Oh, I’m so excited! I designed a new small purse/bag. It’s felted. It’s colorful. It is just the right size for when you want to take a wallet, cellphone, sunglasses, and keys on a quick jaunt to the beach or other summer destination.

No, the pattern is not ready yet. In fact, the yellow/green sample you see here is still not fully dried after felting. I’ve written one draft but the first version of this pattern will be ready for my class at Little Red Schoolhouse next Friday and the Friday after that. If you can only make one week, come anyway, my friends! We can catch up with one another by appointment if you have further questions.

The class is definitely a “go.” Caroline signed up today and assured me her friends were coming to sign up this weekend. Woohoo! And such fun we will have!

This is a quick knit. I knit it in a day and a half of focus. You could do it on a long weekend easily even with distractions. Felted bags are forgiving of hiccups, too. And you might even have a partial skein or two of the Brown Sheep Lamb’s Pride worsted yarn it calls for, just waiting for a little stash-reducing project. It needs just over a half skein for one color, and about 3/4 of a skein for the main color.

Both of these samples pictured here, are on display at Little Red Schoolhouse. I also knit up a few other alternate stripe colors in little sample swatches, for those who prefer more options. They are with the bags at the shop.

Please join us. Call 517/321-6701 to register, or pop by the shop if that’s easier for you.

I made the decision… I am driving down to Indianapolis next week to the TNNA show for Sunday (June 11) only. I’m very excited. This will be my first TNNA show.

Yes, I’m nuts. It’s 5 hours to get there. We sing at Altu’s on Saturday night until 8:30pm. Maybe I’ll start the drive after the gig is over, and see how far I get before I need to find a room. Maybe I’ll try to go to sleep early (I usually crash between 1:30am and 3am, so that’s not very likely) and drive it in the am.

I work on Monday at 3:30pm in Lansing. That does mean I can sleep in Indy and then drive home on Monday like a sane person. This is good.

For non-knitters, TNNA is a trade organization for needlework including knitting… and this is a big yarn/pattern-buying show for yarn shops all over.

I’m already planning to catch up with Mary Moran of KnittingZone. She lives in Alabama! That’s 14 hours from Lansing. It will be a treat to meet her, we’ve known one another online for years.

I hear it’s absolute sensory overload at the show. I don’t really enjoy crowds (I love people but in smaller groups). But I love connecting with people I know from the Internet! I have been on the Socknitters email list since spring of 2001, and have made many friends. I want to meet some of them! And if I could meet one or two of you wonderful folks who read this blog, that would be just the icing on the cake.

So who is reading this, who will be in Indianapolis that day? I have music friends there, but may have a hard time connecting with them. I may try anyway. I think this is one place where playing it by ear would be very wise. (I do remember eating at a very good Indian restaurant in Indy last October, and may have to look that up before I return. Yum!)