Ann's By Design has been getting some new yarns in.  We are changing from being exclusively Cascade to offering some additional companies.  I say "Hurray!!!"  Variety is the spice of life and I prefer my life very spicy.  When a new yarn comes in, Ann's Knitters try to knit samples.  I am a sucker for a sample and I think other people are, too.  Let me introduce you to the first new yarn, Shawl In A Ball from Lion Yarn.  Isn't that the best name ever!?!?  So much better than saying, "This ball contains enough fiber to knit a shawl."   

This is what Shawl In A Ball looks like.  All balls are multi-colored.  The colors are many.  Some are sparkley (my personal favorite) and some are not.  I decided I wanted to think outside the box and showcase the yarn in a special way.  Linda Schwamm and I decided to co-teach a class on The Possibilities For Shawl In A Ball.  There are several patterns put out by Lion Yarn to use with Shawl In A Ball and then there is my idea. 

I used 2 different colorways of Shawl In A Ball, one sparkley and one not.  Both were kind of Roy G. Biv. (Remember when I learned what Roy G. Biv was?!?!?!?!)  

I used the free Ravelry pattern Zick Zack scarf by Christy Kamm.  I did quite a bit of knabbling (dabbling in knitting) to figure out what exactly I wanted to do, how I was going to do it and what I was going to use.  I love knabbling so much.  When I start, I don't really know where I'll end up but I know I'll have fun getting there.

This was our class.  I was so excited because some of my favorite knitters showed up.  From left to right, there is Michelle, Patience and Gloria.

And there is Kay and Kathy.  We had so much fun.

"Let's have some fun!" Michelle said.

We even had a furry participant.  This is Shannon also known as Miss Princess Shannon.  Patience was baby sitting.  The last time she left her home alone, Shannon ate the remote so sitting in on Shawl In A Ball class seemed like a great idea.  Shannon was a perfect lady.   

My learning from Shawl In A Ball:  Don't limit yourself to the expected or usual.  Fabulous discoveries occur when knabbling.  Now let's look at the next new yarn.

This is Pendenza from Plymouth Yarn a 100% Egyptian cotton that comes in yummy shades.  Plymouth designed several patterns for Pendenza but once again, I thought I'd do some knabbling.  

I've had Caprino Wrap in my iBooks for months.  I have always been fascinated with the dropped stitch creating a lacy pattern.  Ok, now see that?  What do you think of. . . 

this?  I think it is spectacular and am so proud of it.  Originally, I thought I would teach a Caprino Wrap class but it may be too difficult (or I don't have enough patience.)  I love It and it now lives at Ann's By Design as a sample.  

Dick and I leave Tuesday for a few days in New Orleans, my belated birthday gift.  What is really exciting is that for sure I will be visiting one of the most exciting LYS in the country and one of my personal favorites, The Quarter Stitch.  I have been introduced to many exciting, new yarns at The Quarter Stitch.  I can't wait to share my visit to the Quarter Stitch with you.  

In the mean time, I would like to leave you with this inspirational message. 

Just think about it!  Will be back next weekend.

Here I am at the Coastal Condo after a pretty rough winter emotionally and weather-wise.  This was the perfect place to get my life back on track.  It seems funny not to constantly worry about Mom being ok or to wait for the 5:45 call every night saying "I just wanted you to know I'm going to stay here tonight" or to see something and think, "I'll have to tell Mom about that." Like the wren nesting in the wreath on our front door.  It has been a hoot watching the eggs hatch, the mother sit and even one day both Mama and Papa were feeding them.  Dick's brother and sister-in-law from Kansas have been here with us.  Of course, any time away from home requires planning and decision making around knitting.  This trip was no different.  

I brought Marvelous Folly for car knitting and knitting when Donn and Andi were here.  It's perfect for both.  No referring to a pattern, beautiful colors and just enough technique not to be boring. Ann's By Design is going to be part of the I-75 Yarn Crawl in August and a variation of Marvelous Folly may be a Yarn Crawl Kit.

I brought Fever Dreams to knit because I was frustrated with it and thought I could work past my frustrations in my place of peace when Donn and Andi left.  This is one of those Pinterest discoveries.  It popped up and I fell in love.  I had a hard time finding the exact Fever Dreams I wanted.  My new favorite online store Kitterly carried Fever Dreams but just in the small size which which only has three instead of five of the rainbow colors.  It seemed wrong not to complete the beautiful color sequence.  As a matter of fact, searching for Fever Dreams was how I found Kitterly.  My frustration with Fever Dreams was the colors are much more subtle than I anticipated with each color wrapped in a ply of the gray yarn from the main color.  

I also brought the yummy FiberStory yarn for my KAL with Linda.  Since this is the Year Of The Closer, I brought a scarf to finish but I lost interest in that somewhere between Marietta, Ohio and Sunset Beach.  If a project doesn't bring me joy, I immediately drop it from my "To Knit" list. I guess I am still practicing "My Year Of Selfish Knitting."  Maybe another time it will ring my bell, but not this week.

​Well, that's what I brought but how am I doing?

I was right.  Marvelous Folly was perfect for car knitting.  I got quite a bit done on the trip down. With Donn and Andi, I could knit and talk in complete harmony.  See! I really have quite a bit done.

On Tuesday, Linda and I FaceTimed and did our Long Distance KAL. This is the gorgeous Heaven and Space we're knitting. 

We each had our special wine glasses because therapy is a lot of what we do together.  It was great. I must admit we do more gabbing and sipping than we do knitting. My plan was to work on Fever Dreams during the day and Heaven and Space in the evening.  Since Linda is working I thought that would keep me from knitting way ahead.  Well, the best laid plans and all that.

When Donn and Andi left for their two days in Charleston, I got Fever Dreams out to work out my frustrations.  Suddenly I was hooked.  I found myself not knitting Heaven and Space.  I just wanted to knit and knit Fever Dreams. Then I realized I might be able to finish Fever Dreams before we returned to Michigan.  That was until TRAGEDY happened.  It involved Miss Tess.  I was knitting and in the middle of a row.  The phone rang and I put Fever Dreams on the couch.  All of a sudden Tess decided to do her Zoomies for the day.  For those of you who don't know what Zoomies are. . .  they involve a lot of racing around, jumping on furniture and repeating that pattern over and over.  All of a sudden I realized that attached to Tess's paw was Fever Dreams. As she was racing, she was wrapping the yarn around everything in her path.  When we finally caught her (no easy task), the needles which had been stopped in the middle of the middle of the row were separated by about 12 stitches and had raveled back anywhere from 1 to 9 rows.  EEK!!!!!!!

Look between the pens.  That's the number of stitches and rows that unraveled.  Needless to say, I was distraught but how can you get mad at this.

I started trying to decide how I was going to fix this.  I decided on using my favorite fixing technique; weaving dropped stitches up from their horrible descent. The positive of this method is not having to take out rows and rows of stitches then reknit them.  MOST of the time it saves time. I worked for about 45 minutes and decided it was never going to work.  Remember the ply I told you about that was wrapped around the original color?  Red wrapped in gray, green wrapped in gray, cream wrapped in gray.  What made the Spincycle yarn so unique also made it almost impossible to weave up.  On to Plan B which was to FROG (rip it, rip it) back to within 1 row of where I wanted to be then TINK (knit backwards) that one row.  It is faster that all TINKING and safer than just  FROGGING.  Once again the double wrapped stitches were almost impossible to see to put the live stitches back on the needle.  Horrifying to say the least!  Four hours later I was back where I started and exhausted.  Who said knitting isn't exercise?????? But once again. . .

Who can get mad at this??  Everything is fixed and I am on my way.  Who said knitting isn't exciting?  Who said knitting isn't a mystery to be solved.  Certainly not me.  I did learn three important lessons from the tragedy.  Never stop in the middle of a row, never lay your knitting on the couch and NEVER, NEVER underestimate the power of Zoomies.

We're tucked into the Coastal Condo waiting for Donn and Andi, Dick's brother and sister-in-law to arrive. That will be for another post.  Last weekend I attended my first P.E.O. (Philanthropic Educational Organization) convention and it was a grand experience.  My good friend Janet McDowell and I went together.  We were roomies and she led me through my responsibilities as a delegate.  As a relatively new member of this international organization which supports women to be the best they can be, I was looking forward to learning more about my new found sisterhood.  I learned about P.E.O. but I also made new knitting friends.  How, may  you ask, can you make knitting friends at a conference that at first blush has nothing to do with knitting?  

Do you recognize Stripe Study Shawl using Twisted Fiber Art Evolution in Juicy?  I tucked it into my suitcase.  I really don't know why because Michigan's weather last weekend was beautiful.  After about 10 minutes in the hotel conference room, I knew why I brought it.  It was FREEZING!  If you remember, I am a hot person.  I AM NEVER COLD.  But here I was freezing but I had Stripe Study in my suitcase.  I put it on and almost immediately, people started asking me about it.  It's almost like taking Tess for a walk when everyone stops us and tells us how beautiful she is.

Today is Tess's 1st birthday and this is her birthday picture.  Let's get back to my knitting story but isn't she adorable!

I've always loved this shawl.  In fact I love it so much I couldn't give it away at Christmas.  When P.E.O. sisters asked me about my shawl, I was excited to say, "I knit it" and would give them Knitting: A Love Story's address.  I am so excited because I have already received one comment from a conference attendee.  

What a great surprise!  Not only do I think Stripe Study is amazing but other people do too!!!  I was thrilled.  I was sitting in one of the early sessions, observing all of the happy, upbeat women, supporting each other and enjoying themselves.  All of a sudden I thought of my friend Debbie Krause.  

Remember how I ran into her at the Fiber Expo.  Debbie is one of the most upbeat women I've ever met.  I could just picture Debbie being a P.E.O.  She would so fit it!  On Saturday morning, who did I run into?  DEBBIE KRAUSE!   She is a P.E.O.!!!!  She was with a couple of women and Debbie said, "This is Jan Parson who writes Knitting: A Love Story."  This one woman used the word "inspirational" and I was in 7th Heaven!!!  Convention was 2 days of happiness, joy and friendship.  It was great.  It was special being there with Janet McDowell.  All of a sudden the thought hit me like a ton of bricks, a bolt of lighting, a visit from Santa Clause.  I have to give Strip Study to Janet for all of the help and support she has provided me in P.E.O.  Let me introduce to you my friend Janet McDowell wearing her new shawl Stripe Study.

I think the Juicy colorway looks stunning with Janet's beautiful white hair.  Needles to say, she was very surprised.  She loved it.  

My first P.E.O. convention was wonderful.  I learned lots, met many wonderful, strong, joyful women and got to talk knitting in an unexpected place.  It left little doubt in my mind that knitting is a universal language of the sisterhood of knitters.  Would you like to join?

There was a time there was no doubt; most of my yarn purchases were from LYS.  Now I think I buy more yarn online.  Just like having favorite LYS, I have favorite online stores.  Let me talk about some of the online shops I've shared with you over the past four years.  

My very first online store was Webs.  I used it when I needed something but didn't feel like getting in the car and going to Ann Arbor or Toledo.  I really didn't impulse buy.  It is always such a surprise to get your discount at the end. My downfall was when online stores started sending me emails.  Now I have my list of co-conspirators who on a weekly basis send me things I can't live without.  

I have no idea how Noble Knits found me but they did.  I think they heard, "If you want to sell a lot of yarn, find Jan Parson."  Once or twice a week I get a "sale of the day" email.  They have great sales with fabulous yarn but they are just for one day.  You know where this is going, don't you!?!?! I'll get the email and before I know what's happening, I've bought on sale yarn.  Some is so inexpensive that I just can't pass it up.  Then there is Little Knits which does the same thing.  On sale for today only.  Mostly, they are great yarns not just "I want to clean out old yarn."  Then they'll have the "discontinued colors" and you know what that does to me.  Noble Knits and Little Knits.  If you haven't visited them online, please do.

Websters also found me.  Another co-conspirator to my yarn stash much in the same way as Noble Knits and Little Knits.  They send and I buy.  

Earthfaire makes my heart sing.  About once a week I get an email with spectacular patterns which have been kitted so all you have to do is buy.  She picks out marvelous patterns and scrumptious yarns.  I can't resist.  My queue has many projects I've purchased from Earthfaire.  When Dick had his heart surgery, I was looking for a specific book to study while Dick was hospitalized.  I couldn't find it anywhere but wonderful Earthfaire got it for me and set up a special section that only I could buy from.  After that I will buy anything she puts out.  One of the issues has become separation of pattern from fiber.  Most of the patterns are purchased on Ralvelry but the fiber purchased from Earthfaire.  Sometimes, really more than I want to admit, the pattern and fiber gets separated and I don't have a clue what plans I have for the fiber.   

Do you remember this?  I bought this from Caterpillar Green that wonderful online store which only sells its own yarn which knits up to make amazing shawls.  This is one skein of yarn.  Caterpillar Green is now called Gage.  I have almost as much Caterpillar Green yarn as I have Twisted Fiber Art.  I have a couple of tubs of this gorgeous yarn just waiting for me to decide how to  use it.  

I have discovered a new online store which I adore.  It is called Kitterly.  That means they kit up exquisite kits just for me.  I have purchased several kits which you will see when I finish them.

Then there is Miss Babs which I just discovered.  Kathy bought some yarn which I couldn't resist.  The colorway is called Zombie Prom.  

Isn't it beautiful!!!!!  This is worsted in merino and silk.  Some people say they don't like to buy yarn they can't touch, but can't you tell just by looking at this how yummy it is going to feel.  

Then there is online store/LYS/fiber festival seller Twisted Fiber Art.  I think I have purchased more from the online store than either of the other options.

What is there about online yarn stores!?!?!?!?! You can buy at midnight in your jammies with a glass of wine.  You don't have to spend an hour or two driving or a day on a plane.  They are with you whenever, where ever you need them.  And now that you have PayPal, well, it is all very quick and easy.  LYS may once have been my main source of fiber but I must admit most of of stash comes from online stores.  Just like fiber festivals where you can visit many sellers in a very short time, you can travel all over the world buying yarn in an hour.  I used to get all of my Kauni from an online store in Denmark before it was sold in the US.  I hope you will visit my favorite online stores and when you do tell them Jan sent you.