Etsy Weekends - National Parks

I only have one item to share with you this weekend, but it is very cool...thus worthy of its very own post! A little background first: Matt and I love to travel. Over the last few years we've been a bit silly about it, moving instead of visiting...but it's been an exciting and interesting adventure! We have big travel plans for our future when we have real jobs and vacation time and all that. For now, our plans are a little smaller. We live in South Western Montana, and have easy (well easy enough!) access to several National Parks. So far we've only visited Yellowstone, and haven't really been able to explore it in as great of depth as we would like. Also, living on this side of the country it will be much easier to road trip to National Parks in California, and the Pacific Northwest. While we're waiting for the financial stability to travel the world, we figure we'll travel this immense country first! The item I found on Etsy that I'm sharing today will help us track our travels...and it is perfect for us!

National Parks Checklist Map from ElloThere

We hope you've enjoyed this installment of Etsy Weekends, and hope to see you back next weekend!

Merry Christmas!

Today we will enjoy our holiday with family, the way Christmas should be celebrated!

We hope all of you are able to enjoy the holiday as well, and hope you have cookies as good as ours :)

 

Yarn Porn - BlackBerry Ridge Lace Weight

I want to talk yarn again today! You can read my original post (where I drone on about my love of yarn) by clicking here. Otherwise, stick around and see what I've got to say about another Lace Weight wool...yes...I will probably talk about Lace Weight again in the future...it is my favorite!

Today I actually have pictures of things I've knit with this specific yarn, 100% Wool Lace Weight by BlackBerry Ridge Woolen Mill. (That's the place we get some of our wool spun into yarn...they do an amazing job!!) The first time we visited, they had all kinds of patterns that Mom and I drooled over. We eventually picked out a pattern and yarn for the two of us, we would make matching lace scarves! Mine in black (oh so sensible black) and hers in a beautiful dark purple. The pattern was actually a collection of seven lace patterns - A Week in the Life of a Knitter's Cat and we could easily choose our favorite pattern, this way we'd have matching, but different scarves.

Lace Weight 100% Wool

I think we bought the yarn and the pattern sometime before 2005, but I can't quite remember when. I ended up with the yarn in my stash, and in 2009 finally knit up Mom's scarf. This yarn knit up beautifully, the yarn itself was a dream to knit with! As I said, this Mill does most of our wool to yarn/roving conversion, and there is a reason we have continued to take our business there: they do a great job! If you have wool that you'd like turned into yarn or roving, I suggest you take a look at their website, or if you just want some gorgeous wool that has been spun into yarn in an old Wisconsin Woolen Mill!

Here is the finished scarf:

Etsy Weekends - Ornaments

Every year I like to get a new ornament for our tree. This year I've been a little slow going, and still haven't picked one. Here are a few I really like from Etsy!    

Rosemalled Ornament from Folk Art by Cathy

Ceramic Ornaments from Ceraminic

Bell Ornament from Pigeon Toe Ceramics

Hope to see you next weekend, when we show off more Etsy finds!

Rosemaling

It's no secret that our family is Norwegian (and Irish, German, and a whole host of other European nationalities). We may not be the best Norwegians, I've never made lefse by hand and I won't go near Lutefisk, but Pam still makes rosettes every winter for the holiday season. Another piece of our Norwegian heritage that calls to me every few months is rosemaling. Growing up there were always examples of rosemaling on our walls, and it is something I am currently missing in my household. Knowing that I don't have artistic abilities I will have to wait until I can buy my own wall adornments, and since I don't have the money at the moment, I just troll the internet looking at beautiful examples of rosemaling.

Rogaland style, courtesy of rosemaling.org

According to the website rosemaling.org, this craft saw a revival in the 20th century - starting in Stoughton WI, home to the Opera House Pam and Randy have been frequenting as of late. It's a small world!

Snowflake Ornament from Etsy

Welcome Sign from Etsy

The Moebius Scarf

A few years back Pam got a hold of a new knitting book by Cat Bordhi - A Treasury of Magical Knitting. Within that book were directions on how to make a moebius in knitting! A moebius is an object that has only one side, and one edge. Basically they are infinity loops, that twist once. Pam spent a lot of time making all kinds of things from the Magical Knitting Treasuries (there are two!) including the scarves, a cat bed, and several purses.

Young model with 'Jester' purse

Moebius Purses felted - Noro wool

With the newfound popularity of 'infinity loop' scarves I thought it was time for me to learn this method and start making the scarves that people want. Pam graciously sent me the pattern book, new needles, and yarn to start making scarves! I couldn't wait for the semester to end so I could start knitting, and I haven't stopped for almost a week now! I have made five scarves and have so many ideas for others, check them out on Etsy! (Minus one now - the red one sold this morning!!)

Pam has been knitting too, and also has new items ready for sale on Etsy, now to just get them listed! :) Happy Tuesday!

Etsy Weekends - Cooking with Wood

Sorry for the long break there, between Thanksgiving, dead week and finals week at school, things got a bit hairy around here! We've been busy out doing, in knitting, and looking at all the wonderful things Etsy has to offer! This week I want to share two new kitchen gadgets I came across...and want very badly to own! Hope to see you next week when we share the other goodies we have found :)


Elm Pepper Mills from Cam Lavers Design

Grill Cleaner from Great Scrape