What have I been doing?

We have been trying to get our backyard ready for a brunch that is going to be here the day after Annie and Tim's wedding. So, we felt we ought to pretty it up in the backyard. We had to strip all the old gunk off of the Teak furniture. We then oiled it all to make it look like new. Landscaper coming to prune and clean didn't hurt either.




Besides being caught up in wedding stuff and feeling nervous because I feel like there should be stuff I am doing to help, I have knit my sister a shawl because I love her. Not only that but she has made me all my jewlery for the wedding (it is beautiful).

So, the countdown begins this weekend. The wedding is one week away. When it is done and Annie and Tim are safely sipping exotic drinks, I will start to think about all the stuff I want to get rid of in this house in case we move to Scotland. Oh, and think about getting the house ready to sell.

Thank god for Viognier.

Scotland

Mr Yarn is on his way home from Scotland where he interviewed at the University of Dundee. If he got the job it looks like we will be living in a new country soon. Scary, but at least I know where my next yarn is coming from :-) Who knows, maybe I will be able to have my own sheep.

My kids!

I got this picture back from Annie's shower and I love it. The shower was really fun and Annie got to eat her own face on the cake. What could be better?



This is from Evan's graduation. He graduated from Emerson in Boston and we went there last week. It is wonderful to see Annie getting married and Evan graduating but it is hard to see them so grown up.

Time just goes by too fast.

Oh yes I am knitting!!!!!

I still haven't figured out the new camera and I probably won't for a long long time because I am crazy stressed with out of work husbands, daughters wedding, sons graduation. Not that this is any excuse but I am am am knitting!



So this is the "Granny Smith" aka pain in the ass sweater. I must have ripped out this puppy a million times. Maybe it was just me. I love how it came out even though the picture sucks. I am wearing it over the dress that I am wearing to Annie's shower in L.A (the one where all my x-inlaws will be at looking at me).

and here we have a lovely shawl that I made out of incredible cashmere that I ripped off (not really she gave it to me because she would give me anything I wanted because she is the most generous person in the world) from Laurel. I used up the stuff *I* had for another project so I stole this from her for this one. I don't know the name of the pattern but it is in the Victorian Lace book. Ok I am rambling...



Again, not the best picture but oh well. I better go. I sound like I am a crazy person...bwahhhhhaaaaa

Bad picture but...

Not a great picture. This is the fichu that I knit for Annie. It is from the Victorian Lace book (XRX). It was a fun knit. It was a pain to block out and I still need to steam the collar. I am knitting though. I am sewing together the Granny Smith sweater and I am working on another shawl from Victorian Lace today. Pictures to follow as they are finished.

No news yet on Mr. Yarns job hunt. He has an interview in Atlanta tomorrow and he had a phone interview with a place in Scotland. The adventure has just begun.

Forest Path Shawl is done!

I finished the Forest Path Shawl from an old Interweave. Blocked and ready to go. It is for Annie. I also just finished a fichu from Victorian Shawls today but it isn't blocked. I am now working on a shawl for myself. Wedding stuff coming up and I want to get all these done. I am also partly done with Forest Darkness which is my beautiful Bohus (my favorite sweaters in the world). I am on a lace kick right now though. I love working on lace.

Celtic is done!

This is Celtic from Rowan Magazine 41. It wasn't an easy knit and I am glad that it is over. There was errata that Rowan didn't post but I found it on someone elses blog. Here it is in case you decide to do this sweater.

Rowan said:

"Unfortunately there is a print error on the key for this pattern and the upside down black triangle should be inc 2 purlwise. The dec 7 uses 7 sts but actually dec's 6 sts"

So, if you decide to do this sweater keep this in mind.

I am now working on the Bohus sweater Forest Darkness.

To ME it is snow!!!

I have never seen this and I have lived in California all my life. I have never seen it hail and the ice not melt as it hit the ground. Needless to say I jumped around like a freak yelling "SNOW SNOW". Mr. Yarn burst my bubble by laughing and saying "That isn't SNOW, it is hail". It didn't melt!!!

Ok, it takes little to amuse me.



Check out the table it is COVERED with SNOW

Why do I do this to myself?

I don't think I told you all yet but I threw aside the Medieval Tapestry. It was ugly, it didn't fit, I was running out of yarn for borders (ok, Virtual Yarns did send me more and that was really nice of them) and in general I hated the sweater. So, I went with option 2 and started Celtic from Rowan magazine 40.

I started it and then started it over and then started again. I must have done this literally 15 times. I did check for errata on the Rowan website and there was none for that sweater. I was determined to finish this sweater so I did a little search on the internet and found that a kind woman in Norway had the secret to the problem. It seems that someone had written to Rowan and the chart had errors. I thought it was pretty horrible that they knew about the problems and did't post it so I wrote to them again reminding them that maybe they should.

Please email me if you are going to do this sweater because there are little tricks that you also will need to know. For instance how to increase 2 purlwise so that it doesn't look ugly.

Ok, I decided but now I am sorry

I finished the Alice Starmore "Bodega Bay" sweater and I know that this is going to be my favorite. It is a very warm sweater but it fits perfectly and I love it.



So, I had to finally decide what sweater to do next and after all of your voting I did what I wanted anyhow. I am sorry that I did though. This sweater is a bore to knit but at least it is going fast. I also started the Lizard Ridge afghan but that is even more boring to knit. Here is the start of the Jade Starmore "Medieval Tapestry" sweater. I know already that I will never wear it.

Please tell me

Which should be my next project

Rowan's Celtic


I have a beautiful dark burgundy to do this in

or

Alice Starmore's Medieval Tapestry (I have the kit)



or

Last but not least Lizard Ridge from Knitty. A nice warm afghan



Tell me SOON. I am almost done with the sweater I am working on and I can't decided what do do next!

I love oysters!

Mr Yarn and Annie and Tim and I decided to go hunt down some oysters. We drove out to Tomales Bay and ate lots of em. We did bring back 50 more to share with some friends. Yum.

Desperate Dog Day

I have no new knitting to show and to tell you the truth I have nothing to say. So, Lily is up on the chopping block once again.

Nothing new here. Just taking one day at a time to see where we will end up next.

Camera up and running

I snuck up on Nikko and got the first picture of her ever. Here she is.



Here is the back of "Bodega Bay". Just a little more of the back and then the sleeves and I will be done. This sweater is taking FOREVER. I refuse to start a new project until this one is done.

I am so ashamed

Hellllloooo out there. I know that all of you left because it has been eons since I have posted. I don't blame you. I just dropped by to apologize and to tell maybe that one person (hi mom) that still reads this that things have been really hard around here. I know that you don't want to hear stupid excuses but um....I am sorry. Mr Yarn has lost his job and now will be home looking for one. We may have to move out of the Bay area. Annie got sick and had a weird thyroid thingy. Uh, *I* was sick for weeks.

I have been knitting. Shut up, I am not lying. I have all of the back and most of the front of the Bodega Bay sweater done. I went to a knitting retreat up in Ben Lomand (ok, so I didn't tell you about it and I slipped away for a couple of days to knit). I am knitting a Habu Stainless Steel shawl.

That is about it. I got a new digital camera and I have to learn how to use it. Till the next time....I really still love all of you and I am sorry that I have been a slackard.

Another sweater done!

I finished the hoodie for Annie. The picture isnt the best and either is the true color, but oh well. It was a fun and fast sweater to make. I am knitting on the Forest Path shawl now and it is taking forever. I can't wait to be done with it. I am finding that staying at home and not working doesn't make for a lot of knitting time. Seems that when you stay home the day just sweeps by. I can't tell you what I have been doing but I have been keeping really busy. I am still trying to tie up loose ends for the shop (harder to quit a business than to start one). I love being at home though. I am sure that sooner than later I will start getting bored.

Argh

So, everything has to be out of the shop by tomorrow and I am still stuck with all the shelves that people "wanted". Here are some bookshelves that are now on freecycle. If anyone local wants them let me know. Free!

I am still stressing on getting everything out by tomorrow.

Knitting is going on at Chez Yarn! I am blocking Annie's sweater today and pictures will be up within a couple of days.

Ok back to blogging!

So I am back. Really, I am. Here is a photo of Lily all dressed up for Thanksgiving. Oh and then a Pilgrim (my sister always is the life of the party and I wish she didn't have to go home) came to visit



I am also knitting and will post the new sweater that I finished for Annie as soon as I block it. Still working on closing up the shop and getting rid of everything. All the yarn has been donated and now it is just fixtures and stuff to get rid of.

Count down

It is the last three days until closing of Yarn! It has been a wild ride this month. I really haven't had time to do anything but feel numb and to knit and knit and knit. I promise that I will resume blogging again after next week. I am working on a sweater for Annie out of Donegal Tweed (Tahki/Stacy Charles) from Knitscene magazine. This is it:



I am almost done with it. Finishing up the second sleeve.

You were born on a Thursday

Happy birthday, Evan!!! I love you.

Stuff

Tammy and I our showing off our tattoos. Ok, so mine bag out at the wrist and are pretend. Tammys are real but I only paid 1.75 for MINE. Ok, she wins.



I finished the "Boom Bag" from KnitScene. It came out cute. This is the before picture and...

this is the after picture



I just have to sew on the handle. So, I am getting some knitting done and actually finishing it. Feels good.

Happy Halloween!!!

Another project done

I sent this to my mother as a gift and so now I can show you. I finished it last week. I never remember the names of anything but if you want to know I will look it up. Just ask. I loved doing this and it isn't that hard. I am now working on the entralac lace shawl in an old Interweave magazine. If Annie likes it she can have it for her wedding. If not I will use it. I am now offically addicted to knitting lace.

The shop is emptying out and it is a weird feeling. The offical last day will be November 18th.

I finished something

This is the sweater out of the Rowan magazine (don't know which number). It is out of cotton glace. It is for Annie. I love how it came out.

Dark side of the moon

I know I haven't been around but I promise that I will be back to blogging soon. Just way too tired. We went to go see Roger Waters last night. It was "The Dark Side of the Moon" concert. I feel old. The others in the audience were old. The first act was a bit off but the second part of the act were good. I am tired.

This is great

My friend Ann shared this with me. It is well worth the few minutes to watch it. Any true knitter will understand.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6ZjMWLqJvM

I have been a bad blogger

I am so sorry that I have ignored this blog for a few weeks. I have been buried in Yarn! The sale is going great and I really am getting sad to say goodbye to all my customers and also to my yarn. I keep stashing it in the closet to take home but there is only so much that you can stash before it is another yarn shop in the basement.

I swear to you that I have been knitting. I finished Annie's sweater and I will take a picture of it after I block it. I also have been working on a beautiful lace piece that is from "Gathering of Lace". Can't really show you until it is done.

Until later....

So this is the scoop

This is the letter that I put out to my mail list and in case you aren't on it and want to know:

"A Good Yarn" by Janis Tester

Once upon a time there were three bears... No, wait. That's the
wrong yarn. Once upon a time there was a girl who loved knitting.
She had long dreamed of opening a yarn store where she would be
surrounded by the most beautiful yarns, the most interesting knitting
books and the good company of fellow knitters. And so, one day she
did. And she called her store YARN! And it was good. :-)

Dear Friends,

In the three years since opening YARN! I've had the privilege of
realizing a long held dream: that of having a place to conceal my
enormous stash and knit with my friends under the guise of running a
business. This has truly been a wonderful time in my life, in large
part thanks to all of you.

Some of you may have already seen the announcement on my blog that I have decided to close the store and move on to a new business venture. And you know what *that* means! Yes. A Great Big Sale!

Please join us on Saturday, September 16th as we kick off our closing
sale with 25% off of every ball of yarn and every knitting book and
doo-dad in the house. Samples and fixtures will also be for sale.

See you then!

Yarn!
2311 Santa Clara
Alameda, CA 94501
510-522-9276

Tuesday-Saturday 10:00-5:30
Sunday 11:00-4:00
--------------------

My blog will continue. Afterall, do you think that I won't be knitting, cooking, and having more to say than anyone wants to really hear?

What I have been doing

This is how much knitting I got done over Labor day. The picture really doesn't do this piece justice. I love it. I did skip the 80's length that it is meant to be (can you say "to the knee"?) and I didn't put the bobbles. I think I am going to love this sweater.



I also went to Brentwood on Saturday to the u-pick to get tomatoes to can. No u-pick because of the crop this year. We did score boxes of canning tomatoes for a good price though. We got to pick a few of em. It took all day to can enough for 3 of us to take home.

On a sad note... I did find out this weekend that the shop will be closing its doors and not selling. I have mixed emotions on how I feel about this. On one side I am excited to be moving on to a new adventure. On the other hand I feeling like there is a death in the family. It is my decision and I know that I am doing the right thing for myself but I am very sad about an ending of another part of my life.

New Beginning

So, I started a new sweater. Shut up, I will finish this one. I swear that I will. So far I got about 12 rows done. This sweater is Bodega Bay out of Alice Starmore's "Pacific Coast" book. I paid enough for the book that I figure that I better do at least one sweater out of it. I am even making the small size so that I don't swim in it this time.

On another note...

I made pickled peppers yesterday. The peppers were overtaking the garden and what do you do with a pound of serrano's? I pickled them. The recipe was from the "Simply Recipes" blog.

Rambling Rose

I am halfway done with the last half of "Rambling Rose" from Rowan magazine. It is a fun knit. I bet you guys thought that I didn't knit anymore. I do. I will take pictures of the other stuff that I knit after I send it on to the person I knit it for (it is a gift). This sweater is really fun to knit and I just have half of one side and two short sleeves to do. It is for Annie. It is out of cotton glace and I thought I would hate knitting with it but I didn't.

On the other side of knitting news things are the same. I am waiting to see what happens to the shop. In the meantime, I have made goat cheese, dehydrated tomatoes, made 2 batches of sour dough (with my own starter that I started from scratch mind you) and generally keeping myself amused to keep my mind of of everything else.

Evan and stuff

We took Evan to Los Angeles with all his stuff and now we are home. We went wine tasting while Evan was here and we had a really good time. It has been a couple of busy weeks.

An Angel

A hummingbird got trapped in our house. Evan took a picture of it and it looks like an angel.



The bird did get out of the house unharmed.

Ho hum

Nothing new going on here. Evan is in town and we have been hanging out. It is great having a kid home again.

No Knit Night tonight at the shop. I will be closing at 5:30 to go spend some time with the kid.

Tomorrow is wine tasting!! I will report back.

Summer

I lied. I do like fruit and summer isn't so bad. Brigid wanted me to teach her how to can her mothers peach chutney. We spent an evening peeling peaches and making some.

Wine wine wine!

Annie and I were invited to bottle wine for our favorite winery. Eric Ross rocks! We went down there and bottled a late harvest cab and a port. We were rewarded with a bottle of each and lunch. We also were initiated as winos.



(This really doesn't show HOW purple my hands really are)

My summer vacation

I hate summer. I hate the heat. I even hate fruit. Really. I don't find anything redeeming about the summer. I would be just as happy to live in a year round winter. When I moved to Northern California I thought this was somewhat the case. No, another bait and switch.

Good thing I have my backyard because it is the only thing that has saved me.



Oh and here is the garden. I do have figs growing but all other stuff is vegetables.

No pictures

Have nothing to show you today but thought that I would post something. It has been so hot that there really isn't much moving going on. Not much to do to cool off around here. We did eat dinner outside last night and that seemed to help a little.

Sorry this summer has been slow on the blog stuff. Knitting has taken the background and I have just been trying to tie things up at the shop and get on with big new plans. Then again, there is the matter of being a nervous wreck over Mr. Yarn (soon to be "Mr Culinary") getting a job where I can just stay where I am. Lots going on...

Instead of knitting

So, the engagement party was a success. Everything went great. I was dead on my feet but it was well worth it. So at 4:00 in the morning we all got up with hangovers and went fishing. We had a great time. We all bonded.

I am still knitting but I can't show you because it is a gift for a special baby to be.

Mr Yarn is in India (or should be there any minute) and I am still cleaning the kitchen.

What is happening

So, I haven't had too much to say or show this last few weeks. I am getting back in the groove after having some bad news, being sick and getting back from vacation. I promise that knitting stuff will resume as soon as I find the camera and actually start knitting again. I am almost done with the Hanne Falkenberg "Ballerina".

Other than that I don't have much to report. I have 40 people coming to an engagement party on Saturday and I will be meeting Annie's in-laws to be.

So cool

Here is another picture from our trip. It was an Eagle's nest on San Juan Island. We even got to see the eagle but I didn't get a picture of it. I didn't get this picture either but Donna did. I don't know why I am so bad about taking pictures when I go away.

Sorta back to life

This is me kissing Mona the camel. Shutup...she was the cutest thing I ever saw. She lives on San Juan island and Gail and Michael took me to see her. Donna took the great picture. I wanted to take this camel home so that Lily could have a friend. No one would let me and Mr Yarn asked who would pick up the poop. Since Mr Yarn isn't that happy of a camper lately I didn't argue but the plan is to kidnap the adromidary (sorry Michael I KNOW it isn't a camel) next time we are on the island. It will be innocent enough.

So things have been busy here. Company for 3 weeks and a busy 4th. Hope everyone had a good 4th.