Under the weather.. but not out of commission

Hi everyone,

I've been fighting a sinus cold thing since yesterday which has left me dizzy and weak.  Yesterday I slept till nearly 6 pm!  Today I'm marginally better, and determined to be productive without pushing it :)

On Monday evening I *finally* got around to finishing a couple patterns and adding them to the website and to ravelry for FREE!!!!!.  The patterns I have added are:

the foldover cropped cardigan shrug!

my furry rave gogo legwarmers

(as requested by a couple burners on ravelry)

my perfectly flared legwarmers

and last, but not least

my dropped stitch scarf

(a great stashbuster)

A bunch of people have already downloaded the shrug, and I am really excited to see how the projects turn out :)  I proofread the pattern carefully and I'm crossing my fingers that there weren't any mistakes.  I feel like the calculations might be confusing for some people.  Pattern support is provided free at bethnouveau@gmail.com.

In other news,  I attended Floyd Fandango this weekend in Floyd, VA and had a wonderful time.  Sam Bush is an incredible bluegrass musician and I was one of the only hula hoopers there, so I didn't cringe every time I dropped my hoop :)

I don't think I mentioned this yet, but I purchased an LED hoop from trickconcepts and I ADORE it.

It's so bright!

This month I am working on vertical on the body hooping, the barrell roll, the vortex (which is supposedly easy but I struggle with it), and bringing the hoop up from the knees.  Slowly but surely I will master them all :)

sweaty me, hooping at a festival :)

ah funny hooping faces

I will leave you with a few shots of some new wire-wrapped feather earrings I put in the etsy store.

The Kingfisher - I LOVE THESE

The Bees Knees - These look great wrapped in yellow wire.  Talk about DRAMA

The Sandpiper - Understated, the photos don't do these justice.  LOVE THEM

Peacock Jamboree - Very colorful

Butterfly Wings - more superbright color.  I Love peacock body feathers!

That's all for now.  An update on my current knitting projects will follow soon.

happy creating!

xox

Here's to sunny days and dispositions...

Hi everyone,  I apologize for not posting for awhile, but this weather has been so absolutely gorgeous that I have spent just about every second possible outside.  I generally blog during my lunch break at work, but those lunch breaks are now taken outside on a blanket with some knitting.  The positive is that I have completed quite a few projects.

The first project I finished is a cute knitted cropped shrug that I designed.  The pattern will soon be available on ravelry for sale.  Here are some photos.

I made it with 3/4 sleeves as I ran out of yarn to make full ones, but I like it!

I absolutely love the back.  The sleeves were made with raglan shaping.

I love this yarn, Rowan "ribbon twist", colorway "mole".. now discontinued.

As far as etsy goes, I haven't designed a lot of jewelry lately as filling orders has been taking a lot of time. I did design these earrings on the left for a customer as a custom order.  I liked them so much, I added them to the shop today.  They feature peacock swords lightly wrapped in black wire and set in sterling silver ear hooks.  They're about 4-5 inches long and just hit the top of the shoulders.

I hope everyone had a lovely Easter holiday.  I took a ton of pictures of the rural Virginian countryside around my parents home.  Here are some of the highlights.

View of the Peaks of Otter in Bedford, VA

A gorgeous house and stream in Colton's Mill

Another view of the house

A gorgeous farm and greenhouse near Colton's Mill

View of the dogs in front of my parents gorgeous cherry tree

Enjoy the weather!!

xox

A fabulous 4th!

I had a most fabulous 4th of July filled with friends and good live music..

Notable acts were Dave Matthews Band, STS9, 311, Crystal Method, Primus, Thievery Corporation, Lotus, and the Pneuma Trio..


Summarized from here, one attendee witnessed 'watching rapper Snoop Dogg, "him, not his staff," sorting his the waste from his meal into separate bins for recycling, composting and landfill trash.'

Attendees were conscious of recycling and global issues.. almost everyone recycled and composted..it was amazing! People CAN change!

Sherwood forest was an AMAZING concept.. there was a meditation path, a gong (be mindful people), and hammocks everywhere for mindful relaxation..

This festival allowed me to SLOW down... It was one of the best, if not the best festival, I've ever attended..

I have a headache right now so I don't feel like posting a long post about this festival, but it was FABULOUS.

Two of my most favorite people in the world got engaged there, and my favorite band played a FOUR HOUR SET.

Amazing.. I will be back next year...

Pics and an extended post to follow.............

Its so hot!

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It's so hot out! I can't stand having to run errands around town.. blah.

This weekend we are going to Rothbury festival in Rothbury, Michigan. It's near Ann Arbor. I hope its not terribly hot. We are volunteering for Shimon Presents.. I'm not sure what we're doing, but probably assisting ticketowners or taking tickets.

I saw this amusing cartoon on creators.com today. I constantly frequent that site during my downtime at work. I like the lifestyle columns.



This next part is gross, but its pertinent to dog and cat owners...

So if you don't like gross stuff, don't read unless you have a pet.

Today Mercury was digging at his fur on his chest and when I separated his fur I found several foxtails (burrs) embedded in his skin, beginning to abscess. Look at the damage they can do:


Make sure you check your pet for these pesky pests after they go in the woods. Merc-a-doodle is much more comfortable without them attached to his skin...

An appalachian sort of weekend with a pot of gold at the end

I had the most lovely weekend.. it makes me sad that its over.

I was going to go backpacking, but an ankle injury Thursday eliminated that option. Instead, I hung out in Blacksburg, saw some friends, and went for a short hike on Sunday with friends.

Dragon's tooth is a hike that I have done many many times. I particularly like it after a rain, as lots of critters come out that you normally might not see.

It began to rain as we began the drive out to Catawba valley, Virginia, but the rain subsided as we began the 5.2 roundtrip mile hike. About 2/3 of the way up to the top, we spotted this little salamander


A short bit later, I nearly stepped on his little guy:


Thank goodness I had my eyes to the ground! He was about the size of nickel.

When we got to the top, the clouds had broken, and the sun was shining. We were the only hikers at the top, so it was very peaceful.

You can spot McAfees knob in the distance, and the Peaks of Otter can be viewed beyond that (although it didn't show in the photo).



I went with my good friends Bryan (a friend from high school), and Kelly (faeleaf from etsy, a good friend of mine for several years).



Dragon's tooth is a GREAT hike if you are in the Blacksburg area, and it is on the Appalachian trail.

I also took along the pups, but sadly didn't take any photos of them. They were too busy bouldering and running wild through the woods.

Kelly showed me some blueberry bushes growing along the trail. If you look closely enough you can see some unripened berries. I ate a few ripe ones and they were delicious.



I also spotted many sassafras trees. The roots can be boiled to make sassafras tea.



When we finished the hike, we came out into the parking lot to a BEAUTIFUL rainbow that spread across the whole sky.



And on our drive back, we could see the spot where the rainbow touched the earth.. We did not go looking for a pot of gold, as seeing this rainbow was rewarding enough.


It's not terribly visible from the photo.. I need to buy a really good camera..

The rest of the evening was spent bathing Mercury and two of my cats that somehow have fleas...

I also watched a cute movie called "The Watcher in the woods"..

Have a nice Monday everyone!

Ay yi yiyyy

I need a new layout for this blog. I am seriously contemplating a move to wordpress, where I'd have a lot more freedom with how things are laid out, etc. That is another project for another day...

I have been crafting up a storm for etsy, selling 1-2 items a week, which is nice, because it has allowed me to re-up on supplies. I purchased a bunch of new feathers and shells, which will develop into some lovely earrings and necklaces soon.

I went to bonnaroo this past weekend and had a lovely time. Notable acts were Jose Gonzalez, Sigur Ros, Pearl Jam, Iron and Wine, Tiesto, and the Disco Biscuits.

I love this photo of the wall





I am blocking some squares for the blanket I'm making.. I took a shot of those for you to see


And here are some shots of my bookshelf where my owls stand guard over my crafting books




I love the little wind-up chick. I got him at pier 1.



I made a TON of buttons to put on etsy. None have sold yet, and I can't figure out why. I think they are so darling! Most of them are leaves of some type. I also made a few sun medallions. Maybe I need to turn them into projects ... the leaves would be adorable as buttons on a bag.. and the sun medallions would be great on a scarf... hm..

Knitting news and Glen Alton

One more square left on the blanket! I can't wait to finish it.. working on one thing hard for a month and a half makes me antsy to move on... although I do have to repair a tear.. last night I accidently cut the largest square when I was trying to unstitch it from another square. This will be my first lesson in repairing a hole, I suppose. I still hope to have it done by Saturday for our game versus Miami, which I should be able to easily do. I am feeling a bit wishy washy about doing the scalloped border. It may be a lot of work for something that may look out of place. I think what I will do is knit a test corner and sew it to the blanket to see how it will look... Thoughts?





Here is the blanket so far. Last night I knitted some of the squares together and today I finished square 15/16. I will start the last square tonight.

On Sunday I took Mercury and Hunter's dog, Sakari, on a nice walk through Glen Alton. If you have never been there, you should make it a point to go... It's a lovely old 300+ acre family farm that the government is now turning into a nature retreat. Here are some photos from the trip.

The stables at the back of the property. There's a watchtower at the top where you can climb up into and play lookout..

This is one of Mercury's favorite places to come visit.. so many smells and sights! A collie on a farm is about as novel as a labrador in the water..

I love the swamp area. There were still water lilies!

This is the pond as you first enter the property.




And on the drive home, I saw something most unusual!







I will post the rest of the pics up on flickr soon... and if you are near Blacksburg, VA... go visit Glen Alton! I read the government plans to strip the barns and turn them into nature centers and play areas for children... quaint, yes, but the barns as they are now are a part of our heritage.. the family farm is disappearing! I was able to get some lovely shots.. I hate to think how crowded this place will be in the future.. although I am thankful that our government stepped in to save this place. I am even more thankful that I have a place like this I can visit.

Here are photos from a Bloody Mary picnic we had last year there.