All Over the Place

End House

This weekend we went to the End in Minecraft.  The newest snapshot has added some really neat new blocks and plants.  My favorite is the chorus Plant.  You can see it pictured above.  Those spiky, twisty turning purple plants have stolen my attention this weekend. They have flowers on top that you can use to use to replant the chorus plants and when you cut them down then they rain down fruit which can be used to make the purper blocks, pillars, stairs and slabs that are a delightful mauve color.

The End City Buildings

I was really happy with the changes in the End.  The new structures are innovative and fun to climb.  The shulker are a new mob that will drive you crazy.  They look like big purple blocks until they split open and reveal the creature inside.  That creature will spit spiky balls of damage at you.  But these are not normal projectiles; besides doing damage they give you the levitation effect and up you float into the air.

The sensation can be disorientating but very helpful in the parkour climbing you need to perform to make it up the towers.  It is better, in my opinion, to leave a shulker there to assist you in making the harder jumps that one must make to get to the treasure. And what amazing treasure it is.  I have never seen such booty of enchanted wonderfulness!  

The whole thing is still a work in progress so look out for invisible blocks and other weird anomalies.  We even found a note that something was in the works and we can't wait to see what that is.

Fighting was a bit of a learning curve with the new cooldown on attacks and learning to use a shield but all in all, it was a bunch of fun and we enjoyed ourselves.  I love the new spectral arrows; they fly really far and light up the mob with an aura that can be seen through objects.  Pretty darn neat!

The chorus fruit surprised me when I ate some in the End and teleported to a new location. I tried it in the Overworld and this did not seem to happen; I just got happily full.  I think these may be one of the easiest fruits to grow and use on long journeys. All you need is a bit of End Stone, which can now be made into bricks, for the chorus flower to grow on.  You could easily bring a block with you and put it in the ground and then pillar up for the night and in the morning you would have more fruit. That would be great in a pinch.  Or you can plant them in a cave at your staging area and then when you run low on food you will have more fruit.  

When I take a plant or tree from the land in Minecraft I replant it.  In the villages, if I take their stuff I replant it.  If I need meat and I have to kill animals, I always leave two so they can be bred to repopulate the area.  Managing resources is something that every player learns about who plays a survival scenario.  In a limited world, you only have so much coal that you can find so you have to use wood to make charcoal.  Trees can be replanted but coal is gone once you have mined it all.

In a normal world, this isn't really an issue since the chunks are never-ending...but I always play as if I am part of an ecosystem because I am.  I find it hard to live as if there is always more.  I need to be part of the process of giving back to the cycle of renewal in any world.

The Earth that we live on has limited resources like coal and oil.  Plants, if they are not replanted, will die out just like animals who lose their habitats.  There are many herbs that are on the endangered list and I find myself wondering what I can do to help.  If real life were like Minecraft I would clear a hill away from the houses and plant species that grow well in that biome...but real life is not like Minecraft unfortunately.

This is something that I am going to be thinking about as I take my herbal classes and make my different salves, balms, scrubs and vinegar preparations.

There is so much on my mind right now.  

We are trying to eat a clean meal once a week as a family.  I shoot for 3 times a week for myself.  This is a new buzzword, but the concepts are not.  Eating clean means eating healthy, whole, unprocessed foods.  Choose unrefined over refined foods.  Eat ingredients you can read.  Be mindful of how the food got to your plate.

Tonight I am making ratatouille.  It is wonderful for this time of year when we are overflowing with zucchini, squash and tomatoes.  The first time I made it I layered everything like they did in the Disney movie.  It was really beautiful and delicious.  Sometimes I chop everything up and cook it that way.  

We get our meat, dairy and produce from local organic farms.  If we can't eat organic we try to eat in local places that get their produce or meat from the local farms.  We know eating in these restaurants help to support the local farms.

More places are changing their menus to cleaner options.  People want to know what is in their food and more and more people are educating themselves before using a chemical they don't know...and this is good.

For example, I eat KIND bars because I know what is in them and they taste good.  But the taste is not just what it is about.  A company has to care what their impact is on the world around them.  AT KIND they believe in creating and maintaining the conditions that nurture a sustainable environment where humans and nature can exist in productive harmony. 

Plants need time to regrow, they are not a magical inexhaustible source.  Plants have natural seasons and times of the year where their growth is in harmony with the environment around them. 

There is so much to consider because everything we eat comes from somewhere.  I have been focusing on brands that care more about the world around them than the bottom line. I've been trying to switch to environmentally friendly brands and we use companies that focus on natural solutions for health, body and house cleaners.

This is nothing new for our family; we have been striving to cut down on toxic solutions to our body and our environment since our son was born 14 years ago.  Any relationship takes work and the bond we have with the Earth is no different.

So many things to think about...

Caitlin

I finished another Caitlin and I love the colors!  I also finally got it up on Ravelry.  It is a free download.

Also, I made Happenstance this week from Sock Yarn Shawls.  I love the way the tonal colors dance throughout this pattern.  I really enjoyed knitting something for pleasure again.  I have been so crazy with designing and making commissions that I started to forget the "why" of it all.  And that is most simply that I love to knit.

I love the feel of a soft yarn slipping through my fingers.  I love to watch the colors change and form new colors as they touch on a different hue.  I love to watch a ball of yarn turn into something so beautiful and new and to know that a bit of me went into that creation.  I love the way knitting connects me to something bigger...and ultimately that connection brings me back to the Earth itself.  I love the deeper connection to my ancestors that all knit as a way of keeping warm and giving back.

I really just love knitting.

Yep.

I looked today at my brioche pattern and it has almost 1000 downloads!  Wow!

There is so much going on right now.

I'm working on some new herbal products that are targeted to the dryness that comes in winter.  They should be ready in a few weeks.  My foot scrub is doing really well and my client base is slowly growing; which is great.  I like slow growth it gives me time to breathe and catch up.

I passed my first exam so I am off to unit 2.

The house smelled so good this weekend.  On Saturday I did a healing and we smudged with frankincense, myrrh and dragon's blood and then on Sunday we crocked a pork roast with garlic, turnips, parsnips and sweet potatoes.  The scent was heavenly as the roast danced with the healing smoke.  I felt so balanced and at peace with my talents and myself.

I realize this post is long and disjointed, but really it is not because these are all facets of my life coming together in a beautiful dance that I really am blessed to be a part of.

Hugs to everyone.  
Ruinwen
:)

This Is Who I Am

This is my meditation spot in Hawaii.  I spent our trip in the wee hours of the morning watching the sunrise over the water and thinking about my life and what I want to be doing with it.

Which is why I haven't written for a month.  I needed to figure some things out and I think I have.

Hawaii was, in a nutshell, life-changing for me.  DH and I have always loved the way the spirit of the island takes you by the hand the minute you land and all those things which make up the day to day grind...just melt away.

Yes, this happens on any vacation, but Hawaii for us is somehow different.  It feels like home to us.

I would be remiss if I didn't show you a few shots of our trip so here we go:

Rainbow Falls in Hilo

Madame Pele during the day

Madame Pele at night

Petroglyphs

South Point, the southernmost part of the US

Kealekekua Bay

Back to my life.  I love my life.  I have a beautiful family, wonderful friends, 3 awesome cats and many talents and skills.

I've been trying to focus myself into knitting; which I absolutely love to do.  I love to teach and I love to create new patterns...but knitting for-profit and deadlines...not so much.

Madame Pele and her Mother taught me that I don't have to be one thing.  I don't have to focus my creative juices into one little shining moment; I can spread them out and give each thing I create my focus.

So after much pondering on me and the Universe, I realized it was time to get back to basics.  Deep down I've been missing something and I didn't really realize what it was until I took some time to think and be alone with my thoughts.  I miss my herbs.

I used to have an extensive herbal collection that was cataloged and labeled by ailment and spiritual property.  I used to make teas for everything or little mojo bags for different needs.  I loved the smell of the herbs on my fingers and I felt very connected to the hearth and my healing energy through my herb-craft.

When we had some little children come into our house I knew how dangerous some of these herbs could be and abandoned this part of myself.

Last year we had the front bed and walk lined with plants.  What did I insist was planted?  Yep, herbs.  Rosemary, thyme, sage and lavender greet me every time I walk out the door and I adore taking a moment to smell their lovely scents before getting on with my day.

Last week I made a rosemary/peppermint foot scrub for some eager testers and it had rave reviews. I used coconut and sesame oil because they are absorbed into the skin quickly and really penetrate the layers to smooth and soften.  I used sugar because it is not as abrasive as salt and this was a restorative type scrub.  I also mixed in some Bach Essences to aid in washing away the stresses of life.

Feet, after all, are what you stand on and they support you throughout your choices, they take you where you need to go and they take a beating every day.  This isn't just a scrub; it is an experience. The oils are both ones that relax the body through their scents.  They are full of many properties that help strip the feet of their toxic layer and pamper and support the new emerging skin.

I am very proud of this scrub.  I put love and Reiki into it and it gave me a sense of peace to create it. I used organic, healthy products with no preservative or additives.  The herbs shine through in this scrub and connect one back to nature if only for a few minutes.  My testers said that the cooling effects stayed with them for quite a while during the day and their feet were both softer after using it for a week.

After talking with DH we decided some things about our company Vixenpath.  We are making Vixenpath an umbrella that will house our other interests and they may or may not get sub names...not sure on that yet.

We have always done a myriad of different things and it feels good to have them all under one roof, so to speak.  DH makes silver chain mail jewelry, I make beaded jewelry, I knit and crochet, I teach and design knitting, my Sister crochets, knits and is an artist (she drew our beloved logo) , I am a Reiki healer, I am an herbalist and I love to write...hence the blog.  lol

So, yeah, all that is Vixenpath.  Just like me, it was never about one focus...so it feels good to let it breathe and evolve.  I think my foot scrub took of more then a layer on my feet; I believe it cleansed my whole outlook on everything.

This week I joined the Herbal Academy of New England.  I have been waffling on this for a while. I finally decided to do it and I signed up for classes.  I like that you have to make tinctures, salves, oils and other concoctions to pass a class.  They have a huge herbal resource that I can access anywhere and that is a wonderful thing.  I feel like taking this refresher course will be really wonderful for my soul's connection to nature and I'm really excited about it.

Caitlin

I got to teach this last weekend as well and it was a lovely class with amazing ladies who each added something special to our time together.  Here is my Caitlin in yet another amazing colorway from Done Roving Yarns.  This one is #19 Rainforest.  I love this pattern and the way the yarn makes up.  I do love to knit and feel the fiber between my fingers.  After a month's hiatus...this is heaven.

So yeah, this is me...changing...evolving and circling back to my center and I feel radiant and full of happy bubbly goodness which I am happy to share with all my readers.

Hugs and happy crafting!
Ruinwen
:)

Kitsune

This is Kitsune our new baby boy.  He is sweet and fun.  He likes to wrestle and cuddle.  He loves his soft new bed and is striving for the high score in the fish game.

Frost is cool but Shadow is really out of sorts.  I know he will settle in a few days but right now he is a grumpy cat.  :(

No knitting happened since I ran out of yarn.  It is making its way from the UK.  

I hope this summer is a wonderful one.  Happy Midsummers...and Happy Father's Day!

Hugs!

Ruinwen

:)

New Directions

So, the pink did not work out.  So I will have to go back to it later when I have more focus.  It is humid and hot here and it has been playing havoc with my brain.

So I figured a change of sensory input would help get some creative juices going.  The above yarn sitting on the thyme is CASHSILK, Linea Pura by Lana Grossa.  It is a luxurious 15% silk, 15% cashmere, 30% viscose bamboo and 40% polyamide.

This is the most wonderful yarn.  It feels like liquid silk running through my fingers.  It is thick and knits up quickly and I have failed at the gauge I need 3 times now...but that is okay.  I want to make something I can throw on for the beach and I found a cool pattern but it felt stiff to me so I changed the needle size and added a few repeats in theory.

I wanted to show you something.  But I couldn't get enough done after ripping it out so many times.

This week I got the Chariot as my tarot card.  Usually, this is a card of choices but in this deck, it is a direction has been given, guidance has been offered and you are firmly on your path.

If you ask me what this actually points to I would have trouble answering you...yet...I feel this sense of rhythm in my life.  I know what needs to be done and it gets done.  The things I couldn't due because of time or limitations...are getting done.  Everything is different, yet, on the outside, it seems nothing has really changed.  But the little things...they really do make a difference.  And that is what I think my card was trying to tell me.

When you take essences, they peel away layers and at first, you can't always tell they are working. But then one day you wake up and everything is just a little different...you feel just a little off from what you felt the day before.  That is a layer being peeled away to reveal something new underneath.  Then this new layer becomes your new reality until that too is peeled away.  This keeps happening until you find the core, the answer or the meaning to it all.

In some areas of my life...I have reached this point of utter happiness that works in harmony with my goals and aspirations.

Hugs and happy crafting,
Ruinwen
:)

And Now For Something Pink

Caitlin's Caitlin is fini!

I am very happy to have an FO to show you this week.  I really like the way Caitlin's Caitlin came out.  This yarn came all the way from Italy and it really has some rich tones to it.  Yay!  I hope she likes it!

So this is what I'm working on now.  Just a little dabbling to see if my numbers were right.  This is Nightfall from FibroFibers.  It is a yarn that starts in one color and works into the second color gradually.  The effect is stunning and I have been chomping at the bit to try it.

There is something almost magical about a yarn that changes colors gradually.  You get to enjoy each stage as the hues shift and blend and then change color again.

When I knit with yarn like this I am reminded of all the journeys that I have taken where the steps themselves were almost more important than the final result.

I'm not sure if my numbers are going to work out on this one, but we will see...and in the meantime, I get to play with lots of pinks!

This week has been gray and dismal.  I really want to send the rain somewhere it is needed...but c'est le vie.  The constant dark skies have made it very hard for my internal clock to stay set and I find myself dozing off early when I get home after work.  It has been hard to stay awake past 9.

So here we are at the weekend and I just want to sleep...but there is knitting to do and blood fiends to find...we have never found any.  I did find some werewolves and now my character is one...but hey...it is all steps on the journey right?

Happy crafting,
Ruinwen
:D

The Journey

"The man who removes a mountain begins by carrying away small stones."

-- William Faulkner

Sometimes you just keep on doing the same things because you are heading towards something; far off in the distance, there is a goal that you are trying to obtain.  I have been knitting on Caitlin and I have about a foot done now...I have 6" to go.  I  have brought it everywhere with me this week. When I visited the Doctor I was able to get a bunch done in the waiting room.

This is where my crafting focus is and I have the goal of getting it done by next week.

There is something to be said to be able to follow through with something even if one hasn't completed the journey yet...we spend most of our time in medias res...in the middle of things.  Most times it is the journey itself that is as significant as the goal.

In ESO my son wants to be a vampire.  This has been one of those rare gaming goals that take planning and conviction.  You can only do this when the moon is full which is roughly every 5.5 real-time hours and only at special spawn points.  The moon changes phase every real day and goes through 8 phases before it becomes new again, which is 8 real days.

We have yet to see a blood fiend...and we have looked and waited and ran up and down the roads to the places that they haunt.  We have a chart of times and a map of locations, we are prepared and not giving up.  This is important to him; so it is important to us.

Along the journey, our characters have gotten stronger and learned new things.  For my part in things; I have learned to be a better healer and I now know an uber spell that I can cast to heal my party back to full.  All this waiting has not been in vain; whether the blood fiends show up or not...I am stronger and I have become better at kiting (keeping the enemy chasing you where they cannot attack you but you can hit them with long-range attacks; the enemy looks like they are on a string...hence the word kite) and strafing (moving side to side instead of forward and backward...sidestepping).  I am getting good at dodge rolling to avoid attacks as well.

Gaming has taught me how to live a better and stronger life.  We all use tools to cope or to conquer things...each of us has a different path and a different view of life and we have to figure out what works for us.  Eating well, getting enough rest, moving and devoting a portion of my day to Spirit all contribute to my well-being.  They all make me stronger.

So even in a week when it seems I have done is knit another 6 inches on my Caitlin and search for blood fiends; in truth, I have been creating a better me on many fronts.

Congrats to all the behind-the-scenes things you have done to better yourself this week.

Happy crafting,
Ruinwen
:D

What's In Your Glass?

"If a pickpocket meets a Holy Man, he will see only his pockets."

-- Hari Dass

What one focuses on is the window in which the world presents itself.  Is the glass half empty, half full...or do you wonder just what in that glass?  Is it worth drinking at all?  Is it worth worrying about or even caring about?  Why are we even talking about glasses?

If I judge myself on the progress that I made this week on Caitlin's Caitlin...how do I do that?  I actually knit quite a bunch and I should be proud of myself.  Could I have knit more?  Sure.  Could I have knit less?  Yep.  So, what do I see when I look at my progress?

It is so easy to judge ourselves with negative eyes, but I choose to see that I accomplished something.  I knit exactly what I was meant to knit this week; not more, and not a stitch less.

I have stayed focused on this project.  I have not cast on something new.  Enjoying one project is something that is hard for me to do, but I am doing it.  I am actually quite proud on the rows I accomplished and that is what I will focus on.

It is easy to get lost in the beauty of this yarn.  The colors are bright and full of enthusiasm.  I am really happy with it and I hope Caitlin enjoys the subtle shades of her new school colors represented in this colorway.

This is my sage.  It has overcome so many things.  It was moved twice.  It endures our harsh Winter year after year.  Yet, each year in the Spring it sheds the cold and embraces the sun to bloom again.  The blossoms are such a lovely purple / blue mix (this photo made them more purple than blue).  These are a little past their prime but still, their blooms give me such joy.  The scent is sweet and mixes with the aromatic woodsy smell of the sage.  I love that delightful fragrance that sage has.  It is somehow calming to my entire system and I adore that this wonderful little plant greets me every morning and every evening is waiting at my door as I transition between work and home.

This week has been a challenging one and it has helped me to focus on the positives in my life that I take for granted, like this sage...or...the fabulous bounty of veggies that we got delivered with fresh herbs to boot!  There is always so much to be thankful for!

My tarot card this week was a card of enjoying and embracing family through sharing a meal together and really connecting.  This is easy enough since it  is my goal for every day.

I wish you a beautiful weekend full of blessings and happiness.

Happy crafting,

Ruinwen

:)

I Don't Doubt It

Nature hued Ostara Garden

You miss 100% of the shots you don't take.
Wayne Gretzky

Every day I play a game of Sudoku, Ken Ken, Crossword and Crossword Cubed.  Mom used to do puzzles to keep her brain sharp and I've been doing the same for a while now.  Sudoku is one of the puzzles that can be really frustrating to me because if you mess up it is hard to fix.

But If I mess up then I just start again.  I don’t go into it thinking I will mess up and I don’t worry about the numbers not working as I am figuring out what goes where.  It is a puzzle and I work it out.

In games this is easy; in real life…well, it’s just…not.

Those thoughts that creep up like a tangle in a skein of yarn and grab you, are not so easy to work through. Doubts, worry and indecision can wrack your brain and drive you into an anxious fretting mess if you let them.

My Mom was a chronic worrier.  She worried about everything.  I think at one point worry becomes the norm and it just starts to seep into everything until you worry about everything. 

I am trying to stop the cycle before it takes root.  My mantra is:

I choose to see peace, instead of this.

The this is anything that is bothering you.  I believe all trials and tribulations can be slowly overcome through faith, family, friendship, tenacity or sheer force of will.  Death and taxes can’t really be negotiated, but other than that…in most cases, you choose how you are going to live.  Each moment you decide how you will see the world and everything that surrounds you.

If I am going into a boss battle I’m girding my loins and have the best of everything that I can manage at my level.  I will stock up on potions and buffs and be ready for that boss.  If I fail, I will learn from my mistakes and I will change my attack.  If I fail again, I will watch how the boss moves and see what patterns might be helpful in defeating him.  After gaining new insight I might change out my spells and or use a staff instead of a sword.  The point is, just because I lost, I don’t become afraid of the boss.  I learn from my mistakes and go forward until I beat him or her.

In real life, it is not so easy as it seems to fight the fears that way us down with their white noise chatter.  How can we gird against these unseen foes?  If you are a person of faith then that is one way.  Faith is a very powerful weapon.  Everything for me goes back to one thing:  I am a beloved child of the God and Goddess.

My faith is about love and light. The doubts that are created in my mind are 90% of the time totally not based in reality and devoid of love or light.  Fear is all in our head as well…doubt…worry…they all hit us from within and they can be brutal.

When negative emotions start, I pray.  I take essences and breathe relaxing breaths.  I count my blessings: my awesome family, my supportive husband, my kind son, my sister who gets that part of me that is still 5...and the list goes on.  I am thankful for my friends from all walks of life who are there for me and help me in a myriad of little ways each and every day.  I am thankful for a roof over my head and a man who mows my grass.  I am blessed by my little Rhoomba who saves me a bit of cleaning each day by sweeping up the downstairs for me.  Every Friday I get a delivery of healthy veggies and meats that allow us to live a better lifestyle. 

The truth is this is a very long list and when it gets going, no fear; no worry and certainly no uncertainty can last.  I gird myself in my Faith; I take potions of gratitude and blessings.  My sword is the light which drives out the shadows and the love that surrounds me is my magic.

That is not to say, "poof" that all my troubles fade away like dew on a Summer's Day because that would be a lie.  Life will always hand us obstacles, but it is how we face them that matters.

My finances were a mess about ten years ago.  It took saving, changing the way I looked at money, doing without and a lot of prayer to get where I am now.  It wasn't a microwave quick dinner fix, it was a slow simmer crock pot meld of new concepts and ways to look at things kind of dinner.

When I was grieving, it was a long and emotional roller coaster.  It takes time to heal.  It takes time to do anything really.  There might be set backs along the journey...just keep getting up and try again.

Life and knitting have a lot in common.  Every thing I make is a journey of sorts.  As you can see all those flowers got together this week and made another Ostara Garden.  My first commission is done. Fini!  It is very earthy and naturesque.  I really like it.  I still want to make my awesome neon and sparkly one...but not for a while.

So, someone asked me how I put them together and the answer would be the most wonderful mattress stitch.  If you have never used the mattress stitch then you are in for a treat.  It does a bit of magic that is fun to watch.

Just a FYI...the mattress stitch is also used to close wounds securely and distribute the tension across the skin evenly.

So there are different ways to do the stitch based on preference and the type of fabric that you are seaming.  I have used 2 flowers to demonstrate.

The first pass goes in the vee on the left-hand flower towards the left, the second pass goes in the vee on the right-hand flower towards the right.  You are always stitching away from the center.

When you get a little way through you give the working yarn a tug and watch those stitches disappear...just like magic.

This is a great technique when you don't want the colorway to show through.  I hate seaming, but this stitch is really fun.

I hope all your troubles melt like lemon drops!
Happy crafting,
Ruinwen
:)

Progress

Flowers and radiant ideas are the only things that I accomplished this week,
but that is okay because progress is still progress.

Everything of your life is infinitely creative and the universe is endlessly bountiful. Just put forth a clear enough request, and everything your heart desires must come to you. -Shakti Gawain

When I try too hard to figure something out is when I can't see how to make it happen.  When I immerse myself in happiness and family then suddenly I know the answer.

For  Beltaine, May 1st, I drew the rune isa as my lesson for this turn of the wheel.  I have talked in length on this blog about isa and it's meanings, so it is a very familiar rune for me.  I didn't understand why I would get standstill as my rune to celebrate spring and new life until Sunday when I was working so hard to figure something out.  I was so immersed in making it work that I didn't allow it to work itself out.

When you ask the Universe for something you don't really know how the Universe is going to get it to you; you just have faith that it will.  The intent, the belief, the emotion behind it all is the most important part of the process.  The how is not really our concern.  The Universe knows the best way to bring our desire into our lives in its own time.

Its kinda like when someone has a vision of something they don't want to happen and in trying to make it not happen...they actually create the perfect environment for it to occur.

This principle really applies to anything and everything.  You can feel when you are humming in time with the rhythm of the Universe and you conversely can tell with every fiber of your being when you are in disharmony with the energies around you.

I was trying desperately to fit a lace block into a tiny little space and yet still achieve a design motif that would work with my project.  I had tried everything and I was at a standstill...there was no way this was going to work.  I walked away from it all frustrated and went to find something unrelated. My sister was busy making some mitts knitting and purling and as I ran downstairs it was like a bolt of lightning and I could see the Universe working it out in a way that I wasn't open to minutes before.

The lace wasn't really the important part of this equation.  I was so stuck on it that I hadn't allowed myself to be open to anything else.  The heart that I was trying to create; that was the crux of the issue and that could be made with knitting and purling as my sister was doing.  I could easily fit a reverse motif in the space I had and it would work perfectly with the pattern.  Voila!  Problem solved...thank you sister...thank you Universe...thank you Odin for giving me isa and once again showing me that I have so much to learn.

******

I've been trying to keep my focus on my project list so I've been making flowers for a Ostara Garden commission, knitting a Caitlin and getting ready to do a test run of Maureen.  Also, I have been polishing up patterns and hopefully I will get them up next weekend.

It was hard to believe but I couldn't find the right yarn for my Nana Cowl commission at Sheep and Wool...I did find it at Knitpicks....so I will be working on that too when the yarn comes in.

I found something really disturbing, most of my needles are missing from their cases, I have no more cables to make new circulars and I have started way too many things.  If I finish some projects on the needles, it would take away my focus on the things that have to get done, so I bought new needles and cables.  Just a few...so I can cast on these commissions.

Until they come in I am making flowers.  I have 12 out of the 20 I need to knit.

*****

If you are a Mom in any way shape or form, have a beautiful and special day.  Hugs!  :)
Happy crafting,
Ruinwen
:)

It Is that Time Again :D

Fiber Optic Yarns - KnittyandColor - Avalon Springs Farm

Here in these parts, the first weekend in May is MD Sheep and Wool.  There is something for everyone at this wonderful event.  Yummy food, sheepdog trials, books, tools, cute animals and every type of yarn or fiber a person like me could ever dream of.  The above is my haul.

There is so much going on this weekend.  Every weekend at this time has also been a Marvel Event and Age of Ultron is one of the biggest so far.  And while the way Marvel has built to this movie has been amazing and I have loved each and every story (Including Agents of Shield and Agent Carter) the reason this movie is so significant to me is it has the Scarlet Witch in it.  I have always loved the Scarlet Witch.  I have her original comics as you can see.  Over the years she has popped up in games and cartoons but when I saw that last sneak peek/spoiler/trailer at the end Winter Soldier I squeed with wild abandon like a little fangirl.


And I found this at the new toy exchange.  So much love.

*****

Finally, I can show you the secret project.  I am very happy to have finished this before S and W! This is my sister's Awesome Trellis in Miss Babs Gradients.  It is a twin to mine that I did in the pink color-ways.  Her yarn is absolutely awesome, the hues are so lovely and it is such a joy to work with. That is why I was happy to wait in a long, long line to get more at S and W.

All in all I feel very accomplished.

This week it was back to making more flowers for the commission.  I want to keep this forward motion going so I'm going to make a flower a day since I have a June deadline.

In between my flowers, I am going to make a Caitlin in some lovely yarn I just got from Italy on Etsy. Caitlin is going away to a crimson and gray school and I wanted to give my lovely model something special for all her hard work on the photos.  I think this will be perfect!

*****

There is also some designing going on as I have grabbed the next item from my very organized list of patterns I am in the process of creating.  This is something I have been dabbling with for a while and finally, the dust has settled towards some forward progress.  I just love this yarn!

I just had to totally reverse gears when I talked to the intended person I was creating this for and she told me she hated shawls.  So a cowl it is then.  Her birthday is on Valentines's Day so I interspersed hearts on every other block of the entrelac in lace.  I'm going to name it Maureen after my friend who has been with me through all the ups and downs and we knit through it all.  She inspires me with her fearlessness in fiber and she makes the most beautiful things.

I've been trying to work on this for a while but maybe the Universe knew that a shawl was the wrong direction all along and I just wasn't getting the message.  I have trouble with getting the message sometimes it seems.  I have gotten the 2 of Pentacles (Boulders in this deck) for my card of the week for 6 weeks now.  You must understand that I shuffle and cut the cards for about five minutes each time and still I get the card of two fighting witches.  This card is usually about juggling your priorities in an equal fashion.  But this card shows two girls fighting tooth and nail over beets and beads.  I read somewhere that they were going to a swap meet and one heard beets and one heard beads.

So is this a lesson of perception again?  One girl was hoping for some lovely ripe beets and didn't want the shining beads and the other girl was hoping for a bauble of a different nature?  Is it about disappointment because what you thought was not the reality of what you were supposed to get?

Obviously I do not know or I would not keep on getting this card.  But I keep going forward, doing my thing and working on goals and being happy.  Eventually, I will figure it out right?

I hope your day is full of happiness and joy and some forward progression on your goals!
Happy crafting,
Ruinwen
:)

A World Adorned in Flowers

This little branch fell off the pear tree at work and I brought it in to sit with me for a bit.  The blossoms smell so sweet and these little white blooms fill me with such joy.

Everywhere Spring is bursting forth.  The grass is becoming green again and my yard is dotted with purple little flowers.  Tulips are reaching up towards the warming sun in hues of yellow and red and daffodils gently wave in the breeze.

The air is saturated with new life, hope and promise.  The hard winter is almost forgotten as the landscape changes her gown in hues of color and delight.

*****

I started these flowers when it was still cold and the landscape was covered in snow and ice.  At the time I was craving color and using up my bright sock yarn seemed to be the cure for the winter blahs. As my garland grew, the sunny days came and now our little corner of the world is awash in new life.

Now that I am finished I am stunned by how much I like this design.  It isn't necessarily meant to be made up all at once but rather maybe to have a flower added each time you have a little leftover after making a sock or other project.  And slowly, like a garden bursting forth with new life, you will have colors and stories that you can one day join to adorn yourself with.

These sock yarns are special to me because I bought them to make traveling socks with. These yarns were added to my sister knitters socks as part of a knitted collage we created together in the form of socks.  Two of these sisters have passed on to the world beyond since then.  So, in a way, these flowers are a tribute to those that weave in and out of our lives and create beautiful blooms that stay within our hearts forever.

*****

Finishing the Ostra Garland means that I can go back to knitting the secret thing.  After that, I need to start on another Ostra Garland that has been commissioned.  I think this one will go much quicker since I worked out the kinks on the first one.

*****

I hope you all have a beautiful week full of new growth and experiences,
Happy crafting,

Ruinwen
:)

Senses

We binge-watched Daredevil this week.  And it was awesome if you like the rather dark Marvel character.

The thing that makes him special is that when he lost his eyes to the chemical spill after saving that person's life; he gained super sensitive senses.  He can taste the air and tell you what you had for lunch and tell if you are lying by the sound of your heartbeat.  Everything is heightened for him and more than three-dimensional.

That is how I feel about yarn.  I wanted that yarn above, the masala Knitpicks Gloss because I loved the warm spicy feel to it.  It looked like something you would find in a vat overflowing in Morocco. You would see the color long before the aroma of the spice hit you and by the time you reached it you would be awash in color and taste.  You would be thinking about the dishes you could make with this spice and how alive they would be when they hit your tongue.

This yarn is merino wool and silk.  Your eyes delight in the color and then your fingers feel caressed by the silk as you knit.  There is such joy in pairing a yarn with a sensory experience like silk.  Silk stitches feel delicious when you knit them.  They dance over the needles.  

Most times I am drawn by the color to a yarn.  Sometimes it is that it sparkles or that it is a certain type but usually it is the color.  Yarn colors call to them as you need them.  I believe sometimes we go for a long haul of buying the same color until the need for that color passes.

I love pink.  I just do.  And this pink is bright and cheery.  One day it will be a shawl.  But now I can look at the pink and smile.  That has not changed in all these years.  Pink remains for me a memory of home and cherry blossoms in the spring, of valentines and love that lasts forever and of the sun kissing the sky in the morning.  To me, the memories that are woven as I knit with the pink are as beautiful as the color itself.

This is a look into one of my drawers of many types of yarn.  They are sorted more or less by color so you can see how much I love reds, purples and pinks.  I adore sparkles...they are just magical.  All of these yarns are waiting to become something bigger than themselves.  I love to just look at them and open up their bags and feel them.

That is really all I have time for right now.  But the knitting waits like a flower bed that sits outside one's window in anticipation of someone looking out and noticing how beautiful it is.

I have been working on connecting my flowers all week between taxes and other stuff.  I hope to have them all joined for next week.

I hope you have been enjoying the beautiful weather.

Hugs!

Ruinwen

:)

Caitlin

There is a moment in Skyrim where this plays and you know that there is a dragon approaching and your adrenaline starts pumping as you ready your weapons and look to the skies.  The score is so powerful you can feel the energy emanating around you and filling you up with purpose and conviction.  I still get the chills when I hear it.

That is how I felt when I saw the photoshoot of Caitlin.  OMG!  These photos are fantastic.  The photographer and model have left me breathless.  The model is the beautiful Caitlin herself that the pattern was named after.  I love the playful way she got into the shoot.  Her Mom is a talented photographer and I love all the shots she took.  It is hard to choose which ones to use on the pattern.

I am so blessed to have these two talented individuals in my life.

This is the second professional type shoot that we've ever done.  The first was the Nana Cowl shoot and I love those pictures so much!  I've been going back and forth and trying to figure out how to do things.  I am part of a group of designers who talk about photos and what makes a pattern come alive for people and there are a bunch of really good ideas on there.

I am just awed by the difference I feel from the previous photo in the snow and these photos with Caitlin are.  Adding a human element allows you to see how the pattern flows and drapes.  You can see it on and maybe envision it on yourself...you can see how it would fit into your wardrobe as a cold-weather staple.

There is life in these photos, movement and whimsy.  I feel the energy emanating from these photos and I am empowered to create more things so that this photographer can breathe life into them.

*****

I made these.  I love kale chips.  I love the way they crunch and how healthy they are.  So I decided to try my hand at making my own.

I washed and dried the kale and then ran some olive oil over it.  Not more than a tbsp which I blended into the kale with my fingers.  I then placed the kale on a metal tray that has tiny holes in it.  I set the oven to convection at 300 degrees and used some of our special spice blend (garlic powder, onion powder, Hungarian paprika, chili powder, cumin and a little celery salt) to season the leaves.

Then, in they went for 15 minutes turning once.  Anything over 15 minutes tastes burnt.  I sprinkled them with some nutritional yeast which tastes like a kind of cheese if you haven't had any for a while. To me, it is like a smokey Parmesan mixed with something I can't quite place...but the crux here is it is really yummy.  If you haven't tried it before then just try a little on one of the leaves but put it on while they are hot and there is a bit of oil to hold it on.

The result is just pure yummyness!  So this will be another healthy staple that I'm adding to my weekly diet.  Kale is full of beta carotene, vitamins K and C, calcium, lutein and zeaxanthin (both are good for the eyes).  Kale boosts DNA repair and is an antioxidant that appears to block the growth of cancer cells.  It has also been shown to decrease LDL, the bad cholesterol levels in the blood and decreases the absorption of dietary fat (like green tea does).

*****

I hope you are enjoying the slow returning of spring to the land after our hard winter.

Happy crafting,
Ruinwen
:)

P.S.  I hope to have Caitlin proofed and published in a few weeks.  I'll let you know when it is available.  Thanks for reading.

Happiness

April Fool's Day in Minecraft was blessed with hearts.  Here you see it raining hearts on a couple of happy bunnies.  In fact, the effect I was getting was happiness and it was a really nice little surprise. Along with light, the torches gave little hearts.  You never died, you only gained more hearts.  At the end of my little romp in this fun world, I had four stacks of them.  Creepers exploded into flowers...skeletons gave off bone meal like crazy and I was never able to be harmed or harm another living soul.  Very beautiful actually.

This makes me happy.  Little purple flowers waking up from their deep slumber are dotted all over my lawn.  It must really be spring.  *insert happy face*

My knitted flowers look almost as nice as the real thing.  I've got 14 of them now...2 to go before I can join them into a bright and colorful garland.  I can't wait!

So, funny story.  I always have to make two of whatever I am designing.  One goes to the shop so it can be shown off for the class and then one stays with me so that we can do a photoshoot and have a reference in hand for any questions that arise.  Usually, the shop gets the first incarnation of and then the second has all the kinks worked out after teaching the class.

I always knit with the class so I can be present in the pattern with them.  So, Knitpicks was having a sock yarn sale and I thought, "Hey I will buy enough bright yarn to make another of these for the photoshoot that is really bright and cheery."

Here is my bright and cheery yarn!  I love the colors!  I love the sparkle yarn for the contrast in between.  I can't wait to make this garland.  BTW it is Knitpicks Stroll, in Brights and Glimmer.

But...when I got my hair cut I was talking about my flowers and the wonderful lady who cuts my hair...that has been cutting my hair for 16 or so years...loved my flower and wants a garland of her own in earth tones.

So...back to Knitpicks I went and got more sale yarn in earth tones and beautiful hues of a different sort.  I am so blessed to have people interested in my designs; I am so thankful to be able to make beautiful things that make people smile.







She wants a Nana Cowl too, so I have to find a yarn that I really adore the drape of to take the place of the sugar yarn I loved so much.  But...that is what MD S and W is for!

Happy Spring and Blessed Easter to those that are celebrating this weekend.

Hugs!
Ruinwen
:)