Help! I have fallen and I can't get up!

Hello:
I have totally fallen off the stitch from stash New Year's Resolution. Well, not totally.  I mean, I AM stitching from stash, as is evidenced by this 6 in afghan square I designed and hooked for the HPKCHC Quidditch Team Spirit Game that is currently running. (I hope to post the pattern here, soon).

and the Orange Man Socks that I am almost finished with for Pookie:

But this hasn't stopped me from buying everything in sight.  I mean, I feel like I am on a buying rampage.  I admit to being a bit depressed after visiting and helping out at my brother's house.  And, while I was there, I had to buy sock yarn for the first March Madness round. 

And, I wasn't sure what that round would be so um, I bought some extra plain sock yarn that could be used if the first sock needed a solid, or could be used to make a second Man Sock for SKA March challenge.

And the solid sock yarns were so cheap, on sale at the Jo-Ann's in Orange, CA, that I had to buy more of a different color. 

And while I was waiting for that first Sock Madness pattern to be posted, I worked on my Orange Man Socks, but that wasn't enough, so I wanted to work on my afghan, but of course I didn't have any of the yarn with me since I went to California so unexpectedly, so I bought some of the afghan yarn and hooked about 3/4 of one of the squares (I am not showing that, because really? more of that afghan yarn?  why???)

And then, I like my new sock knitting needles so much (both the Addi Sock Rockets, and the ChiaGoo Red Lace), that I decided to get another one in case I had 3 pair otn at the same time,

and while I was buying that new Chia Goo Circ in size 0 I just had to buy a full set of interchangeable needles (always wanted some, now I have some),

not to mention the Malabrigo yarn I HAD to buy for Malabrigo Madness since I had none, 0, zip, in my stash and how can I participate in MalMarch with no yarn?

Ouch.  When I was buying the needles yesterday, I asked if the store (more about it in a later post) had any Malabrigo.  They had some on order that was being shipped and should arrive this week.  But, thankfully, for my sanity, they had none on hand or I would be posting photos of even more.

Are you getting the picture?  I have fallen and I am not sure I WANT to get up.  I love my new yarns and new needles.

Peace,
f1bercat
shaping the world from a very deep place filled with new yarn and new needles.

Eastside Stitchers Discuss... Football (and Yarn)

New Seating Area at Crossroads

Hello!

Tonight was the regular Wednesday meet up for the Eastside Stitchers at Crossroads Mall in Bellevue, WA.  I was there!  I am so happy to be back home with my husband, the Doc, my son, Pookie, my cats, Beena and Muffin, and my Yarn.  And, I am so happy to be able to attend my stitch night.  I love my family.  I love my brother and sister and Mom and Dad.  I miss my stitching buddies when I am out of town.

Enough about me.  Who was able to attend tonight, and the most important thing, What Was Everyone Stitching?

The first thing I noticed when I arrived was a gorgeous colorwork sweater sitting in the corner.

Well, there was a person wearing this beautiful sweater,  but I didn't know her.  The Sweater is the Nordic Yoke Pullover by Ruth Garcia-Alcantud, and was published in Vogue Knitting.  The person wearing (and who knit) this beautiful sweater is Vanesapolo.  She has actually been a member of our Group for quite a while, longer than I have, but she had never come to Stitch Night at Crossroads.  She told us a funny story about trying to alter the neckline of this sweater, and finally, getting it right at a knitting workshop helped by none other than Meg Swansen.  Yes, Meg Swansen touched this sweater. 

Vanesapolo was knitting a new Brioche Vest, designed by Meg Swansen.  I am seeing a pattern here.

The yarn is a beautiful red from Bartlett Yarns.

Redbird1 was wearing a beautiful Farthing Scarf, designed by Jarrod Flood.  She knit it in Loft, and said the knitted lace edging nearly killed her.

She was working on a new shawl by her boyfriend, Jarrod Flood.  (Ok, just kidding about the boyfriend part, but how about knitwear designer crush).  It is the Guilder, and it is really lovely.  She is using Shelter Yarn by Brooklyn Tweed in the "Faded Quilt" colorway.  I love the name of the yarn.

GwenS  has made some huge progress on her Daybreak shawl.  This beautiful pattern was designed by Stephen West.  Gwen is using ... you guessed it, Malabrigo Finito in the Aquas and Lavanda colorways.

Skeinherder was also knitting with Malabrigo.  I guess it is Malabrigo Madness time.  Skeinherder is knitting a shawl for the Stockpile 2012 KAL/CAL.  She is using Malabrigo Sock in Eggplant and making a Windward Shawl.

Tara showed up sporting a beautiful Stockholm Scarf.  "This old thing?"  she said.  "This was my first knitted cowl.

Tara used KnitPicks Wool of the Andes in Garnet.

Colleen and Ellyol were both working on pink baby blankets.

Colleen's

 

Ellyol's

 

Ellyol brought my prize from the Ravellenic Games.  I had been out of town during the Games, and she picked up my yarn prize for me.

It is a skein of Ella Rae Classic in a lovely pumpkin orange.  I am not sure what I will make with it, but I love the color.


We got into a lively discussion of college football at this point in the night.  Redbird1 is a rabid Alabama fan, while I cheer for the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame.  Tara is an Ohio State Fan, and told us all about an amazing video of a half-time show with the Ohio State Marching Band.  The band performed a tribute to video games.  It is really terrific.

Chockelet arrived at about this time and had brought her Guernsey Wrap for Show and Tell.  This is another Jarrod Flood design.  Really, sometimes I think Jarrod Flood and Stephen West should just join our group.

Chockelet bought the yarn, Shepherd's Wool in "Oatmeal," during our little mini-yarn crawl to Bellingham last month.

She is working on a very pretty Two Tone scarf.  She also got the pattern and yarn up in Bellingham for this project.

When Redbird1 reached a point in her shawl where the cabling was a bit too intense for our SnB, she brought out a new Magic Three-Yarn Scarf that she was beginning.  Redbird1 loves to visit Churchmouse Yarn and Teas, and had picked up the yarns and pattern for this interesting scarf on one of her visits.  The yarn is the weirdest combination:

The pattern uses (from top clockwise) Debbie Bliss Winter Garden which is baby lama, merino, silk and linen;  Rowan Frost which is alpaca and viscose; and Berroco Versa which is a cotton blend.  Amazing that these 3 so very different yarns could be combined into something so pretty.

Hvdmnky finally arrived, fresh from her Yoga class and full of healthful chants.  She was working on a pumpkin hat for a friend's daughter.

I love the I-cord vine.

Allifer joined us right at the end.  Too late to do any stitching, but we had fun chatting with her.

We discussed our Holiday Gift Exchange.  If you are not a regular SnB attendee, but want to participate, please check out the discussion threads for information.  Also, the meet up in 2 weeks will fall on Halloween.  We will change our day of stitching, so watch for that thread, also.  We will put up a poll for Tues, Oct. 30 or Thurs, Nov. 1. 

And lastly, we are always happy to meet new members.  If you are interested in joining us on a Wednesday for a bit of stitching and a lot of laughing, please stop by, and pull up a chair.  We meet next to the Starbucks and Half-Price Books.

Stay safe and well.
Yours,
f1bercat
shaping the planet with lots of Stitch Buddies

2012 Puget Sound LYS Tour Day 2

Yesterday on the 2012 Sound LYS Tour, Allifer, GwenS, and I hit 7 shops.  Yes, 7 LYS in one crazy day.  The great thing about the tour is that you get to see a lot of shops.  The bad thing about the tour is that by trying to hit 21 of them (and be in the running for the $500 gift certificate, because it's all about the prizes), we are just getting a "taste" of each shop.  Back to the good news;  we hope/plan to come back to most of them.



We drove up north to Pinch Knitter in Stanwood. We left at about 8:30 am and got to the shop right as it was opening. OOOOOO so cute. I loved how open and airy the shop was.  Not at all cluttered, but with a really great selection of not just the usual yarns.












For instance, they had a whole wall of Dale of Norway.  It looked like every color imaginable.  Now, I don't do colorwork, YET, but I hope to, and I know that I can find a ton of great colors here, in person.




Gwen liked the tons of colors of Malabrigo, especially Finito & Lace.  The staff was super helpful and friendly.

Stop 2 was at Great Yarns in Everett.

I think they had more cool buttons than any of the other shops.



 Their featured yarn was the mink yarn I put at the top of the post.

I plan/hope to make a pair of fingerless gloves with this yarn.
 Just think:  Mink gloves.  They had a very nice selection, and were quite big.  There is a bargain room downstairs.

Stop 3 was Main Street Yarns in Mill Creek.  GwenS really loved the special pattern this shop had available for the Tour. 

We ate a quick lunch after this stop.  Main Street Yarns was in a really nice retail area, and there was a good selection of restaurants nearby.

Stop 4 was The Fiber Gallery in North Seattle. 

This shop was fantastic.  It had a huge amount of Malabrigo (very important to Gwen), tons of sock yarn, and every color of Cascade 220.  It is close enough, that we can come back quite easily.  Thank goodness!

Stop 5 was Tea Cozy yarn.  This was a pretty small store, but still very nice.  It had a very good selection considering the size. 

Stop 6 was Bad Woman Yarn in the Wallingford Center in Seattle.



This seemed to be very tiny at first, but it was packed with yarn goodness, and had more space than I thought at first.  The staff was super helpful.  They had a nice bargain/sale area where both Allifer and I bought some yarn to make sweaters.  They had a ton of both Malabrigo and Madelinetosh.  I will definitely return. 



This was going to be our last stop, but we were making great time, so we decided to head back to the Eastside of Lake Washington, and visit our local yarn shop, Serial Knitters.  I had already  visited this shop yesterday, but Allifer and GwenS had not. Allifer got the featured pattern and a skein of sock yarn to make the special fingerless gloves.  She loves the pattern, and that there is enough yarn to make 3 pairs of the gloves.

That's all for now, I'm falling asleep at the keyboard.

Stay safe and well.

f1bercat
shaping the planet..zzzzzzzzz......