The REAL last post

Ok, so I lied. That last post wasn't my last post. This one is!

Had to post this picture of the quote that's on the wall in the shop for my end-of-the-day crew on my last day at the shop:

Appropriate, no? It was a very exciting last day that I certainly won't forget. Tomorrow Deirdre takes over and there will be many more exciting things to come!

Also, had to show you the latest customer show and tell before I hand the camera over to Deirdre:

But, ugh! I forgot whose these are! Linda's? Sue Z's? I know they are made with a very pretty color of Periwinkle Sheep Watercolors sock yarn.....

Jan's Mukluk slippers made with Encore chunky:

She made both pairs between one knit-in and the next (that's only a week!)

Alison G's, now Sue Z's, In the Land of Oz shawl made with Periwinkle Sheep w i n k:

Sue commissioned Alison to make this for her, which she will wear when she goes on her cruise!

And here are Bonnie (I think?) and Tanner, Sue Z's dogs that Alison needle felted!:

Stephanie in her Brigid Jacket which she made during the knit-a-long:

Janell's most recent finished Christmas projects:

Traveling Woman shawl made with Periwinkle Sheep w i n k; Cedar Leaf shawlette made with Malabrigo Silky Merino; Multidirectional scarf made with Noro Taiyo

And finally, Karen with her "before" KGA's Blooming Felted Bag:

This class is being held in August is you are interested!

And, because it bears repeating and can be applied in so many ways:

The week of lasts

This is the week of lasts - my last weekly email, my last Tuesday, my last knit-in, my last Thursday... you get the idea. And so, my last blog post.

Once again, I want to thank you all for your support of me while I've owned the shop. It was a fun, crazy, wonderful, rewarding, scary, rewarding, stressful, rewarding, rewarding, rewarding experience. I've met so many wonderful people, learned so much about knitting and knitters, knitted A LOT, had many many laughs (and a few sad times too). While I have decided to move on, which is the best thing for me, I will certainly miss many things. I'm glad that Deirdre wants me to come back and teach classes so that I can still stay in touch with my knitting peeps (I hijacked that term from Joan). Most of all I want to thank Paul, who has been so incredibly patient with and supportive of me while I took on this endeavor. I'm happy that I'll have some more time to spend with him. (He will be reading this, and you'll see why below, so, thank you Sweetie Pie. I love you very much!)

Now, on to my "regular" blog stuff...

Paul and I went to Red Robin (YUMMMM!) the other night because he had a gift card. Love that place. Especially the onion ring tower. Of course, we ordered that and when it was delievered to the table, I started laughing hysterically because this is what my view was:


I couldn't see Paul at all! It was so funny. I immediately got my phone out to take a picture, and Paul rolled his eyes and said, "Is that going on the blog?" (OF COURSE IT IS!)


Meanwhile, at the shop, Florence and Linda were taking the drop spindle 101 class!
Here is their yarn pre-steaming:



And post steaming:



And here is the progress I have been making on my knitting:
I finished the Christmas in July Knit-a-Long project, the Christmas stocking:

Love it!


And here is my progress on the Summer Wind pattern I told you about in the email:

I am using the Cascade Heritage 150 Paints. SO. So. so. EASY. And it's coming out quite lovely I think. And while this is the week of lasts, this is nowhere near the last of my knitting! Stay tuned... maybe I'll create another blog!

CUSTOMER SHOW AND TELL:
Linda's gorgeous woven shawl:




And her woven placemats:





Darla's ankle socks made with Encore:

And her hand spun, hand dyed yarn:

Christine's felted wine box cozy:

How cool is that?????

Florence's 2nd of 5 Christmas stockings:

You can see the 3rd one in progress in the upper right hand corner!

I've loved being able to showcase all your projects on the blog - you are all such inspiration for each other!

Another Mostly Show and Tell Post

Before I get to the show and tell, I wanted to show you this picture of everyone taking refuge from the heat at last week's knit-in!:

There have been so many wonderful projects being finished up! So much inspiration is gotten from the Wednesday knit-ins and the informal Saturday knit-ins. Everyone is so enthusiastic about what they are knitting and it's contagious....

CUSTOMER SHOW AND TELL:

Heike's felted clogs:

Pat's B4 Bag:

Nancy C's Market bag:

And her Shawl Collared Cowl:

Sue Z's Mukluk slippers:

And the beginning of her second stocking:

She designed the heart motif herself!

Stevie's ruffled wrist warmers made with her own handspun!

Kathy L's knitted sheep:

And her table-full of other finished projects!:

There is a stocking, a zippered cardi, market bag, Budding Apple shawl, Siesta Tee, and the short sleeved cardi made with the Noro Taiyo whose name I can't remember!

Patti's Luscious Lace scarf and leaf hat:

Florence's first of 5 Christmas stockings:

Millie's baby sweater made from a pattern in the 60 Quick Baby Knits:

And her Pebble Yoke cardigan and hat:

Nancy E's Traveling woman shawl:

Darla was also on a finishing spree:

Her own hand spun and dyed yarn:

...felted container:

....woven towel:

....woven scarf:

....and her woven placemat:

Summer visiting

Went to CT this weekend to visit family. One of the things I did was visit my sister and my nephews at Nicholas' swim meet.

Carolyn and Evan see-sawed:

Nicholas swam:

Ok, this is him AFTER he swam. It was too hard to get a picture of him actually swimming since we were behind a fence!

And Evan, Carolyn, Matthew and I watched:

Then I went to my mom's and we had some great adventures!

Meanwhile, I've been making good progress on my Christmas stocking (sorry, no picture). I've passed the save-the-spot-for-the-heel part and am almost at the toe. I'm close and will post a picture when it's done!

And some of you have already seen these:

Mukluk slipper socks! So comfy. And SOOOOOOO easy! the patterns have been flying out the door and more are on the way (along with a children's version). These are made with bulky yarn and were very quick to knit. I used the Katia Peru -- so soft and again, COMFY!

CUSTOMER SHOW AND TELL:

Libby's Triana scarf:

Lisa's socks that she made in the 2 socks on 1 circular needle class, with yarn she got in Italy!:

Busy Summer Knitting

Whew - I guess it's been a little while since my last post. It's been a little busy around here getting ready for Deirdre to take over the shop in about 3 weeks. Time is flying and there is a lot to do! I'm excited for you - Deirdre is incredibly nice and has some great ideas and you are going to love her (if you don't already).

But, I did take a day to go to Wiawaka on Monday with a bunch of great women:

Did you know that "Wiawaka" means "the spirit of great women"?

Here is everyone sitting on the dock, knitting and trying to stay cool (except for Robin and Christine, who for some reason were immune to the heat):

And of course, the tradition of saying hi to the Minnehaha:

It was a nice day - join us sometime! (such as August 11 when the next day trip is planned...)

Meanwhile at the shop, there is still a lot of knitting and spinning going on even though it's summer and it's hot!

We had a Spinning 101 class---- Clea spun and knit her first project from homespun!:

Here are Robin and Mary Ellen with their first spun yarn:

And in the "random" category, here is the yarn Karen picked out for her next (5th????) KGA's Blooming Felted Bag:

PRETTY! Click here for details on her class being held in August!

And check out Sue's Christmas stocking that she made with the knit-a-long (she's the first one done, having knit it in just one week!!!):

Did I already show you my finished Tiny Tea Leave Cardi?

Class coming up at the end of July (click up there to get to the classes tab again).

CUSTOMER SHOW AND TELL: (I've put links to many of the patterns!)

Cece's scarf made with homespun and others:

And her homespun yarn:

And her woven shawl made on a triangle loom:

Alison's beaded shawl (sorry, it's hard to see the beads and sorry, I can't remember the pattern - Alison would you please comment here with the name?) made with Periwinkle Sheep wool/silk fingering weight:

Karin is going to display it when she goes to Sock Summit!

And did you know that shawls have been all the rage at the shop??????

Jan's Cedar Leaf Shawlette (made with the yummy Royal Alpaca), and her Multnomah (made with Periwinkle Sheep) and her feather and fan scarf (made with Baby Bamboo):

And her Budding Apple Shawl, made with Ella Rae Lace Merino during the knit a long:

Mari's Budding Apple shawl, also made during the knit a long:

Sue M's Margarethe shawl (from the Vintage Modern Knits book) made with Silky Merino:

Sally's Sugared Violets shawl made with Periwinkle Sheep w i n k:

Darcianne's Baby Surprise Jacket, made with Encore Colorspun:

Fern's Guernsey Wrap (a Jared Flood pattern), made with Cascade 220:

Millie's Pebble Yoke Sweater, made with Baby Bamboo:

Mary Kate in her Gilet court d'ete made with Noro Taiyo:

Nancy C's feather and fan scarf: