Saturday, April 19, 2008

Has It Really Been Almost A Month!?!

Clearly, I'm not the most regular of bloggers. The good thing is that I do make up for my lack of quantity with some quality pics and info.

So what's the word? Well, it is freezing here today in our neck of the woods. Snow is being forecast for the low foothills surrounding our little valley area and it was a whopping 34 degrees this morning when we checked the weather forecast. This is in sharp, sharp contrast to last Saturday which was almost 80 degrees for the high. A beautiful, sun-filled, cloudless sky kind of 80 degrees. The Incredible Digit children were particularly enjoying themselves in the backyard.


And I got some very pretty pics of flowers from our garden and trees.  



And while the Incredible Digit husband was working in the front yard getting it in order, I got to do this.

The wonderful Sharon of Stitchjones dyed up this beautiful roving, Emerald & Spruce.  I wound up splitting it into three sections.  The first I spun up and plied end-to-end for 2 ply.  The second batch I spun up with a little Angelina in the the same color family to give it a little sparkle.  The third batch I'm thinking of spinning up as thin as possible and plying with transparent or metallic thread per the excellent suggestion of Bobbie at Tiggywinkle Knits.  

I also visited Abundant Yarn and Dyeworks in Sellwood.  What a great place.  There's an overflowing supply of yarn and fiber and a great little cafe.  The Incredible Digit children especially enjoyed the bubbling foot soaking fountain in the corner of the cafe.  It took all of about two seconds for each of them to have their shoes & socks off and their pant legs rolled up.  While there, I picked up this roving.  

I've gone and lost the label so I can't say who created this luscious stuff, but the color combinations are so pretty.  

This pic shows the two different plying methods that I chose.  Looking to your left, my friends, is a batch that has been Navajo plied to maintain the color changes and create a thicker yarn.  The batch to the right has been plied end-to-end for 2-ply and the colors "barber pole-d" for a little more texture.  

On the knitting front, I've been lucky enough to get a few test knits.  I've already finished two for a pattern company based in Portland and I've got another small project for (wait for it).....KnitPicks!!  For all you non-knitting people, KnitPicks is basically Target for knitting/crocheting/yarn people.  Once the patterns/images are available to the public, I will post my versions here.
  
Before I sign off, here are a few pics from Easter.  My kids "clean up good". 


2 comments:

Bobbie Wallace said...

Nice pics! Good yarn! Great kids!

Sharon said...

Beautiful pictures! The outdoor shots remind me of how lovely our weather can be when it isn't like yesterday. :) Love the kids' Easter pics and what gorgeous spinning!