It's time has come...

Yesterday, I remembered a cute little sleeveless spring sweater I had started for one of my granddaughters, who will be turning 13 soon (unbelievable!). I'm guessing she was probably around 5 or 6 when I decided I was going to make it for her. Life got in the way, I moved back home to California after five years in Kentucky, and this little number got pushed aside. Life has come together again for me and hence, this sweater will now come to fruition for another little granddaughter...the sister of the one it was originally intended for! Of course, notes are long gone, and I failed to circle the size I was making. It's a pattern from the UK, so sizing goes according to chest size, etc. Rather than try to guess at the size I was making, or count stitches, I frogged the front and restarted last night at knitting. It's such a basic piece that it shouldn't take me hardly any time at all to knit up. And if it doesn't work for the youngest of my granddaughters, I have a friend in Kentucky who has a little granddaughter that it would look fabulous on as well! I'm excited to begin on it again, and will post progress reports soon..



Dare I say, I also squeezed in a trip to one of my LYS yesterday? It wasn't easy, but I did it! lol Like I needed to after having just gone to Stitches West and doing quite a bit of stash enhancement there. I just wasn't in the mood to work on anything I bought the goods for there. Perusing patterns on Ravelry, I came across a simple shawl I knew was the one for me! I secretly cracked myself up as I was printing it out. When my daughters were young and I sewed their entire wardrobes for the next school year during the summer months, I would take them to the fabric stores with me to pick out what they wanted. Being so young, they couldn't visualize what a particular dress would look like out of the fabrics I suggested. They would insist the fabric had to be exactly the same as on the models featured on the fronts of the pattern envelopes. That was usually do-able, but the times it wasn't, it was frustrating for me to try to convince my girls the fabric I suggested would look fantastic! As I was shopping for my yarn yesterday for the pattern I chose, I realized I liked it partly BECAUSE of the yarn it was featured in on the model. lol I quietly chuckled to myself thinking I had turned into my daughters. The movie "30 Going On 13" came to mind. Unfortunately, the LYS doesn't stock MadelineTosh in a worsted or DK weight, and they had sold out of the sock weight, which I probably could've worked it up in that as well. I knew my Mara needed to be out of something with a lot of drape, but of course, soft and squishy too! I chose Elsebeth Lavold's Silky Wool in color #12, which is a dusty rose in a silk, wool, and nylon blend. I can hardly wait to get started!!! I also picked up another skein of Malabrigo Sock in the Stonechat colorway...you know, just in case the urge to knit some more socks should strike my fancy. Now, the thing that annoys me the most about this particular LYS is, they will NOT wind yarn during a sale. By the time I chose my yarns and purchased them, I was the last person left in the shop. They still would NOT wind my yarn. I was welcome to return "after the sale is over". I can partly understand this policy, but geez, do ya think they could maybe relax it a little bit? Maybe something like "we are too busy right now to wind this for you, but if we get a break in between and you would like to come back for it, say in an hour or so, we might have a chance to do it". I was tempted to tell the owner that this is the reason I won't be coming back to her shop. Her lack of being able to bend a little has driven a lot of people I know personally away. I have a yarn swift and ball winder, but I don't care for the style of swift I have; it's cumbersome and bounces all over the place. So, I was telling Scooter all of this last night and he said "why have you not bought a swift you do like then?" I truly had no answer. He then says, "you order one right now! There is no reason why you shouldn't have the one you would rather have if it's going to make it easier for you to enjoy what you love". He is just the bestest! Swift has been ordered and is on its way. LYS sells swifts, but there is no way I would go back in there and buy one...all because of the lack of customer service.

I want to give a great big shout-out to my friend Dawn at Wolfe Farms, aka knittinwolf! I sent her two lapghans for her charity project....they were being donated to a senior facility near her home where her grandmother is. One of my passions is charity knitting/crocheting, and I never expect anything in return. It's just something I love doing for no other reason than just having the personal satisfaction of knowing I might have put a smile on someone's face, or made their life a little more comfortable. Imagine my surprise yesterday when I came home from knitting group last night and saw this waiting for me! Ohhhhh, it smells won-der-ful!!! Knittinwolf had mentioned that everyone would be getting a "thank you" in the mail, but I never expected a gift!! Thank you so much, Dawn!!! Now, if y'all will excuse me, I'm off to visit her website since I'm out of lotion.

p.s. If anyone knows how to rotate pics in blogspot, I'd appreciate the suggestion. I don't know why this one pic above insists on placing itself on its side, because it shows up right side up everywhere else, except here on blogspot. Strange.