I couldn't hold out any longer....

Well, I've tried for years to resist. I did pretty well, I think....putting the thoughts of spinning out of my mind for this long...insisting that I didn't need another obsession in my life. Recently someone asked me if I was a spinner. I said no. She corrected me and said "No, not yet". She was right.

My resolve has been weakening. The thought has been tickling the outer edges of my brain. I stopped trying so hard to push it aside. Then, a couple weeks ago, I mentioned in passing that I might want to get a wheel. Delphine, who I worked with at the shop, said she had a wheel that she didn't use any more. She thought she might be interested in selling it to me.

No more was said, and I let it go to the outer edges of my brain again.

Saturday night I played some poker and won some money. When we got home that night, I took the money out of my pocket and put it on the dresser and said "maybe this will be a downpayment on my new spinning wheel" and I went to bed.

Things started to come together in my brain. The HUGE bag of roving I have started telling me "I want to be yarn already, darnit!" So I got in touch with Delphine, asked her if she was serious, and how much she wanted for her wheel. She gave me a price, and it was one I could live with, so today I became the proud owner of this:

An Ashford Traveller...I am clueless as to how to use it. I know it needs to be dusted off, oiled, and needs a drive band. My friends Chris and Rebecca both got wheels when the shop went out of business. Neither of them has learned to spin yet. Jenny (who also worked at the shop) is going to teach the 3 of us....hopefully SOON!

I brought home a book and a video from the library. Maybe I'll see if I can play around with it a little bit. I know I have a LOT to learn. But I guess I'm going to become a spinner!

(it looks so "at home" next to the fireplace, huh? Coco thoroughly checked it out when I brought it in....)

Contest Winners Chosen!

I want to thank each and every one of you who sent a donation for my Breast Cancer 3-Day walk fund. Your generosity was overwhelming and I was so grateful to be able to reach my goal so quickly with just a plea on my blog and a mention on Stephanie's blog. Knitters and bloggers are the best!

I decided to pick 3 winners instead of 1, and they have all been contacted. I have heard back from 2 of them, and as soon as I hear back from the last one, I'll post their names, and the prizes, right here!

Thanks again to all of you for your support....support comes in all shapes and sizes. I appreciate the words of encouragement and praise just as much as the monetary support that allowed me to reach my goal. Every bit of it touched my heart and I will remember this summer as a very special one.


Love,
Trish

These socks DO rock!

Some of the BeeGees (my Thursday night knitting group) went to Stitches Midwest in Chicago last month. I was not able to go because it was the same weekend of the 3-Day Walk. Tamara so graciously offered to bring me back some Socks That Rock sock yarn. I went to the website, picked out some colorways that I liked, and gave her the list. When she came back, she had one of the colorways I had picked out, but she also had this one, which I fell in love with. I started these socks about 2 weeks ago and finished them up Sunday evening.



I used Queen Kahuna's method, added a slip stitch underneath the heel as well as up the back of the heel. The cuff and top of the foot are done in a 2 x 2 twisted rib. It was a little fussy, but I love how they turned out. So far this is the best fitting pair of socks I've made. I always seem to make them a little too big. I used a size 1 needle this time and they are a nice thick, warm sock. I am looking forward to wearing them a lot this winter!

Read about our 3-Day journey...

Here is the link to the blog I wrote about my Breast Cancer 3-Day walk. My team consisted of me, my daughter, Kim and 3 of her co-workers... Lisa, Erin and Melissa. Lisa was with us on Friday and Sunday, but was standing up in a wedding on Saturday so missed that day of the walk.

It is a long entry, but I wanted to write as much of it down as possible so I could remember every detail. What an incredible weekend it was. Well, go read it...you'll see....

3-Day Walk

Only ONE blister!!!!

Well, the 3-Day Walk is behind me. Today I feel a bit of a letdown, after it being such a huge part of the past 6 months. With fundraising, training, gathering gear, and psyching myself up for so long...what will I do with myself now? (KNIT????)

This was such an INCREDIBLE experience. Here is a shot of us all starting out our long (often painful, always uplifting and definitely worth it) journey just past sunrise on Friday morning. I will be doing a separate blog about the entire journey, and will post a link to it here.I have lots of pictures!

I want to thank all of you, so much, for your donations to my (and Kim's) fundraising efforts. Also for the moral support offered. It really means a lot to both of us.

The Michigan 3-Day Walk has brought in 5.9 MILLION dollars so far....with still a month to go for funds to come in. AMAZING. We done good, huh?

Down to the Wire

Ok, people, here's the deal. I'm really not comfortable doing this, but I'm getting desperate. I'm going to start pleading and begging. No guilt trips, but just putting things into persepective a bit.

One week from today is the first day of the Michigan 3-Day Breast Cancer Walk. We are scheduled to walk over 21 miles that first day. Same for Saturday. Sunday will be a mere 17 or so miles. Hopefully not in the scorching heat we've all been experiencing lately. (After walking all day, we sleep in 6'x6' pup tents lined up next to each other ...literally touching each other...on a football field somewhere along the route. )

Anyway.... a long walk ahead for me...my daughter Kim...our other 3 teammates, and thousands of others who will walk with us next weekend. And thousands of others walking several different weekends across the country.

We each have to raise $2,200 to walk. We started raising money back in February. Our team has had several large fundraisers and have done fairly well. But we still don't quite have all the money we need. We have another 4 weeks after the walk to come up with any donations we need to get to our $2200.00 goal. If we don't, we must donate the balance ourselves.

SO...I need about $400. I've noticed a very large amount of hits on my blog in the past week or so. LOTS more than 400 of you have come to visit. Perhaps to read about my exciting day listening to Stephanie/Yarn Harlot. Whatever brought you here, you're here now, and all I'm asking for is a dollar. One little dollar. From each of you. Really....that's all. *

That's about 1/20 of a pair of Addi Turbos
It's a couple dozen yards of really nice yarn
It's 1/4 of a coffee shop latte
It's 1/5 of a movie rental or 1/10 of a movie theater ticket

It's a drop in the bucket. I need about 400 more drops. Will you help? Please?

Is someone you know a breast cancer survivor?

Is someone you know battling breast cancer right now?

Have you lost someone to breast cancer?

Help me fight this horrible disease.
It touches all of us.
It threatens all of us.

So go on, click that pink ribbon over there on the top of my side bar. Just donate a dollar. *

*UPDATE: I didn't realize, when I wrote this post, that there is a $5.00 minimum online donation. I apologize. But I still could use your $5.00 donations. Maybe your dollar and a dollar from 4 of your friends. Whatever works for you. No pressure :-)
I thank you in advance...

and HEY!

As just a little added incentive...I'll make this into a contest. There will be a prize. Every person who donates from this time until Sept. 13 will be entered into a drawing. A $5.00 donation will get you an entry. Every dollar on top of that will get you another entry. OK? Is it a deal?

And spread the word...tell your friends and fellow bloggers. Post the link in your blog if you want. I won't mind...really :-)

PS. If you see that my total has gotten to $2,200.00 by the time you come to donate, please click on "MY TEAM PAGE" and then click on Kim's donation page and give your $5 to her fund. You will still be entered into the contest. (She actually has more money raised than is showing in her total right now, but still needs about $800...$400...and I wouldn't be totally opposed to you giving $5 to both of us...would that be asking too much? You decide. I'm not going to ask...but if you are inclined to do so.....)

(and if you donate to Kim, please drop me an email and let me know, and the amount, so you can get your entries for the contest!)


THANK YOU!
Come back in about 10 days to read about my journey. I expect this will be an incredible, life changing experience.

If you live in the Metro Detroit area, you really should think about showing up at Opening Ceremonies (Stoney Creek Metro Park), Closing Ceremonies (Metropolitan Beach park) or one of the cheering stations along the way. The cheering stations will be in Shelby and Sterling Heights on Friday, Roseville and Fraser on Saturday, Clinton Township and Mt. Clemens on Sunday. It will move you. You might be inspired to join the walk next year. If you happen to witness the sea of pink this weekend....honk and wave! Email me for the locations of the cheering stations if you're interested!

Yarn Harlot comes to Michigan

I must say that yesterday was high up on the list of exciting happenings in my knitterly world.

I travelled to Ann Arbor through construction, lane closures, & unannounced detours with Chris as my co-pilot, and with Rebecca and Jenny bantering back and forth in the back seat. Rebecca and Jenny have been friends since Kindergarten, and their relationship is so much fun to witness. We had a nice 90 minute ride (despite the aforementioned unpleasantries), arriving at the Ann Arbor library about an hour before Stephanie was to make us almost wet ourselves as we were forced into uncontrollable fits of laugher speak and sign books. There were already about 50 or so knitters in the room, so we decided to wait rather than find some lunch and take the chance of not getting a seat when we got back. I don't think I have ever been in the presence of this many knitters at once...what an awesome time! Everywhere you looked there were needles clicking away, mostly socks being knitted. And lots of interesting knitted items adorning the bodies of all the Harlot groupies.

The room soon filled up (about 150 I think) and then the overflow was taken upstairs where they were not able to be in the company of the lovely, hilarious Yarn Harlot. They had to watch on a big screen tv. I don't know how many more knitters were up there, but I'm glad we got to be downstairs (even though it was HOT down there) and experience Stephanie up close and personal. And what an experience she is. Non-stop giggles. Fun Fun FUN!

We waited close to an hour for autographs and pictures. That's me and Stephanie with our socks (just in case you hadn't figured that out....) Those are my Lodge Socks...started when we went to the Great Wolf Lodge for spring break. Now almost finished, thanks to "afterthought heel help" from Lynn. After photos, we walked a couple blocks over to Busy Hands Yarn and Gifts. There was some much appreciated punch and cookies waiting for us (we were parched and beyond hungry at this point...around 5pm) They also had offered coupons for those of us who were at the library for Stephanie's talk/book signing. Rebecca and Jenny found something to bring home, but Chris and I didn't. Oh well, we're all suffering from yarn overload after stocking our stash with bargains because of the closing of our shop.

After shopping we went to Cottage Inn for some Antipasto salad and pizza. Yummy. Then the long drive back home. We stopped for some relief from the sweltering heat frozen custard when we got back on our side of the state. There were so many people there with the same idea. I'm sure Erma's has been raking in the dollars hand over fist in this non-ending inferno. I know it's worse in other parts of the country, but hot is hot, no matter how you slice it.

I saw some familiar faces...Rae and LynnH. (who introduced me to Sarah Peasley, and a few others whose names unfortunately escape me at the moment...my apologies to those of you who were sitting and talking to Lynn and Sarah). I saw Jillian again (met her and Amy --of knitty.com fame-- at Threadbear in May) but didn't get to talk to her yesterday. I saw a few other familiar faces...people I haven't actually met, but must've seen at another knitting event or shopping at one of the LYSs around the state.

All in all it was a wonderful way to spend a Sunday. Hell, any day of the week when you get to meet THE knitting guru, is a special day indeed.

Thanks for the laughs, Steph!

A couple FOs & Getting Back to Socks

Well, there is no picture of the first one (DUH) which was an afghan for my niece's bridal shower. I knit it in 15 days (all 25,000+ stitches of it!) in weather that was often in the 90s. Then I forgot to get a picture of it before I wrapped it up and presented it on Saturday. But I know where it's going to live and I'll get a picture of it in action next time I go to Jen and Donnie's house.

My sister was in town for just over a week, and we managed to hit 8 yarn stores. She got goodies at 6 out of the 8. Me? I controlled myself and didn't buy a darned thing, even when we visited Threadbear. Even though I had a gift certificate! I just can't imagine bringing another skein of yarn into this house right now. I'm sure you can understand that.
But when we were at Heritage, I got a bag of cotton terry cloth loops, already looped together and wound into big balls, and over the course of a couple of days I made this rug.

It is SO cushy and soft underfoot. I am hoping I have enough loops to do a couple more for the new trailer, but those I will dye a darker color or else they'll be trashed in no time. It wasn't the easiest knit (I could barely fit the 17 stitches on my size 35 needles) but I am happy with the results.

So now I'm going to go from one extreme to the other. From size 35 needles down to size 2. I am picking up my socks that I started during spring break and I am going to finish them! I put them aside months ago because I was planning on doing an afterthought heel on them, and I hadn't tried that method before.I was so nervous to continue.... I was afraid I was going to put the waste yarn in the wrong place. I read and researched the correct placement, and got several different answers. So I pondered it some more. Then I asked sock guru Lynn H. for her advice. I trust her, and she's got so much sock experience, so I am going to take the plunge and do afterthought heels. I'll let you know how it goes!

Wasabi Meets Yarnbox

This weekend we had a surprise party for my dad's 80th birthday. Part of the surprise was that my brother Dave drove from Boca Raton to my brother Brian's house in Savannah. The 2 of them drove from there and arrived here on Friday. My sister Diane also flew in with her friend Becky on Saturday. Dad was thrilled, and yesterday we surprised him more by inviting almost 3 dozen of his closest friends and family to celebrate with us. All 5 of us siblings were together for the first time in 12 years. It was great!

Brian has one of the other 2200 limited edition green xB cars too, and that's what he and Dave drove up in. Here are a few shots of us with our twin cars.

His license plate says WASABI. Hot, Green and Japanese....just like our cars!

Big Pile, Little Consolation....

Here is what was in the bag that I came home with last night. It was all SMASHED into a garbage bag, and was quite heavy to haul.

At the top of the photo is a drop-stitch sweater knit from Colinette Tagliatelli wool tape. I loved this yarn from the moment we got it in the shop. I bought some for my sister. I bought some for my friend Jane. I never bought any for ME! I have loved the sweater from the day Trudy brought it in. Now it is mine, ALL MINE!

It's probably hard to tell what all is in this picture. There is Burly Spun, some of my coveted Noro Blossom, Inca Alpaca, Debbie Bliss Cashmerino, the new Plymouth Tweed, some Galway, Cherry Tree Hill baby mohair loop, some washable wool for future grandbaby knitting, lots of K1C2 Fleece, also for future grandbaby knitting (no, Kim is not pregnant, and they don't plan on babies for a few more years, but it doesn't hurt to plan ahead, right?) Jake also picked out the green Fleece...he wants to try to knit himself a blanket. Go Jake!

This second photo has some more stuff added to it. This is what I've brought home since the sale started. Added to the pile is a bag of Encore Chunky (top) for an afghan I am going to knit for my niece and her fiance. I'm HOPING it will be a shower gift, but it may end up being a wedding gift. We'll see how it goes. Also a bunch of Butterfly Cotton, Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece (top left), 4 new Addi Turbos, and lots of colors of Galway (along the bottom)

Obviously I played a part in this result. Wall of yarn? Practically gone. Talk about "down to the bare walls.....The other wall had more yarn left, but still....it was hard to believe how fast it flew out the doors over the past few days, but especially yesterday.

The place was packed for just about the entire 9 hours we were open. We even sold 1 of our 2 remaining spinning wheels, so that helped too. It was exhausting...physically and emotionally. It's still hard to wrap my mind around the fact that the store is no more. I am going to stop in again today to see everything packed up and maybe that will make it click in my brain.

Here we are after having pizza and a few drinks after the shop closed last night. We've already set up a time and place for our first knitting date. I'm glad we made sure to do that...we've just got to stay in touch! In the photo are Lynne, Chris, Jenny, Me, Delphine and Amie (in the back) I wish Rebecca was there, but she left for vacation on Tuesday. Unfortunately we didn't get this photo until after Trudy had left. Drats.

I hope I can find room for all this yarn...the guest room/craft room is getting quite full! And because it is still the guest room, and we have guests coming in 2 days, I'd better get crackin' and start stashin' the stash!

Blue Morning....

Today is the last day I will get up and go to work at Ewe 'n Hook Fiber Shoppe. The store will close at the end of the day. I have been sniveling about it ever since I got up and I'm sure there will be many more tears before the day is over.

It's going to be a long day (we're open til at least 7pm) and then we are all gathering for dinner and drinks and memories. Sniff..............

Sniff.....

So this is what has been keeping me pretty busy the past couple of weeks.

The Going Out of Business Sale at the yarn store where I have worked, taught classes, and spent a lot of time, energy (and money!) for the past 2 years.

How is one supposed to feel at a time like this?

Sorrow? ... certainly.
Anger? ...yep, a bit of that....long story.
Relief? ... oh yeah, that too....(part of that same "long story" mentioned above)
Denial? ... definitely...it's hard to believe it's come to this.

Next Wednesday is going to be a hard day to get through. Seeing the doors close, knowing that so much of myself that I poured into that shop will be left to settle along with the dust on the floor.

All of us who worked (and played), taught (and learned) within those four walls have become close...kindred spirits...working against the odds to nurture something which probably never really had fighting chance to grow.

Will we find (or make) the time to seek each other out after this is over? To spend time in each others' company, now that the very thing that knit us together has become unravelled? I hope so. Will our friendships become UFOs? I hope not. I hope all the things we said we'd do together in the future really end up happening. I don't want to say good bye to my comrades on top of saying good bye to the shop.

It has been a challenging time for all of us. We have each grown in so many ways. Pushed ourselves past what we thought we could do. It was during my time at Ewe 'n Hook that I started teaching, and then designing. How rewarding it is to have someone come in and look at your pattern, or the store sample, and say how much they like it...and the words come out of your mouth ..."Thanks! I designed that!" It makes me smile just thinking about how many times that has happened.

A lot of things were just dropped in our laps, and we handled it all. Maybe not in the very best way, but in the best way we could. We all put our hearts and souls into trying to make it work, even when we knew in our hearts it would never be.

So in less than 2 weeks, I will be without a LYS job. But what hurts more than that is the fact that I'll be without a place to drop in to see Chris or Jenny or Lynne or Rebecca or Amie or Delphine or Trudy....whoever is working that day, or just hanging out... to chat, or knit...

I'll be without a LYS. All other fiber sources are "not so local". Some of them I just won't go to, because they are not places I have been made to feel welcome or embraced, so how can one feel creative or inspired in such an environment? I will go the extra (many) miles to the stores who know how to treat their fiber-hoarding customers the way we always tried to treat ours. What is it about certain LYS owners or employees that makes them think that they can keep people coming back for more by ignoring them, or treating them with open rudeness and disdain? I will never understand that as long as I live.

So yes, I will be unemployed, but I will not be idle! First and foremost, I will enjoy summer with my kids. I will also become more focused on my business...working on a new website where I can bring together my patterns, my blog, and the other goodies I have for sale, all in one place. I have had a domain name for a couple of years now but have not put it to good use. Now is the time to do so. I will need a lot help with the techy end of it all, but I am excited to move in this direction, and hopefully be able pull in a little more income once this happens. I want it to look professional, but yet with a touch of whimsy. I'm hoping that along with some teaching gigs at the LYSs that I will set foot in, and some new designs, I'll be able to sell enough patterns (etc.) to contribute to the family funds without having to do something drastic like go back to work at Target! ACK!