Ready!

We're going paddling this weekend. Maybe tomorrow, maybe not until Saturday. Depends on how much it rains today. But we'll be leaving tomorrow in any case, because we'll camp and make a weekend of it, and need to be in camp tomorrow evening in order to meet our friends on Saturday morning.



When we get back, we'll have Monday to get things cleaned up and put away, because on Tuesday we're leaving for Chicago and Wisconsin! I'm going to a workshop with Meg Swansen! I tried to attend her camp last year, but selection was random and I didn't make it. So I'm really excited to be going now. I've never been to Chicago or Wisconsin, either.



Got books, notes, knitting needles, knitting gizmos?

















Got yarn?
















Got directions?

















I've been knitting, and doing a little sewing, too.








More on the sweater when I'm finished. I know it looks like an amorphous blog at this point, but it's really pretty cool and looks nice on. And here's the boot quilt, ready to assemble. I really need to get this done and to the quilter. It's tying up my sewing machine, and I'd really like it's intended recipient to have it!

Happy Beginning

Chelsea went home with Sheri and Michael today! I was going to call this "Happy Ending" to my story with Chelsea, but it's really about a happy beginning of a new and safe life for her. On the way, she managed to poop and pee on her new mommie, who is, of course, a wonderful doggie person and understands about frightened pooches.

Sheri has promised to stop at a friend's on the way home, because the friend is looking for a dog, and might just decide that Chelsea is a better fit for the friend. But in either case, she'll be loved and well cared for.

And now I can quit worrying. I must confess that worrying about her fate has taken a lot of emotional energy over the last week. Bless you Sheri!

And any of you knitters out there who are in the Crossville, TN area, please stop by Sheri's shop, The Yarn Patch. It's even closer to I-40 (like 2 minutes!) than originally, and she has lots of gorgeous yarn in a friendly and cozy shop. You won't be sorry you stopped in.

I don't have a photo of the new shop yet, but that's Sheri in the old one. Don't forget to thank her for taking that sweet dog, too!

PS - Blogger help doesn't have the information I always copy to make a live link in the place where I'm used to looking for it. I was going to live link you to The Yarn Patch website, Sheri's shop in Crossville. I'll keep looking, but in the meantime, you can get there using the sidebar on the right of my entry.

On the Porch

I'm calling her Chelsea, and sadly I can't keep her. The kitty girls would find her problematic, as would David.

I found her sleeping at the front door for the last two mornings, so today I fed her (she was so excited she couldn't keep the food in the dish), and took her to the vet. She now has had shots. She should get a dose of Frontline, and on Monday she'll get a bath and spayed.

The vet says she's about 7 months old, and a mix of something like Dachsund and Australian Shepherd. She's about the size of a beagle, but long and low, with short little legs. She's just soooo sweet, and a real lap dog.

I have to find her a good home. Wish me luck.

I Love New York!

Really. Totally unexpected. And in no small part because I had such good shepherds - Liz and Mardi. Mardi lives in Manhattan and Binghamton, Liz lives on Long Island. They met me in the City and we "did" the yarn thing all day.

I was surprised that the trip itself didn't cost a whole lot more. And when the Super Shuttle van let me off at my hotel, the New Yorker on 8th Avenue between 34th and 35th Streets, I was delighted to find a McDonald's and a Starbuck's right across the street. I would survive, if nothing else. That made me relax, as did the fact that bellmen weren't hovering to handle my meager luggage (no tips to worry about), and the knowledge that Mardi and Liz would be meeting me in the morning.

The city was easy to navigate. Of course, having my two new friends to show me the subway ropes helped tremendously. But I walked (wanting to get the lay of the land and the mood of the city) from my hotel to Rockefeller Plaza outside the Today Show, where I understand the knitter's were seen on television. I wasn't jumping up and down in front of the cameras, so I'm not certain I specifically was seen on TV. But anyway, it was a crazy, touristy thing to do - standing around out there, knitting in the cold. And it was cold. Mardi and I finally gave it up and headed back to my hotel to meet Liz, grabbing a little breakfast in the lobby while we waited.

Liz was right on time, and had a day-long subway pass for me; bless her! So off we went to begin our "yarn crawl." By the way, in my previous post-New York post, you see Mardi (black glasses) and Liz next to the Yarn Harlot sign, as well as flanking Mason-Dixon Knitting's Kay in Central Park.

My rule for yarn shops was that I would buy nothing I could obtain at home or easily on the internet. School Products first

(I bought lace weight hand painted cashmere, and some yak/merino blend; strange, but there is was and very soft when knitted up). We climbed the stairs and had no sooner entered the store when the building experienced a fire drill. Luckily it wasn't a full evacuation drill, and was of short duration.

Next to Habu Textiles;

very different sort of place with more exotic fibers. Small, intimate, oriental. Nothing grabbed me there, so I managed at least one stop without making a purchase.

Then onto the subway toward Central Park, and a quick stop at Zabar's for my souvenir:

Mardi made me promise not to stop and enjoy the frangrances of this unique and interesting grocery near Central Park, because we were due at Strawberry Fields for The Sock Shoot at noon. So, coffee was purchased and we boogied, getting to see The Dakota along the way. I didn't take nearly as many photos as I should have, The Dakota is a gorgeous old building.

Stephanie was there with the traveling sock, of course.

My previous post has the sock shoot at the "Imagine" mosaic.

After Central Park it was on to Knitty City, where I found some lovely and interesting yarn and spent too much money (but still following the rules!). While we were there, Knitty City received their copies of The Book.

Then The Yarn Company, one more project using the store's own pattern, free with purchase of yarn, and free shipping as well! (I asked that all my purchased be shipped, so I didn't have to worry about them in my luggage on the return trip.)

Late lunch at the Popover Cafe (check out the size of the popover on Liz's plate!)

before heading back down to the Fashion Institute of Technology and The Harlot's book launch event.

The trip was wonderful. I had a fun mini-vacation, made some new friends, and decided Manhattan is a place I'd like to visit again. Thanks Liz and Mardi!

Touch and Go

That's what they call those airplane practices where the pilot touches down, but only briefly, before taking off again. Right? That's what I feel like right now. Though I did extend the ground time by rescheduling my appointments in Knoxville. Instead of tomorrow they're a week or so away. So I can stay home tomorrow and pack, heading out again on Thursday, to return on Tuesday evening. I'll spend the Easter weekend with my friend Jenny in Herndon, VA, along with her mother Jean Ann. I know Jenny and Jean Ann from my years in Florida.

David has likewise landed. He's off the Colorado River, has raft packed and is heading east. We will meet again on Tuesday evening. Hurray! My sweetie returns.

I am now a hot water fan. Not for everything, of course. But definitely for white sheets. Pre-treat with Oxy-Clean, and add it to the wash water. White sheets again! Normally I wash everything in cold water, for energy conservation and because it works OK for normal clothes. But I've been sleeping on dingy sheets for a while, and I finally said ENOUGH!! Today they got washed on hot, and by golly, they're white again, and LOOK clean! Ahhhhh. Which is good. This bed takes a good bit of energy to make and re-make, so I don't do it as often as I should. But today, it's good and worth the effort.


Note the steps. I need them to get into/on the bed. Note also the bins and bag UNDER the bed. Stash.













So I'm enjoying being at home again and the kitties are liking it, too.

But I had a great week at the John C. Campbell Folk School. I knitted mittens all week. And learned more technique than I could have imagined. Beth Brown-Reinsel is an extraordinary teacher, and I feel so lucky to have spent another week under her tutelage.





















First up were our Selbu Norwegian mittens. I really like these, especially some of the little elegant touches, like the side edge stitches and how they close up at the top of the mitten. I'll make the mate to this one.
























Then, on to Swedish twined (two-end) knitting. Tedious and slow and kind of a pain, but gorgeous! I can see myself doing small, very small, portions of this. I've ordered Beth's lovely sock pattern using this techinque - we'll see if I ever make myself do it again. The problem is that, when done in the traditional way, the yarn gets twisted so much that you have to stop every round or two and untwist it. Now, there's a special technique for doing that, but still, one must stop knitting and DO it.







After that, the colorful Latvian mittens. What you can't see here are the really neat braids. They're done with the twined knitting techniques, and are a real pain, but very much worth the effort. I also added fringe, hated it and ripped it out. No fringe on my Latvian mittens ever! I opted for a child's size, since time was growing short and for once I wanted to finish my projects in time for "show and tell."















When we weren't knitting, we were able to appreciate a Southern Appalachian spring.


Tomorrow - back to New York!