Drum Roll, Please!

Happy Birthday to ME!

I'm here to announce the winners of my little Birthday Blog Contest. Without further ado, i will tell you that Scarlett was right on the money, and Lindsay has a great eye too! Way to go you two! It is indeed an Einstein Coat from the Sally Melville book - "The Knitting Experience: The Knit Stitch".

More specifically, it's a Baby Einstein Coat! I'm making the coat out of some leftover yarn that was given to me by Amanda, who attends my knitting group. I had no idea how much was there when i started and decided to go for the middle size listed in the book...so for a size that would fit 6-9 months (item is noted to be an oversized fit, not fitted, in the book). Well, needless to say, i ran out of the yarn with about seven rows left on the last sleeve! Ugh! I'm going to end up hunting down another skein at Joann's, but then that will give me the excuse to make this to go with it, so it's all good!

I'll shoot Scarlett and Lindsay each an email to let them know they've won. Many thanks to everyone for playing along and also for all of the Happy Birthday wishes. It's been a nice Birthday so far.!

While i was taking the photo of the Einstein Coat, how could i pass up taking this picture of my sleeping Luna, she was dead to the world! LOL! She leads a very rough life.




~Suz~

Naughty Sock!

(There's a contest going on around here, scroll down to the next post!)

For the purposes of full disclosure, i give you this photo:


The current Soldier Sock was out drinking and smoking on Thursday evening. Somehow that leads me to believe that it and it's mate will fit in perfectly nicely once they arrive to their Soldier-Owner-To-Be.

Just in case you're wondering where it was that the sock got to that enabled this type of behavior...we ended up letting the sock come along when we went to the Annual Raffle/Dinner at the Firehall here in Westminster. If we had known that we'd have to drag it home and put it to bed straight away, well we might have considered leaving it home to be watched by Luna!

Needless to say, i'm a bit leary of taking ths one out in public again.


~Suz~

Birthday Contest

Today is Deb's birthday and mine is on Monday. In order to help us celebrate i thought i'd have a little contest. I've had this extra book sitting here for quite some time, several times i have thought of gifting it to different people, but it may not be the type of book that everyone likes. I'm not sure that i even like it or would ever knit anything from it? I bet your wondering how i ended up with two copies then, aren't you? Random House. Deb's Mom still works there even though Deb does not, and they are able to choose from free book bins once a month. I told Ma Roper to just get any knitting books she comes across even if she thinks i already have it, because...well, you know, knitters can be a generous sort and it's fun to spread the fun around!

Here's the book prize and a few of the inner pages:






The book is divided into area of the home with projects such as pictured above and others including...lamp shades, chair cushions, pillow, throw blankets, robes, table runner, napkin holders, vase sleeves, bed canopy, wall art, a rug or two, etc.

I'll also have a second prize of some "sock" yarn. Of course, if you don't knit socks, you can always use the yarn as you choose.



This is JoJoland Melody yarn. It's 100% wool, not a superwash. The color in front is color Y29, it's pinks and greens and maybe some blue? The color in back is color Y25, to me it looks like blue and tan. There's 220 yards per ball. Fingering weight, good for socks, lace knitting or whatever you little heart desires.
Here's the contest:

I've been knitting an item recently and you have to try to guess what it is from this photo.

I will tell you these few things:

1). There are a few small clues in the photo other than the knitted item.

2). The item started out looking like nothing more than a garter stitch scarf, but then it changed direction.

The contest will run until Monday May 28th, my birthday. Please leave a comment with your guess if you would like to participate. In your comment, also note whether you'd be interested in the book, the yarn or either one. Two winners will be chosen. Anyone who can guess the item will be entered into a drawing where i will write names on pieces of paper, fold them up, toss them in a hat and let Deb draw from the hat with her eyes closed. Very scientific, no? If by Sunday, it's looking like no one has a clue, i'll add some additional clueage to help you out.

(If by some reason i let it slip to you what i was knitting, please play fair. I think i tried not to tell anyone because i knew i was going to hold this contest.)

Guesses are also welcome from the non-knitters. Those might be fun! ;)

Happy guessing!

~Suz~

And yet another Edit: I'd like to give a warm welcome to everyone of course, but a special shout out to everyone who's wandering over from "Noricum's Blog". Noricum, has become a little celebrity in her own right after the "Yarn Harlot" blogged about her and her fancy new hat!

Anyone?

Can ya help a knitter out?

I don't know why, so don't ask me...but i've been having this recent urge to knit a Gnome. Yes. I said, "A Gnome"!

However, i seem to be having trouble finding a pattern. I've seen some knitted gnomes in various places around the blogosphere, but ya know...it's not very easy to find a pattern. Of course i would prefer a free pattern, but i'll pay for one if i have to. That's how much i'd like to knit a gnome!

So, i'm asking all of you other resourceful knitters and internet researcher types...if you come across or know of a gnome pattern...could you link a knitter?

In other news...no one of my last name exists. That's how rare it is.

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 0 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

Well, we all know that that's not quite true. I have 9 members of my immediate family with the same last name (ok, one is my brother's ex-wife, but as far as i know her last name still stands...unfortunately), there are a few in the Chicagoland area and a few on the East Coast - NY, NJ, as far as i know. So how about this...

Suzanne:

• There are 218,889 people in the U.S. with the first name Suzanne.
• Statistically the 294th most popular first name.
• More than 99.9 percent of people with the first name Suzanne are female.

A Visit to the Farm Museum

After we took a nap Saturday morning (Deb works nights and i try to stay up too, remember?), we determined that the weather was nice enough to head over to the Carroll County Farm Museum here in town rather than going to Panera at 2pm to knit indoors. One of the ladies that has come to our knitting group was involved with a Sheep to Shawl demonstration. We thought it would be good to hang out and learn some spinning and some weaving.





We ended up entering the grounds just as our friend was running back in so we saw her at the entrance and she gave us directions on where they were located. Once we paid our entrance fee and i made my way, we arrived at the two tents where the looms, wheels and sheep were set up.



(I'm in the background to the left, leaning on my stick and listening to the questions being answered by one of the spinners.)


There was no seating in the immediate tent areas so eventually i had to wander a bit and find a bench to sit on. I sat on the nearest bench and soon realized it was in bright sun. Bright Sun + Pale Suzie = No Good! So i got up and found a picnic table that was under some trees. Eventually Tamara came and found me and she brought over two drop spindles and some fleece that was still "in the grease". She showed me how to spin and i was doing it right all along. My only error was that, like i learned from one of Dave's blog posts, i was not predrafting enough and was trying to spin with too much roving.


Tamara went back to the area where the demonstration was going on and left me to sit and spin. :) Eventually, Deb pointed out that there was a bench a bit closer to the demostration area and it had a much nicer setting. So i moved to that location and spun happily away while Deb wandered around the Museum grounds checking out the blacksmith shop, inside the Alms House, the gift shop and who knows where else?



In this picture, i have the spindle tucked under my arm and i'm trying to join some more fiber to the attached fiber. It was very windy and the fiber kept getting caught in the wind and breaking off.


Deb took this picture because it made us laugh. None of the other sheep were eating while kneeling. What's up with this one?




Here's one i took of the grapevine. Kind of cool to see the tiny little grapes forming.




When we got home, Deb was able to snap this picture while the mama bird was away. She took one the day they hatched, but it dodn't turn out too good and we didn't want to try again and upset the mama.




~Suz~

A Good Yarn

Have you ever heard the phrase, "a good yarn" in reference to a story being told? I think i've heard this phase being used like that before but i'm having trouble coming up with any references on google. Imagine that?!

And have you heard the term "double entendre"? A double entendre is a figure of speech similar to the pun, in which a spoken phrase can be understood in either of two ways.

That's exactly what we have here.

And, off we go...
On Mother's Day, Cookie posted to her blog of her latest adventure in dyeing some yarn. I was shocked to see that it wasn't of her usual color choice selection. Several other people also commented to that fact. Hmmm. Of course, being that it is so VERY *my* kind of color, i graciously offered to give it a new home.

Quite shortly i recieved an email asking for a mailing address.

Ok...cut back to Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival on May 5th. Deb made the last purchase of the day. She paid for and ordered a loom to be sent from Wisconsin. We're still waiting for that to be delivered.

Back to the story:

Our post arrives around 4pm during the week. The other day around that time it was pouring down rain like you would not believe. I was sitting on the bed, knitting and watching TV and Deb was sitting on the other side of the bed, reading. I saw the mail truck round the corner to the right when usually i think she just drives straight out to the next big road. Hmmm. That's curious. About 15 or 20 minutes later i notice the truck come back, from the side road and making the left to come back toward us and sure enough it sounded like it had pulled into the driveway.

Out loud i say,

"Here comes the mail lady 'round the corner."

"She just pulled into the driveway."

To which Deb says, "Shut-up" or "Nuh uh."....i forget which.

Just then, the doorbell rings. And i say,

"It's your loom!"

Well, Deb got up so fast, she made it out into the living room and opened the door before her Mom who was in the living room could lift her hiney out of her chair. I then heard a bit of chitchat followed by,

"To Suz"

Huh?! I didn't order anything.

Sure enough, Deb then came into the room with a box that was too small to hold the loom and she had the saddest little pout on her face. I'm sure mine must've been the opposite by camparison! Who doesn't LOVE surprise gifties?!!! (Speaking of surprise gifties, doggon it i've still not taken piccys of the early bday gifts that Mom sent! I'm a BAD kid!) But i digress...

Deb handed me the box and as she did she said,

"It's from that Cookie person."

LOL! And that's excatly what the label on the box said. Too funny! I grabbed some scissors and totally tore into the box. Inside there was a sweet little card with cute Cookie-like stickers on it, writting in PINK ink and even a PINK ribbon wrapped around the tissue papered item. Of course inside was this...

Mind you, it was gloomy today with no sun when i took this photo. Bright, right? I'm so excited!

I thought that i had a plan for this yarn, but now that it's in my hot little hands, i may be rethinking the plan.

Many, many thanks to that Cookie person! I love my new yarn and you're such a dear to send it to me instead of keeping it all to yourself! Mwahs! We'll just call this my early bday gift. ;)

~Suz~

In The Works

Well, hello there!

Feeling a bit more tired than usual today. Caught about four hours of sleep between 3am-7am last night/this morning (ya know, heading into Thursday). Had to get up and be ready for when Deb came home from work so that i could go and get blood drawn for testing. The usual bit of tests that any new doctor would require, and thyroid levels to see where my meds are at. Personally, i think the levels are still off, but we'll see. Each time my last dr would up my synthroid dosage, i would have more energy for 2-3 weeks and then it was back to Blah! The next time my blood work was done, sure enough, the dosage was increased. And we'd gone through this about 5 times before i had no more insurance last July. So, here we're starting with the new dr. and we'll see how it goes.

With Mother's Day knitting all done, i'm working on my next "project" of items. I'm making a yet-to-be-determined number of items as a donation at the request of a Dear Friend. Should be a fun time trying to figure out what all to make and how to work in as many of the appropriate yarns that i have on hand. I may have to buy a few "bits and bobs" here and there, but i shouldn't have to invest in too much thanks to some "donated" yarns from Amanda (of the "i bought some STR at MDSW and i don't even knit socks, yet" fame!) and a few other people along the way.

It's funny how as people learn that i knit or crochet they'll say things like, "Oh, i used to knit all the time but i don't any more...i have a bunch of yarn i'll give you." And sure enough a while later my Mom or someone will produce a bag of yarn or two out of nowhere. Hey, any donations are welcome, i always say. And if i don't end up using it i a timely manner i'll end up donating it to either: the lap blanket project that the Pagan Hooker is doing back in Indiana, Warm The World, which Isis Rising is fond of in Colorado (i have yet to donate to them!), or my third option which is the quickest way to pass along unused or leftover yarns....do what Amanda did and take it to the next Carroll County Sit and Knit meeting! But i digress...

Back to the new "project". I'm being vague on purpose. Why? Because i'm planning a little birthday contest, with a prize or maybe two. So, stay tuned because the last weekend of the month i'll be posting the contest and drawing for a winner/or winners on Memorial Day...a.k.a. my birthday and the last one of the 30's too i might add. Gulp.

I have a new hank of lovliness that i REALLY need to tell you about, but i'm still trying to get a good picture of it. Today, with the blood draw thingy, going to a quick breakfast and a bit of a drive with Deb and then coming home and completely falling asleep until after 3pm and then again until almost 7pm...well, the piccy taking never happened. So, well...tomorrow is another day.

I guess that's about all for now. Happy trails!

~Suz~

Randomness

Ooh! I totally forgot that Casey tagged me a few days ago! Sorry, Casey.

Being "scattered", i'm so random...this should be fun!

The rules:
1.List 7 random facts about yourself on your blog
2.Tag 7 more blogs , making sure to let them know.

Here goes...

1. I know the Greek Alphabet by heart, as spoken, not as written. It's great for scrabble.

2. I am a HUGE James Taylor fan. I've seen him in concert several times.

3. I ADORE anything about The Muppets and Jim Henson. I'm just a big kid.

4. When i lived in Western Massachusetts, i worked as a hotel front desk clerk. While working at one hotel, the movie crew for The Cider House Rules, lived at the hotel. I invited two of the men who stayed over on the weekends, to come to my apt. for a home cooked meal. Only one of them came, Jimmy Flynn...he was the transportation coordinator as well as playing a small part in the film (he played an apple orchard supervisor) and also a small role in "Good Will Hunting" (He was the judge.)

HOLY CRAP...i just learned from Wikipedia that he's got mob ties and he's currently under indictment by the United States federal government for racketeering. Eeeep!

Well, he was a nice dinner guest just the same and always pleasant in the hotel lobby. Whew!

5. While working at a different hotel in the same area, i met Lance Armstong in 1999, before i'd ever heard of him in the media. He was in town for a bike race in Northampton, MA. The blonde woman with him (wife or mother) was a picky pain in the arse and asked for their room to be changed three times. Sheesh! Lance was very nice.

6. One of my favorite snacks is sort of odd. It's peanut butter & syrup on toast. You mix some peanut butter & syrup together in a bowl and then spread it on the toast. For some reason, i then like little pads of real butter on top of it. I know. It's strange, but it tastes really good.

7. I don't care for pancakes.

I'm gonna cheat and not tag anyone. I'm just too freaked out right now! I think i'll go knit and try to calm down. LOL!

~Suz~

Mama's Day

Of course i sent my Mom some handknit goodness for Mother's Day. Of course i did not post pics of the items, because...ya know, it was a secret. I was down to the wire finishing the second gift...a pair of socks. And not just any socks, the Harry Potter Horcrux Socks by Susan Pierce Lawrence. Great pattern! Anyway, the box made it to the Post Office prior to Noon on Thursday and Mom actually got her gifts on Saturday. Wow! Not bad at all USPS....for once.

I also sent Mom the second string bag i was working on. It's in ecru kitchen cotton. And, i forgot to get a picture of it...like a dope. So maybe Mom will take a pic and blog it or send it to me in an email?

So, then, let's go back to the socks. I've had this yarn in my stash for about two years. It's handpainted with kool-aid and i bought it from a vendor on eBay.

And i turned the yarn into these for Mom:



Little did i know that Luna had been out shopping for "Mama's Day". Deb came in and said, "Um, i found this gift bag near the cat box." Hmmm. That makes it sounds a little sketchy, doesn't it? Inside the bag was: a great card from Luna, complete with paw print, a bag of yummy coffee, a card of scrunchies for my hairdo, a Lindt Chocolate/Orange bar and some seedling starter pots...one daisies(my fav!) and the other, chives. Fun stuff! Thanks Luna!(and Deb! ;)

Hope all of the Mother's out there had a great day!

~Suz~

Gettysburg Auto Tour

Any guesses as to what we did yesterday? C'mon, i know you wanna guess!


Lincoln Station

Deb and i set out around 1pm on Friday. We were going for a drive and to Aldi to try to return some coffee that smells sour and tastes horrible. (Aldi's coffee used to be our fav, but ever since Katrina...it's totally not the same) We never made it to Aldi, we got a bit sidetracked. We started driving along and Deb suggested that we got up to Gettysburg and do the self guided Auto Tour. For around $10.50 we got a package that included two double-sided audio tapes and a map of the route. It's well worth the money. I think the tour claims to take 3-hours, but that does not allow for stopping for the loo, picture taking, contemplation, exploration or any discussion. Three hours, my eye!


121st Pennsylvania Infantry

I'm posting a few pictures here, but to not make this post obnoxious, all of the others can be seen over on my Flickr account. We took well over 100 pictures, needless to say, i'm not uploading all of them.


McPherson Ridge

This is the second time that Deb and i have driven through the battlefield portion of the National Park at Gettysburg. Much like this time, the first time was spur of the moment and to late in the day to even consider doing the actual auto tour. We live so close that we knew we'd come back to take the tour. I think it takes us about 30-45 minutes to get to Gettysburg(PA) once we're out of Westminster(MD), so not too bad at all. Even here in Westminster there are all kinds of historical Civil War markers and sites to see.


To my home State of Indiana

It was several hours of driving and reflecting on the events of the Civil War. At one point we talked about how boys would lie about their age in order to be able to join the fight. How completely insane the turmoil of battle must've been for a boy of 16, not to mention a man of 30 years or older. There was so much information and detail given on the tapes that it's just impossible to absorb it all in the time you spend taking the tour. At least we now own those tapes, so we can listen to them any time we want.


Eagle topped memorial.


To the sons of Virginia.






Split rail fence along the road to Trostle Farm.



Unrepaired cannonball damage at Trostle Farm


Pennsylvania Memorial

MDSW - The Haul Part Two

...and the end of it all, finally. Whew!

In an effort to get pictures that were truer to color, i hauled my ass outside with my yarn to take pics today.

Ok. Just in case you were not at the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival and just in case you've not bored yourself silly reading other blog posts about the event...

One of the longest lines all day had to be to get into the booth belonging to "The Fold". "The Fold" is a place of fibery, spinning goodness - located in Merengo, Illinois. I've never been to their actual location but have read lots about them via other blogs and bloggers especially, "Two Sock Knitters" and other various fiber fiends in the Chicagoland area. The main attraction at their booth? Socks That Rock! Socks That Rock is a yummy yarn from Blue Moon Fiber Arts, and um...it's for knitting socks. ;) Someday, i want to belong to their "Rockin' Sock Club". Sigh. But i digress....

As i probably said before, the festival was supposed to begin at 9am, but we got their and were in the gate by 8:45am and there were already tons of people. By the time we got through to the end of Barn 3...The Fold was the very last booth the way we went in, the lines looked like this...

Notice too, that i said, "lines". There was one line just to get into the booth and another line to pay for your choices. I just had to have me some STR. So, my beloved Deb and our friend Amanda stood in line. Above the din of the crowd, i directed Deb to look above heads and pointed to the one i had to have!

See the one in the top row with the bright green, well ok...between those two ladies' heads? That one! Earlier in the day i had instructed Deb with the mission of choosing some sock yarn for herself at some point, lucky for me, she chose this...

The one above the blonde hairdo....with the gray at the top and tan at the bottom. That's the one!

Blue Moon Fiber Arts - Socks That Rock
Colorways-Smoky Topaz & Seastone
100% Superwash Merino - Medium Weight
Handdyed Fiber - Aprrox. 380 yards each
From "The Fold" at MDSW
(The green in mine is brighter, it's not "seafoam" like it looks.)

This is what Amanda did while waiting in line.

The funny thing is, Amanda ended up buying three hanks of STR. Why is that funny? Well, she doesn't know how to knit socks...yet. She said that she stood in line for so long, that she really felt that she needed to buy something. LOL! How's that for helping someone's yarn addiction along?

Needless to say, i plan on teaching anyone in our knitting group, with the desire to learn, how to knit socks...and very soon! I must create more obsessed sock knitters. That's my mission.

Later on in the day, we had made it to the Main Barn and i think i already blogged about that and also about my hard time walking back to the parking lot. I had to stop and cuss several times, well...and rest too. One of the final resting spots was at the Chester Farms Booth, where i stopped to lean and rest on the cement base of a light pole. Well, when i turned to look behind me there was this whole big huge table of Cestari yarns and i just could not resist one last purchase...with project already in mind, even. These ended up coming home with us...

Cestari - Forest Green
2-ply Worsted Weight Wool
4oz. - Approx. 210 yards each
From Chester Farms at MDSW

Hope you liked the yarn P0rn. ;)

~Suz~

MDSW - The Haul: Part One

Ok. Here i am with some Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival followup. I know that Cookie and Kele are all about the purchases and if i don't post something soon i fear that they may send people to beat me up.

Once we got in the gate, we took a left and started browsing the vendor booths. It was loads of fun watching Amanda getting lost deep into several of the booths. Carla was having fun too. I didn't really have any set purchase plans other than some "Socks That Rock". We started going through the vendor barns and i spotted this:


KnitPicks Simple Stripes in Vinyard.

Now, i know that might not be too exciting for some people, but KnitPicks does not carry this color any longer and i needed some! I had made a pair of socks that were meant for me, but were too small...Deb got them. With this ball and the 3/4 of a ball i had left, i should be able to make myself a pair! Woot!

Carla spotted a sale basket that i totally overlooked and when i went back to rummage through it i came out with this:


This is an inside/night time shot so color is off a bit. It's purples, dusty blue & teals.
Silver Springs Looms/Dyed Dreams - Janet Stollnitz
Hand Dyed Yarn
100% Merino Superwash - Approx. 239 Yrds.

I think that the next hank i bought totally jumped out at me, it called out my name and told me i HAD to take it home.

It's a rusty orange, yellow and green. Where some of the colors overlap it's brown or more of an olive color. Very Autumnal.
Opal - Herbstmelodie
100 g. ca. 425 m (whatever that all is? - Linda can you help a Yank out?)
75% Schurwolle(Superwash wool) 25% Polyamid

Bought at the Carodan Farms Booth
www.CarodanFarm.com

When Deb went back in with the girls after lunch, i asked her to pick these up for me:

They smell completely yummy!

Here's a cute picture of Carla showing me some of her purchases and she's being silly thinking they would make great earrings. LOL!


Just before lunch as we were trying to gather the four of us together right outside of the Main Barn. First i was sitting and waiting, watching the crowd and talking with other people who were resting. Then Deb and Carla came out. Then Deb went in looking for Amanda. Then Amanda came out with no Deb. Hmmm. Amanda tried and tried and tried to call Deb on her cell phone but it just kept ringing and then going to voicemail. And then Amanda said, "She must be in there petting looms".


Does she look all flushed like she's been petting looms?

Next post i'll finish with the rest of the fibery goodness, of course i'm saving all of the pics from the Socks That Rock frenzy at The Fold!

~Suz~

I Got Nothin'

If you're here for another post about MDSW, ya know...the one where you're hoping to see pics of the fibery goodness that was purchased, you'll just have to wait because i've not taken those pictures yet. Maybe tonight while Deb is at work, who knows.

Instead, you really should go over and read Stephanie's post today. It is truly a gift.

~Suz~

MD S & W - The Recovery

Oh My Goodness!

Deb and i are still trying to recover from Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival yesterday. Just let it be known that i have much fibery goodness to tell you about. Walking with the cane and with the lymphedema in my enourmous legs, well...let's just say that i almost didn't make it back to the van. I really pushed myself that hard and that far into the event area. I had to make several stops on my way back from the Main Barn to the van in the parking lot. There were some tears, there was some cussing and my Deb just really has the patience of a saint. Last year i only made it through three of the vendor barns, this year i did five and made the walk to the Main Barn, but sat outside - crowd watching the whole time that Deb, Amanda and Carla were inside.

During my bench riding throughout the day, i did meet and talk with some really nice people...i had a gentleman offer to buy me an ice cream cone when he went to get one for himself, i declined as we'd not yet had our lunch. Earlier in the day, Carla and i met Jenny and she offered us some of her nuts. They were really good. Deb bought us some nuts later in the day. That's all i'm sayin'.

Deb ordered the tapestry loom to go along with the stand that my Mom sent her as her early birthday gift. (Mom is new to internet shopping and thought she had bought a loom AND a stand, i looked at DickBlick.com where Deb has her "wishlist" and it is deceiving!) The loom ended up being significantly less from a vendor that Deb found at MD S & W, however...it has to be shipped from Wisconsin once the vendor returns after this weekend.

Carla seemed to enjoy her very first fiber festival of any kind and it was funny watching a newbie knowing that we were newbies only last year. Amanda had been to MD S & W before, she seemed to be totally enjoying her child free/fiber filled day....many thanks to Amanda's DH! I wonder how they are recovering from our day?

We went out to the van around 1pm for a wonderful lunch and ended up meeting the Bloggers Meetup once again. Sigh. We enjoyed some a lunch of a fancy chicken salad, veggies & ranch dip, fresh fruit, prunes, chips, Pepperidge Farm cookies in a variety box, bottled water and Sobe drinks...yum! We had several people stop to chat while we were eating and that was fun. I could not handle any more walking so i stayed at the van knitting while everyone else headed back in.

Many, many thanks to all of the people who stopped at the back of our van to read our bumper stickers. Even if you weren't one of the people laughing, i'm still glad you stopped. I kept hearing all of this laughter coming from behind the van, so i flipped down the little extra mirror that we can use to look into the back and behind the van and realized that that's where and why all of the laughter was coming from. I heard, "God is coming and is SHE pissed....oh, i love that, that's hysterical!" and stuff like that.

Here, i'll tease you with these...taken on the way to pick Carla up.











~Suz~

String Along, Anyone?

Hey there!

If you've been around here and read a bit, you'd know that recently i did a bit of a test knit for Erin. Erin has a pretty easy pattern for a nice, sturdy, environmentally friendly String Bag. Oh sure, i managed to not follow directions properly and i sort of have a variation of Erin's String Bag, but i did make a second one and have prevailed!

Erin has decided to put together a little String Along. Won't you join her? It'll be lots of fun and when you're done, you'll have a great bag to take to the Farmer's Market or to your favorite Wool Festival for carrying lots of goodies....oh, wait, that's what mine will be doing this weekend!

~Suz~