I could not have had a better birthday weekend.  Kenny came in from Houston, Chuck from St. Louis, John from San Francisco, and we spent the weekend together!  on Saturday, we went to the fiber frolic hosted by Griffin Dyeworks - did natural dyeing, solar dyeing, ate and spent the day chatting and keeping an eye on the fires burning nearby - Charles came to the event as well - and my friend (family) I have known for 20 years, Debra as well!

The fires are horrible - for a while we weren't sure if we were going to get to dye yarn or not- but the winds changed and we go to do so...  all day long we watched the smoke billow.  the power of nature can be terrifying...

Here's Chuck and Charles preparing yarn for the dyepots - my fav dye was the indigo - when you pull the yarn out of the pot, it's light green, sort of like the color of antifreeze... then, suddenly it changes to beautiful dark blue!  amazing.
We learned a lot and can't wait to do more!

John did some quick dyeing - see?  Indigo!  (most of us were smart enough to wear globes) haha -
We also knitted away... talked, laughed, cut up, and just enjoyed the best time ever - I can't wait to see more of each of my knitting pals!
Of course, they are all going to the Men's Knitting Retreat - in Seattle... I stay home this time - sadly - I must work, and school starts tomorrow...

I won't go into all the gifts I got - probably more than I deserved... yarn, running shorts, gift certificates, not to mention the gift of my pals flying across the country to see me... but one of my FAVORITE gifts was this little bag bought for me at the frolic - it's a knitting bag that's reversible - the inside (as shown) is little skull and crossbones, but the crossbones are knitting needles... and the outside of it is a fabric called "Knitmare" - it shows a person dying trying to knit... a dog eating knitting... a cat tangling up the yarn - and a little boy wearing a sweater that just doesn't fit.... I LOVE it!  go buy yours here:  www.readyorknit.etsy.com -

I *almost* finished my top down raglan - I still have to do the collar... weave in the ends... but it'll be done really soon.  I am pretending it's done...and cast on for another one - it'll probably be the last one for a while -
I'm really proud of this raglan - the random striping worked the way I wanted it to - and lots of people like this - once it's REALLY done, I'll do some photos and try to go in depth on how I did the striping.

School starts tomorrow - beginning the classes for a drug and alcohol certificate and the continuance of my fun times in ceramics!  Sadly, that means no more knitting at the farmer's market on Thursdays...

Thank you again to everyone who helped to make this birthday so amazing - I appreciate every kind word, thoughtful gift and big hug I got... here's to making 35 a year to remember! 

I did it. I took the first step - today is August 20, 2009 - the one year anniversary of my losing my Grandmother to Alzheimer's... I spent the day at work, and while at work a voulenteer came into our showroom and asked if we could put the AIDS Marathon Training Program brochure stand in the store.  It offers a program of training to help raise money for AIDS research while helping participants train for the Los Angeles Marathon.  I looked at it again... ominous. It's back. Year after year, I have witnessed the opportunity to become part of this process - to join, run, grow strong, raise money and eventually run a marathon!

And each year, I let the chance pass me by.

This year, I made the decision. I didn't think about it - it's easier to just do things sometimes, and to freak out later. I know I'll freak out soon... school is about to start - I'm working full time... I still love my knitting and must find time for that as well... but here I am - signed up and ready to jump in!
Please help me raise the money needed. I know it's a long way from now - but if you can help me by giving even a few dollars, it'll help me see who is behind me.
Thank you! Please check back often - and email me if you have any questions or stories you'd like to share with me...I have a few I'll share as the days pass... and as we get closer to March when I'll do what I never thought I could!

click on the graphic to be directed to my personal fundraising site - and if you have a few dollars, please give what you can - another big help will be to help by sharing my site with others - email your friends and ask them to give... $5 is a big help - it tells me you care about me and this cause and you support my efforts to do what today feels ominous and impossible.  I know that with your support I'll succeed and that come March, I'll look back at this day and smile as I remember how scared I was - and by then I know I will have learned that anything is possible with a little bit of determination and the support of your family and fri
Thank You!

Have you heard of Matthew Modine's new cause?  he's doing his best to help a tribe in Equador save their alpaca flock!  click on the shirt on the left to be redirected to a site that explains his efforts - and if you're in love with the shirt (like I am!) click on the "Schwag" button and buy your own... there is also coffee mugs, tote bags and lots of shirts... show your support

what.... you don't think there's a problem with the alpacas?  OK, OK, you're right -it's just a brilliant marketing scheme by the Geffen Playhouse in Westwood, CA for an upcoming play - "Matthew Modine Saves the Alpacas" coming up next month!

interested in finding out about the play?  click on the title and you'll be directed to a link explaining some about the show...  I have heard a few yarn shops might be trying to organize groups to the show - talk with your local yarn shop and see if they're interested...

I am getting a shirt - and love the idea of this fun site... lots of the alpaca photos on the flickr page are from my NY trip this past March... I can't wait to see the play, Matthew Modine, French Stuart and Peri Gilpin, along with the rest of the actors promise that it'll be a hoot!

Please repost and share with your fiber friends - the Alpaca thank you!!!

After finishing my pinwheel blanket, I had (have) so much yarn left over in this "fall" color family that was already hacked and used that I can't do much else with it but freeform or random striped knitting.  Also, because I only had to finish up the blanket to get the rush of a FO I still have some random striping steam left in me... that's what caused me to dig up my handy dandy top down raglan pattern (#991 by Diane Soucy) and started knitting. 

I began on Friday night after work, and knitted all weekend - I knit in the morning early.... then we went with some friends out for errands - I knit at the car dealership in the waiting room (free cookies, pastries, water, juice, soda!) ... then we went to Farrell's ice cream parlor, and watched our friend's kids play video games... while they played, I knit... carrying around my sweater in a messenger bag... they did bumper boats... I watched and knit.... they did go karts, I knit some more... it worked out perfectly because I was able to keep another friend company so she wasn't the only spectator!

We ate amazing food... I knit... we came home for a while and while everyone did their thing... playing with animals, playing on the computer, etc., I knit... and when we went out for dinner that night, I knit again.  I asked everyone if they were OK with my knitting and they all said it was OK - that it was almost expected of me...

After dinner, we went to Target for a few last minute things, and I even knit walking through Target... this was all excessive even in my opinion, but after a day of knitting Saturday, and most of Sunday, I'm about 1/2 way done with the body of my raglan sweater!

What I haven't decided yet is this - should the sleeves match each other?  I was first thinking of making them both totally random - then I thought maybe they should be different from the body of the sweater (same general yarns, etc.) but not the same color order/yarn type, etc.  OR should I just knit sleeve #1 and use those same yarns (and striping but maybe a different order) for sleeve #2?  I need input!

The photo shows what it looked like as of Sunday afternoon - I have done even more than this already as I type... but I need to know what to do for sleeves - please let me know your thoughts either in comments or email :)

Have a great week!

A friend showed me a baby blanket she made for her new daughter - I instantly fell in love with this pattern and after her convincing me how easy it was (it IS easy!) I decided to take a collection of yarns I had and make an adult sized blanket.  I grouped the yarns in order of how I wanted to stripe them, bagged them (together if I intend to strand more than one at a time) and numbered the bags in this case, 1-36. I just followed the pattern, and changed the color of yarn every 2 or 4 rounds.

This piece started and ended with some amazing yarn from Manos del Uruguay - in one of my favorite colors.  I am happy to have found a use for all these novelty yarns, single balls, etc. I’m using some beautiful handspun, vintage yarn, and even the yarn I had made through VIP Fibers of my cat Winky's fur!  The final blanket is just over 4' across.

I'm really happy that this is finished - it lingered in my "works in progress" for a LONG time!  - I started it a year ago last March!