Spunk-a-licious!

CAUTION....had too many pics to post, so I had to choose only some. Sorry! Hope they all come through...



What can I say about a day spent at a fantastic yarn store with a to-die-for view and....best of all....Amy Boogie of Spunky Eclectic?



SpunkyTastic!!!!!

Melissa, Lora and I started off at Donna's house (Blogless, Koigu Donna) and headed to York, ME to the Yarn Sellar to meet the fabulous Julie, Brenda and, YS owner and sweetie, Patti. (Ericka and Chris met us there before leaving for Lisbon.) Here we all are before leaving...with Donna holding a basket of Heather's Sereknity Sock Options yarn.



(l-r...Lora, Roger (Patti's hubby aka Bruce), Patti, Donna, Melissa, Me and Julie)

After stopping for a quick lunch, exchanging cell phone numbers (thank GOODNESS we did!), getting lost a couple times and then finally meeting up at a Dunkin Donuts/Mobil gas station (to refresh ourselves with waters, coffee and candy...namely, PEPPERMINT PATTIES...hint hint...wink wink....), we were on the home stretch to Spunky Amy's.

Donna made a very impressive, race car driver's sharp and short right turn into the parking lot at once when we screamed, "THERE IT IS!!!" and, I think, ralllied rather well after her heart stopping for a second or two. (and saying, "You are FIRED as the copilot for the next trip!" to me....which, of course, I've heard before, right Laurin?) Sorry, Donna!

Here is the view from Amy's shop...



Impressive, isn't it????

After getting a huge hug from Amy's adorable, squeeze-her-face daughter "Medium Boogie" (not to be confused with "Baby Boogie") and Amy herself, we all rushed like a mob into the shop. Although the size is small (especially for about 10 of us at once), everything is arranged very nicely and you know exactly where to go for what you want. Not only does she have YARN! and FIBER!!!, but also spindles, spinning wheels, spinning equipment, and her own handmade pottery, which is gorgeous. It was just like at SPA, we all kept going back in for more! Go outside, go back in, go outside, go back in....it was a vicious cycle of horrible monetary proportions. shiver

Wanna see pics of the store?? (of course you do!)

Exhibit A: The Yarn



Exhibit B: The Fiber



Exhibit C: The Spindles



Exhibit D: The Pottery



And, you know what else???

Melissa and Lora learned how to spin on the drop spindle!!!! Woo-hoo!! (Ericka and I thought to ourselves, "He he...we've corrupted MORE knitters!"...or at least, that's what I think we thought!)

Here I am giving Melissa a hand, though she was really a natural.



And Melissa and Lora succesfully spinning! (Lora, you are awesome at the S twist!!!!)



Most of the time, we spent on the porch, knitting (welll, I talked....mostly...shocker) I think I was getting a little too "photo happy" because Brenda and Julie looked at me like THIS:



And the lovely Patti...



I thought Chris and Ericka looked so cute here together...dont' you? Busy knittin' away....



I think we spent almost 3 hours there and it was the most relaxing and fun time I've had in weeks....I even got to draw chaulk pictures on the driveway with "Medium Boogie", which was almost more fun than knitting! (gasp!) Here are some pics that we drew together...



Boy, it really made me want to have a little girl....boohoo...but, no, I'm happy with my video game playing boys : ) Maybe I could just borrow Medium Boogie or Jackie's Little One sometimes....right?

On the way home, and Donna's trunk stuffed to the brim with yarn and fiber, we stopped for dinner and it was delicious! We had a waitress, Jamie, that rivaled Famous April for friendliness and that "je ne s'ai quoi" that we look for when dining and knitting. It was a long ride home and though I tried to give Donna subliminal messages on the way...(saying "Yaaaarrrnnn" instead of "Yaaaawwwnnn")....she wasn't really fallling for it. Damn it.

So, you ask, what are the treasures that you took home??? Well, here are some of the things I got....some are gifts and I didn't take pics of them. Wanna see????



(l-r) "Nuclear Flower" sportweight, "Walking on the Sun" laceweight merino, "Your Majesty" skinny sock, and "Killer Tomato" skinny sock.

Plus, I got "Pulsations" in green to knit up Amy's new "Pulsations" sock pattern...see HERE and a couple rovings for spinning.

All in all, it was a FANTASTIC day, although I missed everyone who couldn't make it. I'm sure we'll go again, though.

Oh, let me leave you with THE WALL OF GINA...



(Medium Boogie wrote my name all along the brick wall near the shop. I LOVE her!!!) Go visit Spunky's Shop NOW! (he he)

Help....I've Lost the Will to Knit!

Yes, you've read correctly. I-have-lost-the-will-to-knit. I think it has 100% to do with the fact that I am knitting "Lace in FrigginLand". I've been living there since May 1st, when I cast on for the Myrtle Leaf Shawl. There are three things wrong, as I see it:

1. The Lacey Lamb laceweight yarn, though truly lovely, is like thread. Thread, I tell you! I've knit with laceweight before. I've knit shawls before. I've knit laceweight shawls before. And this is totally different.

2. The pattern, on row 13, is incorrect. I've read the corrections, wrote them down, seem to understand them...and, yet, the row never comes out right. What's up with that?

3. I can only do a maximum of 2 rows done at a time while Ben is in the house. I think he hears when I pull out the chair to sit down and the slight "whip" and metallic "tink" as I knit the lace row. Not that it's his fault, of course, he's just a little guy wanting attention, but I'm getting up every few moments and that causes MAJOR screw ups. MAJOR. I've ripped out the 13 row repeat approximately 3 times. I may be going for a 4th soon.

Blogless Amanda, how are YOU doing on this?? Help me, please!

Everytime I take out my knitting, I'm cringing. It's even affecting my spinning. I haven't been able to start spinning any of the gorgeous fibers I got from Sheep and Wool on Saturday. (pics later on in this post)

Any ideas? Can someone "jump start" my knitting enthusiasm? Should I try another lace pattern? Should I try another yarn? Hmmm...???? Whatza Whatza??

Okay, now that I've whined a bit....I'll go on to the good stuff...

Exhibit A: Flowers from My Garden

Lovely Lilacs almost in bloom



Beautiful Tulip, not sure what kind



Exhibit B: My New Fridge

Yes, I know...I'm lame...but I love my new bottom freezer fridge.



Exhibit C: My Wonderful Mother's Day

I had the most wonderful, relaxing and sweet Mother's Day ever. Ian bought me gorgeous flowers, Ben made me a homemade card (with his very own scribbles), and Tim created an animated-and-totally-awesome card on the computer. Tim and Ian made me dinner (using Tim's cookbook from school)...mini pizzas and ham/cheese cups with blueberry ice cream and brownie crumbles for dessert. YUM! Ian even took the kids out so I could have some time to myself. I am SO lucky!



Exhibit D: NH Sheep & Wool

Jackie and I met up with a bunch of the ManchVegas Knitters (GiGi, Amanda D, Laurin, Ericka, Chris, Melissa, Vicki, and Heather) for lunch after shopping. Wow! What a difference from last year's flood/downpour! The day was cool, sunny and gorgeous. I even got to see the llamas, alpacas and other adorable fiber animals. They are SO adorable! Here's the group at lunch:



Here is the adorable, "teddy-bear-like" alpaca that I loved:



And here is the fantastic Spunky Amy...who I was thrilled to get to see and meet her sweet family, too



Exhibit E: New Stash Aquisitions

I was much better this year than last year. I actually could SEE over the load of stuff I bought (unlike last year, right Laurin?) and I didn't get any yarn. Jackie was my "Stash Officer and forced (I mean, helped) me not to buy things I didn't need. Like more drop spindles, yarn and excess fiber...oh, that lovely kid mohair I didn't buy! Here is my fiber haul (one of the fibers is for a Blog Friend):

(2 bags of llama from West Mountain Farm, batt called, "The Mystery Bump" (LOVE THAT!), wool/angelina batt from FoxFire Fibers, 2 bags of baby camel/tussah silk from the same place, and Lambspun Merino/Silk roving in a beautiful fern green)





Also got an alpaca coloring book for Ben, some honey sticks for Tim and handknit finger puppets for both of them. So cute!

Oh, and here is the new Weavette that I got....it's a 2x2 weaving loom frame...and I'll be using it with my leftover odds and ends of handspun to make small squares of woven fabric to make flowers. Cool, huh?



And, lastly, I got some adorable bunny cards and a Heal My Hands cream in Lavender Mint....wonderful stuff!

Conclusion:

The weekend was chock full of fun thing to do, enjoyed myself immensely and only wish I could revive my will to knit. Will be accepting all cyberhugs, ideas, suggestions and virtual (or actual) yarn gifts (LOL!) to restore my love of knitting until midday on Wednesday....at which time I will be freaking out trying to decide what I will do at knitting group. So please, HELP ME!

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!