Darby and Lucy get new sweaters

The 1st Annual Washtenaw FiberExpo in Ann Arbor, MI was close enough to make me jump in the car and head out. There are two reasons this fiber extravangaza caught my attention - the first being an opportunity to pick up something for Georgia and the second being an opportunity to finally meet Corinne. Darby and Lucy have been in the market for some new sweaters and they can be choosy shoppers. Only the finest for these pups and they now are the proud owners of their own Lucky Penny Hand Made Sweaters.

Lucy decided to take a nap!

Celebration Cardigan

Celebration Retro 004
Originally uploaded by kniterella

While hunting for the perfect color of Abundance to use for my mom's birthday sweater, Chris and I decided to try a double strand of Celebration.

The Retro Cardigan pattern has just been altered for a variety of sizes and I wanted to test knit a larger size for my mom.

The Celebration was very bulky while wet blocking, but dried to perfection. The bamboo in this yarn should help keep the 'heat' down when worn.

I will get some modeled photos as soon as I can see my mom - her birthday is Nov 23rd!

I also finished my first sock from the Rockin' Sock Club. The colors of the yarn coupled with the lacy anklet pattern were irresistible. I worked on it diligently at the Socktoberfest yesterday.

What can 90 miles get you?

A FAB spinning wheel of my very own!

Spinning has called to me for a very long time. Memories of sitting in a shop (90 miles from home) two years ago watching a lady spin on a wheel. Mesmerized! I always knew a spinning wheel was in my future - I tried to suppress it, ignore it, fight it...surrender!

They say that the wheel needs a name so...meet Georgia! Georgia is a sweet thing as far as wheels go and from the moment my feet hit her treadles, she was mine! She is a Kromski Minstrel and I have Chris to thank for making sure I tried a Kromski before purchasing anything else.

I was able to produce some results in the shop - the creamy yarn on top is what I spun to practice.


...And, this is what I spun after getting Georgia home...

Mom-In-Law brought us this bowl from one of her vacations. It has been around for almost 10 years and does not match anything in our house. Turns out that she knew I was going to be needing a spinning bowl long before I ever thought about spinning - rest her lovable soul!

Oh, guess what came with my purchase...

Homecoming part duex and some knitting

So, we survived Homecoming. EA did not get his butt kicked and had a pretty good time at his first high school dance.


Bugg has her very last High School Homecoming behind her...(sob). It seems harder for me than for her. At this age, they think they are self-sufficient. I've heard this a lot during the past 6 months and then we were shopping this weekend. Out of the blue, she asks who is going to help her pick out make-up when she gets to college. I tell her she will be fine, she will manage alright - her new friends will help her. Then she asks if I will just pick it out and send it to her. Blinding flash of the obvious - she wants me to pay for it, right? Well, that may have been part of it, but I'd like to think that us bonding this way may be the other half.

This dress may look familiar. We bought it new her Freshman year and she has loved it so much that this is it's 3rd formal appearance. Saved money on THAT one!

Knitting has been happening. I have caught cast-on-itis and am home sick from work today. Hubs and I took the new toy up North last weekend to the Fiber Festival in Ogemaw County. It was a wonderful day. We sat outside and listened to music while eating - the food was delicious - seee.....

Chris was VERY busy and the yarn I long for flew off of the shelves right before my very eyes. We chose some Celebration to use for the Retro Cardigan. You be the judge on how it is working out.

I have re-sized the pattern and this is the test. So far, so good. The Celebration is double-stranded and knits up nicely. The sizing is right-on and the pattern should be ready once this is complete. The best thing about knitting it this time is there are not large numbers of ends to weave in. I just wound the two skeins into cakes and took off. There is no need to alternate rows to allow for skein variation.