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!

 

When you arrive at the beach for a relaxing weekend, it's not a good sign when one of the first things you see are warning signs.

We tried to make the best of it and hung out on the beach for a while during a fun music festival.  My legs really are that pale, hood is up because of the unrelenting wind, knitting on a Color Affection shawl, and it was freezing cold!

Andy is never bothered by the cold and had a great time!

I think this picture with the people and their dog shows how large the waves really were. Not many people ventured into the water and we just dipped our toes in.  The beach is still a wonderful place even in brisk weather.

This cute puffer fish was at the VA Beach Aquarium.  He seemed to be smiling for the camera!

Poseidon guarding the beach.

I had more pictures.  A really great one of some jellyfish at the aquarium, but blogger isn't cooperating.  I also had picture of yarn from MDSW that I wanted to show you too.  Hopefully blogger will cooperate next time!

Anyway, we wound up cutting our trip to the beach short.  We could deal with the weather, even when it rained on Sunday we managed to have a great time and didn't decide to leave until later in the day.  What cinched our leaving early was that the hotel was less than what was advertised and quite frankly very dirty.  There are a lot of things I can ignore, but pieces of food on the clock, dirt on the floor and trash in the shower combined with what was a handicapped room which was missing amenities that the room we had booked was supposed to have was a bit too much.

On the upside, we had some fantastic seafood while we were there.  If you ever go to VA Beach be sure to eat at  Rockafeller's.  It doesn't matter what you order, it will be fantastic!  If you are more in a pizza mood Pi-zzeria is the place to go.  Brick oven pizza and awesome sangria.  I am a complete food snob and both of these places were beyond good!

A different view on MDSW

Interesting, but this doesn't look like the fairgrounds.

It looks suspiciously like friends having way too much fun after hours in Frederick!

While my camera mostly stayed in my bag at the festival, I did take it out for a few quick pictures on our way to dinner Saturday evening.  Just as we were parking, the downtown trolley came by.  Who can resist a trolley ride? 

My one non phone picture from the festival!  Laurie and Connie with their Calsada Scarves from the Shalimar MDSW KAL.  Look how perfect Laurie's nails are!

We had a great time all weekend.  It's really fun hanging out with Kristi and Paul.  We did some knitwear and people watching while walking about.  Ate ice cream (every day!)  that seemed to be made of custard, did a bit of shopping and generally had a great time. Here are a few camera phone pictures of some festival highlights:

Kristi helping a customer in the Shalimar Yarns booth.

Andy and Paul having one of many serious moments...

This lone sheep kept baahing while we were behind her.  You know I had to baa back, right?!

Token crowd picture from Saturday.

A Cotswold Ewe and her Stylist.

I did do a bit of stash, fleece and button enhancement.  Pictures to come soon! 

Catching Up and FO's

It's been a whirlwind here the last few weeks and it's hard to know where to begin.  I have to admit that I may have had a extra iron or two on in the fire last month but it was all in good fun.  Anne asked me to test knit her new and fantastic pattern - Sticks N Stones.  Not only was this a fun knit, but it's really straight forward and allowed for some good movie and tv time with Andy. 

Keep an eye out on Ravelry and Anne's blog for this great pattern!  The yarn is Woolen Rabbit Sporty in Olive Green.

Kristi, from Shalimar Yarns has added a wonderful new 100% silk lace yarn, Ardent, to the Shalimar line.  When she asked me if I wanted to try it out I jumped at the chance!  This is the Ring of Lace Wrap in Ardent Conch Shell.  You can see it in person at the Shalimar Yarns Booth next weekend at Maryland Sheep & Wool.  We will be in the All About Yarns tent.  Join us on Saturday at 1:00 for a meet and greet!

In preparation for MDSW we have been having a KAL in the Shalimar Yarns Group on Ravelry.  We chose the Calsada Scarf and will be wearing them at the meet and greet.  It's a quick and fun pattern and works up beautifully in Shalimar Breathless.  Pictured here in the Tahoe colorway.

Last weekend Andy and I took a trip up to visit with Kristi and Paul for Anne Hansons Sweater Fitness Workshop.  I can't tell you how much fun it was and how much I learned!  Ive already started my next sweater, a Sprossling in Breathless Hemmingway.  Anne had some great tips on fitting my figure and they are really working well. 

Ive been coveting some of the cute bags on etsy and decided that it would be more cost effective to make my own.  Andy and I have been watching Mad Men on Netflix.  It's our new obsession and we can't wait to finish dinner and sit down, relax and watch a new to us episode.  When I saw this fabric it seemed like the perfect choice for my bag:

You can read more of last weekends adventures on Anne's blog!

 



Happy Easter!

Being behind on deadlines and up to my ears in painting the trim and stairs in our house seemed like a logical reason to say the heck with it all this morning and dye some eggs!  I used food coloring, olive oil and sea salt to get these results. 

And now back to work!

Have a Happy Easter/Passover!

Is that a Gargoyle in your Strawberries, or are you just happy to see me?

This is one of two Garden Gargoyles that we have.  We figured they would keep the Garden Gnomes away.  The strawberries are blooming and a few of them have the beginnings of berries on them.

This morning I got up extra early and went out to work on the garden before the bee's came out.  I have to plan my garden work carefully as I am highly allergic to stinging insects of all kinds.  It can be challenging at times but I try to make the best of things.

Lettuce, tomatoes, onions, beans, leeks, swiss chard and carrots all planted this morning.  The soaker hose is new this year.  Im hoping it cuts down on the amount of physical work required to keep things watered.  Im also laying down newspaper and will place straw on top.  I ran out of newspaper which is why this part isn't done yet!

On the home improvement front we have a completed project! 

This is our bedroom.  The paint is Behr Pewter Mug and was the closest color we could find to Shalimar Black Truffle.  My most favorite color of all!

Andy has been working on replacing and reconfiguring the stairs leading to our finished basement.  They have been a bane to my existence.  I actually fell down them the first time I was ever here while carrying plates of pizza.  The carpet on them and in the basement is cream color and I was horrified that I was going to drop the pizza and Andy would never have me over again.  Well, I didn't drop the pizza and we have been married for almost seven years so it worked out pretty well.

Before reconfiguration:

During:

The plan is to paint the treads black and the risers will be wainscoting in white.  Hopefully finished pictures to come soon!

A short break

Is it just me, or does it look like this llama is wearing glasses?

We took a break from home improvement hell this past weekend and went to the VA Classic Llama and Alpaca Show.  Our friends the Hall's who own Posy Thisisit Llamas had a booth there.  It was great fun to visit with them and catch up.  We haven't gotten together in more than a year so there was a lot of yakking going on!  We have plans to get together again at Maryland Sheep & Wool so our next visit wont be too far off. 

Jamee' and I had a bit of fun with some roving and designed new Princess Leia costumes:

This is the last room that we layed flooring in.  It's really supposed to be our office, but Ive sort of taken it over.  That's Andy in the closet using the nail gun to put the final touches on the half round molding.

Yesterday I painted all the closets on the main floor.  While this may seem like a waste of time, really who is ever going to notice, apparently the people who lived here before us thought this and only had put primer on the walls in them.  They look much better and have a nice clean and fresh scent.  Tomorrow I'm painting our bedroom.  More on that to come!

In my very limited down time I did manage to finish a pair of socks:

The Weasley Homstead by Erica Lueder.  It's a free pattern on Ravelry and can be found here. BMFA STR in Mossy Manly.  Ive also nearly finished seaming my second Blumchen It should be finished by Thursday just in time for even warmer weather! 

 Speaking of warmer weather, it was a crazy 80 degrees here today.  It's only March and I'm really concerned about what summer is going to have in store for us.  Andy and I worked in the garden for a couple of hours - pruning, thinning, removing some weeds and generally getting the soil ready for planting.  We are tying up loose ends with things around the house before fishing season begins.  Our next project is reconstruction of the stairs leading to our basement.  Someday, someday soon, I will have more knitting time again.  I just know it!