The BIG 4 Retreat.....join us!

Hi everyone!  I hope you had a fabulous week!  I had a crazy week.....and lots of knitting news for you!

Well, it is almost time for camp....and Darlene and I are not going this year!

Yup.....You read right....No Camp for me or Darlene this year!  Instead, Darlene and I are doing our own "Campish type" thing.....we are calling it The Big 4 Retreat!  We are going to call it a retreat instead of camp.....doesn't everyone love a retreat more than they love camp?  Come join us for our retreat!!!! (Link back to Rav for chatting.)

You know how you cast something on and you work on it and work on it and then something else equally exciting comes along and you just have to cast on and work on that new item?  I know there are some monogamous knitters out there scratching their head because this never happens to you....this is probably not for you.

What happens with the first thing you were knitting on?  Well, for me, some of those items get neglected.....for too long......so, we are each picking 4 WIPS that we really want to get done but somehow got put on the back burner and never made it back in the front of the line!!

Here is how our virtual retreat will go down.......We have 4 months to finish these 4 WIPS....we started yesterday (May 1) and we end when camp would normally end, August 31st.  We can work on anything else we have at the same time, but we CANNOT cast on anything new.....at all....till September (only exception are socks since I am doing the DVD and Bags By Awesomegrannie sock of the month, and that is a big goal of mine this year).

I figure if we can always get 3 awesome new things knit for Camp in past years....we can start a month early, add one more project and FINISH 4 awesome WIPS that we really do love but maybe have not given love lately!

Here is the view at The Big 4 Retreat!

Here are my BIG 4 From Left To Right:

Smooth Move, Spire, Agleam, Pure Joy...so the first 2 are from 2014...the second 2 are more recent....but I should still have 4 awesome finished things when done!

So, Smooth move is about 43% done, Spire is about 23% done with Spire, Agleam "was" about 17% done and Pure Joy is about 4% done.

I worked on Agleam this past weekend and now it is about 37% done....not bad to do 20% just in the weekend.

Here is my progress:

I worked on Pure Joy over the week...so it is a touch bigger than the last time I posted...but here it at only 4%

I did a couple of rows on Spire just to switch the needles it was on....so here is a picture of it semi stretched out.....

I have not done anything with Smooth Move yet...so I really do not have a close up of it.

So, what do you guys think about mine and Darlene's "The Big 4 Retreat"?  Feel free to join us....I even started a thread in the Bags By Awesomegrannie forum in case you want to post pictures and chat with us.

I look forward to giving you updates on The Big 4 Retreat in the months to come :)

Also, to get ready for "The Big 4 Retreat", I did a bunch of Frogging.....I frogged 6 projects:

Fruit Gum Stripes - I will make this pattern some day with self striping yarn

Welty - Maybe some time in the future, but I was not 'feeling it'

Cercis - I just realize that 1 skein shawls are not large enough for me, and this yarn is too good to go to waste.

Boxy - this yarn will be better for a Girasole...the stitch definition this yarn shows is wasted on a plain stockinette pattern.

Thousand Tulips

KOM Mystery KAL

So, aren't you proud of me for frogging 7 projects in less than 2 weeks (remember, I frogged The Doodler last week)?  But please do not ask how many projects I still have on the needles....I am working on lowering the number :)

I do have a couple of stash enhancements....but not yarn.....I heard on a podcast that Wolfe Farms was closing and wanted to try their lotion...so I got some lotion, a candle, soap and a cable needle....I love the lotion....Paige already snagged the bottle of Cucumber Melon and I have the Honeysuckle for myself...I am really sad that this place is closing because their products are very nice!

Then......Darlene really wanted to make a memories blanket...the mitered square kind.....so I pulled out almost all of my left over sock yarn:

I got a bag of yarn together for Darlene (there was actually more when I gave it to her...I forgot to snap an updated pic):

This is yarn from the very first pair of socks I ever knit, so it will be my first square...

I did a first square....

Then decided to do some different stitch counts and needle sizes:

We are going to do a 50 stitch count square on size US 4 (3.5 mm)....This will be a forever project so, expect it to just pop up here and there :)

I also cast on for my May socks of the month:  and I got a new medium sized bag for them....thank you SOOOOO much Darlene!

The last thing I started (I think) is a Nuvem is this gorgeous pink color.....I love it!  It is for just plain old mindless knitting (and of course I had to cast it on before The Big 4 Retreat!

Okay.....now for things I finished......I finished the test knit for Susanna IC.....the pattern is called Evenfall!

I also finished my April Socks :)

Whew.....I feel like this may be one of my longest posts....so, I am going to wrap this up.

I went to Jaime's and he cooked me a fantastic steak (I have not had steak in long time).

And I got to hang out with his dog, Brandy...she is the softest thing ever.....

On Friday, I picked up Antonio from Daycare and took him to his Grandma Debbie's house....He usually does not go to daycare on Friday's but it was picture day.  Now, remember that Antonio used to live with 3 barber's and of course still lives with his mother who is a barber, so to him, it is all about the haircut and hairstyle....he knew he looked good Friday....he told Paige, "Mom, I look good don't I....My hair looks good!"

Now, if those last 2 pics did not put a smile on your face....NOTHING will.  Have a great week!

Happy Happy Happy Knitting!!!!

Stephen and Steven Tour 2014

Are you ready for picture overload?  I have lots of pictures to share with you this week.  First let me give you a small update on my Tour de Sock socks.......I have been making progress but I have not worked on them since last Friday....I am really enjoying this pattern!!!

Now for the Stephen and Steven Tour 2014....they are fabulous....if you have a chance to go see them....you should.  We had a great time!  First, when we got to our hotel, one of our rooms was not ready so the hotel bought us all dinner......Yup!  It was yummy....I even have a picture of my desert because it was so cute.

At the even there was tour exclusive yarn:

Here is what I got......I got some of the tour exclusive yarn by Three Irish Girls in colorways "Luck be a Lady" and "Sin City":

That was all I was going to get....I swear....but then Tami had to go and find the new Dream in Color yarn in a new base called Jilly......Yup, you guessed it...they had the most beautiful burnt orange colorway called "chili" and I got another colorway called "brownie" to go with it (Tami, the enabler got the same thing, two of the Chili and one of the Brownie).....

While waiting to go to this tour.....Darlene aka AwesomeGrannie saw on Instagram the new Plucky Knitter's colorway called "ph" for Stephen West there was a pink colorway above called "v" for Steven Be).....so I had to get her some......I also got her some Madeline tosh light merino in the "Knitting is dead Sexy" colorway....it was tour exclusive and I think it will make a great Welty Pattern (by Stephen West) along with the ph........here is hers:

So.....my yarn was wound (in hotel room) and we had dinner....we all knitted (there was a group of 7 knitting gals total) in the lobby for a while and then it was time for a good night's rest.......and we were off.....

IT WAS FABULOUS!!!!

What did I learn?  Most importantly, I learned that Steven B has 42 WIPS which means that since my count is not that high, that I can cast on more projects (I have officially been given permission!)....Also, Stephen West said that it is OKAY to buy yarn to match your outfit and it is also OKAY to buy an outfit to match your yarn......these are the important things!

What can I say.....I had the time of my life......I want to thank Stephen and Steven for a great time and a great big thanks to Elizabeth for getting me in the class!!!  I do want to thank Hill Country Weavers or putting it on.....but I have to say I was not impressed with the organization at all.  At the last minute (Saturday)....HCW decided to open up more seats to the even and called the ppl on the waiting list......this meant that my great friend Ruby Cruze got to come.......

Now.....I am super excited they opened up a seat for Ruby (Yes I am being selective here)....but the bottom line is they opened up too many seats...there was not enough room...we were crammed like sardines into one tiny room.....then lunch came and it was pure chaos....it seems that if you were taking the Stephen West class in the afternoon, you were supposed to have lunch with Steven Be and vice versa....but they never 'announced' that to everyone...it seems that they announced it to new comers (ppl who were not in the morning classes) but not to everyone....it was just madness....my seat was taken (even though all my friends told the lady she could not sit there because I just went to go get my plate of food and I would be right back...my purse was there, my whole knitting bag, etc).....it was just a three ring circus....being crammed in the little room means that neither of the Steph/vens were able to get to the back corner or anywhere to their left side because the tables (and sardine people) were blocking them.  Also, there was very little tour yarn.  HCW sent an email telling us we can buy tour yarn on Saturday starting at 1 and we were there at about 1:03.....there was ONE skein of that 'ph' yarn for sale and one skein they were using to show everyone (so basically I got the only two skeins) and at first they said we could order some then they said we couldn't....but they must have been holding back skeins of yarn for friends because on Sunday, my friend asked if they had anymore of that yarn and they said 'No' but after my friend paid, they pulled out 3 skeins of the "ph" yarn for the next lady in line......okay.....rant over.....besides selling way too many seats and being unorganized.....I would not have traded it for the world....I had a fabulous time.....can you tell by the pictures?

 

Above is my friend Elizabeth (who got me the seat to the show) with Stephen and her Verticies Unite!

Below is our whole group wearing one of Stephen West's shawls!

Here is a picture in front of the yarn store....if you look close, you might be able to find me

I even got their signatures on my Tour Book and they each signed their own patterns!

I could not decide with yarn to use for Stephen West's Welty pattern....but in the end I decided to use the 'Tour Yarn'.  Here is my progress:

All in all, it was a fabulous weekend!!!!!!!!!!!  

And just in case you do not go into picture overload....here is my favorite:

Happy Happy Happy Knitting everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!