On March 7, the day was so gorgeous I took a walk. This was the day I found a tiny blooming flower in my yard.

There is a school near our home. I decided to go on the swing set for a while. I have always loved swings, though it seems that an adult body is never going to be comfy in a sling seat!

I slowed down my swing and sat there for a while, watching kids play basketball, younger kids climb the equipment, and a mommy walk a couple of dogs. I had an impulse to take a few photos, and held the camera out with my right hand. The angle could not have been better, just look at all that red lined up so nicely!

For the knitters, I am wearing a “Bloom Shawl” by friend Trish Bloom. It was knit in the original yarn, Noro Blossom. This yarn was discontinued but there is a very similar yarn now offered by Noro which really works well. LOVE this design.

I’m holding a Chippy sock, still in progress, in my hand. It is earmarked for my new niece (who is a tiny thing).

Here are a few other photos of the area. Remember, this was the same day I had a flower blooming. We definitely have a warm spot on our own lot. Most of the area looked white like this!

I found three places on my almost-two-hour walk, which had large areas of grass rather than snow. One was my own south-facing side yard:

The other big one was another corner lot, another south-facing area. I see a trend.

I feel lucky. I am *not* a winter girl. To be gifted with one of the very few patches of green, is a real delight. To find a flower the first week of March? Incredible. Lucky me.

Our family just increased by one. I’m now an aunt, again.

The little girl is merely 5 lb 8 oz as of Wednesday. She is a week old today, Saturday. The sweet girl is well and beautiful, and the parents are glowing. (Tired, but glowing.)

I have made a point of not knitting for Brian’s side of the family. There are so many people, and I don’t want anyone to feel left out. I can not possibly knit for everyone and still run a business that has to do with knitting.

But this week I broke my resolve. I know these parents very well and I adore them. The world needs more families of this commitment and caliber.

Here is the result of my weak moment:

(Chippy Socks for Kids. Size Infant-0. Debbie Bliss Rialto and Filatura di Crosa Zara. Size 2 US Brittany Birch needles.)

No, I do not have a photo of the baby. I will have to ask permission to borrow one someone else took before I put up any images. Trust me: she is delicious to look at. I’m in love and I haven’t even met her.

Friend Cynthia and Friend/Shop Owner Rae checked over my Olympic-Season sweater project Tuesday. We all 3 see the same thing. The fabric of one piece is different, in texture and gauge, from the other. Both are the same yarn and the same exact needles used. One is smoother, with a smaller gauge. One is fuzzier and gives larger stitches on the same needles.

Rae says there was more than one shipment of that yarn to her shop over the years she carried it. Clearly the reason my swatch was a smaller gauge than the sweater, is that I used an old lot for the swatch and for the second piece of the sweater. Here is how much I’ve completed thus far (before stopping on a dime, yesterday, when I saw the mismatch):

The newer yarn (for which I have two extra 100gm balls, no shortage) is fuzzier and fluffier. It’s the same number of yards per pound but it is knitting at a fatter gauge than the one “oddball” from which the swatch came. Sigh.

Thank goodness the colors match almost exactly. I have made the decision to make the tighter-gauge piece be the back of the sweater. If I sit on it a lot, maybe it won’t stretch out as much being the firmer gauge, I can only hope.

What I will do is what others sometimes do when they have color mismatches in dye lots. Starting now, I will alternate two rows of one ball, then 2 rows of another, until I run out of the oddball. Then I will continue with the new ball, which will match the front and sleeves.

It just does not look different enough to rip and restart. I guess it’s like an ice skater who falls and continues their program. It is not 100% but continuing is part of being an Olympian. Or that’s how I’m justifying it today, anyway.

Here is a comparison shot. The top piece is what I have 7 balls of. It’s fluffier and fuzzier, and the gauge ended up bigger. The bottom piece, can you see that it’s just plain smoother? The stitches are definitely smaller, though for some reason the “garter rib/pearl rib” makes the gauge over the stitch pattern less different than knit stitch compared to knit stitch.

For the record, if this were a sample that the public would see, especially if I designed it? I’d rip and re-do. However, this is something for me to put in my closet and wear. Someone else designed it. You might say my “name” is not on it. Compromise is in order.

Here is a photo of the two yarn balls next to one another. Can you see that the top one is less fuzzy, more shiny? I think the colors are very, very close, but the textures are quite different.

Live and learn. Back to the needles…

I’m loving the alpaca/wool magenta fabric I’m getting as I knit my current Olympic-season sweater project. This is NOT what I normally knit, not at all. It’s lovely in spite of needing more attention than I typically spend.

It’s funny, but knitting a sock with two colors of yarn in a stranded pattern, would be more comfy for me than this. I am knitting on medium-sized needles. I often work on size 1 and smaller, or size 10.5 and larger, but this is on size 8 US (5mm) for the main part. I am knitting flat, not in the round.

I am doing a chart/pattern, for texture. I see color “hiccups” very easily, and very quickly. Texture mistakes I can miss until I’ve passed the hiccup by a dozen rows.

I’m very glad I’m knitting rather than crocheting, because I can switch a knit to a purl or vice-versa without fully ripping back. (One can run a column down like a nylon stocking, and then re-chain things back up the run to correct the problem. Very cool.)

Overview

It’s a lot like a rib, actually easier in some ways than rib. The right side rows are “knit all stitches.” I love that part. The wrong side is essentially “Purl 4, Knit 1, repeat.” No big deal, mostly. I don’t usually purl much, but as long as it is not 100+ purls in a row, I’m good with that.

However, I am so used to working with socks, which most often have a multiple of 4 stitches for ribbing, that I keep finding myself doing a P3K1 pattern. This requires fixing, but does not require ripping out.

About 20% Finished (Cringe)

This is where “she” stands right now: my percentage finished is not great. The 2-color swatch in the above photo is approximately in the area of the sweater where I will embroider a zigzag/chevron pattern around the sweater once I finish. The small piece on the right will be the back (or front, at this point they are identical).

It is ready for me to work the area of 10 rows or so, where the embroidery will go. I am putting knit stitches where I will do “duplicate stitch” embroidery to add turquoise, later.

Placing an embroidered “knit” stitch over a purl in the fabric is not fun (I tried it on the swatch). So I made myself a bit of a chart just for knitting that short strip of stitches at the bottom, to help me accomplish my hand-sewing easily, later.

I guess I could have just done stockinette for the 10 rows, but I like that the rib won’t be interrupted. It’s costing me a little time but giving me a product I’ll be happy wearing.

I hope this is interesting enough, friends… what can one say with a sweater that is not half done? I’m plugging away, anyway.

A Lovely, Off-Topic Report

In other news, I am enjoying a Facebook thread where folks are registering their contentment with their spouse/partner. Someone went on about “does anyone believe in love anymore” and the answer was definitely YES in my circle of the world. Love that.

I saw the same thing when we sang at Altu’s on Valentine’s weekend. One woman (a knitter) came alone and was her own valentine, having dinner and knitting and sitting in the front row for the show. However, from my view on stage, I could see people I know. And I saw seven couples I know, who are happy together. Happy.

When I was single, I kept a list of happy couples I knew. Often it was folks I knew well. In some cases, I’d note “lady I met on elevator” or “someone in class with me.” Didn’t matter. I wanted to believe it could be real and good. I liked being single just fine, but if I could have a good partnership I wanted to recognize that opportunity.

Let’s hear it for happy relationships. This stuff doesn’t make the news at 10, you know?

This is totally fascinating. Story of cotton farmers in Texas, dedicated to doing a better job… if you are interested in cotton, organic/sustainable anything, farming, business or human-interest stories, you will be glad you watched this.

Thanks to a Twitter post from Deb Robson/@effortlesszone: RT @RAntoshak:

STORY: When organic cotton is not sustainable
FILM: Two days in Texas

I am destined to knit a sweater out of beautiful, hot pink yarn. I can prove that I am an incredible optimist, by admitting that I thought I might be able to knit it during the Olympic games. That is 17 days.

This becomes more complicated, because we have chosen not to watch TV since it all went digital. We own 3 black and white TVs but have no converter box, cable or any other service.

I adore figure skating. It used to be I pretty much did not turn on the TV, maybe 2-3 times between the winter Olympics and the next winter Olympics. For skating, I watch happily.

So four years ago, I attempted a project during the Knitting Olympics. I got pretty close to done, even though it was a very unfamiliar sort of project. It was a vest (relatively thin yarn), and I messed up the decreases on the neckline or I probably would have been able to finish.

Now, I have cast on a full-length, long-sleeved sweater. I did swatch. I did have the right gauge/stitch size on that swatch. Then I cast on 100+ stitches and knit for about 2.5 inches, and figured out the stitches were far too large. Never mind I can not remember ever knitting too relaxed, ever. There is always a first time!

So last Sunday, Brian took me to dinner at a neighborhood eatery with TVs. I normally don’t like that about this restaurant, but was delighted Sunday. I cast on the 2nd time, while waiting for our food.

I expect I will finish. I expect it will not be next weekend. I’m having fun, though. And I totally went out of my comfort zone, which is a good thing. It’s a sweater (have finished ONE long-sleeved sweater thus far, which took me a year). It’s also knit flat rather in the round.

I have now knit about 9″ or so on the bottom of one piece (front/back are the same at this point). I will post progress as I have something to show.

The yarn is Nashua Creative Focus Worsted, for those who like to know such things. I adore this yarn, which is a “singles” (one ply) yarn of wool/alpaca.

I plan to embroider the “Charlie Brown” stripe on it with a smoother yarn. I hope I have enough leftovers of the turquoise yarn in the top photo. It’s Heirloom Easy-Care 8 (a DK weight washable with cable structure). The Nashua yarn is rather fuzzy, and I think a stripe in less-fuzzy yarn will show up better.

Three weeks ago I wrote a blog post about  my progress on Daughter Mittens, from Color by Kristin (Nicholas). These call for 4 colors of yarn for knitting. The way Kristin designed them, there is embroidery on top, using a color of yarn that was also used for knitting.

I was determined to knit with yarns I already had. I owned five colors of Kristin’s yarn, Julia by Nashua. Unfortunately, one was white and one was black, and they didn’t look right for the brights I wanted. There was a sort of dusty rose pink, too, but it was just too subtle/grayed to go with the other vibrant colors I wanted to use.

So I ended up with fuschia, periwinkle and deep teal (my color names, not necessarily Nashua’s), in the Julia yarn. And I chose one hot green yarn in Cascade Cloud 9, a 50/50 wool/angora yarn in worsted weight (from my stash).

I am really enjoying how these look. I realize that this is not brainless knitting, so it’s hard to find time to work on this project. Some can knit from charts when chatting, but I can not. I plug along when I have time alone.

Last Saturday I worked on it for a little while, and then today (Saturday again) for about an hour. It will happen when it does!

Right now I am working on the second cuff. Unfortunately, I have misplaced my camera so the photos here include the work I had finished last Saturday.

So what are the pictures of a bag and a present? A fifth color of yarn, which is a gift from my friend Cynthia (who is also planning at least one project from the Color by Kristin book.  She found some turquoise and got me a skein.

So my mitts get to have FIVE colors! I love this turquoise, I’m crushed to discover the color is discontinued already, just as I learn to love it. There are other blues in the line, but this is a really wonderful version.

Whoops! I just looked at the web photo, and you can barely tell the difference between the periwinkle knitting and the turquoise embroidery. Trust me, in person they are very different.

Can you see that I embroidered french knots on the inside of the tulip flower pattern? This is a different pattern than Kristin used, but I wanted to really accentuate the tulip shape. It reminds me of Turkish textiles, which inspire me very much.

I also tried French knots up and down the hot green twisted rib in the cuff. I found that 3 knots on one rib was too much. In the end I placed one knot at the very edge (just touching the teal line, on top of the hot green), for each twisted green rib. I like it. It’s subtle but pulls the knots together.

You can’t see it in this photo, but I also did one round of “duplicate stitch”  embroidery (imitates a knit stitch) just between the middle periwinkle ridge and the hot green background where the flower is. I like using an element (turquoise color in this case) three times or more, to make it look intentional.

I tried another duplicate stitch round but did not get halfway before I pulled it out. I felt it made the top ridge look too wide. You can see it in this photo around the right side at the top, attached to the long turquoise yarn end hanging to the right. It’s gone now!

Love ‘em! The only down side is twisted rib. It looks really good, but twisting yarn means you are pushing and pulling the yarn where it does not want to go. Of course, I am using the least stretchy of the yarns for that one element, too!  

There is something satisfying to me about the stretch of standard knitted fabric on my needles. I like knitting with “ease” and twisting is anti-ease. However, I am letting go of that so that I can have a bit of beauty on a small project. It is so beautiful!

These will take a while. They are worth the wait.

I have a good number of deadlines this week. I’ve accomplished one entirely. I have finished another, other than delivering the final item to its intended owner.

I’m now working on something that probably will take until Friday night. The good news is that I do have things that take me out of the “nose to the grindstone” mode in the middle of all this.

Staying Grounded During Deadline Week
I’m staying with my “Lovely Little Things” awarenesses. We had a lovely subtle sunset today. My husband shoveled not only the sidewalks, but a little path I’d tromped down in the snow (through the yard). I got a wonderful little message from someone I like but don’t interact with enough. I got a note from someone who just bought my Keys & Coins hat, and thanked me for taking the time to make it so clear. My mood can not stay grumpy for long with these things in my life.

Teaching is the best equalizer for my mood, of all. I had one kid today (had 4 last week). K. finished all the knitting and working-in of ends on her netbook cover. She’s ready to felt it, and quite pleased. She’s in elementary school. this pattern required knitting, two sorts of decreases, knowing the right and wrong sides of the fabric, slipping stitches, and making a buttonhole.

She is proud, and she should be. After finishing today, she said “I rock!” and I echoed “You rock!” When K. came to me she knew how to make a knit stitch, but  no purl, no knitting in the round, no decreases, no buttonholes. She is a quite accomplished knitter. She knows more about knitting than I did 20 years after I learned. Go, Kid!

Counting My Blessings
I’m grateful for that break in the middle of the deadlines. I can really get over-focused and grumpy but teaching, particularly children, fixes a lot.

The Rush
Tomorrow I teach adults. I am sort of going wild lately with semi-private lessons. Often this is how we teach beginner knitters, but sometimes folks bring in hiccups they are having on projects. I don’t work with lace, but most other things are fair game for these sessions.

Tuesday I had five folks arrive at different times over a 2-hour period, to get their hour of assistance in. Last Thursday I had five others. I know I have at least four scheduled tomorrow/Thursday. This is incredibly satisfying. And after that, I have the final session of “Fix and Finesse” which is equally exciting to teach.

Tonight’s Plan
But in between, I’ve mostly turned off my computer to stay on task. I’m going to do that right now after I hit “save” on this post.

The photos here are all adult-student works. Hat (my most common beginning-knitter project), Chippy Socks, Buttons/Beads from my “Polymer Clay with Sparkle and Shine” class. You can see why I get energized when I teach.

OK, I’m off to work at the grindstone for a bit longer…

My event at Schuler Books Eastwood Town Center was promoted in some places for 7pm and some places for 7:30. Whoops!

I will be there at 7:00. I will save the reading I will do from the book, until the 7:30 people have come around. We will make it work for everybody, as best as we can.

Thanks for understanding.

Are you who are new here? My Turkish-inspired sock design Hot Waves,  was included in a book published by Lark, called The Joy of Sox. Here is a photo of the design in three different colorways:

I have enjoyed a wonderful relationship with Schuler Books (and particularly the energetic and passionate Whitney) for several years. When this book came out, Whitney asked me to do a presentation and book-signing in connection with this lovely book. Today is the day!

Informal Talk & Booksigning

LynnH will talk about the process of being asked to submit, being accepted, the pattern process and more. She will also talk of the nod to history (Turkish sock design) and other factors which influenced the final visual design.

The structure (toe up, afterthought heel) used here is not common in the USA. Why would Lynn choose this structure? Ask your own questions, or just drink in the colors.

Please join me. Yes, they will have books there to purchase. I’d love to sign your new copy!

(For the record, this book has a wide variety of projects. There are simple to very fancy socks. You will find top down, toe up, heel flap, short row heel and afterthought heel. Texture? Colorwork? Got ‘em. There are knee highs to footlets open at the toes for pedicure day, to legwarmers. Several yarn weights are included. I am proud to be included in this collection.)

Schuler Books in Eastwood Town Center
East Lansing
7:30 tonight, Tuesday
January 26.

I have been reflecting on my luck lately. My pattern-designing work can not be done alone. I know that there are folks out on the internet, who do not know me, who might enjoy finding a hiccup in my design (and then tell the world without telling me of the problem). I choose to see this as something which intensifies my desire for quality control in my work.

However, we all know that one person (that is, the designer) can not likely work a project from beginning to end, without assistance. I need testing/editing help. These days, I knit almost all of my store samples, but I am unwilling to release a pattern which has not been test-knit for quality. I can not test knit from my own words.

The biggest example of this was when I developed my ZigBagZ collections. Sister-in-Love Diana/Otterwise did a lot of testing, a lot of editing, and sample knitting. She was my encourager when I was rather ill and unable to focus well. And my cousin, Karen, also knit a Maxi sized bag for me. That project was a true team effort, and it has been an incredibly good seller for me. It would be very hard to find a new design with the “pow” that release had.

My most recent pattern, the Keys & Coins Andean-Style Hat, was a project I started about 11 months before I released the pattern. As can happen, I got 90% of the way and got stuck (in this case, the earflaps were not working out as I wished). Once I finally got the pattern very close to ready, I had knit so many versions of the hat that I could not be impartial.

Enter Emily. She tested the ear flaps for me right away, even though we were coming up on the holidays. Later she finished the hat and loves it. This is the hat she wears herself these days. She proclaimed to me about a week ago that it was her favorite hat she has ever owned. Of course, that makes me happy.

Emily’s version followed the “beanie” adjustments. This means that instead of 3 sets of “key” patterns at the bottom of the hat, she did just one. However, she put flaps on it (where a standard beanie would not have flaps). It’s cute on her.

Next, enter Jenn. She did a beanie pretty much as I described it in the instructions (shorter and no flaps). She whipped through it very quickly.

Both of my testers came up with questions. As I recall, nothing I had in the pattern was actually wrong, but sometimes a different set of words makes something much clearer for the knitter. These two ask good questions. I am grateful.

For the record, other test knitters I’ve used over the years (off the top of my head, forgive me if I missed you but write me so I can correct this if I did)… are:

Rita
Tracy
Mary F.
Dorene
Anna-Marie
Rachel B.

And advice-givers of other sorts have included Rae, Diana, Deb R., Melinda, Sharon P., Elizabeth S., Brenda W., Lori V., (and many more).

Thank you, thank you, from the bottom of my heart. I need a team to do this work, and I do not take my team for granted.

(Oh… you will ask. Emily’s hat used red Malabrigo contrast and Crystal Palace Taos Autumn colors as the main yarn. Jenn used Malabrigo for her contrast, also, and her main yarn was a color-changing variety of Southwest Trading Karaoke.)

Some of you may remember I got more than half of a turquoise mohair sweater finished, which I started around Thanksgiving. I still adore the fabric I made, but it was thick enough that the size I had chosen looked enormous.

I do wear huge sweaters all the time. It’s perhaps a “boyfriend sweater” look, though most of my sweaters are not manly colors. I do sometimes buy men’s sweaters, or ladies’ sweaters in the X sizes, so that I can get a roomy and tunic-length body.

Sometimes that means rolling up sleeves to an extreme degree. Sometimes I even take off the bottom of the sleeve (well, once or twice) and reknitting it to a reasonable length.

The mohair sweater ended up thick enough fabric that it did not drape as the sweater I am trying to match, did. Therefore it needs smaller shoulders.

I need to rip it out and figure out what to do next. That takes figuring time I don’t feel I have right now. I’ll finish it sometime… the truth is that the only long-sleeved sweater I’ve handknit and completed, took me a year. I have not lost faith.

But the understanding that I’m in the middle of a long-sleeved sweater, a project I rarely undertake… did not stop me from a somewhat ridiculous decision. I am going to attempt another sweater. During the Olympics. We will see how I do.

Rae’s shop had a big inventory sale last weekend. She clearanced out her Nashua Creative Focus Worsted (alpaca/wool singles). A nice pile of the bright magenta (fuschia) was available at something like $6.50 per 100gm/200yd ball. I had a $25 credit at her store. The sweater I thought it would work well in, required 5 balls for a generous size. I got the pattern, the yarn, and an extra ball of yarn just in case (I do want to make the sweater a little longer). It cost me less than $20 after tax. You can see why I caved in.

I picked a pattern which seems ideal for the “boyfriend sweater” look. It is sized from 3Xsmall, to 6Xlarge. Amazing. One pattern.

I like the stitch pattern. It is called something like seed rib but it’s really one column of garter stitch, then four columns of stockinette. For someone who does NOT like working dozens of purl stitches in a row, this is great.

Inspiration

After I bought the yarn and pattern, I found myself surfing Ravelry and looking at a number of Kristin Nicholas’ sweater designs. I saw a man wearing a colorwork sweater with a sort of diamond pattern at a low level on the sweater. And it clicked!

I have long wanted a “Charlie Brown” sweater. You know that I adore zigzag patterns of all sorts. It is no surprise I would like our hero’s t-shirt with a zig at the bottom. His colors are not mine, but the idea struck me fully, years before I was knitting anything beyond scarves.

I had already knit one swatch. I decided to use duplicate stitch on the swatch and see if I could come up with a zig I liked. In the photo above, you can see that the left zig is too “flat” but the one at right is more my style.

Once I determined the rate of ascent, I added several rows of color. I found that embroidering on the garter column was very hard to do accurately. So I made up a little chart for myself, to knit on the few rows on which I will be doing the embroidery.

I am using a contrasting yarn which is not the same brand or texture. I like that the pink is fuzzy and the embroidery is a bit shiny. I think the texture contrast enhances the look.

I will knit this during the Olympic games. We will see if I can finish during that stretch of time. It will depend on a lot of things. But here is my project, ready to go:

My life is very full, but I seem to be tongue-tied here lately. I have joked for years that “I have never run out of words.” I guess my fingers run out even when my voice does not.

I had a good amount of time off during holidays. I had 21 days without teaching, though I worked my pattern design/sales business, and did a lot of administrative work then.

I have been knitting like a crazy woman. Nothing is very important-looking as a rule, but it makes me very happy. I finished four pairs of wristwarmers, including working in the yarn ends, on Monday night. Two of those pairs were knit entirely in January.

I also finished in yarn ends for a pair of anklewarmers. They started out as armwarmers but at a loose gauge, and in washable wool. I like them enough as ankle warmers (perfect under pajama pants for lounging at home) that I’m keeping them just as they are.

You know, talking about the objects is not as fun as the stories behind them. I’m typing this without project photos. However, the largest “wristwarmers” are nearly armwarmers, for a big guy with a big heart… who is a musician, and a friend.

Paul (my friend) is the “squeezebox” player in the photo here. His friend shown behind him is the late Phil Wintermute.

Paul loves to go into the woods all year, and pick edible things (and just observe, as well). He alternates between mushrooms, berries, roots, whatever he finds. This man knows much about nature.

I asked if he could use wristwarmers (while picking edibles) once, when I was making some for me. He was enthusiastic. I decided to unravel a partly-knit footie in bulky yak/wool yarn, and knit him warmers from the 2 balls of that yarn I owned. I used nearly every inch of that yarn, one ball per warmer. My friend Paul will be warmer, now.

I made yet another pair for my friend Brandi, who works outdoors as a wildlife biologist. She gets wet and cold while doing field work and research on diseases such as rabies. I see her in more cozy environments, such as Gone Wired Cafe’ on the East Side (where this photo of us was taken). Photo is me, Brandi, Isabel, and April. Sort of a girl-family of choice, if you will. You just saw Isabel’s new wristwarmers recently, here.

She saw Paul’s pair and got rather excited about that idea. Hers took half the yarn of Paul’s, and I finished them in no time. Now I just have to try and connect with her, when she is not out in a field with deer and raccoons and the like.

I made a different pair of wristwarmers for a friend who is allergic to some fibers. She will enjoy these.

I made a pair for me. These I’ve worked on in fits and starts for over a year. It’s Zealana merino/New Zeeland Possum yarn. It’s soft, and airy, and fluffy… and turquoise. I’ve never had such luxurious wristwarmers, and I’ve knit a LOT of warmers.

I realized when I had all those ends worked in, that I had a table full o’tubes. I then really got the impact of that pile. I just LOVE knitting tubes. Happiness for Lynn, is knitting around and around on double-pointed needles. The less interruption, the better. LOVE.

This is great information for me to understand. Know thyself, right?

I cast on right away. For a neckwarmer. Another tube. I’m happy.

Friday I had to go to Holly, Michigan for a funeral home visitation on Friday. It seems that time of year, unfortunately.

The good news was, once I had to go out of my territory, I decided to visit friends I know online. The bad news was, I have too many friends in that neck o’the woods to see all in a short day.

I thought I’d go to the funeral home, then go to Howell and see Beth Smith at Spinning Loft. This is a shop specifically for spinners, not for knitters (though many folks do both)… an unusual, rare and wonderful place.

Then if I had time I hoped I could go to Stitch in Time, a knitting-and-needlework shop downtown Howell. You see, I won a gift certificate from them at the knitting guild last month. I have not been there in a long while, and there are a few yarns I’ve purchased there which I have really enjoyed.

Somewhere in there, I was on Twitter and realized that my friend Melynda of French Press Knits lives out near Howell. I sent her a note. The next thing I knew, my schedule was more than full.

I met Melynda at a new shop between Fenton and Howelll. The shop is named The Knit Side, and owned by the gracious Gail. It is tidy, organized, and colorful in there! She has a lot of yarns in the Cascade, Plymouth and Berroco lines.

No shop has every yarn in every line. Therefore, even though I am familiar with a lot of these, I found a few yarns I did not remember touching before. I ended up with Magenta and hot green alpaca/wool/silk from Cascade. Maybe a neckwarmer?

I went in the shop with 2 bags. I left the shop with 2 bags. Whoops! I had made a purchase. I should have left with 3 bags. Fortunately, Gail knew I was going to a funeral home in Holly. She knew my name because I signed the guest book. She called the funeral home, they found me, and she delivered my knitting bag to me at the funeral home. My friends, this is fine customer service. Hugs to Gail for being so willing to bend on my behalf!

It was good to see Melynda again. It was great to meet Gail. I was also very happy to see my friend who I see mostly online, who I’ve known for probably 18 years, and who was just widowed.

I was bummed to miss out on Spinning Loft/Beth, and spending my gift certificate at Stitch in Time. Beth is closed on Sunday/Monday, which are often my best days to go on adventures. I will have to see how I can get down to Howell again with only those shops on my agenda.

Oh… and those of you who have been with me long, know: I love purple paint on houses. Here is one I found near Fenton, Michigan. If this tickles your fancy, see my entire collection of posts about Purple Houses!