This has been quite the busy week! My husband and I (and our 3 babies - I mean cats) recently moved to the mountains of Western North Carolina from Richmond, Virginia. It has been some adjustment living in a small town! We are about an hour outside of Asheville, so we plan our trips in advance. Yet this week we ended up making the drive "up the mountain" 3 times in 6 days! That can take a lot out of a girl. The sudden temperature increase is making my joints unhappy too. The past few mornings I have woken up with swollen hands and feet. Thanks, weather! So don't think I have forgotten about you. I promise, you have been in my thoughts!
To continue with the busy theme, the Western North Carolina Yarn Crawl is happening this weekend! I hit the store in Morganton, NC today. I will wait and do a whole post on the yarn crawl after I visit more stores tomorrow. But you can check out
O Suzannah's Yarn On Union on Facebook. It was my first trip to Morganton and I had a great time! I will head in the opposite direction tomorrow and stop in the stores in the greater Asheville area. There are 10 more stores participating in the yarn crawl. I'm not sure if either me or my wallet are up to visiting them all, but I'm going to try!
For those of you who follow my
business page on Facebook, you may have seen the pictures I took of what is in my knitting bag. I thought I would go into more detail here. This also offered my the opportunity to clean out my bag! I have a tough time getting rid of scraps and ends. I always think I may be able to use them for something - even if I only have a couple of yards left!
The mess that is my bag (it looks better now, I promise. I will not admit that I stashed some remnants in another bag...). The bag itself I picked up at a yard sale for $4. I think it is actually a laptop bag, but it does wonderful as a knitting bag! It sits up on its own, it has great pockets, and the leather is easier to clean than a cloth bag. Plus it is pink! I really have a pink problem. I have all kinds of half-finished projects, partial skeins, and random needles inside. And yes, the needles should be in their needle case.
To keep my smaller notions in check, I have a zippered bag I picked up in Berlin years ago. It is made from a plastic candy bag (but it has been treated to keep it from breaking down). The compression gloves help keep my hands going. If you have any difficulty with your hands (arthritis, carpel tunnel, etc.), I HIGHLY recommend these gloves. I use them for knitting, typing, I even sleep in them when I'm having a flare. Finding gloves with finger support (while leaving the tips of my fingers bare) was difficult, but totally makes the difference. These came from
Amazon. The newest addition to my bag is the small notebook I use to write down my patterns. This is a new habit of mine, so I still have to remind myself to take final measurements to put in the book! It was made by a local artist (and purchased at a local independent bookstore) and says "Follow your dreams, they know the way." I love supporting local, small businesses whenever I can. As one myself, I know the difference every sale makes in my life. I like to pay it forward. Plus, I find more unique and fun items that way! Now, what is missing from this bag? My small knitting scissors. I keep losing them! These paper scissors are getting the job done, but I really want a pair from
Slipped Stitch Studios. They have a Velcro strap, so hopefully I can stop losing them!
The problem with cleaning out my bag is that suddenly there was room for someone else to move in! This is Ay (he has an almost identical twin brother, Bee, and they both terrorize our female cat, Maya). He decided that I had cleaned it out just for him. Needless to say, I latched the bag shut after I pulled him out!
Phew, I had better go to bed so that I have plenty of energy for fiber fun tomorrow! I hope you all have a great weekend. And I would love to hear what is in your knitting (or crocheting) bags!