Boring Sunday

Not much got done today-didn't even go outside-rainy and yucky (such a mature word).

Did get a little bit of knitting done on my Manos poncho-48 rows done now on the purple half. I haven't decided what colour the other half will be. Might be rust but might go with green.

I have spent the last hour finishing my class schedule for spring. So much for taking time off. I will be teaching 4 nights a week from now until April. If you live in the area and would like to receive the schedule, please email me and I will forward to you.

Trying out Blogger for Word

The store is now closed for the day and I am waiting to play a game of poker. Beth almost broke even in our tournament earlier so it is my turn to play. The good thing about playing online is that I can knit at the same time. I am now 12 rows into my Manos poncho. The yarn is nice to knit with. I am even knitting with 2 balls at the same time as the pattern recommends. I don’t usually do this but the colours in the skeins are very different and the poncho will end up patchy.

I downloaded Blogger for Word and am trying it out. Might not like the looks but will see in a minute.

There is another set of patterns coming into the store in the next couple of weeks. They are from a company called Knitwhits. This is one of their neat felted bags and a scarf knit out of Noro. You can see their patterns at www.knitwhits.com.

I sent the post directly to blogger. It didn't accept the pictures so I resent as a draft and then did an edit in Blogger. I guess it would be okay with no pictures but since I like having them in my posts I won't be using Word very often.

Posting at 2am isn't always a good idea

My last posts were done early this morning when I couldn't sleep. Looking back at them there are some things that I forgot to write about-and some new stuff too.

Shopping in Vegas and San Diego was not exciting. I did buy a birthday gift for Jane at Brighton. While there I bought myself a small bag. Other than that there is nothing to report.

While grocery shopping this morning I was walking the cereal aisle and a lady gave me the strangest look. When I was checking out she came running over to ask about the sweater I had on. It was Patrick from Rowan denim-my most favourite sweater in the world. This is my second one because I wore the first one out. This sweater has travelled the world with me and it still looks great-thanks Wannietta for knitting it. Someday soon you might have to do another one.

While playing on the computer at 3am I came across a cool idea for knitting during the Olympics. The Yarn Harlot has the started something called the Knitting Olympics and now a group is started for Knitting Olympics-Team Canada. Still trying to decide if I will be joining. Please don't quote me because it was early this morning but I believe that you must start and finish a project during the Olympics. Of course I don't need to start yet another project but it is a cool idea. Wannietta, Samantha, Cynthia and Nadine have all joined.

Saturday afternoon Beth and I always play a poker tournament online-time to go and hopefully make some money.

New Felted Bags

Here is a sample of the felted bags from Nicky Epstein. Her new book is called Fabulous Felted Bags and should be available in about 2 weeks. There are 15 designs in the book and the decision about which one to knit first will be hard. They are knit out of Jamieson's double knitting weight wool. This is now available in 25 g balls which works out great because you need a lot of colours but not much of each one.

Trip Pictures

Not much knitting to report. I did cast on and knit 3 rows of the Manos poncho. It was calling my name all day in the store.

Here are pictures. The first are of the zoo. The panda didn't turn out well but you can make him out. The polar bears, however, are amazing. Beth spent over 2 hours watching them play so you can imagine how many pictures she took. It was hard to decide which to use.

The next 2 pictures are from our hotel window in San Diego. The first is the convention centre and the second is the new baseball diamond where the San Diego Padres play.

The last pictures are from our hotel room at The Bellagio. The best part of our room was that we could watch the fountain show from our window. If you turned the tv to channel 31 you could hear the music that played along to the water show. If you are in Vegas, make sure you walk through the hotel registration area. The ceiling is amazing. There are glass flowers of all colours hanging over your head. The conservatory is also a must. It is constantly being changed and this must take a huge effort. It is currently decorated for the Chinese New Year. This is the year of the dog so they even had a huge Saint Bernard looking over everything.

Just arrived home

Just got in the door from Las Vegas. The first job was checking emails-I hate spam. There were over 800 emails and at least 750 were spam.

I did sent Beth to Tim Hortons for coffee. That is one draw back to travelling in the US. I am not a fan of Starbucks.

The trip was great but tiring. Flew to Las Vegas on Wednesday. Spent Wednesday and Thursday night at Treasure Island. Friday we flew to San Diego. We stayed at the Omni hotel which was steps from the convention centre. Tuesday we checked out and flew back to Vegas and stayed at the Bellagio.

I am starting to feel a bit better. Saturday was spent in bed-didn't even see the show-but the sleep was needed.

There isn't a lot to report from the show. I did buy
-new hardcover books
-patterns for felted bags
-new Nicky Epstein book for the most fabulous felted bags (plus some kits to go with the book)
-some Mountain Colors yarn
-new Trendsetter yarns

Spent time catching up with friends and having lots of laughs over drinks-they drank and I had water-antibiotics and alcohol don't mix.

Pictures will be posted in the next couple of days. Back to work tomorrow so I will be tired tomorrow night. The 3 hour time difference will catch up with me.

Beth's day at the zoo

Hi - this is Beth writing in with guest commentary. We are at the TNNA show in San Diego. The show has been interesting and Julie has found some new items for her store. The best part of the trip for me was going to the World Famous San Diego Zoo yesterday. It may be the greatest place on earth! I saw the Giant Pandas including the 15 week old little guy who looked exactly like every stuffed Panda you've ever seen. I asked to take him home, but they said no - how mean. Julie had been to the zoo before and had told me that the best part was the polar bears - well as usual she was right. I spent more than two hours at the polar bear exhibit watching them play. I asked if I could go in and play with them, but they said no - there are a lot of bad rules at the zoo - they won't you let do anything really fun. I'm sure Julie will be writing in soon.

Vegas here we come!!

Our flight is early tomorrow morning so it is a rush to get everything done. Nails were done yesterday. Hair cut this afternoon. You know, all the important things.

Just got a shipment of new yarn-Manos. I have been wanting this for some time and now we have it. There is a poncho (Vagabond) just screaming my name!!! Could be my airplane knitting. People are always telling me that you can't knit on an airplane. I fly at least 5-6 times a year and have never had the needles taken away. Small tip though-take bamboo circular needles. These don't show up when they scan your bags. Also, don't tell them that you have knitting needles. I have had Air Canada flight attendants in the store and they tell me that knitting is allowed on airplanes.

I have written down all the important information so I will try and post while away. Can't guarantee that there will be time. Might be partying in Vegas and sleeping in San Diego.

Already have dinner reservations at our favourite restaurant in the whole world for Wednesday night. N9NE at the Palms Casino. Amazing steakhouse. Desert is S'mores. Bev barely eats steak so that she can eat all the desert. They bring out a small bunson burner so that you can roast the marshmellows!!

It is now 8pm. I am watching the Barrett-Jackson Auction on tv. So far there has been more than one car that I would love to drive. I really need to win the lottery. Have been contemplating my knitting. There will be no knitting on the airplane-I am going to read. Don't get much time for that so I will put on my Ipod and relax. Knitting is packed in the suitcase-you just never know when you might want to knit-like during football on Sunday afternoon. The green Sirdar aran has won. I hope to get some done for a good picture when I get home.

Have a good week-I get back late Thursday night so I will try and get pictures up on Friday.

Shoes, knitting and Melo

Nadine was upset that I didn't have pictures of my shoes so here they are. Bev-the black boots are mine-you can't wear them. Bev and I have the same size feet-I have request that she leave me her collection (close to 200 pairs) in her will.

I did get a bit done on my aran sweater. Here it is so far. I didn't say that it was alot. Melo wanted to be in the picture so here he is. He then sat up and posed, almost asking to have his picture taken. He is growing quickly-the breeder told us that he has to go on a diet-no more Timbits or cookies!!

While watching football yesterday I knit a Taste of Trendsetter scarf. This is 2 strands of eyelash along with Joy-a component yarn with fabric flags. No pictures because it is all black and you won't be able to see how it looks. It is to go with my new suit-must look good at the trade show. Bev and I are known for always being dressed up. No jean skirts and birkenstocks for these girls!!

This was posted and then I had to add something. The floor came with the apartment-I didn't pick it.

Great patterns with great service and new shoes

I got a surprise in the mail on Friday. I ordered 2 patterns from a company called Got Knitted in the UK and they arrived much sooner than I expected. These are neat felted bags that I hope to knit when I get home from Las Vegas/San Diego. The bag on top is knit out of Noro Kureyon. The other bag uses a yarn from Southwest Trading but I will be using Kureyon for it as well. Now I will have to find some great purse handles at the trade show.

The shoe store down the street is having their annual sale to get rid of winter shoes. I bought a great pair of black suede cowboy boots. Not sure if they will ever come off my feet. I also bought a pair of brown dress shoes, pointed toes but not a very high heel. Now I will have great shoes for the trade show. I did need these because I bought a new suit on Friday to wear at the show and didn't have the exact right pair of shoes. Almost impossible but it was a dilemma.

I am sitting watching the football-Indy is losing and they better get their butts in gear!! Can't complain about having a tv beside the computer. Now I am moving into the living room to watch the game on the big screen and work on my Sirdar aran sweater.

Finally some pictures

Been saving up so I have lots to report today. There are even pictures. I find that I like reading a post better when there are pictures-doesn't make sense but that's just me.

The Hamilton Spectator is publishing a new magazine called Ruby. The first issue came out in September and the next issue in February or March. They are going to do a little piece on the store and sent out a photographer to do pictures. After an hour she was happy with what she did. There were many, many pictures of me and yarn. She even had me knitting in some of the pictures (thank goodness I had my nails done just before she came in!!)

Here is a picture of my sleeve so far. I am really in love with the colour. Hopefully I will have some cables to show soon. The back is cast on and the ribbing is started.

I must admit that there hasn't been much knitting done because I have been reading. I started a book on the flight home from New Zealand in March and it is about time to finish it. There are almost 700 pages and I am now at 500. The author is Penny Vincenzi and the book is called Sheer Abandon. This is the description from the author:
"One night in 1987 an abandoned baby girl is found in a cleaning cupboard at Heathrow airport. A year earlier, three girls, Martha, Clio and Jocasta had met by chance, at the start of a backpacking adventure: they travelled together briefly and then separated to go their different ways, swearing to meet again when they return home. But it would be a long time until they met again: not until Kate, the foundling, is a teenager, and the three women are all leading successful lives. Martha is a fiercely single, highly paid corporate lawyer, Clio a doctor, locked in an unhappy marriage to a surgeon, and Jocasta a reporter for a tabloid newspaper, in love with a charming commitment-phobe. Which of them is Kate's mother? Why was she desperate enough to do such a thing, and how did she survive it?"

As you have noticed I am not much of a sock knitter. I have knit a one pair in my life and they were two socks in two different colours so I can't even wear them. However, we just got some new Opal sock yarn in the store. The colours are phenominal and it is almost enough for me to try again. This might be my airplane knitting next week.

I was back at the doctor yesterday. My sinus infection is not getting better so I have started another round of antibiotics. These are stronger and hopefully in 14 days I will be over the infection. My doctor is concerned about me flying next week but nothing will keep me at home.

How about the Bachelor on Monday night? Talk about some psycho women!

Absolutely nothing to report

I have barely picked up needles in the last week. Almost done sleeve one on the Sirdar aran sweater. The stitches are cast on for the back and one row of ribbing is complete. The great thing about owning a yarn store is that there are always needles available so you can start on each piece of the sweater at once. I am afraid to see how many needles I will end up with if/when I choose to close the store.
The coughing is still going strong. I sleep sitting up on the couch at night-not the most comfortable but it helps. Can't wait to get a good night sleep. I predict that will be next Wednesday night in Las Vegas.
The Bachelor is about to start-great tv so I've gotta go.

Guild Meeting

At our guild meeting tonight the ladies showed up with their bags at different levels of completion. They all looked great and the ladies are doing well picking up entrelac. Once you get going on it the technique really isn't that hard. The most common mistake was not keeping track of what row they were on so sometimes a row was repeated or forgotten which can totally throw off the size of the rectangles. I forgot to bring my camera-will make sure that I do for the next meeting. Most of the bags should be finished by then.
I was coughing like crazy so I didn't stay for the whole meeting. This wasn't so bad because I got home in time to see Canada win their semi-final game at the World Juniors. Now I can't go to bed because I have to watch the semi-finals.
Not much knitting to report. A bit of work done on the sleeve of my new cardigan. Maybe more will get done tomorrow.