friend (frnd)
n.
1. A person whom one knows, likes, and trusts.
2. A person whom one knows; an acquaintance.
3. A person with whom one is allied in a struggle or cause; a comrade.
4. One who supports, sympathizes with, or patronizes a group, cause, or movement: friends of the clean air movement.
5. Friend A member of the Society of Friends; a Quaker.
tr.v. friend·ed, friend·ing, friends Archaic  To befriend.

Okay there are many definitions.  I sometimes think ‘friend’ is too broad of a term because you may refer to someone as your friend when they are really just an acquaintance - someone you know - that is covered above too. 

I think there should be another really special word for someone is all of the different definitions listed above and then some.  That someone is the type that when you ask them for a favor, they don’t ask what, they just say how can I help.    They like you for ‘you’ with all your little quirks.  They don’t try to change that (except maybe trying to get you to eat weird stuff), they just accept who you are and enjoy the total package.   So, do you have any suggestions on what that special word or term would be???

There may be many of you out there with more real, true friends that have to be counted on more than one hand.  That would be a feat to be recognized, but I do not think the majority of us are that lucky.  I have had real, true friends over the years and they have come and gone as life has a way of taking people in different directions.  I can truly say that I have been positively impacted by those real, true friends and become a better person because of them.

Because of the internet and blog, I now have many more people that I know, like and consider friends.  The internet/blot are truly wonderous things and I think we should be thankful for them.  I personally cannot imagine living without either….especially the internet.  Any time I need to know something….go look it up on the net.  Need a phone number?  You got it, look it up on the net.    Now, there is Ravelry.  I have not become immersed in that.  Yet.  That could be another thing I am thankful for in time.

I digress.  Take a moment to consider your real, true friends and what they mean to you and how they have changed your life.  Over the next few days, take a moment to send them a note or give them a call and tell them how much you appreciate their friendship.  Maybe tell them this by doing something little or special just so they know.  They may not know what a positive impact they have on your life.

I have such a real, true friend and this has been on my mind. 

Celebrate real, true friends!

(who else would wear silly ice cream hats for my birthday???)

(Warning - very long winded post today with LOTS of pictures)
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I went to work at 1:00 am last night/today and ended my day (huh?) at 5:30 am.  I did get some sleep and have lots to share with you!!!
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 I work at Haus of Yarn part-time…about once a month or so on Saturdays.  My favorite part that I enjoy is ‘getting’ to arrange and straighten the yarn and just look at it all day long.  It is fun to look from the eyes of a customer and help them choose just the right yarn for the project they want to make.  Another favorite part is sitting the backroom to eat lunch and being literally surrounded by color.  The overflow yarn is stocked on shelves and it is just a wonderous thing to sit and look at the color and absorb it.   
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When I travel, I find myself needing a dog fix.  I also find myself during my daily routine of life needing a yarn or color fix.  Even if I am not working, I enjoy going to into a yarn store just to get my color/yarn fix.  Ahhhhhh. Speaking of color and yarn, I promised to share pics of yarn that I received for my birthday last week.  Instant color fix! 
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First of all, there is Cider Moon which is a new-to-me vendor that Beth introduced to me through pictures on her blog.  The very top of her blog has pictures of fiber, singles on a bobbin and then yarn knitted from that fiber.  VERY pretty.  She has several recently completed or soon-to-be completed socks made from Cider Moon and she said this is one of her favorite vendors.  I can see why.    They sent lots of little samples of yarn and a little fiber too! Cider Moon - Juneau (top) and Pandora Rose (bottom)
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Next are two Bee-u-tiful skeins from Three Waters Farm in two very different colorways.   Three Waters:  Late Summer (bottom) and Brown/Green/Grey (top)  
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Another new-to-me purveyor of fine yarns is Ball and Skein located in (I think) New Hampshire.  Anyway, this is hand-dyed sock yarn (75% merino & 25% nylon at 450 yards.   Very nice feel to the yarn and firm (read not limp) feeling.  I LIKE it. 

  Ball and Skein - Rainy Day Blues
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So far, all yarn shown has been from Indie dyers, but no commercial yarn to speak of.  I did get one very interesting ball of yarn commercial yarn - Lang JaWoll Aktion
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   I picked up a book this weekend called Simply Shetland 3 at Galisteo.  This is such a NICE book.  The photo work is wonderful, lots of side history included and the pictures just give you the feel of ‘being there’ and a feel of richness.  I fell in love with the diamond and lace shawl as well as the…. 
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Tierra Gansey  

 Jake loves wool and wishes I would make him a sweater.  Okay, Jake, I will put it on the list.   AH OH, big news…..how could I forget.  I am on Ravelry now.  Yipppee!   My name is AgileKnitter if you would like to ‘friend’ me.  I have not fully begun to appreciate the features of Ravelry yet, but give me time.
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Contest Winner - The Winner for choosing Ace’s new name is…….DRUM  ROLL…Marguerite.  She suggested the name William and teasingly wrote that he could be called Willy Wiggles.  I fought the need to name him this as I am not sure I want a “Willy.”  It just seems so undignified.  It is just a thing of Fate and cannot be avoided.  My thoughts are I will call him Will and put the ‘eee’ sound on it when I need to.  So, congrats on winning Marguerite and thank you everyone for participating!   Marguerite, the prize was to be either a hank of sock yarn or some fiber.  Please let me know which you would like to choose.  I will say that if this were a yearbook contest, Jan would win the “Most Likely To Succeed” title.  She gave some really great names that I really like.  They just did not fit together with now-William Wiggles.  Darn it.  

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Okay,  speaking of Will, there needs to be a sheep update.  I ranted mentioned yesterday that Will had been caught in the act of CHOMPING on my darling Wool Girl stitch markers.  A picture speaks a thousand words and I thought you would find it interesting to see what an incognito sheep looks like (read NO FACE as in BITTEN OFF).   Ah, the little brat….such a sweet brat though.

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Knitting
I actually have progress on my Handpaint Highlight sock that I have been working on.  I am working with a yarn that I wanted to test drive to see if I liked it as Haus of Yarn is going to start carrying it.  I don’t like it.  No sirree….I LOVE it.  Oh, the color.  It reminds me of Indian Corn.  Check it out
Progress    
                                     Stitch detail  
                                                             Bottom of heel
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When I first thought about what pattern to use, I started to do use a new-to-me pattern, but decided to use my Handpaint Highlights pattern.  This is “the” perfect pattern for handpaint yarn and boy does it highlight the beauty of this yarn.  I am in love all over again.  I am so easy….

Okay, so MUCH yarn, so little time….I better get to knitting!

I attended a three-day Microsoft Solutions Framework (MSF) class last week.  This teaches you to better manage projects and work as a team.  Parts of it were very interesting, while I wanted to sleep through other parts.  If I had been able to knit, I would have been wide awake through the whole thing.  I pay much better attention if I can knit.  I knew that I would be talked about later as ‘the girl that knitted the whole way though the class’ so I refrained from knitting unless we were on a break.  The location of this training was one hour away from my house and traffic really increased my drive time so this cut into any other personal time I had last week (time to blog, eat, sleep, etc….)  Hence the delay in posting.  Last week did go by in a blur and happened very quickly.  My birthday last Tuesday brought lots of interesting things my way!!!   I am going to share mostly roving today and sock yarn gifts tomorrow. Lynn Vogel’s fiber was heavily represented (three guesses who that came from and the first two guesses don’t count).  I gifted Jan not too long ago with some Spunky merino/bamboo fiber in a purple colorway.  Well, this LV fiber is a merino/bamboo blend and I am sooo excited about spinning this after seeing what Jan ended up with after spinning it.   Woo hoo!   Unfortunately, the picture of this fiber does not truly represent the sheen of this yarn.  It is bee-u-tiful and high on my list to spin. 

LV merino/bamboo

As an all time favorite type of wool, I must say that BFL is at the top of my ‘list.’  BFL is oh-so soft and takes dyes beautifully.  It is very nice to spin, not really requiring predrafting.  This is an LV BFL and the colorway is very nice and interesting:

LV BFL
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Artsy Gal is represented with some superwash BFL (mmm, BFL) in colorway Chocolate Dipped Raspberries.   
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Last, but not least, the following is all Beth’s fault…..If you look at the top of blog, you will see the fiber that I received in fiber form, on a bobbin and spun up as well.  Ooh, ooh, and ooh! 
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As for the actual Birthday itself….it was a fun day.  I think you should enjoy the day and take whatever comes your way.  Jan took me to dinner to celebrate and I voluntarily chose something outside of my usual food box.  I chose a Japanese restaurant in Smyrna (read hole-in-the-wall, not a very big place, but Nissan is there) called Tokyo.  We ate hibachi style.  We kind of questioned our choice at first since it was over 100 degrees outside and we voluntarily came inside to sit near a hot grill.  It was fine though….especially after I received my drink with the umbrella in it.  
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 Everyone should have a drink with an umbrella in it on their birthday!   It was a Mai Tai and definitely cured what ailed me.  If I had had two of them, I would have been instantly healed like on TV and fallen over.  HA.  After the dinner presentation, the wait staff wended their way through the restaurant banging a good sized gong.  They came to our table and sang happy birthday to ME.  I got some ice cream with chocolate and pecans on it with a lit candle.  Aww.  It was yummy too.  While this was going on, there was a young man (mid 20ish) that was shrjnking in his seat.  I was across the way from him and said to him “it’s your birthday, isn’t it???  You have that guilty look.”  He admitted his birthday was the next day and I asked the people with him “  He made you promise not to do anything at the restaurant didn’t he??”  They replied affirmatively.  I said well, it’s your birthday you need a gong and ice cream too, so the staff retreated to regroup and revisited us with the gong and ice cream again.  That is what I am talking about when I said take what the day brings you and enjoy it.  Why not make it fun???   What fun was making people promise not to do something and not getting ice cream???   So what if people look at you?  Enjoy it.  Have fun.  Okay.  I did.  Nuff said. 
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Dogs.    Okay, first off Kirby.  Sad.  Kirby is running into things, not able to stand up long enough to eat and is wobbly when trying to get a drink of water.  I am wrestling with making decisions and talked to my vet tech this morning.  I am hoping that I do not have to play God and make a decision and he will decide to peacefully move on in his sleep.  I have been keeping everyone updated and hate to put a damper on the mood here.  It is heavy on my mind and oh so hard to watch. 
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On a funnier note or NOT SO FUNNY note……Ace still has no definite new name yet, but last night I wanted to call him MUD or much, much worse!   ARGHHHHH.  I was spinning on my espinner on the couch and looked over at him on the chair near me.  He was quite happily chewing on something.  I mean very HAPPILY.  I about died when I saw what it was……he was eating a Wool Girl sheep marker that Jan gave me.   @#$@#$!#$!@#$    Oh, I was sooooo MAD.  I grabbed him up and put him in a crate and told him how bad he was and walked off.  That was to keep from KILLING him.  Oh, oh and OH some more.  I left him in there for 30 minutes just to cool down.  After I let him out later, he did not get on the couch like he usually did.  He layed down nearby and waited for me to invite him, which I did about an hour later.  He was very contrite.  I later found one of my sheep and he had bitten it’s face off.  It was my favorite sheep with the black spot on it’s butt.  I guess you can say this is an incognito sheep so you won’t recognize him…..except for the black spot on his butt.  He managed to totally chew one sheep up, but three are okay (except for the faceless sheep).  Lesson learned….don’t leave your knitting bag laying around where a 1 yr old dog can get anything out of it.  Hard lesson…..now I need to go shop at Wool Girl (drats). 
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Enjoy your week everyone.  I always manage to drag a good birthday out for a couple of weeks.  I am going to Carraba’s tonight to do just that!

Between driving the extra distance for class and making dog food deliveries, I am pooped and too tired to post.  Please be patient and check back Friday night or Saturday morning for a new post.  Thanks for understanding!

Everyone should have an umbrella in their drink on their birthday!  What a fun birthday!   I am on my way to a MSF (Microsoft Framework) class and will be on the other side of town today without a computer (gasp).  I will post pictures of birthday memories tonight.   

I think my umbrella was a sot last night, LOL.  More to come later tonight.

 
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Hey, I put some new shoes on,
And suddenly everything’s right,
I said, hey, I put some new shoes on and everybody’s smiling,
An it’s so inviting,
Oh, short on money,
But long on time,
Slowly strolling in the sweet sunshine,
And I’m running late,
And I dont need an excuse,
‘Cause I’m wearing my brand new shoes.
(Song:  New Shoes by Paulo Nutini) 
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Another song…..Today is your Birthday!.  45 years old today and still willing to put myself out there and wear some crazy shoes.  Put it all together and Today is My Birthday and Hey, I put my new shoes on and suddenly everything’s right. 
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How can you not smile wearing shoes like these?   
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I cast on with the yarn I am test knitting for Haus of Yarn and commenced to knitting.  I cannot remember the name of the colorway, but it reminds me somewhat of Indian Corn.  Very pretty and very nice to work with.   I gave HOY my feedback and they ordered several more skeins/colors.  It comes from the hands of an Indie dyer so it will take a month or so to get the order.  It will be well worth waiting for though. 
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Indian Corn  first side        other side
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I have Thelonius Thelonius and Loksins on my radar and have a couple of yarns in mind for these two projects.  I picked up two hanks of Shibui at HOY this past weekend and this is one of the yarns I am considering.  I love the variation in color and the fact that it is not one flat color.  It almost glows. 
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Shibui - Peacock
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Oh, speaking of birthdays…..You may remember that Jan recently went to New Hampshire and took a workshop with Lynn Vogel of Twisted Sisters fame.  While she was there, she dyed, she spun, she knitted, and she had lots of fun.  I went to her house this past Sunday to see what she dyed and I got an early bday present.  I can safely sat that my all time favorite fiber is BFL. 

Jan’s hand dyed BFL (one side)     a different view

BFL is oh so soft and takes the dyes beautifully.  I can’t wait to spin this to see what it looks like.  Mark my words, we will be saying “I knew Jan when…”    I think she is going to have a wonderful career in dyeing.  She has a passion for it, has an eye for color and is very good and blending the colors.   Mine, it’s mine, mine, mine.  All mine…..

Have a great day!

A few months ago I posted about this and thought this is what my brain HAS to look like.  That is for color anyway.  It would be interesting to see what ideas looked like if you could see them.    Can you imagine what a head would look like on the inside that is full of ideas?
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I bought the heads a few months ago from an antique store for Haus of Yarn.  I later wished that I had some because I liked them stuffed with yarn and I have plenty of yarn to stuff em with.  So, I found some and they are a great deal.  Pier One has heads.  Not so many of them now….where I shopped, but they have heads.  Their heads are $15.   What a deal.  Every fiber person’s studio should have one (or two or three or….
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Progress and Lessons Learned
The Seascape sock from the Panda Cotton seemed to just last for danged ever and I needed to knit a different colored version of the Comfort Zone sock (good excuse to knit a different sock), so I cast on for the Comfort zone sock in a berry/burgundy colored Koigu.  This sock is now a done deal and oh so pretty.  I will cast on for the mate sometime in the near future (I hope).  They are made to fit me, me, me.  When I am not sure who I am making a sock for, I make them in my size.  Good idea, hmm?!
     Lesson learned here is that when you knit a sock in Koigu, you have approximately enough yarn to make a Women’s size 8.5 to 9 sock with a 6” cuff.  You won’t have much yarn left over.  You almost start to sweat when you are knitting the toe and see this little ball…
 

Remember this yarn?   It is a new yarn that I am going to test knit for Haus of Yarn and is a hand-dyed, superwash, fingering weight yarn.  

 I always love how the yarn looks after you wind it into a ball.  It is always so different looking than when it was in a skein/hank.  
                             
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I cast on this morning and will share progress shots later when there is actual progress. 

Through my blog, I met a great lady that has been knitting longer than I have and teaches two socks on two circs in California.  I just teach one sock on one circ.  Anyway, she and I are going to do a yarn trade for that Sleeping Dragon yarn that I received last week.  She has more sock yarn than I do (gasp, is there such a thing???) and is going to send me something that will get me out of my proverbial color box.  If you would like to read a little about her, check out her Pam’s blog.

I got some cute knitting patterns the other day too by Mac & me. 

Dogs
Lisa Cruse’s little chi had one puppy this morning.  I met her little dog on Saturday and it looked like she was going to have LOTS of puppies.  I hear she has one big little boy puppy!   
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Ace, AKA Mr. Wiggles……I have not decided on his name yet.  Please be patient.  Choosing a name is a very important event.  I promise to decide soon. 
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Agility Trials…..we have one scheduled the second weekend in September.  I think I need to have my head examined.  What was I thinking?
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Heat
It is so hot and has been so hot for so long that it deserves a heading just for itself.  I keep my thermostat on 68 year round.  The temp in my house was 77 last night as it was 100 outside.  My cooling unit is only a year old and works just fine.  Work is the key word here and it has been working overtime just trying to keep up.  It is so bloody hot out that it is hard to spin inside because the fiber doesn’t want to play nice and slide through your hands.  I gave up yesterday, turned a tower fan on and knitted on my Comfort Zone sock instead.  It is almost too hot to swim.  The water is very warm too.  So, they say make lemonade from lemons so I guess in this case we should eat ice cream! 

I have often said that my purpose in this Lifetime is to work on Patience.  I have had many opportunities to do so and have been successful in some ways and in some ways not.   My favorite places to shop are TJ Maxx and Marshalls.  I have found if there is an odd item that I like that if I am patient, it will be marked down.  I have also found that if I am brave and willoing to take the chance of losing an item, I can be a little more patient and it will be marked down further.  Keep in mind that you have to be willing to accept the fact that the item may be lost to you forever if you gamble in such a way.  It is a game and fun to me. 

I put myself on the Ravelry waiting list in June.  They have this neat thing you can do to look up where you are in line to receive your invite.  Last week, I was down about 2,000 on the list.  I am less that 900 today.  Woo hoo.  Patience is paying off and I will be there in no time.  Hopefully.  I get tickled when I go to the screen to look my place in line up.  The button you have to push says “Antsy.”  Yep, that would be me.  Antsy.

ravelry > antsy

patiently awaiting your invite?

Found you!

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  • 852 people are ahead of you in line.

I want to tell each of you that have written to me personally as well as the ones that took time to leave comments here how much I appreciate your opinions and a healthy discussion on the subject. 

 I hope people take the time to go read other comments on this subject today as there are some really good points made.  When I started blogging, my goal was to try not to be negative about any oen person as I do not want this to be a hurtful tool.  I do feel it is healthy to discuss things and share opinions.  That is a great way to learn.   I felt a little negative when I said I was not impressed with yarn and I really meant the color.  I want to thank others for bringing the positives out too.

 I recently purchased some roving (but have not received it yet, but it will be here any day) from Artsy Gal and she commented on this subject.  She also has a sock club and describes it in her comment.  Check it out, it sounds like a good idea.  I linked her blog here and you can find her store on her blog as well.

 I am in awe of our community and am glad to be a part of a group that is so willing to share.  Thank you!

A few months ago, Simply Socks Company offered a new sock club that consists of three shipments of sock yarns dyed by Indie dyers.  Both Jan and I bit that hook and joined up.  A month or so ago, we were trying to remember what and where we signed up for and finally remembered.  I put it on my calendar and have been watching for it. 

Yesterday, I received the first shipment which is hand dyed yarn from Sleeping Dragon.  Colorway is called Ramble.  I am not impressed.  It could be that the color of this hank of yarn is just not my cup of tea.  The dye job is great and there may be someone out there gasping because they would love to have this yarn.  The other two shipments are supposed to be from Spunky Eclectic and Dream in Color.  That is one interesting aspect of joining something like that. 
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Sleeping Dragon - Ramble
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I am also a member of Spunky Eclectic’s monthly fiber club and I love belonging to that.  It is one of those things that you belong until you unsub.  I love being part of this because you get a different kind of fiber each month and it is always a surprise.  What makes it fun also is that there are several local people that do it and it is fun to compare the differences in what we get becasuse, after all, it IS hand dyed and not two are really alike.
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I have belonged to sock of the month clubs in the past.  I collected hanks of yarn and patterns, but never did much more than collect them.  I like the fiber idea.  I will think hard before joining anymore sock clubs though.
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Do you have a club such as this you belong to that you have good things to say about???

Sock on everyone!