Well, I've come and gone and another Men's Spring Knitting Retreat is complete. I love this event. I love seeing the guys at these events and the amazing creations that have been knit over the year. One of the things I love most about this retreat is the locale. A quiet spot in the country filled with trees and hills!

This spot was lovely until the geese attacked the rental car. The horn didn't even slow them down. Protecting the young is serious business

They were everywhere and all over the grounds.
Although I love the locale, the venue itself has lost some of its appeal for me. Granted, the meeting space is spectacular! It has amazing light and an openness to the outside world that can't be beat but the sleeping quarters are well, I don't know how to dress it up, they're, well, not my speed.

I didn't join in the fray nearly as much as I have in the past. I very purposely did not take any classes and when I ripped my shawl to the lifeline for the second time on day two, I never picked it up again. Instead, my fantastic roomie, MDV, taught me to properly crochet and I even made a very rough version of the granny square that my intended crochet blanket is based on. Here's the blanket and here's the square!

granny blanket photo copyright the designer Lucy at www.attic24.typpad.com

I had wheels this year and if I return, I will always have them. I escaped to town and had breakfast at this really quaint, little eatery, found real coffee (I never thought I'd be so happy to see a Dunkin' Donuts), took a few long drives through the country and snapped some photos along the way.

the lake at Easton

A Drive in the Country

Breakfast is served
A great trip overall and a great getaway; just what the doctor ordered! Not that doctor silly. ;-)

Edit: Kystal, I swear I'm going to send you the Tosh yarn....soon!

In the infamous words of Doctor Who....

It's a bit "wibbly wobbly timey wimey". Yes, the wine glass has come home from the kiln. I can't get a good photo of it, just my luck, the day I get it back from the studio, "Florida, the Sunshine State" decides to go cloudy on me. The stem is clearly a little bit off-center and the middle of the stem ended up a bit over-twisted and it's not exactly straight up and down ... but I love it! It twisted so much that I'm afraid to wash it fearing the stem will just crack in two but there's wine in my future and yes, it's going from this glass to my lips! Since I can't get a good photo of it today, here are a few birthday present photos...



Yes, I'm obsessed with Doctor Who, can't get enough of it so a Doctor Who inspired phone case was just the ticket! My very own Tardis! If you have no idea what I'm talking about, get over to Netflix and queue the series. If you like science fiction that's a tad ridiculous, you'll adore Doctor Who.



And my new knitting bag! It came all the way from Kuala Lumpur and it's fantastic! I adore the hardware and its overall design. It's really cleverly made, you have to love Etsy! Half the fun was tracking it on DHL as it made its way across the planet. Believe it or not, it got to Cincinnati (via Hong Kong) in 2 days and then proceeded to take 5 days to get to Florida, go figure? Welcome to America!

And since it's my new knitting bag, that's knitting content! Golden!

Happy Mother's Day Ladies!

Bonus, I still have Eyebrows!

Had a blast today! My cousin and I had a little outing to a local glass blowing studio. We took an introductory class to make wine goblets. Well, we didn't actually make the goblets but instead, just the stems. I'm rather proud of my very, misshapen glass stem but alas, it's still in the kiln (so no photos yet). Instead, here's a video from another customer of the studio highlighting our amazing instructor Josh! This is something I definitely want to learn more about.

Thanks for the gift L!

Okay, Garret, he's like the son I never had, has nominated/given me a Kreative Blogger award. As soon as I find out what that is, I'll let you know. I am apparently supposed to blog 7 random things about myself. I usually don't take direction so loosely but I'm trying to be more flexible.

Let's see...

One: I'm allergic to apples but I love them and eat one every afternoon. I don't go into anaphylactic shock from them but my throat sometimes gets dang itchy.

Two: Once in Barbados, I was bit by an iguana. They took me to a witch doctor for first aid.

Three: I have a black thumb when it comes to plants. They rarely stay alive in my presence.

Four: I have rubbed people for money.

Five: In 1976, I painted the fire hydrant in front of our house red, white and blue with the boy down the block. What the hell was his name?

Six: I have two bathrooms and for some unknown reason, one is for one and one is for two. How's that for sharing?

Seven: Contrary to what you may think, one through six are true.

Oh, oh and apparently, I am also supposed to nominate a couple of bloggers to keep the "kreative blogger" thing going!

Let's see...

Kerry, he's a pal of mine from the Men's Fall & UK Knitting Retreats and an all around good guy! He's a bad blogger like me so we have to stick together. He travels a lot for his job and just recently returned from Jakarta and actually blogged about it. He's also a freakin' amazing knitter!

And Knitting Knoobie, I don't really know her but I really like her blog. I read her regularly. She lives in NYC (my hometown). She's a great knitter and has an amazing sense of humor about her family, her knitting and her life. And she just finished the project I posted yesterday! It was meant to be!

Edit: Click on their names and visit their blogs. There's some cool stuff going on out there in the knitting universe!

This one is on the fly but i came across this Madeline Tosh pattern that I really like. I'm apparently in a cowl mode! ;-) I've got this amazing alpaca in a sport weight that I bought at the spring retreat a few years ago that would be heavenly against the neck. I only know the weight not the yardage so how do you figure out if you have enough?

Also, do you think the halo of the alpaca will denigrate the stitch definition?

And don't tell me to swatch, I know that but importantly, know how lazy I am!

Any ideas are appreciated!

Edit: Am I the only one loving this blogger app! And now with photos!

Hey all! I finally got a photo of the cowl. It's unblocked and probably never will be so I figured I'd post it before 3 months elapse. I actually love the off-centered buttonband because when I wear it, the bottom edge flares out and it doesn't creep up - bonus! I tried to get a photo of it on my neck but we're au naturale at hookedontheneedle today -- off from work, pj's, sans shave and pool/hat hair. Not a good look for blog photos!

In the comments...

Garret, I am not easily offended, be yourself! And Krystal, everyone should knit with Madeline Tosh yarn. We are going to have to get you to a fiber festival so you can fondle some amazing yarns. In the meantime, I hope you like the green skein because it's my gift to you! Let's call it ... Random Acts of Generosity day at casa IamKnitGuy! PM me your snail mail (over on Rav) and I'll send it to you but you have to promise to make something grand and post plenty of pictures!

Next up...Koolhaus in the red Cascade posted earlier! I know how to cable but I've never done a project with them. Let's see how that goes.

Question: What's your favorite baby blanket pattern? I'm looking for recommendations.

Well, I had to frog the lace section of the Stephen West shawl AGAIN! I can't seem to figure out what I'm doing wrong. I needed something easy peasy to rest my weary mind, so I found a simple cowl to knit today. A perfect,lazy Saturday afternoon project. All that's left is the button row and a few garter rows and this project is done. Just what I needed. I knit it a little smaller than the pattern called for so it would stay up on my neck. It's knit in Cascade 220; one of their best colors. There's all sorts of flecks and bits that are hard to see in the photo but in person, it's quite lovely.

Stash has also been enhanced and as they say, pictures or it didn't happen. Two skeins of Madeline Tosh sock yarn and one super wash Cascade for my next project, Jared Flood's Koolhaus in red. I don't wear hats, and for those who know me, I look terrible in hats but it's too cool not to knit. It's been in the queue for years. I'll keep you posted.

Buttonhole row to commence! If I screw it up now, I may have a breakdown!

Edit: Well, I screwed it up. It was supposed to be a 2 stitch buttonhole but I did a 3 stitch (having never done a buttonhole row I just followed the first youtube instructions I found) so it's off centered across the edge. I've decided it's a design element and I'm not going to change it. Time to sew!

Lots of stuff is going on at hooked on the needle these days but there's so little time to post. I've got a new project nearly completed, an old project that's been improved and some new yarn has been added to the stash! For now, you'll have to settle for my newest knitting toy! It's Buffy Anne Designs Stitch Light (photo from her website) and for those who know me, I am blind! I'm always struggling for more light but I think this is going to finally solve that problem. You wear it around your neck and the light can be directed right at your project. The light beam can be adjusted so if you're knitting in the car, you can decrease the circumference of the beam. It's an LED bulb and stays cool - bonus! Even in a brightly lit room, it gives you just that extra punch. There's even a little pouch to hold stitch markers and the like. And for fun, it flashes which could really come in handy if you're knitting in the car and you break down. Actually if you're knitting in the car and driving, you're likely to encounter bigger problems than breaking down. ;-) It's a little pricey but search the web, there's a coupon out there! Thumbs up on this little light!

If you're interested, here's everything you ever wanted to know about the Stitch Light!



Photo Credit: Buffy Anne Designs.

If you're not a Doctor Who fan, then you may not get this but if you are, you'll laugh out loud!!! I needed a good laugh and this surely fit the bill. As a massage therapist, I often used guided meditation with my clients. I wonder how this would have fared? Happy Sunday!



Now I need to watch a few episodes of DW. Hmmm? David Tennent or Matt Smith? Decisions? Decisions?

You know, Doctor Who was filmed in Cardiff, which reminds me of my trip to Wales, which reminds me of the UK Men's Knitting Retreat..... and that's knitting content! I'm all done here. ;-)

Testing 123

I'm trying out a new app to let me post from my phone. Theoretically, it could make me a better blogger but I'm not completely sold on the likelihood of that actually happening!

For now, let's see if it works.

PS. Typos will be plentiful!