Sift = Shift

 

Sift = Shift

 

 Let me tell you what I mean,

- do you ever go thru your life and start sifting thru what's important in your life

and what's not

 work, dreams, experiences, travel, creativity, family

 

Lately I've had time

 to sift

  mostly when I should be sleeping.

 I am feeling there is a shift coming in my life- I can either

A. ignore this

B. Go with the flow

 I am choosing the latter

 

Mountain Girl Yarns will be put on a shelf

 as a beautiful, colorful and wonderful chapter of my life

as I knew it was time to move away from Magnolia Handspun

the same feeling is here now

 

 a shift 

 

I guess it really became clear as I was experiencing the joy and reality

 of one of biggest dreams come true

(I wrote  about that here)

 I was wasn't feeling that joy any longer with the yarns

 

 Other plans are on the horizon that involve a lot of "sifting"

 (I will explain as I move further on my journey)

 

My mom who is 80 years old decided this spring while visiting us

it was "high time" that she got a divorce.

Excuse me, whaaaat?!!!

 Oh yeah there's more...

 She flew back to Norway got the divorce papers signed

and promptly informed me

she's selling her

apartment and moving to Montana

 

I guess for some time she had been doing some nightly "sifting" too.

 

***

I think that we have to do what we have to do

when we see a need to change I think that is what needs to be done

in order to do what we are meant to do.

 

Change can be a beautiful thing and I am ready for it.

 

When one door closes

another one open;

but we often look so long

 and so regretfully

upon that closed door that we don't see

the other one that opened

Pinterest

 

Joining Ginny

Fall Knittering

 

 

I had all this sock yarn odds and ends so I thought I would do something clever and knit it all up into one big scarf. I love it because it is so random and very easy to knit. It will take me some more time and I have from here to the pacific in loose ends to weave in- but that's o.k. Hopefully it will be done by the time the snow flies.

I am also rekindling a past love of spinning. I have a beautiful spinning wheel from NZ an " Aurora"  Majacraft- a megathon of roving has been dyed and a lofty goal has been made... spinning enough yarn for a sweater this year- if this works and I can complete this goal I might do it every year as a tradition?
I was asked if single ply would hold up well as a sweater.
I have always loved the rustic look of singles- it will not hold up as well as a plied yarn but I am too dang impatient to spin extra yards for this. Besides I like to knit, so knitting a yearly "new" sweater because the this one bit the dust is just fine with me.

Cookie anyone?




 

Surprise shawl

I love surprises!
and this was one

 Tucked away this "almost done" shawl was found with some yarn while cleaning out my studio.

 All I had to do to finish it was cast off a few stitches and sew up the ends

Boom 

I had a new shawl!

 "Bohemian Rhapsody" 80/20 merino/nylon 2 ply from Mountain Girl yarns

 La La simple shawl pattern

  my go to pattern so easy and shows off the yarn so nicely.

This was a great surprise!

maybe a I should clean more often..ehem

Joining Ginny 

 

Knitting & an interview with Sally Mac

This is a soft and rustic Columbia/Targhee  yarn

 that  will be offered in the shop soon.

What a coincidence.... the cardi I wanted to knit

 was suggesting the a similar worsted yarn :)

Tilda

 a little travel knitting 

 simple but effective

 knitting the time away waiting in the airports

Mountain Girl Yarns

 Today you can find me 

HERE

Sally Mac has an uplifting and refreshing website:

Tables of content

"a lifestyle website without the pressure to buy more, eat less, be better or look different. 

It’s about being YOU, 

and celebrating every little tiny part of your existence"

and asked me so kindly if I would do a little interview

Wishing you a beautiful day

wherever your travels may lead you...

 

Changes and a Mountain girl yarn update

Passion Fruit

 ST. Tropez

Sierra Madre

Kintla

 Mountain Wild

 Butterfly Kisses

 

 Floribunda

 

 

It's impossible said pride

 it's risky said experience

 it's pointless said reason

 

...give it a try whispered the heart

 

 

Mountain Girl Yarns will have a few changes this spring/summer season

 This will be the last update of new yarns for a while

once the yarns are sold

 

 being away for a bit open my mind and I have put much thought into it 

 decided to change location online for my shop-

working on moving from ETSY to my own spot.

 

 Adding plant dyed yarns

 after popular demand here and on instagram
 folks have been requesting

 

New yarns will also be introduced this season

 some that are local here to the Rocky Mountain range

beautiful rustic, soft and dreamy

 they have that special feel to it

when you stick your nose in it and smell it like wool should smell

 

 this will be offered in fingering weight and DK

 Natural crème colored and natural greys too

 

 I asked myself what would I like to purchase and see offered in a shop?

therefor branching out and offering something special and unique

in addition to my one of a kind hand dyed yarns

 the exact time  when this will come about is still unknown
 we are in the middle of a huge kitchen renno so things are a little upside down
shooting for May/June time frame
 

 I am currently selling Mountain Girl yarns at Shops at ST. 8

 and will be at the new farmers market here locally this summer

 

 so if you're ever in town stop by and say hi!

 

 

I want to thank you all so very much for supporting and cheering me on with Mountain Girl Yarns

your heartfelt comments ha means the world to me.

 

 I am having too much fun

xo

 

Santa Fe Sweater

 

 

 A mad dash to finish up this one.

Leaving for Santa Fe New Mexico and thought this would be fun to bring along

 and I made it- whew!

 

The pattern is a simple top down, I did the ribbing in different colors

and crochet the button band.

 

 Used my own naturally plant dyed yarn

 dyed with

 Madder, Indigo, Weld (my favorite) Walnut Hull, Cutch, Himalayan Rhubarb and Lac

 its quite the process

but worth it.

 

Quirky and colorful

 it fits my personality

 

What are you knitting?
 

Joining Ginny and Frontier Dreams

 

Yarn scapes -by me

Montana

pine cones

yarn

antlers

ponderosa

rocks

 found 

by me

 Norway

I miss my home land

 the red, blue and white

 my mothers wooden knitting needle holder

adorned with rosenmaling

and cherished 

by me

Countryside

glass beads given

aspen leaf

Julian's oil painting 

 loved 

by me

Snowflake

natural yarn

 stones

 and flowers 

designed 

by me

Journey

a map

 pussy willow

 hand spun yarn

 by me

                           

Serenity

Feathers found 

 my dear Buddha

 a crochet rock 

by me

*****

As you can see these have little pieces of me in each image

 this has become my new way of combining all the things I love 

 a story

 photography

expressing my love for nature and yarn

 it all touches my heart

From now on I will always include a heart rock in my yarnscapes

signifying that I it comes from my heart

So next time you see one with a heart rock
 you'll  know it's by me

 *****

..... feel free to read between the lines.....

The Art of Instruction

I have figured out how to combine my love of fiber + botany.

Natural Plant Dye.

Working on a simple top down Cardi dyed with natural plant dye.

You can see more of it

HERE

 

 I am leaving for Santa Fe New Mexico in 3 weeks and hope to be wearing the cardi on the trip.

 

I am also enjoying my Botany book:

 The Art of Instruction

 a beautiful collection of vintage Educational Charts from the 19th and 20th century.

 A plethora of color and creativity is ongoing from this book.

 

So what juices you these days?

 

Joining Ginny and Frontier Dreams

 

 

 

 

Fiberish

 ~ Fiddle Fern ~

This name is so fun to say- hubby came up with it when he saw me spinning.

 Got my hands on the Ashford again, though I am no wiz bang at plying- it is fun to spin again

 thick and thin

 It's been a fiber- ish weekend.

 more single ply

  How do you store your needles?

My round needles are in an old hat box

 And the long straight needles are in a Irish Cream tin and a Macadamia box

 the smaller ones and crochet needles are in jam jars

  My sewing needles and scissors are in a mint tin

 and I came up with a clever idea this weekend

 I put my boring stitch markers in a G.U. M. box that came with the tooth floss that I buy

 they fit perfectly

 And they fit in the tin neatly.

This is my top down cardi

 the yarn is the plant dyed " experiment" from the this

 Wild Color post

It is so fun to knit with colors that I came up with, it makes it even more special.

 Keeping it simple so I can see how the colors work and blend with out to much showy stitches.

 

 As with the barn sweater I am at a cross road of which side I should have facing out

 the knit stitch?

 or the purl stitch?

 

 

What say you?

 

 

Wild Color

Life is about using the whole crayon box!

Lately I have been wild about color.

 I found a new passion

 Natural -plant dye.

There is so much to learn.

 It's very unpredictable but once I get the hang of it I am sure the colors will flow easier

Learning about plants like, madder, cutch, log wood etc.

Borrowing books from the library, friends and bought a few-
I can't seem to nourish myself enough with all there is to learn.

This Henley has been on my list to knit for the longest by Elisabeth Zimmerman
...and I think I found the perfect yarn for it :)

These beauties were dyed last week week, some are over dyed with indigo to create that green, teal and grey color. 

At the moment I am using powdered natural dye, liquid is also now available. 

When summer hits I plan on growing my own flowers and plants.  

Finding some areas where wild berries and plants grow naturally- as soon as the weather gets warmer I will be eager to harvest them and use them for my dye pot.

Sophia, my daughter who is  home schooled sees so many skeins in a day ...
I guess she was influenced to make "Norwegian Boller" into skein shapes?!

I borrowed sheet pans from chef, perfect for holding the skeins that were dyed with Indigo. 

Indigo is a funny and tricky little thing. 

The dye itself in the pot is greenish-yellow 

but when the exposed to oxygen it turns blue!

Oh crumbs...look what I did...

Good thing that chef is used to me making a bloody mess in the kitchen

Then of course there is always the other more predictable dye- which is super fun.

 I am wild about color

Nothing jazzes me more.