Lovely World

away

I will be away from this space until the first week of July. I am traveling out west to Yellowstone National Park and the Salmon River in Idaho.

Take care for now.

♡ Maribeth

poppytalk white

Friday is the final day of spring color week at Poppytalk. White!

In particular, I was happy to revisit these photos of the goose egg and cotton boll that my friend gave me for my last birthday.

I hope you have a nice weekend. I'll be here to post my calendar and book on Sunday.

yarn

I have been moving slowly along with my goal of making a granny square crocheted afghan. I am enjoying the process, and I think I have gotten far enough along that I am now very motivated to finish. Since I started without a specific pattern I am making things up as I go along. Luckily, the granny square is very forgiving and flexible.

I went to the yarn store last week to purchase more yarn for the afghan. While there, I saw one of the most beautiful scarves I have seen in a long while. The store owner handed me the pattern and directed me to the Noro yarn that I would need. You can see the skeins in the above photo. I will hopefully cast on this weekend.

In the third photo you can see another corner of my work room. I really love the prints of models for wooden toys that I bought from here. I framed them in inexpensive frames I bought at Target.

Today we were hit by a large snow storm. The kids are home, and I have my friend's kids here as well while she is at work. Busy!

snow white

This morning there was snow on the mountain range that forms our narrow valley here in the northern Berkshires. The white coat of snow reminded me of some birthday gifts I received from my friend L: a cotton boll and a goose egg. I thought they looked nice paired with one of my crochet-covered stones.

I am on the home stretch of my preparations for the Twist Fair, which takes place November 12th and 13th. For those of you close to Northampton, MA, please come on over to the fair and say hello. It looks to be a great group of crafters. Visit Twist for directions and other information about the fair.

celebratory give-away

This is my 200th post, and September marks the second-year anniversary of my LOVELY blog. I very much enjoy this space. It is a creative outlet, a place to organize my thinking, and a connection to many, many wonderful people.

I wasn't exactly sure what I was looking for when I began this blog. I was in transition, just finishing treatment for breast cancer. On somewhat of a whim, I purchased a brand new Bernina sewing machine. I had done a lot of crafting and sewing in college and had made quilts through my twenties. But, my creative life had just about dried up as I focused on my work as a midwife and began raising my children. Perhaps it was the cancer diagnosis that led me to reexamine my life and priorities. Perhaps it was the fact that my children had grown out of babyhood and the intensity of mothering had calmed a bit. Whatever the case, I am thankful for the time I now spend on my creative work as well as exploring the loveliness of the world around me - be that a perfect pinecone I find on a walk in the woods or an old art book I come across at a secondhand bookshop. It is this attitude and perspective that I want to share in my blog.

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To help me celebrate this little blog anniversary, I would like to give away two items I have made:

Shimmering Fabric Fish

and

Starburst Crochet-Covered Stone

There will be two winners - one for the fish and one for the stone.

Please leave a comment with a way to contact you if you would like to be included in the give-away. Also, please feel free to share a link back to this on your own blog. I would like to include as many people as possible in my blog party! I will choose the winners on Sunday, September 5.

Thank you, dear readers! XO Maribeth

(PS. My fish is flying under the lovely cloud I purchased from La Casita!)

*****THE COMMENTS ARE NOW CLOSED. I'LL BE BACK WITH THE WINNERS IN THE MORNING!*****

in process

I have been settling into some satisfying craft work. I will definitely be doing the Northampton Twist Craft Fair in November, so am building up some inventory. I am also hoping to finally put some more things in my etsy shop.

The kids go back to school early next week. I think they are ready. I know I will do well with a more predictable schedule. The summer has been very much a by-the-seat-of-your-pants time. Every day a little different. That embroidery in the final photo has been my motto of sorts.

A lovely breeze has blown in some of the best weather of the season. No humidity, warm sun. I harvested basil (for pesto) and some of the late raspberries today. My son and I taste-tested the apples from our three apple trees. I think the deer like them best. Tomorrow we head to the Cummington Fair. The last hurrah to summer.

PS. The needlecase with the embroidered rabbit is from Tiny Happy (Thanks Melissa!).

pinecones again

I'm pleased to tell you that Nicole over at GardenMama has posted an interview with me about the crafts I have been making to honor the creatures of the sea and shore. Remember that sea anemone-inspired crochet-covered stone I posted last week? She is offering it as a give-away! So, head on over and leave a comment on her post if you are interested in winning the stone.

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I have continued to make pinecones this week. I have stitched while sitting in bed before going to sleep, while watching "The Hobbit" on video with my kids, while sitting by the town pool in the heat of the day. I have begun to ask myself why I make such time-consuming, detail-oriented craft. I like the quality that comes with taking the time. I like the process of becoming totally engaged with a project. I like to get things just right. Our strengths and weaknesses can be one and the same more often than we think.

sea anemone

I made this crochet-covered stone for a special reason. I can't tell you yet, but stay tuned! It continues my exploration of sea life. I patterned it after the sea anemone. These are such strange but beautiful creatures. I read this in my book "The Anatomy of the Sea" by Ponsonby and Dussart:

"The sea anemones are single polyps that can be found at any depth of in the oceans, from rocks on the coastal shelf to wrecks at the bottom of the ocean. Anemones can grow on the shells of crabs, where they feed on particles of food left by the messy eating of the crab. The poisoned barbs of the sea anemone help to protect the crab against predators. Some crabs will even snip a sea anemone off the rocks and attach it to their shell by its base. Other crabs will hold a sea anemone in a claw and wave it at predators to deter them."

Clever crabs! I love learning of these symbiotic relationships in nature.

fish

 

 
This fish continues my efforts to craft sea creatures in honor of all those creatures that have been threatened by the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Thankfully, the oil has supposedly stopped gushing from the broken well. But, there seems to be an eerie uncertainty concerning the long term consequences of the spill on that region. Also, I wonder whether the momentum to find alternatives to fossil fuels slows as the drama of the spill lessens. Time will tell on both of these fronts.

This fish is made of duponi silk. The fins are hand embroidered. The belly is embellished with crocheted rings. It is about 12" long. With all the stitching and crocheting, it took me a long time to finish. But, such is the case with the first time I make most anything. I will make a crochet loop to attach to the back, as I think this will look best hanging.

Hope your weekend is a lovely as the one we are having here in the Berkshires. X Maribeth

wandering wednesday

I don't participate in many blog group projects, but I liked the feel of "Wandering Wednesdays"proposed by Nicole of Garden Mama. Here's her description of the project: "Let's all take notice of where our feet take us and point our cameras down to take notice of where we are planted." I had just seen the piece "Shoegazing" in the new issue of Uppercase Journal, and had planned on taking some shoe shots. Nicole's project has motivated me to do just that. Please join with her if you like! All are welcome.

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The plants I potted up last month were so small. Now, pots full of candy-colored flowers and foliage greet me at the front door.

 This bowl full of crochet-covered stones sits on the chest of drawers in my mudroom. I like how the thread colors echo those of the flowers just outside the door. The stones themselves remind me of beautiful flowers.