I can feel it coming

"Busy" is an overused word.


Unfortunately, I can not think of a better word to describe the last month. 


I took a ride on the crazy train and rented a shop space to sell yarn, knitting supplies and patterns, as well as my creations.

I'm now the proud owner of Bombshell Yarns! Excited and frightened are also good words to describe that event. 


The Hat Project did not stop however, and I am still knitting hat after hat.  I had a wonderful wool one I worked up quickly for a show, and it was the very first thing to sell before I remembered to get a decent photo of it.


This one is the most recent. A nice slouchy style acrylic with a soft sheen accented by a bold red pattern.

It was a lot of fun to create! 

School is going steady for the kids and I. Last test is Tuesday! Then I'm free to create to my heart's content.  
December came much faster than I ever thought it would. I will have more photos of hats up soon.  Until then, happy knitting!
you can join my yarn shop on facebook. Just look for 
Bombshell Yarns.

Pop in, pop out

My Therapy hat looks good in all kinds of color combinations.
This one is a wonderful brown, green and tan.

My good friend Cheyenne gets this hat mailed to her today.

Sorry for the short posting, but I only get three hours to myself while my son is in Kindergarten, and I want to enjoy it knitting instead of blogging.

For you followers who are on Facebook, I now have a page for my stuff. You can find me at:

Desert Flower Creations.

You are also welcome to 'friend' me as Marilyn Wilber too if you feel so inclined. I keep my world positive and funny. You won't be disappointed.

I have a date with Monday now. Have a great day!

Fall at full speed

 I have been enjoying Barbara Walker's "Knitting Treasury" pattern books, and love to take a basic pattern and make it into hats. It's a great way to practice a new stitch without worrying too much about using up a ton of yarn, but forgiving enough to rip out with less guilt if you don't like it.

This one is called "Wave and Shield" and according to the book, quite an old pattern developed in Britain.
Lacy enough for a blanket, dense enough for a jacket, I believe this is quite an all-around. It sure made an attractive hat! The extra is the soft plum flower and vintage earring re-purposed into some bling detail.

For $45, I will send it to you for your wearing pleasure!


*UPDATE*  This hat sold! I will make another one soon!

Classics

Finally, I'm getting a chance to add a few more hats on here. I have so many projects in different stages of completion, I'm keeping really busy. I love it!

This is my "Desert Flower" hat. One of the very first hats I designed, so this pattern has been used quite a bit. I teach this hat pattern to intermediate crocheters. Emily is modeling a version made with Bernat Yarns. Their recent line is really fun to work with. You can have this hat sent to you for $35.

Another "Vicki" hat, this time in Navy blue and a vintage enamel pin I snagged at the local Rusty Relics antique shop (you can find them on Facebook). I added some novelty yarn, and the whole thing came together quite nicely! I love it. Emily had a great time modeling for me as well. You can get this mailed to you for $45. That pin is adorable! you can take it off and add it to a bag, or another favorite hat.

Noting today as September 11th, I would also like to remind everyone to NEVER FORGET the events of this day. God Bless America.

I just launched a Facebook page so I don't get left behind in the social networking dust. In addition to my Thousand Hat project,  you will find all the other artistic media I dabble in. You can find me as:

Desert Flower Creations

Please 'like' my page and see what there is for sale! A portion of all sales will go to Bridgeway House (a local autism support center) and the SMCF (Single Mom withthreekids in College Fund :)

I am finishing a Tango dress at the moment, but after that, there are three more hats ready to go! Check back soon to get a peek! Christmas is coming soon and I start fall term on the 26th. I won't be able to do more than a select few custom orders.

Have a great week!

The kids and I went to visit my dad's family in eastern Oregon over the Memorial weekend holiday. Eight hours filled with driving, music, pretty views, potty breaks, nap breaks (for mom ;) and more driving. This year we encountered snow on the Santiam Pass and about 18 miles from my grandmother's house. Very rare. 

On Monday, the kids, my uncle George and I went up to the gravesite and added the mums (Gramma's favorite grave decorating flower) and It was such a pretty day I took hat photos up there. Here are the latest creations:

$40

Pistachio super slouchy beanie in Bernat Mosaic acrylic yarn. I really enjoyed experimenting with this project.

$45

I call this one, "The big O". The hat started out with Oregon Duck colors, so I just decided to add the "O" as an understatement for Uof O Duck fans who still want to look hip. This hat actually sold at a recent craft show, so  if you want one, the color progression will not be the same as what you see here.  I could also make it with other letters and colors for your particular team.

$30

"JillyBean" is a hat-tip to one of my best friends, Jill (we call her JillyBean, 'cause she is 6' tall and thin as a green bean.) She loves these wide head bands because it accommodates ponytails and bad hair days without the extra heat retention a hat provides. In the western half of our state, This works well.

$40

Yet another color added to the Mossy hat collection. This is hot pink. My camera wasn't cooperating with me, and the photo editing only got it slightly closer to the actual color. If you are really wanting to see the color, I will gladly send you a yarn snippet. I had to promise Emily I would make her one after this photo shoot. I love that she thinks I'm cool. 

I start summer term Monday. I have the feeling it will be a bit tough. Especially when the Professor emails all of her students a week early with a LONG email stating "I highly reccommend you taking this course in a traditional classroom setting if you are not organized and committed.. blah blah.." and reminding us that we better get help when we need it, yaddah yaddah. Sheesh! Thank the heavens for online, live tutoring! I have three more hats on the sticks, so intermittent knitting in between epic study sessions should keep me sane.. enough.

 I am purging the redneck condo today so it can be ignored until September, when I get three weeks off before Fall term starts. Who does housecleaning these days anyway, right? 

Names vs Numbers

Numbering the hats were too impersonal I decided. Besides I can still make a thousand hats just a zillion different colors. Here are a few I have made before I started the project. They are good designs, and still originals from my head.

         Denver is wearing "Denver", a good wool striped hat for men. Stripes are a navy blue, forest green and      
                                brown. I can make it in any color combination. I can do wool or acrylic.

The 'Vicki" hat in a creamy white with brown accents. This was a Christmas present for my good friend, Bethany. If you are interested in matching mitts for any of these designs there is an extra charge of $35 (crocheted only) and you need to contact me personally. Just put "Special Order" in the subject line.

Sadie is wearing "Vicki" in pink. So girly!

                 Emily is wearing the "Skull Bucket". A nice solid black that is a nice everyday cranium cover.
                                                                    Wool or Acrylic.

                             The original version of "Vicki". Teal with a white flower. The brim can be made either
                                                           short or long like the pink one.

                            And, this is Vicki, wearing her "Vicki" hat. Perfect accessory for skiing!!

The "Mossy Hat" pattern I designed in fuschia with an awesome white flower for customer Gwen. Feminine!

The "Mossy Hat" again, in Teal with a red flower. Amy ordered the colors and modeled the hat. Pretty!

The original Mossy Hat. I designed and wrote the pattern. It's for sale on Ravelry for $5 download .pdf format. Green wool with a gold flower. The hat is now owned by Denise, a good friend a co-worker. Erin is the model.

I hope  you get an idea of how unique each hat can be just by color choices and  adding embellishments. If you have a custom design feel free to contact me about it and we will make something that is uniquely you!

Another reason to knit

I have been struggling with creative ways to add my new reasons for this blog. Nothing has come to mind yet, and there are two more hats that need posting, so I will just say it. 
Autism. 


I recently found out my 5 year old son has it. Asperger's to be more exact. Most moms understand. We blame ourselves first and foremost, with things like, "I know I shouldn't have eaten this, or drank that" during pregnancy, or blame the genetics or God or the Hospital staff. 


Then, we research. "I'm getting to the bottom of this. I will know everything there is to know" like, one in 110 (!) children will have some sort of autistic traits, or "on the spectrum" as it is normally discussed. We tell everyone about it like we are on msnbc or something. 


Then, finally, there's an uneasy truce. At least in my case. 
All I know, right now, is that my dear little boy isn't going to have the life I thought he would. I know I have a hard road ahead of me, and no, it isn't fair, but it is what it is. So I am doing whatever I can to make sure he has everything he needs to become a productive member of society.


Oh and I also have two other kids, a job, going to college full-time, a small 'paying hobby', and oh did I mention I'm doing this All. By. Myself.? Sure, Mom and sis are around to help with emotional support, and I have a place to sleep while I get through this, but anyone who has been even close to where I am at now knows. NOT easy. 

My little Joe.

So I knit. I knit for women like me, I knit for Autism, I knit for my family.


And there will be 1000 reasons why.

Hat #15: Slouchy beanie in Bernat Mosaic. Acrylic. $40.00

                                      

Hat #16: Wool striped cap. $40.00

                                         

#13 and #14

Flickr has become my favorite new social site. Not only are literally thousands of photos, I have connected with people all over the world. Norway, Italy, UK, Ireland, and all over the US. And talent. Wowzers! I visit the site more than once a day just to get some visual inspiration.

What I have learned is this: Just about anything can be photographed. I'm not saying everything should be. I like to take pictures of pretty things or things that are interesting. I am not into too much 'off-kilter' stuff that gets labelled as 'art'. ( I think I just talked myself into a corner. You know what I mean).

I think I will stick with more of this.

                      #13. 100% Wool in  "Sand Art" from Ella Rae designs. Will fit most heads. $40.00

                          #14 Patons Classic Wool in Brown Tweed. Also will fit most heads. $40.00

Spring has officially decided to stay around here in western Oregon. I hope it finds your state/country soon! So nice to see the sun, the birds, and hear the spring peepers at night again!

If you're interested in my Flickr photostream, here is the link:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/desertflower66/

I put all the hat photos there, as well as things for my other blog,
http://desertflowercreations.blogspot.com  where I blog about knitting and life, (mostly)

I'm off to do more homework. sigh.

10, 11 and 12

I know. I haven't updated in a few weeks. The time was well-spent though. Had to finish up the college term writing the Tech Report That Would Not End. (I was diligently knitting and crocheting on several projects here and there, you can count on that).

I think people like me have to have several projects to work on at one time. We get to a certain point, and, well.. sort of 'get bored'. Bored is not a good word to use, because we are never, ever bored. Take socks for instance. I love knitting them, but when I get one sock done, I don't want to even think about starting the second one anytime soon. (I think knitting a bunch of 'loner' socks would be cool to wear. Then you would never have to worry about matching anything. Ever.)

This is why I like hats. You only have one head, but can wear something different on it every day of the year. I have been wearing hats more and more and really like the versatility. (ahem. also because the scrub hat that covers my head at work makes my hair impossible to deal with afterwards)

That being said, He are 10 through 12, modeled by my middle daughter Emily. She has wonderful hair. And LOVES the hats.

100% Wool in Turquoise with white novelty yarn embellishments.

$40.00

                                    100% wool. "Robin Hood's Bay" pattern knitted in Dark Purple.
                                                                          $45.00

100% handspun wool. Slouchy beanie knitted with original design.

$50.00

number 9

In case you were wondering, I haven't been following any written patterns with these hats. I let the yarn tell me what it wants to do. Seriously. I know I sound like a looney, but it works. Truly so.
Stop dialing the local funny farm. It's not like the yarn says things like, "Hey, you! Knit me!" or something rude. No "voices" coming out of the skeins like so many comic strip bubbles. I look at the type of yarn I'm using, the color, the feel, and think, "hm. this would make a nice lace pattern," or "I bet cables would really pop with this crispy wool!".
Then I dive into my vast (not vast enough for me yet..still don't have Elizabeth Zimmerman on the shelf) (that being said, I'm going to go to knitter's hell if I don't buy them soon) collection of knitting books and magazines, and see a pattern I like or a stitch I haven't tried yet, and get an idea of how that pattern would go with this yarn, (mentally mostly, then maybe a swatch just to make sure), and, oh yeah- make sure I have cast on the right amount of stitches for the repeats, and off I go!

So here's the latest addition to the hat project. Number 9/1000. A hat-tip to Old World Fishermen back in Filey, UK.

Brown Sheep Wool Company 100% wool. "Filey" fisherman's knit pattern (one of many).
$45 includes shipping. Will fit about any teen-adult male or female.

*update* This particular hat has sold, but I will take orders for more in your color choice.

seven and eight makes it great

I thought I better put a few boy hats in the pile as well. Sadie's handsome friend (yes, I say friend- it's a mom thing) Caleb was nice enough to let me use his noggin for a photo or two. I think you will see him more than once as I progress through the project.
The hats are coming along quickly, and they are all originals so far. I had to design the Jack Skellington hat from a photo I gleaned off the internet.
It is sold, but I can make more. I hope the customer likes it. Jack looks simple. although  he is a pain in the arse to create. It took almost three months of planning, knitting, not liking and starting over to get him this far. Totally worth it- don't get me wrong.
(When one knits more than one color, and the color is in one spot, that means weaving in lots of ends for the knitter. )

                                              Jack Skellington hat. #7. $50 includes shipping.

                                       Classic Tweedy Brown wool beanie. #8. $35 includes shipping.

I have two more on the sticks, (as ususal) so keep checking back for more hats. I noticed a few friends visiting from Flickr- Welcome! find me on Facebook too! (Marilyn Wilber)


Happy Sunday, all!

#5 and #6

Keeping up with two blogs, a Flickr page, school (tech writing this term), kids, work, house and knitting and sewing and crocheting custom orders as well as for the 'reasons' is turning out to be quite the challenge.

Three O'clock this morning- maybe four- I didn't take the time to look- I discovered the monsoon that was supposed to be a "rainstorm" turned into a white, wet, heavy snowstorm. I have a metal awning with a 'heavy duty' tarp covering my little deck to keep things 'dry' (meaning, around here, you get used to green fuzz on ALL your stuff). Little did I know when I went outside to visit Loo, I would encounter my head bumping into my tarp because it had snowed so much the tarp had sagged almost to the break/rip point. Luckily I have bungees attached to all the grommets all around, so there was enough give to not totally cave in on itself. (that would have been one hell of a mess).

So. picture this now, 4 am, me in pajamas and rubber boots, soaking wet from rounding up stuff to assist me with getting the HEAVY, WET snow off the tarp. Angry? Upset? Nope. I had spun myself up into a world of pissed-offedness the world has yet to encounter. I had a baseball bat, hammer, boards, heavy duty rake, and an adrenalin rush that would put steroids to shame. All of it wet, covered with that damn snow, and each.and.every.item. gave me some sort of grief. And head bumps.

Two hours or so later, I finally get ahead of the snow. Then. Then. THEN it starts to rain AND snow. By this time, I was a laughing, hysterical, teary-eyed babbling idiot. I was talking to the tarp. "OH is that what you really think? Fine then! Bring it! You want to fight? Let's go!" and shove the rake up and down. That took talent, I must boast. I had to do it hard enough to get the snow to move, but easy enough to not rip the tarp.

By the time I left for work, my shoulders and left eye had a nice steady twitch, I was smiling and singing like a little girl with a new fluffy unicorn. If words could stick, the underside of that tarp would have a thick black coating of obscenities the editors of books would come  in person to pluck original curse words from the wealth holding up that @#$^#$##& tarp.

Counseling? Psychiatry? shmaltz! who needs that? Fuggedaboudit! I have the answer to stress. Chop wood. Dig dirt. Push snow off a tarp. Knit a sweater. There's your therapy, "Dr. Phil". Put that in your pipe and smoke it.

Speaking of therapy-

#6. Classic Pink. Wool hat with a nice lacy pattern.
$40 includes shipping.

*SOLD*

Two-tone green #5 hat. Acrylic. Slouchy styling.
$40 includes shipping.

The #4 hat sold, but I will make another one if you want one that color.
Happy Tuesday!

hats number two three and four

#2 is a soft, handspun wool in graduating shades of pink purple and blue. Adult large Slouchy Beanie. Someone with a lot of hair or 21' head or bigger can wear this hat.

$40 including shipping, world wide.

*SOLD*

#3 I made a while ago and couldn't decide if I wanted to keep it or sell it. "Smaug" is in natural brown Fisherman's wool and is another slouchy beanie style. More of a men's hat or a 'feeling casual' hat.

$40 includes shipping world wide.

#4 is my Mossy pattern again (you will see it in many colors on here!). A great winter white color and so pretty and feminine!

I was knitting furiously before this idea came along because I had planned on doing a few craft shows in the spring. I will try and let you know if one sells. I can always make another one. just let me know the hat # and color and give me a reasonable amount of knitting/crocheting time and you will have your custom hat!

Happy Sunday! More hats on the sticks coming!

hat number one

I thought it fitting, because This is the first hat I have a published pattern for. My first pattern sale. Lots of firsts with this hat. The original is green, and I sold it to a dear friend way back in December.

I present to you the first of 1000 hats!  100% wool. "Mossy" in Teal.

$40 includes shipping. $45 I will add a pretty handmade flower.



reasons

I was so happy when I found out I got accepted to Oregon State University. For those of you who know me, it's been a 20 year road to get where I am now. Five community colleges, three children, two marriages countless jobs, and one mindset to NEVER GIVE UP has gotten me this far.

I'm almost all ready to start. Classes beging March 28th, I have my advising appointment over the phone, a major and minor chosen (after much research and worry). Now it's all down to the money.

OH did I fail to mention I'm getting my Bachelor's online? Yes, well guess what? Do you think for one second that the Scholarship community has caught up with that notion? That there are some of us who have to work while going to school and online classes are just as time-and-effort demanding as traditional classes? That this might be someone's only option? NooooooOOOoooo.

I spent the better part of three hours reviewing and researching my state scholarship webpage. Scored a big fat zero.

Didn't sleep well last night stewing over how I am going to pay for my Bachelor degree. But then. THEN. I was having my morning coffee, reading Facebook comments on a few of my photos, and one stood out- well rather beat me over the head with a club- "They look high speed and low drag girl... now you should be able to knit at twice the speed!"

The pic that started it.

Sha-ZzzAAAm!! Lightning struck my brain. Why the hell not? I mean, I have the ability to make them. I need to make a statement about how people like me need money to go to school. People will get a cool hat for a few dollars, no "charity" involved, and I get to pay for college. Simple enough. Blog created, person thanked, I'm on my way. Ready? Let's get this party started!