Filling the Wool Connection void

It's really interesting how many shops and people have been affected in one way or another by the closing of the Wool Connection in Avon, CT.

First, there's Marji's Yarncrafts in Granby. She's taking over the fabulous Ewephoric Weekend from the Wool Connection, with a really great line-up of crafts and teachers (including Lily Chin, who Holly from CT raves is a great teacher). The weekend is May 19th and 20th and I just got my registration info in the mail which I better hop to and send back before all spots are taken. There is a brochure online also. There's a class on spinning I am going to have to take. It's not a good idea for me to get into yet another aspect of the disease called knitting, but if I'm already dyeing my own stuff, I might as well learn how to spin it.

Second, I got an email today from the Village Sheep in New Milford, CT. They are offering an introductory offer of 20% off luxury yarns on your first online or in store purchase to customers who used to shop at Wool Connection (perhaps they sold their email list?). The code is WELCOME so feel free to take advantage of that one.

While we are on the sale subject, Kaleidoscope Yarns has the Fibre Company yarn at 15% off through April 3rd at 5 p.m. (I love a store with specifics). It's a kettle-dyed blend of silk, baby alpaca, and merino wool. Sounds yummy.

WEBS has a bunch of new close-outs, so if you are looking for odds and ends, get there.

And finally, just go look at this Blood Orange Yarn Mama-E dyed. Try not to leave your computer screen looking like a Krispy Kreme glazed doughnut.

Knitting Funk

I'm not knitting. I haven't been knitting for over a week. And I'm not even that motivated to start now. I think it's because of one gigantic virus that descended on my when we got back from Florida. I think it was the same one the kids had but mine took a different route via my stomach and then via pink eye. The pink eye has been serious, almost a week now. More of a PIA than anything else.

But, I'm thinking that to get back into the knitting I am going to do something dramatic and go back to a project that I always wanted to start and never got around to. For those of you who know me, they are simply known as, "the pants." They appeared in Vogue Knitting a couple of Spring/Summer's ago and they are made entirely out of mitered squares knitted in Koigu. The fabulous yarn has been just sitting in my stockpile waiting to be loved. And I feel like the squares give you a pretty immediate sense of accomplishment which I am in desperate need of right now. These pants are legend among my knitting friends. If Jodi still reads my blog, I'm sure she's laughing because they sort of became like a pregnant woman near her due date, "anything yet?" "no, nothing."

And, of course, they may still remain that way . . . anybody out there already knit them? I'll have to scan in a pic for those of you who don't know them, but if you have your old issues, they are easy to find, and I think the model was on the beach.

Walk Against Hunger 2007

Yes, my friends, it's that time again. Time to get out your happy feet and Walk Against Hunger in Hartford. I sit on the Board of a local agency, Center City Churches and as part of my duties and desire, we are recruiting walkers and teams of walkers again this year.

The Walk takes place on May 6, 2007 at 2:00 p.m. It's only a three mile walk, so it's very easy, and it's a great event to bring the entire family to enjoy. DH, Sugar Bear, and Mimi will all be walking with me this year.

So far, as part of CCC we have 36 teams, but our goal is 50 teams who will help us raise $50,000. The great thing is, for every one dollar raised it equals ten dollars in food. Awesome!

If you are interested in joining the team, or interested in making a donation, please visit
the Compassionate Soles webpage.

Window Dressing

I've been all quiet on the eastern front because we were out of town for Spring Break. Was an interesting one because we actually relaxed and didn't make it a frenzy of activity. The girls were sick with the "fever bug" for the first half of it so that didn't help, but at least we all got to sleep in.

But, that's not what the blog is really about today. I'm talking about airport security again. Or lack there of. Or further, the fact that they put us through all these hoops to get through security and yet, it's all just window dressing. Case in point . . .

We had already picked-up our bags from baggage claim. DH was on his way to the garage to get the car (which BTW had a completely dead battery when he got there, welcome home!) when I noticed an unattended backpack. Completely unattended. Because I had the kids and the luggage with me, I couldn't seek out the police or TSA or whomever, so I alerted the nearest Southwest employee. Who didn't really care. And, did everything in her power to try to foist the bag off on anyone standing within 50 feet of it. Eventually, what I think was a security guard came over and tried to relay info on his walkie talkie.

This was a comedy of errors. His walkie apparently was working as well as those in the Twin Towers because finally he gave up and used his cell phone to call the person he was reporting the info to. At this point, I think the bag has been unattended for about 20 minutes.

A few minutes later the state police officer shows up and just begins rifling through the bag looking for identification. Since I am no longer physically at the airport, I can use the word I longed to in that moment. What if there had been a BOMB inside of it? That's what the government would have us believe is that people are at every turn trying to sabotage us. So, explain it to me Lucy, what the hell are we doing just rifling through an unattended bag that could have had anything in it?

I know this sounds paranoid, but I'm sitting there with my two children and I'm thinking, if anything happens to us over what seems like stupidity, I'm going to be really bs. We take off our shoes, we put miniscule amounts of liquid in clear plastic bags (because it makes it easier for the x-ray machine to scan?), and we walk through sniffing machines, but an unattended bag on the outside of security, that we can just rifle through and hope for the best.

Don't believe them when they say we are safer, they are only fooling themselves.

Latest Creativity

We are throwing my grandmother a 75th birthday party this weekend, and I must admit, I have been one crafty beotch. She doesn't know it, but I came up with favors that are pretty darn nifty. So, this is a picture of her invitation (sorry to block out the details, you know I love you, but the room only seats 55) EDIT: I didn't design the invite, Anna Griffin did, I designed the favors, just wanted to be clear because you guys were giving me way too much credit:

I went on the Internet and looked up songs that were written in the 1930s. I picked out fifteen fairly well known songs that thankfully, I had on CD, recorded by various artists (Sinatra, Holiday, Fitzgerald, you get the idea).

I imported the image of the flower on the invitation into my CD label program and came up with this:

And I wanted to use them as favors, but I thought it would work great to also use them as table cards, so I wrapped them up and used the extra flowers that came with the invitations (so, like the invites, they are also 3-D):

I can't wait for her to see them! I just finished typing up some "1932 Was a Very Good Year" fact sheets for the table and now I just need to finish gathering some pictures to display and I am finished. Yay!

Spring Knitty is up! Spring Knitty is up

Go there now!

Updates

First, MagKnits has their new issue up. They've got a really cute kids t-shirt in there for all of my free time. They have a couple of pairs of sock patterns as well, but I admit, I haven't looked at them much.

Second, Kaleidoscope Yarns had Cherry Tree Merino Boucle for 25% off in case you are in need.

Astrid also has some really interesting yarn, the Atelier Zitron Unikat. There are some beautiful colors and there's also a free mitten pattern. I wish my last order had not already shipped or I would have ordered this also. She has the new Opal Bamboo collection as well. Really nice stuff.

I stopped by the Wool Connection around 11 a.m. This is my third visit to a yarn store that was closing in the past year. They are getting more sad. They were very picked over except for notions and buttons which were exactly what I needed. There are only four days left until they close, and the knitting world, I imagine, will be a little smaller because of it.


I'll be keeping an eye on my email and add more sales as I get them. And if you have any you want me to post, just send them to me or add them to the comments.

Baby Knitting Galore

Ah, baby knitting. I just can't get away from it! The hat above, is for my cousin's new baby boy. It is much more red in person so it's great for a boy. It's the umbilical hat from one of the Stitch & Biatch books. A really quick knit that looks great and is very soft to the touch. I also have one of two matching booties completed. I've got to get the bootie finished by next week because I will see my cousin then. I'm using the bootie pattern from Last Minute Knitted Gifts (i.e., my knitting gift bible).

I thought I would use Felicity, Sugar Bear's American Girl doll, as my model for the other hat. This is my favorite hat to knit for little girls, especially bald little girls, but it's so darn adorable that it works for any little girl. It's the Moe hat from Berrocco. So unbelievably soft. I've also got a bib finished that needs a button and half a burp cloth. They are the ones from the Mason-Dixon book and they're great because they are knit out of the Peaches & Creme like the dishcloths so they are absorbent and you can just throw them in the washer.
I've still got one baby that is already here, a girl to knit for. I think I'll do another Moe hat and use the same yarn for some matching booties. Seriously, my friends' husbands need to start watching more TV.

I've added some new links under Blogs and under knitting sites finally so check them out!