More about Abingdon

Saturday morning we were up very early! We met M and her boyfriend at the Farmers' Market, where the biscuits and sausage were the recommended starting place. I got a pork tenderloin on a biscuit, yummy. And down the line further selected an Ethopian blend coffee. We ate at a picnic table in the shade and I watched two young ladies at a nearby booth crocheting. We then shopped the rest of the market, and I contemplated a beautiful necklace of silver and a blue gemstone. Lovely, lovely, but finally decided it was a little rich for my taste. We bought fresh cinnamon buns and enjoyed them before we left for more walking tour of the town. Sat. was the annual Plumb Alley Days, where the community has booths or handcrafted items, flea market, overstock from local stores, yard sales, etc. We each bought a few small things and walked many blocks in the sun before Mom & Dad bought some lemondade and found a nice bench in the shade, and M and I continued shopping & buying! The local bagpipe band marched the length of the alley and played. When M & I decided we had finally seen all there was to be seen, we had a walk back to the bench, and then a long walk back to the car. M went to work, and we took another driving tour, what else was there to be seen in Abingdon? Well, we found out that most everything to see was right in the downtown area. But we found a fast food place for lunch, and then returned to town and Stage II where we saw Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks. This was an excellent production! After we were back at the motel relaxing Mom said she could have seen it a second time that evening! After the theatre we all agreed that Alison's was the place to go for dinner. This time I got the baked potato soup and a sandwich.
Then M had to go to work again, and we went back to the motel to relax. We had a great chance to visit, and lots to see and do. Special thanks to daughter for hosting a tour of Abingdon and for the theatre tickets. And thanks to parents for the motel room and all the great food. I had a fabulous trip!

Greetings from Abingdon, Virginia written May 22

Greetings from Abingdon. I spent yesterday (Thursday) morning and afternoon driving, then met daughter #2 and my Mom & Dad at the Barter Theatre in Abingdon. We had dinner at the Ellis Soda Shoppe and Grille. The Ellis Soda Shoppe is a building on the National Register of Historic Places, and was originally a pharmacy - the building has lots of character - and the Grille had great food.
Daughter (M) went to work and my parents and I went to Barter's Main Stage to see Jimmie Rodgers America's Blue Yodeler. I'm not a big yodel fan, but was familiar with Jimmie Rodgers & his music. The actor did a great job and had a great voice, I also liked the actor who played the blues harmonica - I will admit a love for blues harmonica!
This morning (Friday) we met at the Theatre and went to IHOP for breakfast! Next, a tour of the Abingdon Winery, where we each chose a variety to sample. I liked them all, M bought a bottle of a sweet blush; I bought a bottle of that and a very sweet red that goes well with dark chocolate. Now I just need someone who'll enjoy a glass of wine with me. Then we set off on a walking tour of historic Abingdon. We started at the Cave House, another historic building. The name comes from a limestone cave that runs under the house. The building is currently a shop for local artisans. Wow! Quilts and quilted wall hangings, weaving, tatting, crochet, wood carvings, stained glass, pottery, handcrafted folk music instruments, and so much more. We all enjoyed the items that filled this house. I bought an embroidered book marker for my Dad & M bought a used book. From there we walked to Zazzy'Z Cafe and Coffeehouse, where the rest of the group relaxed in the Coffeehouse and browsed books. I spent time in A Likely Yarn, where I browsed knitting and crochet books and some yummy fibers. I bought an old magazine, Vogue Knitting International Crochet from 1994, as well as some lovely, bright pink yarn, a cotton and acrylic blend, plus a skein of Jarbo Garn Tropik, a bamboo acrylic blend in a soft green. I talked knitting, crochet and books with the owner, Janet Woolwine (really!). She recommended French Girl Knits, and suggested that crocheters needed a book of that kind - with hip, not old-fashioned garments. I recommended books by Doris Chan and Lily Chin. The store is moving to a new building further into town, on Monday and the owner said that she'd order some of the books that I'd recommended, as she's have more room. She handed me a business card that includes a place to record your own knitting needles and crochet hooks. She said she was getting new ones made with the new address, so I asked if I could have a few more for members of the Guild Chapter - she handed me all that cards left on her counter. So look for a small treat at the meeting on Thursday.
I'm highly recommending that you visit A Likely Yarn at "A Likely Yarn" and visit the store at their new location on Pecan Street if you get to Abingdon.
Then we had lunch at Alison's where the baked potato soup was highly recommended. I was the only one who didn't order the soup, as I was just too hot to think about hot soup. But had a few spoonfuls of M's, and it was fantastic, even after it cooled off.
We took a break from the heat and chatted in M's housing, and then took a walk around the Shakespeare Herb Garden. M went to work for the evening and we did some errands, got gas in the car, and stopped at Dairy Queen for Blizzards. We're now winding down for the evening, I've got a new crochet magazine along with the latest issues of Crochet! and Yarn Market News that I had brought along.
We're starting early tomorrow morning at the Farmers' Market. We've been promised some yummy southern biscuits, cinnamon rolls, and strawberries.

Knitting Scouts

Check out this site, Cast On. They've come up with some fun badges for knitters to earn. It's all in fun. If you think that you've earned one of the badges you can click on it and add it to your blog. Well, some of these badges are excellent for other fiber artists! Like crocheters. And I've definitely earned a few, but we have to change the word knit to crochet. First off is the Math 1 badge: I will Impress you with my Math Prowess


"... a whiz at substituting yarns and calculating gauge, can space increases and decreases evenly and is fully comfortable with the basic math encountered in all... projects." crochet projects

And an advanced math badge: I will Crush you with my Math Prowess

" has applied the principles of higher mathematics to (crochet) including, but not limited to hyperbolic planes, Fibonacci sequences, Klein bottles, Moebius strips, fractals and Flying Spaghetti Monster hats".
Oaky, I'll admit that I haven't done any Flying Spaghetti Monster hat, but I've got the rest!

CAL progress

I just wrote & published a nice post about the CAL, and then found that it was all stuff that I had written in the last post (below). Now I have to find something else to write about.

I'm having fun with this CAL, it's in the Learn Crochet group at "Ravelry". BTW, the Maryland Sheep & Wool that's featured on the Ravelry home page is the one that I opted NOT to go to last week with several members of the local CGOA. My husband reminded me that there's just not enough allergy medication I'm allowed for me to go where there is dust, dogs, sheep, and wool!
We have about 14 ladies participating in the CAL, some are new to crocheting and learning the stitches, others know stitches and are learning to read patterns, and others are learning about the helpfulness of stitch markers and the importance of counting stitches.

I hope you've all check out Ravelry. It's the most informative group since CGOA. With these 2 groups I get new information every day - new yarns, new patterns, new techniques and helpful hints, new names in design, and new friends.

New CALs

I've been thinking that it was time for another Crochet-a-Long (CAL) on the Ravelry Learn Crochet group. We had a great time, and great learning experience with the Divine Hat, wasn't that in December? So when the chatter started about a CAL, and several people suggested a bag for summer, well I had to jump in and offer to lead a CAL. I'm an instructor and moderator for the group. So, I posted that I'd be willing to do a CAL, and opened a discussion on suggestions. Last night we decided to do the "Sweet Pea Tote Bag".
Tonight's chatter is about yarns and yarn substitutions. I had to dive into the stash to see what I had. I used or gave away most of my Sugar' n Cream for dishclothes before the Gathering of the Guild. I've got a cone of beige with some blue & burgundy flecks, wow, that's left from a Conference about 4 years ago! I also have some blue Cotton Ease that's been around for a long time, and some variegated blue Cadiz that's a round cord-like fiber. I had been saving these two together in the same bag, thinking about making a purse, so this might be a good time to use up that stash!

Another week or more without a blog entry...

Does that mean that there's nothing crochet-related that's happening? That's unlikely. What it means is that I've been working on things, and forgetting to write.

Thursday evening was our CGOA Chapter meeting. I've spent a lot of time researching great pages that I was allowed to print and handout to the group. I've also taken a lot of time to make notes for the meeting, plan an agenda, and gather yarn samples. Then I posted meeting information to the Chapter via our Yahoo group, and sent emails to some people who haven't been to meetings recently. We're starting a new CAL project and thought that several of them might be interested. After the meeting, I typed up meeting notes and posted those to the group. So I've been busy with paperwork.

I also finished the baby dress in bamboo. I didn't like the final round of trim on the collar, so I made up something else. I liked that so much, that I pulled out a round from each sleeve and put the new edging there, and then pull that edging around the bottom of the skirt. And it was a long way around there! I put 3 round, white buttons on the back, and a white heart-shaped button on the front between the two collar points. It's very cute, and my husband say I shouldn't give it away. "You put too much time into that. Save it." I don't know exactly what I'm saving it for, but maybe there will be a new baby in the extended family sometime. I'm not holding my breath.

Also I had a doily that I put down midway through the final round. I've avoided finishing it for a long time. When I picked it up this week, I realized why. I wasn't happy with the final round. It seemed to be puffy stitches hanging in mid-air. I finally decided to pull that round out, and then decided that I'd pull the next one out, too. Then started experimenting with how to finish it. I like the results. Now I must! get some photos - baby dress, doily, 2 sweaters.