Yeah....I spent Saturday with the "Yarn Harlot" Stephanie Pearl-McPhee. Well, sort of...I attended her book signing at the Detroit Main Library. It was very fun and soothing. You heard me right....soothing. I say that because this was the first event I ever went to where everyone in the audience was knitting. There is something to be said about a bunch of people gathered together to listen to an author talk about knitting while you knit.
At one point I looked over at the guard who escorted her into the auditorium and I thought, "gee, he must be bored". Then I thought, "he must think we're all nuts". What did they think we all were going to do....attack her when she made her appearance. Is that why they gave her protection? LOL! She even joked about it. Like she was some "real" celebrity. Well, in the knitting world she is. Its funny how non-crocheters and non-knitters don't get it when you talk about "our celebrities". Also, how we can't go past a yarn shop or a yarn isle without entering. Then we get in there and molest the yarn. With no intention to buy, but must touch the yarny goodness. The addiction is bad and we all refuse to go to rehab!
A plus of the signing was her showing off her sweater she finished during the Ravelympics. It was beautiful. It was amazing. She got it done in 2 wks. That's insane considering that it's some fair isle involved. She so rocks!
People came from all over. I sat with two ladies from NY, Kathy and Sandi. They both were working on socks. There was even a marketplace before the signing. I bought two skeins of sock yarn and one clipboard with legal pad. No regrets. Boy did I have fun.
After anxiously waiting for the Olympics to start and feverishly trolling Ravelry for projects to finish and start....the withdrawal has begun. I only finished 3 out of 4 planned projects. I decided late that it would be better for me to rip down the top of Justina and redo it to fit a bigger bust size. Also, I made a simpler pair of socks for mom than "Mermaid's Lagoon". It just wasn't possible for me to finish it in time. I rather play safe than be sorry. (She's gonna get them this Friday for her b-day!)
Below are the"Ragg Hiker's" I did for mom. They're from the 2 socks at a time book. I hope she likes them. I like mine. They were finished on the 28th of Feb. before the closing ceremonies started. I was so happy to be done with them.
Below is Mara....not a real good pic, but hey I had to get it posted on the Finish line thread. The ribbing is at least 2 inches short, but it works for me because I am short. I am very pleased with how it turned out though. Making another would involve a great deal of thought.
For the Ravelympics!!!!! I am so excited. The Winter Olympics start February 12th and I can't wait. I am participating in two events, WIP Dancing and Sock Hockey. I plan on finishing Mara and Justina by the end of the Olympics. My challenge is to do two socks on one circ. I have two socks I want to finish.....1 is for my mom and the other is just a simple sock pattern. I didn't want to overload myself.
Also, I am back in school. Luckily my classes aren't that involved where I will lose knitting/crochet time. This will allow my to get through the Olympics. I can't say that for this coming summer. I plan on taking math this summer and that is going to kill me. I hate math. I really suck at it. (Damn Algebra!)
My fiance gave me the great idea of planning a day cruise on the Detroit Princess this summer for the knit group I go to at City Knits and anyone else who would be interested. I've discussed it with some of the girls there and July would be a good month. Its still in the planning stages and I hope to give them the schedule and price list the lady provided me with from the ship. Hopefully, this thing gets up and rolling. It would be so much fun.
I so need to get some pics up of my recent projects. I hope to do this by next month. (I said "hope"....don't hold your breathe.)
With Lorna's Laces "Shepard's Worsted". I've worked with the chunky before, but never noticed the softness it has. At the time I was more focused on learning to do a cable than appreciating the yarn. The color is "Flames" and I chose this because it reminds me of my fraternity "Phi Delta Psi, Inc". The pattern is "Winter in Canada" and can be found here. I love how the colors are going. I just hope it looks nice when I finish it. I am doing the small version on sz. 8 needles. That is the only mod I have made. We will see how this plays out.
Seeing that winter is coming I have just been making new hats for myself. This is the "Valentin Cable" hat and can be found in the Fall 2009 Knitscene magazine. I loved it when I first saw it and had to have it. I used Cascade 220 in a light blue. This was a real easy pattern and can be done in a couple of hours.
Last but not least is my version of the "Vivonne Bay" hat. The pattern can be found here. I used what was left of the Cascade 220 light blue and added Shepard's Worsted in white for the decreasing of the crown and finished with the light blue for the last couple of rows. I think it worked out well. 
Now, if I can only finish up some UFO's before the end of the year I'd be in business.
