Sip n Stitch!

A while back I signed up for a yarn and coffee club. It's a neat idea: You pay money, and then an indie dyer sends you some hand-dyed yarn, hand-picked locally-roasted coffee, and a mess of goodies. I'll get three shipments, one every other month, for six months. This one was through The Unique Sheep.

This is the first yarn club I've ever participated in. Here's the photos:

The whole haul.

The yarn, Luxe (25% silk, 75% superwash merino) in a rich collection of browns, yellows and reds. Plus, coffee candy and a Unique Sheep fake tattoo.

The coffee and the Coffee Cozee (the fabric sleeve on the pint glass). I've used that every day this week. It's so cute, and far, far nicer to hold than a cardboard sleeve.
It's like my coffee gives my hand a hug. You can find the Coffee Cozees here.

I would definitely do this again.

Vest photo! And a knitting update

First, the triumph!

Here's the little guy in his Baby Owl Vest, swinging at my parents' house this weekend. It was the first time he'd ever been in a real swing without sitting on someone's lap, and he loved it! It was also great to see the vest in action. It kept him nice and warm on this delightfully mild autumn day.

In other news, my owl sweater is languishing. I'm having gauge issues, didn't swatch (as usual) and really would rather work on gifts. So, I'm letting the sweater sit, and picking up the gift knitting again.

One bonus of the drive to Delavan (which takes a little over an hour) is that it takes me through Burlington, home of Artistic Fibers -- Racine County's last remaining yarn shop. 

I cast on (and have done 5 rows) an apple hat designed by Susan Anderson. Next on my list is the Regular Guy Beanie from Yarnman Knits. A friend requested an apple hat for her daughter after seeing the kiddo in his last month. A few weeks later, the girl's dad requested a hat for himself -- he said he can't ever find one that fits right.

Once those are done, I'm going to finish my sister's hooded scarf, then I'll pick that sweater back up. Maybe after the gift knitting is done I'll feel more like swatching and can figure out this whole gauge issue.

Want to get calls from knitters?

Write about gals in Florida knitting hats for people in Wisconsin... and all the people in the city who knit for local charities come out of the woodwork!

This story ran in the paper last weekend, and I've gotten at least a half-dozen calls and e-mails from local knitters telling me all about the charity knitting they do.

How cool is that? I love it!