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I hate having my picture taken!  I hate waiting while people are focusing, you start getting that frozen deer in the headlights look.  Or in my case I look like one of the 7 dwarfs.  Chipmunk cheeks anyone?

But anyways, free advertising – when it’s good – is always a good thing.  Check this out http://news.therecord.com/article/263400 We’re in the KW Record – in the business section.  A very nice man came out last week and interviewed me after someone in his office told him about my shop.  Thank you to her – word of mouth is the best advertising!  But an article on the front page of the business section isn’t a bad thing either.

OK, I admit it, I’m slow to anything new and techie but there has been so much talk about Ravelry that I figured I better figure out what it’s all about.  Well besides the fact that there is a waiting list a mile long – it is really cool.  A customer (now friend) let me wander with her sign in.  COOL!  I was trying to explain it to someone and it’s sort of like a Facebook for Knitters.

And I’m in!  Just got my invitation – so if you don’t hear from me for a while – please come and turn my computer off

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Why do we put off stuff that we know has to be done?  I’m putting together the newsletter for November/December and I seem to be distracted by the simplest things.  And even looked forward to going to get groceries – and anyone who knows me knows that I really don’t like getting groceries!  But I think it’s actually all coming together, I have all the class teacher info and dates booked so now I just need to get it all off my scribbles on the calendar and out of my head and into the computer.  Or laundry – now thats looking like something interesting…

OK, just something for us to ponder in the grand scheme of defending our borders.  As we’re coming back from Rhinebeck (remember it was 3 menopausal women) we stopped at a few (to put it nicely) rest stops along the way.  So as we’re getting to the bridge to cross the border we all thought we were going to be ok.

Problem was the bridge we would normally take (Queenston-Lewiston) had a 1-2 hr delay.  So smart women that we are we reprogrammed the GPS (known as Daniel) to cross at Niagara instead.  Well somewhere in the translation between Daniel and I we ended up on the Queenston-Lewiston Bridge.  And of course I didn’t realize it till we were past the point of no return and that was when the bladder decided that it had sat long enough.  So now we have 3 women in a small car in the dark – 2 with bridge issues and 2 that are dancing in their seats.  Now dancing in the back seat of a VW rabbit is not the easiest thing to do!

We finally get to the customs booth – declare large copious amounts of spending (but I think we would have anyways just so we could stop at Customs and use the washroom) and get directed over to the side.  As we pull up there are no free parking spots so Janet parks illegally so I can do my mad dash.  I run past a customs officer and ask HER where the restrooms are and she wants to know if we got a slip – yes Janet has it.  Have we been in yet – no I need to use the washroom.  Well you have to go in first – or someone does.  At this point Janet comes over and the woman says Janet can leave the car parked illegally and go stand in line with our receipts and ids. 

So, ok Sue and I make the dash to the washroom and don’t totally embarass ourselves.  But what was the point of Janet standing in line – our ID will do her no good and if we were going to flush something couldn’t we have done that at any point in the 1 1/2 hours that we sat on the bridge?

I was reading Crazy Aunt Purls blog this morning and a post or two ago she had issues with getting on a plane because of a stray mascara in her purse.  Security is an odd thing!

My head is so full right now I don’t know where to start.  Do I tell you about the Joan Kass workshop or the Ilga Leja one?  They were both on lace but as different as night and day.  Both lovely ladies to take classes from and if you have the opportunity – you should take advantage of the opportunity and take a class.  Both ladies will be coming back and we will be posting dates as soon as possible.

BUT Rhinebeck – ON MY!!!  Where to start?  I went with 2 friends – Janet and Sue, who had been planning on going for quite a while and I finally made the decision and had hours at the shop covered and went.  And am I glad I did!

The drive down was yucky – rain most of the way!  But the scenery through parts of New York state at this time of year was breathtaking.  We detoured through Syracuse to check out a LL Bean outlet store.  They carry a purse that I love and had hopes of snagging a deal – no luck, the only one was almost a day-glo orange.  I like colour but that was a bit much!

We made it to our hotel – that was a story in itself.  Sue had booked forever ago and when she checked on our reservation, the hotel is still under construction.  So they were able to get us a room in another hotel.  We had made arrangements to get together with Don and Buffy of Shelridge Farms for dinner but had to cancel because we were running late.  When we got to our room we called theirs (in the same hotel) and left a message that we were going down to the restaurant downstairs and left our room number.  Well I guess Buffy had a good laugh, they were literally in the next room!

We were up bright and early the next morning (not as early as Sue would like but we compromised) and made our way to Rhinebeck.  I have to say first impressions were very good – the parking lot attendants were so organized that parking was a breeze and free. 

We made some new friends…

And there were some amazing sights – this is the Alpaca Parade, I didn’t get his picture but there was one fellow that thought he was Fred Estaire.  He was walking the parade sideways even though his owner kept telling him that “yes he could walk straight”.

And the food!!!  There were booths for almost anything, fresh made apple pie, french fries cut from real potatoes, deep fried pickles (had some – they were delicious) and an artichoke vendor – we never saw what they were serving but there was always a line of at least 50 people.  But the thing that left us totally gobsmacked was this – yup fried dough!  Of course we had to try some just to say we had.  But we shared one between 3 of us,  bizarre but true.

Joan’s workshop on Sunday was wonderful!  If you have never taken a class with her – you need to, her notes were amazing, the samples breathtaking and it was so cool to hear the “ooohs” as someone’s light went on and they got it. 

I soo wanted to go home and start some lace but I restrained myself.  I have been invited by a couple of friends to Rhinebeck for the Sheep & Wool Festival this weekend so am working on the Landscape Shawl in Morehouse yarn.  I have wanted to go for years, so keep your fingers crossed that it all works out.  This working thing does get in the way of some other things.  Good thing I love my job – can I even call it that?

  I’m knitting this in their 3 strand which is the worsted weight, the colour is called Autumn Fields.  It is a lovely green, brown, gold variegated.  And the yarn is so lush, will need minimal blocking cause I just want to curl up in it now.  This Fiber Trends shawl is a lovely thing to knit as well, the pattern has all the info for everything from a lace weight all the way up to worsted.  I have 5 balls of this colour so I am just going to knit till I run out of yarn.

Morehouse even does a wine & cheese evening after the S&W is closed – they stay open till midnight on Saturday – how cool is that?  So I am trying to get this shawl done to wear – I’m taking the yarn back to it’s home.

And then there are Ilga’s patterns.  I’m not sure which one I want to start, so think I will wait till she is here next Tuesday with her samples.  And the great thing is that Claudia Handpaints lace weight will be here next week, so I may have to do something out of that.  But which one????

LACE, LACE, LACE

dates to remember in October

 

Lace Knitting with Joan Kass

sunday, october 14 

Learn lace knitting step-by-step from cast-on to cast-off. In between, we’ll practice various yarn overs, stitch decreases and practice some tips and tricks to make following a lace chart easier.

$80    10am to 4pm

ILGA LEJA  Tuesday, October 23

Wrapping and dropping stitches have become an easy way to add interest and excitement to your knitting. We will work a sampler scarf so that we can experiment with the different varieties of wrapped and dropped stitches and how to incorporate these design features into our knitting.

$45    6:30pm to 9:30pm

If you’re interested in either class, please call me at the shop 1-888-662-3636

This is the group that met Thanksgiving morning with Jane Ellison.  What a lovely lady she is!  If you have not met her – you really need to!  You’ve missed her at our shop but you can still catch her this Friday in Milton at Main Street Yarns.  http://www.mainstyarns.com/  They are doing a breakfast, a book signing and a class.  And you can register for any or all of it.  Besides its a trip to a yarn shop – which is always good.

It was so great that she had all her Mirasol samples with her – so we had lots of dressing up and then the dilemma of which pieces we really preferred over the others.  After all we can only start one at a time (can’t we?)  This is Maria – facing the conundrum – which to knit and which colour.  She is wearing one of the sweaters from the Mirasol Collection.  We all loved this one, it had just a bit of shaping in the right spots and the yarn…lovely!

This is Jane, it looks like she’s reading us a story but she was showing us her pictures from her trip to Peru. 

We had a lovely time sitting around the table as we figured out the way that Jane has designed these deceptively simple gloves.  We were even able to adjust for fit on the fly!

And Jane was so gracious in answering all of our questions.  Here she is helping Francine adjust her finger length.  She gave us pointers on how to change some of the different patterns to suit our personal needs or wants. 

You REALLY should go see her!

We’ve made the decision!  Jane will be here Monday morning for a small, intimate brunch and workshop.  I’m glad that we’re going this way.  I really wanted to see all her samples!  And the gloves – how cool are they?

Doesn’t that sound ominous!  By noon tomorrow (Friday) I have to make a decision regarding Jane’s workshop, we just don’t have quite enough to make it worth her trip from Toronto.  She is a lovely lady and I know she has talked with small groups but…

My timing was really bad.  When I was first offered the day I didn’t realize it was Thanksgiving Monday but then we got talking and I thought that if we did Brunch and a workshop we would be ok.  But this is Oktoberfest season and that is a big thing in this area and the parade is at the same time that I’ve booked Jane.

So, I’m holding my breath and giving it till noon on Friday before I make the final decision about whether to go ahead or not.  POOP!