Friends, Knitting and Pumpkins

Located in Southern California, in a suburb of the San Fernando Valley, lies a small city called Calabasas. They are famous for their annual Pumpkin Festival. Having lived near the city for more than twenty years, it's not something I go to regularly. But this year was special. A friend that I "know" from Ravelry was traveling through our state while on vacation with her husband.
She lives in Chicago, so she was a long way from home, and this may be our only chance to actually meet face to face. When she found out about the Pumpkin Festival, she scheduled in a Saturday of her vacation to go and for us to meet up there, in person, for the very first time. You see, Michelle has a serious thing for pumpkin. It's one of her favorite foods, so the idea of a festival with food booths and pumpkin themes was a wonderland to her.

Saturday dawned a little foggy and cool, but being Southern California it burned off by ten am or so. I arrived at the gate of the Pumpkin Festival, excited to finally meet up with her. We were texting back and forth on our phones trying to locate each other. We finally found one another and we were off on our adventure of exploring every booth, exhibit and pumpkin food concoction ever thought up.

One of the most interesting food items that we found was a pumpkin whoopie pie. I just had to take a picture of it to show people. Isn't it amazing what food creations people can come up with when there is a theme involved? I didn't try the whoopie pie but Michelle did. She said it was good but very rich. We also sampled pumpkin cakes, pies, cheesecake, cookies, scones and a score of other pumpkin goodies. There were even things like Pumpkin Olive Oil, Pumpkin Spice Vinegar, Pumpkin Salsa and other oddities.

When it came time for lunch, we weren't all that hungry, but the food choices were endless. I don't know what it's like where you live, but in Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley, Food Trucks are big business. They have competitions, cook offs and you can actually get a Twitter feed from your favorite food truck so you can find it when you have a craving for it. Every time they change their location during the day, they post it on Twitter. (Just for the record, I don't follow any food truck tweets.)

The Pumpkin Festival had scores of Food Trucks. They were all parked toward the back side of the festival, so we headed that direction. There were so many choices! Besides the typical Fair foods, like funnel cakes, kettle corn, and deep fried items, you could have Thai food, barbecue, Mexican food, pulled pork, smoked tri-tip roast or chicken, burgers and fries and endless other choices. Michelle and I settled on splitting a Chicken Quesadilla from the Mexican food truck and were fortunate enough to find an empty table with an umbrella for shade. Which was a good thing, because at this point it was about ninety degrees and we were hot, thirsty and needed to sit a bit.


We also met up with another Ravelry friend while we were there. She and her family go to the Pumpkin Festival every year, she lives right there in Calabasas. So Dani met up with us while we were eating and took a few minutes away from her kids and the rest of her family to chat with us. I met Dani on Ravelry several years ago, and when we realized we only lived ten minutes from each other, we have been best friends ever since.


Of course, being good little Outlaw Knitters, we both had sock knitting with us, so after we ate we sat in the shade, resting and chatting and knitting on our socks. Both of us had cast on Halloween socks a few days before, which we thought was amusing.


After our rest we went and explored another section of the festival. Here we bought matching Calabasas Pumpkin Festival tee shirts. That's Michelle in the picture holding hers up. That was at the booth for the City of Calabasas. I also bought a canvas bag with a pumpkin on it because we all know that you just can't have too many knitting bags!


Sadly, before we knew it, the day was over and it was time for us to go.

We had a great time, even if it was hot, and said our goodbyes. Is there anything better than meeting up with friends and spending the day chatting, eating and knitting? I don't think so.

National I Love Yarn Day!

October 14th is national I Love Yarn Day! This year is the first year of this declared holiday. Who thought it up? The Craft Yarn Council. Yes, there really is such a thing. According to their website the purpose of I Love Yarn Day is to: Show it off, tag with it, carry it, gather with friends. Declare your LOVE! Get involved. While I Love Yarn Day is a time to share your passion by knitting or crocheting in public and teaching others how to engage in your craft of choice, it is also a time to get more involved in charity crafting and use social media to share your wares and love for yarn.

Whoever thought this up deserves a medal. Who loves yarn more than knitters? So go out in public with your knitting and show everyone you support this commemorative day brought to us by the Yarn Craft Council.

:)

opps

I may have gone a little too far...

Let me preface this by saying that I never go anywhere without my knitting. I have sock knitting projects in both my car and my hubby's, just in case I get out somewhere and don't have a project with me. When the sock gets to where I'm turning the heel, it comes into the house and another sock project is put into the car to take it's place.

There is nothing worse to me than being out somewhere and needing to kill more than 15 minutes and not having knitting with me.

Okay. So now for the rest of the post. I was sent to a Cardiovascular surgeon because of problems with my legs. It's turns out I have to have a series of four surgeries, four weeks apart. When asking about the surgery, he said that it is done under local anesthesia, and it takes approximately 2 hours. Here is how the conversation proceeded after that:

Me: "Can I drive myself or do I need a ride?"
Doctor: "It depends on the patient. Some are more stressed about things like this than others, and need to be given something."
Me: "Can I knit during the surgery?"
Doctor: Who at this point is looking a little stunned "You mean like with needles and yarn?" (Now mind you, I've been sitting in his office knitting during this whole conversation)
Me: "Yeah. Like what I'm doing now."
Doctor: "Well, you'll be laying down."
Me: "That's okay, I can knit laying down, too."
Doctor: "You aren't going to need a ride home. I'm pretty sure you won't need the Ativan."

I stil haven't gotten a definitive answer if they will let me knit or not. The poor doctor looked a little shell-shocked. But I plan to resume the conversation at my next visit. I'll keep you posted.

Oh The Horror!

I am a fairly young woman. 33 isn't all that old. Of course ask my kids and I am borderline senior citizen. I am also fairly new to the yarn arts. I learned to crochet years ago but only a single stitch. I have been working on expanding my talents. In December of 08 I got a wild hair up my bum and taught myself to knit. And I love it. I still crochet but I think its more difficult. Anyhow, recently I have begun knitting in public. It sounds harmless. I guess that the needles can be looked upon as weapons. My husband will certainly reconsider stealing any of my fries! But I love to knit and my schedule is hectic so I have to find my spurts.

I started out doing it at school. I attend a community college working on an accounting degree (already work as an accountant....this won't make me lose outlaw status will it?) and so before, after, and in between classes out came whatever project I had on me. But recently my addiction became stronger.

Earlier this week I went to an indian restaurant (east...not native americans). I simply love gorging on this spinach fried bread they have. I finished before my companions and proceeded to get anxious and sweat. I thought about it, got nervous. I had heard how people stared at knitters and here it was in the back of my mind. Then I bucked up, maybe I wouldn't need to worry. And who cares? I am not hurting anyone. So out came the project. And out came the stares. I could feel it all over. The couple at the table to my left were the worst. They stared until I looked up. I figured it out and finally just knitted and stared at them while they shifted nervously in their seats. I looked down a few times on the purl stitches cause I am not as comfy with those. But I never gave up. Hubby started giggling at my staredown. My father in law couldn't figure out what was going on.

Today we went to a wing place. Normally I wouldn't think to knit there BUT they gave me some handy wipes and I was nice and clean. So out the project came. Not too bad this time but two younger ladies (younger than me, 20's-ish) started pointing and giggling. This actually upset hubby to no end. That's ok. When we got up to leave we had to walk by them. I stared at the brunette's head real hard, burst into laughter and said "Babe, this one is going gray before me!!". That chick sucked in more air than a brand spanking new Hoover.

Imagine if I had a tank top of and two of my tattoo's hanging out.

The New Spooktacular Halloween Activity!

Our children have been so desensitized to the horror of Halloween that commonplace handcrafts apparently scare the jeepers out of them!

My son and I headed to my mother's house for Trick-Or-Treating and helping pass out candy. She didn't have the house all decked out this year (owing to her recent skin cancer surgery) and neither of us had on costumes. My son (who is 8) was a blue ninja. Nothing scary there, right?

Wrong!

Everything was fine for this pair of little ones that came up for their candy, until they turned and saw me knitting. I have never witnessed such an abrupt change of mood. They both paused for a second, staring as if transfixed...then starting crying and wailing like some monster just stole their favorite toy away or something. They then dived behind their parents legs, continued to cry, and peek out at my knitting again.

How do I know it was the knitting and not some horrid fashion faux pas on my part? Well, when I tucked the "uber-scary" green striped dishcloth and needles away in my bag...they stopped freaking out! I was even able to coax them over for extra goodies (to make up for the "trauma"). They gave the bag with "the evil" in it a wide berth, but didn't seem opposed to more treats. The parents were confused and apologizing, to which I assured them it was no big deal. They left with only an occasional glance at "the bag with the scary stuff in it".

Who knew that a plain old, striped green dishcloth being knitted would be the epitome of horror this holiday? As a Mom, I was horrified that something I love so dearly could cause a child such distress, but on the other hand...it was so freaking strange that it caused a secret snicker deep inside.

Skeletons, Zombies, Murderers, and Monsters beware! Us Knitters own on Halloween!

Summer Is (Almost) Here

Three more days of schools for the mini Outlaws. THREE! I am so happy about this. I love having my kids (and their friends) around me all summer. I love planning outings with them where I can go do some Outlaw Knitting while they enjoy whatever it is they do. I think we'll find some caves to explore again this summer, and maybe go to a few baseball games. And I think I'll make Bobbi and her little Outlaws go to the park with us and maybe the zoo in Peoria. We can watch the tigers and knit socks or something.

And Bobbi and I need to dye many yarns for our Etsy shop, Wooly Booger Yarns. If any of y'all have a shop you'd like to list on the sidebar, let me know. I'd be happy to list it for you.

bad news

just want to let you all know that dearest heather my wife the crafty momma has passed away at the age of thirty two so that you all will not write and get no reply. her hubby john p,s thank you all for
being their

What's the craziest thing you have ever done for yarn?

I know we have all done some crazy things in our lives. But what is the craziest thing you have ever done for yarn? I think I have gone over the top on this one. After having heard so much about Wollmeise Sock yarn, I decided that I needed to get some. The problem? It's very hard to get your hands on some of those beautiful skeins. The yarn is done by an indie dyer in Germany and she can't make it fast enough. You can order from her website, but you have to be there right when it goes up, because it will sell out fast. Within minutes.

Here in the U.S. the yarn is sold by my favorite yarn store, The Loopy Ewe. http://www.theloopyewe.com/ For those of you not familiar with this wonderful store, it is a sock knitter's heaven. She carries other yarns as well, but no one has the selection of sock yarn she does--anywhere. Sheri, the shop's owner, does what she calls "Sneak Ups" each week. If you are a regular Loopy Ewe customer, (this means you have placed six orders) she will send you an email when a certain yarn has been restocked. If you read her blog, she will tell you what will be in each week's "Sneak Up." The Sneak Ups can happen at anytime, day or night.

Here is where my quest for this hard to attain sock yarn begins. A few weeks ago we were told on The Loopy Ewe Blog there would be a Woolmeise Sneak Up sometime that week. On Ravelry in the groups is a Loopy Ewe group, and several of us began congregating on a specific thread waiting for it to happen. Monday came and went. Sheri took pity on us in the afternoon and told us there would be no Sneak Up that day. We all breathed a sigh of relief and left our computers to spend time with our families or go back to work. Someone in the group had requested that she not do it on Friday because it was her Anniversary and her husband would divorce her if she wouldn't go out because she might miss the Sneak Up. So Sheri agreed not to make on Friday. That meant it would be Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday.

Tuesday morning found us back on the same thread in the Ravelry forum, constantly refreshing The Loopy Ewe's website page in between talking to each other. Since I work at a computer all day long, it wasn't hard for me to keep my eye on things while I got very little work done. Part way through the day on Tuesday, Sheri came on and told us the Sneak Up wouldn't be today, and so we could rest easy.

Wednesday morning came, and the group was at a fever pitch. We were so sure the Sneak Up would be today. I learned a lot listening to the other people in the group who were very experienced at these Sneak Ups. I figured out what my first choice of color was. I decided I was only going to try to get two skeins of that one color. They told stories of how stuff disappeared out of your cart before you could check out if you tried to get too much. So, I had my plan, now I just had to make sure I was online at the computer when the Sneak Up came. As the day progressed we became more and more frantic. I had become obessesed with getting that yarn. At one point there was thirteen hundred people in the Loopy Ewe Group, I believe they were all waiting for this yarn. Around dinner time, Sheri came on and told us to go have dinner with our families and basically to go away. There would be no Sneak Up tonight. But having listened to the more experienced people, I knew that meant only up until midnight. After midnight it was fair game.

So around midnight, Loopy Ewe time, we all began to congregate around the Loopy Ewe forum again. And we waited up all night. I'm not sure when I just decided to hang in there. I think somewhere around 3:00 am I realized that I'd already invested so much time into it, plus, I was having such a good time, that I was just going to stay with it. Remember being young and staying up all night camped out in front of some theatre for concert tickets? Or staying up all night for a slumber party? That's what this was like. It was fun, it was silly, we were laughing and just having a good time. And so the night progressed. My husband thought I had completely lost it. He had gone to bed at 11:00 just shaking his head at me. I didn't know what he'd think when he found out I had stayed up all night.

At 7:30 am Thursday morning, we were rewarded. The yarn suddenly appeared on a refresh of The Loopy Ewe site. My heart was pounding so hard I thought I was going to have a heart attack. It was exhilarating, scary, heart-pounding shopping. The yarn sold out within about two or three minutes. Every skein of it. I did exactly what I had planned. Found my color, put two skeins in my cart, and checked out. Here is a picture of the yarn:

Was it worth it? You bet. Now I know what everyone is talking about. The coloration is absolutely beautiful. I haven't knit with it yet, so I can't attest to how it knits up, but it does have an interesting feel to it for an 80% Wool, 20% nylon yarn. Here is the thing, though. I felt kind of bad, too. Huge amounts of people weren't able to get any. People who had been trying to get some for a year. I had gotten lucky. I don't know if I'll be lucky enough to get more, but there sure are many other colors I'd like to get my hands on.

I'm planning on knitting Cookie A.'s Monkey socks with it, only as knee socks. That's why I needed a second skein.

So, what's the craziest thing you have ever done for yarn? I'd love to hear about it. I can't be the only one this crazy for yarn.

late introduction

I totally forgot that I can participate to this blog, seems like I have been too busy lately...

I'm a single mom of a lovely 3 year old boy - finally in a great relationship with an awesome man - and we live in Dortmund, Germany. Right now, I'm in a part-time education during the mornings where I can sometimes knit during classes or in the breaks. The afternoons are all for my son after he came back from Kindergarten, sometimes I can squeeze in a few minutes of simple knitting like stockinette or ribbing in socks and in the evenings, I either knit while watching TV or create things for my etsy store as stitchmarkers, handdyed yarns and knit or crochet things.

You can find more about me on my blog and I'm at Ravelry too with the name of Selana