Take Two

My browser just blew away my entry. This is take number two. I so do not need this right now.

This was going to be a long entry. We will see now. I have a lot to update as I've been away so long on the blog. Travel, summer camp, work, LIFE. I'm still knitting, never fear. And spinning too. I've done very little blog reading - so I'm out of touch with my virtual knitting friends too. Here is hoping life returns to something resembling normal in September!

Hmmmm, let's start with a few yarn purchases of note. For my birthday my sister totally enabled me to pick up Schaefer Andrea in the colorway Rosa Parks. Even if you don't see the yarn, it sounds beautiful doesn't it? But the deep hues that the silk just soaked up are so lovely. I have it in a nice little ball waiting for a little treat for me.



The photo doesn't do it justice.

Another great find is Knitch. I was able to visit when in Atlanta at a conference in July. I have no pictures. But I found the softest laceweight cotton you can imagine. Habu Cotton Boucle:



I fell in love. Another project I will be not wanting to part with.....

They had lot of Habu - I was in bliss in the display that housed these yarns. I of course had to get the Kusha, Kusha scarf kit - and am almost done with my first one. I will love wearing this mixture of silk and wool this fall.



I have a Black/Green kit too! I will perhaps gift this scarf. Then again - green is my favorite color these days! I actually want to try this scarf with Jojoland Harmony. I think I will like to subtle color changes and the wool weight is close to the Habu wool. So I may just use the green wool for another project as my sister gifted me another cone of it - so I have enough for something bigger.

I've been knitting shawls again recently. Today I wrapped up one for my daugter. I used naturallycaron Spa. It's a Acrylic/Bamboo blend, and makes a super soft fabric. I was so pleasantly surprised at how it knitted up. I had used some before for a baby kimono (disaster, not the yarn but my effort). But perhaps because it was dyed, it didn't seem as soft. This was soft and squishy in the Naturally colorway.



The pattern is Angel Lace by Evelyn Clark. I thought it is perfect for a shawl for her in church where she is always cold. I didn't tell her I was making it until today when it was done. She loves it, so I'm glad I kept it a surprise. I forgot to show her the little angel pattern, I'll have to tell her that later. I think she will like that.



I put little glittery blue pony beads at the end to add a bit of her favorite color and make it special for her. I had her pick out the beads w/o telling her what it was for.




It's soaking now, I'll have to post pictures once it was blocked. But she did get to try it out tonight.




Update:

Here it is blocking.....



On a work note - this was one of the most interesting weeks of my career. My job is being relocated to Washington. Not surprising because despite the frequent travel - I really needed to be there full-time. It could have been a RIF, but I am being offered another job. And 3 days to accept it. I'm full of mixed feelings - it's a significant career change for me. High profile, and sort of exciting. Almost too exciting. Like going down in flames with a new job I know nothing about, creating a bit ole mess exciting. Nothing like fear of failure to get the heart racing. So - this week knitting has been a refuge. I've got to make a decision by Friday, but the decision is basically this or good luck finding something else in NC when 70+ other people at the site with similar skills are looking. So I know what I am going to do, I'm just burying my head a bit before I put it in writing.

Let's get off this topic - too much reality is sinking in.

I'm gearing up for Ravelymics. I'm most excited about Hey Teach!. I picked up the yarn on my birthday as well.



Doreen is doing it with me in the same colorway. Squee!

I have some other things lined up - tackling WIPs, and a lace project. I'm sort of tempted to use my Rosa Parks, I guess I need to decide by tomorrow! Yikes!

Well - it's late and 45 mins past when I was supposed to head out for my walk. And I forgot I need to block Janeen's shawl before bed. Nite, nite.

On the Road Again

Well - I can't say "Just can't wait to get back on the road again", so let's just settle for I'm on the road. This week I'm in Sunny San Diego at the ASTD International conference. I'm excited about the conference and the opportunity for training. But it's a killer time at work, I'm not sure how much conference I will actually be able to attend - and I'm missing my family after being away 2 weeks ago.

One benefit of traveling frequently is getting a little taste of Local Yarn Shops in different places. This is my first time back to San Diego as a knitter, so I'm taking a few roadtrips during my stay. Today I stopped at Knitting in La Jolla recommended to my by my Seattle knitting field Marie. It was a nice little shop stuffed absolutely full of yarn. There was hardly an inch to turn around in. I frequently had to move out of the way when someone needed to pass. But they had THREE great finds there. The first was Curious Creek Fibers Meru, a Merino and Silk Laceweight yarn. This was the recommended yarn for Goddess Knits Mystery Shawl 7 and it was pretty on her site. But it was stunning in real life. The yarn is shimmery - it almost glimmers. Silk/wool blends are rarely not pretty, but this is just special. And the Semi-Solids are just lovely. I picked out an Orange and Plum blends. I'm using my hotel yarn winder - AKA an up-side down table - to wind the Plum now, I'm CO tonight so I have something to work on at the conference. I have an idea for a great portable project I can make progress on this week while listening to sessions.



I dont' know which color way is lovlier.



And there were several more that I had to pass over to settle on these two. I didn't see a colorway I didn't like, at that's rare!

Another find was Conjoined Creations Flat Feet. I have seen it in magazines, but wanted to see it in real life. The concept is the company machine knits the yarn and then "paints it" while knit. Then you unravel it as you knit the socks. It has a section in the middle you can cut if you want to make socks 2 at a time. Because it is painted as knitted instead of in a hand, each one is unique. Creative huh? I've been focusing on lace yarn versus sock yarn lately - but I could not resist......



I picked up two of them, this is just one of the pictures. I have few details here on my blog because it's all in >Ravelry under my username jc3smama. I just don't have the energy to duplicate it all on the blog. I figure if you really want to know you can look it up! I have the good/bad/ugly stash story for all to see. Well not *all* but I'm getting there.

Lastly - they had this huge display of little balls of yarn every color you could imagine. Solid and heathered. All lace-weight. I asked what that was all about, because it didn't really look knitting yarn. I wondered if it was a new needlepoint yarn or something. It is new - The company EPiC creates yarn for commerical knitting. But she is branching into a yarn that can be knit, sewn, used for needlepoint, and many other uses. The base yarn is lace weight - but you use it single, double, triple or quad based on the thickness you want for knitting. You can also mix the yarn in creative ways to get differnt effects. It's something to play with and I didn't have time. It looked fun - I picked up two balls to play with because she really didn't have yarn to "buy" - she let's her customers play with the colors they want and then order the number of balls they need. Since I was from out of town, she graciously let me take two of her colors so her customers won't be able to play with them.



Intersting concept, I wonder if it will catch on?

So - Knitting in La Jolla is a winner. I would go back if I came back to San Deigo, no doubt.

I also went by The Needlecraft Center. Funny - same name as a LYS in Davidson NC :) I wasn't so impressed, it was like the Davidson shop with Needlecraft and Knitting/Crochet. But the lace selection was tiny - only Malabrigo Lace (of which I have a more than enough) so I passed on it. I didn't see anything there I had not seen before.

Not a shop I would go back to.

Thankfully - there is about oh 15 or so more shops in the area. I will get to visit a few more in the week. Yipee - lunch breaks will be fun!

I also went to Seattle and visited my two favorite shops there - Weaving Works and Acorn Street Shop. I left a sizable portion of my wages in Seattle, let's just say.

I'm especially happy about my Greensleeves Spindle. She is the must be the most balanced spindle I have because she spins forever. There were cuter ones, but this one was the best performer of the ones I tested. They had wheels too, but I resisted.



I also picked up some fiber - Soy Silk and Soy Silk/Cashmere - that I think will be fun to spin. I picked up some Organic Cotton for Doreen - as well as a WPI tool for both of us.

Here is some Merino on my new spindle.



I learned to spin on a wheel!!! Shiori (who taught me to spin on a spindle) was teaching a class, so her husband Shane brought her wheel to the meet up and taught me to spin!!! I dont' know if I'm more impressed that he gave up an evening or that he knows how to spin. I'm so appreciative because I AM IN LOVE WITH SPINNING ON A WHEEL!!!!!! He taught me on a Schacht Matchless and so now I think I want a Schacht Ladybug - I'm a bit spoiled on some of the features.


While in Seattle - I picked up some Crystal Palac Panda Silk yarn - and started a Christmas Gift scarf. It's a cable and lace pattern that is easy but lovely - I will use it again. The yarn is soo soft - it feels like a cloud on your neck.



I also picked up Classic Elite Silky Alpaca Lace and started another gift scarf. This another new - and luxur



I'm done with the first and almost with the 2nd. Two more gifts out of the way. I think that's 4 scarves out of fingering or lace weight done for Christmas. Guess what my theme is this year? After all - it is my Year of Lace .


I'm casting off my Hemlock - during my brief stay at home I decided to wrap it up and cost off. I had only about 1/5th of it left when I had to leave, I'll finish it up when I get back. It is one fugly mess right now, so no inprogess pictures until it's blocked. I can tell, though, after it's blocked I will love it. It will be my home office lap blanket. The Cast Off is ackward and takes a long, long time. Had I thought about it for 1/2 a second, I would have done a crochet loop bind-off. Better believe that when I do another Hemlock, that is what I will be doing. The knitted version isn't worth the extra time IMHO.

So - I told Stacey that I would take pictures of the LYS I visited on the road. I had the best of intentions, my camera was......in my car each time. This week I walked out of Knitting in La Jolla about 1/2 a block and turned to see the Pacific Ocean!!!! I so wish my camera wasn't an additional 3 blocks away.

Stacey - I will have to do better next shops I visit. I have my travel purse with me and my camera doesn't fit. I need to put it in a visible place so I don't leave the car without it.

That's enough typing for now - I want to CO tonight so I can have some mindless lace knitting at the conference tomorrow!

Excuse the spelling and grammar - I'm so tired and lazy right now. I'll have to run a spell-check later on and read it more closely!

Goodies

A few goodies that have come my way. Something to smile about while work is the typical crazy pace it always is during this time of year. It's planning time - lots of deadlines, meetings, and decisions. Although I've done this for many years - it has not gotten easier except I now know it's not going to get easier. So my acceptance level is set.

Having a few knitting goodies come my way is a welcomed break from work.

First of all - from my sister.

She was able to attend The Yarn Harlot's stop in Charlotte, while I was working (yes, planning) and watching the kids. She was so sweet to pick up a book and get it signed for me.





I wasn't expecting that, I'm a lucky girl.

She also gave me some lace yarn she picked up in a swap. She thinks it has bamboo content, I'm curious after seeing it. It looks like Zephyr to me. So - I'm wondering if it has silk in it. It's lovely - and I will definately put it to good use!






I mentioned in an earlier blog my knitting tragedy.
One word - PROTECTION thanks to Amazon and speedy shipping.







'Nuf said about that subject.

And last goodie:



The Knit Witch lovely yarn bowl! Actually, my bowl has a sister that is downstairs. I wanted an upstairs bowl and downstairs bowl for my areas when I usually sit and knit more complicated projects. The bowls are beautiful and perfect. I will have to take more pictures later of the nice features. Thank you Brittney for two lovely bowls!

Lastly - I stretched out my shawl a bit and got a few more lace pictures. I'm still on the fence about the yarn for this project. I love the yarn and colors - still not sure it was right for this. Thoughts?



Closer....



I worked on Hemlock at the Charlotte Purls meeting today. No pictures though until he's done!

Last goodie - do my pictures look nicer? I got tired of my little Radio Shack clearance special I picked up for my blog/yarn photos. I have a Canon Rebel SLR camera my friend basically gave me for my "real" photos of family. But it's too big and heavy for my crafting and blog shots. So - I picked up a little camera last year but I could never get good results with it.

Today - I picked up a little Sony Cybershot DSC-T70. Sony introduced me to digital photos before most people had a digital camera. I had one that took a "floppy drive". Remember those? It worked great, actually, for it's day. I loved it and have been hooked in digital photos ever since.

Excuse the fuzzy camera phone picture:



So - I'm happy to return back to a Sony. This camera is fun - with a touch screen interface. And the best feature - it can tell when the subject is smiling! Not really useful for yarn - LOL - although my yarn smiles. Doesn't yours? But it will be for those quick shots of the kids.

OK - I procrastinated enough. I'm supposed to be working on two presentations and an online survey for Monday. Planning season! Back to work....