Sorry

Just read my last post and its filled with silly typos...sorry...the yarn shops are not in the air...ah vacation

Gone...

Off to FL for a long weekend. I've got a silk shawl and mom's secret present. We're vacationing with 2 of our guy friends so is just me and the boys so there will be much teasing about the knitting but who cares! I mapquested a couple yarn shops in the air and hope to steal the car tomorrow so I can explore.

Have a great weekend!

Oh and I apoloogize for typos...we're at the poolside bar...

Yarn Harlot + Graham Norton = AWESOME!

Ok someone posted this on Ravelry and I'm just stealing it but it is awesome!

Good-Bye to The Point

I woke up this morning to a very sad email...The Point is closing on Wednesday. I headed down to the shop after work so I could use my last gift certificate and say good-bye to a truely wonderful store. The place was packed and the walls were near bare and everyone was rather somber. I will really miss this place. It was a wonderful community. I learned to dye there and spin. I really hate to see it go.

New Rules

Choo Choo and I have becoming up with new rules regarding stash enhancement:

 

1. No wool till August
2. If we go to an outlet-type store (i.e., webs) we are allowed to buy wool if a specific project is in mind and we have not purchased yarn for said project on an earlier date.
3. Store credits and gift cards can only be used if they expire before August OR if we're buying non-wool and/or books
4. Books are ok - as long as they have a larger purpose - such as designing and we will try to BORROW from each other more - if one of us has a book - with the exception of a handy designing book cause that's a like a text book or a bible

Let's see if we can stick to them. And Yes I quoted you Karen.

2 Degrees of Separation

People who have been with me since the beginning know of my love of:

 

1) All things British

2) Men in knee britches

3) The Scarlet Pimpernel

4) And anything written about, in or during the 1700-early 1900's...in particular the Napoleonic Wars and Jane Austen.

 

So you wouldn't have been shocked that I created a colorway of lace weight inspired The Purple Gentian from Lauren Willig's book The Pink Carnation.

 

Background covered...now on to the good stuff. I logged into my Rav account last night like I always do (about 90x a day) and I had a message from a lovely lady telling me that she's very good friends with Lauren Willig and she saw my Purple Gentian colorway and just had to send it to Lauren because she would get a kick out of it. Apparently, Lauren loves it. YAY! Now how do I get to meet her????

I want to be here

And not in an office right now...

Alone

Am I the only one who doesn't Twitter? I plurk, I facebook, I rav, I blog...do I need to twitter? Knitty twitters, our congressmen/women twitter, mothers, fathers, brothers...it seems like the whole world twitters but me. I hope I'm not missing anything.

My Father

Remember how I had to make a GIANT sweater for my daddy because he's one BIG man...well here he is back in 1984 on my baptism day...

...he's so skinny and lanky!! I could have finished by Christmas if I had been knitting for 1984 Dad.

Enjoying the weather

Yesterday Carl and I went for a hike in Blue Mountain Resevation to advantage of the beautiful weather (and I work off some of our winter fat). We drove up in the morning to the park and set off on the trail. Unfortunately, we forgot to bring our hiking book and had no map. Ok I say we but I'm the one who left it in the car. Mapless, we wandered through the woods for a couple of hours and had a marvelous time. Oh and we brought the Doctor along as well...he was just itchin to get outside.

And this morning I made bread! Now if only I had a proper bread knife. I ordered a couple bread making books so hopefully there will be more bread baking in my future.

And this afternoon I'm heading to The Point to meet Ysolda! 

Where does the time go?

I can tell you...Tax Season! Now that the busy time at work is over I can safely resume my knit-blogging. I wanted to write something several times over the last few weeks but all I could think about was how tired I was or how annoyed I was with something at work. I vowed that I would never discuss, particularly in a negative way, work, family or friends on the blog and I think I would have broken that vow if I wrote earlier. Now that the stress is lightening up and I'm returning to regular Alyssa (not stressed out, shrilly bitch Alyssa) I'm back and I've been bitten by the knitting bug.

 

I had Good Friday off and spent the morning/afternoon working on the Rosebud Vest. I got the pattern and yarn from the Brair Rose booth at Rhinebeck last year. The pattern has you knitting in pieces and I hate pieces so I knit the faux-cable patterned bottom flat and then joining in the round to do the St st part till the armpits and then back to flat. I finished it about an hour before I had to leave to catch that train to Mom's (ok I started it Wednesday night, I'm not that speedy). I quickly threw it on so I could admire my handy work and realized that the straps were too short so my neck whole was tiny. I was very bummed. I need to do some minor surgery on the thing one night this week. But its basically done and I can't wait to wear it to Rhinebeck next year. 

 

When mom picked me up at the station that evening we made a wrong turn on the way back to the highway and I spotted a knitting store I had never seen on that street before. I made her park and we went in. Apparently, Flying Fingers is no longer in Irvington, NY but moved to Tarrytown, NY. Where was I when this move happened? Anyway, we bummed around in the store for a while. I made her flip through Naughty Needles and we had a good laugh. Mom picked out some yarns she liked and I bought them so I can make her some presents. I've already cast-on something for Mother's Day. I'm not going to say much about it till she gets it because she might read the blog (you never know with my Mom she's a very good lurker). When we were done (and I was broke) we strolled around town for bit and got back in the car. As we were approaching the exit that would take us to Nyack and to Jane at Knitting Nation I asked if we could go to the knitting store as she turned on the blinker to get off. And we continued our spontaneous yarn crawl.

 

The last time we were at Knitting Nation Mom bought two pattern books and no yarn. This time she wanted to get the yarn for at least one project but we had to find the pattern first. We were in the back of the store with Jane going through piles and piles of Debbie Bliss books till we finally found one of the sweaters. Mom then re-organized the Debbie Bliss area and scurried off to find yarn. I flipped through the new Sally Melville book Mother-Daughter Knits and fell in love. You know how everyone was head-over-heels for A Fine Fleece? Well I didn't get it but I now get how they felt because its exactly how I feel about this book. I want to make everything in it. In fact I bought the yarn to make the Reversible Tank right then and there and cast-on first thing Saturday morning. I worked all day on it (between dyeing) and begged Mom to let me bring it to church on Sunday (she said no) and I finished it up Sunday night! I love love love this book...go...buy it!

 

Anyway, Saturday night I took a wee break from the tank and helped Mom swatch for her sweater. In doing so I realized she was twisting her stitches and had to correct her knitting. I thought it was funny that I was re-teaching the woman who taught me but she soon got the hang of it and was ready to cast-on for real on Sunday before Easter dinner. I hope she's actually working on it now that I'm back at my place. I told her that I want her to have at least one handknit item to wear at Rhinebeck this year. Maybe she'll listen...

 

I finished the Lady Eleanor wrap about a week or so ago and its gorgeous. I think I added too many additional rectangles but that just makes it more comfy. I really love it and so does Mom. I nearly left it at her house this weekend and I'm sure I would have never seen it again if I had. Other than that I have no other FOs and I'm just working on Mom's Mother's Day present so I can get it done and move on to the ribbed sweater in Mother-Daughter Knits. I have 900 yards of worsted Brair Rose yarn in this lovely pinky colorway that's just itchin to become that sweater...

 

I promise pictures next time. Thanks for stickin around (if anyone actually has).