KAL in memory of Va Tech student

Mary Read Memorial KnitAlong

What I did this past weekend

The Guild participated in the annual Spring Craft Festival & Heritage Craft Show at the VB Conference Center this weekend. 6 Guild members volunteered to work and this is what the corner of the table looked like



Imagine knitters sitting on the empty chairs knitting.

I bought freshly baked bread and opened a jar of Graves Mtn Orange Marmalade



There are 2 slices left.

People I met:

Confused Wool hater - A 20 something arguing with me that all sheep in Australia are tortured and she would never touch wool because of that. She didn't know why they were butchered. I had to many others interested in knitting to argue with her. I suggested she do more research.

Pink Knitting - A little girl about 4 dress head to toe in pink was fascinated watching my hands.

Internatinal Knitting - A husband and wife from Germany/Austria (not sure) that spoke no English. The wife watching me knit and shaking her head "no". So I switched to contentinal and she nodded "yes". Then wanted me to show her how I threw. Her husband pulled his pant leg up and showed me his handknitted socks.

One benefit of this Show is that we can sell items to benefit the Guild (see totes, yarn, cookbooks in picture above) as well as ourselves. I am happy to report My Favorite Shawl was popular with the knitters that attended. It will be available on The Knitting Vault very soon....maybe tomorrow.

Kathryn Bingham

I first met Kathryn as a customer at Ewe Knits. As we talked over a few visits, she mentioned she'd like to attend the Knitters Review Retreat but didn't want to go alone. As I had been attending the Retreat for several years, I suggested we drive up together. It worked out well. A natural talker Kathryn talked the entire drive and I, a natural quiet person, drove and listened. We had a great time and planned to go again in 2007 no matter where it was held. We had over extended our fiber budgets in 2006 and couldn't swing the trip to NY.

In January of this year, Kathryn was diagnosed with stage 3 ovarian cancer. Always optimistic, she knew she wouldn't make it to MS&W because of treatments, but fully expected to be on the bus to Stitches East in October and onto the KR Retreat in November...no matter where it was held!

Kathryn passed away earlier this week. We weren't joined at the hip friends and emailed one another only every few months but she was a friend who I'll miss.

My life

Wallis-hasnotbeen-Knitting much this past week. Worked a few days. Then there were eye appointments for Bailey. Since we've been there so often lately he gets a bit scared and wants to sit in my lap. Therefore, not much knitting.

Saturday the Guild was at the Frances Land House - Gathering of the Guilds.



More pictures are linked through the Guilds site.

Sunday it was homeowner association stuff.

Monday more HOA stuff filled the day and Guild meeting the evening.

Tuesday I worked and you never get a chance to knit working at a knitting store. Besides we're expecting all 80 colors of Butterfly any day now and I had to make room for 640 skeins of yarn.

Today I slept until 6:30, and anticipated a quiet day of Netflix movies and knitting. But then the Landscaping guys came to put down mulch which means all of the neighbors who can't seem to make it to the meetings came out of hibernation and wanted the Landscapers to do more, less or something differnt than what the contract says. And since I'm the one BOD person who is home, I get to field the demands. "No, they will not mulch your back yard" "No, you have to dig up your own pansies" "No, they won't leave the plastic bags on your lawn, just give them a minute to empty it first!"

I did get a chance to watch "Man of the Year" It was okay. RV with Robin Williams was much better.

And through all of this I've had to put up with this if I want my door open



I'm surprised you can't hear him from your house. Do you see him? Here's a close up:



But on the positive side....Spring has arrived in my backyard....







Tonight we're putting out signs that say "do not speed" around the 'hood. Maybe it'll slow done a few cars for a day or so.

And then....America's Next Top Model, PussyCat Dolls, Lost and knitting.

KnittaPalooza 2007

We’ve all been to conferences. We’re greeted by “greeters” who give you a name tag, a tote bag with conference goodies, direct you to coffee and your meeting/class room and with a cheery “Let me know if you need anything!”, send you on your way. So off you go to your conference and during breaks, the “greeters” are still there and still “cheery” promising to find what you need…a fax a copy a skein of yarn a pattern. And 4 days later you’re exhausted and wonder if you can listen to much less understand your next meeting/class and those same “greeters” are still there with the same “cheery” smiles on their faces and you wonder………..What are they on?!?

My Story:

Thursday, March 13

Wake up 5:30 , walk Bailey, shower, eat, take Bailey to neighbor for babysitting, drive to Ewe Knit Kits, perform store opening procedures, wait on customers, learn I’m going to set up the Hotel Store at the hotel and not work at the Ewe Knits, panic!!!!, start pulling from shelves what I think has not gone to hotel, eat a chicken strip (happy I brought lunch from home), pull a few books, Bobbie tells me I have to be at hotel at 1:00, panic!!!!, pull a few books from shelf, Debbie says she’s going to hotel to help me, panic less, load Debbie’s SUV, drive to hotel, park in garage and walk across street to hotel, find room still has chairs and other stuff, find hotel staff who were GREAT jumping in and removing and bring table clothes and more tables, unpack boxes, setup what we have, wonder where Andrea is because her SUV has the rest of the boxes, setup more stuff, Andrea comes, we unload, setup what she has, 3:30 now, make list of what is missing, Debbie & I drive back to Ewe Knits and pack more Koigu, lace wt, books, help customers while we’re there, load SUV, drive to hotel, unload, setup rest of stuff, while gone Terry has found a table to use for “checkout” YIPPEE, Purled Llama has arrived with her yarns and is setting up, Fashion Show items are hung, look at watch, it’s 5:05…whew…KnittaPalooza participants begin to arrive, we hand out name tags, sell stuff, I run down and grab a tuna mini sandwich and some cheese, go back and sell more stuff, 7:15 arrives and we move hall items into the Hotel Store, lock the door and head to our homes, I arrive home at 7:50, walk B, chase him around the house to wear him out, watch the news and go to bed.

Friday, March 14

Wake up 5:30, walk Bailey, shower, eat, take Bailey to neighbor for babysitting, drive to hotel, …........................well you get the drift. Behind the scenes is hard work! But well worth it.



It wasn't all work, I was able to attend Sally Melville’s “Creativity” lecture.

Check out KimKrafty’s blog (on the left) for pictures and attendee point of view. Also, Bobbie should be posting pictures at Ewe Knit Kits and Yarn site soon.

2008 KnittaPalooz has been announced
Dates: March 13, 14, 15, 16, 2008
Instructors: Annie Modesitt, Melissa Leapman, Mryna Stahman and Margaret Fisher.

Am I the last knitter on earth to hear of Yarndex...the Yarn Index?

Do you know the miles I have walked around Ewe Knit Kits looking for yarn substitutions? Or the hours spent online looking up some obscure yarn to find what gauge or fiber content it is? Or reaching waaay over my head on the next to the top shelf to pull down one of the heavy binders containing color cards? The answer to all is too many.

But no more! I'm going to make sure Yarndex is in the favorites on every computer at Ewe Knit Kits.

Have you seen what it can do? Go ahead...select: any brand, lace, wool, red. Or how about: S R Kirtzer, worsted, acrylic. Or how about:...well you get the idea.

So go and search for yarn to your hearts content! not affiliated at all with the Yarndex.

A tale four and a half years in the making

In the Fall of 2002, October if I remember correctly, I began knitting the Dale of Norway 2002 Utah Olympics Sweater. In fact, I signed up for a class. It was my first sweater. My first stranded knitting attempt. The first time I had spent so much for yarn (Falk), pattern and class.

So I went to class and learned how to carry a yarn in each hand. How you should check several times to make sure your join isn't twisted. How to read a pattern in the round. Oh and to keep checking my gauge.

The first 6 week class wasn't long enough so I signed up for a second 6 weeks. I knit and I knit. When I got to the complicated part of the pattern I'd make sure I had a good hour where I would not be disturbed and knit and knit.

Sleeves were knit. All that remained was to join the shoulders and knit the neckline.

After a while, other projects began to tempt me and the Utah Sweater lived in a basket beside the sofa.

After a few years of living next to the sofa, it moved to the guest room.

In the winter of 2006, the Winter Olympic Knit-a-long was announced. I knew what I would do! I'd finish Utah 2002! I rethought putting in a zipper (I can duplicate stitch over those stitches) and decided on a different neckline. And I watched the Olympics

And I did it!!
Front See the mountains and snowflakes and trees


Back the kids holding hands and the Olympic flame?

and the sleeves

But then I needed to steek for the sleeves. And that means using a sewing machine (just not sure about the crochet steek) Sewing machines scare me. That needle going up and down, bobbins, different stitches....nope not for me.

So in February 2007...yep a year later....Guild Secretary Jackie (Norwegian knitter extraordinaire) agreed to demonstrate Steeking at the March Guild meeting.

Jokingly I said "If you need something to steek, let me know" And guess what...She did! So she took home the sweater and sewed in the armholes.

See the white thread outlining the armhole?

And from the inside of the sweater

And at the meeting Jackie talked about what she had done, how she measured, how to leave an inch or so at the shoulder, how the wool will help hold the stitches together.....

And then I cut.....

And in a matter of seconds Armhole!

And yesterday while watching the first disk of BBC/PBS Duchess of Duke Street, I sewed in sleeves. And they fit in perfectly.

And then I tried it on.......let me tell you about gauge. You should really pay attention to it. The bottom of the sweater is big.....and the top is small. But I knew that before the cutting began. I know what size I wear. And I knew if I tinked it would never be knit again. And I needed to finish it.

So my next steps will be to wet the top and pull and tug and tug and pull until the wool relaxes a bit. But I'm in no rush. Spring is around the corner and besides, this October it will be 5 years and that might be a good way to celebrate an anniversary!