Take That, Flash Floods!

Here we have my sad little garden after one of West Virginia's crazy rain storms. My flowers completely drowned in a wave of warm summery rain sloshing out of my drain pipe. Watching the flowers struggling to stay afloat, I remembered all the Little House books where Laura watched her crops be eaten by grasshoppers/ruined by storms/burned by grass fires/trampled by cattle/confiscated by the government. But yesterday I rigged up a technologically advanced (it involved packing tape) drain pipe extender that will confound the flashiest flood.
But on the back patio, the flowers are incredibly lush beautiful. Therefore I took many pictures. Also--peppers!

Curtains!

Here are some pictures illustrating some of the curtains I have made for my new house. Also, there is Bolli.

The Best Thing I Have Done in Huntington!

Today, I did something unexpected and amazing. I went to a dog show! Like in Best in Show! Huntington boasts its own kennel club, which is somewhat surprizing as it doesn't even have a Petco, but nevertheless, I spent the afternoon petting afghan hounds, basset hounds, mastiffs, and, those crazy dogs who look like mops--it was like Animal Planet came alive and jumped into my lap.
The Komondor is named Ziggy and he won Best in Show yesterday. The French mastiff is named Moses. Also, I love him.

Current Knitting Initiatives

Scarf in Progress, inspired by the clothing of the Urumchi Mummies, all yarn is hand-spun by me--

Brown: Targhee

Green: Half Silk, Half Camel

Red: Wendsleydale

Trumpet Skirt from Knitting Lingerie Style, by Joan McGowan-Michael:

Yarn: Noro Yuzen (Seven skeins in total, on number four)

Squares for Afghan: For Huntington City Mission, Afghans for the Children of Pine Ridge

Quite Simply the Coolest Thing Ever

http://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/textiles/features/samplers/culture_clash/index.html

Handspun Yak and Wool Yarn

Shrugs!

I haven't written anything in forever--the months between January and May are particulalry busy, apparently, but I have been knitting and sewing as much as ever. Faithful readers (Anne), I know how anxious you have been for some new pictures, so here they are. I have become obsessed with shrugs. They fit better than cardigans and they give the allusion of a slender willowy build. They are also incredibly easy to knit, particularly if you follow the pattern by Jessica Harrigfeld, http://www.etsy.com/featured_seller.php?featured_user_id=5289847

For both of these shrugs I have used yarn from A Verb for Keeping Warm for the crocheted trim and Cascade 220 for the body.