Sock Weather Has Arrived!

As the lion in The Wizard of Oz said: "Funny weather we're havin', ain't it?" Brrr!!!! It is pretty cold in San Diego. Can't help but think about warm socks and cozy felted slippers. Luckily, I just met with Lisa Limber, Schaefer Yarn's rep, and stocked up on this beautiful array of hand-dyed sock yarns shown above. We are kicking off the new year with a terrific sock seminar and the French Press Felted Slippers that are too cute for words!!! Check out our latest calendar for dates, times and fees. We are thrilled to add a new teacher to our staff, Eileen Adler. Many of you may be familiar with her since she is a teacher extraordinaire and has taught in many different venues. She'll be teaching the sock seminar, and I'll be teaching the felted slippers. Hope to see you at the Grove soon!!!!!!!
Happy New Year!!!

Christmas Crack!

I was up at 6 a.m. the day of Daily Scoop's Cookie Exchange to make my traditional Spritz cookies. Well, of all the times I've made these (practically my whole life), I had my first disaster. No boring details, just know that 2 lbs. of buttery dough with green food coloring in it is a lot to get rid of! And there was no time to do anything about it because I had a luncheon at 11:30 followed by work from 2-6. Curses.

My dilemma was solved unexpectedly by a late afternoon customer who told me to Google "Christmas Crack". She assured me I could make it in a flash, which was encouraging since I had only one hour between closing the shop and getting to the Cookie Exchange. Now I've heard a lot of frightening things about crack and never imagined I'd partake in it, but I did, and now I am hooked. Double curses. Christmas crack is a toffee made from saltines, butter, brown sugar, chocolate chips and chopped walnuts. It only takes about 15 minutes to make and it is crazy good. Check it out...c'mon, just try a little bit...it won't hurt you...it's the best high ever. I promise!

We've Got Red Knit Kits!!!

The ladies at Knit Kits created a limited edition red Knit Kit to help knitters embrace the holiday season. Treat yourself to one as a reward for finishing up those knitted gifts. They also make great stocking stuffers. We have just a few on hand so if you're interested, c'mon in to the Grove and get yourself one!

Frankie All Growed Up!!!

Yes, that beautiful red head is my little Frankie all growed up. I am embarrassed to say that when she was going through her awkward teenage stage, I wanted to trade chickens. Horrible of me I know. David said that she was just the ugly duckling that would turn into a beautiful swan (okay, if that were literally true that would have been Crazy!). And he was right. This photo was taken right before we had Thanksgiving dinner and I know she very glad that she wasn't born a turkey.

On the right side of the picture, you will see the black & white Lacey. She's a mature chicken and she's been laying for quite awhile now. And she is such a piggy!!! Very aggressive around food. She actually flies to get to Celeste first when she enters the coop to give the chickies treats. She stripped that Swiss Chard stem in my hand immediately and I was not pointing at Frankie. I was trying to give her a piece of it but as you can see, I was a little late on the draw.

Frankie is going to be laying her own eggs in January or February. As it turns out, she is a Rhode Island Red and they lay light brown eggs. It will be great fun to be part of Frankie's coming-of-age!!!

A Bit Bossy, No?

Dee started this absolutely gorgeous Bitteroot Shawl in January. It's knit out of Heather by Schaefer Yarns and it has matching beads incorporated into the lacework. Enough said?!I saw her recently and she mentioned that she hadn't finished it yet. She left mid-cast off because it was taking forever. I begged her to come into the Grove the next day and sit in a comfy chair and finish it so she could wear it for the holidays. Well, I insisted, actually. Hence the title of this blog entry. Dee, who is so good natured, complied! And within a couple of hours she walked out with the shawl all but ready to wear. All she has to do is block it and accept the inevitable awe that is bound to follow. She did a magnificent job.

If you have a half-finished project that you purchased at the Grove, I would love to coach you to the finish line also! Just drop by!

Knitting an Heirloom

One of the best parts of owning the Grove is getting to know our customers and sharing in their family events and joys. Holly is understandably ecstatic over the birth of her first grand baby...Abby. Unfortunately, Abby lives up north so Holly doesn't get to see her as often as she would like. So in between frequent trips, she settles for knitting for Abby and receiving wonderful text messages and nearly daily photos.

When Holly learned her daughter, Anne, was having a girl, she wanted to do something "very girlie" for her and she decided upon this eyelet-edged baby blanket. She used "Icing", Blue Sky Alpaca's worsted cotton, which is a slightly variegated deliciously pale pink yarn. It could not be more feminine. To personalize it, I embroidered "For Abby, Love Grammy" on muslin and I think it definitely placed the binkie in the heirloom category. Well, if you're going to knit for your beebee, you might as well knit an heirloom, right?!

Reversible Lace Class

Wednesday night, Lisa Limber taught Andrea Reversible Lace Scarf at the Grove and it was a good night! Lisa brought a bunch of new hand-dyed Schaefer yarns for the class to chose from (see all of them on the table?) and everyone completed at least one pattern repeat before the end of the evening. I only wish I had the presence of mind to photograph the beginning of every one's scarves! Next time...!