Knitting before Knitting was Cool

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  knitting1105 4:09 pm on January 23, 2026 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Advent box, Missouri Star Quilting ( 3 ), Quilting ( 4 )   

  Advent Recap 

  I am finally getting around to posting about my Quilt Box Advent from Missouri Star Quilting. I went on vacation, and the box sat until I got back home. I then continued to open one package a day. I have almost forgotten what everything was in the box, I did have a fun time opening it, and am considering doing this one more year.

  Day 9

  This was a bias tape maker. Unfortunately, I had bought one earlier this Fall to do the applique on my Pick A Petal Block of the month. I think that I will keep this however, as it doesn’t hurt to have a second.

  

  Day 10

  This is supposed to be a Charcuterie board in the shape of the Missouri Star logo. It is made out of bamboo. The laser etching is not the best, and it would need to have some mineral oil applied. I put it up with my trays and will muse about whether I would use this or not.

  

  Day 11

  These are tags to sew into your quilting projects. Again, not really sure that I would use these, but I will add them to my sewing box. What I do need to get is a tag that indicates me as the maker and allows me to put on the date that the quilt was finished.

  

  Day 12

  This is a notions bag with 3 zippered pockets. I have already begun to use this and like the separate areas. I have another bag that I really love for quilting, also with separate pockets, but this one has come in handy as well for both quilting and knitting.

  

  Day 13

  Snap bands for a snappy pouch. There were mixed reviews on this, but I do want to try to make some pouches using scrap fabric. If they turn out, it would make a good gift.

  

  Day 14

  Christmas tree ornaments with the Missouri Star logo. Not my favorite, will pack them with the ornaments. We haven’t had a tree the past few years, as we have been out of town. Not sure that I will use them.

  

  Day 15

  A Spool Tina and Thread Notions. It includes spool pegs,spool wraps, bobbin wraps and silicone thimbles. The jury is really out on this one, and I am tending towards not using any of these, except maybe the container.

  

  Day 16

  This is a wrist pin holder and a machine pin holder. I like the idea of the machine pin holder that suctions onto your machine, but the wrist holder is very large and not too comfortable. I have a new wrist holder from my daughter that I like much more.

  

  Day 17

  Missouri Star LED lights, with a battery pack. I actually will use these. I have a small tinsel tree that sits on a table, and can use some more lights, this is a fun gift.

  

  Day 18

  Winter stardust pattern and puzzle. I am not sure that I will ever use the pattern. I used to do puzzles all the time, and can see this being a future winter activity.

  

  Day 19

  Ingrid’s Wildflowers Embroidery kit. This is one of my favorites from this box. I have wanted to delve into embroidery more, and this had directions, wash away embroidery sheets and pearl cotton. A small version of a larger kit that they have.

  

  Day 20 & Day 21

  This is a fabric panel. Goes with Day 21, which is the Instructions to make a drawstring bag, all the hardware and the embroidery kit can be used on the outside of the bag. Anxious to make this and expand my sewing a bit.

  

  Day 22

  A mystery/ quilting book written by the daughter of the company. Not sure about this, I am not a huge mystery fan, and these craft stories tend to be a bit lame. I may put on the audio book (which came with the book) and listen while I craft, not sure that I want to use my precious nighttime reading for this. It also came with a Duck bookmark.

  

  Day 23

  This is a pattern for a quilted notebook cover. Watching others, the suggestion is that this notebook given with the square corners is not great for the project, I will give it to my husband who loves notebooks. Suggestions are to use a Composition book instead. I would like to make this, and again, I think that these would make good gifts.

  

  Day 24

  This is a handwoven bowl from skilled weavers in Rwanda. I absolutely love this, and have already put it next to my sewing machine to hold clips as I sew. It is small, about 5″ wide and 1 1/2″ high. Beautiful gift.

  

  Day 25

  The last day. This is a rotating tool caddy. I do like this, and it is already sitting in my crafting room. I know that some had issues with the screws not fitting properly, but mine went together like a charm. The top has room for rotary cutters and scissors, and there is room for 6 spools of thread on it.

  

  All in all, this was a fun adventure. It is always nice to come home from a long day at school and have a gift waiting for me to open. And, for the most part, everything is something that I would love to have, whether I knew I needed it or not.

  During this Advent, I started following Sew the Distance. She would have daily openings, and her enthusiasm, laughter and discussions were a fun part of the day. I would watch her open the package after I had opened mine, then go to Missouri Star for their unveiling. Sew the Distance was always a better show, and she has past years if you would like to watch those also. Missouri Star does have tutorials for all of the projects listed, and I am watching them as I complete each project.

  Hope everyone had a safe Holiday. It is very cold here today and all the schools are closed, so it has been a good day for me to catch up on stuff.

  #SewTheDistance

  #MissouriStarAdvent2025

   

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  knitting1105 2:16 pm on January 9, 2026 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Advent2025, Knitting ( 131 ), Missouri Star Quilting ( 3 ), socks ( 40 ), Woolens and Nosh Advent Socks ( 2 )   

  Advent Days 2-8 

  I meant to send this last month!

  This is finals week and lots of grading and preparing for next semester. I have been knitting on my Advent socks, and finished Day 8. The first 7 days were shades of blue, and now a bright orange, I am not sure what the colors will be. I have a feeling that there are clues on the Advent bag. I do enjoy this, and it is only a few minutes a day, so I can get it in on even a hectic day.

  

  I have also continued to open my Advent box. I was not really sure what to expect, and some of them have been quite a surprise. Day 1 was a fabric panel and pattern to make a snow globe wall hanging or table runner. I will try to make the table runner for next Christmas. Day 2 was a 28 mm rotary cutter in candy cane colors and in a cute clear stocking bag. I have heard that people have had issues with the screw not staying tight on these, we shall see.

  

  Day 3. A pretty Charm pack, I do love the colors.

  

  Day 4. Patterns and templates to use the given charm pack to make a Dog or Cat Mug Rug. This is not my thing, but I may find a use in the future for them I will use the charm pack for something else.

  

  Day 5. A very cute mug, in a great box. This I will definitely put to use.

  

  Day 6. Alphabet stencils, and another pattern. Not sure yet if I will make a pillow or not, but the stencils will be certainly kept for future use. Stencils are in a zipper pouch

  

  Day 7. A binder to hold the stencils from the previous day, and extra packets. I really liked this. The idea was to put charm packs in here and other stencils. I added the stencils from my Pick-a-Petal BOM quilt (which I am still working on). I also tried adding the given charm pack and one I already had. They really take up a lot of space in the binder, so may just keep miscellaneous charm pack pieces in there. I want to be able to store all the stencils in one place.

  

  

  

  

  Day 8. Wrapping paper with quilting designs on it and tags. The patterns are very pretty and will be added to my wrapping box. A definite good choice.

  

  This Advent has been fun thus far. There is still a lot to go, and the box is still pretty heavy. Each day is wrapped so thoughtfully in cute “quilty” bags.

  More soon after a few days. Happy Advent.

  #WoolensandNoshAdvent2025

  #MissouriStarQuilingAdvent2025

   
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  knitting1105 11:30 pm on December 1, 2025 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Advent craft boxes, Advent sock knitting, Missouri Star Quilting ( 3 ), Woolens and Nosh ( 2 )   

  I’m Back, and Day 1 

  This semester has been kicking my butt between classes and Chairperson duties. We are on the last week of school, and finals next week. Then I have 5 weeks off! Looking forward to more crafting time and to catching up with my blog. I have been steadily doing fiber arts, but just not posting them. Will catch you all up in the interim.

  Several years ago I decided to do the Advent Calendar with Twice Sheared Sheep. While I have not repeated her Advent Calendar, I was very pleased with the daily gifts, and looked forward to them at the end of each day. Since I have delved back into quilting, and have a couple of online favorite stores (my nearest quilting store is about 45 minutes away), I decided to try the Advent box from Missouri Star Quilting. It arrived about a month ago, and has been sitting on my front porch waiting. I almost forgot about this until I saw someone posting about Advent Calendars.

  The box is big and heavy, I showed my hand next to it for scale. This was the big shipping box.

  

  And, inside that box was the Advent box. So cute with postcards all around it. Opening it up were 25 beautifully package gifts, and a note from the company.

  

  

  

  DAY 1: this was exciting, a gorgeous fabric, and a pattern to make a snow globe wall hanging or a table runner. I think that I will try to make the table runner for next Christmas. This was a wonderful start to the package. Here is the link from Missouri Star Quilting about Day 1. They even include a tutorial on how to make the snow globes!

  

  If you want to see a video of a blogger posting about these Advent Quilting boxes, here is a link to Jenny’s Countdown to Christmas Day 1. She is very enthusiastic.

  I also have the 2025 Advent Socks from Woolens and Nosh. This is my 3rd year doing this Advent, and I think that their bag is the best so far. There are 2 skeins pre-wound, and you knit until you come to the neutral color separating each days stripe. There is enough yarn to make 2 pair of socks. I truly love this package. I will start Day 1 tomorrow. I like to knit socks top down, so will create a 1×3 rib or 1×1 twisted rib. Unlike other Advents where you wind the yarn, I truly have no clue as to what the colorway will be. Are there clues in the bag design? I do know that the neutral is brown. By Christmas I will have a new pair of socks!

  

  For the past several years I have also done The Cozy Knitter Advent. I missed the sign up, and was concerned how our awful tariff wars would affect delivery. Perhaps I can order later. So many of my favorite Indie designers are from our friendly neighbors to the North (Canada).

  And lastly, I received my recent Laine magazine. Fortunately, Tariffs have not impacted this delivery, so far. This will make for good Holiday traveling reading.

  

  #WoolensandNoshAdvent2025

  #MissouriStarQuiltingAdent2025

  #TheCozyKnitterAdvent2025

   
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  knitting1105 10:54 am on October 10, 2025 Permalink | Reply  

  From Fabric Scraps to Homemade Quilts: My EPP Experience 

  Note, this post was written several months ago and I neglected to post.

  I have been busy working on my first quilt using EPP (English Paper Piecing). The project started with me just experimenting with the technique, and using the 1″ hexes that I purchased in Colorado. I also used up some leftover fabric from a quilt that I had made, which is currently in queue for the longarm at Quilter’s Quest in Downer’s Grove.

  Here are some progress photos. I decided to make a sky and add the flowers randomly placed, in lieu of the normal placing of a “path ” around the flowers. This required me to source new background fabric, which you can see the flowers arranged around

  

  

  

  As with any craft, it did necessitate the purchase of a small amount of equipment. After watching lots of online tutorials, I knew that I needed a rotating cutting mat. And, I was not wrong, this has helped immensely in the cutting of the fabric. Also, the smaller rotary cutter and, since I did not want to baste the fabric around the paper pieces, and a Sewline glue pen. I have found that I am going through a lot of glue sticks, so will need to find a place to bulk order.

  

  The backside of my quilt in progress. The papers get removed once the hexagon is fully encapsulated by other hex pieces. They can be reused several times. Note my new magnetic clips (the yellow plastic shape below my fingers. These have helped to hold the paper pieces together nicely while sewing.

  

  

  A few weeks ago, I went with my friend Barb to drop off 2 quilts for quilting to the Quilter’s Quest. It was at that time that I purchased the background fabric for my little sampler.

  This quilt was purchased many many years ago at an antique store. I chose to finally have it quilted, and put it in use. At the store, the person who appraises quilts said that the fabrics were from the 1940’s. I am anxious to see how both quilts end up looking.

  

  Prior to the cold spell that we had recently, my husband and I went to one of our favorite places, the Garfield Park Conservatory. It was the Spring Flower show. Helped us to weather the gray cold days for a bit. Looking forward to our own flowers soon.

  

  

  

  

  

  nancyb422 is discussing. Toggle Comments

   
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    nancyb422 12:57 pm on October 10, 2025 Permalink | Reply

    I’ve always loved quilts like this but have never made one! I like the log cabin pattern. I did crochet a pinwheel pattern blanket. It took forever and then I had to join all the squares 😵‍💫.
    Yours are beautiful!

    LikeLike

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  knitting1105 2:51 pm on January 30, 2025 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: knit ( 9 ), Knitting ( 131 ), Sock ( 43 ), Sweater ( 15 ), Wool ( 14 ), Yarn ( 36 )   

  Circumnavigating a KAL 

  One of my favorite all-time sweaters is the Circumnavigated Cardigan by Meredith Glover. I must have made this sweater 25 years ago, and I find it to be the one that I grab most. You may not think that one of the brightest sweaters in my closet would be my go-to, but it is. I think that it is due to the light weight and incredible fit. My favorite yarn store at the time, now long gone, was Have Ewe Any Wool, and this was one of the many classes that I took there. Instead of following a pattern for size A, B or C, you customize the sweater to fit you. The pattern calls for Worsted or bulky, which I was not interested in, so I knit it in a Sport weight.

  

  The yarn was 100% Alpaca, handpainted from Schaefer yarns. The purple was also 100% Alpaca, from Plymouth yarn Company.

  

  The sweater is knit all in one piece. No seaming. I repeat, no seaming! It is really an ingenious pattern with knit in pockets, short rows in back for extra length, raglan sleeves and a back gusset.

  

  

  

  

  My knitting group has decided to do a KAL, and I suggested this sweater. They were all in, and last Saturday we started.

  

  This time I am using wool that I bought in Tazmania in 2006! I am not sure what type of wool it is, as it is not indicated on the tag. I purchased plenty, and had it stored away. Perfect use for this.

  

  I am knitting the body on size 3 needles at 6sts/inch. the fabric is so squishy and lovely.

  

  This is the first brown sweater that I have knit for myself. Because there are 1 1/2 times the stitches needed at the beginning to accommodate the side pockets, and I am knitting at such a small gauge, I needed to provisionally cast on 384 stitches!

  

  

  

  I am also using the cute little Hedgehog stitch stoppers that I got in my 12 Days of Box from Mary in our SnB Group.

  

  I have reached the end of the pockets, and the next phase is to fuse the pockets to the body. I will be putting this on hold as I wait until the 22nd for our next Knitting Group meeting to do this.

  

  When I invited people over to my house, I warned them that we are a no shoes house and to wear their best socks, bonus if hand knit. I chose to pull out a favorite pair of my socks that I literally made decades ago. I do not wear them often, as they need to be hand washed since they are 100% wool. If I remember correctly, they are knit from a Dale of Norway sport weight yarn. These Fraternal Twins are incredibly warm.

  

  

  I can’t wait for the next step on this KAL Sweater.

  nancyb422 and Gari are discussing. Toggle Comments

   
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    Gari 4:56 pm on January 30, 2025 Permalink | Reply

    Thank you for reminding me of this delightful pattern! I found the pattern on Schoolhouse Press and will be making my 4th cardigan soon!

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    nancyb422 10:09 am on August 17, 2025 Permalink | Reply

    Such a beautiful sweater!
    And your stitches 😍

    LikeLike

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  knitting1105 8:54 pm on January 23, 2025 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Crafts ( 6 ), English Paper Piecing ( 2 ), EPP ( 2 ), Quilt ( 4 ), Quilting ( 4 ), quilts ( 2 ), sewing ( 2 )   

  Getting Started with EPP, English Paper Piecing 

  Not that I am in need of yet another craft, but I am now obsessed with EPP, English Paper Piecing. On our visit in late December (post here), I was able to see some amazing examples of this method of quilting at the Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum. I had purchased some of the cardboard paper pieces for 1″ Hexes, and was anxious to start. At first, I used a glue stick that I had my husband pick up at the local drug store. This was not the correct one as it stuck too much to the fabric, but I persevered wanting to understand this process. In the meantime, I ordered some items to make the hand sewing easier.

  Prior to starting, I watched several YouTube videos. One of my favorites was from Emma Jones Vintage Sewing Box. She has several tutorials, and I found them to be extremely helpful. she also talks about products to help with the EPP process. The Last Homely House has another excellent 2 videos that also go over the process.

  EPP essentially involves using cardboard or other templates in the shape that you choose to work with. The fabric is wrapped around that shape and secured. Historically, this was done with basting to the template. Newer versions involve using a fabric glue to adhere the fabric to the template. I chose the later option. Then, the wrapped templates are sewn together, precisely matching edges and corners. This allows for a very detailed and correctly matched pattern and corner. I am using the 1″ hexes that I bought while at the Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum. I have always admired the pattern Grandmother’s Flower garden, and now I have a vision of of that pattern in my head, using a slight twist.

  

  I ordered some items to assist me in this endeavor, including this really cool desk needle threader by Clover. I am not sure exactly how it works, and I am not sure how I got by all these years without this. I already had an unopened spool of Aurifil thread in white that seems to be working perfectly for the hand sewing.

  

  Here are some of my progress photos. After a few trials, I decided to use my paper punch to put a hole in the middle of the paper piece to both make the cardboard more flexible as I am sewing, as well as making it easier to insert a small crochet hook when it is time to take the pieces out. I am using up fabric from a previous quilt that I had made. The fabric is by Moda.

  

  

  

  

  

  This notions bag was a gift a couple of years ago from my SnB friend Pam. It has proved to be the perfect thing for EPP, each pocket can hold the small items needed, and I can take it along with me. You can see my pre-basted pieces fit perfectly into one of the pockets, and other items that I need in the remaining pockets. It zips together nicely, with a great handle.

  

  I want to show the quilt that these fabric scraps are from. I made this a few years ago, my sister Diane was with me when I bought the fabric in Montague, MI. I finished it quite awhile ago, and need to send it off to be quilted. The colors are not as vibrant in these photos as in real life, the paper piecing photos show the beautiful blues and greens better.

  

  

  And lastly, how could I forget the amazing Christmas card from my granddaughter, Izumi. She used cotton balls for the sheep’s fleece. I love her creativity.

  

   
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  knitting1105 3:36 pm on January 20, 2025 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Advent Socks ( 5 ), knit ( 9 ), Knitting ( 131 ), Sock ( 43 ), sock knitting ( 13 ), socks ( 40 ), The Cozy Knitter, The Cozy Knitter Advent socks ( 7 ), Woolens and Nosh ( 2 ), Woolens and Nosh Advent Socks ( 2 ), Yarn ( 36 )   

  Advent Sock Sets: Knitting Review for 2024 

  This year I chose to order 2 Advent sock sets again, the same dyers as last year, Woolens and Nosh and The Cozy Knitter.

  

  The first was from The Cozy Knitter:

  

  

  This was the perfect project to take out on our 3 day drive out to Colorado for Christmas. I was able to finish knitting one of the pairs prior to Christmas, and got the heels and toes done shortly thereafter. I must admit that I was not thrilled with the color palate. Not knowing what the color range was, I chose to knit the same pattern (K3, P1 with a 1 stitch rotation each round) that I had knit my 2023 Advent socks with. Those are some of my favorite socks, and I love the smooth color transition.

  

  This year’s sock colors baffled me, as I was not sure what the dyer was aiming for. At the beginning they seemed muddied, then it went to pastel, then back to darker colors.

  

  This photograph shows the 2024 socks on the left and the 2023 socks on the right, in the same pattern.

  

  Having lost the heel and toe yarns for my other socks, I needed something to knit on the return trip, so I decided to knit these same socks in a 1×3 rib. I think that I like that outcome much better, although I am still not enamored with the colors. This is the first year that I have knit both socks from the Advent year (past years are sitting and waiting).

  

  

  

  Woolens and Nosh was the other Advent sock set that I ordered. Last year was the first year with this dyer, and I liked how the skeins were pre-wound with a solid color between each day’s knitting. I opted to do one row of reverse stockinette stitch after a full row of the main color (black here).

  

  

  

  I was all finished with the socks when I realized that I lost the accent color at some point on our travels. Probably getting in and out of the car and rearranging my knitting in front of me. Upon returning home, I emailed the dyer, and was able to order a new mini skein so that I can finish these. They were supposed to be in my Husband’s Christmas stocking, but that plan did not work. I showed him the socks anyways. I remember a couple of Christmas’s that I wrapped up a sock still on the needles and had him hand them back to me so that I could finish them up while we celebrated Christmas day.

  

  I also finished up the last of my “12 Days” exchange gift. This was fun as well. My last gifts were:

  1. Snack mix bag, yum
  2. Eucalan, I can always use this
  3. Little travel scissors. “Super Snips” (super small, super sharp, super safe) I love to keep a pair in each project bag
  4. Hedgehog Stitch stoppers.
  5. And for Day 12, Laines du Nord Slipper socks. I love the bulky yarn for slippers. It is at 0 deg F here today, so I really should knit these up. The pattern is Slippers Babucce, which I cannot locate on Ravelry.

  

  I am busy today avoiding the news and all social media, plus enjoying my last day before classes start. I am also working on my EPP, English Paper Piecing, which I will show shortly.

   
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  knitting1105 3:48 pm on January 15, 2025 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Architecture, Kraus House, Louis Sullivan, Volga Churches   

  Architectural Adventures: From St. Louis to Kansas 

  I am not sure how many of you know, but I am a trained Architect. I teach Architecture at the local Community College. Previously, I had a business working on Residential design, with a focus on Kitchen Design. I closed my practice with my business partner of 30 years in 2024. I was also on the Preservation Committee for the Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust for about 20 years, overseeing the restoration of the Robie House and changes to the Oak Park Home and Studio. So, whenever we travel, my husband and I seek out interesting things to look at and tour.

  On the recent trip to Denver, we started our Architectural Adventure with a tour of the Kraus House in St. Louis. This is a Usonian House designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1950, and constructed over the next several years. From their website:

  Nestled in grassy fields on 10.5 acres in Kirkwood, Missouri, the Frank Lloyd Wright House in Ebsworth Park is a unique and significant residence designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, widely recognized as the greatest American architect of the 20th century. The 1,900-square-foot residence built for Russell and Ruth Kraus was the architect’s first building in the St. Louis area, and is one of only five Wright designs in Missouri. It is an excellent example of Wright’s democratic vision, intended to provide middle-class Americans with beautiful architecture at an affordable cost.

  The module for this house was an equilateral parallelogram, it created very interesting spaces and flow between rooms. Wright’s detailing was suspect, and when this reverted to a museum, they had lots of restoration work to do, mainly on the caps of walls and parapets, as the original plan called for brick and not the normal stone cap. We thoroughly enjoyed this tour, and loved seeing the space.

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  And what would a trip to St. Louis be without a visit to the Gateway Arch by Eero Saarinen. This was an amazing Engineering feat. The tram cars to the top used the seat of the Tulip chairs. It is beautiful to see the Arch as you approach the city from the East, or when leaving eastward.

  

  

  

  

  

  

  In addition to our stops at the Truman Library both to and back from Denver, we discovered the German Volga churches of Ellis County. These deeply religious German Catholics built exquisite small churches in their towns. We were able to see a few of them on our drive, many are just off Interstate I-70.

  Ellis County, Kansas became a hotbed in the late 1870’s and early 1880’s for immigrants that came from the “old country”, Russia and settled in Ellis County.  These immigrants over two hundred years ago traveled from Germany to Russia and than came to the United States.  After arriving in Ellis County they began to set up their own villages patterned off their original villages. 

  St. Ann’s Church in Walker, KS (this was my absolute favorite of the ones that we saw):

  

  

  

  

  

  

  St. Joseph Church in Hays, KS:

  

  

  

  

  

  St. Fidelis church, better known as the Cathedral of the Plains, located in Victoria, Kansas – this was by far the grandest of the churches:

  

  

  

  

  We are looking forward to a future trip staying in the area and exploring more of these beautiful churches.

  There was also an exhibit on St. Louis modern Architecture that we visited on both legs of our trip.

  And then, we stayed in a historic bank building by Louis Sullivan that had been remodeled a few years ago into a beautiful boutique hotel, the Hotel Saint Louis. We got stranded there for an extra day. Not a bad place to be stuck.

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  And lastly a Frank Lloyd Wright Bank in Dwight, Illinois. We missed the opening hours by a bit, but will return sometime soon.

  

  

  Family, Fiber, History and Architecture. A wonderful trip.

   
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  knitting1105 5:01 pm on January 12, 2025 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Gauge Dye Works ( 9 ), Knitting ( 131 ), Wool ( 14 ), Yarn ( 36 )   

  Unwrapping Knitted Surprises: My 12-Day Gift Exchange 

  For the second year, a small number from my knitting group have been exchanging knitted gifts wrapped up for 12 days. Each person decides when they want to open the gifts, before Christmas, during Epiphany, or even anytime that works best. All at once? Since we were away before and after Christmas, I did not want to take this with me, so I decided to open it one day at a time when I returned home. I am calling it the last 12 days of Vacation.

  This was the box that I wrapped up for the exchange. I had so much fun collecting items all year.

  

  And this was the exchange gift that I received.

  

  It has been fun to open the gifts, and everything is tailored to someone who loves knitting. The first day was a fun project bag.

  

  I am now a little over half-way through, and I have received the following:

  1. Project Bag
  2. Stitch Markers and Needles
  3. Candle
  4. Hand Creme
  5. Project yarn holder
  6. Mini skeins of various Fingering Weight yarns
  7. Juniper Moon Wool yarn in a camel color

  

  I had not seen this before, but my instinct is that you put your project on the cable holder and then lock it into place to keep it from falling out. This would save on the amount of needles needed. The cable is sufficiently long enough to have several different lengths. I was able to find the maker here, it is clever. Also called a Barber Cord, it can be used when you want to try on a sweater to check the fit.

  

  While I was away on vacation, this yarn came from one of my favorite dyers. A couple of them are seconds from one my favorite Dyers, Gauge Dye Works. Starting from the left side:

  1. Seventy Six Seconds yarn: Merino Twist Fingering; 115 g
  2. Cosmos Studio Seconds yarn : Trifecta Fingering; 100 g
  3. December Holly : Round Trip Trifecta Fingering / 100 g
  4. Blue Studio Seconds yarn : Merino Worsted, 115 g (not sure what I was thinking with this one)

  

  And then, there is all this yarn that I have purchased in the past year from Gauge Dye Works and not yet knit up:

  1. Our Solar System; One Way trip, will make a great Musselburg hat. 100g
  2. Birth Flowers; September Asters, 100g (already made one pair of socks with this colorway)
  3. Birth Flowers: July Larkspur; Round Trip, 100g
  4. Jack O’Lantern; Round trip, 100g
  5. Same as 4
  6. 76 Colorway; One Way Trip 115g (good for mismatched, matching socks)
  7. 76 Colorway; One Way Trip 170g (this wants to be a shawl)

  

  Here are all the beauties together. I think that I have plenty and need to stay away from her website!

  

   
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  knitting1105 8:52 pm on January 9, 2025 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Cotolin, Fiber Arts ( 4 ), Knitting ( 131 ), loom, The Yarn Barn, weaving ( 3 ), Yarn ( 36 ), Yarn Stores   

  Exploring Lawrence, Kansas: A Hidden Gem on Route 

  On our way to and from Denver, we stayed overnight in Lawrence, Kansas. This was our first time driving through Missouri and Kansas, so there was lots to see. We spent 2 hours on the way out at the Truman Presidential Library. And, on the return trip a couple of weeks later we stopped for an additional 2 1/2 hours, and then went to visit the Truman family home, both in Independence Missouri. He was truly a man ahead of his time, advocating for Unions, Minimum Wage, National Health Care, Civil Rights and much more. We would be a better Nation had he been successful in his time. Still waiting on National Health Care.

  Legacy: Harry S. Truman enacted some important first steps in civil rights while protecting many of the New Deal’s gains. He also presided over an economy that would enjoy nearly two decades of unprecedented growth.

  When we stayed in Lawrence, KS we were fortunate enough to enjoy some good meals as it is a College town with a beautiful, vibrant downtown. When looking for a Restaurant on our return trip, I noticed that The Yarn Barn of Kansas was right down the street! This had not even been on my radar. A visit the next day before leaving was a must.

  

  The Yarn Barn is located right in the center of the main shopping street in Lawrence. The staff there told me that it has been in the same place for over 50 years and the same owners.

  

  

  

  

  

  

  They carry all the Schacht products, and a ton of weaving supplies in addition to yarn. Definitely not needing any yarn, and unable to leave this amazing store empty-handed, I chose to purchase some weaving cone of Cotolin. This is rumored to be amazing for weaving dish towels. Of course, the purples and greens caught my eye. The darker color is really an Aubergine. It is so much easier to choose colors in person than online.

  

  

  

  Next time we drive through Kansas, I will come with a plan in mind.

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    nancyb422 7:57 am on January 11, 2025 Permalink | Reply

    I love the colors you selected!

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