It's official!

I've left The Knitting Room to spend the next month working on The Loop!

Yarn and accessories are starting to arrive, the painting is almost done, and we're starting to work on a logo and graphics. We hope for a grand opening near May 1, but starting this Thursday we'll be hosting knit nights! It'll be a jobsite, but we'll be there knitting.

See you there!

Ps: In my wisdom, I forgot to include the address! You can find The Loop at 1978 Kensington Road NW, in Calgary. Our phone number is 403-457-3020 (and should be hooked up tomorrow afternoon)

To answer a few questions...

If you are hoping to see anything beyond an empty green room, you'll probably be better off waiting a little while! There are no retail products (or even shelving) on site at present. If you'd like to knit in the midst of chaos and dirt, well come on down! You'll be welcome after 5pm. We currently have about 10 chairs.

It's been a long week

Grampa is still in the hospital, and goes between dire and amazingly well, with a blink of an eye. He still believes that going home is an option, and demands his shoes on a regular basis.

Dida came home from Toronto.. a little worse for wear, but glad that she'd been there to help out and spend this time with Grampa. They went to singing/physio together and I think it was special for both of them.

The night Dida came home, Ike seriously sprained his upper ankle playing basketball. He's in a cast.

In the meantime, the kids here have had the plague. Banana had a cold, BGA had the flu (in technicolour, I might add), and then got the cold. Mug got the cold. Jim and I have been fighting it, and have so far succeeded in avoiding the worst of it. In the middle of this, BGA is in a hockey tournament. Another game on Saturday, and maybe even Sunday.

Me? I've been knitting like a crazy woman. After uncountable hours of research, I found a (yet) obscure pattern to knit for Stampede. I ordered cashmere lace weight from England, but changed my mind after I'd swatched with it. I ended up having to purchase an entire pound of Zephyr, and DAMN... more needles! (thanks to the kindness of J.Smoothie, I have a collection of Addis that defies description - I take them out at night just to admire them)

After a 600 stitch provisional cast on, I was on the road to my next blue ribbon attempt! After uncountable hours, I have over an inch of progress (woooo hooooo?). I've only had to tink a dozen stitches or so, and things are going better than can be expected. It's not the kind of lace that I do well with.. but the project is so enticing that I'll give it my best shot and see if I end up with something good.

Things at TKR are going well... Re-organization is almost complete, and the shop looks beautiful! We've got 3 different classes running at the moment, and the vibe at the shop is really nice.

Mexico is looming! Only 10 more days until we're on the plane and off into the sunset. I'm really looking forward to meeting our recipient family, and getting back into the swing of things. I miss carpentry, so it's a win/win situation for me in every possible way. For those who contributed, or who bought fiber from me during the time I was fundraising, I want to you to imagine that through you, in two short weeks a family will be sleeping on real beds, with food in their pantry, and a sturdy roof over their heads. It's an amazing, life changing event.

So, there you have it... last week, condensed.

I'll tell you some stuff...

Then, you then tell me some stuff.

Tomorrow morning at 9am Mug is getting another award at school. I don't know what for, and neither does she, but I'm super excited and very, very proud of her. This time last year she got two, and last semester she was on the honour roll. Her hard work is acknowledged, and I am.. well.. the happy/proud thing (x1,000,000).

This time next month I'll be in Mexico. I'll be finding out what bunk I'm sleeping in, and sure as heck something will be making me nervous as hell... but it will be great once the tools flash up and I'm back in my comfort zone. I miss sawdust.. I really do.

My Lady Eleanor of the Targello is 70% complete. I really love it, and part of me would like to keep it, but I probably won't. I might save it for a back-up Stampede submission, but it isn't perfect so it wouldn't win anything.

I finally found the pattern/yarn that I'm going to use for Stampede this year. I ordered everything this weekend, but I'm not telling anything about it. If it works out, it's going to be great. If it doesn't.. I'm in a big, fat jam.

I have another big secret, and I am not going to tell it.. but I really want to.

I am so sick of winter I could scream. I feel like this every February.. spring feels so close, and then sure as heck it snows.

I have fallen on ice 3 times this year. Next winter I am getting rid of the Emu boots. They don't have tread. I don't think people in Oz need ice-tread; but we sure do.

Nini called tonight, but she didn't want to talk to me, she wanted to talk to Mug (aka: anz). So she did. I have a telephone message that she left me last week, and it's pretty darned cute. She's all about the zoo right now.

I'm very happy, and when all the yarn is put away at the shop, I will be happier still.

There is a super-adorable dog at the pound, and I would love to find a way to have him.. but it is totally impossible. Also, I don't want to become a dog collector (2 dogs, 2 cats, 6 people.. that's enough in this little house).

Spike thinks that if he goes outside to pee that somehow we will go to bed. He must be about peed out, because this is his 3rd or 4th try.

I drank most of a Framboise tonight. I didn't do as well at sharing as your average 5 year old (if 5 year olds shared beer, which they don't). I drank 1/2, then split the second 1/2 with BFML. Frankly, he is lucky he got that. ;) Gale, you are correct.. the peach is darned good. Most of you who know me also know that I don't really drink. Lately I have found 2 kinds of beer that I don't seem to react to, so it's been great!

Got the Debbie Bliss mag today.. and almost bought French Girl Knits, but decided to hold off because I have too many other projects on the go. I owe BFML one Valentine sock too.

I did all the laundry today, and also had a shower (sorry goils... HAD to go home and have one.. couldn't be seen in public - by people I know - with hair like that). I love the combo of freshly showered me and clean sheets.

I also hand washed 25 socks today. It wasn't that hard, and I really like how they looked all hung up. I would have washed 26, but I had one hand knit sock on (and one black sports sock). That's how I roll.

Jacinda, meet Jocelyn. Joce, meet Jacinda.

IK, I was wondering if the gunk in the lint trap of my washer is anything close to as gross as the stuff in the gunk trap of your dishwasher.

If you'd like to 'button' your eyes, a la Coraline, go here.

Eckhart Tolle rocks the free world. You should read his books, you really should.

Three times on friday someone talked to me about EMDR. I think that the universe is telling me that Gigi should come here. Ok.. it's possible that I manipulated the message somewhat and the universe thinks that I ought to try EMDR.

Have you heard about Tellington Touch? It makes me feel faint it's so wonderful. I wish I was a horse.

Someone recently found my blog by googling: crochet crap

Now.. its your turn. Go!

Hockey. No kidding. You must watch it tomorrow.

I am the wicked step-mom to a wonderful little guy, aged 9. This is him:



If you'd like to see a better picture of him, then your best bet would be to watch the Calgary/San Jose game tomorrow night. He has been chosen to skate a loop around the Saddledome ice with the Calgary Flames, and to join them for the national anthem. They are giving him a jersey, and tickets for the game. He calls tomorrow 'Happy Day', and he's been counting sleeps until HD since Christmas. Honestly, it is happy day for all of us, because he's been working so hard to be a good hockey player himself, and this is such an honour and a blessing for him. He feels like a winner.. and he is. I hope that you can share his moment of glory.

And, yes, he wears that balaclava all the time. He really does.

I thought I'd share this picture with you:



Not because I'm happy to say that the Christmas tree has been dismantled, but because you might notice that all of our decorations are special; the toilet paper angel has a very special place in my heart, and has been on the tree for years. Blogless C might notice that, yes, we have disco ball ornaments.

If you have children, I would suggest that you buy a big bag of non-breakable Christmas balls, and every year give your kids a ball and a felt pen. We have a collection from years and years back, and I love each and every one of them. You can see one or two in the picture. It's not fancy, it's just them, leaving their marks for you to see when they are not so little any more.

And here you have the early stages of Marie Antoinette.



Gale blogged about it, and I loved her sock so much that I bought the pattern and ordered the yarn. I was endlessly thinking about the sock though, so I brought out a ball of yarn that I bought in Brooklyn during the Rhinebeck extravaganza. It's a cashmere blend, but I can't give you details because I somehow lost the ball band. I totally love the intended yarn (which is Tupelo Honey by the Woolen Rabbit, $22.00 shipped), but I am not sorry that I started with the yarn I used.

In case you're wondering.. today was my first full day at the Knitting Room. It went well, it was a very, very busy day, and I saw a few familiar, smiling faces. Thank you for coming in to say hi; I really appreciated it.

Tonight? I'm up to my elbows in dyed fiber and sock yarn. It's all good!

ps: The Alphagetti was fantabulous.

Saving up

I have two favorite bloggers; one who writes on most weekdays, and the other who writes on days ending in 'every so often'. I adore them both for different reasons.

There was a time in my life when I wasn't consumed by knitting and spinning, but by reading. I spent quite a bit of my time alone, and that is how I chose to use my evenings and weekends. Overall I'd say I am quite well read (or.. at least I was; now I am quite well knitted). In my history as a reader, only one author ever wrote what I considered to be the perfect sentence. It was Truman Capote, and he described someone in a way that left a taste in my mouth; I purely and completely understood the character.

Sometimes The Enchanting Juno makes me feel the same way.

Backround information on this moment in time:

Currently girls aged 14, 13 and 12 live in our house. Enough said.
I have been sick since September, and only just realized I'm having a flareup.
I'm about to lose a job I have loved.
Another Christmas is around the corner, and my son, the angel, persists in not being tangible. His death has had me in a straight jacket for six years now (God forbid I ever get out of it, because uncontained I believe I could scream buildings into rubble).
I was in 80's recession, and the very word strikes fear into my heart.
Canadian politics.

Every Christmas, and every August I work up a head of steam while I try different ways to control my feelings. Something always comes along that triggers a release, and I re-discover the truth of being the mother of a dead child. The pain doesn't go away. Cramming it down, trying to ignore or reform it doesn't work; it will find it's way to the surface somehow. Twice each year the top blows off, and then I feel somewhat better and can buck the hell up....

This was my Christmas vent button. It was firmly pressed.

And this is a gem... It put me so firmly and completely in her moment that the red drained from the back of my eyes... became lavender. Make sense? I saw she had posted and I actually saved it up for 1/2 a day before I read it. I picked the perfect time, and she did not disappoint.

Perhaps now I can rest.

Yarn stores!

I'll bet you were beginning to think that I didn't go to any! Two actually...

On Friday we walked downtown from one end to the other, and went to see the Beehive. I have been shopping there since I was a little girl, because at one point, the Beehive was really the only game in town. There were no other choices.

A lot has changed since the early 60s! They have a new location across from the Bay (which has been gutted - but the facade has been preserved). It once was the Mexican Gift shop, way back when. Anyway, it was hot in there, and really crammed with yarn. There were a few that I liked and lots of Fleece Artist. Lots of everything, really. I liked that they had accent pieces.. Interesting, jewelry-like bits for shawls, sweaters and wraps. I didn't buy anything that day. My only disappointment (and it is relatively minor) is that Prudence Mapstone was giving a free workshop on Saturday night, and I wasn't able to make it. That would have been beyond great.



On Saturday we drove up to Mill Bay to Whippletree Junction, where at the suggestion of Aunty Tink, we found The Loom. Crazy place, that! The ceilings are low, and the entire place is jam packed with yarn. There is so much there that it would take days to get a feeling for the entire contents. Thankfully there was a really nice lady working there who knew the exact location of everything they have to offer. They also were loaded with Fleece Artist products, tho some were very old and dusty. I bought 2 slivers of silk/wool which was dyed in incredible, saturated, dense colours, and 3 skeins of similar sock yarn. It was kind of funny, because she had a big basket of sock yarn hidden under another basket of something of lesser interest. I had to ask for it in particular, or I would have never known!





Saturday turned out to be the most fabulous day! After we left The Loom, we drove 5 minutes away to my Aunt's house, and found another Uncle there as well. We had such a great visit... I hope to be back soon.

Denny, you ought to have been at the yarn store!

A group of us were at Make One yesterday afternoon, enjoying the first thursday happy hour of the summer season, when doesn't Pumper #1 come sailing by! Everybody shouted your name in unison. We recognized 'your' fireman (reasonable facsimilie posted above).

There was some discussion regarding pulling the fire alarm, or somehow getting a kitten into the tree outside. I admit it.

Wish you were here! Mango Margaritas were served.

Regarding Sock Wars? Marilynn and I are still in it... but not for long. Both of us have socks on the way soon. Marilynn probably has time for a second 'kill'. My SIPs are never coming, so a second kill is out of the question.

And yes, it's 4:30 am. Geez. This sleeping thing just isn't working for me. I hope the cold hits the road sometime soon. I'm done with it.

I'm not a stalker, Sandra, I'm a FAN

Have you, amazingly, NOT heard of Denny? My friend Mandie has, and she lives in Australia.

Denny of SOAR fame? (Scroll to October 15th)

Denny who lit up the Knitting Olympics?

Denny who created the knitting rule 'no knitting gray in the winter'?

Denny, who makes everything just a little brighter? Well, you cannot even imagine how thrilled I was to find out that she is a friend of Amy and Sandra's and that she'd be visiting the shop this past Friday. I think I might have jumped up and down when I found out.

Arrive she did, complete with knitting and a Louet Victoria. She joined a big group of us in wine and cupcakes and just a few surprising and unexpected events. Initially, Amy looked out the window and caught the 'tail end' of a bottle picker having a poop in the alley across the street. Believe me when I tell you, this isn't a common occurrence, but buddy did become the 'butt' (sorry, I just had to) of about 50,000 jokes. Later in the afternoon the fire alarm went off and caused Pumper #1 to arrive, complete with a number of super hot (apology #2.. which automatically becomes #3 because of the #2 comment) firemen. I've never had so much fun at a fire alarm in my entire life. It works really, really well, I might add. I'm sure that people downtown knew that our alarm was going off. I hope to be able to hear again one day soon.

And by the way... I was right about Denny. She is fun. She is kind. She is an amazing knitter and spinner as well. She is everything you ever imagined and more.

Here's a picture of Denny and Amy, where Denny is holding some fiber that I dyed. I will grin when I think of that for the rest of my life.

So I was talking to Amy Singer the other day...

I'll bet you think i'm joshing ya... It went like this:

Amy: Is Amy available?
Annie: I'm sorry, she's with a client right now, can I help you?
Amy: No, I'll call her back later.

I know. You're wishing you were me, aren't you?



My whole weekend went upside down in a big way. I've worked 12 days in a row at one thing or another, and my dream was to go to the farmers market to get Grizzly Gouda (if you don't know about this, you ought to be begging me for directions. It will be the best thing you've ever tried).

Instead... I spent all day Saturday doing housework. Today Mug was sick, so I spent the day inside doing laundry, cooking, and dyeing. I also knitted on the Swallowtail and it is complete up to the end of the third chart. I think I'll have it finished by the end of the week, and hopefully I'll take Mr.G out of time out.

A few great things happened lately. One is that Mandie of EGMTK sold me enough 100% Bison to knit the Heartland Lace Shawl again. It's hard to find this yarn.. it sells super fast. I would have liked to spin it, but the fiber is out of reach at the moment. Anyway, I'm super happy to have found such an amazing vendor and I think her prices are great too.

On Friday evening Make One had a leap year/mini-sock exchange party. Dida came, and we had a ball. I 'managed' to get Dida's mini-sock. I REALLY wanted it because she gave me the full size matching socks for Christmas. It was her very first pair and I'm so pleased to have them. Ok.. I might have peeked; I admit it.. but I don't imagine anybody was too annoyed. At least I hope not. It was the first time I've ever knit at Make One! I've spun, I've visited, I've worked; but never knitted until that night. The very best part was Kathleen's shrimp shooters. When I get the recipe I'll share it, because they really are delicious (and healthy too).

BF's sister Donna visited on Saturday night (hence the flurry of housework), so that was really great. She's someone special.

Somewhere in the desk organizing I knocked a very special Willow Tree 'Sisters by Heart' off of my shelf. She lost both hands. I have found one, and I'm sure I'll find the other, and she'll be as good as new, but right now the both of us are feeling broken up over it. Why couldn't it have been Gumby? He'd have bounced.

The yarn? I dyed and spun it.. it's called Ellie Mae. I think it is my single favorite colourway (hence, I kept it!).

I was on my own today

And it went really well.

I opened up at 1pm, and shut down for a long lunch. Had a big 75% off sale, and followed that with nap. It was a good day.

Ok.. none of that is true except for the good day part. It was good; phew.. I was so busy. When I got home Dida was here with Ike and Nini, and we all babysat while they went out for a valentines dinner. Nini is teething, and she wasn't too very happy that her mommy took a hike. I put her in the click and bounced her to sleep and then things were quite civil. Once Dida and Ike came back, (complete with a white chocolate, heart shaped, brownie) Nini transformed into some kind of smiling girl who was quite enjoying herself.

Mothers are miraculous, that is a fact.

Jim and I have yet to enjoy valentines together... maybe the kids will go to bed and we'll find 10 minutes to eat that brownie before we fall over from exhaustion. It's possible, right?

I'm so far behind, I'm first

I've been knitting up a storm, but my blogging schedule is all off wack due to my new hours. I'll get it figured out! So.. Let's start here:



Yesterday I knitted the Sunflower Tam (from Knitting Nature). It was a great little project and i LOVE my tam. I had to felt it because it was way too large, and even then the ribbing was too big, so I hand sewed every 4th rib together on the interior of the band. It looks great, and fits great.. I'd intentionally felt the next one I knit because I really like the result. I have a few extra balls of Lopi, so I think I will make another to go with my (still unsteeked) Hela.



Recently at Make One a number of these little hardwood sock blocker key-chains arrived. Inside is a pattern for a sock to go on the blocker. Well, the whole thing just tickled me pink, so I bought one, and as soon as I got home I knitted a Fleece Artist Seawool version. Later I designed a lace version, knitted from Zephyr.. but it's going to be for a mini-sock exchange, so I'll keep the picture to myself. i LOVE it though! Super cute.



Making some progress on the Fir-Cone shawl. It's going really well. When it's done, I've decided to dye it with Provence Tea from Steeps in Calgary. I test dyed a little swatch, and it looks really great.



I dyed Merino to spin at the Make One Spin-In on saturday. I really like how it turned out (which is way greener than what the picture shows).. it'll make some nice camo'ish socks for Jim I think. Anyway, I didn't make the Spin-In; I had some errands to run first, and the girls to deal with while BF took Aidan to snowboard lessons.. needless to say, I drove for hours and spun not at all. Next time for sure; I just hate that I missed it.



I've cast off the body of Mr. Greenjeans after increasing the length by 2.5". What Not to Wear has convinced me that I need the end of the sweater to bisect my butt.. you know.. to create length, as opposed to width. Got the sleeves started, and I expect to be wearing Mr.G next week (after a serious blocking... phew that cabling pulls things in!)



And, finally, Charity Knitting Night. It went so well! People started to arrive at 1pm, and I understand that by night's end there were about 30 knitters. I was not one of them... my original plan was to knit for stillborn babies and donate to the bereavement group at the Peter Lougheed. However, at the time I was hatching my plan, I hadn't started work at Make One yet. Turns out that I was at the till, and although Sandra offered to let me knit (about 200 times!), I thought it wasn't a good decision on my part.. so I stayed by the till, and worked on colourways. I have knitted one tiny hat, and have a sweater about 50% completed. I'll drop it off at the hospital soon.

The event went really well, and it was a fabulous cause. Thank you Michelle, Amy and Sandra for bringing everything to fruition.

So.. that's about it for me! I hope that I can soon get back into the swing of things once my new hours become 'normal'.

We've been dyeing today

It's been fun and insane, and I think that we've got some good results. I took home 5 hanks of lace weight to overdye because it was WAY way WAY way too *exciting varigated sock yarn* coloured. There were some beautiful greens and blues in it which I was so sad to lose; but it had to be done. We'll see how it looks tomorrow.

Tomorrow's another day, right?

Speaking of Friday; that is Charity Knitting Night at Make One. I'm really excited about it. About my project, and about the projects of others. Already an entire bag of gorgeous winter hats have been donated by Lisa. How amazing is that? When you put that in real terms, it means that a dozen or more human beings will be warmer on account of the loving nature of another.

We could stop wars that way. We could feed the planet that way.

But warm ears is a pretty good start, don't you think?

PS: Franki's kitty is feeling better.

Nothing exploded, and I still have 10 fingers.

Today I started my new job; and though I haven't said much about it, I have been seriously excited for a number of reasons. The first 20 I won't even mention, because if you're reading this blog you'd probably make the very same list yourself.

I have a full-time, monday through friday job at Make One Yarn Studio.

No kidding! I really do.

In honour of my first day, I wore a tiara.

I put a lot of sales through, and the till didn't explode, melt down, or suddenly flash a big note about the newbie messing up. I answered the phone and didn't call the shop something incorrect, like: Wood Floors. I put tags on things, and it certainly appears that all the tags were in the right places. A LARGE shipment of Cookie A. sock patterns came in, and I drooled on hardly any of them. I did not spend more money than I made today. Can you imagine what self control that took? I'm talking BOXES of sock yarn at my very fingertips, and I didn't buy any. I *might* have allowed myself a tiny little Evelyn Clarkism; but honestly, it was a tiny slip. Someone came in and modeled their very first pair of handmade socks.

There were two classes running this evening, and the place was hopping when I left at 7.

Not one, single, solitary time today did I have to worry about amputating a body part. Man... That's worth something.

I hope your day was even 1/2 as good!

Hey, here's a really cool thing...

Seems like magic to me, anyway. I was reading blogs one day, and saw a similar picture to what I've posted, above. Someone had placed their cake of yarn (previously referred to as a hockey puck) on the spindle of a bulk cd holder - you'll have to click on the picture to actually see what I'm talking about. It works so well, & I'm just thrilled with it. When I wound this centre pull ball (it's the silk/wool that I was spinning a few days ago) it was so tight in the centre, that I couldn't get it to feed... so I decided to work from the outside of the ball, and to try the spindle. You should SO try this! You're gonna love it.

I've been working on a Fir-cone shawl that I found in that list of shawls I posted yesterday. It's going well. I need a lace success. I must have 5 Evelyn Clark shawl patterns on their way, so soon I'll be up to my ears in shawls (or.. I'll have Christmas 2008 handled).

I watched a number of George Strombouloupoulis podcasts; it's either that or stay up too late at night. Do you ever watch Strombo? You ought to give him a whirl; he's totally great.

Mug and I were at Make One this afternoon (by the way.. I don't hate circs at all.. I hate circs that are longer than I need.) I bought a shorter set for a piece of lace I'm knitting; it's a major improvement, and knitting is going well. Anyway.. back on topic... Heather was there with her sweet little puppy. Mug fell in love, and discovered that it would cost many, many hundreds of dollars to have such a puppy. She is totally heart broken. Spent the entire afternoon counting coins, and discovered she had a $600.00 shortfall. She offered to wash windows.

So.. poor thing cried herself to sleep. Reality is a tough lesson. It's hard to be a mom some days.

A couple of *those* days?

I was out of my mind with excitement on friday when I realized that my Jaggerspun Zephyr had finally arrived. It isn't stocked at my LYS, so after some detective work, I found it at TheKnitter.com for a lower price than I had been quoted by another store. AND.. free shipping. So I ordered 'Iris'. I'm really happy with it, 50/50 silk/wool blend, and the colour is amazing. Yippee.

Today I cast on for The Forest Path Stole. Nope.. It just wasn't right; so I tried again with Icarus. Nope. Frog. Cast on again. Nope. Frog. (Rinse and repeat). Note to self: Never try to cast on lace in the dark, while watching a movie. Also, try to use a chart that doesn't need to be viewed through a magnifying glass.



Earlier in the day, I resurrected Mystic Waters. It took a long while, but I figured out where I had left off; frogged a few rows, and restarted. I think i got 3 rows done before I'd messed it up again, so.. back in the bag with you Mystic Waters.



I'm seriously considering frogging it once and for all. We don't seem to mesh... Marilynn finished hers the other day, and it's totally gorgeous.

OK, lets discuss the coffee. I'm sure that I mentioned that BF makes me a coffee each weekend morning.. a nice, strong latte to start the day. Well, I reached for mine, and knocked it right into my knitting. Luckily most of it ended up on the floor, and nothing was seriously damaged. The worst risk was my dye book... It's full of all my recipes and patterns. It's a little worse for wear, but overall, everything is still legible.



Honestly, the worst part was the loss of a really good coffee. (And, yes, I really do know how to spell Dyeing. I even know how to spell crochet most days)

Last but not least... here's a little shot of Mr.G. I realized that I have twice as many rows of cables than I should have. Apparently I cannot successfully read instructions. So, that's in the frog pond too. Pffft



I'm too scared to spin.

Methods

When I posted about colourwork, Gyda mentioned that she holds both strands in one hand. Here is a link of the way I imagine she does it.

I said I was knitting both continental and English styles simultaneously, holding yarn in both the left and right hand. You will find a good video here.

See, what I think is so cool is that even though I've been knitting since I was 4 years old, I basically knew what my mother knew and that's it. What I have learned in the last 6 months has increased my knowledge base exponentially. It just blows my mind. Now I get excited when I find a new term in a pattern. Within moments I can search for knitting tutorials and find all I need and more. No sweat. If for some reason I didn't quite grasp what I was seeing, I can walk down to my LYS and one of the girls will sort me out in 2 seconds (for example, I needed to do an applied I-cord on the Tulip cardi, and Marilyn showed me exactly how easy it was).

My current knitting goal is to learn a method to purl quickly. I'll never be a Miriam Tegels, but I know that I'll pick up speed.

This same learning concept holds true for spinning. I might tell you that I am self taught (well, regarding spinning on a wheel; Amy taught me how to use a drop spindle), but in truth, I learned almost everything by watching online video tutorials. I started from ground zero, with a broken wheel and a really strong desire. If you have that and a computer, you're really in good hands. In case of an emergency, there's always help just down the street.

Now, the 2-colour brioche stitch, knitted in the round. Onward and upward. I know I can do it.

Rushing...

This morning started off great. The plan was to enjoy my Saturday morning coffee while packaging Merino to take to Make One for the Spin-In. I opened a new bag of .. well, bags, to discover that they were all the wrong size. Phew.. jumped into the truck and made an unscheduled trip to Michaels to pick up bags.

I got everything packed and beribboned and headed out. I arrived at M1 with loads of fiber, my spinning stuff, and the Lendrum; a little late, but not toooo late. Didn't take one single picture, due to lack of time, but some of the new colourways are just fab. The photo, above, is the inspiration for the colourway 'Sunrise in Banff'.

If you spin (or if you'd like to) and you haven't been to a Spin-In, you really ought to give it a try. To describe today, there were about 7 of us spinning (one being a newbie with some wheel issues. Amy and Sherry re-arranged her wheel and got her spinning in no time flat). During the time we were spinning there was an incoming and an outgoing Knitting 101 class. The outgoing gals moved from the class table to the couches. At that point there were also customers, Dida, Ike and Nini. Sandra and Heather were wo-manning the till. Did I mention that Careena's three cute pooches also joined in the fun? Sandra went to Tom's house of Pizza and brought back lunch! One of the nicest parts of the day was sitting with Careena and getting to know her a little bit while we ate pizza.

It was a really nice group of people, and I really enjoyed the time and the conversation. Sherry had brought along a skein of Merino that I had dyed. It's so great to see what everyone comes up with.. just amazing.

Anyway, I spun the rest of a bag of BFL that I had on hand, and tonight it's plied and ready to wet finish. I also picked up 200 grams of a wool/silk blend, so i've put the fast flier on the Lendrum and the blend is going morph into a beautiful piece of lace. So far it's a bit glitchy, but it's starting to even out.

Tomorrow I have to spend some time working on my tools. Everything needs to be replentished or have have blades changed or sharpened. But tonight...

I knit. MrG., here I come!

I hope your Saturday was even 1/2 as great.

ps: Denny added me as a friend on Ravelry. Ok... I added her first. That's THE Denny of SOAR drop spindle fame.

Oh, ouch

Introducing Spaceballs (in Alpaca).

So, today was day two of my return to the real world, and also day two of a complicated hardwood repair. *Insert endless hardwood talk relating to saws, hammers, chisels, sub-floor adhesive, diagonal joists on 30" centres, freehand cutting 9 rows of boards because the angle was tighter than the chop saw could cut, and trying to make a squeak go away.* These two days culminated in a happy customer, a slice across my index finger (can you hear me typing? click, ouch, click, click, ouch) and, (how many joints in the human body?) 239 things that hurt when I move. So, knitting? Not very much. The new Miss Priss is crying out my name though; it really is.

I've decided to frog the BSJ - did I mention that I'm at the bind off row?. And, I've also decided that unless some really awesome yarn cries out to BE said jacket, that I'm not exactly pleasantly surprised. I think it was the technical aspects that I was all thrilled about. So. Over. Let's turn the yarn into a project for Dida to undertake.

I spent a little time at Make One tonight; went there to talk with Marilyn and ended up ogling two of her lace pieces. Beautiful.. She's almost done the Mystic Waters, and I thought it was absolutely grand. There were lots of other women there, and I was happy to see Michelle, Heather and Franki.

I came home to Mug doing her homework (did I mention that she never has to be reminded?), and BF cooking tenderloins, baked potatoes, mushrooms and real bacon bits, to go along with a really great Greek salad. All is well in the world, I have to say.

Went for a walk and didn't have sushi

I haven't worked the last few days because the dispatcher at work is away dealing with a family emergency. Apparently when the dispatcher is away, I'm not dispatched. Imagine that. So, I've had a few unexpected days at home. (That sucking noise you hear is my bank balance)

BF is also at home. He came down with a fever and head cold, and hasn't been well at all.

So, the big plan was that we'd walk to Make One and drop off a dozen bags of fiber, and then have some sushi. It was a nice walk, even though we discovered that two more neighbors have sold their houses to developers and they've vamoosed. Little Italy is turning into *big* condo-land... anyway.. we went up the hill and saw a big CLOSED sign at M1. Inventory day. Kindly, Sandra let us in and let me fondle newly arrived yarn.

(You're gonna laugh... I asked Amy to put 4 skeins of Miss Priss aside. Ya.. there's me, feeding the Mr. Greenjeans addiction. Now I'll have enough to knit two.)

After M1, we found that not only was Zipang closed today (no sushi for us), but so was Heartland (no soup either). We ended up with meatloaf sandwiches at home. I had my heart set on miso soup.

On a happier note, I have finished the body and two sleeves on the Hela. Colour work, here I come. Back to the grind tomorrow; I believe I've been dispatched.

I was lucky!

I did get the Miss Priss yarn for Mr. Greenjeans, but I was drunk at the time*, and somehow came home with a yarn which includes the colour bubblegum pink. Believe me, I'll be overdying soon. Stragely that thrills me, because now I'll have something completely original to me.

I am pleased, I wanted THAT yarn (cuz it's sproingy), and I was hoping for a deal. Yes.. it all happened. It was great, because Dida, Nini and I went together, and Dida also got a bag of Miss Priss. Somehow she's adopted my Mr. Greenjeans addiction. In her case, the sweater is already cast on, and she's well into it. I guess it helps that Nini didn't sleep last night, so Dida had a lot of knitting time.

As well, I got a 5 or 6 pairs of socks worth of yarn in all kinds of fun colours for approximately 1/2 price. Ya baby. I also bought 2 skeins of red in Louet Gems. Somehow M-1's yarn pusher (big wink) talked me into 2 skeins of Lorna's Laces something or other. She did it by resting the yarn against a perfect cheek, and mentioned to me how wonderful Nini would look in a sweater. Ya. Put it in the bag.

It's all good, and I'm thrilled. It was so much fun; I had Nini in the click, and when she got her fill of being admired, she had a nice nap.

My Christmas story will be re-rain-checked, due to extreme Heartland Lace Shawl knittage. It's BF's mom's birthday in a few days, and he's going out to the Island to spend it with her; I'd like to have the shawl blocked in time for him to take it along. I'm pretty sure that will happen, since I only have about 15 rows left to go. I've knit it in sock yarn, so it's quite a bit smaller than it is designed to be, but I thought she'd rather something smaller and lighter. It's a beautiful and easy pattern; I'd recommend it.

ok.. about the *drunk* thing. I wasn't actually drunk; but somebody (who shall remain unnamed) poured a dram or two of Bailey's in my coffee. Too. Much. Fun.

Photos of yarn wonderfulness to follow..