Crafts by the sea

I was on a mission last weekend.  Finish my give-away scarf so I am ready for the drawing on February 1st.  Mission accomplished.

We had cooking.

We had wine.

And we had gobs of fun!  It is the only way to focus on a mission.

But first ... pictures of other missions that were accomplished ... I should be so talented as these folks.

First off, these charming knitted snow men in 3 sizes are so cute in person.

The beginnings of a beautiful blanket.

Finished spa cloths.

More beautiful spa cloths

Another weaving creation - in two colors.

A lovely cowl - cozy warm on a snowy beach visit.

My own project (the give-away for the blogfest) was coming along well.  

The picture shows the completed

portions of the woven scarf collecting on the fabric beam.

Finally reached the end and completed a hem stitch to secure the woven rows.

The finished scarf - laying in wait for it new owner.

Anyone who comments on my blog posts between January 18 and January 31 will be entered for a chance to win this scarf.  For more details check here.

The winner will be announced here on this blog on February 1.  Make sure you leave me your email address or web site so that I can contact you if you are the winner.

The Beach and The Snow

Last weekend I was at the beach!

I love the beach.

I love my cousin.

I love snow.

It was a win-win weekend for me!

My cousin is part owner of a lovely condo right on the beach.  

This was a regularly scheduled craft weekend and it was just perfect.

These pictures were taken from the balcony.  

We are close to the ocean.

Although I love the beach in any season, my least favorite season for beach visits is the summer.  See I am a selfish beach bunny.  I want to look out on the beach and see no one!  Just the sand, and the water ... that is it.  And if you go in January, snow is also welcome.

The next day the snow was gone and we were left with a beautiful scene.

And as the moon began to rise, we tried to get pictures.  

I say "try".

  Because as much as I tried, I couldn't get a picture without the rays off the moon.

No matter.  The view was beautiful.

Tomorrow ... the results of 2 days of uninterrupted craft time.

Pictures of the hand woven scarf for the give away - also included.

Be sure to comment on my blog sometime between January 18 and 31 

to be entered into a drawing to win it.

Details found here.

Beach Trip

I know I am behind in reporting on this fun trip ... but better late than never.

In November I made time for a weekend trip to Ocean City, Maryland with family and friends. This is one of many trips to the edge of the North American continent (the beach by any other name) - thankfully I live only about 3 hours from the ocean.

Camera shutter in the way!  

This visit was interesting because several weeks prior, Hurricane Sandy had made a visit to Ocean City.  The area really had missed a major bullet because when you hear about the New Jersey shore communities, you know that beach erosion was a minor issue.

And yet, it was a remarkable visit.

Here is a picture of my sister and I standing in front of a beach dune that was worn away by hurricane ocean waves.  Pretty impressive, but at least the dunes did what they were suppose to do ... protect the properties behind them.

Our visit was great fun ... weaving, knitting, crocheting, pajamas (which we pretty much lived in), wine, crab cakes, walks along the shore, walks along Ocean Highway ... really, it was all perfect!

Nuts! Too soon over - the ride home

I knew this moment would come.

Nuts!

I delayed the trip until 3:00 in the afternoon. The roads were quiet going home. No need to take pictures. Nothing had changed from the ride out. But I had plenty of time to reflect on the weekend.

I had a great time. It was quiet, except for all the laughter, and the sharing, and to cooking, and the eating, and the crafting. Hmm .... now that I think about it, it wasn't a quiet weekend at all. :-)

I had taken a ton of pictures, but suddenly I realized I never got a group photo. In fact, I seldom took pictures of people. Panic! Maybe I should turn around, go back to Ocean City, and get that shot. No. The pictures I had were perfect as they were. We were not "groomed" for pictures at any point that weekend. My hair never got combed the whole time, often we just stayed in pajamas the whole day. But those images that never made it into my camera - the happy faces - are tucked away in my memory where they will be safely kept.

I also took a few other things home with me.

The weekend began with the distribution of Goodie Bags!

How cool was that?

My bag's message reflected the feeling of these three days for me.

I will think with joy of that weekend every time I see this charming bag.

I bought candy for mom from The Candy Kitchen.

She has such a sweet tooth.

My cousin, Linda, gave me an ocean side oil painting she created.

She sent it home as a gift for mom.

My cousins (both of them) are hugely talented artists.

This image says so much about the beauty of nature near the water's edge.

As I approached

The Bridge

I realized that I was going to be provided one last beautiful image.

Sun Set

Soooo out came the camera once again.

And the snapping began.

As I took pictures traveling over this previously feared bridge,

I realized just how much I changed this year.

It is going to take more than this bridge to make me fearful.

This year I faced down some hard personal situations.

I came out the other side of a hard year.

I am different.

After the sun set, darkness quickly fill the sky.

By the time I got to my street, it was night.

Soon I pulled into my parking space.

I looked up to my living room window.

Do you see what I see?

There in the window.

A pair of ears silhouetted in the light of my home.

Those perky little ears belonged to just one dear dog.

Milo

Milo was expecting his grandma.

And she was thrilled to see him.

Thank you

Linda

Leslie

Susan

Elizabeth

We made a wonderful weekend.

Until next time ...

ahhh ... the Quiet-Side Walk

The bay side of Ocean Highway is considered the quiet side of the island/sandbar that holds several large ocean communities - Ocean City being one of those communities.

Saturday was sunny and a reasonable temperature so I went for a walk - over to see the bay.

Ocean City has a pretty thin geography. It is easy to walk from the ocean to the bay (I try to ignore just how thin the sandbar is that I was standing on. Being formed by a large hurricane in the 1930s, that sandbar could disappear just as fast as it formed in another storm ... but today - blue skys.)

I love walking the flat streets of ocean resort communities. Generally the houses are all different and many have ocean themed "names" on signs. All great fun!

Of course in January there aren't too many people around. The quiet of the bay side was more so because of the lack of occupants. But it made walking around and taking pictures much easier because no one wondered what I was doing.

The Ocean City neighborhood I walked through was called "Little Salisbury".

Just look at how blue that sky was.

(The sand bar I was standing on was safe from storms that day.)

It was a beautifully crisp day for a walk.

There were some interesting little structures.

A closer look.

Further down I took a side street and looked at the back yards!

Really, guys!

The back yards.

No grass to mow,

no dog poop,

no yards filled with kids toys

or rusted grills

or forgotten lawn furniture.

I could live like that!

Of course, at the end of the street is this ... the beautiful quiet bay!

Later that night we had dinner/lunch at Liquid Assets.

Guess the name relates to all the bottles that surrounded us,

but the food was sensational!!

And so was the company.

Tomorrow: The trip home!

ahhh ... the knitting, the weaving, the yarns

Cold!

Very very cold at the beach!

January - is just a cold month in my little piece of the world.

But January is the perfect time to handle yarn and wear your furry slippers

... and that is what I did.

First of all, the view ...

The real view ....

Other things that filled our eyes.

Hand woven scarves - all done by my talented cousin, Linda.

Yarn ball winding.

Needle Point - this picture doesn't do justice to the brilliance of the colors.

This is my loom with a brand new project on it - started (shamefully) last May when my cousin visited. That little scarf is almost completed.

Knitting, of course, :-)

Crocheting, too.

Morgan, my cousin's dog. A most beautiful face to match and loving personality.

Talking and hanging out.

Reading - yes that is a yarn pattern book.

Weaving DVD on the TV

Ok, so not everyone thought the DVD was interesting!

And finally my yarn purchase! I saved this until the end.

I can hear those thoughts flooding through your brain

(well, maybe is is just my brain)

"What!! More yarn.

Have you looked in your yarn closet lately?

Have you looked in the baskets all over your floor?

Have you lost your mind?"

To the last question - well, maybe yes. Just a little.

BUT I have reasons in answer to the other questions.

Reason #1

I was at the beach.

This was vacation yarn.

All fiber artists know that vacation yarn doesn't count.

Reason #2

That yarn was kettle dyed and the color of beach sand!

Really ... do you need to know more?

Reason #3

They had the perfect buttons to go with the yarn. See?

How often does that happen?

Reason #4

The yarn shop owner's name was Elaine - just like me!!!

So the yarn was coming home with me.

It was just meant to be!

Tomorrow: My walk on the bay side of Ocean City.