Can This Be May?

I had planned to write about my handspinning endeavors today, but look what was out my window when I woke up. It’s May 12 for heaven’s sake! I fear that we’ve gone straight from early spring to fall and I’ll never have a chance to complain about the heat.

I’ll take this opportunity to show off my handspun anyway. My 5-week class is over and I’ve produced some yarn that I might actually knit with. The white yarn is from the fleece that we washed, carded, and spun. I’m not sure I can bear to take this yarn out of the skeins (I’m so proud!). The purple yarn is from some prepared fleece that I bought at the yarn store (what a treat to circumvent the whole washing and carding process). This may become a shawl. The beautiful mud-colored yarns are singles that I spun then dyed in a variety of natural dyes—walnut hulls, cutch, onion skins, and cochineal. I plan to keep these as reference because I really do love the colors.

Will I continue to spin? My husband thinks I’m nuts (he points out that I don’t have time to knit the yarn that I already have—but since when has that been an excuse?), but I think it’s likely that I’ll spend more time at a wheel or with a spindle. I just can’t get over how clever I feel when I make yarn out of a pile of fluff. The proof will be when I actually knit with the stuff. If it feels better than store-bought, I’m a goner.

Desperately Seeking Becky

I imagine that at least some of you know that sick hollow feeling that comes from planning a party that nobody attends. I have to admit that I’m having similar feelings now that it’s been a week since I announced that Becky McKnight is the winner of the drawing for Knitting Green and she hasn’t contacted me with her mailing address. Imagine the explanations that I’ve come up with—Becky really doesn’t want the book; Becky is on an extended cruise to some remote south sea islands; Becky passed out in a fit of delight when she learned that she won the drawing and no amount of wool fumes can revive her; Becky lost interest in reading my blog; etc., etc.

If any of you dear readers knows Miss Becky, please, please beg her to respond to me at annbudd@annbuddknits.com so that I can stop imagining the worst. Her copy of Knitting Green is all packed up but has nowhere to go.

Winner of Knitting Green

I received more than 150 green tips in response to my April 22 post! You can read 118 of them in the comments to the April 22 post; the remainder were sent directly to me at my website. I'm impressed with the varied ideas and hope to put some of them in action. Thank you all!

This morning I wrote all of the names on slips of paper, put them in a bowl, and drew a name.
The winner of a free copy of Knitting Green is Becky McKnight.

Becky's tip:
I like to think being "Green" is being self reliant. Stay home to eat dinner because it saves on gas in the car and make something with the things you grow in your own garden! Which is much healthier for you and great for the environment because you grew it hopefully all organically and saved gas money from going to the store to keep picking up fruits and vegies!


Congratulations Becky. To claim your book, email me at annbudd@annbuddknits.com and let me know where to send the book and how you'd like it inscribed (or not).

In the meantime, I'm going to spread my coffee grounds on the garden.

Midwest Masters

I was in Wisconsin this weekend to teach at Midwest Masters, hosted by Yarns by Design in Neenah, Wisconsin. There were six teachers teaching a total of 20 classes over the course of three days. The classes were held at a hotel that was just one block from Yarns by Design, which held extended hours during the conference. Boy, did I have fun! I reconnected with a couple of people I hadn’t seen in years and I met dozens of new friends.

I taught a morning class on cast-ons, an afternoon class on bind-offs (I think we got through eight variations of each), and a full-day class on knitting a sock from the toe up. In the sock class, we knit a baby-size sock with three choices for the ribbing design—2/2 rib on the leg, 2/2 rib on the leg and instep, and a right-twist pattern on the leg.

All but two students finished the sock—just look at the variety. Several students even finished the mate and others started a full-size sock instead!

If you ever have the opportunity to take classes at a knitting retreat/conference/camp, I encourage you to do so. You’ll meet the nicest people, learn new tricks, and have a lot of fun to boot!

Earth Day

Today is Earth Day. Here in Boulder, Colorado, the daffodils are up, ornamental fruit trees are flowering, leaves are making their way out of the buds giving a green halo to other trees, and the grass has turned from brown to green. I love the promise of renual hearlded by this time of year. We do live on an amazing planet.

And to help keep this planet beautiful, take a minute to check out my new book Knitting Green: Conversations and Planet-Friendly Projects. It's full of essays and projects that show how knitting can be included in the green revolution. You can learn about it (and purchase it online) at the Interweave Store.

I think this is cause for another give-away. Write a green tip in the comments box below and I'll put your name in the hopper for a drawing for a free book (autographed if you like). If your computer won't let you respond in the comments box, send your tip to me at annbudd@annbuddknits.com. I'll draw a name and announce the winner on April 30, 2010.

Why I’m a Spoiled Brat—#9

Honestly, I really thought to post something of substance, but I feel compelled to explain why I haven’t written for a week. I spent last weekend in the mountains with three of my best girlfriends. One of these girlfriends owns an adorable historic Victorian house in the ski town of Breckenridge, Colorado. We arrived Thursday night and didn’t return until Monday. During that time, we knitted, watched movies, and treated ourselves to delicious meals. I also spent a fair amount of time practicing my spinning (the fiber kind, not the exercise kind).

Remember that basket of darning and finishing I gathered many weeks ago? I took it with me and darned seven of the nine pairs of socks. I decided that I'd rather knit new socks than darn the remaining two so I plan to see if I can agitate them into felt that can be used for something else. I also finished the sweater, but that deserves a post of its own.

For now, my mending basket is empty. I wonder how long it will stay that way...

Why I’m a Spoiled Brat—#8

Here we go again. I opened the package of socks from Cat Bordhi for the upcoming Designing Socks book and found another surprise—a bar of lavender moisturizing soap in the most beautiful tin. I’m afraid to open the tin at my desk because the lavender fumes might just relax me enough to fall asleep (another one of my favorite pastimes). Oh, and the socks are pretty fantastic, too.
Thank you Cat!