Results are in !!

Results are in and I am not good at remembering to take pictures! I can't hardly even remember to take photo's of completed knitting projects.... so on that unhappy note I only have words to discrib our Thursday Road Trip.

Felted, SSChar and myself made the trip up Hwy 49 first going to Nevada City. It was fun to see Meadow Farms Yarn Shop again, even if they had moved. I don't know that they have as much space as they did before. Maybe a little more space for the back room. I did violate the look only, no buy rule I had set for myself. I got some sock yarn for a baby boy. 1 small skein of Panda Cotton from Crystal Palace Yarns. Colorway is shades of blue for a boy. Have not knitted with this before so will be a test drive for me. I also bought Knitting Pure & Simple Neckdown Wrap Cardigan pattern. This one is fairly new and I am so addicted to top down knitting. This will be my third sweater knitted top down.

Next stop was Ben Franklin. They still carry a good supply of yarn. Lots of Lions Brand, and of course the standard Red Heart. They also carry Berroco but mostly in the ribbon type. I am not much into ribbon yarn knitting. We did find the little leg posts for our Doctors Bags. Before we had to order them on line.

After lunch we moved on to Fibers in Grass Valley. This shop has also moved since I was last up in Nevada County. It now is on Mill Street and about the same size as before. Felted was on a search for the Mano's yarn for her Doctor Bag. She found her color but not enough for the bag. I again bought a pattern from Berroco for Yin & Yang, a little sweater that is asymmetrical. Very cute.

We also made a stop at Auburn Needleworks. This shop now has a new owner and a change over in yarns is being done. Lots of Cascade, some Mano's and small lots of kinds. Nothing purchased.

Was a fun trip as we always have plenty of laughs to go around. The heat was not enjoyable for me, as it never is. I think the hardest part was not getting homesick seeing Nevada County again. I know I miss living there still.

FO's include a Premmie Hat for a baby shower today. Fast knit and easy in the heat when you don't want to hold 5 lbs of wool on your lap. I also knitted a small pair of baby socks out of some left over sock yarn. I have cast on a small hat in Rowan's Cotton, color blue !! I will be tired of my favorite color after knitting for the new one. I need to get back to my Doctors Bag knitting. One side is completed and have cast on for the other side. Its wool and hot. I am ready for fall, or at least some kind of cool down.

Pictures on next post, as I also need to do some photo's for the Ravelry site. I spend more time there than I should...... whoa is me !!! So much info so little time.... when your yarn stash is threatening to fall over on you.

Yarn Crawl

Tomorrow I am going to Grass Valley and Nevada City to visit both yarn shops there. Both have moved to larger locations since I last visited them. Meadow Farms Yarns is in Nevada City and was my LYS for a couple years and it will be great to see Ellen and Eileen again. Fibers is in Grass Valley and I had only visited it once but will look forward to seeing their new location. The other place for good yarn is Ben Franklin. Before I moved from Nevada County this store had expanded into some great yarns and patterns.

The trip is being taken with Felted and SSChar.... which will involve a lot of laughing.

Being I am still recovering from bailing the car outta Auto Jail. I will be going as an observer.

Update on how much Felted and SSChar spend on Friday !!!!!

Not One Stitch Knitted !!

Not one stitch was knitted on this trip to Mom's. I have been spoiled by son and daughter driving and me in the passenger seat knitting the miles away. I didn't take the usual token photo of Mt. Shasta this time as I had a shock when I got to Shasta Lake. See the water level? In all my life I have never seen Shasta Lake this low. About the middle of the below photo you can see a boat loading road that ends at least 30 feet from the water line. Does that mean these boats are there till the rains start again? I am guessing so. When I pulled into Bridge Bay Resort to actually see the water levels I was stunned. First off there was actual parking there. Hardly anyone was there. The low water level has destroyed the tourist industry. I went by this lake the end of June and the difference between then and now just amazes me. The widest part of Shasta Lake now looks like a river. There are a few boats on but there are signs that they can not go over certain speed limits. Water skiers have run out of places to safely water ski.
The above photo is the Pit River Bridge. After the bridge collapse in Minn. several weeks ago I developed a fear of crossing the bridge. But then when I arrived I was just spell bound looking at the lake. Standing down closer to the water and looking up at the bridge did nothing to stop my fear of the bridge falling down. First of all I didn't realize that trains were crossing on the same bridge right under the deck for auto's. Yikes !!!! Maybe I shouldn't of looked at this bridge from this angle.

Back to knitting. Still working on the doctor's bag, which I finally got a part of a picture posted on my Ravelry profile. I do love that Ravelry site but it sure can eat up computer time when you are surfing around on it. I have several WIP, that I am promising all you readers, that are on my completion list. If I promise here is that like taking a oath and do I hold up 2 fingers like I did in Brownie Scouts? If so I am so committed. The Motto for Knitting Scouts should be 'KNIT ON'. (so glad there is no uniform involved) Thank you one and all for holding my feet to the flame on these items.

Off to catch up on laundry and figure out where I am with the sticks and string.

Knitting Continued, Car out of Jail

Remember this little sweater I started back in June? Sure you do, cuz I am just sure you retain every exciting, thrilling word I write on this blog!! Well I can now tell you I am ready to complete the front of this sweater as I know which sides to put the button holes on. I will be putting them on the........ (should I really tell em?) Ok...... we are going to have a little boy. Exciting, that will give me 4 grandsons and 3 granddaughters. I will be glad to do the 2 fronts then sew this together. I have yarn for some small hats and some baby socks. That should finish up small people knitting for the summer.

I am also working on the Doctors Bag and loving the yarn and the texture. My Henley sweater is comfortable, but will wear more of it this fall. I forgot to tell you I found some sweet little buttons in my grandmothers button box. They look great on there and I love using old items. Still no pictures of it as I can't seem to remember to buy batteries for the camera.

The last bit of news is...... see the photo above.... yes! I am back on the highway to Mom's tomorrow. I always show you Mt. Shasta because that is my destination and I start watching for it about 150 from there. In clear weather you can see it first from Corning, California. Will be a short trip this time, just long enough to take care of Mother's business. See ya next week. Maybe have pictures even.

I am happy to report the car is out of jail, and almost off probation. The drive north will tell me how it goes.

No Picture Post, Stash and Cars

This is going to be Stash Knitting month for me. Not that I don't have it to knit, cuz I do. I completed the top down Henley with yarn that I got free from a Yarn Frenzy we had last fall, I have also made a Constant Companion from the same stash. I am currently working on the Doctor's Bag, which I posted a picture of last month or so. I have one side completed. Am making this from Malabrigo, Black Forest colorway, 2 strands of yarn held together. This is not going to take long to finish. Why you ask????

The reason is, along with the stash knitting faze, my car is in car jail. Knitting time really adds up when you can't leave home. Some small red light came on Friday, and I was a half block from home. I hurried into the garage and got the auto manual out. Now reading these manuals are not as easy for me to wade through as a good knitting pattern is. But I did find that the reason the light was on as I needed coolant added. Well that sounds simple does it not? hmmmmm I got up Sat morning called my regular garage and they said come over right now and we will check the coolant levels. $1,400.00 later I will be bailing the car out of their custody. Seems the water pump went out, which leads to new belts, which leads to brake pads being replaced which leads to a general service I knew was due.... which leads to................ on and on and on!!!!!!

So the moral here is to HUG your car today. Give it lots of respect and love. Cuz if you ignore it matters only get worse. I have always been one to stay on top of needed service for the car, baby it with new tires and such. But I have to wake up to realize the little blue bug is 10 yrs old this year and in car years...... thats really old!!!!

The reason no pictures you ask? Need new batteries for camera !!! It just never ends.

Finally!!!!

Finally I got my invite to Ravelry !!!!! What an awesome site. Am still learning my way around and continue to find new things. I have started listing my needles and realize how many I do have. If you havn't signed up yet there is a long waiting list, but it is worth the wait. I have linked the site that gives you an overview. Go check it out.

Under the Influence

How's that for a title. It was sale week for one yarn shop. I restrained myself and bought yarn for one sweater. Like I don't have 2 others here to knit already, and some yarn stash that is, in my mind, planned for a couple sweaters. Felted, SS Char and myself had a grand time digging through the yarn bins, planning and then off to Starbucks to actually do some knitting. Now we have to come home and face a few dozen yards of more yarn. I am currently looking for a speed knitting class out there in the yarn world. Anyone know of one?

But I felt better after I saw the lady with all the Koigu yarn stacked by color out on the floor. Now Koigu was not on sale, but this young lady is from Ohio and unable to locate Koigu yarn in any of her yarn shops locally. I was a little taken back on a busy shopping day, first day of yarn sale, to see all this yarn stacked and laying out on the floor. I felt like Paul Harvey, I had to know the REST of the story, so yesterday I went back out to this yarn shop and my first question was........ what happened to the Koigu Lady? Well it turns out it was a great sale for the shop. The lady bought 50 skeins of this yarn which is 175 yds for about 13.95 a skein. Now that is a purchase!!!!! I felt much better knowing I had bought far less. The arrangements for this yarn are to be shipped to her home.... arriving a day her husband is at work, I am betting.

I am close to finishing the Henley Sweater. The top down from Knitting Pure and Simple. I am still very happy with the ease of knitting this sweater is. Which since I was on muscle relaxers and pain meds for about a week, was a good thing. So the point here is, Knitting under the influence can be done with right pattern and yarn. I am finishing the second sleeve, and neck band today. The sweater has been tried on so I could measure to make the sleeve 3/4 length. I have plenty of yarn and will like that length better. I love the fit. I am ready to start something else and am waiting for Felted to finish her shawl so we can cast on for the doctors bag. That will be a good portable travel project for next week even if it is wool.

Time to pick up sticks, stitches are waiting to be made.