Yarn School 2007 - Reader's Digest Version

Here is a list of why Yarn School is so supercool:


The Harveyville Project is an old school building



Our bedrooms are in old classrooms


There's a water tower which makes it easy to find


Everyone is awesome - especially Nikol (center) who IS the Harveyville Project and Yarn School


Kansas sunrises

Swing sets

Fiber dyeing

Spinning wheels

Fiber

Alpacas

Even more alpacas


Even more fiber


Drum carding

Kafka the wonder dog


Angora bunnies

Pygora goats


A gymnasium filled with spinning madness

Did I mention there was lots of pretty fiber?

More Yarn School 2007 photos can be found here on our Flickr group. You know you wanna look. And for more information on the Harveyville Project go here.

I'm Back

Hello all! I'm back from Yarn School!! It was amazing! I really want to sit here and write about it all but I'm still too damn drained to do so. This is just a quick post to let everyone know I have made it home...safe and sound.

More soon w/ pictures I promise.

See You When I Get Back

Okay, tons of stuff going on

I leave for YARN SCHOOL on Thursday morning. Eeeek! So much to do before then. I still cannot figure out which knitting project to take to work on during the flight and at the airport.

Last night I went to see the Henry Rollins "Provoked" spoken word show. He talked about not being in the experience but being beside it and observing what is going on so you can write about it later. I plan on totally being sucked in to Yarn School but I will try to remember enough to give a report when I get back.

And.... I'm going to see Eddie Izzard in Vegas in November!!! SQUEEEE!! This is turning out to be the the most amazing year ever!!

Warped Hookers....Secrets Revealed!

Okay, now that I have your attention. Hee hee. The title to this post is accurate - just not in the most obvious way.

WARPING BOARD

Construction of a warping board for me is now underway. It is being made so that I can wind up some skeins of yarn to dye in many colors. For more information on hand dyeing using this process click here . If you would like directions on how to make your own warping board click here. Pics will be posted of the uber awesome warping board when it is completed. Hopefully, this will *cough cough* be soon.

I'M A HOOKER

djMars has taught me how to do basic crochet - almost against my will. I want to learn it so that I can do a proper provisional cast-on and so that I can make hairpin lace. I might give up on my dream of hairpin lace but I have enough skill now to do the cast-on. I get a mean case of "crocheting tourette's" though. I don't think I will ever participate in this craft for fun but it is good to know.

SECRET PROJECTS REVEALED

The gifts have been given so now I can post.

I made some beer cozies. The pattern for which can be found here. Both of these were knit with yarn that I had previously hand dyed and couldn't figure out a project for. They were happily received and I should have taken some pics of them "in action." I have the feeling that I will be making many many more of these in the near future. They keep condensation away, the cables make nice "grips", and they really do keep the beer cold. Nifty.

While I was making these djMars was eyeing the "limeade" yarn so I knew I had to make her something out of it too. And since a beer cozy would not be her thing...I made her a Calorimetry head wrap. I don't have a picture of that "in action" either and I know the pic below isn't a great one. But if you click here you can see what one looks like while being worn AND get the handy dandy free pattern. Ooooh. Also, I know in this pic it is not "finished". I didn't weave in the stringy ends or put the button on. djMars has some extra buttons lying about from a sweater she made a I figured that she could use one of those on it. Okay, so it's a half-assed gift that she had to finish herself....I admit it. But she loved it anyway.

OPINIONS NEEDED

I recently added a music player to my blog. I need to know if I should leave it or not because I'm undecided. I have the same player on my myspace but I think it's normal to have that stuff there. I'm unsure as to whether or not it is annoying in this type of forum. Please leave comments on this matter and help me decide.

YARN SCHOOL

It's only a few weeks away!! SQUEEEE!!!!!

Naked knitting and other bits

I know....it has been a while since I have posted. I highly doubt that anyone has been sitting on the edge of their seat though.

Yarn School:
The airline tickets are booked and it's a total green light. I'm so excited!! I hope I don't get addicted to spinning because I can't imagine my cats letting me spin in peace.

Sidewinders:
One sock done and the other in progress. They should be completed in time to give to my sister next week. These socks are so awesome! Updated pics will be up soon.

Ravelry:
The coolest website. EVER. And my addiction to it is probably part of the reason why I have been updating on here like I should. There are only so many hours in the day!

Book Sale:
Holy discount batman!! KnitPicks has 40% all of their books. SWEET!! I have picked up a bunch for Ms. M. to use as some of the gifts for our "True Yarn Diet". She already knows about it so I'm not ruining the surprise by posting here.

Yarn Diet:
So the working out schedule is not yet working for me BUT I have been eating much healthier and have already lost 7 lbs. WOOT!! I should be receiving my first "gift" soon. Besides the books mentioned above - I have also made a "surprise" order to use as gifts. I cannot wait to be able to 1) give it to Ms. M. 2) post the info here.

Cats:
I know I wrote on here about Quirk having some skin issues. All appears to be well and both cats are healthy, happy, and spoiled.

Yarn school and other goodies

Okay so I'm not posting on a regular basis and I need to fix that. I'm going to try to quickly update some stuff now and hopefully write more and post some pics later tonight.

YARN SCHOOL
It is official that me and Ms. M. are going to Yarn School in September. WOO HOOO!! I'm so excited. However, learning how to spin might be quite dangerous for the ol' checking account. :)

TOFUTSIES LIMITED EDITION
SWTC is putting out limited edition colors of their Tofutsies yarn every other month. I was able to snag a ball of the June color which is a nifty pink and black. It also comes along with a exclusive pattern. Super cool!! Pics will be posted later of the colorway. I purchased mine from The Yarn Grove and they will let you preorder the future colorways. There is also a sock club yahoo group which is open to all lovers of the Tofutsies yarn. You can click to join the yahoo group from here.

THE YARN GROVE
The customer service at this online yarn shop is AMAZING! With every order (I have placed 2 so far) I have received personalized notes and a small gift along with my shipment. This kind of service will make me continue to be a customer and to let others know that they should shop there too. Oh, and free shipping....woot!!

Ravelry and clapotis (hey, I rhyme)

RAVELRY

Oh Ravelry, how I am becoming addicted to you. First it was the forums...now I have sworn to friend everyone with a cat avatar (not really a long story...but not an interesting one so I'll spare you.) It is such a joy to look not only at other people's wonderful triumphs but to feel the camaraderie of the knitting disasters that everyone shares.

CLAPOTIS

Oh Clapotis, how I am bored to tears by your repetitive pattern. Luckily I am using malabrigo so the softness of the fabric makes up for the constant k1, ktbl, k3, ktbl. However, dropping stitches with malabrigo is a time consuming business. I'm almost 1/4 of the way done with it...so it shouldn't be too much longer. I know it will be beautiful when it's done.

KNIT IT PUBLIC DAY

Tomorrow is World Wide Knit In Public Day and apparently all of the other local knitters took this to mean "let's meet up super early in the morning and knit." So, I may not make it to any of the "planned" events but I will be knitting in public at some time within that 24 hour period. I hope to see others out there knitting too.

YARN SCHOOL

It's a possibility that I will be attending "Yarn School" in September. Supercool! I'm crossing my fingers that Ms. M says "let book it." WOOT.