Marching To The Madness

The stitching theme for March was March Madness. I'm sure that this phrase is grossly overused, but who are we to mess with the universe? In our world (the world of needlework) March Madness means to knit or stitch (or both for extra madness) on something different every day that you knit or stitch. I believe that we all have our own interpretation of what that means and here's mine: I want to knit/stitch on a bunch of things and if my living room is a disaster of projects worked on then I have succeeded in my goal. It probably would have made more sense to post every day (ha) or even every week with what I had accomplished....you should know by now that I don't make sense.

So here it is....ALL of the MADNESS:

Afghan Square for Victory Junction Gang Camp

Neck of a Teddy Bear Sweater for Charity

2007 JCS Ornament by Hands To Work

Complete 1st Medallion for the Medallion Capelet

2nd sock of my 1st pair

Herringbone Block Shawl
Garter Stitch poncho for Melia
Violet Basket Band
Ruffled Shrug
2007 Surprise Ornament
(I can't show you....it's a Surprise, but I least I gave you something!)
2nd Medallion for Medallion Capelet
Chemo Cap for the Yarn Harlot
(it's curling a lot, hard to get a good picture)

As you can see, I have been spending a lot more time knitting than stitching. That is partially due to ankle recovery - it's a lot easier to knit than stitch in a reclined position. But I have really been enjoying the knitting lately. April will bring more stitching, as I have a few goals to meet...stay tuned for those.

Yarn Spree

On Friday, DF Heather and I went to LKS Knitch to end my stash enhancement drought suffering self-imposed diet for Lent. I took the day off as a comp day for extra time that I put into my latest project at work.

Actually, before we arrived at Knitch we lunched at

American Roadhouse in the Virginia-Highlands area.

Heather had pancakes, a huge slab of ham and I had a monte cristo sandwich with sweet potato "straws". PLUS - we shared a veggie plate with sweet potato souffle, squash casserole, glazed carrots and mashed cauliflower. The squash casserole was my fav!

We then proceeded to put Amex back in the black...well, I did at least. Heather was very good and only used birthday credit for her stash enhancement. I actually brought a list, with purposeful purchases in mind. That didn't work out like I planned.




These are "Heather's fault"! On the left is Malabrigo Lace - in a beautiful orchid purple, a little on the pink side. And Claudia's Handpainted Yarn in Midnight beside the ML on the right. They are both very lovely. She forced them on me - right into my hands...what was I supposed to do???!


I also purchased an Araucania Ranco because this
yarn spoke to me. It was actually causing a scene
so I had to pick it up before strange looks occurred. After purchase, I looked over at Nell winding yarn and saw her with a yarn that made my heart stop while I thought "whose yarn is that?!" and then I realized that it was mine!!! Such a good feeling!

BTW - does anyone have a pronunciation guide for Araucania?!

I also bought some sale Artyarns Ultramerino to make 1 or 2 Chemo Caps for the Yarn Harlot - who visits Knitch next Sunday, April 6. Something for a chemo cap was on my list...and this is a very nice aqua variegated that I think anyone would love. I have to get right on to making these!!!

Also on my list was something to make the Fishnet Scarf - from Interweave Knits Summer 2007. I found this, and fell in love with the pinks. It's very springlike.

It's Manos silk blend - by Manos del Uruguay, 30% silk and 70% Merino Extrafine Wool.

I also purchased 4 skeins or Noro Silk Garden for an Entrelac Scarf.
Entrelac is one technique that I want to learn this year. Of course, it could be argued that by the time I made it to the 2nd floor where the "wall of Noro" is, I had enough purchases but no one made that argument.

And so, I found more Noro Silk Garden for my Herringbone Block Shawl (pictures coming soon).

These don't match on purpose. Each block on the shawl can be its own color combo, it's a great effect that I didn't understand until I saw it. Heather's is far along, you can see hers here if you'd like to get an idea.

Sum Total (of yarn, not money!!!):




Heather was loving the Malabrigo Lace she found.


"Mmmmmm, soft......"





We did have time for some knitting after the shopping. Heather was working on her Errant Lace Sock and I on the Herringbone Block Shawl.


































It was a great day! We tapped it off with dinner at Spoon. Then I rolled myself home and fell into bed completely exhausted!

And Mother Nature Laughed

It's Spring! It is!! The calendar says so! Easter is over, white shoes are acceptable and it is Spring!

But when I looked out the window at the office today, it was snowing. I live in Atlanta - the SOUTH and it was snowing today. Now, nothing stuck to the ground or even to the cars...but there was snow coming down.

You may not be able to tell from my writing, but I was not happy. This is seriously ruining my plans to wear sandals. Saturday was a beautiful day, sunny and in the 70's. Tonight we have a freeze warning. Mother Nature, much to my chagrin, does have a wicked sense of humor.

Happy Easter and an Overdue Happy Dance

I have been very quiet blog-wise this last 4 weeks. Work has been crazy, life has been crazy and I was plain wore out! Things are starting to return to normal, so I hope to get caught up soon.

I hope that everyone had a Happy Easter. It started out very chilly here, but turned into a great day. I went to church and spent the afternoon with Vicki, Scott and the girls. We had a fabulous Easter dinner with ham, mac & cheese, roasted asparagus, and glazed carrots. I can't think of anything that would have made it better!

Here are Riley and Melia in their beautiful Easter dresses!


Their dolls Molly and Julie (not pictured) have the same dresses. Too cute!

Back at the end of Feb, I knit and even finished (I know!) a scarf for DF Heather.


It is KnitPicks' Potato Chip Scarf in Quellon (a hand dyed Araucania Yarn from Chile). I found the yarn at an after Christmas sale at LKS Yarn Garden and fell in love with it.

I daresay that Heather liked it, she donned it immediately and (I believe) kept it on throughout the birthday dinner for herself and DF Linda.

It was a fun knit - even if I did have to cast off some 800+ stitches. :-)

Will My True Love Find Me?

I took the "Will My True Love Find Me?" quiz...and here's what it says.

Your True Love Will Find You Eventually

You definitely put yourself out there a little - but you could be doing more. If you're truly looking for love, try doing more things and meeting more people. You don't have to actively look for love, you just need to stay active. Be out there a little more, and the right person will find you!

Will Your True Love Find You?

So now I'm counting on it!

p.s. This post would've made a lot more sense on Valentine's Day, but this is my life and explains why it's a week late...

Fat Tuesday of Stash Enhancing

Most of you know that I have given up stash enhancement for Lent. Earlier I posted that I would give it up from Feb 1 - Mar 31, but I slightly ammended those dates to be Feb 6 - March 24.

On Fat Tuesday, I made a "final" purchase and it arrived this weekend.


This is 6 skeins of Noro Aurora to eventually knit this. There is actually a metallic thread that runs through the entire skein, around the colored yarn. It's much easier to see the metallic thread in the garment picture - for some reason the camera just doesn't capture the sparkle of the yarn on the skein. It is Beautiful, though!!! I am looking forward to casting this on...someday. I did not purchase the Cash Iroha needed. Now that I have this yarn in my hand, I can try to find a good color match. I'm thinking of something in the teal/blue family. And then maybe when I can purchase it, I might have finished something else. What a thought!

My ankles are healing, still yellow/green/black/blue but the swelling is going down. I should have a ton of knitting to show for my time off my feet, but you'll have to wait for that. And I have a huge itch to stitch (ha, didn't mean to rhyme) but it is difficult to stitch while keeping your ankles higher than your heart. If you don't believe me, try it. Considering that I usually use a lapstand to hold my frame, it is even harder for me! But soon, soon....I hope. My JCS ornament is hollering at me.

Successful Retreat!

The knitting retreat and getaway weekend was a huge success, IMO. The Lodge was very nice and relaxing to say the least. My room suite was incredible. As a matter of fact, as soon as I checked in I informed everyone that I was never leaving. Thanks to DF Heather for the snaps, since I forgot my camera!
The bathroom was almost as large as the bedroom! I took advantage of the jacuzzi tub Friday night! I took advantage of the chocolate on the pillows every night!!


Friday night we had a wine and cheese get-together and the hostesses handed out many door prizes. Heather won a beautiful purse, I won a large candle:
The candle is not as nice as the purse, but I consider it a win over the bird clock (which I felt sure to win).

Saturday morning was our Herringbone Block class with Cornelia Tuttle Hamilton. I didn't completely get the 1st block done, but I did make some progress:
Here are Heather and I with our pieces and the teacher's piece:

Now that I have seen it, I have decided to save my Cherry Tree Hill for another project, the color changes are too often in my CTH. So much for trying to use yarn out of my stash, what was I thinking?!

During our lunch break, we ran out and did some shopping. I found this beautiful shawl pin for the Nicky Epstein Medallion Capelet (guess that I have to finish it now!):
We ran out of shopping time and were even late to the 1st afternoon class. We decided that next year we really need to come early or stay late and enjoy the quaint town of Highlands, NC more. Intarsia was the next class and this class disappointed me in some ways. First, the description had stated that we were going to learn intarsia on a purse pattern. So, I immediately got this color idea in my head (of teal and winter white) and was very excited. But....we did not get a purse pattern - or any other pattern. And by being late, Heather and I were separated from the class at another table.

The last class on Saturday was the Nicky Epstein Medallion Capelet. I started this one 3 times - the first two times were on the DPNs as the pattern instructed and the last time was on the circulars using the Magic Loop (thanks Heather!). All of my knitting on this over the weekend was ripped, but here is what the first medallion looks like today:
That's about halfway through the pattern.

There was just enough time before dinner to run over to the shop and peruse some yarn. What would a knitting retreat be without some stash enhancement anyway?

I found some Noro to start the Herringbone Block scarf (more will be required later, but the beauty of this piece is that you can use different color combinations). This Noro is Silk Garden.
And some yarn for a new shrug - Debbie Bliss Bolero Jacket:
Saturday dinner was fabulous - Heather did a great job blogging about the food, so please visit her site for in depth descriptions and pics. It was all yummy. So yummy, in fact, that I had no room for the free Dove bar Saturday night.

Sunday morning we had a short talk by Cornelia and I was inspired by several of her designs (IOW had to order yarn to make one of her designs, coming soon). She gave us a purse pattern and I stitched several rows, but haven't made a lot of progress.

I wish that I could say that the weekend was uneventful other than the above, but several of you know that I chased after Matthew McConaughey demonstrated my clumsiness and fell down the stairs and sprained both of my ankles. So, it's back to laying on the couch for me!