Whew!

I did a count of the blocks I've made for the afghan I am producing and I was a little astonished that the number is ten! Ten blocks have been made already. That means the afghan is nearly 1/3 done, right? I did say thirty blocks didn't I? Don't make me go back and look. I am having a somewhat lazy day.

We had some fun over the weekend - but let me not talk for the fabulous Melissa, the wonderful April, the charming Chantal, the lovely Laeh and the beautiful Pilvi. I had a great time hanging out with them on Sunday and as it turned out, we hung out all day with nary a man in sight.

We met up at my church to head out to the Morton Arboretum to participate in 'Lichen It' which is part of the Arboretum's Unframed Art display. We gathered (with a couple dozen other crocheters) in a room and created lichens (pronounced likens.)Lichens are fungi and algae that live closely together and help each other survive.(Per the website.) We made ours from crochet rope in purple, yellow and red and they will be sewn together and then artist Carol Hummel will dress a tree from trunk to branch tip with them. The installation will be in May and will stay up until November. That was a fun two hours and I have a pang of guilt which I am trying to rid myself of because we were supposed to stay there at knit together but we called an audible to go visit a new yarn shop. Now going off to a yarn shop is nothing new for us - we've done that before as an impulse - but Pilvi couldn't go because she lived very close to the arboretum so she hung out there to knit and I feel guilty that we left her.

But we did.

We traveled from Lisle to Chicago - not a bad trip but not a short one - to visit Windy Knitty - a very spacious, light filled shop. It was very comfortable and welcoming, the yarn was deemed reasonably priced and the fabulous Melissa said she found fiber there that she had not seen at other shops. It's a place we want to go back to and we are hoping to add it to our Sunday afternoon outings so that would be another area of the city where StitchCraft can rule!

From there, we headed back to my place so we could get the yarn I packaged up for the charming Chantal but forgot to put in the van and we went to eat - for some strange reason, none of us had sufficiently nourished ourselves that morning. At Elmwood we ate and looked at the books Melissa, April and I purchased. (Melissa got her via mail and April and I purchased ours at the shop!)

After that, we were ready to for bed - all before 7pm - we're rockers for sure!

To top it off, I received some good news from one of my buyers: the hat I made and sent three weeks ago finally arrived and she loves it!

Perfect ending.

I'll Try Something New

I spent the weekend with the fabulous Melissa and the wonderful April - though not at the same time. StitchCraft met on Friday and April was there along with the terrific Vicki and Debbie and Nicki (a twelve year old who sat and read and wasn't at all interested in the knitting. But can't fault a girl who loves her books - and we were in Border's after all.)

April asked if I was going to the knit out that would be happening the next day at the Oak Park Women's Exchange. I didn't know there was a knit out so the next morning, I joined her there. It was a small group but we spent three hours knitting to raise awareness for Project Linus. We met Sharon and her daughter Rachel and granddaughter (I don't know that I learned her name) Mary and Gloria who also came to knit out. It gave me the idea to team up with Sharon for our Sit and Knit and Pleasant Home next year because Sharon said the blankets produced here stay local and there are other local charities where Project Linus donates. We would be more successful if we partnered up so that sounds like a plan.

Last Sunday Melissa and I decided to go to a LYS closer to her and yesterday we met at The Woolly Lamb - which oddly enough is very close to my house. Though I missed the turnoff and went well out of my way but the kind folk at the shop told Melissa who then told me how to get back on track. Turns out, it's less than 15 minutes from Casa Honey. (Just what Mr. Honey desires - less than 20 minutes from the house is a Joann, a Micheal's and a LYS.)

There were, what seemed to be, a regular group that meets there because they were all just talking away and knew each others names but they were all very friendly. Melissa and I were in the back room and they told us to join them in the front. They were very friendly with their advice and praise (and let me tell you, there are some expert knitters there.) The store really felt like a big living room (complete with a comfy sofa.)

They were part of the yarn crawl but we really missed that one! The selection is smaller in both brand and quantity than our other haunts but the atmosphere is by far the best and the store front is across from a park and they have benches outside their store so it would be a great place for a knit out as well. Believe it or not, I didn't buy a thing. Melissa and I had a long discussion on why I can't buy any more yarn and then she proceeded to show me some yarn at 30% off. Pusher.

They invited us back and we will go back there because it's so nice and I will certainly tell everyone else about it.

I love the company of women. I especially love the company of April, Melissa and Vicki - guaranteed laughs and good times and tree pals who listen and don't judge. Another perk of knitting groups - you knit hearts as well as fiber.

Fun weekend.Thanks, girls!

The Best Laid Plans

God is good. All the time. Even when God laughs at the plans we make. God is good.
I was being proactive - something which should have been a clue to me and I am sure started the heavenly chuckle. I can just see the angel assigned to watch me yesterday. S/he tapped another angel on the shoulder pointed down (up?) and said, "Watch this. She's going to organize her finished stuff."
Said angel then watched as I packed the first zippered container containing afghans and prayer shawls. They watched as I manipulated folded with great care the new afghan and placed it in the container. They saw as I was satisfied with my feat and felt one step ahead of the getting ready for the show coming in October. Said angel then called the sales department and told them to arrange for someone to buy it.

But God is good and the little angel may have had a short term giggle but I have the reinforcement of selling my goods and the money in the bank. Of course, the angel knew that was going to happen so the giggle wasn't exactly at my expense but rather at my profit. So who can begrudge an angel her humor?

Thanks to Mr. Honey's BFF, Bruce, and his wife Becky for having us over yesterday. Mr. Honey went over because he and Bruce are into cars (Bruce has this stunning 1933 Ford Sedan made from a kit) and Mr. H took over the hubcaps from his 66 Corvette for them to mask and paint. Bruce asked me to come over as well and when the four of us get together it's just one laugh after another. We ordered pizza (GREAT pizza from Grandstand Pizza) and we were there all evening. Becky lets me bring my needlework so I worked on the granny square afghan - almost half done.

They have one of those 'just stop by we'd love to see you' houses and because of that I love their home and their kids (all grown but still manage to be there and they sparkle each one!)
It was an unexpected joyful way to end the day. Thanks, guys. I got you when I got him and that just sweetens the deal!

Stitch And Pitch - White Sox vs The Twins

So let me start by saying I will probably do another Stitch and Pitch. I am also going to try and do a group knitting outing at Wrigley whether associated with Stitch and Pitch or not.

I admit to having a good time but that was because I was surrounded by people who's company I enjoyed. We met Adriana for the first time that evening. She's a crafty one with knitting and sewing and she and her husband were fun to talk to.

We got our tickets from Loopy Yarns and they cost $25 each (the face value of the ticket was $39) and we were out in the outfield. With the cost came a small knitting project bag (looks like one of those small gardening bags) and a stitch marker. Eight folks from my group came: six knitters and two significant others.) Marion brought a friend and then there's the wonderful Melissa and April. So, while I had fun with them. I don't know what I think about U.S. Cellular Field.
I like the plaza both inside and outside and I like how they have their concessions all in one place but the park itself seems a little cold. In truth, this is not because I love Wrigley. Wrigley isn't even my favorite park - The Great American Ballpark is my favorite park on the outside and Miller Park is my favorite overall park. The Cell is the first park I've been in that I didn't fall in love with in some way. It didn't move me. Which disappoints me.

But I did a lot of walking which was good for me and a good boost to my eating better - blood sugar is back to normal and I do feel a great deal better. I have continued eating the way I should so that part is going well. I'm working out more consistently as well. The troubles of the past couple of weeks seems to have gone away.

Last Friday was the start of the first annual Yarn Crawl. Fifteen LYS in the Chicago area are offering a 10% discount, free patterns and fun for ten days. There's a chance for a huge knitting related prize worth of $700 and each store is offering their own raffle. We've done four of the fifteen over the weekend and I can probably get to a few more before it's over. What was a great thing was two of the stores, Loopy and Mosaic put out tons of their patterns and just gave them away. I walked out of Mosaic with about five free patterns and over 100 from Loopy.

What's more enjoyable is the camaraderie that happens. Stitchers are just fun folks to be around. A conversation that starts out about knitting can soon turn into about job hunting, raising kids, and in-laws. There's always laughter and always empathy. There are some folks I know I would not choose to hang around with but for the few hours I am going to be with them, I will enjoy what they have to offer because I know it won't be more of a commitment than that.

I don't know who thought of the yarn crawl but it's a great idea. I hope they do it next year and I hope we get more notice than we did. It would have been fun to arrange for a bus to take us around to the different shops. Just take one morning and hit as many as we can with a five hour window. Or any number of arrangements. It was a lot of fun. Next weekend is Stitches Midwest but I don't think I'm going to that. I was never one for convention type things and I won't be able to spend a lot of money on yarn because there's no room for yarn. (Yes, I bought some this weekend but not enough to touch the stash bust!)

Overall, the last week into the weekend was a blast! The best part was making myself feel better by eating the way I am supposed to and not pressing myself so much that I make myself feel as poorly as I did

The next best thing: spending Sunday with Melissa, April, Marion and Robin. Four different women with four completely different personalities and I get a kick out of all of them. Thanks, Melissa, for introducing me to Cheeseburgers in Paradise, I am going to take Mr. Honey there for dinner. It can be added to our cheap eats list.

I am frogging some of the squares for the next 42 square afghan because they are too wide and I don't want to stretch the others to fit. In doing the frogging, I came up with a new design to the old afghan so I'm thinking this step wasn't so bad.

and the goodness continues!

Finishing Up

All the squares for the stash busting 42 square afghan are done. The truth is I had some squares already made and figured they could go into the 42 square afghan just as easily as any other afghan and since there wasn't a specific afghan for them to go into anyway, they might as well go into this one.

So, most of them will still need to be block to either 8 or 12 inches and then sewn together. What you see over to the left is the almost complete afghan I started a long time ago. I just had the inkling to finish it up - so I have the last strip and the last section on that last strip on the needles and so it's almost completely done. I can't wait to get it finished. It's a nice looking afghan and it will make someone a very nice afghan one day. Six different colors and three different stitch patterns and this was a pretty quick knit. The original pattern called for it to be double stranded but I have some aversion to double stranding though I've done it before. It's a nice and cozy afghan even single stranded.

I'm already thinking about the holiday shows - that's right - shows. I'm thinking of doing the Mother Guerin craft show, the Pleasant Home craft show and one fund raising show of my own. Either way, I have to start the stock up for it and decided this year to do afghans, pillows, hats and scarves.

Last night, I left the knitting at home and headed over to GNO - Girl's Night Out and my friend Gayle's house. Our friend Judy had to move to New York for her job and when she comes back into town, a gang of us gets together. There were eight of us last night and the laughs and the wine flowed. I love the company of women. Don't get me wrong - I think men are one of God's greatest hits - but the company of women is one of God's greatest gifts. We can talk about a whole bunch of stuff and still be relevant and funny. I love getting together with them and last night was the first time Connie joined us and we were right to invite her. The girl is a hoot!!

Get together with some of your girlfriends - if you're a guy make some men dates - and enjoy the freedom of being with a room that understands what it's like. The company of women - with some good Chinese food and lots of wine - is an evening that cannot be beat!

Vicki Rules!

I truly believe the greatest blessing you can get out of a group situation is to connect with someone as a friend. Someone you would be glad to hang out with outside of the group. For as much as we need the company of others - sometimes you just want the company of someone. Some one.

Lucky me - I'd be happy to hang out one on one with everyone in my knitting group (well, everyone I know. I haven't met all 120 of them.) I'd especially be thrilled to hang out with Miss Vicki because Miss Vicki crochets.

I do not know when this crochet bug bit me but we all know it was recently and I was really happy because I made my round crochet motifs and I was as happy as a clam...

but I wanted to make a granny square and last Wednesday night Miss Vicki showed me how. Yes, I've made these since Wednesday night...and this isn't all of them. I am not bragging, I want that to be known, I just cannot believe how easy this has turned out to be .

I have tried fiddling with the design to put a unique spin on it but that hasn't worked out yet, though I am confident I may come up with something if the attention span doesn't run out. Bit this is so much fun! I cannot believe I had learned something which has eluded me for years.

Miss Vicki doesn't read the blog, so she doesn't know I've gone granny square manic. Hopefully I will have something more to show her than a bunch of squares the next time I see her.

This is a testament to her teaching skill. She was very patient with me as I questioned almost everything and my brain went into lock down and she cheered me on when I finally got it. All these squares are not perfect - but they are perfectly cute and that's going to be close enough for me.

Thanks Miss Vicki for hanging out with the group and teaching me how to do something fun!

Stop Me!...I Think

The wonderful Melissa takes delight in tormenting me. (I so look forward to the comment that's coming from that opening salvo.)

The wonderful Melissa has said on several occasions: "Why aren't you publishing your patterns?" or even more Mom-like: "I just don't understand why you're not publishing your patterns?" Yes, she makes it into a question. Melissa is Jewish (insert stereotype here) and the guilt has plagued me. Because one of my patterns is published on Ravelry and has even sold and because there are others playing around in my head. I've taken a look at a photo and then decided just to cast on and knit what I think I see. "Who," says the person with 50 knitting books that she knows of, "needs a pattern?" Sometimes I do. I like patterns - they give me someone to blame. I don't have to take responsibility for a pattern if someone else makes it. I just have to follow it and admire my ability to read or fail at it and say someone else doesn't know how to write a pattern.

SIGH. But the wonderful Melissa is playing over and over in my head because she was working on a cute bag and progressing very well and as I was watching her knit it my mind was saying how I would change this or that and make it something different and then when I went to church, Joyce had the cutest bag made out of leather and I thought 'I could knit something like that.' Oh that Melissa!

Do you know Hill Harper? He's on CSI:NY. He has a degree from Brown, a law and master's degree from Harvard is the author of several books along with being a lecturer and actor. He says you should follow your heart even if it takes you all over the place. (And let us admit the man is creamy! Wanna spread him on a cracker and eat him right up!)
His voice is nearly as loud as the wonderful Melissa's. He sets a great example of moving. You can't get anywhere without moving so if you think you're stuck start at your feet.

Of course, I will put the patterns on the long list of things to do because the truth, Melissa, is that I have thought about publishing them I just haven't gotten to it and then I know from the example of Hill Harper that time is something we made up and something we have some control over and can accomplish whatever we set our minds to doing. I believe that. I sincerely do.

I appreciate Melissa being in my head because I appreciate Melissa being in my life. She's someone I love hanging out with even as she leads me on the path of breaking my stash resolution (you should have heard her last Friday!!) Stay in my head, Melissa, I could use the noise.

I Can Explain

I can explain what happened..and when I do it will make all kinds of sense, but before I do I want to share the teaching experience:

First, let say I am not one of those who thinks everyone should knit. In fact, I do not think everyone should knit because then there would be no one to buy what I knit. So I think some of us should knit and the others should buy what those who knit make.

However, if someone thinks they have the knitting bug, I believe it is my duty to encourage and even teach them how to put stick to string and make a series of loops that will eventually look like a scarf or whatever the pattern says those loops should look like.

Chantal is a new member of StitchCraft and she is learning how to knit. And she actually has the technique down and then she does the thing that is the biggest problem for a new knitter:
she thinks too much about it. She will actually place the right hand needle in the loop on the left needle, wrap the yarn around, get the right hand needle half way through the loop and then stop herself because she thinks it's wrong. And she won't believe me when I tell her it's right. If I'm watching her, she does it perfectly, when I turn around, she creates a problem for herself by thinking about it too much.

She's completely adorable.

By the end of today's session, I think we are on the way for her just relaxing into it. I have found that new knitters who have trouble getting into the flow have that problem because they somehow feel the need to control the process. They want so badly for there to be more to it than there is. Really.

1. Place stick in loop.
2. Wrap yarn around right stick.
3. Move right stick from the back to the front, catching yarn wrapped around stick to form new loop.
4. Move new loop from left stick to right stick, dropping old loop off left stick.

That's all there is to the fire.

While we were having our lesson I was thinking back to the days when I was learning how to knit in class at school. I tried to remember if I had a hard time with it. As I recall, I didn't catch on totally but I got it eventually. I don't remember where I was having the problem but I knew I was able to come home and do it - I think one of my sisters knew how to knit and also showed me a little - that part is blurry.

I am determined Chantal will learn how to knit because she wants to learn and I will show her. But more important, I want her to rely on her own approval so she can enjoy herself when she's by herself and she doesn't need someone to watch her and so she doesn't get uptight in her own company. There's certainly things to think about in knitting, but it's a lot easier when you let the knitting process carry you when it can. It's relaxing when you allow it to have its own way. Then you work with it and it carries you off to the good place where knitters go. I want her to get there on her own ticket. The good news is that she's a good sport and determined. She'll get there.

OK, let me explain how come I came home with 20 skeins of yarn:

Someone mentioned they needed a certain size circular needle.
I mentioned Chix With Stix has needles in the back of the store for a smaller price than the ones they sell in the front of the store.
We are about five minutes from Chix with Stix
While we are still knitting the woman who for the past two years has purchased my big la de da afghans at the Holiday store walks in and asks me if I have her afghan already done this year.
I confess to her that I was thinking about her the other day because I do not have a big la de da afghan, I made it and gave it to my nephew and his wife. But since the sale is in December, there is still time to make one. She says the people she has given those afghans to really appreciate them, especially her very crafty mother who said she can tell love and effort has gone into them.

(Sniff, sniff, smile) Thank you, thank you so much. I make the promise to begin work on big la de da afghan.

You're starting to come on board, right?

We travel to Chix With Stix, we go to the back to look at needles when Melissa points out the clearance section in the store.

I go over and see Ella Rae Amity Yarn (75% acrylic 25% wool - 200 yards to the skein.) There are loads of colors - beautiful colors. Colors I like marked at $5 per skein. Then April points to the sign that says it's 40% off. I ask the woman at the store 40% off the $5 price?

Yes, she says.
I ain't no mathematician but that sure sounds like $3 for the solids and $3.30 for the variegated.
La de da, says I. Wait. La de da yarn. La de da afghan.

Now, aren't you asking how come I came home with just the 20? It would have been more but I didn't like the other colors and I bought them out of all the colors I did like.
Doesn't it make sense to you?

I called Mr. Honey from the car - forgiveness is sometimes preferable over permission. I explained it to him and you know what he said:

OK.

Ha.


040204

The Church on Peyton Place Corner

Annie was quite happy when she walked into the office. She was about to begin her new permanent position after passing the trial period. It was going to be good, she thought to herself, working for a church.

The door to the office opened and Reverend Bleecker walked in. He hadn't been at the church very long and it was he who announced to the congregation that Annie was going to be in the office for what they all hoped was a very long and happy employment.

"Good morning, Reverend." Annie smiled at him.
"I don't like having you as an employee. I think you should quit."
Chapter One - Church on Peyton Place Corner


Today is a recovery day after we went to a boy party. What's a boy party? Mr. Honey used to work for Xerox (he retired after 30+ years - who works that long for a company anymore?) Bruce just retired himself and invited a bunch of the 'retired boys' and a couple who were still working, over to his house. They have a ginormous and beautiful backyard. And oh, the guys could bring their wives or girlfriends if they had them.

So, off we went and the girls were at one table and the guys were at the other and we all had a good time. We girls chatted about everything from how we and our hubs were handling retirement to politics, the economy and kids. When we checked in on the fellas, they were talking about work and sports and work and cars and work and work. There were several times they wanted to know what we were talking about because we went from the giggles to guffaws on many occasions but we wouldn't tell them. (They set up the tables and the way we sat so that's what they got.)

I brought my Falling Leaves afghan and made a couple of leaves while sitting at the table chatting. I handed out a couple of business cards, gave some knitting tips, showed someone how to knit, and discussed the knitting business. If I had paid for anything, I could write it off as a business meeting.

The food was great. (We brought some home - I ain't cooking dinner today.) The company was even better. I met some new folks. Saw some old friends and did some knitting and the weather was beautiful. I also got two new Facebook friends. How perfect is all of that?

Ain't the Lord alright?

Unforgettable - This Week's Chicago Top Ten

Oh man, the things that have caught my eye for this week. It's dangerous going to look for treasure because you are likely to find it if you know where to look. I suppose my saving grace is that I don't have a lot of money to purchase everything I see. At least not all at once. My list of favorite things is growing so large, Julie Andrews couldn't sing them all even with all the Von Trapps crooning with her.

See for yourself - you'll know I tell no lies when I say this is a great group of items. Here, in no particular order, is this week's great Chicago Top Ten:

Silver and Topaz Earrings from designbysuzyn
Blue zircon earrings from soniaandbev
Original Painting by bsasik
Anti-sapphire ring by Recycledrings
American Gothic by Natalieodonnell
Snack Tray and Cups by Sugarshorts
Buddha Box by marilyngrad
Pink and Green by eyecather230
Tropical Dreams by YourTimeBodyTreats
Blue Poncho by Mylittleaura

Alright now, show 'em some love and click on their items and take a gander at their shop.
A little bit of support goes a long way - ok, maybe not for Dolly Parton, but certainly for these folks here.

Jewelry, art, knitting (of course, but I didn't go looking specifically for it) all kinds of goodies. All in the Chicago area. Man, why would you need to live anywhere else? I mean, politics aside, is this a great city or what?

Baby, Baby Don't Cry

IIt's been quite some time since I interviewed Janet Lendecker about her shop JanetNicoleCreations. Since that interview in May, she has added some additional items to her shop and had a couple of sales. Now, lest you think I am taking credit for that success, let me tell you I am not. Instead, I am in awe of how she found the time to add some additional products considering she is a mom. and a nursing student who used to run a day care out of her home. I didn't understand how she had time to do what she was doing let alone expanding her offering to include the darling ponytail holders she's added to the shop.

What caught my attention was her wipe cases - baby wipe cases - making something so plain and functional into something funky and fresh. It makes sense a mother and a nurse interested in working with children would come up with something like that. (Never would have occurred to me!)

Janet also loves to sew and has thoughts of showcasing and selling her custom pillows in her shop. Do you get the feeling she never stops? You can read the entire interview here. Go take a look at her shop. She adds to it when she can so while there might not be a lot there, what is there is cute and fun. If you know a new mom or a mom to be or if there's a little girl in your life - then mark her shop as a favorite and keep Janet Nicole Creations in mind when you're shopping.

Get Together

I have no idea where I am on the train except I should be somewhere on the right. There were about 30 of us starting out in Chicago and we picked up about ten or more folks on the way to St. Louis.

This started out as a joke on the Illini Knitters Ravelry group. Someone said we should take over a train to St. Louis for WWKIP and the next thing you know, here we are on the train with knitting needles and a whole bunch of snacks. I am sitting behind this very gracious couple. They found themselves in our train car. He's from England, she's from Scotland and she's a knitter! She didn't bring her yarn or needles (I know, but she really is a true knitter) and they were a lot of fun. We gave them one of our prizes and she gave my seat mate, Mary Ann, the book she was reading.

On the way down, we started a scarf KAL. Everyone cast on 24 stitches and spent 5-10 meetings knitting on everyone's scarf. Here's the thing, we didn't have enough time to make a long enough scarf and we planned on doing it on the way back but a bunch of us liked the little short scarf we had and I didn't want to pass mine along any further. I am going to make a neck warmer out of mine. We also gave a way a ton of prizes, looked at each other's projects and yakked all the way. The five hours went by like nothing. We got word we would be about an hour late so we changed our reservations from 8:30p to 7:30p and decided to skip going to the Arch because we wouldn't have the time we need.
So of course we got in about ten minutes late. Ah well.
I started a hat the night before and by the time we rolled into the city, it was practically done - I still have to do the photos of it and I am more than happy to show it to you once they are done! I also have a lot more pics to show - some I took (I don't think I took any of these) and some by my group mates - we all agreed to share. There's so much more to share!

Gloria!!

Well, what do you think? This is the first of two community afghans made by some of the folks who came to the Sit & Knit.

Marilyn put them all together and came up with this. Now, to be fair, out of the 30 squares in this afghan I can count at least a dozen that I made - I tend to get into a square phase when I know we are going to need a lot of them for projects like this. But it doesn't mean folks didn't make a lot of squares cuz they did. But it means we can make two afghans instead of one. There will be a lot of my squares in the other one as well but it will mostly be those folks who gave up their time to come and sit on the veranda of a mansion and knit for the Community Care Hospice.

I'm almost ready for the trip! I just have to pack my project bag and I should be all set. The camera is ready to go as well and I hope to take lots of photos for more than one post. I may even break down and buy some hoity-toity yarn! Hahahahahahahaha - I couldn't even write that without cracking up. Y'all know I ain't gonna do that!
(Please pray that the client who owes me the 1K will pay it - I am running out of money!!)

Conviction of the Heart

The Sit & Knit or SNK as Knitting Knoobie coined it, was a success. Not everyone who RSVP'd showed, but there were a couple of dozen knitters who came and sat on the Veranda of Pleasant Home - Mills Park and did some stitching for Compassionate Care Hospice.

Lisa, on the left, was the first to arrive and she did not know how to knit. She has a friend who does high end doggy sweaters and that friend gave her acrylic needles and merino yarn. I was assigned to teach newbies to knit and I tested my new teaching theory which is to teach people how to do a knit cast on because it's almost the same as teaching them the knit stitch. I am glad to say Lisa, Georgia and Aida were all knitting within a half hour! Lisa picked it up within minutes - this girl is going to be a knitting fiend. Georgia is going to be great, too, she has beautiful hand rhythm. I moved my registration table to the porch because I was stuck inside all last year and didn't want a repeat of that. The day started out rainy, cleared up long enough for some of our knitters to take a tour of the mansion (you can't take photos of the inside or you would have them here) and then stormed off and on and we stayed dry on the veranda throughout the whole thing.

You've heard me talk about Marilyn. Here she is already starting to put the squares together for the hospice afghan. I made my squares earlier - I made about twenty of them to get us started. She loves the challenge of getting all these different squares and making them somehow cohesive and she manages to do a great job of it.

Can I also tell you the food was great? Oh, my gosh. The grapes, cheese, goat cheese stuff tomatoes, chips, crackers, bagels and Georgia made her addictive sun teas and lemonade. Our thanks again to our corporate sponsor P.J. Clarkes.
Our youngest knitter was a teenager and our oldest is older than Marilyn (and Marilyn taught Mary how to knit - you know, that Mary.)

Friendship Friday - Sundaez Child

As some of you know, and all of you will soon know, I have a shop on Etsy.com. (designbcb) One of the features on the site is called 'Favorites' where someone can look on your site and make it a favorite site of theirs. I have no idea what this is supposed to accomplish. I have favorites because I like what they make or because their shop is fun. That could be why everyone else does it, too.

I have decided to do a regular feature of those folks who have made my shop one of their favorites. It's a thank you to them for thinking that much of me. Visit these shops to get some gifts for friends or for yourself.
Gay runs Sundaez Child, a store featuring beaded and silver jewelry. She was the first person to select my store as a favorite so I thought it would be nice to start this new feature with her. In the future folks will be featured as they respond to my request to feature them on the blog.

How long have you been making jewelry?
Well, in one form or another over 20 years.

What was the first piece you ever made?
Normally that might be tricky to remember but because I still have the scars to prove it, a cuff bracelet hand sawed and pierced from 16 gauge sterling sheet.

Where's the most unusual place your jewelry has been showcased or worn?
Unusual hmmmm, I don’t know about unusual but I was privileged enough to create pieces for an entire wedding party including the bride, bridesmaids and mothers of the bride and groom. Sure made for some nice photos.

What inspires you to make certain pieces?
I would say I’m lucky because inspiration can come from almost anything but music is my muse. Certain music can set a mood and it just goes from there.

When did you decide to go into the business of selling jewelry?
I’d been making it for some time and giving it as gifts. It was when people started to ask me to make them something the light bulb went on.

What other jobs did you have before?
For years I worked in accounting, primarily for the motion picture industry.

What's the most difficult thing about your craft?
Like any craft I would guess learning and practicing the skills you need. That and mistakes can be expensive.

What is the most rewarding?
Nothing beats seeing a piece of my work on someone. It stops me in my tracks every time.

What advice do you have for aspiring artisans?
If you love it, do it and if it is worth doing, it is worth doing well.

Just When You Lose Track

of the reason you do things like blog and write, along comes an affirmation where you least expect it.
The Knitters' Restaurant is a Kreativ Blogger nominee! Thanks to Eryka from Spare Room Knits who nominated our humble site and we will follow the rules and nominate eight of our favorites in return. (Well, Eryka's site is a favorite but since she's already on the list, we will add another!)

There are rules to follow when one is nominated to help spread the love and introduce readers from one blog to eight other blogs.
The first rule is to showcase the award (done!)

The next rule is to link to the person who nominated you. Eryka is linked above. (Next!)
The third is to nominate eight other bloggers. I have a link to each of these blogs already under You Should Read These Blogs...and you should because they're all very good. (And linking to those blogs happens to be the next step, so ahead of the game am I!)

Leave a message on the blogs nominated. And so I shall.

Here are my nominees (in no particular order):
Adventures of the Friendly Knitter
Cozy's Place
lectio.ca
Musings of a Mostly Self Taught Knitter
My Desire For Yarn
Nik's Knits
The Fifth Wondrous Place
Two Cables and A Frapp

This award has been going around for a few years and the logo has changed and it used to be just five bloggers to be nominated, but with so many creative sites out there, it's no wonder it rose to eight (and I could have added more!)

You don't have to add the award to the site if it messes with the aesthetics - I don't have that kind of a problem. In fact, there's nothing to make you take it any further - except it is a really nice way to showcase the craft brethren. So, if you are so inclined, go take a peek at what some other creative, crafty folk are up to and let them know you've stopped by. There's nothing like a little bit of positive peer pressure to keep us in the game!

It's Christmas Week

Ok, so there won't be hats for everyone this Christmas. I forgot just what a hectic schedule I have this week. But that doesn't mean there weren't hats made.
I did manage to get a few knit up, but since they aren't going to anyone in particular, I actually started playing with the idea of doing an Esty shop.
I went onto the site and looked it up, and by cracky, I think I will do it. I've set up another blog to load up some product (of which these two hats will be part) and I've registered my shop on the site. I talked to God about it and other than reminding me of how I get these ideas and then lose my attention, He seemed to think this was something I could do if I managed to deal with the aforementioned attention problem. And I think I can do that since I'm always knitting and I head up the sales we do and since it requires writing, it pulls all my stuff into one place. But hats aren't the only things that will be in store. There will be afghans, blankets, pillows, etc. like this feather an fan afghan I just finished.

Other than that, getting ready for Christmas meant singing rehearsals. I've done a solo on Christmas Eve every year for the past six years. This year I will be returning to my mother's favorite, 'O Holy Night' I'm a first soprano and that means hitting the B flat. It's a really beautiful song and our music director, Michael, plays it wonderfully. It's very majestic. If I can remember to grab the recording, I'll try and put it up - cuz, of course, you'll all want to hear it!!

I'll be spending Christmas morning in bed while the HB goes to his church for his service, then he'll come back home and we will open presents (He bought me five knitting related books and 1 CD. I bought him some baguette pans and a stand mixer - well, it's what he wanted!) and then we are heading off to my church to help serve lunch to some of the homeless.

In case I don't get to the computer - let me say to you all how happy I am to know you. It is a blessing to share the love of our craft with you and I enjoy reading your blogs as well. I wish you all a safe, blessed and fulfilling Christmas season and a wonderful New Year.

Cute Little Boatneck Sweater

Yes, it's really that little. This is the cutest little infant sweater! Let me tell you, I had the front, back done and finished the sleeves t'other day so all I really had to do yesterday was to sew this puppy up.

Am I really smarter than a fifth grader? Because I didn't get the instructions on how they wanted this thing assembled. Now, this is not my first nor my second sweater so why I just didn't assemble it the way I had the others is beyond me. But I wanted to follow the designer's instruction but they didn't make any sense to me. So I did what I should have done..

I called Marilyn to read the instructions out loud to her to see if I was really as dense as I thought.

I wasn't. "Why do they want that sewn first? Just do it the way you think."
So I did. And about eleven last night I was doing the happy song:

"I have a sweater! I have a sweater! I have...one sleeve upside down!"

What? Why are the stripes on one sleeve closer to the neck and on the other sleeve they're closer to the bottom? Somewhere a fifth grader is feeling quite vindicated.
Can I pass it off as a design feature? Should I just place it in the donate pile? Should I take the offending sleeve out and flip it over and reattach? I'll just donate it. No one will notice. I noticed and I don't notice anything. Ok, I'll take it out and redo it. Done.

"I have a sweater! I have a sweater! It's a cute sweater! Duke, let's take a walk to celebrate! I know it's midnight, but let's take a walk anyway." Duke is always up for a walk and so we did a midnight walk - it was only ten minutes, but it was a nice ten minutes.

And it's a sweater!!

Announcing the Great Yarn Give Away!!

Ok, maybe not great...but certainly not bad yarn give away.
Here's the deal. I have 13 boxes of yarn and I don't mean small boxes. I mean storage boxes, the kind you have to get a guy at K-Mart to pull down off the shelves. I have nearly 100lbs of yarn. It has taken over the house. So the box you see here is full of yarn from top to the bottom and this is the actual box with the actual yarn that can and will go to one of you.

To let you know: I don't do expensive yarn see The Great Yarn Debate so this is garden fare yarn some of it is sport weight, some chunky, most is worsted. Colors are all over the map: black, white, blue, different wines and red, pink, green, variegated.

There's Paton's Classic merino, Paton's Canadiana, Red Heart, Lion Brand Wool-Ease and Jiffy, Sensations boucle and mohair, Bernat's Softee Chunky and some that I don't remember the brand names.

There's at least a dozen skeins. There's enough for booties, hats, even a scarf or two.

So How Do You Get It?
Simple: you have to do 2 comments. One on any post in the blog and the other on this post to let me know which post your comment is on. In others words; say I am Anita Purl (get it, I need a purl? Oh, I crack me up.) I make a comment on 'The Head 2 Toe Project" (December 2007) and I come back to this post and say: Anita Purl: The Head 2 Toe Project.

That's it - I would be entered in my own contest. Wouldn't it be a hoot if I won?

Next, every one who comments will have their names placed in a hat and the hubby-bubby will select the winner. The winner will be selected and announced on November 28, 2008 (which happens to be my birthday.) The winner will give me an address to send the goods and off they go. Now my h-b would prefer I keep this box and give away the rest, but that's not gonna happen.

That's the whole deal. Trust me, if this goes well, there's more than enough yarn for me to do this again in May (to celebrate my wedding anniversary!)

Happy posting!

No, it doesn't count if you've commented before - you have to do a fresh one!

The Past Five Days.....

I've been living in the ordinary world. No big major ups or downs. No projects completed. Just worrying about the economy and thinking I will go and vote early. I didn't vote yet because I hadn't made up my mind until last night how I was going to vote and I figured it out last night. Being a past member on the Board of Directors for the League of Women Voters of Chicago, I look at politics with a different eye. Things are never as clear cut as they seem and for me I knew who I wasn't going to vote for; I just didn't know who I was going to vote for. (It makes sense.)

I have several projects going. Though I think I will probably frog the sweater because it isn't feeling like it's coming out right. I'm rethinking Bernat Softee Chunky. It's not really a bad yarn. I still like Herschnerr's chunky better because it's a different feel but it's always good to have options.

We priced items for the big sale coming up in November. We have about eight big boxes of stuff and the sale should be a good one. We also have a sale coming in December. These are usually the two biggest of the year, so I need to get cracking on some projects so we have enough for both sales. (I always worry we won't have enough. Hey, one day it could be true!)

I'm coming out of a little bit of a funk. Maybe I don't like ordinary days. I'll feel better once I have another project completed. In the meantime, I know if I don't find anything exciting in the world, it's because I'm not being exciting in it. So this is on me. Sigh.