Knit My Dog

Or, as my Dad likes to say, timing is everything.

My friend Bonnie (blogless) is a knitter. But first she is a quilter. She's got a stash of fabric that puts my yarn stash to shame. She loves color. And she's started knitting and felting bags, then lining them with coordinating fabric. We even get together and make polymer clay buttons for the bags. She's started a business and is selling them. Here's a couple of pictures I took of one last year:

She's a great friend, an artist and a terrific craftsperson. But she's terrible at buisness. I finally convinced her to get a wholesale number so she could buy yarn cheaper and not invest $100 of Noro into one bag.

Fast forward to today. I know she has Wednesdays off and is usually at home in her studio with a variety of interesting women, crafting away. So on my way home, when I got off the highway, I decided to swing by her house and see if her car was in the driveway. It was! So in I went. And she was in her dining room with a yarn salesman. He had suitcases FULL of yarn samples, color cards, pattern books, and all things knitty. Of course, I stayed. I got to pet the yarn, thumb through books, and find out all about the different brands of yarn he sells. Bonnie is all about the blues and purples but I always tell her that everyone doesn't love blue and purple. So I helped her with some of her color selections. We had so much fun! One bag of this, three bags of that, ten skeins of each color right over here... On and on. And he had free samples!!! For me too. Oh, happy day, free yarn!

These are all Araucania wool, different weights and different combinations of alpaca, wool, and I can't remember what else. All hand or kettle dyed from Chile. My favorite is the thick and thin green in the front. My head was spinning by the time I walked out of there with the skeins clutched to my chest. He has a bunch of brands he sells, most notably Noro and Debbie Bliss. Needless to say, I "requested" enough of a couple of yarns for sweaters. Do I have my yarn connection or what?!

Then when I got home, Howie brought this for us, a still-warm blueberry pie baked to order:

Happy Pi Day! We're off to share it with our neighbors because how are the two of us supposed to eat a whole pie? Alright, we probably could, but it wouldn't be pretty.