Spinning on the brain

I just got a Louet dropped off for me to try out and I have now spun over 50 yards and plyed over 100 yards of other yarn. I will post pictures of the progress in the morning.

Cool Blog

For all of use who really would like to try random knitting this is a great blog and she is very talented, the post are in both englist and japanese but the pictures explain it all. http://ammit.exblog.jp/

Three Wishes Concert

Here are the pictures from the Sound Check that I went to yesterday afternoon. I felt like it was a personal concert because there were not anybody there but shop owners from the square. She was great and my girls had a fit when she looked down at them waving at her and said "Hey Katie's Kids" Even though my oldest Anastasia asked me why I did not tell her their names. After church last night we came back for the concert and she was just about to take the stage when we arrived. I ended up being able to get close to the stage for the concert but it was so crowded that I just back up to the grassy area and enjoyed the night.

Sorry no knitting to speak of today, except I start my Fall knitting class tonight I am teaching a one-on-one class for a lady that could not come to my normally scheduled classes.

I am also going to be selling more yarn in my shop in the comming months I plan on carrying Mango Moon Yarn and Kraemer yarn also. Mango Moon has a very good quality Recycled Sari Silk yarn and and Kraemer is a domestic yarn company that has great felting wool and a nice line of cotton rayon blend yarn.

I can't wait I am going to be a sort of Yarn shop.

DSL YAHOO

I now have DSL so I can work and talk and type and talk at the same time. So this may mean more post to this little blog.

Three Wishes

I had the most amazing day Monday. NBC’s Three Wishes which is on every Friday night at 9pm ET ; is in our town and I was asked to host Amy Grant for a visit in my shop and they brought the film crew in and she walked around the shop and invited us to the wish tent, which was set up in the center of our town square. I was able to go and make a wish, and my wish was for my husband to get a Tractor. Ok I will have to explain that one I know. You see he has been having to rent a tractor to do part of his business and the one that he has been renting has been having trouble and he has had to replace one part on it twice at $140 a pop. So when he goes out to do a small job the cost of the rental and the parts are making it cost prohibitive so he really needs a tractor of his own that is in good condition that he would just have to perform the regular maintance on. Well I got to tell my Wish to Amy Grant and she started telling me about her farm and how they had just bought a tractor and she said, “just let me see what we did with my old one” and they we said our goodbyes and left it at that. Even a old one that is in good condition would be great. I went back over to the tent a little while later and was able to meet 2 of the other host from the show Eric and Diane, they are very nice and friendly. I also was able to meet the head of Glassman Productions. They are the People behind The Average Joe Shows and are now producing Three Wishes. I will be in the audience tonight for the concert that will be on the square. I am so excited, I hope to also find out if the segment in my shop will be the one on the show. I think it will be a great boost for my business because when it airs the show will be watched not just by the people in this town but also by people all over the country. Ok on to the real reason you read this blog; The Knitting Content:I have been working on the felted bag from Altered Knits that was featured in Knits I really cannot wait to see how it felts, it is knit flat and then sewn up on two sides and felted. It is meant to be a laptop bag, I hope that it turns out right , I don’t think I can take another felted failure. I altered the pattern a bit by using #13 needles and Jo Sharp DK yarn. I choose the Jo sharp yarn because I really like the way it felts and in not totally smooth.. I will post a picture as soon as I get it sewn up.

I've Been RAOKed

I cannot believe it but I have been RAOKed by Keri of http://kmckiernansknittygritty.blogspot.com She sent e the pattern that I have been drooling over for a while now the One Skein Wonder. Thank you thank you thank you. I love it, it will be put to good use, as I have a couple of skeins that will look great as one. Thank you again Keri

I am drooling again ....

http://www.knitpicks.com/yarns/yarn_display.aspx?itemid=5420128 Clink the above to see what I mean. I was thinking while I was looking at this that, if I had 3 skeins of this I would be able to knit them as one to make a cool felted bag. I really love variegated yarn and my favorites of this yarn is 23665 Caribbean , 23667 Blue Jeans , and 23664 Sweet Peas. I am really into jewel tones when it comes to felting but I think the color Blue Jeans would be great with a denim jacket. I was looking at the Spork Bag pattern http://larissmix.typepad.com/spork/ and I like the stripes but I was thinking that it would be cool in variegated colors. I know I am just thinkg out loud, I think that is the reason I love this blog so much I can just put a thought out there and maybe, just maybe someone will give me a comment.

My past week....

Ok I known it has been almost a week since my last post, but I have a good explanation. I have been away on vacation with the ladies form my church, we spent a few days in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina it was so wonderful. I have never (in my whole life) taken a vacation without either my mother or my husband, and I have never left my little girls for more than one night, so it was a little traumatic at first., but I got over that quickly as I was having so much fun. Hurricane Ophelia missed us so I can think all the prayers that went up for that. On Thursday I decided I wanted to go check out the LYS Knitting up a Storm which turned out to be a longer drive that I expected it was over 30 min form our condo, but I think that it was worth it because they had all of their Jo Sharp Yarn on sale for 50% off and so I got a few balls for felting, they also had there On line Yarns Tondo on sale for 25% off I got three different colors. Here is my review of the Knitting up a Storm Shop 843-249-6562 Very well stocked Worth the drive Helpful and friendly sales staff Great Selection of Colinette Yarns, On line Yarns, Norro, and Jo Sharp, they had so many others it would take too long to name.

We went to Medieval Times on Thursday night it was interesting but I do not think I will be going back any time soon. I spent the day between the Beach and the Lazy River on Friday and then we went out for an early dinner at Hook’s Calabash Seafood. I think that they lost money on our group because all we ate were the crab legs we were so good I really could have ate more. After we had our nightly meeting I went for a moonlight walk on the beach with a few of the ladies and we walked until about 2am and I had to get up at 6 the next morning to come back home, but I love the whole experience so much I would love to go and do it again next month We came back on Saturday morning at 7am and I am glad to say that I did get a good amount of knitting done on one Item My felted bag but it messes up during the felting process I was doing a scrap bag and I guess I used too many different types of yarn in one item and when it felted they all felted at different rates, so it turned out like this.

I would also like to think me Felted Bag KAL Secret Pal for the wonderful body products from the Body Shop. They were all in Citrus Scents.

Update on my life

Today I was woke up at 5:30 am by a phone call that they were having to take my father-in-law to the hospital and my husband proceeds to jump out of bed and make so much noise getting ready that he almost woke up the kids. Thank goodness he did not. I have been packing for my trip ove the past few days. (I leave for tomorrow). It is taking me longer to pick out a project to take than the clothes I will be wearing. I have 6 wips and I don't know whick will be the best to take. It is a 6 hour drive both ways and I will be gone until Saturday. So I will have a lot of knitting time. I am going with a group of ladies form my church. There will be 23 of us going. I am really looking forward to getting there we are going to the beach. (myrtle Beach, SC to be exact) It is supposed to be sunny and warm so I plan on sitting on the beach and knitting. I also found a LYS close to where we are staying so I will give a review when I get back. I was on the road with my DH yesterday and was able to complete a sampler scarf it has about 6 differnet stitches in it and it has picked up stitches on the edges and I will post a picture as soon as my camera is up an running. On the STITCH MARKER SWAP ONE I have mailed out my packages today and I am sorry that they were late. I have also been corridinating relief efforts for Quilts for Kids GA we have passed out about 200

Free Yarn

Hey there is free yarn out there for the asking. Bernat is giving away a free ball of their new Disco yarn all you have to do is go to there site and fill out a form and they will send you a free ball of yarn. http://www.bernat.com/getdown/ I could not keep this a secret so I hope that you all enjoy.

SP6 Questions

1. Are you a yarn snob (do you prefer higher quality and/or natural fibers)? Do you avoid Red Heart and Lion Brand? Or is it all the same to you? I am not really a yarn snob I knit what ever I get my hands on, but I DO NOT like red heart. 2. Do you spin? Crochet? I have a drop spendel and I love multi-colored roving. 3. Do you have any allergies? (smoke, pets, fibers, perfume, etc.) CATS 4. How long have you been knitting? 7 years 5. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list? No but I guess I need to get one. 6. What's your favorite scent? (for candles, bath products etc.) anything citrus 7. Do you have a sweet tooth? YES YES YES I love Chocolate 8. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? I like to sew and quilt. 9. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD) Christian contemporary (Salvador, Jump 5 etc) 10. What's your favorite color? Or--do you have a color family/season/palette you prefer? Any colors you just can't stand? I really like to work with any color. 11. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets? Married for 7 years, 2 little girls 3 1/2 & 5 12. What are your life dreams? (really stretching it here, I know) I actually have fulfilled 2 of my dreams in the past year and that is owning my own business which is an interior design shop and completing college, I have my associates in Interior Design and I start my bachlors in october. 13. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with?I have a new one there in Knit Picks Palette 14. What fibers do you absolutely *not* like? Anything itchy 15. What is/are your current knitting obsession/s? Shawls , and I just started my first sweater. 16. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit? Hats 17. What are you knitting right now? Afew things a sewater for me , a poncho for my youngest , a pair of socks and a scarf, and a baby blanket. 18. What do you think about ponchos? I like them but I make them for gifts not for me to wear. 19. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Either or 20. Bamboo, aluminum, plastic? Plastic but I would love to try bamboo 21. Are you a sock knitter? not really I have a pain on the needles right now 22. How did you learn to knit? taught myself 23. How old is your oldest UFO? one month 24. What is your favorite animated character or a favorite animal/bird? My horse 25. What is your favorite holiday?Christmas 26. Is there anything that you collect? Key chains 27. What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have? interweave creative knitting cast on 28. Any books out there you are dying to get your hands on? Altered knits 29. Any patterns you have been coveting, but haven't bought for one reason or another?? one skein wonder

Countries that I have visited

create your own visited countries map or vertaling Duits Nederlands Ok Now I did the countries tha I have visited also.

States that I have visited

create your own visited states map or check out these Google Hacks. I saw this on another site and thought that this would be fun.

A quick update

On the needles I have been having a problem finishing anything lately. I have on the needles as of know the following: A Poncho for my youngest daughter A seed stitch scarf A baby shawl A half done sock A sweater that I started on Sunday for me This is not counting the items that I have started and ripped out over the past week. I started a shawl that I had written the pattern for then I ripped it out to use the yarn for Sweater “Essential Indulgence” out of the fall issue of Interweave Knits. My subscription copy finally came in on Thursday. I decided that I would make a few changes to it by making a striped version and I am using Knit Picks Palette in Black and Petal. I also decided to use the Picot edge treatment from the August- October issue of Cast On Magazine, instead of the rolled edge on a smaller needle. I made my gage sample while I was on the road on Saturday on the way to Mississippi to take a camper for a cleanup crew. This crew will be there at least until Christmas they said, they come in before the power companies to clear away trees for homes and power lines so that damage can be assessed and power can be restored. Ok I got a little of subject there. The Gauge swatch was correct and as I was ripping it out to start the pattern my DH started laughing at me because I was ripping it out and I had to explain the whole gauge swatch concept to him and he still thought it was crazy to go to all that trouble and not to just start the pattern and then check it. We got into a long discussion about how if I did that and it was not correct I would have to rip out more that just the small gauge swatch. I think that he finally got it. I really have been trying to be good when it comes to spending money on knitting but I am having a hard time having will power now that I have tried the Knit Picks Palette yarn. I just love this stuff it is a dream to work with. I can’t wait until I get this sweater finished, it is not a itchy wool and I think it is going to be great in a stripped pattern. It is also hard to believe that I can make a sweater out of such beautiful yarn for only about $11.00. I started sewing again last week and I designed a knitting project bag that looks great to carry around and you can drop your wallet in and not have to carry a purse. I am going through my leftover yarn and am starting to make 4x4 inch squares for a blanket that we are going to auction off at my shop for disaster relief. I am also making quilt blocks for the quilts that my quilt guild is making into quilts for the evacuees that are here in GA. Well I better get back to work I have a lot to do today for the benefit on Friday night.

Help for New Orleans

I am the head of the Georgia Chapter of Quilts for Kids and I am getting our quilters here to start making quilts and blankets for the refugees that are here in Georgia, and I am going to get donated fabric in the morning from the design center in Atlanta. We have over 400 people that are about 10 miles form my home and my mother has a lady that works with her that has over 20 family members staying with her here in GA. We are also collecting clothing, food and other items that they need. If there is anyone reading this that is from GA that would like to help can contact the Salvation Army that will be passing out anything that we collect to the people who made it here to GA. www.salvationarmy.org