Not-so local yarn shops

Wow, I haven't posted for 3 weeks. I have been traveling for work and super busy. I was in Fort Worth TX but didn't have time nor a car to go exploring. Searching online, it seems there are several places to buy yarn in FW, but nothing sounded like a must shop. But I did read several horrible reviews of a shop somewhere else in Texas (it's a big state ) called Yarn Heaven, and renamed Yarn Hell by several customers - all moms, whose children were treated abysmally.
I just came back from a short business trip to Boston, and visited Newbury Yarns. I left empty-handed, and I felt the shop broke 3 basic rules. First, no one acknowledged me at all for the 15 minutes I was in the shop, which only had one other customer, and is tiny. Second, there were no prices on anything!!! This is especially strange because unless Massachusetts law has changed (and it may have) everything, even every can in the supermarket must have a price sticker. Third, and maybe the worst, especially for an asthmatic, there was a distinct smell of cigarette smoke. It could have been coming from somewhere else in the building, but.... if I were shopping there, I'd be concerned if it is a constant as the yarn could end up smelling. She does carry the Canadian yarn Briggs & Little which you only tend to find in LYS's closer to Canada. But it was way above my head on the upper level shelves, and although I am tall, I couldn't get to it.
There are many LYS's in the Boston area. My two favorite are not accessible without a car if you are visiting (the reason I didn't visit them on my recent short business trip to Boston) - Circles Yarn Salon and The Woolpack. Circles is now located in the owner's home in Roslindale, and I haven't been there yet (hope to get there this summer). I like Circles for its innovations - a yarn coop. Woolpack, a couple of miles outside of RT. 495 in Littleton, MA, apple country, is spacious, with lots and lots of yarn, organized by weight, and brand, in a way that makes sense to me. The owner, Janet, has always been super friendly, and helpful when I've been there.
There are so many LYS's in Massachusetts and New England, and I am always trying to check them out. Last summer, while on Cape Cod, I stopped in at Adventures in Knitting, in the picturesque seaside town of Harwichport. This shop, pictured above, is one of the few retail outlets for Black Water Abbey Yarn and also carries Sheep Shop Yarn. I bought a BWA Fair Isle Tote kit and some Sheep Shop yarn and a pattern. The tote is a WIP and pictured here.

Ravelry shrinks the world

This morning I received invites to join a Portuguese language Ravelry group (muito legal) and promptly sent an invite to my friend Ceci, who also speaks Portuguese. The moderator, Acucena, has a gorgeous blog, and lives in Portugal, in Sintra (I have two silkscreens of Sintra castle hanging in my dining room). And I was also invited to be friends with Guaria, who I think is Monica, but she disguises herself in her blog :) anyway Guaria mentions trying to blog in both English and Spanish, but she got lazy. Wow, I understand cuz it all comes down to time to knit, crochet, etc.
That's Sintra castle on the left. I am also on an Irish group. I love it. We have come a long way from penpals (I had an Irish one when I was in high school).

Read or knit???

Tonight at SSK, I brought up the topic of books. You see, I am an avid reader, movie buff, and knitter. I read at stop lights (I used to knit at red lights, when I lived in Boston, but here it doesn't work for me). So recently, I have come across, and sought out books - novels- that have knitting in them.

A couple of us - Martha, and Amy - threw out names of books we'd recently read that had some relationship with knitting.

We all panned The Friday Night Knitting Club - it's soooo smaltzy, and unreal (could anyone actually survive in NYC as the main character did as a single mom, with a great apartment, etc.). I picked it up in England in November. I couldn't see recommending it to anyone, so I sold it on Amazon.


Martha and I liked The Knitting Circle (at least I think she said she'd read it), but didn't recommend it to Amy as the story centers around the death of a child. I found it hard to put down, although it was a little contrived. Still it was so much better than The Friday Night Knitting Circle.



Coincidentally, Martha and I have both recently read A Three Dog Life. Martha said that she was surprised there was so much knitting in it. One of the reasons I bought the book is because the back cover mentioned knitting, and it looked like a good read. I whipped through it in a couple of days.

There are two more knitting/sheep related books that I bought on Alibris.
The first is titled Three Bags Full. It's in my "to read" pile.
A witty philosophical murder mystery with a charming twist: the crack detectives are sheep determined to discover who killed their beloved shepherd, in this internationally bestselling tale.


The other is Trafficking in Sheep: A Memoir: From Off-Broadway, New York, to Blue Island, Nova Scotia. It is described as " A poignant story of one woman's determination to start a life anew in idyllic Nova Scotia, far away from her jetsetting-New Yorker roots.
A working actress and divorced mother of two young boys takes off for the summer to the coast of Nova Scotia. She falls in love with the place; buys a house; ultimately buys an island because it is the view from her house and because she wants to save it from development. "

The Oscars and Glen Hansard/Marketa Iglova

They won!!

Making a name for themselves
This article is from the Washington Post on Feb. 21st.

Obama and the sock

There is no end to Knitters for Obama making wild links between their favorite activity (knitting) and their favorite candidate (Senator Barack Obama).

Here we have an "insane" knitter who got a photo of Obama with her sock-in-progress. What a good sport!


http://stringativity.blogspot.com/2007/12/yarn-harlot-ness.html

The other great find via the Knitters for Obama group is this great t-shirt.



And this beautiful yarn called Audacity from Black Bunny who designed it especially for Knitters for Obama (she is currently out of stock!).

Knitters for Obama

I found a Knitters for Obama on Ravelry.
There is a fundraiser with raffle of knitting related things - skeins of yarn etc.
You make a donation, and be sure to follow these instructions:
How it Works

Knitters from all over the world have joined forces to host to the Got Hope, Ravelry? online raffle, offering an array of delectable prizes. For every US $5, the donor receives a virtual raffle ticket toward a prize of their choice. The drawing for all prizes will take place April 1, 2008. To win, all you need is $5 and a little luck. Absolutely 100% of the proceeds go to the Obama presidential campaign. ...

How to donate: “buy” tickets by making a donation in the size of your choice to:
http://my.barackobama.com/page/outreach/view/maingroup/RavelryKnittersforObama

(Click on the little thermometer to donate!)
Then send your confirmation email/receipt to:
obamaknitters@gmail.com

For each $5, you get one raffle ticket. You can choose different prizes- e.g. 2 tickets towards one prize, and 3 tickets towards another.

If anyone does NOT write in the notes line, their donation will automatically buy tickets to the drawing for the Grand Prize Afghan.

Note: you MUST send the email to obamaknitters@gmail.com and you MUST send an email noting which prizes you want. I forwarded my donation receipt email and included the desired prizes in that mail.

See the prizes at the Ravelry Knitters for Barack Obama/discussion board /RAFFLE FOR BARACK - PRIZES UPDATED!
I am trying to link to this awesome YouTube video....see if it works.


Yes We Can!!!

Latest music obsession

I do like knitting blogs to stick to fiber topics. But sometimes bloggers need to go off on slight tangents. I feel though that I should be forgiven for this because on Ravelry we have many forums that bring together knitters who have other interests in common. I am on 4 book/reading related forums, (Red) Sox Knitters, and Popular Culture.
I tend to get on music jags - wanting to hear the same CD again, and again. My latest music jag is The Swell Season/ The Frames / Soundtrack from Once

During the summer I saw the film in the theaters three times, and declared after the third time, "I could watch this movie everyday !

Last July, I saw The Swell Season at the 9:30 club in DC. My 20-something son came with me. It was only my second trip to the 9:30 Club, a venue that most people my age don't go to. I missed them when they came to the Lincoln theater in DC on Nov. 18th because I was in England.
In the meantime, I have bought 5 Frames albums, as well as the soundtrack of Once, the enhanced soundtrack (with new tracks, and DVD) and the DVD of the film Once.

I share much of my son's musical taste - Alternative. My love of things Irish is a big part of why I got into this music, but I never got into the Cranberries (too pop), nor Sinead O'Connor (can't sing, and too pop).