This page will give you a glimpse of my addiction to creating things. You'll see many items I've made for the family over just a small span of time here. So that you don't have to wade through a bunch of old photo's to see the most recent,,, this page will always go backwards with the most recent items first. If you are looking for something specific,,, try the Google search engine.

I can change those points to ruffles... what fun.... Shane took these... we didn't know how he got this shot on the right but liked it. The shawl pin is from Romi Designs. I love her pins. All original but don't break the bank on you. I have seen them upwards of $75.00 for a little circle and a stick. http://www.designsbyromi.com/

My first lace shawl is finished, it was taken from the pattern Icelandic Lace shawl found on www.knittingdaily.com. You will not find this exact pattern anywhere except in my head though as this is my interpretation of that shawl. We have a KAL on Yahoo Groups and I have moved on to the next shawls. One is the Chale and the other the Peacock by Fiddlesticks. Had to cast on another one right away as I still feel sad that it's finished... I miss working on it.

Oh joy joy joy! It only took 6 HOURS, long tedious hours to bind off but it's off! I had 1000's of stitches by the time I was through and no, I'm not counting them. I know because at last count I was at 856 and I increased many many times past that. The reason it took so long is I either needed to frog the last four rows and re-do them or I had to frog as I came to the problem area.... which is what I chose to do. Who knows... might have been the same time to rip those last four out and redo them.

Anyway, with all of the changes.... with all of my added rows and my size 8 needles it came out much larger then the original shawl. Remember this is to wrap me and my children in and fall into the rocker and snuggle! LOL you know what's coming right! HAHA YEAH BABY! But it's my shawl and it's perfect, it's just what I needed.

Ok, here you go... from neck to point, from center back tip to point it measures 52 inches. From left tip to right tip it measures 104 inches!!!!!!!!! It's huge, massive and wonderful! I can't wait to wrap MYSELF in it!!!!! As promised I wont take a photo until it's off of the block as you will be able to see my mistakes which are many as this was my first real lace project. I left them in there on purpose.... to be able to grow and see my growth. To be able to look back and say I am better. Least that's the plan... it could be that I never get any better but that's the plan anyway.

this far surpasses happy. This is the first lace shawl I have finished. This is the third I started... so I'm very pleased to have finished it. You see,,, why I didn't stress over it and why I didn't frog as much as I should have... I just had to get it finished so that I wouldn't go overboard and think I couldn't do it. kWIM? After having lace OTN for all this time and never wanting to finish for one reason or another I just had to get this one done. Now that it's dry I'm in heaven! It still has that vague smell of the animal which I totally adore as I used to have a pet lamb! She eased my separation anxiety when I left my mother back in the city. That and the light, airy, weightlessness of this thing,,, and yet it makes me warm, even though it's all holey, from the fact that it's wool. Like and happy are too mild. I do not have words enough to express what I feel for this baby. I'm really pleased with it.

You know with the way I did the dark brown to black... I can make ruffles or points depending on which way I block it. This is the largest it could ever be as we stretched it to it's maximum. If I were to block it smaller and form the ruffles by hand I'm sure it would look swell that way too. The children couldn't wait for me to put it on so we could snuggle. Now if only I can get photo's where you can see just what it means to me.

This is Guido's bag from It's a Purl Man, since he likes fly fishing I thought this would be a great bag for him. The pocket on the left is the short fat, good for keys and credit cards. The one on the right is for your needles. Be sure to specify how many pockets and the type you would like when you place your order.

Here's the set I made for Daggi in Germany and her Grand Son. He's getting the sock bag which will hold his lunch, toys whatever he likes... meanwhile his Grandma's going to have froggies on green, she got alot of pockets in this baby. The cute little belt and hankie are just for show but co ordinate with the insides of the bag.

You can see the Kureyon Sock yarn on the right and behind there. Then the JoJoland Melody is top right. You can't see how lovely they are... green, purple and blue, right up my alley. The pink/creams are all for this top that I have in my head. If I can transfer it into reality I will be thrilled. I see tons of different textiles, knit AND crochet as well as different types of embellishments, wood, beads, bells etc. I can't wait to get started but it's staying in it's bag as I have too much OTN currently to start another project.

Here are the photo's from the little gathering we had in Bakersfield. Our little Ravelry knitting party. It was alot of fun and the ladies were wonderful. We will be meeting each month in a different spot.

This is the hat that katie was working on. While we were there. I just LOVE her color patterning. She finished it later that night and had only cast on that morning. She's wonderful! such a talented young lady. I'm proud to call her darling daughter. She gifted me with the hat so it's MINE MINE MINE! AHHHHH all mine. I love it and started to cry when she gave it to me. She's now off on a Kauni sweater in the rainbows with another lovely pattern. Of course it's never been attempted before! She isn't fond of making duplicates but rather jumping off of the cliff. I follow. :-) She's unbelievable to me... even if she is my lovely DD.

1-10-08 Here's my Kauni Shawl... I just LOVE this yarn. I love the way it changes so slowly and all of a sudden you realize that you are on to a different color. This is the Canal Shawl for the KAL. I have added beads as you can see. They are just randomly deposited where ever I like them. My camera doesn't take close ups well so these aren't the best photo's but you get the idea.

Above left is only two yarns, if you can believe it. The back left is one color that goes from blue, violet to black. The rest of the balls are really the same yarn!!!!,,, just started at different places on the color spectrum when they wound it. LOVE IT. See the violet/burgundy/green,,, that's inside of the other balls YUM.

Below is the baby! YUP EQ which is the one Yarn Harlot used to make the sweater that started the Kauni craze. I will me making a pattern of my own to make my cardigan. I have a pillow with a grand flower pattern on it that I want to copy. This is my forever project though. See the blue file? It's packed with all of the ideas I have had while I have been waiting for this yarn. See the top right where it says pattern? That's the pattern I will be using for one of these delightful yarns right away. I'm thinking the dark blue/violet/black. hum... not sure what to do first so DS is packing them into a tote in the garage. Time for me to hop onto the treadmill for my daily 2 + hours. I do some of my best thinking on there. :-)

Not sure if I will keep that last border, even with the 4 patches in the corner and although it was the inspiration for the entire thing... it throw's it "off" so it might be "off" too! This one is 111 x 88.

We have actually been USING this quilt although the binding wasn't finished. Today was the day, it HAD to be finished as it was getting a bit frayed and ragged along the edge and wouldn't last much longer.

Some of you probably recognize a block or three in this quilt... yes Michael's quilt is finally finished. Thank you all who participated in this. My machine quilter couldn't finish it so we, as a family, tied it. Thank you for all of your help with this one. It's 78 x 78.

Here's my honey in his new sweater. He HATES sweaters but every night he wears this now. Katie girl (10) made him a cap to go with it from the same brown yarn. He isn't cold much any more and he seems to like his sweater as he's always wearing it. This from the man who HATES sweaters! I have literally NEVER seen him in a sweater in our almost 14 years of marriage.

The instructions call for white (my black) pink (fabric on the right) and a dark which I will use the violets for the dark. That border print on the left is where I got the inspiration for these colors and I LOVE black background quilts so this should work great.

This is tha handyed with the gold veining in the large view I think you can see why I choose it. :-) Should be a GREAT quilt. I can't wait to start. DD and myself will have two machines and the ironing board pulled up to the computer for the chat room. The mystery is put on by Planet Patchwork. Come join the fun. We had a GREAT time last year.

Here's the sweater I made for DS, he cried when he saw it. He doesn't cry, period. The crest there is his fathers family crest and he's got it tattooed over his heart... as does the rest of the men in his family. He said it was uncanny how close the crest lay over the actual one. His lady bird, Kimmy was in cahoots with me over this and so he didn't know where I got the crest from to make the sweater. I think he was pretty happy about it though. He turns 22 on the 28th. I gave both of them socks too as Kimmy's b-day is the 12th. Everything fit as did the hats and the colorful scarf is Kimmy's. My only regret is that I didn't have the camera. :-(

12-9-07 Here's the December project from Elizabeth Zimmermann's book Knitters Almanac. I started this sweater 11-28, I also started 2 shawls, finished 2 scarves and a pair of leggings during this time. Not to mention work! So I could have finished it in a much shorter time frame if I had concentrated on it as this is a real quick project. I might just have to make one for each family member. I love this yarn, it's from SWTC and called Gianna. I used their Shimmer in the cowl. I had a cowl back in the 1980's and have wanted one ever since that one retired. I'm very happy with the way this came out.

This is how far I have gotten with my blue Tomten! LOVE IT! Course DD's a bit smaller then I so it hangs off of her... for me it's a great snuggly, soft, gentle hug and I just adore it! I started on the pocket, you can see the wooden pin marking it's spot. After the pockets I have a teal/green eyelash that I will I-cord around everything, front center, up around the hood back down, around the back, pocket openings and the sleeve hole. It's grand I so love it. I spun the yarn for the sleeves from roving I got called, South Pacific by Lisa Souza. The buttons are from Peace fleece, they are royal background with white daisy's. So, what do you think? Oh one last thing... see the neck? See how it doesn't match? Well, I'm going to make a scarf coming out of that place. OH this is the last thing.... I'm also lining it with satan! I have a deep teal solid and an ice blue with flowers on it. :-) This is my TOTAL and complete indulgence jacket and I just LOVE it.

This is my peasant blouse, made with Amerah from SWTC it's all silk! NUMMY to wear. There are four tassels and the cording will be replaced when I get my lucet in the mail. I LOVE it! The hair,,, well it should have been covered anyway! :-) I am getting more bags of this yarn in so that I can make the matching ruffled skirt! FUN FUN FUN!!!! I thought this was going to be see through as it seemed like it while I was making it... it's not at all see through. I couldn't be more pleased with the way this one turned out. It's just like I saw it in my head. :-)

11-9-07 It's so nice to get something OTN... OFF the needles for a change! I just finished this. It's knit on the top and crocheted on the bottom. It's my own design and I just love it! When I saw both of the lavendar yarns on clearance down at JoAnn's I bought them all out. One is a lovely wool and the other (bodice) is a mixture of wool and a rayon or something shiney. It's much finer and so it needed a smaller needle. Still not sure what the blue thing in the key hole will end up as... it's a stitch marker that I made! LOL I have a nice rhinestone hook and eye.... as well as clasps I bought from School House Press.... then there's always beads! soooooo... the jury is still out. I had thought to put drop beading around the bottom of the sleeves but after seeing it altogether,,, well, it just doesn't need more. The seed stitch is just fine there.

This is Poisen by 100% Pure Wool I have finished the sweater and just have to make a collar for it. I need to change the neckline as I just don't like it. I think I'm going to make a more tailored one on the sewing machine and cut off the exces and then just button hole or crochet around the stitches. Then I have #10 crochet thread and #6/0 beads to make a collar that I found on the net. That's next for this lovely, yummy yarn!

Here's the top, I just love it! It's my very first attempt at a knitted top. I have to fix the neck line. I'm going to machine stitch a different one in and button hole the same yarn around the front of the neck only. Then I will make a crochet thread/beaded collar to go onto the neckline. I have the PERFECT hook and eye... it's black with a rhinestone on the clasp.

11-8-07 The fiber festival last weekend in Torrance was a blast! There was a man there blowing out his warehouse and everything (no matter what it was!!!) was $4.00. I bought two kitchen garbage bags FULL of this stuff! See the undyed hanks on the chair there on the left? See how full they are? $4.00!!!! See the cones? $4.00!!!! See the ribbon box, mohair hanks, cotton hanks and ladder yarns and rayon hanks top center? WOW what a blast! That box of ribbon,,, it's a ladder one and I have a rayon coming in the mail, the gal I bought it from is winding it for me I just couldn't stand the thought of trying to untangle it. Those hanks on the chair might be a nightmare too but for 4 bucks who's complaining!

Of course I couldn't pass up the Tofutsies even though it was a couple of bucks higher then I normally pay. See the shawl pins by the cones? OH and of course I bought a Lucy Neatby DVD. I have a nice collection now.

Here's the spinning fiber we got. The pinks are Katie and the blues and purples are me. I love teal! See that bag on the left center? It made a lovely variegated yarn. I just love that. Then I found teal nylon for making yarn to include with my merino wool for a 2 ply sock yarn. What a find! See the repeat pack of swirled stuff? That's Stone Soup, not sure if I like that. I spun some last night and it's got a little bit of EVERYTHING!!!! in it... from what looks like dryer lint!!! to bits of yarn to flecks of noils and waste silk. Not sure about that but I bought all of those blues for a sweater. Then of course a bit more Beast (front and center) I love that stuff.

I'm going to get bright teal silk yarn (we barter yarn for pay) and make one like this but with sleeves and a Henley type of neck (possibly) with a crocheted lace collar? Which is all subject to change. What fun though, I just love this creative goodies! YUM

This is what I did last night,,, my family all call me Mrs. Smurf! Yes, I didn't wear gloves! This is all 3-ply from 100% Pure Wool. I LOVE these colors. It's most likely to become a sweater or a skirt. I have more that I can dye. Once I start knitting I will know more if I need extra and of which one... so I will wait. Meanwhile, I can drool! YUM

I started a lovely shirt last night. It's all lilac,,, ribbed on the bottom with two different yarns, one is chenille and eyelash together. I plan on a lovely ribbon running through the top (where an empire waist would be) and then knitting up the top, neck and sleeves in this shiney yarn (they all match lilac) with the eyelash trimming the sleeves and neckline. Last night before I went to sleep I could "see" the eyelash. I know what I want it to do now I only need to figure out how to do it.

This is my order from Smileys,http://www.smileysyarns.com/ what a lot of great stuff,,, all for under 70 bucks!!!! As you can see they are all brand name wools and novelty yarns. I just placed another order for enough of the Panda wool ($1.50!!!!! a skein) to make a JUMPER! I bought DD enough of the Moda Dea Vibe to make her very own EPS Sweater! I'm so very proud of her and happy that I have given her a craft which will help her through good times and bad times in life. It's such a blessing to have children. I love mine.

The Panda is the teal with the beige and orange band, center right,,, next to it is the Moda Dea for Katie, she's gotten more in purple. There are chenilles on the top left. You can see the ribbon yarns, they are very cheap there. Go check it out. I can't find one thing wrong with any of these yarns.

This is my first Elizabeth Zimmerman, seamless EPS sweater. It's made in organic cotton and I used a design that EZ made up (the tree shape) and a wave that I made up (just above her's). It's pretty special cause it's my first and has a bit of her in it. I love doing the 2 color method of hers. Never more then 2 colors never more then 5 spaces. This can and does make for some very interesting Fair Isle with alot less work and complication.

9-26-07 My sweet, darling, beautiful, talented, lovely WONDERFUL!!!! daughter made this scarf and hat. The hat was made tonight in like 3 HOURS! She's wonderful, told you. That scarf is much longer but I wanted it to fit in the photo. Those curlies just set it right off. LOVE IT! LOVE HER! She just had a few questions in her home schooling. One was what's your favorite thing to do? KNIT! YEAH BABY! The other was who's your favorite person? MOM! YEAH YEAH BABY! Did I tell you I LOVE HER! sigh.

9-21-07 These are what I call Ribbon and Lace. This is a pattern of my own design and the yarn is from Lisa Souza dye works, the color is Pacific. I love these knee hi socks! On the left you can see the lace a bit better and for sure the ribbon and random eyelets. I'm working towards the toe on the last one but it looks like I'm running out of yarn so I'm going to change to South Pacific to finish that sock up.

So today 9-12-07, I spent a few hours this morning making a single point needle case, with a special size just for me. It's a YARD long! and 18" tall. In the photo on the left you are seeing it open with the flat that holds them in folded down. In the center I did up a bit of quilting. I folded it over so that you could see the back. I just love this peacock fabric. The right photo show's some of my needles. I have some Coco buro, Surnami and one other who's name I can't remember on order. Plus there are some out on projects which will fill the holes in the case. My darling daughter Katie, made me a smashing purple wool I-cord to tie it all up.

OH and Knit Picks... has the most incredible new needle line called Harmony. They are all wood in all the colors of the rainbow! What fun. I couldn't afford the circ set but as soon as I can I will get it for sure. I love their Options ever so much better then anything else I have ever seen.

I had a blast dying my first bit of alpaca as you can see above. I have from left to right, Flamingo-Coral, Welches and Lemonade-purple and yellow. On the top is Plums-purple and natural variegated, Sunset-purple, red, coral, pink variegated. Bottom right is Lemons and then a bit of Natural undyed fluff. It's swell in it's natural state and spins up like a light and lofty dream. I have natural, creamy light, medium brown and a very dark brown. Silver is supposed to be in there but I will have to dig through the boxes again. I did a search on the net and the going rate is anywhere from $3.50-7.50 an ounce. I think that's outrageous! So... I'm wanting to sell it to you for only $2.50 an ounce for natural colors and $3.00 an ounce for dyed. I'm not here to make a killing as everybody else seems to be, just here to make up some of the processing costs. I don't know how to set up the HTML for this to cart so to order... write me at mailto:wmdress@sbcglobal.net

Here's my stash. On the left you have two huge cardboard boxes stuffed to overflowing with processed Ramboillet and other wools, mohair and one box is stuffed with alpaca! YUM! On the right photo you have acrylic, wool, cotton and fancy yarns. As well as cotton crochet thread in 10, 30, 50 and 70, cones of different types of yarn and some fabrics. Can you tell it's two deep?

On the left you have my knew method of knitting. This is the shawl (3rd OTN!) that I started late last night. I got the yarn from Little Knits whom I LOVE and adore. They are very helpful! This JoJo yarn isn't even listed on their site yet. It's a bad photo as it's green, yellow, blue and purple... lovely stuff. On the right you have Ribbon and Lace. You can hardly see the eyelets but they are there. Random eyelets and then 2 centered down the front for the MOST exquisite ribbon yarn that I purchase at Festival. These are knee highs and they are ready for the heal flap.

TOFUTSIES!!! Yum! I love this yarn and have joined the "club" that the manufacturer has made. When a new color comes out, I'm one of the first to get it. You can't tell but the green and purple has eyelets on the top.

I have about 6 more balls to work through too. Shortly you will start to see more UMPH to my knitting as I have many projects on the needles which involve alot more work. The socks on the left,,, they were my very first socks. I carried them around Disneyland and many other places as I worked them all on a size 1!!! LOL I have since learned and the ones on the right were started on a size 3 and decends to a size 1-0 on the foot base. Very comfortable. The ones on the right have spiraling holes going around them from top to ankle... you can't see them in the photo.

Santa Monica Fiber Festival was a blast. I took a grand class and learned how to knit lace. I'm totally hooked on it and on my second shawl. I will have to finish one so you can see what I'm talking about. Here are some of my goodies. Come to find another bag of goodies in the closet after I had taken this shot. I was too lazy to get it out. You can see the Beast on the far right, it's a joy to spin. I love the rovings I got... they will make a beautiful winter coat along with the fancies on the bottom left. The darker hank of yarn for my socks didn't end up in this shot. I can't wait to show you my socks that I'm designing. They are knee high, lace ruffles at the top and that ribbon on the far left center that gorgeous stuff... it will weave up the front like a corset and there will be sporadic eyelets throughout. :-) FUN!

"Properly practiced, knitting soothes the troubled spirit... {that is when} executed in a relaxed manner, without anxiety, strain, or tension, but with confidence, inventiveness, pleasure and ultimate pride" Taken from Knitting Without Tears.

8-15-07 I made a grand double pointed needle holder using a Paula Nadelstrom luminosity. I left the entire right side empty and larger then I have needles for because I stop at size 4 but I will have to collect more for hats and larger items later. They are pretty expensive so I am growing my collection slowly. I think I like bamboo the best :-). I have some that are hand made but I don't recommend it. I find in the smaller numbers (000-1) that I don't like them longer then 4" so I'm cutting the metal ones on the left side down to a smaller more manageable size. I seem to prefer the bamboo which are the darker colored ones. I can make these for you for $35.00 or you can send me your fabric for $30.00. I have a TON of fabric not on the site which I can make these for you from. This is really large, you can't tell how large it is. I will make it to your specifications for your needles, custom.

SOCK OF THE WEEK The pink, blue and lavender knee socks were finished the week before the stockings were finished. The blue argyle's are from my Mother to my son Shane and the pink and white were from my first dye job and they were finished 8-11-07. I'm making a headband with the left over yarn. I'm thinking about making a very long pointed cap from the leftover yarn of the stockings. In the same patterning colors. I don't know what that cap is called.