Completely forgot

A week or so ago I told you about The Purled Llama organic cotton I purchased. The owner and dyer is LOCAL! And Bobbie purchased a boatload of her yarns (wool, Egyptian cotton, organic cotton). And when a customer asked if we had anymore of the Boucle because she wanted to knit a poncho and we didn't have enough of the color she wanted Bobbie called The Purled Llama and it will be dyed and delivered on Wednesday...that's tomorrow! Did I mention she was local.

A typical Saturday?

During the Saturday morning Felting class at Ewe Knit Kits and Yarn", one of the students mentioned she was looking for a place to purchase beads. Another student raved about the shop off of I664, at the last exit before the Monitor Merrimac Memorial Bridge Tunnel(from the Suffolk side). A nice selection of beads and the staff was very helpful and friendly. Later that same day, I was crawling around the floor putting up the new Fall yarns when I heard a voice say “don’t I know you?”. I looked up to see a gal from my past. She and I use to travel each morning on the Portsmouth/Norfolk Ferry to our mortgage paying job at the same big bank. She was looking for yarn to make the Crayon Jacket. K was helping her. They chose beautiful fall colors (rusts, golds, browns). So anyway, as I was helping K wind her yarn I asked what she was up to. Seems she moved into a new old house, spent a while fixing it up and then …have you guessed?….opened a bead shop this side of the MMMBT!!!! No website yet, but you can find her this side of the MMMBT.

Speaking of Saturday, after a day of putting yarn on shelves, moving yarn from one shelf to another, opening big boxes of yarn, I’m not a pretty sight. Fiber covered wrinkled clothes, sweaty hair, an aching back and knees. And that’s what I looked like Saturday night as I walked across the parking lot at 6:00ish lugging a big box filled with smaller boxes and assorted plastic bags when a car pulls up. Nice looking man asks me about store hours and the fact that his wife (who I assume was the woman sitting next to him in the passenger seat) has yarn all over the house…which I tell him is NORMAL! So he thanks me and I continue my walk across the parking lot. I toss the boxes in the dumpster and I turn and there they are again…hmmm, how fast will my tired feet move?…if I scream will anyone hear me?…wonder if they have food in the car, I got to busy to eat lunch?….but then I hear my name mentioned and lo and behold it’s Kim all the way from Hampton which, to tie in the first story, is on the other side of the MMMBT.

And perhaps a possible MMMBT tie-in...It's been confirmed. Beth Brown-Reinsel will be teaching class(s) at KnittaPalooza II. And if she drives from Maryland, she might decide to take the MMMBT!

Come out come out where ever you are

I can't find my jar of peanut butter. I had it Monday morning. I used it to make peanut butter and wheat bread toast. It was only the second time I used it. I remember seeing the still smooth surface. I reached for it on Tuesday morning and it wasn't there. Just an empty space where the jar has sat for the past 11 years and almost 2 months. Not the same jar, but the same brand...JIF smooth. I looked in the fridge, the glasses cabinet, the plate cabinet, the freezer, on all the shelves of the pantry, again in the cabinets, the trash can...no where. Last night I walked around the house thinking maybe I carried it into the bedroom....nope. I even asked Bailey but he just gave me a look that said to please buy a new jar before it's heart worm preventive pill time because that's the only thing that will get him through the agony of swallowing the little bitty pill. If you see my jar of peanut butter, please let me know.

Lock-in at Spooling Around was fun. I was able to finish and pin together the FiberTrends "big red tote". Now to actually seam it.

And I've begun a rounded felting tote that has been floating around in my brain for a while.

Saturday I had the pleasure of helping a woman look at some yarn choices for a scarf. Her husband was with her and patiently sat at the table while she shopped. She told me she didn't see a hat pattern she liked and could I make some suggestions. So I asked her if she used the internet. She called her husband over and so I told him some buzz words to use to search. He was excited to be able to do that. He told me the scarf and hat were for their great-grand daughter who, at 28, had just received her PhD and was moving to Boston to teach. They left the store holding hands.

I took a few hours this morning for myself. I needed to get the car inspected. Free state inspections at the dealership where I purchased the car. So I headed there this morning. They moved to a new building and location about a month ago so I was curious. The old customer waiting room had a tv with soso reception and one volumn...LOUD, uncomfortable chairs, and it was either hot (in winter) or cold (in summer). Well let me tell you this new place I could have stayed all day! Comfortable sofas', coffee, cookies, flat screen tv with CABLE!!!! But guys-with-oily-rags finished in record time and I was out of there by 9:30.

On my way home I swung by the Providence Shopping Center. I spent a while in Tuesday Mornings (think TJ Maxx without the clothes) and saw a few things I liked but left without buying (thank goodness). Then to the book store. Well, maybe stacks of books store is a better name. You really have to dig. And dug I did and I think I hit the jackpot. I remember Bess saying that she thought one of the better dying books to be A Passion for Color (well I think that's what she said. I could be wrong) but anyway, I bought it. by Sarah Burnett. Published in 1990. The styles are so-so but man the colors and the simple way she explains how to combine this and that to get colors. Oh and the fair isle designs that I can pull from the dated sweaters..Wahoo!

Leaving there feeling a bit smug, I stopped in KnitWits our 4th of 5 LYS in the area. You would think I'd seen all the yarn there was out there to be seen. Nope! I left with 5 skeins of Maggi Knits Aran Tweed in a great oatmeal color and a hand dyed organic cotton that is sooooo soft from The Purled Llama. And I'm not a fan of cotton but this is soooo soft. Oh, the primary colors are nice...purples, greens, reds, blues. 325 yards.

That was all the excitment I could take in an hour, so I ran by Harris Teeter for groceries and then home to work a few hours.

Tonight is "lock in " at Spooling Around. A night of knitting from 6:00pm to midnight. Tomorrow is my knitted fringe class at Ewe Knit Kits and Yarn. One of my students is coming from Northern Virgina. I hope the class is worth that long drive.

And I wasn't even that tired....

I felt soooo bad for the US gymnast missing the vault last night that I didn't want to stay up and watch him come in 10th place....I was so wrong. I'll have to wait for the highlights.

Local radio station and it's sister stations are helping the American Red Cross collect money/food/etc. for the victims of hurricane Charley. And they were asking for small animal foodstuffs. I stopped by and dropped off a large bag of doggie rawhides, a canister of new tennis balls and a check.

Much work is being done on the FiberTrends tote. 3 pockets done and the last picked up and ready to be knit.

I'm trying not to get my hopes up to much but MB has stuck her head in my office 3 times and said...as soon as I can get some funding...

KnittaPalooza II...more info

Bobbie writes:

KnittaPalooza II will be held March 10-13, 2005 at the Garden Hilton hotel in Virginia Beach, Va.

Lily Chin will be here, with many other great teachers.. Names of others will be announced shortly..Cost for the full weekend package will be $395.00...

Early registations (prior to September 1, 2004) will receive $50.00 off and get first choice on ALL classes offered. You can pay on a monthly plan if you desire.... $57.50 per month with the final payment on or before Jan. 10, 2005.

Full day packages are available also (Friday or Saturday) for $195.00. Sunday (one class only) will be offered at $85.00. More information will be available shortly..

There will be be a Fashion Show, contests and much, much more knitting fun for all!We have many who have signed up already and are looking forward to hearing from YOU! Please call or email, as the online service is not accepting applications at this time.

Ewe Knit Kits and Yarn
1-800-948-1565
757-498-4590

The angels will be eating well tonight....thank you for showing me how to cook a mean beef stew Julia Childs.

A long walk

On our walk last night we stopped and chatted with Brandy and Morgan, Molly, Buddy, Katie, Suzie and Bobbie, Floyd, Torie, Nixon, Buddy and the sisters Biscuit and Brownie. Don't ask me what their humans names are. In our neighborhood it's important to remember the dogs...as it should be.

We walk twice a day. In all, at least 3 miles. Sometimes it's a longer morning walk, other times a longer evening walk. Most of the time I let Bailey decide which way to go. With his failing eyesight, he really relies on his nose and will follow a scent until it disappears or he gets tired of it (I"m guessing here). He'll stop, look at me and turn around to head off in another direction. I follow. I have to. I'm attached to the lead.

The tote is working up really fast. I like the way the corners are made...drop a stitch down to the bottom and then pick 2 stiches back up. EZ does the same thing with her sweaters. I'm pretty sure it's EZ...Bess taught us how at Knitter's Review Retreat a few years ago. I'm using WoolPak (the pattern suggests it) for the first time. It's a bit fuzzy and the small fibers are irritating my eyes. I think I got spoiled with Cascade 220. But I'm loving the red that I chose!

Rolling around in my head is a design for a felted round bag. I'll keep you posted.

Can't think of a title

For the past few months I've been ready to bail from my mortgage paying job. Hated coming into work. I hated the woman I report to. I hated the group that I report into. I hated the projects I'm assigned. Hate is a strong word but that is the only word I could find that described it. I began looking for other positions but since we just merged with another big bank, filling open positions is frozen. Last Thursday, after a negative (to me) mid-year review (the first ever in 33 years) I went down the hall to cry on a friends shoulder. She listened and then said...MB will be opening new postions for Change Managers in a few weeks...I went back to my office, called MB and she said (with excitment in her voice I might add) send me your resume! I did. Fingers crossed.

Ewe Knit Kits finally received the new felted tote pattern from
FiberTrends AC-64x The Sheep Tote It's designed by Beverly Galeskas. She uses "faux" seams" to make the corners. So of course I had to buy yarn and begin working on it. Anyone know why it's called AC-64x ????

Speaking of which, the little bag knit with
Crystal Palace Trio is done. The cast on suggested didn't leave much give for the i-cord edging, so after 2 attempts I did a single crochet around the edge to pull in the darker color. And as for the handle..looks cute but not sturdy enough. I'm going to knit a longer i-cord and weave it through the bag right under the cast-on row. Think drawstring. But it's not bad for a free pattern....which I promptly changed....LOL

The Trendsetters Spiral "To Fringe or Not to Fringe" shawl is finished. It's been christend "Hitchcock" based on the fact that the black parts of the yarn make it look like clusters of birds are flying across it. But it's larger than what I wanted so I'll frog it back 3/4 of the way and try again.

So small world...a friend from TKGV guild moved to Northern Virginia last year. She was in Ewe Knit Kits on Saturday. In town on a visit. She mentioned she had started a Guild and guess who's not only member but VP....RosebyAny.

This 'n that

Name the era, and you can name every artist from
it. You've got an eye for design and a knack
for feng shui. Color schemes, architecture, and
objt d'art - these are all your forts.
What people love: You're the perfect person to shop
with.
What people hate: They have to clean their house
whenever you come over.


What Kind of Elitist Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla



Found this over at Catherine's . I have to agree with her comments. My house is the same. Dust and dog hair and yarn and magazines and a dining room table that can become piled high. BUT what I think is messy, my friends/family think is "too neat and tidy". So yeah, they always make excuses about their homes and you know what, I don't see it. So, eh! A home is to LIVE IN not LOOK AT.

But the dining room table was cleaned off this Sunday while the OatCouture Auntie's afghan blocked. I used Lorna's Laces Sport Weight in Neutral. Generic color and washable. Nice for babies. I threw it in the washer when the bed sheets were on their last rinse and let it spin a few moments. It blocked beautifully.

I began a little bag with Crystal Palace Trio. It's a free pattern. It'll be a sample for Ewe Knits so I'm following the pattern as written and getting guage...but if I were making it for myself I'd go down a needle size or two to make a thicker fabric.

And the Trendsetters Spiral "To Fringe or Not to Fringe" shawl is coming along. I'm beginning the decrease side.