Ok, so yes, I AM short on knitting content these days, and yes, I’m taking an entire post to point you to another blog. But seriously, you need to go check out what Maud did with Venezia if you haven’t already. I didn’t think it was possible to improve on Eunny’s gorgeous design, but she did, and it’s perfect. She is one talented knitter - go see!!

You all are amazing! Thank you so much for your donations, kind words, and well-wishes for our 3Day walk. After 3 years of doing this event, I have often been overwhelmed by the generousity and well wishes of acquaintances and strangers (really everyone who donates, but most especially those people that I don’t know well or at all)! I honestly didn’t know if anyone out there would be willing or able to donate to the walk - we all have our causes that we support and there are so many worthy ones - but I thought that if even one person could donate, it would be worth the post. I cannot thank you enough for your kind words and generousity!! It’s hard for me to tell you how much it really means to me, so I’ll just say THANK YOU!

I am working on a contest (to include those who have already donated, of course) to thank you and give you a little incentive as well. I’m stewing on it at the moment, but expect to see some details in the next week or two. I’ve copied the 3Day post to it’s own page in the tabs above and added links to the sidebar so that if you are looking for an update, it will always be in the same place and make it easy to pass on by if you choose.

A little more mumbo-jumbo: I had some hiccups last week switching over to a new email account for this site, and several emails got lost on their way to me. I do my best to keep up with my inbox; so if by chance you emailed me in the last week - week and a half and I have not responded, please accept my apologies, and if you would be so kind, please try me again (tadandmel at hotmail dot com or purlingplans at yahoo dot com). Thanks for your patience and understanding.

Looking for knitting content? This is a strictly philanthropic post, and it’s pretty personal. Please feel free to pass on by, I won’t be at all offended.

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THE STORY: Every year for the last 3 (this will be the fourth) Tad and I and a bunch of other crazy people have gathered for an amazing, grueling, gut-wrenching, and heart-lifting 3 Days. 3 Days where we walk, and talk about life, loss, hope, and those that we love. 3 Days where we brush off small complaints, minor aches and pains, blisters, hunger, heat and sometimes pounding rain. Because let me tell you (and I know that too many of you know this either from personal experience, or through someone that you care for deeply), these things are nothing compared with cancer. These are 3 Days where we hold each other up (sometimes quite literally), hold ourselves to a higher standard, and become something much more than we are in our everyday lives. For many people, walking even a few miles is a challenge - at 60 miles, this isn’t an easy event, and it isn’t meant to be. I’m not exagerating when I say that I feel like a superhero each time that I do it. And still, it’s nothing when compared with what cancer victims are up against. Talk about superheroes.

My mom is my hero. She was incredible - selfless and strong. Being my mother (and a great one at that) would have been enough, but she was also my dearest friend. These miles we walk won’t bring her back - believe me, I would walk the world over if there were even the smallest chance that it could. Somehow though, it does help. This event is so much more than a fundraiser to me, although it’s ultimate purpose is to raise much needed funds for research to fight this disease. In general I’m a pretty upbeat person, but cancer is something that just makes me angry - furious really, and this is a chance for me to re-direct this energy in a positive manner, to a cause that matters. It’s therapy. This event is a chance to grieve with others who know what this kind of loss feels like, a chance to give each other an ear or shoulder if needed, a chance to remember those that have been lost, share good memories, laugh over the funny stories. And a chance to celebrate those that are still fighting, a chance to do something for some truly amazing women and men some walking with us and some carried in our thoughts, those that have or are battling the disease themselves. It’s a chance to do something for all of us who have been fortunate enough to live without cancer, in hopes that we will never have to fight it ourselves.

Cancer doesn’t discriminate, and breast cancer is just one form of the disease. It happens to be my focus because of it’s impact on my life. Four women in my family including my mother have had breast cancer. My mother is the only one who lost her life to the disease. Those are some good odds, thanks to research and treatment - but they aren’t good enough. And that’s why, each year, I sign on to do this again - walk 60 miles in 3 Days to help raise money for this cause. I believe that the causes of breast cancer can be identified, that it can be fought, that a cure will be found. I’m not a doctor, a nurse, or a researcher, and I feel helpless sometimes (I think there are times when even these people feel at a loss), but this is something that I can do to contribute to the fight. Research is expensive, but necessary if we are going to kick cancer to the curb. So I will raise as much money as possible.

HOW YOU CAN HELP: If you would like to donate, please visit my 3Day website by clicking here. If you would like to donate but are uncomfortable doing so online, please email me by clicking on the contact me link in the upper left corner of the sidebar and I will get you the appropriate information. Each year, I carry the names of all those that I know who are battling the disease or who have been lost. And I would be honored to carry the names of your loved ones with me as well, please just share their names and your connection to them with me, if you are comfortable doing so. Those who are gone are not forgotten, and those that are still fighting need our help. I believe in the power of positive thinking, prayer, karma, whatever you may call it, and I carry these names, along with my mom, Linda Chase, in my heart. Our walk this year is in Boston Massachusetts, August 4-6. Thank you in advance for any help you are able to give, whether it be a donation, spreading the word by linking to this post and telling your friends, or positive vibes for safe training and a safe walk. Interested in joining us? Shoot me an email, or click on the 3Day link at the bottom of this post.

Over the coming weeks, I will move this post to it’s own page within the site where you can keep up with my progress in training and fundraising, and keep your eyes peeled - I’m brainstorming for a good fundraising contest which I’ll be posting about as well!

THANK YOU & THE PLUG: Thank you so much for your time in reading this post, I recognize that it is not the most uplifting topic, but I feel it’s necessary. What IS uplifting is all the people who are surviving this disease - and the thought that one day there will be no victims, only survivors. I believe that I will see an end to breast cancer as a life threatening disease in my lifetime.

And here’s my plug. Please, if you are reading this and haven’t been screened, please call your doctor and make an appointment today. If there are issues of where to go, insurance coverage, or what have you, there are often resources available and I can connect you with people who can help.

About the Breast Cancer 3-Day

Taking place in 12 cities nationwide, the Breast Cancer 3-Day is a three day, 60-mile walk that provides an opportunity to educate tens of thousands of people about breast health, including the importance of early detection. Breast Cancer 3-Day participants commit to raising a minimum of $2,200 and walking an average of 20 miles a day during each three-day event. Proceeds from the Breast Cancer 3-Day are used for breast cancer research, education, and community outreach programs. As the primary beneficiary of the Breast Cancer 3-Day, Susan G. Komen for the Cure receives 85 percent of net proceeds and the remaining 15 percent goes to the National Philanthropic Trust Breast Cancer Fund. Please visit www.The3Day.org, or call 1-800-996-3DAY for more information. Your donation is fully tax deductible and information will be provided with a donation confirmation.

What is that book at the bottom of the pile - Could it be? I had started to doubt it’s existence!

With all the amazing new knitting books coming out in the last year or two I have a list as long as my arm of those books that I’d like to add to my collection. I have restrained myself, for the most part, however, and did not purchase any new knitting books for most of 2006, content to knit from my magazines.

2007 may be a different story. It started with Poetry in Stitches. I stumbled on dear Hege’s blog at some point last fall and it was all downhill from there. I had to have that book, and it came in the mail early in 2007. Shortly after the love affair with Poetry began, I discovered pictures of Norsk Stikkedesign on line (hmm, now that I think of it, this may be how I found Heather’s blog - through a search for this book. I read her for awhile before I figured out that I knew her - he!**), and told myself I would hold off - after all, I won’t be ready to knit anything from these books for awhile.  But in March I heard a rumor somewhere in the blogosphere that it was going out of print. I have no idea where I saw this, nor can I verify whether there is any truth to this statement. I can tell you the very thought was enough to kick my ass in gear and I promptly ordered it from Amazon - explaining to Tad how much some out of print knitting books go for. Thus justifying my purchase, I looked forward to it’s arrival every bit as much as Poetry. Ahem, this was somewhere around beginning to mid-March. I was starting to doubt that it would ever show up. I even got a delay notice from Amazon. But it finally did arrive, about a week ago, and it is SO worth the wait. There are many projects in here that I would never knit, but just love to look at. There are at least two “lifetime” knits - as in, a project that I would dream about doing someday when I have the skill, and that it might actually take me a lifetime to knit it when I actually get around to it!

Books in general are something that Tad & I consider to be a great addition to our life and our home, and money well-spent. Even so, I try to keep my knitting book purchases to those that I will actually use, either as reference or to knit several patterns from. This book is one that I would hand down to my children one day with reverence (ok, maybe to a cherished neice - perhaps AB will knit!) .

The other two books have been picked up in the last few weeks with very specific purposes. But I think I’ll save the write up on them for another day - Both are certainly worth mention, and I am so glad to have added them to my bookshelf - But nothing can compete with this one for my affections at the moment.

**BTW, Heather had a great suggestion about procuring books directly from the author, something that seems so basic, but hadn’t occurred to me until she brought it up - what a great way to really support the author of a book that you love!

Actually, Tad did all the work to expand our vegetable bed while I was knitting (and, might I add, he did a bang up job with the design!). But I did get to have a little bit of fun too. Go check it out and see what we did!!

First off, I wanted to say thank you for all your kind words and comments about my MagKnits project. And that doesn’t count as administrative mumbo-jumbo, that’s just a heartfelt thanks. This is my first pattern, so there are bound to be hiccups; I’m doing my best to make it as good as it can be, and as clearly written as possible in case anyone actually does want to make it (that whole concept is still pretty much beyond me!). I am excited, but very nervous too.

Administrative mumbo jumbo (because there is some!)

I’ve been doing some work on the site with the help of my resident IT expert (he’s so good!), and changing/adding some things to the site. I’m still really new to all of this - can you believe that a couple of months ago, I didn’t even know that such a wonderful thing as RSS feeds existed?! Now I couldn’t do without them - there’s no way I could keep up with all the great blogs out there otherwise. Anyway, I was playing with my feeds and I might have made a boo-boo and broken one of them. I think it’s fixed now, but please let me know if you are having any issues with the feeds (though how would you know that if the feed didn’t show you this post? hmmm.)

I added the About Me widget that I have really liked on other blogs - I just think it’s a nice introduction. I also finally set up a separate email for my site, something that Tad has been encouraging me to do. You can still email me at the old tadandmel account, but comments and emails from the link to the left will direct to my new purling plans inbox.

I also finally added my spinning and other pics to the Galleries page, and organized the knitting projects by year - check ‘em out if your interested

End Administrative mumbo-jumbo

Let’s talk about yarn, that’s way more fun, right?

I’ve been thinking alot about yarn - One of the things that I’m shooting for is to buy yarn thoughtfully, with knowledge of what it is that I’m buying and why. On one end of this is expressing support for small dye shops and independent fiber artists - other people who are sharing the dream. Another avenue is focussing on natural fibers thoughtfully produced by companies that care about our world and environment (think Peace Fleece, Manos del Uraguay, Vermont Organic Fiber Company). I don’t expect never to succumb to impulse yarn purchases, and in fact my first design is in a yarn that I probably would not have used had I thought twice about it and really looked at the fiber content. But in general, this is something that’s important to me and that I’m working toward as a knitter and a consumer.

With that in mind, and with the next couple of designs that I have in mind focussing on color, I ordered one skein of each color of Green Mountain Spinnery’s Cotton Comfort. One skein in each color?! Yes my friends, I know they have shade cards - I ordered those too. Much good they do me. I have a visualization weakness - ask my dear creative husband, who thinks and dreams in great detail and vivid color - my brain just doesn’t work that way. I need to see it, I need to see it in color, and in order to be able to tell how they will look together, I need to swatch them together in different combinations. Thing is, and the thing that pushed me over the edge with this purchase, is that ALL the colors are beautiful (and colored with low-impact dyes), ranging from warm naturals to gorgeous brights. I can actually see using all of these skeins just for swatching and small projects, and even my color challenged brain can see several different lovely combinations coming of it. I don’t expect these to be something that hides in my stash. And it’s money well spent (and that I would have spent on random skeins of impulse yarns for swatching anyway) supporting a responsible company. My brain is focussed. I have a few things I want to make with this yarn, and once I have some successful swatches, I will be ordering more. In the meantime, I’m working on winding in between knitting on my MagKnits project. Want to see more? I do.

Sorry folks, this is a picture-light post, if you’re looking for the meat, scroll down to where it says “announcement!”

I am math challenged. Don’t tell my boss (she’s an engineer). I would be lost without Excel and Access in my worklife, and sometimes my daily life as well. I would certainly be lost without the excellent resources on the internets when it comes to this little project that I’ve been working on (lest you think that I haven’t been knitting - I have more swatches than you can shake a stick at right now!) One of my recent quandries forced me to work through an online geometry tutorial in which I had flashbacks to Mrs. Lindsay’s 10th grade class. I can’t believe it - she was right when she said I’d need this someday!

A fortuitous email conversation awhile back with Ruth resulted in an invitation to join her and some other fine folks on a small design blog that we are hiding from the general public - it allows us to bounce ideas off one another and get feedback in a safe place, where it would not exclude us from submitting for publication later on. It has been a great experience, and very positive.

As a result I’m working on a few specific things (actually just one right now, though there are a couple more on deck with more yarn on order for more swatching). I do have some goals, but for now I just think of this as testing my limits - the limits of what I think I’m capable of knitting-wise, and of my confidence to put myself out there creatively. I’m learning a ton, and thinking with a creative focus, which is fun. And flexing my problem solving skills - every time I figure out how to make something work (no matter how seemingly little) I am just thrilled. Waking up with an idea in the morning is so cool - so is waking up with a possible solution to a design complication. Every little victory is pretty hard won at this point, and so each one propels me forward - what fun! I’m still a little afraid that it will turn out to be a colossal powder blue yarny mess, but I will have learned a ton in the process and either way you have a good story to look forward to when all is said and done!

ANNOUNCEMENT: I wrote that post last week and was just waiting for a good time to put it up, and now seems like a great time.

SO, I interrupt this broadcast to tell you….. I decided to submit this little project that I mentioned above to MagKnits for consideration - I thought that it would be a great experience and working with the design group really bolstered my confidence. Kerrie Allman has accepted my design proposal and my very first design will appear in the August issue! I am slightly stunned and overwhelmed because I like the idea - but, well, it’s my idea - ofcourse I like it - but I don’t expect that everyone else will like it too. I had to read her email about 5 times over - I’ve been reading Magknits ever since I started knitting and I am so thrilled to have a chance to be included in it. I have so much admiration for some of the designers that have appeared in the magazine, and I have butterflies just thinking about it! I hope that you do like it, and I hope that you check it out, since all I can do now is give you this tiny tidbit. I can’t wait to hear all the critiques (positive and negative)! I am really a relatively new knitter, so I have much to learn about both knitting and design, and feedback is so important to that process. Now I’ve got to get cracking - I’ve got a knit to finish up and a pattern to write!

I was tagged by Tasha over at Knitting Fisher - It’s my first meme too Tasha! Probably a good “get to know you sort of thing” - I don’t know if I’ll be able to come up with 8 though!

So, here goes -

1. I already left this at Shannon’s site in the comments, but although I play with numbers at work and can generally remember them (dates, phone numbers, etc.) I seem incapable of remembering how old I am these days. In a pipe dream discussion with Tad a couple weeks ago I lost time and thought I was about 2 years older than I actually am. After much ribbing and laughter, we finally decided that I’m 31, I think…

2. I love all cheese except swiss. But I’ll eat it in a Vermonster & love it.

3. I’m a bit of a rebel. Reverse psychology works well with me.

4. Music is necessary to life. We attend shows on a pretty regular basis that run the gamut from Punk to Folk (Cowboy Junkies just last Friday, I think that was the MOST mellow show we have ever seen).

5. Our CSA drop-off starts today - Woo-hoo! It’s on the brain - mmmm, fresh veggies
6. I used to just like big dogs, until we had two of them, now I love big dogs and tiny dogs and all dogs in between.

7. I’m an animal lover in general (we have a cat as well). That’s getting worse too - I have trouble killing bugs now. Except mosquitos.

8. I was the first girl on my dad’s side of the family in four generations. As such, I was spoiled rotten as a little girl.

There you go - Everything you ever wanted to know
Play along if you like - I’ll leave it up to you!

I know, I know, SAFF is months away, but I’m still running off my MDSW high, so I’m thinking a lot about SAFF! It doesn’t hurt that I had a very nice email conversation with Elizabeth - who recommended SAFF and also sent me to JenLa’s SAFF webpage, and then Jen was so nice too. She’s got some great information about the festival on her page and links to bloggers who are planning to go so we can get to know each other a bit before hand. Tad got extremely excited when he thought that Jen had a farm podcast (yes, Tad reads some of these blogs too - I tend to pass along some of them, especially the farming related ones because I know how much he’ll enjoy them), unfortunately, it was a list of links to other Podcasts on Jen’s site that he saw. Jen, note that you would have one (make that two!) very interested listeners if you did start a podcast Anyway, now I’m practically jumping up & down about an event that’s feels like it’s forever away! Well, if it’s anywhere near as great as MDSW was, it will be worth the jumping up & down. Come on along! It’s going to be a great time!! (and if you plan to go - jump on over to Jen’s page and shoot her an email!)

As a follow up to all the shearings taking place this spring with the Guild farmers, our Thursday night event was a fleece sale! Woo-hoooo! One of my goals for the year is to take a fleece from shorn fiber to finished knitted product. This is why you don’t see any pics of an actual fleece from MDSW, although there were many there to be had. I was holding out for one from our local guild - it just seems especially nice to know the farmer and also possibly the animal that the fleece came from as well. With Tad’s and my interest in alpacas, I very much wanted to get some fleece from Cathy at Kipling Pines Alpacas to gain some experience working with the fiber. I also couldn’t resist a pound of Kelly’s shetland, Colleen, who had beautifully soft and lovely champagne colored fleece. These women are incredible to me. Several of them have “real” jobs in addition to their farms, I don’t know how they do it. They are a great source of friday afternoon daydreams, and one of the (many) reasons I love our guild. A couple other reasons might have something to do with the unexpected (and unnecessary, though much appreciated!) generousity and general fun-ness of the other members. Namely Kathi, who sent me home with a bit of her own fawn colored alpaca “just to try - I’ve got tons!” and Kathryn’s brownies which she unloaded on me as she left (and I can’t stop eating them. My first mistake was sharing with Tad as instructed. He’s going to have to fight me for the rest. I will win.) I could go on & on - am I making you sick yet? Suffice it to say that they all pretty much rock.

Now I just need to figure out to do with these amazing fleeces! I did take Nancy’s Spinning 201, but this will really be my first go at it! Anyone have cards or combs they wouldn’t mind lending? Maybe I’ll do some washing this weekend - scratch that - NEXT weekend, I have some serious knitting to do this weekend! Update to follow.

Edited - Pictures of the lovely girls that these fleeces came from - These are courtesy of Kelly and Cathy, the owners:

From the minute we arrived at the fairgrounds in West Friendship, MD, we felt a sense of belonging. It started with the bumper stickers on the cars (not to mention the incredible number of them) and the general excitement of all the people headed for the entrance. I wasn’t the only one practically skipping, that’s for sure.

We started off with the animals - what fun! I know we will have fiber animals (scratch that - I know we will have a FARM!) at some point. Tad and I are working toward a more self-sufficient, sustainable lifestyle, and this is part of the plan - I’ll save my musings on all that for a future Pipe Dreams section update. So, walking around and seeing and interacting with all the animals was great.

Those who know me in “real” life know that I am really very shy. I can force myself out of my shell, but it takes some effort & courage. In my corporate world I’ve taken the Myers Briggs test a few times, and though I fall close to the center on most of the measures, I always come back as a strong introvert. I think it’s one of the reasons I’m enjoying the whole blogging thing so much. I get to be a part of the online knitting community in a fairly anonymous, safe & non-threatening way. So, despite my excitement about the festival, and about the chance to meet some fellow knitbloggers that I admire - I almost chickened out and skipped the meetup altogether. But I’m so glad that I didn’t. A major highlight was meeting Dawn. We’ve corresponded a bit, and despite the fact that I don’t know her very well, she somehow feels like a soul sister. We had exchanged cell numbers and she gave me a ring around the time of the meetup, so Tad and I had the pleasure of meeting her and her husband in person! Our meeting was brief, but terrific. Dawn, please keep in touch and keep me posted on Knitapalooza for next year! If you and Captain America are ever in the Raleigh area, please look us up!

Meeting Dawn was so great that I actually stirred up the courage to go over and say “hi” to a group of potential knit-bloggy looking people (in other words, they looked friendly and some were knitting!) while Tad had run off for a second. When he returned I was happily chatting with Gryphon (and the lovely Lia!), Susan, Teresa, Stephanie, Mary, and Larissa, who I’m so glad that we got the chance to meet! I knew of Gryphon’s blog from Ruth, who had shared her call for submissions with us on the design workshop (more on that in an upcoming post), but others were new to me and I discovered some great people and great new blogs! All were so friendly and accomodating of my jumping right into their group - it was brief as well, but so great to chat with them - I’ll be keeping up with you all via your blogs and Larissa, please email or comment! There were apparently some other knitbloggers meeting up as well, possibly in another area of the fairgrounds - not altogether suprising, as Gryphon said, we weren’t entirely sure how to spot each other so I thought it was great that we found as many as we did. Next year we’ll devise a clever way to find each other (and I’ll swallow another cup of courage - it was so worth stepping out of my comfort zone to meet you all!)

We knew that time was running a bit short, so we made the vendor rounds again, this time to actually make some purchases after scoping things out in the morning. My first intent was to find some eco-friendly fibers for a couple of the design ideas I’m working on, but came to the realization while browsing that there are some great ones out there that are readily available over the web and this was really a better opportunity to choose some things that aren’t as readily available where I live or on the web (as it turns out, most of the things I purchased ARE available online - go figure). So, I restricted my yarn purchases to just one - two beautiful skeins of Riata by Brooks Farms, and made a few selections of beautifully dyed fiber - Some Merino/Tencel from Bonkers!, and some Tussah Silk from The Flock Bransonas. In another couple weeks I will complete my knitting crunch and then I plan to devote some more time to my wheel. I also found my dream travel wheel (Robin Spinning Wheels - I about drooled!) but it will be some time before I’m in the market for one of those!! I also saw this amazing shirt, which I failed to get a shot of, so check out the link. Christine, the wearer, was terribly accomodating when I asked if she would mind stopping and to show it to Tad!

On our way out, we had a very happy meeting with Heather, from my local Spinning guild, and her friend Amber, and had a great time sharing pipe dreams (and plans!) with them, and then to top it all off, Frith and Catherine showed up too! Here we are!! I also had the luck to bump into Nancy (my spinning teacher) and Kate during the day as well - what an awesome group of people we have in our local guild (and how cool that so many made the trip from NC to Maryland!).

I am so fortunate to be part of this talented, eclectic, smart and kind community of knitters, spinners, bloggers, fiber artists and farmers - it’s difficult for me to put into words, but it was a truly awesome day. I felt so at home with all these people, and I think Tad does too.

I have to say, I think that Tad was a bit of a pleasant surprise for folks - like Dawn’s husband, he was there as a willing participant, not just a “pack mule” (as he was referred to by one knitter we met in line for lunch!). He joked that he could probably pass himself off as a knitter just by using the terminology that he’s absorbed by being around me (when we were at one booth, which had some felted moebius bowls a la Cat Bhordhi, he said “Whoa, that’s a moebious right, like from that book?” Mind you I don’t even have this book. “Yes” say I with a big shit-eating grin. “Would your knitter friends be impressed that I know that?”, “Yes, very!”) He’s pretty darn great, I don’t know what I did to end up with a guy like this who listens and obviously remembers all this knitting stuff that I yammer on about, but I count myself very lucky.

To top it all off, we spent Saturday night with a very dear friend, Carrie, and her husband Jason (who we had only met very briefly before) - We met Carrie the first year that we walked the 3Day in DC, and have walked with her every year since. We seldom get to see each other more than once a year, but she is an incredibly special person, and it was so great to spend some time with Jason too and to see what a great couple they make (and to meet their sweet dobe’s Apollo and Molly). Unfortunately, in enjoying their company I seemed to have forgotten that I had my camera, but I did get this one great shot of Jason & Apollo.

How did I get so lucky? Great husband & family, great friends & new acquaintances, a hobby that is intensely satisfying, and a wonderful community that we only see becoming more and more involved in - it doesn’t get much better than that.