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So today in the Good News Journal was easy - in fact, I easily found TWO good news stories! Whaaattt?? Woot!
I am not going to lie - today, only Day 2 of my little good news journal, I had a tough time finding even one news story that could be considered "good news". I finally settled on this, kind of the best of the worst plus a funny thing about Covid + the lovely silver stitch markers. I love them, so it's happy for me. While it is good news that Grand Isle finally had power restored, it is not so good that it took 138 days. That's a lot of no power days. Such is life on an island in south Louisiana, where hurricanes routinely disrupt everyday life ("disrupt" is putting it mildly; I am, afterall, trying to be upbeat here).  One of the things we learned early in our trip was not to trust Google info about the hours any particular place was open or even whether it was open at all. This is especially true to restaurants but other shops as well. Staffing shortages, illness (Covid, right?) and other factors contribute but, whatever the reason, we learned the hard way that, if you are counting on it, CALL before you go to make sure they are open. Google, like many of us, is having trouble "keeping up" at this time. Just call. And...for those hours in the car, bring a book or, better yet, don't forget your knitting!!! Need a new stitch marker or two "for the road"?? Go HERE to take a look at beautiful handmade sterling silver stitch markers!!
Always trying to knit faster? Need to get to the next beautiful yarn in your stash? YES! me, too. Here are a few tips for knitting socks a little faster!
First, pick a simple pattern. It doesn't have to be vanilla socks; it could be a simple pattern that is easy to memorize. Example? Ribbing is easy, especially if it includes a lot of knits & not many purls....like knit 5, purl 3! Easier/faster than k2,p2, right? Second, pick a heel turn style and stick to it for all your socks. Don't waste time searching a lot of different heel turns - google "most popular heel turn" and stick to it! Boom - time saved!!! (Most popular? The French Heel - just do it & stick to it!) More tips to come - stay tuned! Need some beautiful last-forever stitch markers? Try these handmade ones in sterling silver! Even the desert flowers are so beautiful. We were lucky enough this year to be in the desert when there had been some rain and flowers were everywhere! We also stopped by the Petrified Forest National Park (too hot to leave the car much) and also a place called Paria near Kanab, Utah, one of our favorite places! SO HOT!!!
Such a wonderful trip to Oregon and Washington to visit family (long overdue) and sell jewelry at two of the wonderful art shows in Oregon. It was unexpectedly hot (115 degrees!) but we had a wonderful trip! More photos to follow! Want to see the most popular earrings at the Oregon shows?? Click here!  These silver "triangle" earrings were inspired by the slot canyons in southern Utah & other places in the western, which are incredibly dramatic and beautiful. I have missed traveling so much over the past year - looking forward to visiting a few of these remarkable canyons in just a few weeks!!
Painted my nails is this SO COOL lavender color specifically to photograh these silver square earrings but then realized.....my cuticles are not "pretty enough". Bummer. Just crop it!!!  With family in town, we decided to go to the Aquarium of the Americas in New Orleans. It was wonderful as always and, as usualy, the jellyfish exhibit was one of my favorites. (Followed closely by the albino alligator and the pregnant seahorses!) Here are the earrings inspired by those oh-so-cool jellies!!
These silver and quartz drop earrings are really hard to photograph, I think because of the crystal clear quartz. I love quartz - it has always been a favorite of mine. I was born and raised in Arkansas, which is where a lot of quartz occurs. So, I grew up with quartz all around me - it's one of the reasons I like rocks of all sorts - I guess rocks remind me of home! (Here in Louisiana, few to no rocks anywhere!)   Missing being able to travel! National Parks are kind of a passion for us and we have not had our "fix" of parks in over a year. With that in mind, these earrings were designed as a tribute to those fabulous archways that occur in so many National Parks in the western U.S.
If you want to see others in this collection, click here and here!  Part of my new collection, inspired by National Parks of the US. I have missed (and still miss) traveling so much over the past year and a half. One of the things we love to do is visit national parks in the western US.
One of the natural features you see in many of the parks is the archway. Eye candy! Plus, two of my favorite "gems" - freshwater pearls and "opals" (in all honesty, these are called "opalized quartz but, between you & me, I think they are glass but, who cares, really. They are amazingly beautiful!!). Want to shop the look? Click here! These new silver earrings are from my new, developming collection, inspired by National Parks. This past year, I have so much missed traveling to see my sons, and the national parks along the way. These earrings are inspired by the arches present in many of our wonderful national parks, especially in Arches National Park in Utah. Can't wait to get back on the road and see the sights in person again!!  Since I was doing a lot of knitting in 2020, I realized that I could make sterling silver stitch markers. I had the silver, I had the need and I had the know how. So I made it happen. Several different designs, all made by hand, one at a time in my studio in Baton Rouge. Turns out these are by far my favorite stitch markers. So clean and easy to use. 2020 was a year of surprises in so many ways.
I hope you found knitting or some other meditative, relaxing activity that makes you breathe easier during this time becuase, you know, it's not over yet. Hang on.
At the very beginning of the pandemic I read (on the MDK blog) the expression, "Bob's Your Uncle". After that, for awhile, I heard or read this expression in several different places and it captured my imagination - now my husband and I (well, mostly I) use the expression often. So colorful! So much fun in a world of so often bad news. Just a moment of lightness - sometimes that's all I need to life my day up a little bit!  Awkward segue: handmade silver stitch markers for knitting!!! Click to see!!
So, we have a new game we are playing at our house - it's called "What were they thinking?". We have a short list (getting longer every day) of folks who have, in our opinion, done things that really didn't make sense if they had thought it through. This is my opinion and my opinion only. So.....here is the list 1. The folks at the Capital on January 6th 2. The "Disney guy" - thought he could bypass the temp check at Disney with no repercussions...seriously? 3. Harry & Meghan....again, they expected NO repercussions?? 4. Sweden during the Pandemic.......  So that's my list so far; it could probably be a LOT longer but I'm being kind of fussy about what goes on it. It's all good fun, right?
Awkward segue: would you like to see some wonderful handmade zippered bags?? CLICK HERE!
 Another Netflix series I discovered, thanks (I think) to the good women of Modern Daily Knitting. This is overall a fun series although it certainly has it's dark moments. Celia is aggravating and sweet, Alan is completely sweet, Gillian is hardworking and grounded with sometimes frustrating behavior (how can she "fall for" some of those guys???), and Caroline is a problem solver struggling with reactions of others to her sexuality.
This series is a roller coaster ride and we watched every episode. That in itself says something doesn't it? Awkward segue (again). Want to take a look at the handmade bags? They are great for knitting projects or anything else you need or want to carry from place to place! CLICK here to see the handmade zippered bags!  Honestly, I really had only two reasons for watching this Netflix series: 1) recommended to me by someone I trust and 2) my mom was always highly interested in "the royals", I think because she was almost the same age as Elizabeth and clearly remembered her coronation as a young mother. So I kind of started watching as a way of honoring my mom.
 A friend recommended this Netflix series and, for the most part, I loved it.
It got a little dicey for me in what I call "the dark times" and, believe me, the dark times were VERY dark. I was very tempted to put it down a couple of times but kept watching really to see the interaction among the three siblings. Jimmy was a loose cannon but so charming, Billie was a pain in the neck but was always there for her sister and Nina was, well, frankly a mess in her personal life but absolutely spot on at work. I finally put it down for good in the last couple of seasons. Too dark, too consistently for me. You know, I like to watch TV for enjoyment - same reason I read books. Real life is often too dark - I need an escape from reality when I read for watch the "telly". Awkward segue: Would you like to look at the jewelry I make? :) CLICK HERE to take a look!  Like a lot of people, I guess, I have done my share of TV watching. Early on in the pandemic, the good folks at MDK (Modern Daily Knitting) recommended Schitt's Creek as good fun. Having had my COMPLETE fill of made for TV Hallmark "movies", I was pretty much ready to try anything. So, for a delightful month or so, my husband and I binge watched Schitt's Creek. The MDK people set me up by saying yes, it's a comedy, but watch for the love. So, basically, I was already primed to love it. Not disappointed. LOVED this show. We have seen all the episodes at least twice...well, ok, maybe three times. David. Patrick. Johnny. Yes, look for the love. ❤❤❤ P.S. Want to see the newest silver earrings?? Sure! Click HERE to shop. Full disclosure, they are currently sold out but I'll make a pair just for you! 👌  I know I mentioned before that we love to travel, especially in the western US, where are sons live. We almost always drive so that we can take our time & enjoy the journey. One of our favorite things to do is stop along the way and look for cool rocks. We live in a place (south Louisiana) with no rocks at all but I grew up in Arkansas, so most all rocks could be described (by me) as "cool". Anyway, we have gotten a little bit pickier with what we pick up & haul back across the country. So, early in the pandemic, I decided to switch out all of the "knobs" in our house with knobs made of the the rocks we have collected over the years! It was a fun project and we love the results. Each knob is a little work of art!! Rocks rock!
In between rock stops, I knit. Want to see the sterling silver stitch markers I make? Click the button below!
 So....technically, it was my husband who learned to make yogurt but I helped (by watching the thermometer....) so, yeah "we" learned to make yogurt. We make a gallon at a time. I made yogurt regularly years ago with one of those little yogurt maker things but this is a whole different ballgame. Why? Because of the digital/remote thermometer!!! No more watching like a hawk for minute temp changes! No more worrying that it's too hot or too cold - this thing actually sounds an alarm when the temp is perfect! How cool is that? So now it's a gallon of yogurt every few weeks - whew, that's a LOT of yogurt!!!
Wanna see the handmade bags, perfect for knitting or whatever you need to carry around?? Makeup, meds, toothbrush, yeah any of that stuff! So cute! Click HERE to see all the bags!!  We have taken lots of "mini" road trips in the past year. We love to travel and, with our sons living several states away, we missed that a lot so we started taking day trips. One of our favorite places to go was Ponchatoula, LA. At just about 45 minutes from our home, it was an easy drive and provided a nice place to walk around and window shop the antique stores. Another favorite was Ann Brown Preserve near St. Fancisville. This place seems like an undiscovered gem, providing a nice easy walk in the woods and the terrain is hilly!!! What a concept.  Awkward seque: want to see some handmade zippered bags that are perfect for knitting or makeup or anything else you need to "tote" around?? >>>>>>>> ClICK HERE!
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 Hello!I am Laura Teague, a metal smith, knitter and sewist living and working in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and traveling the western US whenever I can! Categories
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