Great Mammories….

Knit-A-Tit rocked!

Saturday was perfect.  Not only a perfect, sunny day; but perfect friends, perfect fiber, perfect support.   I would knit tits every Saturday with this amazing group of knitters and supporters.  There were men, women, and children coming and going all day!  I want to say THANKS again to all the wonderful, generous, supportive yarn or fiber spinners, dyers,  purveyors, crafters of all things lovely who generously donated awesome yarn, fiber, door prizes, patterns, etc., all in the name of breast cancer.  Lisa Ellison, owner of One City Market and hostess of Knit-A-Tit, is an amazing person, and I implore you to visit her amazing shop in the Ozarks–you won’t be disappointed!  Just plan on spending several hours there. . . .   Please show these wonderful supporters (listed in no particular order) some love when you purchase fiber:

South West Trading Company
Westminster Fibers
Blue Moon Fiber Arts
Cotton Clouds, Inc.
Dream in Color Yarn, Inc.
Mountain Colors
Webs
Ozark Handspun
Crystal Palace Yarns
Namaste Farms Wool and Fiber
Handwerks Textiles
Berroco
KnitPicks
Vintage Knits Wool Shoppe
Knit One Crochet Too
Brown Sheep Company
Stephanie Land (StephL on Ravelry)
Imperial Stock-Ranch Yarn
Wild Wind Naturals
Leisure Arts
Lydia Gessele (DakotaRose on Ravelry)
Miss Babs
Fairy Yarnmother
Wellesse (Vit. D)

Thanks everyone for the Knit-A-Tit love!

More Knit-A-Tit Yarn and Fiber Heroes!

Fiber love [sigh]!

If you could see this pile in person, you would swoon.   This picture does not do the incredibly large amount of fiber justice.  These are big boxes and I have them stuffed!

My dream job would be a yarn or fiber rep!  How awesome would it be to travel the US (or the World!) extolling the virtues of beautiful, luxurious, soft, gorgeous yarn?   Well, in a sense I am a yarn rep at this moment.  Below (in no particular order) are the amazing, generous, kind, supportive yarn or fiber spinners, dyers,  purveyors, crafters of all things lovely who have generously donated awesome yarn, fiber, door prizes, patterns, etc., all in the name of breast cancer.  Thank you for supporting Knit-A-Tit.  You gals and guys are every breast cancer survivor’s heroes.

South West Trading Company
Westminster Fibers
Blue Moon Fiber Arts
Cotton Clouds, Inc.
Dream in Color Yarn, Inc.
Mountain Colors
Webs
Ozark Handspun
Crystal Palace Yarns
Namaste Farms Wool and Fiber
Handwerks Textiles
Berroco
KnitPicks
Vintage Knits Wool Shoppe
Knit One Crochet Too
Brown Sheep Company
Stephanie Land (StephL on Ravelry)
Imperial Stock-Ranch Yarn
Wild Wind Naturals
Leisure Arts
Lydia Gessele (DakotaRose on Ravelry)
Miss Babs
Fairy Yarnmother

This last supporter is not a fiber lover, but as we all have heard from news reports, Vitamin D (or lack thereof) has a supporting role in breast health.  I have issues in that Vitamin D levels in my body, no matter how much milk I drink or sun I worship, stays at an unhealthy level.  I take calcium and Vitamin D every day.  So, here’s my Vitamin D of choice, and should be yours as well:  Wellesse.   They are always so kind, whenever I contact them, to send me samples for various cancer fundraising events–you guys rock!

Thanks everyone for the Knit-A-Tit love! Great karma definitely coming your way!

Knit-A-Tit

© 2005 Beryl Tsang

Oh, you read that right!

Knitters and persons who support fundraising for breast cancer are my favorite people!  Combine the two and wowza: Knit-A-Tit!  The knitting of soft, comfortable fiber prostheses (a Tit-Bit) was “invented” by a breast cancer survivor some years back.  Beryl Tsang was a 37 year-old breast cancer survivor who inspired a legion of knitters to help their fellow sisters not only in the fight against this horrible disease, but the right (and privilege) to wear something soft and comfortable, as opposed to rubbery and bulky, against their skin.  Now women are knitting sweet, sassy, cool Tit-Bits, Knit-A-Tits, etc.   I encourage you to visit Tit-Bits and read Beryl’s inspiring story.

Now what is even more inspiring to me are the women and men holding knitting parties wherein they make and give away dozens and dozens of these awesome, made with love, knitted prostheses!

If you are anywhere in the Ozarks on October 8, please visit the über cool yarn store One City Market in Rogersville, Missouri.  Starting at 10 a.m. you will witness approximately 100 women (and men!) knitting away for women they don’t even know. . . .  How cool is that?

Want to help, but won’t be in Missouri October 8?  Grab your needles and check out the pattern on knitty.com!  I guarantee there is a woman in your life who would be honored to wear your tit!

Major, major karma points.

Bags of Love

I know–you love it!

Bags of Love, a London UK company, provides mail-order personalized gifts and photo gifts worldwide.   I am the lucky recipient of this amazing Shopper Bag, and what—who are those adorable kids on the bag?  Hum, my bonus grandbabies!  This bag is wonderfully crafted.  It is made of very high quality vinyl on the outside with real leather handles.  The inside of the bag is lined and waterproof so I can take it to the pool or beach! Plus, it’s big: 13.5 x 13.5 x 5 inches, and I have it stuffed with all kinds of beach supplies, towels, and there’s still room.   The photo is printed on canvas and believe me, I don’t see how it would ever rip, fade or shred.  It’s actually pretty amazing.

Bags of Love prides itself on researching supplies and materials that will work with your photos.  They have a huge supply of products, some I never thought would work with photos, yet amazingly they do!  It was fun picking out my favorite photos and using their easy system to view how my pics would appear on their products.   I definitely have a cool picture that would work great on the Italian leather Luxury Photo Bag. . . or a cool pillowcase.  Anybody need a birthday gift idea for me?!

If you’re worried about purchasing products from the UK, worry no more.  My bag was shipped via FedEx and arrived in about three days!  Talk about instant gratification!

Hum, the more I think about that Italian leather bag. . . .

Disclosure:  I received the shopper bag as a gift from Bags of Love, however, the opinions of the bag are my own.

Dutch Oven

Let there be fire.

Better Half is a man’s man.  He loves to be outdoors more than almost anything, and he is definitely one with nature.  Me. . . not so much.  I love the woods in autumn, and occasionally during winter.  I hate ticks.  I am terrified and freak out over snakes and spiders.  I’m clumsy and trip.  A lot.

Better Half’s next favorite thing is chopping wood and building fire.  Oh, not fire.  F I R E!! Along with snakes and spiders, fire freaks me out.  When I was pregnant with Lovely Daughter, I caught my sweater sleeve on fire over the stove.  Watching a pregnant woman screaming while fire is roaring up her arm and down her rotund belly while her father-in-law and husband are beating out the flames is not a pretty sight.  Oh, and then there’s the time BH started our backyard on fire while we were living in Alaska.  In the winter.  In the snow.  Three weeks after he burned brush.  Yes, the fire lay dormant under feet of snow and slowly built up until it caught our backyard on fire.  Our house was built on an old hay field.  BH was in Japan at the time.  I also was not home.  Thank God for neighbors.  Then, two years ago at 4:00 a.m.,  BH woke up with a “strange feeling.”   Our 10 acres across from our house was on fire.  Guess who had been burning brush?  Thank God for the rural fire department.Do you notice a pattern?  Hmmm.

Lately BH has been burning brush like a madman.  Other day he built me a perfect fire on our creek and set up Tiki torches.  We took the Dutch oven, browned some chops, threw in veggies, and kicked back and made popcorn as an appetizer and drank yummy drinks while everything cooked.  It was great; romantic in a kind of Brawny Man way!  I love the man, fire and all!