the best friends - posted by Melissa

Good morning! Thought I'd share this gorgeous (GORGEOUS!!) handspun, handwoven scarf that Jeff of '....and a few boys, too' made HIMSELF and gave to me when he and Will (the other boy of '....and a few boys, too') came to visit last June.

 

I am so lucky.

 

Here's a link to their post of our day if you'd like to revisit:

 

link here - you should look : )

 

Here's a link to my post of our adventures:

 

link here - you should look : )

 

I'll get some better pictures of this lovely neck warmer posted, as well as my Stonecrop, as soon as I edit them.  Can't wait to share!

 

Have a great day, everyone!

 

Melissa

From the other side of things - by Will !!!

Whew! Vacation can take a bit of recovering! Here are a few more photos from our visit with Mel and Kelli, though I think Mel summed it up quite beautifully. The day was a bit surreal, and a wonderful way to end our vacation in the Pacific Northwest.

 We started our day by taking the ferry. This was a thrilling moment, for we had just received word of the SCOTUS decision legalizing gay marriage across the entire nation. I decided then and there that my goal at Churchmouse would be to find something celebratory and perhaps a bit out of my usual color palette.

By the way, for those who were wondering, green is well within my usual color palette.

We took the ferry from Seattle to Bainbridge Island ... 

I had been waiting for years to get here! At last! 

The joyous occasion was made all the better by meeting dear knittterly friends in person for the first time. How cool is that???

Some people are camera-shy, so we had to be creative in our approach. Thanks to Mel for scheming up a way to get the mister in the shot. Mission accomplished!

I found something that fit the bill for "rainbow," and we left to grab some lunch.

I told you green is in my color palette. And now, so is rainbow.

I had some salmon mac-n-cheese that was uh-maz-ing. (Thanks for the recommendation, Kelli!)

 This was the other part of the trip that I had been anticipating for years...pie from the Blackbird Bakery. Thanks to everyone for humoring me :)  There was actually only one type offered, as it is not a dedicated pie shop. Apparently, pie is a thing in the Pacific Northwest. This was pie experience number four on our trip, and the only one that wasn't a self-declared pie shop. I was more than willing to make the exception.

Now that I had checked off my bucket list items (and then some), I was able to relax a bit and enjoy the rest of the day together, snapping pictures to take the day home with me.


We drove off the Island until we reached Port Gamble, home of The Artful Ewe. We relaxed and soaked in the beautiful weather. I was only slightly disappointed that we weren't getting the dreary clouds and rain that I had expected. Actually, it was as if Mount Rainier came out to join the festivities.

Eventually, the afternoon wound to a close and we ferried back to the mainland. The ride afforded several luxuries, including a lovely wall map to help me narrate our journey!

It also lent some beautiful views of the mountains.

Now that I am back, I've been sifting through hundreds of photos and knitting up a sort of tube scarf. I love how it's turning out, and the memories it carries with it. I hope we can do it again someday!

true blue friends - posted by Melissa

 

 

Look who we got to spend the day with yesterday??!

 

Meet Will & Jeff!

 

It's strange to finally meet people you've know online for years, although that feeling doesn't linger long.  It's hard to stay feeling like strangers for very long with people that know so much about you...especially nice folk like these two!  Here all the way from Pennsylvania!  Lucky us : )

 

It was the best day - the weather was amazing, much good food was eaten throughout the day, visits were made to Churchmouse and The Artful Ewe.

We were incredibly lucky to be able to celebrate such a huge step in gay equality with them as well.  There was much horn honking in our travels as we passed people carrying banners and signs in celebration.

 

I was lax taking photos - I haven't been as attached to my camera lately and have been enjoying moments more in front of the lens rather than behind it.  Will, on the other hand, took tons of photos and as soon as he gets a blog post up, I will link you guys so you can see more of our day.

 

This was a good way to come back to blogging!!  I'm inspired to pick up some of my languishing projects and maybe finish a thing or two as well.

 

So there you go - the first of many exciting posts in the upcoming days.  This was definitely a good one, don't you think!?

 

Happy Weekend - Melissa

 

(I almost forgot - Jeff hand spun and then wove a scarf from hand dyed fiber...just for me!  It's amazing and I did NOT get a picture of it but I will - I can't wait to show you!!!  I am lucky!)









on a happier note ~ posted by Melissa

I realized when I posted yesterday that it's been almost 2 months since I've visited with you all ~ far too long to have come back with such a sad story.  Thought I'd fill you in on what's been happening around here while I've been away (if you're reading this and yours is one of the 35 messages in my ravelry inbox that has not been returned...I'm sorry...I promise to get to each and every one of them!).

Ongoing health issues continue at our house and we've been immersed in doctors visits and hospital stays and after 7 months of this craziness, I think we're both about to lose our minds.  If you're in the loop, surgery #3 was 2 weeks ago and if this one did the trick, we should know by the middle of June if this entire thing is finally behind us.  If you're not in the loop, I'll spare you all the gory details ~ suffice it to say, we're beat and ready to start living life again.

There have been bursts of sunshine thanks to some dear ravelry buddies who know just how to cheer a gal up ~ who can help but smile when they get care packages such as these:

Fellow bloggers Will & Jeff sent a box of hugs ~ 2 skeins of 'sock sanity stash filler' from Will (I've already cast on the Black Bunny Fibers!) and a huge hank of yarn hand spun by Jeff (have I mentioned how lucky I am?!).  Still don't know what I did to deserve the two of you but like I said, you are on the 'homemade jam forever' list!

And then there's fellow blogger buddy Kelly Lightbeam who threw a little of everything in the box I received from her:

Minnesota chocolates and tea with the cutest little Tea-Rex tea diffuser ~ I will have fun using him!

There was also this lovely skein of berry colored handspun from her local guild's sale (I think?) and a ball of mohair to work into my Color Play Mohair Churchmouse Scarf that I cast on for easy hospital knitting.

But my favorite thing of all was the artwork her daughter Chloe made for me:

I've been working on the last bit of organizing in the knitting attic (my closet finally has shelving!) and when I'm done, I will find a special place to hang this brightly cheerful painting by a sweet girl.

I've been knitting ~ Spire is still on hold.  It's just too much for my brain to handle at the moment.  Hopefully soon we'll get to know each other again.  Until then, I've made a shawl:

 

ravelry notes can be found here

And I've been churning out socks like nobody's business ~ they are the perfect stress knit, I think:

My sock drawer is beginning to fill up ~ I love to open it and look inside...it makes me smile :).

These are my newest additions (links under each photo are to my ravelry notes & more photos):

 

My Cup of Tea ~ with yarn sent to me by mysistersknitter (thanks again, Andi!)

 

Simple Skyp Socks ~ there will be more of these!

 

Hermione's Everyday Socks ~ I had to copy you, Jesse (moo-HA-HA!!)





And my newest pair just cast on last night with the yummy Black Bunny Fibers Yarn that Will sent:

I've joined the 10,000 other folk in love with Grumperina's patterns and started my first pair of Jaywalkers

 

I think that about catches us up to speed.  Spring is here, the sun came out yesterday and stayed for an encore today so for the moment, there's a smile on my face and hope that tomorrow will be a better day than the last too many bad days in a row.  I really appreciate everyone checking in that's been taking the time to message me on ravelry.  I do read all your emails and like I said, I will answer each and every one of them when life gets back on a normal track for us.  I'm so glad to have made so many cherished connections online ~ I'm ever so thankful for my virtual circle of friends and your friendship.

 

 

Happy Spring and I'll try not to be gone so long next time!

Melissa

Oops, I did it again... and again... by guest blogger Jeff

So, remember way back when we decided to knit the Shetland Triangle Lace Shawl? And I decided I wanted to knit it in 3 different yarns? Well the first one - and primary yarn - was in Habu Tsumugi Silk. That one only took me something like 6 months to finish. This was during a very busy and stressful time a work and knitting fell by the wayside, plus whenever I picked it up and knit some, I inevitably had to rip back more than I knit. It wasn't until December that the pattern finally clicked and I finally finished!

Habu Tsumugi Silk

Since then I've knit TWO more! Can you believe it? The second I knit out of Elemental Affects Natural Shetland Rustic Lace that I had picked up at Churchmouse when I was out in Seattle a few year's ago (Hi! Seattle peeps! I wish I had known you all when I was out there!). Since I had almost twice as much yardage of the Shetland, this turned out to be a much bigger shawl than the Habu. It was lovely to work with, by the way. I highly recommend it.

Elemental Affects Shetland Lace

And the last one I knit in an aran-weight yarn - a discontinued yarn by Queensland Collection - Kathmandu (85% Merino, 10% Silk, and 5% Cashmere) that my aunt passed onto me when she decided to give knitting a pass. I've decided to gift this shawl to her - hope she likes it! I did have a slight yardage problem on this one... having to rip back what I thought was going to be my last repeat... then again during the border, which I cut short a few rows. And while binding off, I completely ran out! Had to rip the bind off back and use a different yarn (from Will's stash). I think it came of nicely!

Queensland Collection Kathmandu Aran

I wish you all an amazing 2014! Happy New Year! And Happy Spire KAL! I look forward to seeing everyone's progress!

Finally Finished . . . posted by guest blogger Jeff

I've finally finished the Shetland Triangle Lace Shawl! Pretty pics follow:

 

I've already started Shetland Triangle Lace Shawl number 2!

 

As far as the next knit-a-long, I think I'm going to sit this one out seeing as how:

 

 

I've already knit one. :)

 

Maybe I'll pick up my Niebling again!