tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-78934242137513959942024-02-21T01:35:02.260-08:00(Fiber) Joys and (Traveling) FolliesMaryjoOhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12861945604000052572noreply@blogger.comBlogger441125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7893424213751395994.post-16301490949729992592013-01-04T16:34:00.002-08:002013-01-04T16:35:07.172-08:00Moving on ....
Luckily and thankfully I am not actually moving, but I thought I'd better put up a "suspension" notice here! It has been just about a year since I last posted, so I think that means I'm probably "done" LOL -- I just spend too much time elsewhere!
I'm still knitting, hope to get back to some quilting, and trying NOT to travel much.
Happy New Year ... and all the best to all of us!
MaryjoOhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12861945604000052572noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7893424213751395994.post-61896505950688570362012-02-03T08:57:00.000-08:002012-02-03T08:57:14.308-08:00One off, one onPicking up an old WIP this morning -- a cabled scarf in Malabrigo worsted. Yummy soft yarn! I'm maybe 1/2 way through, so want to plow through on this one, with this project as my inspiration! .
I'm proud of myself for my progress on my WIPs, let me tell you :) MaryjoOhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12861945604000052572noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7893424213751395994.post-57029273918011682652012-02-02T19:34:00.000-08:002012-02-02T19:34:44.754-08:00Burning Daylight ... on the needlesI finished my "Magma" shawl -- the Ziggity pattern by Kirsten Kapur from Through the Loops. More yarn "stunningness" from Margaret from French Market Fibers. The red is unbelievable! I'm thrilled, and even more thrilled that I've managed to finish something to add to my "rash" of FOs since mid-December. I'm really "learning" how much fun it is to actually get something MaryjoOhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12861945604000052572noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7893424213751395994.post-66316839857321232122012-01-30T11:25:00.000-08:002012-01-30T11:25:10.958-08:00End of JanuaryI've spent the month destashing -- it is a wonderful feeling just to let go of yarns that you might actually like, but are tired of the color ... or "whatever". Luckily, there seems to be plenty of people who are happy to take some unwanted items, so I take a bag of something to every knitting "sit and knit" group.
I had hoped to finish the Polska mittens, but for some MaryjoOhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12861945604000052572noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7893424213751395994.post-70686933215470167982012-01-23T12:14:00.000-08:002012-01-23T12:16:12.893-08:00Stripe Study ShawlI'm thrilled that Veera Välimäki from 100% Rain is having such success with her knitting designs: my Stripe Study Shawl appears to be the 1,841st of the finished ones on Ravelry :) She has many other shawl designs, and we are all waiting for a February release of another one.
My Stripe Study (and there will be more) was knit in Malabrigo Sock yarn in Turner/Candombe MaryjoOhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12861945604000052572noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7893424213751395994.post-18954409366348407542012-01-19T19:10:00.000-08:002012-01-19T19:10:16.745-08:00More "new" knitting video podcastsI'm finding and listening to more "new to me" knitting video podcasts:
Knit1hearttoo
Craft Stash
Knitting in CirclesMaryjoOhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12861945604000052572noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7893424213751395994.post-37524633838287810552012-01-19T18:09:00.000-08:002012-01-19T18:09:15.057-08:00Rain, snow, and WIPsIt is FINALLY raining here in the Central Valley (late afternoon today) and snowing in the Sierra ... whew! It has been heartbreaking for the ski industry and "satellite" businesses connected with snow, but the cattle also need rain for grass .... it will be interesting to see how much "dump" we get AND hopefully we will get more. The weather news was all anyone out and about has beenMaryjoOhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12861945604000052572noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7893424213751395994.post-4945864497315039682012-01-15T17:50:00.000-08:002012-01-15T17:50:04.411-08:00WeekendingI"m going to try to get my SpillyJane "Polska" WIP mittens done by the end of the month -- I'm finding KALs etc a good push to really get stuff off the needles (well, so far anyway for 2012 LOL) I worked on the mittens at my LYS sit and knit yesterday, and am hoping to get the first mitten finished tonight (photo tomorrow, I hope)
I'm working on a "Stripe Study" shawl by Veera -- MaryjoOhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12861945604000052572noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7893424213751395994.post-70693274147692048552012-01-12T15:08:00.000-08:002012-01-12T15:08:02.049-08:00Soft Yarn, Soft CowlMargaret from French Market Fibers gifted me a 383 yard "test" skein of MCN (merino, cashmere & nylon -- I had to look that up myself once) and it has been made up into a lusciously soft cowl.
the pattern is
Variance, by Lisa Mutch of Northbound Knitting
The yarn is quite soft; I was slightly surprised :) and then realized I usually knit with much tighter twist yarn that MaryjoOhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12861945604000052572noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7893424213751395994.post-10416782782203404002012-01-07T13:37:00.000-08:002012-01-07T13:37:22.729-08:00FO: Jellyfish Scarf aka "Inky"I've had the most fun with this pattern! I'm actually usually squeamish around these sorts of creatures, but know I'm going to really enjoy wearing this scarf from Sarah Peterson in the Interweave Knits Accessories 2011 issue.
So: here is the Jellyfish Scarf. Details are on my Ravelry project page.
And now I must put the knitting away for a while. We are MaryjoOhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12861945604000052572noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7893424213751395994.post-8335326246065348942012-01-06T17:30:00.000-08:002012-01-06T17:33:03.468-08:00Stash: future Van DoesburgI need to take frequent breaks from the jellyfish shawl (see post below) so of course I'm always poking around on Ravely or someone's blog.
I realized a couple of days ago that while up here in the mountains I have worn my
Aestlight Shawl from The Shetland Trader practically non-stop. I also have one skein of The Sanguine Gryphon Little Traveller left in my stash, so I'm MaryjoOhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12861945604000052572noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7893424213751395994.post-41126868375209175252012-01-06T16:11:00.000-08:002012-01-06T16:11:16.804-08:002012 and getting organized, in the best ways we canThanks to a link on the aplayfullday podcast blog, Tami at Tami's Amis and other creations has a nice little plug for WIP Wednesdays and FO Fridays .. we all think about these from time to time, but this is a nice way to put a little more structure into all our goals
.... which seem to be everywhere in the knitting world: WORK ON THE STASH. (ps. good luck!) I MaryjoOhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12861945604000052572noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7893424213751395994.post-29053596655090882612012-01-05T08:28:00.000-08:002012-01-06T11:59:02.157-08:002012 .... moving forward!I had actually thought I would put the blog on hiatus, but have reconsidered! I've played around with putting knitting items I like up on Posterous, on tumblr .... there are just too many places and I just need to get organized LOL. I also try not to get on Pinterest too often -- I can spend an entire day there!
SO. I do have a few knitting goals for 2012: work on MaryjoOhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12861945604000052572noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7893424213751395994.post-30098746949017422182011-12-24T11:50:00.000-08:002011-12-24T11:50:50.291-08:00Holi-days, December 2011I hadn't realized that hubby had linked my blog to our annual Christmas e-letter -- so if you have found me from there .....
Happy Holidays! Still no snow for skiing in the Sierra. Last year there was TOO much snow; this year ... well, maybe by New Year's?
In the meantime, I'll going to eventually stop eating Christmas goodies and try and get some knitting in LOL MaryjoOhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12861945604000052572noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7893424213751395994.post-54962339317069898142011-12-07T16:35:00.000-08:002011-12-07T16:35:35.126-08:00Baking along .....So much for posting every day!
But this week I've been doing lots of baking, so I thought I'd post my/our favorite family recipes for cookies and candy. Each recipe is doubled or tripled, so there has been lots of mess, flour and butter and ... listening to great Xmas music. Let's just say there haven't been fancy dinners though!
Peppermint Crunch Bark (All time MaryjoOhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12861945604000052572noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7893424213751395994.post-46610226624441132822011-12-01T09:25:00.000-08:002011-12-01T09:25:08.498-08:00December 1st .... hopefulDid you know there is a Yule Goat? I like to think the "bag" below is full of knitting yarn for knitters around the world :)
All "holiday celebrations" aside, I'm almost stunned to realize today is December 1st.
We've had a busy and complicated year, and I don't want to count the combined times hubby (mostly hubby) and I have packed and unpacked suitcases during the year.
I'm hoping for a MaryjoOhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12861945604000052572noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7893424213751395994.post-34506686032032730072011-11-10T09:54:00.000-08:002011-11-10T13:44:26.191-08:00Glorious FallWe're back in the US - both the husband and myself! Kazakhstan this summer was wonderful to return to, and oh-so-bitter sweet to leave again. After returning in late September, we both sort of got over jet lag, and then hubby was off again to Geneva for a few weeks.
We met up last week in Virginia for a family wedding, and have just returned. We had hoped to go up to the MaryjoOhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12861945604000052572noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7893424213751395994.post-27368335533445903372011-08-31T21:24:00.000-07:002011-08-31T21:24:03.016-07:00First Day of SchoolWe are still in Kazakhstan, and it is the first day of school. That means, like almost every place else in the world, summer comes to an end and we all get back to some sort of schedule or rhythm. It also means we have about 3.5 weeks left here, and then we'll be back home! Yay!
Today I'm going shopping to get a few things that are hard to find in the US -- you know. like my MaryjoOhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12861945604000052572noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7893424213751395994.post-30851603238564547302011-08-19T21:16:00.000-07:002011-08-19T21:16:55.215-07:0010,000 Hours knitting projectI "belong" to a lot of groups on Ravelry, mostly to gleam information from generous knitters who have already knit a project that I current am doing or plan to do. Periodically I go through my group list and "leave the group" if I really haven't checked it for a while.
This morning, on the Art Knitters group I found a link to a 10,000 Hours project. Laura I. is taking the premise of it "MaryjoOhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12861945604000052572noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7893424213751395994.post-10680670873467658542011-08-17T22:43:00.000-07:002011-08-17T22:50:18.968-07:00Social Media and RavelryI joined the Google+ group on Ravelry as soon as I joined up with Google+, but honestly haven't had a chance to look at the threads. I peek at Google+ as often as I can, but have had more time in the last few days. I now see I've "missed" a Google+Rav KAL ... but it's making me go and read the threads on the group ...
which is GREAT because I've discovered there is a database now forMaryjoOhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12861945604000052572noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7893424213751395994.post-42835442600920575712011-07-12T04:09:00.000-07:002011-07-12T06:50:15.232-07:00Textiles and more, in AstanaHubby took me to the National Academic Library recently to remind me about the yurt/tent bands hanging from the 2nd floor ceiling - they are glorious. Amazon.com has a booklet that may or may not be available; my copy is at home.
If you have nothing else to do this summer and want to put up a yurt in your back yard, here is one of many suggestions from the world wide web LOL
We also wentMaryjoOhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12861945604000052572noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7893424213751395994.post-44318154898081204632011-07-12T03:11:00.000-07:002011-07-12T06:55:16.180-07:00Anyone knitting?Knitting wise, there is not much to report as I seem to be, as usual, working on a ton of things at once. I think I have 3 pairs of socks that just need to get "length compared" and then get the toes done. I've spent part of this morning tidying up my "stash" that I have here and photographing some (ahem) new items for my Ravelry stash page.
I have two garter stitch shawls going (MaryjoOhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12861945604000052572noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7893424213751395994.post-21676832160601206682011-07-12T01:00:00.000-07:002011-07-12T06:57:58.605-07:00How much is too much? But always having fun!I have to laugh: I joined up with Google+ this morning. It will be interesting to see how/if the knitting community develops over there. "We" already have our own site - www.ravelry.com that is actually getting attention in non-knitting parts of the media. Slate.com had a GREAT article about Ravelry this week. There are a huge number of knitters, fiber artists, and MaryjoOhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12861945604000052572noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7893424213751395994.post-63376052472541486512011-06-22T06:10:00.000-07:002011-06-22T06:10:44.240-07:00Flower Bed CALI think I'm pushing my limit on how much time I can spend on the internet trolling, but once you start .... links and more links.
I've found (and joined) a fabulous site
that is dedicated to making crocheted flowers -- mostly the Japanese garden flower which I posted about below. The posts/results of people's work are fabulous -- I've spent most of the day going through the site postMaryjoOhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12861945604000052572noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7893424213751395994.post-42000149156586761592011-06-20T03:24:00.000-07:002011-06-20T03:26:29.969-07:00Sunday internet trolling and my eye candy project of the momentI spent a lot of time yesterday trolling on Pinterest (I'm MaryjoOrd there) and then wandered around Ravelry, looking at my latest "have to do" eye candy project by attic24 - her Japanese flower scarf. I don't want to commandeer her photos here, so go to her link.
THEN I discovered there is a Rav group of followers of her projects
and I just couldn't get enough. &MaryjoOhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12861945604000052572noreply@blogger.com1