11/20/14

...bye for now

It is the life of the crystal, the architect of the flake, the fire of the frost,
the soul of the sunbeam. This crisp winter air is full of it.
~John Burroughs, "Winter Sunshine
The polar air has left and life is back to normal on the 48th parallel
Snow is expected over the next few days and we are all excited about the upcoming ski season.
 
 The girls are happy to have their "super hero capes" off
 and now their winter coats can grow in and warm them for the season

Craving citrus this time of year I always associate the winter with tangerines
 or "clementiner" as we call it in Norwegian
 As a kid growing up in Norway
the perfect lunch for skiing was clementiner and "kvikk lunch" (chocolate like kit Kat bar)
 They would be nice and cold in the back pack...
nothing more perfect than cold citrus and chocolate when skiing in the mountains
if you are Norwegian it's sort of like a staple
Winding lots of yarn- getting my "knit on"
 finding much joy in knitting baby clothes for little Lilliana 
 also Selbu votter for friends and family
The leaves have lost their color- but I find beauty in this too
Something really fun and unexpected
 I actually won something,
 not usually lucky like that
 A beautifully hand dyed skein from MJ yarns presented by Andi.
 I will be sure to  enjoy this Thank you again Andi!

...and lastly I will be away for a while
 having eye surgery this week and am exited to feel much better

( Mountain Girl yarns will be closed and reopen- once I get back into the swing of things)
 
Have a wonderful weekend
 
 love to all
peace out beansprout!
 

11/19/14

~ Thank heaven for little girls ~

 

My trainer ( horse trainer) has the most beautiful little lass
 her name is Lilliana and is 5mos old
 
 for Christmas I am knitting up storm for the wee one
 this cold weather is really making that easy!!!!
 
and since I only have really BIG babies
 I also enjoy knitting for little recipients :)
 
This pattern is from Elisabeth Zimmerman
 
This is knit with 2 strands of
yarn that I over dyed
 
Joining Ginny and Frontier Dreams
 
 

11/17/14

This weekend

Can we start the weekend over- I wasn't ready...
 
This weekend
 
 
-17 degrees with the wind chill
horses running in the pasture with their blankies on thinking they are super hero's...
 
Used to drinking Glogg this time of year
I made my first American Wassail drink
 delicious recipe via Andi
 the only problem in the morning I almost served Foghorn reheated
 "grown up" wassail with the ginger brandy
 with his cereal
 
..thank goodness he caught that ...ehem.
 
 Getting used to Father Winters abrupt arrival
 no source of light is safe in my house
 I will turn you on
  hate the dark
 candles and stars are in full use
 
Learning to use my camera on my phone- really fun
now on instagram
 and messing around
 I feel as if I am drowning in social media
 keeps us mortals busy I guess?
 
Early winter cleaning and had friends over for dinner
   (hence the fully loaded wassail version and the kid friendly one...)
so good to have people in your life that you can share laughs and tears with
 that love you for who you are
 feeling blessed
 
 something I want to share with you
 besides coffee
electro swing  keeps me buzzing around I can't sit still
...just added something new to my bucket list to learn
 
This kid is simply amazing
watch
and try it yourself
 
 
Take a music bath once or twice a week for a few seasons,
and you will find that it is to the soul what the water bath is to the body.
”Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr
 

 Have a great week!
 
 



11/15/14

Got Yarn ?

....well Mountain Girl Yarns does
 and some new yummies  I want to introduce you too.
The Devil Wears Prada
Spanish Moss
 
BFL/Nylon yarn
 
Lovely soft squishy
 work horse of all fingering sock yarn
 that gets the job done.
Whisper
Snowy River
 
 High Twist Fingering Sock Yarn 80/20 Superwash BFL/Nylon
 one of my favorites to knit with lovely stitch definition
Muana Kea
 
What about this sumptuous single?
 Meet Muana Kea...feels buttery soft and reminds of seaweed...mmmhmmm.
 70/30 Superwash Merino/Silk
 Ginger Spice

Hydrangea
 
NEW to the Mountain Girl yarn line.
This is yarn goodness!!!
 I am love with this.
 2 ply one end is Baby Alpaca one end is Merino
 soft and cozy with a textural quality

 
New variegated and solids listed and
being listed through out this weekend


 

11/13/14

a promise

There are rich counsels in the trees.
~Herbert P. Horne 
 
 
 Let’s take our hearts for a walk in the woods and listen to the magic whispers of old trees. ~Author Unknown


Amongst the old pines, ponderosa, aspens, birch and Tamarack
I walk on this rainy wintery day
listening to their whispers.....and humming this song


 a perfect morning it was
 
 yes... promise. 






11/7/14

Snow-vember

"November always seemed to me the Norway of the year."-   Emily Dickinson

 

Oh!
Snow!
 Like a blanket it swept in
at from Alaska
 Slippers on
Mittens being knit
mornings dark, star- lit
 more snow
 warm tea and lemon cake
birds hungry
 branches attached- feeders hung
 wet yarn s. l. o.w. l . y. drying
 Christmas cactus in bloom
 
 
 
and now follow me
 
a surprise you will like I hope?
 
No...it's not snow.
 
 

Christmas at Collette's

Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold,
everything is softer and more beautiful. 
~Norman Vincent Peale
 

 A purveyor of a wonderful antique- shabby chic store in town- It's tradition to go to her Christmas open house in November.
It's beautiful and it's magical...and I definitely catch the Christmas sprit with the beautiful lights, music and Christmas décor.
The fun and whimsy she creates always puts a smile on my face.
If you're ever in town stop by


The moose and bear followed me home...I will put them to good work this holiday ;)
 

11/5/14

A wooly Blog Hop

I was invited by one of my favorite makers, Ine of A Picture Book Mind to join her in a Creative Blog Hop where we answer four questions about our creative process. I found out that we had taken almost the exact trip in Norway just one year apart- (of course that peaked my interest) I was very flattered to be asked by her. You can read her interesting post about her creative process here.
 What am I working on?
I don't consider Mountain Girl Yarns as work, because I am one of those "creative types" and dyeing yarn is just too fun to call it "work".
My kids call me a color wizard always stirring a steamy pot of color...hands always an unusual shade of violet or red from dye. At times the kitchen is just one big yarn, colorful bubbly, steaming pots mess, my wood cabinets have little splashes of dye here and there...
This summer I was dyeing a lot of variegated yarn, now I am going into phase 2, solids.
Solids are wonderful in themselves but also mixed in with the variegated  it creates depth and other interesting design.

                 How does my work differ from others of its genre?

My whole day is filled with color... I observe it most all the time. Does it work, how does it make me feel...how can I relate- or not? Can I use this in my house, my yarns, my landscaping, color really effects my day and my mood.
I think all yarn dyers differ in some way- because is hard to replicate a dye bath. I'm not really concerned of what others might be doing it's more important that I am original and that expresses who I am, not trends.  When people see my yarn I hope they want to knit with it and create something of their own, hand made.
I allow myself as an artist to make mistakes and learn from it, I throw caution to the wind and experiment...that's when beauty emerges if you don't get in it's way.



   Why do I create what I do?

My grandmother Ninna....it's all her fault. She taught me how to knit  when I was 6. I grew up in Scandinavia and that was thing to do- you just knit...that's it. My mother and father met at the Textile institute in Boras Sweden, she became a very talented fashion designer always creating with different types of textiles, I grew up with fabric... and it doesn't help that I am born in the year of the " Sheep" in the Chinese horoscope, I guess fiber is in my blood.

We live in "high tech" world and I enjoy creating something "low tech", something tactile and 3 dimensional. Soft yarn that runs thru your fingers that wonderfully warms your heart. Always on the search for different fiber combinations in yarn...something I would like to knit with. What I knit with is what I sell....I wouldn't sell anything I wouldn't buy....there is so much out there to choose from, but I like to keep it simple.
Knitting is Zen for me it calms my mind and find knitting "koselig"...dyeing yarn is just an extension of that + I always have a stash to knit from :)

How does my creative process work?

 As an early riser my head swirls with fresh ideas and color combinations, I can't wait to get to it.  Yarn is like a blank canvas, endless possibilities here, there is no formula or set way...I change my mind a several times because color has energy, it is very exciting to work with. Dyeing all happens in the kitchen, my pots are simmering with dye baths and yarn goes in.  Once satisfied with the color way the yarn gets washed and hung out to dry in the mountain air.
I am known to levitate once a lovely colorway has been created. I enjoy this immensely!
This is important...because  you can become a machine and just produce to keep up with demand loosing sight of the beauty and love you once created...unfortunately this happened with Magnolia Hand spun...overload and poor planning on my part.

Nature here in the mountains of Montana has a lot to do with my creative process...fall foliage, slight nuances of grey in an overcast day, the blues of  the mountain the shades of green and saffron from the Tamarack , a field of wild flowers how it all just is one big symphony of beautiful color...it inspires me to make and create...anything but ordinary.


Thank you again, Ine for the opportunity to answer these questions. I've nominated 3 other creatives I greatly admire and you can expect to see their posts up in the next two weeks: Sian, Leigh and Ruby.
 
  Joining Ginny and Frontier dreams