A Day With Marion...

Our first time together, yet we knew from our correspondence,
phone calls, and hearts that we would hit it off. I walked into

Starbucks and she was already standing to greet me.
It was as though we'd always known each other.

Hugs were exchanged and she introduced me to her
good-lookin' husband, Doug - greetings which we promptly
punctuated with coffee and strawberry swirl pound cake.

Doug left us to visit and we chatted for two hours before we
looked at our watches and decided to move ourselves to
Beads F.O.B. for a little "bling" shopping.

After the bead shop, we headed to the local yarn shop,
The Spinning Wheel on Siesta Drive. I introduced Marion to
my friends Barbara and Jean, but we missed Klara (the owner)
as she has Wednesdays off. When we left the shop
we decided on Monterrey Grill for a nice, leisurely lunch.
Before we knew it, another two hours had disappeared!

Onward and southward on the Tamiami Trail to A Good Yarn.
We managed to get there just before closing time,
but Susan was kind enough to let us (and about four other
late shoppers) stay until we'd ooo'd and ahhh'd all the new
and scrumptious yarns. By the time we left, it was nearly
5 pm and time to take my friend back to her sister's home.
We couldn't believe how quickly the time passed during our visit!

We took photos for posterity (and my blog, of course!) and
then said our farewells. Marion and Doug will leave Florida today
for their trip back to Michigan. I'm so grateful that she took
time away from her family to spend the day with me.
I'll look forward to the day when we can visit, in person, again.
(BTW-For our Ravelry friends, I'm "craftydeece" and Marion is "downsize".)

Safe travels, my friends.
xoxo

PS. I'm having a ball playing with images at Photofunia! Click on the site title to see how many wonderful things you can do with your photos there! Thanks to Jodie, at Everything Vintage for putting me onto the site!

Beads on the Beach...

My "secret" commission project is finished!
It's a beaded clutch.
Yesterday, I went to A Good Yarn in Sarasota to show

the finished piece to my client, Susan, who owns the shop.

The clutch features a Lorna's Laces sport weight yarn,
dyed especially for Susan's shop. The color is called "A Good Beach",
hence the name for my piece - "Beads on the Beach Clutch"!
It also incorporates beads from Deanna's Vintage Styles.

My project was to create a pattern for a new class
that I'll be teaching for the shop using this yarn.

I have a few small changes for the finished piece,
including creating a unique button for it.
I've placed a seashell where it will become a button.

I'll do a little tutorial for you next week to show
you how I transform it to "buttonhood", but I had
to show it to you now as you've been so very patient.

I finished the inside of the clutch with linen fabric,
making sure it has the requisite pockets, too!
Just the right size for a cell phone, credit card,
cash, vintage hankie and lip gloss!

Wouldn't you just love this as a memento of
warm, sunny days spent lounging on a Florida beach
(or dreaming of a romantic beach getaway)?

So, what do you think? Do you love it or hate it? Be honest now...
I'd really appreciate your feedback.

If you're interested in taking my class, or
purchasing the kit to make at home,
it will be available in April or early May from Susan
(once I finish proofing the pattern,
and the next shipment of the yarn arrives in the shop).
She'd be happy to send you your own kit!
I'll let you know as soon as they're available.

If you're not a knitter, I'll be making finished clutches available
for purchase in the Boutique. I plan to list them up in April.

Next in the studio, though, is The Wedding Gown Project...
(I hope you'll be back to visit as I progress
from fabric to finished gown over the next couple of weeks!)
Oh, and I'm not crowing, but you have to go to see my friend,
Anne at Fiona and Twig
to read the incredibly wonderful post she wrote about me Saturday.
Made me a little weepy, it did.
Thanks again, Anne.

There's still time to enter my First Blog Birthday Celebration if you haven't done so yet. I'm trying to get around to visit all my new follower friends. If I haven't visited you yet, I promise I'll get there and leave a message for you as soon as I can. I'm really enjoying seeing how creative all of you are. And, if you don't have a blog, no worries! I look forward to getting to know you better, too.

Good luck to all of you in the drawings. I wish I could give a little something to each and every one of you, but if you keep reading and following along, I'll do my best to remedy that in the future.

Thanks to everyone who took my poll about the static or scrolling Etsy widgets. The static widget won, hands down, so I've removed the one that scrolls. I really appreciate your input!

Checking It Twice...

On Wednesday, I'll be teaching a Beaded Shawl class at A Good Yarn Sarasota. This pattern is from Deanna's Vintage
Styles and it's a beautiful shawl.

This past weekend, I spent my recuperation reading the pattern and then starting the knitting process. One of the things I tell people who are either beginning knitters, or who are knitting a new technique is that "Patterns are meant to be knit, not read."

I found those words to be particularly true when going through the instructions for this shawl. Try as I may, I couldn't tell from reading it exactly how this shawl was going to work up. I couldn't tell if I'd be knitting it "top down", "bottom up" or "side to side". After setting up the yarn and beads, I began knitting the pattern and all was revealed. It will be created side to side.

Today, I'll continue working on the shawl, making class notes and taking photos to help my students envision "the next step". I think of myself as a "fearless knitter", because I'm never intimidated to try something new, but not everyone has my (sometimes obnoxious) level of confidence. Because I'm going through this process before the class, I'll be able to give some of my confidence to each of my students. By working the pattern right before they do, I'm checking each step twice for them. My students won't have to worry about pattern accuracy as they embark on this new project. I want to be sure that Wednesday is fun for all of us!

The More, The Merrier...

I'm tickled to announce that I'll be teaching a Beaded Shawl class at A Good Yarn Sarasota this month. It's actually a three-session class, beginning Wednesday, January 20th, with two other sessions on January 27th and February 3rd.

If you live in the area, or plan an extended visit to Sarasota, FL, I'd love to have you join the class. Each session is held on a Wednesday morning for an hour and a half, with a week between each class to allow students time to knit away on their shawl before the next session.
The kit, purchased separately from the class fee, is from Deanna's Vintage Styles, and you already know that I love knitting her Beaded Fringe Scarf pattern. (Heck, I did two as Christmas gifts and two others over the past year!)

I'll start knitting my own shawl this week, but the photos are the same design that I'll be teaching - modeled by Susan Post's lovely daughter. (Susan is the shop owner at A Good Yarn.) Class participants can choose the color they'd like to make for themselves. There are some really beautiful combinations!

You can get to A Good Yarn here to learn more about her new shop and further offerings in her class schedule. Hope some of you will be able to join me. The more, the merrier!

Note: Please don't be alarmed if your comment doesn't immediately show up. It only took one stranger to leave a link (multiple messages in some of my older posts) to a naughty website. (Shame on them!!!) Apologies that you now have to wait for blog owner approval for your comments to appear. (sigh) Thanks for your understanding.