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!

Knit BIG!

Ok, how fun was my day yesterday????

TOO MUCH FUN!

That's me in the middle of Jillian Moreno and Amy Singer. Co-Authors of the book "Big Girl Knits". We are at Threadbear in Lansing for their book launch party/book signing.

I had to be there...I HAD to meet Amy especially, since she was the one who picked my Bloom Shawl pattern for the Fall '05 issue of Knitty. I had to thank her for one of the biggest thrills in my knitting life. Jillian is just a bundle of energy and SO much fun too. I was so glad to meet them both.

So I left the house about 12:45 and arrived at Threadbear just about 2:30. The party was supposed to start at 3:00. I first stopped at the front counter to grab a copy of the book, chatted with Matt for a couple seconds, and then headed to the table in the middle of the store where Amy and Jillian were set up. There were already a few others around the table.

As soon as I walked up, Amy said to me "That's a really nice Bloom Shawl". I pointed to myself and said "Creator of the Bloom Shawl!" and she jumped up, saying "OH! It's you! Let me come give you a hug!" She told me how much she liked the pattern, and how she enjoyed all the photos I had sent in along with the pattern. I told her I really enjoyed taking all those pictures of Kaitlyn with the shawl. She said the one they picked for the pattern, with Kaitlyn running with it flowing behind her was the kind of photo they like to see along with the patterns. She asked me several times when I was going to send her more designs. Blush....

I had printed out a fresh copy of the Bloom Shawl pattern, so I asked Amy if she would sign it. A lady sitting at the table thought it was kind of strange that I would ask Amy to sign a pattern I had designed, but we both agreed there was nothing strange about it. We both had a hand in bringing it to life.

Then I had her sign the copy of KnitWit that I had brought with me from home. (She's so glad to meet me?? Wow.... It's the other way around, methinks..... but still, thanks, Amy!)

Meanwhile Jillian was signing my copy of Big Girl Knits, which Amy signed when she was done.

Everyone who came in got a "KNIT BIG" pin, and put their name in a basket for a drawing for a T-Shirt. They were giving away T-shirts left and right and pretty soon everyone there seemed to be wearing one! They are so darned cute...pale pink with brown lettering...KNIT BIG on the front and on the back it has the name of the book, the authors' names, the website URL and the name of the publisher. I'm so glad I got one!


I hung around the store for 3 hours ... sometimes with Amy and Jillian, sometimes up front knitting and chatting with Matt and some other ladies. A couple of times I was asked about my B-4 Bag. I would point the ladies to where they could find the pattern, and one lady asked me to autograph it for her. Cool!

I tried to restrain myself from buying too much this time. I picked up some Baby Alpaca that was on sale, and I also had a few things to get for some friends back home that were requested. I didn't buy much else for myself...just a couple balls of Cascade Fixation in a green that is almost the exact color of my car. I'll use Lynn's Fast Florida Footies pattern again. (Lynn, I missed you! Wish you could have been there, but I know you were having a great day yourself...we need to catch up soon!)

Speaking of my car....I got my license plate about a week ago. I wanted "KNITIOT", which would have been soooo perfect, but it was already taken. I thought about ordering "GOT YARN" but decided I wanted the plate to have something to do with yarn or knitting, plus have reference to my car. So here's what I ended up with. Yarn....lots of yarn....always....in my boxy car.

Kaitlyn got me the pink ribbon license plate frame for Mother's Day. How perfect! And Jake got me the clear plate protector.

So I left Lansing and drove another 2 hours before arriving at my sister-in-law Lisa's 50th Birthday party. Grabbed a bite to eat, sang, and before I knew it, it was time for Kim and I to leave. We were signed up to walk 11pm-midnight at the Relay For Life. We ended up staying until about 1 am, and unfortunately there was rain off and on while we were walking. But it gave us a little preparation for how it's going to feel if it rains while we're doing the 3-Day walk.

I was so tired and sore when I got home, and I couldn't wait to peel out of my soggy clothes and get some sleep. I took some Tylenol PM and was able to sleep til 10am which felt SO good.

It was sure a busy day....fun and rewarding.

Busy busy busy!

Wow, I can't believe almost a month has gone by without a post. Where does the time go? Spring is always a busy time of year anyway...this year is no different.

Here are a couple of photos of things I've knit for the shop.



This is a free pattern available here. Knit with Crystal Palace "Trio" ribbon yarn.

This is the Wrap Sweater from Vogue Knitting. I used Tartlette for this one.


I've also gotten myself addicted to the washcloth pattern in the Mason Dixon Knitting book...I can't stop knitting the darned things (or buying cotton in every color of the rainbow...I've got about 10 colors of Butterfly cotton (which makes a smaller, but oh so much softer washcloth) and LOTS of colors of Lion Cotton and Peaches & Cream/Sugar & Cream. I'll be knitting these things for a long time with all the yarn I've accumulated in the past couple weeks.

I've actually started some Christmas gift knitting....so I can't really say what that is, but it's going to be a big project.

On the homefront, we are in the middle of purchasing this trailer, and I can't wait. I hope we have it for Memorial Day weekend, but it's not looking promising, with the obstacles that are standing in our way. Keep your fingers crossed! It's soooo much nicer than the pop-up camper we've had for the past 8 years....Bathroom! Shower! Air Conditioning!!! LOTS of storage! All the conveniences but I won't have to feel like I'm sleeping in a tin box...it still has the feeling of fresh air with the 2 beds on the outside (2 more beds inside too!)

84 LONG Days Later.....

My yarn magnet has a new home.

It's now living on.....

THIS!!!!!

I know, it's one of those vehicles, you love it or you hate it. I don't mind if you hate it....I completely understand. But I am soooooooooooo excited, after waiting so very long for it to arrive, and not knowing for so long if I could even get one.

This cute little green machine is #1771 of only 2200 made. A special edition Scion xB. You won't see too many of these on the road in this color. Until today when I saw mine, I had only seen one other one (at the dealer), and have never seen one on the road. Heck, I have only seen about 15 of them in ANY color since January.

Vote now...

Love it?

Hate it?

I wonder if I can sleep tonight....OMG...I am so in love with my new wheels!

Update from Up North

What knitterly fun I'm having!

Yesterday I stopped at Yarn Quest in Traverse City (where you now can buy my patterns) and talked to a lady who used to live very close to where I grew up. She told me someone had been in the store the day before looking for buttons for their B4 Bag! Wish I had been there! Yarn Quest is a very nice store. I bought Knitting With Wire by Nancie Wiseman, and a lime green Chibi (which I have never seen before, and since I love green, well, I had to have it.) I guess a girl can never have too many Chibis. I have 4 different colored Chibis now.

I didn't have much luck with the other stores on my list for Traverse City. One store was empty, one address was something else altogether (but turned out it was a needlepoint store anyway, not a knitting store, so no great loss) The other one I missed somehow and I may go back to it.

Later in the day we went to Sleeping Bear Dunes, and on the way back I stopped by The Yarn Shop in Glen Arbor
and Inish Knits in Cedar, both of which had closed less than 10 minutes before I got to them. That was disappointing!


Today I went back to Inish Knits and greeted warmly by Kathy when I walked in. She asked if she could help me with something...I told her I worked in a yarn store in Romeo, and that I had designed a few patterns, "including this one" at which time I held up my B-4 Bag. She was very excited and asked "You're the one who designed the bobble bag?" at which point she jumped up and hugged me. She gushed over me a little bit (I am still having a hard time getting used to this type of thing happening.) Anyway, she got Fiona, the owner, on the phone and told her a designer was in the store and explained my bag (which she seemed to be familiar with). I talked briefly with Fiona, and she said she'd be happy to have my patterns in the store, so now they are also available at Inish Knits in Cedar, Michigan. I browsed the store, which was in a historic building complete with tin ceiling. There was lots of great yarn, and lots of fun "extras" created by local artists. Knitting needles topped with polymer clay accents, great polymer buttons, jewelry and other things to take in.

I ended up getting 3 different sheep buttons (I may start a sheep button collection...they are so cute!) 2 of the Noni felted flowers patterns, and a felted vase pattern. All 3 of the vases in the pattern were made up as shop samples and I fell in love with them. I also picked up Mason Dixon Knitting which I've been wanting to get my hands on since its release. I can't wait to spend some time with this book. Kathy pointed out the nesting felted baskets and that will probably be one of my first projects from this book.

Kathy invited me back for Sit 'n Knit tonight and I really would love to go back. I'm not sure what our dinner plans are or what I'll be doing later, but if the family is content to be at the waterpark without me, I'm going back to Inish Knits! I felt right at home there.

Meanwhile...on the needles:
Trekking XXL in color #134

Spring Break!

We're taking the kids to The Great Wolf Lodge for a few days. Should be a blast. I have a feeling we will be in a constant state of "prune" from many hours in the waterpark. Of course I have made a list of all the yarn stores within a 100 mile radius, and hopefully can sneak out while everyone is splashing around (they won't miss me, right?) and check out at least the closest ones.

If you order a pattern while I am gone, please be aware it may be a few days until I get it sent to you. I will take my laptop with me, but am not sure if we will have internet connection. If we do, I'll get your PDF file to you right away. If not, Thursday or Friday will be when I get caught up on them.

I think some sock knitting will be coming with me. I believe Trekking XXL Color #134 will be my choice. It's a summery blend of lime, pink, turquoise, peach and baby blue. I think this is a new Trekking color. Love it!

Dr. Visit

Yesterday I had an appointment with a (male) doctor that I had never seen before. As I was in the exam room waiting for him, I was knitting along on this: (Roxy Lady....LOVE this pattern!)

So in walks the doctor.

"What are you knitting there?"

"It's a purse" I hold it up to show him the cool pattern, because, admittedly, I am unable to stop myself from doing so... I am so in love with this project!

"Very nice"

Doctor then spies my B-4 bag on the floor next to my knitting tote.

"Is that bag felted?"

"You know about felting? I'm very impressed!" I boast a little and tell him that I work in a yarn store, and that I designed the purse pattern. He raises his eyebrows and nods with a smile.

Doctor explains that his mother used to knit a lot but arthritis has slowed her down, and that his wife is also a knitter.

By this time I am getting up onto the exam table and he says

"You've got some great socks there too"

You've just gotta love a man/doctor who appreciates your knitting and will initiate the conversation about it!