SnB Gathering - March 28, 2007

I think we had even more at last night's gig than on Monday!











Darcy shows off the bag she created out of a Clinique bag she had...it's made from her stash of Cotton-Ease. She knit a bit larger than the bag dimensions, and then sewed the knitting to the bag with invisble thread - it looks even more stunning in person:





And as if we all weren't stunned by Darcy's bag, Jeanne walks in with the most amazing sweater! She pulled it together from yarns out of her stash:







Jeanne also allowed us to pet her new Lorna's Laces from our recent road trip to Galena:





Meanwhile, my friend Jo was in for the day and came to knit with us (yes, she knit the shawl she's wearing - on a bet):




She had Bernat sock yarn and Elann baby silk:






Linda (and her husband, Jeff) was in with her boo, Grant - we've all got a crush on the little man:







And a shot of Jeff:





Then Sara was in the room, with our newest little guy, Noah:






And he looked great in the knitting she had created for him before his birth!




Finally, Karen told us about her knitting retreat to Mexico and showed us beautiful work she bought while down there (baby christening blankets):

Gathering at The Yarn Shoppe - March 26, 2007

Some of the usual suspects showed up last night...






And the WIPs:

Brenda was working on socks, Claire was continuing work on her shawl.




Julie was occupied with her argyle sock.




Lynn was working on socks and Barb was working on a crocheted baby blanket.






Judy had an I-cord she was working on.




My knitting was resting while I took photos.




Finally, we all admired Julie's bag made from Noro and Cascade 220:

Road Trip - Galena!

The weather wasn't great when we left and it was terrible on the drive up to Galena:




However, due the skill of our drivers (Katie and Nancy!) we arrived in Galena in good time. While on our trek to find the FiberWILD! yarn shop, there was a cry of "Handspun yarn!" and the group took an immediate left into The Great Galena Peddlery:




The shop did have handspun yarns (small supply) and various herbs, seasonings, lotions, etc. to choose from - it was a lovely shop and the owner dealt well with a group of knitters hopped up on sugar and yarn-anticipation.

We continued the walk up to N Main Street and we sort of glanced at the shops around (although we lingered a few seconds at the candy shop), then Katie spotted the restaurant where we had lunch reservations, Fried Green Tomatoes.

Soon after, Brenda spotted the yarn shop and we were off!










We had about 30 mins before our reservation, so we fondled, gazed, touched, poked around and gawked at the yarns, books, accessories, handmade items... Then it was time for lunch. We walked across the street to Fried Green Tomatoes:




Our server (help me out group, I've forgotten her name!):




Our group:








And after consuming some very different fried green tomatoes than we've ever eaten (they're fgt, but with marinara sauce & melted mozerella cheese - wonderful!), the amazing grilled cheese sandiches and tomato soup, seafood pasta, crab cakes, and various pasta dishes, along with the fresh bread, we wander over to the yarn shop to get down to serious yarn decisions & purchases. Plus, we wanted to wait a few hours to enjoy dessert as the food was fantastic and very filling (the lunch prices were reasonable, too).

Katie with the owner of FiberWILD!, Amy:




Amy very graciously allowed us to use the swift and ball winder to wind some of our yarns. I wanted to get to the Blue Sky Alpaca I had and use them with the Lantern Moon needles I picked up.

Sean was extremely helpful (and a bit naughty - he brought those of us who sat and knitted in the shop some dark chocolate and almonds) with the group:



Amy has many different Rowan yarns, some Cascade yarns, and various other yarns available. She also has a nice price range available for just about any project. As you may have seen the shop has a large bookshelf with reference materials, patterns, and books. Amy also has various handmade items for sale, along with kits.

Amy and Sean told us that next weekend is the Galena Wine Lovers Weekend (March 30 & 31, April 1) and they'll have wine tasting along with projects and patterns for wine bottles available.

After saying goodbye to Amy and Sean, we ended up back at Fried Green Tomatoes for their incredible desserts. A few of us had the drop dead amazing cannoli, while someone tried the lemon version of tiramisu. We chatted about our yarn purchases and hitting a few more shops on the way back to the cars.

It was hard to leave after such a great afternoon, but many of us plan to return in the near future.

SnB Gathering - March 21, 2007

We were a fairly large group last night!




And we were busy working on various projects...










Heidi brought in a hat she knit from the Noro she won from the Red Scarf Project drawing:








Suzanne brought in her sweater made from Pastaza (Cascade) from The Yarn Shoppe:








And Jeanne brought in more crochet beaded necklaces (last week's photo to remind you what they looked like)...

Knitting Workshop with Beth Brown-Reinsel

The Quad Cities SnB is hosting a knitting workshop August 3 & 4, 2007 in Davenport, Iowa.

Beth Brown-Reinsel is an internationally recoginzed knitting instructor and author who will be teaching the two classes.

The workshop is comprised of two different one-day classes (one for Norwegian Mittens and one for Aran Cardigans from the Top) at $65 per class; this includes the handouts/patterns that Beth gives to the classes.

The deadline on reserving space and the fee paid is May 15. There are only 20 students per class, per day for the limit; at this time 9 seats are open in each class.

As this is a small event, there won't be refunds on fees.

Space is limited! For question or reservations, please contact the Quad Cities SnB by email: quadcitysnb @ gmail.com (Take out the spaces when you paste it into your email address line)

*Thanks to Brenda for coordinating with Beth on the workshop
contract and info, and thank you to Claire for arranging the reservations for space at the church.

**Thank you to Laurel Austin at The Yarn Shoppe for her generous sponsorship.

SnB Gathering: March 14, 2007

It was a lovely night after a few pre-summer days last week!

Claire made some of the Cat Bodhi's Baby Life Ring Socks (scroll down the page for the pattern):






Here's the lucky recipient!




Jeanne was working on crocheting some beads together for necklaces:




And Claire was struggling through the mate of this sock:





FYI: The Yarn Shoppe has our upcoming knitting workshop on its website! (It's the final note on the post, scroll down.)