Stitch Markers

The storm was as horrible as expected. High winds and flooding made it impossible to go anywhere - the pond across the street had flooded our road and it was a bit tense watching and hoping that it wouldn't reach our driveway. It didn't, and today the water has receded quite a bit. The rain continues today, but not nearly as heavy as yesterday, and the howling winds have died down as well. Of course we had some heavy snow in the mix, it wouldn't be April without it! lol

Stitch markers! I've been having so much fun with these, and I've already built up a very nice little stash of beads and fittings to make more.

These are gold-foil lampwork beads, very pretty and very lightweight. The fittings are gold-plated, and I've surrounded each bead with sparkly Swarovski crystals.



These are jade beads with sterling silver fittings, and try as I might I couldn't capture the true colors of the crystals they're topped with. In reality, they're a deeper green, more of a match to the jade.

I've made about 20 sets so far, and if I finish "Voyager" this morning I might have a little time to make some more. I have some gorgeous rose quartz beads calling my name!

As I write this post I'm listening to the press conference that's being televised about the heartbreak at VA Tech. The weather and stitch markers seem such trivial subjects in light of what's happened to so many innocents, and the devastation to their family and friends. My prayers go out to them.

Taking A Break...

...from knitting for a few days, I've finally had the time to start Diana Gabaldon's "Voyager". It's been sitting by my bedside for weeks, and I had loved "Outlander" and "Dragonfly in Amber" so much that I couldn't wait to start the third -- but then so many things happened at once and I'm just now picking it up ~ and have been happily immersed in it all day!

We survived another storm this past Thursday, and luckily got only about 4 inches of heavy wet snow before it ended. Its almost completely melted already, and just in time for some frightening amounts of rain starting tomorrow and all the way through to Wednesday. Nor'easters are pretty terrible storms for the most part, with heavy winds and heavier rains, and flooding is a real possibility with this one, with a possible four inches of rain to fall. Scary thought! But what really frightens me most are high winds, as huge pine and oak trees surround our house and tower over it. I'm hoping this storm won't be too bad. :(

I was going to take pictures of the stitch markers that I made last week, but when I took my camera to do so the battery was dead...and though I've thought at least a dozen times during the week to put it on the charger, I'd get busy and promptly forget. So now without further ado I'm going to do that right this minute! There, done!! LOL There'll be photos tomorrow! I've made several more sets since the few I started with last week, and I've made a few trips to a local bead shop that I found. I find it to be as relaxing as knitting, and nearly as much fun.

I still have two WIPs which I'm hoping to finish up during this coming week. Still waiting for yarn to arrive from France for the Perline sweater so I can begin work on the embroidered details, but the knitting is nearly finished other than 10 rows on the last sleeve. I can't wait to see how it all turns out!

Hope you're all having a wonderful weekend!

Beads & Baubles

I'm so excited, I just made several stitch markers! They came out well for a first attempt, and after the first one I really got the hang of it.

I just came in to shut down my computer so will take pics of them to post tomorrow...

Have a great weekend!

Last Fling

...with winter (hopefully)!

The forecast was for four inches of snow by morning. The reality was more than double that amount!

Yes, it's a pretty winter wonderland scene out there. But...it's APRIL!! The upside is that this will all be melted very quickly at this time of year, so I just plan on enjoying this last fling with winter. :) Maybe viewing these photos will help cool things off a bit in gstq2002's corner of the world!

Where's Spring?

It was still dark when I got up this morning at 5 AM so I couldn't see what the rising sun has just shown me...it's snowing! Just a little dusting on the grass at the moment, but I've just heard on the news that we can expect heavy snow tonight with 4-6 inches on the ground by tomorrow morning! And spring had felt so close a few days ago!

I have two projects OTN at the moment. This cute little sweater: Rowan Classic Babies, and this, called "Perline":

I'm about halfway through with the first sweater, and the second about the same. I can't wait to finish the knitting of both of them, just to get to the chick appliqués on the first and the embroidery on the second. Who knows, maybe spring will be around by then!

Monday morning I went off to visit a very local yarn shop that a fellow art student had told me about last Thursday night. I hadn't known about it till then, and I was excited since its only about a ten minute drive from here, much closer than the half hour drive of the next nearest LYS. The name of the shop is "A Knitters Garden" and its located in an old and lovely farmhouse. Many beautiful natural yarns, all the supplies and accessories you could ask for, and best of all the proprietess is just lovely! Added to that was the fun of making the acquaintance of her adorable Scotch Terrier, Angus...I had a wonderful visit, and came home with a hank of beautiful 100% native and natural baby alpaka yarn, a skein of merino in a tweedy peach color, and a Debbie Bliss baby pattern book. If you ever visit Southern New Hampshire, I highly recommend it!

No Crocuses For Me!

We woke up this morning to more snow! Not too much, only an inch or two, but it seems that as far as spring goes and our progress towards it, we've been taking two steps forward and one giant step back! But this week the forecast looks good, with a couple of days hitting the low 70's. Though looking forward to spring, the snow fall last night really was pretty and the result this morning was postcard perfect. And by end of day it was mostly melted. :)

I finished the baby cardigan, all seamed up and it came out so nice! I had planned on a gripe fest post yesterday when I ran into some ghastly problems with the button band but now that its all sorted out I just don't feel the need to rant anymore. :) Tomorrow I'm planning on going to the LYS on a search for the perfect buttons for it. I'll post a photo of it once buttons are found and attached.

Hope everyone's had a great weekend!

Cute Cartoon :)