This!

It is always fun to see one’s book out in the wild! I suspect I will be hearing from my Mother about this when she opens her email!

Kay and Ann are funny gals and if you haven’t seen their latest little piece of work well here it is:

But I digress! This IS Bookish Thursday after all! Mason-Dixon Knitting: The Curious Knitter’s Guide their original book has just been released in paperback! This makes this great fun book just a little more affordable and portable! At least it won’t weigh your knitting bag down as much!

I love the fun approach Ann and Kay have to their craft, it is contagious. The patterns and stories in this book are delightful and fun! There are some great easy gift patterns in there that would suit just about any occasion! In fact after I received the book in the mail I went right away to cast on a log cabin blanket! I need a baby boy gift Pronto and a receiving blanket size log cabin blanket is definitely doable!

If you haven’t picked up this book yet you might want to grab a copy! I think you will love it too!

Disclaimer: A review copy of this book was provided by the publisher.

It will be good practice for the ‘real’ husband sweater, and pick me up out of the knitting doldrums. 

I finished a pair of Mrs. Roosevelt’s Mittens for my mother.

She is president of her local historical society up there in upper state New York, not sure of the exact historical society.. but that means she gets to rattle around in all those historical houses and such and will be going over to the Roosevelt’s “cottage” next weekend. So I hope to pop these in the mail to her so she can wear them when she goes!

I was able to use the leftovers from the cashmere blend socks I made for Laura  at  Handwerks and since I didn’t think I had quite enough to make the whole mittens with it I added a stripe of some of Scout’s nice merino sock in there on the first mitten, which turned out to be a good idea!

The picture doesn’t lie. One mitten turned out slightly larger than the other I am going to block that out so they match. (I hope!)

Then off to the post office with them!! The pattern is easy peasy, I might make myself a purple pair with a narrow yellow strip to use up the rest of the yarn!!

I finished a scarf for my friend Kim in Canada. Known to Rhett and Link fans as Kim the Canadian call screener!!

It’s really fun because you can roll it up in a little packet like this!

Hopefully she will get it before next year! I put it in the mail today!

Any Cast Off magazine in the last 2-3 years. If you do I probably have em’

I will unload those for $5.00 each which will include shipping in the US.

Name any Vogue magazine from the last 2-3 years.. I probably have it.

These will go for $7.00, again shipping included.

If you are interested in any Interweave Knits Magazine from 2006-2009 you might be in luck. Just ask..

The regular issues will go for $7.00 the special holiday issues are negotiable..

I have a Verena Fall 2008   $5.00

I have Rebecca #36 in English $8.00

I have a bunch of Crochet! magazines from 2006-2008 ask and I will check to see if I have an issue you want.

These will be $4.00 each.

Pretty much all of these are in gently used condition, generally with some shelf wear and a few wrinkles here or there.. just like us right?!

Leave me a comment and I will get back to you!

Oh.. if you want to see for sure what I have you can look on my library page on Ravelry! I am also destashing books so inquire or make an offer on any books you might be interested in too!

I mean what’s the difference between Merino and Cheviot? My friend has a flock of Cheviot and she keeps telling me their wool is no good.. so really is that true?

I also have been dabbling with spinning and was curious what the different wools would result in when spun and which would be good for a beginning spinner.

If you find you have these questions then this new book is definitely for you. Clara covers all the bases. She discusses all the breeds out there and what the qualities of their wool are. She also talks about the ‘itch’ factor of wool and ways to handle it.. something important to me!

If you work with wool, or plan to in any fiber art I encourage you to grab a copy of this book and educate yourself on your fiber!!

Not to mention there are some cute patterns in there!!

Like this:

And this..

and this one the Hill Country Hat which is available online!

Disclosure: A review copy was provided by the publisher.

I have the Knitting Guild Christmas dinner tonight.. so I have a pretty dishcloth ready for that.. I made myself some nice long fingerless gloves, and I have a scarf for my friend in Canada nearly completed.

Next up a little surprise project for our Loom Knitters Circle subscribers.. can’t tell you what it is then it wouldn’t be a surprise would it..

Generally I have been swamped with life.. what with some serious business at our church that is pretty time consuming and emotionally consuming, with helping one of the youth there with some difficult times, and with  some obsessing over looking for a new pup.. I have been busy… Thats not mentioning the usual stuff.. homeschooling and the like..

oi! How DO I do it all? Dunno.. don’t ask.. can’t tell you..

I can tell you to look for some book reviews and giveaways in the upcoming weeks!  Perhaps a little destashing. too! So stay tuned!!!

A local composer had turned his book into a musical that was performed at local school districts. They had one of the groups of students come and perform some of the songs from the book as Hudson read the book!

It was pretty neat. Brian posted a bit of video about it.. click here.

This time we nearly got out of the museum without anyone touching and breaking something!! Of course the FIRST thing one of our kids touched fell down!! Fortunately it was a foam board sign at an exhibit that looked like it had fallen down a few times already!! Eeks.. it wasn’t held up by much just double stick tape..

Other than that we all pretty much came out unscathed. It’s  a nice museum if you are in the area you should visit!

Hey well I got the deal I wanted.. so it’s all good! And hey I didn’t even have to stand in line to check out!

Click here to see the teaser! When I see her post details I’ll let ya know!!

Click on the pick below to go to the loom along Flickr group!

It was about 4 planes in 48 hours! I took another short trip to Texas this time for my brother’s wedding!

Since then my camera has turned into a brick! So that sort of puts the brakes on because what is a knitting blog without photos!! eeks!

I will try to get Brian’s camera to cooperate and see if I can’t get some pics of items I have finished and have in progress! (That would be a total of Two!!)

And I think we will have a little destash action this week and I have some new books to tell you about, and even a give away!

So stay tuned I am trying to bounce back and get going again!

But alas, I am on my way to the post office to send them off to her! Look for them on the Handwerks website soon!

• Planning and doing the Guild Workshop, then planning and out of town trip and having to cancel it. Dealing with my brother and a bit of wedding planning drama. My sister in law moved and needed help, my Mother in law’s storage unit facility had a fire in it and she needs help moving her stuff somewhere else.
• The laundry room disaster is starting to work out.. Brian got the dry wall up but that wasn’t without it’s own drama and a whole lot of lost sleep on his part..  and hey all that running up and down between the washer in the garage and the dryer in the laundry room has me down 4 pounds!
• My parents come in from California LATE tonight. So house cleaning has consumed the last couple of days.
• Our dog has fallen gravely ill in the last two days and I expect she won’t be with us much longer. We are keeping her as comfy as possible here, but that has its limits, and I fear a big decision will have to be made today or tomorrow.
• Behind all this, something I haven’t talked about on the blog is a big blow out at our church that has caused many good people to leave. This is probably the one biggest thing that weighs heavily on my heart  and has caused me to be absent here.
• There are a few other things.. that I haven’t mentioned too.. Let’s just say if it isn’t right in front of me demanding attention it hasn’t or isn’t going to get done this week.

Muddling through..

She seems to be coming out of it, but is still a bit unsteady and has been peeing spontaneously in odd places… which turns out to be seizure related too. (not so fun) I am really glad we have a carpet cleaning machine! (best purchase ever!)

I have been knitting and this time I will I will I will take a photo before I send them off.. I am working on another pair of socks for Laura at Handwerks.. this time there is cashmere in the mix… Laura might need to arm wrestle me to get them back!

I also organized and pulled of our knitting guild’s annual fall workshop. We did a colorwork workshop including Fair Isle and intarsia. It went well, everyone seemed to have fun and learn some good stuff! I can now add those two items to my learned list!

I also learned that there are some yarns in my stash that go very well together  (I had just thrown some  random odd balls in my bag for the workshop) and need to be made into some nice fair isle item or other.. Will have to see how much of all of it I have and work something up!

I finished a pair of socks and a hat for Laura at Handwerks! It WOULD figure that

a) The camera batteries died AGAIN!

b) I forgot to charge them

c) I forgot to take a picture of the socks and hat by alternate means prior to sticking them in the box and sending them to her!

This yarn is beautiful, so it was a very nice job indeed! The benefit of knitting samples for different yarn companies and dyers, is that you get to play with different yarns!! The problem is that you discover beautiful yarns like this and you spend all your earnings on it!! hehehe Or at least you sure are tempted to!

I’ll show you some more finished projects soon. I was able to finish a shawl that had been sitting around FOREVER waiting for another skein of yarn to finish it off!

For now another squishy package of yarn arrived on my doorstep yesterday from Laura.. the card in this one had the words.. cashmere.. and merino on it among others.. man I have a tough life!

P.S. those who keep saying I would like knitting socks.. might just get me to eat my words when I kept saying no I won’t! Eek!

The Alchemy of Color Knitting  by Gina Wilde demystifies color and helps you find the best color combinations for your work.

Whether you want to work with complimentary colors, a monochromatic theme, or you just want to understand the color wheel you can find the answers in this book.

Using her artist’s eye Gina explains the science of color in clear terms that are sure to unlock the secrets of color for you. With 25 brilliant patterns included in the book you are sure to find a colorful knitting project to suit any occasion!

Men’s Knits is full of 20 great patterns for those guys we have a hard time knitting for! There is a pattern in this book to fit just about any guy, from your nerdy sweater vest wearing cousin to your punk rocker little brother..  Who ever you a knitting for Erika has you ..er them.. covered!

Some of my picks:

The hand dyed sweater.. cause I like me a bulky fast knit!!

I like the striped full zip cardigan.. hey it reminds me of Mr. Rogers!! And doing a plain sweater in self striping yarn makes it go sooo much faster!! (really it’s some genius trick that self striping yarn plays on you!!)

I love love love this sweater vest.. it’s not the normal plain boring sweater vest it’s got character!!

Of course my favorite is that cabled scarf on the cover! It’s BE-U-TI-FUL.. um er.. the guys won’t like that .. it’s stunning.. yeah that’s it stunning!!

If you have a gaggle of guys in your house like I do, then this is certainly the book for you!!

We have extra spaces so we are opening it up to local knitters!
Here is the ‘knitty gritty’:

Dianne & Kathy of Ewe & I designs are presenting a day long workshop on Colorwork including Intarsia and Fair Isle knitting.

The workshop will run from 9 am-3:30pm at St. Micheal’s in North Canton (corner of Whipple and Fulton)

The cost is $25.

(BYOL..bring your own lunch)
We will have some coffee, tea and snacks to start off the morning.
There will be lots door prizes, and plenty of fun!
Who knows what else we will come up with by then!!

If you are interested in attending, please send me an email at Denise at Knitchat.com . I will arrange registration for you. You must be registered ahead of time with payment to secure your spot!
Hope to see some of you there!

Me!

President,
Gazinda Knittting Guild

This is what the little ‘friend’ we picked up down in the Smoky Mountains did to my dragon wings shawl…

Go on.. take a closer look..

And that was after I found these:

I guess they didn’t work.. but I’ll hang on to them.. who knows, perhaps it isn’t quite finished!

We had a community class at our church, and I went over to be available if anyone needed child care. No one did, so we went off to buy shoes for Azia and Caleb before the trip.

That done we headed home ready to get the kids in bed and do some packing!

I was behind the kids as they entered the house.. I heard them talking about odd things..

Then they turned to me and asked..

“Mom, why is there soy sauce dripping from the ceiling?”

I looked up and there dripping from the entry hall ceiling was what indeed looked like soy sauce! The ceiling was sagging a good 4 inches down as well.

Immediately I called Brian and said Brian.. we have a problem!! I tried to describe what was going on and he came home as quickly as he could.

In the mean time I looked for the source of the water. At first I couldn’t find anything. But then I spotted the faucet of our laundry room turned the wrong way toward the wall and it was dripping!

ugh!

When Brian got home, he proceeded to poke a hole in the ceiling and water poured out. And then he made the hole bigger.. and bigger.. and well it ended up like this..

(see the nice walls with the wallpaper removed and the spackling done?)

NOT how we wanted to spend the night before we left..

The good news is, we had planned to pull that section down anyway, and the really good news is that there was no yucky mold up there!

We are on a road trip. And with our family that ALWAYS means there will be stories to tell.. It was simple.

Drive down to West Virginia, camp out at Seneca Rocks over night, head to North Carolina and go to the showing of Looking for Miss Locklear by Rhett and Link!

We started out late. So we got down in WV late.. It was about 11:30 when we pulled over to check our directions.

The berm looked nice.. a wide area to pull over..

Nice flat grass…

WE all know looks can be deceiving..

Brian pulled over just a little bit more.. you know to be off the road and..

SLUMP! Right into a ditch we went! AAAHH!

WE WERE STUCK!

In the middle of West Virginia in the middle of the night!

Fortunately the ditch we landed in was right across the street from THE NICEST FAMILY IN WEST VIRGINIA!

They took us in after we had to literally climb out of the van (yes it was tipping over that far) and they called their friend who had a tow truck. After a bit along he came and pulled us out!! Which was complete with lifting the back end of the van two feet off the ground and shifting it around!

Thanks all around, a hug from the cute little Chelsea, and off we went to the car wash to get the mud off!

That’s good, got a hotel room and crashed!

Don’t worry.. there’s more later…

TO BE CONTINUED!

Let’s see:

• Attending the local candy fest festival parade.
• Setting up and having a garage sale.
• Prepping for my parents visit.
• Having them visit.
• Making birthday cake!
• Going to the science museum.
• Having a behind the scenes tour of the zoo (thanks Kayleen and Keith!)
• Meetings meetings meetings at church.
• Being off my feet again a bit because of my stoopid leg.
• Starting up school a week early, because they moved it up a week.
• Planning for a road trip to North Carolina this weekend.
• Getting lots of nice knitting books to review! WATCH OUT!
• Keeping the tooth fairy on task..
• Trying to get time to edit patterns for the Fall/Winter issue of LKC.
• Playing with yarn.. a bit.. well a teeny bit..

$3!!!!

Yes my friends. I made $3! Sigh. Hopefully, tomorrow will be a better day!

So I am going to have a virtual garage sale for you all to enjoy!

First up:

A vintage Knit Wit flower loom.  This comes with the pom pom maker, and instructions for both, and a booklet with project ideas!

This will go for $7.00, which will include parcel post shipping in the U.S.

Next in my virtual garage sale:

A vintage Bloom Loom. This bloom loom comes in it’s original sealed packaging. The needle is in there as well. It’s in mint condition! The instructions are on the back of the package.

This will also go for $7 which will include parcel post shipping in the U.S.

Last up in my virtual garage sale is:

A Hanaami Flower Loom set. This thing is so fun, but I just don’t have the time to play with it! You can make all kinds of shapes of flowers with this set! The looms are all there, but the needle is missing.

This will go for $25, which will include Priority Shipping in the U.S.

(BTW there are alot of cool instructional and project books for this loom set on Ebay right now! If you have a set and want books, or buy this one!! Just a heads up!) 

Ok! Help perk up my day! Email me  at Denise@knitchat.com if you want any or all of these!

PS if anyone wants a Serenity Knitting Loom, or a vintage Kenner Knitting Machine that is fiddly, but certainly good for parts.. let me know too!

I think it’s too quiet.. don’t you? We need to throw in some excitement!

Some of you know that my husband is VERY allergic to bees. We carry a sting kit with us wherever we go. His Mom is highly allergic too it turns out, but it came on later for her. The older two kids have been stung and have not had very adverse reactions. The younger two had not.. well till today!

While I was out scrubbing big yard toys to get ready for the sale, Caleb, our youngest, was out playing. A BIG bee decided his lip was a good landing place.. I don’t know what it was thinking, by the time I got to the screaming jumping crying panicking boy the bee seemed to be trying to crawl up his nose and didn’t want to get off!!

It stung him, right on the upper lip… see:

WOW! 3 Benadryl and a call to the doc later, and we were headed to Stat Care. Several ice packs, some steroids and a popsicle later it was about 1/3 this size! He is feeling much better now. 24 hours of Benadryl and 3 days of steroids are up next!

Seems I need to add doing battle with some bees to my list of things to do this week! Cause you know I am CERTAINLY not going to let Brian do it! I’ve had enough excitement this week, don’t ya think?

Introducing the Grocery Cart Cover Up pattern for the knitting board!

Baby grocery cart covers are a must have baby item! Grocery cart covers will help protect your infant or child from the germs and bacteria lurking in the seats and on the handles of shopping carts. This simple cover will work in shopping carts as well as restaurant high chairs, to add a touch of softness, as well as creating a barrier between your little one and potentially germy surfaces! The front of the cover also drapes over the handles of the shopping cart, providing protection for you as well!

Whether you’re a new mom, an experienced grandmother, or just looking for the ultimate baby shower gift, this is the pattern you need! An easy pattern to follow, this is the perfect project for any beginner wanting to expand from making scarves, or an experienced knitter looking for an easy useful knit.

Included in the pattern are diagrams and schematics that will make it easy to translate the pattern into any other fiber craft as well. The handy  knitter or crocheter need only to make pieces to the size specifications given in the diagrams, follow the finishing directions to make a cover!

To purchase online using PayPal you can click on the Add to Cart button below.

If you prefer to use another method of payment i.e. check or money order, simply email me at: Denise@knitchat.com and I will be glad to arrange this for you!

Grocery Cart Cover Up pattern for the knitting board

$3.00

no..

Spiders, snakes and all things creepy"?

no..

The dark?

no�

No.. my nemesis is a soft spoken, gentle man� my eye doctor! Yep.. today I was in there to have the pressure in my eyes checked. I gave him all sorts of trouble.. you can do just about anything to me.. fill a tooth, give me a shot, draw blood.. whatever!  But get that stinkin� blue light pressure checker thing near my eye and I am like a rabid animal backed into a corner!  And the eye drops to make me not feel them? I think that he used half the bottle just to get one in each eye.. 

I am sure next time I come in he will run away screaming..

.. perhaps I am HIS nemesis..

see you in May Doc!