Friday, February 22, 2008

AND THE WINNER IS.............

I spent several hours rearranging and reorganizing the yarn closet yesterday. I pulled everything out, and put it all back with the exception of the Rowan and RYC yarns. This is what I was left with;


(does anyone think there may be a problem here?)

I counted and photographed it all, added the photos to Flickr, and entered it into the Ravelry data base this morning. I have to admit, I made a guess before counting, and I ended up with TWICE as much as I thought I had.

So without further adieu, and much fanfare, the grand total in yards is 57,041, which converts to 52,158.29 meters, making the winner;

Diana T, with her guess of 46,000 meters!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I will give Diana her choice of Rowan Summer Tweed in either Morning Glory or Gold.

I just want to thank everyone who played. I had no idea that SO many people read my blog. Sort of makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Now I need to knit some sweaters so I'll be warm and fuzzy on the outside too!

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Enjoying my vacation.

Well, I'm back from the AKG retreat at The Mountain. We had mostly wonderful weather this year. The drive up on Friday was clear. Saturday I arose to a beautiful sunrise. It was so sunny and nice we were able to knit outside on the large deck for a while in the afternoon. Sunday we awoke to fog, which gradually turned to drizzle, and then fairly heavy rain by evening. There was even a bit of thunder and lightning. It was a great day to be by the fire in the logde and knit. I got quite a bit done that day. Before midnight, the clouds cleared and the moon and stars were back out. Monday again we had a beautiful sunrise, and perfect weather for the drive home. The week-end passed by much too quickly, and I'm already counting the days 'til next years retreat.
Me and a few of the guys did make it into Franklin on Saturday to visit a LYS called Silver Threads & Golden Needles. It was a great little shop, and probably the first time there were ever FIVE male knitters in there at one time. The main room housed all the yarn, and there was quite a bit of luxury yarn to be had. (quiviut, bison, cashmere, angora, silk, etc...) There was a second, smaller room for weaving, and yet another room for needlepoint. The owner was very nice, and seemed genuinely happy to see all of us. It's definitely worth the stop if you find yourself in or near Franklin, NC. I did find one little treasure while I was there that I had never seen before. It is from Zitron, a German yarn company, and it's called Unikat. It is not twisted, or spun, but lightly felted instead. I recognized the colorway (#6, Earth), because we carry the pencil roving at Knitch from the same company. It's a bulky yarn and knits up at 12 stitches per 4 inches on size 10 1/2 - 11 needles. You get 175 yds. in 100 grams, and it runs right around $25 per skein. (Coming soon to Knitch!) I fell in love with the colors! I think it's probably going to become a hat.


I did get quite a bit of knitting done. I only brought two projects with me this year, and only worked on one of them. I cast on for Jared Flood's Cobblestone pullover. I'm using Debbie Bliss aran tweed in a beautiful blue with purple and rust flecks.

I knitted up five balls worth of yarn while I was there, and polished off a sixth one last night. It's a very easy knit, and hopefully it will look good on me. Apparently this style of sweater looks good on a wide range of body types. I'm sure I won't looks as good as Jared, or the model in Interweave Knits. I guess I need to send away for some of that magic yarn from Mrs. Weasley!

Not sure what I'm going to do with the rest of my week off. I need a haircut. It's starting to go a bit shaggy on me. I haven't had it cut since last fall. I like the new longer length, but it needs a trim. There are a couple of movies I want to check out this week, and I have a free two week pass to a gym that is right across the street from where I work. I REALLY need to get back into that habit! and.......... Oh yeah! I do need to take a yarn inventory this week don't I? Of course, being the procrastinator that I am, I'm sure I will wait 'til Thursday to do it. I once tried to start a Yahoo group for procrastinators like myself, but no one ever got around to joining it. Oh well.........

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

I've gone to Carolina in my mind.

OMG! Who are all you people! I had no idea that this many people read my blog! I guess it just took a little free yarn to bring y'all out of the woodwork. Welcome!

Of course, now I most definitely HAVE to get in there and clean up that yarn closet, just to get an accurate inventory. It's a good thing I have next week off! If you are second guessing yourself, I have no problem with you taking a second stab at it. Just say "final answer" by your last guess, and I'll go by that one instead of your first one. No more guesses after midnight EST on Thursday, February, 21st. I'll post the results on Friday the 22nd.

For those of you who don't know me, I'm in the wholesale floral industry, so with Valentine's Day just days away, you can probably guess what I've been doing. In the past few days, I've sent out over $25,000 worth of product, and I'm not done yet. This is my 13th VD, and it never seems to get any easier. I am SO looking forward to Friday afternoon when I load up the car, pick up a couple of my knitting buddies, and head for the mountains of North Carolina for our annual knitting guild retreat. There will be SIX men in attendance this year. (there were 4 of us last year, and 3 the year before - the first year guys ever attended) I am looking forward to staying up late, sleeping late, knitting, eating, (OK, maybe a little knitting water), and just hangin' out with one of the best groups of people you'ld ever want to meet. If I don't post again before then, I'll see y'all when I get back. Keep those guesses coming!

Saturday, February 9, 2008

Contest time!

OK gang, in an attempt to get my butt into the "yarn supply closet" to reorganize, and actually post some of my stash on Ravelry, I have devised a little contest.

You must guess how many total meters of Rowan and RYC yarn I have in my posession. (I must admit, I'm more than just a little afraid to find out exactly how much I do have.)

Here are a few hints that may help you out a bit;
  • Rowan and RYC yarns are some of my favorites!
  • I usually buy my yarn by the bag.
  • I try to get enough of one color to make a 2XLT sweater.
  • If I like the yarn, (or the sale is really good), I'll buy more than one color.
  • Most of my Rowan / RYC yarn is aran - chunky weight.
  • In one of my earlier posts, there is a photo of my yarn closet. (not all of my yarn is visible in the photo )

At this very moment I have absolutely NO idea how many meters of yarn I have. I am off work the week of February 18 - 22, and will post results on Friday, February 22nd. Cut off for posting guesses will be midnight, Thursday, February 21st. Whoever comes closest, without going over, will win a full bag of Rowan yarn. If your guess is within 500 meters, I'll make it two full bags. (type and color to be determined while I am taking inventory.)

Have fun, and good luck!