Thanks Moo Dog

Just a quick post today to thank the good folks at Moo Dog Knits for their article, "A Visit With Strauch Fiber Equipment Company"!

Working at Strauch Fiber is my day job. And all those ball winders? Yeah, I build those.

Be sure and check out the Moo Dog online magazine for other interesting fiber-related articles as well.

Thanks, Moo Dog!

A Fresh Start

Happy New Year Chickies!

Yes, I know it's already a week into February. I'm also aware that I haven't posted since last June. I am a bad, bad blogger....

I've written plenty of blog posts in my head. Really. It's just sitting down at the computer to put fingers to keyboard that seems to be the problem. But thanks to a little nudge from a friend I've decided to forgo another Sunday in the Teashanty carding my stash of fiber with the fabulous Strauch Motorized Drum Carder and get back to the blog. Lucky you.

So. What's new? Well, I got an iPad last summer which has been wonderful and very distracting. Words I thought I'd never utter..."Wait! I just have to finish this level..." Computer games. Who knew? But not just games! I can watch Hulu  and PBS (TV on the small screen, like back in the old days), check the weather, go on virtual vacations with Fotopedia Heritage, browse the latest Ikea catalog any time, and create my own decorating idea books with Houzz. Fun fun fun! Apple, I love you :-)

And speaking of Apple, I did a very fun little project using iPhoto back in December. I made a calendar for 2012 using photos of my garden. The quality of the paper and the printing were impressive. It was also super easy to integrate all the birthdays in my iCalendar into the printed version. I'll keep it when the year is over as an album of the best of my 2011 garden photos. Here's a peek:

I guess that's enough catch-up for now. As I think of things past I'll pop them into other posts.

In other news...

For those of you who expect blogs to be useful as well as entertaining I'll pass along my latest web discovery/obsession.

Weavers sometimes make yarn wrappings using colors inspired by images, places, and objects to create color ways for their fabrics. It's a really useful tool for seeing what colors "go together."

Original image from Design Seeds

Recently I wandered into a web site, Design Seeds, that does a similar thing with colors, using a photo to inspire color palettes that could be used for weaving, painting, decorating, or craftwork. I've been disappointed in the lack of winter we've had this year, so I thought this example was particularly nice.

If you're looking for a jump start for your next creative project you might want to hop on over to Design Seeds and take a look. You may see colors put together in new and unexpected ways.

Until next time my little chicklets, be creative, and think SNOW!

Sugar Snap Salad

Here's a very tasty and refreshing salad to make when you have an abundance of Sugar Snap Peas. This recipe comes from Martha Stewart.

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

8 ounces of Sugar Snap Peas, strings removed, finely sliced on the diagonal

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

Combine first three ingredients.
Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.  

(Note to self: Stagger the seed planting so you don't end up with a ton of Sugar Snaps all at once! I was able to put together a pound and a half of this salad to take to a pot-luck.)

This year I grew the Sugar Snaps on poultry netting wrapped around the old ladder. It worked pretty well, but I think I'll go back to a more conventional growing style next year and save the ladder for the Christmas lights.

 

Springing into Summer

 

Where does the time go?

I think it gets scattered around the garden, gets sucked up in the vacuum cleaner, blows out the window on the drive to work, wanders off in the grocery store, gets stuck in the pages of magazines and books I've been reading, lies tangled up in my latest fiber project... well, you get the picture.

It's almost summer, and of course every day has been full of stuff and doings. Out in the garden, the strawberries and sugar snaps are done and gone. My first planting of beans are up. Ditto the zucchini and the cukes. There are little green tomatoes out there too! The cosmos have started to bloom, along with the marigolds, mums, and zinnias. The lavender is in full bloom and is buzzing with bees.

This month Eric and I celebrated our 18th wedding anniversary. (Time wooshing by. Again!) We had a lovely time at the Hotel Floyd, enjoyed some very nice meals at Mickey G's, Oddfellas Cantina, and had a tasty pizza at Dogtown Roadhouse . The galleries in town feature great local artists and crafts people. We enjoyed browsing, and I was certainly inspired by all that creativity. Also, I bought some yarn at the new knitting shop, Wooly Jumper Yarns, in downtown Floyd. I'm knitting a hat for Eric - photos to follow eventually. I'm still working on the 2/2 rib, which isn't terribly interesting to look at.

Last week I traveled with Eric and his mother, Joyce,  to Syracuse, NY to visit Joyce's brother and his wife. We stopped for the night in Sharpsburg, MD and stayed at a nice B&B quite near the battlefield at Antietam. Lovely old town with great old buildings. My favorite was this barn, in a backyard on the main street. I covet these crazy cupolas for my studio!

Up in Syracuse we enjoyed the company and the scenery, took in an exhibit of art quilts, visited the Art Park (always fun), had many fine meals, wandered around a rose garden in full bloom, and had a generally lovely time. I made a little slideshow of our visit, which you can view below.

I've also been spending a little time in the studio, but haven't got any photos to show just now. I'm making progress on a little set of tapestry samplers, almost done rethreading the new loom, and just about finished with those never-ending linen napkins. Progress on all fronts!

I hope your Spring has been lovely. Next week - Summer!

Fruitful

Strawberries from our garden!

It's been a busy spring here at the TeaShanty.

Fruitful, one might say.

I've been out in the garden, busy as a bee. But now that our exuberant, and slightly soggy, spring has slowed down a bit I hope to get back to blogging on a more regular basis.

There are lots of photos I'd love to share with you, and I've started a new wee tapestry project. So check back soon for more posts!