More Yarn

Yesterday, Rick and I went on a quest to find a white belt at Value Village. Not to be confused with Value City in the U.S., Value Village is a thrift store. We looked and looked, but couldn't find a suitable belt for the wedding we are attending on Friday. I will be checking at a couple vintage stores tomorrow.
The trip to VV was not entirely a bust. They often have yarn in bags for a couple dollars each. I always look through, hoping to find something useful. Until now, I have never found anything worth picking up.
I got three skeins of Astrakhan, by Berella, in the Ocean colourway. They are 90% superwash wool and 10% fine nylon. Three skeins, three bucks. Not a bad find, if I do say so myself. There is only a very very slight odor... It's not musty or anything, so I think a quick wash will solve it.
The one problem with the yarn is... stuff stuck in it. It looks like Easter basket stuffing, and wood shavings. I think that when I unwind the yarn to wash it, it should all fall out. If that fails, I will just have to pick through it and get it all out.
I'm planning on making a kids hat and an adult hat out of this. It's rare for me to have an exact plan for yarn when I buy it, but this yarn told me that's what it wanted to be.

Mason-Dixon Knitting Outside the Lines, and SwagBucks

Okay, I may be a little late on this one.

I just purchased Mason-Dixon Knitting Outside The Lines from Amazon the other day. I have been planning on ordering it since it was released, but I haven't had the extra money, or a credit card.
I have gotten both of these in the past week and ordered the book right away.
I am a member of SwagBucks**, and recently redeemed nearly all of my points for Amazon.com gift cards. I had something like $20 (US) in credits in my account, and got my credit card so I could finally place my order.
Since I am in Canada, it will probably take a bit longer for me to receive it. I am so excited, though. I rarely knit from patterns, but I love collecting knitting-related books.
Once I get it, I will certainly post a review of some sort!

**Yes, there is a referral code in there. If you do sign up, I'd appreciate if you used my code!

New yarn!

I know I haven't been updating much lately, but fear not, I have not forgotten you!
The other day, I returned some yarn from the scarf I just finished for Rick. I know, returning yarn is sort of crazy, but I knew I could get other yarn with that money.
And more yarn is what I got.
I bought three skeins of Bernat Harmony, in different colours. One dark pink, a lavender colour, and black.
All I can say is this yarn is amazing. Super soft, has just the right amount of texture. If I double it, it's perfect for the Knifty Knitter.
And, best of all, it's affordable! Coming in at $3.99 a skein for 169 meters/184 yards, this will keep me going for a little while.

I have been working on a lot of craft show things lately. I have two in November that I at determined to do really well at. I am taking the day off work, risking losing a decent amount of pay. I'm trying to figure out a way to make deals on my product without losing a lot of money.
Have any of you ever done a raffle at a craft show? Give a ticket away with each purchase over $X and draw at the end of the show? The only problem with this is that I don't drive, and I wouldn't want to make the winner come pick up the prize.

I'm open to suggestions!

Made In Windsor Grand Opening Follow Up

Christine, from Made In Windsor, just got around to updating about the grand opening party. I did post a few things about it a little while back, but now I have more pictures, taken by Christine herself.
I spent most of the day working on hats on my large Knify Knitter loom. I guess I was doing a demo of sorts. I had quite a few young kids staring at me and asking what I was doing. I showed them a finished product, and asked if they wanted to help. Many parents were very hesitant, worried that the child would ruin what I was making. Little did they know that the task at hand was very simple. All I did was ask for help holding the yarn so it wouldn't roll onto the floor. This little boy (I can't remember his name!!!) was an absolute joy to hang out with. he would watch what I was doing, and then just talk away about something or other, and then gently pat the yarn and smile. He's a lot like me, now that I think about it! Several other kids followed suit during the day, content to hold some super soft yarn. A couple of the older kids helped me by actually wrapping the yarn or making the stitches. Knifty Knitters are great for kids, they're super easy to learn, nearly instant gratification, and inexpensive.
After a while, I went outside to enjoy the sun with Dianne, who I mentioned in the other post. She was making cookie pieces, and I started working on an other hat. Later that night, there were 3 of us sitting outside with our craft of choice: knitting, crochet, knifty knitter-ing. It was a lot of fun talking yarn with others, I saw spit-splicing up close (I don't use 100% often, if ever, and that was sort of a foreign concept to me. It just seemed like a ridiculous idea that would never work) we discussed various types of yarn, taking on too many commissions and a bunch of other yarn-y topics.
All in all, awesome day. I talked to a lot of people, networked quite a bit, and left with a smile on my face.

The scarf is finished, among other things

I finished Rick's scarf the other day, it's been given to him, and he's worn it a couple times. He loves it. He said he'd take pictures once he's figured out a creative way to photograph it.

I bought 5 small skeins of Bernat Handicrafter cotton to make dishcloths for a Christmas gift. Not saying who they're for, just in case she happens to read this. These will have to wait a while before I start working on them. I do have a good reason for this, promise! (I'll tell you more about this at the end of the post)

I started working on a Thick and Quick scarf in Fig. I love this yarn, I know I've said it before, but it's true. I love the colours it is available in. I love the way it feels. I love how easy it is to knit with. I may start ordering this yarn wholesale, if my sales at Made In Windsor pick up a little.

The reason I have to wait on the dishcloths for Christmas, is because I have my first craft show of the year! I'm back at Iler Lodge (where I did my first show) on the first Saturday of November. This will be the first time I go back there since almost a year ago. Both of my maternal grandparents lived there, and it is an amazing place. The way this show works is that each vendor donate a portion of their proceeds instead of paying a table fee, and those funds go to the residents activities. I enjoy the way this works. If I don't sell anything, it costs me nothing. If I sell a whole bunch of stuff, I donate accordingly. The Fig scarf is for this show, as is the Lion Homespun hat I have started on the green Knifty Knitter loom. Oh, and the 5 or so other dishcloths I have made in as many days.

This is starting to become addictive again! I have started knitting on the city bus more and more. And when I go to Phog, I make sure to bring knitting with me, even if it isn't craft night!

Is this officially an obsession?

I think I have a problem, ladies and gentlemen.
You see, I am currently working on a new hat on the Knifty Knitter, and my loom tool is all silly, and the rubber grip is sliding off the metal. The tool itself is only a couple dollars, but I would have to go into the yarn section at Michael's to pick it up. This would mean that I am tempted to buy new yarn. I never go to Michael's without the coupon from the flier. Ever since they started making them only available online, I haven't gone yarn shopping since I don't have a printer.

I then weighed yarn against getting groceries.

Am I crazy? I haven't gotten groceries in... Three weeks? I live on my own, so I am usually pretty happy with soup and pasta. But, I have hardly any fruit and veg, no bread/tortillas/pitas, no cheese, and very little of other things that I eat regularly.

I think I need to go get real food and check my head while I'm at it. Yarn shopping can wait.

Made In Windsor Grand Opening

Yesterday was the Made in Windsor grand opening! I was there from about 10 am until 10:30 pm, and had an awesome time.
I finished a black hat on the Knifty Knitter, then started a purple one, and finished that one by the end of the night.
Dianne Clinton of Off The Chain crocheted a pink bunny hat for my friend Amy and I offered to model it. Owen, of Windsor Visuals, made me laugh while I was trying to do some sort of bunny buck teeth something or other. Despite the fact that I look incredibly ridiculous, I do like this picture. The hat is adorable, and totally suits Amy. She came in and picked it up and was incredibly excited. Check out Dianne's website. She does awesome charity work, and crochets mittens for Mitts for Tits.

The Art Gallery of Windsor also had some activities for the kids, and bigger kids I suppose. We painted Plexiglas to turn it into a fridge magnet. I sorta just messed around with the paint and got this. It kind of matches my kitchen, but at the same time totally doesn't.
A few other vendors did their thing and demonstrated their craft. I answered a lot of questions about Knifty Knitters and knitting in general.
All in all, the day was a great success. As soon as Christine posts about the day, I will have more pictures, and an other post! Make sure you check that one out, there will be pictures of super cute kids helping me knit.

Featured on Bike Windsor

I love riding my bike. It is my favourite mode of transpo-rtation, as long as the wind is in my favour. There is a group of local cyclists that I have ridden with before. Their site is Bike Windsor, run by Darren, that I taught to knit a while back.
Just the other day, one of the contributors to the site, Kari, posted something about the city needing more bike racks, and included this photo. I remember putting this tag up way back in July, the same day as Phog Phest. It looks like it's holding up pretty well.

Still knitting the scarf!

But still no pictures. I think I may just wait until it's finished, with ends woven in, to show you all what it looks like. Just imagine the last picture, only a million times longer.

I am still working on hats on the Knifty Knitter. I haven't made much progress, though, since I've been so busy with everything else. I have been trying to find other interesting colour combinations from the yarn that I already have.

Otherwise, I have been working on my other blogs, DistillingWater and I Love Etsy. If you use tumblr, please follow!

A Good Reputation

Recently, I have been spending quite a bit of time at Phog. There are always new faces in there, as well as people who haven't been there in a while. One of the regulars and I had a couple drinks last night, and he knew nearly everyone that set foot in the door. As they made their rounds to say hello, he would stop them and chat for a short while. He would then introduce me as the Yarn Bomber.
Most people that frequent Phog are not subscribers to the Windsor Star, and therefore did not know who I was. Or, they knew my name from the WAMM article, but not my face.
I received several compliments from everyone, and generally enjoyed myself. It showed me how much certain people care about their city and what goes on in it.

It also showed me how much people love the tags and how I should really get back to knitting them and putting them up.