Madame Purl » Stash

A Little Stash

Madame Purl — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 14:25:59 +0000

So last Friday Cindy, Dawn, Leah, and I headed north to Madison. First off we hit Jerry’s Sew ‘n Vac where Dawn and I had some gift cards to burn. I picked up a roller foot and a curved piecing foot. My friend Julie turned me onto the curved piecing foot. I had never heard of it until she told me. It also got good reviews at the sewing machine shop. I have yet to try them, but hopeful for good results.

From there we had lunch and then headed out to one of my favorities… JJ Stitches, whose website is not quite ready yet. They specialize in reproduction and have lovely selections. After lunch we headed out for dessert and made our way back in a blizzard. We made good time for such a bad snow storm.

Reproductions are not my only favorite… I really couldn’t resist the new 3 Sister’s line by Moda – Papillion. The butterfly lover in me had to have it and will be making a quilt out of some of the fats.

Dogwood Blossom Sweater

Madame Purl — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 12:00:23 +0000

Edited to add: Sorry this pattern has a copyright on it. I’m not able to share it. I haven’t knit it, so I won’t be parting with my copy any time soon.

I may be crazy, but when I saw this from Knit Picks -

I had to have it.

This is the yarn.

If that wasn’t enough – these are their new Choma line and just gorgeous. I’m thinking mittens.

Roving Overload

Madame Purl — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 14:40:53 +0000

Julie and I had another lovely visit. I think it may take me a week to recuperate this time. However, while I do I will have some lovely roving to play with. I also picked up a couple of books – the new Portuguese Knitting one and the new Estonian Mittens All Around the world – and two very tiny crochet hooks for adding beads to knits. Other than that I couldn’t get enough roving.

I’m thinking the orange (top 2nd from left) will have to be spun first for fall. It’s a lovely merino/bamboo/nylon – perfect for socks.

Stitches Midwest 2010

Madame Purl — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 00:52:34 +0000

Stitches Midwest 2010 was a blast. Even though I have a massive stash – a few balls (Miss Babs on the left and Opal at a good deal on the right), more needles (the 2.5 and 2.75 that I never seem to have enough of) and some more of those great puppy snips followed me home. I’m putting a puppy snip on each to-go bag I use, so I have them handy. Never seem to have a pair of scissors handy when I need them. Also I couldn’t resist the stamp.

I’m blaming it on the yarn fumes. It all started with that purple Opal. Remember my favorite purple pair that had a blow out. I’m hoping for a replacement.

At the end of the day 3 of my friends and I were standing in Miss Babs booth and were admiring the lovely Citrons that they had knit up. Rav link here. Well the Unexpected KAL popped up. Please feel free to join us in a the KAL – you can find details at our group here. All are welcome, all yarn weights and any mods you want to do. We’re very flexible.

Festival

Madame Purl — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 03:53:32 +0000

Friday some friends and I headed out to Midwest Fiber & Folk Art Festival. We had a great time at their new venue. We all came home with new goodies. The bag was a freebie and a very nice one indeed.

I know I don’t need any more fleece… but this BFL in deep mulberry purple. Then there were also yarn acquisitions. Yum!

There were also a few patterns, little treats bought, and visits with friends. All and all this a good day.

Happy Fleece Day

Madame Purl — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 01:54:01 +0000

Sorry for the delay… DH and I went to Chicago for the weekend and by the time I got back I fell under the weather. I’m starting to fell better again and to top off a nice morning, I arrived home and found the fleeces… here a day early. Yippee!!!

Of course the wool kitties love the new additions. Everything looks lovely this year. Julie and I had one big fleece split and blended half with Angora and half with Alpaca… then we split those. Those combos turned out lovely.

New Stash

Madame Purl — Sun, 30 May 2010 00:06:58 +0000

I ask you… who could resist a close-out sale on Claudia’s? We’re talking 50% off here folks.

These followed me home.

The Blahs

Madame Purl — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 00:36:18 +0000

Sorry for the long time no blog post. I think I’ve had a case of the wintertime blahs. They always seem to strike right about the end of February.

To end these doldrums some retail therapy was in order. As you can see lots of bright pinks and green and spring time colors.

A new Avi Wasserman out of Olive Wood from Israel.

The underside which is the most interesting.

I thought Sweet Pea had cracked it when she knocked it off my make shift light box (she such a diva…she loves to jump on the light box whenever I get it out), but it was just a wood knot that I didn’t see until I got in the bright light. Whew… it’s fine. I’ll tend to spindle over carpet to avoid any breakage.

A Good Day

Madame Purl — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 00:01:40 +0000

So I had a really good birthday and thought I would share a bit of my loot with you.

First off a new Cross pen – it’s giraffe motif. Fine nib and really an extra fine. There was also ink involved.

More gifts from my hubby – who spoils me. That’s a leather 4-case pen holder with my initials on it a cherry wood box to keep letters and whatnot’s in.

A lovely lap writing desk with lamp.

Books, books, and more books.

A lovely writing clutch from Julie – Thanks Julie!

A sock spinner and I couldn’t get a good shot of the needle sizer – Thanks Beverly!

A lovely new bag from Dawn – Thanks Dawn!

Mom sent me money – so I stashed a bit over at The Fold. Going to card the last ones together to make my own fancy batts.

Beverly, Dawn (we share the same birthday – how cool is that?) and I headed to The Fold, then to lunch and saw New Moon. A great way to start a new year.

The Trip

Madame Purl — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 01:30:47 +0000

I’ve been thinking all day about where to start…it was a whirlwind trip and we did so many great things.

So I headed out on Wednesday to Julie’s and the fun began right away. We headed to Concord, MA where we went to the Orchard House. This was the house where Little Women was written by Louisa Mae Alcott. It was a great. I stood right next to Louisa’s desk, pen and inkwell. We learned a lot about all the Alcott family members. We had a great guide.

Thursday we went to the MFA with a quick stop to an antique book shop and Bromfield’s pen shop. This was my first experience at a real pen shop. I ended up picking up this gorgeous Waterman Perspective. I inked it today with Diamine Prussian Blue.

At the corner of the street is Granary Burying Ground. We looked at the site of the Boston Massacre and all the graves. We found lots of famous in folks from New England, but Mother Goose was a complete surprise.

We then lunched and walked around the MFA. Unfortunately I couldn’t get any good shots without the flash at the MFA. However, I did get this one… which was scary cool.

Friday we headed to Hyde Park, NY where our hotel was right across the street from FDR’s home and library. We toured the house and the grounds. This great bronze piece was on the grounds. After that we had dinner at the CSA’s Escoffier Restaurant.

Saturday we went to the NY Sheep and Wool. It was the coldest festival I’ve ever attended. I also think it was busier than ever. Some of the booths were so busy, we couldn’t get in them. I did manage to get some good finds on lace. The top brown is silk and yak and the colors are silk and cashmere. The bottom is merino and silk.

After we got too cold, we decided to bail on the festival and head to the Vanderbilt house, which was much different than FDR’s house. I was able to get a better shot of the house today.

Sunday we headed back to the festival real quick for a few more purchases. We got there at 9am and it was nearly empty. Not all the booths were opened up yet, but we had a great time and made it back to the booths we wanted to see. So I also bought a few patterns and some other things on this trip that I had to ship back. Once I get the box, I’ll be able to share those.

Monday we went back to Concord, MA and to the Burlington Mall. We stopped at a few paper stores and another pen shop, but I managed to behave myself this time…well for now. Well, I made my way home and rested up today. Back to the grind tomorrow.

Closing with a great Gabby photo – which is one of Julie’s kitties. She made sure that I wasn’t lonely for kitties while I was there. However, she much preferred the bags the goodies came in than the actual goodies. To see more pictures, please check here.