Early Bird Shopping...Kitty Sneezes...Mail Call....

Four a.m. came earlier than I wanted. I couldn't sleep and finally nodded off at about 1:30. I crawled out of bed at 4:05, washed my face, threw on some clothes and combed my hair. I'm ready. Out the door at 4:15. Then I sat in the parking lot of Circuit City until the doors opened at 5. I only picked up a few movies. Pat was at Pepboy's and got me my GPS, which I love. After I left the store, Dunkin Donuts was the next stop where I grabbed a coffee and croissant with egg and headed for JoAnne's to sit in their parking lot until 6. I picked up several different flannels to make night gowns or maybe just t-shirt tops, a couple of bins, some Wooly Nylon to use in my sock knitting, and a rolling knitting cart. Everything was on sale except the knitting cart, but I had a 50% off coupon for that. When I checked out, I also got to use a 20% off coupon for your entire order. I saved a bundle! Last night I stopped by Ocean State Job Lot and picked up a new bigger scale and thermometer to use with the fiber and dyeing.

After coming home, and calling the vet, a short nap of an hour was next on the list. At 10:30, I headed out to pick up some meds for Megan. She has started sneezing and I don't want everyone to catch it. I played with the GPS and love how it tracked the trip.

The post office was my last stop on the way home. Goodies galore!! My packages were in a big locker and it was stuffed! My fiber from Flawful Fibers was there, along with my latest Loopy Ewe order. The bag with the "Sterling" from Kraemer Yarns was snuggled next to my bag from Loop . And the final package was from my upstream Traveling Scarf partner. It was another scarf for me to work on and .... ta da! ... my scarf is home! It looks really nice and everyone used the colors I said I like.

Well, gotta head out the door to Jean's house and then to the spin-in at Iris's. Hope to see some of you there.

Bye for now.

Happy Thanksgiving...Early Morning Shopping Planned...Alpaca Fiber

My day started with the bird being prepped and put in the oven. With the smell of roasting turkey, I did a quick housecleaning, and prepared the veggies. With help from Pat, the potatoes, turnips, carrots, celery and onions for the stuffing, were all chopped and cut to the sizes I needed. I made bacon cheddar mashed potatoes with red potatoes, broccoli, turnip and carrots, 2 kinds of stuffing, 2 gravies, rolls, homemade cranberry sauce, and butternut squash. Dessert was apple pie a la mode and coffee. I skipped the last part. :)

After the loading of the dishwasher and meal clean up, I managed to Navajo ply 3/4 of a bobbin on the Minstrel. The drive band decided to snap, so that took some time to replace, but, it's working fine now. Tomorrow afternoon will be spent finishing the bobbin. The fiber is BFL from Spunky Eclectic in "Mandy". I still have one braid of the original three of that fiber to spin.

My alpaca fiber from Silver Sun Alpaca came in a couple of days ago, and my Loop order is on the way.

I'm heading to bed now so I can be at the stores for the 5 a.m. sales. I don't know if I will get any of the stuff on my list, but, I will check a few places out. If anyone is going to attempt the Black Friday Crazee, have fun.

My stomach is still full. Goodnight.

Meetings, Show and Tell, and Christmas in November

I'll start with the meetings part. First I went to the spinning guild meeting where we did a show and tell of the stuff we learned and bought. This was fun because I got to see some new to me goodies and techniques. Shawl pins, scarves which were knit or woven, and lessons learned were all shared. I talked about the classes I took, passed around the dyed fibers, and showed the lazy kate Pat had made me. I'm trying to talk him into making a couple more lazy kates, but, he really doesn't want to.

Wednesday of this week was our usual craft night at Panera. A few people were missing due to prior commitments, but most of us were there. I was teased about cheating with the shopping ban because Pat bought me goodies and I didn't have to pay him back. They didn't count. The girls insisted I cheated. lol

Nancy was working on a sewing projects she is teaching her students at school. They are cute baby/toddler hats made of felt. Pam is taking a break from socks to make another Baby Surprise Jacket. She knits them up so fast, I'm sure it was done by today. Sarah was making a Morning Wave scarf in some of her handspun in a pretty sparkly cranberry red. Lisa is on the finishing side of her light blue and white variegated baby blanket for a friend. Marva is in working toward finishing her scarf in a deep green. And I was fussing with my Nanner sock. Everything I did I had to pull out when I got home. Somehow I had 12 extra stitches after finishing the heel flap. It's now fixed, and on the leg.

I did manage to mess up the leg and forget to put the pattern in the back. That meant redoing 8 rows. Here's hoping I can finish them this weekend. I only have a repeat and a half to match the first one. Then I will knit them at the same time until I run out of yarn.

Now for the Christmas in November part. Since my shopping ban is lifted, I had fun online. Now, I can shop now without restrictions. I visited Crown Mountain Farms and bought some sock yarn. Grafton Fibers was having a buy 2 get a 3rd selection free sale, so I now have some batts from there. Then I stopped at CJKopec's Etsy store and fell in love with a new color blend called Pucker and decided to grab it. Also making it's way into my cart were Candy Clouds and Rosey N Mick. I had 4 ounces of Rosey N Mick, but, decided to grab 4 more. Also arriving at the house was my monthly fiber club from CJ. It's called Jammin Nanners and is a wonderful blend of fiber with a fantastic shine from the silk in it. My fiber club from DkKnits also came in at the same time. There is my November and December fiber along with some terrific goodies. I don't want to go into details because some people haven't got their packages yet. Then my Happy Housewife soaps showed up. These are for sale over at LimeNViolet's store. Some scents are limited and some are stock. I got two bars each of Cherry Sugar and Blueberry-Guava. There are also yummy sniffies to match some of the soaps as well as different scents. There are a few series as well as a scent club. I'm in the cupcake club .

Did I mention all this stuff arrived today??? Pat offered to go to the post office for me. He said "Your packages are on the table." I thought he meant two items. Wow, did I get a surprise when I walked into the kitchen. ha-ha

Not yet here is my purchase from Silversunalpacas for some Daffodails which is a alpaca, mohair, and wool blend and looks like daffodils in the woods. Also there is a little purchase from Loop on it's way. Just 2 twin blue batts and some Angelina.

Last week I became a Loopy Groupie over at The Loopy Ewe, so I got my 6th order and loopy groupie goody bag from them as well.

That's it. No more shopping to report. I think I've made up for the ban.

Yes, Sarah and Marva, I will spin and not just pet the fiber. :)

Happy, Tired, and Sneezy

I had a wonderful time at the Gathering this past weekend and can't wait for the Open House next year. The first class was a dyeing class. I learned several new techniques and came home with four 2 ounce pieces of roving to spin. Here's some pictures. The first is dip dyed, second was actually the result of too much dye which blended together, third is dip the middle and then the two ends, fourth was chained fiber that was dyed and set.



One class was Spinning "New Wave" fibers like soysilk, bamboo, tencel, Ingeo, Angelina, and several other fibers. The third and final class was Blending Natural Fibers like wool, cashmere, camel, alpaca, silk, cotton and a few others. Doing different percentages gives different results. I learned so much from all these classes. I know my spinning will be better because of them.

Of course I came home tired, with my head spinning with fiber possibilities. My hands are itching to start something new, but, the bobbins must be emptied first.

Last night was the Knitting Guild meeting which was held at Bella Yarns. It was my first time there. I only picked up some buttons and two skeins of Lamb's Pride to use for a hat.

The other thing I came home this weekend with is a cold. Big doses of zinc and vitamin C are helping me get over it faster. I should be fine by the weekend. As a matter of fact, I think I'll call it a night. Extra rest is also very helpful. Goodnight............

Packed and Ready to Go To the Gathering

The day is finally here!! Yippee!! Everything is packed, waiting for Sandi to pick me up. I hope I haven't forgot anything.

Then it's a weekend of spinning fun. See you when I get back.

Wishing Time Away...

I'm wishing it was Friday already since I'm ready to go to the Gathering in 3 days. I just need to actually put the clothes in the suitcase and a couple of things in my tote bag. The sausage/pepper/potatoes will get cooked Thursday night for Pat to eat on Friday and Saturday. I'm also making him a Shepard Pie for tomorrow and Thursday.

Well, I'm off to vote and run a couple of errands.....