Saturday night, DH and I met up with Jeanne and her husband from Knitting Addiction. For those who loved my sock t-shirt, it's her shop that sells them at a great price. Our dinner at Terrapin (used to be a church but now a restaurant) only lasted three hours. Three hours of laughing hysterically over yarn, gravity, and travels. These self-professing Canadians (they're not but it is our inside joke) are a blast! Dave's stegasauras pork tenderloin combined with the waiter giving us food we didn't order will always be a fond memory (oh and singing the Canadian National Anthem).

Sunday morning we checked out of our B&B after one of the guests approached me. It seems she thought that I might be going to the Sheep & Wool. Do you know what the clue was? My tote bag says "Knit or Die" with a skull and knitting needles. Sunday was super chill. The scenery was stunning.

Ah, yes, I still need to post pictures of my stash acquisitions. Sigh. I feel like a lot of people overwhelmed, tired, and sad to be back in working day. 364 more days to fried artichokes, socks that rock, shelridge farms, and many more things....

DH and I made a weekend out of Rhinebeck. We considered it a postponed anniversary celebration (I was in class during the actual event). We stayed in Millbrook around 30 minutes from my desired destination and ate at a great French restaurant called Cafe Les Baux the Friday night we arrived. The food was yummy, as we shared a cream of garlic soup (one because it was filling and two because we wanted to cut down on the stinkiness factor later). I had lamb in wine sauce and Ben, my little Redcoat, had mussels.

Saturday we arrived early, sorta 9:15 am, we were on line at The Fold for the annual Socks that Rock line-o-rama. Here's the 411: Go in with a team of comrades. One of you stay in line. This is a key position, while the others seek out yarn. And rotate positions as needed. DH obliged as I picked up three skeins (my first STR stash, yeah!). Now, you might want to know what colors you want in advance but I had no clue. On line, I noticed a beautiful Central Park Hoodie who I later learned was Shameeka (who btw was seaming this thing up the night before!). Shameeka also informed me that usually after the stampede is over at STR, there is mostly the pink shades left. Very interesting.

I think the Blogger Bingo was a blast! I met sooo many people who have already been added to my Bloglines and Ravelry Friends list. I loved walking up to people announcing, "I'm a square! You're a square". Granted some didn't appreciate my offbeat humor, I had fun approaching people with such ease (especially because I am super shy). So, here's my no photos rundown: I saw Deb and her mom a gazillion times. I met Necia finally. I talked to Marilyn for a while. I met Rachel or rather introduced myself while she was acquiring coffee. I saw a lot more folks...

Of course, lunch consisted of Fried Artichokes and beer. Love those artichokes!

Other things to know:
I did pick up the samoyed dog yarn. It is actually 50% samoyed, 50% merino wool. It only slightly smells of the dog, maybe I should have inhaled prior to purchase, who knows? A friend knit it up and said it was super soft and incredily warm.
I picked up a Moving Mud closure. I love their buttons!
Thanks to Shameeka I picked up buttons from Briar Rose, which I am loving.
Thanks to RosiG, I am now in love with Shelridge Farms Soft Touch yarn (but they didn't have a lot left when I went).

Here are my photos!

I thought I was using the pillar stitch when I made the red scarf. In reality, I did something different and voila now it is the red scarf pattern. This scarf was made for the Orphan Foundation of America.

Someone was really nice and asked for the pattern to this scarf I made for my FIL. It is a slight variation of the scarf I made my dad. BTW, the photos don't show the basketweave well (oh well) which is obvious when you see it in person and the yarn is very soft and pretty. Here's the details....

Tom's Basketweave Scarf

Abbreviations:
K… Knit
P… Purl

Materials:
SWTC Karaoke
Size 7 US Needle

Gauge:
20 stitches over 4 inches in stockinette stitch (it’s a scarf- gauge is not critical)

Measurements:
8” X 60”

Directions:
Cast on 38 stitches

Border: Knit Seed Stitch (k1,p1) for six rows.

Row 1: k1,p1,k1,k8,p8,k8,p8, p1,k1,p1
Row 2: p1,k1,p1,k8,p8,k8,p8,k1,p1,k1
Repeat Rows 1&2 for ten rows This creates the first set of blocks

Row 3: k1,p1,k1,p8,k8,p8,k8, p1,k1,p1
Row 4: p1,k1,p1,p8,k8,p8,k8,k1,p1,k1
Repeat Rows 3 & 4 for ten rows. This creates the second set of blocks

Keep repeating Rows 1 & 2 for ten rows and then Rows 3 & 4 for ten rows until desired length.

Border: Knit Seed Stitch (k1,p1) for six rows.

Cast Off.

Notes:
I would make the scarf a little smaller if I had to do it again. In rows 1,2,3,4, I would knit and purl 6 stitches instead of 8 and then repeat for 8 rows.

Ok, finally, I reveal the Sanpoku. Now, this is not me. Rather, Norah was very helpful in volunteering to model the sweater.

Here she is...Wicked. I am on the body about to do some increases for my hips. I have another 3-4 inches to go but the stockinette in the round moves quickly. Malabrigo is exactly what you think it is super soft. I am not doing the pocket on this sweater but I am doing the long sleeves, maybe 3/4 length. I am liking the color, thank you so much for the compliments!

I have made progress on the Wicked sweater (photos later this week). I am past the 30 repeats and have my sleeves hanging out on waste yarn and have begun the repeats beneath the arm hole. Malabrigo is truly divine to knit. I already know my next project and um, yeah it involves Malabrigo again.

I did begin Brooklyn Tweed's generic noro stripe scarf. With the yarn my friend Katie gave me and an orphan skein of Silk Garden relaxing in my knitting stash, I cast on for this afternoon. It moves oh so quickly and because of the ribbing looks like stockinette.

Wicked is moving along, but not as quickly since I have a paper and presentation, paper, and audiotaping due.

S0, I leave you with a message from Puffiness...

Wow, everyone seemed to vote on everything but the Wicked sweater which is what I already cast on last night. But, in good knitting news, I am maing quick progress and I should start one of the other projects everyone recommends.

Ok, so after the Cobblestone I have been big on the super quick projects. I need the feels good projects before I embark on another sweater. Honestly, I have no idea which sweater to tackle next. Either Cardigan for Arwen, Wicked, Tree Jacket, hmmm....

Anyways, I present fingerless gloves (and Izzy but at this point does he really need an introduction?)

Yup, another leash. I am thinking of giving this one to my SIL for her rabbit Milo. I can always make another one for Maya as I have two more skeins of Noro Daria in the color below, and another one in the color of the other leash I made. I got this pattern from Knitch. So here's the details:

All done with Cobblestone. Still fighting the cold, thanks for all the "feel better" comments.

i have a cold. my throat hurts. fever. coughing. congestion. good times.

i am sleepy. i have work to do. I have been knitting the cobblestone instead.

It seems nobody actually guessed at how much the yarn from South America cost, so, get ready to go "what?"
So, I will let Izzy reveal the magic number...


"Who cares, let's talk about me-ok, fine, six bucks. Six us dollars but all that yarn. Let's talk about me now!"

I am still working on the increases of the second sleeve of cobblestone sweater. I can't wait to finish the pattern because I think I am ready to cast one for something new...

This yarn is dedicated solely to charity knitting for PAWS. But, here's the deal. A friend went down to South America for a vacation and picked up this yarn for me.

So, I pretty much uploaded my stash, projects, and friends on Ravelry last night. Yeah, I worked most of the night, and I do have class at 8am and no I didn't do the reading. I took so many pictures of my stash that Izzy realized he was only getting attention by going near the action. So here's the details:

My Ravelry name is: callingkahlo

Okay, I sleepy, so I go try and read.

Found you!
You signed up on July 3, 2007
You are #12142 on the list.
82 people are ahead of you in line.
19969 people are behind you in line.
37% of the list has been invited so far

Ohhh, I need to take some more pictures of my stash, this is so exciting. And I checked it earlier and there was 200 in front of me. I am ready to join my Jersey Represent group. I already feel connected to the folks!