Lucky Kitten, Happy Kitten, Grateful Kitten

Imagine a beautiful desert, with sands the colors of Raw Sugar, Crystallized Honey, Cinnamon and Paprika. Liberally sprinkled around are pebbles of Jade, Jasper, Smokey Quartz, Topaz, Amethyst and Turquoise. Here and there a coppery glint catches the light. What can you do with this image? If you are Robin Edmundson (website) of Rurification (blog) you spin it into yarn.

This yarn:



Even though there are color differences in these three photos, they are all pretty accurate, though none of them do it justice. It is just so full of rich shading!

8.3 oz, 236 gr. of handspun silk, alpaca and superwash wool, over 400 yards, and absolutely heavenly. Thank you, Robin, I'm beyond thrilled.

Be sure to drop by Robin's blog for some delicious recipes as she deals with bumper crops of peaches and berries. Yum!

The Tale of Madame M: I had taken the yarn on my walk, looking for a good photo spot. Madame M saw me and became interested in what I was doing. Although she doesn't craft with yarn, she thought it was so beautiful that she offered the lovely heart shape on her front gate as a backdrop. There are some wonderful non-knitters out there. I'm glad the photo turned out well.


I've won some vibrant and beautiful Mexican fabric from CeLynn of The Sunflower Patch. I'll probably only be able to keep the black. Mom will love the pink as much as I love the blue, but both will fit into her decor. Darn. She's not too fond of black, lucky for me or she'd get it all! CeLynn also included a tape measure, which I can never have enough of, some quilting needles and a cute quilt patterned emory board. Thank you CeLynn. Another wonderful recipe-sharer, BTW. Salmon and Wild Rice, here I come. I am invited, right?

We can use my new food scale to make sure I only have a healthy portion. This is a freebie I claimed with points from the GSN (Game Show Network)game site. It's the Eat Smart 11 lb scale with tare and atuo-turnoff features. I'll be using it as much for yarn as food, so I'll have to be very careful about keeping it clean. In fact, that's how I got such an exact measurement on Robin's yarn. When I get enough points I might try to get another one dedicated to yarn!

Speaking of Sunflowers, I got 2011's first Sunflower photo last month, and you know I couldn't resist playing with it

I've also won Elizabeth Lavold's Viking Patterns for Knitting, from Knit. Run. Reap. Eat. Debbi already knows the story, but I'll share it with you. When I first took up knitting I found this book in the library. I loved it but it intimidated the heck out of me! After I'd learned that cables are to be enjoyed, not feared, I went back to find the book again. It is always on a six month (at least) waiting list! I'm just too impatient (read as neurotic) to get into a waiting list at the library. I'd be checking in every day, trying to find the names of others on the list to bribe them to give me cuts, watching the obits. Not a healthy lifestyle. Debbi, you've struck a real blow for mental health in America! I think you'll all enjoy Debbi's Friday Quotes, a little something to reflect on each week, to keep your spriritual health up as well.

Many thanks to these generous ladies for making this such a wonderful world, and this blogger almost unbearably upbeat and joyous.

The next post will have some bad news, I promise.