It's the pink house on the corner!

Ray Smock took this great picture of the Y2Knit shop and my home. I'm so lucky to have the florist and garden shop across the street as there are always flowers to look at. My yard has grown significantly since this picture a couple of weeks ago.
It's always interesting how many people notice the hat on the fire hydrant after walking by it many times. The hat has been there since the first sign of spring, replacing the winter hat and scarf. Also near the fire hydrant is my "BAY-WISE" sign, which indicates my yard and garden are certified as bay friendly. I garden 100% organically, have two rain barrels, and try to maintain only non-invasive species. I am learning which perennials are native to the area and fostering their growth in the garden.

In the back garden, I have little icons of interest. This one was given to my by a friend. The outstretched hands reminded me of someone holding yarn to be wound, so that's what I decided to depict. In the winter this garden god wears a colorful hat.

So what's all this have to do with knitting? Not much! But it is part of the scenery visitors to Y2Knit see when they arrive and walk to the shop entrance. Keep your eyes open!

All weather is good for knitting!

I read this statement today and it's true for me. We're having record heat, which makes me wish I had a pool membership. This morning it was blessedly cooler and I could do some weed management in the garden.

Jill and I were in Columbus at the TNNA trade show over the weekend. I think it was hot there too, but we are in the convention center from 8-8, so we weren't out in any awful weather. We had such fun networking and connecting with people. We went out one dinner with some of the Association of Knitwear Designers members, including Chrissy Gardiner, Gwen Bortner, Myrna Stahman, and Chris DeLongpre . Another dinner we went out with friends Kennita Tully (designer), Barbara Paley (Stitch n Pitch fame) and Margaret Fisher (designer) and are pictured here at Barcelona, a fabulous restaurant we found. Our waiter, Dave, is a knitter! He picked our brains on some knitting problems he was having and brought us a complimentary decadent chocolate dessert.

Another dinner we had a great meal with our friends Mary and Michael from Ashland Sky, Lenore Plotkin from Stitcher's Dream, Kim Smith from Knitting Matters, and Jodi Lewanda, another designer. Yummy food and great company.

Spring Knitting

It was wonderful to have a pleasant holiday weekend. I enjoyed sitting outside and moving some of my knitting projects along after spending several hours working in the garden. We had so much rain the last week , that there was plenty of clean up. The low hanging branches of the tree were making me feel claustrophobic, so I got up on the ladder and sawed off some of them.

Universal Yarns has a lovely cotton/linen blend, Summer Linen that I am working up in the Eastern Lace. Stop by and finger it--it's lovely! I like working this pattern as every row is different over a 26 row pattern repeat, but it's not that hard to follow and keeps me engaged. I have other knitting that is not as interesting and I am les s likely to pick it up.

I'm also knitting Jill's design, Lattice Lace. WHAT A FUN KNIT! I love it when a pattern is so enjoyable I can hardly sleep for wanting to pick it up and work it. This is a great wrap that is easy to wear and, as I've said, fun to knit.

New Yarn

It's always fun to get new yarn in the shop and I sometimes forget to let everyone know.

For the sock knitters, we just got in some Lorna's Laces (pictured here - Jungle Fever in Y2Knit colors!). The colors are dreamy!

With warm weather upon us, I've ordered some summery yarns, all of which come in many beautiful colors:

• Flax - 100% linen, the yarn we're using for the Market Bag
  
• Summer Linen - 50% cotton/50% linen - I've cast on for Eastern Lace in this soft yarn
  
• Cotton Blossom - cotton with a rayon twist
• Links - 100% organic cotton (worsted weight) - we suggest Jane's Bag and Scalloped Bath Set (pictured below)
• Cottonwood - 100% organic cotton (DK weight) - make up Flirty Tank

Scalloped Bath Set in Links

Knitting Navy

This afternoon I had a pleasant visit from Rachel, who plays with the Navy Band and has a performance in Hagerstown this evening. Rachel learned to knit a year or so ago from Navy Band co-workers and quickly became infected with the bug.

She told me that on a recent band tour, the knitting band members taught others how to knit. They soon had a large knitting group! Go Navy!

What a Spring!

This has been quite a spring. On top of all the daily events of my life, the shop and Y2Knit, three major events transpired:

• My youngest son, John, married Quy in a wonderful ceremony on March 29. Of course, the weeks and months leading up to the event were full of planning and activity. My week started with picking up my mom at the airport Monday evening. I hosted a rehearsal dinner on Friday, with a Mexican fiesta theme. My brother and sister-in-law did most of the cooking, we added Frankie's tamales and the meal was perfect. Jill and others set up while I was at the actual rehearsal.
  
  The next day had three main activities: the Vietnamese wedding at Quy's parents, a church wedding (yes, the women changed clothes) and finally, a large reception at a Chinese restaurant.
  
  I concluded the week of activity with a two day visit by my brother and sister-in-law in Funkstown.

• Jill and I took a business trip to Italy April 10-16. It was kind of a whirlwind, but also very relaxing.
  

• On April 19, my second grandson was born. Ian Roberts is the first child of his parents and arrived via c-section as he had a 16-inch head and weighed 9.5 lbs.

  
  

Tuscany Travels

Where to begin? Everything about this trip was amazing. Jill and I are so glad we went! Not for just the obvious--who doesn't want a trip to Italy, but because we were able to really get feel for Montisi, to meet some people there, and to find more suitable lodging. This means we can offer about 4 more beds each week, so if anyone is interested in joining us for the Y2Knit Experience Tuscany, let me know ASAP. We've also reserved the Villa for October 09.

Montisi is a village on a ridge, as are all the villages in the area. At one time it was a fortified village, with a wall and lookouts, which still remain. Curving streets make it seem bigger than it is, home to 315 people. While small, there's a lot of activity, and much of it takes place in the streets so we were able to take it in.

On the main street, just two doors down from the Villa Maddalena are two cafe/bar places, each different, but offering coffee, beer, wine, sodas, snacks, newspapers and magazines. Even locals drop in for a quick drink and to catch up on the latest news of the village. There are clearly peak times (early, midday and about 6pm) when regulars stop in.

Amazingly for such a small town, Montisi boasts three B&B (agrico tourismo) and two fabulous "slow food" restaurants, where the food is local, natural, often organic. We couldn't believe we could eat so well!

We were able to meet locals, both native born and ex-pats, so we developed some resources for making our stay there memorable. I have to say, I miss it already and can hardly wait to go back.