The Twin Cities is an awesome place to be a KNITTER

Back to Sunday....Christy and I went to St. Peter as some of you know...and not only is there 1 really nice yarn shop in town...there are 2! I left out of my earlier post (because of Heroes on Monday night...and then didn't get back here on Tuesday due to not wanting to miss a minute of Hugh Laurie last night) that we proceeded from Mary Lue's just over over one block and up...to The Tangled Skein. The town's population is around 10.5K as of 2005 but they have 2 yarn shops...well for now...Mary Lue's is moving to Mankato in July after all....

(But isn't it awesome to be in the Twin Cities surrounded by so many wonderful yarn shops and Knitters!!??!!! Damn straight it is!)

Lori, one of the owners, was on hand at The Tangled Skein to assist and answer questions. There were a group of ladies learning to knit socks at the very large table in the middle of the shop and all the while a lovely April Shower fell on the countryside. They had an excellent selection of Noro and Rowan yarns to name just two...there were lots of other yarns like Lorna's Laces and Koigu... I got the chance to fondle the Rowan Calmer and fall in love with the idea of knitting with it. Unfortunately for me the only color they had enough of for my project was red...and I did a red cotton tank 2 years ago. But at least I know what it feels like now.

Nothing new happening this week. I'm up to the garter ridge on the tee I'm knitting...pictures to come in a week or so. Ace (I did NOT name her) has decided she loves to be in my spring knitting bag...she actually pushed the zippered case out of it first before curling up with the alpaca yarn for a snuggle.

Its good to be a knitter...or a cat living with a knitter...here in Minnesota.

Mary Lue's Sale and Hot Fuzz

It rained yesterday - hooray! We sure did need it! Unfortunately, it was a Sunday...so now I'm wondering if its going to rain next Sunday... :-( They say it might...and weather is cyclic so we might be stuck with Rainy Sundays for awhile. That will give me the opportunity to get lots of knitting done and see all those movies that will be coming out in the next couple months! Biking and gardening will have to be balanced on Saturdays.


Yesterday Christy and I drove to St. Peter, MN to check out Mary Lue's moving sale. The store is a very adequately sized yarn shop but I overheard the shop lady say that they are going to be moving to a larger space in Mankato. I think this will be a very happy day for the people in Mankato as she has a nice selection of yarns! She had a HUGE selection of Encore (from DK to Bulky) so if you like Encore...head down there before the end of the sale and take advantage of the 30-40% off deals!


I picked up some Katia Mexico for 30% off along with a pattern for a sweater for next fall/winter. Saved myself $25. Here's the raw materials for said sweater.


I was really hoping to find something in a nice jazzy purple and she had some in the Art Yarns...but I needed 2 more balls than she had left...alas, I went for the autumn colors in the Mexico yarn...I'm itching to get started on it...but I have plenty o' time since I think it should be a 3 week project once I start.



I'm still working on the alpaca tee for shepherd's harvest in 3 weeks..should be done with it by then...and would like to wear it. Remember last year? It was cold and rainy that weekend. Year before it was nice....I'm hoping for nice this year.

These little side projects keep distracting me.

I absolutely love knitting and using these ball-band dishcloths! Here's the newest addition to my dishwashing cadre!..... Note how nicely the color matches the hand soap next to the sink. Dorky, I know.

Now on to our movie of the week. We went to The Reaping with Hilary Swank 2 weekends ago...fair. Last weekend we saw Perfect Stranger...less than fair...actually we were both disappointed in the performances rendered by each of the actors. This week we went to see Hot Fuzz and it was the best movie we've seen this month!. If you liked Sean of the Dead you HAVE to see Hot Fuzz. Completely different story line from Sean... but full of surprises both funny and freaked-out gruesome!

OMG - I was just informed that Heroes is starting! Guess that wraps it up for today. Check out Hot Fuzz if you like warped entertainment!

New Cat Pictures in next posting...

Happy Earth Day

Happy Earth Day One and All... I remember where I was on April 22, 1970! It was a HUGE event. And everyone was excited about it. I was at Stephen Hempstead High School and it was a day of sit-ins (all ok'd and supported by the school!) and talks about how to take care of Good Ol' Mother Earth. It had been going to hell in a hand-cart up to that point without anyone giving a rat's butt and the organizers of this nationwide event weren't going to take it anymore.

Now we find ourselves in the situation where some government big wigs are once again turning a deaf ear and blind eye on our environment. However, now we have the EPA - which is here because of the culture of "HELL NO WE AREN'T GOING TO TAKE IT ANYMORE" that was prevalent in the 60s and 70s here in these United States.

So I would urge you all to continue to do your part...its the only Earth we have Peeps. Don't waste it.

And remember that Cotton, Wool, and Silk are all wonderfully natural resources that Mother Earth makes possible for knitters and crocheters to make into lovely handmade garments.

TGIF!

OMG it was a freaking busy week at work this week. Busy is good until it reaches insane-busy..which is what it was on Monday and Tuesday...it was only ridiculously busy on Wednesday and we actually had short periods of time yesterday where we could think between each problem. I was actually able to read and respond to email today. So again I say TGIF!

Progress on the Alpaca-Merino blend tee shirt is consistent and I'm hoping to be done with it in a week or 2 at the most...will post pictures when its completed. That's all I have on the needles right now...next thing is to cast on for Travelers Stocking #2 (Nancy Bush - Knitting on the Road). I would also like to start a cotton tank top in chartreuse or orangey coral....

I'm going to St Peter on Sunday with a friend to Mary Lue's Yarn shop...or are we going to Mankato? Has she moved yet? Its moving I hear... I don't know when moving day is but we are going this weekend so I assume it hasn't moved quite yet...the website would have something posted, wouldn't ya think?

I also saw this really cute knitted tee on magknits.com and what caught my attention is that it has shaping through the mid-section so that it lends some shape to your shape! I've been looking for patterns like this and it just sorta jumped out at me and said - Try this! The designer knitted it with Rowan Calmer. Anyone out there knit with this cotton/acrylic blend? What's it like?

New Blogger!

I just found out that my friend Angela has taken up knitting in earnest since she moved away from Minnesota and has JUST created her first blog!!! She is living in Illinois and I'm sure she would just love it if you check out her brand new blog at http://whatcantiknit.blogspot.com/.

As to my own blog, I'm having 2nd thoughts about the new blog design here.... Maybe I'll go back to the old template....I sorta like the nice clean lines though..... And I love ORANGE! Who'd o' thunk it!? I'm usually more of a chartruese person most of the time, sage greens, deep reds....orange is a complete departure for me.


Sorry there were no pictures of Travelers Stocking #1 in my downloads this time or even a picture of the tee I'm knitting......just cat pictures...


Mom....puh-lease go away!

Dori has taught Ace the finer points of getting hair all over the clean laundry....When Ace isn't busy playing in the kitchen sink.

A long time on the UFO list - they're finally finished!

After 9 months!
...seriously, it was July when I started these ....

Behold - Pomatomous!
It wasn't that they were difficult. There were really a lot of fun to knit. Its just that all those damn dishcloths were getting in my way! And then the socks from KOTR....Unst, and then the Travellers Stocking (sock #2 not started yet)... Well, anyway these are now finished.. This was the Trekking yarn that I bought in Sturgeon Bay in July when it was a zillion degrees...and Lake Michigan was actually a nice temperature to swim in.

Ah...memories. We stayed at the White Lace Inn located in Sturgeon Bay which was awesome! The bed was comfy and the breakfasts were superb! We've decided that if we go back to Door County we would stay somewhere farther up the penninsula since we did a lot of driving up and down...and it would be easier if we stayed somewhere toward the middle...and there's no lack of quaint B&B's all over the place! But personally, if you like the Victorian B&B...the majority of them are in Sturgeon Bay.

Last summer we also went to Galena, IL...now there's a step back in time to the 19th Century for CERTAIN. The Civil War era is all around you there, from Grant's home to the restored Italianate architechture that covers almost the entire center of their community. Take the trolley tour for sure if you find yourself in downtown Galena.

So my latest knitting project (not the KOTR TS #2) is a simple knitted tee made from the alpaca-merino blend that I bought last May at the Shepherd's Harvest. Its a charcoal color and came from an Alpaca whose name is Maestro and resides on an Alpaca farm in Wisconsin, Blue Hills Alpacas and Fiber Mills.

The pattern is one that my (ex) mother-in-law had knitted for my then- 3yr- old daughter (aged 19 now). She used to work, knit and fix knitting @ 3 Kittens for many years. She and her husband moved to Arizona at least a decade ago. So when I asked for the pattern last year (I didn't knit when she lived here) she wasn't sure which one it was ...but it arrived in the mail a couple of months ago...on 3 Kittens Stationary...blasting from the 80's to today! I'm almost done with the front...sorry I'm a wee bit behind in photos... :-S
I think I'll wait to take any until I put the front and back together. Stay Tuned...