Summer is here and I'm headed to Maine!!! Wow, I can't believe it. It's that time of year again and this year is going to be even more exciting. We are renovating our family camp. When my parents passed away, they left the camp to one of my sisters, my brother and me. At the first part of this year, my siblings decided they just didn't want to invest the money it was going to take to bring it back to its "glory days" so they signed their shares over to me. The ONLY drawback is that my husband, Jim, and I just purchased the camp across the street two months earlier. So now with two camps to totally renovate on a cash budget, we are perdicting that it will take three years to complete both places. Jim is a wonderful businessman but, well, let's just say that he lacks the skill set to get this job done. We are hiring professionals to do most of the work. Jim will only be around for ten days at the beginning of the summer and then drop in to check on progress at some point during the summer. That means I'm on my own. I'm looking forward to the challenge but I have to admit, I'm a little scared as well. Dealing with New Englanders is not always an easy thing. I can say that because I'm a Mainer through and through and when it comes to out-of-staters, we just don't like 'em. So I will be rampin' up my Maine accent and wearing flannel this summer so that I can get the best deal AND get the most cooperation. I'm going to post lots of photos throughout the process so I hope you will stay-tuned and join me in my journey. It's going to be an emotional rollercoaster for me because this camp is where we lived every summer from the time I was about 8 years old. My mother was a school teacher and my dad was a cobbler for Dexter Shoe (3 miles from the camp). So, once school was out, we packed up and went to the lake. When my daughter, Hillary, was born in 1987, I wanted her to experience the wonderful summers that I did as a child so when she was just four months old, she made her first trip to camp and then every summer after that, no matter where we lived in the country, she and I came to camp for five weeks. The memories we have all made here cannot be replaced. Doing a total remodel and preserving what makes this place "camp" is going to be a balancing act for me. I don't want to get caught up in making it a "resort". I want to keep the feeling of a simple family camp BUT without the need to carry water from town to drink and the smell of musty carpets. It's going to be interesting for sure!!

Spring is Coming - Yes, it REALLY is!

As winter snow piles up for some of us, warmer weather is creaping into our forecast in California and I'm already dreading the hot weather that summer brings.

With that said, I find myself looking over at my fabric stash and "eye-balling" fabrics with springtime colors: bright and cheerful. As soon as I'm caught up on custom orders, I'm hitting the spring fabrics hard in an attempt to brighten the day and spread the good news that Spring WILL come this year and we, as knitters, will be ready!!

Valentine's Day is Approaching

Once the new year has begun our thoughts seem to turn to the next big holiday and for most of the female population, it's Valentine's Day. KnittingsMyBag is no different. I've got some super cute surprises in the works to make Valentine's Day a blast for you knitters out there. Whether you purchase items for yourself or for a loved one, you'll find these items a great addition to your knitting collection. Stay-tuned.

Twas The Week Before Christmas

Twas the week of Christmas, when all over the Net
Podcasters were scurrying to get their casts set.
Their stockings were hung as a background with care
In hopes that all watching would somehow even care.

They worked like mad people to share what they’d knit,
They were talking so quickly on the camera they did spit.
They scrambled to finish their holiday knitting,
Many confessed they acquired blisters while sitting.

They wanted a break, a vacation was desired
It was easy to see they were just plain tired.
Their stashes were growing at alarming rates,
Let’s face it, we’re all hidin’ yarn from the mates.

The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow
Gave the luster of mid-day to objects below.
The beautiful scene was a joy to behold, until we heard
Diane from Knitabulls saying, ‘Crap, it’s snowing and I have to walk the girls.”

And so they prepare for their last shows of the year,
No matter how sick, with the coughing and hacking,
They crammed in one more show before packing.

They gathered their props, all their pets and their show notes,
To bid us Merry Christmas and send us out to purchase Barnes and Nobles totes.

Now Bella! now, Maisy! Stay on your chairs,
Now Fred stop your leaping onto “well, you know where”!
On John, John, on Ernie (hey, gimme’ that pom pom)
and Skippy, whose training, stop biting the neighbors!
All the podcaster pets are so wonderfully exciting!

Now they’ve promised to be good in the coming year, yarn diets and knit alongs, it’s all very clear,
There will be projects to show and stash downs to be sure
But Tina from Knitting Blooms will find SOME way to procure.

Sheila and Wendy (Knit1HeartToo) will continue to be “wicked” good,
While Dawn and Nicole (Wolfe Farms)….well, they’ll do what they should!
Steve (DramaticKnits) will continue to drive his Miss Daisy (Callie),
While Becca from Knitbytes will be gamin’ like crazy.
Erin (mommyneedsyarn) will return with her sassy way, and
Jaydee (Twisted Strands) will have the beer of the day (hiccup).
Carin (Round the Twist) will no doubt have another “EPIC” year. And
The Stockinette Zombies with give us nothing to fear.
CharmingLochie (Kelly) will come to us thanks to “the one who pays”
And Tammy (The Proverbial Knitter) will continue the yarn stash craze.
Vicki (DragonflySoars) will finish her sweater,
While Katie (Knittin’ On The Fly) will be our “jet-setter”.

And now it’s been said with pen to paper,
We love our podcasters from whom we can’t taper.
We follow each week, we are clearly stalkers
And confess that many of us are just plain off our rockers.

We wish you the merriest of Christmases it’s true,
And always remember your viewers are “True Blue.”

Merry Christmas,
KnittingsMyBag

Merry Christmas from KnittingsMyBag