Madtosh Crafts opened this morning at 11:00. It was a long awaited event. I snapped a pic of a few members of Occupy Madtosh:
There were at least twenty people waiting patiently outside until Amy opened the doors and greeted her guests:
Valet parking, cupcakes and punch were offered to those who came to see the newest shop in the North Texas area, and one that would carry Mdelinetosh yarns.
They raffled off things too, and I won something! It's 8 skeins of MT DK Twist in the Tart color way (I know!), the Wanderlust pullover pattern and a Madtosh bag:
I bought some fat quarters and a neat magazine:
There's more than Madelinetosh yarn - Cascade (think Ultra Pima), The Fiber Company (think Terra), Manos, Be Sweet, Rowan and Blue Sky Alpaca - just to name a few...There's also fiber, patterns, magazines, needles, hooks and other supplies. And, that's just half of the store. On the other side, there's fabric and patterns and sewing notions and fat quarters...Oh my!
The store is adorable. There are built in cubbies for the yarn and fabric. Amy has decorated the place in a charming manner...There are some vintage items - even a loom in the corner. It's antique and very cool. If you have the chance, you should stop in. I think you will like it.
And...you might see me there.
MK out.
Pull up a chair, grab your favorite drink and get ready to read the saga...
Sadly, I only have one FO to share today:
I used the Amerie Cowl pattern, 2 skeins of Urban Silk and size 9 needles for this creation. The pattern calls for 95 yards of yarn, but I doubled it to make it longer and more of an infinity scarf that can be used almost as a necklace. I really like how it turned out. The yarn is silk and cotton - a dream to knit. The pattern was very easy, yet elegant.
Here is the current state of the never ending Lacy Summer Top:
It didn't get finished for WHIBSIB - my girls knitting weekend retreat last weekend - nor did it get finished for this weekend. The back is complete, and I am a.l.m.o.s.t finished with the front. Someday...
Then, there are the never ending socks:
They are coming along, but at this rate, they may outlive me. I want to be finished with them by April 30th - the last day of the March challenge. Seeing as I am just to the heel/gusset section, my chances are pretty slim. I am enjoying the knit...it is just slower going than I like. Those twisted stitches and easy to drop stitches when one is cabling without a needle...Oh the frustration.
However, the dreaded combo did not prevent me from starting the April socks:
It's another pattern by Janneke Maat called Tara. It was the MOCK last month in the Sock Knitters Anonymous group on Ravelry. I didn't get row gauge; so, I frogged them and put everything away until this month. They apply to this month's challenge; so, win-win. However, check it out - twisted stitches and tiny cables...again.
I want to finish the top and the March socks, because I have big plans to participate in Mad May in the Madelinetosh Lovers group. I want to make Saroyan for the general accessories challenge and Lazy Girl Shawl for the general shawl challenge.
For the Saroyan, I plan to use this yarn (Pashmina in the Tart colorway):
I am also going to put some beads on it.
For the Lazy Girl, I plan to use this yarn (Tosh Merino Light - (maybe, or another MT yarn) - in the Oceana colorway:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~and~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
this yarn:
(I am allowed to use a non-Madelinetosh yarn, as long as at least one of the yarns is Madelinetosh.)
And looky, looky:
Madtosh Crafts is having their grand opening tomorrow. I can't wait!
MK out.
It's been a while since I've done a Ten on Tuesday...but I've been busy, busy, busy! Doing what? I don't know, but I do know that I haven't had the time to blog so much...
This week, Carole asks us to list 10 Good Things About Coming Home from a Vacation:
1. Sleeping in my own bed.
2. Sleeping with my own pillow. I love my pillow so much that it is a separate line item. Sometimes, I even take it with me on trips.
3. Having my own bathroom...and by that, I mean literally. We have many less people around here these days, and the same number of bathrooms - so, I claimed one as my very own. It will be so in the new house too.
4. Cooking - or not - in my own kitchen.
5. Watching the tee vee shows I taped on the DVR. Love it! I can zip through a whole week's worth in two days, if I am being especially indulgent and nonproductive.
6. Going through the mail. I have always loved getting mail - even though these days it is mostly bills and ads...some medical journals...maybe a package from The Loopy Ewe or a yarn club or something from Amazon...rarely, a card...even more rare - a letter. (Sigh...I miss letters.)
7. Having my own (entire) closet at my disposal...or, in my case closets.
8. I love my laundry room and being able to wash and dry things when I want to.
9. The taste of the water in my hometown.
10. Spending time in my craftroom...my computer lives in there, as does the sewing machine, serger and the yarn for things currently OTN. It is command central around here.
I love to travel, but I am a homebody at heart.
MK out.
It was finished last week and gifted last weekend:
The Little Red Sweater was made using Berroco Comfort DK, the Little Sailor Coat pattern from Sublime #612, The Third Little Sublime Hand Knit Book and 4.00mm circular needles. Instead of ribbing the skirt part, I knitted in plain stockinette, until the very end. I did a 4X4 rib, as for the sleeves and collar to try to prevent rolling on the bottom. It worked. I really like how it turned out.
MK out.
Second verse, same as the first...
I have been knitting, but - and there's always a but - it seems that things just don't move along.
Well, except for rhe Little Red Sweater:
I am trying to get it finished ASAP. I have the opportunity coming up to gift it in person, and I really want to do so...
However...See this project?
It really isn't looking too different, is it? I cast on this pair of socks (for the second time) on March 1. They are my March 2012 socks...for the SKA March challenge. I chose to knit something by Jaaneke Maat...since I've been wanting to knit these socks for the longest...and my last start proved unfruitful because of circumstances in my personal life.
What's the excuse this time? I think the issue is that when I get some time to knit these days, it is not a situation conducive to minding a chart and balancing the iPad, the chart keeper, whatever - and knitting. So, today, I am going to concentrate on these socks. That means mindless tv show watching or just sitting on the couch with music playing. No foreign movies, no Masterpiece Theater, no professional or otherwise sporting events...no...nada...nothing...just me and the chart and the knitting.
Wish me luck.
MK out.
I hope everyone had a Hippity, Hoppity Easter! It was very rainy for most the day yesterday, but we went out to dinner with the gkids and had a nice time.
We watched Seven Days in Utopia last night, and it had a timely and inspiring message...Lucas Black plays Luke Chisolm - an aspiring pro golfer - who blows his big debut. He runs from his troubles and ends up in Utopia, Texas, where a rancher named Johnny Crawford (Robert Duvall) helps him figure out how to improve his golf game. He also learns about the important things in life. Melissa Leo and Kathy Baker also star in this pretty predictable but wholesome, family film. I liked it.
Ryan Gosling and Carey Mulligan star in Drive. Gosling plays a Hollywood stunt driver by day and a getaway driver by night. Irene (Mulligan) has a son and a husband who is in jail. By the time he gets out of jail, Irene and Driver are good friends. Driver wants to help the husband by driving the getaway car for a robbery the husband is forced to commit, hoping to help him once and for all get out of the criminal scene for Irene and the boy's sake. Things go wrong and Driver figures out that they have been set up...so, he goes after the bad guys. Albert Brooks and Ron Perlman also star in this gritty and pretty violent in places film. It was pretty good though and Ryan Gosling acted well.
In Super 8, six preteens are filming a Super-8 movie when they witness a train derailing that ends up having far reaching consequences in their quiet lives, especially when people start disappearing. Elle Fanning and Kyle Chandler star in this science fiction movie that was pretty cute. I liked it.
MK out.
Sunday was the last day of DFW Fiber Fest 2012. It was kind of sad. I had been fighting those allergies all weekend and I was really feeling puny. I considered not going at all, but I wanted to say "goodbye" to lots of friends, as well as make absolutely sure I wasn't leaving something behind in a vendor booth that really wanted to go home with me.
I'm glad I went, even though I didn't buy anything more or take any pictures. It just makes me happy to be amongst my sheeples.
All in all, it was a wonderful Fiber Fest. I thought the organizers and all their helpers did a wonderful job. (Congrats Y'all!!!) I can't wait to see what is in store for next year...
Between being gone the last two weekends and trying to catch up in between, my movie watching took a back seat. I did see one movie though:
In All the Real Girls, Paul Schneider plays Paul, a guy in his mid-to-late twenties who has slept around with every girl in town. He still hangs with his best friend from high school Tip. He also works for his uncle and lives with his mom (Patricia Clarkson). Along comes Noel, Tip's much younger sister, and the two of them start a relationship. Tip isn't too happy about it, even though Paul respects Noel and wants to be a better person because of her. I think everyone grows up knowing a guy who sleeps with all the girls in town, but beyond that, there wasn't much about this movie to which I related. I didn't much like it.
MK out.
I had fun again yesterday at Fiber Fest. I took a class from JC Briar on "Making Charts Essential" in the afternoon. It was really, really good, and it will help me tremendously with that Lacy Top, because I have to do some decreases while following the lace pattern. Now, I can chart out a little bit of that monster and see how to actually do that without trying to fudge around at it while I am winging it knitting. If you ever have the chance to take a class with JC...I highly recommend that you do it.
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I took more pictures and did less shopping.
I had seen that multicolor skein of yarn Friday in the Western Sky Knits booth. They are a new vendor this year, and by the looks of it, I think they were pretty popular with the crowd.
Anyway, so, I had seen that skein of yarn, and I just wanted it. It was really pretty, but pretty wild. I didn't really know what to make with it; so, I held off. I went back and just bought it yesterday, and while I was walking away, I remembered a pattern that I had seen on Ravelry called Lazy Girl Shawl...Then I remembered a pretty turquoise color that Madelinetosh makes called Oceana...so, I went to her booth to look for some in her MCN. She was out of Oceana in everything except one skein of TML and a few skeins of another base. I went with the TML. I am hoping that the one skein will do it, but since I probably won't start on this project right away, I can wait til her new storefront - Madtosh - opens later this month to get more...
I had also seen a pretty yarn caddy the day before in the Knitting Lagniappe booth, and went back yesterday and bought it. It matches well enough with the blue dragonfly yarn bowl I had purchased from them in a prior Fiber Fest.
Gynx Yarns was a new vendor this year:
As was Gritty Knits:
And Wooly Wonka Fibers:
A few of the established favorites...
Butterfly Girl Designs:
The Buffalo Wool Co:
The Woolie Ewe sent their splinter shop, the Woolie Wok:
There was a Ravelry Meet and Greet in the Stitching Lounge. Here's a picture of me with Sarah and Mary-Heather:
So, I am off for the final day of fun...
MK out.
