Give me Shelter!

I couldn't resist when Brooklyn Tweed posted about his yarn line, Shelter. It arrived this morning and it is lovely...don't you think? He has several new patterns that will probably be ordered up soon. My daughter has already approved one and suggested a colorway she would like.

The other exciting, knitterly event is Stitches West registration...which opened this AM. I almost missed the starting gate trying to figure out what 9AM Central Time translates to in Altadena, CA. Thanks to the trusty Mac I found out and grabbed all the classes I wanted.

A Special 4th!

My DH has decided to take today off to celebrate the 4th. This afternoon he is watching the History Channel special on the Revolutionary War and I am attempting a Mermaid Sock. He has a kit rifle of the period in progress, too!

Over the past three years I have been able to take classes from Lucy Neatby at Stitches West. Her teaching style is to be admired and the patterns are interesting. Her Mermaid Socks have called to me and (until now) I have resisted. Then I saw the perfect colorway sitting on the shelf at Skein the other day...another project underway. Our daughter left for Boston last night on Virgin America with a whopping 10 pieces of luggage. It turned out to be an efficient and inexpensive way to move certain items. Who would have guessed that? She plans to see the Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular this evening in person. We will watch it on TV.

Still Unpacking ....

Sorry for doing the reveal in dribs and drabs...there is just too much for me to post in one sitting. You know, there is knitting to be done, too. Just off the needles this morning is another hat to keep my daughter's head warm when she is in Boston. It was a fun knit in a lovely yarn.

The third sweater project that I purchased while at Stitches West is a Lucy Neatby design, Venus Rising. The yarn I will be using is Kauni, a wool that I had, until Stitches, not seen in person. It is beautiful, colorful..and will keep me entertained while knitting!

Next out of the bag are some wonderful sock yarns. If you know me...you know that I have a special weakness for Blue Moon's fingering weight sock yarn. Like I don't have enough already!

Here are some that I could not resist adding to my collection.
and there were the other random sock yarns that I could not leave behind....

still unpacking ....more sock yarn

Well, that will have to be all for today. We have plumbing and carpentry projects underway and the craftroom is in need of organization...patterns to sort into binders.

Just a typical Sunday at home.

Eye Candy

I have had several requests to post my purchases from Stitches West 2009. Since there are more than just one or two skeins to share, I plan to do it in small doses over the next few days. I don't want to be responsible for the visual stimulation that could happen downstream!

So, without further ado....the carry on bag my daughter had the foresight to bring.

 The first item out of the bag is yarn for the asymmetrical cable sweater in Cheryl Oberle's latest book, Knitted Jackets. The book was sold out - but I purchased it from her when I paid for the yarn. The yarn is yummy and a color I absolutely adore.

Next up is yarn for another sweater project, the February Lady Sweater. Three skeins of BMFA's HeavyweightThat is all for this morning...more to follow over the weekend and early next week.

Back From Stitches West

I am decompressing after a whirlwind long weekend of fiber overload at Stitches West 2009. My daughter joined me for Saturday and Sunday, making the experience even better. 

Later in the week I'll share my yarn and knitting related purchases. Before dashing off to work this morning I wanted to post a photo of my favorite teacher from the past three Stitches I have attended - Lucy Neatby. This year the class was on something I have avoided, intartia. Lucy's instructions have cleared up some issues for me and perhaps an intartia project is in my future!

What do you think of her sweater?She has DVDs for sale on her website that are very helpful. I purchased the last three that are currently available. They happen to feature intartia techniques & tips.