Spode's Aster Dishes

Every year our little town at the Port of Anacortes has a Island Chicks sale. The Island Chicks are a group of local venders of antiques and shabby chic items. I'd never been, it's only 1 day from 9:30 to 3:00. I'd heard that it was just fun to go to see how they set up the booths. My middle daughter M'lis was working, and if you brought a can of food it was only 3.00 to get in. It was a beautiful day, so I went. It was a feast for the eyes, I looked around, it was very crowded. I was scoping out a section when my eyes saw some dishes, my heart told my mind that I knew those dishes from childhood, but my mind quesioned about them. Yes I sorta reconized them, but I hadn't seen them in 20+ years. Could they be? I couldn't walk away from them, it was 30 pieces of just the plates. My phone rang...it was my mom...so I asked her the name of the dishes she had picked out for her wedding china, she said Spode's Aster. I didn't plan on spending that kind of money, but I'd been saving for our local yarn tour and a knitting retreat in October...so I bought those beauties with that saved money. Now I'll be looking for extra hours to work. Those dishes bring back Sunday Dinners and holidays as a young girl,memories watching my mom or dad (only) hand wash those dishes and only using them for special meals. My mom came over for dinner last night,guess what we ate off of ;)~ Kelli

Heir·loom [air-loom] ~ a post by Kelly (guest blogger)

A thing of great beauty, crafted with extraordinary skill

Whew!  That was a looong project.  Everything was going along swimmingly, until I reached the knitted-on edging.  Even the girls at the yarn store were saying "Aren't you done with that...YET?"  I worked on that edging nearly every weekday for 2 and 1/2 months.  (Weekends excluded due to the little one you see with me in the photo, she gets all my attention when I'm not working!)

It will be gifted to my dear friend, Amanda, who is getting married this summer.  I hope that she loves it and that she thinks of this special time in her life whenever she touches it.  Funny thing about memory, that it clings to knitting more than anything else I've ever known.

I'm happy to be moving onto other projects, but I really enjoyed this knit.  Mostly because I kept knitting and knitting and knitting!

Good Luck Melissa and John!  Before you know it you'll be grafting those edges together.

Holler the next time you decide to do a knit-a-long and I'll be on board.

Ashby, anyone???  It's on my list!

Kelly Lightbeam

a pesky rumor

I thought somebody told me the other day that they had finished their Bridgewater.  Patience is one of my better traits but, c'mon, throw me a bone (and maybe a picture!), Miss Kell-y!

                                      ~ Melissa

to do list...short and sweet ♥

Weekend plans...doing yard work and soaking up every. single. last minute of sunshine. And maybe working just a little on my Weasleypants Linen Cowl. It's a hard one to put down, between the scrumptious yarn I got from the gals at Two if By Hand and the fun (and free!) pattern from Kirsten Kapur at Through the Loops. Off to see if our lilac is ready to bloom ~ have a fun weekend!

~ Melissa

Around the World, without leaving Minnesota

hat a whirlwind weekend!  I attended the 2012 MN Yarn Shop Hop this past weekend with my friend Elisabeth.  The theme was "Around the World", and each of the 14 shops that participated chose a country to represent.  They each had a free pattern featuring a signature yarn.  It was the first time I'd been to some of the shops, and many of them were so clever with their patterns! 

April in Paris from Amazing Threads

One favorite was from Darn Knit Anyway, in Stillwater, MN, who came out with a cloche pattern.  They had the funniest captions in the directions!  After you finished, it states "Bob's your Uncle!  Well done you!  Now that you are looking dishy in your new hat, you'll want to head out to your local pub for a pint.  So don't cause a row...you have just enough yarn in this skein to make 2 hats, so make one for a chum!"

I think the United States was represented with the Apple Pie Cowl,  There were Pulse Protector Wristlets with lace edges from Poland and a beautiful openwork Lopi pillow from Iceland.  Very fun!

Signing off,
Kelly Lightbeam

~Tip Toe Through The...~

The 2012 Skagit Valley Tulip Festival has begun. I was asked to work in the gift shop yesterday. When I got a break I got to see the blasts of colorful tulips, all makes and models. It's impossible to descibe the amazment of the rows and rows of these beauties. Bloom dates according to Mother Nature,she's been slow this year. That's just fine with me, cause I live so close. Come if you can and bring a camera, you won't be sorry.

Kelli

Look, Mom!

My first official crochet project ~ increases and decreases and everything!  Doesn't it rock!!?  Thanks for the lesson.....I'm almost ready for that afghan knit-a-long, don't you think?  ~ Melissa

It must be the socks...

I can't seem to get the urge to pick Bridgewater up and finish it so I've been practicing avoidance knitting the last few weeks.  Need to knit but can't start anything big because the UFO's are tap tap tapping away at the back of my brain and won't leave me alone.  So, what can I knit that is mindless and fast...hmmm.  How about this cute washcloth pattern that I came across, for free, on Ravelry:

Well, it is cute and it took only a few hours....I guess I should make the other style as well:

Now, shoot, don't they look lonely?  And I'm pretty sure I've got some single skeins of miscellaneous cotton buried in my stash, so I guess I could make another set to go with the off white:

It's 5 days later and I've used all of my single skeins of cotton!  That was FUN!

So, what I'm wondering now after knitting twelve of the exact same thing, all in a row, and enjoying each cast on and bind off as much as the last.....why is it that I own only ONE PAIR of handmade socks??  I've always said it's because I don't like making the same thing twice, one right after the other, but shoot, that can't be the case!  Twelve washcloths???

It must be I don't like knitting socks.  Not a great light bulb moment since I love the only pair I've ever made.  What's a girl to do......

~ Melissa

I baked ! ~

Can you believe I put my needles down? I was forced...by being gifted a Pineapple Coconut Easter Cupcake Mix. They do taste as good as a beautiful hand dyed/spun merino wool(not that I've ever tried). I'm pretty sure they won't make it to tomorrows dessert?
I'm down to only 5 left, but the mix only made 12.

Happy Easter

Kelli

Everyday Choices

Just some of my choices to wear. I was inspired this morning, while thinking how fortunate I am to choose a new or same garment to wear. It's kinda rare to see me out without wearing one of these. I've got mostly wool, and one cotton. I havn't knitted them all myself, a couple have been gifted/entrusted to me. My daughter recently did some laundry and you can hardly tell which one is now slightly felted (she was so sorry). I have some oldies and newies,and even my own patterned hat.

Happy spring~

Kelli

A boy and his yarn....

  We got to see our 2 year old nephew last weekend and I gave him a ball of waste yarn that he was eyeing in my knitting bag.  He immediately took off running, with the ball unrolling crazily behind him while I chased him around the house.  We always have such a fun time when we get to visit with him.  Today he was visiting Grandma and this is a conversation that they had:

Vincent:  I miss yarn.

Grandma:  You miss playing with the yarn?
Vincent:  Yes, the yarn.  And Jas and Lis (my husband & I) left.  I miss.

Don't you just love it?        ~ Melissa
(thanks for sharing, Trudy!)