Weekend with my Knittin' Buddies

I haven't gotten around to writing about our camping vacation last week yet, but this weekend I am at Bonnymill Inn Bed & Breakfast in Chesaning with 4 members of my knitting group. Here is where I laid my head for 2 nights...what a cute, comfortable room.




Sharon A. and I drove together, and stopped at a great yarn store in Davison on the way. When we got to Bonnymmill, Pat had already arrived, but Sharon and I both needed a little snooze (I had been up since 3 am....don't ask...) Dozed for a bit then met with Sharon A., Pat, and Sharon H. (who arrived while we slept) for dinner in the Bonnymill dining room. Then we knit for a while, and after Sharon A. went up to bed, the rest of us headed down to the Malt Shop for some ice cream. (Seen on the left in the photo below. On the right is the Showboat Restaurant where we went for lunch on Saturday after Tam arrived)



We took over the corner of the very large wrap-around porch for most of 2 days. We had a nice breeze, but unfortunately we were very close to the road and it was quite loud at times. As you can see in the background, the scenery was not the best either, but we didn't really care about that. We had knitting to do and fun times to share!




Many stitches were knit, many laughs were had, a few cocktails were consumed.




Yesterday afternoon there was a wedding on site and we saw the bride and her bridesmaids come out the front door and head down the porch to the back, where there is a gazebo and to where her guests (and groom) were waiting for her. The weather was perfect for a wedding. I didn't take photos to respect their privacy.

We ordered pizza for dinner and it was wonderful. After several more hours of knitting on the porch, we called it a day and headed up to our rooms.

After breakfast this morning, we checked out but stayed on the porch for a while yet, knitting and enjoying the beautiful weather.

We are thinking about the next time we do this...maybe in the winter...maybe somewhere we can sit around a fireplace and knit....what a fun time we had!

Happy, Happy, (I got my) Joy, Joy!!!!

Yesterday was a good day! It started out a bit busy (and way too early, after a very long, hot, eventful weekend with not enough sleep) Jake had an early ortho appt. (He's at the end of Phase 1, yeah!) and then I had a PT appt. I have been hobbling along on a sore knee for 5 months. I finally decided it was not going to get better on its own so I'm hoping the therapy will help. Otherwise I'll have to explore other options. I kinda need to walk (AND SPIN) for the rest of my life.

So around 1:00 pm, Debbie and I headed out, got some lunch and drove 2 hours to Threadbear. It certainly goes faster when you have someone to talk to!

When I was almost there, Rob called to ask where I was, and told me my friend Rebecca was there in the store (neither of us knew the other one was making the trip over there). When we got there, she and her friend Jenny were pulling up again (they had gone out to get some drinks). They came back in the store to hang out with Debbie and I for a while.

I was there to pick up my spinning wheel....I was so happy to finally be getting it...just in time for vacation. Yeah!

I also had a credit at the store so I picked up Nicky Epstein's new book Knitting Never Felt Better. It is such a great book! She is so darned creative... I'm in awe. I will get much inspiration from this book, I just know it.

I had enough credit left over to buy one of the last skeins of Rio De La Plata sock yarn that Rob and Matt had scored. In fact there were only 2 left (on the face of the earth maybe?) in the store so I took the other one for Diane. Cuz she deserves it. Aren't these skeins gorgeous?


I knew some of the yarn stores had already received their shipment of the Interweave Knits FELT magazine, even though the release date was supposed to be July 17. However, Threadbear hadn't gotten theirs yet. BUT.... When Rebecca and Jenny left to go to Little Red School House, they came back with the magazine in hand. Rebecca handed it to me, and I was practically begging her to tell me what page the ad was on as I was frantically flipping through it and then...I saw it....my B4 Bag and my name...right there in an Interweave magazine. Dang! That felt GOOD!






I don't know what was the best part of the day...getting my wheel, seeing my name and design in a magazine, bringing home a new book and sock yarn and not having to spend but a wee bit of money cuz of my credit. It was all good!

Here's Joy in her new home:



And some practicing with roving that Sabrina left in the bag for me:

Off to play some more!

Happy Anniversary to US!

Today is our 28th anniversary. Wow! Who knew, through all the trials and tribulations, we'd make it this far. Here's a photo of Mike and I on our wedding day...Oh, the 70s...weren't fashions grand? At least in this picture I am not wearing my big floppy hat! (I do, however, have my lovely parasol to block the sun)



Today is a BIG day for weddings....being 07-07-07 and all. In fact, we are going to a wedding. Oh yes, I mentioned it in my last post. At some point during the evening, I will have the DJ play our wedding song, and dedicate it to my dear hubby, Mike.

I just googled the song so I could link to it, and found something I didn't know before. Paul Stookey has donated all profit from this song to charity...almost $2 million so far! Wow! Read about it here.


Promised knitting content....


I'm working on a secret project which I am totally in love with. I can't wait to finish it and present it to its recipient. Of course it's in my favorite color which doesn't hurt. It's not the same secret project mentioned previously, (May 5), though it is for the same recipient. Unfortunately that project will be frogged. This one is better anyway, so I have no regrets. And that yarn will be used for something equally as lovely.


I'm knitting another Garden Gate Scarf (available over there on the sidebar). This one is in SWTC's Bamboo for the scarf portion, and the stems, leaves and flowers will be in Karaoke. Some of the flowers will be felted, some will not. I'm sending this to SWTC and I think Jonelle said it would be part of a Karaoke trunk show. I hope to get it in the mail to her very soon.


I also have a pair of socks on the needles, though it's slow going on those. I only pick those up occasionally. I'm about to turn the heels and then I have to decide what I'm going to do on the cuffs. It's not my favorite sock yarn, so I'm kind of anxious to have them done so I can knit with some of the wonderful Rio De La Plata sock yarn I got from Threadbear recently.


Speaking of Threadbear, I am headed there on Monday with my friend Debbie. The purpose of this visit for me is to finally pick up the Ashford Joy spinning wheel that I am buying from one of the gals who works at Threadbear. It is barely used, and I have been making payments on it for a couple of months. Unfortunately, finances on the homefront have been pretty tight, due to several recent layoffs for Mike. Thankfully they were temporary, but even still, put a halt to any frivolous spending. (Not that I consider buying a spinning wheel frivolous, by any means.....)


ANYWAY.....


I was hoping to have the Joy to take with us when we go on our camping vacation starting next Saturday. I had been picturing myself at the campsite, sitting under the awning of our camper, spinning away. It didn't look like this was going to happen. When I mentioned it to my sister the other day, my dear, sweet, wonderful, generous sister offered to loan me the money to pay it off so I could get my wheel. (THANKS DIANE!!! I LOVE YOU!) So Deb and I are going to head to Lansing. I know Deb....she's going to spend a lot of time shopping. Me? Well, remember that halt to frivolous spending I mentioned? I can't do much shopping. I do have a store credit I can possibly use. But while Deb is browsing (we spent about 6 hours in the store the first time we shopped there...to give you an indication....) I think I will spin some roving I will bring along with me, and get acquainted with Joy. I can't wait! Ever since I borrowed a Joy to spin on while I was visiting my sister in February, I have wanted my very own and in 2 days it will happen. Yeah!



I found this on Jane's blog, and thought it would be fun to play along....


Scattergories


Here are the rules:
~Use the 1st letter of your name to answer each of the following.
~They MUST be real places, names, things…NOTHING made up!
~If you can’t think of anything, skip it.
~Try to use different answers if the person before you had the same 1st initial.
~You CAN’T use your name for the boy/girl name question.

Have fun!

Your Name: Trish

1. Famous Singer/Band: Tim McGraw
2. 4 letter word: Tool
3. Street Name: Tienken
4. Color: Teal
5. Gifts/Presents: Toys
6. Vehicle: Train
7. Things in a Souvenir Shop: Trinkets
8. Boy Name: Tyler
9. Girl Name: Tina
10. Movie Title: Titanic
11. Drink: Tequila Sunrise
12. Occupation: Teller
13. Celebrity: Tom Hanks
14. Magazine: Time
15. U.S. City: Tampa
16. Pro Sports Teams: Tigers
18. Reason for Being Late for Work: Tired!
19. Something You Throw Away: Trash
20. Things You Shout: Time Out!
21. Cartoon Character: Tinkerbell

Tom is home

My nephew, Tom, arrived home from his tour in Afghanistan this morning. A bunch of us went to the airport to welcome him safely home. Here we are with our flags and signs, etc.

Tom's brother Jason is getting married this weekend. We're so glad he was able to be home in time to be his little brother's best man!



We were waiting for Tom for about 45 minutes, and many people came by and looked at our signs, asked where Tom had been, how long he had been gone, etc. It was really touching. All 8 in the picture below are Tom's cousins, from 4 families, and these are only about 1/3 of the cousins on our side. Too bad they couldn't have all been there!


I was able to catch this shot while he and his daughter were walking to the luggage carousel. I'll have to be sure to send this picture to Tom.

As happy as we all are to have him home, what really brought a tear to my eye were the older men who would stop and shake Tom's hand, saying what war they were in, thanking him for his service. Or the moms who have recently sent their boys off to war, coming by to say how glad they were that our family member was coming safely home. I'm getting a little weepy right now again, typing this. It was really nice.

Back to the regularly scheduled knitting content in my next post.... I promise!

I can't wait!

Well, I'll have to, but not for long!
This is the new yarn shop where I will soon be working/teaching:

Isn't it cute?

The "Coming Soon" sign went up today.

I'm rubbing my hands together in anticipation of August 1st, when Labor of Love Yarn and Fiber Arts opens its doors!
143 W. St. Clair, Romeo MI

Lazy Dayz of Summer

Ok, it's technically not summmer yet, not according to the calendar. But the thermometer? Oh yeah, it's stuck firmly at SCORCHING. This has been the hottest spring I can remember, and I can only imagine what this summer will be like if the current trend continues.

If I'm not mistaken, we have not had rain since Memorial Day weekend. The grass is turning brown....the ground is rock hard. If given enough watering, the veggie garden should do very well.

Today I did not get dressed. I went right from my PJs to my bathing suit. Granted, this did not happen until mid-afternoon since I spent the morning baking muffins, cleaning the kitchen, doing laundry etc. By then I had worked up a sweat glistening dew and went for a dip in the pool.

From there I hit the hammock with my book for a while. There was a nice breeze, and I was in the shade on the porch, so it was quite pleasant. I thought about a little nap, but it didn't happen. I stayed in my bathing suit, and will go from my suit right back to PJs after I get in the shower.

We grilled some burgers for dinner, ate out on the back deck. I read some more after dinner, then worked on the shop sample of my new scarf pattern that I am doing for Threadbear in Lansing. I got the main part of the scarf finished and am now working on the flowers. I'm hoping to have it blocked and ready to send in the mail early next week.

It's been a pretty relaxing summer day once the busy-ness of the morning was over. Thankfully the humidity is low, so we have been able to keep the house open and even though we've been at or near 90 quite a few times already this spring, we have yet to turn on the A/C. It's a little warmer than I like upstairs in the evening when we go up, and once it gets unbearable, the A/C will go on.

There's no relief in sight.....either with the temps or the lack of rain. Any mention of showers is a very small chance. Maybe we'll get lucky. The garden could use a drink....one not provided by the sprinkler.

Jake is starting his permanent state of puckered fingers and toes from spending so much time in the pool. There have been several summers in recent years that the pool rarely got used. That will not be the case this year.

I'm thinking of jazzing up the pool this year. (We have a 24' round above-ground pool.) We've had the pool for almost 20 years. We brought it with us from the last house we lived at, and we've been here 14 years. I think we put it in our second year at the old house and we were there 6 years. Anyway, the outer wall used to be a blue-ish gray woodgrain which has faded to almost white except right up under the top rail where you can still see the woodgrain.

Mike repainted the top rails this year (white) and I'm so sick of looking at the tired, faded side wall that I'm thinking it needs to get painted lime green, with bright pink or purple supports. Rustoleum has some really cool colors now, and I've gotten the go-ahead from Mike, so I'll post pix if/when I do it. I'm excited! (I'm trying really hard to restrain myself from thinking about polka dots.....)

This has been going around

And so I thought I'd play....


Legend:
Stuff I've done/am doing
Stuff I'd like to do
Stuff that I'll probably never do

Afghan
I-cord
Garter stitch
Knitting with metal wire
Shawl
Stockinette stitch
Socks: top-down
Socks: toe-up
Knitting with camel yarn
Mittens: Cuff-up
Mittens: Tip-down
Hat
Knitting with silk
Moebius band knitting
Participating in a KAL
Sweater
Drop stitch patterns
Knitting with recycled/secondhand yarn
Slip stitch patterns
Knitting with banana fiber yarn
Domino knitting
Twisted stitch patterns
Knitting with Bamboo yarn
Two end knitting
Charity knitting
Knitting with soy yarn
Cardigan
Toy/Doll clothing
Knitting with circular needles
Baby items
Knitting with your own handspun yarn
Slippers
Graffiti knitting (knitting items on, or to be left on the street)
Continental Knitting
Designing knitted garments
Cable stitch patterns (incl. Aran)
Lace patterns
Publishing a knitting book
Scarf
Teaching a child to knit
American/English knitting (as opposed to continental)
Knitting to make money
Buttonholes
Knitting with Alpaca
Fair Isle Knitting
Norwegian knitting
Dying with plant colors
Knitting items for a wedding
Household items (dishcloths, washcloths, tea cosies...)
Knitting socks (or other small tubular items)on two circulars
Olympic knitting
Knitting with someone else's handspun yarn
Knitting with dpns
Holiday related knitting
Teaching a male to knit
Bobbles
Knitting for a living
Knitting with cotton
Knitting smocking
Dyeing yarn
Steeks
Knitting art
Knitting two socks (or other small tubular items) on two circulars simultaneously
Fulling/felting
Knitting with wool
Textured Knitting
Kitchener Bind Off
Purses/bags
Knitting with beads
Swatching
Long Tail CO
Entrelac
Knitting and Purling Backwards
Machine knitting
Knitting with selfpatterning/selfstriping/variegating yarn
Stuffed Toys
Baby items
Knitting with Cashmere
Darning
Jewelry
Knitting with synthetic yarn
Writing a pattern
Gloves
Intarsia
Knitting with Linen
Knitting for preemies
Tubular CO
Freeform knitting
Short rows
Cuffs/fingerless mitts/armwarmers
Pillows
Knitting a pattern from an online knitting magazine
Rug
Knitting on a loom
Thrummed knitting
Knitting a gift
Knitting for pets
Shrug/Bolero/Poncho
Knitting with dog/cat hair
Hair accessories
Knitting in public

Sunday...a day in the sun

My brother Andy finally (after having his boat for 3 years)took us out for a spin. The weather was perfect and we all had a ball.

TNNA Loot

Here's the stuff I picked up at TNNA. Not including all the paper (catalogs, brochures, price lists, etc)

A couple of tote bags (LOVE the Nicky Epstein one that she signed for me!) some yarn samples, Takumi needles, some patterns, tapestry needles, wool wash, and my TNNA credentials on the left.

and here's the yarn I got at "The Merc"

Columbus-TNNA

What a weekend Kim and I had!

We have been so excited about attending our first TNNA. It was SO worth it.

The drive down was pretty uneventful except for a bit of construction and some rush hour traffic. Oh, and a few giggling fits to break things up a bit. The scenery can be a bit....um....shall we say....boring? in Ohio. We had to do something to keep ourselves awake. Even if it was to pretend I wanted some CEE-ment statuary on the way home from the place along the freeway. LOL....(Ok, so you had to be there.....)

We got to the hotel and got checked in. The hotel was really great. We stayed at The Columbus . The hotel had recently had a $15 million renovation, so everything was fresh and new. The beds were the best. We called them our "cloud" beds. They were cushy pillowtop beds, with down comforters and lots of down pillows. Our room overlooked the pool that was on the roof of the 4th floor. We were on the 11th floor. Here's a picture of our cool bathroom



And here's a picture of our cloud beds. Kim didn't want to be in this picture and I told her I wouldn't post it so I spray-painted her out (she was knitting on her bed...I don't know why I couldn't show that!)


So after checking in, we ventured out into downtown Columbus to look for somewhere to eat. My knee was bothering me, unfortunately, so we couldn't walk far (or very fast either). There was not much to choose from close to the hotel, but we did come across a place that looked like an old bar...the outside was really cool looking (WHY did I not have my camera with me?)but I wasn't sure I wanted "bar food". We decided to venture in and look at the menu, and decided to stay and eat. I'm so glad we did. It turned out to be an incredible meal, and the atmosphere was just great. Lots of dark old carved wood, stained glass, mosaic floors, etc. in this historic building. Unfortunately the photos on their website don't do it justice.

Kim and I both had this for dinner:

Almond Crusted Chicken Salad
Boneless breast of chicken rolled in almonds & Japanese breadcrumbs, lightly fried, served with mesclun salad, topped with apples, white cheddar, smoked bacon and drizzled with honey mustard vinaigrette.

The chicken was what was drizzled with the honey mustard vinaigrette, and the greens/cheese/bacon were drizzled with a maple shallot vinaigrette. The blend of the flavors was superb. I went searching for a maple shallot vinaigrette recipe last night and found this one. I will be trying it soon. YUM

We were expecting a salad with some pieces of chicken mixed in but really it was a bed of greens (with cheese and bacon) with a HUGE chicken breast on top in big slices. The apple slices were arranged off to the side. It was quite filling.

We walked back to the hotel to settle in for the evening since we had to be up pretty early Saturday morning, and neither one of us is really a morning person.

We got up just after 6am on Saturday morning, and got ready to go over to the Convention Center for TNNA! We picked up our credentials, booklets, and looked at the Great Wall Of Yarn for a while, picking up some yarn samples and taping them into our books.

We found the room where they were having the Designer/Teaching meeting at 8am. I'm glad we went to that. There was lots of talk about promoting ourselves in the industry, and I was especially interested in the talk of the more experienced members mentoring the newbies. Gwen from Knitability headed up the meeting and it was nice to be in the presence of other designers who I've only known from some of the yahoo lists. After the meeting we were both getting pretty hungry so we grabbed a bagel/cream cheese and then checked out the "new product" display out in the hallway before heading into the HUGE showroom.

The first place we headed was to the back corner were the South West Trading Company booth was. I was anxious to meet Jonelle and thank her personally for the exposure she has given my B4 Bag pattern. We had a nice chat, and took some pictures. She wanted a photo of me standing in front of the banner. I guess she is going to do a "designer showcase" of some sort. Here's a shot me standing by the banner. My bag is basically hanging over my head on the grids with some other samples that were knit up.

After hanging out there for a bit, we hit the floor. We walked and walked and walked. We made sure to make it to the booths that were giving out freebies. We got some yarn from Briggs & Little, some Clover Takumi (which means "professional" in Japanese, we were told) needles that are new to the market, and a few other little things. We enjoyed talking to the all of the people in the booths. It was informative, exciting and a bit overwhelming. Kim was focused on talking to yarn companies about possibly designing for them, while I was focused on finding new or unique items for the new yarn shop coming to Romeo this summer.

Which reminds me that I haven't written about that yet! I don't know how I didn't get around to making that huge announcement yet. On August 1st, there will be a new yarn shop, right around the corner from the one I used to work/teach at. Tina, the owner, is an incredible woman and has such a great vision for this shop. She is highly motivated and I feel this is going to be a wonderful place for us to gather and enjoy our passion for fiber. YEAH! It will be called Labor Of Love Yarn and Fiber Arts. Please visit if you live close enough or are coming through the area!

Tina was not able to attend TNNA so she sent me on a mission to be her eyes and ears while I was there. I brought back many ideas and information to share with her this week. I can't wait!

We ran into people we knew (Rob & Matt from Threadbear, LynnH, Joan from Heritage),met a few people such as Nicky Epstein when she signed our tote bags (that was cool! and I can't wait to get her new "Knitting Never Felt Better" book) and Chris de Longpre of Knitting At KNoon (another Michigan designer). We saw Lucy Neatby too. I touched base with the ladies at the Brown Sheep booth...one of which I had met during my trip to their factory in February. She remembered the blizzard and was amazed that we had really driven all the way back to Vermillion in that weather.

After hours and hours of walking, we decided at about 4 pm that we had had enough. We were so exhausted, and decided another little rest in our cloud beds would be nice before we found somewhere for dinner. So we had a nap, and then headed out. We went to Cap City Diner for dinner. Kim said it was one of her favorite places to go when she used to live in Columbus. It was a great choice. There were so many things that sounded good on the menu, but the desserts really sounded good too. So I chose the Vegetable Plate which was:

Roasted Corn Risotto
Grilled Roma Tomatoes, Asparagus and Zucchini
Portabello Spring Roll
Spinach
Goat Cheese, Pine Nuts and Basil Pesto.

OMG! Was it ever good. I did get a photo of this delightful dinner

Then came dessert. Kim got the Seriously Big Chocolate Cake, and they are not kidding. It had to be about 8 or 9 inches tall. I about died when I saw it. I had to get a photo of that too.

And here's a photo of my dessert. It was upside-down banana cream pie. It didn't have a crust, but instead was on a layer of chopped honey roasted peanuts. Yum. Neither one of us could finish our dessert. BURP!


Our original plan was to pick up some wine coolers on the way back to the hotel and to go back and watch the Pistons game. We were, however, SURPRISINGLY, too full to even think about drinking any alcohol, so we nixed that idea.

We could have used the alcohol to drown our sorrows when the Pistons ended up being eliminated from the playoffs. Phooey.

So we drifted off to la-la land in our comfy-cozy beds again, and slept in on Sunday morning. Check-out wasn't until noon, so we took advantage of that. We (reluctantly) left the hotel around 11:30. Kim dropped me off at the convention center again while she went to knit by the river for a while. I wanted to go in and thank Jonelle again before leaving for home. I was told there had been a lot of interest in my bag, and that quite a few LYS owners had taken my order forms, so I am hoping to get some new accounts from this.

I also picked up some more info for Tina from booths that I had somehow missed the day before.

I called Kim to come get me, and we headed out to Bob Evans for some chow. Then we went to the Knitter's Mercantile yarn shop. What a great place! The staff was friendly, helpful and humorous. There was a great group of ladies knitting at a table in the back. They all got excited about my B4 Bag, and threatened several times to steal it if I set it down or left it unattended. I passed out business cards and several of them have purchased the pattern online today. I got really nice notes from each of them today too. I REALLY wish I lived closer to "The Merc" as they call it. Everyone was so cheerful, and each person that came in while we were there was greeted by name and you could tell it was a wonderful place to be. If any of you are reading this, thank you for a fun time!

Kim bought lots of yarns that were new to her so she could do some swatching. I just grabbed a ball of sock yarn. I tend to buy sock yarn as souvenirs of places I want to remember, and then I also tend to knit a pair of socks to commemorate a trip or occasion. So I started a pair of socks this trip (yarn I got from the Brown Sheep factory in February)



I'll post some pix tomorrow of some of the goodies I collected over the weekend. This will have to be enough for now. I'm still quite tuckered out. I had a little snooze this afternoon, trying to catch up a bit. I think I need one more really good sleep and I'll be good to go!

I just have to say that I fell in love with the city of Columbus. The downtown area was awesome. Lots of interesting old architecture, as well as lots of new and exciting additions to the city, especially in the Arena District. I don't know why but I was especially fascinated with the old YMCA that was just a few blocks from the hotel. I wish I had gotten a photo of that building too. I need to become more diligent about carrying my camera, and USING it. I don't know how many times I have smacked myself in the head after leaving somewhere, thinking I should have gotten a photo or 2. Like at "The Merc". I should have a photo of the outside of the building, as well as the fun ladies sitting at the back knitting, Gerald who was behind the counter when we came in and quite friendly during our entire visit, etc. So many things I wish I had gotten pictures of this weekend. I hope I've learned my lesson.....

Blue Moon Tonight!

Diane told me that there will be a Blue Moon tonight. Not in all time zones, but certainly in mine, so I had no choice but to announce the new pattern today. You know, my company name being "Once In A Bloomoon Creations" and all.....

So here it is. This is the Garden Gate Scarf.
The pattern will be available next week when I get home from TNNA.

Big Weekend Ahead!

Tomorrow afternoon Kim and I will be on our way to Columbus for TNNA. I have no idea what to expect, besides sore feet. I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed and pressed for time, trying to get things done before leaving. I don't even have any idea what clothes I'm bringing! I've been so focussed on finishing up my new pattern. I'm just about there. I need a few more photos for the pattern, and still need to finish formatting the print version. I really want to have this done before hitting the road tomorrow so I can add it to my (very small, but growing) catalog of patterns.

Here is a sneak preview. Hopefully I can announce the launch later today!



I'm really getting excited about the prospect of having my B4 Bag on display at TNNA. Please cross your fingers (whenever you're not knitting) that it will be seen by many, will be received well, and ORDERED OFTEN!!! I am hoping my new design will be a hit also. (I am trying to pay off an Ashford Joy spinning wheel and would love to be able to do that in a few weeks!)

One of my wholesale customers emailed me yesterday with a design request, and it's a great idea. So I'll have something new to work on when I get back.

I'll bring my laptop with me and try to post over the weekend with some of our experiences.