I'm so Excited!!

Yep, that's right, I finished the body knitting for the CTH Jacket!!! It's all sewn together, and I got to try it on this morning for the group! I've since picked up for the bottom edge and begun that portion. Hope to finish up the bottom tomorrow, then move on to the fronts! It's TOTALLY coming together!

Goal is to finish all knitting by mid-week so I can block and then photograph next weekend!

Challenge is that I start a new job in a new location on Monday...so it's going to be a busy week all on it's own, without having a major knitting deadline looming. Don't worry though, I'll make it. I did two sleeves in a week, so a little bit of edging will be just fine.

Am off to read for a bit (2/3 through HP1 - gotta re-read before the movie and book come out!) I might have a HP Movie marathon tonight or tomorrow though, since that's also good background...but not as good as the books!

Summer Knitting Goals

Ok, here's an interesting contest I saw on Curlytop's blog...

Ali from Skeins Her Way has recently had a pattern published, and will be drawing winners for copies of her pattern (and one will get the yarn to go with it!).

All you have to do is:

1.) Leave a comment on Ali's post letting her know what color you want and mention that you heard about the contest on my blog (http://fiber-fanatics.blogspot.com)

2.) Then head to your blog and post a list of your summer knitting goals and mention the contest.

3.) Lastly e-mail Ali with the link to your post! Be sure to mention me in your post so she knows how you heard about the contest!!

So, MY summer knitting goals:

• Finish the CTH Contest jacket and get it mailed by 5/29.
• Knit the Laurel Fibonacci Stripe top for my former boss by 6/24 (it's a gag gift, and I'll have to adapt it a bit for *him*).
• Finish my Crayon Box Jacket
• Make the gorgeous Scotch Thistle Stole that Ann gifted me with in SP8.

I have little doubt that I will do a few other things too, perhaps some charity knitting, and who knows what else, but in terms of specific plans, I think that's enough for now :) I'm going to need a bit of decompression time after CTH is done, though the deadline on my bosses b'day present won't really allow for much of that...

Update on the Jacket

Wow...I need to slow down on the knitting before my wrists give up and fall off!!

The body is done and seamed together. The first sleeve MAY be done. For those of you who saw me start it on Saturday, yes, that's a little scary. Will measure and assess at tonight's meeting and determine if I need to do two more blocks on it, but I think it might be finished.

The other sleeve has been started, but just barely.

Bought a toggle for it on Saturday...have to look at some models to see how toggles are usually attached...

Have a plan for the border, just not sure if I have enough yarn to go all the way around it. Will have to jump in and see.

Other news this weekend?...well, Saturday morning was knitting (seaming actually), Saturday mid-day was a Knitting Potluck and stash reduction at a friend's house (knitted through most of the afternoon), Sunday I spent at Chez Casuelle with Carla, knitting, browsing her fabulous sale items, and visiting with friends, since TWO people from one of my groups showed up with their respective DH's.

Plan is to attach the first sleeve tonight, finish and attach the second by this weekend. That will give me a week to do the borders, tuck in a few ends, cut off a lot of other ends that are already handled, put on the toggle, and block it. Will do a photo shoot with K over Memorial Day weekend so I have full documentation. Plan to post here around the same time that I Express mail it to Vermont.

Another Busy Weekend

We had a GREAT time yesterday at the Knit and Spin Because We Can Day! About 25 knitters and spinners joined us, and we had five glorious hours of fiberly fun! I took my camera, but took NO photos...was too busy socializing, organizing, and KNITTING!

The CTH Jacket is coming along VERY well....It's about half completed at this point. The back is done, the right front is done and attached. I started the left front this evening, and it is well under way.

The good news is that the sleeves will not need to be nearly as long as the rest of it, so those should go pretty quickly. Then I'll need to do a border around the entire garment.

I have three weeks to finish it up and get it blocked and photographed. That means that it currently has priority over EVERYTHING. I CAN do this (as long as I can fend off a full scale Carpal Tunnel attack!).

Golden Compass

Something interesting I found on Spindiva's blog...

SP's, SP's, everywhere!!

Another GREAT knitting weekend! K and I had planned to go to Jacksonville on Saturday for the Fiber History Social. Due to the long drive, she invited me to spend the night Friday. Friday afternoon she reminded me that it was the last meeting of the Altamonte knitting group, which is sadly being disbanded. So, I was very happy that we got to go to that meeting! Kind of ironic really - their last meeting was also their best attended, with 5 people dropping by!

Saturday morning K and I were up bright and early. With only minor GPS issues, we arrived at the event location at 9:45ish. The location was Camp Milton, which has a lovely building that somewhat resembles an old farm house. Inside is a beautiful presentation room, but outside is a wide, deep, shaded porch. Since we all brought chairs, sitting out on the porch was convenient. The shade and breeze kept the temperature just right.

Many of the people that we met are involved in Historical Re-enactments from the Civil War era. We shared some techniques and knowledge, learning and teaching throughout the day. We also met Carol and Liz - and remarkably, Carol lives about 10 minutes down the road from me! She taught us the basics of needle tatting. I made a tiny little sample - enough to prove that I had a clue...I think that will be another skill like crochet - that I'll pull out once in a blue moon for a specific SMALL project, but not to become a regular part of my fiber endeavors.

After we left the event, K and I just couldn't resist dropping by one of the LYS's, KnitWitz. They had a nice selection of Fleece Artist rovings in LOVELY colors. Here's the one I picked up for me...I got one for my Spring Fling pal too, but I'm not going to show you that picture just yet.

After KnitWitz, I was still intrigued by the other LYS, A Stitch in Time. We met one of their employees at the event. She recommended the store highly (of course!), and had shown us some of the Aloe/Jojoba sock yarn - well, she showed us the sock. So, we ran over there and looked around. They had a nice selection of items in their sale bin, and after a little deliberation, I had to go to the car and bring in the Crayon Box box. As it turned out, one of the yarns that was put in the sale bin THAT DAY was just perfect! I also picked out another that was full price, and three balls of a lovely soft blend that I can see making a scarf or stole or something with...

Overall, some great purchases! K also found some yarns and rovings at both locations that she was happy to pick up.

While we at the event earlier in the day, one of the ladies did mention that Joann's had all of their Simplicity patterns on sale - for $1.99 each! So, on the way home last night, after we finished dinner, K and I ran in (at 8:45pm!) to raid their patterns. Here are the ones I picked out.

Three are gown/dress possibilities, and the fourth has several quilted bags. I've often ogled the Vera Bradley bags and other similar quilted bags...ok, I'll admit it, I'm an absolute sucker for anything resembling a knitting bag. So, if I can find some appropriate fabric, maybe I'll try making one myself...

Spent the night at K's again last night, since it was rather late by the time we got home. This morning we all slept in a bit. When I finally got out of bed, I worked on the CTH jacket some more. It was the focus of the weekend, and I have some news... THE BACK OF THE JACKET IS DONE!!

We all went out for breakfast, then to Target for a bit of retail therapy. I did pick up a couple of things for me, but MOST of what I got was for my two downstream SP's. Also stopped by the autoparts store to pick up some replacement bulbs for my brake lights. Came home, dropped by the neighbor's house, who let me borrow his star screwdriver. I was very proud of myself for changing out my bulb ALMOST all by myself. Yes, A insisted on helping by looking at the lit lights to see whether the one to replace was top or bottom. But, all of the physical "labor" of the swap was all me! Ok, so it took about 5 minutes INCLUDING researching which bulb was which. Glad to do it myself for a total cost of less than $5 than to pay someone else two or three times that much for their "labor" to change it out.

So, made it home today finally, only to find a BOX in my mailbox!! And a pretty good sized box at that! So, here's the contents:

It started with the YUMMY dark chocolate. From there it moved to a ball of TOFUtsies! Yum! I still can't wait to try knitting with some of this! There are so many things on my knitting agenda, and right now CTH is still dominating the list. If I have any prayer of finishing on time, there IS no time for anything else. Anyhow, back to the package. Lots more lovely yarns, kitty treats & toys, yummy tea. There's a great knitting book...where do you guys keep finding these great knitting journals?? This is number two, and just as wonderful as the first one! Oh, and the CARD! Did you make it SP? The dragonfly on the front is BEAUTIFUL! What a great package! So, CPURL, did you forget that I know your address? And I know you're at least reading my blog....which leads me to wonder why A) You would send me a package with your own return address, or B) You would agree to send a package for my SP, knowing that I DO know your address... It's a bit perplexing, but I'm putting you on notice, you're my #1 suspect at the moment :)

After perusing my lovely package, munching a couple of chocolates, as well as some of those Butterscotch Crisps from Ann the other day, I hauled out all of the stuff that *I* have for SP packages... It was pretty scary to see my entire counter FULL of various package stuffers! Some for SP8, some for Spring Fling for now, some for Spring Fling for later...and some for future unknown SP's! Put together two packages that will go out tomorrow. The Spring Fling one will remain a mystery, but the other, for SP8, will be mailed to Zimmie tomorrow. Ok, so here's where I need your help...if you are NOT Zimmie, don't tell her you read this...and if you ARE? Well, you found me!

Holy Themed Packages Batman!!!

ANN!! OMG! I've been transported! (But then of course the irony of that is not lost - been reading synopses).

If you're not Ann, some background... I got home today to find this GIANT HEAVY box waiting for me... I put it down for a moment, turned around, and find a very interested kitty sitting on top of it. Hhmmm...cute, but a little strange. Timothy is such a sweet baby I just had to take a picture of him.

Fast forward 30 seconds. I've shooed Timothy away and shut off the camera. Picking up box to take to the livingroom for unveiling... But wait...there's Smokey, and HE seems awfully interested in this box too! Does it contain catnip toys??

Finally the furballs back off a bit, and I got it into the livingroom. Opened it up, and... Holy Cow that's a lot of tartan! Each item was wrapped in tartan cloth, and even the ribbon was cloth tartan ribbon! To take it a step further, Ann even used the extra pieces of fabric as additional packing material. It's a viscious plot you see...she knows that if she dangles a little fiber in front of my face, I'll be compelled to do something with it... This huge pile of lovely tartan is fairly screaming for me to make a quilt with it... We'll see... no promises.


But why tartan I asked? Oh my...the ENTIRE package is Scottish themed. Yes, I REALLY mean the WHOLE thing.

Here you can see the Anne yarn along with the lovely pattern for the Scotch Thistle Lace Stole. Next to that is a skein of STR - in the Scottish Highlands colorway.

There are several tasty morsels included...and all are MADE IN SCOTLAND!! Ok, this part really does perplex me...is there a strong Scottish presence in your part of the world, such that there are Scottish only stores?? There are Butterscotch Crisps...oohhh...a little bit sinful I think, a small package of shortbreads, Scottish Breakfast tea - smells like a lovely strong breakfast tea, and Pinhead Oatmeal! I haven't opened the oatmeal package yet, but I'm guessing this is a type of Steel Cut oats? I LOVE SC Oatmeal!!

And finally, the inspiration for this amazing themed transportation to Scotland: Outlander, Dragonfly in Amber, and Voyager, by Diana Gabaldon. This series is about a 20th Century woman who is magically transported back to 18th Century Scotland! It looks fascinating, and I'm told it's excellent. These are also HUGE books with relatively small typeface...so combining these three books with the 5 previous books that Ann has sent me (I've read about 1 1/2 at this point! - and those are the small size novels...) I think I have enough reading material to keep me busy for the next year!

Thank you SOOOOO much Ann, this package was totally over the top!

Still knitting...

...on the Cherry Tree Hill project. I am trying to do at least 2-3 color blocks per day...which was easy when they were 30 stitches long...but now they are 130 stitches long!! The back is coming along well...then to do the fronts and sleeves...ARGH!

So, busy knitting on that... Saturday is the Central Florida Fair - we'll be there from 12-6 demo-ing. Still have to decide if I'll be knitting or spinning. Am thinking I might knit in the morning at B&N, then spin for a while at the Fair, then maybe knit a little more...

Flat Stanley should be winging his way here very soon...which will mean a bit of traveling to show him around....

Next weekend there is a Fiber History Social in Jacksonville (Apr 28th). K and I will be going up to hang out, visit, meet some new people, and knit and spin some more :)

May 5th is our Knit & Spin Because We Can day. (See below).

By mid May? MAYBE I'll have a weekend or two to myself!! Of course, Cherry Tree Hill will continue to be #1 on my agenda until it's complete. Due in NE by June 1st!

Sorry no pics... I WILL post a pic of CTH when it's complete...which should be right around when it's due...

Knit / Spin In Announcement

You may have already seen this, but if not...

The Knit or Knot Guild of Orlando invites you to
Our Second Annual
Knit and Spin Because We Can Day

Saturday, May 5, 2007
10am to 4pm
First Baptist Church of Oviedo
45 West Broadway Street
Oviedo, FL 32765

Come join us for a great day of fun, knitting, spinning, sharing and learning! Bring a sack lunch and a reusable mug, snacks and drinks will be provided!

Agenda for the day:

Show ‘n Share
Knitting/Spinning Instruction
(Drop spindle kits available for a nominal fee – learn to spin TODAY!)
Trade Table
(Yarn or other supplies that you don’t want but want to find a good home? Bring them along!)
For Sale Table
(Label items with your name and sale price)
Yankee Swap
(A few balls of a special yarn, a pattern book or two, some roving… Think something YOU would love to receive – Wrap it up (a paper bag works just fine – nothing see through) and we’ll do an exchange! Tons of fun, go home with something new to inspire you!)

For Questions, Additional Information, or to RSVP, contact Jody

*************************************

I had a seed of an idea planted yesterday... My apt complex is in the process of building a "town center" area. It's actually very nice, and there will be quite a few shops there. Walked over last night to have dinner at Quizno's, our very first tenant to open. While I was there, I walked around the remaining area to see the "Coming Soon" signs that had been put up in many of the windows. There will be a bakery, a wedding planning store, a shoe store, three sit down restaurants (Indian, Ricky Rito's Latin, and Gator's Dockside Sports bar), a 24 hour Gym, a Tea Room, and a Library!!

The last two are the most exciting to me, because they open up a possibility. As many of you know, I am an active member of at least 5 different knitting groups. The closest groups are 30 minutes away, some of the others 45. The "stretch" meetings that I could attend would be up to an hour or hour and a half away! I've had conversations with various people over the years about how I should start a group closer to my area. The problem is finding a location - compounded by the fact that the majority of my area is predominantly tourist. So, I'm thinking that the Tea Shop might be a nice place to meet once in a while...and if we outgrow that, there is a BEAUTIFUL two story, GIANT library that will be opening up 1500 feet from there.

So, right now it's just a seed of an idea...neither establishment is open yet...the tea room is an empty shell and the library isn't even finished being built.

I'll keep you in the loop!

Classes and Demos

Wow, what a week!

As I mentioned last, I attended Chris Bylsma's Crayon Box Jacket class on Sunday last week. It was an AWESOME class! It was held at Sip and Knit and we had a great time. It definitely is a class where you need to have the entire yarn store at your disposal while you plan out your sweater! I actually did pretty well and didn't completely break the bank, so was happy with that. After 8 hours in class, this is what I came away with:

Another week's worth of knitting, and I'm at this point:


Yep, that's one sleeve complete and the other one only one square short!! With that said, I really need to put this down now! Am taking it to knitting with me tonight - will finish the last square, then work on some ends. Cherry Tree Hill is calling however, and time is short.

Did I work on CTH this weekend? No, of course not. Actually, the Textile Arts Guild of St. Augustine was holding their annual Spin/Hook-In on Saturday, so I couldn't resist the opportunity to go out and spin for the day! The venue was beautiful - we were in the St. Augustine Visitor Information Center, which looks like it's been recently rehabbed. I do think that because it was a free venue, and closer to the Spanish Quarter, as well as the first stop for information when hitting St. Augustine, that it had an AWESOME turnout! I LOVE any time I can talk about spinning and there are SOO many people that you can barely see through them. Even better, there were many times throughout the day that people were having to be dragged away - they were so interested they just didn't want to walk away!

I was very bad about pictures for the day, but I did get someone to take this one. The fiber I was spinning was from an Etsy purchase - the Artichoke colorway of Superwash Merino from Yarn Hollow. It did give us the opportunity to talk about dyeing, and what types of dyes would have been used in earlier times. Anyhow, this fiber has become a lightweight two ply yarn for SOCKS! It's actually going to be for my SP8 downstream...(Hope she's not reading...)

I got a special treat on Saturday as well... The operator of the lovely traditional wheel to my left above was the very fortunate recipient of an amazing find. She recently found a BEAUTIFUL Great Wheel at a great price. She was kind enough to bring it with her on Saturday, both to get some assistance in learning to spin it, and to show. Once the expert (one of the other spinners) got it running, I got to take a lesson!! I wish I'd gotten pictures of that, but sadly did not. It was a very spiritual cosmic experience for me...

Three and a half years ago, when several of us took a field trip to Asheville, NC, we went to Bovidae Farms outside of Mars Hill as part of our explorations. While others were shopping, I started examining all of the beautiful wheels. Began talking to the owner, and soon he brought an Ashford Traditional down and plopped it in front of me, showed me how to draft while he spun the wheel for me. That was my first ever attempt at Spinning. Once I finished, he took me upstairs and demonstrated his great wheel for me! So now, three and a half years later, I've gotten to spin on one myself!

I truly wanted to spend the evening in St. Augustine, but had another commitment, so I had to head out.

So, all of my new friends in St. Augustine agreed that they wanted to see what that lovely artichoke looked like once finished! It was 4.4 ounces, and I spun the first bobbin full on Saturday, and made a good dent in the second bobbin. Yesterday at KnitWits, I continued on the second bobbin, completing all but one small piece of roving (about another 30-45 minutes worth). Came home and finished up the 4.4 ounces, then promptly switched it out for a plying bobbin. Plyed while watching TV, then finished that and wrapped it up on the Niddy Noddy! The verdict? At 11:15 last night, I finally had THIS:

The 4.4 ounces translated into about 320 yards of yarn! My goal all along has been that this would be a ball of sock yarn...I think they'll be shorter socks, but I do think that socks are still a possibility for this yarn.

Poll Question: My original plan was that I would spin AND knit this into socks for my SP8 DS. Time is tight, and I'm debating whether I should knit it up for her, or just send it and let HER knit it... So, what do you think? Knit or send as is? Comments appreciated!

Yarny Saturday!

WOW! What an awesome Yarny Day!! Today was our class with Chris Bylsma! We had 14 people attend, and all learned some great techniques and tips. The first class was her Finishing class. It was great to hear how many LONG time knitters learned new techniques in this session. Here's my "finished" project from this workshop. Techniques included Shoulder seams, side seams, armhole seams, picking up, and buttonholes. We really loved one of the buttonholes in particular, one that had a beautiful finished look with no additional sewing or tacking.

The second workshop of the day was the Knit Weaving workshop. We dropped stitches and let them run down all the way to the bottom, the cast off the top edge and wove a variety of yarns into the 'gaps'. This technique offers tons of creative flexibility, as well as offering some techniques for "resizing" finished garments...for sleeves that are super-tight, kids sweaters in danger of being outgrown, expanding the size of a garment without requiring additional yarn...

It was a great group of people, and we all did AWESOME work! In the middle of the afternoon there was some talk of needing a chocolate fix... so when I got home and found THIS:

in my mailbox...well, it was just too funny! (More on the mysterious chocolate arrival in a moment...)

After a few minutes in class, I just knew I would be very upset with myself if I let another opportunity pass....that would be the opportunity to take Chris' Crayon Box Jacket class! It's being offered at one of the LYS's tomorrow, and I had thought about signing up, but for a couple of reasons had not. When I brought it up in class today, one of the other women offered me her spot, since she was having some scheduling conflicts anyhow. So, I'm spending ANOTHER day with Chris tomorrow!!

Ok, back to the Chocolate... I got home today to another lovely package from Ann (aka ChickaChickaKnitChick), my SP8 (who inadvertently outted herself *giggle). Anyhow, there are two main classes of things in the package... 1) Pressies for me to make for Ava Rose ;) There's a cute little bunny pattern and yarn for now, and a great Fiber Trends pattern for slippers in all sizes! Will either have to figure this one out and shrink it down EVEN MORE, or wait a year or two for this one...there's nothing that says I can't make a pair for ME in the meantime however!

You may also notice a Knitting Car Magnet in there... It's since been installed on my car, though I had to be a bit creative about it... You see, being a Saturn, known for it's Vinyl panels, there's not really all that much METAL on my car to stick it to! The gas cap was already claimed by Kelley and her DH (for my yellow smiley mag). So, that leaves hood, roof, and top of trunk... Found top of trunk last, and somewhat by accident, but decided it was the best spot (wasn't really too fond of the center of my hood, and *I* for one would never see it on the top of my roof). So, it now has a place of honor on the center of the top of my trunk!

The remainder of the package was lots of good reads! I got the (entire?) series of Maggie Sefton Knitting Mysteries, and another interesting novel about a woman who finds herself in a position of having to do Family Tree research to answer some very interesting questions about her newly born baby by learning more about her unknown father. What a great fit with my genealogy research!
So, while I'm still reading Color: A Natural History - my LAST gift from Ann, I have four more books now! On top of that, the KnitWits group had their NameTag contest last weekend! Sadly I did not got to attend (Dale's Memorial Service was beautiful and I feel like I learned a lot more about what an amazing person, mother, and grandmother she was!), but I did drop off my nametag in absentia. Here's the tag:

And good news! It won 2nd place! The prize was a YUMMY canister of Ghirardelli Hot Cocoa mix, a Borders coffee mug, and a book! Knitting under the Influence. It's a novel about knitters...also looks great! So, I'm happy to say that I have reading material to keep me busy for quite a while to come!

Loss

It is with heavy heart that I wanted to let you know that Dale Jarrett, an original member of the Orlando Area Knitters guild, passed away this afternoon.

Memorial service will be this Sunday, March 18th -- 4pm.

Presbyterian Church of the Lakes
4700 Lincoln Ave
Orlando, FL 32819

For more information, please see Dale's blog in the blog links section to the left.

Central Fl Fair Deadline Looms!

Have you entered your submissions for the Central Florida Fair yet? The online Submission deadline date is March 20th! Go to their website now to get signed in!

Can't remember your password? The site will email it to your address on record based on the name you give.

Do I have to register my submissions in advance? Last year people were able to register items when they walked in, however category grouping was not as reliable.

One of the groups was talking about requesting changes to the category structure - what ever happened with that? Because of changes in Creative Arts management, our requests got lost in the shuffle and did not get implemented.

Why should I put things in the fair? The Creative Arts competition includes a large number of categories with First, Second, and Third prizes - including CASH prizes! There's no fee to enter, but you might pick up a little stash cash!

What about Spinning? We had hoped to get them to add categories including handspun yarns, but as mentioned above, that didn't happen. I'm planning to use the Knitting Other category and make it clear that the yarn is handspun. Perhaps if others do the same, they'll add a new category on the fly (they reserve the right to do that if the number of submissions warrant it).

Other questions? Many are answered in the official rules on the fair's web site, but I'd be happy to answer any that I know the answers to.

GOOD LUCK to All!!

In other news, I had a lovely visit with DM and DsF this past week - well, other than the viral infection that she was so kind as to bring with her... :) We got to spend a day at Tarpon Springs, FL - the Sponge Fishing capital of the World! I got a really cool natural sponge and a couple of little plants to put in it. We also explored Mt Dora a bit (dropped by Knit and Needle Nook, but didn't spend any more money), Leesburg (dropped by Chez Casuelle to give a progress report on the CTH project), The Villages (dropped by the yarn shop up there too! A few nice things...nothing I desperately had to have), Yalaha (Bavarian Bakery - WOW!), Eustis (Flea Market)...hhmmm...lots of time in Lake County!

At last, a tiny bit of progress...

No, not on the CTH project...will work on that tomorrow. Tonight I was feeling very restless, unable to do Sudoku to save my life (I even screwed up the easy level puzzle!!), so decided to find something a little more physical to work on.

I've wanted for a LONG time to learn how to Navajo ply, but, well, I think I learn best in person with a demo/hands on. There IS a pretty good site with video online. It helped. Then there was the fact that since I want to do this to be able to spin striping sock yarn, the singles I have already spun are VERY thin...and kept breaking. Looked around for a bobbin with a heavier single...and found someone elses "first singles"...they were pretty wretched. But, I tried to ply them anyhow, with pretty disastrous results. Once that didn't work, I found another single I'd done a while back of a sample fiber someone had given me. That was a single that was destined to be more of a worsted yarn, so it worked MUCH better than the original one I tried. I did end up with a passable skein of yarn from it. It had a TON of twist in it, but that may just be because it was a totally dead single. So, I've washed it and it's hanging to dry. I don't think it'll be perfectly balanced, but it's not too bad as a first try. May try to ply a few more larger singles, then try to go back to the lightweight singles that I had started and see if I can work my way into them. May put up pics soon, but just wanted to share! I'll bring the skein with me to tomorrow's meeting.

What a COLORFUL life!

Yes, I said COLORFUL!! I got a new package in the mail yesterday from Chicka (pretty impressive, only two days in transit from Vermont!)... She tells me that since I'm "swimming in yarn", she's not sending me any more :( Ok, I'm just kidding...well, not about her not sending yarn, but about the frowny face. She's right, I've got yarn coming out of my ears right now!!


(Did I mention that I won the last "Teaching Fund Raffle" at K or K? I did! The raffle was a Simply NORO pattern book by Jane Ellison - are they numbered or something? This one has a lovely multicolored pseudo-basketweave shawl on the front. AND, two skeins of Noro Nadeshiko - 39% Angora / 38% Silk / 23% Wool in colorway 3 - a lovely grey tweed with white, green, pink, and rust in it...GORGEOUS!)


Back to Chicka...she sent me a box all about COLOR!! Take a peek:

The first thing I noticed when I opened it was the box of notecards...all with pretty colors on them! Looking further, I found a book entitled COLOR: A Natural History of the Palette. What a cool book! I'm very excited to read it, as it has a lot of great info on the development of early pigments and dyes. There's also a Wraps Per Inch tool for my spinning, a tiny little notepad of sticky notes with a beautiful cover (which I just found out Chicka and her DH MADE all by themselves!!! How crafty are THEY?!), a bag of assorted dyes in a "Beginner's Dye Set", a copy of the Twisted Sisters Sock book, and a GORGEOUS set of stitch markers...for my little needles that I seem to be using every time I turn around!

Here's a closer look at the stitch markers... Each has a single bead at the end, but the beads are amazing, with multiple colors and metallic filigree...WOW!


Thanks Chicka, it's a GREAT package!! I may be consulting with the Twisted Sisters on a project I'm working on myself soon...

Last weekend was a knitting retreat weekend! Even better, that retreat took us to Daytona Beach! A few of us got together, cooked in the condo...well, ok, I cooked...knitted a lot, visited a couple of stores...Threads of Time and AC Moore, and spent lots of time on the beach!

Speaking of Threads of Time - it was a surprising visit. I had sort of heard that there was a yarn store in Ormond Beach, but didn't really know any details, and it sounded pretty small... Well, it WAS small, but had a nice selection, including a number of yarns I'd never seen before. One in particular caught my eye...it was aptly named Obsession - a member of the Plymouth Yarn Italian Collection. This lovely species was 65% Nylon and 35% Rayon - 114 yds at 5.5 st/inch on 7's. They had it in 4 lovely colors. It was a pretty smooth yarn, probably a DK or Sport weight, but with places where the fiber sorta broke free of it's smooth strand...it's hard to explain really. I can totally see this yarn making an AWESOME Florida shell T-shirt. Sadly, after recent expenditures, I just COULDN'T justify purchasing enough of this lovely yarn to make a shell with :( I did use my new Knitting Journal from Chicka to take notes on it however, so I could remember what it was that I loved so much. It's an entry near the back of the journal entitled "Yarn Lust".

I didn't leave completely empty handed though...on the sale rack were a number of balls of Crystal Palace Waikiki...a lovely Florida friendly Viscose/Cotton boucle yarn. I picked up three balls of Chocolate Almond colorway - at 50% off! We did notice that should I choose to run two strands in some way, this would go GREAT with the leftover Burgundy Gloss that I have from the vest below. It's interesting...Michelle commented a week or so ago that my colors are changing...perhaps she's right...

I was inspired enough to drag myself out before sunrise on Saturday...some birds enjoying the surf before the sun came up, scrounging for some food...


Then the sun started to come out...wow...I could so live there and see this every morning...but then I guess it wouldn't be quite as special, would it?


Love the sun shining across the foam in the surf...

And if that wasn't enough, a kind gentleman and his wife were walking on the beach and commented that it was sad that I had all those pictures, but none with me in them! So here I am!

Overall, it was an awesome weekend, and I'd love to do it again sometime!

This weekend has other events in store...namely, I'm the captain of a Junior Achievement Helping Kids Shine Bowl - A - Thon team! So, on that subject, if you're still in need of a charity tax deduction, you're welcome to sponsor me in the bowl-a-thon! Just drop me an email if you'd like to sponsor me!

I GOT VD!! (And a whole lotta other things!)

Look! I got VD! Of course you knew I meant Valentine's Day, what else were YOU thinking?? Ali from Knitty got us started, and the infection spread quickly! Here's what Silly Rabbit sent me! Piles of candy! A Handmade(?) Card that's lovely, and BEAUTIFL LaceWeight Merino from KnitPicks! The yarn is Gossamer and the color is Sweet Pea! How perfect for VD!

Here's a close-up of this scrumptious yarn! I'll have to see if I can find a nice stole that I can make from this...

It's been a month of packages around here (does that mean I'm involved in too many swaps??) This package is from my WONDERFUL SP8 Pal, ChickaChickaKnitChick07! (Love the name!) Anyhow, she's been diligently studying my original survey, stalking me here (sorry it's been so long since I've updated - a friend got on me about it yesterday, and I knew I had a lot to say, so here I am...), and sending me additional surveys!! She's definitely done her homework! Here's my first package (well, most of it...I didn't take pics at the time, sorry). This yarn is REALLY cool! It's the new TOFUtsies from Southwest Trading Company (makers of SWS Soy/Wool yarn). Pretty cool stuff, it's 50% Merino, 25% Soy, 22.5% Cotton, and 2.5% Chitin (pronounced kIte-in so I'm told). Chitin is fiber from the shells of shrimp and crabs and is naturally antibacterial - how cool is that? The colors are perfect and I can't wait to make a pair of socks with it!

The other item pictured is a Knitter's Journal! It's got lots of little inspirational things, but also has lined paper on one side of the pages and graphed on the other! Just perfect for 1) Recording all of the stuff I knit this year - I think it'll be interesting to keep a list. 2) Making design notes for my Original Design garment!

What's this she says? Original Design Garment? Yep, it's now official (the money's been spent!), Cherry Tree Hill is having a design competition for a large sized garment from their Sock yarn, and I'm entering! I spent nearly 5 hours yesterday at Chez Casuelle, my LYS and supplier of this yarn nirvana. I have a design idea in mind, but had to pick colors...wow, that's tough with so MANY amazing colors in stock! Once I found a set that I thought I liked, I did some swatching, testing colors next to each other, etc... Did knock out one of my original colors from the running and picked up another color...one very similar to the Sweet Pea above actually! So, I have my yarn! Am finishing up a pair of socks today, then I can start some more swatching, look at the interactions, get the gauges, and figure out stitch details... Sorry, I'm not posting any specifics here, but if you knit with me on a regular basis you'll be seeing a lot of this project over the next few months.

After I left Chez Casuelle, I headed home (it was nearly 7 when I left!), but decided to stop for dinner on the way. Stopped by an Outback Steakhouse (at 7:30pm on a Saturday night! - oops!) It was mobbed. The woman at the front said 65-80 minutes, but I might find something first come - first served in the bar. Was stalking a couple of spots waiting for people to leave when a woman at the table behind me said "Excuse me, but are you by yourself?" Then, "Well, I am too, and I have this whole big table, you're welcome to share with me!" She had managed to snag a 4-top and was feeling kinda silly all by herself with the restaurant so full. So, I sat down and had a lovely dinner with a complete stranger! It was a nice conversation, we talked about knitting (I was working on the sock), life, family, dating... Was kinda funny actually, since she lives in Leesburg but had been in Orlando all day. I had started my morning in Orlando then spent the afternoon in Leesburg! So, we were headed in nearly opposite directions and both stopped at the same place in the middle :)

Upon my arrival home, I found a pretty flowery package in the mail!! Yep, this was from the Knitty Sock Exchange that I did with Mokolua! Here's what she sent me:

The socks are beautiful! They're made from Cool Wool Merino 2000 from Lana Grossa. She was afraid to send candy lest it melt...ok, probably not a serious concern right now (glances at the Temp stamp on the computer - Ooohhh 48'F!), but it works anyhow since I'm not really big on candy. So she sent me yarn instead!! Perfect! While there's definitely such a thing as too much candy, there can NEVER be too much yarn! The yarn is Louet Gems in Grape. It actually looks darker in the photo because of the shadows, but it is a lovely purple color. And it's superwash for socks too! Also enclosed is an AMAZING box of tea! It's from the Hawaiian Tea Company, and is a Passion Fruit tea. Had a cup last night and it was WONDERFUL! I love fruity and unusual teas, and this one is a GREAT one! Thanks SOOOO much Beth!

Here's the closer detail of the socks - they fit great and are very comfy!

I sent a pair of socks her way last week, which I haven't posted here, since we agreed that they would be a surprise... So here are the socks that I made for Beth:

These are a colorway called Crazy Woman from Mountain Colors. I loved the way they striped. The pattern was from Knitting on the Road. Beth reports that they fit perfectly, which is great! I figured they would, as they were just a touch on the tight side for me, and her feet are slightly smaller than mine. Here's an attempt to show you the stitch detail:

So, that's most of the NEW news...there is of course a lot of old news that I haven't exactly covered. One Item I've been meaning to put up is the photos of my "Judy Pascale Vertical Vest" from the class that we took in November. I loved this vest, as it was my first "whole design" project. Ok, well, not whole design, since Judy gave us the basic structure, but it was completely sized for me, based on my measurements and gauge. It is knit in KnitPicks Gloss - Burgundy, with beads from AC Moore. The beads are a variegated Rose Quartz mix. It's interesting, but somewhat disconcerting, to see how the various beads fall and interact. So, here's the up close pic.
Since the vest came out SOOO well (and so quickly - I completed it within 1 month!), and I had extra yarn, I kinda got a little crazy... So I decided what I needed to go with the vest was a pair of matching socks! These were done with Wendy's generic toe-up sock pattern, then I invert the cuffs, went up a needle size, and beaded the outsides of the cuffs. Here's the full effect:

On another mostly undocumented front, I had a great time in NY when I went in January. My niece is gorgeous and it was so great to meet her! Here's a pic of my mom with Ava from just before I left (so she was a day short of 3 weeks old).

New Knit Night in Altamonte!

Friday night is the new Knit Night Out! Check out the Blog Site for more info, or sign up to join the Discussion Group! Links in the sidebar as well.

Happy Knitting!

A day of Yarn Excess!

HO-LY COW!

Today was a day of utter excess when it comes to yarn!

Stop #1: Since I was headed to Mt Dora (see Stop #2 below), and I was in need of a bit of #8 pearl cotton, I dropped by Dream Stitchers on 5th Ave and picked up two yummy skeins of hand-painted pearl cotton. I have a pattern for a really cute little beaded purse, and these yarns will make an absolutely lovely one. Tried to photo, but it didn't really come out, sorry.

Stop #2: Amanda from the NYGK group happened to be in Mt Dora earlier this week and dropped by Knit N Needle Nook to see if they were open. Surprisingly, they were!

Ok, so let me back up 30 years and give you a little background. This store resides in a small storefront in the historic village district of Mt Dora, FL. The entire building lacks air conditioning. As a result, the store has been open only seasonally for years. Barbara, the owner, did not believe in sales, therefore they never had them. Which means that there is some REALLY old yarn in this store. In addition, she received automatic shipments for years, which means there was also a TON of yarn in the store. Years ago, one of our guilds went in on a field trip, and the classic story from that event was: "I accidentally knocked over a bag of yarn while I was there, and Barbara said 'oh, don't worry about that, I'll get it when I vacuum'" The funny part? There was barely room for a walking path, much less to get a vacuum through!!

Fast forward to this spring, we took another field trip, with planned stops at #1 above and #3 below, and a hoped for stop at #2. Upon arrival, we found a note on the door that said "Closed due to illness". We have heard nothing more about the store being open until we heard from Amanda on Tuesday.

It seems that the store has been sold. Sadly, Barbara seems to be battling a terminal illness at this time. The new owners, Lora and her husband have been working hard to clear out the piles and piles of yarn in the store. They are open this weekend, offering yarns at up to 90% off their list prices. Basically what this means is that many yarns are marked at $1 a ball, some at $2 a ball, and a few of the more current ones are a smaller % off. If you go up, be sure to take a look in the back room! Lots of old yarns ranging from cottons, linens, wools, mohairs, and acrylics. Much of the yarn is an acrylic blend, some higher percentages than others.

If you are doing charity knitting, this is a great opportunity both for acrylic blends and 100% acrylics. There was also a significant amount of yarn that could be used for baby knitting, including a variety of Sirdars, as well as DK and fingering weight yarns.

Be aware that one person has attempted to swatch some "bulky" weight yarn that she purchased, and it swatched at more of a Sport or Worsted weight. Due to the amount of time some of these yarns have been in storage, there has definitely been some compression.

That said, I bought over 100 balls of yarn - and paid less than $100 including tax.


Here are 40 balls of Filatura di Crosa cotton - looks like some great baby clothes to me!


13 balls of Pinguin PingoFrance II - 75% acrylic, 25% wool. Once again, more baby clothes! Oh, and all of that "black" looking yarn? Nope, not really...it's actually a lovely deep purple color, and one ball of nearly navy. Sorry, by the time I got home it was too late to go outside for natural light photos!


Here are two shells for me - the turquoise is Katia Papiro, the peach I forget. The baby weight cotton could be socks, or baby clothes...we'll have to see...


Oh, and found a bit of SP8 yarn there too...

This sale will be going on for the next few weeks, and they will be bringing in additional yarns. They said the yarn in the store today represented only about 1/4 of the yarn that was in the store when they purchased it. I would call before making the drive, to ensure that they will be open. The new phone number is 407-830-5421. Lora's email is linked above. The storefront is located on 5th Ave in Mt Dora. Here is a link to the 5th Avenue Cafe. It is located one or two blocks farther West from Knit N Needle Nook. Basically it's a small town, and parking is tight, so just find a spot to park, then walk up to 5th Ave (It's pretty much the "Main Street" through town). Also be aware that the Mt Dora Arts Festival will be February 3rd and 4th. This means parking will be remote with transport to the town, and the town will be mobbed.

I hope you enjoy your trip! There are some great gems in there, and it's an awesome opportunity!

Ok, so at that stop, I also met up with ladies from at least three of the Orlando Guilds. Two of them helped me narrow my selections after they had finished their own shopping. After shopping, we all headed to The Gables for lunch.

Stop #3: After lunch, the rest of the group headed back to Orlando, but, since I was already most of the way there, AND since it made my drive home simpler and more direct... Well, I just had to drop by Chez Casuelle and visit with Carla for a while! Picked up this luscious skein of CTH, and two more skeins of sock yarn for my SP8 downstream :)

Overall? Good day. Spent a little, saved a TON...hhhmmm...common theme recently...

Last Things First

At the enablement of my last SP, Applepieisyum, I've decided to stalk Baby Ull yarn... she sent me two balls (pink and light purple), along with pattern book 135, which is TOTALLY yummy! So, with a new bebe in the family, I'm thinking of making some of those luscious Dalegarn patterns. Found a listing on eBay this week for *8* balls! Starting price $12. Actually, it was $12 all the way up through this afternoon when I bid on it. Sadly, the auction closed right in the middle of the evening's knitting meeting, so I wasn't there to adjust my bid when someone outbid me 30 seconds before the end :( I suppose it was for the best.

In other news, I just MIGHT have finished a particular recent project of some import that I have been working on of late at this evenings meeting... but I'm not tellin'!

Worked on the final scarf as well this evening...was totally in a knitting mode! This scarf will be #10 of 10 for the Red Scarf Project! Here is a pic of the first 31 that were donated by the Orlando Area Knitters, West Orange Knitters, Knit or Knot, and Knit Wits groups:


I expect we'll have 12-20 more by next week for the final shipment! Many thanks to Borders (who sponsors the Knit Wits group) for covering shipping for these!

Oh, and since I'm in such a sock mood, I also finally took pics of the pair I completed for myself while I was in NY...Oh, and the nosy little brat smelling the bottoms of my feet is Smokey...


I must say, the newest pair I like even better, since the cuffs are tapered to accomodate calf size, and the feet are snugger. Well, they're a little snug on me since they were made to be a size smaller than my feet, which means they should be PERFECT for their intended recipient ;)

Ok, that's all the "quick knitting news" I can fit in for now...it's midnight and I haven't even caught up on the knittyboard posts yet!

Trips, Fiber Days, and Exchanges

Wow...so much to say, and so many pictures to put up...and so little time! I owe you all SEVERAL long picture laden posts...but in the meantime here's a synopsis...

• Spent an AMAZING week in NY with my DB and DSIL and my adorable baby niece!! I've shown the pictures around to everyone local, but I promise I'll post some soon!

• Distaff Day was GREAT! Wonderful turnout, and though I brought and set up my wheel and did not spin a lick, I did some knitting, spent lots of quality time, and netted a gorgeous ball of Koigu in the swap.

• On my trip up north, I also managed to hit two great LYS's. Both were having sales! Picked up my first pair of Magic Loop needles (Addi Turbo #2's, 40" - I think my next pair should be #1's), some lovely yarn to go with the Koigu from above, as well as 4 more pairs of socks worth of yarn.

• Am doing the Knitty Sock Exchange! Socks are coming along really well...Mokolua and I have both agreed that we like surprises however, so no pics till after she receives them - they're going well though!

• SP8 (my first full length SP round!) matches came out today! I've claimed and been claimed...Hooray!

• So far finished 9 scarves for the Red Scarf Project! We turned in 31 scarves today, representing nearly a dozen knitters and four different knitting groups in the area! Expect another dozen scarves to be collected next week (I cast on #10 today - thought it was a nice round number!). Pictures of that coming soon too...

Ok, those are the highlights...will try to get the pics and lowlights up soon!