Saturday with Clover....and Yarn Basket

I had a rare treat on Saturday. Spending time with fantastic friends, visiting a yarn store and....most important of all....finally meeting Clover in person!!!

After many weeks of deliberation...we finally had a date we could all agree on to meet...Julie, Jackie and I....and, of course, Clover. LOL

Jackie and I drove up to Maine early in the morning and met up with Julie at her house (which is wonderful and very "Noolie-like"). We were greeted at the door by the little one herself...and, let me say, she's even more adorable in person than in her photos, if that's possible. She was a bit scared of us, I think, but was happy to let us sit and watch her play. Every second we were there, I wanted to nibble on those toes and squeeze those cheeks of hers...ooooh, the baby urge was strong!



I had knit Clover a little teddy bear before coming up and was able to give it to her in person...I think she liked it. She chewed on the ear almost immediately ; )



I love the picture of her at the start of the post...it's like she's saying to me, "Yeah, I'm on to you, lady. I'm going to accept this bear, but you're still a very suspicious person...."



This one's very cute of her playing and smiling....

When we had to leave, I was able to sneak a kiss to the top of her head (though she made a funny face...lol). I can just imagine how difficult it is for Julie to leave her when she has to go to work...oh, the strength she must have to leave that cutie ; )

After sadly leaving Clover, we all went to Portsmouth to the grand opening of the Yarn Basket. They're in their new location now...on the corner of Hanover and High Street....almost directly across from the parking garage, which is very convenient.



The place was not quite as big as I'd imagined, but definitely bigger than their old place. It still has that wonderful, friendly feeling and we were greeted right away by the new owner and by our argyle sock teacher, Jay Allen...one of the nicest and best knitting teachers around.

We had a great time shopping for yarn (see my loot below), chatting and soaking up the soothing (but also exciting) yarnish atmosphere. Because it was the grand opening, we were treated to a complimentary cookie (which I have to say was the MOST delicious cookie I've ever eaten...shortbread with royal icing maybe...I was dying for another one after eating mine at home) and a sample container of Soak wash.

Julie got some great yarn to make the Blue Sky Alpacas Fish toy for Clover, Jackie got enough Lopi in a super gray heather to make a DROPS jacket and this is what I got:



(L-R) 2 Skeins of Classic Elite "Lush" for a scarf, 2 skeins of Blue Sky Alpacas "Brushed Suri" for two "KeyHole Scarves" (this yarn is soo soft, furry and has bamboo in it!) and a mini crochet hook...not sure what I'll use it for, but maybe to pick up dropped stitches?

We were famished after shopping and ran right over to The Friendly Toast. Although we had to wait for about a half and hour for a table, it was so worth it! I had the most delicious grilled cheese sandwich ever with homefries and a drink called, "The Pinky"....appropriate name, huh?



It was a frappe with a mix of chocolate and vanilla ice cream and fresh raspberries. Oh, it was so good!

Jackie and Julie had some very interesting and yummy food, too. We were stuffed when we left. (But that did NOT stop us from visiting the chocolate store next and devouring some yummy chocolate covered strawberries, though!)

The day was so relaxed, so non-stressful, so....well, just wonderful! I think we all deserve a day like that...at least once in a while, don't you?

Birthday Yarn for Jackie

Last year, for Jackie's birthday, I had the inspiration to spin her some handspun yarn as a gift. I'd just bought some beautiful alpaca/merino/angelina batts from Loop (in the Lavender Mint Tea colorway) and Jackie had mentioned how much she liked the color. So....I thought, since I had time, and Jackie is totally worth it, I'll spin it up for her.

Come to find out, it was the BEST spinning I'd ever done (probably because I was thinking such lovely, friendly thoughts at the time) and the finest yarn (in wpi - wraps per inch) that I'd ever made. It came out to a fingering weight, 2 ply yarn that was perfectly balanced (that only happens to me 1/3 of the time....I tend to overspin and underply) - it was a MIRACLE!

She loved the yarn (which made me soo happy), knit something almost immediately with it (The Montego Bay Scarf....which made me even happier) and then even wore the scarf a lot (which caused me to have gleeful, handspun-ery hallucinations)!!!

To see this yarn, go here to my Flickr account. It's the last pic in the left hand column.

Fast forward a year....

And Jackie's birthday was coming up quickly. Having recently purchased some Spritely Goods fiber - which was HIGHLY recommended by the Spinning Goddess Cayli - I thought....this is perfect for another Birthday Spin.

So, I frantically used all my spare time (that I wasn't cleaning, cooking, working or with the kids) to spin this yarn. I didn't knit all those days....eeek! The fiber (a luscious mix of soft merino, angelina and firestar) was a dream to spin and the color truly cheered me on....she calls it, "Globe Mallow"...and it's a limited edition colorway. I'm SO glad that I picked it up. It was wonderful.

So, here's what I did:

Step 1: Take pics of fiber BEFORE ripping open.



and a close up:



Step 2: Draft Fibers (30 minutes).



Step 3: Spin on my Ashford Joy (5 hours total...not all in one day)



Step 4: Take WPI gauge before Plying...28.



Step 5: Ply (3 hours), Soak (overnight), and Dry. Take Picture of Finished Yarn (over 300 yards).



And then, I decided to rename the yarn, since it had a different (but lovely) look and color after finishing. It was inspired by jokes I overheard Tim and Ben saying to each other while I was spinning:

"Cantaloupe-I'm Already Married!"

I can only hope that Jackie likes this yarn half as much as last year's. I'm dying to see what she'll knit up with it.

And I'm trying to decide (early) what I'll spin for her NEXT year!

Can I sleep now? (zzzzzzz..........)

Stockings, Apples and Llamas

Jackie guessed it!!!



I am making 4 Christmas/Holiday stockings for my family. I am pretty sure I won't be done with them by the Winter Solstice or Christmas, but I'm starting them now....in hopes that I might. I got the wonderful pattern for these stockings at the Knit and Crochet Show a few months ago.

This pattern, called Judy's Colors Candy Cane Stockings, is only ONE of many beautiful stocking patterns. I'm also thinking about getting the "Mark","St. Nick" and "Mrs. Claus". Scroll down the page to see the adorable "Racecar" stocking! Such clever patterns.

I'm using the 100% wool yarn, Tove for the pattern. (You can buy some of patterns, this yarn and kits at the Yarn and Fiber Co. store I work at!) The yarn is pretty scratchy, but perfect for stocking and what GREAT colors!

Here are my plans:

Ben: light and dark blue for the candy stripes with the lime green for the cuff/ankle/toe
Tim: light and dark red for stripes, pine green for c/a/t
Me: light and dark pink for the stripes, lilac for the c/a/t
Ian: light and dark green for the stripes, bark brown for the c/a/t

(all our favorite colors!)

Jackie has been gifted the 5 skeins of Merino Style in Cornflower and the second prize winner for the most creative guess goes to.....

CAYLI!!!!

Cayli guessed the "Color on Color" scarf from the Scarf Style book which, strangely enough, I thought on the same day I bought the yarn that it would be perfect for that scarf. (I actually tried knitting that scarf once, but the construction was so complicated that I just quit. It's very unique, though) Cayli, make sure ot pick out what yarn you want!! (I'll email you...)

Thanks to everyone who guessed! All of your guesses were so original and fitting for each of the projects you suggested....like the Log Cabin Blanket (which I love) and the adult Tulips sweater or the Composed Mittens from IK. I also liked Glyn's idea of the knitted Babette and Sonya's idea of the Elizabeth Zimmerman Baby Surprise Jacket.

I also wanted to share my current spinning project: spinning laceweight llama down.



I bought 8 oz of llama down at the NH Sheep and Wool festival in May from the interesting Lars of West Mountain Farm and it is Soooooo soft. It's almost as soft as cashmere or merino. I've been spinning it off and on for a week, whenever I get a chance, and it's almost spinning itself. I was hoping to spin enough to make a laceweight shawl...which I think I might come close...but I don't think it's thin enough for a 2 ply laceweight. Either I use it as a single or ply it...in which case it will be more like fingering. Anyone have any other ideas?

Last Sunday, the guys and I went to Mack's Apples in Londonderry to pick apples...my favorite place. It was such a beautiful day...and extremely busy!

Here are the guys posing in the apple orchard...this is the pic I got after 5 tries.... crazy pics of them all making funny faces.



Ben loves eating apples! (although I spent half my time taking pics and the other half of the time eating all the skin off the apples for Ben...he kept saying..."Mommy, eat the skin off FASTER!")



And, finally, everyone running ahead of me (trying to hold apples and the camera) back to the car. It was so much fun. And the apples....delicious!!!!



Tonight is work again...and the Friday Night Knitting Club....remember to come and visit us if you're free! (5-9:30 pm, Windham, NH) Have a great weekend!!! : )

Pre-Travelitis

I've been feeling completely overwhelmed this week with planning and packing for our Bahamas trip. I should be getting excited, feeling grateful to be going at all and carefully cleaning the house before we leave in 9 days. Am I feeling or doing any of those things? No.

I'm a list-maker, so I'm going to list what's bothering me:

1. No matter how many times I clean the house and do laundry for the trip (not wanting to do everything the day before, of course), everyone keeps on wearing clothes, eating and using the toilet. Okay...it may not be their fault, but it IS annoying.

2. I was amazed at how much little stuff I use everyday...toiletries, accessories and sh*t....contact lense case/saline/glasses, cleanser, moisturizer, scented lotion, deoderant, qtips, toothpaste/toothbrush, perfume, powder, razors, soap, shampoo, foundation/eyeliner/lipgloss/blush, and brush/comb/hair dryer. It's a bit crazy, isn't it? Nevertheless, I cannot do without any of them (well, maybe the powder or hair dryer....) so I've been trying to get those on a list for packing.

3. I'm sick over the amount of money I need to spend BEFORE the trip....new shoes, dresses, beachwear, bathing suit and wrap, etc. I thought we spent enough on the trip itself, but we haven't even left yet and I still have to buy our clothes (including new shorts and polo shirts for Ian). It's frightening!

4. The only slightly easy thing has been planning my knitting. The first thing I did was to order the new Knit Picks Harmony circulars for my sock knitting. They are sooo cute! That way, I can take my sock project on the plane and be happy listening to the lovely, soothing voice of Brenda of Cast On and the fantastic and spunky Marly of Yarn Thing podcast. They are definitely coming with me on my trip : )

5. And, lastly, there is the pool to close, the cat box and bunny box to clean out, the wood to stack and groceries to buy for the kiddies/my parents while we are away.

hysterical and unreasonable sobbing

Okay, I'm alright now....

One other sad thing to mention. I'm going to stop doing the Sleepy Eyes Knits podcast in October. I started last year in October and really think it's time to quit. Working at the yarn store, teaching yoga, spending time with the family and knitting/spinning is taking up all my energy and time...and I feel like it's not as rewarding as it was before.

(I've looked over the downloads and I was happy to see that I've gotten an average of 2000 downloads per month. That's pretty cool.) But, this is what I'd like to do. I'd like to end the podcast with a HUGE BANG and I'm asking for people to send me some great ideas/questions/essays/funny knitting stories/comments to me and let my last podcast be totally great. What do you think?

Can you help????

On another, happier, note, I have some pictures to share with you:

-The wonderful Julie and fantastic Patti from the Yarn Sellar at our Friday Night Knitting group last week. (oh, the fun we had!)



and



-The beauitful Jackie in her newly finished Children of the Liur stole:



-The Group at the Yarn and Fiber Co. last week:



-The yummifying Socks That Rock yarn that Ericka and I ordered last week. Front to back: Backstabber (mine!), Puck's Mischief and Tide Pool (Ericka's). I send Ericka a silly "yarn blackmail" email, too...so go and check out her blog to see how she responded!



(I have three FO's that I'd like to share, but I'm waiting faithfully for Friday....just in case I have no idea what to blog about...though they are already up on Ravelry.)

Anyone have any suggestions for my Pre-Travelitis?

I Love My Job!

Have I told you the news???? I'm now working at the Yarn and Fiber Company in Windham, NH. And, you know what? I LOOOOOOOVVVVE it!!!

Cyndi...the fabulous and "boss from heaven" Cyndi...helped me learn the cash register and credit card machine on Wednesday (the last time I used one, I was 18 and working in a gun store) and showed me all around the shop. (The mock shopping spree she did so I could try out the routine was very funny.....)

The shop, of course, is fantastic...with all my favorite yarns and patterns. It's just the right combination of faint music, the smell of yarn and fiber, big table with comfy chairs and....best of all...the friendliest people. Truly. They go out of their way to help you with anything and answer any questions you have.

Nancy, one of my coworkers on Saturday, has been super helpful...showing me how to stock online orders and been very supportive and wonderful. Hannah is a sweetheart and, please don't let her pretty and youthful face fool you...she knows yarn, patterns and knitting...so make sure you don't overlook her when she says, "Do you need help with something?" She is my lifesaving angel on Saturdays when I make a mistake on the cash register, have no idea where something is or have an avalanche of Rowan Kidsilk Haze drop on top of me for the fifth time. (I swear, that stuff is possessed!) I've only met a couple of other people who work there....Jerry (Cyndi's fiance) is hilarious and a whiz at the sock knitting machine I'm sure everyone else will be great, too.

On my first night, I hosted the very first "Yarn and Fiber Co. Knitting Group" and it was a great success. What a fun night....we, of course, knit...fondled the yarn, had dinner, fondled more, knit more and laughed and talked. I was blessed by the arrival of the Manchvegas Knitters....or more specifically....Lovely Laurin, Sexy Jackie, Hot Heather, Blogless Koigu Donna and Super Hands Sarah...(massage therapist, people!) Wanna see?

(L-R: Donna, Heather, Jackie, Sarah's forehead and Laurin)


(Laurin, I know you are going to kill me for showing the pic, but I just had to because it was so funny....and also 'cause you shared that narsty pic of me on your blog...even? LOL!)

And, I learned on Saturday that Donna (Chris' Mom, not Koigu Donna) tried to come to the shop, but went to the wrong place...so technically, she was there, too. Thanks, everyone, for being so supportive and hanging out with me on my first day!

I can't tell you how lucky I feel for having a job that I love with awesome people and one that is not too far from home. If you are ever in the area on a Friday night or Saturday, please come visit me! (oh, and buy stuff....)

On the knitting front, I haven't worked on the Sahara since last week, but will be working on it all this week. I've designed a new pattern, which I will be showing in the next blog and posting on Ravelry as well. I think you're going to like it. I hope!

On the spinning front, I am finishing up plying with my green Holly EQQ fiber (came out soo nice!) and am going to start my Sereknity batt...Smouldering Embers. Pics on the next post probably.

On the podcast front, I am finally, finally going to get the podcast out, so if you have unsubscribed or whatever, make sure to resubscribe to my podcast on iTunes. It seems to work better if you unsubscribe and then resubscribe every 6 months or something. Not sure why. It's only been, what, y-e-a-r-s?????

And a belated Happy Birthday to GiGi!!! Here's the cupcake I knit for her...what a fun project...



I will leave you with a pic of Ben wearing his new Ben10 costume for Halloween...he's been wearing it almost every single day for a week. Hopefully, it will still be in existence by Oct. 31st.



P.S. Don't forget to visit the Yarn and Fiber Company website!!! Happy Knitting! Did I tell you that I love my new job??

Lovely Lace

Who better to model my mom's beautiful (and finished!!!) shawl than my closest friend, Jackie? Not only was she a very helpful model, but she is also the person who found the pattern for me in the first place. Three cheers for Jackie!!!



Now that I'm done with this lace stole, I feel MUCH more free and less stressed. It's not that the actual knitting with unenjoyable (it was a nice simple pattern), but it was the stress of moving from part to part of the pattern and feeling it would never get finished.

Running my hands over this lovely, lovely lace is worth it and, once I see my mom wearing it, I will be really HAPPY.



DETAILS:

Pattern: Large Rectangle with Center Diamonds from Victorian Lace Today by Jane Sowerby
Needles: Size 7 for lace and size 6 for knitted on lace border
Yarn: Jade Sapphire Lacey Lamb in Black colorway (2 balls, knitted double standed)
Size before Blocking: 15" by 45"
Size after Blockinng: 22" by 78"
Time: The border took 11 hours of straight knitting and the lace panel was about 19 hours...a total of 30 hours.
Dates: May 16 to August 6, 2007
Tips: If you are using this specific yarn, make sure to pull the yarn from the OUTSIDE and not the inside of the ball. I spent many hours untangling very, very tiny laceweight knots when pulling from the center. AND the balls very easily fell apart when I had gone through half of it. Also, writing down the pattern on paper made things easier for me...line by line to go with the chart. It may not work for you, but it certainly helped me. In addition, I used paper and a pen to keep track of every single line I finished and wrote down comments along the way....it was invaluable when I had to get up for a second or rush after Ben and thought I would remember where I was.

Here, take one more look at the detail....



I'm so thrilled that I can now go onto other lace....woo-hoo!! Tell me what you think!

Burnt Out

The last few weeks have been much more than I have been able to handle. I've continued having daily migraines and/or regular headaches and, despite the awesome power of Sarah's massages (oh, man, she has magic in her fingers!), I'm still pretty tense. Sadly, even my daily yoga is not doing as much as I hope it would.

I feel like I'm behind on life. If only I could press a button and stop time for a few days. Or weeks.... Then, I'd be able to catch up on all the things I should be doing and finishing. Anyone else ever felt like that?

I've given up trying to get the podcast out until next month. This month has just too many things I need to accomplish and, though the podcast is pretty much done, it's no good if I don't record it and publish it to the web. I think if I give myself permission to delay the podcast until all my major August events are over, I will do a better job and have MUCH less stress.

I have made SOME PROGRESS on a couple of things:

- My mom's lace shawl is down to the short end (only 9 repeats) and I'll be working on that tonight until late-very late. I don't want to say that I hope to finish it because that will only cause me NOT to finish it. (Believe me...I know how statements like that always work against me...sigh.)

-Tim's first sock (using the KP Felici in Clay) is 3/4 done and I'm using this to bring around with me for some simple, mindless knitting...though I must say that I probably should have kept MORE of my mind on it because I knit the sock with 1 1/2 heel flaps....don't ask me how....just accept it and we'll pretend it was intentional...k?

I have made NO PROGRESS on a couple of things:

-Ben's sweater is still unfinished, though I have both arms finished and attatched to the body and will start on the final yoke-ing stage after the shawl is done.

-All of my other UFOs are still waiting patiently for me in their respective knitting bags or spinning baskets. (Thank god yarn and fiber can't mouth off!!!)

In other news, it was Ben's 1st day of Preschool last Monday and he actually did really well. I, on the other hand, cried all the way home that day and felt horrible without him. When I picked him up, he said, "Mommy, I cried for you!" and I crumbled all over again. It was horrible. This could be another reason for my feelings of stress....

But, here is he all dressed up and ready for school. Isn't he a cutie?



He picked this backpack out all by himself.




And here he is after school (Tim is in the background) looking pretty grumpy.



He's been doing so well potty training and I feel like he's growing up so quickly all at once. My baby boy!!!!

On Wednesday night, we celebrated both Sarah (The Fantastic Massage Therapist) and Lora's birthdays after knitting. It was a truly fun evening with lots of laughs, gifts and yummy cake....mmmmmm.....

Sonya, Lora's friend from her Kentucky knitting group sent her the most wonderful birthday gift. (It was actually a surprise and she mailed it to me and I brought it along to the group here on bday night.) She used my Radiance Lace Headband pattern (The "Amanda", named after Blogless Amanda) to create a large scarf/mini shawl out of it! I believe that she used a bulky or heavy worsted weight (extra soft) yarn and size 11 needles. We were all totally impressed and loved it so much that Lora didn't get to wear it at all that night...it was passed from Jackie to Mike to me to Heather and more. So lovely and warm!

Here is the birthday girl, Lora, wearing the Amanda Shawl:



And sexy Heather showing off the shawl AND her busty assests:



The pic that I wanted to show of Sarah came out so dark (as well as most of the other ones) that I'll just have to wait and take another one of her using her new drop spindle/fiber and becoming a newbie spinner! Bring it to Wed, Sarah!!

Happy Birthday to both Lora and Sarah!

A bit of sharing ahead....proceed with caution or turn back quickly!

[Before I go, I'll share a little TMI with you....since you've probably been waiting for some for, like, a week or more, right?? LOL! Last night was the first time Ian and I went skinny dipping in our pool! Jackie had mentioned it a few times but I didn't think I'd REALLY ever do it. Ian dragged me in last night and it was actually fun...for the little time we spent in it....I think it was a bit TOO exciting for both of us and we quickly got out to "dry"....if you know what I mean.....Oh, seeing Ian dive off the diving board in his "birthday suit" (let me just say it....buck *ss naked) was thrilling!]

Okay....Must go and get reaquainted with all the blogs that I missed the past week......happy knitting!

Too Eager

This is Ben when he is looking very eager. Eager to play, eager to eat "chips with green sprinkles" (Sour Cream and Onion), and eager to do new things.

With me, I am usually very eager over one thing. (well...one other thing as well...TMI, right?...LOL!)

Yes, you guessed it.

Buying Yarn



Before entering into the TKGA Knit and Crochet Show last Saturday, I said to Laurin, "Please don't let me buy a lot of yarn. I don't need it." After snorting loudly, she says in a tone I know only too well, "Ha!"

And, you know what happened?

Yes, you guessed right again. (You know me SO well!)

I bought more yarn than I meant to...or at least price wise. (Ian, don't read any further)

As soon as I found this Judith (I think) yarn, Reflections, at the first booth, I bought it. Oh, is it sparkly and gorgeous!



Then, I saw some hand knitted holiday stockings and just HAD to get the patterns for them. They are very unique and fun....



Then, I went to the Yarn and Fiber Co. booth and saw this shawl:

I just HAD to get it...the pattern is from the new book by Cheryl Potter of Cherry Tree Hill yarns, "Special Knits Using Only One Skein"...or something close to that. Isn't it beautiful???



Here is a closeup of the figure 8 design in it:



And, of course, I needed the laceweight yarn to go with it...



At the same booth, I got some of Heather's new hand carded batts: Coral Reef and Smouldering Embers...you can see them in her shop HERE. They're not only super soft, but the colors are LUSCIOUS!



(Heather also surprised me with this fantastic sock bag, too. I am in LOVE with it! I wish I hadn't already finished Ben's socks. Will just have to knit more, I guess!)



The other fiber I got (I cannot remember at all what the company was...I WILL find it...somewhere...) is, I believe, a super sparkly (golden) mohair/wool blend roving in the colorway "Autumn Leaves with Glitz". You can't tell how sparkly and lush the colors are from this photo, though. It's so nice.



Hmmm...what else did I get? Oh, a pattern (and yarn) to make the kids a soft as hell Teddy Bear.



It was a great day (despite my headache) and we all got to sit in the vendor area "cafe" to have lunch. They had nice, big tables and our group all fit at one. Some other shoppers sat there with us as well. I think it was Heather who asked the woman (sitting two seats down from me) what she was here for and she said, "Oh, I'm signing books for the Elegant Ewe." (That's a LYS around here.) And we said, "Which one???" She says, "I wrote, 'Never Knit Your Man a Sweater'." and we almost fell over. ( I MAY have squealed.)



We were so excited to be eating lunch with Judith Durant!!! She was sweet and friendly as can be. I'll just have to find a sweater Ian likes from her book so I can knit it up! That book is GREAT! (please go buy it and support Judith!)

After lunch and much laughter, Jackie, Laurin and I were knitting at the table. Jackie and I happened to see (aka drool over, stare at and envy) a woman from the Dream Weavers Yarns table wearing the sweater we've both wanted to make.



It's the Sahara by the very, very talented Wendy Bernard. I always knew it was the most beautiful and flattering sweater pattern I'd seen, but it was even BETTER in person. Oh, I was weak. Very, very weak.

I ended up buying the pattern and the yarn...actually only 4 skeins of yarn total....3 of Pure and Simple and 1 of the Disco Lights in Ruby Wine. 100% silk. YUMMY! LOOK....



Actually, that was a huge mistake. Not because the pattern isn't fabulous...or the yarn...but for the fact that I am a.....

YARN BULEMIC

(This is not in ANY WAY belittling the people who have the very real condition of bulemia nervosa.)

The wise and witty Ericka came up with this phrase the other night and we couldn't stop laughing because it totally fits me to a T.

I get so super, overly excited about some yarn, I buy it impulsively and then have buyer's remorse the next day. I do love, love the Sahara...but, although I've never knit myself a sweater or tank top or anything, I did overspend on this. Yikes.

So, the Manchvegas Knitters came to the rescue. I sent out a "Yarn Distress Signal" and they came running. I brought some of my most luxury stash yarns to knitting group and sold them all to my friends so I could go back and put the money back for the Sahara "kit" I bought. All even and much, much less guilt. Whew!

Speaking of knitted luxury items....while we were at the show, Jackie almost bought the Mermaid Jacket kit. Look at how beautiful she looks!



The most fabulous Donna (our overseas yarn connection) told Jackie that she could find that kit for $100 less overseas and Jackie was thrilled. Woo-hoo for Donna! And Jackie!

Last, I have to show you this photo of our "Crochet Master" of the group, GiGi. She is holding a kit called, "Knitting with Gigi" and I knew I couldn't leave without taking her pic holding it.



Am I caught up now??

Not sure.

(I'm almost done with Ben's sweater, but have done nothing on my lace trim. I have to get motivated, dammit!)

Hope you're having a good weekend!