Thursday, July 12, 2007

Cancelled

O.K.

I have cancelled my garage sale. I am just not ready to do it. Everything I have sorted is in my mind and no where else. So I just decided to cancel it. I received my balloons and price tags today. It was tied to my door. I think I forgot to mention this was going to be a neighborhood garage sale. My weekends have been too busy to even put things aside. Only mentally did I decide what I wanted to sell. Oh well. I need to start doing some other things in my life.

O.K. Today I went in search of a good yarn store. Stacey from Crimson Purls made a comment which lead me to think about finding some help for my cardigan project. I am having some troubles with the directions. I really hate reading crochet and knitting patterns. They seem to be written in an ambiguous code or something. I am currently winging the cardigan on my own. I went to a yarn store in Plainfield, IL and talked with some ladies. Evidently there is a published author of crochet books there so she would be able to help me. She wasn't available when I was there but now I know where to go for help. Thank goodness. I guess I will attempt some classes one day when I know I can commit. But I had a good time browsing the store and looking at yarn. Boy are there many different types of yarn! Geez! I was a bit overwhelmed but ready to learn. I would love to do a pair of socks one day. That yarn is very expensive though. I really need to research how many skeins of $18.50 bamboo yarn I need for one pair of socks. I never paid that much when I bought socks. It's will be hard to spend that much when I make my first pair. Also I liked the yarn but I could not see myself accessorizing using them. Very bright and lively colors. I usually stick to black, navy or white. Well I guess I will just need to find something to go with my finished project. Of course this gives me a reason to shop! Tee Hee!

The name of the store I visited was called Peggy's Strands of Heaven. It's a very nice shop located in the downtown area of Plainfield. I really enjoyed myself there and met some wonderful ladies. I do hope to go back one day and sit around and crochet. I want to at least become an advanced intermediate crocheter before trying knitting.

While I was there I bought a book. It's called Knitters', Needlepointers', Crocheters', Weavers', & Spinners', Travel Guide 2007-2008 a guide to knitting, needlepoint, crocheting, weaving and spinning stores and guilds in the United States. It's a companion guide to Shopyarn.com. I thought it was a cool idea. I travel quite a bit for work and I thought this would be perfect for my travels. I can visit stores from all over! I did this with scrapbooking stores. It's a blast meeting people with the same interest as yourself. Try it sometime! Here is a picture of the book.


Just to give you a quick update on my cardigan here are some pictures.



This is the front of the cardigan. The left and right sides.



This is the back



This is one of the sleeves.

I have another sleeve to make. The sleeves are giving me some issues. I am winging it for now. They seem to be O.K. I will ask for some help at a yarn store later. There are several more in my immediate area and I think I will visit them sometime soon to see where I would like to go best.


Earlier this week I found this!


I have many digital scrapbook magazine idea books but this one was a newbie for me! I really like it. It reminds you of Creating Keepsakes "Computer Tricks for scrapbooking" by Jessica Sprague. This one is by BHG Scrapbooks. I think they are seriously giving Creating Keepsakes a run for their money for sure. Lots of great tips for using photo editing programs for your scrapbooking. Not just Adobe Photoshop elements. I can't wait to try some of these techinques!

I haven't done much photo editing just minor stuff. But I do have a nice collection of digital scrapbooking idea books. They are just fabulous! I have both of Renee Pearson's books and also a subscription to the new digital scrapbooking magazines. I just need to find the time to actually do some one day. I took Jessica Sprague's class at CKU and it was fabulous. We made two 12 X 12 layouts and they are too cool. I want to do more. I will probably stick to 8 X 8 pages or 6 X 6 pages. I will not invest in a large format printer. The ink, 12 X 12 paper, and space requirements are just too expensive for me. I rather print them in smaller format on my current printer. It seems more financially feasible.

On to other things. While I was looking for the yarn store (I failed to write down the address but I knew the vicinity) I dropped into a cute little store in downtown Plainfield called Pixie Pizazzi. It's a gift basket store. I asked the nice lady about the yarn store and she told me where to find it. I thought that was very nice of her to help me. I felt obliged to purchase something from her store. I browsed around the store and bought some fun stuff to try. Check it out!



I like to try different things and spicy garlic mushrooms and cheddar cheese soup was right up my alley. Of course I have had cheddar cheese soup before but not the spicy garlic mushrooms. At least not bottled ones. I have purchased some hot at the Renaissance Faire in Wisconsin. There were delicious to say the least. I will try these and post about them later.

Well I think I have babbled enough for now. I hope everyone is having a pleasant week!

Butterfly kisses to you all!

6 comments:

Virtuous said...

Yah!! You went to a LYS! Definitely visit them all and see which one you think you will be most comfortable and enjoy the most.


And NO! Do not buy $18 sock yarn for your 1st pair!!! Bye some $8 kind! :op I am using the Sockotta yarn for my 1st pair (will post F.O. very very soon).
Knitting socks is definitely for "hobby" purposes only. You can buy socks cheaper and them faster straight out of the store! LOL Knitting socks are for the crafty adventurers in us!

Cute book! I heard about it! I would recommend always calling ahead to those shops or G.oogle them b/c you never know when one may have closed down.

I am sure one of the LYS have crochet classes too! OR you could check out your local Jo-Ann's, Michael's, Hobby Lobby, or AC Moore to see if they offer any!!

GO FOR IT!! :oD

Adrienne said...

Glad you found a store to hel you!!!!!!! I like Jessica Sprague too! She is great! I may have to look at that other book!!!

Still Patrice said...

Isn't Virtuous just a wealth of information! LOL Glad you were able to find a store in your area. I've never heard of Spicy Garlic Mushrooms!?! Definitly for those with an adventurouse pallette.

Kim said...

Cas, there is a yarn store next to scrapbook studio. You should come scrap with me on a friday night and check out the yarn store too.

Sheila said...

I agree yarn is expensive... I have yet to really splurge on high-end yarn... I don't think my pockets are ready...lol. Spicy Garlic Mushrooms... would like to try that.

Anonymous said...

Hey Cassandra!

I was so excited to stumble across your blog because I work for shopyarn.com. I'm so pleased to see these great reviews and I wish you happy travels for you and your new book.

Thanks!

Margaret
margaret@directionpress.com