Strawberries, Blueberries & Cherries

Its been a beautiful summer. I solved several problems I had been having in my garden by adding nutrients to my soil in the spring. I just finished picking strawberries and my freezer is filled with plenty for winter smoothies. I am so tired of them that I do not care to see another berry till next June. The berries lasted a whole month. Every day I was able to pick a quart or two. Now my sour cherries are ripe and next will be the blueberries, raspberries and blackberries. I found several ripe blueberries yesterday. So I will having berries for breakfast the rest of the summer. The raspberries will continue till late frost in October. I am still picking and giving lettuce away.

My roses were amazing this year. I have 20 Antique Cottage Garden Varieties.

Knitting continues also. I have one more sock to finish. I am about 1/2 was done with the underskirt of my Sasha Lace skirt. I hope to finish it by Christmas. There is a lot of knitting. With 4 lace pannels it is quite a challenge. I am knitting mine out of Sojabama instead of the Euro Flax Linen. I had the Sojabama left from store inventory. I am not about to go out and buy yarn. I wish I had saved some EuroFlax for this project but I sold all I had when I closed my shop. We have 24 knitters coming to the Friday afternoon knit in at Lake Latonka. Usually there are a dozen folks coming to a meet up.

My Cottage Garden 2009

I am trying to find homes for 6 kittens. Below is a picture on one kitten with Black Magic Woman. We call her Madge. She brought us one Mougie Main Coon Style Kitten about a month ago. This kitten is very shy.

Flowers and strawberries and kittens.

My Favorite Flowers for cut flowers Sweet Williams in my garden June 2009

Growing Lettuce in plastic storage boxes

For the past 7 years I have grown my salad greens in large storage boxes. The picture above is from last August with the mint growing up around the boxes.
The boxes have holes drilled into the bottom and about 4 inches up the side of the box.
I used foam peanuts on the bottom to save on potting soil. I filled the rest of the container with commercial soil for containers. Every year I add a little more compost and soil to the boxes.
One year I was so busy I did not pull out all my lettuce and let it go to seed. In the spring I found that little lettuce plants came up really early in March. All I needed to do was thin them out a bit and I had wonderful greens from May thru August. I let the lettuce seed itself on purpose the last two seasons. Here is a picture I just took o with my I phone. Notice the little red and green lettuce plants. Pictures below are from other years.

Last Summer


May 2008 the Strawberries are blooming.

Spring Socks and New Toes for Old Socks

Socks, socks and more socks I love knitting socks. The socks pictured above made out of Tofutsies. I have one sock finished and am working on the second. They were knitted toe up. I became bored with the random pattern of the Tofutsie yarn and started to add a dark blue cotton wool blend yarn that was left from the yarn I was using to repair the toes on my Koigu socks pictured below. I added the dark blue for the heel and two color design and stripes. I am doing a simple rippled stripes on the cuff ( two rows of knit+ three rows purl) with contrasting two yarns for the cuff. I always have a sock in my jacket pocket to work on when I have a free minute. I took my Tofutsie Socks to the dentist on Monday but did not get too much done. It is good to have something along just in case one has to wait for an appointment. I am always ready with a sock to knit on.

I started knitting these Hemp socks a couple years ago when the new Hemp Yarn came into my shop. I started with a garter stitch toe inspired by a Lucy Neatby video that I was playing in the shop. I left the socks partly done with the yarn to sell the hemp yarn as a sock yarn and several folks bought the yarn for socks. I never got around to making my socks. Last winter while going thru my UFOs from the store I came across these socks with the needles still in the yarn. Since I did not want to run out of the hemp yarn I added some left over dark green bamboo and nylon in dark green to the top of my sock. I finished one and was pleased with the results now I just need to get the second one finished I am ready to start adding the contrast dk green color in my second sock and the ball of yarn has gone missing. I hope my cat Bob gives it back soon or I happen to find where he has hidden it soon. I would like to have these sock finished and ready to wear to Knitters Fantasy on April 4. I will be teaching a class on Knitting a Danish Tie Shawl.


I love these old socks knit from soft Merino Koigu Wool Yarn.
The only problem is Koigu Yarn did not have Nylon in the yarn and I have worn out the toes and heels. The heels went first and were patched and replaced. Last winter I replaced one toe and I just finished replacing the other toe. I just cannot see throwing these socks out just because they are old. I have been wearing these for at least 5 years and with new toes I may get another season out of them.

Signs of Spring

The snow drops and crocus are blooming at my house. I took these pictures with my iphone on March 15.
I must remember to plant more snow drops next year. I got this little bunch in a garden club plant exchange last year. What a treat to see them. Simple pleasures are sometimes the best to ones spirits after a long cold winter.


Pictures I took yesterday afternoon. The first day I could be outside working in my garden. It was 53 out side.

Mercer Garden Club Field Trip to Phipps Conservatory Orchid Show

The orchid show at the Phipps this year was beautiful. Many beautiful orchids were blooming in the Phipps Orchid room this year. The special displays for the Orchid Show were outstanding. It was nice to see the glass sculpture that has been added to the Phipps Permanent Collection.

On Saturday two car loads of Mercer Gardeners headed to the city to see the Phipps Conservatory Orchis Show. We left Mercer at 9:00 and arrived at the Phipps at 10:15 . We toured the conservatory and met back at the Phipps Cafe at noon for lunch. To a slide show of pictures I took with my iphone at Phipps you can copy and past this address http://web.mac.com/ottercreek/iWeb/Site/Phipps%20orchid%20Show%20Feb.2009.html into your browser or click the link on the left of this page.
Diana took my picture with my iphone

E. Z. Surprise Baby Sweater

Over the years I have heard so much about Elizabeth Zimmermans Surprise Baby Sweater that I finally got a copy of the CD a couple weeks ago and kit the sweater. I could not understand why this pattern was so popular until I knit it. It is easy but also a challenge since it is knit in one piece from the top down. The way the sleeves go together is trueley unique. You have to knit one to understand.

It took me about three days to knit. I do not know how many hours at least 10. Since I used knit 200gms of yarn. 150 gms of Crystal Bamboozle 3 balls and I made the stripes from one 50g ball of Panda Cotton knit double stranded since it was fingering wt sock yarn. It worked fine. I had verry little yarn left over. less than a yard of each color. Both yarns have stretchie elastic quality. I knit the jacket on #8 needles beginning with 160 stitches. I figure if I add 12 stitches 4 to each section then it would come out bigger.

I suppose I could use bigger yarn and #10 needles to make a bigger jacket. I could try to felt it after knitting on the bigger needles. So many possibilities and so little time to knit. I took my finished sweater with me to visit Elizabeth for her knitting lesson on Tuesday. She wanted to knit one for her baby brother. We tried the one I made on him and found it to be too small. Francis will be 1 in March. So If I am to help Elizabeth make her sweater we will have to knit it a bit bigger.


I will be teaching the Danish Tie Shawl at Knitters Fantasy in April and I wanted to knit another Shawl before the event also. I should try to focus more. I have so many projects on needles. I should really be working on the shawl instead of this pattern. However this pattern fascinates me so I will start another sweater anyways.

My Third Tie Shawl Finished

I just finished my Noro Silk Garden tie shawl. I cast off my shawl with an applies i-cord edge. I then continued to add the icord ties. I love wearing this type of shawl. It is similar to a vest that crosses across your chest. It provides added warmth. You can move freely while wearing it and it looks good too.
I plan to put the shawl in the fashion show at the Pittsburgh Knit and Crochet Festival. If I get a picture of it on I will post it.

Sunrise on a New Day Jan 20 2009 Yes We Did!

Today is Inauguration Day I have been watching C-Span since 7AM. I took this picture out my front door looking across the street on my neighbors house as the sun rises on a new world.

I am so happy. I was part of the 13 million people in the grass roots movement. I did not do much but when millions of people each help a little it is truly amazing how they can change the world. I am hoping to continue to be part of the grass roots movement to change America. I am not sure what I can do here in Mercer PA. But if each of us changes our lives and helps each other thru these hard times we will change the world.

After all I am an old lady now. I was in high school when President Kennedy first inspired me to become involved in my country. President Kennedy said to Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country. I was so inspired by Kennedy. I was involved in the civil rights movement and anti war movement. After the Kent students were killed I dropped out of political activity. I lived in the woods for 25 years and had given up on my government. This has been the first time I have been inspired to become involved in politics since the 1960s.

I feel like We Have Overcome! and we have finally taken our country back. Living here in Mercer PA I really had my doubts. We liberals are in the miniority here. Not many people were willing to speak out for Barack Obama. People would come by and steal the Obama campaign signs out of your yard at night. The email war was fierce.

When I started to go to grass roots meetings there would be a hand full of folks and by the week of the election there were hundreds of people coming out to get involved. It was so inspiring to watch folks become involved and to speak out. After years of being polite to our conservative republican friends we were finally standing up and telling everyone how we really feel about our present government. People coming together with hope and working for change. Wow!

The pictures I am seeing on the TV are amazing it is 10:24 AM and I am seeing millions of people waiting in the cold to here Obama take the oath of office. I would love to be there.

National Day of Service

I joined members of the Mercer Garden Club today for lunch.

We are a small service organization dedicated to planting and maintaining the flower beds around our Community Library and Courthouse Square. We do some fundraising to pay for the flowers and mulch.

In the summer we visit each others gardens and go on field trips to tour gardens. We learn from each other and exchange plants and seeds. It is amazing how everyone can pull together and get a big job done. Our next meeting will be about growing African Violets. I will try to remember to post some pictures after the meeting.

There is over a foot of snow outside and it has been bitter cold. Spring will be here in a couple months and the planning has begun. Check out the new widget on the right. There are a few slides of flowers from 2008 and the meeting agenda for our February meeting. I will attempt to keep this information current so members can check this site to see time, place and meeting agenda for future meetings.

We welcome visitors to our meetings and encourage anyone join us in maintaining the gardens in Mercer. In other words if you are walking around the Square and see a weed, feel free to pull it out or dump a gallon or two of water on a wilted pot of flowers. These are your gardens too! Enjoy!

Danish Tie Shawl

It is a very cold snowy winter day outside. A good day for knitting. This is another Danish Tie Shawl inspired by a traditional pattern that was in Spin Off Magazine . The first one I knit on #2 needles. The secon was knit on #9 and this one is on #7. I am knitting with Noro Silk garden. I am about half done and I am on my third ball of yarn.

Happy New Year Best Wishes for 2009

Happy New Year
It has been a year of changes for me. Closing my store and beginning my new life. I really like being at home. I had a great garden and have lots of indoor plants. I have orchids, begonias, paper whites, and Pink Princess Lillies blooming in my bay window. I still have more yarn than I will ever use and hope to continue selling off store inventory thru next year. Sales this holiday season were really slow. Perhaps next year will be better for selling handmade items and supplies. I will spend the winter turning my huge stash of yarn into hats, mittens and other useful items that I can give as gifts or sell at a craft show next fall.

Here is my happy little house covered in snow. I am warm and cozy working on my knitting and spinning.


Last Year Dec. 31 2007 an empty Otter Creek Store

Wearing my shawl on my Birthday

Last night I went to a baby Blessing shower for a Kim and my friends surprised me with birthday cakes. I really did not expect anyone to know it was my birthday. At 62 I am not used to having a cake and candles but I will admit It was fun and I am grateful to have so many wonderful friends.

The cakes were excellent very rich and topped with real flowers and red raspberries.

I wore my Danish shawl that I posted a picture of in my last post. You cannot see the cake dur to the flames of the candles and bad photo. You can see how the shawl wraps around making the shawl into almost a vest. I really love the way it fits.

Traditional Danish Tie Shawl

Well I suppose you all have been wondering what I have been up to. I am still going thru my huge stash and collection of UFO's from the store. In 2001 I went on the Nautical Knitters Knitting Cruise of the Balkins. In a day trip to Tallin Estonia I bought a huge skein of indigo dyed two ply sock weight 100% Estonian Wool handspun yarn.

This shawl was inspired by an article in SpinOff Magazine Spring 2008. The shawl wraps around your body and ties around your waist. Tie Shawls like this are common attire for women at work in Denmark, Germany and other European Countries. The picture on page 76 shows a woman wearing this shawl working in a market. I love wearing this shawl. It provides warmth over the shoulders and ties so that it does not slide off you and the tails are not falling into your work. The knitting is mindless, with knitting every row and increasing 6 stitches every other row. I did not crochet the edge as shown in the article. I cast off with an icord edge which worked well for the ties too.

The Day After Full of HOPE for the New World

Knitting on election eve. Booties for Kim while watching the returns come in. Knitting hope for the future. Booties for a new baby to be born into this new world. I am full of hope for the future.

Tom and I were out for two days before the election going door to door for the Get Out The Vote for Obama. We are thrilled with the outcome. The network to get out the vote was so amazing. So Many people working so hard to make this happen. We hope that the Obama Folks use this network to bring about the changes we need in out country.


Finish up the bootie this morning. Later I will go outside and work on putting my garden to sleep for the winter. It is a beautiful day here in W.PA.

SOAR Spinoff Autumn Retreat Photos

Otter Creek booth. Although I am still in business this is probable the last booth I will have at a show like this. I am enjoying my retirement and hope I can just sell off all my inventory and be free at last. It is just more fun to be able to go to events like SOAR without the added stress of bringing all this stuff and being confined to a booth. I would much rather be spinning or taking a workshop that sitting in the market.

I always wanted to attend SOAR but I could not justify the expense and time away from the store This year I won a lottery to have a booth and the location was with in driving distance so I went. SOAR was a lot like the weaving and knitting conferences I had attended in the past. However, I found spinners to be a little friendlier than knitters and more laid back than weavers. I felt very much at home with this group of spinners. There were spinners attending the conference from all over the world. I was the only person in Patsy Z. High Tech Fibers workshop that had not lived in several differ parts of the country. This was a well educated and well traveled group of people. The knowledge and skills of the people I met were impressive and an inspiration.


Deb and I drove to SOAR together. Here is Deb and Cindy spinning at the Market in the booth across from Otter Creek.



The pictures above are from a three day workshop with Patsy Z. where we explored the world of the new high tech fibers. Soy, Corn,seaweed, bamboo and various rayon fibers. We spun samples of each as we learned about their properties and how they are created and used. Modern science is truly amazing. However, I still prefer to spin animal fibers from sheep, goats, rabbits and alpacas. Silk and cotton are fine but merino wool is still my favorite. Below are some pictures of the feltedfish workshop.


Felting a fish
Whinnie from The Butler Spinners and Weavers Guild went to the felting workshop too. We had fun felting fish. felt fish from the Feltafish Workshop
Christeen and Carol from the Butler Spinners and Weavers Guild also were at Soar and had item on display in the gallery

The hansdpun Gallery. My Handspun woven wallhanging is on the left. I donated this piece for the Scholarship Auction.

Some of our mentors Vivian H. and Nancy B. watching a presentation about Peruvian Weaving Center

Pocono Manor

SOAR Conference Oct. 5-12 Over 300 spinners gather to celebrate spinning and escape the world for a week in this beautiful resort in Pennsylvania. I was thrilled to be able to attend this retreat. I have been a spinner for over 30 years and this was the 26th SOAR Retreat and the first one I was able to attend.