Time flies...

Well...i have been so busy that i have not had time to update any of the blogs!!!
I sent a very COLD weekend at the LCR January Crabshoot, and had a hell of a great time, some pics below of how beautiful it was, and i finished the simple shawl knitted out of my first real spinning efforts.




Here are some pictures taken while we were packing up after an afternoon of shooting with the kids...the sunsets around here are phenomenal!





and here are the required pictures of Normal... goofy as ever.





I have been busy with work...and in my 'personal time'things couldn't be better or more fun. the combining of households has gone wonderfuly, and kids, cats and adults are all getting along Fabulously well!
I was given a Zune for christmas....and i have found myself shocked at how easy it has become to listen to REALLY GOOD music, all of the time, it's also super cool as you can load photos onto it, and movies as well. The background picture right now is me shooting a M-4. (yep....me, the once pacifist, now enjoys shooting guns.)

This is the handgun i want.....a green glock. Well....how could i not want one, it's GREEN!!!!
I still spend time spinning, knitting and playing with the silver, the lace has taken a backseat right now, as it takes 100% concentration and i don't feel like devoting that much to it at the moment. I will again soon enough, my hands are beginning to miss the feel of manipulating the bobbins.
I've been busy cooking up a storm, today i'll be making brownies from my Most used cook book(i only follow recipies when baking....i make all the rest up as i go...)
http://www.amazon.com/Good-Housekeeping-Illustrated-Cookbook-Coulson/dp/0878510370/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1202417892&sr=8-3
I've been cooking from this book since i first followed a recipie as a kid. My mom scoured used book stores to find my sister and i copies when we moved out(we would have fought over her copy, i am sure!)Glad to see that they have newer editions of it as well now.
Ah, the brownies are for a friends birthday, i should make a double batch, which means i should leave the computer and get to work!

Well....Hello everyone!

Well, it has been a bit of a break from blogging but So much has been happening that i haven't had time for updating my blog. So my apologies to all.
First we'll start with a wee update about my sisters wedding.
I finished the lace hankie...you all do know the tradition of a hankie for a bride? She has the handmade lace for her wedding and when she has a baby, it is folded Just So and is a bonnet for the new baby...who then either uses it herself(if female) at her wedding, or if it's a boy, he gives it to his bride at theirs....sort of a built in heirloom for those who like tradition :-)
Here is a pic of the finished object...



And a pic of my sister and Father at the wedding(i did say it was a costume wedding, right?!)

I am still living in my two bedroom flat but as it stands, i will not be living alone much longer. I have started to rewrite this paragraph for the third time now, but find i don't really want to blog about this remarkable....magical relationship yet. Let it be sufficient to say, we adore and love one another, but have no need for co-dependancy...happily support one another in our outside relationships/hobbies....and are fabulous friends. I'm happy as a clam....more at a later date i'm sure, but this is my craft blog...not heavy, personal stuff blog :-)
This last pic is of some of my spinning i've been doing. (drying after being washed to set the twist and get rid of excess dye.


Sadly, the pretty light green/blues colored yarn is my first Complete failure.
I had spun up several skeins of it for my friend Sherries Birthday, but FELTED every bit of it during the washing process....it has So much dye and wouldn't stop bleeding....so i over did it and lost all of it. Better i do that than send her something that would stain her when she tried to use it. It was soysilk. Sigh. I think i'll stick to wool and normals kitty Floof for now(yep, i'm still working on a bobbin of kitty fur!!!)
Love to all...
jen

self portrait circa 1994

It's not lacey....but self piercing surely counts as craftsy right?
I have been negligent in my pursuit of my arts.....but it's simmering and stewing within me. I have such desires to create and never stop. I'm even on the verge of picking up my paintbox again :-)
First i want to finish getting my apartment into order, today, books and the bookshelves i have. It's hard to choose which books go in which room, and which will head back to storage until i buy more bookshelves.
Other people would worry about things like an entertainment center...not me. It's all about the books!
here's the pic and happy september to all
love jen

A suprise :-)

When i checked the mail today i found a lovely suprise. My friend in Seattle, Gail, sent me a letter. It was a little bit bulky for a letter, and when i opened it up i found this Gorgeous antique doily. (i'll wash it and iron it flat later on...but for now, pictures!!!)
Here is all of the doily i could fit on the scanner...

I believe it is chemical lace, but for sure, it is a manufactured lace, however, this is the finest manufactured lace i have in my collection. It looks like they were trying to imitate figural handmade lace, possibly needlelace. (i think needlelace as i have seen some Glorious figural pieces from several hundred years ago, and this reminds me of them, especially the mermaids)
My lace identification and history books are all in storage at the moment, but when we are reunited...i will try to pin down wether this is indeed chemical lace.(Or, transversly, i could bring it along to the next Lace Makers Of Puget Sound meeting....lots of experts there:-)

A closer look at the design...


To make the day even brighter, my assessment of my sample poppy was Very positive, and i've the green light to carry on with the next piece. I will start writing down the length of time i sit and work on a piece to give you all a better idea of what Honiton lace is about.

love jen

It's About Time!

Yes indeed...here i've been busy at work with the madness that is American retail around a holiday(the Fourth Of July) and i've not posted anything in a month! So here we have a finished lace sample (FINALLY!!!)

This is Honiton lace, a Poppy flower sample, sepals and stem in whole stitch, top petals are half stitch with coarse thread crossings. Leadworks fill the sepals and pin and a stitch is the filling in the center. By no means a Finished piece of Lace, but definately a finished Sample of lace :-)
I'm quite pleased to be working onward again with the Honiton lace. I've also tatted enough of the edging for two sides of my sisters hankie.
Outside of these two minor accomplishments, i've just been working and playing with my delightful kittens, who are now a year old! Time flies.... oh, yes...and Sudoku. After spending the last year or so thinking people who did it were nuts(i Really Really do not get along with numbers :-( I picked up a book of the strange little number puzzles yesterday and have finished the first 20 puzzles(i had to spend some time at the doctors today...i should have been tatting...) I find it remarkable easy and even enjoyable, it's as if you are spelling a 9 character long word, over and over. (think me a simpleton if you must, but i do have a mathmatics hang up, while in elementary school in Louisiana i had a teacher tell me that mathmatics and computers were for boys and housekeeping and childrearing were for girls when i asked why we girls got to play outside when the boys played on the few computers the school had) Lovely, eh?
Enough, i have to get ready for work in the morning!
love jen