New Chap Books of my Poetry!

Last night I published my first ever chap books of my poems!! I had a reading at the library that was well attended, and sold & autographed my books. I will have them up for sale on my web site in the next few days. They are $8 each. I designed the knots on the covers, and each book has colored end papers. Lots of poems! On my web site you can see what the titles of the poems are in each book. Yay!!! I'm so glad to have done this.

Great Sock Trade Offer of 2009!

Oh I am such a Wretched Slacker in the blog department. But I have good news. The sock trade offer is now up and running! I am looking for people to knit me a pair of socks in trade for a set of my double pointed hand wrought bronze knitting needles. Go to my web site to http://celticswan.com/dp.htm to see the needles I make. I am wanting socks in natural fibers, preferably all wool. My feet are a great gallumphing size 10. I love solid colors of yarn, and want socks in purple or green or blue. Write to me at molly@celticswan.com and we will decide between us what pattern you will be knitting, what yarn, and which size needles you'd like in trade.
Meanwhile, back at the farm, the cherries are getting ripe. We are expecting some HelpX volunteers, and have had one here who leaves in the morning. She is Jane from New Zealand, and she has been a great help and a great guest.
We are looking at some lambs tomorrow! I am excited about that. We hope to do a mutually happy trade for them. They are to add to our spinning flock. We plan to have some of our hand spun yarn from Petunia and Lillibette up for sale on the web site very soon. As soon as the new carding cloth for our drum carder comes from Village Spinning & Weaving (great resource & really terrific people!).
I got the most yummy shawl made for me for my birthday! It just arrived this past week and my birthday was in February. My friend the Spin Diva designed and knit it just for me from wonderful green cotton yarn. She put beads in the ends. Its just the best gift ever!
We've gotten our own scythe and are glad we will not have to keep borrowing one. It needs some serious hot metal work to it, but its a nice one otherwise. We are trading kelp pickles and rowan berry syrup for it! How wonderful is that?
Other news: I have announced publicly that I will have at least one chapbook of my poetry done and printed and out there for sale this summer. And summer is quickly slipping away! My primary writers group is leaning on me big-time on this. They are class #1 encouragers. I have lots of work to do!
And I am working on 2 custom sleying hooks that are specifically for rigid heddle looms. I have never made these specifically for those, so am pleased at the challenge of them. I'll photo them when done. I promise! I am often in such a screeching hurry to get to the post office before it closes at 3:00 that I neglect to photo things I have custom made for people. But this time...for sure!

Happy Saint Patrick's Day

I cut this knot out of scrap paper this morning. Top o'the morning to you! You can download my book that tells you my original method for really easy Celtic knot design. Its on my web site www.celticswan.com. Or you can copy this knot! I made it so it matches end to end. I think it needs some photo shop touch up, maybe needs to be a more intense green!
I am wearing my shamrock pin that has a wee light in it that flashes off & on. Is that silly or what?
I have tons of metal work to do, and am preheating the smithy. John planted cabbages in the garden today. And he fixed the headlights on the 59 Chevy so I can go to my fiction writers group tonight! Hooray! I am going to get stronger driving that truck as it takes loads of muscle to turn. Its so huge after my sweet lamented Toyota.
Off to pound on metal. Must order more silver and some moonstones.

Molly's Mitts

These fabulous and cozy mitts were hand spun, dyed, and knitted by my most excellent friend Bridgett. She has her designs in Vogue Knitting, among other places, and she is a brilliant designer. She designs the most exciting shawl patterns. Bridgett is from Bavaria and has the coolest accent!
You can buy the pattern for these mitts to make them yourself for $6. OR you can have Bridgett make you a pair of your very own, handspun, dyed your favorite color, for only $40. Lucky you! And lucky me to have my own pair in green. Contact her through her web site which I have a link to on the right, RamblingDesigns.

If you live in the Pacific NorthWest you may get a chance to take one of her classes. I will be posting about that as soon as she has a new one coming up!

The Big Six-Oh

I am going to have my 60th birthday soon!

I plan to have a tiara, fan, and lorgnette. All covered with rhinestones.

Was Blind but Now I See

I have gotten cataract surgery over the past several months. I have gone from very cloudy vision with multiple images to 20 20 vision in both eyes. This is so wonderful!!! I can see the trumpeter swans in the wetlands. I can see the birds in the trees. I can see the branches on the trees! I can see my metalsmithing so much better. It is such a gift. Thank you Dr Ellis!



Meanwhile our car died. The transmission went when we were in Bellingham to get some supplies for work & see some friends prior to my second surgery. We got the car halfway home at 20mph & turning it off to cool down. So it goes! We are now fixing up our 59 Chevy Apache. It will be a farm truck, but we need something to find a car or van with. We have a loaner beater island-car from friends. For now.



I am getting stronger. I have been able to go down the ravine to the beach and back several times recently. I even took a hot tub there once! Its great to soak in deep hot spring water on the beautiful beach. I have found more rocks there: agates, red jasper, jadeite, unakite, and a chunk of serpentine that looks very good to cut. We need to set up the lapidary stuff!



I am going to announce my next sock trade soon. No fair getting in line for that until the special date for it!



I know I have not written in here in awhile. I have recently gotten to meet my wonderful on line friend Bridgett, the fabulous knitter and knitting pattern designer! She now lives in Bellingham so is within reach! She made me some beautiful fingerless mitts which she did the dying & spinning on, plus the original design.

Interweave News & Reviews

I hear that there is a review of my work in Interweave Knits. I don't know what it says yet, but hope someone lets me know. It must be good as business has perked up!

I am just back from getting my first cataract surgery. It went well, and I am looking forward to getting my other eye done very soon. I can see so much! It is an amazing blessing.

The Thanksgiving storms are rolling through. The wind has been very wild. I hope our roof stays intact this year. I am tempted to go outside and jump up in the air and be blown away to Oz.

I have not written in here lately much, but have new poems to post. I have been smithing a bunch.

The trumpeter swans have returned to the wetlands! And I can see them!

We have some couchsurfers coming this weekend. We always enjoy them. We got to couchsurf ourselves over on Guemes Island the other night & had a fine time. They were our landlords when we rented a studio space out on Stuart Island years ago. Lovely people!

This new vision I have is tremendous! We are going out now for a walk, my first one since I had it done.

Summer Ending, Sea Cave, and Nettle Lasagna

This is inside the sea cave looking out. The cave is at Iceberg Point, and is 125 feet deep into the sea cliff.

John and a friend found it some years ago. No one seemed to know it was there! It cannot be seen from the water because a few large boulders obscure the entrance. You can only get in at a minus tide. There is a pond inside, and the cave forks at the back. The accoustics are amazing.

We took our last HelpX volunteer to the ferry yesterday morning. Her name is Emily and she was wonderful company. She painted the trim on the house. She gathered salal berries, rowan berries, blackberries, mussels, clams, oysters, and nettles. We had some great nettle lasagna. We made it with home made pasta. By making three big pieces of pasta the size of the baking pan and putting them in without precooking them, it came out perfect. We really miss Emily. She 'got' all our jokes!! She is very smart & funny.

Microwaving an oyster for 4 minutes cooks it just right.

I am in the depths of making silver double pointed knitting needles for The Loopy Ewe. Sheri Berger has a great on line shop and is really so nice I like doing work for her. I think John & I will have them all done and out to her before the end of the month. I am really needing John's help with this order. I am working on doing all the hammered and twisted patterns on the size #2's today. The size #1's are all twisted and marked. They need to be straightened with a wooden mallet next. Then pointed. Lots of work!
The stock market problems have impacted our little crafts business. You wouldn't think it would, but it surely does.

The lilac leaves are turning maroon. The moon was fullish and caught in a sea of fish-scale clouds last night.

I am reading Charled deLint now and wishing I could live in one of his stories. Tonight is my fiction writers group and I do not have anything written. I am going to rewrite Selkie. It needs all sorts of tinkering & tuning done to it! P'raps I will post a link on here when I am happy with it again.