Last post - I am moving to a new blog!

This is my last post on this blog. I am starting a new blog that will still have posts on my fiber interests (knitting and spinning) but will also include my other art interests (encaustic, collage, drawing, painting) and photos from my daily life and travels. It will be my all purpose blog where I can focus my energies.

You will find it at: Dreaming in Orange


My blog at Constant Bliss, is nearly complete. As I mentioned previously, I have been posting daily from four workshops that comprise the Wealthcare Program from Artella. The last one will end tomorrow. I will keep that blog alive indefinitely, so that you may use the programs at any time. The four programs: Gratitude Garland, Accounting Your Blessings, Miracle Soup, and Creative Manifestival, contain thought provoking questions and fun art exercises to help you to consciously create a life that you love. Following any, or all, of these programs will bring more joy into your life and will help you to manifest your dreams and desires.

I will also be keeping up my blog for my drawing class. It is a log of my work for the class. You can follow it here.

Peace and happiness,
Anne

Montpelier Sheep and Wool Festival

Yesterday I went to the Montpelier Sheep and Wool Festival in Virginia with my friends, Kim, Susan, Joyce, Connie, and Arnetta.

Here is a photo of the sheep herding.





It was an absolutely gorgeous day - cool in the morning, the sun shining and a cool breeze.

I am glad to say that I stuck to my budget and only bought a little fiber and some indigo dye. I have some plans to do some dyeing and will detail it in this blog in the near future.

Here are the fiber pics: 9.7 ounces of orange and red merino/bamboo/nylon fiber from the Hot Flash Fiber Company; 4 ounces of blue/yellow BFL from Pocket Meadow Farm; and 4 ounces of merino/silk plus 30 yards of matching dyed silk ribbon from River's Edge Fiber Arts. Enjoy the colors.

Organizing My Life

In an attempt to organize my life I have begun to organize my stuff and my thoughts in a variety of ways.

First, I have cataloged and photographed my entire stash of yarn and spinning fiber. Check it out on Ravelry. My Ravelry name is Dancingturtles, and you can search for me there. It is free to sign up if you are not already a member.

In addition, I am now working on cataloging my books, which is very daunting. I have done about 600 and have approximately 1000 to go!

I have also begun two blogs to serve different areas of my life. I am now connecting those blogs and re-starting this blog. My Constant Bliss Blog is a place to provide encouragement and inspiration for others to achieve their own life dreams. To that end, I have been posting daily from a program that I obtain the licensing for, created by Marney Makridakis at Artella.com. In July, I offered the "Gratitude Garland" Workshop and in August I am posting the "Accounting Your Blessings" Workshop. Both of these help people to create more abundance in their lives through gratitude. In September and October I will post two more workshops. Feel free to work through these fun programs at your own pace. They will be there indefinitely. I also hope to create some of my own workshops for the future.

The other blog concerns my new endeavor: art school! I just began at the Open College for the Arts, a distance learning program. My OAC Blog is for the "Learning Log" requirement of the program. I will post what I am learning from my exercises and projects, as well as the writing assignments for the program.

This Dancing Turtles Blog will be re-worked to include not only my knitting and spinning adventures, but also some of my artwork. I will post some of my projects for art school and various other projects that I create, as well as posting photos of other things happening in my life, when I am inspired.

I have links to each of my blogs and to my websites on the sidebar of each blog.

Enjoy,
Anne

Tea Party at A Tangled Skein

We had a great time on Sunday at the LYS in Hyattsville called A Tangled Skein. They organized a tea party with scones, watercress sandwiches, Assam and other teas, and, of course, yarn samples to knit. We knit yarns made from linen, bamboo, silk, cotton, and even sugar cane and milk. Perfect choices for a tea party!

It was organized by Cheryl, the store owner, and Jennifer.



There was much concentration as we knit our swatches.


Even my friend, Patty, came to try out the new summer yarns.

Central Park Hoodie
So many of my friends at A Tangled Skein (in Hyattsville, MD) were knitting the Central Park Hoodie (Shelly, CiCi, Chellette, Jennifer), that I had to try it too! I knit it in three weeks last November-December. I love the pattern and only changed it slightly by shaping it a bit at the waist. I left the sleeves long, because I like the flare. For the yarn, I used Tahki Donagal Tweed in dark purple. I have worn this sweater frequently and love the feel, the fit and the cables. It was a joy to knit and I found the perfect buttons to match.

Hydrangea Bag
I am far behind in my posting about my knitting projects. Today, I start to catch up.
This is my Hydrangea Noni bag that I made last May. It is knit will Ella Rae yarn. Beads were added to the center of the flowers. I am very pleased with the result. I am not much for sewing linings, but I did put in plastic canvas and a lining for this bag.

Alaska - land of soul touching beauty and bizarre politics

I recently traveled to Anchorage Alaska for work. I attended a meeting with representatives from other Federal agencies and from Alaskan agencies, universities, and non-profit groups to discuss the lack of geographic information for the state. It is very far behind the coverage and quality of the data in the lower 48 states. This lack of information has an impact on plans to deal with many issues in the state such as coastal erosion, air travel (poor elevation data means more accidents), settlement of native property rights, pipeline development and several other important issues facing the future of Alaska.
I met many wonderful people on my trip and was in constant amazement by the beautiful landscapes. I will not comment on Alaska's politics (this is not a political blog), but will say that I would be in a minority there. Liberal, vegetarian, tree-hugging, feminist, fiber obsessive, anti-gun, hippie-renaissance women like myself are not plentiful, though, they do exist.

This first picture is of me in my recently finished Pi Shawl standing on Byron Glacier (near Portage Glacier in Girnwood just south of Anchorage).

I knit this in Lorna's Laces Helen's Lace 'Black Purl' and 'Blackberry'. I used about 2600 yards of yarn and the shawl is huge. It is so comfortable and versatile to wear. Here is a picture that shows off the concentric rings. It began as a travel knitting project in the spring, so I stuck to the simple, concentric circle pattern which shows off the variegated colors well. I choose to do a border of flowers with a lace pattern knitted onto the edge in the solid blackberry.

I flew to Alaska a couple of days before my meeting. I took a train from Anchorage to Seward, a boat trip out into Resurrection Bay, then the train back, all in one day. It is arranged to make this possible for visitors and it worked out very conveniently. The views from the train are spectacular (I wish my photos could show the grandeur, it was absolutely breathtaking). The boat trip enabled us to see a variety of wildlife and a glacier.






Sea Lions in Resurrection Bay. We also saw bald eagles, sea otters, seals, two type of puffins, kittiwakes and other gulls. From the train we saw moose, mountain goats, Dall sheep and beluga whales. Later in the week I saw more moose and a black bear.

At the conference, we saw two young moose eating from a planter outside of our meeting room window on the campus of Pacific University in Anchorage. Right after this photo was taken, the FedEx truck's engine startled the moose, and, as they ran away, one had the bamboo stake hanging around it's neck. Later it was spotted after having shook it off.











After the several days of meetings, I went to the Alaska State Fair in Palmer, about an hour north of Anchorage. I bought some Quiviut, the soft fiber down from the Musk Ox. I also had a tour of a musk ox farm in the Palmer area. They are such ancient a gorgeous creatures.

The women that I met at the demonstration area of the fair were very friendly and generous. They shared tips on spinning and fiber blending. Here is a photo of a one-of-a-kind spinning wheel. This woman's husband made it for her! Marjorie even shared some fiber and a spindle kit with me. It made me want to move to Alaska to join their guild!

I have so much about creating with fiber, my travels and life in general to share that I will be post frequently now that I again have access to blogging more easily (computer issues that I will not waste your time with.)

I leave you with one last photo. The beauty of milky glacial runoff (due to the silt content).