Wow! It's March and I survived Christmas! I did not, however, complete all my gifts. Everybody got something, just not exactly what I had planned. This is a long post, I have lots of catching up to do.

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The big news right now is STITCHES WEST!! I had such a wonderful time. I took Bella with me on Saturday and she had loads of fun weaving and trying out felting at the ART FIBERS demonstration booth. Bella is actually pretty patient with the loom and I have gotten her a small plastic childs loom to use at home. While at STITCHES we got the RAVELRY passport and Bella was thrilled at being put in charge of getting all the stamps. I still haven't seen the winners from that posted anywhere, though.

I didn't buy much yarn this year. I did, though, get tons of buttons and patterns! We tried out the gigantic - ass knitting needles. That was crazy. You would seriously have to have a whole couch in order to knit with these needles. There's something for everybody!

I was excited to meet Nicole and Jenny from the STASH AND BURN podcast. I blabbered like and idiot and then walked away. Total embarassment. That's just how I roll.

One of my favorite booths this year was IMAGINKNIT. Lucious yarns and great sample projects! I got 2 skeins of MALABRIGO. One is SUNSET and one in CHRISTMAS GREEN. These were for the yummy (free pattern with yarn purchase) CARROT SCARF. I finished it and I LOVE it. I searched for the yarn at my LYS COMMUKNITY but couldnt find quite the right colors. I did get a yummy purple MANOS. If CARROT SCARF is good, then an EGGPLANT SCARF will be crazy!

With a taste for carrot colored MALABRIGO that couldn't be satisfied locally, I enlisted my husband and children into service and got them all hyped up about an exciting adventure to........ THE CITY. My kids have been to more yarn stores that some veteran knitters. On my days off, we drive to new cities and visit the yarn store there. They refer to different yarn stores by the selection of kids toys they offer.


From our house in SAN JOSE, its about a 45 minute drive to SAN FRANCISCO and my ultimate destination, IMAGINKNIT. Other than their booth at STITCHES the last 2 years, I had never been to the shop itself. ANTICIPATION.

The day of our trip was ABSOLUTLY GORGEOUS! The sun was shining, there was a light cool breeze. The kids got up and dressed without any fuss, we left the house on time. Things were going our way. We got to the shop without any trouble. Holding hands, faces tilted to the sun, skipping on the sidewalk, we made our way to the little shop on the corner.

My First Post

Yeah!! I've finished sooo many Christmas gifts in the last month! Several scarves and hats, I'm quickly finishing a wonderful shawl. Now, If I could just move on to knitting for someone other than my best friend, I would be accomplishing something. I can't help it! I am an appreciation junkie. She always loves (and WEARS) the things I make for her. I recently saw a scarf I made for <relative who will not be named but you know who you are> wrapped in plastic and stashed on the highest shelf of the coat closet. It's harder for me to knit and gift items when I know this will be their fate.

Nevertheless.... I will be moving on to other receipients. My MIL is getting a Debbie Bliss Cashmerino scarf, hat and glove set. I did the easy part first and finished the scarf already.

My youngest daughter will be getting the (eventually) completed SAM THE RAM. I've been working on that since before she was born. She's 2 now, in case you were wondering.

To my DH I will be giving socks made of Claudia Hand Painted fingering weight Walk In The Woods colorway. Have you seen it? Its sooooooo beautiful!!!

I would love to send my little brother and big sister something made just for them. I won't post it here. They are the only 2 people who are likely to actually read this! I don't want to ruin any suprise!!

It will truly be a wonder if I manage to finish all these. I work in retail and this is the biggest baddest season for us. Crunch time. Not a lot of extra hours to work on gifts. I'll be having a lot of late nights! Wish me luck!