All good things come to an end

I'm afraid it's over Interweave Knits. We must end our relationship......

I first saw you on the magazine rack at the Borders in San Francisco.

You know the one I would walk to each Monday evening after flying in from the east coast and working until 6:00 PST which was 9:00pm EST and since I had been up since 4:00am EST I needed that time to unwind. I'd check in at the Grand Hyatt (usually a room above floor 8 that had "16" as the last numbers), unpack, walk across the street to Lori's Diner to have a burger or scrambled eggs, then armed with a chocolate milkshake (with the whipped cream in a seperate cup becuase they didn't have cups big enough to put it in) head over to Border's (isn't that a great store front?) Three stories of books, magazines, music, movies and coffee.

And one night in the Fall of 2001, there you were. Your cover called my name. Page after page of knitting patterns the like I'd never seen. I couldn't wait to get you back to the hotel room and read you cover to cover.

You see I was just getting "into" knitting. I mean I always knitted, but never with the fever that had hit me that September. And you articles, your advertising, your pictures and patterns....I read you cover to cover. Every turn of the page brought a new surprise and always one more pattern. The layouts were what I wanted, needed. Warm and cozy. And over the months until the next issue you're what I tucked into my briefcase to take with me on those long cross country flights. I'd read you over and over.

And at Guild meetings, when members bring in their magazine stash to "share", I push and shove old ladies out of the way to get to your older issues. (hanging my head in shame...naw...they've got canes they could've used)

Oh sure, there were other magazines. But they were to flip through and see if a pattern caught my eye. Too flashy and shinny for me. To steel and cold for me. No warm and cozy feelings there.

And IK, it's been that way ever since that first day.........well ever since the Spring of 2007 when you changed your format. I remember turing the pages looking for those surprises in the back pages. Nope, nothing there.

But, I decided to wait. Give the change time to sink in. And now after the second issue of change, I'm pretty sure it's over. No warm and cozy feelings drifted from your pages as I eagerly flipped through you. Just sterile pictures like the others.

I'm am sad it has to end IK. It was a good few years. But the subscription will end. You will be flipped through at Ewe Knit Kits & Yarn and decision to take you home will be made.

"My Favorite Shawl" ..........

..............is now available at Ewe Knit Kits & Yarn and The Knitting Vault and it can be knit from your stash!

For the returning Students

If you would like to knit an item for the Va Tech students: Knitting for Virginia Tech Students

Hokie Hope

And for the families of the victims:

Project Hokie Hope

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.