Rachel made Eeyore. It's actually a cow pattern that she adapted. Isn't he so cute and sad? I always loved Eeyore and wanted to take care of him.



Here is my sister in law's new purse. We're going to Italy in August- I think this will go nicely under the Tuscan sun...



Dena also got some Amy Butler fabric to make some clothes for Italy. Hopefully she can help me make a few things too. I'm definitely a better knitter than sewer.



This is my favorite Amy Butler fabric- so I bought the yard that was left. Wouldn't it be a fabo lining for a felted bag made of these colors of Shepherd Worsted?!

A sweater for my brother

When I was twelve years old, my parents had their third kid. Little did we know, he would be the perfect person. His name is Will and I think everyone in the family agrees that he's the best of all of us. The nicest, most adorable, most kind, most caring, and definitely the funniest.

When I graduated from high school, I remember looking into the stands and seeing my baby kid and thinking "when he graduates from high school, i'll be 30." Well, he just graduated and it was quite surreal. The baby of the family is now 6' 3", towering over all of us. He's a star basketball player (Robert started him at like 2) and he's heading to the University of Missouri in August for college.



I'm making him a sweater for college. It's 1824 Mission Falls and I'm going to do something very simple, Elizabeth Zimmermann's Seamless Hybrid. I made a miniature to give him on graduation day.



I'm going to write a message in the hem for him and I need some advice. Do I write "Will- We Love You!" or "Will- We (heart) U!" I'm sort of leaning towards spelling out the words because he will have this sweater forever and who knows if in fifty years people will still be text messaging. I'm putting a poll up on the side of the blog so you can vote!

And we're done

We had a great time at TNNA with Debby. We found really great stuff for the shop and I think I need to become an insomniac so I can get all these projects done so I can then make more things.

Highlights that I will elaborate on in future posts:

-Meeting Vivian Hoxbro and trying on this awesome top.



-Meeting Nicky Epstein and talking to her about yarn shops in Tuscany.



-Sightings of Norah Gaughan ("We're not worthy!") and Cookie A.

-Shaking hands with Debbie Bliss and Louisa Harding was pretty unreal. I totally froze. I can pretend I played it cool and I wasn't just terrified to ask if I could take a picture with them.

-Offhand Designs- these bags are unreal!

-Seeing my buddy, Ysolda, and getting a signed book!



-Pick up Sticks

-Zecca



-Trying on this Tahki Stacy Charles sweater. We're getting the yarn and the pattern! Whuh oh!



We'll be back tomorrow around lunch and I can't wait to see my mom, brother, and pets!

Needle Ladies take on TNNA

Mimi and I stayed in Richmond last night and flew out early this morning. I got some good clapotis knitting done for Sharman and read the New York Times. It was totally relaxing compared to my last three days of events at my real job.

I am now in Columbus, Ohio at TNNA with Mimi and Debby Ware. We've seen tons of celebs and have ordered great stuff for the shop. Let me just say that I think heaven might resemble the Rowan area of the trade show floor. I also think heaven includes an eternity to needlepoint all of Barbara Russell's needlepoint designs. I have never seen such beautiful canvases. She paints such wonderful dogs!



I also met Nicky Epstein who has a new book Knitting in Tuscany. Conveniently, I'm going to Tuscany in August! I'm psyched to get this book before my trip.

I'll keep you updated- also if you want to find me on Twitter, I am eandganz.

Twisted

Folks, we are officially cooler than we were before June 1st. Did you see our add in the Twist Collective?

Go Needle Ladies!

Clapoteez

I suppose, as the nerdy french major, that the plural of Clapotis is Clapotises but I would just spell it phonetically for you in today's blog post title.

Tomorrow at the shop we're having a clapotis knit-a-long. I'm going to knit my 4th clapotis, but this time for my dear Aunt Sharman. It's been a crazy year and I think a bamboo clapotis will be perfect for her. I'm going to use Royal Bamboo in the variegated blue colorway. I hear a bunch of people are coming out to sit and knit with me so that's fab!

In other news, the shop has some great Candace Eisner Strick kits.



We also have a great selection of Rowan bags that Kate is modeling here. Who is going to be our model when Kate goes to Tech?





Last night I was very productive. You might remember last year we all made (or, in my case, attempted) Norah Gaughan's Flow out of Seduce. Well, I started mine on size 4s or something crazy, and then Mimi was like "why on earth are you knitting on 4s?!" I then switched to size 7s, not thinking that my gauge would be totally different. Haven't you ever had these moments of knitting denial? Where you know somewhere deep down that it's not smart, but you'd rather give it a try than start over? Well, here is the result:



It could fit Dwight Howard. Like, I think it's the size of his jersey. Also, I hope the Magic at least stay within ten points tonight or else I'm going to fall asleep.

It turned out so badly that I can't bear to try it again. I'm thinking of Pucker but will probably just do a simple cardi. In any case, Flow is now a ziplock bag full of yarn.



Anouk is almost done, but I dont want to post a pic until it's done. Baby Charlotte Kate arrived last Tuesday though so I need to get this thing done!

My brother is also recovering nicely. Everyone tell your kids- when you're swimming around a boat, make sure the motor is off.

See you at the knit-a-long!