unwind
Double SQUEE!
Last night was the Unwind/Ravelry event. It was so much fun! It was great seeing Jess and Casey and all the awesome people that came out to either sell their stuff, or just visit!
A collage of photos from the event...
The above awesomeness is:
- My friend Emily with her little monster posing with The Knitmore Girls and Dr. Gemma.
- Suzanne modeling an orange shrug and looking awesome, as always.
- Dr. Gemma and MeiLan discussing shawls.
- The shop starts to fill up!
- Stephanie makes announcements and introductions.
- Shannon Okey’s birthday! Bring out the cake!
- I actually won something! A pattern…
- …and some Classic Elite Yarn!
The ladies holding down the fort on "Redhead island"
OK…then for the serious highlights of my night. In this next photo I would totally be hyperventilating had Suzanne not given me two glasses of wine first. I believe we talked about how lovely her sweater is. She knit it in Lorna’s Laces “Ysolda Red”… then I pulled out my Amy Pond inspired scarf, which is knit in Lorna’s Laces Helen’s Lace…also in the “Ysolda Red” color. She even helped me with some color choices for yarn that are way far out of my comfort zone!
OMG!
Then I got to spend some time totally nerding out with Shannon Okey. She is fabulous! We talked knitting, Doctor Who, Buffy…she’s so much fun!
Happy Birthday Shannon!!
And if that wasn’t awesome enough…Shannon was there selling her latest book and I had her sign my copy. I didn’t even look to see what she had wrote because we were busy talking about nerd crushes! I was so excited to arrive home, open the book, and see this…
Squee!!
CogKNITive Fiber Retreat 2010 – Part 2
Because when you can’t get internet up in order to update the blog…you can always just record video…
Party, Party, Ravelry Party!
Ravelry folks are in town? It’s the anniversary of Unwind’s opening? Sounds like the perfect reason to have a party!!
Manos, Manos, Manos!
Still pretty quiet before everyone arrived...
The cool thing is that there was a VIP party beforehand that we got to attend. It was great fun. We got a sneak peek at all the fun stuff before everyone else. Manos, Namaste bags… all sorts of stuff! I had a plan going in, and anyone who knows me well knows I can stick to a plan. 
Me and Meilan...and a bunch of people waiting outside.
See, I know sometimes these things can be overwhelming, so I knew what I was going for and kept my blinders on to everything else. It was kind of like my Stitches approach. Go with a list, do not deviate from said list…it was the only way I could keep within my budget. Of course I did see plenty of eye candy that made me all wide-eyed and crazy looking, but I was a good girl. I only really looked at the Manos color cards. I picked my color and I did two laps around the shop before I went up to the register to order and pay for it. 14 skeins in Bing Cherry. I also found a full punch card when I opened my wallet. That means $30 off my order that was *already* sale priced. I had a *moment*. I believe I actually started jumping up and down and giggling loudly.
I bought enough Manos del Uruguay to make this:
It'll look awesome in "bing cherry"...
I can’t wait until it comes in. I have it slated as my next project.
So, I said it was pretty overwhelming, right? Hopefully Penny doesn’t kill me for this one, but sometimes she is so cute that I just can’t help myself…
I believe there was some swearing happening right before this photo...
Little did I know at the time, but I was coming down with something. That and the crowd inside would explain why I felt like I was burning up. I ended up keeping Emily company at the front door and working on my sweater. It was chilly outside, but it was nice to sit and get some knitting done.
Flo, Meilan and Patty outside chatting.
Emily and I...
I enjoyed playing “bouncer” with Emily. Don’t mess with us ladies…..we carry pointy sticks!
The funny thing about this whole night…and I am not quite sure what I was thinking (for now I will blame the fever that came the next day) but I didn’t even think to go introduce myself to the Ravelry folks. I saw Mary-Heather a few times…and I think saw Jess and Casey once, but I didn’t get any photos of them. Blogger FAIL!
I did have fun though. And it’s getting me primed for Stitches West in February.
Project Runway – Unwind Style!
After coming back from the retreat Saturday night I was in for some serious work. My lil’ girl was sick, so at midnight, while the boys in the house were passed out, we ran to the local grocery store for tylenol. Poor thing had a fever of 102. I ended up staying late to make sure she fell asleep and that the fever was going down.
This is where the excitement began.
It begins here because my late night turned around to bite me in the butt! My husband, who was passed out while my girl and I ran to the store, got locked out of the garage, and tried calling up for help, decided to let me sleep in. He was trying to be nice…and didn’t realize class started at ten.
I woke up at ten AFTER ten.
I have never moved so fast in my life. I grabbed as much as I could carry, hoped I had everything needed, and hit the road.
I made it to my duct tape dress form class a half hour late, unshowered….hair not combed. I felt bad because my partner in crime, VivaScrapper, had already been paired up with someone else. Since one of the ladies didn’t show, I got paired up with Lisa Limber, the teacher. It turned out to be a good thing because she started to tape me up with lightning speed and before I knew it, I was ready to be cut out!
I was told I looked like an anime character...
Since I don’t mind being the guinea pig, she demonstrated on me how one cuts this duct taped craziness off. She cut straight up the back…and once it was off I taped the seam up a few times.
One of the other students has been cut out...
There is my dress form, waiting for stuffing.
The part of the base that goes inside the form.
Since I was busting a move to get everything done, I finished a little early. It helped I didn’t have a partner to tape up though. Turns out that all of us were low on polyfil to stuff the inside of these things, so I volunteered to run to the closest JoAnn’s to pick some up.
My trip to JoAnn's
I bought the last 12 bags of polyfil they had. These things are huge! I couldn’t fit them all in the cart!! I dropped a bunch in the parking lot trying to get them out to the van. A few people stopped to help me pick them back up.
I made it back to Unwind just in time for lunch. Woohoo!
After lunch we started the second portion of the class. We talked about garments we brought and what we liked and disliked about them. We also talked color. I got the stink eye for picking up some teal yarn. The girls would love to see me break out of *that* color rut, especially since they can’t understand why I always pick that color when I walk around wearing garments that are much crazier in the color department. It really is my “safe” color. There were some really good color suggestions though. Navy and plum…and I found some yarn I would like to knit a hoodie with…
So pretty, and the ladies think it looks like a good color for me.
Vivascrapper is knitting a “Fauxdie” with it. You can see it there in the background.
So the class was a success, and now I have this dress form hanging out in my living room. Maybe I’ll dress her up for Halloween.
Here we are!
Time for the Retreat!
It’s Friday night and I am here. Woohoo!!
I am here in Tehachapi eagerly anticipating CogKNITive’s First Annual Fiber Retreat. I am in my room. I have gotten all the tubs of stuff out of the back of the van (I am hauling merchandise for Unwind) and I am ready to go. I haven’t heard from anyone I know yet, so I am not sure who is here.
I did meet nice woman downstairs (Kathy), her husband, and their cutieboo 150 lb. dog. I also saw a woman hauling in tubs of yarn while I was unloading the van. I am guessing she is a vendor.
Don’t get me wrong…I am hardly bored while waiting. I have my trusty macbook and a boatload of projects.
Nuzzling some of my own dyed-by-me roving I am donating as a raffle prize
Carbonized "Han Solo" Bamboo that I am still spinning (from Stitches West)
Arm Warmers and my Vaya Shrug aka "The Boobie Holder"
Not to mention I also have my spinning wheel and some cash in my pocket for shopping tomorrow. Hopefully I can get something done!
For now I am gonna knit and goof around on Facebook!
Labor Day Par-tay!
Is there anything better than getting a project done? Heck no! My desire to get stuff done has gone into overdrive and I spent my holiday weekend making stuff. Yay! Of course it helps to get together with a bunch of other folks who like to get stuff done too!
Knitters' Gone Wild...Sunday Morning Version.
Patty plays bartender...
I made my yummy breakfast casserole….and there were so many goodies to eat!
I started the spinning right away.
Spinning, in a chair way too short for me...
Ok, so in the “do as I say and not as I do” files…please don’t send me notes about my poor spinning habits and/or posture. I know, I know….I did get a better chair later.
I got a boatload of spinning done. Would you believe I had 1lb. of fiber completely spun by the end of the weekend? I did. I didn’t get it all plied, but I am well on my way to getting a sweater started. I also have a couple of projects on the needles…just little ones though.
I had also heard that Dr. Gemma of the CogKNITive podcast was going to be headed to the shop so I decided to hang out until the shop closed. Dr. Gemma and Limejuicy of the Fiber Collective came to visit and meet up with Red Queen of Here’s to Ewe! All of them are super cool to hang out with and we all talked about our excitement for the upcoming CogKNITive Fiber Retreat and there was a little bit of Sock Summit gossip!
Red Queen and Dr. Gemma!
So, I am super excited for all of that yarn to be finished. I am overdue for a little yarn porn on this blog. Don’t worry…it’ll be coming very, very soon!
Stitch ‘N’ Pitch 2009!
I had heard the stories around the shop, and to be honest, I think the Friday Night Knitting group started at a Stitch ‘n’ Pitch a few years back. Of course, that wasn’t how I had gotten acquainted with everyone…
It was an interesting time. I brought knitting and spinning, but I can’t say I got much done. We found out that a reporter from NPR was going to be on the bus with us. He interviewed a few of the ladies in the back of the shop while Penny and I watched, but I got a chance to be interviewed on the way to the bus. Of course I was in full on spinning mode because I had started Tour De Fleece already and so I gave my take on how I think spinning has given me a better appreciation for yarn and knitting or something like that.
Me and my friends
The game was blowout, but that didn’t matter. I got a free Namaste KnitTube and I got to get myself a Dodger Dog…and I got to look around at all these people in the section next to us that looked at us sideways because they couldn’t figure out why there was a whole section of men and women knitting at a baseball game. Don’t get me wrong….I love it when people look at me all confused.
Me and my dog....
Cookie A!
Friday night was so much fun! I had missed a few Friday Night meetups for various reasons, but I couldn’t miss this past Friday. Cookie A was at Unwind and I was going to hopefully get my sock mojo back. The place was hoppin’…
Everyone hanging out...
Pagewood Farms!
Cookie A!! Oh...and me...
Socks!!
So many WIP’s, so little time…
Sometimes I feel like it takes feats of super-human strength to get on the computer. I have been gone for a whole week! In my defense, it was a very busy week. Chock full o’ trips to places like the pediatrician. Luckily, we are all on the mend and hopefully the worst of the nastiness is over. It’s been a week of good news too though…..and for a few days I thought I lost my knitting mojo, but have since gotten it back! Yay!
Last night was the weekly stitch ‘n’ bitch. I didn’t end up taking Lucy with me, because I had volunteered to knit a cowl for the shop.
Friday Night at Unwind
So, Stephanie had a bunch of patterns and yarn out for the cowls for the shop. I had picked the Abstract CaterPillar Cowl but had realized it was a quick knit and had only a few rows to go by the time I left the shop, so I also grabbed the Bubbles and Cables Cowl to work on. I started that one this morning…
Caterpillar Cowl
Bubbles and Cables in progress
The Caterpillar cowl was knit up in Colinette Zanziba and some ribbon in the same colorway. I loved the yarn, but think this pattern would look cool in some of my hadnspun. I am shopping the stash as we speak so I can knit another one. The Bubbles and Cables Cowl is being knit up in Aslan Trends Invernal. Really, I didn’t think the yarn was something I would use until I picked it up and took a good look at it. It is Angora, Merino and Nylon and has a pretty little halo when knit up. It is sooo soft too. It is a worsted weight yarn, so I may buy some to work on that Wolly Wormhead Mystery Beret Knit-a-long I am trying to convince everyone at the shop to do with me. I am an enabler. <evil grin>
Raven Monkey Socks
Iceland, 1 repeat in...
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