Vegas

I was in the room at 8pm last night. I didn't really nap in the afternoon and was very tired. I put on the TV and started sewing in ends. I made it about half way. I was tired and the lights in the room aren't great.

Beth collects pressed pennies. She has many, many of them in a special pressed penny album. You might have seen the machines in your travels. She has them from all over the world. She and I have collected them and friends make them and bring them back from trips for her.

Unfortunately Beth couldn't come to Vegas with me this trip so I wanted to bring her home a really good present. This will make her very happy and it only cost 51 cents. I think I better find something to add to it. :)

I was up early this morning-we are three hours behind Ancaster time so I really slept in until 10am. Haven't done that in a long time. It was shopping day. And a productive shopping day. New shoes for me. Does that surprise you? A really, really good present for Beth. Some makeup and a cover for my iPad mini. I did a lot of walking so I'm in the room for a bit of a rest. Maybe to sew some more ends in.

Here are some of the sites from today.

Yes, it is bright and sunny here. I just talked to mom and dad. Dad said it was really cold and he got caught in a snow storm in Toronto.

Here are some photos from The Palazzo. Everything is done big in Vegas.

I got a bit of knitting done last night before going to bed. Here is the start of my Inspira Cowl. You can find the pattern on Ravelry.

I'm using 5mm needles. 150 stitches. 4 balls of Classic Elite Liberty Prints.

From Soak "Introducing Yuzu. One whiff and you’ll be adding this to your store offering. It’s a fresh update to a familiar scent. With its kiss of tart citrus and crushed eucaplyptus, it’s sure to be the new favourite!

Yuzu is available in 3oz Soak and Handmaid as well as a Soakbox with a fabulous spring colour and pattern."

Yuzu will be ordered on Saturday. I will let you know when we will receive the order.

Here are a few of the garments in the new Debbie Bliss magazine.

I better sign off and start sewing in ends. The light is good and I want to get it done.

I'm Here

My flight was great. I didn't get much knitting done. I had a headache. It could have been the early morning start. It could have been the excitement about going to Vegas. It's been over a year since I was here. Air Canada is in a new terminal at the airport. Nice. Clean. But a hike to get your luggage.

It's a bright, sunny day here. I'm in the room-going to have a nap soon-and the window is open.

I walked over to The Forum Shoppes for a few minutes this afternoon. Very disappointing. I didn't come home with anything. Maybe the shopping tomorrow will be better. :)

Here are a few pictures I took. It's not a post from Vegas without Vegas pictures.

There were many emails waiting for me when I checked into the room.

Here is the cover of the Spring/Summer Debbie Bliss magazine. It is being released on Friday. I would guess that we will have copies in the store sometime next week.

Then an email about a new Rowan magazine that I am going to see at the show.

Kidsilk Haze Stripe. These are older patterns that have been reworked in Kaffe Fassett colours. Very pretty. I love how the colours play out when knit.

There were more emails but I'm going to save some surprises for tomorrow.

The Day Before

Mr. Canada Post just walked in with four boxes. Lots of goodies to put away.

From Blue Sky Alpacas we have three new patterns for Metalico

Zelda Wrap
5 skeins

This textural and glamorous wrap cascades over your shoulders, giving the luminary appearance of liquid metal. A piece that embodies both fine taste and warmth, then combines them with a soupçon of mystery.

Frances Wrap
The scarf takes 3 skeins and the wrap takes 9 skeins

Dramatic angles and splendid intarsia inspire this provocative art deco wrap. Gasps of admiration fill the room as the eye-catching, jewel-like metallics float across your back, causing an absolute sensation.

Luxury as nature intended, Metalico utilizes naturally occurring shades of baby alpaca blended with mulberry silk, and creates an undyed shimmering palette from gleaming whites to silvery grays and flecked golds. Colorways provided by nature, shiny braids provided by Blue Sky Alpacas!  

Daisy Wrap

This is a most fashionable crocheted wrap of etched waves and flowers, a charming piece to wear to any soirée. Keep the chill night air off your shoulders with an elaborate, but pleasantly repetitive, stitch pattern.

5, 7 or 9 skeins depending on the size

From my book supplier we received copies of Coastal Knits (it's been out of stock for a while) and a new book.

From the creative mind behind The Big Book of Knitted Monsters comes an adorable collection of 16 knitted toys, clothing articles, accessories, and nursery decorations that you'll love to knit for Baby.

• Stitch a whole roomful of practical items--including an irresistible monster mobile, baby blankets, blocks, bookends, rattles, hats, and more
• Find beginner-friendly patterns that make the most of your precious knitting time
• Create useable items in all sorts of colors, shapes, and sizes for both boys and girls

This is WAY TOO CUTE!!! What child wouldn't want it hanging over their bed??

Addi Click sets are back in stock. The last box was from Churchmouse Yarns. More patterns.

Kim and I are doing my last minute straightening and orders. I want everything to be in order for Cathy.

It's now 4pm. There is one last thing to decide. What am I going to take with me to knit?? I have 4 balls of Liberty Wool to do the Inspira Cowl. Is this enough knitting? What if I finish it before I come home? Should I pack more yarn?

Now it's 9:30pm. My nails are done. I'm packed. Boxes to go out in the mail tomorrow are packed. My taxes are paid. I have my long distance/texting plan on my phone. Now I have to cast on my knitting. Then I will be ready for bed.

Vegas here I come.

The Night Before

It's the night before the night before I go. There are many last minute chores being done. Laundry. Accounting. Packing boxes to ship. Getting more yarn transferred to the new website. You know, all the fun things. I'm making a list and checking it twice.

There was a surprise waiting for me when I got home tonight. My shawl is dry. I don't know how. I was sure that it would be damp when I packed it tomorrow night. I could have gone to bed at a decent hour on Saturday night. :)

I considered starting to sew in the ends tonight but then I remembered the HST payment that is due before I go. The last hour was spent entering numbers and happy dance, it is done!

Beth is upstairs knitting (GASP) while I am working. A voice just said "I'm a really good knitter." "It's very even" For those of you who know Beth, the knitting part is making you chuckle. She would rather hand yarn to Wannietta, Lynda or Ann and have them make a sweater for her.

She is working on a Linen Stitch Scarf in Classic Elite Liberty Wool. She came in the store and chose/stole her colours. I had nothing to do with it.

While I was working on my accounting I wrote a cheque to the Woodstock Fleece Festival for our booth. Mark Saturday October 19th on your calendar. It is a long way away but think how fast January has gone. It will be here before you know it.

Writing cheques. Sugar. I forgot to write one to Lynda. She needs more knitting. I'm warming up the computer (it is old and slow) to make a cheque so that I can get some yarn to her tomorrow. Now I need to figure out what to send. I'm thinking something from one of the new Rowan books.

Gotta run. There is laundry to be folded.

Fifty One Shades of Truth

I told Beth late Friday night (while I was frantically knitting) that I wasn't going to bed last night until the shawl was done.

This was at 10pm. Section 6 is done and I have picked up one side edge. Two rows of the side edge are done.

At 3 am. The first border is finished and cast off. I was so tired that I had to go to bed. 

I was back up at 8 and picking up stitches. The borders were taking a lot longer than I thought. I forgot that there are over 400 stitches on the needles for 10 rows.

At 3:50 this afternoon. Done. Cast off. It has soaked in Soak and is now laying out to dry. I'm exhausted. Not sure if it was the knitting, lack of sleep or the worry that I wouldn't make it.

Now I'm going to relax. Not sure what I'm going to work on tonight. I think my Linen Stitch Scarf. Or I might start my airplane knitting. The project is picked. I think :) There is still time to change my mind.

Inspira Cowl

I'm still on my quest for the perfect airplane knitting. Five sleeps until I have to decide.

Last week Classic Elite did a blog post about the Inspira Cowl (You can download the free pattern on Ravelry). I really liked it.

Cathy liked it too. She came in last week and got some Liberty Wool (two balls each of two colours) to make it. Here it is finished. I can't remember what colours she used and I forgot to ask. :(

Thank you to Jane, Kim and Cathy for helping with the knitting content on the blog.

My knitting is sitting in a bag. We hit a small snag on the website. It's fixed now but it means that a lot of what I did last week needs to be redone. YUCK! The good thing is that it will make updating the site at a later date easier.

I'm home from work and should be entering numbers into the website but I'm not going to. My knitting is coming out. The deadline has passed and I still have a lot of knitting to do. With some luck I will be blocking by Sunday. Then it will lay out until Wednesday morning. It might come in the suitcase wrapped in plastic and then lie out in Vegas to finish drying. The ladies who clean the room are going to be wondering what is going on when towels are lying in the bathroom with my knitting on it.

Picture from Jane

Jane had to set the Jubilee throw aside to work on a sweater for a family friend. The sweater is done and now she's back at the squares. She sent this email today. I'm getting excited. We have the spot picked out where it will hang in the great room of our house.

Here is a pic of the last squares I've done. As you can see they need ends sewn in and they are obviously not blocked.  Will block when I get home.
Two more squares to do

Jane needs the Sew In Ends Fairy to visit her house. There are a few of them to sew in.

Some of you might not know what Jane is knitting. It is the Jubilee Throw, a Kaffe Fassett design. You can download the pattern on Rowan's website.

Mr/Ms Canada Post should be bringing the new Offhand Designs bags tomorrow.

The Zhivago in Romana.

The Daisy in Greyjoy

• Comfortable handles stay on your shoulder
• Six pockets for essentials, wine bottles, yarn, produce and so much more
• Stands wide open on its own so you can see everything inside easily
• Sleek, secure closure - nothing falls out
• Available in many plush, beautiful, limited edition textiles

A picnic, a project, a party, a market bag. Functional and fanciful, Daisy can easily carry six bottles of wine, dozens of pretty apples, or about 24 skeins plus a project. Fully reversible for when you want it sleeker or carry a heavy load. 

Winterfell

• 12"H x 9.5 "W x 9.5 "D
• 24" straps
• 6 interior pockets
• fully reversible
• drawstring closure

Larissa does an amazing job picking fabrics.

I'm halfway through section 6. A few more dates with Patrick and I will be done. I've been dating Patrick a lot lately-Season 3 is almost done and I need to download Season 4. I need to slow down on watching episodes because it is supposed to be my plane knitting.

And a sneak peek at the website.

A couple of things I found while playing
-the colours with the red triangles are out of stock
-when you put your cursor over the swatch the colour names comes up
-when you click on the swatch you get a larger picture which is a skein of yarn

Now I am having a debate with myself. Do I knit or do I work??

Someone is knitting

It's not me. Thank you Kim for bringing in something for me to show.

The pattern calls for worsted weight yarn but Kim is using a double strand of Rowan Felted Tweed on 5mm needles. The stitch definition is great.

Jared Flood's Guernsey Wrap-patterns in the store and on Ravelry

Kim did some rearranging yesterday and today to make room for the new Rowan. Prism Stuff is hanging. The colours are fabulous. I can't wait to see what new colours Laura will have for us at TNNA next weekend.

All Seasons Chunky is out. I have my sweater and colour picked. When I get home I will be starting. I thought about taking it with me but in my heart I know I won't be knitting a lot. It takes up a lot of luggage space as well. A few balls for a scarf is doable. Beth isn't coming on the trip but has put in a request for a few pairs of shoes. And I might find shoes. I better have room to bring them home. Buying a suitcase to get home has happened before but I try not to do that if possible. :)

Now it's time for me to knit. I haven't done any this week because I have been playing on the website. I have to get back at the shawl if it is coming with me.

Spring Rowan

Mr. UPS came in late this afternoon (didn't he know that we were waiting all day for him) with the spring Rowan. The magazines were unpacked but I didn't get to the yarn. I was too busy picking out projects that I want.

There was a magazine that I hadn't talked about yet.

Apache by Sarah Hatton knit in Summer Tweed

Kula from Lisa Richardson in Savannah. I'm showing the back as well because of the neat shaping.

Hopi from Lisa Richardson in Summer Tweed

Navajo by Sarah Hatton knit in Savannah

I talked about watching TV last night but ended up in bed early. I was really, really tired and needed a good nights sleep. It wasn't good so I should have stayed up and knit. :) I'm starting to think that the shawl might not make it. We'll see.

Tonight there is a new show on called The Taste. If it is a show about cooking  then it really doesn't count as watching TV. It sounded good as I was writing it. :) Anthony Bourdain is never afraid to speak his mind so it will make things interesting.

I'm on a mission to get lots of things moved to the new website before we launch. We're hoping for it to be up soon (I've heard that before) and then keep adding. It's been a lot like spring cleaning. Getting rid of old things that aren't needed anymore. And updating!! And then there were the things that should have been on the site but I missed.

Here is another page. And putting it up here was good because I saw that it should read Soakboxes.

Now I have a decision. Work on the website or on my HST that is due next week.