Real

"Real isn't how you're made," said the Skin-Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real."
"Does it hurt?" asked the rabbit.
"Sometimes," said the Skin-Horse, for he was always truthful. "When you are Real you don't mind being hurt."
"Does it happen all at once, like being wound up," he asked, "or bit-by-bit?"
"It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin-Horse. "You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't often happen to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."
----"The Velveteen Rabbit" - Margery Williams

This exerpt from the Velveteen Rabbit was given to me a long time ago by a good friend of mine, who spoke often of being Real and of enjoying life and of loving other people. She always lives each day to its absolute fullest. She always notices the good in everything and everyone, no matter what it is or who they are. She cares deeply about people, and about what is important in her life, and for that reason, she is Real to me in my life. She has shown me how important it is to see sunshine in everything, no matter how badly your day has gone. How to see that there is color in everything, no matter how grey the sky may look. How to look for the one rose blooming amongst a path full of weeds. How to smile, even if you're down. I pull this poem out and read it every so often, and am reminded of all of the beauty in my life, and I just wanted to share this exerpt with everyone who might happen to be reading this today or sometime in the future, months from now. (Who knows, right?)

To bring out the best in this saying, and to show what is Real to me, and in my life, I took some photos of my favorite things - things which I love and cherish every day!. Hope you all have a great day! (And Knit on!)


Beautiful succulents growing on my porch....











My daughter when she's happy....
















Sundara's yarn.....















My mom, who looks happier than I've seen her in years (with her new husband)....




















My neices and nephews.......


















Abby, my schnauzer, for putting up with all the silly outfits I make her wear.....















Did I mention Sundara's yarn? (This happens to be the first shipment from the Petals Sock Club, which just arrived yesterday!)














Johnny Depp (oo la la)





















My nephew, Mason, wearing one of the first hats I knit him....















My loverly cat, Snuggles, who never fails to entertain.....














Spider plants.....














The joy I expressed when I received the Pallette yarn from Knit Picks last year...


















Spending time with my husband (this is actually one of my most favorite things!)














Blue Moon STR yarn. This stuff really rocks!















The Nebraska Cornhuskers, because it just doesn't get any better than this!













Brownies (for those of you who know me, you know that brownies are my absolute favorite food!)












The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency Series....














And, last but not least, I'm not sure if I mentioned Sundara's Yarn....this Cala Lilly is just gorgeous!

35

Thirty-five is when you finally get your head together and your body starts falling apart.
--Caryn Leschen







a post by Wool Girl...........................


Isn't it the truth? You go through your teens, always wanting to be "grown up". In fact, when I was 16 I just couldn't wait to be 21. Anyone else feel that way? And then, of course, it was a race to get to 25, and finally the big 30. But, somehow, once I passed the 30 mark, I didn't long to be 31, 32, or even 33. This year, I will be 35, and I "seem" to have somewhat gotten things together. By "gotten things together" I mean that I own a house, have a job, 1 child, 1 cat, 1 dog, and live an average life. I know what I do like, I know what I don't like, and I surely never want to be 16 again! Isn't it strange, then, that I have these aches and pains that somehow seem to come on all of a sudden? When I've been sitting for a long time, my body doesn't get up as quickly as it used to. When I'm out shopping all day, I get tired and need to sit after only an hour or two. My stomach doesn't handle the occasional night on the town anymore, and I no longer can stay up until all odd hours of the night without "paying" for it the next day. What happened and when did it happen? Not sure, but it did happen. So, when I say I "seem" to have gotten things together, I mean that "I" seem to have gotten things together, but my body seems to have been left behind in that venture. It's paying for my race to get here, it seems.

Why do I bring this up, you ask? What does this have to do with knitting and yarn and the such? Well, this brings me to the gist of my post, which is the Black Sheep Gathering. I attended this wonderful fiber show on Friday with two fellow knitters, Neuroknitter and Michelle, and I must say, it was amazingly awesome! So much to do, so much to see, and so much to buy!

Here's some special shots from the show:

Our arrival.......















Blue Moon Fiber Arts booth (we spent much time there).......















Smile, Michelle, you're on candid camera!















Before it started to get super busy....















And here are just some of my most favorite finds....

Blue Moon, Blue Moon, oh how I love thee!
















Sock Hop Yarn, made by Crown Mountain Farms. This yarn is just too amazing for words, isn't it?!















Can you tell which is the yarn and which are the flowers? (Hee hee)
(I had to post this with the lovely flowers, as NK and M were so patient with me while I bought these flowers - thanks girls!)















As you can see, we had a pretty busy day, with many purchases and much to do. So, why the post about turning 35 and my body being tired? Well, I am still trying to recover from all of that shopping! But, it was well worth it. Great fun and truly awesome fun!

I will leave you with this. As I walked into the building where the Black Sheep Gathering was being held, I immediately saw this plaque:

As most of you know, I am a firm believer in "signs" and "meant to be" and all of that. I took this as a sign that I was meant to shop that day. What else could it mean? :)

Knit ON!

Hedera Wanna-Be's and a Fairground or Two

posted by...ssssssssss


hedera w-bs and fairgrounds, resting on a nest of habu silky mohair, in their FO glory...

Socks have been my addiction for quite a while now. This weekend I finished these Hedera-wannabees, bringing my 2006 grand total up to 23 individual socks completed. I will admit to having a slight knitting problem (if you want to call it that): I am physically incapable of actually following a pattern as written. These Hederas? Not really Hederas, not at all. So how do they differ from Cookie’s fantastic pattern?


oooh, h-w-b's, how i love you, even though your sherbet-y brightness burns my eyes...

First thing, I used a completely different gauge – ended up with 52 stitches around, except right around the heel, where I added a few stitches to balance my weird foot shape. I used Socks That Rock Mediumweight, my new fave. Having that many fewer (many fewer, can that possibly be right?!?!?) stitches caused the pattern itself to change, as I could not get a stitch count that worked. So, I fudged. I actually fudged quite a few times, both on paper and on the needles, until my fudge tasted good – you know, smooth and chocolatey. Due to the gauge issues, these socks are not completely in pattern – both sides of each sock have a double-purl-ktbl section, so there are wide panels running up the sides of each leg without the lacey pattern. In conclusion, the “Hederas” I made are so far removed from the originals, that I am a bit hesitant to call them Hederas, as I do not wish to offend Cookie too deeply (because she is a fantastic pattern-writer – it’s not her, it’s me…). So Hedera-wanna-bes it is.

Second, I did them toe-up, of course, cuz I LOVE TOE UP KNITTING, and, unless completely and totally necessary, will not do cuff-down socks (one of the reasons I have not yet cast on for the Pomotamous socks, even though I am in utter love of NeuroKnitter’s Poms; I am not sure they will easily translate to toe-up-i-tude).

Third, no heel-flap heel for me – I did a short-row heel, which is much more fun (RE: easy) to do, if you ask me. I do need to do some general tweaking on the idea in order to have perfect heels for my imperfect feet, but I am working on that.

I also FINALLY took photos of the Fairgrounds socks. They turned out cute as hell, if you ask me.


these poor things look washed-out next to the Sherbets, but on their own, they shine, shine, shine

I have also been plugging away at my Wedding Shawl – as of Monday night, I have only two rows left to do, and then the interminable bind-off. Blocking to commence by Thursday, and I will be good to go. Speaking of the wedding, we have less than two weeks to go – whoa. We leave for Big Sky Country on Monday the 26th, and I cannot wait to get there, see my folks, immerse myself in friends and family…Whoo-hoo! And Yeee-Hawww!!


loving this habu silk-mohair blend and loving the evelyn clark pattern (from Wrap Style)

Amazing Lace X-treme Challenge #2!

post by Wool Girl.......







Yarn and Supplies for Amazing Lace Knitting Project: X-tremely Expensive









Coffee and misc caffeinated beverages needed to drink while I knit my Amazing Lace Knitting project: X-tremely Ridiculously Expensive (but X-tremely yummy and X-tremely needed in this venture)!







Movie rentals needed while I knit my X-tremely expensive Amazing Lace Knitting project and drink my high-priced coffee and beverages: X-tremely Outrageously expensive (but, I must say, also X-tremely needed and in some cases, X-tremely Hot and X-tremely Sexy men in these flicks!)

Massive amounts of wine needed to counteract the effects of the X-tremely high content of caffeine consumed during my X-treme movie watching sessions, and the mistakes I am bound to make on my X-treme Lace Knitting project while watching Brad Pitt and various other sexy men on the movie screen, with their X-tremely hot bods, instead of fully concentrating on my X-treme Lace project as I should be doing: X-tremely unexpected (however, much needed as well)!

Having my animals pose willingly and happily with my X-treme Lace Knitting project on, and having them not care about my X-tremely ridiculous mistakes while knitting it under the effects of X-treme caffeine intake, followed by X-treme alcohol consumption, and the X-treme effects of watching hot, sexy men while trying to knit a lace project:

X-tremely Priceless (and X-tremely adorable)!

My Strange Little Mama

posted by julie (aka hools)

The only thing I have to say is, I LOVE THIS YARN!!!

I love the wide stripes and the colors and how it feels and how easy it is to work with. I'm making...you guessed it...socks! The yarn is Vesper sock yarn in the "Strange Little Mama" colorway. I purchased it while in Toronto at Lettuce Knit.

Knitting Soothes My Soul.....

post by wg

I have decided that knitting really soothes my soul. It actually does soothe my soul and my inner existence, like nothing I have found before. Just purchasing a skein of yarn, or taking an afternoon to knit with good friends really does make me feel better about life, about the day, about the moment, and about who I am.

For instance, I made a stop at one of the local yarn shops here in Portland the other day with NK, and found myself talked into purchasing a very lovely skein of Handmaiden Sea Silk yarn. I actually felt physically better after purchasing that yarn - really! I went home that night, feeling really good about things, very positive, extremely energized, and ready to knit, by God! Is there anything else that can create these feelings of just extreme "goodness" in the soul? I haven't found anything yet, except maybe a really good foot massage or back rub. But even then, you don't come out of that with a skein of yarn and a finished product, or the ability to knit, so not even those things can compare, really.

So I've decided that I'm going to knit socks with this skein of Handmaiden Sea Silk yarn. Yes, Socks! Socks just for myself, just to wear around this summer, really special socks. And of course, I have already started them! Here's a brief look at my "good for the soul" socks:


































And the fabulous skein of yarn these were born from:
















I say that in everything you do, in each step you take in life, you should follow your heart and your soul. Do things that make you happy, things that make your soul happy, things that bring a smile to your face, and joy to your life. And if that includes purchasing expensive and luxurious yarn, well, then, you must do it!

KNITTERS IN PUBLIC SPOTTED IN PORTLAND, OREGON!

On June 10, 2006, which just happened to be World Wide Knit in Public Day, three knitters were spotted knitting in public. (All faces are slightly disguised as to protect privacy).








One knitter agreed to show us how speedy she truly is....

Look at her fingers in action!















We also caughter her making some very important knitting calculations...we had no idea knitters were also mathematicians!

















Of course, they really have to be in order to work on such complex sock projects!















We also found out that these knitters really enjoy their desserts to the extreme! You go knitters!

June 10th - Worldwide Knit in Public Day

Just a reminder to all of you knitters out there that today, June 10th, is WorldWide Knit in Public Day. This means that, whether you are alone or with a group of knitters (or even with a group of non-knitters as long as you promise to convert them later), you need to knit in public! Knit something in public! Get out there people! Show the World what knitting is all about! KNIT ON!