OPK**

Our little Saturday knit group is getting not so little! And that makes me Very Happy. So here, for your viewing pleasure, is my report.

First up is Barbara, because she was new to our group, and also because she had the first clue for the Mystery Stole and I forgot mine. Here are her swatches, done with the Royale Hare's (locals and those who have attended Stitches West may recognize the name) new laceweight alpaca:

Gorgeous, no? And my photo doesn't even begin to do the colors justice. Here she is knitting with the winner:

This is the vintage tool she was using to place the beads:

It is a simply infinitesimal hook. Absolutely tiny.

And speaking of tiny, I have been emailing back and forth with the Tiny Tyrant (isn't that a great name? I mean really!) and she sent an emissary to our little group because she couldn't be there herself. (I don't know why, something called a vacation. Does anyone know what that is?) Here's Taunya waving to prove she was there!

(Can't be too careful with someone called the Tiny Tyrant, right? I want to make sure she knows Taunya actually *did* make it. No telling what a Tiny Tyrant might do when crossed.)

Here's Dana wearing her newly finished sweater and smiling gamely about it even though it was about 80 (F) in the shop:

And Susan, who is working on one of the strips for that lap blanket I was talking about earlier:

It's actually a gorgeous purple. Really gorgeous. Again, the picture doesn't do it justice.

Lynn, who I am very proud to say I enabled into lace knitting ::evilgrin:: is working on a lovely stole/scarf from Victorian Lace Today:

She finished an incredible baby alpaca stole which I will wait to show you until after it is blocked. It will be awhile, though, because she is in now in the throes of organizing the Sonoma County Hot Air Balloon Classic (it is sooooo cool!).

Here's Kathleen working on a Jaywalker with some completely delicious sock yarn from the Sock Pixie (I am linking to her blog instead of her shop because she has some great free patterns there):

And hiding behind her new t-shirt:

She established a non profit to benefit hearing impaired kids in Sonoma County and is making cards with completely adorable little dinky socks.

And Carol is holding a pretty sweater she is making:

I think it is from a Knitter's, but now I don't remember which one! Carol always comes up with cool pattern/yarn combinations that I never would have imagined - and they always look great on her!

And then there's Laura (owner of A Good Yarn), who is taking a picture of me taking a picture of her. Hee.

In other news (and I think I left this for last because I am blown away and blushing!) Terri, of Selbuvotter fame, nominated me as a Rockin' Girl Blogger! ::blush::


Thank you, Terri! You totally rock! (me, I'm not so sure, but I am very grateful and touched, nonetheless) :)

Now I'm supposed to pass it on to a bunch of other bloggers, but you know what? I started to narrow down a list of blogs and it became quite the daunting task. So I'm only going to pass it on to one blog, because The Rainey Sisters, my nomination, are so completely awe-inspiring (and because Susan would kick my butt if I nominated the others I know she is going to nominate). In the end, after messing around with my little lists for awhile, I came to the conclusion that all the bloggers I read rock, and that's why I read them! (duh!) ;)

Be well!

**Other People's Knitting.

What I did over Memorial Day Weekend, Part III

We interrupt the usual Friday Eye Candy programming to bring you the third and final installment in the exciting mini-series. ;)

Saturday, I actually took a little time out to go knit with my regular Saturday morning group. I didn't think I would be able to make it, but at the last minute, I realized there was not much going on that morning, so off I went! And I'm so glad I did! I got to see Carol's finished tie-dyed boxes (she's standing next to Susan) and take a terrible cell phone photo of it:

I think she looks great in it!

I also picked up some yarn and Last Minute Knitted Gifts. But more about that later!

On we went then, back to the fair! Here you can see some serious cotton candy enjoyment going on:


And then we have Dr. Destructo looking adorable for the camera, so I could not resist putting him in:

It's difficult to believe anyone with this face is capable of the wanton destruction of everything in his immediate vicinity, isn't it? Like Alison says, it's a good thing he's so cute!

Saturday night brought the market animal auction, cake auction and wine barrel auction (the boys were planting the barrel in yesterday's post). Since the auction raises money for the kids' college funds and for 4H and FFA (Future Farmers of America), the community is always very generous. Several kids walked away from the animal auction with over $10,000 to add to their college bank accounts. But the moment that took the cake, as it were (I can't help the pun - it's a sickness!) for me was the money put up for a single strawberry cheesecake that looked like this one (without the pieces cut out, of course). Are you ready? $1,800! Last year it went for $500. That's quite a jump, eh? It was a bidding war, as you may have guessed. In the end, the woman who baked it won it back with the help of her bidding coalition. ;) And the kids all benefited. It was wonderful!

The fair ended Saturday night and Sunday morning was clean-up, so we went back to help. #1 Son was anxious to help his older friends who had had animals sold at auction the day before.

Sunday afternoon I began knitting up a baby sweater, and on Monday I finished it:

Yarn: Blossom by Reynolds
Pattern: Child's Placket Neck Pullover from Last Minute Knitted Gifts, in 6-12 month size

I modified the pattern because the yarn was so far off gauge. In addition to the gauge issues, I used garter stitch rather than seed stitch around the borders. The buttons were larger than the pattern called for (Joelle Hoverson used beads), but I had to have them! So I sewed them on and then added nylon snaps underneath. (Isn't that cool!? See-through nylon snaps! I'd never seen them before.)

The sweater was for #1 Son's Sensei(s), a husband-wife team who just had a baby girl! The party was on Tuesday. Whew!

And that's that. I think I also had a nap in there somwhere. ;)

Oops! I forgot to add that I got an invitation to Ravelry over the weekend! Woooooot! Another time wasting amazingly fun thing to do! I love it. :)

Saturday Smorgasbord

In the hopes that I can quell the thirst for actual knitting content while I am knitting away on my stealth projects, I bring you Other People's Knitting. We got together at A Good Yarn in Windsor and knitted away this morning (yes, I knitted too!). Here's Therese, who is working on Sarcelle by the talented Ms. Cookie A (thank you for the correction, Mim!) Kristi:

Susan is knitting away on her Noro sweater. It's her first one! Isn't that great?!

And here's Dana who is modelling pieces of her Mari sweater knit from Eco Wool.

We were discussing today what a great all-around wool Eco Wool is. It comes in beautiful natural colors (plus some dyed ones now) and is a great value. I've knit a hoodie for my husband out of it (which he loves) and am in the middle of sweaters for #1 Son and Dr. Destructo. And I still love the stuff! I'm thinking I need a Rogue out of it next. Dana and Therese were agreeing that the more you knit with it, the more you love it. I have even knit a sweater of it held together with a strand of kidsilk haze. Can you say "fiber therapy?"

And here are Carol and Kathleen, who was new today. Welcome Kathleen!

Carol is working on a sleeve of her tie-dyed boxes sweater from Knitter's. Here are the back and front:

And Kathleen was working on a Calorimetry with this amazingly gorgeous wool/soy yarn (name escapes my tiny brain at the moment!).

She also brought a pattern for a mini sock that she's asking people to knit for her new non-profit.

Now I'm off to do a little stealth knitting while I watch Pride and Prejudice. What could be better?! :)