Knitting!

Earlier this year I had the opportunity to take Anne Hanson's Sweater Fitness Class at the Shalimar Yarns Studio in MD.  Ive always been particular about my clothing and how it fit's.  Anne's class really helped me to get to the next level in my knitting.  When I returned home I immediately cast on for Sprossling in Breathless Hemmingway.  My goal was to have the sweater completed by TNNA so I could wear it while working in the Shalimar booth. 

Because the pattern sizes didn't match my measurements, Anne showed me how to make adjustments to ensure a proper fit by changing needle sizes in one area.  Since I prefer a lower neckline I dropped it down by two inches.  In the past Ive been hesitant to make changes to a pattern.  What if it didn't look right?  Or the fit was off?  Knitting can be ripped back, but Im one of those people who is in constant denial if something isn't going right.  I just keep knitting and ignore the problem until sleeves are miles too long or a hat is so big it could fit a giant.   I did make some mistakes on the decreasing and increasing and had to re-knit the fronts of the Sprossling.  I kept telling myself that ripping back was the right thing to do and I wouldn't be happy with they way the finished sweater looked if I kept going.  It was worth it!  I wound up with a beautiful sweater that fit's really well. 

Here is the finished Sprossling on our manniquin.  Her measurements are actually very close to mine, but she does have an annoyingly smaller waist.  She must spend more time at the gym that I do, which would be anything over five minutes!

Andy, Kristi and me in the Shalimar Yarns booth at TNNA

I also started a fun project that uses up left over sock and fingering weight yarns.  It's the Beekeepers Quilt by TinyOwlKnits.  It's really popular on Ravelry and I couldn't quite figure it out until I saw one of them in person.   Once you start the little hexipuffs you won't be able to stop.  Ive knit sixteen of them in two days! 

I can look at each hexipuff and remember what the yarn was originally used for.  The variegated pink, green, yellow and brown is from the very first skein of  Zoe Sock that I purchased.  The colorway has been discontinued - Pillow Mint.

Happy Knitting!

Heat

Friday night Andy and I were watching tv, hanging out and having a fun evening.  With no warning our lights flickered and dimmed to the point of being less light than candles.  The wind suddenly picked up, the temperature which had been above 100 all day dropped to the 70's.  We made a quick decision to grab the pet's kid's and get into the basement.  As we huddled together with our emergency lantern on, wind blowing so hard that it sounded like a train, I realised that the most important things were with us: each other and the pet's kid's.  Anyone who knows me will be surprised that I left my knitting behind without a thought.  Roper stuck right by our side and Kiwi was in his carrier. 

In the middle of the storm we could see our neighbors come home.  I have no idea how they drove in it.  We found out that the winds that came through were 80 to 100 miles per hour.  It was truly the scariest weather experience Ive been through. 

When it finally ended we went outside to check to see if there was any damage.  There was a tree down across the street blocking part of the road and another a bit further up.  Our neighbor two houses over had a huge tree come down on their car and part of their house.  The neighbors and their house are ok, but the car was totalled. 

We decided to sit in the car and listen to the radio to find out what had happened and where the damage was.  Most of the radio stations were not working so we took a quick drive around.  Trees were down in many areas, street and stop lights were not working, and power lines were down. 

Saturday morning we got up early, tried to get a very old generator to work and then made a quick internet search for a new one.  I have to give a huge thank you to Jeff at the Danville, VA Home Depot.  Not only did they have a generator, they let me pay for it over the phone so we knew it would be there when we drove two hours to get it.  Jeff carried it up to the front of the store for us and helped us find a cord and accessories to go with it. 

The generator kept our lights going, worked a small air conditioner to keep our house at about 85 degrees.  While this may seem hot, it was over 100 outside.  Our power was out from Friday evening until Wednesday around 12:30.  We did everything possible to try to keep our house cool.  Andy went onto the roof and covered our skylights with a reflective tarp, we hung blankets over the window blinds, and closed off rooms.  In the evenings we would open the windows and move the portable air conditioner into our bedroom so we could all have a cool place to sleep.

At the height of the power outage there were well over 200,000 in our area without power in day time temperatures of over 100 degrees. We have heard so many stories of good will and people helping each other it's been very uplifting. The National Guard, ECK Supply, Taylor Brothers Lumber, and Thomas Road Baptist Church and has been giving out ice to anyone who needs it. This man stood on the corner by Taylor Brothers in the incredible heat holding a sign to let passersby know they could get free ice:

There are still people without power and who won't have it until Saturday or Sunday.  There are many cooling stations and shelters set up.  If you know anyone who needs assistance, the Red Cross can help.  If you are able to donate, I know the Red Cross can really use help.  They have been inundated with the wind storm in the MidAtlantic and the Fires in the Western States.

We ate breakfast out this morning and our waitress was telling us that her husband is one of the many AEP workers who have been out since last Friday night trying to restore power.  We thanked her and said to thank her husband as well.  She said that people are complaining about the workers not restoring power quickly enough.  They are working in extreme conditions, outside in unbearable heat, in bucket trucks, dealing with high voltage wires.  Please be patient with them.  They are really doing the best they can.

Ive only taken a couple of pictures of the local damage.  It's really horrible and not something I wanted to photograph.

Carol's Restaurant lost their roof.  It was metal and the wind peeled it back in one huge piece. 

Trees down on Graves Mill Road

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!