Yarn Crawl 2006 has come to an end… it was FANTASTIC! Here are some highlights of the journey…

6:30 am: Get on bus in Elicott City, MD

9:30 am: Arrive Manhattan, NYC

This is what I saw when we got off the bus in midtown.

I don’t know if you all know this about Mama-E… but she LOVES herself some Diddy.
Coleen was smart enough to map our destinations out and get a feel for where we should go…. you rock, friend!

Happy NEW YEAR! This is Times Square complete with the TRL studio in the upper right portion of the photo.

Walk past RENT Marquis… sing Seasons of Love like a BIG dorky tourist… annoy Coleen slightly… continue on to:

10:30 am:

SCHOOL PRODUCTS …. The family who owns this is really sweet. I will be seeing them at Stitches East. My review of School products is they have a big selection and you need to know some about fibers and yarns on the cone to truly get the best value. I bought this:

a 1lb hank of silk/viscose for my dyeing pleasure. Yea!

They do have some widely available yarns like this:

(For soapturtle… an ENTIRE wall of Lamb’s Pride in all weights and Cotton Fine.)

but their best deals are specialty fibers they have milled. Study up and make a list before you go. You will get a great deal.

Marie met us at School Products, shopped a little, and took us to her LYS: The Point.

We ate, we knit, and we were happy. I enticed one of my oldest and most-loved friends to join us… Arn! Arnold and I have been friends forever…. any day I get to spend with him is a fantastic one.

We ate…. we knit…we laughed (A LOT!) and pawed some Tilli Tomas yarn… I am in love. That silk with the beads in the red makes me go crazy!

My review of The Point: small and cozy. Good snacks, coffee, sandwiches. Great service staff with the usual NYC snark (in the best possible way). Carries a wide assortment of yarns and Marie’s handspun. A place that is perfect to gather and snug in for the day.

After The Point we got Arn to drive us to Downtown Yarns…in search of the elusive seasilk by Handmaiden.

2:00 pm Downtown Yarns:

How cute is that knitted web in the window?

Here is Arn being a great sport with the girls. Sadly, no seasilk was to be found . Theyh were all out and waiting for more. I am knitting some right now and understand the demand. It is heavenly. Big selection of yarns n the coziness of the Esat Villiage. There was some handmaiden seasilk… but not laceweight. Coleen got some stuff… and I was happy just to paw at more yarn. Even Arn was happy… well.. happy thinking about someone knitting for him. He is a non-knitter that enables us junkies suppports the fiber arts. He even drove us to Knit New York.

2:30 pm Knit New York:

There was a good selection of Alchemy Yarns that I HAD TO GET AWAY FROM. Step away from the Alchemy… man that stuff is top notch. I am inspired by it’s beauty and in awe of the craftmanship of the dyeing.

More coffee was consumed ( did I mention that I got up at 4:30 am to make it to the bus?) and sadly… Arnold was off. Time to go play a gig… thanks man! Love you!

4pm: Knitting wind down

We were sadly denied a frozen hot chocolate a Serendipity…. they had a 2 hour wait time. Marie, Coleen, and I went to get some dinner and drinks… Raspberry mojitos that may or may not tasted like cough syrup. Anyhow… alchohol + lack of sleep = tired and loopy Mama and Coleen.

5:15 pm:

Sadly, our day had come to an end after a brief trip to Dylan’s Candy Bar…. we said goodbye to my girl Marie and headed off to the bus.

Now…. I am from the NYC area and my dad took me to the city many, many times when I was a little girl. We always ended up at St. Patricks Cathedral. This was one of my dad’s favorite places. I feel close to him in the city… and even closer when I am here.

And this guy… outside of St. Pat’s cracked me up. You can’t really see that he is walking with the FRAME of an umbrella in a hurricane… soaking wet and looking at us as if we have a problem. Go on brother….

6:30 pm: The bus departs.

Ok… tired, wet, and very happy…. we get back on the bus. Coleen and I sit apart..and that is ok because the SPACIOUS accomodations on the bus are only spacious if you are a small child or a tiny adult. Everyone is talking about their day and we pull off….. but wait! We end back the bus meeting point. Why you say?

a COUPLE MISSED THE BUS and called the depot. The driver was NICE ENOUGH to turn around and get them. They never said thank you to him. Not once. Apparently, they may or may not have sat in the seat I coveted on their ride up. I felt NO NEED to accomodate them and left them to get the last available seats together on the bus. The ones in front of the bathroom. If they were nicer to the driver I may have felt differently. My ride home was very comfortable even though I frogged and cast-on again for the lace wings shawl.

The decision was made for YARN CRAWL to happen every Labor Day Week from here on in…. I can’t wait until 2007. Many, many thanks to my friends whom I love so much. Arn, Coleen, and Marie… you really made my year!

I had a fantastic day yesterday! I have no damn pictures for your pleasure…camera+dead batteries=guided imagery (sp?) of the day.

I left Charm City at 9:30 pm to go meet Lolly . We headed down to Springwater Fiber Workshop where we met up with Carole…. yup…strangelittlemama herself!

Ok… after the usual first date awkwardness that lasted, oh…maybe 30 seconds… we delved right into the good stuff. Pawing and petting the fiber at Springwater… the place is cool. It is a working school for fiber arts and has lines of their own stuff and lotsa fiber to play with. I got caught in some angelina sparkle, some tencel, and some viscose fibers… but what happens in Alexandria stays in Alexandria. Right sisters?

After photo-ops and money exchanges for fiber that may or may not have been purchased, we headed for lunch at Cosi’. I could have stayed there forever! Those two cracked me up! Hey Carole…wanna go on a date? It’ll be fun….

There was more yarn to be fondled lovingly petted at Knit Happens! We walked in and the whole shop (ok… Holly and Rossanna) yelled “LOLLY!!!!” Way cool greeting. I introduced myself and Carole. Lolly provided the “she’s mama-e” part and the girls gave me a “MAMA-E!!!” It was really sweet….(maybe a little strange because I still grapple with trying to introduce myself with my blog alias…but that is on me)

The girls said very nice things about my yarns… Holly is a sock club member! Yea…nice to meet the sock clubbers.

Carole, Lauren, and I proceeded to poke fun at the Rowan mags…. stroke fiber… dodge falling fibers off the shelves… laugh like hell… spot a booberfly… and make new friends.

Let me tell you 10 Things about Strangelittlemama…

1. She is funny. Fall down, almost wet yourself funny.
2. She is feisty…. she may be small… but she could take you. Hands down.
3. She knows a lot about fiber and knitting. I was impressed and learned a secret or two about mixing the perfect olive dye.
4. She likes to shop…. we kept her away from the GAP outlet ….
5. She is way easy going…. put you at ease, get up and go easy. Low maintainence.
6. She is adventurous…. she was up for anything!
7. She is allergic to alpaca and MO-HAIR….. no mo for her!
8. She loves her babies….. she is a good mama.
9. Sister has style…. enough said!
10. She, Lolly, Holly, and Rossanna made my day yesterday!

Thanks for a great day sisters! I can’t wait to see the evidence um… photos.

FYI:
Don’t miss your last chance to join the SOCKS FOR ALL SEASONS CLUB!

I am dyeing this weekend for September’s colorway….. get in now! I am closing the signups after the next 2 clubbers join.

Ready? Set? Go here and join now!

It feels like the calm before the storm here at chez mama.

I have a HUGE cuppa java in my favorite mug (a Nightmare Before Christmas ginormous mug), the cowboy is taking a much needed nap… I can hear and think clearly for a moment…(sigh)…

I am knitting many things at the moment. I am struggling to pay enough attention to any of them to make some progress. A sweater, a scarf, a much neglected pair of socks, and abandoned odessa, another aboandoned clapotis,….. scary. I also ordered some yarn for a secret project that has nothing to do with C*EYE*BER Fibers or the knitting world at large ( really folks. I promise!) Just my own little village.

I am about ready to get my dye up for another round of sock clubbiness! Yea! I love a sock club. The Fall Socks for all Seasons Club is gearing up. Here are some buttons for your pleasure:

(please leave my bandwith for my sanity!)

I have some fiber to dye up too….. the ocean mist is real popular these days! Eunny did a fantastic job with it.

Hmmm…. fiber…. I love fiber. I have some dream colorways in my head that I can not wait to get out. I am looking at some fibery nights this week. If you have a special request for yarn or spinning fiber you can email me. I love doing that kind of stuff best of all.

I am off to Manhattan on Saturday. I can not wait! Marie, Coleen, and I are in for it. Beverly, dahlink… you comin’?

Hey everybody!

My girlie, Coleen and I have planned a little girls yarn crawl to NYC together Labor Day weekend. My D has agreed to occupy the cowboy as mommy and “Miss Ca-ween” have some buddy time for ONE DAY in Manhattan. Yes…. ONE DAY!

My buddy, Marie, has enthusiastically jumped on the crawl-wagon and is meeting us at The Point for lunch/snacks… then on to School Products for us.  And…maybe for you too? Any SPIDERS available to meet?
Ok NYC area bloggers…. you coming?

When: September 2nd

Where: Meet at the Point at 12 noon then on to school products or anywhere else!

Let me know!  There are so many of you that I would love to meet!!

It will be so nice to spend a day at home… come share it with us!!!

*oh…. and in case you east coast folks felt left out on the west coast SEASOCKS Cruise…… don’t worry and pay close attention! I feel some cruisin up the east coast in my future!!!! Stay tuned!