I have been struggling with my next post on Knitting: A Love Story.  Did I want to do this?  What about that? Why not this?  Maybe that?  Then I realized why, I needed to honor my dear friend Mary Peck before I could go on with something else.  Mary was a grand lady who passed away last weekend.  She had her 90th birthday Christmas day.  Mary loved her family, her home, bridge and her bridge buddies.  I was lucky enough to be one of Mary's bridge buddies.  Mary has been a bright spot in my life for a long time.  We had this immediate connection when we met.  It was as if  we had always known each other.  Mary loved pink.  She wore it beautifully  and often.  The very top scarf in the picture above, the pink one, is the one I made for Mary at Christmas.  She was a member of my Thursday Bridge group, but was too ill to come.  Of course, I had to make Mary a pink one.

Mary was very intrigued with my Survivor Shawls.  She loved the idea behind them, and of course, the fact they were pink.  When she first became ill, I made a pink shawl for Mary.  In October when Jocelynn Brown did the Homestyle article for the Detroit Free Press and News about Knitting: A Love Story, I borrowed Mary's shawl to wear when the photographer came to take pictures.  It was Mary's shawl I was happily wrapped in as Brandy took pictures in the Stash Studio.  She was very pleased with that.  Mary's beloved granddaughter Charity was in Adrian from Portland when the article was published and made sure Mary could read the article on her iPad and see her beautiful shawl in the picture.

Charity called me last week to talk about Mary.  She said when she had gone to the Hospice facility, Mary made sure she had her pink shawl.  I hope it is passed on to someone in the wonderful Peck family who will love it as much as Mary did.  I have many wonderful memories of Mary; playing bridge, telling stories about her children and grandchildren and being supportive of me and my life of knitting.   I hope Mary has reunited with all of her passed bridge buddies and her beloved Van and is wrapped in her pink shawl as she continues her love of bridge.  

If you've been with me since the beginning or if you've read back to the beginning, you'll know that this is the time of the year when I am planning my knitting to take to Maggie Valley for our week in the North Carolina mountains.  We have made our annual trip for about 15 years.  In that time LYSs (and restaurants) have come and gone.  One of my all time favorite LYS was Yarn Paradise in Ashville, NC.  I used to anticipate with excitement all of the new treasures (yarn and buttons) I would purchase.  Now I have Silver Threads and Golden Needles and Friends and Fiberworks to look forward to.  Last year, the West Carolina Yarn Crawl was taking place and I was the lucky winner of one of the prizes.  (Yes, yes, yes! I won yarn twice over the past year.)  Now I would like to show you my travel knitting for this year.  

This is my car knitting, a beauty from Ursa Major Knits made from Mini Mucha.  It looks hard, but it meets all of the requirements of car knitting.  The pattern is easy to remember, you don't have to keep referring to it.  It is small so it doesn't take over the front seat.  It is beautiful and fun, making the miles fly.  I can't wait to show you the finished project. When I first saw The New York Beauty it never occurred to me that it would be perfect car knitting.  It is looked complicated; beautiful but complicated.  It is going to be a WOW!

In case I finish New York Beauty, I have a second car knitting project.  I've had this for a while but really didn't like knitting it much.  Then I figured out what was wrong.  The yarn is baby alpaca and feels like a kitten.  It is lace weight and I was using stiletto needles.  I changed to my Dreamz Marbz and I love it.  The mental needles were too slippery and I felt I had to hold on tight.  Now everything is copacetic and finishing is a possibility.  Those fabulous women from Knit Purl sent Holey Square Shawl in an email so once again, they got me.  I had this beautiful yarn in the Stash Studio and it is yummy.  Hopefully, I will get much accomplished in the car.

Now on to condo knitting.  Condo knitting is more challenging, hopefully learning something new.  I got this pattern at Crafty Lady Trio when Linda and I went a couple weeks ago.  Stephen West takes my breath away.  Every time I see something that is a little edgy, when I look closer it is Stephen West.  CLT had Rockefeller all knit up and I fell in love.  It was made out of this beautiful Noro Sock Yarn.  I said to the sweet young woman waiting on me, "I want to make that and I want it to look exactly like that."  Then I found out that the Noro Sock Yarn was a discontinued color.  Don't you hate that! I've gotten knitting magazines, fell in love with a garment only to discover the yarn I fell in love with was discontinued even though the magazine had just been released.  There should be a law!  WOW!  Did I just do  rant or what?!?!  I do believe that is one of my pet peeves.  When I fall in love with the yarn and the pattern, it seems I can never find anything that measures up.  I just knew since I couldn't do Rockefeller in the yarn I fell in love with, I probably had something in the Stash Studio which would be just fine.  I came home and found this Twisted Fiber Art Tasty in Phantom with Madeleintosh as the solid color.  I have started this and like what I see.  I'll admit that this is the third yarn I tried before I knew it was right.  

Last but certainly not least is Rock In The River by Petra Neumann to be knit in Kauni and Ultra Alpaca Lite.  It features German Short Rows so I will learn something new.  The pattern is seventeen pages long because it is written row by row.  No "continue as started until piece measures 16 inches."  I am very excited about this.

Have you noticed my new obsession with long color repeat yarn.  Whether it is Twisted Fiber Arts Evolution or Kauni or Mini Mucha, I really love the excitement and anticipation of long color repeat.  

Usually, I take a knitting book along to learn something.  This year I think I will start the Knitter's Life List.  One of my goals for the year is to work my way through the list and maybe even add my own items.  I am just wondering when I'll have time to golf, read and shop.  Maybe we should stay another week.  ;-)

I am so excited!  Here it is! Adrian's own Ann's By Design.  We have a brand new fiber arts shop owned by the nicest, bravest woman you will ever meet.  I stopped in today to schedule knitting classes.  I have committed to working and teaching for a year on a volunteer basis.  I am committed to Ann's By Design being a success. I've always dreamed of having my own yarn shop. Now I will live vicariously through Ann's By Design.  I can experience the excitement and pleasure while keeping peace in my family.  You do remember Dick's comment when I suggested opening a yarn shop, "Are you crazy!"  Now let me take you on a tour of this glorious, little shop.

Meet the owner, dreamer, visionary behind Ann's By Design, Ann Hughes.  Ann is a master quilter.  I have friends who quilt with Ann and sing her praises.  

Ann's By Design has the distinction of being the only carrier of Cascade 220 Superwash in the area.  She has a beautiful rainbow of colors.  I can't wait to teach my Beginning Class and have participants pick out their 2 or 3 colors.  They will have so much fun.  Ann is starting small with her yarn inventory and will let it grow.  As a matter of fact, it already is growing.

More beautiful Cascade  this time Pacific.  My plan is is work on Fridays and to teach one class at a time.  My first class will be a Beginning class in May along with a demo on the Magic Ball.  In July, we're going to do a Beginning class for a child/adult team.  June will have a Stash Busting Class and September will have a Survivor's Shawl class.  Some where in there will be a Knitting and the iPad.  I can't wait to show people all of the great knitting sites.

I am very excited to have a small part in Ann's By Design.  

In addition to yarn, Ann carries quilting, embroidery and wool applique supplies.  I just realized I didn't take pictures of anything but yarn.  I guess I am just a one trick pony, but I do love my trick.   

Monday, I started my week by spending the day with Linda, visiting an old friend, checking #5 off my knitting goal list and signing up for a future fun event.  What a great start to my week.

Does anybody recognize this?  Kathie? This the the fabulous Crafty Lady Trio.  This is an old friend and my #5 knitting goal.  You might not recognize it because I took the picture with my iPhone, and remember I am not a professional photographer!  How many times have I had to apologize for my pictures?  I just don't get any better.  See the class taking place?  I think there is always a class taking place at Crafty Lady Trio.  Linda and I have gone to Crafty Lady Trio for so long that it was only Crafty Lady when we started.  It is 105.4 miles from Linda's drive way to the parking place right in front of the shop.  Linda and I have taken so many classes at Crafty Lady: 1) Crayon Box Jacket; 2) Valentina Devine; 3) Koigu Mitered Squares; 4) Maggie Jackson; 5) Stash Buster; 6) Magic Ball and more.  Linda and I have left home at 7:00 a.m. to get to morning classes and we've gotten home at 11:30 p.m. from evening classes.

This is the very first Crayon Box Jacket Linda and I ever saw and it is still there!  We saw it and fell in love and had to make one.

This is my very first Crayon Box.  The base yarns are wool and the decorative yarns are many.  Linda loved making the first Crayon Box so much she wanted to make a cotton one.

This is my cotton Crayon box.  I got the beautiful cotton yarn (I don't generally like cotton and really don't consider it yarn.  I think of it as string)  at the Quarter Stitch in New Orleans.  Notice the buttons on both jackets.  I learned the beauty of stacking buttons from Martina during the Crayon Box class.  It is something I always do.

This is really difficult to see, but the first time Linda and I saw this sweater, we drop our purses, yarns and jaws.  It is that fabulous Modular Knitting inspired by Valentina Devine.  We immediately signed up for the classes once again with the fabulous Martina.  

This is my Modular sweater back and one front.  Oh, my!  It wouldn't take much for this to be a finished modular sweater.  Why didn't I think to make this part of my knitting goals?!?!?!  So little efforts to check off a goal.  

This vest made me a little crazed when I saw it.  I decided I could make and sell purses designed using knitted fabric like this vest.  I obsessed a bit and began collecting yarn to make the magical purses.  Linda and I even took a class (I think it may have been from Martina again), then I got bored with it all.  It made me wonder, how do people do the same thing over and over and over and over without going completely crazy.  It would like only being able to knit scarfs with one yarn and not even one you loved but one some else would buy and sometimes not someone with great taste.  WOW!  I think I just figured out why I have a yarn stash which would fill The Joe (for you folks who are not from Michigan that would be Joe Louis Arena home of the Detroit Red wings.)  I just get bored.  I think I may be an Adrenalin Junkie, you know, always looking for the "Yarn Rush."

Linda and I were waited on by this very helpful, very sweet girl.  She helped with with a Stephen West wrap and an Alchemy wrap.  I was a little disappointed that we didn't know anybody there.  There was no Martina, no Meagan, of course no Jan since she left years ago.  I loved Jan.  She had bold taste and attitude.

Next we went to the Knitting Room in Birmingham where a class was also in progress.  The Knitting Room is where I took the Knit Swirl class. The fabulous Norah Gaughan will be at the Knitting Room in June and Linda and I signed up for the class.  That is another of my knitting goals for the year; to take a knitting class.  Having goals is amazing.  It keeps me focused and on track.  It reminds me what I want to accomplish.  Since I published my goals at Knitting: A Love Story, I have publicly declared what I will do.  That keeps me honest.

There is Linda in the teal (of, course.  Linda loves teal!) The Knitting Room has begun carrying Shibui Yarn which I love.  Shibui started as the sister of Knit Purl in Portland and has recently gone out on their own.  Good luck to a thoroughly modern yarn company.  

You can see what a great day I had.  Visited Craftly Lady Trio, got a project for our trip to North Carolina the first week in May (I forgot to mention that.  After my cry for an intervention, I realized I'm not an addict but a collector.  Remember?), signed up for a knitting class and spent the day with Linda.  WOW! What a day.

My Knitting Resolution #4 was about knitting with Twisted Fiber Art Evolution (a resolution about evolution, so poetic!).  I picked this pattern and yarn in February, then Noro intervened.  I loved knitting the Noro, but  I also loved knitting this beautiful, lacey scarf.  Originally I thought I would make this out of the Boreal shown in the picture.  I even knit several inches.  Then I thought I would try Minstrel in Tasty. . .

I love Tasty and love the colorway Minstrel, so I was pretty happy with how it turned out.  

I love, love, love this.  I love the evolution of the color from purple through orange through gold through green without once showing an obvious or abrupt change.  That's what Evolution is all about.  For a color geek like me, it is perfect.  I get all different colors without multiple cakes (I love it that Twisted Fiber Art calls them cakes instead of balls or skeins) of yarn.  

This is the beautiful lacey pattern.  You can see the shadow of my iPad.  That is not an abrupt color change just  Jan the very unprofessional photographer.  Remember, I am not a writer, photographer or tech person, just a person who loves knitting and telling stories.  This obviously is not travel knitting.  It is a lovely curl up in front of the TV (I NEVER watch TV without knitting.  I don't even know if I am able to watch TV without knitting) project.  You do have to refer to the pattern every row.  I think it is a 22 or 44 row pattern, but with a trusty post-it note and several markers, it is very easy.  I am sure you already do this, but I always put markers between each pattern repeat that way if you make a mistake you know immediately rather than at the end of the row.

I think Lydia looks fabulous in my creation.  Can't you just see how any scarf or shawl or cowl would look more beautiful in Evolution? You can take the simplest of patterns and it becomes a WOW when you substitute one of the Evolution cakes.  (I just love saying cake. Cake, cake, cake.  It is sweet and yummy just like a piece of cake.)

Can you believe just one scrumptious cake of yarn produced all of these beautiful colors?!?!?! 

I have five passions: Knitting (of course) and all things connected like collecting yarn and buttons, golfing, reading, earrings and playing bridge. On Tuesday, I am hosting one of my bridge groups.  Winner gets a gift.  This is going to be the winner's gift.  I think they will love it.

On Monday, Linda and I are going to work on #5 of my knitting goals.  I can't wait to share our trip with you.  I also have some exciting news about Ann's By Design to share next week.