Back again!

I'm back! See? I told you I would blog again today! :)

So...onward after part one! After I taught my morning class, I headed over to the Indie Artist Celebration to see what Kristi and Paul had cooked up for the market! It was in a great space right across the street from Eleganza.

There was live music.

Lots of yarn.

Some super funky and cool alpaca roving wound around baling twine for rugs (from Angel's Kiss Yarn).

More yumminess.

Gorgeous roving from Wild Hare Fibers.

And more loveliness from Angel's Kiss.

Then it was off to do a trunk show! As I put my samples out and talked with people, Brandy hung out and worked on her Taygete. Aren't those colors gorgeous?! I'm hoping she blocks it soon, because I must see it on her!

Later, we all went out to an Ethiopian dinner. Here's Kim Dolce, who I first met on the floor at the celebration. (A friend of mine chose one of her designs for a first sweater, and I was excited to tell her I met the designer!) Can I just add that she is a fellow Dr Martens fan? Yes!

I knew it was time for me to leave when I woke up and it was raining. It's become sort of a tradition for me - travel days are always rainy! And this one had a tornado watch. I was a little nervous until everyone told me that nothing had actually been sighted. Whew.

I packed up my stuff, including this stunning skein of yarn from Alpacas of Windswept Farm. Isn't it absolutely gorgeous?! They had some lovely purple, as well, but I restrained myself.

And Kristi gave me two gorgeous skeins of her Shalimar Yarn for a shawl. Yes - I'm thinking of two colors! Mmmmmmmm.

When she drove me to the airport, Kristi told me that the yarn is named for her horse, who was a rescue animal. It's an amazing story, and I think I'm going to bug her until she puts it up on her site! Then I can link to it. ;) She's also got an adorable Chincoteague Pony that you can see on her blog here.

Then it was just sitting on the plane. And sitting. And sitting. I got a lot of knitting done!

Yes - that's Sevillano! I'm knitting it in Schaefer's Audrey. But it's going to be a smallish shawl/scarf. I was inspired by Diane at Stitches West who loved Sevillano, but doesn't want a shawl. She asked about making a scarf by omitting the mesh middle section. I was intrigued. So I started one. And I can't wait to see how it turns out! If I like it (and I think I will) there will be a pattern. :)

Speaking of patterns, I just finished a secret one. And there are two more secrets in store! I can't wait to show you.

And with that, I'm off to bed. See you all later!

tap tap tap

Is this thing on? I can't believe how long it's been since I've written!

I guess I should start at the beginning, eh? When I returned from Stitches West, I had four days to get ready to fly off to Maryland and the Indie Artist Celebration at Eleganza Yarns in Frederick. I was the featured artist. How cool is that?! I felt very very honored.

The four days were and whirlwind and off to Maryland I went! By way of Charlotte. I know! It was a long day of traveling. (But isn't this row of rocking chairs at the Charlotte airport fabulous?)

The trip, though long, was absolutely worth it. Look at this adorable little shop!

Paul, who owns Eleganza Yarns with Kristi, told me that a family used to live here, and that their ancestors come back and visit as part of a family reunion. It's a log cabin! Now, being a Californian who did not grow up around this type of history, I was completely taken by the story. The history in Frederick is just awe inspiring to me, and I was lucky that Paul is a history buff and was able to tell me all sorts of little factoids while driving around. So cool.

Here's Kristi, sorting patterns.

She doesn't like to have her picture taken, so I had to catch her unawares. (She said it was ok, though!) Isn't her hair gorgeous? I've always envied red heads.

I had two days of classes, but I only took pictures the first day in my Shapely Shawls class. I plead brain death. But I did get some good pics. Here is Brandy, who is one of the moderators on my Ravelry forum. She's wearing Sevillano and that's Elektra and Celaeno on her chair.

She is completely and totally awesome. I just wanted to get that on record. And, apparently, so is her boyfriend. He baked these cookies for me! And they're my very very favorite: oatmeal/chocolate chip. Let's just say that, although I knew Brandy was fabulous, I did not know the extent of her fabulosity.

Here's Brandy with Cindy from my forum. Note the gorgeous Brandywine that Cindy is sporting! I got to knit a row on Cindy's Rayonnant sweater. Is that not cool?!

And while we're talking about Brandywine...today's donation brings me to $17,000 total donated to Doctors without Borders! Thank you knitters!!!

Here's a snap of everyone concentrating. (I've only given names where I am pretty sure people don't mind having them splashed around on my blog - from here on out, name tags are blurred if need be and names are not mentioned.)

Note the lovely Celaeno! It's so much fun seeing these in person after admiring them on Ravelry!

My class was filled with wonderful and friendly people.

I loved the way people were helping each other and we all had a great dialogue going on. I think this is my favorite class to teach! I so enjoy the different shapes that are possible with shawls; it's one of the most interesting things about designing them.

Tomorrow: pics of the yarnz and the celebration! (I really do mean it; I'm going to blog tomorrow too!) :)