Category Archives: Knitting

Rhinebeck oh Rhinebeck - Part I

October 22, 2008 – 8:41 am

I’m sure many of you who did not go to Rhinebeck are already tired of reading the recaps. Sorry but it’s my turn! I think I need to do it in a couple of posts because I have so many pictures. To see the whole set so far just go to my flickr set.

Where to start? Well on Thursday morning I flew to Newark and spent the night at my dad’s house and hung out with his wife and my two brothers. Friday morning was fun as I got to hang with his wife Nadja and we went shopping. She bought me the coolest pair of Danskos evah! Have you seen these graphite python leather ones? They are too cool. At lunch time I went back to the Newark Aiport to pick up Amy Singer; my travleing partner in crime. We loaded up the GPS and headed up to New York. Somehow that damn GPS insisted on taking us on Rt. 17 which seemed like the slowest way on earth to get up to Rhinebeck but it did allow us to stop and eat in a diner where Amy had one of the best dill pickles of her life. So I guess it was meant to be!

I spent the night with my friends Pete & Kelly who live close to Rhinebeck. They were on the Italy trip I went on in May. Early Saturday morning I woke up and headed out to pick up Amy. It was chilly people! Along the way I had to stop when I saw this.

I met up with Amy, Jillian and her friend Carla at their hotel for a quick breakfast and then onto Starbucks. When we got to the fairgrounds I saw a layer of frost all over the ground and had to get a picture to show everyone just how cold it was at 8:00am.

I think from all of the years of ski racing I still have horrible circulation in my feet. After walking on this field my feet were cold until lunchtime!

Once we got in, Amy, Jillian & Cheryl knew exactly where they wanted to go. As vendors (I was a Knitty.com person for the weekend!) we got in earlier. Since I don’t spin I had no idea what they were talking about when it came to spindles, wood, wheels, etc. But they were happy and I was happy to just tag along. The funniest part was at some really famous dude’s place where he sells $5,000 wheels and Amy exclaimed “Feel his WOOD!”  Uh, okay Amy…..but it made me laugh and I told everyone all weekend about that. I only wish I could remember his name. Someone will remember. Amy? What was his name again? But his wood was very soft. Oh wait! I came back to add his name- NORM HALL! That’s it!

As soon as the doors opened to the public the place got crazy and from that point until about 3:00pm it was a frenzy of meeting all kinds of people. There is no way I can remember all of the people I met. There was a mental list I had in my head of all of the people I’ve known forever I wanted to meet and I was able to meet everyone except for Amy Boogie. I don’t know how we missed each other. Another friend Kayla came just as I was leaving and I wasn’t able to meet her either. Otherwise I think I got to meet most everyone. Here is a collage of some of the people I ran into. Do you see people you know?!

1. quite possibly the funniest moment of the day, 2. a chilly start, 3. Kate Gilbert et moi, 4. the boys, 5. Mel & me, 6. Joe, 7. Mel was hungry, 8. I’m SO sending this to Clif Bar, 9. what I put up with all weekend, 10. the grrls!!, 11. David and me, 12. two beers is better than one!, 13. Mel & Stephen, 14. Bev!, 15. Rhinebeck, 16. a friend to knit with

I need to run to the dentist. I will try and get Part II done tomorrow with a list of all of the people I saw plus more pictures from day 2! Did I meet you? Did you see me? Tell me! I need to have links to the people who came up to me and introduced themselves.

But man…..it really was a great time! And for the record? I only have 1.5 beers!! Scout’s honor!

By ScoutJ | Also posted in Call out | Comments (18)

Balloon Fiesta 2008 = Eye Candy

October 10, 2008 – 3:49 pm

1. Ms. Glow Stick 2008, 2. chasing the chase vehicle, 3. my favs, 4. Untitled

By ScoutJ | Comments (5)

made with love

September 21, 2008 – 4:05 pm

Nikon D300 -50mm lens

I finally finished the chemo hat for T’s step-sister-in-law Hollis. She just finished the 9th chemo session out of 12 and is doing really well. This was the first time she made it through without getting really sick. Now that her head is shaved and it’s getting colder in NH I hope this can keep her warm and remind her that she’s in our thoughts constantly.

I used Mission Falls 1824 in the surf 664 colorway.  The pattern is a hat fit for a boyfriend by Stephanie and it’s a super easy knit. I liked it so much I think I need to make a few more. You know, with me and how fast I crank out my knitting. /sarcasm

I’ve added a few more shots from the Obama rally the other day. Here are a few in a little collage for you to see. You can see the full set on flickr. I still have hundreds to look through and process. Damn that continuous high speed setting!

I hope you have all had a lovely weekend. I’m exhausted from my soccer game this morning. I woke up with my neck/back completely out of whack and hope that T. and his PT skills can fix me. I’m hurting!!!

By ScoutJ | Also posted in She's Crafty!, photography | Comments (10)

So much to talk about!

September 11, 2008 – 8:29 am

 

Wow. I have had this post in my head for days but life keeps getting in the way. This past weekend was the first weekend of soccer. Both kids played on Saturday and I play on Sunday. This weekend was also the last bike race for T. as well.  It was a great weekend for all of us. All three of us won our soccer games and T. won his bike race! It was the NM State Champion Road Race which means he’s the state champ! Not bad for a 41 year old dad of two kids who works full time. He actually got second place but the person who won was from Mexico so he didn’t count. He was also a pro and TWENTY years younger than T.  We’re all very proud of him.

In other news I’m working hard to balance my life. I usually do a pretty good job of it, but sometimes get a wee bit overwhelmed by all of the things I need to do on a daily basis and now, on top of everything, I’m writing a book. Two days ago I had to get a bunch of custom yarn dyed before I could do anything else and it just took way longer than I intended. There was this one new colorway that sort of created a dyers block over the past month since I took the order. I’m the type that stresses out when I’m forced to be creative. Do you know what I mean? It’s hard to just create art out of nowhere. With my colorways sometimes it’s really easy for me to figure out the proper dyes and other times it’s nearly impossible. Those are the times I email or call Symeon and scream “HELP!” I’m actually glad she didn’t get right back to me the other day because it forced me to work this one out on my own. The colorway was for a customer who wanted camouflage yarn.  Maybe this doesn’t seem like anything too complicated, but I really wanted to get it right. After a month, studying other camo yarns online and racking my brain I finally figured out how I wanted to do it. And man, I love it. I usually don’t like browns and greens but this yarn is absolutely gorgeous. It was almost impossible to get the colors right in this shot, but it’s pretty close. Isn’t it pretty? ***Yes! I can dye more of this colorway! I’m just currently out 4-6 weeks on all orders so know that if you ask me for some!***

In other news, I’ve been trying to finish knitting this chemo hat for a few weeks and I’m finally to the decreases. I need to finish this and get it to T.’s step-sister-in-law now that it’s getting cold back east. Not sure if I’ve mentioned this but she was diagnosed with cancer in May. She is doing really well now and just have to finish out her chemo. I think she has about 4 rounds left. I’m using this Mission Falls 1824 and I really love how soft it is. I’m making A Hat Fit for a Boyfriend by Stephanie. I hope to finish it this weekend. Here is what it’s looking like so far.

I think that’s about it for now. I need to go drop Gus off at the groomers, run, ship some stuff and then WRITE! Send me some good writing vibes. kthnkx. Have a good day my friends!

By ScoutJ | Also posted in Hand Painted Yarn, Knitty Goodness, my book | Comments (17)

Happy Bokeh Wednesday!

August 20, 2008 – 8:40 am

Part of the new design of the blog will bring more of my photography to share will all of you. On flickr there is a group called Bokeh Wednesday. I love to see what people are going to post on Weds because I love cool bokeh shots. Bokeh (derived from Japanese bokeaji ボケ味, “blur”) is a photographic term referring to the appearance of out-of-focus areas in an image produced by a camera lens using a shallow depth of field.[1] Different lens bokeh produces different aesthetic qualities in out-of-focus backgrounds, which are often used to reduce distractions and emphasize the primary subject. (from Wikipedia)  I admit I do a lot of bokeh shots. It just really appeals to my eye. I think I’ll start sharing my shots on Wednesdays over here because they are some of my most favorite shots I take. HBW everyone!

strawberry-keh

Since May, I have been shooting with a Nikon D300. I get asked about my camera a lot so I thought I would share my equipment with you.  I used to have a Canon Rebel XTi but switched to a Nikon. I use the following lenses - 18-200mm, 50mm, 105mm, & a lensbaby. I then use Lightroom and Adobe Photoshop CS3 in order to process my shots. Let me know if you have any other questions. I love talking photography!

By ScoutJ | Also posted in photography | Comments (11)

Red Scarf Contest & Eye Candy for Norma

August 17, 2008 – 7:44 am

 BUMP!

You still have time to eneter the contest! Come on people!!!

It’s that time again y’all. If you have yet to see, it’s Red Scarf Project time again.  This beautiful yarn was specially dyed for my girl Norma so she can knit a pretty scarf for the project. I figure if I don’t have time to knit a scarf, at least I can dye some yarn and give it to someone who will! If you don’t know about this amazing project go to the Orphan Foundation of America and read about it. I shall wait. I mean hello! In the first year, we took in 3,500 scarves. The following year, that number swelled to over 15,000. Isn’t that amazing!? I would like to hold a little contest for a skein of sock yarn AND a gift certificate to my shop for $25.00 to the winner.

The contest is actually pretty dang easy. For this contest I just want you to spread the word. You don’t even have to knit anything to win. I would love it, if everyone who read this knit a scarf but for now I’m happy with you just telling everyone about this. So here’s the contest. You need to blog or post something on Ravelry telling/reminding everyone about the Red Scarf Project. Heck, tell them to come enter too by spreading the word even MORE!  Link them up with the proper links so they know the exact deadlines. Give them the address so they know where to send their scarves to. Then come back here and show me that you’ve done this. Then you are entered into the contest! It’s as easy as that. Then go knit a red scarf and mail it in. :P

I will hold this contest until Monday at 6:00pm MST. Then comments will be closed. You will only be entered if you show me where you wrote about this. It could even be a picture on flickr with the information. Somehow you need to be able to reach other people wherever it is that you post the informaiton. These are the important things everyone needs to know straight from Norma’s blog:

Scarves for the Red Scarf Project will be accepted from September 1-October 31st this year. 

And don’t forget, gift cards and notes attached to the scarves are very much appreciated.  You might also want to make a little donation to the Red Scarf Fund.  All those wonderful former foster kids, like the ones I met this summer, will thank you. Check out this link to the OFA website for all pertinent info about the scarves. Mail your completed scarves to:

Orphan Foundation of America
The Red Scarf Project
21351 Gentry Drive
Sterling, VA 20166

Make sense? You tell everyone you know about this project. Then show me that you did that. It’s as easy as posting a comment with a link to your post.  et voila! You are entered into the contest. Even if you already posted about it you can still enter. Just show me where.  I will then use the Random Number Generator to pick a winner. Who knows….depending on how I feel I might pick more than one winner. I have lots of pretty yarn I could give away. We’ll see how well you do!

On your mark? Get set…….GO!!!!

By ScoutJ | Also posted in Call out, Contest! | Comments (69)

Swag For Sale

August 11, 2008 – 11:36 am

With the writing of the book comes lots and lots of dyeing. With lots and lots of dyeing comes swag I can sell! Y’all know I only sell custom orders and don’t do this normally, but I have a few skeins to sell so I’ll be putting them up in the shop.

Today at 5:00pm MST I will be putting these 8 skeins up for sale.

Click on the picture to read about each one. It will bring you to flickr where I put notes over them. A few are existing colorways and a few are one-of-a-kinds. That green one in the middle is super pretty. I kept the other one I dyed just like it because I liked it so much!

Have a great Monday everyone. The Superkids meet their teachers later today and start school tomorrow. I will post a picture tomorrow of my 1st & 4th graders. EEK!

By ScoutJ | Also posted in Call out | Comments (7)

my sky

August 9, 2008 – 3:03 pm

I love it so

Happy Saturday my friends. From my sky to you.

By ScoutJ | Also posted in Saturday Sky, photography | Comments (10)

Green Couch Swag - August 2008 & Eye Candy Friday!

July 31, 2008 – 5:44 pm

Cynthia had to go and change the name of her business to Green Couch Designs so no more Hula-Swag even though it’s the same chica doing it! And hello?! We got them done early! Thanks to a certain someone who emailed Cynthia early to remind her to get them done. Here you go my friends. As always, we really love your feedback and like to know which ones you take. It makes us happy to see so many people download them and maybe one day we’ll actually get our acts in gear and make real calendars! Click on the image to get the large size to download.

By ScoutJ | Also posted in Eye Candy Friday, Hula Swag | Comments (37)

Fall 2008 Vogue Knitting!!

July 30, 2008 – 2:17 pm

Have you seen it yet?

look closely on this page

Notice anything?  I was in Village Wools today and was so excited to see Jared’s Druid mittens on the cover and had totally forgotten that they asked me for some of my tape measures from my shop to put in this issue. The cute yellow monkey one and the pink cell phone girl one are mine! Thank Maude my supplier is overnighting me a shipment because I didn’t realize it came out so soon.

There is also an article on Ravelry too which was so cool to see/read. Gooooooo all of us!

By ScoutJ | Also posted in Call out, Cool Stuff, Scout's Swag | Comments (3)