Springing It Up In The Garden

This is the first year these irises have bloomed since they were transplanted from my Mum's house before they tore it down, they weren't blooming at the time, so we could only hope we had dug up the correct plants. These blue irises are special, they smell wonderful and were a gift plant from our dear neighbor.


Eirene, keeping watch over my little flock of doves.



My collection of succulents, I just moved them into this large footed urn, they had been in the front yard. It will be easier to care for them now.



This is Atlanta, nestled in among the violas. (Both busts were named by the artist after mythological figures.)


The beautiful tulip Angelique!


I was so pleased to see that the ferns, sweet woodruff and other shade lovers I had moved or planted in my new shade garden have come back this year and are spreading!


These French beauties are so tall and graceful, they look like elegant ballet dancers.

That's a little peek at my garden this week, it's ever changing. Wishing you all the best of everything!!!

Blessings Friends!
Melissa

Treasures!!!

Beautiful antiques against the back drop of the lovely Women’s City Club

My Mum and I had a really nice time last Saturday at the Women’s City Club ANTIQUES ROADSHOW. They always serve a lovely lunch and for just a tiny bit extra, if you’d like, you can bring along an item for Chuck and Ward to appraise. Mum brought along a silk embroidery done by her Aunt Florence this year, and I brought along a cloisonné jar and matching bowl that belonged to my Grandmother. (Which I am lucky to have because the family friend my Mum gave it to when my Gram passed, then gave it to me some years later.) It’s so interesting seeing all the beautiful objects folks bring in for appraisal, Chuck and Ward are very funny and informative at the same time. If you live in the area, the number for the Women’s city Club is 616-459-3321, you may want to get on their mailing list for next year, but they also have events going on all the time, did I mention how yummy the food was? Check it out, you wont be disappointed!




Mum’s silk embroidery being appraised




You can see my blue cloisonné jar and bowl there on the table just under Chuck’s (dk blue suit) hand

It was a nice way to extend Mother’s day, we really look forward to this event every year, the delicious food, beautiful atmosphere, the hosts are funny and informative, plus the fun of deciding what to bring and anticipating the results, it was an all around wonderful day!

Have a delightful week!

Blessings Friends!

Melissa

Spinning Llamas and Mohair Goats!!!

I bought the most beautiful fiber a while back at the guild meeting, a 50/50 blend of llama and mohair. The color of the llama is, to my eye, so black it almost takes on a midnight blue color. In combination with the silky, silvery mohair, it blends quite lovely. And is dreamily soft!!! The fiber was prepared for spinning in cloud form, which is exactly as it sounds, fluffy loose clouds. The only drawback I can see is that it’s messier than say roving or batts, after the first course of spinning, I immediately realized the rest will need to be spun outdoors. The front of me was covered with choppy little hairs, second cuts maybe? And I felt like I was back in the hair cutting salon! That did not, however deter me from wanting to keep my hands on this beautiful fiber, nope, no way! I spun the rest of the night anyway! I was already messy, right? Then the next day, on went an apron and out to the back yard to spin, problem solved. The llama/mohair blend is soft and gorgeous and spins like a dream! I’m hoping for enough for a shawl and to make a scarf for my nephew who will be going to live in Ireland for a few months starting this coming January.

Have a good week, happy knitting/spinning!

Blessings Friends!

Melissa

Brandon Mably & Kaffe Fassett

Here’s my finished swatch from last weeks class with Brandon Mably. I believe I now have a good handle on the technique. There are of course errors, due to Brandon’s rule of no ripping out! I got lots of practice reading a chart, and learned how to weave in my loose/non working yarn across a purl row. I had learned to weave in across the back of my knitted row in a class I took with Julie from Threadbender, but could never figure out how to make it work on the purl side with out the yarn showing…now I get it!

Brandon pining up our Persian Poppy swatches for critique.

Here’s a look at all the beautiful color combination.

Brandon Mably was a very kind and generous instructor who really made sure he helped everyone. He gave lots of great advise about color choices, and I really like that he and Kaffe both subscribe to this school of thought that you don’t have to follow certain color rules. Well that went straight to the heart of the little girl in me who used to give people turquoise colored hair in my coloring books!

Brandon signing books for us!



Kaffe was so animated, it was really difficult to get a good picture of him that wasn’t blurred, he has so much energy!

The Lecture later that evening by Kaffe was equally as inspiring! The photos he shared were gorgeous, not only knitting, fabric, and quilting, but really interesting snapshots from their life. Lots of circles and mosaics and beautiful leaf designs, all things I love and was inspired to see used in such a beautiful dramatic way! If these fellows are venturing near where you live, don’t miss an opportunity for a class or two and the lecture, you wont be disappointed!

Blessings Friends!

Melissa

Free Form Basket Weaving!!!

I had the nicest time last Saturday in the Freeform Basket Weaving class I took, I thought I’d share some of the photos. The instructor Deb, was great and I met some nice new friends. The class was held in the home studio of Gretel, another artist, from the Grove Gallery Co-op (next to Woven Arts in East Lansing) she teaches silk painting, and I have taken a couple of her classes and really enjoyed them tremendously! For the finishing bit of my basket I used some of my hand spun yarn. I could see where Deb had woven in yarn on some of her beautiful baskets and I thought I might try the same. I’m still deciding if I like it, I may unweave it and finish with the same color flat reed that is on either side. I think I’ll live with it awhile and look at it with fresh eyes, then decide. I’ve got a lot of irons in the fire right now, so there are plenty of projects and classes to keep me occupied!!!

My finished basket



This is Deb the instructor, on the the right and Jill on the left



Gretel, on the left, who hosted the class in her beautiful studio, and Martha.



Deb and Joann



I am working away to get finished!



We really enjoyed ourselves, it was such a nice creative group!

Have a great week!

Blessings Friends!

Melissa