Yes! It’s the rare Saturday update at WendyKnits! I couldn’t let 2005 slip away without a look back.

On January 1, 2005, I was finishing up a pair of gloves knitted in Koigu. On December 31, 2005 I am working on the second sleeve of my Bohus sweater.

This year I knitted two Alice Starmore designs, 8 lace shawls, several pairs of mittens, some scarves, some sweaters by various designers, and a bunch of my own designs. I spun a whole lotta fiber. I completed my first book and am looking forward to it being published in four months.

I went to the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival and the Knitters Review Retreat. I just came back from a fiber trip to Richmond and Powhatan, Virginia. I knitted and laughed and cried along with my friends. I was lucky enough to meet some of my internet knitting buddies in person. I reconnected with a friend from my youth.

All in all, a good knitting year!

Lucy, The King of All Remote Controls, and I will be ringing in the new year together tonight. We’ll have an elegant dinner (if I don’t screw it up), champagne, and catnip.

Best wishes to you all for a fabulous 2006! May all your WIPs grow into FOs.

I got home a little while ago from my quick trip to visit L-B and take a tour of some of her fiber haunts.

I’m too tired for an extended entry, so here’s the quickie version of my visit:

Our first stop in Richmond yesterday was The Yarn Lounge.

A lovely shop, with lots of unique things I’ve not seen in any other shop. We we made welcome by Stewart and her adorable dog Homer.

Next up, The Knitting Basket.

The ladies there were just as nice as they could be and we had a great time.

Then Unraveled (whose website appears to be down, so I won’t put in a link).

Once again, an exceedingly warm welcome! And the Noro! Gasp! The Noro!

Then we headed out of Richmond, to Powhatan and Holly Spring Homespun.

Kathy was out on the front porch to meet us. And the staff made us feel right at home:

This is Scarlet, who helped me pick out yarn.

You can see she’s just worn out from that task.

And this is Zoe, the angora bunny.

We sat in the downstairs room and knitted for a couple of hours and Zoe was happily hopping around while we knitted. I think maybe Lucy needs a little angora bunny sister.

L-B and I spent the night at the Erin Hill B&B, which is just spitting distance from Holly Spring.

Here’s L-B this morning, ready for anything!

First stop was Kathy’s home, where we met my new true love:

This is Harry, who is a cashmere goat. Need I say more?

Then we headed back to Holly Spring, where we spent the rest of the day. Kathy provided yummy snacks in her spacious downstairs room, where a bunch of us hung out and knit and talked for hours.

As you can see, Kathy is adept at knitting with help from Scarlet.

And to my delight, Rusty from Virginia Beach (Hi Rusty!) casually whipped out this:

That’s the Bohus Blue Shimmer, which she got from Solveig in Sweden. Oohing and Aahing commenced!

The most exciting moment of the day for me? “Alice in Richmond,” who comments on my blog from time to time, arrived.

When Alice and I were in college, we worked at the same summer job two summers in a row. We immediately became fast friends and partners in crime. And we had not seen each other in at least 26 years.

So as you can imagine, a lot of hugging and shrieking and tears ensued. We managed to settle down long enough for a photo op.

Alice and I got to spend several hours catching up. We quickly realized that neither one of us has changed a bit! And we vowed that we’ll not let another 26 years pass before we get together again.

Even the train ride home was fun (although the train was an hour late) because I met two lovely knitters on the train!

So. I’m back home with Lucy, who was very happy to see her momma, in spite of turning her back to the camera here.

And it’s almost time to say goodnight, but first . . .

The Last Installment of the Birthday Contest

This one is really easy.

Send an email (one email per person, please) to The Official WendyKnits Contest Email Address by 3:00pm EST on Monday, January 2 wishing me a Happy Birthday. I’ll draw a name for the winner from among the emails. The winner will be announced in Monday’s blog entry.

I’m not saying what the prize is, but it rhymes with “loigu.”

If you are unable to use the mailto: link, leave me a comment, and I’ll email the correct email address to you.

Time to go spend quality time with Lucy. Good night!

Lovely, ain’t it? This hoggett roving was a gift from L-B, a hand-dyed Lincoln/Dorset mix. The color is a beautiful deep teal, not unlike the color of the Mediterranean Sea. L-B said she got it at Earthsong Fibers.

Of course I had to start spinning it immediately.

Yesterday afternoon TCM showed Casablanca, immediately followed by the original King Kong. And then at night, The Country Girl. All great movies to knit and spin by.

So, I did get a little bit done on the Bohus. A bit of progress on the sleeve, see?

I’m not sure why it is that I can’t settle down to some serious knitting since I’ve got the time, but I don’t seem able to. No matter, I’m just going through a bit of knitting malaise right now.

Lucy, however, is spending her time doing some serious relaxing.

What’s the best way to combat knitting malaise? A knitting road trip! I’m off early tomorrow morning for a quick trip south for a couple of days, so hopefully much knitting will be done. I’ll be doing a Richmond yarn crawl tomorrow afternoon, then spending most of Thursday at Holly Spring Homespun. Can’t wait!

The blog will likely be back on Thursday night or Friday morning. See you then!

And a good Christmas was had by all. Although it was warm and rainy, not cold and snowy as it ought to have been, we’ve had a lovely holiday, thank you.

Lucy got some fun new toys.

One of my favorite gifts from The King of All Remote Controls:

That’s a figurine of Wendy, one of the characters in South Park. What’s that in front of her? Why, a puddle of plastic vomit, of course.

And we can’t forget these two guys, of course.

A more practical gift was the large niddy-noddy (thanks, Mom and Dad) — one that makes a 72″ skein. The one I had was a small one, making a 42″ skein.

So I finished spinning this:

The “Plums and Berries” Cotswold roving. I wound it onto my niddy-noddy and ended up with a 240 yard skein.

I have knitted on my Bohus, but I’ve been feeling less than great the past couple of days (head-achy and feverish) so I didn’t make much progress. I did, however, finish the front and start on a sleeve.

Birthday Contest Results

Congrats to Sue N., whose name I drew at random from the correct answers to the question “How old will I be on my next birthday?” Yes, a week from today, I turn 49.

Sue wins this:

Five skeins of Noro Kureyon, in color number 124.

And a special prize for Sherry W., who guessed I would turn 34. Bless you, Sherry. You win this:

Four skeins of light blue Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk.

Sue and Sherry, I’ve emailed both of you.

The last of the birthday contests will be announced either Thursday or Friday of this week. So y’all come back now, you hear?

Lucy Sez:

Have a wonderful holiday!