Is it really Christmas tomorrow?

I'm resurfacing after almost a month of no posts. I've been knitting, but not getting anywhere - the more I do, the farther away my projects are from being finished. So, one child gets a half a pair of socks, another gets a hat up to the decrease point, and a cousin's thank-you gift is 2 repeats away from being done (not a Christmas present, but still). My parents' gifts will come as soon as they can, but they may be delivered in person in late April! I don't think I'm going to knit presents for Christmas anymore.

I have to work tomorrow. This fact has not been happily accepted by me, but at least it's only 4 hours, except I was so ecstatic over only having to work 4 hours that I volunteered to work New Year's too. It will be different next year, but that doesn't make me feel better.

My children will be here tonight and we'll exchange gifts then. My youngest works tomorrow and then he's going to a basketball game. I'd be mad, but the game is also a gift to my husband and they're going together, so he's sweet. My daughter and oldest son will be staying overnight and they daughter boards a plane tomorrow evening to go stay with her boyfriend and his family. We'll be together a short time, so I have that at least.

A cheerful bit of news is that my secret Loopy Ewe swap pal sent me a very lovely and thought gift that arrived on Saturday. She's keeping her identity a secret until the swap is over, so until then she's Loopy Ewe Swap Pal (the one knitting for me).



She sent me a special custom made teabag holder, with a little tea pot bag holder to put used tea bags on, as well as some very tasty tea. The pottery is very nice and is made by Clouds Folsom. So, thank you Loopy Ewe Swap Pal! This was a very thoughtful gift and it cheered me up the day it came.

I need to go back to my knitting corner. Maybe I'll be able to finish the hat and will actually have a finished gift to give someone this evening.

Guest blogger: New! Improved! Portland Friends' Meetinghouse

While your regular editor toils away on Christmas gifts, she invited me ("DH") to post photos of (and commentary about) the recently-completed annex and remodeled main structure of the Multnomah Monthly Meeting of Friends (Quakers) Meetinghouse. (Unprogrammed Friends --the branch of Quakerism we're associated with-- prefer to refer to our gatherings, and the structures where we gather, as 'Meetings' and 'Meetinghouses,' rather than as 'churches.' Quakers have other odd customs, too; an introduction to Multnomah Meeting, and to the Religious Society of Friends, can be found at www.multnomahfriends.org).

After years of consideration and a relatively short period of fundraising, Multnomah Friends decided to sell and move (for the lofty sum of $1-- moving costs borne by the purchasers) a small residence we owned beside the Meetinghouse, to build a new educational annex and entry/elevator housing, and to remodel the interior and exterior of the existing structure. We're very pleased with the results, accomplished with many generous donations of funds and several thousand hours of volunteer (and contracted) labor! Here's a photo of the front facade, with the newly constructed annex on the left (east) side:



The annex has four classrooms and a nursery split between two floors, two accessible restrooms, an elevator (actually a heavy-duty 'lift') and stairs to the second floor, and a downstairs lobby and upstairs skylighted vestibule. The 'old' Meetinghouse has a low-ceilinged basement; an office/small group space, a kitchen, two smaller restrooms, and a social hall on the first floor; and a library and main meeting hall (also skylighted and light-tubed; again, Friends would hesitate to call it a 'sanctuary') on the second floor. Here's a view of the newly remodeled, larger meeting hall; the central skylight, an architectural expression of the Quaker belief in the Light within every person, is visible only as a rectangular shape in the ceiling:


One of the major limitations of the 'old' Meetinghouse was the cramped social hall. We non-nonviolently deconstructed a nursery space, which opened up more space and more light, replaced 20-year old ceiling tiles with a new false ceiling, and laid attractive sheet marmoleum over nondescript linoleum tiles. Every vertical surface was repainted using recycled "Metro" paint (I helped supervise the painting of the annex, throwing my back out in the process!) Here's a shot of the refurbished social hall, looking toward the southwest:



Creating adequate, welcoming space for our children, along with making our building a welcoming place for people with disabilities, was a key goal of the project. This final photo shows a large upstairs classroom, whose south-facing windows let in plenty of light for our 3rd through 5th grade "First Day School" class (there's another Quaker custom, numbering days instead of accepting customary labels).



Thanks to "DW" for giving me this photographic forum, and thanks to Portland architect Liz Williams, Barrs & Genauer Contractors, and the many, many donors and volunteers who made this beautiful, simple, functional space possible!

Four-Day Weekend!

I'm taking the next 2 days off from work and then have my regular weekend so I can concentrate on knitting projects. I'll be working on 2 scarves, a pair of socks, a hat, and some fingerless gloves for a coworker. I'll also be narrowing down the project I'm going to knit for my Loopy Ewe swap pal. Each of these projects has led to another project for someone else. So far I've decided to knit EVERY SINGLE ONE of my team at work fingerless gloves, my supervisor a scarf, and who knows what else. None of this is going to happen, but I have 4 days of unlimited knitting time and this makes me feel like I can do everything. If I'm lucky, I'll finish the scarf!

We have yet to decorate for Christmas. That will probably get done this weekend, too.

Meanwhile, my youngest son has moved back in with us. The house is feels smaller and we're adjusting to a bit more food in the fridge, a car that is often not here, and to some noise intrusion of what my husband calls "rhythmic chest beating" (otherwise known as rap music). The dogs are very happy to have more attention, and I love having late night company when I get off work at night.

I finished 2 books in the last week - The Inn at the End of the World by Alice Thomas Ellis, and Better by Atul Gawande (links in side bar). The first was very entertaining and a seasonal read (sort of), the second a group of thoughtful essays about medical performance. I recommend both books - two of my better reads this year. It's been a mediocre reading year.

From Vancouver to Vancouver

I have a few minutes before work, but had to post a picture of my Coffee Swap 3 package content from coffee swap partner, Chelle! She packed a wonderful box full of very flavorful coffee, 2 roasts from JJ Bean (Inferno and Terra del Sol) and 1 roast from Salt Springs Organic - the Roaster's Special. I just had a cup of the Inferno and it was excellent! She also included a coffee cup with a picture of Vancouver, B.C. on it - one of my favorite cities in the world, a yummy dark chocolate mint bar, and one of the best cookies I've ever tasted (I couldn't wait) - Kambly Chocolunes.

Next, there were luxury items like a bath ball and cocoa butter body lotion.

She also gave me a beautiful Zen calendar - one of my yearly favorite calendars, don't know how she knew that!

The yarn Chelle sent me is wonderful! Two skeins of Koigu (a Canadian company), an undyed Knit Picks sock weight yarn which I think I might dye with coffee, 2 skeins of Panda Cotton in Vanilla and 1 skein of a beautiful blue bamboo.

I also received 2 cards of guide dog puppies. Chelle has a guide dog named Maylee, and I've been longing to raise a guide dog puppy for the same school that Maylee came from. They'll go on my office bulletin board and I'm going to start a discussion with DH soon about at least being a respite care person for puppy raisers!

Thank you, Chelle! I loved my package and you've been a wonderful swap partner. I loved getting to know about Chelle-friendly yarns and getting to know you.

I'm late for work! I'll write later.

Thanksgiving and ISE5 scarf

We had a nice Thanksgiving day with our 2 sons, daughter, daughter's boyfriend, and his parents. It was especially nice because everyone contributed to the meal preparation and we didn't spend the entire day in the kitchen. It was nice to be together at the same time, but I was a bit shocked that at the end of the evening everyone went home and the house was empty. This is the first empty nest holiday. I guess I'll have to get used to it.

For the last two years or so, my cousin's husband Tommy has been sending You Tube videos of pictures he has taken of family gatherings. My aunt has all of her children and grandchildren within 2 hours proximity to her, so they have big gatherings. I don't think everyone got the video this year, so Tommy gave me permission to link to Thanksgiving 2007. The pictures are accompanied by music from Dick/Richard/Sam and Chris. Discovering their music this year has been a highlight for me, and I'm thankful for their musical gifts. I'm also glad Tommy chronicles so many family events. It's the only way I've been able to keep up with my cousins.

I have 5 minutes to say that I got my ISE5 scarves today from Angela in Germany.



The contents of the box included 2 scarves, some Zitron bamboo yarn in a color I don't have, and a few metal Made With Love labels to include on future handmade gifts. Angela informed me before she sent my package that she had made me 2 scarves. She wasn't happy with the first one she knit - she wasn't happy with the colors -and so decided to knit me an additional one. They're both wonderful scarves. I would have been pleased with either one and feel lucky that I got two!

Scarf 1:



Closer detail of the drop stitch pattern:



The colors match my coat perfectly:



I love scarf #2. The color is so vibrant and I just love the drape and squishiness of the yarn. I'm glad Angela chose this yarn because I wouldn't have done so on my own and now I'm pleasantly surprised by something new.



So, thank you again, Angela! I love my scarves and my sock yarn. You were a wonderful scarf pal!

November 21, 2007

I'm too sleep deprived to think up a clever title for a post. When in such a state, isn't it nice to rely on dates as titles!

The word on the Geopolitics of South and Central Asia class from my supervisor is that she is checking into the possibility of my taking it. I trust she'll do her best as she does understand we all have interests outside work. Plus, I work a crappy schedule. Being able to flex time to do things that interest me helps to keep me motivated to continue working this schedule.

I have had tendinitis in my thumb the last couple of days and have had to take a break from knitting. While I find that frustrating, I have been able to read. I've had mediocre experiences with reading all year due, in part, to feeling uninspired by books. I've loved to read all my life, but this year I felt oversaturated by book information from reading forums to publisher's hype to book reviews to reading lists - everything started to look the same and I just needed a break. I think I'm recovering. Right now I'm reading Marco Polo: From Venice to Xanadu by Laurence Bergreen. I haven't read a biography in awhile and have read little about exploring. Since Marco Polo traveled the Silk Road and many of the countries I'll hopefully be studying next quarter are on the Silk Road, I thought this would be a fitting book to read pre class. I've spent some time this morning reading about the Silk Road itself and came across the inevitable research temptations. I don't travel well, but I can dream!

I've also returned to book lists. I love to collect them. I think next year's reading list will encompass many books from the Conde Nast Traveler list here

I have no pictures to show today, but as you can see throughout this post, I have learned how to link. I got sock yarn for my knitting pal, but I can't show it. My other swaps have been completed and it's time to plan for the Loopy Ewe swap. I do enjoy these swaps. I've had good beginner's luck so far! Here's the Coffee Swap blog to get an idea of what a swap can be like.

What to do?

Since my daughter does read my blog, I've debated writing a generic note saying, Dear family, Do not read my blog until after Christmas! However, I think I'll just not post pictures of gifts until after the holidays. I just added a Loopy Ewe gift list and wouldn't want to deprive anyone in my family of seeing it! : )

I found out that one of my favorite instructors at Clark College is offering a course called the Geopolitics of South and Central Asia. For a long time the only geopolitical course this instructor was allowed to teach was about the Middle East. He had written proposals for courses in other geographical locations, but for some ridiculous reason the college administration wouldn't run the classes. I had sworn I'd take any of the courses he offered and this is the first quarter one of them will be taught. I might be able to convince my supervisor to let me take the class, but it would also mean I couldn't go to my knitting group. So, I have a dilemma. I should be taking classes to help me learn coding or helping me to move into Admitting or medical assisting, but I love geography and anthropology. There are days I'd love to be 20 again! I would certainly not be a medical transcriptionist if I could do it over.

Scarf and Monkey sock

Here's the scarf. I finished it on Sunday and am waiting until next Tuesday to mail. I need to work on wrapping the package contents. I used Malabrigo lace - a merino wool from South America. It's one of the softest fibers I've ever felt and has become a new favorite. It's closer to fingering weight than lace and thus is much easier to use, in my opinion.

Here are a few pictures of the scarf. The first is taken by my husband standing on a chair and looking down:



Here's a closer look at the detail:



Here's a picture in daylight. Please don't look closely at my kitchen floor!



Now that the scarf is done, I've begun knitting socks for birthday and Christmas presents. I started on a Monkey sock for my daughter's birthday and am using Dream in Color Smooshy yarn in the Sea Flower color.



I can see why people call this pattern Monkey crack! It's a fun pattern. I love the yarn too - Smooshy fits the description of how this yarn feels. I also love that the colors don't pool. By the way, I don't think this is a birthday spoiler - my children don't read my blog!

Leafy Lace Shawl done

I finished niece Elizabeth's shawl. It's the Leafy Lace Shawl by Louisa Harding in Natural Knits for Babies and Moms. It's made out of Vreseis Fox Fiber Boiled Cotton Chenille, a bulky-weight organic cotton. It's not dyed - that green is the natural color of the cotton. The yarn has no elasticity and seemed a bit fragile. It actually broke once when I was doing one of the knit 2 together decreases. The yarn is very soft though and I think I can live with the finished product. I hope Elizabeth and Caroline can too. It's going out to them tomorrow.

Can you find the fur in the fiber?

I thought I would start cataloging my sock yarn the other day, and then I got a helper. Can you see her? If not, here's a close-up:



This is Misha, by the way. I've sneeked her into this blog because my extended family doesn't really know about her. I have a reputation for collecting pets like I collect yarn. This spring I took one of the dogs to the vet and my vet showed me a kitten she was trying to find a home for (my vet is an enabler). Of course I took him. I named him Archie. He was an adorable orange tabby, had been raised in an apartment complex and loved to wander from apartment to apartment getting attention. So Archie comes to my home and I insist that he become an indoor cat. The short version of this story is that he did not stay an indoor cat. Because of his tendency to love everyone, he wandered off with a couple walking in our neighborhood. When I went to retrieve him from following they had disappeared with the cat. I was heartbroken! We put up posters and I registered a lost cat notice at the humane society. I would watch the humane society web page for cats that resembled Archie, but never found him. However, in the 6 weeks that followed I kept seeing this beautiful little white and black cat named Abby in the adoption pictures at the humane society. She was 3 years old, had always been an indoor cat, was friendly with cats and dogs, and was playful and affectionate. I just knew she would snatched up quickly. She wasn't. Six weeks went by and no one would take her. I was getting quite attached to Abby and couldn't believe she hadn't found a home. That Sunday a notice was put up that Abby had been in the facility too long and they were begging someone to come get her. I told my husband I had to have her. He reluctantly agreed if I would promise to take the humane society web page off my Favorites list in the computer (I have more stories like this one). So, we rushed down to the shelter, an hour before they closed, and I asked to see Abby. We took to each other right away. I held her for an hour and a half in a room full of wonderful adoptable cats, but never swayed from wanting her. The staff at the shelter felt we were meant for one another and Abby came home with me. I renamed her Misha. She's been a delightful cat. I had set up a cat bed on my desk so Mish could keep me company. However, she doesn't want the bed, she wants my lap. A typical work day picture:



So, anyway, I gave up taking pictures of my stash - it got a little overwhelming. I have too much!

I'm sort of on a sock yarn diet. When I bought my Wollmeise yarn from The Loopy Ewe in August I promised I wouldn't buy anymore sock yarn. Well... I haven't bought as much, but I have this interest in German sock yarns and Sheepaints is now in the Loopy stock. I bought some yarn this week and it just came in the mail. Here's a picture of 4 fingerless glove patterns and the Cherrywood colorway from Sheepaints.


So, family, if you would prefer fingerless gloves to socks, you have an option.

I'm almost done with my ISE5 scarf and have finished E's shawl. I'll include pictures of both in my next post. I have multiple projects on needles, but it's time for work and I have to go.

No title

I went to spinning tonight and had a less than satisfactory experience trying to spin bamboo. It's a soft as can be and feels wonderful in my hands, but it's like butter and has absolutely no memory, so it constantly broke and I couldn't get it to twist. I'll keep practicing and hope that when I ply it the yarn will be stronger.

I continue with the ISE5 scarf. It seems to be the only thing I can knit - I keep ripping anything new out. I have about 2-1/2 feet now and am aiming for 5 feet, but I may run out of yarn. It will be close.

I discovered I'm allergic to Dream in Color Smooshy yarn. This is a blow. I love the colors, but the soapy smell has gotten to me every time I've taken it out of a package. I thought the smell would dissipate, but it has not. I tried to knit with it tonight and broke out in a rash and my skin felt like it was on fire. It's the detergent. I don't know what they use to wash the wool, but I need to avoid it.

So, pictures...I asked my husband to take pictures of the Ashiyu because we don't have any good ones. An Ashiyu is essentially a hot tub for feet. They're found all over Japan and are usually in beautiful settings, but you can find them in malls and public areas everywhere. We use ours as an garden feature on our patio. It's a great place to relax on a summer evening and a great place to knit! Here are a couple of pictures. It had been on the deck, but we moved it down to the patio so that more people could sit around it.



Here's another picture:



Here's a picture of the finished upper deck. My husband transplanted some bamboo and this is one of his favorite spots:



I've learned my nephew has a job maintaining a blog for an environmental group in England. Once I have read Blogging for Dummies, I'll try and put up a link.

A Work in Progress, Finally

My mother claims I only buy yarn and never knit anything. This post is to prove her mistaken. After obsessing over the pattern I was going to do for my ISE5 pal, I finally have gotten my needles, fingers, and mind, to cooperate with this dragon scale pattern:



I say this after having to unknit a few repeats a couple of times this week, but I've reached about 8 inches so it's a go. I refuse to change my mind again (although I have some rescue patterns in case I do - it's always a possibility).

DH has been home sick all week. He did manage to make it out to the garden to finish cleaning the vegetable garden. To his surprise he had forgotten he had planted these potatoes and found them when he turned the soil. They'll be a nice addition to a meal this week:



He also finished putting back the tiles that had fallen off the Ashiyu stand. He put water back in it and it's warming up. I'm looking forward to using it this evening. He made some other changes around the deck, and I'll take pictures and post them if it continues to be sunny. Those days are getting far and few between!

The Coffee Swap matches have been made and I've got a great swap partner. Due to allergies, she's a no animal fiber person and it's going to be so much fun to get to look for new-to-me yarns! I need to learn about this - there are so many people allergic to animal fibers these days (family members included) and non-wool is in great demand.

My time will be taken up this week photographing my stash and uploading photographs to Ravelry. I might even be able to photograph some more finished projects and post them here. I WILL finish E's shawl this week!

Coffee Swap 3 Questionnaire

1. Whole bean or ground? Whole bean
2. Fully-loaded or decaf? Fully loaded.
3. Regular or flavored? Regular.
4. How do you drink your coffee? Raw sugar and half and half.
5. Favorite coffee ever? Something my friend Amy made for me. She made it a special way and it was rich and dark. I'll have to ask her.
6. Are you fussy about your coffee or will any old bean do? Fussy enough to like a good local roast. I love fresh beans so any bean won't do.
7. Favorite treats to have with your coffee? Quick breads, biscotti, fruit pastries.
8. Anything else about your coffee preferences? I like medium dark and dark roasts.
9. Yarn/fiber you love? Sock yarn: Wollmeise, Posh, Lorna's Lace. Blue Sky alpaca, Malabrigo, and beautiful dyed wools like Sundara. I also love Noro Silk Garden. If it's next-to-skin soft, I like it.
10. Yarn/fiber you hate? Acrylic, novelty yarn, and scratchy wool.
11. What's on your needles? Two scarves and a pair of socks - all gifts for other people.
12. Favorite colors? Blue (almost any shade except royal blue), green, light turquoise, plum, burgundy, fall oranges, browns, natural animal fiber colors, light salmon pink, rose pink. I like spring, summer, and fall colors.
13. Allergies? Crab and shrimp so no Tofutsies, adult mohair, and cigarette smoke.
14. Anything you really love, really don't like, or just need to get off your chest?
I'll have to think about this and edit later.

The Circle Game

That scarf below that was going to be for my ISE5 pal is not the scarf I'm going to make. I really did not like the yarn or the way the colors worked with the pattern. I have started 5 scarves now and have narrowed it down to 3 yarn choices and 2 pattern choices. One yarn would be a great color choice but it's all wool - merino wool - but wool. I have decided on a blue lace silk-merino blend. It's not as interesting a color, but is a color my pal likes and it will be more suitable for her climate this time of year. It will also drape more, which is what the yarn in the pattern I've chosen is supposed to do.

However, I also found a pattern that would suit my pal's interest and the softest lace wool I've ever felt. Seriously, this wool was softer than any cashmere in the store. This pattern would take more concentration and time than the other. It's a tough decision and I'm a little stressed by my indecisiveness and am having a bit of performance anxiety. I'm supposed to be enjoying this, and I will once I've made up my mind! My pal may get 2 scarves.

I was going to post pictures of my progress, but will wait until I have daylight because the light was too dark and the pictures didn't turn out well.

I joined 2 more swaps - a coffee exchange which sounds awesome, and a Loopy Ewe sock exchange. I'm not in over my head. The Loopy Ewe exchange is a Valentine Day exchange so I can get Christmas projects accomplished. The coffee exchange entails giving a partner (who will not be secret) coffee and other yarn gifts. It's also an international exchange and I really like that.

I gave up on The River Wife. This is sort of a spoiler, though I look at it as a warning. If you don't like to read about dogs or babies being killed, you will not like this book. It started out well. I thought the first river wife was an intriguing and unusual character. I was just turned off by a horrific incident and decided I didn't want to spend anymore time with these people.

My husband brought home The Sound of Butterflies by Rachael King from the library this evening. I hope I like it. The time of the book is early 1900s and the setting is England and Brazil. A naturalist takes off to Brazil hunting for butterflies and returns to his wife a very changed man. She tries to discover what happened to him there. I'm interested enough to start reading it soon. Apparently this is an international best seller - the author is from New Zealand.

In family news, Son #2 says he's moving home at the end of the month. I'm relieved, though it will be an adjustment for all of us. I guess this makes us Boomerang parents.

It's definitely Fall now - the rains have returned, it's dark and gloomy, I feel a need to hibernate, and I need to unearth my light box!

Another sign of Fall is harvesting the garden. Below is last weekend's final bounty that my husband picked. I was working as he did this, and viewing the pile of vegetables from my office window I thought they would make a nice picture.



I've been knitting. I am in an international scarf exchange and have had a hard time settling on a pattern. The person I'm knitting for likes feminine styles and lives in a warm climate this time of year. I've been through 3 patterns now and think I've settled on the one below. The yarn is an alpaca-silk blend from Knit Picks. The pattern is called The Friendship Scarf, which I thought was an appropriate theme for this exchange. I couldn't quite capture the nature of the pattern, but this is what it looks like so far:



I may change my mind again, but right now this is it. It's lace yarn and is slow going - I'm probably going to need every day until the deadline to finish, which may mean I change my mind again!

I've been reading Harry Potter and finally finished the last book at 5 a.m. I've had a love-hate relationship with these books and have not been as enthusiastic about the books as my children and husband. I did like the last book and think it was because most of the book was an adventure rather than a British boarding school story. I was quite satisfied with the ending. I'm glad the books are behind me and I can return to more satisfying reading. Next up is The River Wife by Jonis Agee - it's due back at the library on Sunday and I can't renew it.

Fiber High

It's been a busy and exciting week. Since last Wednesday I've started this blog, joined an international scarf exchange, gone to a major fiber festival, joined Ravelry, attended a knitting group, and tonight I joined a spinning group. My mind is spinning, but boy am I high from excitement!

The spinning group was wonderful! I got my spinning wheel fine tuned and met several people, 2 of whom are going to be knitting-spinning buddies that do not live far from me. In addition, I now have another knitting group, will be knitting with friends on a weekday morning (learning how to spin with my Turkish spindle - one of my new knitting buddies knows how), and have yet another group that meets at a library on another weekday morning. So, 3 new face-to-face groups.

In addition to meeting new people, I was exposed to new wheels. I want a traveler and I'm leaning toward the Kromski Sonata. I love my traditional Ashford, but it's not portable.

I wound my blank yarn (Nature's Palette) but decided to forego the machine knitting for real knitting. B, the friend who introduced me to this group, decided she would knit the blanks with 2 strands of yarn from separate balls, so that when she dyed the yarn the 2 skeins would be more closely matched. Since we're knitting socks, matched yarn is a good idea. I plan to do this too. The idea of these blanks is to knit them in stockinette stitch, dye them in multiple colors making scribble-like patterns, set the dye, and then when the blank is ready, unravel the blank and knit a small project. The yarn ends up in unique patterns. I can't wait to see how it turns out. I think we're dyeing the blanks next month.

Ravelry

I got my Ravelry invitation around noon yesterday and obviously have been occupied. I have to confess I was a bit overwhelmed. I think I joined 31 groups in less than an hour and was so overstimulated that I needed to disappear from the computer to do something quiet - like knit! I keep coming back, but I can't stay for hours. I've had mixed experiences with Forums, but Ravelry is as much a tool as a forum, so it will grow on me. Don't mind me, I'm slow to warm to new things.

I have been knitting. I can't show most of my work because almost all of it is for someone else. I've been working on socks, baby gifts, and scarves and I'll show them after recipients receive them.

Spinning group is tomorrow. I have to start work early in the afternoon to be able to attend, so I'm signing off to read my get-sleepy-quick book, Harry Potter and the Half-whatever Prince. It works! I guarantee I'll be out before I've completed the first page.

Oregon Flock and Fiber

This was an Autumn Joy day - crisp morning air, flannel-shirt temperature, and mixed clouds and sunshine. We awoke early, ate a quick breakfast and checked my Ravelry status (510!!), and set off towards Canby about 8:45. The scenery was beautiful. I wish I could have stopped to take pictures of the Columbia River, but we were on Interstate 205. We walked into the Clackamas County Fairgrounds about 9:30. It was already crowded, but I do live in a fiber-loving part of the world and this was to be expected.

First stop of interest was to a booth representing predator-friendly certified livestock owners. I learned about guard animals like donkeys, guard dogs, and llamas, and how livestock owners use a combination of practices to protect their livestock and avoid killing livestock predators (i.e., wolves, mountain lions, coyotes). I'm very interested in the dog breeds - most of them are dogs I haven't heard about, but are common in Italy, Eastern Europe, and Spain. I would have liked to have stayed longer, but I picked up a quarterly called Home Range and will read that later.

I spent a lot of time in the vendor areas - they were everywhere - out on the lawn, in the barns, and in 2 separate buildings. If there were more, I don't want to know. There was a lot to see.

There was live music with a Celtic band. My husband listened to them while I shopped. He reported a hearing a song about a flock of sheep that froze to death. (Maybe this band should record for the Planet Earth show). I tried out spinning wheels (I'm looking for a traveler) and tried lamb samples.

We visited animals and I had a fleeting moment when I came close to buying an angora rabbit. Here are some alpaca beauties we saw:





And, here's a Shetland sheep whose name might amuse a member of my family (unfortunately, you can't see the sheep very well):



I was really excited by my purchases. Pictures follow:



A Turkish spindle made of carob wood, a booklet to help me learn to spin with a Turkish spindle (from Crown Mountain Farm), a wraps per inch tool kit and knit card, and a yarn gauge spinning control card (to help me keep yarn at a consistent gauge while spinning). Both gauge and WPI tool kit were from Woodland Woolworks.



American cashmere in white, which has a longer staple than Chinese and is thus easier to spin, baby camel/merino blend which is the golden brown and white fiber, and llama which is the darker solid brown (surprisingly soft).




All wool Black Face Leicester top. Machine-knitted blanks were completely gone very quickly, so I got Natures Palette in cream to knit next week in spinning group.



A merino-silk blend to spin for clapotis yarn.



Super-wash merino in I've Got You Babe Sock-Hop yarn colorway.



Sweater pattern from Chrissy Gardiner and Verts Creations Short-Wave Lace Scarf and Stahman's Shawls and Scarves by Myrna A.I. Stahman from Berry Meadow Farm (see below).




It was a wonderful day. I'm going to have to make this a yearly event and am so glad I took the day off to do go to Flock and Fiber. I came home to find my International Scarf Exchange partner info. I may have to return to the fair tomorrow!

Waiting, Always Waiting

I saw last night that I was at 1206 on the Ravelry wait list, which means I should be there in 1 or 2 days. It may mean Monday if Sunday is a day of rest (NO00!!!). Being so close to being at Ravelry makes the time move slower. It's not like I don't have other diversions though!

This means I don't have to make a decision between Flock and Fiber or Ravelry tomorrow. I've been perusing the F&F website to see which vendors I want to visit. I'm looking for merino-silk blended and dyed fiber to spin and knit my own clapotis (Google this if you don't know what it is because I can't figure out how to just add a one-word link) and I'm definitely planning to visit the Crown Mountain Farm booth to look for Sock Hop yarn. If there is no yarn, I hope to get some fiber dyed in Sock Hop colors to spin my own yarn. I always miss their Sock Hop sales. I'm also looking for a Turkish drop spindle. The one I have is big and clunky and these are apparently lighter and easier to maneuver. I'm going to try and resist buying a pygora goat or angora rabbit. I'm going with my husband. I've been told that there will be plenty of things happening that will be interesting to him, including listening to harp music.

I took some pictures of some of my favorite areas of the yard today.

This is the patio/deck combination right outside the back door. My husband recently finished this deck and the lower portion has the bar table I bought him for his birthday, and the upper deck has a swing (you can barely see it in this picture). On the patio is our Ashiyu. We had to empty it and move it so we could have at least 4 people sit around it. Some of the tiles came off the lower portion of the stand, so it's not positioned the way it will be positioned eventually.



This is the side front yard and it is a nice sitting area in the morning. My husband has done the majority of the work here and I need to take pictures to capture his hard work. We really do have a backyard paradise in this suburban neighborhood.

Knitting with blanks

I found out today that the spinning group project next week is going to be knitting with blanks. We'll be bringing our own yarn and there will be 2 knitting machines that we'll use to knit our yarn into square blanks. We will be dyeing these blanks, steaming them, and then knitting a small project (I'm thinking fingerless gloves). Apparently there was a young woman doing this at the Black Sheep Gathering in June and she made a big impression on everyone. I think the knitted blanks will be sold at Flock and Fiber, so I may be getting some there since I don't think I have time to spin enough yarn or order bare wool from Knit Picks before next week's session. Yes, this is a spinning group, but the leader of the group is interested in knitting, too. I'm not complaining!

An exciting discovery today is that I see I have now reached below 2000 on the waiting list at Ravelry. Since they are sending 500 to 600 invitations a day, I should be getting my invitation in 3 to 4 days. At the beginning of the week I was in the 5000 range and thought it would be another 2 to 3 weeks. I've been waiting for this invitation since July and am very excited that my invitation will arrive about the time my weekend starts. If it arrives on Saturday, I might have some trouble deciding between perusing Ravelry and going to Flock and Fiber!

Want to see another miraculous thing that I just chanced upon last week? It's eye candy!


This is Wollmeise in the color Poison No.5. I didn't think this color was really my style, but I love it. I like to be surprised. I started a sock right away, but the needles are too big. I need to frog the sock and use smaller needles.

I got another one!










This is Rhabarber (or Rhubarb). I love the colors in this skein. They are exactly what I like.

I don't know why I was so lucky. I just happened to check my e-mail at the time The Loopy Ewe alert went out. It was 9 minutes exactly from the time of the sneak-up alert to my financial transaction. Within the hour all skeins of Wollmeise were gone! I got two and promised my husband that these were my last 2 sock yarn purchases for the end of the year. I did point out the gift certificates he could get for me from The Loopy Ewe for Christmas, but I don't think he took me seriously!

I've been Googling German independent yarn dyers, and quickly decided I'm going to start looking for a refresher course in the German language so I can read the blogs. I love what I've been seeing lately!

Introduction

Welcome to my blog. Yes, I'm a one of tens of thousands with a knitting blog, but I hope to write about other interests from time to time. I've had my blog for a few weeks now, but I've never found an appropriate time to write (plus I'm feeling a bit shy about this). However, it feels like autumn outside and it's the time of year I'm most eager to start new things. The blog looks pretty bare, but I'll be adding pictures of projects I've finished and adding lists and sites I like to visit. I'm sure it won't be bare for long.

This is a good week to start my blog because there are several activities happening in the next few days that I'll be writing about. I've started attending a knitting group, Flock and Fiber Festival starts Saturday (I have the day off), and I begin attending a spinning group next week. The projects this group gets involved in sound very exciting.

In addition to the face-to-face knitting activities I do with people, I have also joined 2 online sock knitalongs and plan to join some online swaps. It's very useful to have a blog for these activities.

A few facts about me: I'm a new empty nester (last young adult child moved out in May) and live in the suburbs of a Pacific Northwest city. I live with my husband, 3 cats, and 2 dogs. I work at home though I'm employed by a local hospital, and spend whatever spare time I can get knitting alone or with friends, spinning, playing with pets, walking with my husband, visiting my 3 children (who do live in the area), soaking my feet in our new Ashiyu, reading, coaching the gardener (my husband), and dreaming up new home projects to make our home more energy-efficient and compatible with the environment. These interests aren't listed in preferential order, nor have I listed all my interests. That will come in time.

I thought writing this was going to be hard, but I see I've posted a bit for an introductory post. I'm excited that I finally wrote something though. Since it's the wee hours of the morning and I tend to babble on when I'm tired, I'll continue writing and adding side bars to the site tomorrow.