Back from a great weekend away

What a nice weekend. We left on Friday night and it was really rough, windy and late so we got a room for the night and decided to boat down to Nelson Island on Sat. Good decision as the wind calmed down a lot and there was only 5 foot waves instead of 8 - 10 foot wave. Big difference in a 24 foot boat. Once we arrive we unpacked had a nap and then I put together the new Joy wheel. I sat out on the front deck of the cabin in the sun and spun for a few hours. I actually didn't get any pictures of me spinning or the new wheel. The Ashford Joy is a wonderful wheel. It spins just like my Ashford Traditional (which I love) only it can fold this up and stick it in a bag and take it places without it falling apart. I will get some pictures of it later in the week. I love it. Anyone interested in trying it the wheel will be at the store (unless I am on holidays).
After a wonderful night of star gazing and sleeping we went out on the boat to a great pebble beach near our cottage. The place was a farm on Nelson Island for many years and is now open to people to come and enjoy. The first pictures are of pebble beach. I didn't get any pictures of the way to Nelson Island it was too rough. Then pictures of our boat at anchor while we played on the beach. Our daughter in law Lorna was at the Island for the weekend too and she came with us to the pebble beach. This picture is her all dressed in winter coat and scarf on the way home with my husband still in his bathing suit was funny . About 20 minutes earlier her and I were contemplating swimming out to the boat from shore. I am really glad we didn't. It cooled off quick.
We had a nice fire on the beach that night and then the next morning we headed for home. I drove the boat part way home as I would like to learn to handle it better. It was very calm for the trip home. We only saw 2 dolphins on the way home, usually we see lots more.
You can see how much knitting I got done, not much. It was a great weekend. Now I have to get back to work and ready for the retreat.
I also have a bunch of pictures of Gibson's Fiberfest that I will show tomorrow.

Last call for the Retreat

I feel like a bar tender calling Last call but it is just that. We have a few spaces left and would love to fill them. Give us a call if you have been wanting to attend but not sure. We can only book for 1 more week.
Call 250-285-2751 or register on the internet

I got back from Gibsons last weekend and have been too busy to blog. it was amazing. My weaving class with Jane Stafford was awesome. I learned so much. Plain weave is way more exciting than it sounds. Jane is a great teacher and certainly taught me a lot. I would highly recommend any of her courses.
Selling at Gibsons was amazing also. My daughter ran the booth for 2 days and I ran it on Saturday once my course was done. What fun this show was.
I am taking off this weekend for Nelson Island again for a few days of spinning/ knitting/sleeping/ swimming/ boating and real relaxing. I just got in a new Ashford Joy wheel as a demo wheel for the store so I am taking it and a bag of fleece away with me. Can't wait.

Store hours for Aug 19 - 23

Once again I am going to be away and the store will be closed a few days next week.
Aug 19 - Open 10 am - 4:30pm
Aug 20 - closed
Aug 21- Open 10am - 4:30pm
Aug 22 - closed
Aug 23 - Open 1am - 5 pm

Getting ready to go to Gibson's

This summer is going so quickly. I can't believe it is nearly time for Gibson's Landing Fibre Arts Festival.
I have been working hard labeling yarn and getting everything ready. Tonight a friend was over and we braided a bag of fibre from Sweatermaker. It was fun and hard to resist sitting down and spinning 1 or 2 of these fleeces. They are so beautiful. My niece also helped braid the fibre and she was bitten by the spinning bug. I think she will be a future spinner. She got the feel of spinning pretty quickly and her 1st yarn was not too bad.
I also got in the Noro Silk Garden Sock yarn just in time for Gibson's. It is really nice and soft. It is thicker than the Noro Kureyon sock yarn. Of course I had to cast on a pair of socks. I think I will make a pair in every colour.
I will put this yarn on the internet when I come back from Gibson's

Back from Holidays

We had a great holiday. First we met all our kids at our property on Nelson Island. It was a great weekend. It is so nice to all get together and play. It was a beautiful weather weekend and we spent a lot of time in the ocean swimming. The first picture is all of the kids. The close ones are on the island in front of the property and the far ones are on the big rock on the main property.
The next picture is Meika and I swimming. She can swim really far and fast for a 3 year old. She is taking swimming lesson and she is quite brave in the water.
The 3rd picture is the little island at high tide
4th - Our friend in his boat - the water was an amazing colour. This is low tide
5th - a picture of my oldest son and his friend out sailing.
We really had a great time. I didn't get much knitting done except when we were travelling. It was a busy weekend. We got home late Monday and had to leave again early Tuesday to go to Deafblind camp in Burnaby.
We had a long day of travel on Tuesday as there were HUGE ferry line ups and I forgot to reserve the ferry. It was a hot day too so not too much fun.
We arrived late on Tuesday to camp and settled in. Wed my special needs son went sailing. Now this may sound like quite a normal camp activity but it was really special for us. This is the first time he has ever gone out with someone who didn't know him at all. We weren't allowed to go with him. It seemed so strange to watch him get lowered into the water and go out sailing. He loved it. What a neat program this is. It is to offer special needs people the opportunity to feel free.
1st picture the guys at camp
2nd 3rd and 4th picture Cam
5th picture Meika buried up to her neck at the beach while Cam was out sailing.
The next day we went to the Vancouver Aquarium but I ran out of battery on my camera. We got to see the newborn baby Beluga Whale and so much more. The kids had a great time. We had a big barbecue on Friday night and came home on Sat. the ferry line- ups weren't as bad so it was a better trip home.
Tomorrow the store will be open as usual and all week will be regular hours Tues - Sat 10am - 5pm.
The week of Aug 17- 24 I will be gone again. This time we are going to Gibson's Fibre fest. - more to come on that.

I am going on holidays

I am going away on 2 different holidays over the next 10 days. The store will have a few days closed so here are the details.
Friday Aug.1 - closed
Sat. Aug 2 - Open - Deb will be working

Tues. Aug 5 - Open - Deb will be working
Wed. Aug. 6 - Open - Mom will be working
Thurs Aug 7 - closed
Friday Aug 8 - closed
Sat. Aug 9 - Open - Deb will be working

So hope nobody desperately needs yarn on Aug 1, 7 and 8.
I am going to my cottage for the long weekend with all of my kids and families. Hope we get good weather.
Then on Tuesday we are going to Deafblind Family camp in Burnaby. this is an annual event for us and we always have a great time.
See you when I get back

The reteat is changing locations

We are changing locations for the Fun Knits Knitting retreat this fall featuring Ann and Eugene Bourgeois of Philosopher's Wool. TsaKwaLuten didn't have enough room for all of us so we are moving the retreat to April Point Resort& Spa still on Quadra Island.
This place is as nice as it sounds. It is in a beautiful location and has great food.
There are a few more bonuses to moving the retreat. If you want to avoid the ferry cost you can park your car at Painter's Lodge in Campbell River and take the free water taxi to April Point. They also have Motor bikes, bicycles and Kayaks for rent.

You only have 1 week left to take advantage of the lower rate of $325. - the rate goes up to $350 after July 25th. We only have double rooms and private rooms left. Double rooms are $40. extra for the weekend and private rooms are $90. extra.
Book soon if you want to come as this retreat is filling up quickly. You can register online or phone the store at 250-285-2751 to register.

Picnic fun and new weaving loom

The picnic was quite fun. We didn't get too many people out but everyone who came had a great time. They sat at the beach knitting and the kids swam, we ate tons of food, I was spinning and the kids really enjoyed watching that. Astor brought her collection of fun hats and some pattern for people to look at, By the way the hats and pattern will be on display in the store all week.
The youngest knitter to come was 6 years old. She was so cute.
The next news I have - I got a new weaving loom. It is big - I mean really big. It is a Woolhouse Gertrude and it is 5' wide. It takes up a good portion of our bedroom. It took 4 of us 4 hours to set it up last night. It is a really beautiful loom and I will love working on it. It feels so good and sturdy. I plan to make blankets - lots of blankets. Aside from having the yarn shop. I have a huge amount of stash yarn that I have collected over the years. I am going to weave blankets until my stash is gone. I have made a deal with myself that I will only weave from stash until it's all gone.
I am taking a course this summer with Jane Stafford on Perfectly Plain weave so with my little Louet table loom amd my new Woolhouse I should be all set to weave for years.

Fibery Fun Potluck Picnic

Anyone want to come - Friday July 11 - 5:30 pm until whenever at Rebecca Spit on Quadra Island. We are going to be joined by Astor she is an up and coming knitwear designer from Vancouver. She has several patterns published and teaches knitting in Vancouver. She will be bringing some of her designs to show everyone.
I think this will be a fun get together. - So bring some picnic food - your knitting and or spinning wheel - families - and lets have fun knitting/spinning at the beach.
It looks like we are in for a good week weather wise so hope it continues into next weekend.

Spinning as usual on Tuesday

Fun Knits will be open on Canada Day and there will be spinning as usual in the morning. Can't think of a better way to start Canada Day celebration.

The Fibrefest I missed

As all of you know I missed going to the Fiberfest this year. But thanks to cell phones and the Internet I felt like I was there. I got a full set of fashion show pictures, another full set of Sivia's presentation plus lots of Knit Out pictures.
My daughter and I cell phone shopped in the morning. She went around to each booth highlighting what they had in there booths and i talked to lots of the vendors who are friends.
Raven, Joan, Mary and Sarah all helped at the booth and I can't than k them enough for this. They all did a great job.
Judy sat in front of the booth and spun.
It was a nice day but windy and it looks like everyone had fun.
Here are some pictures starting with the fashion show and of course Meika wearing the little Kauni skirt set I made for her. The next picture is Marilyn the Fiberfest coordinator holding up my ravelry picture I sent to say hi to everyone. The rest are Sivia's presentation which I wish I could have been too and then the Knit out. Trish from Indigo Moon is talking to me on the phone.
So I still was very much a part of the weekend thanks to technology and friends and family.

The yarn has left home

Well I really wondered how it would be to pack up the Van with yarn for the Knit Out and then watch as the crew left this morning. Well it is very much like sending your little one to camp for the weekend for the first time. I know it is in good hands but I will not be there to over see everything. There is a lot of yarn going down to Victoria for the Knit Out and the store looks a bit sparse but there is still a lot of yarn here if anyone is coming to Quadra for the weekend.

Since I can't go to the Victoria FibreFest weekend I am going to rely on others to blog about it and or email me about it.

If you are in the Victoria area don't forget to check out the fun weekend that is planned. It looks like we might even get nice weather.

Look who came to cheer me up

I was expecting my husband home from Vancouver yesterday. He went down to Meika's 3rd birthday party. When he came in he asked me to go get him something so I left to get it and then he called me to come help him. Look what he was hiding. Meika. She jumped into my arms and said "I love you Grandma." What a wonderful surprise. Similar to this surprise.
I have been quite down about missing everything lately so this cheered me up a lot. Last night before bed I read Meika a story about a Grandma making a blueberry pie with her grand child so guess what we did first thing this morning. Made a Blueberry pie.
Megan and Meika will be here all week before going to the Victoria FibreFest.

Victoria FibreFest next weekend

Wow this snuck up quickly. The annual Victoria FibreFest and Knit Out is coming this weekend.
Look how much fun we had last year. I just looked at the weather forecast (scroll down for the long range forecast). It looks like the Knit Out day will have great weather - Sunny partly cloudy a high of 18C and S winds 5k and a 10% chance of rain.
I hope that is an accurate forecast. I really hate subjecting the yarn to the elements. It is a lot of work to keep the yarn all dry in an outdoor (hurricane) market place.
Last year it was amazing how many people came and enjoyed the day inspite of the weather. Diehard BC knitters.
This year the fibrefest will have the same general layout
Fashion Show on Friday night - Meika will be in this modeling several garments - only 1 I knit.
Saturday - will be the yarn crawl and classes. Saturday night Sivia Harding will be the guest speaker
Sunday the Knit Out. Sivia has designed this fabulous shawl for the event and we will have kits available to make this shawl. Kits include 4 skeins of natural Silk 55%/Cashmere 45%, beads, pattern and a crochet hook for putting on the beads. The retail price of the kit is $84.95 and the Knit Out special will be $69.95. Plus we will have loads of great yarn.
The big difference this year is that I can't come. Fun Knits will still be there. I am so fortunate to have so many good people to help me out when I am having a bad time.

On Friday my husband Bill is going to help me pack up the store and head for Victoria by himself. He will meet Megan and Meika there. They will go to the fashion show and take lots of pictures I hope. Here is a picture of my husband so you can all be very kind to him. This is his first show without me.
On Saturday - Mary Tanti and Joan Powers are going to teach sock knitting for me. They have taught several classes with me before so they are ready to do it without me.
Saturday night I will be home pouting that I can't be there to see Sivia's presentation. My gang aren't going to that so if someone would send me pictures that would be great.
On Sunday Bill and troop will set up the booth. (This will be his first time setting up the yarn without me, I am a bit worried about this). Raven and Joan will be at the booth to help you buy yarn all day. Sarah has also volunteered to help out. I feel great about this. Many of you may have met Raven at the Victoria Sewing and Craft show. She helped me there also.
What a great group of people. I will miss being there but Fun Knits and all the yarn will be there.
I leave you with a pictures of Meika from her 3rd Birthday Party.(Which I also missed believe it or not)

World Wide Knit in Public Day - tomorrow

Yes tomorrow is a big day. That is the day that we are all supposed to proudly show off our knitting ability by getting together and knitting in public. I will be knitting in front of the store tomorrow. Anyone who would like to join me please come. It is always fun to knit with others.
If you can't come please take a few minutes and knit in public tomorrow.
Tomorrow is also a very great day for another reason. Tomorrow Meika turns 3 - amazing isn't it. She is such a big girl now. She shares a birthday with Stephanie aka Yarn Harlot.
I feel that increases Meika's odds for being a knitter. Meika is a the 6th generation on our side of the family that are knitter's. It is in her genes.
Happy Birthday Meika and Stephanie !!!!!

Horray!!! Grandma sent me a parcel

On this rainy stormy day I got a parcel full of socks from Grandma.

My favorite are the multi color pink cotton ones. My Elephant really loves them too, keeps his trunk nice and warm.

I am so excited that I can put these socks on all by my self... socks on more socks.

I have a bit of growing to do before the wool cherry tree hill ones fit me. But it wont take me long, Mom says Im growing up really fast!

Thank you for the socks Grandma. I love them!!!

Love Meika

Back on track

Looks like we are back on track and the store will be open regular hours starting today. The new guy at the group home is trained and the guy who had the heart attack is nicely recovering and will be back to work soon. Phewwwwwwwwww.
So what have I done over the past few weeks to ease stress. I knit Meika 3 pair (yes you read that correctly pair) of socks. Megan wanted some little short socks for her for summer so here they are. These socks are left to right - Cherry tree hill potluck Brights - Regia Not sure the # it was missing the ball band. and the new Paton's Stretch sock which is wonderful to knit with. It is a cotton/wool blend with nylon and elastic. This colour is Sugar. Love it.
I have also been spinning the most colourful fibre I could find. Not sure what I will make with it but it is lovely to spin. It is Louet Northern Lights Circus
It is amazing how these simple fibre arts can keep a persons mind OK during a very stressful time.