Saturday ended up being a “rest day” as far as the Tour de Fleece was concerned, but I was able to dust off the spindle and spin a little on Friday.  I started spinning an art batt from BohoKnitterChic.  It’s different than anything I’ve spun before, and while it isn’t my favorite, it has been an interesting learning experience.

We got home this evening and sat down to catch up on the Tour de France (thank goodness for DVRs).  We have one more stage to catch up on, but the Tour is on rest tomorrow so we’ll be ready to go by Tuesday!  I managed to finish a bobbin tonight so there was a little bit of progress on Day 9.

Now if only I were on vacation tomorrow…

So last Thursday my friend PlazaJen and I piled all of our stuff in the car and headed for St. Louis! We arrived around noon, checked in, and started meeting the knitters. The interesting thing is that, with popularity of Ravelry these days, I knew many of the attendees from online before I ever met them. I even roomed with someone I had met through Ravelry!

Around 3pm we could get our registration materials and our goody bag and of course the cupcakes! Each year Laura and Leslie of the Knit Girllls start the weekend off by picking up cupcakes from the Cupcakery. Ever want to know what almost 15 dozen cupcakes look like?

The goodie bag this year was FABULOUS. It featured a sock pattern by Wendy Johnson, a skein of Wollmeise yarn in the exclusive colorway Femme Fatale, a Loopy Ewe Spring Fling Mug, a Loopy and a few other extras all delivered in a Loopy Ewe Messenger bag!

After registration 67 of us headed over to the mexican restaurant for the newbie dinner. Holy Margaritas Batman! Then we headed to the conference center for the dessert reception and knitting time. Then it was off to bed!

The next morning we got up early, breakfasted and began the day’s activities. My first activity was a Sweater Class with Jared Flood of Brooklyn Tweed. Jared was friendly, knowledgeable and a great teacher. He spent the class teaching us how to design our own sweaters, getting into the nitty gritty of how to measure yourself and how to do the mathematics and achieve the sweater you want. I can’t say enough good things about this class – I learned a lot and I can’t wait to apply some of his tips and tricks to my next sweater.

After the morning class, we had lunch and then I had a free afternoon of knitting. I got to hang out with my roomie and work on a variety of projects, including an Ishbel for myself! More details on that near the end of this post!

That evening we headed over to the Drunken Fish for sushi and drinks. Then it was back to the conference center for an evening talk on how to better photograph your yarns and knits led by Mr. Loopy himself! The talk was really interesting and gave me some tips that I applied when I got home taking pictures of my new stash. Also notable for the evening is that my roomie’s husband brought us Ted Drewes, which we had all been craving. (For those who don’t know Ted Drewes is a St. Louis tradition – frozen custard!) We were trying to fly below the radar so we didn’t set off a riot, so imagine my surprise when a picture of us ended up on The Loopy Ewe blog!

I could barely wait for the next day because I got to go shopping at Loopy Central! Sadly I didn’t take any pictures in the shop so you’ll have to be content with pictures of what I got! While there I managed to pick up an extra sock club kit including a skein of Wollmeise in the Guide to the Galaxy Colorway! I also picked up enough Madelinetosh Tosh DK in the Cherry colorway to do a delicious cabled sweater in the fall. My last two splurges were a skein of A Swell Yarn Shop‘s Duets DK in Merlot Spritz and a skein of The Sanguine Gryphon‘s Skinny Bugga in Tarantula Hawk that I had been lusting after for a while.

After shopping I returned to the hotel for lunch and another free knit period. Then we had a full group picture. After that, those of us who had knit stripey Vesper socks go together for a photo op. Remember my melons? Can you spot them?

For dinner we went back to the Mexican restaurant for more margaritas (that might be where I was “hanging around”). Then it was on to the final evening party. There were door prizes and fabulous cake balls!

All in all it was an amazing weekend. I met so many people and took so few pictures I can’t believe it’s already over. One last souvenir, however, is the shawl I completed while there. (Yes – I knit a shawl in just over 4 days!) I’m calling it my Spring Fling Ishbel!

The Pattern: Ysolda Teague’s Ishbel

The Needles: US 6′s

The Yarn: Wollmeise 100% in Rhabarber

The Verdict: LOVE LOVE LOVE this shawl. It’s the third one I’ve made of this pattern, but the first for me! I had enough yardage to add some extra lace repeats and make it a bit bigger and I think it will be the perfect summer shawl to throw over my shoulders when the office gets a bit chilly or I’m out in the evening. And every time I look at the shawl I will remember how much fun I had with my friends while knitting it!

Last night, at knit night, the local yarn store owner announced that she is closing the shop at the end of April. For most of us this was both unsurprising, and a shock, all at the same time. It is bittersweet news for the owner, who is closing the shop so that she can spend more time with her family – especially her new little one. We all are delighted that she will be able to do what she wants to do most right now. And yet, I know that we all are feeling a sense of loss today.

The yarn store, “my” yarn store, is one of the first places I went when I moved to Kansas City just over two years ago. I was immediately welcomed by the owner and by a group of wonderful women whom I have now been knitting with every Wednesday night for the last two years. I have made most of my friends here in Kansas City at this shop. When I first moved here and didn’t have steady work, I can’t count the number of days I enjoyed the hospitality of the store, just stopping in and knitting on the couch for hours at a time. This store truly has been a home away from home and I will miss it terribly.

***

Found.

Over the years, I’ve often marveled at how friendships are formed, how they ebb and flow, and how people I thought I would always be friends with have drifted away and people I thought would just be passing ships have stuck close to me. I was particularly reminded of this when my college roommate told me two nights ago that she was offered a faculty position at a university less than four hours from me.

This is someone I lived with three out of the four years in college. We have spent the last ten years with almost 2000 miles between us; when I left college I returned home to Los Angeles and she continued on to graduate school in the Midwest. How could I know that two years ago I would move back to the Midwest? Or that a year ago she would move to Texas? Or that now we would be so close that we could eagerly plan weekend trips to visit each other?

To be clear, I never thought that our friendship would disappear. And yet for many years it waned while we pursued different paths. I am so thrilled that our paths cross again though. It makes me once again feel like I’ve found something precious.

Wes and I took off a week ago Saturday to drive out to Los Angeles. With no major mishaps we headed cross country and hit Vegas on Sunday night. We spent a night at the Venetian in an amazing room, and then hit the outlets in Primm (getting almost 100% of our Christmas shopping done!) and reaching LA by late in the day on Monday. We had a brief stop to get cleaned up:

Monday night, we had dinner at my favorite Japanese place with Bel, and got to catch up on all that I’m missing in LA. Tuesday we went to lunch with my dad and then saw New Moon with Sean. (I enjoyed it purely for entertainment value…the boys weren’t convinced!) Wednesday we had breakfast with my old roomie, and then helped mom prepare for Thursday’s meal. Wednesday night, my sister and her fiance arrived and the family was complete!

And then just like that the holiday was over. On Friday morning we had breakfast with my aunt, uncle and cousin at the Christmas be-decked Mission Inn. And then we were on the road again.

We arrived into Kansas City this afternoon, and did our grocery shopping and laundry. Then we came home and put up the tree – my very first tree! I decorated with a few ornaments I’ve been collecting and then spent the rest of the evening wrapping gifts! Now I’m settling in to catch up on what I missed being more or less away from the internet for the week. Tomorrow I’ll share photos of the knitted gifts for my family since they all have them now!

This past weekend I went to North Carolina to visit Light, her hubby and her adorable little girl! Light and I have known each other since high school. Even though we see each other rarely these days, we can always pick up where we left off and have a great time doing it. Most of what we did this weekend was hang out, eat good food, watch movies and play with her daughter.

When I showed up, I came bearing gifts. Which brings me to the knitting:

For Light’s birthday I made her a mesh bag for when she goes to her wonderfully yummy farmer’s market right near her house. (We may or may not have had white chocolate baguettes there on Saturday!)

The Project: Everlasting Bagstopper

The Yarn: Fantasy Naturale 100% cotton

The Needles: US 5′s and 10.5′s

The Verdict: This was a simple easy knit and a great bag. I did make a few mods: I knit the bag with sightly less height, and I tapered the top so it wasn’t quite so floppy. Also – while the yarn was perfect for the project, I found the cotton very hard on my hands, so I could only work on this a bit at a time.

I also had to make something for Light’s little girl:

The Project: May Day Dress by Vicki Howell

The Yarn: Mandarin Cotton

The Needles: US 3′s

The Verdict: This was an easy knit and makes such a cute little summer top. It can start as a dress for a little one and end up as a top, which makes it able to survive more than one summer! I upsized this one a bit and it’s a little big for her now, but I’m sure she’ll grow into it!

The weekend was a great one away! I had a fabulous time even though I didn’t get a lot of sleep (someone is a bit of a finicky sleeper….) But who couldn’t love this face?

Thank you for the lovely weather during the Thanksgiving holiday. Although some folks like their Thanksgivings to be nippy, I loved our long walk through 70 degree sunshine on Thursday afternoon.

I also have to thank you for your lack of traffic during the holiday weekend. Other than getting in and out of the airport you were an absolute delight. Let’s see more of that m’kay?

Love,
The Little Devil

*****

Dear Kansas -

You were lovely when we left – 50s and 60s and sunny. WHAT happened? Now you’re spitting snow upon us. I hope you know that I’m not planning to leave my house until you get a better attitude. No matter how long it takes.

Icily yours,
The Little Devil

*****

Dear Smoking Man -

When I arrived home from Thanksgiving week last night, fresh from beautiful sunny California to snowy, icy Kansas, I was already a little disappointed in my homecoming. Add to that the fact that it was midnight, I had no heavy coat with me (please see letter to Kansas above for reasons) and that the Blue Bus took over a half an hour to arrive. So please understand me when I say I really didn’t need you to chain smoke through the waiting period and hack that terrible cough in my ear forcing me to HAVE to take an extra shower at 2am just so I could go to sleep without smelling like your ash tray. You could learn a bit of common courtesy about standing away from crowds of people when you feel the need to indulge in your disgusting habit. Because really, if I ever see you again, I’m going to have to resist the impulse not to ash directly on you.

-The LD

*****

Dear Family and Friends:

Thanks for the fabulous time. I miss you all and enjoyed seeing you and sharing wonderful meals. Photographic evidence is below.

P.S. Miss PlazaJen is a Yip Yip. If you don’t know about it, learn more here.

There was the petting zoo for children. They had goats and pigs, and even a few alpaca!

We wandered through various shops of leather, glass, jewelry, clothing and more. We saw a variety of faces.

We watched the jousting tournament while enjoying good food and beautiful weather. We saw the king and the queen.

And we even indulged in a little fibery goodness – hand-dyed merino!

Around 4pm we packed it in and headed out north of the city. A former boss of mine was in town visiting his in-laws and there was a big party out on the farm. He invited us to join in promising great food and a band. He didn’t lie.

The estate was beautiful – over 600 acres of forest, soybean planted farmland and a beautiful lake. We enjoyed catching up with him and his wife, and meeting new people.

We took a hayride in a tractor.

And enjoyed a sunset.

And oh the food – several different kinds of smoked meat (smoked all day next to the lake – smelled wonderful!), and salads and sides, and dessert.

All in all a pretty spectacular day.

The grammar and typographical discussion reared it’s ugly head a few weeks ago when Miss Jen spotted this billboard. Not only did she take a picture of the board and post it, she picked up the phone and called the company to report it!

Lo and behold, she had reason to get twitchy just a few days later. And this time she even KNEW someone over in the marketing department. He was grateful to learn of the error and noted that it was both corporate and in national release and that he’d be passing it on to the corporate officers.

See? She’s correcting the world… one error at a time!

P.S. If you want to see how stupid people can be, join the “This is Broken” group at Flickr. Just make sure to take your twitch medication before you do it.

This morning I took Wes to the airport (he’s gone on business for a week) and then headed to the Plaza where a group of KC knitters and crocheters gathered to knit near the J.C. Nichols Fountain. We brought chairs, blankets, water and snacks, and gathered in the shade and knit outdoors for a few hours later. The weather cooperated by being warm, but not too hot in the shade and even though some of us are a little pink tonight, we all had a great time. Teri graciously took some photos of us knitting – these are some of my KC knitting buddies. (From left to right: Mary, Tanya, Carmen, Jenny and me.)