new beginnings

This is the start of new beginnings with my attempts at learning how to crochet. New beginnings for a new year. It's supposed to be a baby afghan. Unfortunately, I'm going to have to frog it because I started off doing the double crochet stitch incorrectly. When I was creating this stitch, I was placing my hook into the front stitch instead of taking it all the way through the whole loop. It makes a pretty pattern, but it definitely was a slower process. Then when I went to add new yarn, something went wrong and you can see the one edge was getting shorter and shorter. Well, we learn from our mistakes, right?

The holidays have been great, full of lots of sweets and treats. It's been wonderful to have my daughter home from L.A. for a 2-week visit.

Happy New Year!

12 days of christmas mystery

Okay, this is one of the most exciting things that has ever happened to me at Christmas. Someone who is remaining anonymous is delivering packages to me daily for the 12 days of Christmas. This started last Thursday, the 14th, and a package has arrived every day since then. Package 7 arrived yesterday with instructions to only open one package a day. Well, I opened #7 which was a huge box that contained another box labeled 8th day I had to wait to open today. The 8th box was a box that contained a box labeled 9th day. I have to wait until tomorrow to open this box. The mystery continues. . .
So who could this incredible mystery person be? I wonder if I'll ever find out. Whoever you are, I feel very blessed and thankful that you would shower me with so much love. You are a very special person!

Here's what I've received so far:
Light blue sweatpants with matching hoodie jacket, a microwavable lavender scented neck wrap from Bath & Body Works, Harry London dark chocolate caramels, a cherry almond candle, Bigelow body products, a Brookstone wine opener, and a bottle of Korbel Champagne. Wow! Every gift is perfect. I wonder if this has anything to do with the message I gave a couple of weeks ago at our women's coffee mug/cookie exhange. The message was Jesus, the Gift that Keeps on Giving!

Here's the box for the 9th day of Christmas. I have to wait until tomorrow to open this one.
Along with a very curious kitty, I opened the box for the 9th day of Christmas. Inside this box was another box labeled the 10 day of Christmas! Now I have to wait until tomorrow to see what the 10th day holds. The mystery continues. . .
Another box within a box for the 10th day of Christmas. We shall see what tomorrow holds. I have a feeling that I'll be unwrapping another box tomorrow that will contain the 12th day of Christmas box which will have the real prize. To be continued. . .

Oh my, I opened the package for the 11th day of Christmas, and it's an iPod nano! Okay, now I'm stumped because it has to be someone that knows I wanted an iPod. I only told one person, my hubby. Hmmmmm. . .
Wow, an iPod. Whomever you are, thank you! Hopefully, I'll get to thank you in person tomorrow, Christmas day.

On Christmas day my mystery person along with her family arrived at my home to deliver the 12th day of Christmas gift!
Drum roll...drum roll...drum roll. . .
My awesome gift bearer was my daughter's boss from when she worked at the tanning salon. Her name is Katrina. The 12 day gift was a KK set and yarn. Yay! Katrina, I love ya. You're an amazing person! Thank you so much for all these great gifts.

sugar cube dishcloth

Lion Brand Yarns sends out an e-newsletter and they usually include a knit stitch of the week. The stitch was called "sugar cubes." I thought I'd try and convert the pattern to the loom and make a dishcloth using this stitch. I loomed this one on my DA extra small 3/8" gauge WonderLoom. It turned out pretty close. The yarn was Sugar 'n Cream 100% cotton, hot green, but I think this pattern would look pretty in any variegated cotton yarn as well. Once I wash and dry this cloth, it should set the stitches. I wrote Lion Brand Yarns to ask permission to post the converted pattern on this blog, but haven't heard back from them yet. As soon as I do, hopefully I'll have permission to post it. The pattern calls for repeats of 8 rows. I did around 8 1/2 repeats for the cloth to measure approximately 8" x 8". On a larger gauge loom you may not need as many repeats. I used the knit stitch and to bind off I used the basic bind off.

another miracle scarf

I made this miracle scarf for a friend who did some wallpaper repair work on our motorhome. She didn't want any compensation for the work, so I thought I'd make her a gift in exchange for her generosity. These scarves really do make nice gifts. Her face just lit up when I gave it to her.

The scarves are easy to do. This one was e-wrapped and loomed on the KK green loom using three skeins of an Indigo print Lion Brand Fun Fur trimmed in Champagne. I bound off using the super stretchy bind-off found at this yarngear.com link.

Looming Through the Psalms:
"LORD, who may dwell in your sanctuary? Who may live on your holy hill?
He whose walk is blameless and who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from his heart and has no slander on his tongue, who does his neighbor no wrong and casts no slur on his fellowman, who despises a vile man but honors those who fear the LORD, who keeps his oath even when it hurts, who lends his money without usury and does not accept a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things will never be shaken." Psalm 15

in loving memory of my dad

My father, 85 years old, passed silently away on the morning of Wednesday, October 11, 2006. He died 23 days short of his 60th wedding anniversary.

A copy of his obituary written by my sister, Sandra Rufolo:

Oreste J. Rufolo (Ernie), 85, was born in East Harlem, N.Y., on March 17, 1921.
He died in Morristown, N.J., on the morning of Wednesday, Oct. 11, at CareOne.

Rufolo was a World War II veteran, having served under Gen. George Patton in the European Theater. He was part of the Allied Forces that liberated France from the Nazis more than 60 years ago, a tale he loved to recount.

Ernie attended Benjamin Franklin High School in East Harlem under the tutelage of renowned public school teacher and social activist, Leonard Covello, who established the school in 1934, and as its principal, ran it as a community-centered school, based on his innovative theory that the public school required close interaction with the community. The school was the first to embrace cultural pluralism and to recognize the importance of immigrant children, at the time Italians, to retain a pride in their native cultures while adjusting to America. Ernie graduated from there in 1937 at the age of 16 with an A+ average and later from City College of New York. He also attended the University of Grenoble in France after the war.

Ernie was an engineer for American Machine & Foundry for approximately 20 years, with whom he was transferred to York, Pa., in 1964. His designs were numerous, among them the AMF snowmobile, or Ski Daddler (he designed the head lights), design work on the Phoenix breeder reactor located on the campus of the University of Michigan, and design work on the M1 tanks still being deployed into military service today. He was also employed by BMY.

Ernie was fluent in four languages. He was a bird and tropical fish enthusiast.
Among his other hobbies were reading and doing The New York Times crossword puzzles in ink.

He is survived by his loving wife, Virginia Rufolo, three daughters, Linda and her husband Leonard, Park City, Utah; Sandra, Long Island, NY; Lori and her husband John, Madison, N.J.; five grandchildren, Alexandra, Katherine, Laura, Dylan and Thomas; a brother, Anthony, Annapolis, MD and a sister, Dora of Murray Hill, New York City; and numerous nieces and nephews.

pegboards and lace

My hubby surprised me in August with this new pegboard he had made for me. Our friend Jim did a fantastic job. It was waiting for me when I arrived home from a family visit back east. We finally got around to hanging it up today, and I placed all my looms on it. The only loom that is not on it is my Penny dishcloth rake. Looks like I have a lot more room to fill it with more! It measures 5 1/2' x 4 1/2'. It's exciting to see my ideas for a loom room coming to pass. All I need is a looming table and some shelves for all my yarn that's everywhere at the moment.
When we moved our daughter to L.A. in July, I got to spend some time with my sister-in-law. She showed me old chests full of beautiful crocheted table cloths and doilies that were crocheted by her mother and grandmother. She said their hands moved incredibly fast when they crocheted. When she saw how much I loved the crocheted items, she gave me this beautiful purple doily. I found the perfect place for it, adorning my mother-in-law's photo from when she 17 years old. How appropriate that this gorgeous doily should be with its creator. My sister-in-law also sent me a wonderful birthday present. All this yummy Alpaca wool. It is incredibly soft. My daughter bought me the fine orange and purple Alpaca yarn. I just have to find projects for it all. Shouldn't be a problem!
This is the store the Alpaca yarn is from. I got to visit it when we were in Los Angeles. Boy, am I ever tempted to fill my empty corral with some yearling Alpacas!

looming update

Well, I can't believe it's been over a month since my last post. Life just gets busy, and unfortunately I don't have much time for looming these days and keeping up with this blog. I wish I didn't have to go to work so I could spend as much time as I can to loom, I love it that much. One of my friends liked the pawprint and 3 crosses dishcloths and asked if I was selling them. I'm not selling them, but I enjoyed making these two dishcloths for her on my new DA extra small gauge WonderLoom. I usually use the crochet cast off for the dishcloths, but this time I wanted to try the basic removal method I found on Isela's How To Video Link. I really like the neat edge you get with this method.

Pawprint Dishcloth

3 Crosses Dishcloth

I'm still working on this prayer shawl on my 5/8" regular gauge adjustable Markman Farm Loom. I'm using 60 pegs. Hopefully, I'll finish it before the holidays. It takes 3 skeins of yarn and I just started my 2nd skein. I'm using Homespun Prairie.

extra small gauge wonderloom

Click on photo for larger view.

I received my Decor Accents ESG WonderLoom today. It's beaufiful, and I love the design of this loom. The gauge measures 3/8". I just love this size gauge and can't wait to make some goodies with my new WonderLoom.

what kind of yarn are you?

I took this quiz I found on Lisa's blog.
It turns out I'm Cashmere. Try it and
see what kind of yarn you may be.

What kind of yarn are you?

You are Cashmere.You are sophisticated and luxe. You can often be found in high-end boutiques and hobnobbing with the upper crust. You are one of the beautiful people and you don't let anyone forget it!
Take this quiz!




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empty nest

Alex in her new L.A. cottage/apartment

My hubby and I are now officially empty nesters. On July 22, we packed up a U-haul trailer full of our daughter's belongings and headed off for Los Angeles. We set everything up for her in record-breaking heat. I thought we were all going to melt! We just arrived back home a few days ago, and I'm having my moments of sadness. It's hitting me now that I'm here and not hearing her voice or seeing her everyday. Alex will be attending the L.A. Film School in Hollywood. It's an intensive year-long program.

Here I am, the mom with Alex and her boyfriend, Chad.

Mother and Daughter

seed stitch border dishcloth

Seed Stitch Border Dishcloth

Materials Needed: Fine or small gauge round loom or rake, loom knitting tool, 100% cotton yarn, crochet hook, yarn needle.

Cast on 35 sts or odd number of sts.

Row 1: *k1, p1, k1* repeat from * until end of row.
Row 2: *p1, k1, p1* repeat from * until end of row.
Row 3: *k1, p1, k1* repeat from * until end of row.

Row 4: p1, k1, p1, k to last 3 sts, p1, k1, p1.
Row 5: k1, p1, k1, k to last 3 sts, k1, p1, k1.

Repeat rows 4 and 5 until desired length.

Then finish with 3 rows of seed stitch:

*p1, k1, p1* repeat from* until end of row.
*k1, p1, k1* repeat from * until end of row.
*p1, k1, p1* repeat from * until end of row.

Bind off using crochet method. Weave in ends.

I'll send this dishcloth to my daughter. Most of the dishcloths I made I've given to her for her new apartment. We just moved her to Los Angeles, and arrived back home last night. It's weird having an empty nest.

Looming Through the Psalms:
"Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion! When the LORD restores the fortunes of his people, let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad!" Psalm 14:7

the unveiling

Our never-ending yard project is complete at least for now!
This is how our yard looked at the beginning. A complete transformation has taken place. The last project remaining was the deck. Remember the ugly red paint and the damaged wood?
Well, this is how it turned out after the Deck Doctor arrived! It's like I had a new deck installed. The redwood is absolutely gorgeous!

The Deck Doctor comes to the rescue!

Here is a photo of the whole crew at work. Several sanders were used at the same time. This is what the redwood looks like from years of weathering. It's amazing to see the transformation and the beauty of the wood after it is sanded. This was the first time I had actually seen the reds and blondes of the wood since we bought our home. The deck had never been kept up with by the original owners, so the wood was always grey.Here's another view of the deck and completed landscaping.

My rock garden.

The plants have lost their flowers since I planted them, but they will be in bloom next spring and summer. I planted Flox, Irish Moss, Lemon Thyme, and Ice plants. Eventually the plants will spread and grow in between the rocks.
My husband built these flagstone steps for me. I think they turned out pretty cool.
A great place to loom! My works in progress include a dishcloth and prayer shawl.

long-tail cast on

Let's try doing the long-tail cast on together.

1. Wrap your yarn two times around your loom. This will give you the "tail."

2. Make a slip knot at the top of the tail.

3. Place the slip knot on your starting peg.
4. Now take the yarn (working) coming from the skein.

5. E-wrap the peg to the right with the working yarn. Lay the long "tail" above the wrap and pull the wrap over the long tail (knit off).


6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 until you reach the last peg. You are now ready to begin knitting your first row using your working yarn.

new Markman 18" RG adjustable rake

Yesterday I received my 18" RG (5/8") adjustable rake from Markman Farm. I planned on using this rake to make prayer shawls. I wanted a loom that would be versatile and not specifically designed just for prayer shawls. The loom has to have at least 60 pegs in order to make the shawls, so I decided on this 18" RG adjustable rake.

The product list stated 52 pegs for this adjustable rake, and with the additional 4-peg end pieces, I would have my 60 pegs. Wrong! I didn't calculate that once you removed the 2-peg end pieces and placed the 4-peg end pieces on, you would only have 56 pegs, not 60. What to do?

Well, my lightbulb moment came at 2:00 a.m. last night. What if I combined both end pieces giving me an additional 12 pegs. I took the longest hex bolt and put it through both pieces. It would work. Only thing is the end of the hex bolt didn't come through to the other side. I needed a longer hex bolt.

Do they make them longer? Sure they do, and they have them at Home Depot! I bought two 5 1/2 " hex bolts and some extra wing nuts. They worked! They're the perfect length, and I have my 60 pegs. Now I can keep my "baby", and we'll have very happy looming days together.

The End

2 more dishcloths

I seem to have caught some kind of dishcloth fever. This one is the Three Crosses Cloth originally created by Rhonda K. White ©copyright 3/20/05 and converted by Linda Perata ©copyright 7/06. I loomed this cloth on Lynn Markman's FG 3/8" adustable double rake using 100% cotton yarn and the new knit stitch. If you would like the converted pattern for this dishcloth, just leave a comment and I will email it to you.This cloth is called the Ripple Dishcloth found at Loomin Cat's Haven. I love the ripple pattern in this particular cloth. I loomed this also on Lynn Markman's FG adjustable double rake. The pattern looks lovely in a variegated yarn. I used Peaches & Creme 100% cotton yarn in "gumdrop."

What's unique about an adjustable double rake is that you can loom two dishcloths or projects at once. If you get bored with one, you can always start on the other.
I love this rake. The wood is gorgeous and I like using the open-top pegs.

Looming Through the Psalms
"But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing to the LORD, for he has been good to me." Psalm 13:5,6