Mossy Cottage Knits

when i slip edge stitches i always pull the yarn rather tightly as i finish the previous row to avoid the gaposis that occurs otherwise-

isn't reading about rhinebeck enough to give you real envy? humph, the only fiber festival i will ever attend around here is the one i go to when cleaning the dryer's lint filter!

glad the anniversary was a good one- lovely gifts all around-

stay happy-

You do know that Scharffen Berger is just down the street from my house, right? Can't you just smell that factory tour? Hmmmm?

Yet another reason to come see me'n'Janine.
Congrats, again.

hmmm.. are you supposed to block faina when you are done? I ask simply b'c lace does S-T-R-E-T-C-H so when you block it.. much bigger than you expect. I wonder if that would help.

On the smokescreen.. you say blocking doesn't help. Hmm.. unless you can live with the looks of it I would either give it to someone who doesn't have any idea what you see when you see it, or frog. And I know tmk hates the frogging.

and no, we gave each other a nice big hug. Sorry.. not a sloppy greek or italian hug.. but def. not a princeton air-hug (tm).

Yep, there was body contact. Twice or three times, as I recall. Plus, a suspiciously lot of people were touching Anj's chest coz she had a fuzzy sheep with her PurlEwe logo on there. Better rethink that, Anj....unless of course you like complete strangers feeling up your chest. Hee!

Barb, like the idea of pulling the edge stitches tight. The question is, will I remember?

Anj, my version of Faina won't change much when I block it because the stitches are so compact--which is what I wanted. In fact, I did block the first 8" or so as a test and it flattened out nicely but didn't change much in length or width. Still, I'm happy with it. It'll just take me longer to finish than I thought.

Anj, Norma--how did you recognize each other?

Rachael, since my cousin's husband's brother owns Scharffen Berger and you live down the street from Scharffen Berger--do you think that makes us twins who were separated at birth?

Anj did it, really. We bumped into each other Saturday almost as soon as I got there, at the Spirit Trail booth, and acknowledged each other and I only vaguely recognized her blogname -- in fact, I read her chest and said, "Oh, yes. Purple Ewe." Yes, that is why I am a court reporter -- so accurate on the proofreading, dontchaknow! She corrected me and said, "PurlEwe," and of course I felt a tad bit embarrassed and foolish. (sorry, Anj!) But the next day a bunch of us who were traveling together were sitting down at picnic tables eating (see photo in Yarn Harlot's post today) and Anj came up and sorta shyly asked if she could join us. Well, we all shrieked, "Of COURSE you can! You MUST!" and we all scootched over so she could fit in. Then she told me her name was Anj and that she recognized me and said, "you comment a lot on Ryan's blog." Well, of course then it all came together for me. Thank goodness for her doing that! I'm so glad she did. Really, Ryan, you would have loved it. It was just amazing. And Sunday was even better than Saturday, if that's possible. And there I was, thinking I was just going to get up Sunday, eat breakfast, and be on my way, but I'm so glad I stuck around. I have a great story to tell about our B&B hostesses, two women who told us they were "cousins." Such a hoot. And I think it was Deb (Yentala) who said, and we all agreed, "they obviously don't realize what a hip group we are." Heee! I'll be blogging about it at some point, I'd guess. There's so much more fun stuff that happened.

Norma, can't wait to read about it! Today I scouted out every blog I could think of that might have a report and/or photos about Rhinebeck. Fer sher, I'll keep checking for the next week or so until "Rhinebeck fever" has settled down.

Y'all are so dear.

Good presents.

and much love --

Hmmm. Your scarf was inspiring enough that it provoked me into unravelling one I had made out of handspun that turned out to be a big disappointment (because of my edge treatment), so thatI could re-knit with this pattern. The yarn is soaking now and when it's all dry I'll start it. My yarn is rather dark, and I think the vertical openwork will be good. Thanks for the link to the stitch pattern and the knitting report!

Hmm. You know, Ryan dah-ling...I actually thought your scarf looks way shorter than mine as well. When I held it up the other day at row 132 I thought, Hmmmm. Ryan's looked about this long, but she is farther ahead of me...and...hmmmm. it looks like the same number of repeats I have, but that can't be.

Of course, I didn't SAY any of that then, because I thought I was being a twit. I know you are using smaller needles (i am using 4s) and that you are The-Tightest-Knitter-In-The-Known-World....but it is still making me go "hmmmmm". No solutions, no suggestions, no thoughts, just "hmmmm."

I am so pleased you had a good weekend!

Finally, are those yer real nails girl? Wow! ;) L

Yep, Lisa, my real nails. And, for Norma, who seems to keep track of these things, they've gone back to sparkly hooker-pink.

Kit, I assume you're going to knit the Real Deal, the Opera Scarf in its original form, but if you want the same border as I have it's: On the bottom, 4 rows of seed stitch; on each side, 5 stitches of seed stitch, slip the first one--although as I said, I think it looks horsy and loopy.

Ryan-
What Norma says is true. I ran into her and her fabu vanilla sweater on Saturday at Spirit Trails but the only person I "recognized" was Leigh of Woolflowers b'c we have actually MET before. Leigh was a doll and said everyone's name to me, but honestly I heard "blah-ma, blah-dy, blah-in. (I belive it was Norma sandy and carolyn but I could be really off base) I didn't want to appear too stupid so I said hello to everyone and gave leigh a hug. (BTW Norma, youw ere the 1st person to call me purple ese.. I had 3 other people do it after you. perhaps you start trends every where you go??) I saw Claudia SEVERAL times in her butterfly and each time I did I said to Sue "there's claudia" and never walked up to her. Who knew I was shy? Truly I am not too shy to talk to a person picking out yarn and help her make the decision (brooks farms this woman had 20 skeins around her arms.. and we just started whittling it down. Someone thought I worked for the company just because I was helping) but see someone from a blog I read regularly and I go all silent or something. Sunday WAS fabulous. And I almost didn't go as well. Sue said "go have fun, go find your friends you missed yesterday" I didn't stay very long (as Norma can attest.. shyness struck again) but I did get to soak in the happiness and the fun. And everyone was so darn nice to each other and each person's knitting. I almost wish I had run into them the nite before to join in the shennanigans. My aunt's farm is my sanctuary tho. I love to visit her and see her animals.. and she still wants sheep.. so one day we will all have to visit at her house.. I'll cook.

I would wait until you finish the scarf and use a crochet hook a size or two smaller than your knitting needles to single-crochet the edge of it. Should tighten it right up, and look pretty decorative too.

Happy anniversary! Day late and a dollar short as usual.

Rachael's right--a visit to the Bay area would be just the ticket--that chocolate factory is something else. There's a coffee shop/cafe attached to it, where we had breakfast a while back. Eating sage sprinkled eggs with local cheese with herbed potatoes and deep-roasted coffee didn't quite go with the all-permeating smell of chocolate. The treat menu looked great, though.

The scarf? You could practice adding a lace border to it at right angles--what the heck, anyone who could master all the stuff you've learned in the last year could do it no problemo.

And sign me up for a trip to Rhinebeck. Let's see--in 2005 I'm planning Madrona Fiber Arts Gig Harbor Retreat, Meg Swansen's Knitting Camp, Spin-Off Autumn Retreat (in Utah!), so why not add Rhinebeck??? I pulled the spinning wheel down from the attic--time to get going. Those blog entries have me itching to spin and knit.

Okay, Janine. I haven't had breakfast yet. And now I'm really hungry for scrambled eggs and herbed potatoes. ;-)

TMK

TMK, John and I have set our personal goals as finding the BEST eggs and taters in the East Bay. You n Ryan ought to come on down (imagine the sleaziest used car dealer's ad: Come on down!) for a visit. Our current fave won't disappoint.

It is within the realm of possibility that I will be down next year since a large portion of my family lives in Santa Clara, San Jose and Pleasanton. The lure of seeing you and doing some knitting might even coax Ryan into coming with me! So you have some time to find the best breakfast in Berkeley! ;-)

TMK