North Porch Hat

Hope everyone enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday! Mine was great & followed up by an early morning "Black Friday" visit to Fibre Space. High five to the shop....... no better way to get into the spirit of holiday gift knitting than surrounded by others enjoying yarny goodness on sale (lol). Although I only went to pick up a size 9 circ needle (yeah...right) - the Miss Babs yarn was screaming my name the minute I entered the store.

That's Lilac Laceweight (Yet) and Cadet Superwash (Yummy). Speaking of gift knitting, here's my first gift completion - the North Porch Hat by Kim Wagner Only one skein of Handpainted Misti Alpaca/Silk and two days of knitting........Wahoo!

Still Walkin' & Knittin'

This morning was a beautiful day for the "Help the Homeless" 5k walkathon here in D.C. It is one of my favorite annual walks. The sponsors estimate that over the course of a year, 2.5 to 3.5 million people will experience at least one night of homelessness. How devastating! What warms my heart is that each year there are more & more participants (aka more donations) and all along the route there are young performers - singers, theater students, cheerleaders, quartets, bands, etc that perform for the passing crowds. How refreshing to see young'uns take part/interest in such a worthy cause.

On the knitting front, I'm making great progress on my Cap Sleeve Cable Cardi. It's knit from the bottom-up & I'm at the arm holes. Can't say enough about how utterly delicious this yarn feels. Hope to finish in time to model it at Thanksgiving dinner. Here's a sneak peak:
Y'all know how much I love Tuesday Morning - especially their discounted knitting books. Today I was wandering the clearance aisles and found this really cool glass bowl that will be my yarn bowl. I've been stalking Etsy in search of a bowl to hold my yarn cakes (and keep them from rolling when I'm sitting watching TV. This is perfect......

Well must get things in order for the big dinner this week as well as my strategy for shopping the Black Friday sales. I'm excited that this year my newest LYS (Fibre Space) is opening at 6 am (lol). You know I'll be there........

Happy Veterans Day

Salute & hi-five to all our veterans. Thanks for all you do in service to our country. Today starts 5 days of the knitting zone for me. Plan to put in some dedicated knitting time; attend Thursday night's "Knit in Space" at Fibre Space; and knit/shop until midnight at A Tangled Skein's "Friday the 13th" knitting event. Finished the Baktus Scarf. Although the pattern was all garter stitch - the Kauni color strands kept it very interesting. Have already ordered another colorway of Kauni from Little Knits. Meanwhile, on to the next cable project (love cables!). It's the Asymmetrical Cabled Cardi by Yahaira Ferreira. Gorgeous cable band, high collar & cap sleeves.


I'm using Mirasol's Miski yarn that I bought from Webs at Stitches Midwest. The yarn is 100% baby llama and super-soft. Have completed a couple cable repeats and really like how the cables pop. Have a great holiday & happy knitting.......

AWBC: In It To End It

We interrupt our regularly scheduled "knitty goodness" for a recap of the recent Avon Walk for Breast Cancer in Charlotte, NC on October 24 & 25. The walk had 1,100 participants and raised $2.3 million to advance access to care and find a cure for breast cancer.

This was my 7th Avon Walk. Many folks ask why I continue to walk and I can only quote my latest walker-pin: "I walk because I cannot walk away". You've heard all the stats & hopefully you know the importance of early detection, so I'll jump right into the highlights of the weekend. I walked with my friends Sharon (2nd walk from New York), Priscilla (2nd walk from Durham, NC) & Pat (1st walk from Miami, FL). Priscilla & Pat are twins who registered as Team Double Trouble and developed a cult-like following during the walk. We were also joined by their friend, Darryl (2nd year of walk support). Darryl holds a place of honor cause he has shadowed us along the entire route, taking pics, lightening our load by carrying coats, raingear & extra sneakers & ensuring we're always ok (Thanks Darryl, you rock!).

Opening ceremony started in darkness but with a promise of warm temps and of course rain. I am officially the rain-magnet since it has rained during every walkathon I have done (lol). The inspirational speakers did their job well to send us on our way with pep in our step. It was a sobering moment when Sharon & I came upon the group of young ladies who had pushed their Mom in a wheelchair last year. This year's wheelchair was empty with a sign posted on the back "We Miss You Mom!"

Sun quickly turned to rain but we were prepared - keeping a good pace, stopping at quick stops for hydration & snacks (the peanut-butter graham crackers remain everyone's favorite). Just for luck, I got my picture at Mile 7 to celebrate my 7th year. Mile 10 was lunch and I pulled ahead of the ladies for awhile because of my tendency to hit the wall at Mile 20 or 21. Sure enough, I slowed to nearly a crawl. Luckily, Sharon waited for me at Mile 24 and we finished Day 1 together. Pat & Priscilla entered the Wellness Village with a smile. My feet felt like the size of that giant Reebok sneaker (lol).

After a hot shower (in the heaven-sent trailer), a hot meal, & an Icy-Hot rubdown, I threw on the thermals & tucked into the sleeping bag for the night. We all were able to crawl out of the tents on the morning of Day 2, enjoy breakfast & begin the final 13 miles. The day was rather chilly but no rain. Pat & Priscilla must have eaten their Wheaties - they pulled ahead & met Sharon and I at the finish line. Yes, that is a look of wonder on my face, as well as a look of realization that the hotel was just around the corner. I'll finish this recap with a shout-out to the wonderful Avon crews that keep us going and laughing every year. With folks like the Moo Cow guy, Captain Cleavage, & our own Richard Simmons - who could think about the discomfort. Oh yeah - and blisters don't need chemo! How very blessed we are!