maggistitches

Maryland!

Sheep & Wool central, folks, where Frances & I spent eight happy hours breathing in the yarn fumes and spending with restraint. We visited one big barn of actual sheep, and skipped two vendor barns (as well as everyone on the east side). Our arrival was perfectly timed for good parking and 9 AM entry to the grounds. We headed straight for the folks who were dealing Koigu, bypassing the ridiculously long lines for festival T-shirts and Socks That Rock yarn. And we selected some lovely mill ends, even though the price was higher than when the dyers brought it directly from Canada.

I know, I know, I still haven't knit up the green run of ends I scored in 2006, but I will, and this brown bunch, too!

We saw lots of Richmond folk ~ Stewart, Melanie, Suzanne, Lou, Amanda, Beth and Monet ~ and Maryland gals Lolly and Sarah (with sleeping Snargle-baby strapped on). I fondled Brooks Farm Acero with Carrieoke, and like others saw Ma & Pa Rav at the Rabbit Building. The Ravelry buttons were all gone, and tonight we were too tuckered out to make the trek to the party, but I remain ever grateful to the Ravelry MSW group for all the great preparation it provided, and of course to Jess & Casey for creating Ravelry in the first place. Instead of venturing afield, we are knitting and drinking wine, having enjoyed some yummy Chinese food delivered right to our third-floor Courtyard door.

My animal encounters started on Thursday's first-grade field trip to Virginia Safari Park and Natural Bridge. This baby llama hiding behind mama was just three or four weeks old. So clean and white, and undoubtedly soft!

Remember Q?

My 2006 ABC-Along photo for the letter Q was the top of a quilt I was basting. While all the piecing and layering happened that year, I seem to have skipped 2007 altogether and have now in '08 wrapped up this project, much to the delight of its smiling, bagel-chewing recipient.

The thing is about 72" square, which is larger than Wee C's bigger 100 Good Wishes quilt, making it the biggest thing I have quilted so far. (My sampler quilt may be bigger, but it was actually quilted a block at a time, then the finished blocks were sashed together.) It was fun, though, despite the challenge of getting it around on the six-foot table and working it on my portable Singer. I think some new quilting accessories are in order ~

I'm a Knitter for Knockers

I finally signed up to walk in the Komen Richmond Race for the Cure on May 10, joining a fun bunch of knitters and friends. This race always occurs on Mother's Day weekend, and for many years I was visiting my late mother in North Carolina. Last year Little B was too new to subject to such an adventure, but this year Wee C & I have agreed that she will walk alongside me and let her little sis sit in the jogging stroller.

One in eight women will be stricken with breast cancer in her lifetime. Isn't that astounding, and alarming, yet not that hard to believe when you think of how many women you know who've been affected? My best friend's mother. My boss. My daughter's best friend's mother (who is my friend too ~ and much younger than I). A professional colleague and friend who will lead her team, Lisa's Lifesavers, in this race for the sixth straight year.

Please join us in the fight to fund vital breast cancer education, screening and treatment programs in our own community and support the national search for a cure. Your tax-deductible contribution will fund innovative outreach and awareness programs for medically underserved communities in Richmond and national breast cancer research -- AND it will give you a chance to win some great yarny prizes!

For every $5 you donate to the team, you'll be entered in a drawing to win a fabulous knitting prize! (I'm not sure that happens if you donate on my personal page.) To be entered into the raffle, you MUST enter an email address when you donate. For more information on prizes, please visit Knitters for Knockers. You'll see goodies from Blue Moon Fiber Arts, Chic Knits, The Loopy Ewe, Wendy Knits and more.

You can make a donation online by visiting the team donation page, or my personal page.

We'd sure appreciate your support in the fight against breast cancer -- and if you're in Richmond, consider joining our team!

Red - Green - Blue

I'm sure you know that RGB is how computer types reference pixelated color ~ as opposed, say, to the CMYK of the printed media. Well, I have two new projects featuring the RGB colors, both of them on black backgrounds.

My brother is a videographer, so he deals with digital color daily. When I started assembling scraps for the March/April Doll Quilt Challenge, the Chinese Coins pattern, I thought I was going with red and turquoise, a color combination I'd admired in another quilt or two. When I didn't really have enough bits to make more than one column of each, I decided to add green and use some great black I got in a scrap bag at Hampton for the background. The black-and-white binding is a nod to TV's early days. When I presented the gift, he asked me to add a sleeve so he can hang it in the office of his post-production company.

The other RGB is still a WIP: the Bright Stripes scarf from Scarf Style. I am making this because I had bought one ball of burgundy RYC Cashsoft DK last spring, intending to make VaTech blanket squares that never happened. When I went to the Yarn Lounge’s anniversary sale, I bought five more balls in order to have a new plan for the lonely one. At least I stuck with just three CCs instead of four!

Because this yarn has a smaller gauge that the aran the pattern specs, I cast on 300 stitches instead of 260. The rows are long, sure, but this has gone quickly, and between changing colors and switching from garter to stockinette, it's not boring. I'm two-thirds done in two weeks, thanks to spring break, and if it was finished I'd have worn it over the chilly weekend ~

Five!

Yesterday marked five years since I began to blog, and I couldn't connect to the internet to say so. No matter, as I sadly lost the camera last week in Florida, and gladly enjoyed dinner and some gallery crawling with my girls and another mom plus two last night. Almost bought a new painting, but held off for now, what with needing to replace the camera and waiting to hear from the accountant regarding my taxes.

Typepad says this is my 537th post. Averaged out, that would put me at one every three days or so, but since I became mom to two, I'm lucky to post every three weeks. Production has decreased as well, although there's a lot more quilting going on, as I'm sure you've noticed. And I'm OK with that. More interesting to me is how I've weathered five major life changes in this period ~ my father's death, a move, a job change, my mother's death, and the adoption of my second child ~ and shared them with you here. I have received kind words and encouragement in return, and not just from the couple dozen listed to the right whom I've met face to face. (That list excludes both the others encountered all too briefly at MS&W [four more weeks!] and those I correspond with but have yet to meet.)

I started this as a stitching blog and have only rarely strayed from the topic at hand ~ which I sometimes regret, as many of the online musings I've most enjoyed have little connection to fiber. I think partly I harbored some privacy concerns, while another side feared no one would care. Writing is also what I do for a living, so maybe I didn't need another outlet. When people who know me from my grad school days ask if I am still writing poems, I explain that my current role as solo parent to two youngsters leaves me with insufficient mental energy to ply that craft, but the creative energy remains and is channeled into making things with needles, yarn and fabric.

While I may not be living the life of my dreams, I love my life. Does anyone recall a sidebar listing this blog used to have, titled "Stitching Their Dreams into Reality"? I mention this now because one of those friends, Duncan Brantley, is having a moment in the spotlight on his path to his dream. (The only reason I removed that listing is that some folks didn't update their websites, and one went in a new direction, to grad school at RISD.) His film, Leatherheads, opened yesterday. Granted, the reviews are mixed, but George Clooney's its director and star! I haven't seen it yet, but I will. I think the only damper on Duncan's day is his Tar Heels performance right now against Kansas. Gotta go watch the game ~

Spring Bolero

Two weeks ago Wee C asked me to make her a cropped sweater; she was pretty specific about its angled "hemline" and one-button closure. This came sometime after she'd requested that we cut off the bottom half of her white cotton cable cardigan (that's half of a twin set). I found myself up to the challenge, stash-dove for some Paton's Kroy, and grabbed The Knitter's Handy Book of Sweater Patterns. I doubled the yarn and did a quick swatch on US7s, then cast on for the Child's Raglan. Garter-stitch edges and three-quarter sleeves were my "design modifications." Ten days later I was sewing on the button she selected and crochet-chaining a loop. It's a tiny thing, but so is she!

She's not even seven, but she said, "Mom, you, like, made me a sweater in a week!" Almost, love. Even faster than I whipped up Gesta on 10.5s. At least the sudden spring chill gave me a chance to debut the vest on Easter. (Those matching Fibonacci sox are done, too.)

We're on spring vacation now and I've brought along a scarf project, of all things!

Happy Easter!

I made these bunnies for the Easter baskets using Hillary Lang's Wee Wonderfuls pattern and fabric left over from Little B's starfish costume along with two quilting cottons. Fun stuff (and fun to stuff).

The girls like 'em; Wee C's already requested additional pairs of shoes, which may be a good idea since they tend to fall off already!