Knit for Joy!

Second verse, similar to the first!

2009-11-25T14:16:00.000-08:00

The second small shawl is complete.

This is Multnomah (Ravelry link) by Kate Flagg. It's a lovely use of the classic feather and fan pattern, don't you think? I knit this in one week using US4 (3.5mm) needles and one skein of Malabrigo Sock in the beautiful Indiecita colorway. The picture makes the colors look more distinct than they are in person; they sort of blend into each other in a very pleasing way. This sock yarn gives such a lovely drape to the project! It's a lot smoother yarn than the Jojoland Melody I used for Traveling Woman. Both are lovely, just different.

Last night I grabbed some leftover sock yarn -- Socks That Rock Mediumweight in The Cookie Next Door colorway -- and a copy of the Mini Sweater Ornament pattern by Emily and started knitting. Before you know it, I had this completed:

Isn't it cute? Here it is again, being modeled by a Teeny Beeny bear. He looks pretty toasty warm to me!

That's all for now, folks. If you're in the U.S. -- or if you're not, but celebrate any holiday you can -- I leave you with warm thoughts of thanks for visiting here. Hope you and yours are warm, healthy, happy, and well-fed this holiday season!

Traveling Woman

2009-11-20T20:54:00.000-08:00

Actually, I haven't been traveling at all since I got home from SOAR. But, I did knit this. . .

That's a Traveling Woman shawl (Ravelry link) -- or shawlette, since it's very petite. This was a very quick knit. I started it on a Wednesday evening at knit night and finished it the following Sunday evening. Not that I knit straight through or anything. I still had regular things to do, like work and watching Survivor and such. (Okay, watching Survivor was really knitting time, but who's counting?)

Anyway, the point is that it works up very quickly, which is great this time of year. This is destined to be a Christmas gift for a friend who doesn't "do" computers, so all is safe.

I used Jojoland Melody in color number Y11. I used the 100% wool version of this yarn, not the superwash. I didn't alter anything in the pattern and used just slightly more than one ball of yarn.

When I first took this off the needles, it did the typical lace thing, looking tiny and sorta pathetic. I thought, "Well, she can wear it as a scarf and it'll still be pretty cool. Besides, she's a small person." Oh, how quickly we forget what a good blocking can do for lace!

So I put it in a sink full of tepid water and some Eucalan and let it soak a while. Then I pulled it out and started blocking it. And, lo and behold, it did what lace does. It stretched as if attending a really vigorous yoga class and bloomed into something totally lovely. (Sorry for the crappy picture -- it was about midnight when I took this.)

Yep, it blocked out to exactly the measurements the patten promises. Which is to say, it's a small shawl, about 48" x 17", which is just right for wearing in a variety of ways.

I hope my friend likes it. Blue is her absolute favorite color. Millicent sure seemed to cozy up to it!

Next on the needles is the Multnomah shawl (another Ravelry link) in Malabrigo Sock. I'm using the beautiful Indiecita. It's destined to be a gift, too, and should be finished fairly soon. I started it on Monday night and have about 20 rows of the feather and fan lace left to complete.

I am loving these quick shawls! Perfect quick projects for the gray rainy days of November.

Spin City!

2009-11-03T08:54:00.000-08:00

Things have been moving quite quickly around here. Still are, actually, so this will be a quick overview/update.

SOAR was last week in Sunriver. I got to be there for the 3-day workshops and had a marevelous time in Spinning 101 with Maggie Casey.

We learned all kinds of things and enjoyed working with a washed Corriedale-cross fleece and a gorgeous Polwarth fleece, too. It was my first time experiencing Polwarth and boy, am I hooked!

Yes, it's just this luscious!

We did short draw, long draw (even with cotton), woolen, and worsted spinning. We learned Andean plying and although the wrap around my hand got pretty tight, I managed not to lose a finger doing it.

My first worsted-spun, Andean-plied fiber.

Here are some of our sample skeins. We each got a little bit of multicolored fiber from Louet and took artistic license with how we spun and plied it. You can see some of the results here, along with some cotton and some of the Corriedale, too.

On Tuesday morning, we awoke to a dusting of snow. It was beautiful.

I had to leave on Wednesday afternoon for the next adventure of the week, so I missed the marketplace and the retreat sessions. From what I heard later, I also seem to have missed the H1N1 virus, which unfortunately hit a few of my friends. I'm glad I missed that, but still wish I could have been there the whole week.

These two piles of fleece started out quite a bit larger.

However, I wouldn't have changed a thing, because on Thursday morning, I got to see my friend Scott and bring him home to be my new roommate. It's been almost five years since I saw him last, so this was a very good thing. :)

In the next couple of days, we got him moved into the spare room at the house and pretty much settled in. We're both still adjusting, but it's going well. He's spoiling me by cooking and cleaning -- stuff I don't do much. I maintain that I'm Oscar and he's Felix (of The Odd Couple fame).

Sunday, I had the luxury of spending the entire day spinning. While at SOAR, I finished another bobbin of the Corriedale-Finn-Ramboulet cross I've been spinning since ~~the dawn of time~~ for a while and plied it into a nice two-ply. I already had a three-ply of the same fiber with a strand of metallic nylon added to it. On Sunday, I ran both plied bobbins through the wheel again, adding more twist to each. Then I chain-plied them together, creating a pretty 13-wpi, 5-ply yarn.

There's about 375 yards, so I have some good options for what to make. Haven't decided yet what it will become. For now, it's just pretty. :)

Now it's back to our regularly scheduled programming of working while establishing new routines. It's been quite a long time since I shared a household with anyone, so there are definite adjustments to be made. So far, so good!

This just in: Actual knitting content!

2009-10-20T17:49:00.000-07:00

Yes, this is a knitting blog, darn it!

On Friday, I attended an entrelac class given by Joan Schrouder as part of the Tigard Knitting Guild's annual fall retreat. In about three hours, Joan masterfully taught us how to create knitted fabric that looks way more complex than it really is.

In the swatch, you can see that the second tier of blocks (the raspberry-colored ones) have a little line of stitches in tan showing through. The subsequent tiers don't show that because Joan showed us how to avoid having them there. Simple, but brilliant.

I was inspired. So I came home and pulled out some DK weight yarn that Stitchjones had dyed for me quite a while ago in her Gene Simmons colorway. I originally intended to make another Clapotis with this yarn, but never got around to it. I tried a couple of other things with it, but the pairing of yarn and pattern just wasn't right, so to the frog pond it had gone. But with the entrelac? It's a match made in knitting heaven!

Here is the beginning of what will eventually be a stole. I did a six-stitch entrelac repeat, which is just right for the length of color changes in this yarn. The only problem is that I don't have enough yarn to make the length of stole that I would like. However, I have a plan. I'm going to work part of it in the variegated yarn, then get a skein of each color (red, white, black, grey) in solid and do either a nine-stitch or a twelve-stitch entrelac in alternating colors for a ways, then do some more in variegated. I think I'll finish the whole thing with an attached i-cord.

It's a design-as-I-go project, and as such is definitely subject to change along the way! In the meantime, I'm having a lot of fun knitting it and it's a very portable project that doesn't require checking a pattern. Love!

There's been some other knitting going on here, too. I purchased a pattern at the shop that's really fun to knit, takes very little yarn, and works up quickly. It's from Val Love of Dovetail Designs and is called the Lotus Leaf Scarf. With about 100 yards of yarn and an evening, it works up like this:

Rowan Soft Lux in soft grey:

Malabrigo Worsted:

Handspun Merino Superwash:

The only change I made to the pattern was to do the keyhole openings using doubleknitting techniques instead of placing half the stitches on a holder and working each side separately.

The handspun yarn I used wasn't quite a worsted weight, but it still worked up nicely. It has a little less "body" to it. It's lighter, yet still warm.

And, just for fun, here are some alternate ways to wear this cute little scarf:

The "I have a toothache" look:

The "rabbit ears" look, which also reminds me of some of the scarves Lucy and Ethel used to wear over their curlers on "I Love Lucy":

Next week is S.O.A.R. and I'm really looking forward to it! It will be my first "real" spinning class. In three days with Maggie Casey, I'm sure my brain will be stuffed with all kinds of wonderful spinning techniques.

Cycles

2009-10-13T17:22:00.000-07:00

Brown.
Branches swathed in snow.
Squirrel's feet creating tiny avalanches.

White.
Flower clusters cradled in fresh green leaves.
Bees humming, birds returning.

Green.
Shaded shelter from the heat.
Cats lazing in sunny patches.

Amber.
Leaves fade while berries darken.
Birds and squirrels reap the bounty.

Thus is the cycle of the seasons as depicted by two trees in my backyard. The picture above was taken two days ago and already the leaves have lost almost all their green and glow a golden yellow against the gray sky, shimmering slightly with the rain.

It's perfect knitting weather. Sweaters and scarves and blankets hastily dug out of drawers and closets. Skeins of wooly goodness scrounged from the yarn stash, patterns mulled, needles engaged.

Some of that has been happening here. More to come.

Meanwhile, anyone know what kind of tree is shown in the picture? I never have figured it out for sure. I just admire how the pair of them mark the seasons. My own personal art gallery.

Oregon Flock & Fiber 2009

2009-09-29T21:16:00.001-07:00

Another OFFF is in the books. As usual, it was awesome. This year's event was the biggest yet. I'll let some pictures do most of the talking for tonight. Enjoy!

OFFF we go!

2009-09-25T09:57:00.000-07:00

It's Oregon Flock & Fiber Festival time! I'm heading down this afternoon to help Patti from Sweetgrass Wool get set up. Saturday and Sunday I'll be there all day hanging out. The PDX Knit Bloggers and Portland Spinnerati have booth space on the lawn near the big oak tree. We'll be doing demos and answering questions and just enjoying the fiber fumes.

Last night, I started a sock to take with me. A portable project is a must-have at something like this. I'll have my spinning wheel with me, too, but in case I feel like knitting, I'll have this to work on.

This is Chance Sock yarn from Serendipitous Ewe in the Apogee colorway -- one of the winners in the Dye For Glory contest at Sock Summit. I'm making a fairly plain sock using the Basic Shaped Arch Socks pattern from Marlowe Crawford. I've added a twisted cable down the sides just 'cause I don't like to count rows, so it makes it easier to count cable twists.

And I'm still loving my Signature Needles. I have a feeling that when they start selling circulars, I will end up buying some. Just can't beat the pointy tips, light weight, sturdy construction, and slight grip without being too sticky that these needles bring to the party. Yeah, they were a splurge at Sock Summit, but boy, oh, boy am I loving knitting with them!

Progress continues on my Sarah sweater, but it's really hard to tell since it's mostly stockinette stitch and a top-down construction. Nothing really worth showing pictures of.

Oh, I did finish one thing. This is a gift for my hairdresser's daughter who is having a baby girl in a week or so. It's the first grandchild on both sides of the family tree and I'm sure she'll be spoiled rottein -- in a good way.

Anyway, I made this Whirligig Shrug by Stefanie Japel (Ravelry link) for her from Interweave's Weekend Knits magazine. It's so stinkin' cute and so quick and easy to make. I used some Reynolds Revue that I had in my stash, a superwash wool that's quite nice. The 12-18-month size took about 1.5 balls of yarn.

If you have a baby girl to knit for, this is a great project.

That's all for now. I'll be off to OFFF soon. Woot!!!

Opening the box

2009-09-20T22:20:00.000-07:00

"And it's just a box of rain
I don't know who put it there
Believe it if you need it
or leave it if you dare
And it's just a box of rain
or a ribbon for your hair
Such a long, long time to be gone
and a short time to be there."
--Box of Rain
Lyrics by Robert Hunter
Music by Phil Lesh
Immortalized (for me) by The Grateful Dead

I have a box that's been inside an old trunk for a very long time. It's an old box, but it's held together pretty well over the years. Inside the box are bundles of letters.

I confess that though I've kept this box of letters safe from harm, I have never read them. They've languished in the old trunk waiting, much as they waited to make their way from writer to recipient until a ship came into port after a long time away from land. They've rested there patiently, waiting for someone to open them again, to discover the stories within, to ponder the lives of the writers and recipients, to decipher the words, which were sometimes hastily scribbled in pencil during stolen moments on lunch hours or between watches.

They are letters between my father and my mother during the War -- World War II, that is.

Tonight, I opened the box. Inside, the letters are tied in bundles, loosely arranged chronologically by, I assume, my mother. The earliest stack is from 1941. My father was in the Naval Reserves when the attack on Pearl Harbor occurred and went into regular service shortly thereafter. The letters begin while he was stationed at Mare Island, California and mom was still living in Alameda.

I haven't made it through the entire 1941 stack yet, but several things have struck me.

Mostly, I'm struck by how in love they seemed to be. Each letter is peppered with loving thoughts and phrases like, "all my love and thousands of kisses." It was rare to see my parents being openly affectionate to one another, so it seems a bit odd to see so much of it in the letters. It's a good perspective to gain on them -- that of young people in love. It's certanly a perspective that can be difficult to imagine of one's parents.

In this age of email and Faceboook and Twitter and text messaging, I'm sad to think that boxes of love letters will be missing for future generations to ponder. I hope there are young lovers saving their electronic love notes on DVDs or something, but I doubt that will be the same as seeing the postmarks, the stamps, the handwriting, the brittle paper filled with words of love and life gone past.

I don't know what I'll discover about my parents as I delve deeper into the box. But I think I'm ready to dare to press on and see what's there. It's going to take a while since the dates range from 1941 through 1945. Such a long, long time to be gone and a short time to be there.

Work, knit, spin, sleep. Rinse, repeat.

2009-09-10T21:50:00.000-07:00

This is sort of how my life feels right now. Not that I'm complaining. Far from it, actually. I'm really enjoying having a more stable, predictable schedule -- and the same attributes in my income doesn't hurt, either.

I am still trying to get used to early mornings, but I'm getting there. Actually, getting up isn't as bad as making myself go to bed. For the past six years, I pretty much went to bed somewhere between midnight and 2:00 a.m. Can't do that anymore -- not if I want to have a chance at being coherent at 7:30 a.m. anyway. But putting down whatever I'm doing and actually going to bed around 11:00 is not an easy discipline for me.

I bet there are a few of you saying, "Wow, I wish that was my biggest problem!" Yeah, I know I have it pretty good. Finances still aren't great, but the predicability of how much and when is an improvement, even if the amount isn't really where I need it to be yet. All things in time.

So here, for your viewing pleasure, are a couple of things I finished up recently.

First is a pretty skein of superwash wool/bamboo that I spun up. I lost the tag from the fiber, and I can't remember where I purchased it. It's something I found in my fiber stash and loved the colors. However, when I opened the braid, there was a lot of white fiber that didn't get any dye. So I borrowed a friend's drum carder to mix things together a bit more.

When I carded it, I split the colors out (green/blue/purple) and fed them to the carder to create bats that had stripes of each color. I have some white bamboo, so I added in some of that during the carding process -- about 5 percent of the final batts was bamboo.

When I spun the singles, I split the bats by color and created long sections of each color. I did two separate bobbins with the same color progression and then plied them to create the final, two-ply yarn. The colors overlap in spots, but overall the finished yarn has long sections of solid colors. The bit of bamboo gives it a nice sheen. There's about 250 yards in the skein and it's roughly 18wpi -- a fine fingering weight yarn. I love the look of it.

My friends and I have a tradition of spending a day at the Oregon State Fair. Most of our time there is spent in the horse barn watching the horse shows. I wanted something to work on that didn't require a pattern or a lot of thinking, so I did a stash dive and came up with three skeins of Lana Gatto Musa I picked up at a sale last year. It's a lovely yarn that has the look of a mohair, but is a mix of wool and acrylic, so it doesn't have the scratchiness that mohair sometimes does.

I knew I wanted something pretty simple and I thought something modular would be good. I recently got a copy of Iris Shreier's "Reversible Knits" on sale at Joann's, so I looked through there and found the First Impression Scarf. That seemed a good fit for the yarn and definitly was an easy pattern for take-along knitting. Thus was formed this wrap. It's about 18"x80" and it's very warm and cozy. It will come in handy this winter as it can be used over the head to protect against the drizzle and is long enough to still wrap around the neck for warmth. I used 3 skeins of Musa, total of 591 yards (I have a very small amount left over) and US 10.5 needles. Quick, simple, effective. Perfect.

There's some other spinning in the works, but it's still a work in progress. And of course there are several knitting projects in progress, as per usual. More updates when I get something finished!

Slip Slidin' and Sailin' Away

2009-09-03T18:52:00.000-07:00

I've had a couple of requests for PDF versions of the sock patterns I released at Sock Summit. It makes me happy that people like these and want to knit them. Thanks!

I hope you enjoy these patterns and I look forward to seeing your projects on Ravelry.

Come Sail Away

The stitch pattern on the front of these socks reminds me of colorful spinnaker sails often seen on racing sailboats. In this sock, the sails course down the front of the leg and across the instep, while the waving ribs on the back of the leg and heel flap represent the wake of the boats on the water.

The first picture shows the sock knitted in Abstract Fiber Mighty Sock, a lovely 50/50 Superwash Merino/Tencel blend. That pretty color is called Blueberry.

And this one is knit in Serendipitous Ewe Chance Sock, an 80/20 blend of Superwash Merino/Nylon. The color is called Water Lily.

I think this pattern would look lovely in a solid color yarn as well.

The pattern is 7 pages long and includes both charts and written instructions. There are also illustrations to help you with the double increases.

$6 PDF file

Slip 'n' Slide

Do you remember the Slip 'n' Slide? You attach a hose to what's basically a long piece of plastic with holes in it for the water to seep through. Lay it out on the ground, take a running start, and throw yourself onto it so that you slide down the lawn getting plenty wet in the process. It was a fun way to cool off on a hot summer day.

These socks use slip stitches and twisted stitches to create "slides" that go down the leg and the front of the foot. Rather than cool you off, they'll keep your feet nice and warm and look good doing it. The pattern works well in any yarn -- striped, solid, or variegated. The pattern is simple to follow once it's established and knits up very quickly.

That first picture is Serendipitous Ewe Lucky Sock yarn, a luscious 70/20/10 blend of Superwash Merino/Bamboo/Nylon in the White Birch colorway. I love the way the stripes play against the "slides" in the pattern.

This one is in Abstract Fiber SuperSock, 100% Superwash Merino in the Mt. Hood Rose colorway.

And here's one more sample, knit in Plymouth Happy Feet.

The pattern is 4 pages long and includes both charts and written instructions.

$5 PDF file

New routines

2009-08-23T19:08:00.001-07:00

Wow! Time is flying past me. The summer is already waning and, for yet another year, I feel like I've mostly missed it. The new job is keeping my brain very engaged -- more so than it's been, work-wise, for quite a while. I'm starting to get used to the steps involved in the daily processing, but it's not yet to a point where I have total confidence.

I've also been surprised that having more hours available to do other things is actually a big discombobulating. Sounds silly, but once work is finished and I face an evening with no further work demands, I sorta don't know what to do with myself. Not that there aren't lots of things to do. It's just that I still feel like I should be working all the time. The result is that I do a bit of this and a bit of that and then return to the computer as if I was going to do some work. And then, since there is no work to be done, I putter around for a while and thus nothing "real" gets done.

I guess there's just no pleasing me! LOL

In any case, I have managed to get some knitting in.

This is a sample for the shop. It's my Slip 'n' Slide (Ravelry link) sock pattern knit in Plymouth Happy Feet. I really think this pattern looks good in just about any yarn, solid, variegated, or striped, and it's a very easy-to-remember repeat, so it knits up quickly. Right now, it's available through All About Yarn, Abstract Fiber, and Serendipitous Ewe. Abundant Yarn & Dyeworks also has some copies, but sadly they are closing their brick-and-mortar store and I'm not sure if the pattern will remain available on their Web site or not.

And this is the Columbia scarf pattern that I originally designed in Imperial Stock Ranch pencil roving. I'm reworking it and adjusting the pattern so that it can be knit with any yarn by adjusting the number of lace repeats between the center and outer cables. This one is done using Plymouth Royal Llama Silk. It's not blocked yet, but you can still get a taste for how it will look. Stay tuned for pattern availability.

Finally, at Sock Summit I purchased a sweater's worth of Madelinetosh Worsted in the Fjord colorway from WEBS. I also bought a copy of the book "Button Up Your Top Down" from Cabin Fever. This is the progress on pairing the two together. It will become the Sarah Cardigan and I think it will be a lovely pairing. The yarn is superwash, so the resulting sweater will hopefully become one of my "go-to" pieces in the fall and get a lot of wear. I am so infatuated with the color an the yarn and the pattern that I can't even express it in words.

Here's the picture of the sweater in the book. The detailing at the small of the back and the wrists is so pretty, while the simplicity of the rest of the design lets the yarn show off nicely. And I love, love, love the big ribbed collar. Perfect if you get caught out on a windy day with no scarf.

For now, that's about all I've got. There are some design prospects swirling in my brain, a lot of yarn in my house that is begging to be knit into beautiful items, and quite a big of fiber waiting to be spun, too. As soon as I get used to my new schedule, I should be able to make some dents in all of it!

Sock Summit pictures

2009-08-13T23:07:00.000-07:00

Such as they are, here you go!

First, a short video of the crowd waiting for the marketplace to open on Thursday afternoon. Tina, Stephanie, and Rachel H led folks in singing, "99 skeins of yarn on the wall."

I really didn't take many pictures and the ones I got weren't too interesting. They're on my Flickr page if you really want to see them all.

These two, though, are worth posting here:

That's Meg Swanson cutting birthday cake in honor of her mother, Elizabeth Zimmerman. This is at the closing ceremonies, after the wondeful Luminary Panel session on Sunday. Elizabeth would have been 99 on that day.

And here are my stash enhancements, courtesy of the marvelous marketplace. I spent way too much, but not nearly what I could have or wanted to!

Starting at the top left, here's what I got.

From Susan's Kitchen, a one-of-a-kind, 3.8-ounce batt of merino, hemp, bamboo, angelina, and tencel.

Just below it is a small packet from Material Whirled containing 0.5 ounces of angelina in crystal amethyst.

Next to the batt is 2.8 ounces of Firestar in a lovely gold color from Carolina Homespun. I also got a cool bumper sticker (not pictured) from Morgaine that says "I went to the Sumit and got HEELED." Lower in the picture is a spinner's control card and a cool rubber stamp with a picture of a dragon at a spinning wheel, also purchased at Morgaine's booth.

Just to the right of the gold Firestar is a 4-ounce braid of superwash merino from Yarn Pirate in the color Choqua. I purchased this from the Loopy Ewe booth because I just had to have the colors!

Next are three lovely skeins of sportweight sock yarn (255 yards each) from Miss Babs. This was on sale, so I dove in and got Blue Teal, Light Turquoise, and Blackbird to stash for some future colorwork.

Below that is a skein of MightySock from Abstract Fiber in the Black Opal colorway. This is 50/50 superwash merino and tencel. Susan gave me this skein to replace one I used from my stash to make a sample of the Come Sail Away sock (Ravelry link) to go with the patterns she's selling. Free is a very good price, especially for this lovely yarn!

Next to that is a lovely skein of Madelinetosh Tosh Lace in their brand new superwash merino base. The color is called Thunderstorm. It's mostly black with some blue. Purchased from WEBS.

Then we come to the Happy Hands yarns. I had a really hard time not buying more from Kim. First, she's super nice and fun, and second, she has beautiful, super-saturated colors of yarns! I helped out in her booth on Saturday, then purchased a skein of her Toe Jamz sock yarn in the Parrot Head colorway (450 yards of 75/25 superwash merino/nylon) and she gifted me with the gorgeous Turquoise 50/50 silk & superwash merino (665 yards). It's soooo soft!

I guess I like that 50/50 silk/merino blend, 'cause the next item is a skein of Silk & Ivory (675 yards) in pink and silver, purchased from Tess Yarns.

The final row starts on the right with a skein of Apogee from Serendipitous Ewe. This is a Dye for Glory winner and sold out quickly, so I feel happy to have some. It's dyed in such a way that it stripes beautifully. I almost bought a skein of Bobby Sox from Ang, too, but held off since I knew we were getting some for the shop (if you're in Portland and want that color, we have it now).

I tried to resist the lure of the Blue Moon booth, but it was a fruitless effort. I did manage to control myself, though, and only purchased two skeins -- Silkie in Sockgate, and a medium weight rare gems.

The final yarn purchase was also at WEBS. I've been lusting after this yarn in this color for a while and with the 25% discount level, I could no longer resist. It's Madelinetosh Tosh Worsted in the Fjord colorway. I bought 10 skeins at 225 yards each. Plenty for any sweater pattern I want to make.

At the Shelridge Farms booth, I saw a sample sweater and fell in love. They were selling it in kits, but since I clearly didn't need yarn, just a pattern, they pointed me to the Cabin Fever booth. There, I purchased a copy of Button Up Your Top Down, the book containing the pattern for the lovely Sarah (Ravelry link) sweater. The knitting you see in the picture is the beginning of the collar for the sweater. I can't wait to have it wrapped around me this fall!

The monkey bag you see in the right-hand corner is from Good to be Girl. I won that as a doorprize on the first day of the marketplace and I love it! It already has a sock inside, which is in progress on a new set of Signature US1 DPNs (yeah, that was a big splurge) which I also love.

Just above the bag is a Multi-Loom from Hazel Rose Looms, which reminds me of a loom I had as a kid, but this one is more evolved. It's made from recycled cherry wood and with just a small amount of leftover sock yarn or some handspun, I can make pretty woven squares that can serve on their own as coasters or be incorporated into other projects. I already have a few ideas for this baby.

Not pictured are. . .

A size 16 mini crochet hook for adding beads to projects. Purchased from Carolina Homespun.

A Lucy Neatby pattern for the Fishtail Scarf (Ravelry link).

A sweater pattern from Jil Vosburg of Just One More Row called Heartbeat (Ravelry link). Very versatile and stylish, it can be made with any weight of yarn. I saw several different versions in the Tess Yarn booth and knew I needed a copy.

A pattern for a lovely sweater called Kiyo (Ravelry link) by Kim Smith of Knitting Matters. There was a sample at the SWTC booth and it was love at first sight.

A DellaQ interchangeable needle case, which now holds my Harmony Options and Denise sets perfectly.

Two Meg Swanson books -- Handknitting and Armenian Knitting (with Joyce Williams). These will be on the bookshelf next to my Elizabeth Zimmerman books.

Two new crochet hooks from Laurel Hill, rounding out my set of wooden hooks.

Whew! I think that wraps up my Sock Summit stash enhancements and reporting. Still waiting on work of ext-nay ime-tay!

Ups and downs in the yarniverse

2009-08-10T21:07:00.001-07:00

Major up: Sock Summit '09! Seriously, I had the time of my life and was a bit sad today that I wasn't driving back to the Convention Center for more. There was so much to see and do and experience and I feel like I did so much and still missed bunches. Throughout the weekend, I think I took about five pictures. Bad blogger! If you look around, you'll find lots of them, though, so I'm not too worried that you're missing out.

Down: Although 99% of vendors and attendees were great, awesome, and wonderful to work with, shop with, schmooze with, and chat with, there were still a couple of vendors who were quite rude on the loading dock Wednesday and a few stories of attendees who were rude in the marketplace. Just shows to go ya that knitters are people, too. Still, it's sad to me that we can't all just enjoy and go with the flow. Oh well!

Up: Got to meet Kim from Happy Hands (great yarns), have dinner with Ang and John from Serendipitous Ewe (more great yarns), show my patterns to Sheri from the Loopy Ewe (most awesome-est online store ever), and learn from Amy Singer herself how to increase the odds of being published on Knitty.

Down: Had to skip the Sock Hop and the Ravelry meet-up because my feet/ankles weren't holding up very well after long days on concrete floors. The mind is still young, but the body? Not so much!

Up: Although not yarn-related, I started training for my new job today. Before long, I'll be working it full-time. This will be a nice change from part-time transcription that can come in at any hour of the day or evening and keep me working late into the night and on Sundays. Instead, I'll be working weekdays with the ability to really have free evenings again. I'll still teach on Mondays at the yarn shop and work there on Saturdays, too (although I don't know how long I'll keep up with the Saturdays -- we'll see).

Major Down: Got word today that another LYS is closing. Abundant Yarn & Dyeworks is taking down their shingle and I'm really sad. Aside from the fact that several of my friends will be out of a job, the community is losing a great store and cafe. Heck, you could go there and get a good meal and even beer or wine and enjoy the fibery atmosphere. But after the end of the month, it will be gone. The online presence will remain, but it just won't be the same. :(

And so it goes. . .

Sock Summit - Official Day 1

2009-08-06T22:18:00.000-07:00

For me, today was really Day 2 since I volunteered yesterday at the loading dock as vendors arrived. But today was the first "official" day when all the fun really kicked in.

I started off at 8:00 as a "roamer" in the marketplace. This means that I got to run around as folks set up their booths, chit-chat with them a bit, fondle merchandise, and run and get them whatever they needed -- information, more S-hooks to hang things, etcetera. It was some true organized chaos as boxes and palettes and bags of yarn and fiber and books and stitch markers and cute project bags and just about anything knitting-related you can think of littered the aisles and began to get organized in the booths.

The marketplace didn't open until 4:30 when the afternoon classes finished, but the buffet adjacent to the market was open for lunch. I helped create a virtual wall between the buffet area and the vendor booths so that folks wouldn't try to start shopping early. I told a couple of eager knitters that it was okay to lean and look and drool since I was certain I could find a couple of Sham-WOWs to clean it up. LOL Folks were very cooperative and nice.

By 1:15, I had delivered all the pre-ordered patterns and samples to Serendipitous Ewe, Abundant Yarn, and Abstract Fiber and I was off to class with Amy Singer. I learned all kinds of tips about what makes a pattern memorable and likely to be published in Knitty. Now the challenge will be coming up with something that stands out!

After class, everyone was gathering in the foyer and waiting for the marketplace to open. A few minutes before 4:30, Stephanie and Tina appeared and led the crowd in a rousing rendition of "99 pairs of socks on the wall." I think I captured it on video with my camera, but I don't have time tonight to check. If it worked, I'll post it later, probably Sunday night. :)

When it was almost time to open the doors, everyone did a countdown and then it was mass a movement towards the door and the shopping began. I managed to control myself and only purchased a few things. Details later. Still have more to look at and am seriously considering spending way too much at Webs (they have Madeline Tosh Worsted in my favorite color -- and it's discountable!), but we'll see.

Tomorrow morning I'll be working at the SS09 bookstore until around 10:00. If you need a book by your favorite author for the afternoon booksigning event, or if you want some SS09 SWAG that you didn't pre-order, come on by and I'll hook you up as best I can. :)

At lunchtime, I'll be helping to wrangle knitters into place for the attempt at a Guinness World Record for the most knitters in one room all knitting at the same time. After that, I may be working at the Blue Moon Fiber Arts booth for a while. We'll see.

And then tomorrow night is the Sock Hop at the Art Museum.

For now, my feet hurt and I need (and I do mean NEED) to go watch my tape of the So You Think You Can Dance finale. I love that show!

More to come. . .

Sock Summit Time!

2009-08-05T07:22:00.000-07:00

I'll be very busy the rest of the week having a very, very good time at Sock Summit!

You see, it's realy not an option. Portland's Mayor has, after all, declared that this is, officially, Sock Knitting Week!

This afternoon, I'll be at the Convention Center helping vendors find their way around while loading in product for their booths. I'm sure the rest of the week will be pretty much of a blur and I'm sure that I'll be grinning from ear to ear most of the time!

We got inked!

2009-08-02T22:43:00.000-07:00

My friend Angel and I spent the day together for the first time in way too long a time. We met in the morning over in Portland's Hollywood District at a little shop called TigerLily. There we met with Alex, a wonderful artist, who had transformed our descriptions into some pretty cool artwork. It took a while for everything to get set up and done, but by the end of the day, we had these.

That's an ambigram on the top of my wrist. Can you see? It says "Spin" in one direction, and "Knit" in the other direction. Here's the rest of the bracelet:

Can you see the little sheep head and the star in the first pic? You might recognize the sheep as my blog mascot. :) In the center on the back of my wrist is my Lendrum spinning wheel and the other side of the design has a ball of yarn with needles in it and a joyful heart, which is what I have whenever I'm spinning or knitting. I LOVE IT ALL!!!! It's exactly what I wanted -- no, wait, it exceeds my expectations. Alex rocks!

And here's Angel's ink, or at least part of it:

It's a winged heart that wraps all the way around her ankle with the tips of the wings just touching each other on the the opposite side. Under the wings are the names of her two sons, Tom and Greg. Unfortunately, it was kind of tight in that little room and by the time hers was finished, it was after 5:00, so I didn't get a picture of the other side showhing Greg's name.

I think both designs are awesome and I'm really glad we found Alex. He just moved back to Portland from Albuquerque, New Mexico, which is why we were able to get time on his calendar so quickly. If you like his work and want some of your own ink, call soon, 'cause I'm pretty positive that he's going to be very busy very soon. The guy has skills! Thanks, Alex!!

After we left TigerLily, we jetted across town to Hillsboro and went to the Washington County Fair. We got there just in time to grab some fair food and get a seat at the destruction derby. We even managed to get a seat in the shade and it was quite comfortable, temperature-wise, which was a relief. Watching cars smash into each other relentlessly until only one could still move was a lot of fun. Watching the car in front of us for almost an hour as we tried to get out of the parking lot, not so much.

There are more pictures on my Flickr page.

But all in all, it was a great day. Judy was going to come with us, but her back had other ideas. We missed you, Judy! Hope it feels better.

Next up? Sock Summit!!!

It's a great day!

2009-07-31T16:25:00.000-07:00

"And it's a great day to be alive
I know the sun's still shinin' when I close my eyes
There's some hard times in the neigborhood
But why can't every day be just this good?"

Extra credit if you now have a song in your head. At least I put a good one there!

Wow, it's been a long while since I've managed to make time to post something here. So sit back and prepare to ~~be bored, enlightened, entertained~~ kill some time while I catch you up on some stuff!

Aside from the usual transcription, I've spent this month working on new patterns. They're all done now and I sent the files to the printer today, so I have a little bit of a respite before I madly stuff copies into sheet protectors.

I gave you a bit of a sneak peak in my last post (you remember that far back, don't you?), but I wasn't quite ready to share the full story yet. Now that the patterns are ordered and the printer is working overtime to get them done for me by Monday, and they'll be for sale at Sock Summit next week (WOOT! Sorry, that happens when I mention Sock Summit), I'll give you some more info and pics.

First up, the Come Sail Away sock. The front of this sock has a stitch pattern that reminds me of spinnaker sails, while the back has a wavy rib pattern, like the wake behind the racing boats. The stitch pattern works well with hand-dyed or self-striping yarn, as you can see in the pictures.

On the left, it's shown in Chance Sock from Serendipitous Ewe in the Water Lily colorway. (Booth #502 at Sock Summit)

On the right, it's shown in Mighty Sock from Abstract Fiber in the Blueberry colorway. (Booth #909 at Sock Summit)

Then there's the Slip 'n' Slide sock, shown on the left in Lucky Sock from Serendipitous Ewe in the White Birch colorway, and on the right in SuperSock from Abstract Fiber in the Mt. Hood Rose colorway.

This one is a super fast knit with the "slide" pattern of chevrons cascading down the front and the back. Ribbing on the side helps ensure a snug fit.

These two new sock patterns will be available at Sock Summit in Booth 502 (Serendipitous Ewe) and Booth 909 (Abstract Fiber). The samples will be on hand, too.

But wait! There's more!!!!

These patterns will also be available at the Abundant Yarn booth (#506 & 508), along with all these (some of which are available at Abstract Fiber and Serendipitous Ewe, too) . . .

This one is making it's debut at Sock Summit! The Columbia Scarf is designed in Imperial Stock Ranch pencil roving. A very light, lofty scarf with reversible ribbing and pretty lattice lace. This would be lovely in any bulky weight yarn, or in any yarn you like, really -- just adjust needle size to suit your yarn and make a narrower version. I love the meandering rib in the middle of this pattern, which reminds me of the Columbia River meandering through the gorge.

And yes, you read it right. My patterns will be available in three booths at the Sock Summit! I'm not sure it's really sunk in yet, but it's true.

If you can't make it to the party, Some of these patterns are already available here (on the left) and I'm sure all will be available later in August at the Abstract Fiber, Serendipitous Ewe, and Abundant Yarn Web sites.

Oh, did you see??? Mayor Sam Adams (yes, we know that's also the name of a good beer) has decreed officially that August 6-9, 2009 is "Sock Knitting Week" in Portland! First the City of Roses, next. . . the WORLD! Or at least the World Record. :)

Let's see, what else. . .

Oh, yeah, I decided I didn't have enough knitwear suitable for warm weather, so I started a little sweater. Thankfully, we should have warm weather for Sock Summit instead of the heatwave we've had the last few days. Temps in the Portland reached as high as 106F (that's about 41C), which is roasting for us. Should only be around 80F (26.6C) next week, though, which at this point sounds heavenly. But I digress.

Here's the Krista top (Ravelry link) from Joan McGowan-Michael of White Lies Designs. It's almost finished, just one more side seam and the sleeves (one is set in with pins here). This was a very quick knit and fun, too. I made it in Plymouth Jeanne, a cotton/acrylic blend and I'm looking forward to wearing it next week.

All of this by itself would make for a very good day -- or series of days -- but then the capper came along. A friend posted a Facebook entry about a work-at-home job. I asked for more info and the next thing you know, I was hired! I start training the Monday after Sock Summit. It seems like a perfect fit and it will be a guaranteed income with a regular schedule. These two things together are a big boon for me!

So, let's end as we began, shall we?

"Well I might go get me a new tattoo
Or take my old Harley for a three day cruise
Might even grow me a Fu Man Chu...
Oh Aww!"

Okay, so I don't have a Harley and my PT Cruiser isn't running at the moment and the Prius isn't much of a muscle car (LOL!) and I really don't want a Fu Man Chu, but I will be getting a new tattoo on Sunday. Stay tuned for pictures!

"And it's a great day to be alive
I know the sun's still shinin' when I close my eyes
There's some hard times in the neigborhood
But why can't every day be just this good?"

Thanks for the great lyrics, Travis Tritt!

Hope you all have a great day, every day, because life's too short not to live with JOY!

Sailing and Sliding Away!

2009-07-10T20:46:00.000-07:00

Didn't summer just start? It sure seems like it. And yet the stores are already selling fall-themed items. Joann's has Halloween stuff out already! I know time flies, but come on.

Maybe it just seems like it's going fast because I have so much going on.

So here it is Friday already. The week has flown by because it's been busy and I worked an extra day in the shop to fill in for a vacationing co-worker. She's covering for me during Sock Summit, so it's all good.

Speaking of Sock Summit, here's a little sneak peek at a couple of new things you'll be able to get in the market there,

Yeah, I know it's not much, but it's all I want to show you right now. :)

On the left is a piece of a sock called Come Sail Away, and on the right is another sock called Slip 'n' Slide. Both are knit in yarn from Serendipitous Ewe and the patterns will make their debut at Sock Summit in her booth.

The Come Sail Away sock is knit in her Chance Sock yarn , a merino/nylon blend, in the color Water Lilies.
The Slip 'n' Slide sock is knit in her Lucky Sock yarn, a very lovely merino/bamboo/nylon blend, in the color White Birch.

Most of her colors are available in both these base yarn blends as well as some other choices. If you can't make it to Sock Summit, you can get her yarns online and, once Summit is over, you'll also find my patterns there.

Anyway, now you can see how I've been spending some of my time. The patterns are in the writing stage now and will be off to be test knit soon. I think I'll just make it for the Summit. Whew!

As for the rest of the weekend, I'm finishing up a transcript tonight, then packing up some things. Tomorrow I work in the shop all day and after I close, I'll head across town to a different shop, Abundant Yarn and Dyeworks, where they're hosting an all-night event. Yep, I'm gonna spend the night in a yarn shop with a bunch of other fiber fanatics.

You did know about my addiction, didn't you?

If I survive the night of knitting, spinning, games, old movies, and general tom-fool hilarity, I'll tell you about it next week. Or at least I'll tell you an abridged version. After all, most of what happens at any knit night stays at knit night -- and that's especially true of an all-nighter!

Whatever your plans are, be safe and have a great time, 'cause life's too short not to have fun!

I love quiet days

2009-07-05T13:37:00.001-07:00

Unfortuantely, they tend to equal quiet blogs, too!

I have been getting lots of finger exercise lately due to a plethora of transcription work. This is a very good thing, even though it cuts down on my knitting/spinning/blogging time.

Most of the knitting time has been spent on designing a couple of things that I can't go into a lot of detail about right now. I will say that at (or maybe slightly before) Sock Summit, there will be two new sock patterns available. One of them pretty much kicked my butt by being dificult (I swear I redid portions of it at least six times), but it has been whipped into submission and will be off to a test knitter this week (she said with her fingers crossed). The other came together very quickly and one sample sock is already at the gusset section just since yesterday.

See why I love quiet days? I can get a lot done!

I've also knit a new sample of the Gull Wing sock, using lovely Chance Sock yarn from Serendipitous Ewe in the Peony colorway. I'm making a customized version of the pattern for Angela to sell in her online shop. I have to say she picked a lovely color and the yarn is very nice to work with.

I met Angela and hubby John on the Sea Socks cruise to Alaska last year. They're coming to Portland for Sock Summit and it will be lovely to see them both again. And now that she's buying patterns from me, I can rest easy with my decision to claim the Sea Socks cruise last year as a business training expense. I learned stuff and I got business from a friend I made there. Perfect!

I hope you had a lovely weekend and, if you're in the U.S. or an expat, a great 4th of July. Mine was, as I said, quiet. The neighborhood had some explosions, but not nearly as much as in years past, which was good. I spent most of the weekend knitting and working on design details while watching my boxed set of Band of Brothers. I think all the explosions from the TV made the cat a lot less skittish when explosions began occurring in the neighborhood. Perfect. :)

Oh, no progress on the tattoo front except that I checked with a couple of local shops about possibilities. One didn't have any who could design custom ambigrams. There are two places I want to visit in person and discuss designs with the artists, then I'll decide where to get it done. Stay tuned!

Obsession

2009-06-23T22:13:00.001-07:00

It's the name of my favorite scent (yeah, I know, it's an old one, but I still love it thankyouCalvinKleinverymuch) and it's also what sometimes takes over my thinking process

Right now, I'm obsessed with the idea of getting a new tattoo. Yeah, I have one. I got it when I was 50. Figured I was old enough to take the plunge! LOL There's more to the story, but. . .

Anyway, the current one, although cool, is on my ankle, partially covering a scar from when I broke the darned thing and they had to put hardware in there. It's pretty, but doesn't really get seen since I rarely wear shorts or skirts (trust me, I'm doing the world a favor, what with one crooked leg that was broken and set incorrectly and the other ankle with Frankenstein scars on both sides from surgery and the aforementioned hardware installation).

But I digress.

I want something more visible, but tasteful, too. I'm really leaning towards an ambigram encircling my left wrist. (Did I mention that I'm right-handed but wear my watch on my right hand anyway? Yeah, I'm just that off-kilter.)

But yet again, I digress.

It would have to have a knitting theme and be pretty. I have something in mind and there's a tattoo place (parlor just doesn't seem the right word) a few doors down from the shop that seems to have some talented artists. (Yep, in one walk along the building, you can do your laundry, learn archery, take dance lessons, get your knitting supplies, get every cake/cookie-making supply you'll ever need, have a great Mexican lunch, and get a tattoo. Pretty darned convenient!)

Yep, you guess it, I digressed again!

Anyway, I may just have to wander over to the tattoo place and see what kind of a sketch they can come up with.

Stay tuned.

Since I really don't have any knitting or spinning to show right now -- everything I'm working on is not ready for prime time and/or still in the design phase -- here's some eye candy of what one knitter had tatted on her bod.

Amazing the variety of knitting-themed tatts there are when you do a Google search!

That's all I have for you right now. Sorry. While you're waiting for me to come up with something more blog-worthy, take a look at Rachel & Owen's new baby girl, Hazel Rose. She's definitely a cutie-patootey!

Okay, all together now. . . AHHHH!!!! :)

I'd show it to you, but. . .

2009-06-14T15:12:00.000-07:00

. . . it's just not ready! Besides, it's a design commissioned by a vendor for Sock Summit, so you'll just have to wait to see it until then.

Anyway, silly me! I thought I was almost finished with the knitting sock one of the sample. There I go thinking again!

When I got home from WWKIP yesterday, I treated myself to a Boston Legal marathon, thanks to Netflix, and knit like a madwoman. I would have finished the sock, but there's no use doing it. It barely fits my foot model, which means it's too tight for practical use -- just not enough give in the stitch pattern. So, I'm back to the drawing board. Increasing the number of stitches around only serves to make the yarn pool in ways I don't like. So modification of the design is in order.

No worries. Practice makes (almost) perfect, right? Good thing I like doing this stuff! Back to the drawing board for me.

Shhh!

2009-06-14T11:45:00.000-07:00

I forgot to add one picture from yesterday's WWKIP event. This is what happens when you've chased a ball around the grass for just a little too long!

This is Connor and he's as cute as a button. Not long after this, he was running around again. Gotta love the ability of kids to just zonk out when they need a rest!

WWKIP 2009

2009-06-13T23:32:00.000-07:00

Saturday was Worldwide Knit in Public Day (WWKIP) (technically, it's Sunday, too, but our event was Saturday). We had a great gathering here in Hillsboro, Oregon at the Glenn & Viola Walters Cultural Arts Center, who graciously allowed us to use their outdoor facility at no charge.

Tami (that's her in the left corner of this picture) spent a lot of time organizing for this event and it was awesome. There were goody bags full of samples and patterns and stitch markers and discount coupons. These were not just any goody bags; they were handmade, beautiful, useful bags courtesy of Sara and Debby. The first 40 people to arrive each got one. I don't know if anyone got a final count of attendees, but we ran out of bags before we ran out of people.

We had doorprizes galore! Yarn and books donated from All About Yarn, Kathy's Knit Korner, and The Knitting Bee were given away every few minutes throughout the day. And this was in addition to discount coupons they provided for the goody bags.

Speaking of the goody bags, they also contained samples from Frog Creek Fibers, StitchJones, The Cupcake Factory, and Abstract Fiber along with stitch markers from Girly With a Twist and patterns from Kathleen and yours truly.

Oh, there was also a big table full of yarn that people brought from their stashes to give away. I managed to empty out all the remaining acrylic from my closet, along with a whole bunch of leftover fun fur. Yes, I had fun fur in my stash. I used to make gloves and flip-flops decorated with the stuff and actually sold quite a few pairs. Those days are (thankfully) gone, so the fun fur has moved on to greener pastures. It's still great for trims and especially for toys, but I don't need it in my house. At the end of the day, any yarn that was left was loaded up and will be delivered to a local Senior Center for their use.

Toolman had made some drop spindles from old CDs and some dowling, and Bobbie found some interested folks, put spindles in their hands along with some fiber, and by the end of the afternoon, we had new spinners! Judy is still resisting the call of the spinning goddess, but we haven't given up on her yet!

Duffy brought her wheel and finished some beautiful singles from some Dicentra Designs fiber. Can't wait to see it plied!

We also collected premie hats to add to the collection that will be donated to local hospitals at the end of the year and squares for the Barnraiser Quilts that Larissa is putting together to be auctioned off at the Sock Summit as a fundraiser for Doctors Without Borders. Bobbie offered a few prizes for folks who knit up premie hats at the event and they went quickly. Doesn't take too much time to knit those tiny hats, that's for sure!

For those who got hungry or just wanted to stretch their legs a bit, the Hillsboro Farmer's Market was just a short walk away. I went down there before things got rolling and ran into several friends I hadn't seen for a while. I also purchased coffee from Insomnia Coffee Company cart (there's a Thursday afternoon knitting group that meets at their store), some absolutely wonderful local strawberries (you could smell them all down the block they were so ripe and sweet), some cherries, and a delicious pastry. I haven't been to the market for quite a while since I usually work on Saturdays, so it was nice to get a chance to visit.

It was a wonderful day! We had to be out of there by 2:00 as they had a wedding happening in the evening. Inside the building, it was all set up for the reception and it looked really nice.

Everyone pitched in to help clean up and at 2:05, you couldn't tell we had ever been there. A great ending to a great day!

Thanks again to everyone who contributed to the day, and especially to Tami for putting the whole thing together. Hope we can do it all again next year!

21 years 4 months

2009-06-05T12:22:00.000-07:00

Nope, not how old I am (by a long shot).

Not how long I've been knitting/spinning/crocheting, either.

Out of guesses?

Remember that trial on which I served as a juror? I just got a call from the court. He was sentenced today to 256 months in prison, which translates to 21 years and 4 months.

I can't think of a better place for him to be. Hope he has to serve the entire sentence.

Oh, Baby!

2009-06-03T22:23:00.000-07:00

I spend most every Wednesday evening at a supermarket. Not shopping, though, but with my knitting/spinning friends. The market has a food court that is large and usually deserted in the evenings and they graciously allow us to gather there every week and be loud and boisterous and creative.

One of our members, Rachel, is going to have her first baby in a couple of weeks. Rather than do a baby shower for her, we've all been making things and gifting them to her as they are ready. It's sort of a progressive shower.

So last week, I realized that I better get moving on my gift. I had some great pink, superwash merino in my stash -- it's Reynolds Revue and quite nice -- so I went on Ravelry and searched for a suitable pattern. I knew I wanted to do a little dress of some sort. When I found the link for the Ellis Dress (Ravelry link), I knew that was the right one. I started it on Thursday and finished it up on Saturday night after I got home from work. It is so cute and a very simple knit. I took it to the shop with me and one of the bears* there agreed to model. She was reluctant to give it back, but she did.

So tonight, I gifted it to Rachel. It's supposed to be a 3-month size, but I have no idea how big babies are these days. I figure if it fits her for a while as a dress, it can later be used as a top, too.

But wait! There was more!

This is a Baby Surprise Jacket that Bobbie made for Rachel from some really pretty sock yarn that is infused with Aloe Vera. I forget the name of the yarn, but I know that Red Heart makes it. I love the way the colors striped out and I love how she used different color buttons that coordinate with the stripes. So cute!

Judy made her contribution in the form of this cute sweater and pair of booties. I don't know what the pattern names are, sorry. I do know that the sweater is knit from Ella Rae Silkience, a lovely cotton/silk blend that was purchased at the shop. The green and berry colors are very cheerful. The booties are knit in Dale of Norway Baby Ull with the Silkience berry-colored trim.

And then there was a blanket, too! This is a lovely crocheted blanket and I can't for the life of me remember the name of the equally lovely lady who made it. I'm sorry, I just suck at names -- takes me forever to remember them. Suffice it to say that she is an accomplished crocheter and has made some very lovely things, including the pretty top she's wearing in the picture.

As if all this knitting and gifting aren't enough, I got some spinning done today, too. The Wednesday spinning group met at the Aloha Grange Hall and I finally made it there with my wheel. I finished up some superwash merino/bamboo singles I'd been working on and started on some Spinner's Hill roving that I carded with the drum carder a while back.

Tonight, I did some more of those singles and then asked Bobbie about something she'd posted on her blog about a technique for spinning singles that will make true, 2-ply laceweight yarn. She showed Kathleen and I the trick, which is so simple as to be pretty much a "doh!" moment. I tried it and we compared the single before with the single after. There's REALLY a difference! Now I think I can turn just about anything into an acceptable 2-ply laceweight yarn. Or, make a 3-ply sock yarn. Or . . . the possibilities go on and on!

Altogether, today was a fiber-filled, fun day. Hope yours was, too!