back to black

The big boys took off and life is (kinda) back to normal.

Yarn is everywhere.

I like it this way.

I have been making scarves for the Hip Stitch Craftshow this coming Saturday, they seem to be popular, I certainly think they are cool. - Gotta make stuff that you dig yourself, right?!

This one is my favorite:

I don't like black, and I hardly ever wear it. However, this scarf is different, because one of the yarns comes with a story.

The black yarn with the colorful fringes, has a history of being in my stash for almost 10 years.

I bought it with my dear friend Ulrike in the yarn store in Bethesda. I so remember us digging in the sales bins and coming up with just two balls of this fringy stuff in two colorways. One, the not-black-at-all one, I used years ago in Fiona's poncho, outgrown by now.

Please note the glow-in-the-dark homemade buttons!

Sweet memories!

I have yet to show you a special edition of my zippered pouches, finished a few days ago. - I made this for my apple gadget loving boy:

Cool japanese cotton-linen blend fabric, vintage polished zipper, lined with thick camou fleece.

All set.

ciao

The brother and friend were in and out in three days.

You could not imagine them any more content, when they finally took off.

Facial expression definitely matching the cat, who swallowed the canary.

My wish: may their trip be everything they dreamed of!

no peeking

Thanks for all your kind compliments, yes, the studio tour went very well!

It really got me in the groove and so I'm just keeping it coming, reducing the PC time in favor of my sewing machine and the knitting needles.

The zippered pouches really got me these days with their endless possible fabric combinations.

I enjoy going through my fabric stash, combining themed designs with colorful patterns, choosing flannel or vintage velvet for the lining and digging in the stash of vintage ribbons for the little tag loops.

The Olivia pencil pouch would be my favorite kid themed one. That fabric is just too nice in its blue and off-white simplicity.

Here blues on the back and flannel peace with an orange bang on the inside.


Now this one... what can I say...
It is one of my alltime favorite fabrics!

I love the combination with a rather conventional, traditionally pretty design - makes for a pleasant surprise when you flip it over!

The birthday of a very good friend of mine is coming up. Since she is a hardcore zippered pouch user, I knew what I had to make once I got my hands on this fabric:

I've named it the "girlfriend pouch" --- or "ants in my pants", since the back features tiny ants zooming around on those pretty blue swirls.

The beauty is lined with some vintage velvety corduroy, yum.

Happy birthday, Ann!

status

All is well here.

Tarantula count of the year is on a record high with five sightings. No camera on me, so here one of last year's hot shots.

I got back into running, my birthday gift to myself.

Gadget love was satisfied - birthday gift from the family - which is indeed encouraging to get into gear.

Snake count is relatively low. Four sightings.

However, one as a house guest - trying for a sleepover with me!

Eeeek!

What you may or may not know is that I am getting ready for the High Desert Studio Tour.
Tomorrow is the day. And I have been busy.

Sneak peek...

See ya'!

Earl and Princess

I would like to introduce you to some dear friends of mine, Princess and Earl.

Would you please let that name roll on your tongue!

Earl. King of the Meadow. His Royal Highness of the Enchanted Pasture.

At the beginning of the summer my fiberjunkie friend Amber and I embarked on a new and exciting journey. We bought Earl's and Princess' fluff, both Rambouillet sheep, which are descendant from the famous Spanish Merino sheep (read here for details of the history - actually quite interesting if you like sheep!).

You get the picture? These guys have soft wool. Really soft.

Long staple length, a real nice crimp and a beautiful very-close-to-white color.

We meticulously sorted the fleece, discarding the unusable parts, which are - to make it simple - those attached to the lower and especially the rear parts of the sheep.

This took quite some time. The girlie was declared Sheep Queen of High Desert.

A few weeks and some patient waiting later we got the fluff back from processing at Spinderella's Fiber Mill.

Yum!

Living in a house containing these white clouds and dyes and not touching them is like sitting next to chocolate and just looking.

Not possible.

So see what's been cooking in my kitchen lately!

Hope your life is as colorful as mine these days!

what was and what's left

There was the tornado. The hurricane. The visit of the family! My brother, his wife, their two girls and Oma.

Three weeks of upside down familylife doubled up. Time crawled and flew.

We shared good laughs.

And good times.

Thoughtful and generous gifts were much appreciated!

Thank you!

The brother went on a Porsche shopping spree and ended up in Porsche heaven.

The latest toy is patiently waiting in our garage for transfer to the German Autobahn.

All is good.

short and sweet

We have been back from Maui for a while now and there would be so much to tell about those 10 days.

However, my days are busy and by the time I get some quiet PC time my words seem to be all used up.....

Maui is beautiful! We drove 800 miles on the island and saw... a lot!

I started a new knitting project, too.

It was all good.