A great Saturday afternoon

The store was busy this morning but now everyone is outside enjoying the beautiful weather. A few more rows were knit on the neckband of my cardigan before starting a newsletter that I want to get out on Monday.

For the newsletter I was looking at Jane Thornley's website. Her work is amazing and I love looking at the pictures of her finished garments. She is a true fiber artist. This is from her new Feather and Fan Club Guide.

My computer just chimed to tell me that there was a new email message. It must be a full moon tonight because Jane's latest newsletter just came through.

Last night after I closed the store we had a family dinner before going to have our pictures taken. As I was leaving the restaurant to run home and change there was a torrential down pour. I was soaked!!! I got home and had to blow dry my hair and change all my clothes, not just my shirt. The rain slowed down as we were driving over and then as we arrived it started hard again. Luckily the water drops on my shirt dried up by the time the pictures were taken. It was one of those straight back, lean forward, head to the left and forward, etc, etc, etc. It's a good thing we love our mom.

My day is done in the store. I hope to get the neckband and both front bands done over the weekend. Maybe all the sewing as well-you never know. Enjoy the nice afternoon.

Very Frustrated

No knitting last night. Beth's birthday is coming up (a very big one) so Mom and Dad decided to give her an iPhone-she has been coveting mine for a while and it's time she had her own. I got home from work and she begged me to go with her and get one. Off we go to the Rogers Store on Upper James. It takes forever to buy a cell phone but we did come home with one. Now the fun begins because I need to set up iTunes on her computer. By bed time I had everything up and running for her.

I started picking up stitches around the neck on my cardigan when I got to work. I was done the right front, back and part of the left front when I took a good look at what I had done. The right front stitches looked awful. I took these out from the beginning and picked them up (going in the wrong direction which wasn't easy). The pick up should have been done hours ago-very frustrating. Three rows are done now.

We are having family night out tonight. Dinner at Jack Astor's and then we are having family pictures done. This is traumatic for Beth and I. When we were young our grandmother made a huge deal out of pictures. Lean a little to the left, smile, fix your hair, etc, etc, etc. Now we don't have pictures taken!!

Finally finished the second sleeve

I was busy all morning but can't tell you what I did. There are some more boxes packed for the tent sale including all our stock of Noro Silk Mountain.

Last night I sat down and worked on my Noro cardigan and almost finished the sleeve. I just cast off the stitches and am about to start joining the shoulder seams.

This is turning into another all day post. I got both shoulder seams joined and now can pick up for the neck band.

Nothing much planned for tonight. There are about 5 CSIs on the DVR to watch. I will also fast forward through today's Y&R to see if there is any news from Paul.

Who is Mary Jane?

If you have been reading my blog for a while then you will recognize this pattern. It is from Fiber Trends FT-463 knit out of Stella (100% Bamboo from Naturally) double strand on 5mm needles. If you want to start knitting lace this is a great project. The pattern could be one of the best written patterns I have ever worked from. I am showing you this today because I dug mine out of the closet and have it on.

Beth got mom's ebook reader set up last night and there was only one glitch. She asked us to buy The President's Wife by Sittleman. We tried numerous sites and couldn't find the book. I called her and asked what was up so she went and actually looked up the name. The American Wife by Sittenfeld. She was close. Apparently she has joined a book club in Myrtle Beach. I didn't know that you actually read books for book club. Thought it was sitting around and gabbing-kind of like some nights at knitting class.

I tape the Y&R every day but don't usually get time to watch it. Over the past couple of nights I have been trying to catch up. There are a couple of story lines that don't interest me so I fast forward through them. I really wanted to watch and find out who Mary Jane is-the info said that Paul was going to figure it out. Last night Beth came and sat down with me. As soon as she saw Mary Jane she was screaming "It's a man. Look at how big her hands are-they cover her whole face. Look at her ankles. It's a man." Now we had to find out so we fast forwarded through three episodes just to find Paul again but they haven't gone back to that story. Please, please Y&R, give us some more Paul trying to figure out who she is.

More Flowers

This is the plant at the front of the house. We are both working hard so that we don't kill it. Our grandmother loved to garden and always had beautiful plants but Beth and I did not inherit that gene.

There is no knitting to report. I bring my bag (Namaste Malibu in Hollywood Pink) to work everyday but it just sits because there is other work that needs to be done.

I wrote this post earlier today and forgot to publish it so I am going to add to it before sending it off to you.

Beth and I just got home from a trip to Oakville. We bought my mom a Sony ebook reader for her birthday. (Yes, her birthday was a couple of weeks ago but we couldn't get to the store to buy it.) Beth is setting it up now. She is at the book buying part-what does mom want to read?

Socks and Flowers

The trip to Terra yesterday was cheap for Beth. NOT!! It's not a good idea to shop with Dad.

When Dad and I were there last week he commented on how much he liked these flowers. I just nodded and continued walking. He made the same comment to Beth. She pipes up "I know where they will hang-on our fence." She should have thought before commenting because he grabbed them quickly and now they are on our fence. It is going to be even more costly for her. Now she wants three more.

Roko is waiting for me to throw one of his balls. He still looks like a puppy and acts like one too.

Yes, those are more socks in our back yard. Beth takes them off, Melo grabs them and runs. Beth now buys socks at Walmart-$7 for 7 pairs. Luckily Melo doesn't like the socks that Jane knit for Beth.

Events on Ravelry

Bev brought in this great boys sweater knit in Sirdar Crofter (pattern 2256). The yarn is acrylic/cotton/wool, machine washable and it self stripes like sock yarn.

While playing on Ravelry today (I know I should have been knitting) I found something that was new to me. Go to 'My Notebook' and then 'Groups/Events'. Look on the right side (just under the main headings) and you will see Groups or Events. Now you can see all the Events in your area. I have added our October retreat to this. If you are coming to the retreat, please add yourself too.

Dad, Mom and Beth are currently at Terra Greenhouses picking up the new plant for our front porch. Dad and Beth went this morning but there wasn't anything they liked so a plant is being put together for us. Dad and Beth out together can be scary-we might have something that takes up the whole front porch. I will take pictures when I get home.

Cup of Tea

The store doesn't open until noon on Fridays which gives me a bit of time in the morning to get things done. This morning I actually made myself a cup of tea to drink while reading Ravelry. This is my Tassimo. I first saw this on The Apprentice-could have been the first season. It had just come out and I think they had to go out and sell as many as they could. This was something I really wanted but there wasn't room in the apartment. Plus a kettle worked just fine. When we bought the house and I went and bought one. Beth went crazy. "We don't need that. It is going to take up too much room on the counter!!" Now Beth loves the Tassimo as much as I do. I hear almost every night, "Can you make me a cup of tea?" It looks great on the counter as well with all our stainless steel appliances.

It's been a busy day around the store today.
-My windows have all been washed-I can see out again.
-The air conditioner hasn't worked for the last week so they are fixing it right now. Unfortunately to make sure it is working properly we need to make the store hot and then turn the air conditioner on. It is cooler outside than it is in the store.
-UPS just dropped off 2 boxes of Rowan yarns that were full of Felted Tweed.
-Post man came with a box from Namaste.

I just went into the back room looking for a yarn and found some more tent sale yarn

• Berroco Suede
• Berroco Keltic
• Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk DK
• Rowanspun Aran
• Rowanspun DK
• Rowan 4ply Soft
  

Beth has decided that she would like a new driver. We went down to the golf course last night for her to hit one on the range but the range was packed so we played 9 holes. The weather was perfect and the course isn't busy at dinner time. The dogs weren't happy with us though!! They wanted to be playing outside as well.

Idol-wow did they dig up some artists from the past. Adam definitely won out by getting to sing with Kiss and Queen. Should he be the new lead singer for Queen??? I'm not sure that losing was a bad thing for Adam. Now he doesn't have to sing that awful Idol song and his career can go the way he wants, not how they tell him it has to go.

What a great day!!

Yesterday got away from me and I totally forgot to write a post. There wasn't much to say then but now I have lots along with some great pictures.

Tish was just in from Mississauga with these great Mukluks. The pattern was in the February 2009 issue of Canadian Living. They were knit with Cascade 220 and Felted. The embellishments were left overs from her Baby Tulip Cardigan.

This cardigan is the cover pattern from Classic Elite's Summer Book 2. Tish used Baby Bamboo from Sirdar.

I brought my laptop to work today knowing it would be slow. Everyone is gardening on this beautiful day and/or waiting for the tent sale. I am writing some newsletters today-watch your inbox over the next couple of days.

I had an interesting visitor in the store today-Chip. I was talking with some ladies when a small furry thing ran by my feet-they didn't see him. I calmly walked into the front room and a baby chipmunk was running around. As I was calling Beth to beg her to come and help me he ran back outside. The front door is now closed-such a shame on this beautiful day but I don't need any more visitors today.

How about Idol last night? The special Idol song written by Kara was atrocious. How could anyone sing that and make it sound good? Simon was about to say something about it but stopped-Beth had to hit the STOP button because she was laughing so hard. I really want Adam to win but Kris did a great job. He came a long way from his auditions.

Beautiful Flowers

Dad and I went to Terra Greenhouses today to buy a plant for our front porch.

Mom and Dad went on Saturday and Dad was excited to go again today. "Isn't it beautiful?" was all he could say. This kept him busy for a few hours. He isn't used to having a day off and doing nothing.

This is the plant I chose. We get sun all afternoon long so many of the plants I picked out wouldn't work. Dad and I decided we need another plant for the main part of the porch-this one is too small. He was set to go back right away but I am watching the dogs. We could have gone in a couple of hours but there is someone letting off fireworks and Melo is very, very upset. He is lying in the laundry room right now shaking like crazy.

I'm going back to my accounting now. My bank is balanced which was the biggest job. The sling box is on and I am having a Y&R marathon while working.

Happy Birthday Mom

Yesterday was Mom's birthday. After work Beth and I took the parents along with their friends out for dinner. We are in the good books-for this week at least.

I picked up the knitting needles yesterday and started on my second square of the shawl.

Getting ready to watch Survivor. I really don't care who wins but am rooting for Taj. There is no real reason but I liked her from day one. Hope to get the sleeve of my Noro cardigan done.

Tomorrow Beth is golfing and I am dog sitting. If the dogs leave me alone then I can get my accounting up to date. Four months in one-should be doable.

Is it I want or I need?

A box just arrived from Offhand Designs. This is Audrey and the fabric is called No.5 (think Chanel).

Maude in New York Stripe. This fabric is now sold out-do I keep the bag or put it in the store for sale?

Korey and I are busy adding more yarns and goodies to the website. A few newsletters ago we talked about Crofter DK from Sirdar-on the website and waiting for Korey to add the shade cards. This is an acrylic, cotton, wool blend (machine washable) that works up in a pattern like the self-striping socks.

Pattern 2256 has been added to the website.

Pattern 9134

Let's start with American Idol. When Ryan announced that Kris was safe I immediately thought that Adam was going home. I didn't think America would vote out Danny. The finale is going to be interesting.

Survivor-Coach. Is there anything else to say? We had it taped and when Taj said that Coach was 37 years old I made Beth rewind it. Weren't you thinking he was much older than that? If one of my friends talked like him we would hit him or laugh so hard at him that he wouldn't hang out with us anymore. When are the others going to figure out that JT is going to win the game if they don't get rid of him?

Since Beth was little she could be looking at something and tell you she couldn't find it. She wasn't lying-she honestly thought she couldn't find it. I asked her yesterday to look for the Simply Accounting disk at work. She said it wasn't there so I hunted all over the house for it. No luck. I called her this afternoon and asked her to look again. We talked for 5 minutes and she said she couldn't find it. Then all of a sudden she says she found it. She had been looking at it the whole time we were talking. It can be very frustrating at times but we usually just say 'it's Beth'.

The day could only get better

I woke up early to get some parcels mailed before taking my truck in for servicing. I needed to print two cheques and the first printed but the second one didn't. The only fix for this is to close Windows and start again. Did that and the cheque printed but now I can't open my accounting. I need to sign in and it tells me my password is wrong. NOW WHAT DO I DO? Sorry for shouting but it is a real mess. I am going to try and fix it tonight and if I can't then I will load the program on my laptop and go from there. I have my accounting backed up but I don't know how far back it goes. There has been many swear words flying around in my head!!

The weather this morning was crappy as well. Rain and wind. As Beth and I were leaving for the Ford dealership I tried to open the garage door from her truck but it wouldn't open. Now I am starting to get frustrated. Is my whole day going to be about things not working? I ran into the house to open it from the inside and our power was off. Hopefully it will be back on when I get home.

I saw a sales rep today and ordered Noro, Debbie Bliss, Sirdar and a few other yarns for fall. The total was huge but the yarns are great.

More yarns have been added to the site.
-Dream in Color Smooshy
-Dream in Color Classy (I stopped entering amounts to write this)
-Lorna's Laces Helen's Lace

Malabrigo Chunky (Kettle Dyed pure Merino) arrived today. There are 95m in a 100gram ball. The pattern for this sweater is in the Malabrigo book #1 - designs by Cornelia Tuttle-Hamilton.

We received five colours. I took a picture with my phone and emailed it to myself so I can add here but the email isn't coming through (I even sent it twice). I won't get frustrated!! Here they are from the Malabrigo web site.

259 Charrua
275 Noviembre
247 Wales Road
246 Hummingbird
126 Brillante

I left work and had my nails done. When I returned home this picture was waiting for me.

My accounting still doesn't work but I think I found the flash drive with the most recent backup. Now if you can tell me where I put the box with the accounting disk in it I will be very happy.

Beth made pizza for dinner and we are getting ready to watch Survivor-along with two hockey games and a baseball game. A wall of TVs in the loft would be a good thing.

Website updates

Today has been spent updating the website and ordering yarn that we are out of. Shepherd Sock is up to date (missing colours have been ordered) and waiting for Korey to add pictures of new colours.

New Noni patterns have been added. Here are some of her felted flowers. The colours are bright and cheerful-they make great blog pictures.

Clematis Flowers on the Vine-pattern 216

Just Pansies-pattern 211

Over the past few weeks people have been phoning with questions about the Tent Sale. I have saved them all up and here are the answers
-We will accept Visa, MasterCard, Debit and Cash
-The doors open at 7pm on Thursday. No one will get in before that time
-How much yarn we put out on Thursday will depend on available room. There could be some yarn that won't be put out until Friday
-There is a good chance that we will discount the yarn even further on Saturday

I can't believe that Idol went over time again last night. If they would keep Kara and Paula quiet things would be okay. We fast forward when either of them are talking-it is like fingers on a chalk board.

Logging some computer time

I have the computer with me in the store today so that I can work on the website.

-Rowan Fine Milk Cotton is added to the site with quantities in stock

-Kauni-I have separated the yarns into ball sizes. Korey still needs to add the shade cards and then you will be able to see how much we have of each colour.

New Books
-Rowan Studio magazine #15

Now I am at home, dinner is done and the work has started. I'm jumping between laptops doing work for Beth and the store. I just jumped to the third laptop that isn't shown-Beth is playing poker and needed to run upstairs for a minute.

There should be a sock newsletter going out tomorrow. I have finished it and it just needs to be proof read. It is amazing how many spelling and grammatical errors I make-hopefully Beth catches them all.

This has been a day long post. The sock newsletter has gone out now.

We finished watching Idol-miffed that the show ran long again and we didn't get to hear the comments about Adam.

I am going to finish off now. Deadliest Catch is taped and waiting for us.

SO your FO

Beth and I spent yesterday afternoon on the golf course. No phone. No computer. Beautiful weather. What a way to spend the day. My round was terrible but we had fun.

Here are some Finished Objects that people have brought in over the past few weeks and I haven't posted yet.

Gail knit this cardigan out of Rowan's Summer Tweed. She is a bit shy and didn't want her picture taken so one of my girls offered to wear it. The pattern is called the Cropped Raglan Cardigan-knit from the neck down with no sewing-a free pattern from Lion Brand's website.

Maria knit this cute Debbie Bliss hooded cardigan out of Zara-100% machine washable wool.

Another from Maria-a baby blanket crocheted out of Sirdar Snuggly Kisses. This is Sirdar's Snuggly DK but the colours shade from light to dark and back again.

Can you imagine knitting this and then giving it away? Maria knit this for her daughter's friend out of Rowan Cashsoft DK-a Debbie Bliss pattern. The sewing in of the ends took just as long as the knitting.

Clara is wearing her moms Everyday Wrap (a free Ravelry download) from coco knits made in Kid Silk Haze. You can't see it well in the picture but there is a neat ruffle running down the front of the wrap.

Sarah and Clara. Sarah is wearing Sizzle by Wendy Bernard in Juicy from Sirdar. This is what Wendy wrote about the top on Ravelry - "So here’s a sleeveless shell with some easy-but-fancy dart action that you can knit in about three days that’ll show off whatever there is to show. And if you’re not into the old nudie thing, wear a camisole underneath or alter the neckline depth (I’ll tell you how). But if you do, just be sure you use some yarn that has a bit of shimmer and glimmer and sizzle.
.....Because, honestly, it’s all about the sizzle."

The day started good

I haven't slept well the past few nights so I slept in this morning to try and catch up. I wrote a newsletter after I woke up-it should go out tomorrow after Beth proof reads it. This afternoon was spent watching golf. Tiger didn't win which makes me happy. It's nice to see someone else win for a change. Made a great dinner of pork chops on the barbecue and scalloped potatoes. Mom and dad made it home safely from Myrtle Beach. The Amazing Race-my team won. Tammy and Victor were my pick on week one. Usually this is the kiss of death but not this time.

Then the evening turned bad. Three hour of Celebrity Apprentice and the winner is Joan Rivers. WHAT??? Annie was the better player all season yet she doesn't win? Joan said some horrible things about Annie-I can't believe Annie didn't reach over and slap the woman. Joan caused the decorator to quit but when Annie said it Joan jumped down her throat. And what about Donald? In my opinion he picked Joan to win because they are personal friends. He should have stopped Joan's comments in the board room on more than one occasion but let Joan go on and on. Can you tell that I am really mad??? I wasted many Sunday nights watching that show. My rant is over and I won't bring it up again but I know that I won't sleep well tonight because I am so mad!!

No knitting was done today but hopefully tomorrow there will be some knitting time. I need to get my Noro cardigan done!! I think I might be procrastinating because of all the ribbing to finish it but I want it finished for my trip to Columbus in June and knowing myself it will be the night before we leave that I will start it. Don't do that-get it done.

I promise that I will wake up in the morning with a much better attitude and be in a happier mood. :)

Coach lives another day

Boy was Debbie scheming on last nights Survivor. She would settle for third and let JT and Steven fight it out for first. Who was she kidding? If she made it through this week she would have tried to get Taj and Erin to form a new alliance with her. Did you see Brandon, Tyson and Sierra at Tribal Council? They all had feathers in their ears like Coach.

I still think Paula is going to win Hell's Kitchen but it will be an interesting finale.

Beth is sitting beside me knitting a scarf and playing poker. There are questions coming every couple of minutes. How many rows am I supposed to do? How many rows have I done? The knitting classes she took when I first opened the store weren't worth the money.

After previewing my post I decided it needed pictures. I have some finished objects that customers brought in to show but they are on the Mac and I don't feel like going upstairs. Beth said I could take her picture knitting but I think that should be saved for her blog. I have been looking at websites to find something new for you. We received 3 new colours of Noro Kureyon for fall and here are pictures of them.

254. Just makes me want to knit another Log Cabin Afghan.

242. I think this will look great in my Lizard Ridge.

221. Another perfect Log Cabin colour.

Will Coach get voted out tonight?

We're just about to sit down and watch Survivor and Hell's Kitchen so Beth is yelling at me to hurry.  She is anxious to see if Coach is getting the heave ho.

Here is the first square all done.  The cast off will be be in the seam when the squares are connected-I know it doesn't look good right now.

Not much new to report except I broke another mask for my CPAP machine-I wear this at night for my sleep apnea.  Like the first mask, I have broken off a small plastic piece.  We tried to crazy glue it but that didn't hold.  Our friend John tried some compound which worked until 4:30 this morning when it let loose.  Tomorrow morning I am off to buy another mask.

I'm going to put my feet up and try and get the sleeve finished on my Noro cardigan. 

Yarn on the brain

There is a landscape company that looks after the yards in our condo complex. We need a sign on the back gate telling them not to cut the artificial grass. This is the sign I made this morning. "Please do not cut the yarn. We have artificial grass." Beth was on the floor laughing.

I have picked up the stitches around square one and am working on the garter stitch border. The pattern is very easy to follow-a great project for someone who has never knit lace before.

There is an online knitting magazine that I looked at today for the first time called Knotions. Check out the back issues-there are some great patterns. This sweater is called Siesta and is knit out of Debbie Bliss Prima. Knit from the top down meaning there is no sewing.

My Rowan sales rep was in today. The next magazine looks great and there are some new yarns that will excite everyone. I am going to sit down and start a newsletter tonight while watching hockey.

Bathroom or a million dollars?

Did anyone watch the Amazing Race last night? Who stops for the bathroom? Kisha and Jen lost out on a chance for a million dollars because Jen had to go to the bathroom. How stupid!! Beth and I both agreed we would pee our pants and worry about it later. Sorry I know that sounds gross but you have gone this far and are so close to the end. They will have that regret for the rest of their lives.

The final two on Celebrity Apprentice wasn't surprising. I knew Annie would make it and figured Donald would pick Joan. If Joan and Annie weren't fighting I think Brande would have made the final. She was so much better on the show than Joan.

I just returned home from Toronto. Saw the new Noro, Sirdar and Debbie Bliss yarns. I'm not giving any details here-watch the next newsletter.

From the distributors I stopped to get bags for the Tent Sale. Unfortunately or fortunately, depending on how you look at it, I was just around the corner from Yorkdale. Walked the mall and didn't buy anything for myself. Two puzzles came home for Beth-that's it. No shoes, no purses, nothing.

Beth and I are on the way out the door to have dinner with Louise who owns L.K. Yarns in Halifax. She came to visit Beth today and is staying overnight before flying home tomorrow. If you are visiting Halifax this summer, stop by her store and tell her Julie says HI.

I had to start

I found this fab pattern on Ravelry. Three balls of Kureyon sock is all it takes-the designer used 2 balls of one colour and 1 ball of another but I am using 3 balls the same colour. The designers name is Michaela Behrends (WollSchnegge on Ravelry). Go to Michaela's website to order the pattern-it is 17 pages long and very well laid out.

There are 10 squares for this size. The middle of each is a garter stitch square. Then you pick up a side and do the lace pattern. This continues around the square.

I am ready to complete the last step of the square-pick up and do a garter stitch border all around. The edges don't look good-very loose-but you need to cast off loose so that the squares can be blocked at the end.

Today was a very lazy day-I napped most of the afternoon. Beth just returned home from golfing so the TV will be turned on for Amazing Race and Apprentice.

Coach doesn't lie??

Do you know how hard it is to find size 2 pants that don't cost a fortune? I needed new mannequin clothes for the Frolic and started at Winners. Outrageous prices-my girls didn't need $80 pants. I hate shopping at Winners as well which didn't help. Then off to Cotton Ginny. I didn't know the store in Ancaster had closed. The last resort (because it was Thursday night and I was out of time) was Zellers. They have a large section of men's and children's clothes but the ladies section was very small. I did find some cute pants but the only colour that would work was black. The lime, orange and hot pink were cute but none matched my sweaters. This girl is wearing size 2 but they only had one pair so my other girl is wearing a 4 with lots of pins.

Speaking of the Frolic, I need to thank all the volunteers from the DKC for their work putting on this amazing event.

The sweater is from Sirdar-knit in their new Juicy.

Coach sure is a piece of work. He has preached for the past how many weeks that he was going to play the game and not lie but he sure got caught last night. I think voting Sierra off was a great move. Coach and Debbie think they are golden but hopefully that changes next week.

I did not shed any tears when Andrea left Hell's Kitchen last night. My prediction is that Paula will win.

A new shawl newsletter went out this morning. A general newsletter will go out next week. Monday I am off to Toronto to see the new yarns for fall from Noro and Sirdar. Then I will see the new Rowan on Tuesday so the newsletter is put on hold until I have some exciting news for you.

The first sleeve of my Silk Garden Lite cardigan was cast off this afternoon and the ribbing is started on the second sleeve. Somehow some yarn jumped in my knitting bag as I was walking out the store. A shawl is in the near future.