Spinning Projects: Spinning Wheel

This wheel is a saxony style.

I realized after my last post that I've neglected to properly introduce my newest crafting tool - a spinning wheel!  It has already appeared in several photos, posts, and even in the new header design, but I have yet to tell the story of how I came to have it.  Read on for the story...

Around Home: My Parents' Garden

Here's an update on my parents' garden!  It seems that every year at this point in the summer, the garden has started to look awful but continues to produce beautiful fruits and vegetables.  Have you experienced this too?  The squash leaves have all turned yellow and withered, the tomato plants look wilty and unruly, and the watermelon looks like it died (actually, it may have.  My mom stopped watering a few days ago because a rabbit had three babies in our melon patch!).  Not to mention that squash bugs and Mexican bean beetles have unfortunately moved in on the zucchini and green beans.  Nevertheless, the harvest I made on Thursday shows that things are still going strong.  I got a large bag of tomatoes, three cucumbers, four eggplants, some unchewed green beans, two green peppers, a handful of jalapeno peppers, a butternut squash, and a watermelon!

Spinning Projects: Alpaca and Llama yarn

Hello again!  Sorry it's been a little while.  This past month has been really busy, but not with crafting projects.  I've been having a lot of fun coordinating an English camp for college students from Japan.  There has been one on-going craft project around here, though, which had to be a secret until last weekend.  I'm so excited to finally share about it here!

Last weekend, some good friends of ours got married in northern Michigan.  Months ago, when I discovered that their reception was to take place at Snow Moon Ranch, a llama and alpaca ranch near Glen Lake, I started scheming.  Since the bride is a knitter and crocheter with an appreciation for handmade things (making her own veil, flower arrangements, and boutonnieres for the wedding, for example!), I wanted to do something special as a wedding gift.  Read on for more details and photos!

Snow Moon Ranch, wedding tent and pastures