FO Friday with Show and Tell....

Sweater Sampler!!!!

*Note: just realized that I forgot to put the knitted belt on it...whoops!*

I can't believe I havne't blogged the trip with Julie's group, Chicks with Sticks, yet! I think it was mostly because I...

1. Forgot to bring my camera, so had no pictures to show
2. And been working frantically to finish 3 projects I've been working on. Two are halfway done and the Sweater Sampler was finished today. (see above pic!)

The trip to Maine was FANTASTIC! Not only was the ride up with Melissa, Jackie and Lora fun and quick, but with each mile away from home, my horrible headache was slowly disappearing. Very lucky I was.

The shop, The Yarn Sellar, is adorably cute with lots of wonderful yarns. I think I was most impressed with the friendliness of the owners (Patti and her husband Roger) and the great spot in the back of the store with the long, wooden table for sitting and knitting at. It is an extremely homey and welcoming place.

Not only was I able to see lovely and funny-as-hell Julie again, but there was a local reporter who just "happened" by to interview Patti and Roger about the store. Lucky us...you know why? She also interviewed Julie, Jackie and I for the article!!! Here is the link if you want to read it...it's soooo cool!

Newspaper Article

We had chinese food for lunch (yummy!)...of course, I had green beans (Jackie did, too!) and then knit and LAUGHED for the next three or more hours. It was, I have to say, the BEST knitting get together I've ever been to....with the possible exception of our last Grand View trip. (another one coming up in the fall!!!))

Went out to dinner on the way home with Ericka, Chris, GiGi and Heather.....it was some BBQ joint (can't remember the name) and I have to say that I truly missed having a waitress like Famous April....the sweet potato french fries were yummy, though : )

So, a quick note on the Sweater Sampler.....this wonderful book is written by the talented, Jacqueline Fee and I HIGHLY, HIGHLY recommend it to every knitter who is thinking about making or designing a sweater. Not only was this sampler fun to make (can you believe that it's as big as a sweater sleeve???), but I was surprised at how much I learned. I thought I knew most of the techniques needed to make a sweater, but boy was I wrong! Here are just some of the techniques you learn while knitting this:

-Cable Cast on (very pretty), garter/stockinette, ribbing (3 kinds), and connecting yarn
-Stripes, short rows, chain selvedge, buttonholes, pockets (2 kinds), increases, decreases
-Two color knitting, swiss darning, icord, knitted belt, lace
-4 kinds of bind offs.....icord, lace, ribbing and hem with intials
-Grafting and knitted loops

WoWWW!!! Well worth the money! Find it HERE. (I used one skein of natural and one of pink in Patons Classic Merino with size 6 needles...16" circ and dpns.)

On to the Show and Tell! (short and sweet)

1. Sparkly Fiber (Easter Egg Hunt) and Sparkle itself from Yarn Punk. So pretty!



2. More sparkly fiber (Lavender Green Tea and Fairy Princess) from Loop. Awesome! (oh, I forgot to take pics of that! Darn!)

3. New soaps from Ericka...in Lilac and Mow the Lawn! MMM....



4. Yarn and patterns I bought from our trip to Maine and the Yarn Sellar...



5. Beautiful lotus flower necklace from Heather....she is SUCH a sweetie!...and also fabulous "Blinging Berries" sparkly fiber (merino, tussah silk, silk noil, angelina and bamboo) from the talented HollyEEQ....wow! Thank you so much, Heather!!!





Here is the fiber all spun up into yarn.....can't wait to knit something with it!



6. Tofutsies sock yarn (in pink!!!) from Ericka...what a sweetheart! Can you believe it has chiton in it?...made from shrimp and crab shells! (she also got me a Hello Kitty rolling stamper, but forgot to take a pic...it's SO cute!) Thank you, Ericka!!



7. Heather's newest merino/tencel yarn (400 yards!!!) in colorway, Pink Lemonade! So shiny and wondrous!



8. The current state of my spinning basket and everything I want to get spun up....oh, so much! Pretty, though, huh?



Hope you all have a relaxing and fun weekend....hoping to get a lot of knitting and/or spinning done and finish up the next podcast. Look for it on the night of April 1st or 2nd.

Oh, it's also the 6 month anniversary of my podcast this month, so I'm looking for new sponsors! If you, or anyone you know, would like some cheap advertising and it's semi-knitting or spinning related, email me...gina@YogaGardenNH.com. Hope to hear from you!