A notorious knitter lives here ...

Here I've got a whole basket of sock yarn waiting to be knit up. Not to mention the stash under the bed, but yes I went and ordered more yarn from the Notorious Sock Knitters themselves, the Blue Moon Ladies. So here's the recent order of Socks That Rock yarn that I got this week ...

Did I need them? Nope. But they're so pretty, I couldn't resist them. Someday they will be socks!


And the yarn I ordered [or bought on sight] from Lily Chin came in at the Seed Stitch Fine Yarn store. Don't worry, I'm not going to hide it from you ... here it is all in it's glory. So take a good look 'cuz I AM going to hide it from the DH.

Oops, forget that ... I think he just saw it when he walked in as I took these pictures. He didn't say a word. Can you believe that? Has he finally succumbed to my knitting "dark side"?

Goodness ... that must be it. I should of known that when he over heard that I might get $500.00 for my "Little Felt-Tea Farm" tea cozy ... he whispered to me, "Rhonda, that could buy you an awful lot of yarn!" Whoa, it sure could! Well at least 2 sweaters worth and another tea cozy. And he didn't seem to mind. Doesn't that beat all?

Well here's the recent treasured purchase ...















And I do have an FO to show you ...

my Summer vest.






As for all the cleaning I was going to do over vacation ... well I did do some but not nearly as much as I need to still do. So little time and so much to do. Story of my life lately. Well, I did find this little treasure here. In a box that I received from a purchase of Maple Syrup I got from Chicken Betty. She put in the box as a little thank you and I never saw them. I'm so glad I save "bubble wrap" and hadn't thrown out the box yet ... 'coz here they are and now I can show you [I'll link to Betty's blog when I'm able to.] I know she made these because ... she's always making unique items like this.

I also got the living room cleaned up and organized somewhat once the new living room furniture was delivered. I've been waiting a long time to get a style that I really love ... and here it is still with a knitting corner ...
May the Knitting Angel alway bless my home with more knitting...

How does my garden grow ...

From front to back to ...

the side where the vegtable garden will go to ...

and in backyard under the Cherry tree we planted.

As the leaves filled in to give us a roof of green, we worked. And still we have more to do. But I'm loving it. It's good work.

BTW ...
My sister, Lori mentioned that I only gave a tease and just a peek at the Bleeding Heart. And why not give you all the beauty of the whole gorgeous plant? Why not. It's one of my favorites and the first plant I put in when we bought our house 3 years ago. So here it is up close ...

Isn't this a beauty?


And here it is in all it's glory.

Then there's the Bungle Weed in it's beautiful blues ...

The Columbine hats brings a smile to my face too ...

And I can't wait for each bloom that'll arrive thru out the Summer ...


Would you believe this is a light pink Tulip in the next picture? They look like roses to me.


How does my garden grow?

With loving care and plenty of beer and wine for the DH and ME !

Helping to raise money for Cancer Research ...

My computer won't let me put on links in Blogger right now without locking up ( I then loose everything I've written) so I'll have to spell out the link below. You'll have to copy it and put it in manually, but I wanted to get the work out now ...

A fellow knitting blogger, Dorothy (she lives in the Sioux, Canada) is trying to raise money for Cancer Research through the Relay for Life which runs on June 8, 2007 in her area. She is trying to raise $2000.00 for the cause. To date she has about $415.00.

Dorothy has been incredibly generous to others as well as other fund raiser and we're hoping to help her meet (if not exceed) her goal for this worthy and necessary cause. I am asking you to go over to her blog (http://ddrbroderick.blogspot.com ) and donate whatever you can….$5.00, $10.00, $50.00, $100.00. If you can, please pass along her link to others so that they too can donate. I am hoping that you can help me spread the word –

Happy Mother's Day!

What a beautiful weekend. We drove over to Marblehead to enter my Little Felt-Tea Farm tea cozy into the Marblehead Festival of Arts. [I'd link to their website but my computer keeps locking up when I try too.]

I find out in the middle of June if it'll be accepted in the show and if I win an award. Wish me luck! One of the awards is "people's choice" so maybe a few of my friends would love to go and put in a good word for my cozy. {hint, hint} And the festival would be fun to attend also.

I really should get back to doing more needle felting. I know I want to but there's too many other things I really to do right now.

Like working in the garden.

But today is now Mother's Day and after finding out the good news at Weight Watches that I lost another 1.8 lbs, I knew it was okay to go out to dinner. As long as I behave myself that is. That's now a total of 13.4 lbs. [double yippy hurray!]

But first we drove to Lawrence. Why Lawrence? Well I have Jury Duty in June and since I've never been there before, I felt better if we head up that way to find out how far and how long it would take to get there and if whether I would need help getting there later on. My DH decided that he wants to drive me up and back. He doesn't think I should do it alone. I'm actually happy about that ... and I'm praying it gets cancelled. I wouldn't mind if I was going to do Jury Duty right here in Salem. In fact, I would love that. I would find it interesting and I could even walk to get there. But Lawrence? Not a good place to be when you don't know you're way around. But I'll do it if I have too.

On the drive back ... and BTW it was a nice day to drive up there and back today ... we stopped at the Liberty Tree Mall for dinner at Vinni T's. Yum, yum ... but I did bring half of it home. Can't eat as much as I use to for sure.

All in all a beautiful day!

Of course I got the most beautiful flowers from my daughter yesterday also. Aren't these just gorgeous?

I love getting flowers. Don't you?

Before I go on Vacation ...

As our Cheery tree looses the last of it's blossoms I write this. Here's a picture while it was almost in full bloom last weekend. It was the last chance to sit in the backyard before the flowers were gone. Happens very quickly. But now all the leaves are out and it'll be like sitting in an outdoor living room. [Click on the picture to get an enlarged view. Nice huh?]

I also want to let you know that I'll be popping in only once in awhile this coming week. I'm on vacation! Hurray!!! It's an "at home" vacation ... cleaning, gardening, organizing and ... of course knitting. I did want to do a little bragging tho ... not about my knitting ... but just that I've LOST 12 pounds! Only 43 more to go!! Okay that's a lot more to loose, but I'm determined to do it even if it's only 1/2 lb a week [like it has been]. But it's a lifetime commitment now.

I'm doing it by going to Weight Watchers. [in case you're interested]

I also want to show you one of the t-shirts I bought a few months ago [didn't fit well back then, so I held off showing you]. It's from Threadless.com, which a lot of you probably already know. But if you don't, check 'em out. Occasionally they have what us knitters really like but also neat shirts for gifts for other non-knitters in our lives. This one has not only sheep on it but it involves math ... and you know that I work in M.I.T.'s Department of Mathematics, right? I couldn't resist this one ... sheep AND math.

I realize you might not even know that those pictures were of me, right? I always do feel a little silly showing "headless" shots. So here I am wearing the shirt with at least my face showing. LOL, but without the top of my head only. Haha, at least you know it really IS me.

Now excuse me friends, but my garden needs some attention ...

Knitters are everywhere these days ...

Check out the youTube video at Needle Exchange ... "Oh the Irony!"

It tickled me too ...

A Knitting Survey ...

Knitting Survey

A knitting survey, as seen on Pollyanna Rainbow Sunshine and the Needles of Doom. (and I found it on Mommy Susie Knits.)

Mark with bold the things you have knit, with italics the ones you plan to do sometime, and leave the rest.

Afghan (I crochet Afghans but not sure I would knit one)
I-cord
Garter stitch
Knitting with metal wire
Shawl
Stockinette stitch
Socks: top-down
Socks: toe-up
Knitting with camel yarn
Mittens: Cuff-up
Mittens: Tip-down
Hat
Knitting with silk
Moebius band knitting
Participating in a KAL
Sweater
Drop stitch patterns
Knitting with recycled/secondhand yarn
Slip stitch patterns
Knitting with banana fiber yarn
Domino knitting (=modular knitting)
Twisted stitch patterns
Knitting with bamboo yarn
Two end knitting
Charity knitting
Knitting with soy yarn (Patons Soy Wool Blend?)
Cardigan
Toy/doll clothing
Knitting with circular needles
Baby items
Knitting with your own handspun yarn
Slippers
Graffiti knitting
Continental knitting
Designing knitted garments
Cable stitch patterns (incl. Aran)
Lace patterns
Publishing a knitting book (I want to do one on needle felting someday)
Scarf
Teaching a child to knit
American/English knitting (as opposed to continental)
Knitting to make money
Buttonholes
Knitting with alpaca
Fair Isle knitting
Norwegian knitting
Dying with plant colors
Knitting items for a wedding
Household items (dishcloths, washcloths, tea cosies…)
Knitting socks (or other small tubular items) on one or two circulars
Knitting with someone else’s handspun yarn (does anyone want to volunteer their handspun yarn?)
Knitting with dpns
Holiday related knitting
Teaching a male how to knit
Bobbles
Knitting for a living
Knitting with cotton
Knitting smocking
Dying yarn
Steeks
Knitting art
Knitting two socks on two circulars simultaneously
Fulling/felting
Knitting with wool
Textured knitting
Kitchener stitch
Purses/bags
Knitting with beads
Swatching
Long Tail CO
Entrelac
Knitting and purling backwards
Machine knitting
Knitting with self patterning/self striping/variegated yarn
Stuffed toys
Baby items
Knitting with cashmere
Darning
Jewelry
Knitting with synthetic yarn
Writing a pattern
Gloves
Intarsia
Knitting with linen
Knitting for preemies
Tubular CO
Freeform knitting
Short rows
Cuffs/fingerless mits/armwarmers
Pillows
Knitting a pattern from an online knitting magazine
Rug
Knitting on a loom
Thrummed knitting
Knitting a gift
Knitting for pets
Shrug/bolero/poncho
Knitting with dog/cat hair
Hair accessories
Knitting in public

What have you learned to do that has marked a definite change in your knitting life?

I think socks toe up on two circular needles mark the biggest change in my knitting life. In fact, it made me a serious knitter, LOL. Before that I only knew cast on, knit, purl and cast off. I perhaps knit a total of 4 items in all my life before I learned about hand knit socks only 2 years 4 months ago. My obsession with knitting soon followed. And certainly Knitting Blogs, KAL's and Swaps have helped me to meet lots of knitters and make many new friends. Frankly ... it's brought a lot of joy into my life.

And I can't leave out the fact that a new LYS has changed my life as well. It's just what I needed at this time in my life. To feel right at home in my new home town of Salem, MA. It was a way to meet people with the same interests but quickly became the connection to make some new friends that I hope I'll know for a long, long time to come. Meeting every Thursday has become a way of life. And now I don't think I could be happy without the people I've meet there.

So it's not just about the knitting ;-)

The grasshopper is back to work!

What a wonderful weekend filled with lots of activities. But all of it a pleasure. I even got some knitting done while sitting out in the backyard under the cherry tree. I love this tree! I love my backyard! Soon it'll be just like sitting in a living room outside my door. Once the leaves fill in all the trees and the hedges it'll be a beautiful green room spotted with flowers. Ah, the best place to be every Saturday. Is it a wonder that I don't bother with housework anymore? Gee ... when would I find the time to sit outside? And when would I find the time to knit? Well only when I'm not doing the housework, so ....
you know I'm not going to neglect my knitting right?




Between Friday night and Saturday afternoon with Lily Chin there were lots of yarn talk and much to learn about cabling. Lily is filled with lots of information and everyone really enjoyed themselves. I sure did! She can really get you to visualize what she means and demonstrate why it works, etc.

And as the winner to the Tea Cozy Contest, I was invited to go out to dinner with the owner of Seed Stitch, Victoria, Lily Chin, and two other knitters who help out at the Seed Stitch. While we waited for Lily, I took a picture of Darlene & Victoria modeling two of Lily's sweater coats. Then we all went out to dinner at the Passage to India. It was my first time there and it was wonderful. I took Lily's recommendation and had Lamb Saag. M-m-m-m, it was delicious!

Now it's time to get down to business and knit up some yarn to make room for the yarn order that'll be coming in. Ya, I've got yarn coming in. I got lots of suggestions yesterday on how to get more space to hide more yarn ... altho some of it is already being utilized. But this week I'll be cleaning out the winter clothes from closet & drawings and we all know that Summer clothes take up less space right. Now if I can loose more weight, we all know that means less material to fill the drawers ... making more room for more yarn right?

There's a plan developing here ...

Sweet lessons from a Master Knitter ...

Lily Chin has a wealth of knowledge to 'titillate' any knitter's taste buds for learning new knitting (and crocheting) skills. I highly recommend a class with her. If you get the chance to take one of her classes, don't miss the opportunity. Jump on in with hook or needles and let your mind be a sponge. You won't regret it! And alas ... I couldn't go a 2nd whole day without buying some of Lily's yarns. It's on order !

OMG, I'm running out of hiding places. I'm ready to throw clothes out of my closet ... maybe at least one drawer can be utilized also ...

Okay, okay ... I'm considering therapy too.

Book Signing with Lily Chin

Just a quick post to tell about the book signing in pictures. Lily Chin is a real nice lady and I do love her designs. I got her book Expressions and there's at least 5 or 6 things in there I want to knit. And believe it or not, yes I've already bought the yarn to make two of them. What? You do believe? Would you also believe I want to buy more, but I had to hold myself back?

Now I thought my friend Dottie had the right idea and left her credit card home. That's her with Lily signing her book because she had enough money with her to buy that. What? All the yarn she bought doesn't have to be paid for until it comes in? Ah ... it wouldn't have done any good to leave my credit card home either. But I resisted. Really I did. I already bought yarn, I told ya ...



Took a picture of the Seed Stitch gang of employees with Lily. Great bunch of people ...





And there I am with Lily. Bad hair day for me ... it's pulled back in a pony tail and I know even that doesn't do any good.


Okay, pick up my bags and get out of here. No yarn. Just the books I came in with are in that bag.

Really, now stop the snickering!

Missing in action ... but I'm knitting.

WIPs and Mail Call ... and my busy weekend ahead ...

Today is SnB Knitting at lunch and after work is Community Knitting.

"Becoming a 'Social Butterfly'," says the DH.

I'm laughing about that. But is he right?

Friday night I'll be going to a private book signing with Lily Chin at the Seed Stitch Fine Yarn. I always enjoy getting together with the girls even if I don't get much knitting done. I guess it's sometimes hard to talk and knit at the same time ... unless I'm listening and knitting. I can do that. But darn, I'm a talker!

Then on Saturday, I'll be attending one of Lily's knitting classes. The one on Reversible Cables. I'm looking forward to it and I even have all of my homework done & in the bag to take with me. Is this the route to becoming a master knitter? Well I'm working on it.

Then after class I'm going to dinner. Tell you about that on Monday ... so my lips are sealed until then.

Sunday, both the DH & I will be going to his sister's for "Dinner and a Movie" night. Always enjoyable to be with Mary. [his other sister, Pat is a gem also and I consider myself lucky to have two such wonderful SIL's]

Woohoo, I'm a butterfly!

Here's yesterday's Mail Call and I'm in love ... Sea Silk by Handmaiden Fine Yarn. Man is this yarn ever nice. I have got to knit a shawl with this. My first shawl, so it'll be a simple one. I might even know which pattern already. But I'll take suggestions. Got any?




The other yarn in my mail box was the next sock in the Sundara Sock Yarn series. The pattern is call Dahlia Socks and the yarn is yummy, yummy, yummy.

So pretty in pink!





Another WIP in my life is my STR from Blue Moon Fibers, Knee High to a Grasshopper using the colorway Walking on the Wild Tide.

This is still the first sock in progress, but I am in LOVE, love, love! Look at that heel! It's a "Short Row Heel", ladies and gents! Look at it up close. Does that look like short rows? I don't think so. I simply followed the directions step by step and didn't even see what was happening until it was all over. Pretty neat, huh?



But when will I get to this basket of sock yarn? And that doesn't even count the stuff I have hidden away.

Hey, I'm not a butterfly ... I'm a grasshopper!