in the spirit of the sharing season....

i am sharing this info with you all. even thought i really really want to win, if it can't be me, i would want it to go to one of you, my dear friends. so - click over to Knit Purl Gurl and sign up to win a fabulous Namaste knitting bag. i have coveted one of these bags for a long time. could anything be more decadent than a beautiful leather knitting bag? in my humble opinion, coach & dooney have nothing on these lovelies. let me know if you win!

boy, am i ever thankful...

that i finished these babies. even more, i am thankful that they are the RIGHT SIZE!!!!! yes, they fit, and they are finished! and what about this yarn folks??? if it was food, i know it would rock the calorie scales. i think i gained weight just knitting with it. it is a noro yarn, i have always wanted to try a noro yarn, but felt i needed to reach a certain level of, i don't know, knittingness i guess. the knitting god was with me, because it all sure came together in these mittens.

even chuck loves these mittens. look at him rubbing his hands together, the little stinker

have a wonderful, happy thanksgiving everyone!

it's winter!

we have our first snow! folks around here are either tickled and jolly about, or grinchy mcgrinches. surprisingly, i'm one of the tickled ones. i've always believed if it's going to be cold, we might as well have snow. cullan and i hauled all our snowboarding gear down from the attic yesterday. in this season of being thankful, i am very very thankful i still fit in my snowboarding pants. for now.

my boot camp son got a 10 minute phone call a few days ago. he says he has never been so hot in his life. they get 4 minutes to eat their meals. he and his wing man are the best bedmakers in their flight. and the whole flight has to do push ups if someone leaves the toilet seats down. for pete's sake, does the air force have any idea how much time mother's spend ranting at their boys for leaving them UP???

i'm still working on bella mittens #2, forcing myself to knit loose.... i'm using a nice fat Noro yarn and the colors are too wonderful.

and i just finished my annual volunteer project, a raffle quilt for the Kodiak Kingfishers Swim Team. the team has been a big part of our family since devon started swimming in the 3rd grade, and even though i don't have a swimmer right now, i feel it's important to support such a great organization for our kids. i hope it goes to a nice home, and makes some travel money for the team too.

oh rats.

i really want to be able to knit. i have been trying hard the past year or so. i've bought a lot of books that assure me i can do it. i've collected some beautiful needles in many sizes. and lord knows purchasing yarn is not what is holding me back, i have lots. thick soft fat stuff, slinky slidey lacy stuff, boy can i buy yarn. i've managed a few hats, some scarves, one pair of socks that look like they were purchased at a store in Who-ville. when i get to a place in a pattern i don't understand, i just make something up. so far, it has worked okay for me. now, my mom can knit like a goddess. i swear she could knit wings for the angels. i didn't get the knitting gene from her. and when she tried to impart her knowledge to me, it's like a door slams in my face. i just can't follow her. so, i signed up for a mitten class. chris told me i just had to be able to cast on, knit & purl. i can do those 3 things. they were cabled mittens, and she was going to show us how to knit two at a time on circular needles. perfect. it was a fun group of ladies, kindof varied in skill levels, and everyone has been helping each other along. i've learned that i can't knit and talk at the same time. even listening to other people talk while i knit can lead to heinous errors. but, i've managed to keep up class by class, with some interesting detours from the pattern, which wonderful chris helps me remedy as needed. finally, tuesday night, i finished the thumbs, wove in the ends, and there they were, finished & in my eye, beautiful. only one problem.

they are too small.

happy halloween!!

halloween is my very favorite holiday. i am so sad that for the first time in 21 years, i didn't have a costume to sew, no tulle, no aluminum foil, no cardboard, no feathers. luckily i have a friend with 3 wonderful little girls whom i adore, so i've spent the morning making them treat baskets out of peat cups. that left me feeling a little better.

i felt a LOT better after i walked down to get the mail and .....this was in my box....

wow! i was the lucky winner of linda's altered cabinet card. linda hosts great swaps at A Swap for all Seasons. she sent me a package full of halloween goodies: a ghost stamp, a tiny little broom that probably gets great mileage, little spiders, pumpkins and bats, and this over the top necklace made on a domino - i love it all, thanks linda! (i am such a poor photographer..)

trick or treating on kodiak is not always a treat. for many years we trudged through rain storms, slush, and snowy blizzards to bring our kids trick or treating. our poor kids never once got to go outside just wearing their wonderful costumes it took days and weeks to make, they always had to be buried in snowsuits or rain gear. it wasn't until my daughter was at college in oregon her first year that she realized fall was an actual season that didn't include snow or ice, and she called to let me know she felt cheated thinking back on all those trick or treat nights that no one knew she was a fairy ice princess. i told her there were hundreds of children down there who have never gotten to pull their own king crab pots. she quieted down a little after that. but she has a point. at any rate, we are having a sunny dry halloween right now, and boy are the local kids ever out in full force. good for them! and happy halloween to all of you, hope yours is also dry and sunny!

words of wisdom...

i've been working the last couple of sunny but freezing (i mean it~ice on the lakes, cold air coming in all the cracks kind of cold) days on some ATC's for a show my friend liz is hosting at her gallery. it's entitled "words of wisdom." when she put out the call we all went and picked up a sheet with a vintage vocabulary flash card attached to it. my word was facetious. i was thrilled. i have no problem being "facetious." the problem came with trying to visualize the word on a 2.5 x 3.5" card. i've spent days pondering ideas, and finally settled on these two. all of us participants have been saying the same things to each other ..."oh man, i wish i had your word..." i can't wait to see what everyone else has done. wouldn't this be a great art/english project for a teacher to do in class?
i'd like to give credit to debrina of land of enchantment for the marie image and karen the graphics fairy for the pierrot photo and sheet music image (what a title for a song, huh? cracked me up)
i've also made several more necklaces, have started on some sea glass charm bracelets, and am gearing up to head back to mermaid shadow box land for the holidays. and i have a group of silk velvet scarves to get in the dye baths. sure wish the two remaining members of my family didn't expect dinner every night...

oh this is so sad

saturday night was the last dinner my son devon will have with us for some time, as he left for Lackland Air Force base in San Antonio Texas sunday morning. he wanted kraft macaroni & cheese and hot dogs. it was tough, but i pulled it off. we did a lot of remembering over that dinner. like how he used to always choke on his hot dogs. set fire to things inside the house. tinkle in his sisters' dollhouse in the night. the next morning we brought him to the airport and had to say goodbye, without knowing exactly when we would see or hear from him again... he was allowed to take only a backpack. and gosh he looked just like he did on his first day of kindergarten. now there's only 3 plates on the dinner table.

on the bright side, it only took his younger brother cullan 25 minutes to complete the move from his old room into devon's...

if any of you out there are in texas, maybe you could keep your eye out for devon. sure hope the heat doesn't evaporate the poor alaskan boy.

beach jewels...

there isn't a windowsill or flat surface in my house that hasn't collected a few pieces of sea glass. who can walk on the beach and not pick these beauties up? not me. if our house falls off its' foundation, i know it will be from the tons of jewels i have been collecting. i finally decided it was time to share them, and am working on perfecting my drilling and wirework. i do love the feel of my dremel tool in my hand. we'll see where this takes me...

yessss!

hot dog, look up there everyone! at my new header! it has taken me so many frustrated hours trying to figure out how to get a nice banner up there, using a font i liked...i have shed tears over this, and felt all the worse knowing it could be done, because everyone else is able to....if i had champagne handy, this would be a mimosa moment. a very heartfelt thanks to karen, the graphics fairy, who shares such beautiful images with everyone.

is there anything more wonderful than a package in the mail?

i've spent all morning with my pile of mail. i'm probably the only person ever who even loves her junk mail. i read it all. but i always save the best for last, and boy howdy, did i get some great stuff. earlier this summer i joined the Good Ol' Summertime Mini Quilt Swap. i finished mine up and sent it off before i left in august. how fun to get home and open up this....

what an awesome piece! i am so lucky to have been the talented doris' swap partner! my quilt was made by doris from threads of conversation and i love it. she does beautiful work, the colours and curved piecing are fabulous. thanks so much doris!

i saved my last package for last because i knew what would be in it, and i love prolonging the excitement. halloween is my very favorite holiday, so when sarah (gypsy mermaid) announced a vintage halloween tag swap i didn't think twice. she is a great swap coordinator, and did something really fun with this one - each of us made 13 tags and mailed them to her, then she collected them all, and assembled them into books for each of us. after opening up my box and looking at each incredible tag, i am so amazed at how much art can be fit on such a small surface. each tag was so different, and so wonderful. my photo doesn't do justice to them at all, and i can't wait to visit everyone's blogs to see more of their work. look at these great treasures!!

i love them all. i can't wait to haul out all my halloween stuff now. thanks sarah, for putting these together for us!