Mosaic Yarn Shop in Blacksburg, VA is collecting 8 x 8 inch squares to assemble into blankets for the families of the fallen Hokies. The squares can be knitted or crocheted in maroon, burnt orange, white or black out of the nicest, softest yarn you can afford.

I am going to coordinate a shipment of squares at the end of May for anyone locally who wants to contribute. You can drop squares off to me at the following events:

• Saturday, May 19th at the Omaha Public Library from 11 am – 2 pm: I can’t make this event, but Christy will be collecting squares for me.
• Wednesday, May 16th and 23rd Barnes & Noble South Pointe Pavillion 7-9 pm.

If you can’t make one of those events, let me know in the comments and we’ll make other drop off plans. I’ll be posting reminders throughout the month of May. Let’s make sure the Hokie Nation knows that they are in our thoughts!

Ok, enough is enough. I ordered replacement needles for you last Friday. The game is over. You won. There’s no need for you to wait for your replacements to actually be delivered. Seriously. You can come out now.

When people ask me what M needs these days, my first answer is always, “No more stuffed animals or dolls!” However, I’m her mom, and I haven’t really bought her much of anything, so the rule doesn’t apply to me. Yesterday I had to buy some yarn from Knit Picks to finish a project that is on the needles and I was below the minimum for free shipping. I decided to get the yarn I need to make Lulu. I’ve been planning to knit her for awhile, but I really needed a reason to spend the money. Running out of yarn for my current project was just the gentle push I needed. I also bought replacement size six needles for the ones I lost a few months ago. I predict I will find those little buggers in the next few days.

The house is quiet. T went to bed early and M was already asleep when I got home from knitting group. I stayed up and watched my DVR’d episodes of Knitty Gritty. It’s the new season and there’s a new episode every day. I was already three episodes behind! After finishing the third episode, I have to say that I’m totally in love with Cookie A.’s socks. They are probably too advanced for me, but Wow! they are beautiful. Now I’m going through the archives on knitty.com to check them all out. I think once I get some of my current projects finished up, I am going to pick a pattern to try. They’re all so fabulous. It will be hard to decide which one to knit first.

My Today Show post is getting quite a few comments. Thank you to the knitters who offered a ride or carpool to one of the nearby Harlot appearances. If any of the events were on the weekend, I might consider it, but during the week it’s just too crazy around here to go off and get all wooly.

It’s a funny thing about those comments; I read the Harlot’s blog entry and didn’t even notice she had linked to me. I just zoomed by the link thinking “Yeah, whatever. I already saw the knitters on the Today Show. How was the rest of the day?” It wasn’t until Christy left me a comment that I realized it. (Yes, a teething baby is kind of like having a newborn again: up all night and really fuzzy during the day.)

Even though I won’t be attending a Harlot appearance, I am very excited about another upcoming knitting event: World Wide Knit in Public Day. The Lincoln Knitters will be celebrating with a spot at the Farmer’s Market in Haymarket on June 9th from 8-12. Nebraska knitters — and those from nearby states — mark your calendars and come join us!

They were outside of the Today Show. In fact, they are all over NYC today as part of Yarn Harlot’s Represent Event. I so wish I could be there. All those knitters in one place! All the yarn crawls! I guess I will have to settle for the book. I doubt Nebraska will ever make it as a stop on the tour.

I recently signed up for a knitting buddy exchange and had to introduce myself to my buddy. I figured it would make a good blog entry.

I’m from Baltimore, MD and used to work in Washington, DC. Now I live in Nebraska and still experience culture shock now and then.

I’m a graphic designer and loved the advertising world, just hated the stress. Now I am self-employed and love being my own boss.

I have a baby girl, who is 4 1/2 months old. I take care of her and work from home. I’m still trying to balance all of that out.

I’ve been knitting for two years and I’m hopelessly addicted to it. A friend of mine taught me how to knit because she thought it might help me with anxiety and stress. This was about a year after we moved to Nebraska for my husband’s job and he decided to quit and start his own business. Knitting has kept me quite sane, and his business is doing well, so I guess everything has worked out.

I have taught a few people to knit, one of whom is my mother. None of them have stuck with it. I hope that isn’t a reflection on my teaching abilities!

I regularly attend two different knitting groups in Lincoln and I’ve met some of the most wonderful women through them.

I have a cat who is almost 15 years old. I love her dearly and hate that she is getting old.

I’ve been to England a few times. The first was to take a London Theater class in college. I lived in Maida Vale for five weeks and going to the theater was my “homework.” I fell in love with the city and almost didn’t come back to the US! The second was with my husband. We stayed in London a few days on the way back from a trip to India. We were horribly jet lagged—up too early and to bed too early. We had fun, but it was definitely a different kind of trip than when I was in school! We’ll be heading to Brighton this summer. My brother-in-law is getting married and his fiancée has dual citizenship. Maybe with a little planning, we can meet up and knit together! You’ll have to advise me on yarn stores.

I have a blog (like everyone else these days) to stay in touch with friends and family on the east coast. Occasionally I post about my knitting.

My birthday is in November. I love the Fall season and hate to see Christmas decorations out before Thanksgiving. The retail industry always seem to rush us through my favorite time of year.

I thought I’d have a tough time writing this, but it seems like I can babble on about myself quite easily.

It all started one Sunday morning in November:

Me: Why is Liz calling on a Sunday morning?

…Hello.

Liz: Kay Gardiner is coming to String of Purls to teach a Log Cabin class on December 28th. I’m calling at noon to register myself and Mary Pat. Wanna go?

Me: Yes!

Notice I didn’t ask any questions like: How much does it cost? What’s the time? Will I be able to get someone to look after M? I just say “Yes!”

For you non-knitters out there, Kay is from Mason Dixon Knitting and wrote the pattern for M’s baby blanket in the book she co-authored with Ann Shayne. Y’all, this is my favorite knitting book right now and I want to knit practically every pattern. And the log cabining—well, I just love it.

I was lucky that Jocelyn was free that day; she took M while I headed up to Omaha for a fun-filled day with yarn. The class was awesome (you can see me right over Kay’s shoulder). Kay is a great speaker and shared her thoughts on knitting, log cabining, yarn, color and more. We worked on a pillow cushion that I am knitting up in a color scheme to match our bedroom. After the class, I bought the Manos for my socks and then we went to lunch. Before we had a chance to order, guess who walked in needing a lunch buddy? Kay! So we got to have lunch with her and talk about the book and publishing process.

After lunch it was off to Personal Threads. Every year after the holidays they have a huge yarn sale. I finally got to touch yarns that I had only seen online and wound up with some Koigu KPPPM and some Noro Kureyon.

It was my first day away from M for more than a few hours and I was worried that I wouldn’t do so well. Thank goodness I had all that knitting and yarn to keep myself from going crazy. Great friends, knitting and yarn—you can’t ask for anything more!