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.

Happy New Year

The holiday season has been busy which means that there hasn't been much time for knitting. I did get one sleeve finished on Jack (Rowan Tweed).

Mom and Dad left three days before Christmas for Myrtle Beach. Dad got to golf on Christmas day-we were very jealous. Beth and I tried to fly down on Saturday afternoon and come back on Monday but the flight times didn't work out. Mom does much better in the warm weather so we urged them to leave as soon as they could. She actually goes out of the house there-better than being inside every day here. She will call home and tell us that she is in the PT Cruiser with the top down-nice when it is snowing here.
We had Christmas dinner with our friends John and Jen and their families on Christmas eve. Christmas day I went to my parent's best friends for dinner-Beth was in bed with the flu.
The store was busy during the week. Lots of people visiting from out of town and many people are off work giving them time to come and browse. Many people finished their Christmas knitting and they wanted something new for the new year.
I started to feel crummy on Wednesday night and actually went to the doctors on Thursday afternoon. I don't do doctors so this tells you that I really was sick. I have bronchitis, an ear infection, sinus infection and possible a kidney stone. Beth worked for me on Thursday (this will cost alot because she hates working in the yarn store) and Cathy worked yesterday and today. I am only sleeping a couple of hours a night (coughing too much) so I don't have much energy but I did get the urge to knit this afternoon. I am starting a new sweater-you know that working on something old doesn't inspire you when you feel like crap. It is from Sirdar book 295 and I am using Jamieson's Shetland Heather in Pippin. Working on the sleeves-not too much thinking. I won't be going partying tonight but there is great tv. Canada vs US in World Junior hockey, the Leafs are on as well as an NFL game.

The good news is that there is just over 2 weeks until warm weather. We (Beth, Bev and I) are going to a yarn trade show in San Diego. Unfortunately you can't fly directly to San Diego from Toronto which means that we have to go through LA. Didn't want to do that so we are going through Vegas. We have 2 days before San Diego (staying at Treasure Island) and 2 days after (staying at Bellagio). Nothing like a few days in Vegas to make someone feel better. San Diego will be fun as well. Our friend, Oliver, from New Zealand will be there. We were in New Zealand in February for his wedding and we just found out that his wife is pregnant.

Have a Happy New Year.

Minneapolis is bloody cold!!!

Just got home from our shopping trip. We had the most amazing time. I don't think I will be complaining about cold weather here anymore. You had to be bundled up any time you went outside. We would wait in the hotel for the shuttle, run out and get on, run into the mall and do the reverse going back to the hotel. You still had to have on a ski jacket-it is that cold.

We left Toronto at 4:30 on Friday afternoon, arrived in Minneapolis at 6:30 their time and we were at the Mall of America that night. Stopped at the hotel bar for a drink before retiring for the night. They charged us $8.50 for a Kahlua and milk. Unbelievable. We shopped on Saturday from 10am until 9pm. Luckily Nordstroms had a bag check. We were continually going back adding more bags. Beth and I had to buy a suitcase to get our purchases home. Bev bought us a bottle of Kahlua ($19) and a carton of milk so we had drinks in the room and played cards before bed. Sunday morning Beth and I decided to go to the football game (Pittsburgh vs Minnesota) The young girl working at the desk of our hotel suggested taking the train. It left from the mall and dropped us off right at the stadium. Didn't have tickets but there were lots of people scalping. The seats were okay-second deck but the game was awful. Left in the third quarter to beat the crowds to the train. Dinner was at The Cheesecake Factory. That was a bit disappointing-they took my favorite thing off the menu so I had to try something new. It was good but not what I had been dreaming about. More cards before bed. We were going to go to the casino but it was a $50 cab ride each way and then we would lose more money there. Back to the mall Monday morning-the stores opened at 8am. Because the mall is so big it never felt like there were crowds. So much better than shopping here.

The shoe shopping didn't turn out as good as I would have liked. Did get 2 pairs of UGG slippers/slip on shoes. You can wear them outdoors but I will be wearing them around the house-very warm (one pair is on my feet right now). This is DSW (Discount Shoe Warehouse). It is the size of a grocery store filled with rows and rows of shoes. It takes quite a while to walk the aisles and trying on shoes.

The mall is phenominal. It is a huge square with a major department store on each corner. There are 3 levels of stores. My map was quite beat up by the time I got home. The centre of the mall is an amusement park. Lots of rides for kids and adults. Great place for the family-mom can shop while dad takes the kids on the rides.

I didn't have time to knit. Did pull out my sleeve and do one row but there were so many better things to do.

I hate snow!!

It is almost 4am and I have been up for an hour. We are supposed to be flying to Minneapolis this morning but Air Canada called at 3 to tell us that our flight was cancelled. They have booked us on the only other flight today at 4:30 this afternoon. One small problem-I have to get in touch with Bev and Lisa. Do I want to call them at 3am? I decided to let them have as much sleep as possible so I am waiting until around 5 when we would have been getting ready to go to the airport. Pain in the ass.

I like to have knitting with me when I travel. It usually doesn't come out of my suitcase but I want to have it there just in case. Now my decision-what do I take? My Sally Melville jacket is almost done. If I take the last front then I have to take the other one to make sure that they match. This takes up too much room so strike that one. I can take a scarf but I vowed that I wouldn't knit another one so strike that. I could start a new project but if I don't do much kntting then I have yet another started sweater in a bag. Jack was the final answer. I am going to take the sleeves. Got one cast on last night, the ribbing done and started into the pattern. Of course, the chart is wrong so I had to sit down and figure it out from the picture. There is a left and right sleeve-sewn into the sweater opposite of the charts. Wanted to make sure that I get the cables going in the right direction. One sleeve goes front and the other back but they are both going back in the pattern. I haven't shown a picture of the finished sweater so here it is.

I do have the camera packed and hopefully will have some pictures next week from the mall. Might even get my Christmas shopping done while there.

Finally finished!

The store was a mess today but I put on blinders and sat down to finally finish my Swing Coat. In the pattern there is one button at the top of the jacket to hold it closed. I decided to leave this off and close the jacket with a Knit Stick from Trendsetter. This way I can change it as my mood changes-also the stick can be placed further down should I choose.

Beth, Bev, Bev's daughter in-law Lisa and I are leaving for Minneapolis, MN on Friday morning. Look out Mall of America. I have an empty suitcase ready to fill. The weather forecast is for cold and snow. The highs are from -6C to -10C and the lows from -11C to -16C. Unfortunately I no longer have a ski jacket (my father wore it when he and Mom went on their Alaskan cruise and it is covered in paint-a really long story) so I had to go out today and buy a new one. $200 before I even get on the plane. Not much planned other than shopping. Maybe a visit to the nearby casino. Beth and I hope to get to the Minnesota Vikings game on Sunday afternoon. Thank goodness for a dome.

Speaking of football, our Fantasy Football is now in playoffs. We won our first match and play again this weekend. If we can pull out a win we are in the finals. Not too bad for a couple of girls.

Tonight was my last knitting lesson for the year. Not much knitting was done-Susan and Cathy both brought baking so we had a small party. A little different from my Thursday night class. Sparkling apple cider was served.

Late night rambling

Sometimes I really hate my computer. I work with Netscape because Internet Explorer won't work on my computer. Goes back to a virus and now nothing makes it work. Today Netscape decided to delete all my bookmarked pages. Pain in the ass!! I have spent the last hour rebookmarking important pages (banking, etc).

I did spent a bit of time (about 10 rows) knitting today. It was one of those days when my needles weren't calling my name.

The big event for this evening was watching the Survivor finale. I have been rooting for Dani for the past couple of weeks so I was glad to see that she won.

It was a busy weekend - Christmas is coming. Beth and I never know what to buy my parents so we took them out to dinner on Friday night with 15 of their friends. They had a great time. Worked out to an expensive gift-their friends can really drink!! Saturday night was dinner at Jane's. Jane has worked for me for almost 10 years now and she is referred to as Mom #3. From there it was off to another Christmas party.

Guild, Swing Coat and New Yarn

From my kitchen window it looks beautiful outside-3" of fresh snow. I haven't been outside yet so I can make this comment. Once I get out there and have to clean off my car I won't be so generous in my observations.

We had our guild meeting on Tuesday night. Everyone was ready to procede with their bags. They learned how to do the tuck and then started into the entrelac. The comment I continued to hear was 'this is so cool'. Here is a picture of some of the ladies working away. The meeting was very quiet-everyone was concentrating.

I didn't get my Swing Coat finished yet. Here is a picture so far. Just have to sew up under one arm and add the collar. Maybe tonight.

Got a parcel from New Zealand yesterday with some yarn (called Vero) that is going to be available in April. (Remember that their seasons are opposite of ours.) UPS has had the parcel for over a month but claimed that they couldn't find it. They wan't us to describe what it looked like. Beth's response was 'It is a box. What more can I tell you?' Then UPS wanted to know what was in the box and how we would know that it was ours. Beth's response 'It is yarn. If you find any box with yarn then it is ours. I am sure you don't have many of those hanging around.'
This is 100% wool made in Italy that will stripe. The colours are great. I have swatched one colour and the yarn is very soft-nice to work with. Am going to do another swatch to felt and see how that goes.

Where did the day go?

Do you ever get to the end of the day and feel like you accomplished nothing but you never sat down during the day? That was my day today. Friends were in Toronto from New York City so Beth and I met them for lunch. Of course it wasn't a quick lunch-2 hours later we got out of there. We were close to Romni so Beth wanted to stop in and talk with Marilyn the owner. I spent time tidying shelves and picking yarn up off the floor. If you have visited there you will know what I am talking about. Then the long drive home from downtown. If you aren't on the road by 2:30 you are into traffic-blew that one. I am now on my way to teach knitting. One more week and then a little time off.

My dad is arriving home from Honduras tonight. Mom talked with him this morning from the airport and he begged us to bring him a winter coat. It is cold out but when you have been in a tropical climate it is really (you know the word) cold here.

Also getting ready for tomorrow's guild meeting. The bottom of everyone's bag should be done and we will be starting the entrelac. This should be interesting because most of the guild didn't know what it was let alone know how to do it. I am including the picture again for those who haven't seen it. This is a bag that I designed and Fiber Trends will be publishing the pattern in 2006.

I have the shoulder seams sown on my Swing Coat (Nashua) and one sleeve almost done. The sleeves are knit from the shoulders down. This means almost no sewing when done-makes any knitter very happy. I hope to finish the sleeve during football tonight and if the store is slow tomorrow I can get the other one done. Hopefully pictures tomorrow night.