It's a Dry Heat

I should have bought the mug because this was the first thing out of every one's mouth once they heard I was heading to Arizona. I get... I did it too, but having been there I can see why people say it. Yet it's so much more.

My cousin got married on the most beautiful day that a bride could ask to have.



Walking down the isle to Metallica's Nothing Else Matters makes me just love her even more. Congrats to you both!



No matter where you turn... you've got these beautiful mountains just draping the sky and making even the most mundane strip mall look heavenly.

If you interested in looking at more photos just check out My Photo Set.

Having some time to spare during the afternoon, we headed out for a short trip about Phoenix to get some photos of cactus and mountains. During this I got the opportunity to visit Knit Happens.



I fell in love from the moment I laid eyes on the outside of the store. If you clicked on the above link to their blog, the photo in the top header really explains it all. Isles of yarn, knit samples draped at every turn and this awesome work station which is just barely seen in the photo along the bottom. It can sit tons of knitter and the super cool thing is the custom table has sunk in crevices so knitters can put a run-away ball of yarn. Totally Cool!



Yarn. Knit. Love.

It really does explain it all. Ever in the neighborhood of Scottsdale, check it out.



This is a huge sign on the building as your walking towards the door... How awesome can this get? They need to seriously sell these as smaller car window stickers;)

I did pick up something lovely...



Filatura di Crosa Centolavaggi lace weight in dark teal. I'm itching to cast on this stuff... Perhaps I should;)

Annual Trip to The Fold

For the past several years a bunch of us Knitters get together on the first day of the year for a little fiber, friends and food.

What is our destination? The Fold!

(from the front)

We pile in what ever vehicle we so happen to have (Thanks Jen!) and we set off a little too early in the morning for most people on the day after New Years Eve.

(from the back - Thanks Aleta!)

Time goes by fairly quickly... even with an hour and a half drive to the middle of farm country other wise known as Knitter's Mecca. I really wasn't planning on getting anything. I love just being with The Girls, but once there a few things started calling my name.



Two books: Mostly Mittens and Book of Sweater Patterns. Then I couldn't pass up the Malabrigo sock yarn in a muted green color, 2 skeins of Renaissance and several skeins of Lanett fingering weight yarn to do a mitten-hat-scarf set using those colors.

Once our parade of knitters were done we headed to the Gaylord for a Awesome Indian buffet. Just thinking about it makes my mouth water. We had a blast and I'm so grateful for having such good friends. It was truly lovely to start my new year off with a bang like that. You guys are the best! Now mark your calendars, because come summer solstice we're doing it all over again.

Spring Trip to The Fold

On Saturday our lovely gang of Stitch n' Bitch ladies headed out to a little sweet spot called The Fold. I just love how our group can feel like some hard ass bitches one second and innocent tea time ladies the next.



I promised photos, but besides for this random Lets Get It Started photo, I got nada! Six of us piled into Jenn's mini-van and off we headed in search of fiber.

We had an awesome time exploring the shop and discovering little gems to take home.



I picked up Chuckanut Yarn in hopes I'll get gauge for the Faery Ring, but as my cold has done funky things with my brain... I think I'll wash the swatches and recount later when I have a clear mind.

Look at My Funky Monkey

Most people on New Years Day are sleeping away the bubbles from the night before, where as my-eye-crusted-self meet up with my gang of gals for a day of fiber.

What is so special to wake up at 6 a.m. and head out for a 90 minute ride on a day that should be spent in your PJ's? The Fold of course. The Fold has their annual New Years Day Sale with outstanding discounts and it's more then just that. This place has magical qualities. It could be the fiber fumes, the isles and cubbies stuffed with yarn, or the smiling faces of other fiber lovers.

I don't need yarn. I've got project galore. I went to spend time with my fiber knitting crazed ladies. It's more about the journey then the destination.

So even thought I didn't need anything, I did fall head over heals for this Funky Monkey.



The shop had a model all cute and begging for a twin. I wasn't the only one who happened to snag a kit, huh ladies?

On the knitting front I managed to get to 14 inches and separated for the fronts and back. Here is a snap shot from the other day... I can see the light at the end of the tunnel for this project. A sigh of relief to be honest as I don't what this bad boy in the way when St. Brigid comes around.

YarnCon

This weekend was full of high points. A:) and I got to spend the day with fiber lovers at YarnCon. This is the second year running and I hope it gets bigger and better every year.



This is the main exhibit hall that contained half of the vendors and it's absolutely stunning. The Mason-Dixon Ladies were there to sign the new book, unfortunately they ran out of copies! It was nice to see project pieces in person and to chat it up with the southern gals.



Considering I had no budget for fiber, it was difficult, but handing out with my fiber peeps was just as rewarding. Don't you just love those impromptu cheesy shots? Miss Linda was a doll.

My SnB Buddies from Froebe Fibers had a booth at this years event and aren't they looking just adorable!



I also got the opportunity to see two knitting stores. One was Nina and it's a very boutiquey. Great lighting yet I didn't really want to touch much, although I did;) I think it's having the displays so structured. The second location was the Knitting Workshop. Complete opposite of the other store. This felt more like your best friends apartment turned into the ultimate stash location. Both had good and bad points, but I'm grateful to have a wonderful yarn store closer to home.

From Celtic to Japanese

I have to first confess that I have a Chick Crush. I'm smitten for Melissa Leapman. Go ahead and laugh. sigh. She is just adorable, funny and super witty... come on now. She wrote Cables Untangled. On top of that she also has a new book coming out... Continuous Cables and I got to peek inside. I'm telling you right now... go. pre-order this sucker and have that cable needle ready and waiting.

Her class was Celtic Cables was Saturday afternoon and the only bad part was the cold classroom, but a quick run to the cafe saved my fingers. ML was totally prepared with handouts, charts and a sarcastic New York attitude that left me a little gitty. I was pleased to see that her class was based off of her new book and how she pops a celtic knot right in the middle of no where.

My homework consisted of swatches which we then worked these fabulous charts and learned some serious increases and decreases to make the cables work.



You could hear from all over the classroom... this is too cool... awesome... and a couple of swear words thrown in because of a difficult decrease. Overall I loved the class and would highly recommend her as a teacher.

Saturday then turned into Sunday and there was Japanese Short-Rows with Susanna Hansson. I took her Beaded Wrist Warmers class last year and knew she would teach me something great again. I don't think I'll ever wrap my stitches again, in fact I've turned Japanese... ha, I'm bad, I know... couldn't resist.



Here is the results from creating two swatches, making short-rows then binding them together. More or less an example of shoulder shaping... but I'm thinking heals on socks. Her class was very detailed and planned out, with plenty of time to do the work.

What a great combination of classes for my third year at Stitches Midwest. This just gets me super pumped for next year. I also loved the new location. Free parking, less walking, better cafeteria food. The only thing about next year is that it's later in the year.. September 10 - 13. Which could be looked at as good or bad since my birthday is the 14th;) I think I should start saving now!

Going Broke at Stitches Midwest

I do want to give a big heartfelt thank you to everyone for the support, comments and well wishes. You guys are the best. I'm so grateful to have each and everyone of you apart of my life.

~ : : : : ~

So, I know your curious to know what I got at Stitches Midwest. Well...lets just say that I had a budget and I went for broke. Yep... spent a little more then expected. I just saw so much that it was hard to pass up.

And to make things easy, I've numbered the awesome pile for you to gander. (click to enlarge - you know you want too!)

1. 17 skeins Elsebeth Lavold Classic AL in rich Black
2. 8 skeins Shebridge Farms Softtouch DK weight in Robins Egg
3. 2 4oz Mountain Colors Targree Top in Indian color
4. 2 skeins Newtons Yarn Company Cashmere Merino in Kelly Green
5. Lexie Barnes circular needle case
6. 1 skein Mackintosh Yarns Celtic Sock yarn in Cocoa Swirl
7. Inspired Cable Knits
8. A Fine Fleece
9. 1 8oz Frabjous Fibers BFL in Olive Tree

The only thing not on the list are some fabulous buttons. They deserve a close up look..



I love these green gems. The top section has a satin look, where as the side look like glass. I loved the booth that purchased these from. My buddy describes it like walking thru a rainbow.

I then could not resist these little buggers from this booth.



Now, to only decided what to cast on next! and then the tedious task of updating the stash photos on Ravelry.

Also, stay tuned as I hope to post about the classes, teachers and knowledge gained.

Recovering from Fiber Fumes

I can't even think or comprehend what all happened on Saturday at the
Midwest Fiber & Folk Art Fair. All I remember is waking up at the butt crack of dawn and heading to Crystal lake with A:-). Check out her blog for more fine details as all I can muster up is some random bits.

First off I was trying to be really good and watch how much I spent. Miss Babs booth...oh boy did they have good stuff!



Two 4oz BFL in Harvest colorway and of course I couldn't pass up the Yummy sock yarn in Rock Wall colorway.



Besides for rain (which we can't control) the only thing that was irritating was the bad folk songs being song at ear piercing levels.

They sell more roving / spinning stuff at this fiber festival then at Stitches.

I'm kinda glad that I didn't take the kids. They had face painting, spiral art, alpacas to see and angora bunnies to touch. Not much in the way of "kids stuff".

I did like that the Midwest Fiber festival is small enough to meet people and not get too lost in the crowd. Ran into a bunch of familiar faces: Becca & Miss M, Dreamsweaver, Old bean. Along with A:-)'s tag-a-long group: Linda, Jamie and Rachael! I love how everyone was able to wonder around and yet not loose anyone.

Wish I would have brought my wheel because after repeating the show a second round we tagged up with Jar Lady and Sheri from the Loopy Ewe for a little down time to knitting and spinning.



I worked on my second Windmill Beret and cast-on with no issues. Hurray!

Traveling in the Redwood Forest

This is Frabjous Fibers Blue Faced Luster in Redwood Forest hand dyed colorway. This 8 oz of fiber is my inspiration bought from The Fold. Yes, my wheel has had a layer of dust on it and just the thought of it makes my eyes water. Can't let that happen... so lets spin.



If there is one thing about spinning that I've learned is that you should consider your finished project before sitting at the wheel. Sweater, scarf, socks? they all have different takes on how you spin and what you spin. My inspiration started with the fiber and then the idea of a warm scarf popped into my head.

I'm hoping for a DK or worsted weight yarn in the end, but I think I'm pulling out a sport if not fingering weight sample. sigh. Then a dear friend of mine Knitterary mentioned a 3 ply to bulk it up. Why Not? I'll have to do a little You Tube search and perhaps a few chats with my spinning buddy Knit and Run but I'm kinda psyched about learning this technique.

What a Weekend

First off, Saturday was filled with plenty knitting. Nana's Knitting hosts a knit night every first Saturday of the month. I LOVE this...as on some weekends when the kids are away with Grandma, I'm home knitting on the couch anyway. So, why not join along with others?

While there I got the chance to pick up the book: Things I Learned from Knitting by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee (AKA: Yarn Harlot). Yeah, we're all pretty psyched that she'll be in town for the book signing on April 25th. Party Time!

Afterwards I headed to Becca's for another knit group meet up. What fun it was to fall in love with the new house and also to visit with Mo (AKA: Mother-In-Law) and Baby M. I came home with new yarn...which I will gladly share with you soon. I would like to give them the full attention of a single post instead of just shoving them along with a weekend update. They are yummy and deserve it.

While Saturday was filled with yarn and visits, we had a few visitors of our own this weekend. Guess who?



These little tykes are going on 6 months come the 16th of April. They are very serious and are truly unique and different. While sleeping they look very similar but once up and at'm they bloom into their own.



Nanaidia and Tyrin are coming along great and most certainly know how to run the show. After having them over, I can't honestly see myself having another. What energy it takes...I think as time goes on and kids get bigger, you forget about all the little stuff. Like spit up down your shirt as you do "bouncy, bouncy baby up". sigh. And I'm okay with all that. That is, the spit up and not having more kids.

I hear you! You say, With all these knitting session you must have progress? Of course my pretties. My "Gator" beach socks are on their way off the needles. Some of you had mentioned a possible pattern for this, as I really have just pulled it out of my arse... I don't see why that would be a problem. I can easily write up the notes from what I'm using now and post a PDF link to download. I do know however that this wouldn't fly on a Knitty submission as you can't blog about the project before or during submission.

I've also been concentrating on this:



Nothing like reading the Stitches Midwest 2008 brochure while knitting with Nature Cotton. This yarn is very lovely and super soft for a cotton. I just don't know what garment will work best and unless I try, I'll never full know. I had intended to knit the Cozy V-Neck Rib sweater from the Fitted Knits, but I just don't see this yarn working well for that. I had caved and figured I like the Wicked pattern so much, that why not try it out.

Stitches Midwest 2007

Oh, where do I begin.

Let me start off with...OH MY GOD, IT WAS COMPLETELY WICKED!!!!

Now that That's out of the way I can begin to tell you HOW COMPLETELY WICKED Stitches Midwest really is. Last year was my first year and I walked away stunned, exhausted, thrilled and seriously wanting more. Took a class last year so I knew I needed to again this year. I'm a self-taught knitter, so when I take a class I always walk away with more knowledge.

This year we beefed it up a bit with two classes, two days of market and a hotel room. We couldn't have planned it out any better....and we knew we were going to have a blast when Superman and Batman showed up.



Sorry if it's blurry, but you know those Hero types...always on the go;)

Market opened at 10am and boy we where there with bells on. I didn't want to miss a thing and I'll tell you, I got to see each and every booth! First purchase of the day was this:



It's a small independent company: Hand Painted Knitting Yarns and their first expo, that paints some fabulous superwash wool. The greens, oranges and burgundy really grabbed me...just had to have;) I do think just for marketing sake, they should consider naming their company something else..just saying.

We then got crazy at WEBS... talk about deals. There website is awesome and so is the booth. Got a great deal on Valley Yarns Colrain (Merino/Tencel blend) to make my Kepler Sweater. I wont even go into how much my partner in crime when away with, but I'll just say we had to dump at the hotel room.




This is the Kepler pattern:


Next was The Fold...okay, can I just say...I love you Toni!! Your the Superwoman of fiber!! I contacted Toni right before the event and I'm sure she was surrounded by lists of things to pack and I requested she pull out a Socks That Rock Lagoon colorway and save it for me. I've been coveting this yarn or over 7 months. I could just see her trailer ready packed to rim and she's digging to find that one skein just for me.



And I couldn't walk away without some roving. Blue Moon Fiber has Sheep 2 Shoe which is 8.5 oz of superwash merino top for spinning...yum!



Also at her booth I found some really cool new sock yarn just out. MacKintosh Yarns and get this...the colorway is Half Blood Prince. How awesome is that! They had some other memorable Harry Potter character names...just Wicked!



From there we hit the Shelridge Farms booth.



Picked up some sock yarn in the Pumpkin colorway...I'm thinking some cables would look lovely and then I can have matching cable sweater and socks;)

And all this was before my amazing class with Susanna Hansson, Off the Beaded Cuff. What a great teacher and what a way to introduce beads into your projects. I can't say enough good things about her. I love walking away saying to myself...I didn't know that and now I do. Wow.

Here is what the class had done by then end:



I continued to work on this through out the night...in the hotel room, at dinner, at the bar that night. And my Sunday this is what I had:



Ignore the first row of beads...missed one completely then forgot to stop adding them ...what fun!

SECOND DAY

First off...getting up at 6:30 is no fun. But Hell I had a class with Nancy Bush!!!! Her class was COMPLETELY and TOTALLY WICKED and I got over my fear of cutting...now what did I do with that sweater? just kidding;)

This is a sample of a steek set up for the adding of sleeves. Even though the class was only a lecture, she had so many samples of how the technique would work. She even let us snip a section of a steek off this sample:


Gorgeous isn't it. This is another example she had:

It's a baby cartigan with steeks...you can see the pattern of the sweater to the left and right. The middle section will get cut and flipped back. What a cool class, highly recommend this to knitters interested in sweater making.

Back to the Market we go.... will this post ever end you say? Oh, come on it's not that bad is it?

Picked up some lovely Quartette, which is a Merino and Cashmere sock yarn. Discounted to 6 bucks at the JoJoLand International booth.



And last but not least was the Aussi Sock yarn in Oak Moss colorway and Plum Rose colorway. Bought at the Have Ewe Any Wool booth.



What I time we had. Thanks Knitterary for being my Stitches buddy...it was awesome. Now it's Save, Save, Save for next year!!!

Knitting Update

Okay...so I know your probably all bored with my ranting of spontaneous moments...lets talk knitting.

Kool-Aid Mac Sweater (KAMS) has made HUGE progress. These are all the pieces and now time for seaming. Which I don't mind so much. I've read about other knitters and their hate for seaming, but I'm kinda fond of the finishing techniques. I might not be very good at them, but something about knowing your on the tail end of a finished project.



The next steps will be to seam the fronts to the back, then the sleeves, continue to knit the hood, pick up stitches on the front to create button holes....see still a lot to do, but it will go very quickly now.

My other quick thing was homework for my Stitches Class on Saturday. I'm taking the Susanna Hansson Off the Cuff Beaded Wrist Warmers class and for homework I needed to do a gauge swatch on sock weight yarn and also pick up beads.

This is a sample picture of what the class will make:



I knew I had tons of sock yarn in my stash, but when I went looking...none of them where screaming at me...plus most of my yarn was variegated and I really wanted a solid color. Quick trip to Loopy Yarns during lunch and along with a quick trip to Beads Galore and More has given me this:



I found a good match on the green, but wasn't sure if I really should have picked up a contrasting bead. So, with the bead bin stating 50% off ...I got both. I really like the orange-gold looking beads and once I get the hang of adding beads to items, I can always us the others for another project. Heck you never know...I will most likely use both colors;) Funk-O-Licious.

With the Stitches Market being less then 42 hours away...my stomach is all a flutter and I can concentrate on anything. sigh. I don't know if I'll be up to posting tomorrow, but I can't forget to say Good Luck to Aleta who is participating in the Susan G Komen 3-Day Breast Cancer Walk this weekend. I don't think I would ever feel right complaining about walking again...gosh, 60 miles...your awesome, but a little nuts too;) If anyone has a few bucks to spare, she's still looking or funds to make her goal. Kisses and Cookies Aleta!

Feel the Burn

I truly lived up to my name today while knitting in public.



Yep, that's my arm...burned. The one thing I forgot to do. sunscreen. Even with Miss Mac in tow, I came out to represent the knitters!!



Chicago was not short on knitters.







Guess who I bumped into? Yep, some SnB gals...



Good times...and got some progress done on the sleeves too. Lets not forget the great pin that were given away.



Even thought I was only there for an hour, I'm glad I went. Look forward to doing it again next year. We freaked out some muggles..and hopefully we can double our numbers next time. Cheers and Knit-On!