Report from Yarnover

As I was waiting at the San Francisco airport to fly out to Yarnover last week, who should walk by but Cookie A?! We chatted for some time, but it soon became obvious that she was traveling in style! First class, and a driver who picked her up at the Minneapolis/St. Paul airport!

He was sent by StevenBe, a thoroughly delightful yarn store owner where Cookie was teaching.

My friend Kerry picked me up at the MSP airport and we had dinner with Cookie and Jen, who was in town from Connecticut. Well, that is, we had dinner after we stopped by a sale at The Yarnery (I got a gorgeous lace book), one of the amazingly well stocked yarn stores in the area. I have definite yarn store envy. And there's no tax on yarn and fiber in MN. :happysigh:

The next day, we prowled a few more yarn stores and a fiber store (The Fiber Studio), and I ended up with some lovelies! (Can you imagine?! A whole store devoted to fiber!) Some alpaca/silk to spin for the spinner's challenge at the Sonoma County Fair,

and some gorgeous wool/silk.

Just look at that color!!!

On we went to Knitter's Palette to meet the wonderful Pam and Angela. I had spoken to Pam before since she carries my pins, but never met her in person. Something followed me home from there too. It's Dream in Color Starry in the Flamingo Pie colorway.

Isn't it incredible?! The color is even more amazing in person.

That evening was a teacher's dinner and I was beyond thrilled to meet, and eat with, Meg Swanson, Amy Detjen, Franklin Habit, Jared Flood and Lucy Neatby. Fabulous! The next day was off to teach classes - I loved that some of the students that were in my classes last year came back and took my classes this year! It was fun to see their friendly faces.

Even though shopping time was severely limited (thanks be!) I managed to pick up a skein of Rovings mohair/polwarth on the way out.

Trust me when I say the photo does not do the color justice. At all.

Then back to the hotel for dinner (where I got to hang out with Susan and Sally plus Shelley) and some relaxation before taking off the next day.

This is where I admit that, when Kerry took me back to the Fiber Studio to her spinning group, a bit of alpaca/silk that I had resisted the other day somehow made it into my possession.

Isn't it gorgeous?

Then back I went to chilly California - yes Minneapolis was warmer than home - and my boys picked me up at the airport. It seems I might have missed a little something while I was gone. It was loose before I left to teach at Yarnover, and when it's gotta come out, it's gotta come out! This was waiting for me when I returned home.

One of Dr. Destructo's upper teeth. He's got a pretty cute little snaggle-toothed grin now.

Whew! So there you go! Yarnover was wonderful - many thanks to the amazing organizers and everyone who took my classes!

At Last!

Some actual, real, genuine, bona fide knitting content! My secret projects are put away for now, and I'm working on a new design. When I need a rest, I always head for my favorite: mohair/silk lace weight yarn. Yummmmm. It fixes me right up. :)

This one is being knit from Elann.com's Silken Kydd in Raisin. It's a gorgeous deep brownish plum color and I am enjoying it thoroughly!

It's a triangle knit from the bottom tip up to the top, and when I write up the pattern, I will give measurements for 1, 2, 3 and perhaps 4 balls of yarn. So far I'm loving it! The pattern was fairly simple to memorize and it's proving to be very relaxing knitting, and great for swim practice, tv and other KIPping. It's garter stitch lace, but I think I'll also do a stockinette version.

This past weekend, I had a table at Knit-One-One in Berkeley for a craft show. I always have a great time with Síle. She's terrific! As a bonus, I got to meet Romy and Lisa and see Brooke! It was a great day.

Plus, check out this incredible silk fiber I got from Anzula.

Isn't it gorgeous?

So far, I've only been staring at it. Sooooooo yummy.

FTW!

It's Sandy who wins a Bluebird shawl pattern for her comment on my weekly give-away post! She was the eighth commenter, and the number 8 was chosen at random by the random number generator over at random.org. Congratulations, Sandy! Please send me your email address!

Remember the weekly special is on through tomorrow, July 22nd, so you can still get 20% off my shiny nickel shawl pin, #el_46n (scroll down to the right hand corner) when you enter the coupon code OOHSHINY at checkout!

Look at what just made its way to me from A Verb for Keeping Warm!

It's baby camel and silk top in the Glenda colorway and it is soooooooo yummmmmmy!

I don't know if you can tell from the pictures, but the baby camel is this lovely soft brown and the silk has taken the purple dye. I can't wait to see how it spins up!

Here's a fun little knitter's cake. Check out the link. Really. I'll wait.

Isn't that the coolest?! Thanks to WonderMike for that one. :)

And finally, I'll be at Knit-One-One this Saturday, July 25th from 10am to 4 pm with a host of other great vendors for Knit-One-One's Jumpin' July craft sale! I'm bringing my shawl pins and my book + projects.

I would so love to meet you if you're in the area and can stop by!

Okey doke. Back to work on Secret Project #1: 2 sleeves on 2 circs. :)

Better Late than Never?

Hmmm. As I was typing that title, I noticed that I've used it before. Heh. Running late again!!! So, I promised pics from the Spinners' Day on the Farm, and here they are! It was a lovely lovely day, at the edge of a vineyard in Healdsburg, under towering oak trees. And there was fiber. And yarn! What could be better?!

Here's Ba, the local fiber pusher spinning teacher.

Therese is planning her mohair purchase. I always smile like that when I buy mohair, too. :)

Karen of the Royale Hare. She's holding some of my designer colors!

A local knitter from Santa Rosa that I met for real and in person!

Brooke and wee one. :)

Maia looking happy about all the fibery goodness.

Yummy, sheepy fiber.

Some gorgeous wares.

Jan contemplating the amazing Tactile fiber I was trying to enable her into buying. I succeeded. Hee.

It was an amazing day. Too short, if anything. And I'm afraid this was probably the last year. They've had the property up for sale and it looks like it's going. Maybe the purchasers spin. ;)

Mmmmm. Fibery goodness.

Or Stitches West, Part Deux.

I also got some gorgeous fiber at Stitches West, since I am now a confirmed fiber-holic. First up, from Karen at the Royale Hare, we have some amazingly soft (and green) superwash BFL. Just look at that color!

This is going to be a hat for my mail carrier, whose spinning wheel I have. She was so sweet; she loaned me her wheel indefinitely because she's not using it, but doesn't want to sell it to me because she'd never buy another! She likes green, too. :) I couldn't resist starting to spin it.

It is sooooooo soft.

Karen doesn't have fiber on her site yet, but I think we're going to work on it over the summer.

Next up, is some delectable merino/tencel fiber from Tactile. Yummmmm. It's naturally dyed and I cannot wait to spin this stuff! It is a lovely light springy chartreusey golden green.

And last but definitely not least, is some BFL from Lisa Souza. These are two different colorways, but I loved the way the colors coordinate. I think I may ply them together.

And yes, there is something of a greenish theme here, why do you ask? :)

Blog Tour! and a little Musing

First I want to thank all of you who have been leaving comments and writing to me about Bijouterie. A lot of you have never tried knitting with wire before, and I am SO excited that you are making these earrings! I am really enjoying seeing them all!

This week my book and I are making the rounds!

We've got some great stops planned!

First up is my girl Scout on Monday, December 15th. She is a huge inspiration to me and I just think she is the best! And have you seen her photography? And her yarn? :swoon:

Tuesday I will be over at the Art Bead Scene blog. You must check out this blog. It is full of fascinating studio visits, tutorials, and great jewelry. I've been a reader for some time now!

Wednesday, I'm visiting Steph at ...and she knits, too! Steph, for those who don't already know, completely rocks! And one of these days, I will meet her in person (and probably have a nice long philosophical discussion). Mwah to you, Steph!

Thursday, I'm off to Sweater Surgery. This is a completely wild and crafty blog! Wait 'til you check out the recycled sweater turkey a few entries ago! Really. You must see. :)

And Friday, I'll be TurtleGirl's guest on her special pr0nny Fridays. Can I just say? TurtleGirl is teh awesome. She makes me smile every time I read her blog or correspond with her. :)

A big and giant thank you to all of my hosts! I hope you'll stop by, check out the projects and Q&A, and then stay awhile and look over the rest of these great blogs!

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And a little musing for Monday:

"If you don't try, you've already failed." - me, every day, to my kids :)

Have a great week, everyone!!!

Catch-up with Relish

I know I've been a baaaaad blogger lately. :hangs head: Sorry! I've been in deadline mode, doing stealth knitting, writing and a little stealth crochet too!

But I had to drop in and gush about Amy, Knitty maven and author extraordinaire. I finally met her face to face this past weekend, when I made the trek down to Purlescence Yarns in Sunnyvale (I love this shop!). She is, in a word, delightful! Since I forgot my camera, I will merely show you her book and you will have to imagine the rest.

I had a wonderful time with her, Nathania, Chloe and Sandi (who I also finally got to meet in person - wooooo!), and their spouses. As a bonus, I also met CJ! I drove back with a huge smile on my face!

Speaking of no sheep, in a stroke of irony, Amy won my sheep shawl pin in Claudia's MS Ride raffle. Hee. So I offered her a bunny instead. I'm thinking he turned out ok, yes?

The trick is in having a live model. :g:

Now for a little eye candy! This gorgeousness is from Habu Textiles.

And this.

And just feast your eyes upon this!

Look at those colors!!!

This is Ashford's rainbow dyed English Leicester Fleece by way of Foxglove Fibers. It is absolutely stunning!

Off to run around like a madwoman! See you soon! :)

Friday Eye Candy

Today was a Good Mail Day. A little square box arrived. And I saw it was from Mielke's Fiber Arts: the aptly named Bag of Candy! I thought it looked awfully small. And then I opened it.

WOW! Goodies for my book. :)

Look at those colors!

The Star Trek geek in me thinks they look like punk tribbles.

::drool::

Who would have thought so much could fit in such a small box?

I think I'll go fondle it now. :)