Late Christmas post

Ok, Christmas come and (long) gone and I still have not posted all the projects I made, so here you go. (Just a warning, a few of these were taken on my camera phone, so they are not the greatest.)

First off, Mamaw Rose's Clapotis shawl. She loved it and used it Christmas night after I gave it to her.

Then, my brother asked me to make him some fingerless mitts after he saw a pair that I made for myself, so here they are:

Then both of my nieces got teddy bears (and Airianna's was literally finished Christmas Eve.) This is Airianna.

And this is Kira and her mom Kristen.



Then my nephew, Hunter got a scarf.


My mom got a pair of socks:

And my Mamaw Mary also got a scarf:

I also knit about seven or eight dishcloths, but I am not posting all the pictures of they here, so if you really want to see them, check out my photostream at Flickr.com: WVrambler

Pics and Progress

Well, the Christmas knitting is almost complete and here are the pictures of the finished projects that I have.

Mamaw Rose's Clapotis (the shawl is finished, but final pic will be her wearing it):

Then there is Mamaw Mary's scarf. I found the scarf I made her a few years ago in the utility room, so I guess she has been wearing it, but she said that is itches and I can not blame her; I knit it out of Lion Brand's Fisherman's Wool, before I started going to LYS and not just shopping at the chain craft store.My nephew, Hunter, is also getting a scarf. He has an olive green coat with orange detailing, so I am hoping this matches okay.

And the last for today is a pair of fingerless mitts for my older brother, Bruce. They aren't finished yet, but should be by the end of the week. I am about 5 rows from the end, and then have to knit the mate, but it only took me from Monday evening until today to do the first. I am seriously think of making a pair for Mommy and a pair for myself also.

Progress Report

Okay, the move is over, except for some stuff at Mamaw Mary's but that is stuff that I can do without for the moment. The entire weekend was dedicated to work and moving. I went to work on Sat. made a quick run form storage to the apartment. Then went home and tried to sleep for a few hours. Tried is the key word there. My neighbor has a pit bull in his yard that belongs to his daughter, and I swear, that dog never shuts up! I gave up on sleeping after about two hours and worked on some knitting instead.

Then work Sunday night and let me tell you, a twelve hour midnight shift after no sleep is no fun. I then collected my older brother Bruce and we went to meet my uncle Chris for the moving. My dad had let me borrow his truck and Chris also had a truck, so it only took us two trips. It was a bit of a hassle to move the love seat in (the hazard of living upstairs). But they got it in and now I just need to unpack. I didn't realize I owned so many books. That is what the majority of the boxes held. I will be looking into donating some of them. The Kenova Public Library would probably like some, their budget was cut this past year.

There are still boxes all over the living room, the furniture needs rearranged and my bed is currently in pieces, but I started staying there Sunday evening. I was planning on staying at Mamaw's, but Mike's dog started up again, and it was a question of going to the apartment, or killing the stupid dog! So, I packed up some clothes and crashed on the mattress on the floor. It is so much easier to go to and from work form within town instead of having to drive 45 minutes one way! Though, I managed to spook Bruce and his family, and he spooked me. They can hear when I go up the stairs and he thought I was still at work when I can in. I was in the middle of taking out my contacts when the doorbell rang, and it is loud. It is an actual bell, rung by a clapper in the hall. I almost put one of my eyes out! So, I explained to Bruce that I get off work at midnight during the week.

Also, I have finished another Christmas gift. Mamaw Mary's cable scarf is finished. I literally finished it in on of my classes. Due to the fact that I didn't have any yarn other than kitchen cotton (it is still all at Mamaw's), I hunted Ravelry for a free dishcloth pattern. I will probably give it to someone out at Heritage Farm. Pics to be posted once I take them.

Moving and Christmas Knitting

Since July of 2009, I have been living with my grandmother after moving out of an apartment in Ceredo, WV. I love my Mamaw, but frankly, we do not see eye to eye. She is an utter neat freak, while I see nothing wrong with having things on the floor if there is no other place around my to put them. This mostly includes books, various knitting projects, and occasionally dishes. She tends to freak if everything is not 'in its place'.

So, this week, I took steps to relieve both of us: I rented an apartment. I told my older brother, Bruce that I was looking for a place and he told me that the apartment above his is empty and that the landlord wanted to rent it out to me for less because I was Bruce's sister. We checked it out on Monday and I signed the lease. It is a very nice apartment, a one bedroom, and I also have the attic space for storage. I got the electric on on Tuesday and the water today. I also had to have a fridge put in, but it is now there. Also, the last tenant left a couch behind because the stairs are steep and narrow and he didn't want to deal with moving it out. Now, I just have to deal with moving my stuff in. I am trying to get my Uncle Chris to help with the furniture, so Daddy does not have to. He is 56 and moving the love-seat, and dresser (the largest stuff I own) is hard on him.

Also, it gives me more time for knitting. I am now living within walking distance of Marshall University, and on 25 minutes away from work, as opposed to 45 minutes away. So, it will save me a lot in gas.

And speaking of knitting, I am currently in the middle of knitting Christmas gifts. I have finished one, have two on the needles and am planning several more, although most of them are small enough to finish in a day (I hope). Here is the breakdown for my Christmas knitting:

Mamaw Mary: Twisted Cable Scarf-50%
Mamaw Rose: Clapotis-finished
Bruce (brother): fingerless mitts-planned with yarn in stash
Hunter: scarf-planned with yarn in stash
nieces : Ruby Bear-one 75%, other one planned
everyone else: soap socks-planned

Cass Scenic Railroad Trip

Last week was fun. As a long time resident of WV (meaning I have never lived anywhere else), I am a huge fan of the numerous and different state parks. But one of the best and most unique state parks in all WV is Cass Scenic Railroad. Cass used to be a logging town back when most logging in the state was done by railroads. There used to be 3000 miles of railroad tracks throughout the state, but now there is only 11 miles left, built in 1901, and they are at Cass.

When the company that owned Cass closed down, it seemed that the town of Cass would become a ghost town as people moved to find work, but in 1961, Cass was purchased by the state and designated a state park. Since it opened to the public in 1963, giving people rides to the timber camp if Whittaker Station, then to Bald Knob, the third highest point in WV, in 1966, and then to the ghost town of Spruce, which used to be owned by the same company as Cass, in 2004.

Well, last week I had a day off from work, and decided to go to Cass before the season ended at the end of October. I decided to make it a two day trip because driving to Cass from home is about five to six hours. So, I got online and found a neat little bed n breakfast called the Old Clark Inn, in Marlinton.

The Old Clark Inn is an alternative to standard hotels and motels. You can rent a bed, a room with the bathroom in the hall that you share with others, or a room with its own bathroom. I ended up picking the room with the shared bath.

I left Huntington at around 12:30. I would have left earlier, but I had a midterm to take in one of my classes and could not miss it. I decided to avoid I-64 and the other, more main roads past Charleston, so I left the interstate at the town of Chelyan, and got in Rte 60 until I reached the town of Gauley Bridge, then took Rte 39. I stopped in the town of Summersville to use the restroom and also, to check out their quilt shop, which had moved to a much larger building since I was last there in June.

I then continued on into Marlinton and after having to backtrack once, I found the inn fairly easily. I checked in, got my room key and then signed the register. While signing the register, I noticed that the people who had registered before me were also from Huntington. I mentioned it to the innkeeper, who said that they had checked in about 15 minutes before I had. I wondered if I would bump into them. I then went outside to get my bag from the car, and as I was walking back in, I saw a woman in the dining room of the inn. I stopped to say hi and ask were she was from; as it turned out, she and her husband were the couple from Huntington.

Their names were Betty and Peter and they had spent the week visiting family in Virginia, mostly on a motorcycle. They had decided to stay at the inn because it was motorcycle friendly. Peter was a retired minister and Betty a retired teacher and they were both alumni of Marshall University. I spent a few minutes talking with them, then mentioned that I wanted to get something to eat. All I had had that day since breakfast was two apple, a bag of chips and a candy bar. Somehow, without any of us saying a word, we decided to go eat together. The inn had provided menus for guest use, and we decided that a local restaurant called Dories sounded good.

It was only a few blocks and the weather was nice, so we decided to walk over. After arriving and sitting down, we all decided that the spaghetti sounded good. what followed was one of the most pleasant evenings I have had in a long time. We talking about everything, including their faith (both were members of the Anglican Church) my classes, history in general, Cass and a dozen other things. They decided to split a piece of pie and we then headed back to the inn. On the way back, I noticed the most interesting mural on the wall. It depicted different things about the area, such as Cass, Droop Mountain Battlefield, skiing and fishing.

After we got back to the inn, I headed to bed. I slept ok, for being in a strange place. I woke up around 8:00 and headed down to the continental breakfast offered by the inn. I spoke some more with Betty and Peter, and also some other people who had stayed at the inn. They were bicyclists riding on the Greenbriar River Trail, a 78 mile long trail that used to be a section of railroad tracks, but has been converted for use by hikers, bikers and horseback riders. No motorized vehicle are allowed, except for motorized wheelchairs.

I got on the road to Cass at about 9:30 and got there just at 10:00, about an hour before the train I planned to ride left. I had decided to go on Friday because that is the day the train to the ghost town of Spruce runs. I have been to Whittaker Station several times and Bald Knob once several years ago, but had never been on the Spruce train.

I spent a leisurely hour poking around the gift shop and ordered a box lunch to take with me on the train. Also I found another knitter, or maybe I should say that she found me; as I was standing in front of the depot waiting for the trian, an older woman walked up to me and performed the knitter's handshake: she started petting the shoulder of the handknit vest I was wearing. She clearly was an experienced knitter as well, she was only one size off of the needle size I used.

At about 10:30 to train pulled into the station. The train that would be taking us up to Cass that day was Shay 6, (also called Big Six), the largest Shay engine still running in the world. For a video of Big Six pulling up, check out this video on YouTube. Also, here is a picture taken from the steps of the gift shop.

Here I am in the engine! We left the station at 11:00 and headed up to Spruce. First we headed up the track to Whittaker Station, which took about an hour. We stopped there for a restroom break and so some people could go to the concession stand, which is claimed to have the best hot dogs on the mountain.

We were at Whittaker for about 20 minutes before continuing on. There were some phenomenal views of the distant mountains, including the boundary between West Virginia and Virginia and the leaves were already turning at the higher elevations. I was able to get a little knitting in during the trip.

After about two hours, we arrived at the ghost town of Spruce. There really isn't much left after all this time. Spruce was developed for the production of pulpwood and was active from 1904 until about 1950, when it was abandoned. While active, Spruce was one of the highest towns in the eastern US. All that is left now is the foundations for the mill and some other buildings.

We wandered around the site for about an hour, and then headed back. We didn't stop on the trip back, except on one of the switchbacks so that the 2:30 train to Whittaker Station could pass us. We stopped just short of the switchback and the Whittaker train, pulled by Shay 5, went into the switchback, then we entered the switchback behind them and pulled onto the next section, while they continued on up. We got back to Cass at about 3:15 and I decided to buy a few of the things I had been looking at earlier. I got a coffee mug and a hiking stick medallion. I then headed home, with a detour through Droop Mountain Battlefield State Park. They were having a reenactment that weekend, but were still setting up when I got there. So, I decided that it would be easiest to go home by I-64. I stopped at Tamarack and had a very nice chicken potpie for dinner and arrived back home at about 10:00.

Shop Hop Details

As mentioned in a previous post, last week I participated in the Mountain Quilt Quest Shop Hop, which is a shop hop held by several quilt shops throughout West Virginia. It ran from Wed. to Sat. with each shop having extended hours for the duration of the shop hop. Each shop has a block that when put together makes an entire quilt. They all have a quilt (or several) made using the fabric and blocks from all the different shops. Most also sell kits so you can make your own version of theirs.


This year, the fabric was made especially by a WV artist, Tina Richardson, for the Shop Hop. It incorporated 18 different things representing WV, including important landmarks, state animals and things like that.

Something else that I had planned to do was to buy two Batik fat quarters from each shop and use them to make another quilt. At first I figured to just make a nine patch quilt, then decided to make the Turning Twenty Again quilt instead. The first shop I went to was Quilts by Phyllis in Hurricane. Phyllis' shop is a large, open shop with a very large selection of fabric, notions, and several long arm machines. While there, I found out that the friend I had planned to bring along was unable to come and decided to go on to the rest of the western stores that day instead of waiting until the next day.

I then decided to go to the farthest store and work my way back to the shop in Ceredo and then go on to work. The farthest store on the chain of the western stores was The Quilt Shoppe LLC in Summersville. That store is a smallish store with shelves everywhere. It should feel cluttered, but it doesn't. Instead, there is a sense of wondering what is around the next corner. The owner seems to prefer more older types of styles, such as 30's repros and Civil War fabrics, but there is a good mix of more modern styles as well. I found out while there that the owner is also a knitter and ended up talking to her about Ravelry.


The next shop was Quilts and More in Victor, just outside Hawk's Nest State Park. They had the quilt pattern I liked best. They didn't have the kits already made, which was actually a good thing, because I could not have afforded it that day, but I left my information with the owner and she will call me when it is ready.

The next shop I went to was Sneed's Sewing and Vacuum Shop in Charleston. they don't have much fabric, but they do sell a lot of notion and Bernina sewing machines. I hope to buy a Bernina Aurora 440QE sewing machine. While I was there, I realized that I was not going to be able to visit the shop in Ceredo that day, due to time constraints. In fact, I ended up being a half hour late for work.

So, I went to Sew Many Blessings in Ceredo on Thursday instead. Sew Many Blessings is my own LQS. It is the most convenient, being right on the way to work and the owners, Winona and Heidi, are both members of my quilt guild, the Creative Quilters in Huntington, WV, as well as being lovely ladies. They are both every into breast cancer funding and donations and this was reflected in their quilt. The fabric for the quilt was black and white, so some of the other shops added some red and Phyllis also used yellow fabric, but Winona and Heidi used pink as a accent border.

Then came Friday. I knew that Friday was going to be a long day. My plan was to start in Parkersburg as the northern most shop and travel to Elkins, the southern most store. I knew it was going to be an all day venture and I was right. I left at 7:30 am and got home at 9:30 pm, so, I was on the road for a total of 14 hours, mostly driving between the shops.

The Parkersburg store was the Parkersburg Sewing and Quilting Center. I liked their store, but they had the long -arm machine running the entire time I was there and it made it a bit hard to hear people. Also, their quilt seemed a bit off to me. As said before, most people added red or some other complementary color to their quilts, but Parkersburg added a bright green that didn't go with the black and white very well, IMHO.

While in Parkersburg, I could not resist checking out Market Street Yarn & Craft shop, which is also in Parkersburg. I ended up buying some sock yarn as a souvenir.

The next shop to visit was the Woolen Willow in Williamstown. The Woolen Willow is a very interesting store. It not only sells fabric, but also yarn, rug-hooking and needle-felting designs. It also sold lots of primitive decorations.

I then headed to Pieces of the Past shop. That has to be one of the smallest quilt shops I have ever seen. It is in an old house and consists of three rooms, one with fabric, one with patterns and one with notions and embroidery thread and supplies. If that shop had 100 bolts of fabric, I would be surprised. Still, when I bought my batiks, I found one that ended up being one of my favorites. She didn't have very many pre-cut fat quarters, but said it would be no trouble to but some from the bolts. I selected a pretty ecru batik and a dark blue with electric light blue lines shot though it. I was surprised to see that when opened out, the electric blue lines formed swordfish. When cutting the fabric, I made sure to fussy cut one of the swordfish out.

I then had a 2.5 hour drive to the next shop in Fairmont, called Sew Chic. By the time I got to Fairmont, it was about 1:30 and I was starving. I ended up getting of the interstate and eating at MacDonald's. Since I am trying to lose a little weight, I have avoided MacDonald's recently and usually had a salad when I did eat there. This time I didn't care about my weight or anything but eating as much as I could manage. I ended up getting a #1 combo with a large sweet tea. I figured that I would walk it off in the quilt shops before I was done.

Sew Chic is one of the easiest shops to find. It is a quarter mile off of I-79 and in a large red barn. It is a very orderly shop, with all kinds of different fabrics, Bernina sewing machines and notions. I signed up for their newsletter during my first shop hop in 2007 and still receive it. I doubt that I would ever get the chance to go to it otherwise because it is several hours drive.

I then headed to Morgantown and The Sew Inn, Ltd. I have been on three shop hops now and have never seen more of Morgantown than the route to the shop hop. The Sew Inn is a very large, bright store. They sell Viking sewing and embroidery machines and lots of patterns and notions. They also were selling T-shirts a s souvenirs of the shop hop, but I didn't have the money to get one.

While at The Sew Inn, the long day and all that driving caught up with me. I really didn't want to go on to the last two shops. The shop in Buckhannon was not that far, but the Elkins Sewing Center was 40 miles one way. I decided I had come to far to not finish out the rest of the stores and got going.

The Buckhannon store was in what was in a large house. It was very interesting, wandering through the different rooms to see what the fabric was. The selection was excellent and I wish I had more money so I could have spent more at each shop. I then headed to the last shop, the Elkins Sewing Center. The drive was not as bad as I had thought it was going to be. I think the slump at Morgantown was the after effects of the sweet tea I had at lunch.

The Elkins Sewing Center was fun. I had just arrived and was talking to a few of the ladies helping during the shop hop when a bus tour arrived. After that it was very crazy trying to get around a suddenly very full store. I ended up talking to a few ladies who were from Pennsylvania on the Shop Hop.

After I left Elkins Sewing Center, I decided to head home. I saw a Dollar General a few doors down from the shop and decided I wanted some food to take with me. I bought a coke and a snickers bar and headed off. I was just a few miles out of town when I realized that my camera, which I had had with me all day was not on the passenger side seat where it should have been. I had left it in Elkins! I quickly turned around and hoped I had left it in the shop and not the dollar General. As it turned out, it was in the Dollar General. The cashier had set it aside and I was able to retrieve it. It was the only thing I forgot all day, a fact that I am rather proud of, with my memory! I had by that time been on the road for 12 hours, so I think I can be excused.

Well, that was a good, long post, wasn't it?

Pics and Shop Hopping

OK, so the Internet is working on my computer again, so here are the pics of my most recent projects.

First off, the Demeter Camisole:

Next is my niece's toddler socks:

Then there are my WIPs. First is a Memory Shawl that I am making using the little oddballs of my stash.

Then there are my current pair of socks, basic socks knit 2aat.

The last pic is of the ball band dishcloth that I work on when bored with the socks. It is knit with Sugar and Cream yarn on size 10 needles.

The shop hop I am going on this week is not knitting, however, but quilting. Every year several stores in WV participate in the Mountain State Quilt Quest Shop Hop. This year there are twelve stores participating in the shop hop. I went to four today, will go to one tomorrow and will get the rest on Friday. A friend of mine, Brian, was going to go with me, but he just got a job and has orientation the next few days. More on the shop hop later after I visit the rest of the stores.