Auld lang syne....

First of all, here's a picture of Mom and Wyatt helping me to spread some dried manure on the asparagus bed. On the nicer days we have had so far this winter, we have been trying hard to rehabilitate the garden. Dad was so ill in his final season that we had to let gardening go for more important duties. Dad worked for many years to establish his wonderful asparagus bed; I am determined that we will continue to take good care of it so that we can enjoy the fruits of his labors for many years to come. Mom said one thing we needed to do was gather some manure and put it on so that the winter snows could coax the nourishment down to the roots. Wy found it quite amusing to be picking up poop, as most 4 year old's would.

Here I sit, poised on the brink of a new year. Really, I have never held too much reverence for New Year's. I don't typically go out and party the eve before. Not really my style. But if 2013 will be less stressful, less painful, less aggravating, frustrating and instead be peaceful, and render for me a time of mental clarity and sanity, then I say (as I think my Dad would have said), "So long 2012...don't let the door hit you in the ass!"
2013?
Bring it on.

Corner View- "White"

Today's Corner View theme is "White". So, without much ado, I searched through my photo files to find random shots of different whites...

 This is some Icelandic yarn that I spun from a roving earlier this year from fiber purchased last December at the Arkansas Fiberarts Extravaganza

 This was a baby sweater that I finished for a friend

 Homemade gnocchi

 Whitecaps on the beach at Vilano Beach

 The white (& black) tile I laid in the laundry room

 A beautiful doily spotted in Eureka Springs

 Clouds

 Potatoes, about to be planted

Mom's white roses.
Corner View is a weekly appointment, with bloggers all over the world. For more CV's, visit my pal Francesca over at Fuoriborgo.

12 Shawls in 2012: Memories of Santa Fe

After a year of designing shawls, you would think I would have become tired of shawls, or run out of ideas. Not so...in fact, the ideas are never a problem. The execution is not always so easy. Here we are, it's December (all too quickly, it seems), and here is the final installment of my "12 Shawls in 2012". I call this design, "Memories of Santa Fe".

 

I decided on a good basic, solid (as in non-lacey) warm wrap for the cold month of December. This is not at all the design I originally had in mind, but after enjoying myself in Santa Fe, then coming home to look at my yarn stash, these colors of Malabrigo Lace just begged to be united in a lovely Southwestern-y theme.

 

The year has truly flown by. I never thought it would go so fast. A lot has happened this year, some good, a lot not so good, bad, in fact. I won't bore you with the details right now. If you read my blog or my facebook page, you have some idea. Designing these shawls has helped me maintain a bit of sanity; I have had to be accountable to those who had, in great faith and belief in me and my abilities, bought the e-book I titled, "12 Shawls in 2012" before it was actually completed. Wow. Thanks, dear readers, for your support and faith over the last year as I created each shawl.

Many of the designs have been professionally tech-edited by Haley Zimmerman; she will be editing the entire collection, so if you've bought any of the patterns, or the entire collection, there will be updates coming yet on some of the designs. I will continue to upload these as they become available. I also plan on adding charts in the future, once I have the ability to run Illustrator. Updates will be sent in the future as these become available, as well.

The button above is for the individual pattern for this shawl. To purchase the entire collection (that's 12 patterns for the price of 10!), click this button:

                                                                                              
Thanks again to all of you who supported me and believed I could accomplish my goal!