Humans- 1, Cats-0

Hah! I finally found a way to keep my yarn safe from the deadly grasp of Mona- wool hunter extraordinaire. One of my knitting students, Anita, made me this ball keeper from an empty tub of ice cream.

Step one- Eat tub of ice cream.
Step two- Pierce small hole in top of tub.
Step three- Insert yarn.


Humans-1, Cats-0!!!!

Hello McFlyyyyy? !

Here I am! Thanks for all the kind and funny emails wondering about my whereabouts... The Yarn Grove has had the weekend from H*LL! Yes, capital letters explain it easily. Our email was "migrated" to another server and it is STILL not working properly since Thursday evening. It has been a nightmare and patience has not been on my side. So ... even more urgency to get our new website up and that is where I have been...

But I did manage to finish my Nature's Palette Odd Duck #4 which are displayed so lovely on my sock blockers from Knitting Haven. Have I told you lately that I love them?

Whew, Louet Gems is here and up in our shop. in the fingering weight which is dynamo! And Euroflax Sport Weight Linen - lovely to play with ... More colors are ordered but are backordered - in both Gems and Euroflax. Euroflax makes great, I repeat great Guest Towels for your guest bathroom or as gifts too.

Also in ... Drop Spindle kit and Needle Felt kit. Try your hand at it ! (hehehe)

And KidKnits Hat Patterns - absolutely adorable and we are putting together kits for these as well as soon as our cool bags arrive... So stay tuned to Channel TYG (The Yarn Grove) for these adorable kits. You'll want one of each!

Mmmm Cupcakes....

I tried a new recipe this weekend that a friend of a friend found in a Weight Watchers cookbook. You take a box of chocolate cake mix, add a 12 oz diet coke, stir and bake. These cupcakes were so moist and chocolately...and they didn't have eggs or butter! You have to try it. Sometimes knitters need little sugar.

I'll have a Naked Dog Walkin' ...

Oh wait a minute, I've got a Naked Dog Walkin'. My poor Junior. Went to the groomer last week and when I wrote on the groomer order form - short all over - I didn't mean short short I just meant short. He looks like a different dog but he is still precious to me!

So my husband and I have been calling him Naked Dog Walkin' which in Varsity terms ... a hot dog without chili .. to go. What'll ya' have they yell when you are walking up to the counter! Oh yeah, The Varsity. A landmark in Atlanta for the best chili dogs this side of Kansas. And while you're there, try the onion rings. Hmmm good. However, I don't eat hot dogs, only veggie dogs so I usually get a grilled grease, I mean grilled cheese sandwich. I crack myself up sometimes...

Here is a picture of my toe up Nature's Palette Odd Duck #4 and I am knitting the Feather and Fan pattern I got from Wendy of Wendy Knits. Check it out... Love it... So easy for my brain to remember... Slow going here because most of my spare time is spent working on our new website which is really coming along....

What'll ya' have? We got Cookie A Knit Designs coming in this week. Great sock patterns and also due in is Louet Gems Fingering Weight and Euroflax. Euroflax is 100% washable and dryable linen and the more you wash it, the softer it becomes.

So ask yourself, what'll ya' have? I've got a Naked Dog Walkin' ...

Earth angel...

I know there are Earth Angels - my daughter always told me I was her Earth Angel. Awww. (She's the angel!)

No, I am not trying to get mushy here or anything of the sort. But I did want you all to know that The Yarn Grove is going to donate a percentage of our net proceeds from Duet Sock Yarn sales to an Earth Angel named Bernie, who runs A Place to Bark and Meow. A Place to Bark and Meow is a no-kill foster and adoption animal rescue. You can read more about Bernie here at her blog. We first heard about Bernie after reading Vickie Howell's blog entry - subject "ears" for Noel (WARNING EXTREMELY heart-wrenching story) .


Just wanted to share that with you. There are so many Earth Angels...

Yarn Girls

The cutest yarn girls in the Rocket City if you ask me! This is my beloved knit and crochet club. We meet every Monday to laugh, cry, complain, and...oh yeah, knit.

On the far left, we have Becky. She's only been knitting for a few weeks, but you can see that the "blue blob" is actually beginning to look like a pot holder. We have great expectations for her. Next is Jill, president and knitter extraordinaire. She's working on the lacy edge of a beautiful skirt. Jill is always the first to try something new, and we look to her for advise and ideas. Next, you'll see the lovely and talented Lisa, who is a beginner in knitting, but a master of crochet. She's making cute little slippers. Next, is yours truly. Then, the lovely and talented Kari, who currently is suffering from a little knitter's block. Don't worry, I know she'll pull through. Kari loves trying new stitches, and is a scarf master. Last, but not least, we have Kim, the newest member of the crew. She just found out she's going to be an Auntie, so she's making baby hats like a mad woman. Not pictured is Rachel, our bride to be. She can knit and crochet with the best of them.

Well, this is us! We drink lots of espresso and get into all sorts of trouble. Sounds fun, huh?

Check out this video Jill sent me- super funny for knitters and crocheters.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZcUjYpjKZs

The Bachelorette

For the past 3 weekends, Chris has gone out of town on business. The first weekend, I was too sad to knit. The next weekend, I was too angry to knit. But this weekend, well this weekend was just right! I watched Breakfast at Tiffany's twice, The Devil Wears Prada three times, and the entire 4th season of The Golden Girls, and I finished the "Frenchy Tank Top" from Interweave Knits. I made it from the wool I dyed with Kool Aid. I have a cute lacy cami I will wear under it. As much fun as I had this weekend, I was glad when my Hubbie got home this afternoon.

Is winter finally over? It was 70 degrees today!!!

Weather or not...

What a glorious day. The temps were just perfect today - bright sky - time spent with my daughter before she left on a jet plane back to Sarassooooooota. We had a great weekend with very little knitting time ... but worth every minute.

Goings on at The Yarn Grove - still working on our new website which should launch in a couple of weeks. Very time consuming but will be worth it for traffic reasons. We will keep you updated on that. 2 new yarns to be added to our line-up coming in very soon, thanks to all of your suggestions... I think you will be pleased.

Hope your weekend was as great as mine. Time to catch up on blog reading tonight as well...

My baby Dirlies ...

I still call her my baby dirlies ... Just because my daughter, Stephanie, is 28 yo today, she'll always be my baby girl... Yep, 28 years ago ... I felt strange... hmmm... never had a baby before so was this it? We're off to see the wizard - I mean the doctor.

He confirms my labor - might want to go to the hospital with your suitcase - this was at noon - and I asked him (okay, this was my first) if we had enough time to go home and get my suitcase... He just smiled and nodded... Fast forward ... A loooonnnnnggg afternoon passes by. They talk to me about an epidural and I absolutely refuse ... that is until about 9 hours later when I push the nurse button and say, "excuse me... You know about that epidural? I was just kidding about not wanting one"... Well, now, the joke is on me because it's tooooo late for one. ... 11:26pm my precious baby dirlies arrives...

She has grown into one super smart, compassionate, earth loving, animal activist, very funny, vegetarian , assistant controller of a large construction company, young lady. I am so proud to be her momma. And the best part.... squeee ... she's coming home tonight on a jet plane!

On a knitting sidenote.... just working on my toeup Nature's Palette, Odd Duck #4 socks and I am lubbing em!

Odd Duck and Xylitol and Junior .. oh my!

I have started a new pair of socks from Nature's Palette Odd Duck #4 which has always been one of my favorite colorways from Darlene. If you have never knit with Nature's Palette, you are in for a real treat. It is a tightly twisted yarn and glides right off my bamboos with the greatest of ease... Nature's Palette from Hand Jive Knits was the very first yarn we ordered when The Yarn Grove was evolving... And it is still one of my very favorites. Not only to mention that Darlene is such a neat fiber artist and I am looking forward to seeing her again in June in Ohio...

I have learned, as a new puppy parent, that when Junior is quiet or I do not see him in a scan of the room I am in, something is up. So yesterday, while working on our new website (yes we are building a new website which will launch soon) I was on the phone with technical support to walk me through a process I was having trouble with and when I hung up, I noticed the silence...

As I come around the corner, I see that Junior has pulled a huge pack of gum out of my mom's purse which was sitting on the floor and is chewing on it. He is having a grand ol' time. Now at this point, my mind is lighting up like a pin ball machine and I remember something about gum with something in it being not so good for dogs... So, you guessed it, I called my vet's office. I state only the facts (I left the part out where it looked like Junior was blowing bubbles) and the "new" girl there told me she knew chocolate was bad but had never heard about gum. I don't take this as an answer and ask her to please check with someone else there and call me back...

I decide to do my own research on Google and come up with the word Xylitol. Sure enough, xylitol is a sweetener which can be found in sugar-free chewing gum, candy and baked goods, and can be very harmful if a dog ingests large amounts of this. I cannot read the wrapper because he already chewed through it but I now look up the phone number to Wrigley's in Chicago- ring ring - Oh yeah, I get a live person. She wants my name, zip code, etc. but I told her I wasn't calling to complain - I just want to know if Xylitol is in this gum and "do you realize this can be deadly to animals". She informs me that only one of their gums has that in it and it was not the one my mom chewed - I mean Junior chewed - Why the heck didn't my vet's office call me back? Someone dropped the ball and I'll be having a church chat with them tomorrow about that when I take Junior to have his staples removed...

So calling all animal parents.... don't let your animals chew gum!

Twinkle!

Since I have a subscription to two different knitting magazines (one from Mimi and one from Jane) I never buy myself knitting books. On my last trip to Barnes and Noble, however, I saw a book I couldn't live without. Its called "Twinkle's Big City Knits" and every pattern is knitted with needles size 13 and larger. You know how I love the chunky! I want to make every single pattern in the book. There isn't a thing I wouldn't wear. I better run...I've got a lot of knitting to do!

Here's Two for Ewe!

Clever title, huh? Feeling a little corny right now .. I'm giddy with delight because .... drumroll.... my daughter, Stephanie, a.k.a. my baby dirlies, is coming HOME this weekend!!!! Yippee ! She is flying home from Sarasoooota Friday night. BTW, Friday is her birthday ... More on that later.

So here are my J-knits socks, knit from toe up (as usual for me) in colorway AC-141. The one on left is the heel flap-a-roo and the other is short row. Right now, I think it's short row heels for me... But I'm sure that will change again.

Duet Sock yarn is creating quite a buzz and we are thrilled to be carrying her yarns here at The Yarn Grove. There are only 2 other shops, I understand from Angela of Swell Yarns, that are carrying it. We placed another order today because the second shipment again flew out the door. I have heard from so many of our customers who are delighted with Duet. It is a DK weight and is scrumptous. I am getting ready to start a pair soon... So stay tuned...

Meet Dr. Curad...

I have to share this story about Junior... or I guess about my husband...

If you read earlier this week about my Silky Terrier, Junior and his "d.a." parents, well the whole e-collar about killed us putting it on him. Soooooooooo, since my husband thinks, and this is the honest truth, that band-aids heal everything, he(a.k.a. Dr. Curad) decides to put a band-aid over the wound because "Junior won't be able to lick it and it will heal faster". Now, in the back of my mind, I'm thinking that the vet would have done that if the band-aid had these mystical powers.

Friday am at 6:30 I am looking at Junior's surgical site. Uh huh, it has now opened below the 2 staples. I yell for Dr. Curad and here he comes thinking there is a fire or something. I say, GET THIS BAND-AID OFF OF HIM. I AM TAKING HIM BACK TO THE VET and they will probably have me arrested for practicing medicine on this dog without a license.

Dr. Curad now tells me that he can't get it off. It's stuck because these are the new and improved ones. So we cut it down the middle and now my poor puppy has this band-aid dangling and off to the vet I go...

The vet looks at his wound, decides since he is already on antibiotics, it is probably okay. I quickly explained the band-aid - she looked at me - smiled - and said ... we have some stuff to get it off with... My poor Junior ... As I leave the vet for the 3rd time in a week, I look at the receptionist lady and say ... at this point, it's a parenting issue...

On the knitting front.... More Duet sock yarns arrived and are flying off the shelves. Check them out today ... Oh yeah, I have almost finished my J-Knits socks - one with heel flap and one with short row. So far I believe I like short row best...