Hello, my name is Meagan and I’m a Enabler.

You see, whenever I come across a new knitter, or gasp, someone who does not knit yet (notice I said “yet”), I feel it is my duty to properly introduce them to the many joys of knitting. My friend Jessica, (the one to whom I gave the Monster Mittens and Hat) is one of my latest victims. About a month ago, Jessica and Paul stopped by on their way to Seattle to see Jessica’s brother Nick. HI NICK!!! Oh, HI PAUL!!!

Since Jess only brought one knitting project for a two week road trip (You’ll have to forgive her, she’s a new knitter and didn’t know any better), I generously offered to help her out. Long story short, by the time Jess left (and they were at our house for less than 24 hours), she had two new scarf projects, including yarn and needles. This, of course, is a perfect example of why I am required to keep a large yarn stash on hand at all times. (As well as a “comprehensive” needle collection. ) For friends in need.

When she came back through Cleveland two weeks later, this is what she had accomplished:

The middle scarf is the one I am knitting right now. But Jess was over half-way done with both scarves, and had finished a basket-weave pattern baby blanket, all in two weeks! I was so impressed with her! We both used the same pattern, “Gossamer Shell Scarf,” from the book One -Skein Wonders edited by Judith Durant. Very fun book, by the way. I have already picked out several more patterns that I cannot wait to cast on. It was so cool seeing the same pattern knit up in three different yarns. The blue scarf was knit using a 67% Wool, 33% Rayon yarn and the black scarf using a mohair yarn with a metallic strand.These two yarns were some I picked up at an estate sale this past summer. The green scarf (mine) is made from Kidlin Pixie yarn, a 49% Linen, 35% Kid Mohair, 16% Nylon blend. I got it up at Chautauqua Institution this summer at the yarn shop where I worked. I am actually knitting it as a sample for the same shop.

I was also proud of Jess because her black scarf was too wide, so she ripped it out and changed the pattern! All by herself! Here is a close-up of the black one:

Isn’t it gorgeous?! She did such a great job. I think she was really impressed with herself, too.

See? It’s offical: Knitting makes you happy.

I know, I know, no blog for over a month.

I have actually been quilting in the past month, not just knitting. I have been working on one of the commissions I received this summer.

The “Save the Children” Fabric (the center squares of the star blocks) was provided to me by the lady who has comissioned this throw-sized quilt. I made her a similar-looking art quilt two years ago and this summer she contacted me again, saying that she really wanted a second quilt from me but that she didn’t have the wall space for another art quilt and could I possibly make a couch throw-sized quilt for her? I was happy to, of course. I am quite pleased with how the piece is turning out thus far.

Here is a picture before adding the border:

And here is a picture of the quilt after adding the border:

What an amazing difference, huh? (Yeah, I know the second picture is a little sloppy. We moved my big design wall and its new location doesn’t work quite as well as the old one as far as photographing goes and I was in a big hurry the day I took that picture and didn’t have time to fiddle with it.)

I have also been working on some bags lately. I got some wonderful koi (Japanase goldfish) fabric from the International Quilt Collection that I am using for the main fabric in this newest set of bags. I’ll try to put up some pictures of those in a few days when the bags are farther along.

Today, (when I finally get off this computer) I will start quilting this piece. I am also going to start cutting out the pieces for the next set of bags. I absolutely love cutting up fabric. That, and ironing fabric. Weird, I know, but it’s true. I love LOVE LOVE to iron fabric, and only fabric. I do not iron clothes. That’s why “wrinkle-free” was invented. To leave more time for important things like knitting quilting.

I have Memoirs of a Geisha on DVD to watch, too, so overall, today should turn out to be a very nice day.

I am so sorry that I haven’t written in so long. Long story short, I went back to Lakewood, NY, to visit my parents in the beginning of August and ended up staying a month. I wasn’t planning on staying that long, but while I was visiting, I went up with my Mom to the yarn shop where she works (at Chautauqua Institution), and the next thing I knew, I was working there, too! Eileen, the owner, really needed another salesperson and since I had worked for her up at Chautauqua two summers ago, I was a perfect fit.

Marcus was really great about me staying there so long; he understood that this was a great opporturnity for me because I was also able to do a little networking with some people up at Chautauqua and ended up receiving four commissions while I was up there. And we did get to see eachother; on weekends he would either come to Lakewood or I would drive back to Cleveland.

Anyway, that’s why I haven’t written in so long, between being gone and then trying to get back into the swing of things back here in Cleveland, and trying to work on comissions and housework, I simply haven’t had time to blog. I will try to do better, I promise, and not be such a bad blogger!

This weekend, Marcus and I are going back to Lakewood, again, for a wool festival. Mom, of course, is going, too. (Like we could keep her away from all that yummy yarn and spinable fiber. ) It is going to be so much fun! I am planning on buying two Golding spindles, and probably a Bossworth spindle, too.

Plus some silk fiber, of course, and some bamboo and a Bossworth spindle as a gift for my friend Leigh, who is currently in Japan for a semester. She is a vegan, so I am hoping to pick up some soy silk fiber for her to spin, too. Ha, ha, I know: soy for a vegan.

We missed this wool festival last year because Marcus and I were being vendors at an art festival, so I am really excited about going tomorrow. I am not even going to say that I’ll try to be good. When it comes to yarn or spinable fiber (or fabric, or beads, or books, or hand lotion for that matter ), I may have absolutely zero self control, but at least I am honest about it.

We have been working really hard in our garden and everything is looking really great. The butterfly bush, which Marcus has been so excited about, has finally started to bloom. And, we’ve finally had butterflies in our garden. Some small, pale yellow butterflies (about the size of a half-dollar coin) really seem to like our Basil plant in our herb box so I haven’t been cutting back its blooms, which is probably stunting the growth of the leaves, but since we haven’t actually used any of the basil, it probably doesn’t matter.

But the really exciting part is that a couple days ago, a monarch butterfly came to visit our butterfly bush!

It was absolutely amazing, watching this tiny, perfect creature climb all over our butterfly bush, drinking the nectar.

Since the butterfly was on the bush for at least 20 minutes, I took nearly 40 pictures, but I’m not going to post all of them.

Since I love butterflies, it was a real treat to have this monarch tolerate me being so close for so long. The last time I was this close to a butterfly was when Marcus and I went up to the Butterfly Conservatory at Niagara Falls. And that was right before we were married, which, incidentally, was four years ago today. Yep, today, July 26, is our four-year wedding anniversary. Marcus, you are so wonderful. I love you even more today than I did four years ago. You are my everything.

Happy Anniversary, My Love!

A friend of mine from high school, Jessica, came to visit us a few weekends ago. Since she might be joining Christian Peacemaker Teams (also known as CPT), we might not see her for quite a while. So, I decided to give her the hand-knit matching fingerless mittens and hat set that I made for her. She absolutely loved them! She could hardly sit still long enough for me to take these pictures of her.

Right after the last time Jess visited us, I started making these fingerless mittens for Jess because she really admired a pair of similar “monster mittens” that my Mom had made for me.

Here is Jess again, with the “Monster Mittens” starting to take control of her.

I used black Ironstone wool held with green Fun Fur yarn for the fingerless mittens (which I call “f’ittens”) and the hat. They were all done in a Knit 2, Purl 2 rib, and the “f’ittens” were created in a rectangle then sewn up the side, leaving a large hole for the thumb.

Paul, another friend from high school as well as a good friend of Jessica’s, also came to visit on Sunday, so we made both Paul and Marcus model the Hat and F’ittens, too.

Here is Paul, ashamed that the promise of London Broil and home-made pasta makes him so willing to humilate himself.

And of course, Marcus:

Don’t you just love watching a grown man pout? Actually, Marcus could hardly stop laughing long enough for me to take a “mad” picture.

Too fun.

Yesterday morning, before it become too hot to breath outside, Marcus went out to water our flowers and discovered little visitors.

Bunnies! Baby bunnies! I know that when they grow up, they will be little menaces, eating my blueberry bush and flowers, but right now, they are just so cute!

Marcus (who took all these pictures of the bunnies) said they were under the smaller hydrangea bush and under the deck. And last night, when we were out watering, I got to see them, too! This time, two were under the one of my lupine flowers, one was under the deck and one was down by the smaller hydrangea bush again. They are just tiny! I couldn’t believe how small they were! They were no longer than four inches, with such tiny little ears!

And the momma bunny is okay, too, because Marcus saw her when he went back out to get his laptop after we finished watering. That was something that worried me - that the only reason the babies were so close to the house was because something had happened to their mother. But she’s fine! She just apparently decided that under our deck was a marvelous place to sleep, especially with all the lovely cover we apparently planted just for them.

In these pictures, if one of the bunnies looks wet, that’s because it is. Yesterday morning, before he looked closer, Marcus thought that it was a squirrel or a mouse and sprayed it with the hose. (He apologized to the poor little bunnies afterwards, who were apparently under very strict instructions from their mother not to stray an inch from where she left them because the little bunnies didn’t move the whole time Marcus was out there.)

So, there are four little bunnies, and the momma bunny, and apparently they are living under the deck, or at least sleeping under it at night. I don’t know if we will see them again, especially since every time we see them, it is because we accidentally get them wet, but we will look for them and think fondly of them. At least, until they start eating my blueberry bush.

Marcus and I have been very busy lately - lots of gardening, etc. Yesterday, we went to the Boston Mills Artfest. It was great! Boston Mills was the first art festival we attended here in Ohio, three summers ago when we were first looking for a house.

We have also been enjoying the new fire pit that Marcus bought.

It is very fun to sit out in our backyard, with all the flowers, and knit in front of the fire pit. Marcus found some tikki torches in the garage and they have been really fun, too. Of course, Lyssie makes it very difficult to knit because she insists that I hold her. (She absolutely hates grass and would much rather be inside the climate-controlled house. Remind you of anyone? )

In the picture above, I am working on my Schaefer scarf. I am using Schaefer Elaine yarn and the pattern is Ruffled Edge Scarf from Vogue on the Go: Chunky Scarves and Hats.

This scarf is actually quite a big deal for me, not because the pattern is all that hard (although it is plenty challenging, let me assure you!) but because of what it represents. This is the scarf that really made me want to learn how to knit.

A couple years ago, my Mom had knit up this pattern in another colorway of Schaefer Elaine as a sample for the yarn shop where she works. I absolutely fell in love with this scarf! The thick-and-thin texture of the yarn, the way the ends of the scarf flair out, the way the hand-dyed colors interact with each other - I was smitten. I had to make this scarf!

Mom tried to discourage me, since at that point I think I had knitted a whopping 2 dish clothes, had never even purled, let alone SSK-ed or made a L-inc or a R-inc. (Actually, I still haven’t done those last two.) But, I was insistent, so she got me started on it. I think I cast-on and knitted two whole rows before deciding that maybe Mom was right.

A few months ago, Mom and I decided that I was now ready to give this scarf another try. So far, it is turning out great! I love it! Once again, I love everything about this scarf! (Of course, I still haven’t got to the rather difficult increasing part at the end, but I am just ignoring that fact for now. )

Mom and I went to the Lake Farm Parks Wool Fest all day yesterday. (We went all day Saturday, and Friday night, too, and were very bad.) We had such a fun time! The sheep! The wool! The yarn! The bamboo! The silk! You get the idea.

The only thing worse than Mom and I going to a wool festival together is Mom and I going to a wool festival together without Marcus . Marcus, you see, lends a bit of restraint to our wild abandon of spending. Only a bit, but still.

Jamie and Matt from the Wooly Knob were there. Two cooler guys you’ll never meet! I bought some very nice Rambouillet Merino/Black Alpaca/ Rayon fiber from them. Mom is having them process some Alpaca and Jacob and Finn fleeces.

Now, besides being spindle sluts, fiber snob (in my case), and wool “collectors,” Mom and I and are also what is known as enablers. In the fiber world, an enabler is someone who feels somewhat guilty about how much she (he) is purchasing/ size of stash/ number of projects/ how much time she (he) spends on said projects, so, they convince other people to buy fiber/ increase their stash/ start new projects/ spend every waking hour on those projects in an effort to somehow legitimize their own problem obsession hobby. We found a new victim fiber enthusiast today in Rebecca Thomas of Waters Edge Jewelry. (She has beautiful stitch markers for knitting and really pretty jewelry. Go buy some. I’ll wait. Go!)

We managed to convince her that she that she had to learn to drop spindle. Had to. That if she didn’t, all the wool in the world would disappear over night or some such disaster. So, she bought a silk cap and a very nice drop spindle and I taught her to spin. Here she is, spinning:

And here is some of her jewelry (I bought lots. I mean, of course I didn’t buy much, Marcus! ):

And here we are at the end of the show today with her. Rebecca is so sweet!

This is a very cute bunny from Millennial Way. Mom and I bought some very fun second-grade white angora bunny fiber for $5 per 6 oz. Actually, we bought all the rest they had. The girl holding this cute little guy was making a rather good case that he should come home to live with me. She is already quite the salesperson! I did not purchase the bunny, just the fiber! Lyssa (and Marcus) are not quite that tolerant. In the background is some fun Cotswold locks that I also bought. The excellent salesperson pictured said that she likes to spin it straight from the locks so that is what I am going to try.

Anne’s Fiber Expressions (their shop is in Montello, WI, phone #: 1-608-297-7254) had a booth filled with very cool stuff. I bought over a pound of Black Diamonds fiber, which is charrcoled bamboo, in a lovely gray. It is seems similar to soy silk. I also bought some ingeo fiber which is made from corn. How fun is that!

Maple Creek Farm had beautiful hanks of yarn that were just calling to me, but sadly, my money ran out before my enthusiasm did so I didn’t get to buy any.

And here is Mom, “hoofing it” back to the car after a long, hard weekend of buying fiber. All that shopping is really quite exhausting.

“It’s the end of the world, and I have the best seat in the house.”

This is the first line of an amazing new book called Luna, by Garaon Whited. I’ve been reading his Elfwood gallery, for a really long time now, and I absolutely love his work. He is one of my favorite writers, right up there with J. R. R. Tolkein, Mercedes Lackey, Juliet Marillier, Melanie Rawn, and Marion Zimmer Bradley. And Garon Whited’s new book, Luna, is finally out!

I have been waiting a really long time for this. For a while, he was putting up chapters of Luna on Elfwood as he was writing them, kind of like teasers, and they were just amazing! Funny, witty, and full of drama. Science fiction, astronauts, the moon, space stations, and, as you may have guessed, the world blowing up. Does it get any better than that?

I buy a lot of books, mostly science fiction and fantasy, and tend to spend as much money on them as Marcus will let me. Because of this, I usually buy paperbacks since I can get 3 paperbacks for about the price of one hardcover. However, Garon Whited is so amazing that I will be buying his new book in *gasp* hardcover. Yes, I am going to shell out the big bucks because Luna is that wonderful! Click here to read the first chapter of Luna, or click here for another excerpt.

Garon Whited has a another book out, too, called Nightlord. I haven’t read it yet, but since he wrote it, I am sure it is great. Anyway, read the excerpts, and go buy Luna. Amazon.com and barnesandnobles.com both have it, so pick your favorite site and buy the book. Buy one for yourself, for a friend, for a stranger. Buy a backup copy. Just buy it. And read it. You’ll love it.

I seem to be sort of stuck lately. I am finding myself not really wanting to work in my studio (And it isn’t because I just want to knit, Mother - you bad girl, you.) I just feel like I have run out of steam.

In a way, knitting is easier because I don’t really have to be as creative. With art quilting, I have to come up with a new design (unless I’m working in a series, which I don’t do very often) for each piece I do: new design, new fabrics, new quilting. With knitting, I find a pattern, select the yarn, have Mom show me whatever new technique I need to learn, and then I make it. Knitting, for me, is more challenging technique-wise while art quilting seems to drain me creatively.

My studio is really messy right now, and that isn’t helping either. Don’t slap me for saying this, but I keep thinking that my studio really is too small. Well, it isn’t so much too small as it is that the shape of the room - long and narrow, makes it very difficult to work in. I have 2 sewing machines (with their own tables) set up, a computer desk, chair for visitors (Mom, Marcus, etc.) ironing board, file drawers, book case, cube shelves, 1 large design wall and 1 small design wall, and a tv. I would like to move the chair, a small swivel/recliner, out of my studio and move the computer desk over which would hopefully make room for a new table to layout out fabric on or cut out pieces. Marcus would need to rewire a lot of the stuff on my computer desk, though, and it is going to be hard for him to find the time for a while because of all the work he has to do lately.

I guess I should probably bite the bullet and just starting cleaning my studio.

On a happier note, Mom is coming tomorrow for the Wool Fest at Lake Farm Parks. We are a disappointed that one of our favorite vendors, Ellen’s Half Pint Farm, cancelled to due to illness. Ellen dyes the most beautiful fiber, especially silks and soy silk. Just gorgeous! I was supposed to take this great silk class from Ellen’s sister but she won’t be coming either. Oh well, maybe next year. At least Mom and I will get to see them at this really nice fiber festival at Hemlock, NY, this fall.

I’m sure Mom and I will manage to get in enough trouble at the Wool Fest this weekend, even without Ellen’s help.