Fiber Fest, as told by the accurate & truthful orator of our generation, Crystal Sutliff

Four score and 7 years ago we discovered & planned a trip to Alleghan County fiber fest. We being Amy & myself, Crystal. Through snow or sleet or rain...we cared not, we were going. Then we sobered up and realized we had stolen the postal workers motto and we were not going to be able to make it that first year.

Well one year turned into about a hundred, but finally..yes, finally our time had come. We were on our way. Suzy, Joe, Amy & myself…Oh & our handy dandy pic-a-nic basket booboo.

Laura White & Laura White...yes you read that right...there are two of em with the same name...sister in laws. Such a simple thing but it amuses me anyhow. So Laura and Laura were going in a separate car and Laura...no not that one...the other one, was coming home with us.

As usual our early morning start turned into more like mid-morning start and we were running behind. It didn’t help that I forgot the damn bread and our main dish for our pic-a-nic was tuna sammies…argh I rock!

People driving in front of me were a pain and were banished forever from attending fiber festivals by my forthright decree of "No Fiber for you"! I meant it then and I mean it now...harsh I know but what is a girl wanting to sniff fiber to do I ask you?

So there we were stopping every five minutes for breaks. We are sooo big on taking breaks. We have even been known to take breaks from taking breaks. We were planning on taking a break mid fest and set up our chairs and have a loooooovvvveeeelllllyyyy pic-a-nic and maybe knit a bit and have a high ole time. What a bunch of rubes. First off, totally my fault, we weren't staying over cuz I made the mistake of accepting an obligation for Sunday and so we could not stay over on Saturday. However, I never take responsibility when I can pass it off on someone else and so blame the rest of this band of merry fiber feelers for being heavy drinkers and not having the money to pay for their share of the hotel due to excessive drinking.

So back to where I was, I could complain all damn day about those women and their liquor.

Oh, I forgot we stopped at a yard sale when we were almost there and I scored THE cutest purple knit carrier bag…adorable (I am singing this part, your loss that you cannot hear me, I sound just like a nightingale, sort of).

Anyhow, three women and one man enter the hallowed grounds of FiberFest. The angel of the Lord appeared unto them and said Blessed are you…wait…wrong story…No angels just an old man with a fanny pouch asking us to pay either our first born or 5 dollars each to get in. I said my first born was 31 and they could have him, to which he snottily replied that the cut off for taking ones children was 30, just give me the 5 bucks lady and quit being a cheapskate. I promptly smacked him with some inferior yarn and yelled I thought old men in fanny packs were supposed to be nice so you don’t laugh at them and we roared off to get lost in the festival. We got out of the van and Suzy smacked me in the back of the head for being a smart mouth and Amy tripped me for almost getting us kicked out. Joe didn’t do anything, he was still grumbling I never wanted to come, I knew this was a mistake.

Still alive and kicking!

Hi everyone!
I realized the other day that we have been neglecting our Blog. With a few of our members lacking a computer and others just being to busy we've been absent for a little while.
Never fear though we are still stitching and uh... bitching on Thursday nights at the Riverside Yarn Gallery in Wyandotte.
Here is what is happening with our current group:
1. Chris is working on the lovely Miyoko top. While the pattern is beautiful she is holding out on her verdict. Personally I think once she wears it she will love it.
2. Crystal is working on an adorable baby sweater that I really want to put in to my own knitting bag when she isn't looking. I haven't forgotten about the purple sock yarn she has either. I'm totally in love with that as well!
3. Amy is crocheting a ripple shawl that I'm totally jealous of! I can certainly crochet; and in fact, I taught Amy; but I'm definitely more of a knitter. Does that make Amy and I bistitchual?
4. Erin has been also knitting adorable baby sweaters, I believe her last count was 3 in the last 3 weeks? If only the rest of us could keep up with you!
5.Dani has been absent for a few weeks due to her foot surgery. I miss our resident yarn sniffer and sock guru!
6. Ev is crocheting another purse I believe. Totally gives a new spin on the whole bag lady thing. Ev is the total opposite of the little old lady with the shopping bag walking down the street; in part because the purses she crochets are so lovely.
7. Susie is working on her twirly scarf and finishing up a Christmas stocking. I give her props because of how many times she had to correct the pattern writers math!
8. I've been working on a sock and a few other random things. I picked up my spindle again and put the finishing touches on another baby sweater. I think it is becoming a theme for the summer with our group.
9. I hope the newbies that were brave enough to join us for a night come back! I promise I won't think about swiping your sock yarn or baby sweater until at least the second week. Laughs.

Knit Night March 31st

So, here is my story & I am sticking to it.  You can threaten to beat me with a rubber hose or drag me through the streets by rope & horse & I will not deviate from my story.  Actually that is not true.  I would cry & wail & gnash my teeth if you even showed me a picture of a rubber hose or neighed softly in my ear.  I would also disavow ever having a story at all, so here is my somewhat shaky version of knit night.  Erin happy Anniversary, hope you & your husband had a nice night.  I do wonder why you felt you couldn't come to knit night with hubs to celebrate.  We had tea & Macaroons dipped in chocolate & brownie bites and we were surrounded by fiber of all kinds.  What's more romantic than that I ask you?  Georgia finished her sock & it was lovely.  We passed it around the table & it was fondled by all.  Sometimes I think knitting just sounds dirty (insert naughty snicker here).  Georgia is also making a very lovely lacy baby blanket.  Now I will put pictures of her projects below but please note getting a good picture out of me is still a crap shoot.  I continue to try to do a better job, but I just don't seem to have the photography gene.  Laura continues to knit on her soft blue baby blanket & it is growing by leaps & bounds.  She is currently on spring break from school & I worried all night that she would end up dancing on the table wearing a lamp shade.  It never happened but with Laura you just never know.  Ev was crocheting on her gorgeous grey pleated purse & has decided her scientific method for determining how tall it will be is going to be based on running out of yarn....Yarn gone?  Purse finished.  I like a girl who thinks things through in this fashion.  Dinner plate clean, dinner done...car out of gas, then I guess this is where I want to be...hmmmm, there might be a flaw in this kind of planning LOL!  Amy was working on her lime green crocheted shawl.  I have to say I like this shawl ripple pattern better in crochet than the knitted one she was originally doing.  Just suits the yarn better.  Thanks for the heads up about the felters group which I joined.  I also checked out the Nuno felting which is basically combining silk fabric & wool fibers & it is beautiful & very artsy.  If you haven't seen it check it out on utube.  Suzy was working on her stocking & turned her first heel.  Surprisingly it was the heel flap that caused her a couple of unpleasant moments & one major swear word heeheehee..so shocking Miss Suzy!  Her heel though is lovely and something to be proud of.  Chris came in wearing her pretty hand knit pink sweater with matching pink earrings.  She also passed around a double crocheted scrubby, like the ones Ev was knitting but this one has a twist in the middle & one on each side.  Very cool design.  Chris was working on a lace pattern shawl I think in a pretty Pima Cotton yarn.  I think she got disgusted with it & shoved it in her knit bag for a time out before I could get a picture of it.  I was busy knitting on a soft lime green 6 inch teddy bear for my granddaughter & managed to get the legs done.  I have since brought it home & the body & head are now safely knit on. I just need to finish the arms, ears & muzzle then I will block stuff & sew.  Right now it just looks weird.  Oh & I finished my Wallabee sweater finally.  I knit it 5 years ago & screwed up the under arms, which were all I had left to do.  Put it away for lo these five years thinking the screwed up under arms were just the worst of mistakes and almost impossible to fix.  Well Laura has been at me to bring it in to see if I could get help, so I finally bit the bullet and drug the darn thing in for help.  When I presented it for help I finally looked at it again & darned if I hadn't made a mountain out of a mole hill.  Turns out if was just easy grafting & some darning needle magic and it is fine.  I have spent five years creating a drama that only existed in my mind.  Ugh!  What's the lesson I learned?  That I am an idiot & a knitting coward LOL!  Laura also brought me the needles to make the big needle sweater...I swear Laura you are a great big (and by great big I mean skinny) trouble maker.  You get me into more fixes, but as long as they are fiber related I will forgive you, heeheehee!  I also have one more slipper to finish & decide on the million of projects floating through my head that I want to do.  So many patterns & so little time  *SIGH*. Allrighty that about covers knit night.  Another great night full of fiber & fun.  Well other than Ev, Amy & Laura trying to get me and Suzy to walk across the street at the end of knitting to the health food store, when everyone knows any self respecting person wanting to be healthier would for sure drive there, so Suzy & I being the only two sane people left sat it out in the car while they hoofed it across the street.  Allright I am out!  Happy knitting everyone!

This is that double scrubby...very clever Chris.

Georgia's beautiful sock.  Sorry about the poopy picture.

Georgia's pretty baby blanket.  Lovely stitch which I know is hard to see...again sorry.  The bunny was knit by Laura one of the Owners of Riverside Yarn Gallery where we meet and is adorable.  The eggs I am going to give instructions to later.  

This is Laura's baby blanket.  A simple pattern with a lovely classic look.

March 24th KNit Night!

Amidst much complaining, (from me) & whining, (again from me) and gnashing of teeth, (ummmm do I really need to say by who?), I began the sweater that is a simple knit in the round top down sweater on large needles.  I, who am not a fan of knitting on anything over a size ten needle caved & bought the crap...I mean lovely pattern & fiber for my own top down large needle sweater.  Chris reminded me of the knit on cast-on & I was off and running.  It was really more like a slow crawl but I wanted to impress you with that running bit.  The truth is the last time I ran, a toddler was heading bawls out towards a pool & for some reason this Na-Na thought she could still run & gave chase.  Well instead I ended up doing this wonderful slow stumble fall combination that had no resemblance at all to style, grace or dignity.  The toddler skirted the pool at the last minute, so just to let you know my heart was near cardiac arrest during the whole gymnastic routine I was performing.  And lest you think it couldn't get worse, well smarty pants you are soooo wrong.  This all happened during a backyard wedding with everyone in the free world in attendance. The saddest part was that I wasn't even really invited, but that is a story for another day & requires a couple glasses of wine to make it its funniest.  So I had the circular needles in 15 & 17 that I needed & away I went.  Well cast-on row.  Now to join in the round.  Wait why won't all the stitches stretch?  Everyone else started theirs on circ's no problem, plenty of stitches to make it connect just fine.  SLOW DUH!  The damn cables were too long and these weren't interchangeables.  Grrrr!  Hiss!  DAMN IT!  I am NOT wanting to buy another set of 15's & 17's.  Then someone suggested I wait until...crap..I cannot remember what the suggestion was but I remember thinking it was brilliant because it meant I could put off knitting the sweater a little longer.  Now because I am a pain in my OWN ass, I  found that as soon as I was let off the hook I really really wanted to start the damn sweater.  I didn't tell the crew though cuz I thought it might just be too much for them to find out at that particular moment how warped I am & the thought of being thrown out of this squad of delightful lunatics was just too much to think about after being sick since January.  I did not get any pictures this week as I was too busy flapping my gums.  It was nice to see Georgia again & nice of her to invite us to Wednesday mornings for another knitting group meeting.  I am hoping to go, though me and mornings aren't always on a first name basis.  Their was a new knitter there named Michelle...Oh please God let me have gotten the name right, she was knitting a cute diaper soaker, only having learned to knit a couple of weeks ago...she is doing extremely well.  I would not have guessed by her lovely tension that she was such a new knitter..you go girl & welcome!  I hope I didn't scare her off...I was on a mix of chocolate & full bodied dark roast coffee.  To say I was being obnoxious is beyond polite!  Personally I would have tied me up in dirty cheap acrylic, if I were them LOL!  Anyhow...good Lord I ramble...I have to sit & think on how I am going to get the needles for this sweater & what to do with the other ones.  I do not need 15's & 17's in both 20" cables & 24" cable which the 24" is what I have in both..too long and Grrrr!  Erin was making a Harry Potter scarf & cursing & growling & I think at times she might have been strangling the scarf under the table...very vicious heeheee...she caught the terminal scarfus never endus disease every knitter gets when knitting a scarf.  I did the only polite thing I could think of & told her she was correct that the disease has no cure & she was right in thinking the damn scarf would never be finished needing just a few more rows!  I did mention I was under the influence of chocolate AND dark roast coffee right?  Okay..others were diligently knitting away & stuff but if I don't end this now I am going to have to start adding chapters to this blog & that ain't cool LOL!

March 17th Knit Night!

After missing a couple of weeks of knitting due to a cold that returned to me 3 times I was grateful to finally be back. I was still weak from being sick & about halfway through this night I almost laid my head down on the freaking table to simultaneously sleep & drool. I am pretty sure the fiber divas would have smacked me around with their knitting bags had I done that. I know that sounds nasty of them but perfectly normal compassionate people have been known to turn ferocious when it comes to getting human slobber on their yarn. I say human because they don't seem to have the same reaction when it is their beloved animals. I endured & kept myself upright & I think I even managed a whole whopping 3 rows of knitting on a toddler size slipper. It was pitiful but I have found if you make a lot of noise & grunt & groan A LOT about doing the knitting you can fool people into thinking you have just managed to knit almost an entire outfit LOL! But I know the truth, three lousy rows. So here are some picks of knit night.here is Chris in her lovely new sweater. This is knit in the round on large needles & is a simple pattern. Michelle the shop owner has knit two of these, Chris has knit this lovely one & Laura has knit one. Dani bought the yarn to knit two of them and I finally caved & bought the pattern & yarn to make one even though I am not a fan of knitting on large needles, the mighty have fallen...I shall be making this one too and complaining the whole way LOL!
These are crocheted strawberries that Amy crocheted up. She just thunked up the pattern all by her little ole self. The girl is either two smart fer her own britches or has too much time on her hands BG!

Here is Dani & Laura knitting. Dani is making a really pretty two toned blue sock that I was trying to get a closer picture of and failed miserably.

Here is a picture of Laura Spinning with her drop spindle, very cool Laura!

This is Laura's knit baby bootie.

These are two scrubbies that Ev crocheted. Wait one of these was made by someone else. I think it was Chris? Anyhow, not pasties..scrubbies LOL!
so that was knit night and a good time was had by all!

Neighborhood Knits is returning!

I don't know if anyone had heard the news, but Neighborhood Knits has a new owner and will be reopening!  For those fans of the little yarn shop in Dearborn, this should be some seriously happy news.

The new owner is in process of setting up the legal end of things and is going to be relocating the shop to a larger space with more parking (still in Dearborn, of course), so it will take some time before it's back.  However, the simple news that it's not gone for good had elated this fiber fiend.

Don't for one minute think that this is traitorous or I am turning my back on my beloved LYS.  Riverside Yarn Gallery is still my number one shop in my heart of hearts.  With the loss of so many fiber craft related shops around Michigan in the last several months, it just makes me extremely happy to know that we will still have at least two quality shops Downriver.  Detroit and beyond has so many in there vicinities, that it was starting to feel like us "river rats" were being forgotten.

So, yay for Neighborhood Knits enduring!  Fiber for all!  Between NK and RYG, I know us Downriver stitchers will be more than well taken care of!

Off to crochet more on the Ripple Shawl now.

Stay crafty! :D

ETA:  I almost forgot!  You can keep informed on the progress of NK at The Neighborhood Knitter Blog.

Tinking back

Have you ever had that moment when you hold up a finished project and just admire your work? I had one of those the other day when I finished the sweater I've been knitting in a pretty shade of lilac. I ran my hands up and down the body of the sweater admiring my work when I found: "IT!"
"IT" turned out to be a huge, gigantic offensive hole right in the middle of my left sleeve! Having fortitude and chocolate both in great supply I set out to sew up the hole. After all, how hard could it be? I'd simply sew up the hole, soak the sweater and then proudly wear the thing before it became to warm. Right?
Turns out not only was there one hole but it morphed in to 2 holes. As I was sewing up the first nasty hole a few more stitches dropped and I was left with another hole to fix. At this time I still had hope and so I trudged on sewing up the hole in my sleeve. I thought about tinking back to the spot but the thought of knitting the sleeve over again was just a little to much for my sense of pride. I knew that my sweater was far from perfect and I was accepting of that; as long as I could wear it I really didn't care about the hole. Until...
Yes, it gets better. After I sewed up the hole and wove in all the ends I thought I was done with the mini ordeal. I set the sweater to soak and when I came back a few minutes later to wrap it in several old towels I about died. Not only had the sweater grown and thus the hole had reopened, but the smell was enough to chase away even the most seasoned of knitters. Now I'm not a smoker, nor do I knit in bars while attempting to drink red wine while simultaneously lecturing my dates on the afordability of wool over synthetic fabrics; but at this moment in time I thought about that wool Vs. synthetics lecture and sided with synthetics! Not only did this sweater stink horribly of wet wool but it had a kind of raw animal smell as well. I worried as I laid the sweater on towels to dry in front of the fire that perhaps it would never stop smelling of wet dirty sheep.
I am happy to report that after 3 days in which I've petted, hugged, sniffed and even shown off my sweater the smell is gone; but the hole was not. Every time I put on the sweater, picked up the sweater, thought about the sweater I kept seeing the holes in the sleeve and my shitty attempt at fixing them. So today without the comforts of chocolate since I'm attempting to lose weight I began to contemplate tinking back to the holes and really fixing them for good. I gave up on my pride since that always goes before the fall and decided that I couldn't live with a sweater that wasn't my absolute best work. With the scissors in hand and a few stitch holders I began the long process of tinking back what to many would have been an acceptable sleeve; but to me was far from my best work.
Since I knew that I couldn't stand to tink back over half a sleeve I did the unthinkable. I took a pair of scissors to my sweater! Yes, I actually took a pair of scissors to my lovely, smooshy huggable sweater. I snipped the sleeve just below the shitty sewing job from yours truly and began to unravel my knitting. When I worked a row beyond the mistake that caused the hole I put my stitches on to 2 holders, counted them to figure out where I was in the decrease pattern and ripped out another row so that I was in my first round after a decrease row. It was at this point that I started to knit.... and knit.... and knit....
Now, 7 hours later I have a completed sweater once again. The sleeves are about as close to perfect as I can get them, I need to soak just a sleeve so I can block it to the exact shape as the other one but beyond that I'm happy! The sweater is done, the smell is gone, the cat is lying on it and all is right in the world once again.