Checking Up, With a Little Yarn

I don't know where the days are going, but apparently it's Wednesday already.  Sophie & Zeus has their vet check-ups last week.... and my little Princess found evil reflecto-dog in the next to last picture (yes, she is scared of her own window shadow and she barks at her every time she appears in the sliding glass door at home).



Scratch My Belly... Please?

Hump Day?!?!  Let's get wordless...



Knit & Crochet Show recap

I took a much needed day off from work last Friday and headed off to the Knit and Crochet Show. I didn't take any classes... just went to shop, take in the atmosphere and spend the day with my friend Jane.  The showroom floor was certainly smaller than my first show in 2007, but probably about the same as the one I attended in 2008 (last year they moved the Summer show to New York).  The vendors were many of the usual suspects, with a few new ones tossed in and a few others noticeably missing (no Webs booth this year!). 

I was very selective and limited my purchases to those that I really wanted or were terrific deals... 

I bought the Kusha Kusha scarf kit at the can't-leave-without-buying-something Habu booth (the scarf sample is hanging in the center of the picture below). The "kit" consists of 2 cones of 1/20 silk stainless steel and 1 cone of lace merino, of which I picked out my own colors (purples, of course).

My only other yarn purchases were a couple of deals that were too good to leave behind... A single skein of Mountain Colors "Mountain Goat" in a beautiful fallish colorway called Sunburst.  Sure it's just one skein, but it was in the clearance bin... how could I resist?  It'll work up into a cowl or something small.  I also grabbed two hanks of super soft Peruvian Alpaca that were a mere $11 each, one in black and one in a "stormy skies" colorway. 

I also picked up a beautiful coral pendant, which I forgot to photo ... as well as a little birthday gift which is currently in the hands of the USPS on it's way to the recipient.

TKGA hosted a hat silent auction to raise money for charity on Friday.  I didn't bid, but snapped a few photos of my favorites...

Kate Lemmers' was my favorite design (I'm trying to find out if she has the pattern available for sale) and Kaffee Fasett's was, well, funky of course..

I couldn't resist snapping a shot of this cutie...

These are a couple of my favorites from the CGOA contest.  The bag only nabbed an "honorable mention," but I voted for it for the Attendees Choice award.  The train blanket was absolutely stunning...

At the 2008 show I met a wonderful lady and blogged about her and her unique Koala Caddie yarn aprons.  Mary and I had got to chatting about business and I mentioned Etsy as an outlet for her product.  She hadn't heard of the site before and was going to check it out.  Flash forward two years... she was back at the show and I was happy to see the hustle and bustle at her booth, as well as an expansion to her product line.  While I was admiring her great work, she was busy attending to customers.  I certainly didn't expect her to remember me or anything, so I continued to walk along until I heard someone yelling my name.  When I turned around it was Mary, with a huge hug and thank you! 

 

Mary was so excited to see me and I was so excited to learn that I had left such a great impression on a fellow crafts-business-women!  Truly a heartwarming moment.  Mary told me Etsy was working out great and she had sold 60 Koala Caddies in one year alone thru the site.  She now sells pick-up pillows (small magnetic "pillows" to help you easily pick up dropped pins, scissors, etc) and personal pillows (pictured above right).  The personal pillows are the perfect size for traveling and I plan to get a custom doggy fabric one from her soon!

In between the shopping, Jane and I sat down to lunch and a little knitting time.  She had been asking me to teach her how to knit socks for awhile, so what better time than a knitting show, right?

Jane knits and crochets, but this was her first time working with DPNs, so I got her started and off she went... knitting round and round on her very first sock!  I managed a couple of rounds on my Duckies as well (maybe this will get my sock mojo flowing again). 

Jane finished up the ribbing and is well on her way thru the stockinette leg... I think she'll be calling me to help turn a heel soon!

A day off from work with great friends and fiber... what could be better on a Friday in July?

FO Socks!

Hey look, she really does knit! I actually have a FO to show you!

My Trekking to Charlotte socks are finally done!!!

These puppies have been on the needles - and repeatedly tossed aside - for an eternity so long that Zeus even had to come over and check them out... see his most adorable nose?

Woo hoo for me... mama's got a new pair of socks to keep my feet warm this winter! Now to get working on my other socks-in-progress and get some new ones cast on as well. Not that I don't have enough yarn in my stash to cover casting on for the next ten twenty thirty lifetime, but... I just bought a gorgeous skein of Alabama Fiber Dreams' Get Ewe Done sport in the Winter Sunrise colorway and must find a great pattern... any suggestions? Look how purty it is...

I also used up a Loopy Ewe birthday gift certificate (thanks Cyd!) to grab a skein of Madelinetosh Worsted in the Crumble colorway... again, pattern ideas are appreciated...

Stitches East recap

On Day 3 of my stay-cation (that would be last Friday), we ventured to yet another New England state... Connecticut. After leaving Matt and his Dad to do their own thing, Sue and I ventured over to Hartford for Stitches East....

This was my first Stitches event and I'm glad to say, the market was bigger than the two Knit & Crochet shows I've attended! It was a lot of fun, even if we did find ourselves passing over several of the "same 'ole, same 'ole" booths rather quickly. I recognized many of the vendors from past Knit & Crochet shows, as well as Granite State Knit-Ins. Of course, there were a lot of CT area vendors as well.

I don't have any pictures from the market floor except for this one...

About two minutes after I snapped a pic of this lovely sweater, they made a "put your cameras and cell phone cameras away!" announcement. Yup, there were no pictures allowed on the market floor. Seriously now? Talk about a ridiculous rule! Lenny Kravitz let us take as many pictures as we darn well pleased on Wednesday night (yes, pics to come soon) and I think his picture is worth way more than any picture I could've snapped at Stitches! Anyway, I thought that sweater was kind of cool, although I can't remember what booth it was at or what it was called (yea, I got the pic... forgot the info).

I went to the show with the intentions of not buying anything that I could readily purchase at my LYS or online. I was looking for something different... something to wow me. I found that at the Still River Mill booth!

The lilac skein is Puppy Love and the blue/multi skein is Puppy Love Gone Wild. Puppy Love is a 30% Samoyed / 20% Milk / 50% Merino blend, with the Samoyed coming from a sled dog team from Cambridge, VT. The Gone Wild version is a mix of yarn ends to produce a multi-color, with no two skeins being the same. This is the first time I've found a dog blend yarn for sale that was not custom made (I'm still saving Zeus' fur... to be spun eventually). I'm told the yarn is wonderfully warm, yet extremely breathable and that it will bloom very nicely. I plan to make a hat from the Gone Wild version (pattern was given with the yarn), but not sure what's in store for the lilac skein just yet.

I also picked up a skein of Lobster Pot Sox in the Beach Plum colorway and Zauberball in a beautiful fall color.

I had eyed skeins of Lobster Pot cashmere in the past, but didn't want to spend the money without a specific project for it, so when I found the new sock yarn I knew I had to bring one home! Sue and I found the Zauberball yarn at one of the first booths we visited and just loved it. It was new and different to me... but we quickly realized that at least 1 or 2 booths in every aisle had some!

My only other purchase was this Nutmeg Mitts kit. The yarn is Koigu KPM.

That's it! I entered with the "only if its different and I love it" mentality and did not spend more than the cash in my wallet, which to me equals a huge success! I did have one more stash enhancement this weekend however.... thanks to Chan! She sent me this gorgeous skein of Mountain Colors Bearfoot as part of my birthday present. Isn't it lovely?

Well, that's a wrap on Stitches East 2009... I hope to be back for the 2010 show next fall!

Pharaoh's Gold & Fill-Ins

Happy Friday! I figured today was a good day for some randomness blogging and a little bit of catch-up (read: she's finally starting to download, touch-up and upload pictures from last month)...

If you read regularly, you'll remember that we found a second set of robin eggs shortly before we left for vacation... here they are!

First to hatch on May 15th...

By the next morning, all 3 had hatched ~ May 16, 2009.

Sadly that's it for photos of set #2, since we went on vacation and they had flown the coop by the time we returned... So, how about a couple more tulip pictures from the same time (of course they are long gone now)?

I got my hair done earlier this week... nothing new really, just the usual covering of the greys color and a trim. I remembered to take a couple pictures the next morning since I still had the nice blow-out going (right now its one frizzy mess!). Lola seemed to approve of Mommy stealing her color...

Yesterday I stopped at a favorite spot to shop for a certain someone's upcoming birthday and couldn't leave without snatching up this for myself...

I don't normally lean towards gold colors (the photo to the right and below are more true to color), but I couldn't resist this skein of Sereknity Good Harbor in Pharaoh's Gold... gorgeous!!! I think Sophie really liked it too... my baby girl's got taste!

Happy Friday... I'll leave you with some fill-ins.

1. All children alarm their parents, if only because you are forever expecting them to steal the steaks off the stove (remember... my children all have 4 legs).

2. Show me a good loser and I will show you a person who's just having a good 'ole time.

3. Chasing vodka with hot chocolate is like eating an entire box of chocolate liqueurs at one time.

4. Too bad that all the people who know how to run the country are busy passing the blame and arguing about stupid stuff.

5. I have yet to hear a man ask for advice on how to combine work and family.

6. It is impossible to think of any good meal, no matter how plain or elegant, without seasoning or cheese in it.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to relaxing, tomorrow my plans include Stone Zoo's Wild Affair and Sunday, I want to see Matt race... if only the rain would go away (once again, its looking to be another wash-out)!