Happy Halloween!

Boo!

Little doggies like to bark on Halloween Night

Young Snickers gave the kiddies a fright
Minnie took it in stride
We made the Yorkie go hide

had a Dog-Gone good trick-or-treat plight!

My October Yarn Crawl

Karen J. and I went on an yarn crawl. To celebrate my birthday. ...it was a knitter's day of fun. We tried to go to the Yarn Lady first, but they don't open until Noon. So, we went to this lovely cottage in Laguna. Strands and Stitches is a small but well stocked yarn and needlepoint shop. Cozy and friendly it's a nice shop for tourists. They didn't have a large inventory and there was no ordinary (cascade 220 like) yarn. For esthetics and cool yarn they get a 10. I got some Indie hand dyed sock yarn. Capistrano Fiber Arts Studio, hand dyed by Lori Lawson.


For lunch we went to a casual but quite posh restaurant right on the beach. Karen told me a juicy story that took place in this same little eatery when she was a young probation officer. Sounds interesting doesn't it? My lips are sealed!




Then off to The Yarn Lady. It's a big shop with lots of novelty yarn and lots of other good stuff. The ladies that work there are friendly. I bought a little DK weight Encore to make a sweater for a certain Yorkie that I know. And a mega fatty hank of super bulky yarn for which the ball band is currently MIA. Hopefully I am going to make a cool neckwarmer for a Christmas present and you'll all get to see it.


We stopped at this little place (The Red Bee) in Tustin, it was a little nicer than JoAnn's, but we didn't find any yarn we couldn't live without

Ok, this is one of the many isles in Velona. This large store is in Anaheim Hills, a short hop from the 91 frwy. The entire store is packed to the brim much like this photo...not to mention there is 5k square feet of yarn stored overhead! The stock is a little sad and tired. Some of the yarn is older than I am! But, Karen and I had fun wandering around and we did manage to find some goodies.
I bought a sweater's worth of a discontinued yarn that I love "Sir Galli" and another boat load of Jaeger Trinity. they are both white and 100% silk...read that "future sweater set".
I found a flexible tunisian crochet hook. A customer called our shop looking for one and I said I would try to find it. None of our suppliers had them, I was happy to find it and make our customer very happy.

Karen bought a Rowen book that is exquisite and increased her stash a bit too.

This store is not-to-be-missed on any yarn expedition to Orange County.

We were very tired by dinner time. We ate at a nice restaurant that shared a parking lot with Velona. It was a little high in the $ and calorie department, but oh so good!
I had a blast spending a day doing nothing but eating and shopping! Karen is a real pal... she is a true blue friend!

Look to the right! It's a free pattern!

ok, I have a real blog now. Over there on the right side bar is a PDF file with a pattern for a really easy lace scarf that is great for a beginner. Yep, that's a picture of it. The lace pattern is in chart form and in plain English. If you have trouble downloading it let me know.

....now if I only had a boat load of readers!

I went on a yarn crawl yesterday and will post the pictures soon!

I'm corny!

I can be pretty corny and I am knitting with yarn made from CORN! This sock will be a sample for the shop. I must say I really like this yarn. It's Kollage, Cornacopia. It is a little splity (is that spelled right?) but I didn't find that a deal breaker. The on the positive side, this yarn is soooo soft! Thumbs up!

Race For The Cure

This was my first time walking in the Race For The Cure. I was taken back by the number of participants. There were Corporate teams with matching t-shirts and kids cheering the walk/runners. A sea of pink everywhere. I was struck with emotion as my good friend and her daughter walked along with me, by the names and photos of the people affected by breast cancer. Like the lady in this photo...in memory of. So many representing those that have been lost along side of those that survive and rejoice.

Party shenanigans

Um, yes, this is a picture that I took this evening at a party I attended. Most of the people were drinking wine because they either work or hang out at Thornton winery. The parents of a neighbor came to the party after attending a local Octoberfest. Can you guess which ones they are???

I think there is something funny to be said in this post but I'm afraid the shot of tequila is keeping me from finding the funny.

It was a very good birthday week. Everyone checking in with love and a few nice gifties! Some of it was yarn to be revealed later!

55 reasons why it's a great day...

What's on my needles?

All the knitting bloggers have a free pattern and I wanna be just like the popular girls. I am making this scarf for an easy lace class for the shop. When I finish writing the pattern I'm gonna have it as a free download here. Just thought I'd give you a peek.

All in a day's work

Today was a crazy day at the yarn shop. We were busy busy. Lots going on including an automobile collision on the street in front of our window.

What I was struck with on my way home this evening is the humanity that is shared as we sit and knitted this evening...yes..there was a lot of laughing. But, in between the smiles were somber words. Of abandonment, stolen innocence, loss of a child, loss of family. No one is spared.

Sorrow is part of being human. We sit and the needles click click click and compassion is shared along with the stories.

It's more than just selling yarn.

stripey goodness

Hey! Here is the cardigan I finished last week, I love it!
It was fast and easy, I chose the top down pattern because I wanted those stripes to line up.
This yarn is Noro Taiyo, it's mostly cotton and silk with a little wool and nylon thrown in, very soft and yummy!
I made a few modifications to the pattern;
In the close-up bubble you can see that I changed the rib on the bottom to have an extra knit on both edges. When I later picked up stitches for the button band I didn't loose the rib pattern. I remembered to do that after I did the rib for the neck- so it has a k1 where it should have a k2.
I made the sleeves and the body a bit longer than the pattern called for. Also, the pattern wanted 28 repeats of the raglan increase- after trying it on I ripped back to 22 repeats.

Pattern is in Knit 'N Style magazine (April '08)
Cropped Raglan Cardi

Won't you be my neighbor

You know that your kid is all grown up when you are taking a picture of them beaming on the threshold of their very own house!
It's a little ridiculous to say that times flies by so quickly and that it seems like yesterday that both of these two were children. But here I am looking on them with pride and reminiscing.
My fair haired daughter now influencing the lives of other people's children in the classroom. And that dashing son-in-law of ours....he was but a schoolboy and now he's her forever boyfriend. They now have a Home-Sweet-Home

it is the American Dream.