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". 

You Put Your Left Foot In........

......and you spin it all about! 

That is what I've been doing for the last few weeks - besides all the other Easter/dance recital/soccer/swim craziness.  I've been trying to improve my spinning skills on my "new-to-me" castle-style spinning wheel.  

It's a lovely, lovely wheel made with beautiful birds eye maple.  

Now I would not have this wheel if not for the wonderful Bobbie of Tiggywinkle Knits and her husband Toolman.  They were going to sell this wheel and knew that I had been eyeing the Craigslist and eBay postings for a reasonably priced model.  Needless to say, they made me an offer I couldn't refuse and this lovely wheel came home with me.  I can't say enough about their generosity.  Thank you so much for thinking of me to be this wheel's new mama.  This isn't just a used wheel....it is a hand-made piece that Bobbie and Toolman bought from the grandson (!) of the person who made the wheel.  It's notable to mention that this grandson was in his sixties when he sold the wheel.  It wasn't in this good of shape when purchased, though.  Toolman worked his woodworking talents to bring it back to its glory.  And it spins like a dream.  It really, really does :-).  And I have proof (click on image to enlarge). 

First off is two shades of Corriedale roving blended together and then spun.  This, and the rest of the yarn here, was plied end-to-end into 2-ply. 

Next is 100% Merino wool pencil roving in shades of green and turquoise. 

I found some undyed Blue Face Leicester at the Knitting Bee and......

hand dyed it in honor of one of my favorite singers, Mr Robert Plant.  He of the flowing blond locks, faded denim and flower-y man-blouse.   

It spun up and plied very nicely but I think next time (I still have some of this fiber left) I will Navajo ply it to keep the colors truer.  

I have also paid a visit to Northwest Wools in Multnomah Village in SW Portland.  Great, great store with a good variety of fibers.  This little gem is a mixture of bamboo (dark teal and turquoise), Merino wool (chartreuse green), and Angelina sparkle-y fiber (yellow-green).  I mixed all the different fibers by hand to get the colors as evenly dispersed as possible.  
It spun up well but was a little slippery because of the bamboo.  I had enough done to knit this little coin purse.  It's basically a rectangle knitted up in stockinette stitch with decreases on one short end to create the point.  I'm sewing it up the sides and will add a button for the closure.  I think a visit to the Button Emporium is in order. 

Now I'll just have to take my foot off the treadle more often and post more progress.  Luckily, the next several days we'll be home for spring break.  Yea!

See That Girl, Watch That Scene.......

......check out our Dancing Queen!

The Incredible Digit Girl had her first ever dance recital last night.  In the video clip she is the second dancer to come out onstage and is dressed in a purple top and red pants.  It was a little hard to get more detail in the movie but she was very happy and smiling through the whole performance.  The instructor for the class, Katrina O'Brien, is so great with the kids and really helps give them a sense of "having fun" onstage.  

I'll update with more pics soon!

Meet-Ups and Milestones

The Meet-Up

I've waited far too long to write about the new yarn store I visited recently with other PDX Knit Bloggers.  A group of us went to Yarnia in SE Portland (thanks to Tiggywinkleknits and Toolman for driving!).  Yarnia is unique in that you don't just find a couple of skeins to buy.  You find dozens upon dozens of these cones. 

You can then combine up to six of any cones to make a completely unique yarn that includes all the fiber types, colors, and weights that the purchaser prefers.   The bookcase above shows only a small, small variety of what the store has to offer.  Definitely check their website for more pics and info.  The basket below contains my choices. 

The two magenta pinks and the purple lurex (shiny strand) became this bulky weight yarn.  It's a combo of a silk blend, an acrylic boucle and the lurex for a little dazzle.  It kind of reminds me of Indian Sari Silk yarn.

The other three cones plus one I added after I took the picture became this blend.  It is four strands:  one light pink linen/cotton, one ecru linen/cotton, medium pink rayon and one pink lurex strand.  The overall effect is a light lacey type of yarn that will one day become a lovely summer shawl/wrap......once I figure out the pattern, that is.  I've been combining lace edging and insert patterns but haven't hit the mark quite yet. 
That's okay, though, 'cause I've got a few projects this month that I am really very excited about.  For one, the above mentioned Tiggywinkleknits sent out the call to the PDX Knit Bloggers for donations for a charity auction benefitting a very brave young boy named Thomas who is battling cancer.  I designed a not too complicated pattern from my stitch dictionaries for an evening wrap that hopefully will bring a few dollars for this boy and his family.  This family needs all the support it can get.  If you're in the area and want to attend the dinner and auction, click on Thomas' name for his website and check the "Events" section for all the details.  

Secondly, I'm also really excited about my first venture in test knitting for a local pattern designer.  Not gonna say who, not gonna say what.  Suffice it to say that I think the buying public will really like this pattern when it finally comes out and that I will be posting photos galore at that point.  

Soooooo......back to the needles for me.  I've got some work to do :-)!

I Blog In My Head Every Day

I was having that conversation with Tiggywinkleknits at Knit Night last night.  During the course of any day, I'll usually see/read/hear something that I feel is blog-worthy.  Unfortunately, with two small children, sitting down and completing that process can be a little challenging.  But, in my head, I blog every day.  

So, what have I learned recently?  That there is a small price to be paid when one joins a knitting group that includes several spinners.  While you may steadfastly announce that spinning is of no interest to you, after watching others in your group create lovely yarn in beautiful colors you may find yourself in a daze standing in front of the drop spindles and roving in your local yarn store.  I now own three drop spindles and have been drooling over the spinning wheel in my favorite antique store.

My first attempt at spinning was less than successful.  While I spun up a couple of thick single yarn strands with okay results, my attempt to ply them together resulted in this tangled mess.
Luckily, with practice, I got better. 


This hank was particularly satisfying.  I started by separating the roving into two equal batches.  The first batch was relatively thick but the next batch came out so much thinner that I could actually ply three strands.  The color combinations really worked out well.  If I'm lucky, I'll be able to get a hat out of this amount of yarn.  
 And for my final thought........Happy Valentine's Day to you all!  May it be filled with goodness and lots of chocolate.  Oh wait, chocolate and goodness are the same thing.  

Pixie Dust

A lovely little red-haired girl we know recently had a birthday.  I wasn't quite sure what to get for her until her aunt mentioned that she likes Tinkerbell and carrying purses around the house.  So I combined those two things together and made her a Tinkerbell purse.  It's basically a rectangular tote with a squared-off bottom.  I was really happy with the way it came out and will definitely think about using this idea again for other little girl birthdays.  For all the supplies I went to Joann's.  The sparkly green fabric was in the "prom dress" section and worked perfectly.  I was very lucky and found the green and hot pink flower trim to add a little extra color and texture.  The icing on the cake was the iron-on Tinkerbell patch.  I used the glue gun to make sure that it didn't come off, though.  

And since it's been very cold and snowy around these parts, I knit up a little hat to go along with the purse.

She'll be the only toddler in town with a "ladies who lunch" look about her.  

Please Stand By

We have been experiencing technical difficulties.  For a few weeks now we have had trouble downloading photos from our camera.  Luckily, the Incredible Digit Husband got it working last night.  So on with the show. 

I have been very lucky.  I say this because the knitting group which I have joined, PDX Knit Bloggers, is filled with wonderfully creative and smart people.  Once a week I get to sit with this group and soak up their creativity, vibes, brainwaves (whatever you want to call it) through osmosis.  So again I consider myself lucky in getting to participate with this group in the PDX Yarn Crawl organized for a large group (35!) Seattle knitters.  

Not only did this group come to check out our local yarn stores, but their fearless leader Charissa arranged for discounts at said yarn stores for all who participated in the crawl.  We started out at Dublin Bay Knitting Co. (www.dublinbay.net) where I found these buttons and this lovely yarn (on sale!). Our next stop was Knit Knot Studio (www.knitknotstudio.com).  This shop is a little on the small size and by chance a few of the small groups wound up here at the same time....totally overwhelming the space.  The owners couldn't have been nicer, though, and everyone was so high on yarn fumes that no one minded waiting. While waiting, I fell in love with the Rayon Metallic yarn from Blue Heron Yarns (www.blueheronyarns.com). It's the center yarn in the pic below.  

Trust me when I say that this photo does not do this yarn justice. 

Our next stop was Knit-Purl (www.knit-purl.com).  I love going to this shop.  The people are always so helpful and, more importantly, fun!  There is the lovely and talented Theresa (who I hope wouldn't mind being sideways at the moment...gotta fix this). 

Plus a whole lot of amazing yarn!  They recently received a shipment of Kauni yarn in many different color combinations - all beautiful.

I narrowed down my choices and bought a skein of Malabrigo Chunky in blue and one of Shibui Knits DK Alpaca in a medium green shade called Wasabi.  Appropriate since sushi is one of my favorite foods and I really needed a second skein for the scarf I'm currently knitting.  Also included is the free(!) skein of Shibui Knits Sock Yarn that I received just for being a member of the yarn crawl.  

For a knitter to come to Portland and not visit Knit-Purl would be a mistake.  The window displays alone are enough to get you into the shop. 

Then, having shopped 'til we dropped, the PDX Knit Bloggers hit Starbucks for a little refreshment.  From left to right, with their blog identities, are Judy (persistentillusion.com), Bobbie (tiggywinkleknits.blogspot.com), yours truly, Duffy (fiberqat.blogspot.com), Melissa the hidden one (teaknit.blogspot.com) and Angela (girlywithatwist.wordpress.com).  

So with plenty of yarn in my bag and caffeine in my system, I made my way home with plenty of ideas for a new project.  There's just silly little problem of finishing the other projects that I have going all at the same time.