Osage..

When your dear friend's husband 

gives you his Osage Orange wood turnings..

~

Goodbye July..

July was a busy month.

The shawl for the 'Fleece to Shawl' demo is done.

Such a wonderful learning experience, namely weaving with 

"live" yarn - freshly spun, unwashed wool.

Family visits and a wedding.

Multiple trips into town and 

a visit to Phipps Conservatory.

August greeted me on the way to the guild meeting this week.

Sometimes you just have to pull the car over and savor the flowers.

.. hello August ..

~

Part 2: Bucket list..

Hiking has always been a favorite thing to do.

Some of earliest memories are hiking and camping with my parents:

the orange tent,

squeeze cheese in a can,

sun streaming through the trees,

my mother's red bandana.

Hiking biographies are a fave and at this point I think

I've pretty much exhausted the library on the subject.

While I may never thru hike the Appalachian Trail, taking a hike

on the 'AT' has been on my bucket list.

While in Virginia we took a little hike on the trail.

Honestly, I didn't want to stop.

It was hot, rocky, mostly uphill and completely wonderful!

The years we lived in Virginia hold a special place in my heart.

That hike just adds to the love.

~

.. now back to yarn..

Part 1: Last weekend

July was jammed packed full.

We decided to catch our breath by taking a quiet weekend away.

We made it to Charlottesville, VA in time for our favorite

'Fridays after Five' on the downtown mall.

Eating Mexican under twinkle lights.  Quickly savoring a gelato as

it melted in the 95 degree heat.

True to form I hit (just about) every yarn shop between 

Charlottesville and Winchester.

Impromptu yarn crawl...what can I say..   : )

Shouting out to the lovely ladies at:

Laughing Sheep Yarns

Who led me to meet the lovely Linda at:

Misty Mountain Farm / Blue Ridge Yarns

If you are ever in the tiny town of Sperryville, VA stopping at 

Knit wit Yarn Shop

is a must!!

Becky.. thanks for the travel book!  You are the best!!

~

.. to be continued ..

Thar she blows..

The loom.

Yesterday was her maiden voyage out of the workroom

and to my first guild fleece-to-shawl demo weaving event.

The spinners were amazing.

Thank you Carol, Annette, Beth, Linda, and Jerry.

The donated fleece was gorgeous.

Thank you Wini.

Lots of friendly faces and kind folks visiting the event.

Thanks Ann, Dave, Carol G., Sarah, Karen, and Marilyn.

I was so busy weaving I completely forgot to 

take pictures.

Today I'll get the workroom put back together and

finish the bit I have left to weave, while listening to the much

needed rain.

Thanks again everyone for all the love, support,

and a wonderful first weaving event.

~

These days..

I am spending most of my time outside these days.

Soaking up the garden.

Dyeing with all the garage doors open.

Berry picking.

Every year I think we aren't going to get many berries..

So far the raspberries have produced about 4 gallons.

Blueberries are still going strong!

Weeding.

Lots of weeding.

Finding pockets of green while teaching 

a workshop in the city.

Knitting.

This skein had a small flaw in the yarn so I got to keep it.

(yay!)

Hope you are soaking up these summer days as well!

~

Exotics..

It is a rainy Sunday here so I thought I would sit down and label some

naturally dyed yarn samples.  These mini skeins were dyed with left over dyes from

a guild program I did last week on four exotic natural dyes:

Cochineal, Fustic, Logwood, and Madder

While Madder is currently my favorite dye, I am LOVING

the trio here obtained with Logwood combinations.

Lovely rainbow achieved from the four dyes, but I want to try to add

a green without using indigo..

~