Lili’s ColorJoy Stole
I went to Borders Tuesday and it was wonderful as always. Such a great group. I got to sit by my friends Mary and Mary… and then later talked to Lili and my other friend (shhh, don’t tell but her name is Mary also but she uses an alias at this group for obvious reasons), who grew up in Lansing but lives in Ann Arbor now.
Lili brought her completed ColorJoy Stole. What a masterpiece this is. She combined something like 15 yarns to make it. The base is black, but it has accents of purple, rust and turquoise. Breathtaking. Isn’t it lovely?
Sabra said she used the handpainted alpaca yarn she got from me in November, to make a sweater for her daughter in law for Christmas. She told a great story of finishing it in the DIL’s living room on Christmas day. The yarn was about a sportweight if I remember right. Sabra paired it with a soft Peruvian wool in purple (my yarn was turquoise/purple/blue). She did not have pictures, but said that her DIL gets compliments on the sweater each time she wears it. I’m very pleased.
Wednesday I went in for 3 hours to help out at JoAnn for the lunch hour (they called me in at short notice). I had a nice surprise, because Faina, president of the Mid Michigan Knitting Guild came in. I was helping another customer who had briefly stepped away from the counter, so I had just a minute to talk but not nearly enough to connect well. It was good to see her, in any case.
I had 9 knitters Wednesday, three newbies. They did great. And a couple of my other kids are really starting to get moving quickly. One girl still makes a good handful of “hiccups” but she speeds along with gusto. It appears she is making a belt right now, it started out as a wristwarmer I think. Loops and holes all over, but she is not increasing a stitch every row any more so she is really making good progress. She’s one of my youngest and really enjoying the magic of it all.
I got to see my friend Altu briefly when I popped in to her restaurant for lunch. We will be going out for coffee on Thursday. I’m delighted. You know, in the end, it is those we love who really matter in life. Not a schedule or a deadline or a worry or a garden to weed. The people we love matter most. At least today, I remember that. I’m grateful. I think that’s why I go to so many of these guilds and gatherings. I really value connecting with others of like minds.
Wowie, I’m still really tired. I stayed up too late the last two nights dyeing yarn. I’m making small progress in getting ready for Bloomiefest, a casual retreat for socknitters in Bloomington Illinois (not Indiana, really). They are allowing me to have a table for selling my yarns, and we will spend the weekend (March 12-14) knitting, talking about fiber, spinning, eating, talking about fiber, whatever. I am very excited. It’s very soon now… so I really need to get some yarn dyed. I’ve been so busy working for JoAnn over the holidays and beyond, that I have not had blocks of time for dyeing.
I guess two small batches is a bit more than I’ve dyed in months, so I’m pleased. One is an Alpaca blend that started out a sort of taupe-beige and I overdyed it with teal. Really nice. I also did a “Seaside, the Sequel” batch of 8 skeins of my Cushy ColorSport in the general vein of the yarn I dyed this September for Annie Modesitt’s retreat. It has more purple and blue, and turquoise but not emerald green as before. It “reads” blue from a distance. I think it will go over well, at least I hope it will.
Now off to bed.