You know that I went to the Fiber Festival in Hemlock recently. I picked up 4 beautiful rovings while I was there, and I've managed to get one of them spun up so far. This is the "Strawberry" 100% wool. Wool tends to be somewhat scratchy, but this one came out SO soft. It's a VERY nice wool!
I recently finished my first felting project - a hat for my daughter! Actually, I guess it's really a "fulled" hat, since it was knitted first. The pattern came from the Ashford bi-annual magazine "The Wheel". It was an adult size hat pattern, so I had to modify it to fit a 7 year old little girl. I made the hat using Louet Corriedale roving in Grape, and trimmed using Paton's Cha Cha in the color 'Vegas'. The brim is knitting using 2 single sport weight strands of the handspun Louet roving, and 1 strand of the Cha Cha. Before it was fulled, it looked very Seussical, but it came out great, and I am so pleased with it! I started with 8 ounces of roving, and 1 ball of Cha Cha and had enough to make not only the hat, but a matching scarf and handbag. The bag is still drying right now, but I will post a picture of that when it's done. I was able to make the whole ensemble for under $20 and it only took a week to knit up, once the spinning was done!
Ok, I know it. I am always talking about our stinkin’ dogs! I’m not even sure I like them all of the time, but I guess I’m just fascinated by them. I still don’t understand why my husband feels the need for so many - and so large. They are amazing creatures, but he needs to know when to stop for gosh sakes! Since so many have asked for pictures and about what they are, here goes: Most people I talk to have never heard of Fila’s. I usually just call them Brazilian Mastiffs. Makes it easier. Their heritage is from the Mastiff and the Blood Hound lines. They are the national dog of Brazil and were originally used for tracking and holding. Way way back, that included finding and holding runaway plantation slaves and hunting large game. These days they are still used to aid in hunting large game - primarily the big cats such as Panthers, Jaguars and such and for personal protection. They have a “high sprung” rear end to enable them to jump as high as the cats and take them down by the throat. Standing on their hind legs, they are as tall as most men. They are extremely fierce and terrify everyone that sees them, but here with their family, they are just a couple of big ole’ babies. Libby still thinks she’s a lap dog and will plunk her big bottom right down in your lap for a nuzzle. Just don’t let her lay on your chest!! Breathing is too important!! They are also extremely intelligent. We constantly have to be on our toes because they are sharp enough to pull stuff over on us all the time if we aren’t as alert as they are at any given moment. One of Libby’s first tricks was to learn how to turn on the bathroom light and to open doors using the knobs. We came home not long ago and found Honey Blossom out of her crate. We still aren’t sure which dog figured out how to work that latch! We’ve had a Husky for years. Her name is Sasha and she is just as sweet as can be. She isn’t pictured here - everyone knows what a Siberian Husky looks like generally. I used to think of her as a “large dog”. But then came the Fila’s….. We started with Liberty. Libby comes from Tennessee and when we drove to pick her up at the airport (she rode to the airport in a limo - no kidding! - but that’s another story for another time….) the war in Iraq had just started, and we had no name yet…. and what passes us on the highway but a Jeep Liberty. I had grown frustrated and started calling out the names of ALL the cars passing us as suggestions. Given the time in history coinciding with Libby’s home coming and all, it fit, and it stuck! The picture below is not a full body picture, but I wanted you to see the size of her head. I had my 15 yr old son put his head next to hers for reference:
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