TNNA

We are back from TNNA and had a wonderful time!  Kristi, Paul and Laurie did an amazing job designing the Shalimar booth.  We had three spaces this year and the extra room was wonderful!

I finished Tempest just in time to wear on Saturday:

I love how the colors of Ore and Love Potion look together.  It was a really fun knit and it's so nice to have a finished sweater that fit's so well.  I may have to knit this again in another colorway.  I'm thinking of possibly doing something with gradient stripes next time.

I've been reading Carrie aka IrishGirlieKnits  blog for several years now and have done a few test knits for her.  I was so excited to finally get to meet her!  She is one of the nicest people you would ever want to meet and she has some really fantastic designs that I was able to admire in person. She even offered some really great advice for me as a designer which I am really grateful for.

  The lovely shawl to the right of me is Falling Slowly one of Carries newest designs. 

We were able to spend some time with Anne and Erica (and her super cute baby!) from KnitSpot.  Anne's booth was amazing!  Seeing so many of her designs knitted up and all in one place was incredible.  Even though David couldn't be there, we still managed to get him in the group picture:

Anne was kind enough to give me a sample card with all of the Bare Naked Yarns on it.  I've worked with the Breakfast Blend for the Ribbon Street Cowl design earlier this year and it has a lovely hand.  I'm sure I will be coming up with a new design for one of the other yarns.  Stone Soup and Kent are really calling out to me right now!

I'm a few days late posting about TNNA.  Last week our dog Roper, took a turn for the worse and we had to put him down.  The vet thinks that in addition to his heart issues he had a brain or spinal column tumor.  We had him for almost 13 years and it's been really hard being in the house without him.  He was very well loved and a special guy.  He was always right by my side or where he could watch me to see what I was doing though out the day.

Wandering Wildflower

Introducing Wandering Wildflower

Introductory price of $3.50 until July 1 on Ravelry

Wandering Wildflower is a very versatile pattern and can be worn as a scarf or a cowl.  If you make the version in the pattern it will use close to 450 yards of fingering weight yarn.  The pattern can easily be modified to accommodate a skein with less yardage by casting on fewer stitches.  Shannon who test knit for me used an alternating color for the eyelet section. It's really quite striking.  Just waiting for her to upload pictures.  We are giving her slack though. I think she is still unpacking boxes from her move last weekend.  If that won't put a delay into things, I don't know what will!

Yes, the pattern name was changed :)  A friend suggested that Kracken might not be the best choice for something that is wrapped around ones neck.  Lindr came up with the name and will receive a copy of the pattern (Lindr please contact me via Ravelry and I will send you a copy right away).  JudyH also will be receiving a copy from our random drawing.  Thank you to everyone who participated!

I'm packing today to leave for TNNA tomorrow.  It's exciting to go and get to see friends that we don't see that often.  I can't believe it's been over a year since Ive seen Anne and Erica!  Im really ecstatic about getting to meet Carrie aka IrishGirlieKnits this year!  Ive always loved knitting her patterns and have done some test knitting for her in the past.  

If you are going to TNNA this weekend, please stop by the Shalimar Yarns booth and say hi.  I will be working all day on Saturday and Sunday morning.  Ive finished my Tempest sweater and will be wearing it.  It's hot pink - Love Potion and gray - Ore so I should be easy to spot. 

Moving Along

http://www.ravelry.com/projects/SpinningLara/tempesthttp://www.ravelry.com/groups/shalimar-yarnsAfter months of searching our friend Shannon and Rob found the perfect house.  They closed on it yesterday and  I went over to help them move out of their apartment.  They had planned on taking a couple of  days to move since the apartment lease wasn't up until the end of the month.  While we were loading the first boxes we ran into Young, one of our friends from knit group who lives in the same complex.  Young's husband is an exchange student at one of the local colleges and they have only lived in the US for about six months.  While we do sometimes stumble along with the language barrier, we all have a lot of fun together.  Young said hi and asked if it was moving day and then left and came rushing back with her husband, son and daughter.  They helped all day and even made room in their mini van to accommodate some of the smaller boxes and things.  We managed to get everything moved yesterday which was really exciting!  The only picture I have is the one Shannon took of Rob yesterday morning right after closing:

The porch stays shaded all day and I love all the different peaks of the roof.  I hope they have many years of happiness there!

Aside from helping with moving Andy and I had started our patio project.  The rail road ties were finally delivered this week.  We have the area laid out and hopefully will start laying the ties down this weekend.

Like most homes in this area, our yard is sloped (we live in what is known as the Hill City).  The slope makes it hard to have a place to sit outside comfortably.  The patio will be about 24' x 24' and three sides will be built up with the rail road ties.  We are going to fill it it in with dirt and then top it off with pretty stone.  There will be a landscape fabric barrier to hopefully prevent weeds from growing.

Tempest is coming along nicely.  I'm on the second sleeve and hope to have that done by the end of the weekend so I can block it and start seaming.  I think it's going to be calling it close to get it finished in time for TNNA next weekend.  I have nightmares about trying to seam it together in the car while Andy is driving though the winding mountains of West Virginia.  To top it all off, I don't have buttons for it yet.  The pattern calls for 14 buttons!  The only place in town with buttons is JoAnn's. I wish I had the foresight to shop for them at Maryland Sheep & Wool, but it's too late now!

Wentletrap is being test knitted by a group of wonderful knitters in The Testing Pool  on Ravelry.   Jan, Lyz, Bhama, Lydia, Tamsyn, Jenna, Margi and Ann have all offered to to test knit.  I'm really ecstatic to have such a talented bunch of ladies helping out!  The pattern will be released in the first part of July.

If you are wondering about the name, a Wentletrap is a type of sea snail that has a high spiraling shell. 

The stitch pattern I used reminded me of spiraling sea shells.  After searching for hours online I finally went to Wiki and searched for spiral sea shell and Wentletrap came up.  Wentletrap also means spiral staircase in Dutch which would work for this as well.

I had better get back to work.  I still have somethings that need to be finished up (besides Tempest) for TNNA.  Making mini-skeins for the Shalimar Yarns booth and putting together a few other goodies.  If you are going to be at TNNA in Columbus next weekend, be sure to stop by the Shalimar booth #130, 132 & 134.  I will be there all day on Saturday and Sunday morning.  I will also be at Sample It on Friday night. 

Blog Neglect!

It's been way too long since Ive posted on my own blog.  Ive been working day and night getting ready for this past weekend at TNNA in Columbus.   Since Ive been working as Director of Social Media for Shalimar Yarns Ive been able to have a lot of wonderful opportunities and attending TNNA was definitely one of them!  Andy and I left early on Friday and drove out to Columbus to help Kristi and her daughter Edie set up the Shalimar booth.  After we got everything set up, we had a fantastic dinner with Anne and Erica at 89 Fish & Grill.

I took this picture early in the morning before anyone was there.  I think the booth turned out pretty well.  We had a lot of compliments on how the yarn was displayed.

We were right next to the HiyaHiya booth.  They are a fun group and have wonderful needles!  If you haven't had a chance to try them out, head to your LYS and give them a whirl.  Sharp points, great price and the interchangeables start with size 2! 

During the show so many designers stopped by and it was an honor to meet them all!  Amy Polcyn came by and said she had heard of me.  This just floored me as she is an amazing designer as well as a technical editor for many publications such as Interweave.

Andy and I stopped by to visit with Michelle aka FickleKnitter who will be working on a design for a Shalimar KAL later this year.  She has some amazing designs and I cant wait to knit one of them!

Tonight we are kicking back, watching The Sitter and having Pina Colada's. Glad to be home and to have a chance to relax and do some knitting. Im currently working on Bigger on the Inside. It's a free pattern on Knitty.com. Ive also got a second Color Affection aka the Crack Addiction Shawl in the works. Here is a picture of the first one:

My plan is to make more time for blogging over the summer!  Do you have any fun summer plans?

PS:  I met Tiny Owl Knits and not only is she adorable and sweet, but her designs are too!  Im going to have to make a Beekeeprs Quilt after seeing her's in person. Sweet and a great way to use up left over sock yarns!