Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Road Trip!



The suburban pulled out of the parking lot and hit the road this morning. The ladies had a mission and no one was keeping them from it. It was a nice drive with lively conversation.

First stop ~ Knit Together, A yarn and fiber boutique in Exeter.

The window showed beautiful hand knit scarves and shawls in addition to a spinning wheel and yarn hanks. Going inside the ladies were met by cubbies of yarn. They found a nice selection which included Madlinetosh; Artyarns; Handwerks; and Debbie Bliss, just to name a few. The color palette was wonderful.


Annie found a colorful hank of Handwerks. Looking forward to seeing the finished product.



Here Annie and Cookie are discussing a pattern with the owner.
And here Annie, Pat, Annie and Cookie are deciding if they really NEED that ball Annie is holding or if she needs a different color.



After spending a time with the yarn the ladies decided to whet their appetites at The Wildflower Cafe across the street. This is a cute little cafe that serves soup, sandwiches, salads and more. There is also a nice patio when the weather is nice.

Betsy, (the suburban) headed on down the road for a few miles and came upon another yarn shop.
Creekside Yarns, in Three Rivers


Oh my goodness, so much yarny goodness in one place is sometimes just a bit too much to take in at one time. The staff was very helpful when decisions had to be made.

Creekside carries a wide selection of yarn companies. Their stock is sorted and displayed according to color. In their back room there is a good selection of needles, notions and books.


The boxes on the top of the shelf are sock hand dyeing kits. Wow!
Little bags were secured and the suburban made the trek back home. Again lively conversation could be heard while pages turned. Ooooh's and aah's interjected as patterns turned up on the pages of magazines.



Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Change

Did you notice something different?

We (our local Ravelry group) decided to change our name.

We are the same group just a new name.

We are now BAKERSFIELD Yarn Mavens


Sunday, August 7, 2011

A Day In The Mountains



Gail graciously opened her cabin in the woods to our group yesterday.

We enjoyed a potluck lunch (not everything was on the table at the time the photo was taken)
Chile Verde, Enchiladas, Salad, Pasta Salad, Fruit Salad and Brownies

We took a bit of time to just breathe the fresh mountain air (elevation about 7200 ft)


Can you see what the thermometer says? 58 degrees!


We were joined by Gail's sons and border collie, Annie


And of course we spent time knitting!





Before yesterday I had never seen a Redwood tree...on our way back down the mountain we spotted this...

a cedar and a redwood...

they are sharing the same bit of earth...


Monday, June 13, 2011

World Wide Knit In Public Day

If one was strolling around The Market Place in Bakersfield on Saturday they would have seen this: There were so many hand knitted socks in one place at the same time we just couldn't resist...



Some ladies, like Annie below, brought their spinning wheels


And Mollie accompanied Gail


and of course photos were being taken

We'd like to thank our local yarn stores for donating prizes for our drawings

Knit Happens donated a wonderful basket filled with lots of knitting goodies


ABC of Creative Pursuits donated a beautiful skein of hand dyed yarn
Classy Knits donated gift certificates (sorry we didn't a photo of the winners)

Members of the group also donated yarn, books, bags, notions for drawings also.

Knitters and spinners from Porterville, Lancaster, Palmdale, Alta Sierra, Lake Isabella, Bakersfield and Las Vegas all gathered for a few hours of enjoyment.

It was wonderful talking with everyone and admiring what each one was working on or had finished.

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Socks, Socks and more Socks

Today our group held our 'One Saturday A Month' meetup ~ Jen was a wonderful hostess and opened her home up for the meetup. Thanks Jen!

Everyone brought a dish ~ wonderful food!

After lunch we settled in the livingroom for a "Sock Class"...today's class was Cast On and Bind Off with a Short Row Heel thrown in. Amid laughs we all learned something

Thanks Suzanne...we loved being guinea pigs...

Sunday, February 20, 2011

February Meetup

Yesterday out local group met at Lengthwise ~ it was nice, a bit loud at times, but then again think how loud we can get

Jennifer showed off Violet and the twins Vinnie and Val. They are her visiting monsters from Danger Crafts and the Traveling Monster board

New member, Shari, was welcomed ~ she's been knitting for about a year and was doing duplicate stitch on a hat

Jackie showed her baby blanket in progress

Pat shared yarn that she purchased on a recent road trip to Three Rivers

But I guess the highlight was Christy ~ she made a trip to Stitches West ~ her newest acquisitions

Sunday, February 13, 2011

She's done it again!

Yesterday I received my copy of 'Cast On' (the official publication of The Knitting Guild Association)

Over the past months when members of our group would meet there was one person working very diligently on certain projects...we watched as the projects started with an idea, various knitting books of techniques, stitch patterns, etc; then out came the yarn and needles and before long a finished item.

In this issue of Cast On our very own Suzanne has two patterns published. (Does this woman ever stop?)

First, incorporating cables, bobbles and traveling stitches she designed a 'pill box' inspired Aran hat.
(I've put this on my neverending to knit list)

Second, an absolutely gorgeous (I've seen it in person so I do know what I'm talking about here) Mosaic Yoke Cardigan. This cardigan is knitted using fingering weight yarn!

Both patterns can be seen on Ravelry

Suzanne ~ Congratulations ~ Job Well Done

Friday, January 28, 2011

Lots of Good Stuff...oops Knitting!

Way too long since last post...lots of things going on...I'll see if I can get us to speed here so bear with me

I've got a lot of photos of members and their finished/in process projects and I'll try to get those on here also

Our group has been very very busy....

BUT

The most important, exciting thing happened to our group....

As of January 10th we started our FOURTH year together...most of those who had been at our first meeting can be seen clicking away every week with all the others

What a group...

Okay, now photos.....

A beautiful purse Jane knitted...this is from a kit purchased through Knit Picks
This is Annie modeling $5 in Paris sweater her mom, Pat, knitted for her ~ fits perfectly



And here is Gail modeling her 'Newsboy Hat'. She had just the band going across the top to do (that's what the yarn is hanging down on the sides)
At our December Saturday meetup ~ Gail is perusing a new pattern book she received...
And one of our newest members, Mimi, shows off her new Knitting mug...Mimi recently relocated to our area from New York...

and Jennifer is modeling a beautiful shawl she knitted...beautiful color too...Great Job Jenn

While Annie was here during Christmas break (she working on her Master's in New York City) she picked up knitting again. (perhaps she hung around us too much)... Anyway, while here she started and completed a pair of socks (I think it was her first socks she had ever knitted)...she also knitted an adorable huggable hedgehog ~ I'll try to post a picture later...it's just too too cute
Here's Christy showing off a couple of Christmas Ornaments...cute little Hooligans Christy


This blog is updated by Ruth (Grandy)