Finally--an update!

My, my, my. The time--it does fly! Life has been busy, both here and at the shop. School started, with all that entails. A fall line-up of classes and gatherings at the shop has started. Yowza!

The computer woes have finally, at long last, been conquered. Turns out we had a shot modem, followed by a cup of coffee being spilled onto a keyboard. The modem was an easy replacement. Old one out, new one in, and off we go. The keyboard, however. Old one out, new one in. (And we even threw the old one into the garbage--how's that for a radical decision?!) Well, "away we go" is just too easy. I swear the keyboards are identical, and the new one is possibly the same size as the laptop. However, I do find it more than a little difficult to keep my fingers on the proper keys. Strange letters keep popping up. You know what I mean, no doubt.

I know school has started. How, you might wonder. Remember when kids were little and they would insist they weren't tired, right up until they fell asleep in the oddest places? Well, this is what happens at our house these days. Fireplace chugging away, making the house warm and toasty. Sleep inducing in more than cats too, it would appear.
Doesn't she look comfortable? Not even a pillow. You know she's tired when she crashes on the wooden floor, no pillows, no afghan, and not even a kitty-cat for a pillow. Upon awakening, her only comment was along the lines of "I guess I'll go to bed now." She hoped we didn't actually catch her snoozing there on the floor!

On Sept. 8th, which was in fact two weeks ago, I had the pleasure of attending the Waterloo-Kitchener Knitter's Fair with my friend Barb. As we entered the facility, Barb commented that we should plan to see all the booths before buying anything. I agreed, because I am, after all, a wonderfully agreeable person. Barb made it to the second booth, where she had a little "falling down" a la Stephanie, over some Handmaiden SeaSilk. I managed to hang onto my balance until I found the Handmaiden Camelspin. (On the right.)
Once opened, the wallet continued its wild and crazy behavior by making me bring home some Fleece Artist SeaWool socks too. I really love the colours and textures of the fibers combined with the seacell--whatever that is! And the smell--evocative of warm evenings in the Caribbean. Delightful!
What else have I here? Some Mirasol Hacho (colourway #304 & 307). This was acquired from my shop--kind of a product evaluation kind of thing. It looks an awful lot like Koigu (some of which has found its way into my stash), and according to my friend Barb, knits like a dream. All I know is that the sock she knit up from it is fabulous, and I can't wait to knit my own.

This weekend we are driving to Michigan to visit my family. There is a memorial service for my uncle on Saturday, followed by a gathering of the far-flung clan. Cousins I haven't seen in seven years and more. Cousins my daughter (16) has yet to meet. Aside from the somber reason for visiting, it should be a blast.

On Sunday, my new niece is being baptized. You know--the one for whom I knit the entrelac bunting. I hear she's growing by leaps and bounds. I sure hope she hasn't outgrown the baby gift already.

But the best news of all? Being in Battle Creek means that we get to have another couple of rides at Fort Custer! Bring it ON!

This IS a knitting blog, right?

It occurred to me, finally, that I haven't written anything about knitting in ages. Since before the computer fried itself, actually. That's been a long time.

Despite appearances, I have been knitting. I have demonstrated entrelac. This scarf was created from the entrelac tutorial in the spring Interweave Knits using three balls of Noro Silk Garden. Beautiful, isn't it? Many folks seem to think so because I've been selling Noro like crazy ever since. My friend, Barb, and I are teaching an entrelac class at the store beginning tomorrow evening, so look for plenty more entrelac scarves around Port Perry.Another shop project which has been finished recently is this top. I used one and a half hanks of Butterfly Super 10 cotton to knit the Cream Tea from the 2007 Pattern-a-Day calendar. June 5, if my memory is at all correct. Sorry about the less than stellar photo. If you want more detail, leave a comment and I'll provide.
Knitting for babies has also consumed some time. Here you see a little pink outfit completed as a store sample. The beret comes from the 2007 Pattern-a-Day calendar and the sweater is from Debbie Bliss Cotton Knits. oth were knit using Filati Carezza. The doll? Mine from childhood. One of my customers offered me an outrageous amount of money if I would sell her. Not a chance. Too many memories.
You also see Bear modeling an entrelac baby bunting. That pattern came from the McCall's Super Baby Book, circa 1979. I wanted to make this pattern for my eldest son before he was born, but couldn't figure out the instructions. Since learning entrelac, I decided to try again for my soon-to-arrive neice. The directions were still pretty bad, but I did figure it out. Bear models it well, but I'm sure Amelia will do better.

I also knit up some socks. On the left are the socks which went canoe camping in Algonquin Park. They were made from Knitpicks Simply Stripes using a generic sock pattern. Very nice sock yarn, and many folks are hoping to find these under the Christmas tree this year. I'm not telling who the lucky recipient is! The socks on the right are from Regia Stretch, using the same generic pattern.
This means that I've finally caught up on the Sock-a-Month challenge over at Delphi Knit & Chat forum! July and August completed! Wait til you see my September socks!

I've also completed a pair of baby layettes for the Durham Crisis Pregnancy Centre. Yellow and lavender. Apparently the shelves are pretty bare at the Pregnancy Centre, so if one was at all inclined, knitting some layettes for donations would be greatly appreciated.
The photos are pretty grainy and terrible. Sorry about that. I'm posting from home on dial-up so I compressed the photos pretty severely.

My brother and sister-in-law announced the arrival of their daughter, Amelia Ann, on September 21. She is the lucky recipient of the entrelac baby bunting. I can't wait to see it on her! Congratulations you two! You did well!

Camping in Algonquin Park

As promised, here is the wrap-up of our camping trip in Algonquin Park. This is the third camping trip for us over-all, but the first time that the four of us have gone by ourselves. Our friends, Rob & Tanya, have gone with us previously, and taught us the ropes.

We decided that we would follow the same route that we took two years ago. Familiar territory and all, ya know? So we loaded up the backpacks, grabbed the map and compass, and took off.

First stop is Algonquin Outfitters to pick up the rental canoes. Nice canoes, reasonable prices, and lots of help loading the canoes onto the trailer. Drive off to the entry point on Smoke Lake.

This is what the dock looked like as we readied ourselves for departure. The young man chatting up the girls claimed to be interested in the dog. Myself, I think it was a ruse to get to talk with the beautiful young ladies. But I'm prejudiced ... Two canoes, four backpacks, one dog and we're off! In previous years, we had scoped out what we thought was a perfect site. With bated breath, we headed off. Two short portages later, we were there. Luckily, the site was available, so we grabbed it.
Sunsets are a favorite view of my daughter's. Sunsets over a pristine lake with a loon calling softly in the distance, are one of the best things about canoe camping.

While breaking camp on Monday morning, a huge snapping turtle came to investigate. There is a picture of him in my photobucket album located here. (All the photos here are different than those at photobucket.)

I find myself continually marveling at the loons. Red eyes. And the ability to stay underwater for that length of time. And I am amused when the loon swims in front of our canoe, and then protested because we were too close.

The canoeing was wonderful. Turns out that the daughter and I work well as a team, but only if I'm in the back. Since I didn't really know how to steer, this was extremely interesting. On the route, there was a stretch where you are winding your way down a meandering waterway, complete with beaver dams. Doug, Em and Pepper the dog) managed to paddle across it without incident. Carrie and I, on the other hand, had a little trouble. We ended up with Carrie over-balanced to the right, me leaning to the left in an effort to compensate, and water pouring in over the right side. Carrie decided to sacrifice herself and flopped overboard. Which means that the canoe was suddenly leaning way to the left, with water rushing in the left side. Quick reflexes meant that the canoe stayed upright. Carrie didn't officially fall out since her hair didn't get wet. Even Doug agreed with us. Sorry--no photos of this part of the adventure.

I took a sock with me this trip. Do you have any idea how decadent it feels to sit and knit on a sock while sipping your morning tea? Or sipping your evening chocolate? There is absolutely no comparison. Don't I look happy?
Both young ladies brought reading with them again. This year, however, the books stayed in water-proof packaging. And much lighter than previous years as well.
All in all, the trip was a rousing success. We were initially dubious about taking Pepper with us. He's a city dog, with all that entails. Also, he has bad hips. Fortunately, he absolutely loved the trip. Riding in the canoe was no problem, although he did prefer that the two canoes stay close together. Em would throw a stick in the water for him to fetch just prior to putting him in a canoe. That way, he'd stay a wee bit cooler while we were paddling.. After all, there is no shade in the middle of a lake. We are definitely planning to do this trip again, although we are hoping to plot a trip that visits different lakes.

I may have done something bad ... in a good way

The joy of having a wool shop named "Never Enough Wool" is that some people aren't quite sure what to make of it. I've had several folks call me up and ask if I accept donations. Well ... technically, no. But I do accept donations that are forwarded to a local church for use in their missions work.

And then there was the phone call from a gentleman whose wife had closed her wool shop. She had spent some time treating the inventory as stash. But now they were moving, and she really needed to down-size her stash. Hence, the cold call.

Being the nice person I am, and not really wanting to say "NO" outright ... I agreed to meet him and take a peek. I was fully prepared to say "NO" in person, which felt a mite nicer than over the phone.

Really, I was. I didn't even have any cash or cheques with me.

And then I saw the knitting machine. A Studio, which is my favorite brand. A Model 860, if you really want specifics. (This is a modular, electronic machine for those who have a passing familiarity with knitting machines.) Hardly used. With a ribber.

Along with bags and bags of wool. Nice wool. Really nice wool.

And he accepted my really low offer. Heck, I believe the machine might be worth as much as I paid for the whole kit and kaboodle.

This is my haul:

Another view:

These photos don't do justice to it. Really. All you can see is a mound of wool, in bags. And a little corner of the knitting machine. There are magazines and patterns as well. And a huge bag of needlepoint wool and fabric, some pre-printed. AND a bag of Anchor embroidery floss, as well as patterns. Nicely organized.

Unfortunately, there is some smoke smell residing in the yarn. I spent part of yesterday arranging (some) of the cotton yarn out on the deck and cycling it through laundry baskets. Sort of a giant tumbler, as it were. Doug and I brought it all in at dark, and as we prepared for bed, I spread it out in the kitchen for more airing out. See how much fun I had?!

Luckily for me, after a couple of hours in the fresh northwesterly breeze and an evening on the kitchen floor, the smell is gone. I've even rewound some of the yarn from balls into hanks again, and the smell is gone. I'm hoping that the wool and acrylic blends will be as forgiving as the cotton has been.

The yarn is destined for the shop, for a Surprise Super Summer Sale. Of course, if some of it ended up in my stash, or the daughter's, or the other daughter's ... who would know, right?!

I promise that I WILL have photos of the canoe trip through Algonquin Park, as well as of my recent knitting projects and completed items. All in good time. After all, I do have some stash diving to accomplish.

Adventures with Wild life

Still having difficulties with the communication between the home computer and the internet. I'm hoping to resolve the issues this weekend. Until then, however ...

The husband, both daughters, the step-daughter's dog and I have just returned from a four-day canoe camping trip into Algonquin Park. This is rustic camping at its finest. Clear, cool lake water, very few people, plenty of sunshine and exercise. Of course, this also means that you must secure your food products in a tree so that the local wildlife (bears and raccoons) don't plunder your campsite. More on the camping trip later.

We returned home safe and sound, albeit slightly sunburned, on Wednesday evening. Nice dinner. Thursday was spent doing laundry and unpacking. The heat wave is still in full force, so all the windows are opened to catch the evening breezes. Thursday evening I crawled into bed with my good book, and promptly went to sleep two minutes later. Doug came to bed about 11:30 and read for a while.

Just as he is drifting off to sleep, he hears noises from the kitchen. "Probably the daughter," he thinks. "Hope she remembers to close the freezer door." Then he hears a CRASH. Now he has to go investigate since the daughter might be injured and I am sound asleep.

In the kitchen he discovers not one, but TWO juvenile delinquents.

Raccoons.

He chases them out, but then wonders if perhaps there are more hiding in the pantry. After all, it was a family of four 'coons we saw in the backyard. Fortunately, it was just the two 'coons that got in. They had pushed the screens in from the outside and crawled through. The screens were totally undamaged. Go figure.

The 'coons were still out on the deck, patiently waiting for him to turn off the lights so they could resume their midnight snack. He goes outside and chases them off the deck. I snore on, blissfully unaware of the drama unfolding under my windows.

Doug can now hear the little delinquents moving around on the roof--mere feet away from my wide-open bedroom window. He figures that he should make sure they understand that they are not welcome in our neighborhood. A handful of gravel from the driveway and he begins throwing stones at them. They go up and over the peak to the other side of the roof--again, mere feet away from the open bedroom windows. They can't see him, he can't see them, they're safe.

So Doug follows them around to the other side and begins throwing more gravel. Now the gravel is pinging off the steel chimney, which is just feet away from the open bedroom window. PING! PING! GROWL (from the raccoons)! PING! Do I wake up? Nope.

Now Lizzie-kitty wants to go outside and join the fun. After all, she is a fierce, wild beast. And since Doug is already awake, there shouldn't be any problem.

MEOW! PING! GROWL! Snore.

Finally, Doug hauls a ladder around to the side of the house and fetches the garden hose. Right outside the bedroom window. CRASH. SPLASH! MEOW! GROWL!

Snore.


The 'coons didn't like the water and retreated far up a tree. Out of reach of both the water and gravel. Doug comes inside and stands guard. Lizzie paces and meows incessantly.

Finally, poor Doug comes to bed at 5:30 am. "Poor dear," I say. "Had a bad night?"

Who knew that we could go 4 days without seeing major wildlife in the wilds of Algonquin Park ... only to be raided by said wildlife in the comfort of our own home?!

Good grief!

I am so very, very tired of having computer issues. Just when we think we've got it resolved--ZAP!! Something else goes wrong. I keep waiting and waiting for it to all come together. Which means that I haven't posted here in ages. Ages being defined as two weeks.

And if you were hoping for pictures? Ha! Fooled you! Because the camera and its related software is on the home computer ... which isn't talking to the internet for some strange reason. I'm in the shop right now with the o-l-d, t-i-r-e-d laptop. Which has a USB port that doesn't talk to anything.

Isn't technology wonderful?

Carrie has been for a nice visit with her dad in Michigan. Doug and I went to Michigan for a weekend to see my brothers and sisters and attend a baby shower for my youngest brother and his wife. She's due in August, and looks wonderful. Then we went back to Michigan to retrieve Carrie from her dad. That's three trips to Michigan in three weekends. THAT'S a lot of road time.

What I've accomplished knitting wise is a pair of baby sets for the Crisis Pregnancy Centre. And half of a baby gift for said brother, his wife and the soon-to-arrive bundle of joy. In a perfect world, you'd see pictures here. And maybe someone does live in a perfect world. But it ain't me.

And what's with this terri ble lag with Blogger? I type out a whole sentence and then I wait forever (OK. It's maybe two seconds) for the words to appear on-screen. It's like being back in high school and jamming up the IBM Selectrics in typing class all over again.

Here's hoping that sometime in the foreseeable future the camera will be able to talk to the software; the computer's modem will be able to talk to the internet; I'll be able to post photos again; I'll actually win the big prize in the Lotto and be able to treat all my loved ones and favorite knitters to a special treat ... and other assorted good things that we all wish for will happen.

Well, this has been interesting!

We seem finally to not only have a computer, but also a functioning internet connection. This has been an extremely interesting experience, recovering from a major hard drive crash. I do believe that we will be performing a back-up of the important data in a far more regular manner henceforth. Well, performing a back-up, never mind the manner.

In the last couple of weeks, a lot has happened. The daughter survived the exams and end of year activities. Officially, Grade 10 is over.

The daughter attended the Grade 12 Prom with Dave, a young man she has come to know by way of the Rebel Improv team. The dress was borrowed from a friend, and I knit up a shawl to accompany it. The shawl was knit from SeaSilk, 150 grams, purchased at the Knitter's Frolic. She loved it, and it loved her.
She has now gone to visit her dad over in Michigan for a couple of weeks. I sure hope she is having fun.

In other news, we have discovered that the Lizzie-kitty has good taste. Here, she is enjoying a ball of Paton's Classic Merino.
But she suspects that we are holding out on her. Somewhere there is a better ball of wool for her to snuggle.

She would be correct. We were holding back the Luxury Alpaca Peru.

Nice to see that I'm raising more than one yarn snob!

Hmm. Cat or dog?

You Are: 50% Dog, 50% Cat

You are a nice blend of cat and dog. You're playful but not too needy. And you're friendly but careful. And while you have your moody moments, you're too happy to stay upset for long.

Are You More Cat or Dog?

I've been seeing this little quiz thing around the internet for a while. Since I currently can't show photos, this seemed like the next best thing to do. And I'm half dog and half cat. Hmm.

This might explain why LI love lounging around in the sunbeams.

Back-up?

So not so much posting happening here at Knits 'n Stuff. Some knitting, but ... alas, no photos.

You see, we had a catastrophic hard-drive failure. Of course, we all learned of the importance of doing a regular back-up from Stephanie's mishap last holiday season. Right? Of COURSE WE DID. All over blogdom, knitters were doing back-ups that day. Did that translate to a regular routine of performing a back-up? OF COURSE NOT. Because, you see, those catastrophic failures only happen to other folks.

This week, I am "other folks." We lost the carefully compiled list of e-mail addresses, daughter's photos from her trip to Vimy Ridge for the rededication ceremony, not to mention the daughter's two biggest school assignments of the term. Software for the digital cameras, anti-virus protection, Bicycle solitaire statistics (I was trying for a win in every game!), our favorites for internet surfing, the dial-up accelerator from Primus.

Sigh. All gone.

We did manage, by the hair on our chins, to recover the daughter's homework and one other very valuable document. And since we'd managed to access the hard-drive once, we could recover the remaining documents at our leisure. Right?

WRONG! Oh so very wrong.

Who knew? We certainly didn't. Fortunately, the folks at PC Paramedics (Peterborough) were kind enough to not charge us buckets of money for the failed data recovery.

Now we get to figure out how to reconfigure the computers for optimal usage by the family. Reload the software. Try to rebuild the address book. AND PERFORM A ROUTINE BACK-UP!

Dang. I hate it when I become "other folks."

If you are reading this and you live in Ontario and have a knitting blog, you are invited to join the Knitting in Ontario web-ring.

Oh yes--go back-up your computer data!!

Dulaan deadline

I've been contributing to the Dulaan Project since its inception via Ryan's blog. The first year was a bit hurried and I managed mittens and hats. Last year, I contributed some kids sweaters, socks and the ever-present mittens and hats.

This year, I've not been so prolific. The shop has kept me somewhat busy. I did, however, manage to finish up the 5 items I promised Ryan ... and two more. Here is this year's contribution:Three solo hats, one pair of mitts and hat, a scarf, an adult sweater and a child's sweater. Not as good as I had hoped, but at least I have contributed to the warming of Mongolia. A worthy cause. I wonder if the Project will continue?

In other knitting, I have done some knitting with the Regia Java cotton-blend. The colours are delightful--all ten of them. I selected the most sedate to make a pair of socks for my husband. Here you see the finished socks:
Do you see anything peculiar with these socks? They are the closest to identical socks that I've ever achieved. I was so pleased, cruising along. To my dismay, I found a knot in the yarn while completing the foot of the second sock. Not only was there a knot--it would fall on the bottom of the foot. Doug already complains about the harshness of various socks. (He would give Princess a good run for her money, no doubt!) A knot in the sole of his sock wold be absolutely unacceptable.

I dutifully reworked things so that the join would be on the upper part of the sock. And that's when I realized that I'd come SO close to perfection, only to be euchred by the yarn itself.

An interesting note--one of my customers had experienced the same dilemma while using a ball of -- here it comes! -- Regia Java. I haven't had any other sock yarn returned for this reason. Of course, this evidence is only anecdotal, but ... I'm not sure I'll be getting any more of the cotton.

What I did last weekend.

Last weekend was a busy one. I've been plotting and planning and conniving for about six months to give my wonderful husband a surprise birthday party. Do you know how difficult it is to plan a surprise party? Especially when the recipient of the party spends most of the day in your presence?

I knew that I wanted to have a lot of food. How to do that and still keep a surprise? Get the party catered. Adds to the expenses, but a real necessity in this instance.

Order the cake from the local bakery. Preferably on Wednesday if the party is on Saturday. Purchase or make the decorations ahead of time. Stopping at Wal-Mart doesn't insure that you will have decorations. A real party store is definitely the place to go.

And hope for good weather so that the necessary skull-duggery keeps the husband away from home for the necessary hours.

I was lucky. He never even suspected a thing. (Of course, the fact that his birthday was in November might have something to do with his being surprised. But it was a 50 and a half party--honest!)

Doesn't he look happy? And not at all abashed or ashamed to admit that he has turned 50. The young lady at the bakery thought I was silly in the extreme when I ordered the cake. I guess most folks don't celebrate 50 1/2.

The party was held at the Booth. This is the name of the pavilion at the little golf course that our cottage ownership provides. It comes in handy when you want to do something like this. It holds plenty of people, has a wrap-around porch, and the biggest yard for kids to run around in that you could want.

Here are a couple of photos of the folks singing "Happy Birthday" to Doug.
That's Cathy, Jon, Johanna, John hiding behind Johanna, Mary-Lynn, Megan, Jack, Candy and Mike.
And here you see Carrie, John, Al, Irene, Joe and Catherine, and Cathy again.

It was a nice party. Kept me nicely distracted from knitting for a couple of days. Doug thinks this should be an annual event. Minus the surprise part. And he thinks I should be included in the festivities. I haven't decided if I'll admit to having birthdays ... but the party sure was fun!

I saw the Y arn Harlot!

Friday night was the Canadian launch of the Yarn Harlot's fourth book, titled "Stephanie Pearl-McPhee Casts Off." The event was held at the Indigo Books at Bay and Bloor, beginning at 7:00 pm.

For a variety of reasons, which will be explained at a later date, I arrived at precisely 7:00 pm, the scheduled start time. Seating had been gone by 6:15, and the standing room only area was a bit crowded as well. I don't know how often Indigo hosts authors speaking about their books, or how many people attend these events. But they were seriously short of space.

As usual, Stephanie was hilarious. She connects well with those of us who knit. She claims to be nervous about speaking in front of a crowd, which could well be true. She did seem nervous in the beginning. But then she hits her stride and the crowd loves her.

The newest acronym coined by Stephanie is the group C.H.O.K.E. This is a sub-group of T.A.K.E. (Team Against Knitting Enjoyment). C.H.O.K.E. represents Cultural Humiliation Of Knitters Everywhere, and is evidenced by the general lack of respect accorded knitters world-wide. Stephanie even relates how her very own loving mother succumbed to this insidious group. (Fortunately, Mom has generally recovered!)

Finally, Stephanie began signing books. After an hour in line, it was my turn!

The sock in Stephanie's hands is the current sock in progress. A sock originally destined for my husband Doug. Now that it has been touched by the hands of The Yarn Harlot, I'm not so sure ... I wonder if he'll have the proper respect for the sock. And I got to hold Stephanie's sock. Way cool!

The After-Party was at the Spotted Dick, a pub down the street. My wonderful husband met me there, and we were able to visit with other folks who had attended the Launch. Much to my surprise, at the table next to us were a couple of ladies who had driven in from Lansing, Michigan. They even knew where Bellevue (my hometown) is. If you are interested, you can say "Hi" to Lynn here. (Note to self: See how to get Lynn to come in for a class or two...) I also met Rae who owns the Rae's Yarn Boutique. I will be sure to find her next time I'm in the area.

In keeping pace with the Knit-Along over at Knit 'n Chat, here is a photo of my May socks.
The employees of the Ontario Ministry of Finance are currently seeking donations for their annual charity bazaar fundraising event. I donated these. Knit from Regia Java in the Champion colourway, by way of magic loop. One week from start to finish.

My life will never be the same

This is my car.

These are my keys.

This is my daughter. Isn't she beautiful?

This is my daughter's new driver's license.

My life will never be the same.

The Sounds of Summer

It's Victoria Day weekend, which means that where I live life gets busy.

You see, I live on Lake Scugog in a "cottage community." Every Friday night, the road fills with cars. You hear the sounds of motorboats on the lake, waterbikes scooting up and down, crackling fires in the firepits and the voices of neighbors. Dogs barking. ATVs racing up and down the road, legal or no. Not to mention the birds singing, the humming of the insects and the gentle pitter-patter of raccoon feet on the roof.

The joy of living in a cottage community on the lake, however, comes on Sunday evening. Or on Monday of a long weekend. Everyone goes home. The boats are berthed, the waterbikes parked. The ATVs are garaged. The cars go home.

That is when you truly get to hear the sounds of summer. The loon calling on the lake. Again, the pitter-patter of raccoon feet passing over your home. The birds calling early in the morning.

The sights of summer are splendid. Sunsets over the lake are often breath-taking. Occasionally we catch sight of the local heron flying up and down the lakeshore. Friends paddle by in their canoes or kayaks, often stopping by the dock for a wee visit. The trees are green, as is the grass. The cats love to sleep outside on the deck, in the sunshine. Even the daughter goes outside to study in the sunshine.

And me? Well, I do enjoy the summer sun as much as anyone!

I am reading the book my daughter got for me for Mother's Day. Victorian Lace by Jane Sowerby. Eye candy for sure, awe-inspiring, and dare I say it? Tempting. Yes. I am tempted to try one of the patterns. Haven't decided which one as yet, but that's part of the dreaming.

Knitting pictures next time. The lace shawl for daughter's prom dress is finished, but not blocked.

What are the sights and sounds of your summer?

Spring is here!

Spring has arrived in my corner of the world. How do I know? The grass is green; I've raked the yard; and the silly cats think that 4:00 am is the perfect time to go outside. Pace, pace, pace. From one window, over the bed and the sleeping bodies to the next window, repeat ad nauseum. Makes me want to be catless--except that she is so good at catching mice.

Another sure sign of spring is the Knitter's Frolic. This is always a good time, even if you do happen to own a wool store. This year my wonderful husband watched the store for me while I frolicked. I saw lots of heavily-discounted novelty ribbon yarns, which is a sure sign to me that they are losing their appeal. (Finally!) I saw lots and lots of hand-painted wool as well as space-dyed wool. I browsed at a lot of patterns and books, some of which will be making their way into my shop.

I did, however, break down and make a few purchases.
Yes, indeed, that is a Fleece Artist sock kit. I've wanted one for the longest time and decided that this year I was going to do it. And I did. There are two skeins of Koigu as well, for the same reason. And finally, a whopping big hank of SeaSilk from the Handmaiden. 150 grams--600 metres. For a shawl. I'm not allowed to talk about it ... yet ... so you'll just have to wait to see what pattern I use and why.

I also finished a sweater for the store.
Patagonia from Auracania. This is a thick-and-thin cotton yarn, hand-dyed. Interesting. Knits up well and quickly, which is good. But not my cup of tea. Fortunately, this is a store sample. The pattern came from Auracania Moments, a book filled with many delightful designs.

Finally, just for myself, a pair of completed socks! Will they become Christmas gifts? I'll never tell!

Remember Dr. Suess?

The daughter is taking drama this term. This means that she frequently has presentations--including the need for costumes and props. In honour of Earth Day, the current project for her story-telling assignment is the Dr. Suess story of the Lorax.

This necessitated a stage set, which she and her group constructed during and after school. Then came the props and costumes. Could I make a Thneed?
Yup.

Could I make Bar-ba-loot ears?
Yup.

What you don't see here is the efforts to construct the Swome-swan wings. Sorry.

All in all, it was a lot of fun to help her with her drama project this week. Too bad I don't get to see it being portrayed.

In other news, I spent Monday with a couple of friends learning how to make hand-dyed and patterned yarns. We made self-striping yarns. We made fair isle yarns. We made zig-zag yarns. And then we made rainbow yarns. All in all, it was a great deal of fun. Actually, it was a blast. I just might have to do this again--after I knit up all this sock yarn!

What's happening at the store?

I remember when I opened the store that I promised that I wouldn't make the blog into a marketing tool for the store. I think that I've held true to that promise. Until today's post. Because today I have to tell you what a wonderful guy my honey is.

You see, he was at the store for the two weeks that I was recovering from my appendectomy. While there, he decided that there were some changes that needed to be made. For instance, see these baskets?
There are 14 of them. Previously, they held all the non-bamboo knitting needles, crochet hooks and circular needles that I owned. It was a mess. When someone came in looking for a specific size, one had to dig through the baskets to find the needles. If I had them. Which I didn't always, because keeping track of what I had was difficult.

In addition, I had one of those twirley-magazine display racks. It had 48 slots for books, and assumed that all books would be approximately 8.5 x 10.5 inches. In a perfect world, this would work. However, in the real world in which I live, only some of the books were the proper size. And I had more than 64 different titles.

So Doug decided that I needed a better way to display my magazines and needles. He scratched his head, sketched, scratched some more, measured, and sketched. He came up with a great idea, and he built it. This is what my pattern books look like today:

He even made allowances for the booklets which aren't 8.5 x 10.5 inches! Isn't he wonderful? I especially LOVE the way he utilized every last bit of space to make the needle display. Now my customers can select their pattern, and pick up the necessary needles without taking more than a step or two.
We discovered that I had lots of needles. Lots and lots of needles. So he built another needle display for me!
I do believe that he must be the greatest and most supportive honey in the world. (If yours is better, don't tell me. I want to continue to live in my fantasy world!)

I was interested in playing around with some more felting ideas, and using some Noro as well as the Nature Wool. So I tried this idea on for size--a mitred square with a cabled handle running around the exterior of the squares. The colours are just wonderful. The Nature Wool really brings out the jewel tones in the Noro.

The big question is what will happen when I felt it. Will everything shrink uniformly? (In my fantasy world, yes!) Will the bag lose its shape? Will the washing machine die? Stay tuned for the answers to these and other questions.

I keep remembering stuff

I know that I wrote about the wonderful weekend I spent visiting my brothers and sisters. But there were so many activities, so many people to see, that I didn't tell everything about the weekend. And I keep remembering things that I wanted to say.

For instance, on Friday evening my husband and I joined my youngest brother and wife and attended a concert at the State Theater in Kalamazoo, MI. My brother told me that the theatre was worth the price of admission. He was right. (Fortunately, we enjoyed the show as well!) The theatre was built back in vaudeville times, and has been lovingly restored to its period splendor. The ornate plaster, the lights, the roomy seats. And just to top it all off--when the lights go down, the "stars" in the ceiling light up. Truly, if you have the opportunity to visit this venue, I would strongly recommend it.

Accompanying the wonderful blues music was a veritable feast of "cajun cooking." There is a gentleman who comes to provide food for concertgoers. His prices may be cut-rate but the taste is out of this world. Doug had beans and rice, which was tasty although not my favorite. Then he tried the seafood linguine, which was yummy. I polished off a piece of BBQ chicken that was to die for. I even licked my fingers, in public, all the way to the second knuckle.

On Saturday night, we were invited to a Battle Creek Knights basketball game. Turns out that my brother is the head IT guy for the team, which position comes with season tickets. My elder brother and his wife scored 4 tickets, and shared them with Doug and I. Just to round out the evening, my third brother also came. The first half of the game was OK in that the home team was out-scoring the visiting team. At half-time, however, the visitors got a royal arse-chewing from the coach. They came out just smoking. That 16-point lead the Knights had disappeared in a heartbeat. The fourth quarter was a nail-biter. The Knights finally won in the last 5 seconds or so. It was an exciting game--even if I don't watch much basketball and didn't know anyone on the team!

Sunday was spent relaxing and visiting, which was greatly enjoyed by all. Well, I know Doug and I enjoyed it. I hope the brothers and sisters did!

In knitting news, I finished a store display.
I started this sweater just after Christmas, knitting with Paton's Chunky Shetland from the Creative Knitting shown. The pattern itself is rather simple if you can count to 15. I kept forgetting which number came after 12, so had a difficult time with the knitting. Then when assembling the sweater, I discovered that the sleeves were MILES longer than the body. This in and of itself is not unusual because one's arms are generally longer than the waistband of the sweater. And the sweater really is a bit on the short side. (At least that's how it appears in the magazine.) However, 10 inches was excessive in my humble opinion. In a fit of pique, I threw the sweater in the project bin, closed the magazine and started something new.

Months later, I decided that the time was right to finish off this bad boy. The problem with having a hissy fit and closing the magazine is that you now don't know which magazine the pattern was in. And I look at a lot of magazines and patterns every week. Do you know it took me a good two weeks just to find the pattern again?!

Anyway, I did persevere and finish the sweater. If you ever make this sweater, I cannot caution you enough about being careful with the measurements. The zig-zag effect makes measurement interesting. The sleeves are still about 2 inches too long, and this was AFTER adding approximately 7 inches to the length of the body. Maybe this type of pattern shrinks when no one is looking?

In home knitting, I am so very pleased to show this wonderful little knit:
This beauty comes from Paton's Around the Seasons (#548). I used 15 balls of royal blue Zara and 1.5 balls of light blue Zara. (I did have to make allowances for the fact that Zara is a DK and the pattern was written for worsted, but that was just a matter of changing needle sizes.) The fair isle was a breeze considering there were only two colours and I had been taught the best way to perform the maneuver. (Thank you very much Irene and Cathy!) The stitch definition that Zara provides is just phenomenal.

The best part of finishing the sweater? I had a mere 48 inches left of the blue yarn. Yes, you did read that correctly. 48 inches. There may have been enough to knit one more row of the neck-band ribbing, but I didn't want to take any chances. It was enough to cast off and say "I'm done!"

My daughter (who is 16) is known to claim that she "wants to marry" whatever it is that she has seen and she really, really likes.

I'd marry Zara quite happily.

Happy Easter

In the absence of my wonderful daughter, my husband and I were able to travel this past weekend. Finally!

My sister delivered a wonderful baby boy in the first week of November. 5 months ago. We saw the original hospital pictures. Then nothing. Now, I understand that life gets pretty busy when you have a baby. But -- five months with no pictures? What kind of mean trick was my sister playing on me?

We spent the weekend visiting with my brothers, sisters and father. On Saturday, I was privileged to meet Sam. Remember how important it was to not wake the sleeping baby? With her first baby, my sister was foolish enough to frequently wake the sleeping baby. Didn't bother Emery at all. She'd visit with all and sundry, smile a bit, and go back to sleep. She learned to sleep all night at an early age. She napped very well.

So now my sis is paying the piper. Little Sam finds sleep to be something which must be avoided At. All. Costs. During the night, during the day, doesn't matter. Sleep is to be avoided. Sis states that if she'd had him first, he'd be an only child.

My opinion? He's a keeper, and cute as all get out. But then, I'm prejudiced.

Today I'm going to talk about my sister's knitting. Remember--she's sleep-deprived and the mother of two small children. She fears that her brainpower is diminishing. She set herself a challenge: two socks, one needle. One inside the other.
Note that she didn't even use two different colours. She found the inspiration on Knitty, and is working diligently. Personally, I'm in awe. THIS girl has knitting mojo all over the place.

Her husband, on the other hand ... well, let's just say that he gave her another challenge:

If socks can be knit one inside the other, why can't sweaters be done the same way?

Bon voyage, mon cher!

Departure day finally arrived as of Wednesday, April 4. Yes, I know that was almost a week ago. I've been busy.

Carrie had been warned to travel light. In fact, the school advised the students to pack everything into a suitcase of a size that the kids could haul up three flights of stairs. Carrie took this advice to heart, and packed as instructed. As we walked into the school, with her carrying everything, she even commented that perhaps she had packed too heavily. What do you think?

Yes, this is everything that she needs for a 10-day trip to Europe. When she saw what the other kids were bringing, she was amazed. They were even more amazed at how little she was bringing.

I haven't heard a peep from her, which I am interpreting as good news. I've checked out the trip blog, didn't see her photo, but have followed the tour's progress across England and France. What an amazing opportunity for these kids! I can't wait to hear all about it when she gets back.
I couldn't post last Wednesday evening because Doug and I had to go to T.O. to view his daughter's artwork. It was opening night at some gallery (location forgotten, unfortunately), and she had work displayed. It was really cool, and I hope to be able to post some photos of her next gallery debut. (I think the big day for th next dispay is the 19th or 20th of April.)

In knitting news, I finished a sweater for a friend. The friend's daughter was having a baby, and the baby gifts had progressed without incident. The sweater for the big brother, however, was a totally different story. She slaved and laboured for four months over the silly thing, and finally got most of the back completed. Since the baby had already arrived, she asked if I could help her with it. I did.
This is Sirdar Toddler Aran, and the design is from a discontinued Sirdar booklet. Probably a good thing as I found several errors in the pattern instructions. In any event, I did finish the sweater. The cables on the front were really cool:
The photo doesn't really do them justice, nor does it show the colour well. It is supposed to be a sage green.

We spent Easter weekend visiting family in Michigan. Some time this week (depending on how busy I am in the daughter's absence) I hope to post photos of the trip--including the challenge my sister set for herself.

Happy knitting!