Seattle Update, Finally!

The reason I came to Seattle in the first place: My baby, Clara Rose, graduated from Mariner High, with Honors. She sang a duet of "over the Rainbow", the IZ version and it was the highlight of the whole ceremony! I couldn't be more proud of all my children. And, I get to see them often. It does my heart good, I can tell you :)

I have been having a busy summer here in Seattle. I had to move twice and am staying now in a house with 4 other women, 5 dogs and one cat. It is an adventure! I really am having a good time, for all the chaos that my lifestyle involves.

My job at the Fiber Gallery is very wonderful. I work mainly on the weekends and fill in when others are on vacation. I get to teach some of the classes and am the resident "right handed" crocheter. So I have been doing some wonderful crochet for the shop as well as on my own.

I went to one of the local kntting groups, the Capitol Hill Knitters of Doom (group on Ravelry) and met some really nice gals. Two of them met me at the shop the next day and we had a great time hanging out. Then, yesterday, one of them came over and we did some dying! Here are some pics:




So, I have to get going for the rest of my day and prepare more for the crochet class I teach this weekend. Best to all and now that I am back on Ravelry, you can find me there, too! Hugs, KC

Updates and movin' on

Well, it has been a long time since I updated my blog. I just got to the point where everything I had to report was upsetting, but now the future is more settled feeling and looks brighter!

I moved out of my house, and feel much lighter.
I have my two dear dogs, Hershey the brown toy poodle and Lucky the schauzer mix. We are staying with my friends Jill and Lura until we go to Seattle in early June.

I visited Seattle in the early spring and it felt like HOME again. I got to see my actress daughter in her high school play and met up with some new friends and got to hang out with them. My oldest daughter and I went to our favorite yarn shop and I got to see my brother and my son as well. The trip confirmed for me that I was wanting to go back to Seattle longer term.

After toying with the idea of getting a trailer to live in and tow behind my Volvo, I decided to rent a room in a house in Mountlake Terrace. It is a suburb in south snohomish county, half way between where my kids live and where my friends live and easy access to everywhere. It has a big, fenced yard for the dogs and a nice living area and bedroom for me. My landlord (a young computer programer) will be my housemate and there are other housemates in the downstairs of the split level. So I am hoping that it all works smoothly. But at least, for now, I have a place to land for a month so I can look for work. (I got laid off from DR H the home builder, in Dec, 08)

I am finishing up my tenure as knitting guild president and have found someone to take the membership responsibilities! This is a huge load off of my mind.

Living with J and L has been a good learning experience. I have begun weaving and have learned alot about keeping an organized home from watching Miss Lura and her sharpie pens and lables!

I have done some small knitted soap sacks for the ladies who helped me this year in the guild. Each one is a bit different, but basicly, I cast on 25 or so on size 8needles with dishcloth cotton. I do a few rows of seed stitch, K1, P1 and then P1 K1 on the opposite row. I slip the first stitch purlwise and on a purl row, knit the last stitch so that I get a chain edge.

After the seed stitch I add a row of eyelet for a drawstring, k1, yo, k2 tog across. If the numbers don't come out even, oh well! Then purl back and do several rows of stockinette. Knit one row, purl the next.

Then I throw in some more lace holes for interest. I like the one with the three holes that lookes like a violet or a heart or on the diagonal. Just have fun. Knit for a total of 4 inches or so (more if you are using a big bar of soap) and then bind off.
Leave a long tail after you bind off. Fold sack in half and sew up with the tail the bottom and the side. Crochet a chain, knot the ends and thread it through the eyelet row.

These sacks are quick, fun and neat to use. They hold an expensive bar of soap that you want to stay dry until you use it, or little bits and pieces of soap that you want to use all the way up. The sack works as a washcloth and can be washed after the soap has run out. I rinse mine off after every use, but hey, it is soap in there, how dirty could it get??!

Now that I am back up and feeling good, I will attempt to keep up the blog and let everyone know how I am doing as I travel! KC

A Good Day Sept - Oct.

I have been neglecting my blog all summer, because life has been busy. I have my daughter living with me now and she is working full time, I have my girlfriend here too, as well as taking in two housemates! We have a full house, not counting the extra three cats and two dogs that are part of the family now. I love it.

As you know, the market as been tough and it seems that it is not getting any easier as so many of the banks and lenders are having such trouble. The future is uncertain in that regard, but I realized today: I have yarn to last me 2 to 3 years, at least! LOL

It is the simple things that keep ya going, ya know? Like looking forward to seeing fall leaves on my cruise of the west coast. We leave tomorrow. Like knitting with soft yarn in a great color. Like selling a house every now and again. So all is well in my world as of right now.

I took a look at my UFO's and decided which ones to continue with. I made a list of gift knitting and swap knitting. I also made a list of things I can knit to sell. I am having my knitting and spun yarn juried in November so that I can sell things at the Tucson Museum of Art Sale at the Weavers and Spinners guild booth. I know that the profit is small, but the joy is large.

Enjoy your fall season everyone. Ours is slow in coming but by Halloween we should be basking in 70 degree days and 45 degree nights. Another reason to love Halloween!

The head picture is of some yarn I spun in a Spin a long from the ravelry group Spin Big! I had a blast drum carding the batt and spinning a thick, even single! Great progress in my hopes to spin Malabrigo like yarn!

Great Gratuate!

Had a great time with the kids up in Bellingham WA and Sharayah Graduated with Honors from the Psychology Department! Enjoy, More later...
This is an example of WHY people move to the NW. ONE DAY in 20!

Me and my three great Kids!

New Tattoo!

Well, I finally took the plunge and got a tat on my lower back. I had been thinking about it alot a few years ago, but put it on hold when I learned from my daughter that they were called "tramp stamps". Put a damper on my enthusiasm. Well, with all the changes that have taken place in the last 3 months, I got the urge again to get another tattoo and felt that if I got one that you couldn't see with clothes on, that it wouldn't really be a TS, so here she is:



The dragon is my protector power animal and the spiral is the source of creative energy and spirit connection. I went to Maggie May's in Tucson and had Steve, their main artist help me with the design. I decided after seeing this picture, that he really has a special passion for his work!



Notice I am attempting to Knit! Hahaha! I got a few stitches in and realized that my tension would be waaay too tight if I continued. LOL So my friend AarYn helped to distract me while Steve was working on me.


Well, on Tuesday I am off to Seattle, then Bellingham, to attend my daughter Sharayah's graduation from Western Washington. She is being honored as the top student in the psychology department as well as graduating Magna Cum Laude! I will have lots of pics for the blog when I get back. I am also going to meet Hoptoad (Ravelry name) for some geocaching while up with my brother. Really looking forward to it! Sorry that I haven't done more blogging in the last few weeks. Life has been hectic, but happy. Sales are still going well and my financial future looks brighter by next month! Hugs to all, Kc

Learning to Weave!

Jill spining in the background
Lura, my weaving teacher.




This is my true begining into Weaving! On Tuesday,with my dear friend Lura's help, I got a warp on the warping board and got the table loom threaded. It did take a while, but I enjoyed the process, which, I understand is a really good thing!


Then, a few days later, I went back to Lura and Jill's house and got the warp tied on and began to WEAVE! Yes, really, folks. All I could do was sing "I am a weaver now" The checks began to appear as if by magic, and it is so fast! I think I am going to be hooked, if I am not already!

It was so nice to be there and all three of us kept chatting. Jill is my spinning instructor and now to learn weaving from Lura, I am twice blessed with such good friends. and they only live 5 minutes from me!

On the work front, things are going well. We are still selling and my company was number 1 in the Tucson market for home builders for the month of April! And a third of those numbers were ours, at our subdivision! Now, if the houses will close...I can get paid!

I will be going to Cats on Sunday night with Jill, Lura and a new friend, Chris. I have never seen the musical, just know some of the songs from Choir and such. Really looking forward to it. I am going to scoot out of work early and meet everyone for dinner and then the show. I am really pumped. Life is good. Hugs to all, KC

Trip to Show Low, or My friends are Aces!

I took off in a rented Mazda 5 on Monday afternoon. Fortified with Chocolate and water and a full tank of gas, I left my worries and bald tires behind, along with the desert heat.

The drive up was fun in the sporty sedan and as always, I enjoyed the scenery. (sorry, didn't think to stop for pics). Let's just say that the drive up has similar vistas to the Grand Canyon, but if you stop to do much looking, you stand the chance of getting behind a Walmart Truck and going REALLY slow! I did get a lot of zip in the passing lanes, they are right about the Zoom,Zoom on the commercials.

I stayed with my BFF Marilyn, who happens to be a Shaman. I got a lot of time to just be, and got some spiritual clearing treatments that were really beneficial. Marilyn and I went shopping on Tuesday and went to two thrift stores, two high end country style gift shops, the yarn store and the quilt store! I have purchases from each one, of course!

My favorite purchase was at the St.Vincent dePaul's: A soft as butter, wonderfully worn, Black Leather Jacket! I call it my "alter ego" biker chick coat!

Tuesday night we had a girls craft night where I worked on a beater for my drum, Marliyn painted on Coyote gourd rattles and Minda sewed some leather medicine bags. Barb kept up company and we all had a wonderful time.

As with all friendships, I got to learn something new about Marilyn this trip. She Loves to Weed her yard! Here she is enjoying her favorite past time!


The picture at the top is aview from her deck. Really a slice of heaven on earth.

The ride home was quick and I picked my car with the new tires on it and home I went. The dogs were glad to see me and the cat dissapeared as soon as I fed her. Cats!

I am going to give some more time tonight to the Amanda Hat, just so I can finish it. Not crazy about the pattern stitch, but the color of Malabrigo is outstanding. I haven't gotten my malabrigo swap yet, so I must have someone who is waiting for everything to come in before they send it. I need to check Rav to see if my swapee enjoyed her package. She got it and didn't post before I left. Back to work routine tomorrow. All is well.