Noolie Knits

What a Perfect Day!

The SMGSW's Annual Spinning Bee was held this past Saturday at Tare Shirt Farm in Berwick.  Tare Shirt Farm is the beautiful 18th century farm & home of Peter and Nancy Cook. 

Patti, Eileen, Carol and I packed up our wheels and headed there for a lovely afternon of spinning under the apple trees. 

Words can't describe how wonderful the day was, so I won't even try.  I'll just share some pictures from the day.

 

Nancy & Peter Cook

Carol, Eileen, (my wheel), Patti

Jacqueline Fee (Nancy's Mother)

Spindle Spinning Contest

I started the day with two two-ounce balls of this lovely Romney/Mohair roving which was part of my gift bag of goodies that Marianne gave me for my birthday.  As you can see, I managed to spin one of the balls while visiting friends and enjoying the beautiful day.  This fiber is a joy to spin and I'm hoping the weather is good next weekend so I can take my wheel out on the deck for some more spinning outside.  There's nothing quite like spinning outside on a beautiful day.

 

 

Virginia (continued)

Part Two - The Fun!

Don't think for a minute that my very long trip down to Virginia was in any way going to get in the way of me having a good time.  If anything it just added to the adventure and gave us all something to laugh about.

The only negative thing I have to say about the entire weekend was that it was not nearly long enough!  We did manage to squeeze in a lot of fun into the time we had though. 

On Friday, we bought supplies to bring to the lovely place that Dianne's husband had so generously rented for the four of us to stay.  The little apartment at Hurricane Hill was just the right size and couldn't have been in a better location.  It was not more than 5 minutes from the Festival site and yet it was as if it were out in the middle of nowhere.

(click pics for bigger)

We spent the day Friday at the festival site helping Dana and Dianne setup for the festival the next day.  It was a great day - weather was perfect, company was even better.  Friday evening we ate yummy sandwiches at the apartment and tested out Havala's (Marianne's daughter) recipe for Purltini's - we all agreed that they were awesome!  We also all agreed that Havala has the sweetest voice ever (we called her for the recipe)!  There was a lot of talking and giggling, and good memories being made! 

Me, Marianne, Dana

Big feet (Dianne), Little feet (Marianne)
But no hairy toes ;-)

Saturday was spent at the festival - what a gloriously sunny day it was!  Words can't describe it, so I'll just share some pictures from the day:

Some of you may recognize Chris in the picture on the right, but you probably wouldn't have made as big a fool of yourself as I did when realizing that "OMG, it really IS Woolybuns!"   I was just so surprised to see her all the way in VA; I'm used to seeing her up in my neck of the woods.

What a great festival it was - Dana and Dianne did a fabulous job organizing such an amazing event with amazing vendors!  I may have come home with a little more in my suitcase than I started out with.  I figure if I only needed one person to sit on it to close it, then I did well.

 

We went to a wonderful restaurant for dinner on Saturday night and ate fantastic meals and enjoyed some very tasty Peartini's.   (Yes, it was a weekend all about martini's; why do you ask?)  We were able to eat outside on the deck and it was a beautiful night for it. Dianne, Dana, and Marianne used this occassion to celebrate my birthday and they spoiled me rotten.  I honestly felt it was enough of a gift to have finally met them in person and be able to spend the entire weekend with them, but they showered me with some amazingly wonderful gifts!  Thank you, my sisters, I love you!  We were having such a good time that the restaurant staff nearly had to kick us out - we were still there quite a while after closing time.  I guess none of us wanted the magic to end.

 

And with that, I'll end this post.  Oh wait  - let me leave you with a little video that Dianne took while we were at dinner.

  Do you think she gets good tips? She was a sweet girl; I'm sure she gets good tips for her personality and service - but this can't hurt ;-)

Slumber Party

Remember going to slumber parties as kids? 

Staying up all night, eating tons of junk food, laughing and giggling with the girls, playing games. 

Those were some good times, weren't they?

Why should all that fun be left to kids?  It shouldn't, and it wasn't this past weekend.

Patti, Sharon, Eileen, Carol, and I decided to have a slumber party at Sharon's house.  It was a typical girls' slumber party.  We laughed, we giggled, we played games (knit & spin), we ate (and ate and ate and ate).  The only thing we didn't do was stay up all night.  Wait, we also didn't play Truth or Dare; hmmmm, maybe next time.

We never left Sharon's house from Friday afternoon until Sunday afternoon. 

Not only was it a fun weekend, it was a productive weekend.

   

 

I crocheted two bath puffs and a washcloth, knit one sock for Clover (the second sock was finished last night), finished spinning Selfish, and started spinning the Spunky Club July fiber, Beach Day.   Thanks for letting us invade your house, Sharon; I had so much fun!  

To top off the weekend, I got  home and received this from Clover:

A handpainted pencil holder for my desk.    

I'll end with a picture of Clover's finished socks.  I  used Lorna's Laces Shepherd sock yarn for this tiny pair of socks.

  They fit her perfectly and she loves them - I call that a success!

 

Friday with Clover

Gina and Jackie came to visit last Saturday.   We met in Portsmouth at the Yarn Basket and then came back to my house for lunch and a visit with Clover before heading to the Yarn Sellar to meet Heather for a bit of shopping and knitting. 

There was reading.       There was playing.


  There was coloring.       Gina, Me, Jackie Clover And apparently,  there was a uniform of the day.  

 

It was a great day with friends!

 

Unfortunately, I forgot to bring my camera to the Yarn Sellar so I have no pictures of Heather.

 

 

WNBP

It's been awhile, so how about some Wednesday Night Bullet Points tonight? 

~~First things first - you still have time to enter my contest; I'm taking entries until I wake up on Friday morning (6am).

~~Check out this link and be sure to roll over the image :-)  

~~This past weekend was very busy, but very fun.

~~Patti, Sharon, Carol, and I left Friday afternoon and headed to Patti's timeshare condo at Loon Mountain.  The plan - a weekend of spinning and knitting together and attending the Granite State Knit-In on Saturday.

View from the condo

~~A couple of our other friends, Eileen and Eileen (no, that's not a typo), were supposed to come with us but couldn't make it.   That was the only downside to the whole weekend. 

~~We missed you 1.0 and 2.0!

~~I was only able to attend one of the classes at the Knit-In, but it was an awesome class.   Suzanne Federer, who used to teach at The Yarn Sellar and whose classes I've taken in the past, taught Intro. to Fair Isle knitting.  

~~She only had 2 hours to teach us, but she did a great job and I do believe I got the hang of it! 

~~I'm now contemplating what my first Fair Isle project will be.

Suzanne and Sharon

~~The weekend also included me taking a side trip on Saturday to Acton, Maine to attend my niece's graduation party.  (This would be the reason I was only able to attend one class.)

~~Said side trip involved an hour and forty minute drive each way - much of which was driving the Kancamagus Highway.  

~~I would have loved the scenic drive through the mountains had I been the passenger - as the driver, not so much.  

~~I'm a wimpy driver.

~~My niece is worth the white knuckle drive though.

Jena, the RISD grad, and her boyfriend, Andrew

~~The time spent at the condo with the girls was awesome.  The condo was spacious and comfy with enough room for us to leave our spinning wheels set up and not have to move them around if we wanted to take a break and sit on the couches.

Patti, Carol, Sharon                              Sharon, Patti, Me

~~I started my May Spunky Club fiber last Thursday night at Chicks with Wheels and finished spinning it on Friday at the condo. 

~~No picture yet because it's still sitting on the bobbin.

~~My Rainbow Tofutsie socks have gone from this:   

~~to this:   .

~~Some day I'll learn to listen to that little voice in my head when it says "It's not working; it's too small". 

~~After that failure, I decided to make plain stockinette stitch socks with the TOFUtsies.

~~My Cabled Yoke Sweater is moving along quite nicely.

~~All that remains to bed done is to knit are the sleeves, which are straight stockinette - YEEHAW!

~~That's it for now.

~~Have a great night!

A Picture Post

Another picture of Clover and Samm. Samm thought I deliberately cut out her tattoo in the last post so I thought I'd show it to you today.   
 

I finished a pair of socks...

Yarn: Marks & Kattens Clown
Pattern: Stockinette Stitch, top down socks on 60 stitches. Eye of Partridge heel.

 

...and started another:

Yarn: TOFUtsies     Pattern: Rainbow Ripple  

 

Over the past week, I've received more goodies from some very good friends - I'm so spoiled (and I love it)!

 

From the wonderful Dana and Dianne - a souvenier from the festival they work so hard to put together, The Sedalia Spring Fiber Festival: 

A Nana Sadie Rose bag!
With crazy black cats on the outside and pawprints inside (along with many pockets for needles and things) - Perfect!

I'm saving my pennies so that I can buy my own souvenier next year.
2010 Sedalia or Bust!  Right Marianne?

More birthday goodies from Patti and Roger:

Goes perfectly with the rest of the birthday gifties they bestowed upon me.

 

Wait, I'm not done yet.  Even more birthday goodies arrived in the mail on Friday. This package came from the sweet, sweet Gina.

Chalice Cable Handwarmers pattern by Alison Green Will,
the yarn to knit the handwarmers - Rowan Felted Tweed,
and some scrumptious Jojoland Cashmere laceweight yarn!
Don't you love the wrapping paper? And that card is too cute! (click here to see it larger so you can read it)

Thank you all so much - you're all too good to me!

I received one more goodie package in the mail on Saturday - this one wasn't a gift; it was my May Spunky Club fiber:

"Pansy" 4 ounces of Romney
Gorgeous isn't it?  

Clover thinks so!

I have just a couple more photos to share with you before I end for today:

 

This is how hubby spent yesterday morning.
You KNOW that made me happy!!!

Celebrating

As some of you know, my birthday was this past Tuesday.   I want to share with you some of the things I did and received. 

Since Hubby works the crazy midnight shift and has a hard time being up in the evening during the week, we celebrated my birthday at home on Monday evening (the end of his weekend).  We ordered takeout from Ruby Tuesdays, which is always good, and then we topped it off with angel food cake covered in strawberries and whipped cream - YUMMY.  Samm, Jay, and Clover then gave me this beautiful gift:

"Child's Touch" by Willow Tree
Isn't that just too sweet?! I love it!
 

Hubby gave me a gift a week earlier when it arrived in the mail.  (Usually it's Samm who can't wait to give a gift.)

 
Isn't this a great T-shirt. He picked it out himself and had it customized! He did good; no wonder he couldn't wait to give it to me :-)

I received one other gift on Monday; this one came in the mail and was from the wonderful Colleen:

The Knit Kit!
Look at what she padded the package with - sample sizes of a couple different fibers. They are going onto some spindles soon!  

Want to see what's in the Knit Kit?

On the top of the front is a row counter, to the right of that is a little pull out thread cutter, and on the left is a crochet hook that snaps into the side.  On the bottom is a pull out tape measure and that button on the bottom sucks it back in.  Turn it over and open the compartment on the back and you get what you see in the picture on the right - fold up scissors, stitch markers, needle protectors.  This is so great!  Everything you need in somethinng so compact.  I added a darning needle to the compartment in the back and I really have everything I need.  So much easier than the baggie I drag along and move from bag to bag.  Thank you so much Colleen!

All that and it wasn't even my birthday yet.    Since my birthday fell on a Tuesday, I naturally wanted to spend it with my other family, The Chicks with Sticks at the Yarn Sellar.   I really did not expect it to be another party, but a party it was.  First, my dear dear friends, Patti & Roger, gave me a great gift:

Sereknity Perfect Sock in the color "Caramel Macchiato"
and an adorable new project bag - notice the clovers and ladybugs - Perfect!
Patti and Roger are too good to me - thanks guys!

It didn't end there though, my good friend Mary came in a few minutes later carrying a wonderful fruit tart (with custard covered in strawberries, blueberries, and kiwi - OMG - YUMMY!), party favors for everyone (silly plastic gemstone rings), a crown for me to wear, and a bottle of wine.  I didn't get a picture of any of this, but I do have this one shot of the crown that I took when I got home:

Yes, Princess Clover now owns the crown.
 

 

I didn't complete my birthday celebrating until yesterday when i spent some birthday money that I had received.   Every  year on the Saturday of Memorial Day Weekend, my friend, Tracy, and I start our summer of eating outside in Portsmouth and shopping downtown.  We like to eat out on the deck of The Old Ferry Landing and have a couple drinks and then walk around Portsmouth and shop.  This year was no different - well, I guess it was a little different as we made a stop at a "shop" that we have never visited before.  Tracy had mentioned when she picked me up that she really wanted to get a tatoo of a couple cat paw prints on her ankle.  That was all it took (well, that and a couple drinks and an Ativan) to give me the courage to do what I've been wanting to do for quite a while.

 

 

 

It'll look better after it heals and there's no longer any blood on it. Aside from the blood, isn't it great?!
 

I'm so happy that I finally did it! It was so much easier than I thought it would be; it hardly hurt at all.

Just one thing - please don't tell my Daddy that I spent the birthday money he gave me on a tatoo :-)

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday to ewe,

Happy Birthday to ewe,

Happy Birthday, dear Sheepie;

Happy Birthday to ewe!

Here's wishing you lots of yummy birthday cake. (not served  on the fine china though, cuz that would be gross!)

ETA: I didn't make this cake; the picture came from www.coolest-birthday-cakes.com

 

 

 

I Love Surprises

 Well, maybe not all surprises.

I don't much care for the surprises the kitties sometimes leave for me; and I really don't like it when I step on those surpises - Ewwww. 

I do love the kind of surprise that was waiting for me on my porch when I got home at lunch today.  It was a completely unexpected package from the wonderful Gina.

Once I saw the box, I couldn't get it in the house fast enough.  Forget about eating; I wanted to see what was in the box. 

Would you like to see?

  It wasn't all for me; there were goodies for Clover and Samm in the box as well as goodies for me.

For Clover: 

A cute My Little Pony with hairbrush and a gift wrapped in some really pretty pink fabric.

Check out what was wrapped in that fabric:

Isn't this the cutest little doll ever?  Gina made it herself.  I love it and so does Clover!

 

For Samm:

Beads, Lip Smackers, Swarovski crystals, and (you'll want to click on this picture to see the detail on these) adorable little birdie bobbie pins!  Too cute!  Gina, how did you know Samm goes through chapstick like crazy?  She called to tell me she is wearing the birdies in her hair right now! She loves it all.  

 

and For Me, Me, Me:

Her beautiful new sock pattern!  I'm so glad that I just finished the "year-long" socks; I plan to cast on for these in the next day or two!  You can bet these will not be on the needles for a year!
 

As if that wasn't enough, she also sent me some merino/silk that she dyed in the happiest of colors!

The color is greener than the picture shows and it just makes me smile when I look at it.  It's going to be such a joy to spin this!    

Does Gina know how to put together a package or what?  Thanks so much, Gina!

A Bit of Green

I'll bet with a title like that, you think this is a St. Patrick's Day post.  It's not. (Well, I guess technically it is since today is St. Patrick's Day and this is a post.)

It's a post about friendship.

As you know, I am not a big fan of winter. I live for the days of Summer when I can lounge around in my pool and soak up the sun.  This has been a particularly long and dreary winter.  As a matter of fact, I was sick of the snow before it was even officially winter.

Marianne knows this about me.  Not only does she know this about me, but she cares enough to send me a package filled with the green of Spring/Summer.

(Click pics for bigger)
Can you believe this?????

She knit me a Swallowtail Shawl!!!
For no reason other than she cares and wants me to know it.
Can you see the love and time that went into that?

When I opened the package and saw this beautiful shawl, my jaw nearlly dropped to the floor.  I was speechless.

But wait, there was more in the package:

Silk! The softest, most beautiful shades of green.
I can't wait to spin this.

There was also some yummy chocolate - I ate a few pieces, shared a few pieces, and hid the rest so I can eat it a little at a time (if it's where I can see it, I'll devour it all in one sitting).

Thank you so very much, Marianne!   I'm so lucky to be able to call you my friend.

Never Long Enough

Long weekends never seem quite long enough, do they?  What did I do with my three day weekend?  Saturday and Sunday were spent enjoying the company of good friends and Monday was spent at home with my family.  Couldn't have been better, unless of course, it was longer.    

Saturday was the NH Wool Arts Tour.  Patti, Sharon, and I headed out around 8:30  in the morning for a beautiful drive to Antrim, Washington, and Henniker, New Hampshire to visit the five farms/shops participating in the tour.  It was a beautiful drive; check out the gorgeous fall foliage we enjoyed:

This picture doesn't do the colors justice; they were just spectacular!

There was a lot to see, but my favorite thing had to be at the second stop where we were able to see Mandy Fraser spin directly from her bunny. 

When I told Samm that I was going to see someone spin right from their bunny, she thought it was mean and that it would hurt the bunny.  I told her that having had bunnies, I couldn't imagine that one would sit still if it didn't want to.

Here's a closeup of Harriet the bunny:

 
She was happy as could be; she just sat there and wiggled her cute little nose.

Actually, what Mandy does is pull the fluff that's starting to shed and gets a handful of that and spins it, then gets more and spins it, and so on. So she's not really spinning directly from the bunny (which I imagine would hurt a bit).

The two cuties in the next picture were the prize of a raffle that was being held at the third stop.

I don't think they liked me much; every time I tried to get a picture of  their faces, they turned around.   No,  I did not buy any of the raffle tickets but I know someone who did.  (She also got some much better pictures than I did.)  

This is what my trunk looked like after the final stop:

Only a very small part of this is mine. Patti did the most damage out of the three of us. (Ooops, you didnt' read that, Roger.)


This is the extent of what I bought:  8 ounces of Louet Northern Lights wool in colorway "Burning Bush" from The Wool Room (stop 1);  8 ounces of Romney/Border Leicester fiber "Emily and Zebediah" from Brimstone Hollow Farm; and 12 ounces of 100% Merino in a gorgeous yellow from A Hand-Spun Yarn. 
The yellow merino will hopefully become a sweater for Clover.

 

Sunday was spent shopping and eating and sharing a pitcher of Margarita's with a non-knitting friend and yesterday was spent enjoying time at home.  Like I said at the beginning of the post, the only thing that would have made the weekend better was if there were more of it.    I hope all of you enjoyed your weekend!

 

I'm Doing Brian and Damn is He Good!

Get your mind out of the gutter; I'm talking about this Brian. 

We had our first Spinning group get together last Thursday night at The Yarn Sellar.

Starting in front of the door and moving right, we have Patti, my empty chair,  Brenda, Sharon, Carol, and Eileen.  It was a really fun group; I can't wait to go again tonight.  It's amazing how much spinning you can get done while yakking it up with friends!

 

Since I had finished the Campfire yarn, I needed something to spin.  I decided that I'd like to try Brian for two reasons: 1) I've never spun Coopsworth before, and 2) it didn't need any pre-drafting and I wanted to spend my time spinning, not pre-drafting.  I'm enjoying spinning this fiber; it pretty much spins itself.  I filled a bobbin with one of Brian's 4oz. balls in just a few days and have started on his second ball. 

 

I'm hoping for a 2 ply light worsted weight yarn when I'm done. I'm not sure what I'll make with it, I guess that depends on how much yardage I get out of 8 ounces.

A coworker of mine  happens to enjoy woodworking and offered to make me a bobbin for Lucille.  This was really good timing since I was planning to order a couple more bobbins anyway.  He finished it just as I was ready to begin the second bobbin of Brian.

 
Isn't it pretty?

 

Hopefully, this will be full very soon and I'll be ready to ply it.  I plan to use Alice with the Jumbo flyer to ply it. 

 

There has been a bit of knitting going on around here, too.  Don't get too excited though, it's not a lot, but it's something.

 

Look at this, I started a sweater for myself!

 

It's the Metro Pullover from Oat Couture

I'm using Plymouth Galway Colorneps Yarn and I'm really happy with this choice.  I'm  making one teeny weeny modification to the pattern; I'm knitting it in the round because I don't want to finish the knitting and then have it hanging around for days weeks because I don't feel like seaming it, which is exactly what would happen!

The other project that I'm actively working on is a hat.  

Fogbuster Beanie by April

I know it doesn't look like much in this picture, but I've completed another couple of inches and hopefully, mine will resemble the one in the pattern when I finish it.  I'm using some beautiful yarn that was handspun by my favorite Sheep and was gifted to me when we first met in person.  It's been waiting for the perfect pattern and this seems to be it - what better use for a yarn spun by one friend than a pattern written by another? 

I think this post pretty much catches us up on what has been happening around Noolieville lately, and I'm darn near caught up on blog reading.  Anyone want to place bets on when I'll fall behind again?

Have a great day!

Great Balls of Fiber!

What a spectacular weekend! 

 Patti and I met up with three of our fellow Chicks with Sticks/Chicks with Wheels at Canterbury Shakers Village to enjoy their annual "Wool Day" event on Saturday.   What an incredible day.    We shopped, we ate, we did some knitting and spindle spinning, we watched demos and shopped some more.   Good friends, good weather, lots of fiber - who could ask for anything more? 

Entrance to the village.
Don't let this picture fool you; there were a lot  of people there. The vendors and demonstrators were all set up in a field just at the end of this picture. Check out that beautiful blue sky!  

Carol, Eileen, and Sharon
It's really a shame that they weren't happy to be there.


This woman was making dyes from plants.

Thankfully, no one had any combs for sale, because after watching this woman, I really wanted some! Just what I need - another time sucking activity. Some day, though.  
A couple of handsome dudes.

This little girl had the cutest, teeny tiny face but she was too shy to look at the camera.

Check out the curly bangs!

There's always one wise guy who has to turn his head when the picture is taken!
  Can you stand the cuteness?!  

As I mentioned, there was some shopping and that's where the title comes into play. I picked up some great balls of fiber!

  "Shannon & Annie"   -  Romney/Border Leicester from Brimstone Hollow Farm in Hancock, NH   "Abigail" - Romney/Border Leicester & Merino also from Brimstone Hollow Farm in Hancock, NH


Border Leicester/Mohair (I can't remember the name of the vendor I purchased this from.)
I picked this up from the woman with the combs. This beautiful fiber came from a Coopsworth named Brian.  

Do we look like we had a good time?



Have a great day!

Another One Bites the Dust!

Patti came over yesterday afternoon for a little spinning lesson.  (Notice I said a "little" lesson; that's because I only know a little, so that's all I can teach her.)  She seemed to get the hang of it, and I think she likes it. 

Here are a couple pictures of her first yarn:

When she was finished with her lesson, she brought Alice home with her to visit for a while.

As for my spinning, I have no pictures for you today, but I have been spinning.  I've spun 1/2 the "Cheeky Monkey" on one bobbin and have started the second one. I've also been using the new spindle quite a bit with some bunny blend. For some reason, I've had to resort to the park and draft method again with this spindle. The only thing I can figure is that the whorl is smaller than I'm used to and maybe that has something to do with it. I have another spindle that is the same weight but with a wider whorl and I have no problem dropping it while spinning. That's okay; I'm spinning a nice thin and consistent yarn and enjoying it;  that's what matters, right? Maybe I'll get some pictures for you tomorrow.

Speaking of tomorrow, I'll be leaving for property tax school at Colby College tomorrow afternoon. You may remember the wonderful room I had at last year. As much as I loved the extreme heat in the cell room, this year I'll be staying off campus at the local Comfort Inn. It's no fancy hotel, but at least there'll be AC and a t.v.

I plan to bring the Ladybug and my new spindle and do plenty of spinning in the evenings. I have a sock in progress that I'll be working on during classes (when I can get away with it), and I'm brining my Lisha Lace Scarf to work on in the evenings as well (I've finally started working on that again and have completed 5 repeats). Oh yeah, I'm bringing the turkish spindle with the fiber for fish also.

Think I'll have enough to keep myself occupied? I have to stay busy, busy, busy so that I don't go crazy missing my beautiful little granddaughter!  Do you think she'll forget me while I'm gone? :-(

A Rant, a Thank You, and a Reminder

<begin rant> After six long and very stressful months, hubby's time of unemployment is over.  He started his new job today - exactly 6 months to the day from when he got laid off from the hell hole known as the Kittery Trading Post. 

Yep, I'm naming names now.  I've wanted to let everyone know which company laid him off and how they treated their employees since the beginning, but was afraid it'd come back to bite us.  I know there are a lot of people out there who care about how the companies they support  treat their employees; if you're one of them, this is definitely not a company you want to support.  Try Cabela'sor LL Bean instead.  It's my hope that the combination of these two businesses being in Southern Maine will put the KTP out of business. 

It's not just that they laid him off that pisses me off; it's the way they did it and the lack of appreciation for the 25 years of loyal service he gave to them.  It wasn't just him either; there were several long-time employees laid off with NO severance package at all.  I guess hubby should feel grateful for the three weeks severance he got.  There's a lot more too; stuff that has just happened in the last week or so, but I won't get into that.  Suffice it to say that if they're run out of business, that won't be enough justice in my book. 

Can you tell that I'm still angry after all this time?  If you knew the amount of stress we've endured over the last six months, you'd understand.  The financial aspect was the least of it; the emotional roller coaster ride has been very hard for all of us. 

The recent lack of support from certain family members has only added to the stress.  </end rant>

The support of other family members (especially Dad & CJ), along with that of my very good friends (both in real life and here in Blogland) has helped tremendously, and for that I am very grateful.  Thank you all so much.

I owe an extra special thank you to Patti and Roger, who listened to me and gave me support whenever I needed it.  Without their friendship, I think I'd have gone stark raving mad (although at times, I think Patti thought I already had).  Thanks guys, I love ya!

Now on a completely different note; a reminder:

    You still have time to enter my contest; just leave your entry on the contest post before midnight on Thursday, the 24th and you could win a prize.  I will reveal what the prizes will be tomorrow or Wednesday and choose and reveal the winners on Friday.

Catching up (a little)

Before I begin this post, I have to ask all of you to send good, healing thoughts to Patti's father, who was in a car accident the other day.  Patti has been in Kansas City since Saturday to be with him and they could both use some good thoughts.  Thanks!

 

Seems there hasn't been much in the way of fiber content on this little blog in quite a while, has there? Unless, of course, you count me telling you about my summer goals and what patterns I plan to knit. I don't believe I've shown you any actual knitting in almost 2 weeks when I showed you the Avalanche hat. We won't even discuss how long it's been since I showed you any spinning. I'll remedy that in this post, but first I have a long overdue "Thank You" to give. 

Over a week ago, I received yet another birthday package in the mail; this one from the wonderfully generous Colleen.

 

Look at all this great stuff! That little box of crochet patterns is packed full of tons of patterns, any of which I would love to make.  If Samm has her way, I'll be making them ALL.  I'll probably make most of the clothing items; there are a few blankets, but I'm thinking I'll skip those.  Check out that little Monkey Suits dress pattern; that is definitely on the top of the list (click here for a better view). There are even a couple great patterns for me in this wonderful package!  I've been looking at  those ballerina slippers for a while now (how'd you know, Colleen?), and that circular crocheted shawl - that looks stunning.  You really must click this link to better see the detail! Thank you so very much, Colleen!  I'm telling you; this is the birthday that just keeps on giving!  I could easily get used to birthdays that last the entire year ;-)

As if that's not enough goodies, a friend and coworker dropped this on my desk on Friday: It's handspun by a woman here in town and my coworker won it in a raffle or something.  She figured she wasn't going to use it and thought I might like it.  She thought right; it's a great shade of red (I can't quite capture the color, it's not as dark as it looks in this photo; it's a bit more muted.)  It's about 108 yards of 100% Romney wool.  I'm thinking it might make a nice hat for the 300 Hat project.  Thank you, Robyn!

Speaking of the 300 Hat project; the only knitting I've done (and not frogged) this past week is another hat (#5) for the project. This one is knit using some Lopi from my stash on size 9 needles.  

I knit about 6 rounds of k3,P1 rib (which you can't even see) and then it's plain ole stockinette from there. I started it Tuesday night (of course - Chicks With Sticks knitting) and finished it Wednesday afternoon.   This hat does not count as one of the 8 additional that I have set as a goal for Summer knitting since it was begun and finished before the official start of Summer.

My first hat towards that goal will be started tomorrow for CWS knitting (well, actually crocheting).  I'm planning to do the Skater Beanie (Ravelry link).

We shall not speak of Twinings for a while; she has been frogged back to the beginning of the fourth repeat and is in time out again!  I'm beginning to wonder if I should have put her on my Summer goals list.  Oh well, summer does last three months, right?  Perhaps she'll have learned her lesson and be better behaved in time to be completed by the end of the summer.

I think I'm going to end here and save the spinning update for the next post.  I will say that this 10 Minutes a Day thing was the best thing I've done in a while!

Enjoy the rest of your day!

Post-Birthday Post

Such a clever title, no?

Thank you all for the birthday wishes!   I had a wonderful birthday (except the part where I had to work all day).  There was BB King Sunday night, strawberries and whipped cream over pound cake at work yesterday, dinner from Panera Bread courtesy of  Samm and Jay, and a visit with my Mom to end the day. 

And gifts; we can't forget the gifts.  Sunday night with BB was my gift from Chris; Samm and Jay gave me a great spice rack that can go on the counter (without taking up the whole counter) or in a drawer; money from my mom and from my dad (which is being used to purchase some Harmony needles). 

There was a handmade gift from Carol (aka MissaLouise : )

It says "Grandmother loves Clover" in Italian. 
Isn't that cool? 
Thank you MissaLouise; you know how much this means to me!

And from Patti and Roger:

3 Skeins of Alpaca with a Twist Fino in the gorgeous green that I've been drooling over (well, not literally because that would just ruin it!) and a pattern for the Flight of the Honey Bee Shawl!

I kept the bag next to my knitting chair last night (not that I knit even one stitch) and kept pulling that yarn out and petting it.  It's so gorgeous! 

Thank you so much, Patti and Roger!

The mailman has been very busy bringing me things lately; I've won a few contests, but you'll have to wait until my next post to see all that I've won.  I still have a couple more items to show you today.

On Saturday, I received my Pay It Forward gift from Amy (my birthday twin):

I had admired another she made a while ago
and so she made one for me. 
It's Quant from Knitty and it is perfect! 
I love the yarn she used; the colors are great
and it's incredibly soft.  Almost makes me want to skip right over summer so I can use it (ALMOST).  Thank you, Amy!

Last, but certainly not least, it's  the hairy ball pin cushion sent to me by Dana.  I've had it for a few weeks now and just kept forgetting to take a picture.  I've got one now, so check it out:

Isn't that the cutest?  She felted some alpaca fleece she had into balls to make pin cushions.  You can read about it  here.  Check out the little tuft of hair on top, reminds me of Samm's hair when she was a baby  :-)

That's it for today.

Have a great evening!

WNBP

YAY for Wednesday and the WNBP format that the Sheep so graciously allowed me to steal from her.  Let's get right to it, shall we?

• Last night was our weekly Chicks with Sticks knit night (I just typed knit knight) which I look forward to every week.  I was especially looking forward to it this week because I knew we were going to have a very special friend visiting us.  Melissa was in Maine visiting her brother (the best weatherman ever even if he is predicting a nasty weekend for us) and decided a trip to The Yarn Sellar was in order.  Unfortunately, Rusty stayed with Melissa's brother and nephew for some male bonding time, so I didn't get to see him.  I'm pretty sure he begged her not to bring him; I don't think he really likes me very much. 
• Another member of our group decided to grace us with his presence. Mel's been very busy lately and we haven't seen much of him.  He's been terribly missed and we were all very happy to see him last night!  He showed us the beginnings of his gorgeous kilt hose (we even got to see it on his rather sexy leg!).
• Progress has been made on the lace wrap; I've completed the first of 11 repeats of the second chart.  I brought it with me last night, but I'm not stupid enough to think I can knit lace at knit night.  Fellow chick, Kit, knits lace at knit night all the time and it never ceases to amaze me how she can concentrate!
• I only had 1 other project on the needles, a sock, and I haven't really been feeling like knitting socks lately. (You may have noticed that I've not knit a single pair of socks this year!) 
• I had to find something else to knit, but what? "V" was the logical choice.  It's Amy's V-neck pullover pattern that came free with the purchase of this gorgeous yarn at SPA.  I'm cold all the time and the colors are "Spingy" enough that I'll still be able to wear it once I finish it. 
• It will be my Tuesday night knitting and "taking a break from lace" knitting until it is finished. Of course, I gabbed so much last night that all I managed to accomplish was the 6 rows of ribbing and about 10 rows of stockinette.  Sounds like a lot, doesn't it?  Don't be fooled; this pattern starts out with the sleeves.  Obviously, that's not enough to post a picture; that will have to come later.
• Weight Watchers has been going well; as of last Saturday, I've lost a total of 14.4 pounds (in 7 weeks).  Like I mentioned the last time I posted about WW, it really does help to have someone else on program in the house.  Samm's doing incredibly well, too; she looks fantastic!
• Another thing that has helped immensely with my motivation lately, is the Ravelry group "Less W8 in 08".  I'm currently involved in a competition in that group.  There are 4 teams of 5 people and we each earn points for eating fruits and veggies and for exercising.  Last week was the first week and I did pretty well in the fruit and veggie department, but was sorely lacking in the exercise dept. 
• I'm working on getting my exercise mojo back. Samm and Clover met me  at lunch today, and we went for a half hour walk and I went to the gym with Patti tonight, so that'll earn me (and my team) some points!  I'm hoping Samm will come walk with me a few days a week at lunch time; it felt pretty good.
• I've saved the most important (in my opinion) bullet post item for last.  Yesterday, I was reading my good friend, Dana's, blog, and she got me to thinking.  I know, hard to believe, but every now and then I do think.  She wrote about how we often put much unnecessary pressure on ourselves to do so much more with our craft, than is reasonable.  Please, you really MUST read her post; she says it much better than I.  Go ahead, go now; I'll wait.
• Dana has decided to stop the madness, and set four simple goals for herself, and I have decided to do the same.  With her permission, I reprint those goals for you to read and think about.

1. I will enjoy knitting first and foremost;
2. I will not press myself to complete the project;
3. I will not apologize when my life supercedes my knitting time a.k.a. "if it takes me twelve months to finish, that's perfectly fine;" and
4. I will commit to no more than I can reasonably accomplish.

I'll end on that note.  Have a great night!

WNBP

It's Wednesday and that means it's time for the Wednesday Night Bullet Post, so let's get right to it, shall we?

• As you all know (because I won't stop telling you) I am still fairly far behind on my blog reading.  Because of this, I hadn't read my friend Debby's post about her "Get Your Guts in Gear" fundraiser before posting about helping friends yesterday.  Debby's husband, Chris, suffers with IBD and her lovely spokescat from last year, Charlie, had IBD.  Sadly, Charlie passed away from IBD-related leukemia last fall (apparently this can happen in cats, but not people). Chris is going to be riding in a 210 mile/3 day bike ride to raise awareness and funds for patients suffering with these diseases.  Please read Debby's post here and help if you can.  She's even offering prizes including some yarn dyed in memory of Charlie - it's gorgeous.

• It seems that Wednesday (in our part of the country at least), means it's not only time for the WNBP, but it's also time for more effing snow/sleet/rain and just plain crappy weather. I'm trying very hard to believe that winter really will end sometime (and not just on the calendar), but I'm finding it harder and harder with each storm.  There's no accumulation today, but I'm so sick of the wet and dreary weather I could just scream!

• I'm dreaming of the days of floating in my pool, with the bright, hot sun beating down on me, and a nice Stoli orange vodka & tonic in the cup holder on my float.  Please tell me those days will be here eventually.

• Just as I had hoped, Patti brought her spinning to Chicks with Sticks last night and I was able to get a couple of pictures. 

 

• Can you believe how nicely her yarn is coming out?  She's a natural, I tell ya.  She even mentioned that she'd like a lesson on my back deck with Alice in the Summer.  Of course, she said the summer of 2010, but I know she meant summer of 2008!

• I had hoped to be able to show you a finished Neverending Sweater today, but alas, it truly is never ending.  Actually, I only have about 2 inches left to knit on the hood and I'm hoping to be able to stay awake long enough to knit that tonight.

• Speaking of being able to stay awake; just a couple of days after telling you that I thought I was catching up on my sleep, I took a turn for the worse in that department.  Not that I wasn't getting enough sleep; I've been sleeping really well through the night lately (sometimes going to bed as early as 7 or 8) and I haven't even had any help from sleeping aids for the last week or so.  The problem now is that even though I'm sleeping ALL.THE.TIME (at least it feels that way), I'm still exhausted by lunchtime.  I was scheduled for a recheck with the doctor next week, but have been having some pain in the front of my neck for about a month now, and hubby convinced me to push the appointment up.  Seems I may have an issue with my thyroid (doesn't sound serious); I'm going for some blood work tomorrow.

• Samm got an adorable tattoo yesterday; it's a 4-leaf clover on the inside of her ankle.  It's beautiful!  She wants it to heal completely before I can get a picture to show you, so you'll just have to wait a little while.  Shouldn't be too long.

• There have been rumors of a Dunkin Donuts going in very, very close to my house (not in my town; we're too snobby for chain restaurants), but only about 3 minutes away in the neighboring town.  I checked with my Assessor friend there yesterday to find out for sure, and YIPEEEEEEE; it should be opening in May.  (Why yes, I do like the DD coffee; why do you ask?)  I think I'll be changing my route into work ever so slightly in a couple of months :-)

• Speaking of coffee, I've still been very good about no late afternoon or evening coffee unless I have to teach a class at night (which has only been once since limiting the coffee) and on Tuesday nights so that I don't fall asleep at Chicks with Sticks.  I buy my last coffee on my way back to work after lunch (12:30) and sip it for about an hour or so and that's it.  Any of you who know me, know what a HUGE accomplishment that is.

• Hopefully, my car will remember to turn on my road on the way home from work instead of going straight for another couple of miles once DD opens :-)

I guess that's enough of the random for one night. 

Have a good one!

Helping Friends

I have found that when you're feeling down, a sure fire way to boost your spirits is to help someone else.  So, today, I'm going to tell you about a couple of opportunities to boost your spirits (whether you're feeling down or not).

Two of my Manchvegas friends are trying to raise money for some worthy causes. 

First, there's Ericka;  she's going to be walking in the MS walk next month in New Hampshire and is looking for support.  Please go here  and read her very personal story and then, if you can, go here  to donate.

Then there's Heather,  who, while watching Oprah's Big Give, discovered that a high school friend had started up a charitable organization called Can-Do.   She does a much better job of telling the story here.   As many of you know, Heather is quite an artist with the yarn and the dye.  She has created a new colorway called (can you guess?) "Can do!"  and $10 from the sale of EVERY skein will go directly to Can-Do.  Go buy some; you know you want to :-)

Have a great day everyone!

Two Days

Until SPA.  Not that I'm counting down the days or anything.  Not that I've done ANYthing to prepare either.  What's the rush?  I have Friday off and we won't be leaving until the afternoon so I have all morning to get ready.  I am the Queen of Procrastination!  I haven't yet decided what to bring with me for knitting; I'm thinking maybe I'll start a sock with my Sweet Clover sock yarn for Samm (I'd like to make a pair for her and for Clover with this very special yarn).  Any knitting that I do bring will have to be mindless knitting.  I plan to bring my spindles and Alice.  I'll bring fiber for the spindles (2 already have some on them), but I think I'll wait until I get there and buy something to spin on Alice. 

Knitting Update:

Samm's Hoodie

Guess I didn't quite reach my goal of having it finished by the end of the long weekend, did I?  As a matter of fact, I barely knit on it all weekend long.  I did finish one thing though:

Clover's Sea Turtle (before and after felting). 

It's about time, wouldn't you say?  This silly little knit took me FOREVER to finish.  (I started it January 28th!) It's not like it was difficult or anything; it just couldn't seem to hold my interest for very long.  Weird.  It's just the first sea creature for a mobile I want to make for Clover.  At this rate, I may finish it in time to gift it to her for her high school graduation.

Last night's Chicks with Sticks was a particularly fun one.  Since it is  school vacation week here in Maine (a time in which teachers and sheep are able to stay up past their normal bedtimes), a certain Sheep (complete with her pretty blue hands) decided to come to York and knit with us.  It's always entertaining when you're in the company of The Sheep, especially when topics such as childbirth and menopause are discussed ;-) 

Have a great day!

SPOILED!

Not me; Clover. 

I came home from work yesterday to find a package sitting on my kitchen table.  When I read the return address, I had to laugh.  It was from Sara.  You may be wondering why that would make me laugh (or not, but I'm gonna tell you anyway).  Sara commented on my last post that she couldn't seem to manage any FO's.  Then, in an e-mail she mentioned that she did have one little FO, but that it was being sent to someone and she couldn't blog about it yet.  I never imagined that it was being sent my way (actually Clover's way). Check it out:

A GORGEOUS blanket!  Sara designed this lovely blanket herself; isn't it wonderful.  Just look at the colors, and the sparkle.

    (click to really see the sparkle)

Clover loves it!

And so does her Mommy!

Thank you so much, Sara.  You really brightened my day :-)

A Great Surprise

I have an FO to show you, but I can only take credit for part of it.  Before I show it to you, let me give you some background.

We all know that buying a Christmas present for a knitting friend is usually fairly easy - just find some really nice yarn and maybe some neat knitting notions and you're good to go.  But what about when your friend is also the owner of a yarn shop (the best LYS ever!)?  Hmmm, this makes it a little trickier to find just the right gift.

You may remember that before Christmas I was rushing to finishing spinning some beautiful blue and green fiber that Manise had gifted to me when she brought Alice (my wheel) to my house. (phew! can you say run on sentence?)  I told you at the time that I needed to finish it because I had plans for it, but I don't think I ever mentioned what those plans were. I'm sure that by now you've figured it out; that handspun yarn was gifted to Patti.  I wasn't so sure about the quality of the yarn; it wasn't the most evenly spun yarn around.  I was sure about one thing though; I was sure that Patti would appreciate my effort. 

Apparently, I was right about that - last night at Chicks with Sticks, Patti announced that she had some show and tell and pulled this FO out of her knitting bag:

Maine Morning Mitts knit with the yarn I spun for her!

I can't tell you how happy that made me; I was like a little kid on Christmas morning. I was so excited to see that she had actually KNIT WITH MY HANDSPUN YARN!  And, she said it was nice to knit with!  It gets even better - even though we see each other or talk to each other nearly every day, I never knew she was knitting them.  What a cool surprise.

Thanks for making my night, Patti!

The Power of Good Thoughts

Thanks for all the very sweet comments and e-mails you sent me yesterday.  I feel so blessed to have such good friends as all of you!  I'm kind of afraid to say anything, but it seems that the enemy is gone.  Amazing what a day of the right drugs and rest will do.  And I truly believe that all your good thoughts helped , too!  Now if it'll just stay away.

Obviously, there was no knitting going on yesterday although by last night I felt like I could do a little bit of spinning (and I do mean a LITTLE bit).  I spent about 1/2 hour spinning and that was enough. 

It seems that whenever I'm feeling my worst, the mailman puts a package in my mailbox.  Yesterday's package was from the wonderful Gina.  She's such a sweetheart.  I knew part of this package was coming, but she snuck a little something extra in there.  Want to see?

First, this beautiful sweater for Clover:

(I hope Gina doesn't mind that I stole this picture from her).  Along with the sweater she sent some lovely socks she knit for Clover:

Aren't these adorable?  Gina is so sweet and generous; but she didn't stop there. 

She also sent fiber for me; isn't it lovely?  It is 50% merino and 50% silk which she hand dyed in the colorway "Tanzanite"- Yummy!  I can't wait to start spinning this.  Thank you so much Gina!

And now, I must go and get ready for work.  I hope you all have a wonderful day!