Remember Me?

Dear Swatchy,

I haven't forgotten you! I hope you didn't think I got lost in the wilds of Africa. I've been living with a wonderful family, and they took me to see the Zambezi River and Victoria Falls in Zambia. I think I'm the first Swatchy to get a ride in a helicopter, too! Wheeeeee! I hope you like these pictures! (and don't worry - they didn't let me get wet at the falls)

Kisses,
SwatchGrrl

Not Again

Remember how I couldn't see the Yarn Harot last fall even though I was less than an hour's ride from her? It's deja vu all over again.

Stephanie Pearl-McPhee will be speaking at the Philadelphia Book Festival tomorrow and then signing books. I was hoping that I could go, despite the fact I'm still recovering from the trip to DC. My husband was pretty determined that I should go, and was willing to wrangle the wheelchair and try to get special accommodation from the Free Library folks (who have been friendly).

But I'm too ill. I would be in a full crash before I even got to the room filled with several hundred rowdy knitters. And waiting in line for her autograph would be completely impossible, even in my wheelchair. The noise and crowd is more than I can handle, let alone the strain of the outing itself.

I love Stephanie and I love her new book. She has been so kind to me and the various Swatchys that my friends have taken to her events. I would like to tell her in person how deeply she has touched my life with her humor and kindness. But I cannot.

Once again, CFS has interfered and stolen something from me. Once again, I have to tell myself that I can't do something even though I desperately want to do it. I have to give this up in order to safeguard my health for the next week. It doesn't matter how fun it would be; going to see Stephanie would put me in bed for several days and extend my current crash for a week or more.

My blog-friend Sue recently observed that coping with CFS takes incredible strength. It takes strength to stop yourself from doing something you would enjoy because you know how severe the consequences would be. I don't know, but maybe it is like the strength that is required by an alcoholic to say no to a glass of champagne at someone's wedding. You know you cannot take part in small, happy thing because of the consequences that will follow. You have to tell yourself no, and find a way to be ok with it.

Can you understand what this feels like?

iSwatchy tours San Francisco

I think maybe iSwatchy is getting a little carried away with his new "try anything once" San Francisco attitude.



I've temporarily uploaded a big pile of pictures to my gallery. I'll be sorting, labeling and re-uploading them in a few months when iSwatchy and I are back home.

Swatchy Green's Lancaster Camping Trip

Swatchy got to see a lake,


and some cows,

he found some froggies in the garden,

and camped at Karen's campsite.

He sat in Karen's rocker and tried to knit,

and then it was time to go...

and see some horses on the way home.

Swatchy Green's Ravelry meet-up fun!

Swatchy made lots of friends while waiting....

Carol from Black Bunny Fibers was so happy to see Swatchy that she gave him some of her hand dyed yarn!

For - Casey and Jess (love the dramatic backlight? It's just my horrible camera skills)

And then came the highlight of Swatchy Green's day:

After that, all that was left to do was to chill with some Philly chicks (and baby Clyde)

He looked at some Alpacas,

and then collapsed with his booty.

On the bus ride home, Artsygal gave Swatchy some of her hand dyed yarn!

And then Swatchy got his first Septa ride to Conshohocken.

You would think he was done with travel for the day - but no, he had another adventure coming...

Swatchy Green's First Adventure

Swatchy Green started the day off on the Rosie's bus, helping Karen knit her Morning Surf Scarf.

He also made friends with Wendy and Kelly.

Before we knew it, we were at MDS&W, but a lot of people got there before us!

Swatchy hung out at the Flock Bransona's booth & made a friend while Karen bought some yarn and oogled the roving. Swatchy couldn't help himself - he tried on earrings and scarves:

Swatchy had $20 to spend, and couldn't resist buying himself a "Learn to Knit Kit" from

NeatoGroovy.com

Luckily it came with it's own bag, because Swatchy still had money left to spend.

Swatchy thought about buying some STR from the Fold, but ended up passing.

Ohhh, fiber. Yummy!

Swatchy couldn't leave without checking out the cool stuff vying for ribbons:

Then it was 12:00, and there was nothing to do except grab some curly fries and wait ....

Tide You Over

Just to tide you over until Karen can write up Swatchy Green's adventures at Maryland Sheep & Wool, you can see some of the pictures in the flickr group. Looks to me like Swatchy Green had a VERY good time.

Edited to fix link.

Meet Swatchy Green

I'll admit it. I posted a bit of a pout over on Ravelry, asking if anyone might be willing to carry a Swatchy to Maryland Sheep and Wool because I am missing it AGAIN. Luckily for me, Karen came through. So inspired by Earth Day, the rebirth of spring in my backyard, and to be honest - what I had in the scrap bag - I am proud to introduce Swatchy Green:



I made him an extra large tote bag for all his yarn purchases.



What is especially exciting about Green is that he will be traveling to MDSW on the Rosie's bus. I expect him to make a lot of friends! PLUS, Karen said she will take him to the Ravelry gathering on Saturday! Fingers crossed that we can score a photo with Casey or Jess!

Ladies Who Rock

The gifts for Botswana keep rolling in! First up we have this blanket from Sherry in VA:



I had a fabulous time at Sit n' Knit last night. Those gals ROCK! And I got three more blankets from Shaz and Anne Marie:



I just love these hats from Liz:



Too cute! Thank you everyone, for your generous support of our project.