The Enlightened Dress

For those of you considering straying from the 'White Wedding Dress', I'm here to show you what lovelies I've found in the world of gowns. Some are subtle, such as the Cameo Pink dress by Badgely Mischka, others are a little more unconventional. 

{above, Etro}

{above, Nicole Miller}

{above, Badgley Mischka}

{above, Ralph Lauren}

{above, Missoni}

Things of Late: Nautical

Lately I, and everyone else, it seems, have been loving everything nautical. This trend seems to pop up every few years - or months, actually - in an updated way. While the last nautical trend was more rustic-Cape-Cod, the most recent round seems to be leaning in the Hello-Sailor direction: tattoo flash, kitschy anchors, bright stripes. It's so nice to know that it is finally appropriate to don your Captain's Hat and Gilligan-wear.

{image above: Tattoo Man Doll by Mimi Kirchner.}

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{images above: 1. Anchor Necklace by handmadejulz; 2. Mary Ann  gocco print by Lizzy Stewart; 3. Anchors Away Ring by southernblood.}

We've come to Blogger!

Please visit our old blog, hosted by Wordpress:

Flora and Fauna Press

Hopefully this transition into the world of Blogger will provide you with an overall more aesthetically pleasing reading experience. We are happy to have you here, and would like to show it by pleasing your eyes.

New spinning wheel

It was a gorgeous day today, I wasn't working, so Lyn and I had brunch with Keri and Ryan in Portland (nope, not going to Texas!) and then left for Carlton to go to Woodland Woolworks. I had wanted to try out spinning wheels, the idea being that I'd try the wheels there and then buy one at the Black Sheep Gathering next weekend. I was especially interested in traveling wheels and had tried a Lendrum in spinning group. WW was completely out of Lendrums and had waiting lists. I tried Fricke, Louet, Ashford, and Majacraft, but the one I loved as much as the Lendrum was the Kromski Sonata. I found a double-treadle, walnut finish, and bought it. Here it is!



As part of the spinning package, I was sent home with spinning wheel oil, wood oil, a bag to carry the spinning wheel, and 4 ounces of dyed tussah silk top. I'm saving the silk for a bit. I came home and promptly opened up some of the BLS Sakina Needles I bought from the Loopy Ewe a few months ago. I've almost filled a bobbin with Squashed colorway.



I love the double treadle, I love the way the Kromski performs, and I love the fact that the wheel is portable. I think I'm a happy camper! I plan to keep my Ashford Traditional, but I won't be taking it to spinning groups anymore.

The June WoolGirl sock club shipment came yesterday. It was a colorway I'd never have chosen for myself, but the pattern is perfect for the yarn and I like it when it's knitted. The theme was tree frogs and was one of the most creative packages I've seen in a sock club yet. We got a calculator, a frog notepad on a keychain, a frog sucker, 2 plastic tree frogs, a tiny frog stitchmarker, and a frog tattoo. Everything was surrounded with frog and bug confetti. I started the socks immediately. Here's the ribbing I've done so far. The little green thing hanging down on the needle is the frog stitch marker.



I've been busy knitting and spinning alone and haven't felt like doing as much social knitting. I skipped Knit in Public Day to go to Woodland Woolworks. I feel like I have too many projects that require concentration - the kind of projects that don't work in social settings. I'm feeling more of a desire to learn new things rather than make friends. I'm finding I'm gravitating more to project and technique threads at Ravelry, too. I think I'll be looking for classes and attending guild meetings this summer rather than getting together with friends to knit on a weekly basis. I think I'll take a month off from any swaps, too. I'm not giving anything up, just concentrating on knitting for awhile.

I've also gotten enthusiastic about reading again. I'm reading Seven Sisters by Margaret Drabble right now and am enjoying that. I'm also in a Ravelry Readalong of War and Peace which may last over the summer. I'm reading the Briggs translation.

International Swap Exchange 6 scarf

This beautiful scarf is mine! It came in the mail yesterday and is from Yuvee in London. The scarf is the Kim Hargreaves Haven scarf and is made from Lang Colore Milli yarn that Yuvee found in her travels. I love it! I want to do the scarf pattern myself but attempts to find the Kim Hargreaves book that this scarf is in have been fruitless.

I was afraid this scarf wasn't going to come to me. Yuvee finished the scarf early in the swap, but thought it would be less expensive to mail it from the US when she visited here, which was logical thinking. Unfortunately, Yuvee's luggage was lost bu the airlines and she was afraid she was going to have to knit another scarf for me. Fortunately, her luggage showed up 2 weeks into her 3-week stay. Good ole air travel! Is it any wonder airlines have such high customer dissatisfaction ratings?

Along with the scarf Yuvee sent a skein of Blue Sky organic cotton and a chocolate bar. Below is a picture of the scarf with the skein of yarn. I can't imagine where the chocolate bar went (actually it's hidden away to be doled out in small amounts).



Yuvee suggested I might want to make a cowl with the cotton, but I have a contrasting color of organic cotton in my stash and there's a stuffed cat pattern in a baby book made from this yarn that I'm thinking of doing instead.

I love my scarf, Yuvee! Thank you so much! I'm so glad it was found and that it made its way to me. I'll give it a good home and I know this winter I'll be wearing it a lot!

May Dish Cloth Swap

The May dish cloth swap them this month was May flowers and yesterday I received a fantastic swap box from Katy in Pennsylvania. She sent me a great cloth, a orange-vanilla scented candle, some chocolate covered sunflower seeds (which are now gone), a chocolate rose!, honey-oatmeal teddy bear soap, Mary Englebreit sticky notes (I always need these - thanks!), a picture frame, a flower tray, a violet paperweight, and a gorgeous butterfly bookmark.



I loved everything, Katy! Thank you!

Spring Fling Swap package

I went to a medical examination in Portland for a worker's comp claim today and was cattle prodded in my hand to test for carpal tunnel (it really wasn't that bad and I don't have carpal tunnel, which is good news). I was exhausted as it took about away my morning and I didn't get home until almost 2 o'clock, 1 hour before I was to work. I checked the mail first thing and there in the package bin was my Spring Fling swap package from Tanja! I smelled the coffee beans as soon as I opened the bin!

Inside the box were carefully wrapped packages full of wonderful gifts! Here's picture of the contents all together.



Tanja put together a very thoughtful, fun, and uniquely individual to me package. The coffee was the house roast from Dana Street Roasting Company in Mountain View, California. I had a cup as soon as I finished my lunch and it was delicious!

Other treats included 2 dark chocolate bars, one flavored with orange and the other with hazelnuts and currants. The orange one is gone. I'm going to try and save the second one for later this week. I also received some salt water taffy from a local family business in Mountain View and a jar of pickled okra! I was so surprised and touched by the pickled okra - I had just written about having some a few weeks ago, and Tanja obviously read about how much I love it.

Tanja worked in the early morning hours to make me a beautiful quilted needle case and it was accompanied by a little knitted bag with stitch markers, and the needle pockets were filled with perfectly scented hand lotions made by ShiKai (cucumber melon and yuzu). There was also a pink bag that I can use for projects and the most beautiful plum-aqua sock yarn by Thank Ewe. It's so soft I might make a shawl from it instead of socks. It has enough yardage for a shawl!

Tanja and I corresponded about books throughout the swap and she sent me Krik!Krak! by Edwidge Danticat and Arranged Marriage by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni. Arranged Marriage was inside a beautiful book cover and I'm wondering if Tanja also made that. Both books will be on my bedside table for summer reading. They're both books of short stories and will be perfect for bedtime reading. I've been wanting to read Edwidge Danticat for some time because I've been reading the Madison Scott Bell trilogy about Haiti and this will be good followup. Plus, I read a great deal about Edwidge Danticat on Laila Lalami's blog, a blog where I collect many titles for my reading lists. (Speaking of which, Tanja, have you read Love and Other Dangerous Pursuits? I think you would like it).

I feel like I'm forgetting something important, but I loved the package. I had read Tanja's blog early in the swap when we were assigned to choose someone from the swap who liked coffee the same way we liked it. Many people chose Tanja. I would have too, but missed the deadline for some reason. Also, in reading Tanja's blog again, I've discovered she likes to make Turkish coffee. Once again, thank you so much for the wonderful swap, Tanja. You were an enjoyable swap pal throughout the swap.

I know I'm behind in posting. I've been struggling with tendinitis and I've been finishing up swaps. I completed my last one on Monday and I may take a break from swaps where I knit big projects for others, at least until my hands heal. I'm working on a shawl for mothers for Afghans for Afghans (see side bar) and need to complete a comfort shawl and a welcome-to-the-family shawl for my nephew's wife, not to mention the bajillion pairs of socks I somehow promised family members in a burst of optimistic enthusiasm (or mania depending on your point of view).

I'm off to drink another cup of Dana Street coffee!