Mom and I were off to Quilt Odyssey yesterday. Another fabulous show this year. The most amazing quilt on display was a reversible quilt. The front was white the back was black. The design was machine quilted with colored thread on both sides. It won best in show. When they get pictures up on their website, I'll be sure to link it. The vendor mall was great this year. Lots of variety. I was very good, though and bought only a few things.
As I explained to mom, just like sock yarn, fat quarters don't count. Buy as many as you want. The one in the center is destined to be another project bag. I also picked up a new Jim Shore Heartwood Creak figure. One stand was full of them, but I restrained myself. Lunch was at Isaac's and then we went shopping at the Hershey Outlets. The day was lovely and warm and we got home just before a thunderstorm rolled in.
In knitting news, I frogged the Huck Lace shawl. I finished the first whole repeat of the huck lace pattern and the more I looked at it, the more I was convinced it wasn't right. So I ripped it out and rewound the yarn and decided to cast on Montego Bay. This pattern is super easy and moving along pretty quickly. I think the scarf will be lovely.
I haven't given up on the Huck Lace shawl, but think I will end up knitting it in a different yarn. The more pictures I see of shawls that other people have done, the more I like it in a solid color. I'm looking at the Alpaca Cloud from Knit Picks. Should make a soft, warm shawl and be pretty inexpensive too.
Look at what the mailman brought me today!
Back issues of Yarn Magazine, straight from Australia and the new Vogue Knitting (it's another one of theirs with 2 different covers, so don't be fooled if you see a different cover on the newsstand). Alas, I won't be able to read them today as I'm off to see OOTP.
I finally got my Ravelry invitation yesterday. Hooray! Ravelry is a website for knitters and crocheters to post about all things knitting & crocheting. I got on the waiting list as soon as I heard about it (maybe 2 months ago) and thought I'd never get on. They are still in Beta and controlling the number of registrations. As of today, the waiting list is over 9,000! I didn't really know much about it except what others were saying on their blogs and podcasts. Now that I could actually get on the site, I agree. It's awesome. You can track your projects and stash and needle inventory. You can connect with other knitters and see who's knitting the same stuff you are. I envision spending hours over there, just looking at everyone's cool projects. I need to get photos taken and get my profile up too.
I was working in the garden today and lo and behold...
Our first tomato of the season is almost ripe! Everything is coming along so nicely. And with 90+ temperatures predicted the next few days, things should get a boost. We had our first peppers this week and will have eggplant before long. We still have cucumbers coming out of our ears. Anyone want some? Next year, one cucumber plant. Two are overwhelming!
I cast on the Sea Silk this week. Yummy! I decided on the Huck Lace shawl from the Morehouse Farm Merino Knits book.
I haven't had a chance to go through this book real thoroughly, but at a glance it looks like there are lots of cool patterns. I like the Huck Lace shawl because it's very plain looking and I think will show off the colors of the Sea Silk very well. Plus it's not too lacy. I'm not really into lace all that much and it's hard to find shawl patterns that aren't lacy.
I dyed up another skein of Gloss this week.
This is called Moo Cow. White with black and gray spots. Love it. I'm so into dyeing. Ideas keep popping into my head. With KnitPicks being out of the dyeables that I won't for a while yet, I've still been search for other sources. I found Catnip Yarns and ordered a pound of Treadsoft Superwash. It's a bit different than the Gloss I've been using. The twist is much tighter and the yarn is a bit finer. Unfortunately, I've been having trouble with my swift when I re-skein yarn. I think it's creating too much tension on the bars and the ties keep breaking. It's easy enough to fix, but I don't want to damage the swift. Dad is going to make me an actual skein winder, which should make my life much easier.
As I explained to mom, just like sock yarn, fat quarters don't count. Buy as many as you want. The one in the center is destined to be another project bag. I also picked up a new Jim Shore Heartwood Creak figure. One stand was full of them, but I restrained myself. Lunch was at Isaac's and then we went shopping at the Hershey Outlets. The day was lovely and warm and we got home just before a thunderstorm rolled in.
I haven't given up on the Huck Lace shawl, but think I will end up knitting it in a different yarn. The more pictures I see of shawls that other people have done, the more I like it in a solid color. I'm looking at the Alpaca Cloud from Knit Picks. Should make a soft, warm shawl and be pretty inexpensive too.
Back issues of Yarn Magazine, straight from Australia and the new Vogue Knitting (it's another one of theirs with 2 different covers, so don't be fooled if you see a different cover on the newsstand). Alas, I won't be able to read them today as I'm off to see OOTP. 
