Santa Baby

My niece - the one that married in New Orleans and is now the new Mother to Baby Jack -  is very good about sending me pictures of Jack wearing  the clothes I knit for him.

Last weekend, at our family, Christmas get-together,  I gave Jack the  Santa hat I knit.  This week, I received these pics.  Every baby is adorable - but isn't he just!

Brings a smile to one's face, doesn't it?

Ladies With Balls

Thursdays, have long been my day for knit group.  But, about a year ago now, a second group of knitters came into my life.  I meet with this group on Wednesdays and for the last year, they have allowed me to teach them and encourage them on their knitting journey.

This group  is not normally, fodder for my blog.  These knitters came into my life as a result of a disagreement which resulted in a switching of allegiances.  Filled with intrigue, the abdication was  fraught with tension.  As a result, I am protective of them.  To blog about them, I feel,  might expose them to  nastiness and vindictiveness   and so -  I give them their privacy. 

But.  Today was so special, I am breaking my own rule.  With Christmas and New Year's Day both being on Wednesday this year, today was our last meet-up until into the new year.  We had great fun, with glue guns, lace and fancy trims, making  decorative Christmas balls.  One of these clever ladies decided that we   were a group of  'ladies with balls'.  Indeed we are.

Merry Christmas Ladies.

Woodstock Fleece Festival

Happily for me, I had  a great diversion happening on the weekend.  Last spring, Lyn Gemmel from Cabin Fever contacted me to ask if I would manage her booth at the Woodstock Fleece Festival this year.  She had a conflict - Rhinebeck.

Sure, I would.  Lyn said I would need a partner and she would try to get me one.  I immediately thought of  a friend that I used to work with at London Yarns.  Sharon  was just as keen as I to do the festival.

Woodstock  is more a fibre festival than simply a knitting festival.  There were spinning wheels galore,  a spinning wheel doctor  and hand made wheels for sale.  There were  rug hooking booths - no, not the kind sold in kits, but bolts of wool fabric waiting to be cut into strips to be hooked into rugs or wall hangings.  There were fleeces galore, shearing demonstrations and an Angora Rabbit show.  What does a rabbit do in a show?  I envisioned them jumping through hoops.

Friday afternoon saw us at the hall, ready for set up. 

 

 

 

What a job!  Although I have helped at the Cabin Fever booth at various shows in the past, I have never been in charge.  There is a big difference!  Lyn, I hope we didn't embarrass you and your good name too much with our   display efforts.

Early in the day, this Mother Daughter duo stopped by, both wearing Cabin Fever patterns.  A picture waiting to be taken.  

 

Mom is wearing  the Side Panel Vest and standing in front of our blue sample of that same pattern.  The daughter is wearing Sarah, from Button up Your Top Down.  I positioned her in front of our poster of  a blue Sarah.  You look lovely in your Cabin Fever sweaters, ladies.

It as a great day.  Lots of hard work, but fun.  Although, next year, Sharon and I thought Lyn could do Woodstock and we could go to Rhinebeck. Wonder what Lyn will say.

What To Do Next

Usually, at the finish-line-in-sight  point in any of my knitting projects, I begin to wonder what I should knit next.  This time is different.

Fortunately, or unfortunately,  in this house, I have a room all to myself.  In it, I house my knitting machine, sewing machine, knitting patterns, books and all my yarn.  Fortunately,    when company comes, I can tidy up by simply tossing  a current project into the yarn room and closing the door. 

Sadly,  it seems, I have done the toss so often that Fred is ready to call one of those  de-cluttering gurus.  The room needs it's own TV show.   

When I think about what to knit next, it is normally fun to go to the yarn room and lose myself for a few hours amongst  my knitting books and yarn piles.  But right now, when I venture into the yarn room, all is I see work.  Those  multiple unfinished projects need to be tidied. 

Open the door to the yarn room and you will see

 the fusion cardi - part machine, part hand knit - in Patons Classic purchased at the Listowel Tent sale. 

Then there is the unfinished cotton cardi

 that I hoped to knit with cotton left over from Tink's Twirly Skirt. 

There are the lace-weight, mohair pieces

 of a drapey front cardi that I feel is destined to be ripped. 

There are unfinished slippers  and  a scarf to match the tam on the left.

There are socks

and my still unfinished Modified Mothed.

So what do I do next?   First, I clean.

Wool & Wine Tour

What a great day I have just had.   Knitters from Collingwood, Meaford and Southampton went on a Wool & Wine Tour.
The day started with the wool portion - gotta be sober for that yarn shopping - at Riverside Yarns in Owen Sound.

 

Wool was followed by  food.  Lunch at Harrison Park Inn, also in Owen Sound.

 

Colleen of Riverside Yarns gave us a door prize to be drawn at  lunch.  It was  won by lucky Maryanne shown here with yours truly.

 

Last stop of the day was Coffin Ridge Winery.  I'd say it was a hit.

 

A beautiful , beautiful setting  and beautiful building overlooking the vineyard and Georgian Bay.

 

Wool, food, wine and the great company of knitters on a warm sunny day.  Nothing better.

Summer's End

Summer 2013 was a wash.  Literally.  Hearst saw  days on end of rain - some days set rainfall records.  We swam less often, boated less often, stuck our heads out the door less often.

And so  --   we came home early.  Back to routine by mid-August, I expected.  But my laptop apparently didn't like the ride home as it died somewhere between here and there.    Home we were, but routine would have to wait until the computer got fixed. In the meantime, we took a little trip.


We did the Southern Ontario circuit, visiting all the people we had not seen over the summer.  We went to see Dad, a BIL celebrating his 65th and long time friends.  And on the way there were yarn stores. Unplanned stops, but as the meandering drive took us into certain towns,  I had some 'HEY' moments.  Hey.  St.Thomas.  This is where  The Little Red Mitten shop is. 

The Little Red Mitten in St. Thomas is a store that opened shortly after we left nearby London to retire in Thornbury.  I hear lots about it from friends who still live in the area and follow  it's story on the 'net'.  Until last week, I had never been in.  What a great store.

 

 

A lovely inviting entrance and if yarn shopping isn't touristy enough for you, the shop is located across the street from St.Thomas' other claim to fame - the statue of Jumbo The Elephant.

 

The shop is just lovely.  Big, neat and  clean. When I yarn shop as a tourist, I always like to buy something that will remind me of my trip.  Joan, the shop's owner, had just the thing.  One of a kind, in-store, shawl patterns she calls Talbot Trail Shawls.

 And yarn  dyed especially for the shop by not-far-away Zen Gardens.

 

This colourway is called Springwater Conservation, named after a local picnic spot.  Zen Gardens, from Sarnia area, came to St. Thomas, took the picture then dyed the yarn to match the picture, exclusively for Little Red Mitten.  Local pattern.  Local yarn.  What  a good, touristy purchase. 

 One shawl is nice but two - especially with this Berrocco sparkle yarn - well, how good is that?

The next day, the 'HEY' moment came as we drove up Hwy 23.  Accustomed to taking a short cut to bypass the town of Listowel,  I said "Hey, if we don't take the shortcut, we can go through Listowel where Sprinrite is having their annual tent sale."

 

There I practised great restraint and purchased only enough yarn for one sweater.

 

This is Paton's Classic Wool prepared especially for the sale in big  (400 g)  balls.  At $12 per ball,  the price was sure right. My plan for this is a pattern I purchased last spring from Riverside Yarns in Owen Sound.

 A simple sweater with the only detail being on the collar.   Most likely a machine knitting project. 

Summer,  all our driving, all our  family visits - all  done.  My computer repaired.  Regular blogging statrted today.  Back to routine.  Summer is over.

 

The Fun Of Lots

Recently, I have had a few great days  of yarn shopping.

 

Yarn shopping, of course is best done in the company of other yarn addicts, so I have also had a great, couple of  days  spent with like-minded, yarn lovers.

On a rainy, cool, wet, dreary day last week, Wilma from knit group  and I headed over to Port Elgin, on the shores of Lake Huron, to a new yarn store.  An hours drive, but what knitter can resist the lure of  'new yarn store'.  Docknits is  owned by a local Doctor, who gave the store it's very apt name describing both ownership and location.   Clever I thought.  A lovely store.  It is spacious, clean, neat, tidy, and well organized with lots of all that is important in a yarn store -  yarn, patterns and great display garments.  Wilma spent some money here, but I resisted the offerings.  I had a plan.

On to Riverside Yarns in Owen Sound. We both spent money here.  I found the perfect yarn for my newly-queued Contrasts.  Sidar, Crofter DK.

An acrylic/cotton, smooth yarn that should pass through the machine with no problems. 

Colleen, Riverside's owner, gave us the latest breaking news.  She is re-locating her shop to the main street of Owen Sound - 2nd Ave W.  The move takes place on the July 1st weekend.  You heard it here first.

Monday, with clearer but cooler weather for the drive, I headed off to Listowel and the
Spinrite Factory Outlet.  My two knitting friends from St. Mary's and I try to get together  a couple of times a year and a 'tent' sale at Spinrite seemed the perfect excuse.

There I bought lots.

Fortunately, the sale meant I got lots of yarn but didn't spend lots of money. This entire pile you see here, cost me - put a wet cloth to your brow, knitters  -  just $12.  I have 5 balls of discountinued Mission Falls Cotton reduced to $1 per ball.  There wasn't much left and the remaining colours were probably never listed as most popular, but there were 5 balls of white.  I took them all.  I also picked up 2 bags of America's Country Cotton Cabled.  Proudly displaying the American flag on the label and stating 'Made in the USA' - a rare thing in the world of yarn these days.  Offered in bags of 6 for  $1.  I bought 2 bags.  Regret later told me I should have purchased them all.  The other yarns  -  the rust/white twist and the teal/rust/cream variegated are Sugar&Cream.  Commonly used for discloths, reduced in price to 27 cents per ounce.  I have 21 ounces.  Whatever you math skills, it is not lots of money.

All the Spinrite yarn was purchased with Twirly Skirt in mind.  I couldn't decide whether I liked the combo of MF white, with  the rust/white twist and the rust cabled cotton,

 

 or the combo of rust and cream cabled cotton with  the teal/rust variegated. 

 Reason kicked in and I bought it all.  Skirts for both  2013 and 2014 perhaps. 

In all, I spent less than $50 on yarn.  Yarn that will give me lots of fun, occupy lots of time, allow lots of creativity, offers lots of memories of two great days spent with knitting friends and - my most compelling argument -'Lots cheaper than a round of golf.'

Frolic 2013

Saturday was the annual Knitters Frolic  in Toronto.  As with  September's  Knitters Fair in Kitchener, this event is  the work of the local Knitters' Guild.  Toronto's  Downtown Knit Collective is the group behind the Frolic and by the crowds in the hall, I would say 2013 was another successful year for their Frolic.

I took with me, four knitters that I meet with weekly to coach through their knitting issues. Is it not my duty to introduce new knitters to such events?  Pay it forward, so to speak.    Over and over I heard them saying things like  'Overwhelming.  WOW!   I would have never  imagined...    Such fun to take the uninitiated to a show like the Frolic.

We shopped together but I managed to acquire only these few items  - two new shawl patterns by Cabin Fever  and a ball of Cotton Tweed for a baby sweater -

before it was time to leave my 'students'  to meet up with some blogger friends.  

Marie, Sandra and her blogless friend Susan.  We chatted non-stop for an hour, before I had to call an end to the fun for fear my group might think I had abandoned them.

Knitters are not known for an early quit, so on the way home from Toronto, we stopped at True North Yarns in Barrie and there I scooped another deal on their 25% off sale.

 

 This is Raffaella by Sirdar.  A cotton/acrylic blend that I will use to knit another Cinnie.

  

I loved knitting and wearing last year's green Cinnie

 

and decided  it made sense to knit another in a more neutral colour.

I came home tired, happy to have gone to another Frolic, happy to seen some blogger friends, happy to have introduced another group of knitters to a great knitting event and - with only minimal  purchases - still money in my pocket.  Great day, I'd say.

What's Happening Today?

 What's happening today?

The clues are laid out on my bed.

A carry bag

 

my tummy, money purse,

 

my comfy shoes,

 and my list.

 

Why, it must be Knitter's Frolic day.  See you all in Toronto.  And if not, I'll show you my purchases on Monday.