A now for something completely different...!

Yeah, like you haven't heard that before.

But seriously folks, I've been playing with a few lace stitches and random ideas in additio to the chainmail. Now for sale on my Etsy page are headbands and bookmarks!


These were SO much fun to make. My favorite photo is of the sock sticking out of the book. Until I started coming up with the description, I didn't even think of the Harry Potter reference -- I was already moving on to other things that might look cute coming out of the book -- mittens, scarf ends, etc. However, I don't want a certain author to come after for not having the proper licensing, so it will just remain a simple sock bookmark, a.k.a. the "sockmark."


The headband is also a very comfortable option. It doesn't clink against your glasses or try to push them off. If you have thin hair like me, you don't have to worry about teeth scraping your scalp. And if you have a round head and slick hair like me, it doesn't slip off the back of your head when you look up. It's perfect!

To reiterate from the item descriptions on Etsy, if anyone is interested in getting these in other colorways (color combinations), just let me know! I have lots of sock yarn already, and there are many others out there.

In other news, vaulting camp is this week (Sky Mountain Vaulters), so I'll be busy helping the head coach there. Best of all, we'll go lake swimming several times this week! Although I did accidental drop a steak knife on my toe this morning, point down, so we'll see how it goes.

A shiny new toy

I have a new toy. It actually took a little time to get to play with it. The first part arrived, and hubby had assured me that the Dremel he had would work with it. However, it arrived, and the newer style of Dremel didn't fit. We went back to the site, ordered the one that was recommended (well, the least expensive version of it, which was actually less expensive than ordering a new Dremel).

And it works! Where I would easily spend the better part of a movie spinning and cutting enough jump rings for a necklace, I can now watch the opening credits while I spin a few coils, pause the movie, and then spend 5-10 minutes cutting said coils, and weave chainmail for the remainder of the movie! (Most people know that I don't sit and watch anything anymore -- TV is a very expensive, but potentially commercial-free, radio or book on tape.)


Having had plenty of sunshine and heat lately (and then some), between vaulting, yard work and the craft store, I spent the day in front of a window with the breeze, "watching" videos of Knitting Daily TV from the library, and actually making product! I had enough rings spun to make quite a few items, and here are a couple of them.

The first is a simply elegant birdcage and moebius weave with gorgeous purple shell drops. Earrings will follow eventually. The second is a black and copper bracelet which will have a matching necklace, and perhaps earrings.


These won't be in my Etsy shop for a while. I'm building up inventory for a booth at the Penumbra Faire Prelude on August 22. I can't wait!

Squeaking in some projects

I've been spending a huge amount of time recently on Etsy, in the forums, reading everything I can on getting more traffic to my Etsy shop.

Now, because I've been reading everything possible there, I also now have a fan page on Facebook for the studio (Fan me! Fan me now!) and a Twitter profile (heaven help me, follow me there, too).

Why, you ask? All for the glimmer of hope that someone, somewhere will see my work and to buy some of it. Well, all we can do is hope, right? But I really ought to make more time for actually making things people want to buy! But it's all for the fun of it. If it starts being unfun, then it just becomes another job, and all the sparkle will go out of the end result.


And speaking of fun, I have yarn! Yarn I spun myself on a Greensleeves spindle and on one of my own spindles. I've now divided it into 2 piles: Cat Toy Fodder and Potential Somethings. The 2nd pile may become a pair of fingerless gloves, a scarf, or perhaps even some jewelry, but we'll see how that goes once some other urgent projects are out of the way.


3 new pieces have been posted in my Etsy shop, http://horsenround.etsy.com. My favorite is definitely this jade and agate set. Yeah, OK, so green is my favorite color, but it was just so much fun to put together, and in the process of playing, I discovered a few new techniques that will appear later on more pieces!

In other news, I've just learned that the one vaulter from my team (Sky Mountain Vaulters has been doing spectacularly well at the National competition in Kentucky, all 2nd-4th places. Hoping to see some photos from that later this next week.

Absolutely nothing to do with anything, but have to share this

I've had my socks knocked off this morning. Not by any real news from the media (I tend to ignore it, as it's too frustrating most of the time anyway), but by a choir.

The video starts out very quietly, but grows slowly. The choir crates the sound of a thunderstorm with their hands and the stage itself. Once the singing starts, you also don't eve notice that they're completely a cappella. Just watch -- you'll be amazed!



If for whatever reason you're unable to view it here, here's the link to YouTube: Africa

A slow start to the day

After sleeping in a bit for the first time in days, here I sit with Oscar and a coffee (which I had the forethought to program an automatic start last night). I actually should be heading north to Everett to find more fabric in order to create replacement vaulting pad covers as well as a few other things. It's another refreshingly cool morning, however, and Oscar is nice and warm. And I'm attempting to "upgrade" to the new version of Internet Explorer. Eek. Fortunately, I seem to have figured out how to get most of what I used before back, but what were they thinking with these defaults? This does not bode well for the next version of Windows.


In other news, I may even be able to finish this poor neglected necklace today or tomorrow. It will consist of river agate, fossil coral, B.C. jade and seed beads in pearl and olive tones. I'm making my first attempt at creating some beaded beads for this one. I may end up usng those for something else if it looks strange when put together, but we'll just have to see.

Hubby has also very kindly cleared the dining room table so that I may block the lace scarf and shawl this week. These were finished several months ago and have been waiting for house projects to come to a lull.

Well, the fire alarm just chirped a couple of times -- it seems to be going through batteries more quickly than Daylight Savings Time changes. Hmm....

Here we are again

Well, here we are again -- the random ramblings sort of rambled away and disappeared, didn't they? Life has ben very interesting for the past year-and-a-bit.

Let's see... In May, hubby and I did our 5-year wedding anniversary cruise. We had rough seas in the open ocean, as you can see from the photo. We had a fantastic time, and we're both looking forward to doing it again when we don't have raging colds!

In June, the property where I was boarding Dancer and Tes was sold, so I moved the horses and followed Andrea to her new temporary place. (It's temporary because she will be moving elsewhere sometime this fall.) We all worked our tails off to get the new place ready in late June and early July. Then hubby and I helped our friends with the Pirates of Puget Sound at the Tall Ships Festival for the July 4 weekend.

However, my feet didn't stop hurting after all of that. The pain was bad enough that I actually went to the doctor for the first time since I went to the doctor to ask about the arthritis in my hands in 1997 or so, and he laughed me out of the office. After x-rays and much hemming and hawing, they finally decided that I have osteoarthritis in my feet! So I've been trying to be good and take vitamins, but they make me ill (literally), so we're still working on that.

I'm still working at Ben Franklin, with my own company and with the horses. However, I decided earlier this year that retail management wasn't for me, and that I would much rather concentrate on my business matters and on the vaulting team. The head coach Andrea will be moving elsewhere this fall, which means I needed to step up and start coaching the team between her visits! Fortunately, I also have coaching help from the previous team captain, Cortney, and the current team veteran, Sarah, both of whom are fabulous, invaluable young ladies. (Boy, that makes me sound like an old lady, but it sure feels like it some days!) The whole team is fantastic, and I'm endlessly proud to be in it with each and every one of them.

So we'll still be talking about all the things we didn't before, but hopefully on a more regular basis. Lots of photos to share, and many more to come.

It also looks like Blogspot has added a few more features, and I now have an Etsy shop and a Facebook profile, as well as a few more things, so hang on tight while I figure out how to get those linked as well!