Birthday Weekend!

The birthday girls!

@hotazzknitter and me

The three amigos...@hotazzknitter, @courtsgram, and me!

Knitting/crocheting/spinning/eating/rolling in fiber (lol)/buying fiber....lots of fun stuff with the AV Fiber Fiends!

Tomorrow I'll post some goodies I got!:)

Prezzies!

Had lunch last week with a friend (Lorraine) from Torrance and had a wonderful time. She brought me this beautiful skein of handspun she spun for me. It's just gorgeous! I've got to think of something very special to knit with it!

Then my fabulous friend, Nichole, made me these gorgeous mitts out of some yummy, warm malabrigo! Thank you so much! I love them!

In the Mail...

An awesome package was in the mail from my TN buddy, Dawn!

So many beautiful things where do I start....a gorgeous handknitted cowl (which is extra special because of her fibro pain I know how hard it was for her to do); an amazing skein of Socks that Rock (which I've never used before); cute needle gauge shaped like a Christmas hat; notepads which I'm always using; peppermint tea (love peppermint); Christmas towel; Christmas nail files which always come in handy because it never fails when I start to knit on something I need one to fix a nail; adorable ornaments; little bag that looks like knitting to hold notions in; a cute magnet; cross stitch ornament because she knows I need another hobby (lol), haven't done cross stitch in a long time which will be fun; and a beautiful silver candle! I just kept finding tons of treasures in the box! I'm such a kid and didn't wait till Christmas to open it either...she knows I can't wait!:) Thank you so much, Dawn....words cannot express what I'm feeling....your friendship means so much to me!

Weekend Fun...

Finished spinning the singles of some Freckle Face Fibers.

Colorwary: Enchanted Hollow

Merino/Tussah 4oz. = 451 yards

Friday, Pudmuddles (Melissa) came over and I got to see her beautiful little girls. Trouble loved visiting with them! Afterwards they went halloween costume shopping, her oldest is going to be a Vamp, Middle is going to be Spidergirl, and the youngest is going to be a bumble bee! She twittered the pics of them and they are just too cute! Love seeing what people choose to be!

Saturday some friends (neckio30, courtsgram, riverrouge, desertflower) came over to knit and hang out. Had a very nice and relaxing time with them. Also had some yummy snickerdoodles,mmmmm!

Sunday a bunch of us gals had a virtual knit meet. We had so much fun! Thanks for the laughs gals!!! (cuteknitter, barknknit, itsjustmeghan, knittingrn, kdb, Kristen, roue0824, coggietm, sydneyknits, pinktiburon, toadyjoe) Feel like I'm forgetting someone? Fun to see all your projects too!

Monday, today, going to hang out with my guys since they have the day off. Happy Columbus Day!:) Think I hear my spinning wheel calling me!

Friends & Goodies!

ToadyJoe (Amy) and Me

Sunday Limejuicy (Sarah) (not pictured) and ToadyJoe stopped by to visit before Amy's flight back to Idaho. She brought over her itty bitty spinning wheel to show James and I. Isn't it the cutest! Had a wonderful visit with them chatting and spinning!

Lovely yarn from True Love Fiber that I got at the retreat.

Tehachapi Too colorway from Freckle Face Fibers!


Never lose your scissors again with this cool gizmo from Slipped Stitch Studios! Thanks for finding me the sock monkey one, Amy and Laura! Love it!

Also got this adorable necklace from Laurs sister, lyricalllady.etsy.com...it says "Shut Up I'm Counting!" of course its in green too!:)

Wonderful vendors at the retreat...see ya'll next year!

The Limited Edition "To Hatch a Peach" 2010 Cogknitive Retreat soaps and lotions are discounted at http://wolfefarms.net Other scents are discounted too!

Cogknitive Fiber Retreat 2010

Cogknitive Retreat 2010 in Tehachapi, CA.!!

James in front of our shelves!

Some awesome shoppers!! Kristina (Casdena) and Lorena (Loremor) :)

Jamie's Metalworks & Tally's Bags....the Jedi Team!

Bee Mice Elf & Feltilicious....Laurs and her sister must of hid from the camera!

Alpenglow Yarns! Redsknits and her daughter Curlie!

Mette (Alpacaholic) & Tom from Ranch of the Oaks!

Learned so much from them and already miss them...we'll come visit soon!

Redfish Dyeworks! Sandy & Elff...love these two and have so much fun being next to their booth! Big hugs!!!

Slipped Stitch Studio....Laura and her hubby! See ya in Torrance!!

True Love Fiber from Fresno, CA.....sweetest gal, love ya Angela! We both went super short this year with our hair! lol Have to get together before next retreat!

Me next to our table!:)

Other vendors were: FreckleFaceFibers, Unwind, Fickle Knitter, and StashyMama...took the pics but the camera must of ate them because couldn't find them on my camera or the phone? Strange!

Classes held were: Mindy's Fitting Class; Ann's flick carding; Eileen's colorwork; Alexis' Tunisian crochet.

Fun, wonderful, relaxing, calm, awesome day! Exhausted but had a fabulous time! Within the next couple of days I'll post the goodies I got!:)

Saturday's Fun!

Had a great Knit Twit Meet!

Above: Nicole's(Neckio30) backside :), Jeanine (MsDiva), Nicole (Frecklefacefibers), Me and Fuji!

Nicole playing with FFF's yummy, scrumptious, fiber and yarn!

So awesome she brought some goodies!

Jackie (katnmouse), Luanne (courtsgram), Sydnie, and Chris (knittingglassguy)!
Jackie was working on socks; Luanne was working on the travelling woman shawl; Jeanine was working on a cell phone/ipod pouch; Sydnie was knitting a scarf; Nicole was knitting another hat; Chris was working on his socks; Nicole O. was working on a stocking and I was knitting on 198 yds. of heaven. Busy bees but so much more laughing and chatting than knitting, lol!

Cookies: Chocolate Chip with extra chips!:)

Fabulous FreckleFaceFibers..Enchanted Hollow; Merino/Tussah!

Thank you so much Nicole, you're the bestest!

Soap demo went well and was really fun sharing our process! For those who didn't get to attend this one, we will be doing it again after the Christmas season!

Knit Twit Meet!

Another awesome Knit Twit Meet!

Katnmouse(Jackie), DawnRene(Dawn), Riverrouge(Vicky), Celticbay(Shannon), Neckio30(Nichole), Knittingglassguy(Chris), and me Knittinwolf!:)

Chris doing a Chakra demonstration!


Chris made glass drop spindles!
Trying to show him how to use it....haven't done it in over a year since I got my wheel!

Jackie working on socks; DawnRene a scarf; Vicky slippers; Shannon just cast on for the first time on circular needles for a hat!; Nichole working on a hat; Chris knitting on socks and showing off his hat he made for his daughters birthday; Me knitting on a sweater! Fun times! Cookies on tap were peanut butter chocolate chip!

Knit Twit Meet!

Had our knit meet at my house this weekend due to the extreme heat here in the desert of California. Our lys, Grandma's Yarns, doesn't have air conditioning so the group wanted to move where there was one so they could be comfortable and knit. As someone said, heat felts wool! I offered to host it and we had a fabulous time! They're all looking forward to the next get together!:)

Lft. to Rt. (Jackie, DawnRene (not pictured), Chris, Nicole (who came early to hang out with me):), Me, Lorena, and Kristina. Spouses and friends showed up too but aren't pictured! They enjoyed the yummy refreshments though! Had cookies, creme horns, eclairs, creme puffs, angel food cake with strawberries, and a watermelony drink! I had a table set up for Chris to display all his beautiful glass hooks, needles, dpn's, and jewelry. He makes such beautiful items. You can see his products at Intricate By Design!


Fuji stayed right by her Momma! She was a good girl...barked when they came in but then just stayed right next to me. The hearth was not close enough to me so she eventually climbed into my lap as I was spinning. Kind of hard to spin with a pup!:) She was exhausted last night from all the partying!
Thanks for coming and having a great time Knit Twits!

Flamingo Skirt!

Courtsgram (Luanne) came over yesterday to give me another sewing lesson. We had so much fun! She brought her Bernina Serger and her Bernina Virtuoso. She taught me how to do seams with the serger, wow that thing is amazing! Made the above skirt mainly on the serger! I also got to work with her machine which was great fun and so see what all the wonderful things being said about Bernina really are. Think I'm pretty much sold on a Bernina now especially after working with one and seeing/feeling it. It feels like a machine whereas the others feel like plastic boxes. Now to just find one!:)

Fitted Knits Class!

HeyMindy was our fabulous teacher yesterday at Grandma's Yarns & Notions!

She taught a class on fitting your knits to your body type.

We got to measure ourselves for sweaters/skirts...this was the depressing, hilarious part!:)

Learned how schematics are guidelines and not actual rules...and to not ignore your row gauge!:) Short row shaping (heel flap for your boobs). Also had wonderful examples shown to us and some awesome books to add to my amazon wishlist!:)


Those in attendance using Ravelry names were: HeyMindy and her hubby Jaimie; DawnRene; CourtsGram; Katnmouse; Knittinwolf; LakeAlien; Vmomr (all the way from Acton); grandmaangie; lszeremet; neckio30; familydiva, KnittingGlassGuy showed up later for knitting time!

DawnRene, Katnmouse, CourtsGram and I went out to lunch at Panera after the class and had a totally fabulous lunch and giggles! We had so much fun yesterday that we are all in a fog today! After lunch we went back to the shop for knitting time! Nancy brought in a coconut cake to celebrate Angie's birthday too....a day of fun and good times!

I've Been Tagged...

CoggieTM (Kari) from the High Fiber Diet Podcast tagged me on her blog!

Here are my answers...

1- What’s your staple meal (ie. what meal do you cook most often when you can’t be bothered to be adventurous) ? Anything with chicken: beer butt chicken/chicken & rice/teriyaki chicken burger (having those tonight)....James is the chef in the family! He's an awesome cook!

2- What do you want to be when you grow up? "When I grow up I wanna be an old woman..."; gotta love the Kaiser commercial....seriously though I am what I want to be, a mom/wife; the best, most rewarding thing ever! Maybe will resume my therapy practice one day because I love doing that too!

3- What book are you reading at the moment (if any)....I'm reading all the Hardy Boys books Jimmy has read and just started reading Eclipse again in preparation for the movie next week. Also reading a lot of knitting technique books for the tkga program.

4- How do you relax? Relax, what's that? I spin/knit/crochet/read/bubble baths...super stressed I unload onto James!:) Poor guy I'm always bending his ears!

5- What color are the interior walls of your home? Workout room is poppy orange/dining room is forest green/kitchen is sunflower yellow/ pecan throughout/bedroom is sage green/ school room is ocean blue/laundry room is country blue, light blue

6- What is your guiltiest pleasure? I don't think I have one...maybe knit meetings? Pot of tea and knitting in the morning for 1/2 an hour...

7- What time is bedtime and getting up time? Bedtime is 10:00pm or sometimes sooner....getting up time is between 5-6am, usually before the sunrises...hence the name, Dawn!:) Love mornings!

8- How long do you spend reading blogs (per day or per week)? approximately 1/2 an hour every morning....gotta keep up with all my bloggy buddies!:)

My selections for the next round of "tagging"are:

Courtney

Nancy

Wendy

KM

Dawn Rene

Saturday's Stitchin'

Another fun Saturday at Grandma's Yarns & Notions!!

Dawn Rene working on her beautiful cardigan; Luanne working on a baby cardigan; I was working on a shawl; Jackie working on her socks; Nicole (FFF) working on leg warmers; Marilyn working on baby cardigan; Angie some wrist warmers; Nancy a cardigan; and new Nicole working on socks and getting to know us. Also the glass guy, Chris learned to knit!:) We have so much fun laughing, giggling, and chatting...I look forward to every Saturday!:) Luanne used to live in the bay area and with all the water conservation she found this recipe....she liked it so well she still makes salmon this way...had to share it because it was too awesome not to! Gotta get me some salmon!

Salmon in a Dishwasher!!

Needs:
salmon fillets
aluminum foil
a lemon
a few butter pats
electric dishwasher
Place the fish on two large sheets of aluminum foil. Squeeze on some lemon juice and place the pats of butter on the salmon fillets. Seal the fillets well in the foil, and place the foil packet in the top wire basket of your electric dishwasher. DO NOT ADD SOAP OR DETERGENT. Close the dishwasher door, set the dishwasher on the hottest wash cycle, complete with drying cycle, and let it run through a full cycle. When the cycle is complete the fish will be cooked just right!!

Weekend Fun...

Stitchin' Saturday at lys!

Fun times with Dolores, Jackie, Dawn Rene, Nancy, Angie, Marlene...nice to see Sue and Liz who dropped by. Enjoyed Chris the glass guy's goodies he brings!

James working on the front yard, planting grass! ...hard to photograph the area because of the width!

So much to do...poor guy!:)

I made some butterscotch cookies and ran some errands...

Fresh from the Cauldron minis...from a swapless swap I bought over three months ago.

Very beautiful colors! Fun looking through them!

Friday FFF Dye Day!

Nicole (FreckleFaceFibers), Sarah (Limejuicy), and Me (Knittinwolf) :)

Nicole showing us how to mix the dyes...

Nicole putting the already prepared fiber (was in a bath of Dawn) into the dye baths.

At this point she has poured one of the dyes into the trays already.

Nicole pouring one of the shades on top of the roving...

After this is on it, it marinates for the day...then its rinsed..spun in the washer...put in a big steamer....hung to dry...braided....then ready for you to buy!:)

Some yummy merino/tussah roving in the colorway Cherry Season I bought!

Going to turn this into an Ishbel!:)

Some more gorgeous FFFiber in bombyx/merino called Marigold.

Restrained from buying green and one called California Poppies..very hard because all of her rovings are soooooo drool worthy!:) You can go get yourself some on her etsy site...FreckleFaceFibers! Her fibers are the only ones I have spin and knit with and they are just as wonderful to work with as they are to look at!

Nicole's such a sweetie...she knows I'm working on the never ending scrappy happy sock blanket and gave me some of her mini sock skeins! You're the best Nicole....thank you so much for "teaching" us! Look forward to hanging out with you again soon!:)