Summer of....

LOVE! ZUMBA! MIRACLES! SUNSHINE AMAZING-NESS! ADMIRING GOD'S BEAUTIFUL CREATION! Whatever you want to call it, I believe it's been a too short, but otherwise awesome summer. Between taking pictures of weddings and nature adventures, it's wonder I actually had anytime to knit! I'm still working on projects I started in June, but they are getting done... slowly :)

{Lake Michigan at Sunrise,
near Bailey's Harbor, WI}

{Lake Michigan - Washington Island}

This last week, I noticed that the nights started to get a little chilly - a quaint little reminder that my favorite season - Autumn - is right around the corner! I love everything about Autumn. The way that summer just kind of fades right into it.... the temperature fades, the smell fades, the colors fade. Crisp, sunshiny mornings, warm afternoons, bundling up in a hoody in the evening. Oh! and once all the photo editing from the summer's myriad of pictures is finished, I might be able to get some knitting done. So please enjoy these photos I have managed to process during the busy-ness of Summer - I promise to have more done soon, some that might even involve yarn! These photos were taken in Wisconsin, at my cousin's wedding, in Montana and at my friend's wedding in Vancouver/Portland.

{Clark Fork River at Sunset off Hwy 200}

{Plant Hike with Montana Native Plant Society}

{Plant Hike with Montana Native Plant Society}

{Fish Boil! at my cousin's rehearsal dinner}

{My cousin's pretty dress}

{Cousin's kids at my
other cousin's rehearsal dinner}

{My cousin's pretty flowers}

{My friend and her groom}

{My friend's pretty shoes}

{My friend on her groom's bike}

{My friend's pretty dress}

And so.

I've been saying that word a lot lately - the word "so".
Sometimes twice in the same sentence, or thought. Maybe I've always had a habit of doing that, but I just noticed it this week. I really don't know why I say it, except that maybe I just feel the need to explain myself; especially in light of the whirlwind of change that seems to be going on around me. Nothing is really changing for me - just for people of somewhat close association with me. I can't keep up, so I've just found myself content to just sit in the eye of the storm and observe everything happen around me. Since I've remained un-involved, I have to preemptively think up some creative excuses for my laziness, somehow making my life seem busier and more interesting than it really is, sitting here in my calm little bubble. That's where the "so"s come in.
So anyway, here are just a few of the little things that have gone on in my life as of late:

• I saw an alpaca today rolling around in a grassy field. This made me very happy.
• I got a Canon 5D!! I ordered it on Sunday and just received it yesterday. Bought it from a private seller on Amazon.. $845.00 - a screamin' deal for a full sensor camera. I was not prepared for the fact that I would need to invest in another type of memory card for it and that my Rebel kit lens would not be suitable for it. Just some of the details to work out :)
• I tore out the cardi I was working on, and started on another pattern: Concur cardigan. I don't want to have to explain why I did it. I shall have this done possibly by next Spring.
• A guinea pig got his sweater!! Yes, sweet little Mac finally got to sport his tailor made sweater about a week and a half ago. 

• Two very important people in my life got married just a few weeks ago!!! Josh & Rhianna of J.michel Photography. I had the privilege of photographing the event alongside two other inspirational and talented photographers: Natalie Braham of Natalie Bee Photography and Ifong Chen of Ifong Photography. I am now in the process of editing my shots. I hope I can get them all done soon!!!

• oh oh oh, and upcoming trips: 
• Coastal camping adventure with my little brother over Memorial day!! 
• My cousin's wedding in Wisconsin in mid June!!
• And a friend's wedding in Portland in mid July!!

So, for now, I feel pretty content to just remain in the eye of the storm. Something big is going to happen soon, I just know it ;)

Busy weekend .... well, not so much

It was supposed to be busy, but I seem to have succumb to the illness making it's way across my office, so I slept instead. Last weekend was supposed to be busy too, but I was held up by a freak snowstorm! Nevertheless, it feels good to get a little R&R. Worked a little on the second of my pair of red mittens. Also, I got caught up on a little photo editing from my first ever newborn shoot and photos I took on a much needed weekend getaway with my mom. We drove down to Eugene, OR, over to Florence, up the coast to Cannon Beach then back over to Portland, completing the loop and headed home.
We visited four yarn stores along the way! ~  Soft Horizon Fibre in Eugene; Happy Kamper Yarn Barn in Florence; T-Spot Yarn, Gifts and Chocolates in Manzanita; Coastal Yarns in Cannon Beach.
Here is our yarn loot:

And some pretty pictures of the ocean:

Also, wanted to share a little somethin' somethin' from my first newborn shoot, celebrating the newest addition to the Soloria family: Little Keoni

Snowed in....

well, kinda.. There's a lot of snow out there. Not nearly enough to close down the city or anything... work, school, life still goes on. But I've found myself with two free evenings in a row - pure bliss. I've been able to cook, knit, play words with friends, facebook, drink coffee, visit with my roomies, text with my BSF ladies and work on uploading pretty pictures to my new, shiny photography website. Very exciting. Plus yesterday was my camera birthday!! I've had my camera for one year and it has changed my life. So to unveil my website at this time brings me great joy :)
Y'all should check it out!  ~  Erica Sonia Photography
I even have a gallery to showcase my knitting!!

A Little Experiment

Happy New Year!!! First day of twenty twelve has been a pretty fabulous one indeed. I believe this may have been the laziest weekend I've experienced in a while.

So I decided to do a little experiment today. It was overcast - borderline boring when it comes to cloud formations. But it still had that beautiful silvery sheen floating across the sky. After meeting with a good friend and going grocery shopping, I decided to go back to that one spot I shot pictures on Friday. I wanted to see if I could still take a lovely picture :) and that, I did. When it comes to capturing God's light - there's a fine line between waiting on God to reveal His glorious majesty and just searching for and finding it in everyday details. I have to admit, that line is still one big mystery to me. Kind of an exciting one.


"It is the glory of God to conceal things, 
   but the glory of kings is to search things out. 
As the heavens for height, and the earth for depth, 
   so the heart of kings is unsearchable." {Proverbs 25:2-3}


So after that little excursion, I came home, brewed up some deliciously strong dark roast coffee and got out my Monkey Fingerless Mitts I've been working on. I've been ignoring this project because I got to the inevitable thumb gusset part and have just been procrastinating. I really want to wear these mitts at work though, so I can't hold off too much longer. Hopefully the left hand will work up faster than the right hand :) and for the record - this is only my second attempted project with this specific yarn - Alpaca Direct's very own 90% baby alpaca 10% silk blend.

Reflections over Knitting

Why is it that I knit? That's a good question, really. Is it because making things are cheaper than buying them? Nope, not with the kind of yarn I use! Is it because I like giving and having things that I made with my very own hands? Partly, but if that was it then I would finish more projects in a more efficient manner! Is it because I think it's cute and trendy to knit? Well yes, that's how I got started... (although, I get a lot of "isn't that what little old grandmas do?" from people so it might not be quite as trendy as I think it is). Is it a good reflective and therapeutic activity?? I think that is one of the biggest reasons why I knit - along with just loving the feel and colors of fibers. They excite me. I love the stitches too. Simple stockinette, supple moss stitch, wandering lace and overlapping cables. So many ways to be creative!!!
Alright, so onto the details of the real reason why I knit - it's a good "deep thinking" and/or "conversational" kind of activity - same as throwing pottery, but with less expensive equipment. Driving kinda does it for me too. And editing pictures. So when you see one of my knitted projects, or pieces of pottery, or a picture that I took in a near or distant land... you can trust that many thoughts, reflections and/or conversations went into that piece. Every stitch, every finger ridge, every pixel contains a precious little bit of my mind and heart and soul. This is what makes it the most worthwhile.
So yesterday, I took a drive. It was a short one, but substantial nonetheless - with a continuation of thoughts from my drive to and from Montana. On my trip, God revealed to me a lot of things about how hard I work to sustain my own comfort level - only compromising it for my own recreational purposes or if it is "convenient" to do so for the purposes of comforting others. I slept in the snowy forest for "fun", then spent the night in a motel, and then drove all the way home a day early all so that I could spend the last night of my three day weekend in my own warm comfy bed. On my drive yesterday I got to thinking about all that and if I will ever put action behind what God revealed to me. So many of us just say, "Well, it's the thought that counts"... especially when it comes to gift-giving. Also goes the saying... "God knows our hearts" and there is an extreme amount of truth to that. So where's the bridge between what's on our minds and hearts and translating that into action that matters? So many of my prayers these days have to do with how and why I love people - is it for my glory or God's glory? What would happen if all the incentives for loving others were suddenly removed, would I/could I still love?
At some point, I think we can all have faith to really know that He accomplished through His Blood what mere following of rules, regulations and sacrifices could not do - Cleansed our consciences and our hearts so that He can write His perfect will, imbed it, into the very fiber of our being (Hebrews 10) just as clearly as He has engraved us on the palm of His hand (Isaiah 49:16). Christ's extravagant love for us inspires our extravagant obedience in response as we encounter circumstances that literally cause our head knowlegde of God to work it's way down into our hearts. We display the glory of God best when we realize our identity in Him and embrace His word (Psalm 19).
Many times, I believe our follow through takes His Perfect Timing too. There has been a certain spot up near Green Bluff, just west of the traffic circle on Day-Mt Spokane Road. The rolling hills dive into this winding irrigation ditch - very beautiful when the light hits it just right. Every time I drive by I think about how much I want to take a picture of it, but every time I'm either too busy, or it's too dark, or too overcast and it doesn't look pretty enough for me to take a picture. There have even been times where I set out to take pictures up there, but I went somewhere else instead. So yesterday I finally did it. I was driving by and almost just went on my way, but I stopped. The sunlight was gorgeous. Partly cloudy and the soft sunlight hitting the hills just right. What a beautiful piece of God's redemption for my delay in taking that picture. 
I also went to Starbucks to sit and knit. I wanted to go to Rocket, but they were crowded. Starbucks was fine. I started a scarf with yarn that I've started to knit a scarf with several times.... only to take it out and roll it back up again. I put many thoughts into the cable pattern I was knitting while I was there, related to what I've written about in this post, wondering if this was really the time for this yarn to become a scarf. At the end of my time there at Starbucks, I quickly unraveled the scarf, rolled it back up into a ball and went home.
Do those thoughts count??

My Epic Mountainous Christmas Adventure.... and it's only day #2

Merry Christmas Eve!!!


"And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn." {Luke 2:4-7}

There is just something utterly romantic about being a lone traveler over Christmas. No, I'm not talking about traveling to see family, while that is always nice. But something a little more uncommon. The thought that it is "ok" to spend a Christmas alone is a very curious thought to almost everyone. It was certainly for me. My parents were talking about going to New York City for Christmas, but I had already planned my trip for New York in October and did not have any more vacay time at work. It wasn't until early November that I started thinking about what I was going to do for 3 glorious days on my own while everyone else had their own festivities to attend.... why not another mountain adventure?? Of course with this white slippery stuff called snow and below freezing temps, might be a teensy bit more difficult. Alas, I could not think of a better way to spend Christmas than to get away from all the distractions and materialism of the holiday season and subject myself to bitter cold temps and spectacular mountain views of the Bitterroot Mountains in Montana. Someplace I had heard a lot about from my grandmother, but never gone before.

So. Here I am. I left after I got off work yesterday. I took the long way to get here - down Highway 95 to Lewiston then through the gorgeous Clearwater National Forest on Highway 12. I spent the night parked at a trailhead in the forest - I flattened down the backseat of my Chevy Malibu Maxx, blew up an air mattress and bundled myself and my little dog up in two sleeping bags. Yep. It was a tad chilly to say the least. My little dog helped keep me warm and vice versa. I woke up in the morning and did not want to leave my sleeping bag, neither did my little dog. Finally got it together to get going about 8:30ish. My phone was literally too frozen to take a charge. Drove the rest of the way through the forest and stopped at Lochsa Lodge to use their restroom, change and got a cup of coffee. I then continued over Lolo Pass and into the Bitterroot Valley. 

After exploring the Valley a bit, the mountains started calling my name so I started up this small country road... that turned into a mountain road... and I just went up and up and up and up until I noticed that my car was slipping around a little too much on the ice, so I decided to turn around. Big mistake. The place I choose to turn around was perhaps the most precarious place to do so. I would have to make a several point turn with one side being an almost vertical mountainside and the other side being an almost vertical dropoff. I found myself high centered on the snowbank, half my car on the road, the other half in the ditch and it wasn't going anywhere. To "gun it" would have sent me flying off the side of the mountain. eeek! I tried pushing my car and even digging it out with nifty little shovel/pick axe that just happens to be in my car. After talking with daddy.... I called for a tow and then took pictures just as the sun broke through the clouds across the valley. 

After getting off the mountain, I explored a bit more, then settled into this cute little motel room where I am just chillin' and knittin' ... and bloggin' :)

This is the mountain I got stuck on:

And here is a cute little holiday tune about another Christmas traveler:

:)

Oh, how I love old churches!

Ok, so this post will have nothing at all to do with knitting, except that I had a photography adventure with a dear friend of mine who is also a knitter ... if that counts for anything :)
Anyway, my friend wanted to arrange a practice bridal shoot so that both her and her sister are ready for an upcoming wedding. Since it was my idea for them to use the Fort Sherman Chapel, located near North Idaho College in Coeur d'Alene, ID, I decided I'd tag-along for the shoot - get some glorious shots of this lovely old church (oldest church in Coeur d'Alene) and practice my people photography skills. Hope you enjoy the shots!!
Models:
Monica Sumner and Ashley Krickl

Find out more info on the Ft Sherman Chapel here

     

Knitting & ____ go together like 2 peas in a pod :)

Delving into the world of knitting, one begins to find that there are things about knitting and knitters that just go together. Some things are merely obvious, but others, well they might just seem plain odd. And then others might just apply to me :)

* Knitting & Black Tea and Dark Chocolate
This one is a big for me! There is nothing better than enjoying a quiet evening with my knitting in my lap, a big cup of black tea and some dark chocolate I can savor just one bite at a time :)

* Knitting & Coffee Dates with Mom
This is our bonding time! On any given Saturday, you will find the two of us at a local Coeur d'Alene coffee shop knittin' it up. If one of us forgets our knitting, well, we go back and get it. It is too easy to let an afternoon just slip by when you get lost in good conversation paired with good knitting :)

* Knitting & Photography
What can I say, I like to take pretty pictures of my knitting! It's part of the reason I got a fancy DSLR camera. I have some amazing photog friends that are teaching me all I know about this crazy hobby called photography and I am thoroughly enjoying taking macro shots of my stitches!
* Knitting & Good Food and Wine
When you get a group of knitters together, there had better be some darn good food and wine to accommodate, or it will not be pretty! Knitters are more likely to enjoy more natural and organic food selections, still with high sugar and fat content so that it's not considered "too healthy".
* Knitting & Good Music
Whether it's live or coming from my iPod, I just love being immersed in beautiful melodies and harmonies while knitting - it's therapeutic ... I also love to play music and sing if that has anything to do with it :)
* Knitting & Obsession to touch fabric
I'm hoping that this one is fairly obvious
* Knitting & Intellectual thought
I don't know about anybody else, but I just feel smarter when I'm knitting.

* Knitting & Little Dogs
Yes, I have a little papillon. And I love her. And I love when she crawls into my lap while I'm knitting ... it's so cozy. As long as she doesn't decide to get tangled up in the yarn! That can be a nightmare :/
* Knitting & Kitties
Ok, this one I don't quite get ... a lot of knitters happen to be cat ladies (or is it that cat ladies just happen to knit). Well, I don't fall into this category. I have nothing against cats ... I just don't have one, and really no desire to get one either :)
* Knitting & Perfectionism
If you are a knitter and a perfectionist... you are in big trouble ... you are also not alone. Perfectionism can be measured as the quotient of how many rows you are willing to rip out over the number of mistakes you need to fix factored by the inverse of the needle size and lumpiness of the yarn. Skilled knitters have the foresight to know if these mistakes will matter in the finished product :)
* Knitting & General Craftiness
Yes, knitters are crafty. We can't help it ... we scrapbook, we quilt, we bead, we throw pottery, we make cute notecards ... we just love to create :)
* Knitting & Blogging
Just an observation ... there just seems to be a lot of knitting blogs out there. We have a lot to say about our craft :)

Knit wishlist :: two thousand & eleven

So, as I have been pouring over other knitting blogs, I find myself not feeling so bad that I currently have three projects that I'm lugging around in my knitting bag and probably quite a few more stashed away somewhere that I started and lost interest in (probably because I had way too many projects going at once!) One thing I hope to accomplish with this blog is to gain more intentionality with the way I pursue certain knitting projects. Learning to avoid the random weekend trips to the yarn shop where I buy a couple skeins of some beautifully whimsical yarn, not know what I'm going to do with it, but loving it so much that I just have to start knitting with it right away ... I'm sure many are familiar with the way that story ends :) Anyway, I have projects in my head that I really want to do, but may take a little more planning than I'm used to, so to help ... here's my list!

a Simple Sweater
Hard to believe, I've been knitting for almost 7 years and I have never successfully knit a sweater. I did attempt a couple in my early years of knitting, but probably due to immaturity/short attn span/whatever, I'd loose focus, get overwhelmed by schoolwork and they just got stashed (to be quite honest, I have no idea where they are now!!) In the last couple years, I've had the urge to try one again, but last year after I topped 200 pounds, I really had no desire to buy the enormous amount of yarn that it would take to knit an XL sweater, spend all that time to knit it and have it not fit in the end. After loosing 60 lbs this last year, knitting a medium sweater for myself seems to be the perfect reward! A PDF of this pattern is sitting on my desktop and I think it will be a great pattern to start out: http://www.mariegracedesigns.com/marie_grace/everyday-tweed-knitting-p.html .. I will resist the urge to place a cable down the side of it :) :)

Scarves & Cowls
* Autumnus Scarf : I love love love this scarf. My friend and fellow knitter in crime, Stephanie, shared this pattern with me and I can hardly wait to knit it!! I think I am going to use some chunky purple merino wool yarn I bought at Loopy's in Missoula paired with some purple kid seta mohair with beads placed randomly throughout
* Imagination Cowl : My mom is currently knitting this and I think it's amazing. "It's ruched!" has suddenly become my favorite phrase
* Infinity Scarf: Don't have a pattern for this, but I really want to knit some sort of really long loopy thing to wrap around myself. I have a size 8 40" circular and I would like to use leftover yarn in my stash in a moss stitch to create a woven look much like a scarf my mom knit for my dad last Fall.
* Entrelac Scarf or Cowl: I also don't have a pattern for this, but I taught myself how to entrelac knit last Fall. The yarn I was using just didn't showcase it well. If I come across some yarn this year that is worthy of entrelac-greatness, I will snatch it up!

Felted Projects
I love felted projects - especially bags. It kind of reminds me of when I did ceramics and after spending a lot of effort and time forming and glazing a pot/plate/mug/bowl/whatever, throwing it in the kiln and seeing what comes out! Since I recently purchased a fancy dancy camera, I really need a bag for it ... and why buy one when you can make one?! I don't have a pattern quite yet, but *hoping* that I might just find one on Ravelry!

Baby Hats
I've been working on baby hats for my friend's photography business, ShmilyFace Photography - http://shmilyfacephoto.wordpress.com/. It has been an amazingly uplifting project for me because not only has it inspired me to start this blog, but also the desire to knit baby hats for a local charity like a crisis pregnancy center. It will take some time away from my own "selfish knitting" and would probably involve the help of a few other fellow knitters, but it is definitely on my heart to pray about!