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!

DISTAFF DAY! - Coming Soon - Sat Jan 6th!!

That's right, if you haven't heard about it elsewhere, read it here!

The Orlando Knitters and Spinners are happy to announce again:

“The 3rd Annual Distaff Day”

Location:

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

Saturday, January 6th from 10:00 am – 5:00 pm

Day’s Events

• 10:00 -12:00 -Meet, Greet, Coffee, Goodies, Spin, and Knit
• 12:00 - 1:00 - Lunch
• 1:00 - 2:00 - Fashion Show
• 2:00 - 3:00 - ‘Yankee Swap’
• 3:00 - 5:00 - More Spinning, Knitting, Chatting, Sharing
  

If you have any questions please email Rhonda or Janette.

Additional information:

Cost: $5.00 – (Monies collected will be given to the church for the use of the room)

What to Bring:

1. Spinning Wheel, Knitting, Weaving, Beading, etc. (whatever you have put away, or not, and want to work on)

2. Bag Lunch – There is a Publix and Albertson’s close by with a deli if any one forgets.

3. Coffee or Tea mug - The Hosting Guilds will provide the beverage and treats. (cookies and veggies)

4. Item for the “Yankee Swap” Put in a plain paper bag and seal so the contents cannot be viewed. This item should have a value of up to $20.00 and should also be something that if you get you will be thrilled!!! (Because you might!!)

5. Items for the “Sale Table” Just like last year. Items that you have decided you might not want and would like to sell. Put a tag on the item with you name and price.

6. FREE TABLE – Some people prefer just to give things away, so get to the “Distaff Day” early “The early bird gets the worm!!”

7. The “Fashion Show” – Bring an item you made this year and share with us your experience and talent!!!!

All activities are voluntary. Feel free to participate in all or none

It's a GIRL!!

Ok, so you knew all that....

...but what you didn't know is...

Ava Rose was born today, 12/26/06 at 7:11pm!

Grandma says she's "ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS!!!"... Ok, so maybe she's biased...What do you think?



She was born at 38 1/2 weeks via C-section and entered this world at 5lb 15oz and 19inches. Mom and baby are both doing well and all (including dad) are currently getting acquainted. Here's their first "family portrait"...


Of course I'll be looking forward to a trip up to actually see them all!

Edited to add pics on 12/28. -kc

Winter/(Christmas!) SP

Christmas arrived early today!! That's right, it's my Winter Secret Pal package!! Take a look at the package!


Ok, so unwrapping it, it looks a little more like this:


Yes, it was a wait, but oh, SOOO worth it! There were four balls of yarn, one of a Tahki yarn, one Alpaca yarn called Atacama (both in lovely Southwestern colors), and two balls of Baby Ull from Dalegarn!

The Dalegarn goes with the pattern book that my SP included - full of AMAZING baby patterns!! Really cute sweaters, dresses, hats, and even booties and blankets! Here's one of my favorites:


Definitely some good things to choose from for the impending arrival of Ava Rose - Due in less than 3 weeks!!! I do have the Wonderful Wallaby as a gift to take when I go up to meet her, but this will give me something new to make up for the future!

Oops, sorry, back to the box...Also in the picture above, is a HUGE tea mug! Even better, it's FULL of tea! A mix of TAZO teas...I think I'm most looking forward to the Refresh Herbal Infusion - A bracing blend of northwest grown mint leaves with a hint of tarragon. I LOVE mint teas, and this looks like a very interesting take on mint :).

Ok, so as for the rest of the box, I also got about 4 oz of Navajo - Churro roving! YUM! This was home grown in Albuquerque. Looking forward to trying it out! Oh, and the most important part...two bars of DARK CHOCOLATE!!!


What a WONDERFULLY thoughtful box! Thanks so much Let It Rain aka Applepieisyum!!

Johnny, Tell her what she's won!

Well Ladies, today's gift #2 consists of two skeins of Prism yarn and a box of lovely holiday tea!



The first skein of yarn is a lovely skein of Andee - a 50% Alpaca / 50% Wool blend, in the colorway Tahoe. This 2 oz skein has an approximate yardage of 114 yds. Gauge: 4 1/2 stitches per inch on a US 7 needle.


The second skein, which complements the first so well, is a skein of Kid Slique, consisting of 66% Rayon, 26% Kid Mohair, and 8%Nylon. This is also in the colorway Tahoe and it's 2 oz skein contains approximately 88 yards. Gauge: 3 stitches per inch on a US 11 needle.


The lovely box of tea contained in this package is Celestial Seasonings Candy Cane Lane Decaf Green Tea. This is a very light pepperminty tea, based in green tea, but decaffeinated for those who are sensitive to caffeine. One of my favorites, I hope you enjoy it.

And all this, brought to you today by KnitChick07.

Addicted....

So, ran by Joann's today to pick up these...


And came home with this:


Yes, OF COURSE there is a good reason! Dale recently posted information on the Red Scarf Project to one of our groups. So...since this stuff was all marked down to $3 a skein, and Joann's was further discounting it by an additional 50%, I took advantage! Oh, and when I checked out, I had $40 worth of stuff...she said... You know, if you buy another $10 worth of stuff, you'll get a gift card for $10! Oh darn, twist my arm won't you...

So, back to the original goal... buttons... have you guessed that they're for? That's right, I'm nearly finished with the Vertical Vest!! Here's where it stands right now... just have to do the arm holes, sew on the buttons, tighten up the buttonholes, and tuck in a few ends!! It's coming along great!

Here's the closeup version if you want to see the detail better...









Was thrilled this week to receive my final package in the mail from my Spooky SP!! Somerset sent me these GREAT socks! Oh, and they're even made of very soft cottony yarn, so no hot sweaty wool here in Florida!




The same day my socks arrived, Orna and I went on the annual field trip to Prism Yarn studios in St. Petersburg! We had truly hoped many more people would be able to attend this year, but sadly 2006 found us with our smallest contingent yet!! For those who don't know, once a year, Laura Bryant opens her studio and sells ends of dye lots, test lots, and the like, to the public. It's become an annual pilgrimage, and this was my 4th trip! As always, you have to look carefully, but if you do, there are LOTS of fun things to be found!

Both Orna and I have a long term love affair with Laura's Peacock colorway. I found one skein for Orna, then I found this gorgeous pair of Andee skeins - Wool/Alpaca blend! I just couldn't pass them up! Even better, I have four or five skeins of peacock in other yarns that I purchased from Laura a few years ago, so am thinking they will go together beautifully to make a nice shawl or stole.



I also found these gorgeous green yarns...and look how well my boss's mohair goes with them!!




These lovely red yarns are a set that I picked up for a friend who was out of town and unable to road trip with us...

Ok, just one more...a set that I put together with Orna's help...found the KidSlick (mohair twist) first, then picked up the tiny accent skein, and finally added the peach one at the end...a little bit of a strange mix, but I think it works!



Of course, I was also able to find a couple of gifts for various exchanges I'm doing this year, but no, I'm not going to post those just yet...maybe later!

Well, have to wrap it up...off to a Christmas party tonight on the other side of the city...