It was a nice day for mail. The new Interweave Crochet arrived. I love the Diamond Sage Wrap by Jill Wright and the La Mer scarf by Sheryl Means. La Mer is Tunisian crochet, and there’s a little tutorial to get you started if you’ve never tried the technique. The issue also has my first design contribution to the magazine (if you don’t count the Baby Doll dress excerpted from Crochet Me in the last issue):

The “Just Enough” blanket is a little carriage blanket that’s just the right size for car seat or stroller.

Just Enough Blankie Interweave Crochet Summer '08

A small package also arrived from James’ Aunt Rose (addressed to me):

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It included a lovely letter written in impeccable longhand. Aunt Rose explains that she heard I was a knitter and she had collected these vintage patterns from her own mother-in-law recently. She went on to recommend a bit of knitting might help to keep warm in Alaska (I’ve been getting that advice pretty frequently!) The booklets are classic accessories patterns from the 1930s-1950s. I was excited to see that they include a lot of hat patterns, and one book called “Woolies for Infants.”

Despite the heat, and the fact that most of us had been up ’til midnight at A Tangled Skein the night before, there was a nice, small crowd at the Knitting Fair in Takoma Park. I was spinning on my new Schacht drop spindle. With the help of Rock Creek Yarn, I have now discovered the wonder that is Bluefaced Leicester (BFL to those in the know). It’s like this stuff was made for the drop spindle and it makes me feel a bit less like I have 10 thumbs. Mary, the dyer/proprietor of Rock Creek has pretty yarns inspired by places she’s visited in her travels.

Friday the 13th knitting was the busiest its ever been. The store was so crowded there was nary a place to sit or walk, but folks were cheery and having a great time buying wool even though the temperatures were topping 90 degrees. Of course not everyone made it ’til midnight

Knocked out by yarn fumes?

This is Anna, who knew when to quit. She’s the 12-year-old daughter of one of the knitters and she intelligently chose to make her nest amid some cashmere and organic cotton.

Sometime during the evening Cici absconded with my camera, but before she did, I got a shot of her t-shirt

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You can see the rest of the pictures that she and I took on flickr.

Thank you, Aunt Rose