TRAVELING WOMAN

Hi Friends - I have been away on two different business trips. Have missed reading all your blog posts so I have a lot of catching up to do.

 Last Friday I went to Savannah on business.  Since Savannah is one of my favorite places - I parlayed an overnight stay so I could visit my two of my favorite yarn shops.  Unwind is less than a year old - it is a GREAT shop.  I think it is a shared ownership but most of my contact is with co-owner Leigh who is just the nicest most accommodating person.  Here is a photo of their lovely facade

Here is two shots of the inside of their shop.  LOVELY!  and full of awesome yarn.  They also have a great class area and a full kitchen which is a seperate room in the back of the shop. 

Believe it or not - this is NOT all the yarn - there is another whole wall that I did not photograph - I never even made it out of this one area.  I only had limited time to spend at Unwind - I left Jody at the hotel and had to get back there to check out before noon.  Plus when we got up it was raining and messy so I decided that I would have to forego visiting Wild Fibre's new location down in the historic area.  Parking is such a pain down in that area and plus I did sufficient damage in Unwind and did not really need to be tempted to spend more money at WF. 

I scanned the yarn section quickly - I am looking for unusual things that I can not get at our LYS.  I zero'd in on some lovely Louisa Harding yarn I had not seen before called Willow Tweed.  Fortunately there was a lovely book from last fall called Little Cake that includes designs featuring that yarn.  It is a lovely blend of merino and alpaca with natural silk slubs - yummy! This color is called denim but it looks quite lavendar in this snap. 

 

The book is lovely - beautiful photography - unfortunately in my haste - I picked the wrong yarn for the design I had in mind and now I'm in a quandry about what I will do with this yarn.  Could be something not in this book at all.  Oh well - that's what happens when I have to make rush decisions. 

Another yarn that surprised me a lot was the new Debbie Bliss Amalfi - I typically don't care for summer yarns especially with lots of cotton or linen.  This yarn has gotten a lot of press and is in all the spring/summer mags - It has a very light twist which is going to make it difficult for some people to knit with as it will easily split however it was quite lovely and the color selection at Unwind was great.  I could not leave this yarn behind - it was reasonably priced and has a pattern book to support the yarn line.  I have already cast on a neat summery moss stitch jacket.  The color is a typical "mel" color - a very rich, bright gold with  lots of green - they call it maize.  I love it so far.

I can't believe I did not get a single photo of our lovely Saturday afternoon stop on St Simons Island.  Another of my favorite places - great spot for a day trip or weekend getaway.  I was miffed I had to leave Savannah without visiting Wild Fibre but a visit to the Stitchery of St Simons and lunch at a favorite spot called Gnat's Landing would ease my pain.  It was drizzly and gray and quite cool on the island but Gnat's was packed - I guess everyone had the same idea as we did.  This is a great locally owned place that we have frequented a lot over the years.  They have great seafood but the crabcake sandwich is a favorite of ours.  Can't pass on their fried green tomatoes either!  We moved on in search of the Stitchery after lunch - they had also moved to a new location last year.  I am so mad I did not get any photos of the new location but I didn't - just suffice to say it was packed with great yarn and needlepoint and should not be missed if you are in the area.  I knew I only had limited time here as Jody was waiting in the car and was getting Florida fever - SSI is about 1.5 hrs from our home and he has always been patient about my needlework shopping excursions but I know when to push and when not to. 

 I knew Bo would have the Manos Silk Blend that had been on my mental "must have" list for quite a while.  Just as I suspected she had several colorways to choose from and I only had to make a selection.

Isn't this gorgeous !!!!!!!  Wildflowers is the colorway and I am planning to use this for the Traveling Woman shawl.  DF Kris is just finishing up this lovely shawlette so I am anxious to get mine going.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
This past Monday morning I left for Auburn Al on another business trip.  Home of Auburn University - Auburn is a beautiful little city.  The only issue with Auburn is that there is no needlework or yarn shops any where close at all.  There used to be a nice little shop in Opelika but it closed last year so no shopping opportunities of that sort while in town.  They do however have a nice Ravelry group that meets at the Books a Million weekly - I met up with them on Tues night and chatted and knitted a little so that was nice.
 

Here are a couple of photos I shot from my hotel window of the historic AU campus.  Auburn was still all abloom with azaleas.  They were on their way out but still pretty - too bad my photo did not show the beautiful azaleas on the campus grounds.

I was home again for a couple of nights and am leaving again this afternoon for a weekend stay on St Augustine Beach.  I am taking lots of stitching and knitting projects and plan to mostly just sit and relax and stitch.

Next weekend will be busy as it is our annual rug guild hook in here in Jax and DF Karen is coming up to spend the weekend.  Look for lots of adventures in the next post!

GOT STASH?

OK - be honest - I know you have ALL gotten some sort of stash from market in February. Imagine my dismay -  I ordered a few things from two different shops and thru circumstances that were unavoidable I guess - I am just now getting one order and have yet to receive the other order. 

I have been DYING to get Mrs. Waddelows huswif.  I had been dreaming of going into the Olde Green Cupboard and actually having a real excuse to peruse, fondle and drool on all the beautiful fabrics.  When they announced they were closing the store in March  - EGADS - what about my fabric for Mrs Waddelow - I had to scramble around on my IPhone and find Ellen's blog post giving the exact measurements of the amount of fabric needed to complete this project.  I am not a quilter so forgive me if I am not savvy with the lingo but I think what I chose was Moda fabrics from  Kansas Troubles  - in reviewing on line - I think maybe Kansas troubles is a designer for Moda and then there is a certain "line" name - sorry but that is what I don't know.  Whatever it's called - it's beautiful.  I am using Days Gone By linen and I had a special silk from Gloriana  that Anne dyed to match one of her multicolored silks.  I never used it and it seems to be perfect for this project.  It is similiar to Rosewood but not as dark.

I still can't get over the fact that the OGC is closing.  They were my source for BBD (among many other things)  and had even had Alma and Barb for a class two years ago. I also picked up Honeysuckle Manor and Winter Wonderland as final purchases. Here is a link to a huge article that ran on the front page of the business section a few days ago regarding the OGC closing : 

 I forgot to include WW in the photo.  Also in the recent stash enhancement package was Ann Rayner and some vintage basketweave to stitch her on and AMAP Alphabet Noir.  Can't wait to start Ann - after seeing Tanya's gorgeous version - I have been chomping at the bit to start this colorful beauty. I think I'll treat myself and do a birthday start on Ann.  A friend in my sampler guild was stitching Ann but said the overly bright colors bothered her and she had toned them down some.  I will probably do a mix of Belle Soie and AVAS on mine but I do intend to stitch the brights - I am thirsting for some color after a long drab winter here in NE FL.

Speaking of color - I joined an upcoming KAL at one of my favorite LYS - the Local Needle - scroll down and see a good photo of the Jellyfish bag.  How fun - I've never made a bag before and the construction on this one with the pleats intrigued me.  Plus I love Ty Dy cotton yarn but I don't prefer to knit garments with cotton.  In my quest for color - I picked up some beautiful Ty Dy last weekend and the mag needed for this KAL.  I've already started as I am not going to be able to make the KAL kick off next weekend.  Here is my start:

One last photo for today - In my quest for color these past few weeks - I ran across an almost finished project - The Ruffled Finchu shawl.  It was published in one of the knitting magazines several years ago but the design came from the lovely book called Victorian Lace Today.  Mine is done in Malabrigo lace weight yarn in the colorway called BlueLime.  This photo doesn't show much except the color - it is quite large and is a triangular shawl with an optional bell ruffle.  the ruffle was what attracted me to the design in the first place so once the triangular shape is completed - you pick up all around 3 sides and create the bell ruffle.  This was my car project for a couple of years and it finally got too big to drag around so I took it inside and it hit the black hole of UFO's in the wool room.    I was moving around a bunch of WIP's this week trying to make room for the primitive piece I bought from the OGC (I'll show you this soon I promise) and I found this lovely shawl.  So out it came into the knitting pile by my chair and last night I reacquainted myself with it and off I went.  It is a wonderful mindless project which I need at all times.  Not sure how taxing the bell ruffle will be but I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

Thanks for all your kind comments on my blog - I love hearing from you all and enjoy reading what you are up to in your needlework pursuits.

EASTER JOY

Happy Good Friday to everyone !

I have a few Easter related photos to show you.

Last weekend I realized that I should have been working on the darling design that Paulette from Plum Street Samplers did last year as a freebie.  Easter Blessings - I have seen a few of them stitched on linen and they are sooooooo cute - however I thought this would be perfect for a small rug so I asked my DF Katie to draw it off for me on rug linen.  Of course I asked Paulette first and she thought it was a great idea.  Most rugs have a border - I thought this rug needed a border to bring up the size a little bit and Katie and I brainstormed on a border.  I did not show the border but it has carrots all around and Easter Blessings at the bottom.  Isn't it darling??  The chocolate bunny boy looks a little ardvarky with his "too pointed" nose - I'll have to fix that next time I work on it.  I had hoped to finish the yellow daisies but I did not have time to hook any this week.  Katie is dyeing a light easter egg dye backround for this and I will probably use a spot dyed green/brown for the border backround which will show the carrots off nicely.  I was determined to pull all my wool from stash for this piece.  We'll see what Katie's backround creation looks like - hope it's what I envisioned - other than that small purchase - I think I can manage the rest from stash!  WHOOOOOOHOOOOOOO!

DF and stitcher extraordinare Henrietta also does beautiful paper crafting - her creations never cease to amaze me.  She always remembers her dear friends birthdays and holidays with her wonderful paper crafting.  Here is the oh so darling Easter card.  thanks Henri for always remembering!

Next up is Harriett on her tuffett - I showed you this lovely little primitive bunny in a previous post but she is nestled in a Longaberger easter basket along with plenty of carrots and some pretty eggs.

This very special lady was made by Jody's grandmother and mother.  They sewed many of these bunnies in the early 90's - If I recall correctly - Jody's mom made the bodies and did the embroidery on the faces and Jody's grandmother who was already in her 80's at the time made all the clothes. She passed away 11 years ago at the age of 92 and we miss her so much.  Sadly Jody's mom is now in a nursing home and has the dreaded Alzheimer's so she is slipping away every day.

 I have not used her for many years but she looks so cute on my couch and she is holding the Easter Joy bag by Shepherds Bush. I think she looks very happy there and who wouldn;t be glad to be "out of the bag"!

I wanted to share with you some more sad news in our world - our wonderful "Olde Green Cupboard" is closing.  How sad is that.  The news came a couple of weeks ago and it was sure a shock.  How awful that another great shop has been so affected by the economic woes of these past two very difficult years.  It was a wonderful respite for all who frequented there.  The retreats, classes, communing with like minded needleworkers - They are clearing out all their inventory at 50% off - I have already spent a bundle there - I'll show you in a future post the wonderful cabinet I got there for my wool room.

I'll end this post with a couple of photos of the beautiful Azaleas in my yard.  We had a very rough winter here in NE FL but the flowering trees seem to be ever so lovely this year. 

I wish for each of you Easter Joy - It is a time for renewal, for spending time with family and enjoying a bit of chocolate and hopefully some time with your needle.  Easter Blessings to you all !