Trish Knits.com

This year, the theme of the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival was–RAVELRY!!

Here I am with Jess and Casey! Thanks for making sure I could attend and enjoy all of the Ravelry events, guys. You did good.

Me with Jessica. The Ravelry meetup was so crowded that I didn’t really get to meet quite as many folks as I was wishing to meet. I did get my sticker, but thank goodness I already had a button, because I hear they ran out. When I went up to try to get my sticker, my chair dug a hole in the muddy gravel and it took several guys to help me out. Oh well, that happens!

My buddy Steve picked a bunch of little buttercups and stuck them in my hair, and in my shoes, and, and, and…





As always, there was the sound of traditional festival music that filled the air. This sort of stuff always makes me think of my dad, and it makes me happy.





I don’t know these women but they were sure petting some pretty yarn! (There was lots of petting going on, everywhere I looked!)





Since I am finally learning to knit socks, I decided it was time to pay The Fold a visit and see if there was any Socks that Rock yarn left. The selection wasn’t huge, given that it was probably about 2:30 in the afternoon and all, but honestly I thought it would be completely sold out, given all the hype I’ve heard in previous years. I managed to get three colorways of mediumweight, but more on my festival haul in tomorrow’s post.





I didn’t actually go into the sheep barns this year, but outside some sheep were getting washed and this one was being particularly noisy! She’s cute, isn’t she?





Steve and I headed out just after 4:30 and went to Columbia for dinner. We had yummy ribeyes at Clyde’s, and headed around the lake to the Sheraton for the Ravelry party. Here I am, finally getting to talk with Mary-Heather, who was super sweet! I really enjoyed meeting her. Getting to the party was interesting… the only way I could get to the pool area was by cutting through a room that was hosting someone else’s wedding. I’ve never been a wedding crasher before. Haha!





After mingling for a bit, Casey, Jess and Mary-Heather went to the front to say some thank you’s and do the door prizes and dream stash giveaways. I won a Namaste needle cozy. I don’t knit with straight needles so I’ll either find someone to give it to or I’ll find a use for it somehow! But it was fun to win a prize!





At the party, my friend Steve decided to sit inconspicuously in a corner by the door, so he’d be easily seen by me, but not noticed by anyone else. Ha! I turned around and found Steve spinning yarn with a drop spindle! I’ve been trying to get him to play with fiber for years, with no success. Then this total stranger is standing there spinning and next thing I knew, he was doing it, too. Unfortunately I did not get the lady’s name…



Steve shows off his little bit of spun yarn.



Of course, Bob was there in spirit! All in all, it was a seriously fun day, packed with great food, great yarn, great friends, and fabulous fun! I really enjoyed meeting the folks that I could meet, and hope to catch the ones I missed next year. For some reason I didn’t have my camera out much, which is odd, but the crowds were so overwhelming that at times, good pictures were nearly impossible to get. But I have lots of memories of a really great day, and a bit of sunburn to remember it by.

Seriously, I was so worn out that I could not blog until now… I spent the entire evening (about four hours) passed out in my den. Now of course I’m not sleepy! Oh well… I’ll be thinking of the fun at the festival as I try to drift off…

Ok, this is going to sound crazy, but on the Knit Picks discussion board on Ravelry, folks started talking about finding a better way to store their Harmony needles. Someone mentioned that they found a “worm binder” at Wally World and that it was a perfect fit. Now, I don’t go browsing the fishin’ pole section every day, in fact, never, so I had never even heard of one of these marvelous contraptions. Yesterday, I braved a throng of tween girls at the new Hannah Montana movie, and it just so happens that at this mall where my favorite theater is, there is an Outdoor World store, that includes a Bass Pro Shop. Lo and behold, there they were! But alas, the one I found in the store, and bought fairly immediately, is not available online — yes it is, here’s the link: Extreme Worm Binder (Mine is the “medium” size.). The bag is made of some sort of waterproof fabric, and includes lots of little ziploc bags (for fishing tackle) inside. The outside has a zipper pocket, and because the bag itself is soft sided, it is really very roomy.

Here is a view of the inside front cover, showing two zipper pockets. They are the perfect size for my needle sizer, scissors, or whatever else I need to carry.

And here is the inside back cover, which has quite a few small pockets, perfect for end buttons, stitch markers, the little “key” thingys that help tighten the needles, etc.

And this is the back cover, which has a mesh pocket with a velcro tab for holding it closed. Overall, this bag is great! All of my needles fit in there, which is more than I can say for the bag that came with my Harmony set. (Ok, there’s enough room for one pair of each of the interchangeable tips in the bag that the set comes with, plus you can throw cables and stuff in the center section, but then where would I put my fixed circulars that are sized 0 to 3? especially since the 1’s and 2’s have two sizes each, and the needle sizer doesn’t have holes for each of these. I would have a devil of a time telling them apart. PLUS, I have multiple pairs of tips for my favorite sizes, and now they will all fit in the ziploc bag things. It’s great that I can keep all of my needles together.

So, I highly recommend a fishing worm binder (also called a tackle binder or a bait binder) as wonderful knitting needle storage. I should have gotten more than one. The only thing is I hope I can somehow remove the Bass Pro patch off the front and replace it with something a little more “girly”…. My dad would be rolling his eyes at me if he could see this!

Ok, when is it too much? I do think I am addicted to KnitPicks Shine yarn. When I was reading the KnitPicks Lover’s board on Ravelry the other day, someone mentioned that certain colors were being discontinued. You can guess it took me all of about 30 SECONDS to surf on over and pick up TWENTY balls of one of my favorite colors–Crocus. Not that I have anything specific in mind to do with it at the moment, but you know how it is when it’s on sale! Irresistible. I probably have enough to make myself some kind of top and have some left over, but time will tell what I do with it.

Blankie Update

Three more rows. Then I’m done. Just sayin’…

Wow! At about this time yesterday, after more than two months of waiting, I finally received my Ravelry invitation! I’ve only begun to scratch the surface of all that this wonderful tool can do. It has a way to help you catalog and track your projects, track your stash, catalog your books, needles and other tools, and share in projects with others who might be working on the same thing.

A quick search showed me that there are about 5 other people so far who are from my town that are Ravelry members. I don’t know any of them, except one girl who I know I went to college with, but I don’t think she remembers me. Maybe I will contact them and suggest a knit-in at our local Borders. There is actually a Borders group that meets on Wednesday nights but I can’t go, so I’m looking for some Saturday people.

Adorable Hats!

I just got the book Itty Bitty Hats this week. This book is adorable! I definitely will be making a few things from the book. Did I mention that ANOTHER co-worker is expecting? There’s no way I can do another baby blanket. But, I do hope that a few cute baby hats will do the trick. Wish me luck! I might even get to reuse some of my yarn from the baby blanket, but instead, I think I sense some balls of KnitPicks Shine coming my way. (Yes, they are calling me!)

I had an absolutely great time knitting with Rhoda this weekend. Guess what she brought for show and tell? The new KnitPicks Harmony Needles! Ooooooh my! They certainly are pretty! I hope I can restrain myself all the way until Christmas! Kelley, what have you done to me now?? We enjoyed a pizza for lunch and then knitted while listening to some of my favorite podcasts. Then the power went out. For no reason at all, I might add. Go figure.