Merrily she knits along!

Merrily she knits along! Hours and days later, a huge error is discovered!

The front raglan shaping changes at 10 rows. Having done a few other Knitting Pure and Simple Neck Down V Necks, I glossed over the instructions. This caused the front of my garment to be 24 sts too narrow. When did I discover this? about 3 inches of fabric under the arms was complete. Just about enough to lay the garment flat to make sure it was coming out to gauge. Oh my!

I checked, I proofed, I measured, I re-read, and re-read . . . . and oh my gosh, there it was. The instructions were as perfectly clear as I expected. Rows 1-4 are clearly written....repeat rows 3 & 4 5 more times. If I had continued reading, in the same paragraph are 2 more rows to repeat. These weren't separated out into a new paragraph, and that is where my mistake was. Typically I scan the first complete of sentences in a paragraph, and that's it.

Not sure if I want to ravel back or just start over. I think I will just start over. But I did take a picture of the neck band. I put the neck band on yesterday, and it was today I discovered the mistake. The color is Mystic, one of my exclusive colors. This is just typical me. The days are so crammed with work, that the brain just short-fuses. Oh well. Each stitch was fun, and I will start again!!

Wednesday I received the color Mystic in the Green Line Worsted and Green Line DK. This is really a masculine color. A very dark, strong, lumber-jack kind of green. In the Green Line the dye took differently. And I really like it. It has a considerable amount of brown in the green. Sort of like a mossy green, but very dark. And the dye took very unevenly, but in a very attractive variation, but still all greens and brownish-green. Mystic is an exclusive color to Angelika's Yarn Store

In home life, Christmas Day was very quiet. Cody, who lives in Newberg, Oregon was able to get down through the snow on Wednesday. Whitney, who lives in downtown Portland, managed to sneak out before noon on Thursday. Right after she left Portland, it started snowing again. All of our other children spent Christmas with their other families, but are hoping to make it down for New Years.

Once we get through the holidays, I'll put up another free yarn five-away!

the best laid plans . . .

What a week! I had to lay out each day and put each thing I HAD to do on each day. It was the only way to survive! But things have eased up and I'm slightly ahead of schedule, thanks to my detailed "to do" list. Now things would be perfect if I had not pulled a troublesome rib out of place!

But a reward arrived today. A new pattern from Knitting Pure and Simple and I just could not help myself. Since I was slightly ahead of schedule, I decided to put the heating pad on my back and cast on.

Knitting Pure and Simple Children's V Neck Down Pullover #293 Sizes: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 (finished chest measurements: 26, 28, 30, 32, 34, 36). The sweater was knit in Lorna's Laces Shepherd Worsted in the colorway Maplegrove. I just fell in love with this little guy. I can see it looks awesome in Maple Grove, and decided I had to have one for the store in Renaissance Romance.

Another thing that happened this week was the installation of new carpet. Don't ever buy Berber carpet. There are different kinds of Berber. But beware. The kind we purchased 5 years ago was beautiful when new, but the dirt never truly came up. and if you have pets, forget it. A few years ago I asked our local professional carpet cleaning service (the owner) what carpet he recommends. Boy was he hesitant. So I rephrased it. "knowing what you know about cleaning carpets, durability, wear and life, what would you put in your house." Nylon was the prompt reply. And as I think back on the children's rooms, he is right. Most all stains will lift out and stay out of nylon carpets. Of course, not model paint! But food, dirt, pop, and even grease comes out and stays out. I looked at only 100% nylon when looking for replacement carpet.

Imagination Needs Time to Daydream

So you see, imagination needs moodling - long, inefficient, happy idling, dawdling and puttering. Brenda Ueland

and I so enjoyed looking at this color while I working on the graphic in photoshop. I had daydreams of feeling the softness in my fingers, envisioning how fast it knits up, textures and cables......I do love daydreaming !!

I just photographed this color of 100% Baby Alpaca. It is such a stunning masculine shade, and I'm thinking something for hubby? But I wanted to share it with you!! It is Cascades Baby Alpaca Chunky. A super soft, and very warm yarn. Usually on #10.5 needles it knits up pretty fast. and for such a soft yarn, I'm VERY impressed that cables and textured stitches stand out so well. Just amazing!!

Lichen #0583

One Kind Word

I found this proverb "One kind word can warm three winter months". As we move into the mind crushing holiday season, be sure to remember this. A kind word, a warm smile, a deep breath can make or break your day or the day of those around you.

Thanksgiving is over and I realize I have hardly touched my Christmas shipping. My eyes are rolling into the back of my head and I want to bury my head under my pillow. However am I going to get caught up! Each season seems to have more commitments and less time.

Thanksgiving in San Diego was great. It was very quiet with just husband and I joining his daughter and family. The 3 grandkids are sure growing up and baby Nora is a giggly, curly haired little girl that wants "Oma" to chase her and her brother Zane. I got two girls' day out!! One with 15 yr old Tyler, where the choice of activity is SHOPPING !! The 2nd day is with Mom and a day at the spa! Now who can't love that kind of holiday!

In the store, I'm working thru new stock. I realized I've yet to photograph the new exclusives. So this morning between shipping I managed to get Renaissance Romance and Mystic in Shepherd Worsted done and posted.

Yesterday I finished one more page of the Figheadh Yarnworks patterns that I brought in. As of this date, I am the only full online/web stockist of this line.

Keep a smile on your face and a kind word in your heart! 'til next time!

Once again we come to the Holiday Season . . .

Business has really jumped this month. With the economy the way it is, people tend to stay home. Instead if spending $3000 for a Christmas cruise, the plan is cancelled, but $300 for a nice purchase of yarn is much more in the budget. So as a treat to sacrificing that big trip or jewelry, crocheters and knitters award themselves with some nice yarn.

With the increase in outgoing shipments, incoming shipments also increase. This week Lorna's Laces and Cascade both arrived on the same day, as well as a case of swifts. Is this a mess or what?? But this is what I want. Who does not want a successful business??

Cascade is introducing 2 new yarns. Eco Alpaca and Alpaca Lace. I will be getting those in, but more on those in another post. Need to get the web page created for them. Alpaca is my favorite yarn! Even more so than Cashmere!

Cascade also has about 20 new colors in Fixation. I have the color cards now up online, and the order scripts on the Fixation page. The new colors will be in stock in approx 10 days.

Janene is working today, a Saturday. Janene pulls all the orders, I check and Janene boxes. She also checks in stock and keeps the store looking neat. She tells me she is ready for me to start checking, so if I want to get your orders out today, I better get going! Have a great weekend!

November Winner of drawing!

Becky is the winner of the name in the hat drawing. Congratulations!!! http://beckygtstyl.blogspot.com/
Becky, I will be emailing you asking what you'd like. You have your choice of 2 hanks of Shepherd Sock, Shepherd Sport, Shepherd Worsted or Shepherd Bulky in any color you like.

Exciting news for this small shop! Last week I was mentioned in the last paragraph of Knitter's Review weekly newsletter as the place to go for lace patterns. As a small business, you can imagine it is a real struggle to do advertising. And advertising is a hit and miss thing. I did a TV commercial a number of years back. It was so expensive for me. Nothing . . . nada. . . . . talk about dissappointed. So I pick and choose ever so carefully these days. The best advertising is word of mouth. So when Yarn Store was mentioned I was thrilled. Sales spiked on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Even today, Monday, is good. That always is a good feeling. Owning your own business is very hard work. Sometimes I envy those who climb into their cars at 5pm leaving the business worries behind! But would I change it? Nope. I feel the work load is worth it. I love my job. It is just a nice feeling when sales are good!

The hot item each fall is the Googleheim's Christmas Stocking kits. I sell hundreds of these each year, mostly in the fall. Normally I have it shipped to me via UPS. It saves me considerable expense. But in the fall, these are shipped to me via Priority Mail. I never know what kit will catch the customers' eyes and often I will be out of stock. To get them into stock and back out to you, I have the designer switch to priority mail. This last shipment made it to me in record time!! This is only a few in the line. We have tons more in the racks!

The weekend was quite busy at the home front. 3 of our 6 children came down. Along with their spouses and friends and unusally beautiful weather we had quite a little party Saturday. Starting with lunch outside at the local restaurant, continuing with opening up the garage and letting the sun shine in while we played pool and BBQ'd, ending with a quiet nice watching movies in the media room. Can't get any nicer then that!

As a final note, the Thanksgiving Holiday closure will be Wednesday through Sunda, (Nov 26-30). We are flying down to my daughter's in Carlsbad. This is the daughter who has the 15yr old knitter I brag about each summer! I'm sooooo excited!!! Web site will be open, of course. Limited email communication. Shipping will commence Monday morning after the holiday!

Talk to you again soon!!

Chocolate, men, coffee - some things are better rich.

Just a quick note before I head out for the day. Meeting this morning of our Fiber Arts Guild and then this afternoon meeting with friends.

But don't forget the drawing is still going on. I will pull a name on November 15th for your choice of 2 hanks of Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock, Shepherd Sport, Shepherd Worsted or Shepherd Bulky!! Such a deal!! Names put in the jar will be from those readers who send me a comment!

On my needles I am working on these little Santa Pouch Ornaments. The inspiration came from a crochet pattern of a small purse. I looked at the picture and redesigned it to ornament size and knitted. These are fund raiser ornaments for our local guild. Takes about 4-5 hours per ornament, so I only get about 4-5 done!!

Brought in a few more new patterns from Figheadh Yarns. I really like Jennifer's style.

Last weekend hubby and I went to Portland (Oregon) to look at condos. I'd really like to have a small place there. 3.5 of our 6 chidren live in that area. While they do come and visit the coast alot (they love the sand dunes, lake and the beach), there are times I'd like to get out. Found one we loved, loved the area, but the numbers are not making my CPA husband too excited. He says it is a scary risk, and I can certainly see that. So is all of life! But, if the money just does not exist for the monthly payment, well--I understand, but I am sad! This pic is a condo building called The Edge (upper right hand corner). The neighborhood is quite nice, loved the stores and coffee ships. It is right off the 405, but the noise is about the same as if you lived on the beach. I mean, have you really thought about the roar of the ocean 24-7?

The weekend was awesome! It was Cody's birthday. He's 24. Whitney (23) spent all of Saturday looking thru condos with us. Now that was fun! She took lots of pictures.

More later, gotta go!!

Happy Haunting!

Don't forget, I'm still giving away some free yarn. I will pull a name on November 15th for your choice of 2 hanks of Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock, Shepherd Sport, Shepherd Worsted or Shepherd Bulky!! Such a deal!! Names put in the jar will be from those readers who send me a comment!

Took me a while, but my Neckdown Summer Cardigan (Knitting Pure & Simple: Neckdown Summer Cardigan for Women #221-last one on the page) is complete.

This is my second one. The first one was in Lorna's Laces Lion and Lamb. This was is in Cascade's Cash Vero. Both of them I modified to take in the waist some. On the second one I only put the top buttons on the top, leaving the bottom open.

A couple of new things in the store. I've been bringing in the Cascade Superwash Handdyed shades and I'm almost got them all now. This is perfect for children's garments, and garments that need to be machine washed. This is a worsted weight yarn that usually gets 4.5 sts per inch on about a 4.5mm needle (US#7).

Also, I've picked up a few more patterns from Figheadh Yarnworks. I like Jennifer's patterns because they have a classic design and are pretty simple to knit. These two designs (shown in this picture) are both hoodies. The one on the right is a pullover for children. The one on the right is a zipper hoodie and it includes both children and adult sizes. It is a very easy knit. Both of these might make great Christmas gifts. You can see more of their details here.

On the home front, things have been quiet. Our son-in-law has been gone for a few weeks. He stays with us when working on jobs (contractor) down here. Been playing a few games of pool usually daily, but my pool skills are sadly lacking and not really improving. In fact last night I swear I was getting worse!! Don't know if I mentioned it, but my gawd-awful glasses have been laid to rest. I am now using contacts and love them. Well, most of the time I do. I do get angry when they won't go in, or won't come out. The lab technician was concerned I would have trouble because of my long nails. But I hate glasses, so I will prevail!!

Everyone enjoy Halloween and be safe!!!

Monthly drawings, ideas?

This blog is thinking of monthly drawings. So how does one go about this? Send me a comment on ideas and from that grouping I will draw a name for the first drawing.

Success with the photo of the Revelation in Renaissance Romance. Was able to get the red and chocolate to photograph true. Did have to enhance the harvest and dark green in Photoshop, but the colors are looking good!

Life is too short to drink bad wine (or wear cheap shoes!).

I am a believer that life is too short to drink bad wine. While I do not drink $500 bottles of wine, I don't drink $5 bottles. In fact, I drink so little wine, that when I do, I truly enjoy the better qualities. When I get involved in something I get rather passionate about it for a while. Which brings me to my current blog topic. Last weekend hubby, John, and I drove from Lakeside, Oregon (So Oregon Coast) to Los Gatos, Ca, to visit his oldest son, Scott. We left Friday at 1 and arrived at Scott's at 11pm. The next morning the 3 of us drive back north into Napa Valley. I took control (naturally) and told hubby to take a side road. I didn't want to visit the huge wineries with the crowds of people. The first place we stopped at was Silver Oaks. A beautiful building, with mature gentlemen in suits. A somewhat upscale image. Scott and I tasted a 100% Cabernet and a blend. I came away with 2 bottles of Cab (1 was for a gift) and a really cute hand made bag from Sally Spicer. I couldn't help it. I'm passionate about textiles too! What drew my eye was the brown and green colors.

The 2nd winery was just down the road, Plump Jack. This winery had a totally opposite personality. Walking through the door was like walking into a lively bar full of young people. It was difficult to get up to the bar for sampling. The tender caught my eyes a few times, understanding that I was trying. Eventually we tasted 2 wines, but didn't really enjoy the crowd. We did enjoy sitting on their back porch looking into their grapevine fields. We came away with no purchases from this cute places. Eventually we returned to St Helena and selected the Louis M Martini winery to visit. It was late, but we did go on a tour. It was a great tour and Catherine our guide was very passionate about her employer. I ended up with another Cabernet and 2 bottles of a desert wine (very sweet-yummy!!) We ended the day at some friends with a delicious chicken barbeque on the back deck.

Sunday, was fun for me. The men took me into downtown Los Gatos (simply walking down the street from Scott's). We checked out the spa hotel (someday!!) and the unique and fun shops. One of the stops was at a small yarn store called Yarn Dogs. Of course I came away with 2 hanks of silk yarn! Brunch was in the park with sandwiches and coffee from the Bagel shop. After more window shopping, we hopped into the car and headed into San Jose to visit the Winchester Mystery House. The house was very interesting and I loved the finishing work. But I was a little dissappointed. I guess I expected a little bit more "entertainment" during the tour. But right across the street was Santana Row. If you like to shop, and you like top of the line and brand name products, you must visit this place! My favorite shoes are Cole Haan Nike Airs. Of course I had to come away with 2 pairs! Isn't this one cute? The color I bought is a dark metallic green silver. Very unusual.

It was great to get home. Within a day, Janene and I were caught up with shipping. The store itself was quiet this week, as compared to last week, but the website was very busy. I have quite a few pictures to take, edit and post on the web site of new colors of Baby Alpaca Chunky and Cascade 220 colors. Not to mention that all the new exclusive Lorna's Laces colors need to be photographed. I photographed the Renaissance Romance Revelation this morning. I loved the way the wool is so deeply saturated with those colors. But the picture was just "off". The green faded to a dull flat green, the chocolate didn't look as rich as it is and the dark red looked pinkish. So I will try again tomorrow, maybe going outside for a different type of light. Also, I shipped in some of Figheadh other patterns. I really like her zipped hoodie designs. Those aren't even on my web. Maybe this evening with my feet up, and a newly opened bottle of wine I can get those up. Well, mmmm, maybe not!! Time to close up shop for today. I'm taking my youngest niece out for a girls day! She's so excited. She was telling everyone that Tante and she have a "special" day planned today. Have a great weekend. Talk to you again soon!

Gosh is summer over already??

Here is a picture of my Swirl DK T-Top. The fit was perfect. So now I have got the exact measurements that make a perfect fit on my shape. My next machine knit top, will be will some of Lorna's Laces limited edition silk-bamboo blend. and I mean limited. It is only available through the end of the year and only in Amy's Vintage Office color. Two hanks are laying on my desk, and have told me they want to be a long-sleeved, shallow neck pullover with a lace yoke and long lace sleeves. This is a DK weight yarn, so will knit at approx T4 or so on the LK150. Beautiful yarn, very soft, stunning sheen. Just finished both front bands of my black neck down summer cardigan. Now to pick up and knit the sleeves. I could do this in a night or two, if I'd get going on it, but seems like when it is time to put my feet up, I'm working on something else. It'll get done!!

This afternoon, my nieces decided to get their Halloween pumpkins and asked me to join them. So we journeyed up the hill, complete in costume, to Mountain View Farms where Mel Lucky has a pumpkin patch, store and Haunted House/Hillside. Here is Aurora and Ariel playing magic tricks on each other. See the sparks fly!

Ariel loved the haunted hillside (complete with haunted houses and shacks), but Aurora and Tante Angelika stopped before we got to the spooky noises, skipped over the fence and waited for Ariel and her Dad to get through the maise. Aurora just preferred to run through the pumpkins. The day was very crisp. I'm sad to see the summer ending so soon.

Lazy or Over Worked??

I'm going to sneak a post in with no pictures. It has been a very busy and strange week. I did mange to get the bright pink top complete. Well, almost. A bit of blocking touch up and sew the buttons on. I promise I'll get a new picture posted.

Last week I had 2 newsletters to publish. It is not good when they both hit in the same week. Both are organizations I'm a member of. Association of Knitwear Designers and Heritage Textile Arts Guild. I need to have my head examined to have generously offered to give away so much of my time!! Yikes!!!

Yesterday I had company from someone who is special to me. We took him around the lake and out to lunch, then I beat him at 2 games of pool. I love it! But he did confess it had been 20 years since he played. His visit was way tooooo short!

Do you ever listen to Pandora Radio? It is http://www.pandora.com/ and really cool. My laptop has these amazing speakers and even as I type this blog "Crazy on You" by Heart is blaring out of these amazing speakers!!!

Lorna's Laces is dyeing my new exclusive shades this week. I'm hoping they get dried in time to make my weekly box out. There are 2 colors. Renaissance Romance which is a mix of shades (I lied--here is a picture!) and a nearly solid called Mystic.

I think the Amy's Vintage Office Silk/bamboo blend is due to arrive tomorrow. I need to double check the UPS tracking #. This is going to be stunning!!

Enough of chit chat!! See ya!!

a confession

I have a confession to make. I've a new love. Errrr rather have rekindled a passion from high school.With my children all over 21, I've occasionally been convinced to join them at our local family pub. For a Mom whom my children think doesn't know anything about pool, we've got some funny stories. My favorite was when I beat my 22yr old son, Cody, at pool at the local pub, in front of all of his friends. Friends of many ages. He was dumbstruck and moaned about it for days. I loved it! Mom is NOT all work and no play!

On an impulse that was really not impulsive, my son-in-law, Todd and I took a comacasy 4 hour trip to Oregon City to pick up this used table. At 37 years old, it is practically a collectors piece. Left the house at 8am, and drove back in at about 8pm. Todd is a dynamo. He had half the table put together before I told him he needed to stop. Thanks to Ron and John for helping unload those heavy slates, and thanks to Cody and Zack for loading them in Oregon City!!

As much as I wish the day would stretch to allow me to do everything, plus pool, it does not. Todd and I played everynight and of about 20 games, I actually dropped the 8 ball of 2 games before he did. But many, many times we were right down to the 8 ball at the same time. Practice, I gotta practice!!

This afternoon, after some practicing on the table, I sat back down to the knitting machine. Did one sleeve. Darn!! Where that drop stitch come in at!! Do I want to cheat and mend it? I know I can do it invisibly.

In my hand knitting, my neck down summer sweater body is done. Neckband is done, and I'm working on the button band. Once they are done, I'll do the sleeves. Shouldn't take long, right? 3 new patterns from Vermont Fiber Designs. She's really working up some beautiful, feminine looks. I like!!

And from Lorna's Laces, in the color commentary line, in the color Amy's Vintage Office, only until the end of the year they are dying this absolutely to-die-for 49/50 silk/bamboo light worsted yarn. OOOOhhh myyy gosh!!! I immediately put my order in and should have it in hand in a couple of weeks. Speaking of Amy's Vintage Office color, you just have to check out the photos Zonda took. They are really really good, and show off the colors so perfectly I feel like I could touch them. Amy's Vintage Office (AVO) is going to be an incredible color. I'm already sold out on the Shepherd Sock and Helen's Lace, and I've increased my quantity on my reorder!

The LK150 is whispering to me....knit me, knit me......tata for now!

End of Summer?

You know when you don't hear from me, things are very busy. My part time helper Janene got very sick and has not been in this week. Think of Janene in your prayers. She's has a heart of gold and a overly generous personality. That sometimes makes her overdo things. Another huge crate of Cascade Yarns arrived this week. Fixation and Pima Tencel was the majority of this box. It is interesting to see what yarn is selling like hotcakes. Most often it is Cascade 220 and Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock. Speaking of Lorna's Laces, UPS is due to deliver the new color commentary color "Knitty" today. It's called Amy's Vintage Office. Her inspiration was her office full of gorgeous old office equipment and furniture. Lorna's Laces worked with images of a charcoal desk, steel grey filing cabinets, a card catalog that was grey with the slightest hint of violet....and a light blue princess phone. With all those greys, Lorna's Laces couldn't resist adding a bit of the princess. Yowsa! This color rocks!

Sue at Vermont Fiber Designs has a wonderful sense of style and she's a really awesome gal!! My fingers are just itching to start one of her newest patterns called Empire Waist Cardigan. Such feminine elegance!! I think the Cascade Pima Tencel would work well. The Pima Tencel has really nice drape.

Summer was a sad deal this year. Most days were very cool, foggy or overcast. This past Sunday was one of a few pleasant days. The morning was warm and sunny and there was no breeze until around noon. The lake was like glass. Hubby convinced me to go a long in the ski boat while he and son-in-law, Todd, skied the ski course. And "oh, by the way, can your bring your camera?" yeah. Oh well, it was a beautiful morning and they got a kick out of the photos.

We moved out to Lakeside in 83. It was because of the skiing mostly. I didn't really care where we lived. But hubby was and is an avid skier. Even to the point that in the 80s he skied in ameteur ski competition. So long ago. Me? I'm more of an indoor sportsman. Lately my love for pool as been getting the better of me and I've been hauling Todd to the local pub or kiddie's game area to make a fool out of myself!! Over the last month I've gotten into pool so much that I've ended up buying my own pool cue. My gosh, have you seen some of them? They need to be hung on the wall as art objects, not used as sticks to knock balls around the table! But no, the one I ordered, while good quality, is not an art object. Enough of playing! Time to get your orders out! Take care and left me messages!

New Addi Lace sizes

Just a quick note.....there are more sizes in the addi lace needle line. NEW, VERY SMALL, sizes in the Addi Lace Needles. Now in stock, brand new in the U.S. Sizes 1.5mm (US#000), 2mm (US#0), 2.25mm & 2.75mm sizes in 24", 32", 40" & 47" lengths. See ALL the addi Lace needle sizes here. Soon there will be 6mm, 6.5mm, 7mm and 8mm sizes in stock. These are basically US#10, 10.5, 10.75 & 11 sizes. But I prefer to go by the mm size instead. Manufacturers can and do not always agree on what is a US#size might be, so US sizing is not consistant. But a millimeter is a millimeter is a millimeter and that does not change. Also, I'm on order for the new addi Click interchangeable needles! Watch here! I'm taking orders now! Email me at angelikas@yarn-store.com if you are an existing customer.

Still working on my last T-Top. I'm getting a bit burned out on the machine, so I'm struggling. Seems like I keep finding other things that are a tad bit more important to do. Remaining is the button hole tab, neck band and the sleeves. Easy-peasy, right?

Shepherd Sock Island Blue T-Top

Takes me forever to get a photo I like. So I set up the camera on the checkout counter and set the timer. Needless to say, I took about 50-zillion pics!!

Anyway, here it is. My T-Top knit out of Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock on my Silver Reed SK280.

Doesn't show the picot edging, but I'll get closeups of that.

It was interesting to note that the gauge was somewhat looser on this top. The shoulder points really wanted to slip down over my shoulders. To stop this from happening, I took some thread-thin elastic and single crocheted from the shoulder points to the shoulder points and across the back neck. I probably could have just done the back neck because that was where a lot of the shifting was going on.

In really high end tops, you see a lot of stabilization this way. I've seen St John's Knits pants with this black rubber tape stitched down from center back to center front.

The store was really busy today. I had to hold many orders just waiting for UPS who had my Cascade Yarns and another knitting warehouse supplier shipment. They were about 90 minutes late. Doesn't bother me much except that it was getting quite close to the post office pickup. But Janene and I got all those orders out!!

Last night I cast on for another "tyler's cosmetic bag". This is hand knit and felted. I am putting the little pattern in our local guild's newsletter and wanted to proof it. Good thing I did because a lot of the pattern assumes, and is literally incorrect. Maybe you'd like to have it too?

Tyler's Cosmetic Bag
Yarn: Cascade 220 Peruvian Wool. Small amount of waste yarn.
Needles: US10.5 double point.
Zipper: Double Head, large tooth, plastic zipper.
Abbreviations: kfb: knit in front of stitch as normal, but leave stitch on left needle Knit into the back of the stitch, then slip off.
Cast on 30 sts loosely with waste yarn, knit a few rows.
Change to one strand of Cascade 220, and
1. K1R.
2. P1R.
3. K1R.
4. P1R.
5. K1R.
At the end of the 5th row, With a 2nd needle pick up 3 stitches on short edge of rectangle.
With a 3rd needle, knit the next 29 sts of main yarn off the waste yarn.
With a 4th needle pick up 3 stitches on this last edge.
Round 1: *k5, kfb* repeat the starred instructions, 3 more times. K6. change needle.
K 3 sts on the edge. Change needle.
*k5, kfb* repeat the starred instructions, 3 more times. K5. change needle.
K 3 sts on the edge. Change needle.
Round 1 completed.
Rounds 2 through 26. Knit all rounds, being sure to change needles at corners.
Round 27: Bind off loosely while knitting this last row.
Felt in washing machine. Hand stitch in zipper. Zipper shown in photo is double headed, large tooth zipper.

Gotta go!! Talk to you again soon! Angelika

After the Holiday

This is the lower part of our property. It borders the channel that is dredged regularly to keep North Lake open to Tenmile Lake. The field is underwater in the winter time. In the summer we keep it mowed. Because it is kept clean in the summer, it is a haven for wildlife in the winter.

A closeup shows the field better. See the campers. They are hanging around the BBQ, where Steve is cooking oysters. See Ron with his girls (my nieces). The youngest, Aurora, is learning to fish, while Dad chats with the older, Ariel. There were lots of volley ball games. In the far back of the field is the net. Even the little girls played. Volley ball is the favorite group game this summer. And the rules vary from group to group, as long as there's lots of laughs.

Kicking back Sunday morning. Sore muscles from playing games and riding in the dunes. Hubby, John, and my daughter in law are in the chairs. Step-son Scott and step-daughter Greta are in the hot tub. Our son Cody is standing in the background.

A view of our house, from the other side of the channel. The store sign is barely visible. We love to sit on the deck and look over the town and lake.

T-Top #3!!! This is Lorna's Laces Swirl DK on the LK150 Silver Reed knitting machine. This yarn usually knits on a 4mm needle, so I set the machine to Tension 4, and match the stitch gauge of 5.5 sts per inch dead on!! I don't know if Silver Reed did this on purpose or not, but on this machine, I can set the tension dial to whatever millimeter knitting needle is called for and get gauge. This color is Berry. Other than gauge, the style is the same as the Island Blue Tab Front T-Top. I should have a completed picture of that tomorrow.

I finished the Island Blue Shepherd Sock Tab Front T-Top this weekend. 5 hanks of Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock, and barely a few yards were left over. I added these silver buttons my Mom brought back from Germany. Picture tomorrow!!!

My son Cody is passionate about fishing. He has been ever since he knew what a fishing pole was. I don't often get pictures of him. I took this one from across the channel. He never knew it!! He's down here for the week. He works at ici, a computer business in Wilsonville. OK!! See you all tomorrow!