Alpaca Fun

Wow! It's been awhile since I last posted. I have knit a ton of course but just haven't had a chance to take photos and show you what I have been knitting. I joined a group called "Warm Hearts, Warm Babies". The group meets one Thursday a month at a church in Arvada and takes knitted, crocheted or sewn baby items and delivers them to hospitals, unwed mother's homes, or clinics to distribute to needy Moms. So I have been knitting quite a bit of baby items of late. Have always loved knitting for the "wee ones" and now that my grandkids are getting bigger it gives me a chance to do just that.

This weekend we went to an Alpaca ranch. Who knew that they are located almost in my backyard, right off of Indiana St. The owner, Cheryl, was kind enough to greet us and tell us all about her ranch. They also had beautifully soft alpaca yarn for sale. I bought some bulky weight yarn that came from a cream colored alpaca named Sophie Mae. It was the softest yarn ever. I bought 200 yards, thinking I would knit a hat, but found that I so enjoyed the feel of it that I wanted it even closer to my skin, so it is going to be mittens. Long mittens that will be sure to keep me warm this winter. The pattern I found was a free one on Ravelry, named Lofty Cable Mittens. After reading the comments from other knitters about the pattern running big and knowing that I have itty bitty hands, I changed the needle size from a size 9 to a size 8 for the ribbing and 7 for the remaining pattern. Perfect fit. One down and one to go. The brownish sport weight will be a hat to match a lace scarf I am knitting.

If you ever have a chance to see these beautiful alpaca's, please do so. They have an open house every fall and have invited me to come to there shearing event around Mother's Day in May. Ancient Treasures Alpaca Ranch, 7870 Indiana St., Arvada, owner Cheryl Keydel.

TNNA

Off to Columbus for my first experience with a needlework tradeshow called TNNA. Yes, yarn and knitting are included. My dear friend, Gail, had asked me to tag along and help her at the booth this year. I had been unable to go the last 2 times she asked due to health issues, mine and my mother in law's, but this time nothing came in the way, and off we went. I met Gail several years ago. She was a neighbor of mine that lived close by and saw me painting screens for an upcoming Lone Tree show that I did every year. We became close friends and she used my painting abilities to come up with stands to display her needlepoint designs. It worked well. Her husband, Ken, hit it off well with my husband, Paul. They have both been engineers at the same company and had similar interests. Since then we have enjoyed each other's company and gone on many trips together, including our last trip to Ireland. Our third, their first.

I enjoyed perusing the aisle after aisle of merchandise. The knitters were mostly on one side of the convention hall and needlework on the other. I made my way to the "other side" when things weren't that busy for Gail and enjoyed seeing what's coming up for the Fall season in knitting yarns and patterns. I also ran into Allegra and Marly Bird, they were checking things out as well for their upcoming designs.

On Friday night we went to "Sample It". It is a one hour free for all held in an enormous room. The distributors select an item that they sell at a great price to all who attend. It was my one chance to buy, as the show itself is only for retailers. I managed to find some great deals and bought a wonderful set of interchangeable circulars and yarn to make a shawl. I had some how lost my knitting that I brought on the plane to Columbus and I was itching to knit "something"........I also purchased a lovely Atenti bag. The photos are of Gail in her Artists Collection booth and the some of the wooden stands I paint. Also there is a photo of the goods I brought back. All together, it was a great time. Tired, but happy.....

Coventry and Shamus

Here is my grandaughter, Coventry, modeling the cardigan I knit her from Interweave magazine. It fit her just great and she seemed to be pleased wearing it.

The cat in my knitting stand is Shamus. I had just emptied the stand of much of it's contents and he made himself at home right away. Who needs that old yarn in there anyway........

Ireland Revisited

It was our third trip back to the emerald isle. It had been sixteen years since we had been there last and much had changed. Ireland had gone from a poor economy to prosperity and back to the poor economy again. As we visited Dublin, I could see many of the properties with "For Let" signs on them. Much like our stagnant real estate market in the U.S. But I could also see many new homes that had been built during their prosperous years in many of the towns we visited. It had become much like our suburbia. Lost was some of the charm I saw years ago. What wasn't lost was the warmth of the people in Ireland. It will always reamain one of the friendliest places I know. I reunited with a pub singer in Dunmore, Ritchie Roberts. He came out to our hotel on our second trip to Ireland to entertain us when we couldn't make it to Farley's Tavern in Passage East. He still has a wonderful tenor voice and it was magical to hear him sing once again. I only managed to find one dedicated yarn shop in Killarney, wouldn't you know it, it was closed when we were there. Oh well, there may be a 4th visit someday.

More Knitting

Yes, we have had some January. Snow and sub-zero temperatures can dim the spirits of many, but knitters can always look at the upside. Uninterrupted time to stay in those cozy jammies and knit all day long. Not a chance that someone will show up at the door and interrupt the whole thing. Along with recuperating from gallbladder surgery, I had plenty of excuses to stay in my jammies by a warm fireplace watching old movies and knitting. Here are a few of my finished objects.

1. Two scarves. One knit in Noro Silk Garden sock yarn , pattern taken from the book Sock Yarnk One-Skein Wonders. If you don't have this book there are 101 patterns for sock yarn.

The other scarf is a ruffled concoction that I slightly altered from the potato chip scarf pattern. Casting on 30 stitches and doing short rows. Knit with Crazy Zauberball sock yarn

2. A sweet yoked pullover for Coventry. Shipped off to Nebraska in time for her Valentine's party. I got this pattern from my dear friend Sally. She copied it from a magazine that had to come from the 40's or 50's. Knit in one piece, fun and quick.

3. My second sweater from this pattern, Mondo Cable Pulli. Knit from some beautiful Turquoise wook that I purchased a few years back at the Estes Park Wool Festival.

I am trying to knit with the yarn I have and not purchase any more for awhile. We will see how long this lasts.............

Christmas Gift Knitting

Just had to knit a few things for the family. Requests were made and warm socks and hats were in the works. You only hope they appreciate all the hard work that goes into knitted gifts. Either way, I love knitting for my family.

Christmas Gift Knitting