Blue Moon

Happy New Year!

Week in Philadelphia

Spent a week in Philly and had just one day to shop a bit downtown. So, of course, I had to go to South Street and check out what has been going on there. I only recognized Jim's Steaks, Hats in the Belfry, and the zipper and ants from Zipperhead.

I'm not sure how long it's been since we shopped on South Street...We have been staying in the nothern suburbs for many years, shopping in Newtown, Doylestown, New Hope, etc. Certainly, we haven't been downtown since I started knitting...so it was great to find out that there are several yarn shops right on South Street or very nearby.

First, we went to Sophie's Yarns on 4th Street, which is Philadelphia's Fabric Row. Certainly the majority of the shops were fabric shops, which would also be interesting to investigate, but it will have to wait for another visit.

Sophie's is a tiny shop but it contains a little of everything you would want. There is a good-sized table in the front window for lessons, knitting at, and getting help. In fact, a regular customer came in for some assistance while I was there. I found this shop to be friendly, the owner was helpful, and the yarns were lovely. I picked up some "local" yarns from Plymouth (up in Bristol, PA) -- some Ecco Cashmere and Homestead in natural colors.

'tis the season

It's the darker days, and the busy crowds that make me feel tired. And then worrying about finding gifts...So then I just want to hunker down and be alone. It's good to find reasons why I have begun to hate the holiday season! What can I do to make it better? Breathe and reduce my expectations for myself. Will I be able to do that? I don't know, but I'll try!

Here's hoping that my gifts of time count toward the gift register. :-) One of my gifts of time & creativity is shown here.

Rain plus Hard Freeze equals

Yesterday required some work to clear off the car. And even without the rain, there is a lot of hard frost today, too.

Back home

We were on the road for Thanksgiving week. It's nice to be home with the beasts, but it was great to visit with friends, too. And we saw THREE (3) great tourist traps, er sites.

Stashbusting + Holiday Gifts

I'm so glad I found the Bainbridge neckwarmer pattern on Ravelry! It is a great way to use up my leftover Debbie Bliss Wool/Cotton. I've made one complete neckwarmer, and I'm nearly done with a second. It makes a nice break from more complicated projects. I can work on these while I watch TV or talk. Yay!

I love fall!

The air is crisp and cool and smells like woodsmoke. Although in our little corner of the world, the trees are only thinking about losing their leaves.

Varmints!

They've been stealing the flowers right off the stems of my sunflowers. Here is one that was too big (?) to carry away.

Shop Hop Santa Barbara

I went to Santa Barbara for three days last week to do some recon for a knitting retreat in October. We found 3 jewel-box knitting shops, plus great food.

1. Cardigans Knit Shop - 3030 State Street - has plenty of charm plus Rowan and Noro yarns. Lots of inspiration in the form of books, patterns and samples. There is also a pleasant garden out back. This shop is located in the San Roque neighborhood, and is conveniently near a great French bakery, Renauld's, and wonderful bookstore, Chaucer's.
2. Loop and Leaf - 536 Brinkerhoff Avenue - two blocks off lower State Street, this shop has a fabulous selection of hand-dyed, hand-painted, and otherwise hand crafted yarns plus teas. Enjoy your time knitting in the front yard under the shady trees.
3. Knit & Pearl Boutique - 5 E Figueroa Street - just off State Street right downtown near the courthouse, this shop has a lovely selection of yarns including Spud & Chloe, Manos, Classic Elite, and more. They also stock a bunch nice knitting bags by Namaste.

If we'd only had more time...

Lots of projects, some progress

There's been a lot of activity on the knitting front, and lots of work to do for the Shop Hop. But that's coming up at the end of the week. Whew!

Dog Days of Summer

I think I bought too much advertising on Ravelry today. Is that possible? The Forums ads and Notebook ads didn't release until this afternoon, and I was so eager I just grabbed the usual forgetting that registration for the Couture and Color Retreat has closed. *sigh* I changed it to regular shop advertising.

And I was fighting with my first short row heel while waiting for the advertising to open. It seems like when the first Wednesday is the first week of the month, advertising opens a bit late, while when the first Wed is the second week ads sell out before 9am PDT.

Gripe, grump, crab!

My Handsome Model

Is he a Guardian Angel or merely fashionably French? Marcel (or Murphy) models my black-ish beret. I think I'll have to make another to get the appropriate beatnik look.

Fall Knitting

I like just about everything in the Fall 2009 Interweave Knits. It's going to be a busy fall!

Crafting ADD

I just can't seem to commit to a project right now...I start and then rip out. Hopefully, this is just a phase on the way to more creativity.

Lilacs - It must be spring!

Stitches West 2009

Recession? What recession? The market was PACKED and the booths went into the 1100s. Trends? Independent handpainted yarns and lots of handcrafted accessories. Local yarn shops were also well-represented. Wish I had some photos, but I was too busy looking around.

Laurel Burch

I made ornaments as gifts for nieces this Christmas. The images came from a book of Laurel Burch Christmas crafts. It is a wonderful book of mostly quilted decorations for the holidays.



The ornaments are glazed ceramic blanks from Michaels. I traced two of the designs from the book onto the ornaments, then I used some paints designed for painting on glass (so they are translucent) and a gold paint pen for the details.

Another way to "do good"

I saw an ad for this [Herdy] in a British knitting magazine. What a beautiful site, and what a great idea!

I admit, I'm a sucker for anything that has great design and helps animals. But you have to agree that Herdy is a cute little sheep.

There has been more interest lately for saving and renewing breeds of sheep and cattle that have been neglected in favor of those that produce more wool or meat. But as we are learning, lack of diversity can be very dangerous when it comes to disease.

Anyway, check out Herdy...

Magic Pair of Socks

The latest issue of Piecework, Jan/Feb 2009, has an article with instructions for knitting two socks at a time using a double-knitting technique so that one sock is knit INSIDE the other! I don't know if I'll give it a try...I have yet to try the Magic Loop or two socks on two circular needles, but this is so ingenius!

Check it out Piecework's website.

First Rule of Dyeing

Wear gloves! 'nough said. I'm not completely happy with the results of the dyeing process. Even though I followed the directions, blue dye continues to bleed out of the yarn when it is wet. Best thing: the dissolvable packet the dye comes in.