me.

This fact is compounded this year with the Grade 8 graduation of my son and all the shopping that is required. At least with having my boy graduate first I've got a little warmup for when my little dancer moves on to grade 9! I hear the girls are way over the top with preparation; I just "passed", had a school dance that we actually 'dressed up' for and then went on with our lives. But that was back in the olden days, you know, before Facebook.

Soooo, how did everybody enjoy WWKIP? Thanks to my dear friends who stopped by to help me celebrate and the knitters everywhere who make that day special! Go here to have a look at the fun we had!

O.K. let's get back to crafting and fun stuff like that.

Dear Michelle,

Sorry for taking so long to get back to you, but "life got in the way." Feel free to hum along if you like. In answer to your questions:

1) The contractor that worked on our bedroom (among other renovations we continually seem to have) made the frame and secured the padded piece into it. He came by and we decided on measurements and dimensions and then he went away cut all the pieces of wood, brought the plywood back to me and went on to build the frame. So, as we like to say around here, "You gotta get a guy." I imagine you could work with a premanufactured frame, but just make sure that it's built well enough to take the pressure of the padding.

2) We (royal we) secured it to the wall with 3 normal hangers mounted to the studs!! This is not a 'put the plugs in the drywall' kind of project; really, do those ever work? He also secured the base of the piece using screws into the bottom because the padding made it stick out a bit, and he wasn't happy with how that looked. And that is what you want from your contractor, make it look good, pay attention to details and secure it so that when the hurricanes come the headboard will still be standing.

Here is another option especially if you're starting out and doing it on your own.

This is the headboard in our "old" master bedroom. This was done by a professional apholsterer, but the premise is the same. Pad the wood as I did, they divided it, but it was for a queen bed, and then it's mounted slightly differently. A piece of wood is diagonally cut across the entire length. One piece is secured to the wall, again, in the studs; so that the angle slopes against the wall. The other piece is secured to the headboard with the angle sloping away from the headboard. The pieces are put back together by sliding the headboard angled piece onto the wall mounted piece; thus resting the headboard onto the wall.

I haven't figured out drawing on the computer, but if this makes no sense whatsoever, just leave a comment and I'll try to get some pictures. That's one of the frustrating thing about Blogger, I can only post 5 photos; at least that's all I've ever been able to post. Anybody know any tricks to fix that?

In current news, today is my friend Christine's birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHRIS!!!

Here's a blog birthday card (sort of); it's also a picture of this neat planter I found that came home with me (much to my husband's dismay) when I went plant shopping. The girls at the nursery had no idea what a treasure I was taking home with me! I haven't used it to wind yarn yet, but I'm pretty sure I will...

Still no knitting content, but the following is at least yarn related.

For years, and I mean years, I've had this idea of what to do with yarn labels.

I would attach them to a table and have a yarn labeled table top! Genious, yes?

Yesterday, the weather was perfect, because this truly is an outside job. (Step 1, is of course, getting said table out of the basement to the outside working area.) **I just hit some button that made everything here get smaller!!! Geeezzz!!!***

Anyway, so I glued a bunch of labels to my sturdy table top. This is a challenge in itself, because I was never very good at 'random'; I am so much better at 'symmetrical' or 'balanced', which looking at my life most of the time is totally hilarious! But, I persevered and covered (mostly) the tabletop.

I waited for the glue to dry and then weighted down the labels. Embarrassing as this next photo is, remember the name of this blog is Wine, Wool and Whoppers; please also note that we recycle our bottles and after this project I took the empties back and got a nice little bunch of yarn money.

I anxiously awaited a suitable amount of time for labels to be fully compressed. I say anxiously, because I was really hoping that the glue was infact dry so that the boxes didn't stick to the table or labels didn't stick to boxes; anyway all went well.

I then sprayed Varathane on the tabletop.

This worked better in my head than in real life.

The labels mostly buckled from the moisture of the spray. There was also some colour change, but nothing too drastic. But the smooth tabletop that I was looking for, because, this is my sewing table you see, was not to be. So, obviously, I was meant to come up with an alternate plan.

I don't want to put a glass table top on because I don't think that that would be secure enough for the way I plan to use my table. That plexiglass stuff is too expensive. I'm not ripping the labels off---not an option! I'm going to get some clear plastic table covering from Fabricland, wrap it over the top and secure it underneath (probably get to use my staple gun again!).

I hope to try this again, because, I still think it's a cool idea. I still have a bunch of labels (and plan on adding to the collection). I think I would try a decopage product next time and I don't know? Varathane over that? Is Varathane even necessary?

So many questions; so little time!

Excuse For Not Getting A Lot of Knitting Done # 72

Here's a run through of what kept me from my knitting this past Thursday. (Don't you love a current blog?)
Wednesday I was presented with a piece of plywood that had to be turned into a headboard by Friday because that's when it was being installed.
So, Thursday, after watching my daughter in her Field Events at the Area Track meet, I went to visit the lovely folks at F&K Textiles in Bradford, ON. (There is no website) Whenever I'm tackling an upholstery or drapery issue, that's where I go! They are always happy to take the time to listen and offer advice on how to achieve the look that you're after with professionalism and sincerity. They also have an incredible selection of quilting cottons at very affordable prices and there are many beautiful quilts decorating the walls of the store; all hand made by their mother. I really admire these people, because they outlasted Fabricland, who moved in literally across the street from them and they also came back, stronger than ever, after a fire almost destroyed their whole building!
Back to the headboard.
Step 1: Cut 1" foam to desired size (1/2" within board perimeter) and secure to plywood.
Step 2: Cover with Dacron Batting and secure using a staple gun (almost as much fun as power tools!). Please note the exquisitely executed corner wrap. My mom taught me well.


Step 3: Secure covering, again using a staple gun. (FYI you'll probably have a blister by now; so make sure you have bandaids available).

Step 4: Have installer place frame around padded headboard and mount to wall above bed. Please note, again, the Plaid Silk that I told everybody I was making the headboard out of, turned out to be striped Polyester Taffeta. I still like it.


Stand back, admire, and wait for praises from the masses. Masses that you allow into your bedroom at least.
Probably the best response I've gotten is from my daughter, who came in while I was crawling all over the floor; "It's cool your making it yourself." Brings a tear to my eye I tell you, a tear to my eye.

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Dear Jenni in Edmonton,

Thank-you for dropping by for some Wine, Wool and Whoppers! While I made the comment, offering to sell some Bamboo, tongue in cheek, I thought I should dig out the offending party.

Here is what 3 skeins turned into after trying to wind it into centre pull balls (mistake #1); people should refer to this book before attempting such acts of insanity. The fact that I was partially blind from an eye exam (mistake #2) and that the skeins were too big for my swift (mistake #3) probably had less of an impact that I initially thought.

Yeah, Right!!

Anyway, I'm sorry Jenni, but I still find this yarn and pattern very attractive, I've already swatched for it, it's souvenir yarn from Stitches West 2007, and I think it's learned it's lesson from the time out that it's been on since the whole winding episode. So, (for now) I won't be selling it. Have you looked on Ravelry for other people who may have Bamboo to Trade or Sell? I hope you find what you're looking for.

Yours in Yarn,

Lynn