Field Trips

With the bad weather this evening, we had a smaller than usual group and we wanted to get the word out about these great upcoming trips! So, Come one, Come all and join us for a day of fun!

Sat Feb 16th (this sat) Chelsea Fiber Fair-meet at Anderson Middle school at 9:00am Sharp!!!! Cost: money for gas and your own lunch and purchases, back by dinner

Sun March 9th- Ann Arbor Library to hear Amy Singer from Knitty speak and do a Knit in. We’ll eat at Afternoon Delight again before the talk. Meet at Anderson Middle School at 10:15am Cost: money for gas, lunch and any purchases back approx 7:00pm (or earlier if agreed upon)

Sat March 15th Dexter Pioneer Art Fair (and maybe side trips for yarn shopping in Ann Arbor) - meet at Anderson Middle School 9:00am Cost: $3.00 admission, money for gas, lunch and purchases back by dinner

February Meeting

Yup. . .tomorrow is the night, can you believe it?

For those of you who haven't been paying attention, there are a couple of new features on the right hand side of the blog. I used the poll feature to determine the meeting topic this month--and all but two of us voted for Intro to Intarsia!

Supplies for the meeting:
two colors of smooth yarn
needles in a size that match
money for raffle
sense of humor
spirit of adventure
friends

See you there!
--t

Be my Valentine—or at least my birthday knitting buddy

Another birthday-knit-along!

Since no one except Pete will spend my actual birthday with me--being that it falls on Valentine's Day and many people seemed preoccupied with that--come knit with me on the Sunday after.

Sunday, February 17th 2 pm (seemed like a good time to start at Linda's) until whenever. Have some nibbles and of course cake (can't promise a heart-shaped one but I'll see what I can do!) Bring your Winter Fleece Fair buys to show and tell and let people touch and hold.

If you are all still here at dinnertime we'll order chinese carryout and keep knitting.

E-mail me at pultz@comcast.net for my address. Hope to see you--Kate

Prior Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance

Or so says my friend Roz.

These are my boots. You'll notice how nice and dry they are. They are truly the warmest, sturdiest boots I've owned in a long time. The keep my feet cozy, and I rarely slip and slide around when I'm wearing them due to the nice bumpy tread on the bottom. I heart these boots.

These are the shoes I wore to school. They are also the shoes I walked one mile home in during the snow storm at around 5pm when I left my student after his tutoring session.

These are my pants, and very wet wool socks (albeit handmade, wet Socks That Rock. . .but at this point, does it really matter how well made they are and how well they fit?) Do you notice how far up the puddles splashed when I thought I was walking on solid ground? Can you see the mud that splashed up when I was sliding across barely unfrozen muddy playing fields trying to avoid the ankle deep puddles of slush?

This is my head. You'll notice that there is no hat covering it. Not one of the many hand knit hats I have in my coat closet. Not even a polar fleece hat made years ago to keep me warm when skiing. Nope, not a store bought hat that is fashionable, but not really functional. Not even a chemo cap made by Judith for Knit Michigan.

Obviously, I need to be reminded exactly how quickly weather can change in Southeast Michigan.

So, plan ahead. . .well, even that doesn't work so well. I planned for a snow day today and it didn't happen. . .

Hopefully, your knitting is planned and swatched and moving forward as planned.

Send pictures of your UFO pile, or post a list to keep us all updated.
--t

Fat Tuesday

Sally sent an email a couple of days ago reminding me that Lent begins this week. For those of you who weren't with us last year(I don't know how to link, but you can check back to Feb 19 and 20, 2007), we began a Lenten sacrifice that was tradition in the making.

For no particular religious reason, several of us gave up casting on new projects. I was appalled last year to find out that I had over 40 UFOs on the needles just waiting to be completed. Thanks to 40 days of not casting on, I was able to shrink that number significantly--but still, there are UFOs in my pile. I have things that I feel bad about just taking up space in my knitting room. . .things I haven't touched in over two years. . .It's my guess that not all of us are as pure as Harriet, who only works on one project and a pair of socks at a time, and that there are several things languishing in the bottom of our knitting baskets. . .the time has come. Completion is near.

So, if you're going to take up the challenge with us this year, today is Packzi Day. If you have a burning desire to stock up on fatty calories to hold you over for the season--or rather, cast on a few projects you won't be able to do without--now is the time.

I for one, will be casting on three projects today. (And yes, Sally, I did make fun of you for doing the same thing--call me a hypocrite! it's true!) I need to make a hat for a friend who is visiting late in February, I completed a sweater last night and have been waiting to cast on another using the same needles, and will want to at least start my February Sock Down Challenge socks for a Ravelry group. . .so you all know I'll have at least three UFOs. . .but I think I'm down from the 40 last year. I'll take count and keep you posted.

Who else is in? Send pictures or your list and you can keep us all updated.

Knit Michigan

Another successful charity event hosted by our local yarn stores!! Nearly 1000 chemo caps were donated (161 by the Black Sheep! Woot! You all ROCK!) and $25,000 and counting for Michigan cancer charities. Our very own Harriet was a 500 club member and was one of the highest fund raisers at the event--Go Harriet!

I think I counted 12 Black Sheep members as marathon participants, and nearly all members showed up to work in the Learn to Knit room--it was packed! I had a hard time finding a seat when I went in!! Judith put a lot of time and energy into making it so successful.

Many got some great deals at the silent auction--and Kim T made us proud by pumping up some bids during the live auction at the end of the night--she even won a beautiful antique Columbian shawl!

Nearly all of our Ravelry buttons are gone--meaning almost 90 people from Ravelry showed up to represent. We captured 40 of them in our photo--see how many you can name!

Here are some pictures for those of you who couldn't make it. . .












Oh. . .and by the way? I'm still the reigning champion of "Super Silly Knitting"! Gotta love that.

So, see you all next year?
--t

Hat update

Knit Michigan is looming near. I feel lost if I don't have a chemo cap on the needles and the needles aren't with me. As of Tuesday night we have 49 chemo caps, as a guild. Not including mine. I think I am going to raise my goal to 40. Scary. We should be able to meet a 100 hat goal. I would like to turn them in at the end of our day at 3pm. We can lay them all out to be admired by all. We have good sign up and any one wanting to come in for an hour or so that isn't signed up is more than welcome.

We are going to host a Ravelry round up at Knit Michigan so talk about it alot and pass it on. No idea how many to expect. Could be huge this year.

I have a list of things to try to keep supplied this year. I am going to bring my large coffee maker, cream and sugar. Chris H. has offered to bring a coffee cake. If anyone has ideas or suggestions feel free to shout them out. Thank you to all who have offered help.
Hats are calling, Judith