Home Sweet Home

After a whirlwind trip, Molly and I arrived home yesterday shortly before noon (we actually got in about 15 minutes early, something that almost never happens with air travel these days!). We missed the final breakfast and didn't really have a chance to say goodbye to a lot of people, but getting an early flight out made the most sense. And we got treated to a beautiful 360º view of Downtown Pittsburgh on our descent into Pittsburgh International Airport:

Let me catch you up on the rest of the trip. On Friday afternoon, we had our class on pin loom weaving with Angela Tong. I had learned how to use one of these looms before, but it had been several years since I'd done it last and I had forgotten a lot. We both really enjoyed it and can see how these little looms could come in handy for using up all those little bits, especially as each woven square takes only about 8 yards of yarn.

Both of these squares were woven using DK weight yarn; these looms are designed to use yarn in the sport/DK/worsted range. But Angela also showed us how to use fingering (the trick is doing some of the warping with the yarn held double).

Saturday was market day. I only had a couple of things I wanted to buy, and though I did end up going back for an impulse purchase later on, I think I was pretty restrained. The market opened at 9, and we were not among those waiting in line for the doors to open until just a few minutes before. I asked the woman who was first what time she got there, and she said about 7:20 (for reference, breakfast was served starting at 7:30).

I know some of you are really here to see what I came home with, so I won't keep you in suspense any longer! I came home with more than I expected, although only some of it was actually purchased at the market.

One of the perks of attending this retreat is that there is always a long table along the side of the wall in the lobby of the main building that's the giveaway table -- anything on it is free to a good home, and anything that's left after the retreat ends is taken to a local creative reuse place. There's always the usual acrylic/fun fur/novelty yarn that typically stays the whole time, but some people also drop off some really nice yarn, and if you happen to check the table at the right time, you can get lucky. That happened to me -- I found four skeins of fingering almost right off the bat, one from Miss Babs, one from lolodidit, and two 50 g skeins from The Loopy Ewe. I also found three skeins of Shibui linen yarn that will be enough for a summer tank, a skein of what looked to be DK or worsted with some minis, and a cute cotton drawstring bag from Quince & Co.

Here is what I bought at the market: a bag from Fat Squirrel Fibers, two skeins of self-striping Targhee sock yarn from Woolens and Nosh, three lotion bars from Tuft Woolens (not pictured), a pair of tiny yarn skein earrings from Oink Pigments, and a braid of Shaniko wool from Cesium Yarn. I actually went back to get the fiber because not only was it a breed I've never spun, but the colorway is Neighborhood of Make Believe, and I couldn't resist a Mister Rogers reference.

But wait, there's more! Another big feature of SSK is the door prizes! Vendors and attendees generously donate a ton of prizes -- yarn, fiber, project bags, accessories, etc. -- that can be won via a random pull of door prize tickets (everyone gets some to start in their goodie bag, and you can earn more through the knitalongs of teachers' patterns prior to the even and at random during the event). There are also special prizes on offer if you donate to the Scarritt-Bennett Center; every dollar gets you a ticket. I was lucky enough to win one regular door prize (two skeins of Lorna's Laces sock yarn) and a special SBC raffle prize (a hand-woven towel).

Let's not forget the aforementioned goodie bag, either! Molly and I both opted to just get the goodies included in the retreat fee, which was delightful without all the add-ons. We got a large zippered tote bag, a skein of yarn dyed by one of the vendors, a pen, a tape measure, a gauge ruler, and a set of point protectors. There were also folks from two local yarn shops (Haus of Yarn and Bliss) handing out goodies as we were waiting in line to check in on Wednesday. Needless to say, we were very spoiled! I'm happy to report that everything fit in my luggage, though Molly ended up using her tote bag as a second carry-on on the way home, mainly because we'd purchased some snacks and had a lot left and those bags wouldn't fit in our backpacks, so it was just easier to carry another bag.

I'm also very happy to report that Ruthie was a Very Good Girl while we were away. We'll ignore the fact that she chewed through two harnesses (a replacement for the newest one is on its way!), but she didn't have a single accident and didn't bark at the Mister at all! I think he is exhausted and very happy to have us home, and she was certainly thrilled to see us, but it honestly went much better than I expected and I am so relieved!

I predict she'll be a velcro dog for the next several days until she's sure I'm not leaving her again, but we all got through a challenging week and made it out the other end okay. You all told me it would be fine, but I needed to live it for myself to believe it!

This week it's back to the usual schedule, with a couple of medical checkups thrown in for fun (going for my mammogram on Thursday, so here's my reminder to get your boobies squished!). I'll be back on Wednesday for my usual update, and I'll try to be a little less verbose then!

Our Trip Thus Far

Happy Friday, friends! I have to admit that taking a trip and leaving on a Tuesday has really messed with my sense of time and what day it is. I've been confused for the past two days, so it's a good thing I have Molly around to keep me in check.

We've had a good first part of our trip. The retreat didn't officially start until Wednesday evening, so we came in a day early so we could do a little tourist-ing. Wednesday morning we hailed an Uber to go to the Country Music Hall of Fame, partly because there's some Taylor Swift stuff there, but also because why not?

There's also a special Dolly Parton exhibit right now, featuring a number of her outfits, some shoes, one of her Grammys, and various other memorabilia. There were some fabulous beaded high-heeled boots that I neglected to take a photo of, but I did remember to capture this:

That's her ribbon and medallion from the Kennedy Center Honors -- Dolly clearly is a national treasure!

The retreat kicked off with the opening reception Wednesday evening, at which general information was shared and some door prizes were given away (neither of us won anything). I told Molly that it would probably be the most people knitting at once that she's ever been around, and I don't think I was wrong.

On Thursday morning, after breakfast, the two of us covered ourselves in sunblock and walked a little more than a mile to Centennial Park (partly through the campus of Vanderbilt University) to see the replica of the Parthenon. I had gone to see it my first year at SSK, back in 2017, but Molly wanted to see it, too. We opted not to spend the money to go inside; as cool as it would have been to see the giant sculpture of Athena Parthenos, I thought it better to save the money for yarn.

You may notice some dark spots on my shirt. I'll be honest with you: That's sweat. Even at about 9 in the morning, it was hot and very humid. We had water bottles with us and didn't walk very fast, but we had to shower when we got back.

We didn't have classes on Thursday, so we spent the afternoon in the main building sitting and talking with other attendees. I even did a little spinning, my first since we adopted Ruthie!

We went to dinner with some new acquaintances and then explored the Try-It-On Room a bit -- people bring in sweaters and other garments that you can try before you decide to make them for yourself. A lot of what was available to try was a bit big for me, but I think this Isabel Kraemer sweater might be a possibility:

This afternoon we have our class -- pin loom weaving with Angela Tong -- and this evening is the Tasting Room, where we'll have the opportunity to try out all sorts of tools and fiber equipment. Saturday is market day and then the closing reception in the evening, and then we leave Sunday morning!

I may have already acquired a bit of yarn from the giveaway table (some may still go back if I change my mind), and I'm sure I'll pick up a few pretty things at the market. I promise a full report on what comes home with us on Monday. In the meantime, have a great weekend!

Deep Breath Before the Rush

Good morning and happy Monday, friends. I am bracing myself for a busy week -- commencement lists are due to me today, which means I'm in for a week of reading page after page of names that I have to ensure are in alphabetical order. It turns out that the end of last week was an excellent time to take a couple of days off before things get hectic again, and even though it wasn't a terribly exciting long weekend, it was restful, and that was much needed. Molly and I enjoyed the bonus time together, and I'm looking forward to having her around the house for one more week.

I spent most of my knitting time this weekend working on a chicken.

I call this the "spatchcocked" phase of the project.

The yarn leftover from Molly's socks turns out to be pretty perfect for knitting a bird and is working out very nicely to give some variation to the fabric without having to get too fancy with other yarns. I'll be using the lighter purple for the feathers on top of the chicken's head and yellow for the beak. I'm also going to be embroidering the eyes rather than using safety eyes, both in the interest of safety and because I think the safety eyes might look a little demonic because of the smaller scale of the project. I'm not doing anything different with the pattern other than using fingering weight yarn and size 2 needles. I'll be sure to share a photo of this when it's finished alongside my regularly sized chicken so you can get a sense of scale.

While chicken knitting has been enjoyable, there's not all that much left of it and it's not something I can do while reviewing lists of names, so I needed to cast on something fairly mindless. As it happens, today is my other sister-in-law's birthday, and I would have started these earlier had I remembered that before this weekend, but it is what it is. Unlike the SIL I just finished socks for, this one has very large feet (9.5 inches long and 9.25 inches around), so I typically stick to ankle socks for her.

The label is a little hard to read, but these are being knit out of Knit Picks Felici in the colorway Space Disco (isn't that a great name?). I'm going to knit probably a couple inches of cuff and then start the heel, and I'll do the whole foot in stockinette. I last knit her socks about this time last year, also out of Felici, and did the same thing.

I've saved the best news about the long weekend for last: Just as we were getting ready to head out the door for our haircuts on Friday, my phone pinged with an email notifying me that I'd gotten in off the waitlist to SSK! I yelled for Molly to tell her, and the poor girl thought I was yelling at her because we were running late! Needless to say, once I told her what was up, she was very excited. We've now booked flights and a place to stay (the on-site housing has been full since January, so I reserved a Vrbo that's literally across the street from the retreat center). The event begins on a Wednesday evening, but we are flying in midday on Tuesday so that we can have a bit of time for some extra sightseeing. Neither of us is really a country music fan, but one of us is a devoted Swiftie, and apparently the Country Music Hall of Fame houses the Taylor Swift Education Center, so we might have to make a visit. Personally, I'd like to go back to the Parthenon and see the inside. And I wouldn't mind another visit to Parnassus Books, either! We've still got several months to plan and prioritize, but it's so nice to have something big to look forward to.

With that, I'll sign off for now. I will see some of you online tomorrow evening at the Read With Us Zoom, and I'll be back with an update on Wednesday. In the meantime, here's a little hello from Dippy, who hopes you enjoyed the first weekend of spring!

How I Spent My Summer Vacation

Good morning, friends! I fully intended to post on Friday, but the honest truth is that I was too busy having fun. And even this morning I'm still processing it all, so I'm going to keep my wrap-up post fairly brief. Suffice it to say that I was having such a good time that I often forgot to take photos. I met some amazing people, including crafters from all across the United States and Canada and as far away as Ireland, England, and Iceland (I had some great conversations with Magnea and Heiða from Iceland about politics and language and what things are like in their country). I came home with great memories and some new friends -- and some new stuff for the stash, of course. So here are some highlights.

I shared a cab from the airport with three other knitters and one gnome:

L-R: Siri from Colorado, Sarah (the gnome lady), me, and Laura from Michigan

I contributed to the baby pool of fiber minis and brought home a bulging bag of them:

I took two fabulous classes, one on finishing details on toys:

and one on playing with color in spinning:

There was pattern twinning:

L-R: Amy Beth (aka The Fat Squirrel), Emily, and me in our Recalibrates

There was gnome gathering:

There were trips off campus to an LYS:

and to a bookstore on my bucket list:

And of course there were acquisitions at the market as well as a couple of door prizes. I know you all really want to know what I came home with, so here's the haul (and yes, I did need to check my bag on the way home and use a tote bag as my carry-on because it wouldn't all fit in the suitcase).

Click to embiggen!

On the left are bags of fiber from the minis swap (top) and from my spinning class. At the top are the two books I came home with from Parnassus, both signed (sadly Ann Patchett was not at the shop that day; she'd gone to Alabama for a book festival). I also preordered Tom Lake, which will be signed and personalized and sent to me after it comes out. The bags -- books for me, cats for Mo -- are from Fat Squirrel Fibers. The fiber on the right is from the two door prizes I won, Charollais from Into the Whirled and a set of two batts from Bricolage Studios. And the yarn, from left to right: a set of minis from Camellia Fiber Company, a skein of sock yarn from Old Rusted Chair (purchased at Haus of Yarn), a skein of Targhee sock yarn from Woolens and Nosh in the show colorway, a skein of Targhee sock yarn from String Theory Yarn Company (from the goodie bag), two skeins of linen/silk fingering from Miss Babs, a skein of sock yarn in the show colorway (called Dolly!) from Geektastic Fibers, and two skeins of fingering from Stranded Dyeworks.

Non-yarny things: a rope bowl from StarKnits, a lotion stick and lip balm from Tuft Woolens, and a set of sheep stitch markers and earrings from Twin Mountain Handcrafts (the other notions were all from the goodie bag, which was the big canvas tote they're sitting on; the other bag was handed out heading into the marketplace).

And the two little things I forgot in the other photos -- a mini bucket bag from StarKnits (to hang on my wheel and hold things like oil) and the bumper sticker they gave me at Parnassus. I also bought a sticker at Parnassus featuring Ann Patchett's dog Sparky, but it's already on my laptop cover.

I expect I'm going to be playing catch-up all week from a very busy weekend, but I regret nothing. It was an amazing trip! I certainly hope I get to do it again sooner than six years!

An Attempt at an SSK Recap

I've been processing my SSK experience for the past several days, thinking about how I could best communicate it to you so that you could get a true feeling for what it was like to be there, and I've come to the conclusion that it probably isn't possible. Well, that's not entirely true -- it might be possible, but I'm guessing it would take me a long time and a lot of words to do it justice, and I highly doubt that most (if not all) of you would want to read that. So I'm going to attempt to keep it as short and sweet as I can, but there are a lot of pictures in this post.

I arrived a little late on Wednesday evening due to a flight delay, but I still managed to be there for most of the opening event and even won a door prize! I went to bed very late, especially considering that I'd gotten up at my normal time to work a half day and because of the time change, so it was great that I had the whole day free on Thursday (both of my classes were scheduled on Friday). I pretty much parked myself in the lobby of the main building and spent most of the day knitting, spindling, and talking to the others (and having surprisingly deep conversations, too!).

Thursday evening was the Tasting Room, with the opportunity to try out all sorts of knitting needles, crochet hooks, spinning wheels, spindles, and fiber prep tools. I tried a bunch of wheels I'd never gotten to try before and absolutely fell in love the the Schacht Flatiron. (And I may or may not have just arranged to buy one, shhh!)

On Friday morning, I took a class with Lee Meredith (aka Leethal) on her Triyang shawl pattern. It was a real mind bender and a lot of fun to knit, but I still have no idea how Lee came up with the idea in the first place! I will say that if you're up for an interesting knit and want to use up all of a skein of yarn, it's a great pattern -- Lee gives you a little worksheet so you can figure out exactly when to move from section to section and maximize your yarn usage. I went into the class expecting Lee to be a really outgoing and creative person based on her online persona, and while she is extremely creative, she was also incredibly shy -- even more so than I am -- but also incredibly nice. The class went by too fast, though I did finish up my little sample piece and am looking forward to knitting a full-size shawl.

On Friday afternoon, I took a spinning class with Jillian Moreno that focused on spinning batts. We received four batts with slightly different preparations to spin different ways as part of the class; I still have partials of them to play with at home.

Jillian was a hoot, very outgoing and funny. I just loved her advice about storing batts at the top of your fiber storage, because squishing them will "squeeze the love out of them."

Friday night was the Try It On Room, with the opportunity to try sweaters, shawls, and some other accessories. I didn't try on very much (mostly because I walked to dinner with some other attendees and was extremely sweaty and hot when we got back), but it was lots of fun to see other people try and to see quite a few shawl patterns in person.

Saturday was the final full day of the retreat, and it was also the hottest day of the whole trip (the high was predicted to be 100 degrees F, with a heat index of 107!). I met up with my new friend Monique to walk over the Nashville Parthenon before breakfast, then ate and got cleaned up for the main event -- the marketplace! I had decided when I first got in to SSK that I would take only cash for the market to avoid spending too much, and while I did do some serious damage to my yarn diet (who am I kidding -- I completely threw the yarn diet out the window!), I'm happy to report that I came back with money leftover.

But enough talking -- I know you want to see the haul! First was the goodie bag that I got when I arrived:

The bag is a soft but sturdy fabric with a water bottle pocket on each side and an adjustable strap so it can be worn cross body as well as over the shoulder. Inside was either yarn or fiber (I chose fiber; it's Falkland from Into the Whirled in a colorway called Tinkerbell's Unmentionables), a mini scale, a measuring tape bracelet, a mini batt from the Classy Squid Fiber Co., an Ann Budd gauge rule, various business cards with discount codes (not shown), and a KnitGirlls measuring tape and pen.

Now here come the purchases and acquisitions. First the project bags:

On the left is one from the Fat Squirrel, Amy Beth, who I was talking a lot with on Thursday without realizing who she was. On the right is the bag I won as a door prize the first night, which I believe was donated by a local yarn shop.

In the tools and notions category, I picked up another Lendrum bobbin and swatch gauge from Akerworks, a set of stitch markers and tin from Jelby, and a sheep stitch marker/progress keeper/zipper pull from WhimzeeStitches.

Because I'd gotten fiber in my goodie bag and had leftover batts from my spinning class, I made only one fiber purchase, and that was this set of organic Polwarth, bamboo, yak, silk, and sparkle "Nightmare" batts from Hobbledehoy. (As a side note, I spent much of Thursday hanging out with Liz and her mom, Jenny -- who you might know better as MarigoldJen -- and they are both the sweetest women. Liz and I discovered that our daughters are almost exactly the same age!)

I picked up exactly one spindle, though I was tempted by some others -- this beautiful rainbow-dyed Turkish from Subterranean Woodwork at the Knitty and Color booth (they're husband and wife).

This spindle weighs about an ounce, so it will be good for spinning something other than frog hair for a change.

Finally there's the yarn:

Left to right: Miss Babs Estrellita in Tennessee Cabin Retreat (the SSK exclusive colorway), Gynx Yarns Glitz Sock in Pure Illusion, Stranded Dyeworks Paradise in Sister, Gale's Art Wonder Sock in a dark charcoal colorway that seems to be unnamed, Twist Fiber Studio Fairview Fingering in Bollywood, and Yarn Carnival High Wire in Road to Magenta that I picked up from the freebie table

The last thing I came home with was an impressive collection of stitch markers from the swap:

I usually use pretty plain markers, so these are sure to add some excitement to my knitting and remind me of the wonderful time I had at SSK!

If you've made it to the end of this post, congratulations! I promise not to be quite so chatty in the next post!

Posting In Absentia

Thanks to the magic of the Internets, this post should automatically publish while I'm away at SSK in Nashville. I'll be taking two classes -- a knitting class with Lee Meredith and a spinning class with Jillian Moreno -- and spending my non-class time knitting, spindle spinning, and getting to know my fellow attendees.

I'll have a full recap when I'm back, but in the meantime I'll leave you with a picture of a little more Tour de Fleece spinning.

I finally started the second bobbin of my Southern Cross Fibre Charollais last night. I only made a small dent in the bundle of fiber, but I figure it's better than nothing.

Catch you on the flip side!

Planning, Prepping, and Tying Up Loose Ends

It is SSK eve, and I'm in a bit of a tizzy trying to get everything done and packed without forgetting something important. I've got a list of things that need to come with me and a reminder on my phone to check in for my flight, but there's always that feeling that something critical will be overlooked. Next to the actual travel (I hate flying), this is my least favorite part of vacations. But I'm really looking forward to the event itself, and I know that if I do forget something I need, it should be easy enough to get a replacement in Nashville.

One of the important things I couldn't forget is the set of stitch markers I've been making to take for the swap. Rainbow actually had been helping me with them quite a bit, but the part where I put them together was something only I could do. Fortunately the Mister was on bedtime duty last night, so I spent about 45 minutes after dinner assembling the pieces and securing everything with a drop of superglue. By this morning, all the stitch markers were dry and ready to go. I'm quite pleased with them, and I'm not at all ashamed that we kept some back for our own use.

Another important item on the to-do list was to wind yarn for a project I'm taking and swatch for said project. I really hoped to do both before leaving, and I did manage to get both done last night. The sweater I'll be knitting is the Driftwood Tee by Mercedes Tarasovich from Interweave Knits summer 2014, and I'll be knitting it up in some Blue Moon Fiber Arts Woobu that I bought when my former LYS was going out of business. The colorway is called Bleck and is very difficult to capture accurately with a camera -- it's a purple-y gray.

I knit the swatch on the recommended needle size (US 3/3.25 mm) and got a lovely fabric with good drape but my gauge is a bit off -- I'm getting 23 stitches over 4 inches rather than the called-for 25. I think going down a needle size would result in too dense a fabric, so I am going to stick to this gauge and make it work. The tee is designed to have a fair amount of positive ease and I was already going to make a larger size because of that, so I did a little math and found that if I go down one size, my tee should come out roughly the same size it would if I did the original size I'd picked and got gauge. On the plus side, the smaller size will use less yarn, so I should have a decent amount leftover (I have two skeins of the yarn, at 620 yards each).

The last crafty thing I wanted to do before I left was finish up at least one skein of yarn for Tour de Fleece, and I did do that Sunday night (though it certainly took its time drying!). This FatCatKnits Rambouillet in the colorway Dame Godel. I spun the fiber from end to end and chain plied the whole thing on Sunday (finishing just before bed).

The colors are a bit more vibrant in real life, if you can believe it, but the light was not great this morning. The green is indeed that neon, but there are some lovely blues in the areas where it looks gray. The finished skein is a fluffy fingering weight and roughly 492 yards. I'm still quite amazed at the yardage considering that I did ply it all in only a few hours. It was a delightful spin, and I love how elastic the finished yarn is -- my niddy noddy is 72 inches around, but after washing, this skein measures 56 inches around; if I put my hands inside the skein, I can stretch it out several inches. I still have another braid of FCK Rambo to spin, not that it will get done during TdF, but I have a feeling it will get on the wheel rather quickly.

If I can get everything packed up relatively quickly tonight, I will try to spin a little more of my Southern Cross Fibre Charollais, as I still have only the one bobbin done. I'm a bit disappointed that I didn't get more of that done in the past couple of weeks, but things happen, as I'm sure you all know.

My flight to Nashville is tomorrow evening, so I'll be working a half day and then running home to eat a quick lunch and finish throwing everything into my suitcase before leaving for the airport. I'm not sure how easily I'll be able to get online while I'm at the retreat or even how much time I'll have, so I hope you'll forgive me if the blog is a little silent while I'm away. I promise I'll have lots to share when I get back!

Sanity Check

Those of you who are parents know that the love you have for your children seems endless. That's certainly how I feel about Rainbow. She is my one and only, and even when she's having a tantrum and driving me crazy, I love her more than anything. Sometimes this love drives me to do crazy things. Like knit her a sweater on size 0/2.0 mm needles.

Let me back up a bit. You may remember that I'd declared my intent to knit her a Dancing Leaves Cardigan for the Gift-a-long using a couple of gradient mini skein sets. The pattern calls for starting with a size 0 needle and then moving to a size 2/3.0 mm. I had to go down to a US 1.5/2.5 mm needle to get gauge, but I don't own anything smaller than a 0, so that's what I cast on with. I've now worked on this sweater for two evenings and only finished about a dozen rows.

I don't have an issue with using needles this small per se; I regularly use size 0 needles for my socks, for instance, and I can churn those out pretty quickly. I think what's tripping me up most here is the chart; it uses symbols that I'm not used to and also multiple symbols for the same stitch (for instance, one symbol might be used if a stitch is knit on RS rows and purled on WS rows, and an entirely different stitch is used if the stitch is knit on both RS and WS rows). As I've knit more, I've definitely gotten a bit more familiar with the symbols and haven't had to stop to check the key as much, and the good news is that once I'm past the yoke, the rest of the sweater is just stockinette, so I'll be able to fly (slowly) through that. I am hoping that I can get all the cabling work done before we leave for vacation so that I won't have to try to make sense of tiny charts while I'm knitting poolside.

Rainbow's Eiswasser is moving along slowly as well, and I'm inching closer to the end of the 1x1 ribbing.

I think the forward movement on this project will be a lot faster once I get past the brim. I am a fast knitter, but all the moving of the yarn back and forth really slows me down, and the kicker is that my knitting time on this has been really limited because I can't knit on it when Rainbow is around. I've planned for this hat to be a Chanukah present for her, and fortunately the holiday falls rather late this year (the first night is on Christmas Eve), so worst case scenario, I have until New Year's Eve to finish it.

One thing I neglected to share in my last post is that I did finish one gift for her. She had asked me not too long ago for a cowl like the rainbow brioche one I made for myself several years ago, so I got out some brightly colored handspun and knit up a quick one for her:

This is just simple brioche stitch worked over 80 stitches on size 7/4.5 mm needles. I opted for a closer-fitting version for her rather than an infinity cowl for safety reasons, but this is tall enough that she can scrunch it down, fold it over, or even pull it up over her head and ears if it's really cold. The yarn, BFL from Gale's Art in the colorway Crayon Box (a MDSW purchase), was a delight to knit with, and it's made me want to spin up some thicker yarn. In fact, I might do just that with the All Spun Up merino I picked up at Indie Knit & Spin earlier this month, which hasn't yet made its way into the stash.

Finally, I got some exciting news the other evening. On a whim, I'd entered the SSK lottery a while back, figuring I wouldn't get it but it couldn't hurt to try. And guess what? I got a spot! I talked it over with the Mister, and he told me I should go (I suppose it's only fair, as he goes to fun places on work trips all the time), so I've confirmed my spot and sent in my deposit. I will have to book a flight once the date is a little closer (Southwest does fly direct, but they don't have flights available yet for that far out), but it's actually happening! I am really excited because I've never been to a retreat like this before, and the teachers who are lined up are amazing. It will be a bit of an adventure -- I think the last time I traveled on my own was back when I was in college or grad school, and I've never been to Tennessee. There's still quite a bit of time until the event, but I guess I should start my yarn fund now!