What a weekend!

I've had a great weekend! On Saturday my family got together at my parent's house for my birthday. We had drinks and yummy cheesecake with strawberries, and played the card game Wizard. My 5 month nephew was there and looking as cute as always! They pooled their money for a gift and gave me ..... CASH! They know that I want a digital camera so along with the money I've been saving and the money they've given me I should be able to buy one soon. (Yea, then I can start posting pictures on the blog.) I also got two movie vouchers from mom. (She's been wanting to go see a chick flick with me for awhile now and I keep beating her to the movie by seeing it with my friends.)

Then this afternoon I met with 3 friends I got to know through the Vancouver Knitting Meetup. And two came bearing gifts. Monica gave me a felted tea cosy with a design and crocheted flower on the front. Chelle gave me 2 stitch markers, a notions bag (that I will put to use as soon as I finish this post), and some sock yarn. The yarn is Cherry Tree Hill Supersock, 100% merino fingering weight. The colour is absolutely gorgeous! It's called Northern Lights and it's black with dark pink, purple, and green. (I gotta say the yarn does smell a little....mostly just like vinegar or chemicals....)

Since I've taken so long to complete my first pair of socks I don't think I'm quite ready to start my second just yet. I do really want to make this scarf though. I was going to make it out of some white yarn I had laying around the house, but I was feeling very uninspired with the yarn. I love the colours of this yarn so much that I might make the scarf with it. I'll do a swatch and see how the gauge turns out.

In non-birthday news I bought the yarn for my first sweater. It's Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece in raging purple. (And in case I haven't mentioned it before the sweater I want to make is Green Gable.) I can't wait for it to arrive!

Meeting with other knitters is great

For the past year or so I have gone to Knitting Meetups in Vancouver. I love getting together with other knitters because it encourages me to keep on knitting. I love to see what projects other people are working on! Its also a great way to get help or learn new things.

Vancouver is about a 30 minute drive from my house. Not so bad but still it would nice to have it closer. Well, one of the ladies I met at a Vancouver Meetup has organized a great together of knitters in Richmond. We met at a local community centre that is only about 10 minutes from my house. I love that its so close! We had about 8 people gather to knit and chat. The community centre room is currently available one a month, but they said if we have a large turnout we could use the room twice a month. So we'll see how it goes.

After seeing the projects other group members were making I am now inspired to make something felted. One woman was making a felted bag in such great and bright colours! Someone else was working a big enterlac project and it looked so wonderful. I've made one small garterlac project (a dishcloth) but I think I should try it again now that I know the basics of how its done.

Someone else was showing off her fingerless mitts made from Noro yarn and I love the colours! All of my projects so far have been made with yarn that you can find at Michaels. Nothing wrong with Michaels (I love the cheap cost) but I think I'm ready to try some new yarns.

I haven't done much knitting this weekend as I've had a cold. And this past week I was reading more than I was knitting. (The Choice by Nicholas Sparks) So not many new projects but I hope to get back into it this week.

Happy Knitting Everyone!