Russell Yarn

Knitterpalooza!

I'm a bit late to post...we spent the night in Lansing, then drove back the next morning just in time for me to turn around and head back out for a wedding and reception...slept a little and went to work this morning...so any spelling errors in this post are probably because I've gone cross-eyed from lack of sleep and weak eyeglasses!

Knitterpalooza was absolutely fantastic.  Beginning with seeing friends (Kristi and Kelli) that we just don't see enough of ("Hi, good to see you, we're here, entertain us!!!!")

Amanda and Dana were total sweethearts and got thank-you cookie baskets for Kristi and I...

Yep, I'm always In Deep Knit.  That's me to a tee!!!

Amanda, Dana and I arrived in Lansing (or rather, landed on the Dutchican Homestead) to help set up, finding everyone's favorite Knitterbunny (even if she didn't bring baby bunnies as doorprizes) was already there and helping to soothe babies, pet pups, and flag Otis-Bombs in the backyard.  Here she is exorcising bees from Amanda's lime-and-vodka concoction.  That's true friendship, right there!!!

After the setup, the three of us headed out for lunch where Dana astutely noted that men in uniform wear matching shirts (long story) and that YES, there are daquiris out there with REAL BOOZE in them (even longer story)!!!  From there, we headed to Rae's Yarn Boutique...

where we were warmly welcomed and fell in love with this fabulous little shop!  My haul:

minus the t-shirt I bought that ended up five sizes too big.  For those of you that were there, and heard my prophesy...yes, JP took one look at this Socks That Rock and declared "MINE!!!!"  Never mind that I've never knit with it before, and I'd HOPED to make socks for myself!

From there, we headed to Threadbear, where I judiciously limited myself to the laceweight...

And being that it's Threadbear, the only thing more famous than Matt and Rob are the Store Dogs, who you KNOW I was stalking around the building!!!  Here's Amanda luring Tate from under a table with a Buddy Biscuit...

And Conner directing a spinning class! "Carry on, carry on..."   

From there, we headed back to Kristi's, and the BBQ got underway!  We had a fabulous time, many many thanks are owed to Kristi and her ever-patient husband, along with the somewhat-patient Dutchicans!!!  We of course had to reward Kristi for her kindness by plying her with cup after cup of Detroit-Area-Knitters-Homebrew...

Yeah that's a bottle of vodka in the bottom left corner, wanna make something of it?!?

And Noel-the-Wonder-Hubby ventured out to take a picture of us all!!!

Kristi already did a fabulous job with the blog links (and I'm lazy), so here's my contribution...the link to the Knitterpalooza 2007 Flickr group!  Please post your pics, I can't wait to see them!!!!

It's been unofficially (*snort*) decided that Knitterpalooza 2008 will take place in Metro Detroit, although the suggestion that we party in my meth-lab-neighbors' backyard may be vetoed.  We'll see!

***PIMP ALERT...Did you know Julip Bags has its own BLOG now?!?!?  Me neither!  Go check it out!***

It's My Blog and I'll Pimp if I Want To...

Oh boy, I can't WAIT to see what kind of Google searches that title sends to my blog!

Anyhoo...
My Knitterpalooza 2007 page has been updated with the last two e-mails that were sent out to the distribution list.  If you just RSVP'd, you may not have received the second one (I replied-to-all off Kristi's e-mail).  If you haven't RSVP'd, please do so as soon as possible if you're coming!

As mentioned in those e-mails, we already have some fabulous doorprizes, but if you're a small-business handcrafter and would like to contribute some goodies, please let me know!  I plan on donating a bag or two to randomly give away, this is a fabulous opporunity to get the word out about your  business.  Plus, the door-prize winners will be very happy campers...everybody wins! 

While I'm big pimpin'...new items will be added to my shop this weekend, I promise.  I've been sidelined by some kind of headcold-meets-bronchitis-meets-the plague.  But I wash all the bags before I send them so I promise there won't be any germs on them.  Oh, and if you want to be added to the Julip Bags e-mail updates list, send me an e-mail at julipbags@sbcglobal.net.  Although some of you will be added automatically...them's the breaks for being my friend.  ;-)

I was kidnapped by aliens!!!

Ok, I thought that was as plausible an explanation as any!  Until I started getting phone calls and e-mails from knitters wondering about my whereabouts, I had no idea that I'd apparently gone MIA.  Truth is, I've been on vacation since the 18th, and was in Kentucky up until last Wednesday.  Being that I don't like advertising in advance on the INTERNET that our home will be empty , I meant to post as soon as I got back but...life happens, I guess!  Anyhoo, without further babbling, here is a list to update you!

1. Knitting: I finally received my Rowan Denim from Jimmy Beans Wool (after a month, and they didn't waive shipping or anything.  Not happy!), but made the unfortunate discovery that somewhere along the way I'd ignored some increase directions on the Indigo Ripples Skirt, resulting in TWENTY-FOUR missing stitches.  That's about four inches around!  Yeah, I tried it on and I could wear it with an industrial-strength girdle, maybe.  Now I'm debating whether to rip it waaaaay back (we're talking fifteen inches of stockinette, people) or to keep fudging it.  Maybe I'll try it on again after I lose the vacation weight I packed on and make a decision then. 

2. Knitterpalooza.  According to the fabulous Kristi, we have 50-odd people who have RSVP'd!!!!  Kick ass!!!!  I can't wait to see all of you!!!!  I have two humble requests: please post about this on your blog, and if you haven't already, sit down and send Kristi an e-mail letting her know if you'll be bringing either food/drink or a cash contribution.  Because anyone who shows up at the barbecue empty-handed isn't getting past the velvet ropes or the bouncer.  Yes, I'll hire a bouncer.  Or maybe I'll guilt-trip Kristi's hubby into doing it.  Or perhaps the Russells.

3. As mentioned in my previous post, I've set up an Etsy shop!  No, there are no knitted items in it, I knit for enjoyment but I'll sew for profit!  It's called Julip Bags, and it's mostly empty right now, but I'm trying to add new items daily.  Kinda hard since, like an angry older sibling, my sewing machine started acting up when I brought the new serger home.  But I'm working on it!  As soon as it's a fully-stocked shop, I'll let you know!

4. In sad news, while I was in Kentucky my parents had to put down one of their dogs, Liesl the Miniature Schnauzer.  She was sixteen years old and had terminal cancer, but it's still tough to end the life of such a touch little cookie.  I'm very thankful I got to spend a few days with her before the end.

5. Now that I've re-emerged into the knitting/blog/Ravelry world, I'll be around more, I promise!

Melons in the summer...

I found out on Tuesday that my friend Melanie (whose son I knit the Ugg Booties for) had her second child on Friday, a baby girl named Isabel!  They hadn't known the sex beforehand, so I'd been putting off knitting anything, therefore I'm playing catch-up this week.  The good thing about baby stuff, it knits up quickly!

It just so happened that I had the three right colors of Cotton-Ease for a watermelon hat, so...

The only thing I'm not 100% happy about are the seeds...I didn't have any gauge-appropriate black yarn in the stash, so I used embroidery floss and the seeds are a bit skinny.

Details are here in the Finished Objects blog and here in Ravelry.  I didn't use a pattern, just went the wing-it-baby-hat-style route, and changed colors as needed to make it watermelon-y.  I'm planning on knitting another one for Lily, so that'll give me a chance to tweak the pattern a bit. 

I picked up the Nantucket Jacket again last Saturday, and figured out that I'm allergic to something in the yarn.  It's not the wool, the silk, or the alpaca, so my guess is it's the dye that made it a beautiful deep barn red color.  It makes the palms of my hands break out in hives, so tomorrow I'm going to pop a Claritin, don the craft gloves, and knit as much on it as I can.  I only have half a sleeve and the finishing left to do!  I would wash the yarn before using it, but KnitPicks Andean Silk has a reputation for blooming in blocking, so I'm not sure how well I could wash it without changing the pre-knit gauge. 

Finally, today I'm going to put up a page about Knitterpalooza 2007 on the blog, I'll provide a link to it here as soon as it's done, so check back later!  (ETA: You can find the page here, there's also a link on my right sidebar under "Other.")