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Dear Ellen,

I am bound-off bound and determined to finish Not So Naive before it gets too hot.  It will then relax till it cools down again and I can wear it, but I’ll be so pleased knowing it’s finished.   I’ve finished the body and started a sleeve. The sleeves promise me they will move along quickly. Once they’re finished, I’ll need to do a careful blocking. The fit is PERFECT right now and I don’t want any stretching going on. What I do want is for the edge for the hem at the bottom (and the edges that will be for the sleeve cuffs) to lie flat and not curl. I was wondering how this would work for this pattern and I do see curlage, but minimal, so blocking may be enough. If not, I’ve got an idea for doing a rolled hem that has some stretch to it, but will be just enough to pull the edge to the underside.

I’ve also cast on for a spring knit…and will hopefully move this one along in time to get some good wear out of it this year.  The pattern is the Reversible Tank from Mother-Daughter Knits and the yarn is Willow from Brooks Farm, a 70% wool, 30% bamboo blend that feels very light and airy.   It’s a soft buttery yellow that knits up like, well, like buttah!  So that’s what I’m calling it, Like Buttah.  I have two balls of the yarn and did the clever trick of doing the cast on (a long tail variation) with one strand running from each ball.  No worries about too much or too little yarn allowance for the tail.  With 176 stitches to cast on, that pleased me to no end.  (Get it, to no end?…I crack myself up!)

I saw 8 bullfrogs while out on my run today.  Actually during the cooling down afterwards…so nice to have the bike trail along the Potomac so close to our house.  It helps me keep up the discipline to go running when the path is so enchanting.

Another busy week…travel to California leaving Monday evening and returning Thursday evening.  Next weekend I hope to make it to Maryland Sheep and Wool for at least one half day.  Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Love, Jan

As older sister, Jan has bossed me around given me the opportunity to be blogmeister for the last two days of yarn revelry.  Today was packed again - Yarnover was fast and frenetic.  Get to class!  Knit swatches! Take bathroom break!  Sneak to market during bathroom break!  Buy cashmere fiber! Go to class!  Finish that swatch!

In all the craziness we managed to have two lovely classes, one on increases and decreases with Judy Pascale.  She is a dynamic and passionate lady who really ran us through our paces.  That 3-hour class was crammed with more techniques than I’ve gotten in day-long classes.  Judy later joined us for lunch.  I was a little relieved that she didn’t make us try eating our sandwiches three different ways, just to see which way suited each of us individually.  Lisa and Deb connected with us, too, so I got to eat with three of my favorite knitters (that is my preferred way to eat a sandwich).

We crossed paths with The Rainey Sisters.  Sally also travelled from DC to attend.  Maybe next year they can charter a flight for all sisters coming out for Yarnover.

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The afternoon was Hallelujah Grafting! with Lucy Neatby.  I am so glad we have 3 classes with Lucy.  She is such a prepared teacher and her methods for teaching are crystal clear. I can now close a sock toe with grafting without leaving little piggy ears.  Hallelujah! (Note: We found Cat’s other shoe.)

The marketplace is half the reason to attend Yarnover.  I had fun seeing friends like Jennie the Potter, Chris from Briar Rose, and Aimee from Darn. Knit. Anyway. But no one does the market like the Yarn Garage in their Yarn Mechanics jumpsuits.  Jessie looks pretty in anything, and Tim and Steven were just too cute.

Steven and the YG gang ended the evening for us with a lovely knit-in that brought together young and old, hip and arthritic hipped, experienced and newbie knitters.  Great music, great food, and knitting were wonderful ways to decompress from a loaded day.  I got to connect with Melissa, one of the YG team and also a Bohus knitter with whom I’d conversed on Ravelry!

We couldn’t go home until Jan finished her charity hat.  The YG donated yarn to all the Yarnover attendees to knit hats for donation.  Jan, always an over-achiever, was probably the first to turn hers in.  (I believe she removed the dpns before handing it over.)

My hat is only half done, but with a full day ahead of us tomorrow, it is not getting finished tonight.

Good night, all!

Dear Ellen,

Wow…what a week last week.  Lots in the achievement colum work-wise, so that left me in a great mood at the end of the week.  Taking advantage of that mindset, I jumped in Bobbie (the blue CooperS), grabbed my friend Heidi and zoomed up to Estes Park.  The purpose of this journey was to visit the Estes Park Wool and Fiber Festival.  I was immediately swept back to 4-H days as soon as I stepped into the first animal tent.  Great smells, great sounds, and that calming effect that comes from being surrounded by animals.  I came away with many great memories.  Enjoy!  (Don’t you love the one alpaca whispering into the other alpaca’s ear?  The sheep were….well, sheep.  They didn’t seem to realize the big role they played in the weekend event.  Nor did they really seem to care.  The alpaca and vicuna were absolutely lovely!

We spent a good deal of our time in the vendor building where I bought yarn for a shell (golden wool and bamboo), a cardigan (variegated wool with tonal blue wool trim), a shell (dark teal and pale spring green strands of silk, cotton and rayon), a scarf (turquoise alpaca) and a smoke ring (rich, rich dark chocolate pure vicuna — darker than shown, I added fill light so you could see the strands).   I also scored an alpaca pin, a hand-turned orifice hook, two hand-turned dpn cases, a booklet on making felted Christmas tree ornaments, and a few freebie patterns…met the designer, a very nice young woman.  Finally, I bought cinnamon roasted almonds for Dale.  I wouldn’t want him to think I hadn’t thought about him.  I did consider some Colorado Cashmere for a possible sweater, but he’s still too lukewarm about me making a sweater for him that I decided not to invest the dollars or time knitting cashmere on size 3s till he shows more commitment.  The almonds will have to do for now!

I did make some more progress on the Robin’s Egg Vest…at the armscyes now and must make some design decisions (yes, I charged into this with a concept, not the details).  I do have a rather impressive swath of lower vest though!  And I’ve made about 4 more repeats on the fichu for Vanessa.  Do you like the fancy weights I used to spread the pattern a bit so you could see the lace? With that, I’m off to do another pattern repeat on the fichu and then to bed.  Let me know if you figure out how to stop the world for a while.  I have so much to get done by mid-July and I could use some time cheats.

Love, Jan

P.S. I almost forgot to post…remember my wank about the bulb collection that I ordered from Plow and Hearth?  Well, they actually read the post, contacted me and made me feel very valued as a customer.  I am now in the process of trying to decide what I would like to order using the gift card they sent me as amends for my disappointment.  What great customer service!