I think I may have to print out and frame those business tenets, you really did an excellent job of hitting those "main points" for those of us who make a beautiful craft our business. I agree that we do put more our OURSELVES out there than a lot of other businesses do, but that's also a strength...that belief in OURSELF is what propels us when the butterflies are fluttering! :-)

Ehhh...that sewing machine looks like Frankenkitty. Just my opinion. ;-)

Whoa...is he SURE it's your inner ear?!? Ok, sorry, been reading way too many women's magazines about women's symptoms doctors misdiagnose. I need to lay off the Redbook. Anyway, take care of yourself, and HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!

Awww...I'm glad you liked the pic of my little spaz! We're starting a Knitters' Martini Bar blog to consolidate everyone's recipes...enjoy!!! I'm going to have to come by here again soon...nice to find someone who loves gratuitous furbaby pics as much as I do!

No, unfortunately there was just the one skein. It's so beautiful, though, I'll find something to make it into!!!

Oooh, and guess what? I found a blog today that was raving about how great 220 responds to blocking! Hooray! Amy: thanks, but I went ahead and purchased the 4.0 version. And I do highly recommend this sweater!

I would be beyond flattered to make a banner/button anything for you...I'm so geeked about my newfound creativity, just give me a reason to Photoshop! I'm so mad about not being able to find the original install disk...I'll probably go buy another copy, which of course means I'll find the original the next day...but c'est la vie, non?

Yeah, Kirsti e-mailed me about it too, all our e-mails to the group have bounced back. I think I'm going to make a quick blog post about it...

Hey, maybe we should have an i-cord knitting party! Unfortunately the i-cord knitter won't do anything thicker than a very light worsted, and works best on sport-weight...I tried thicker yarn and the resulting tangled mess was pretty ugly. I probably won't get in to HYAW this week, but I'll let you both know for sure when I go!!!

LOL, I would totally take along a duffle bag for WIP, if there was room for it (JP and I both have tiny little cars). Much agonizing and tears goes into figuring out which projects get to go on road trips...socks usually win. :-)

Hi Dana! Hope you had a great, productive-knitting weekend! When I was at HYAW? on Thursday, I was told they aren't planning to close for the move...they're hoping to accomplish it all over the two days they're closed anyway. I'll definitely let you know when I hear it's done, and we can go check out the new digs! Apparently they have a TON of yarn in storage just because they don't have room for it in their current space! I can't wait!

Hi Dana! I printed out the coupons for Joann's (I get them via e-mail) and have them paperclipped to my planner pages for the appropriate days! I'm such a geek! If you can get the Sweater Machine for 50% off, I would go for it...but be warned it does take some getting used to. Once you get it working it's WONDERFUL...I made the Asymmetrical Shawl (not sure if that's the right name, it's one of the first in the book) from Wrap Style on it. I used four skeins of Paton's 100% merino, and it took all of 20 minutes to knit an entire skein with my husband feeding me the yarn. Finishing it is taking longer than knitting it! Anyhoo, if you do buy it, let me know and I'll pass on what I've learned the hard way about it (#1 being make sure you have plenty of Vaseline on hand to grease the plates). I haven't made any sweaters on it yet, but I would imagine it would be excellent for that, and if I remember right they do include patterns for sweaters when you purchase the machine...at least that way you can get a feel for it before doing other sweater patterns. You can only do one kind of stitch pattern on it (stockinette), but they do tell you how to do ribbing and cables and Fair Isle/intarsia seems like it would be very easy too. Oh, and THANK YOU for turning me on to Have You Any Wool...what a wonderful store!!!!

Congratulations Aunt Dana!!! :-) I'm glad you found the pattern, and I can't wait to see the booties you make! I'm sure yours will come out beautifully (DPNs and I just aren't good buddies). Have fun at Gifted!!!

Hi Dana! Both patterns are in the book "Knitting for Babies" by Melanie Falik and another author whose name escapes me at the moment. If you're going to be at the next Monday SnB, let me know and I'll bring the book along. Incidentally, the Stay-On pattern is based on one published in Threads magazine a while back, by a 90 year old lady who didn't want the unique pattern to die with her. I've seen it in several places aside from this book. That pattern is knit on DPNs, whereas the Simple pattern is knit on straight needles. See you soon!!!