That's my middle name

hellooooooo.....

2010-09-27T13:35:00.000-07:00

Tossing a few words into the vast emptiness.....I don't think I'm totally done with blogging yet, it just seems that way! I'm in the process of trying to switch over to wordpress, so find me there at thatsmymiddlename.wordpress.com.

Hope to see you soon - and I'll try to get some posts out of my head!

It's my birthday, I can blog if I want to

2009-02-20T16:13:00.001-08:00

Most likely everyone has used that as a blog title at some point, no? So here I am, one year older, and quite awhile since a post. Oh well. What have I been up to? Knitting, regular everyday stuff and more knitting.

I knit Patrick a modified Pub Crawler sweater for Christmas out of Black Water Abbey Yarn, color Jacob. I think this was a record for me - 6 days. Yes, I cruised on it, but it needed to get done. He's cold at school.We celebrated Sara's graduation from the University of Washington (BA English Lit, BS Molecular Biology) Here's a picture of her heading over to campus with her last undergrad paper. Later we took her and the boyfriend to a Moroccan restaurant for dinner.

Christmas happened, we had too much snow, more unexpected snow. You know the drill. For Christmas I ended up knitting nine of brooklyntweed's turn a square hats. One for each of my nephews on Doug's side of the family and one for Sara's boyfriend. I also knit a new pair of socks for everyone in our immediate family (Doug, Sara, Patrick) and decided to also knit a pair for Sara's BF. The socks came first for him, the hat was extra so that I wouldn't have the leftover yarn sitting around. May as well knit another hat!

My last few posts had some content about emergency preparedness. Does anyone care? I wasn't getting any feedback on it, so I thought everyone may have been irritated (non knitting content and all) and I stopped.

Okay, enough for now. We are going to go eat Indian food tonight, then maybe a bit of MarioKart or RockBand on the Wii at home after? We'll see!

Week 2

2008-11-13T17:41:00.000-08:00

Last Thursday, I started posting a once a week guide to disaster preparedness. This weeks list comes from the hardware store.

- Heavy cotton or hemp rope
- Duct tape
- 2 flashlights with batteries
- Matches in waterproof container for outside use only with appropriate camp stove or BBQ

Additional: Leash or carrier for your pet, extra set of I.D. tags

Action steps:
- Sign up for a First Aid/CPR class at your local American Red Cross (I need to do this again!)

So, in reality where does one keep all this stuff? I figure if there's an earthquake (our most likely disaster here in the PNW) I need to be able to get to the stuff I've stored. We have some built in cabinets in our basement that we used to use for toy storage. We've managed to clear out a good portion of these, so it made a great solution for me to have an emergency pantry of sorts. The cabinets latch, so I would just have to be able to get to the basement. Doug has a lot of tools, so pretty much anything like rope, duct tape, etc. is here and in good supply. I do always keep a flashlight next to the bed, because you just never know when the power may go out!

On the knitting front, I did post last night (Wed 11/12) that I finished the Tilia sweater. I forgot to take pictures today, due to massive raking of leaves and Madrona registration. Tomorrow? I did finish the first of another pair of Christmas socks too.

Ahh, Madrona. Well, I did get into the two classes that I wanted (I did ideally want others, but just too much money) Judith McKenzie McCuin Dyeing for Socks on Friday morning, and Stephanie Pearl-McPhee's Speed Knitting Saturday pm. That will give me time to be able to visit with friends too. I'm really not sure why the registration opened up at least 2 hours before the scheduled time...perhaps the company used (in Colorado) forgot to set it for Pacific Time? I was happy that someone on a list I'm on sent out a quick message and just happened to see it come across. Regardless, I think everyone will have a great time.

Done!

2008-11-12T21:57:00.000-08:00

I just finished seaming the last seam on my Tilia sweater - hopefully if the rain slows enough, I'll have some pictures tomorrow!

Progress

2008-11-11T19:26:00.000-08:00

Doug and I (and my brother, Dave) headed over the mountains to Pullman to visit the boys this past weekend. My nephew also attends WSU, (he's a year older than Patrick) thus, the reason my brother went along. It was Dad's weekend and while there were some planned "activities", we chose not to participate and do our own thing. We played some video games, watched a movie, went out to eat, played cards and just chatted. We also went to the football game. Now for some reason, the big three football teams (Seahawks, UW Huskies and WSU Cougars) are having terrible, terrible years. So although the Cougs lost yet again, at least they scored 4 touchdowns this game. All in all, we had a really nice visit, and we are looking forward to having Patrick home for a week at Thankgiving.

Since it is a 5 hour drive to Pullman, I did get a lot of knitting done on the Tilia Sweater. Below is how things looked on Thursday morning (back done, front lace section started):and this is where I am tonight. Just the sleeve caps to go and I'll be seaming. Most likely this will be done tomorrow and I'll continue on with some Christmas knitting. I think between the two photos, the bottom one is more true to color.

I've done some spinning too - when Naomi and I went to OFFF she bought 8 oz. of Superwash Merino from Crown Mountain Farms in the Born to Be Wild colorway and she very kindly split it with me. I wish I had taken a before picture of the fiber but sometimes I just get too anxious to spin it up and just have the finished product to show! So, if you want a before, you can find it by clicking on the Born to be wild link above, and here it is in all it's spun up glory:

I ended up plying this as a 3-ply yarn. I didn't think it would be so pink, but I absolutely love it! It's just pretty and I plan to knit it up into a pair of socks.

Another two storms are supposed to be rolling in tonight.....we shall see!

Are you ready?

2008-11-06T15:44:00.001-08:00

Are you ready for fall weather? We are supposed to be under a flood watch in our region this weekend, with the usual fall storms and some wind forecasted. Where I live it would be next to impossible to flood (on top of a tall hill, with ravines all around) but it is definitely a concern for people in the low lying areas. We are prone to windstorms, and of course earthquakes. Naomi and I were talking last week about how we both like to be self-sufficient in cases of power outages and the like and it made me think I should go through and update the supplies that we keep on hand.

It's fairly typical to have the power go out in our neighborhood. We basically live in the woods/surround by woods and so if someone sneezes too hard, our power just may go out! I thought it might be a good service to remind you all to see that you have enough supplies on hand to be able to take care of your own needs and even community needs if necessary in the case of something like the aftermath of a windstorm or earthquake or whatever disaster may happen in your area.

My first inclination was just to post a quick link to the American Red Cross or Ready.gov, but my favorite resource from them apparently has been taken off line. I have a 6-month (24-week) calendar helping you to get ready for pretty much any type of disaster. I'm thinking I will post each week here until I've gone through all 24 weeks. It's yours to choose to follow or ignore. I just know that when we had our power out for 5 days because of a windstorm a few years ago, I was really happy that I was prepared!

Okay, week one, if you choose to keep reading..... (note - there is an * after some items. That means you get one of these for each person living at your residence, or have spares to share)

GROCERY STORE

1 gallon of water*
1 jar peanut butter

1 large can of juice*

1 can meat* (I'm flexible on this - sometimes I get bean less chili, tuna, or stew - you are after protein here)

1 hand-operated can opener

Permanent marking pen

Additional: pet food, diapers, baby food

Action steps:

- Date perishable items with marker (so you can rotate items in your pantry - I mark them 1 year out - you decide what's best for you!)

- Decide upon and notify out-of-area contact who can coordinate information for scattered family members

There is actual knitting content going on - I finished the back of the Tilia sweater and have cast on for the front. I hope to get the lace section done before heading off for the weekend so that I just have the stockinette section to work on in the car. I also have some giftie socks I'm working on (no picture) and am really liking short row heels now that I've figured them out.

Didja vote?

2008-11-04T16:14:00.000-08:00

I did! There were not really even any lines to speak of at my polling place. I waited about 3 minutes, then it was my turn. I think I was a bit disappointed I didn't have to wait a bit - I anticipated waiting for awhile, so I brought some sock knitting. Didn't touch it. I did see some 20-something poll workers there - it was nice to see that age bracket represented - it's usually the 60-70 something age range volunteering where we vote.

I did go and get my free tall drip coffee and I also bought a pumpkin scone (yum!) to make up for the fact that they were giving away so much coffee today. I know it really doesn't cost them that much for drip coffee, but still, it was a nice gesture on their part. I know some cynical people see it as a marketing ploy - me? I try to see the happier side of life. I decided to pass on the free Trophy cupcake, the free Krispy Kreme and the free B&J ice cream.

Wow - it just started hailing here. Cool!

So I think I will be settling in for the evening -I just started a nice fire, and we will be watching election results, eating leftover chicken enchiladas, and I'll be knitting on my Tilia sweater. Enjoy your evening!

The start of something good!

2008-11-03T20:12:00.001-08:00

It's not a very good picture - but the color is fairly accurate. This is nearly 3 repeats of the lace edging of the Tilia sweater. It's a really easy chart (gotta love the K3togs!) so I'm hoping I will just breeze through on it.

I've also started some Christmas knitting - I know that some of my gift recipients read this, so suffice to say I have finished 4 hats and one pair of men's size 12 socks. Still more to knit but I'm happy to be making progress. I cast on for another pair of socks today, and we will be heading over to visit Patrick at school soon and therefore will have some car knitting time. I really like Brooklyn Tweed's Turn a Square hat - it's my hat choice for this season, using Berroco Ultra Alpaca and Noro Silk Garden.

I felt a bit of a sense of relief today - Naomi and I went together to drop off our fleeces at Superior Fibers to be processed. They seem really nice - I spoke with Bill on Friday afternoon, and we met his wife Inge today. She thinks there turn around is about 4 weeks right now. I can't wait to see Tilly and Jemima all made up into roving! I did try washing the white fleece in the tub, and did card some of it, but I'm just thinking it really isn't my sort of thing. I don't really have a great area that I can have equipment set up - it tends to happen in the living room or kitchen. At least I will know the process when others talk about it!

For my U.S. readers - don't forget to vote tomorrow! I never talk politics and try and stay right in the middle, but it is an important right that we have. Besides, at least in the Seattle area, the coffee place that starts with a "S" is giving out free tall drip coffees! Whoo Hoo!

Tilia

2008-11-02T20:27:00.000-08:00

I think I found my sweater. It's Tilia from Elsebeth Lavold, Book 8. Ravelry link here. ( I hope this works!) I really thought I had picked out another sweater, but after swatching and knitting the first 3 inches, I realized I had recently completed two other sweaters that were basically 2x2 ribbed sweaters and maybe I should try something new! So no progress pictures yet, but I know I have gauge, so I can at least cast on tonight. Fortunately there is only one very small errata published, so it should be a quick knit!

Happy November!

2008-11-01T12:02:00.000-07:00

November, the month of NaNoSweMo (National November Sweater Month) and NaBloPoMo (National November Blog Posting Month). I'm not signing up for anything official, but I am going to try and get another sweater done this month and be more regular (note - I didn't say everyday!) about posting.

As for the sweater, I still need to decide what I'm going to make. I have a ton of Evilla preyarn that I spun, that I think will turn into Ruth's Rhubarb Cardigan. I loved hers when she was out, and I'd really like one too. I'm not sure if she did hers out of Evilla or Kauni, but since it's really a sweater based on gauge and measurements, it doesn't really matter.

My second option was to be the Elsebeth Lavold Margery, but after seeing finished pictures of it on Ravelry, I'm not sure I like it as much as I did. The sleeves seem rather bell like, and there is definitely some errata attributed to the pattern. I don't really want to spend a ton of time rewriting the pattern, so I think Margery has officially been frogged. Next would be to look for some other Lavold patterns that I can do a 38-40" bust with 7 skeins of silky wool.

I do have finished objects. I completed what I call my "Lint" sweater. I used Karen Alfke's top down pattern and then winged it from there. It's a deep v-neck, just a comfy sweater to through on. Not all that flattering, but it's warm. The yarn is homespun, in that I spun it. (not the Lion Brand - yuck). I had about two pounds of Spinderella's Thrums that I spun to a bulky yarn (3 sts/inch on size 10 needles) The reason the sweater was named the Lint sweater is that I was trying to describe the yarn to Naomi one day. I said it was sort of a grey with purple-y and teal bits and sparkle thrown it, sort of like dryer lint with lumps of color.

Socks were finished too - I already posted the Rocktober Charade socks, but I also finished the Rivendells and a pair for Sara out of Meleinweit Meeting. The Rivendells, once I had a chance to really pay attention to the pattern, were actually fun. I'd make another pair.

I'm off now to visit with friends, and knit and spin for the afternoon. Have a great day!

Waiting game....

2008-10-22T18:33:00.000-07:00

Baby Kaitlyn Donnell was born about 7:45 pm - no other details available yet, but she is healthy and mom is doing well too.

Our family has been on pins and needles all day today. Why? Niece Lisa's water broke last night and she's been in labor since 8 this morning. Can't wait to meet my first great-niece!

BOB and Martha

2008-10-21T13:50:00.000-07:00

My Martha sweater is totally done and buttonized now - I guess you can't see the buttons too well in this photo though. I had wanted some sort of gunmetal grey button to pick up the black and grey flecks in the yarn, but all that was available was too big. I ended up going with some shell buttons and they are good and well when all is said and done. I had finished it without even trying it on. At the last minute Friday night I decided I was going to go to Portland the next morning for a family funeral and was trying to figure out what I was going to wear. I popped this on with a black teeshirt and some black slacks. Oh. This is so cute on! Great for travel, yet dressy enough for a funeral. It's a great sweater - you have to make one!

Sunday my brother came over to help me harvest my bees. Quite a few years ago we had some Mason bee houses (the 4 x 4 blocks with holes drilled in them) and had a huge population of bees. This lasted a few years, but then mites ended up killing them. We tried to repopulate but just didn't have any luck. My brother (Hi, Dave!) in the meantime came up with a great way to launch the bees in the spring and then harvest in the fall and have them hibernate in the fridge until springtime. This should eliminate the mite problem. So, at Christmas last year, he said he was going to set up with a bee system of my own. This spring he brought over the box, a bunch of tubes with liners and a launch box. Oh, and 100 bee cocoons. Long story short, from my 100 bees, I now have 411 bee cocoons for next year! Here's some pictures in case you are curious. These straw like things are the paper liners that go into the paper tubes.

There is quite a bit of mud and pollen that comes out - all sort of gross, but just part of nature. Here's the bees soaking a dilute bleach/water solution. Hopefully killing any baddies and getting the bees ready for a long sleep in the fridge! And last, I tried getting a close up of a cocoon. These bees are just really cool!

Sock progress has been slow but steady. I did finish the Rocktober Charade socks, and a plain Jane stockinette one for Sara. I let her look through my sock stash the other night and she picked out this yarn for a pair for herself. They are my non-thinking time socks. We all need a project like that sometimes!

Here is really what I've been working on for the past few days. It's why you don't make latkes in your mom's all-clad pan. Ugh. Yes, the culprit should be the one working on it, but she is severely stressed out with trying to finish up her degrees this quarter. I'm just a nice mom! Imagine fully half the pan coated in burnt on oil. Yuck. Vinegar seems to be helping though.
Last, but not least I thought I'd take a picture of my project bags and stitch markers. They are all from Amy's site. Check it out!

"One of these things is not like the other....

2008-10-14T13:20:00.000-07:00

......One of these things just doesn't belong!"

I spent a good part of the weekend thinking up blog post titles for this -

- "Oops, I did it again"

- "Another one bites the dust"

- "One step forward, three steps back"

and so on.

Have you found the problem yet? I was almost done with the right front of my Martha sweater (Rowan Studio Issue 2). The back was done. The left front, I thought was done. Then I noticed that I had two extra rows in the bottom texture portion of the left front. Nuts. I ended up ripping that entire side out, and went on to finishing the sleeves to erase any bad knitting mojo. I seriously considered just unraveling from teh bottom and calling it good, but it was based on a certain measurement to the texture section right below the cables, and it was just so much easier and the right thing to do it the long way and reknit. Things are fine and dandy now - hopefully I'll be working on the front bands tonight and seaming tomorrow. But still. Argh. Sometimes I need my knitting license taken away from me!

We had a baby shower for the soon-to-be-born grand niece on Sunday. I ended up knitting the Baby Mine sweater and had enough yarn leftover to make a pair of Saartje's booties to go with.

Very cute!

My February Lady Sweater is also done - I ended up not knitting the sleeves because I thought it would be too much fabric on me. I still haven't worn it yet, but soon. Very soon! BTW, I really like the buttons on this. I was hoping there might be something in my button jar, and I found these great navy blue ones that had belonged to my grandmother (Nana). I was so happy they just fit the look of my sweater so well!

Still making progress on the Rivendell sock. Because I kept taking it with me places where I couldn't really give it my full attention, I ended up ripping it out, starting over and putting a marker after every 21st stitch. So much easier! I breezed through the wrapped stitches section and now I'm on to the leafy cables.

I did, however, finish the first Charade sock in STR Rocktober. Fun pattern, nice fall colored yarn. Socks went by the wayside a bit as I was got engrossed with the Martha sweater, but they will still get done!

We have been having some fairly sunny afternoons, so I've been trying to dig up some wayward clumps of daisies. It's not that I don't like daisies, but these things just tend to grow rampant! I'll transplant some to another area of the yard where I can have a nice big clump for cutting and not have them take over the perennial bed.

Where were you 45 years ago?

2008-10-11T19:57:00.000-07:00

Wow - I was going to post about something totally different, but I went to one of our local news sites - king5.com before going to my blog site and read that the Columbus Day storm was 45 years ago today. There's a video link there to see some old storm footage. Talk about something making you feel old!

In 1963, I was living in Portland, Oregon. I don't remember the name of the area of town where we lived but I know it was on 61st street. Anyhoo, at that time I was only a bit over a year and a half old, but I have very clear and distinct memories of the aftermath of that storm. I remember our neighbor, Mrs. Richter, her chimney had crumbled/fell down and our neighbors apple tree blew over.

Anyway, just a small memory... there does always seem to be some type of wind event in the general Pacific Northwest area in mid October and it always reminds me of Columbus Day!

On OFFF

2008-10-10T14:09:00.001-07:00

I was doing so well, posting three whole times in one week! then, Bam! I caught some stomach bug that has been floating over the Seattle area. Blech.

I guess it's been quite a few weeks since OFFF (Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival) now, but I'll still post, since I do have a few pictures and they've already been loaded onto the computer! Naomi and I left my house bright and early (6:30am) Saturday morning to head down to the city of Canby, Oregon. I really like the areas outside of Portland - the small sleepy towns and all - even though Portland is so close to Seattle, it's just a totally different feel. So we arrived at the fairgrounds a bit before 10 am. We had talked all the way down about our stashes, and limiting spending because just how much yarn do we really need???? We did plan out how we would hit the vendors - first the vendors we "knew" - Lisa Souza, Tina at Blue Moon, Michael and Sheila Ernst, Klaus at Crown Mountain, and Michelle at Toots LeBlanc.

At Lisa Souza's, I purchased this - 16 oz. of a lovely Merino Top in the South Pacific colorway. back in February at Madrona, Jen had a very lovely Wool Peddler's Shawl. I did buy some roving to spin/knit myself one at Madrona, but I wasn't in love with the yarn after spinning it. I think this will do the ticket!

Next stop was to visit Tina at Blue Moon. Naomi and I got to know Tina a bit in February at Madrona, so we wanted to say hi and also show off our Body Hugger Raglan Sweaters that we both recently knit out of the medium weight sock yarn. Get this - she remember us! Anyway, the best thing about buying from Blue Moon at a show is that they have roving! There is stuff there that isn't on the website, so besides the group of them being so nice, there are great things to be had.

I came away with these:

Yarn and a pattern for the Baby Mine baby sweater (baby gift solved!) and some yummy, yummy silk/wool roving (5.5 oz) in "Jabberwocky" Oooo, pretty...... I did pick up some roving for Amy too (just no picture!)

After that fun, we strolled around a bit, looking for the Dicentra Booth. We did finally find it along with her two bins marked 50% and 75% off! I purchased just two things - the only superwash merino I could find was in these sale bins. I ended up with 4 oz. of superwash merino in Margaritaville and another regular merino in some color I can't recall right now.

More booths, more shopping! Crown Mountain Farms was in this same building, so we strolled over and talked with Klaus for a bit. I bought 8 oz. of Corriedale in the Stonehenge colorway. One more friend stop was to be made, and that was to visit Michelle (and her brother Carl) at Toots LeBlanc. I had purchased 500 yards of their fingering weight merino/pygora in February, and had on my list to get two more skeins of this to be able to make a substantial shawl. Apparently, they had discussed not even bringing this yarn to the show, I'm glad they did!

After a lunch break, we decided we would take a break from the booths and sit under the trees and spin for a bit. That's when I spun the majority of the Crown Mountain pictured above. We ran into many friends here and there - and even got to see Kim! I miss not working with her and seeing her more often.This made for a very peaceful, enjoyable afternoon - the weather was just so nice!

The next morning was the parking lot sale. Now I had heard of this before, and was one of the reasons we had decided to stay the night, so that we could attend. My goal was to get a grey Shetland fleece, but as soon as the sale opened up, I totally forgot that. I ended up beelining it to a Shetland farm and spied quite a few white and a few black fleeces. I ended up getting this white fleece from a sheep named "Tilly". It's pretty important to me to know whose coat I'll be wearing!

I had a cute picture of the couple whose sheep these are from, but now I'm not finding it. Anyway, they are Jeremy and Janet from Heron Ridge Ranch in Oregon.

What's up with the black fleece? Well, I had really only intended to get the one fleece and learn how to clean it, etc. As Naomi and I were walking back to the car later on Sunday, I said "Oh, look - they have that pretty black fleece all laid out" Next thing I knew, we were back at the same "booth" and discussing the merits of this black shetland fleece. Oh, it's so pretty and actually cleaner than the white fleece. And they had dropped the price to $15. Okay, I bought it. It came from Jemima. 'Nuf said. It's mine now.

See this cute lady? We were browsing some of the booths on the lawn and she asked if we'd had our hands massaged yet. Turns out, she was a shopper the day before, loved the product so much that she demo'd for them the whole next day! She was doing a great business for this couple. I ended up buying their Sweet Plumeria Salt Scrub and two lotion bars - honey almond and red clover tea. Oh - the company is Bar-Maids. Great stuff!

All in all a super fantastic weekend with lots of fun and sunshine! Can't wait for next year......

Rockin' Socktober

2008-10-01T14:51:00.000-07:00

I know in past years many people have declared October to be"Socktober" and this year, I decided to join in. While I don't plan to exclusively knit socks this month, I do plan to knit a few pairs at least.

For my first pair, being October and all, I'm going to cast on Charade in Blue Moon Socks that Rock "Rocktober". I chose this pattern because I need something that I can just pick up and knit without a complicated chart to follow ahem - Rivendell - ahem.

I've also joined the KAL from Through the Loops for her mystery sock pattern ( you can find it on Ravelry - just search groups for Through the Loops). I'm going to use some Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock that I have in the chocolate colorway. One clue per week through the month of October - sounds very doable!
The February Lady Sweater is coming right along. I am seeing quite a few of these lately, which makes me want to make mine a bit different. Since I'm on the short side of life, I think I will not be doing the lace portion of the sleeves. On me it's just a bit too overpowering to have all of that fabric. I think it will look rather cute and at least a bit different than all the others to have cap sleeves. Only 9" more of the lace pattern, do the garter edge and a bit of finishing! Perhaps this weekend?

As for a baby project for my grandniece-to-be, I've chosen the Yarn Harlot's Baby Mine pattern. I have the sleeves done and I am halfway through the lace chart for the body.
And, last but of course not least - Happy Birthday Doug! I hope this is your best year ever - I love you!

Stayed tuned - next post will be a doozy on OFFF! Just wait until you see what I have.... (no, it's not a bunny)

Off to OFFF

2008-09-26T21:53:00.000-07:00

Naomi and I will be off on a road trip to Canby tomorrow morning to visit the sheep and sunshine-y, fibery goodness offered this weekend at the Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival. I went two years ago with the twins for the day and had a great time.

This time we will spend the night and hopefully get to check out Woodland Woolworks on Saturday afternoon, the parking lot sale Sunday morning (I really would love a grey color shetland fleece!) and maybe a few other local shops on Sunday.

I'm bringing my Rose to spin on, the Rivendell socks and the February Lady Sweater. Hopefully one of these projects will progress along!

What did you guys think of Grey's Anatomy last night? I felt like it sort of dragged on a bit - like it didn't really need to be two hours long. Overall it was good, but not much drama. Another point - why was it snowing in September in Seattle? We also don't get huge icicles like that here... I know there was a small reference to global warming, but seriously? I didn't buy it.

I spent today trying to find a baby outfit/dress or something for a baby shower. My niece Lisa will be having a baby (girl) at the end of October, and I wanted to find something. I'm just frustrated more than anything right now. I don't like the styles that are out for baby girls right now. Call me a fuddy duddy, but I don't think it's cute to have babies look like small teenagers or grade schoolers or whatever. I really just wanted a simple dress that I could knit a coordinating sweater and booties for. You know, cute, non-fussy, traditional. Argh. So I came home. Went through my baby patterns. Trundled off to one of the LYS's and they didn't have any good colors for a baby girl. I don't want mint green or yellow or hot pink. I don't want acrylic.

Hopefully something will show up on my fiber adventure this weekend! Otherwise I'll be checking out more stores in the general area on Monday.

Oh, check out Amy's shop blog. She's selling some of her stash.... and there is some great stuff there! Malabrigo, Socks that Rock, Noro.....

Grey for Grey's

2008-09-25T14:40:00.000-07:00

I'm going to a Grey's Anatomy "party" tonight. I felt like I needed something grey to work on for this event, and that would then be a Thursday night project for Grey's watching. Now I know there are special Grey's Anatomy colorways out there, but I really truly need to use up stash yarn. Seriously. Remember my contest about how many pairs of socks I could make with my stash? I think it's grown from there....sad but true.

I did however remember that I have a great grey from Sarah at Plucky Knitter. It's Madeleine Elster from the movie Vertigo and is from the Plucky Classics Hitchcock series. What do you think? I like it for a patterned sock. I had thought about using Yarn Harlot's Earl Grey Socks, intending them as a gift, but I think it's more a feminine grey rather than masculine. Then I considered the Charade socks. Naw, I'm planning a different yarn for that. Then I remembered The Eclectic Sole. Oh. Janel Laidman's book is splendiferiously fantastic. Browsing through this gem I found I pretty much love all of the patterns. My favorite right now though is Rivendell. I think the grey will really make the cables stand out. Okay, I'm set.

In sweater news - my next project will be to finish my February Lady Sweater. I started this on August first, and had a few setbacks in the increases. Yep, it does make sense to actually pay attention to the pattern as written, not be too busy chatting to realize what's going on. So, I actually knitted the bodice twice. Humph. Last night I put the sleeves on to the waste yarn. Now things will start to come along much faster. The body is a simple 4 row repeat and no shaping. Easy peasy! I guess the most surprising thing for me is that I'm posting about it before I'm done. Need to get better about that....

If you are wanting to make this sweater, I know that Village Yarn and Tea is doing a knit along using this pattern starting January 1st, I believe. Oh, my yarn! I didn't tell you about the yarn I'm using for this. It's Beaverslide Dry Goods Mule Spun Yarn in the Lake MacDonald colorway. I really like this yarn. It's sort of rustic looking.

What are you knitting for fall?

Fall? Bring it on!

2008-09-23T14:56:00.000-07:00

*warning: picture heavy post!*

I've been really trying to get some projects off the needles lately. Sort of my own personal "reclaim the needles" movement as this post will prove. It's been definitely chilly around here - this morning Sara announced to me that her room is a brisk 62 degrees. Brr! It's almost time to pull out the wool!

I guess I've been blogging so sporadically, not everything is really up to date. Sara moved home Sept. 1st to live here for her last quarter at the UW. Yep, we'll have a college graduate in December. She looked for an apartment late summer, but at that time she didn't know where she would be working or what would be happening after graduation so it was really hard to decide on a year long lease. That, and the fact that she wasn't sure about the job part of her life (she has since been offered a full time job for after graduation) and it didn't make sense to get a loan to help with her rent. So she's home for a bit and we're having fun having her around. We don't really see her much (work, boyfriend - noted from here out as "BF", and other friends) but we enjoy what we get.

We/She decided her room needed to change from one we decorated when she was 10, to her current tastes at 22.
There were hand stamped hummingbirds, butterflies and morning glory vines. It was cool for a 10 year old!

Now the room is a very sunshine-y yellow, still with the dark green trim. We changed to a full size bed with the intent on using this room as a guest room in the future. Our biggest problem was/is finding a comforter to match. You just don't see this color combination much! I have this quilt (below) that is really one of my favorites that I made from a kit a few years back. It works for now! It's really not her style, (and I want it back in our room)but we are planning on checking out Amy Butler's new August Fields line and making a duvet cover with that.

Patrick is back at school - we took him over towards the end of August. This year(sophomore year) he isn't in the dorms - it's the apartment life for him. He and his roommate have a very spacious apartment and it seemed very quiet when we were there. I think he's enjoying it well enough. Sara and BF went over and visited him last weekend and had a good time. It's really nice that our kids enjoy each other so much - especially if you knew how much they fought when they were younger! Now they call each other quite often, and genuinely enjoy each others' company.

Let's see... a new buddy came to live at my house. Can you guess?

If your guess was a Schacht Double Treadle Matchless Wheel, then ding ding ding, you are a winner! I will be selling my Majacraft Rose hopefully to a very good home (Tava - are you out there??)

Soon after my wheel arrived, another friend came - just for a visit though. It was Sarah - of Plucky Knitter fame! Naomi, Amy and I picked her up at the airport on Wednesday, whisked her off for a ferry ride over to Bainbridge Island for lunch, Churchmouse Yarns and Tea, and Mora Ice Cream. We took the ferry back over to the Edmonds Terminal, had dinner at Anthony's Beach Cafe and then dropped her off with Naomi for the evening. She was so tired! We have a 3 hour time difference, and she had gotten up at 2 in the morning (her time) to get ready for the airport. Ouch! Anyway, the next day was more yarn shopping, shoe shopping and cupcakes at Trophy Cupcakes. Dinner was at our house - fajitas and margaritas. Fun!

That's Sarah, waiting for the ferry to arrive. (She's working on her Ingenue sweater from Wendy Bernards' Custom Knits)

Friday, we had been all invited with a few other friends to gather at Naomi's family vacation home for the weekend. We spent a fun weekend of chatting, good food, knitting and spinning. I brought both of my wheels so that Amy could have a chance to try it for an extended amount of time. She got hooked! She is officially now a spinner and even has purchase her own wheel. Here's what I ended up working on - From left to right: 1) Vesper socks in Muddy Waters colorway. Love my Vesper (apparently so does my daughter...she claimed them for herself. At least I know she does really appreciate the handknit socks!) 2) Body Hugger Raglan in Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock (BMFA STR) med. weight the color is Rooster Rock (more later) and 3) a cute baby hat kit from Fancy Image Yarns.

After that whirlwind week, more fun ensued. Naomi invited me to a Mariners game with her, her sister and a friend. It was such a great afternoon - warm and sunny and the boys even won. Her is Ichiro, up close and personal. You could even see the muscles in his arms!

Doug and I then took a little 3-day weekend down to Cannon Beach. What a great weekend - warm and sunny pretty much the whole time. This time we stayed at the Tolovana Inn - just south of Cannon Beach, it gave us a little bit different view of the rock. Lots of fun, shopping (really didn't buy much though) great food (Bill's Tavern - the best!) and walking on the beach. I did pick up a skein of BMFA STR lightweight in Rook-y to make some gloves and one skein of Noro sock yarn, color s150 - I haven't been able to find it around town.

Haystack rock - view from the south.

This would be Mr. Middlename, aka Doug.

Remember this sweater? I actually made it once in 2000, out of a merino that pilled terribly. I ended up getting rid of the sweater (it was too big too) and restarted it in the yarn called for in 2004. Uh yeah, that would be four years ago - officially my oldest project on the needles. In February of this year I revisited it and managed to get through one cable repeat and then something happened that made me abandon it. I don't remember why, but I just know I hadn't touched it since then. About two weeks ago I decided I was sick of looking at it and it just needed to be finished. So, I picked up the needles, figured out what row I was on and went to work. I knit and knit and knit - 32 rows worth. Until this. I really couldn't get a great picture of the problem - can you see it???

The gauge was totally off. I couldn't figure out if my gauge has drastically changed over four years (possible) or what. I checked the pattern for needle size. Size 8 - I would have written it down if I had changed the needle size. Got out my needle gauge. Huh. Guess I needed that size 8 needle for something else at some point. Silly me exchanged the needle in progress for a size 6 needle. No wonder the gauge was so tight! It would have been nice if I had taken the two minutes and made myself a note at least! Anyway, I did rip those rows back and forced a finish. Here it is, all ready for crisp fall weather.

Pattern Specs:

Pattern: Aran Sweater from

Two Sticks and a String by Kerry Ferguson

Started Spring 2004, Finished Sept. 21,2008

Yarn: Creative Yarns International Hearty Worsted

4 sts/inch. 166 yds., possibly 8 balls? I have two leftover - this yarn doesn't seem to be available - but any aran weight would work fine.

Needles: Size 5 and 8

Remember Mystery Stole 3 from last summer? I did finally decide to go with the wing, and I had been waiting until my blocking area (Sara's room!) was unoccupied to block it. I don't have any great way to photograph it - just say I'm glad it's done and I'm looking forward to a new lace project - I just don't know which one yet!

When Naomi, Sarah, Amy and I went to Churchmouse, I spied this sweater as a model. I really like the simplicity of it - great with jeans, comfortable to throw on, yet could be dressed up too. Naomi has the story of it on her blog - check it out there. Anyway, I picked the Rooster Rock colorway, not my usual colors, but definitely ones I can wear.

Pattern Specs:

Pattern: Body Hugger Raglan from Sally Melville's The Purl Stitch

Yarn: 3 1/4 skeins BMFA Socks that Rock med. weight, Rooster Rock

Needles: Size 6

Started 9/5/2008, finished 9/20/2008

The only changes I made was to make the body longer by about 3 inches. I'm not too into the cropped look!

I tend to forget about these books (The Knit Stitch, The Purl Stitch) There are actually some pretty cute things in these books that need to be addressed at some point I think.

Where have you been?

2008-09-11T17:09:00.001-07:00

http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/map.php

Now I don't really think we purposely avoided Nevada. Sure looks like it though, yes? Guess we need to get some more travel in. I really would love to visit Colorado sometime, and also the New England states.

What I did on my summer vacation....

2008-09-03T08:57:00.000-07:00

I didn't realize it had been so long since I'd updated. Hmmmmm.....

We did go to visit relatives in North Carolina in June. A very fun trip. Finally got to see fireflies, we ate North Carolina BBQ (we also learned that there, BBQ is a noun, where we live in the PNW, BBQ is a verb) got to visit with quite a bit of family, saw groundhogs (they are big!), lots of brick houses, many cemeteries, drank gallons of sweet tea and bought some pottery. We flew in to Charlotte (Doug has an aunt and uncle there) and then drove to Woodleaf and stayed there with more family for a few days. We did do a day trip to Asheville, but really didn't see much beyond scenery. I made a valiant effort to find yarn, but there really wasn't too much to be had. Besides that, none of the relatives knit, so it was deemed "'quaint" that I do.

So what have I been doing since quitting work at VYT? That will have to wait for the next post. I just checked the clock and I'm running late. Sarah of Plucky Knitter fame is flying in to Seattle this morning and spending a few days with Amy, Naomi and I before her husband, Mr. Plucky, meets her later in the week. Plans for today include Bainbridge Island (Churchmouse!) and Trophy Cupcakes. We are then talking about the possibility of Fremont and Ballard tomorrow with fajitas and margaritas at my house in the evening. Friday we head to Naomi's family cabin outside of Shelton. Should be a great few days!

Changes...

2008-07-23T07:47:00.000-07:00

Hey there - can't believe it's been way over a month since my last post. Ahem.

So, things will be changing around here. Nothing bad, nothing to worry about... just that after months of thinking and weighing options I decided I needed to leave my life of employ for now and get stuff done at home. We will definitely be budgeting more, but we know it's doable for us and life is just too short. I'm looking forward to having dinners at home at a normal time, getting my yard in order, having our potting shed moved to our yard *hurray Doug!* and having a veggie garden again. There is lots to do around the house that I just haven't been getting to and there is always plenty of spinning and knitting to be done!

For those of you that are customers/friends... my last day will be next Thursday 7/31. Pop in and see me if you can!

For the rest of you - tons of stuff for me to catch up on here - hopefully much more often starting next week!

Meme

2008-06-07T15:35:00.001-07:00

Yes, I got quiet again.... I guess I do that. Laurie tagged me for the current meme that's going around - I'll take a shot at it.

The rules: Are posted at the beginning. At the end of the post, the player then tags 6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blog and leaves a comment, letting them know they've been tagged and asking them to read your blog.Let the person who tagged you know when you've posted your answer. Play nice, children.

1. What was I doing 10 years ago? 10 years ago my kids were 9 and 12. Wow - tons of volunteer work at their schools, driving way too much carpool, lots of soccer games and kid related stuff. Way more time to work in the yard oh - and we will remodeling our house. I think this would have been one of my knitting "breaks" where I was more into quilting.

2. What are 5 things on my to-do list today- not in any particular order? Do laundry, get my hair cut, get gas in the car (ouch!) get ready for Amy's party, clean the house!!!

3. Snacks I enjoy. It really depends on my mood, I do like potato chips, but they have to be pretty good ones to be worth eating - my current favorites are Kettle Chips and Cheetos(not together). Yum! I also really like dark chocolate. Common everyday snack might just be some dry cereal though - I don't do milk on cereal though. Yuck. Not for me.

4. Places I've lived- Portland Oregon,and then onto Washington - Kirkland, Auburn, Kirkland, Lake Forest Park and then Kirkland again.

5. Things I would do if I were a billionaire: Buy a vacation home in Cannon Beach, OR. Pay someone to finish the rest of our house. Get a fun, convertible sports car. Invest, invest, invest.

6. What are some jobs you've had: Babysitter, papergirl, Big Scoop ice cream scooper/manager, piano teacher, waitress, dental assistant/office manager, mom, data entry, retail at a yarn shop (and teach).

7. Peeps I want to know more about: I don't think these folks have responded already, if you have, I missed it. Amy, Naomi, Ginger, Sarah - 4 is close to 6, right?

LYS tour, here we come

2008-05-16T07:43:00.000-07:00

Amy and I are headed out today for a girl's road trip. This weekend (well, it started yesterday) is the Seattle area LYS tour. Every shop has a one skein pattern and the featured yarn is 10% off. Our plan is to do some Seattle-ish shops today, head a bit south (we really liked Renaissance Yarns in Kent last year) and then over to Bainbridge Island later this afternoon. We plan to hang out at Churchmouse for a bit, have dinner at Cafe Nola and perhaps stroll back over to Churchmouse. We'll stay on Bainbridge and head north to Bellingham in the morning. Should be loads of fun!

I worked yesterday, the first day of the tour and it was so much fun meeting people from Ravelry!! My shoes have been a big hit, so that's fun.

I'll bring my camera with me to catch any interesting sites along the way!

2008-05-11T09:23:00.000-07:00

Happy Mother's Day!

Sewing like a madwoman

2008-05-10T14:35:00.000-07:00

One of the main reasons I'm so busy right now is the fact that my mom is getting married on June 1st. Yep, 3 weeks from now.

I'm to be the matron of honor (it sounds so old and dowdy) and Sara will be the candlelighter and photographer for the event. We had a preview of the brides dress at Easter, and I knew at that time it would be hard to find a color currently out in stores that would match (sort of a shell pink)and, since I'm not the sort of person who would really actually wear a bridesmaid type dress for any other function, I really don't want to spend the sort of $$ I was finding at places like Jessica McClintock or bridal shops. Plus, really I'm not built for a strapless dress, or a dress cut down to wherever. Please.

Sara and I went pattern shopping a few weeks back and found a few fabric samples and patterns for what we thought might pass muster with the bride. Well, the bride happened to be out of the country for a few weeks, so just last week I found out that she really didn't like the fabric for what I was wanting my dress to be - sort of a soft purple-ly periwinkleish greyish whatever. She did like the seaglass blue that we had also selected.

Last Saturday I left around 11am to find a dress. I tried all sorts of stores - I was either looking for a ready made dress that would work, and/or, at the same time I was trying on a whole bunch of different cuts and styles just in case I would be making my dress. Nothing was to be found, so about 5 pm I headed to Joann Fabrics and purchased yardage.

This weekend has now been a whirlwind of sewing. It's really been a long time since I've made garments, and now I remember why I appreciate ready made so much. So, my dress is this one - Simplicity 4014 with a jacket out of Simplicity 5561 and Sara will have Kwiksew 3402- a cute halter dress.

So far, I can't quite get the neckline to lay flat on my dress, and why are the sizes so different than ready made? I'm making this 3 sizes bigger than the two other dresses I bought last week and I've lost two pounds since then. Criminy, how depressing.

In knitting projects, I'm currently working on a commission baby blanket for a customer and making plain stockinette Noro #188 socks for me on size 0 needles. The Noro does seem a bit scratchy, but I'm going to make them work. Perhaps a ton of conditioner??

This post brought to you by the letter "A" and "N"

2008-05-09T11:55:00.000-07:00

Hey there - miss me?

Well the last few months have been busy crazy/crazy busy and still won't be letting up until around the end of June. And I've found the longer you don't make time to post, the more things pile up, and then it feels overwhelming to post everything and so on.

So, I'll try and make it fairly brief, besides I need to go in about 5 minutes.

My newest finished project is the Malabrigo Pi Shawl in the Hummingbird colorway. Done last Monday. Love it. Amy stopped by worked and snapped a picture (so I'd have something to post on the blog!) I started this January 1st w/ Naomi. Love my new Namaste bag too. Yummy green.

Next up for today - clear chucks. Yes, I succumbed to them. I think they will look super snazzy at work with handknit socks. Patrick thinks they are ugly, but so what. They are comfortable!

Okay, 'nuff said for now. Have a great day - it's actually sunny here today! Yippee!

And the yarn goes to....

2008-02-27T08:39:00.000-08:00

Adrienne of Belly Button Knits! The actual number was 54 pairs of socks. Yes, I was actually quite shocked when I counted, because who goes around counting their sock yarn? I really thought it would be around 25 pairs or so. Oops.

There were actually two guesses of 53 pairs, so I had a virtual coin toss (who knew you could find this online?) and Adrienne won. Adrienne, please leave your mailing address for me at thatsmymiddlename(at)gmail(dot)com and I'll get the yarn out to you!

I'm trying to get one more little sweater/vest finished this month, but alas and alack not much progress on the aran. I forgot where I was again and I'm not finding alot of time for more intense knitting. It's much easier to just pick up a pair of socks and dash those off.

I'll do a more picture-y post tomorrow or Friday, but I've got to get ready for work now - have a great day and thanks for playing along!

It's a contest!

2008-02-22T17:26:00.000-08:00

ETA: The contest is closed - thanks for playing along!!

In honor of my one-year anniversary of blogging and my birthday (see 2/20), I'm having a blog contest with a cool prize...... the winner will receive enough Kauni yarn to make Ruth's really cute knit skirt*!! Oooo, Ahhhh. The colorway is EC - the black with variations of grey - it looks good on everyone, and I have it on good authority that Stephanie will be making the very same skirt in the same colorway. How do I know?? Well, not only has she already posted it on her blog (yes, that was me in the picture of the Kaunis) but we were in Ruth Sorensen's class all day on Friday at Madrona at the same table and chatted pretty much all day. I'm waffling between the grey/black and the denim. I just can't decide, and I really don't need two of the same skirt.

Okay, here's what you have to do. Below is a picture of all of my sock yarn. The question is this. How many pairs of socks can I make? There are a few duplicate balls/skeins, such as Louet Gems and some yarn from elann that needs one skein per sock. To clarify, I'm not asking how many balls/skeins there are, but how many pairs of socks (regular size 7 1/2 woman's foot) does this picture represent?? I also will not be making socks from the leftovers......

*The winner will need to buy the pattern from Ruth's website.

In other news, I'm still recovering from Madrona. I was talking to a coworker today to see how she was recovering, and I mentioned it was almost like recovering from an illness or surgery. I still feel walloped around 5 in the afternoon. I don't want to make this an extremely long post so I'll talk about Madrona 2008 next time.

Good luck guessing on the sock yarn - I'll close the contest on Wednesday and post a winner.

Have a great day!

Happy blogiversaryRuthsherebirthday!

2008-02-20T08:00:00.000-08:00

Hi - just a quickie post without pictures to let you know I did survive Madrona. I have been wanting to post since I've been back but I hit the ground running and don't have pictures yet. If you are a student of mine, you've seen my purchases (except for fiber) but I will properly document tomorrow. And yes, that is me in the front row in the Kauni picture the Yarn Harlot had on her blog yesterday.

All in all Madrona was great. What a change from last year where I only knew Angela and Holly and not really enough to hang out with them. This year, I had so many people that I knew through friends, ravelry, email groups and shop customers/students. I also was able to get to know some of the other vendors better too (I worked part of the time I was down there) particularly Sheila Ernst, Ruth and Virginia Bowen of Seattle Yarn, Sandy from knit/purl, Tina from Blue Moon and Klaus from Crown Mountain.

Today is my 1 year blogiversary, so I think I'll be coming up with some sort of something....stay tuned to either tomorrow or Friday. I started this one year ago today at the urging of a really good friend (Hi Amy!) and it's been fun. Sometimes a bit stressful because I tend to feel guilty that I don't post enough, but all in all good.

Okay, gotta run - Ruth Sorenson is teaching a class all day at the shop and I'm facilitating it. Tables to move, scones to bake, you know the drill.

Have a wonderful day!

Kauni

2008-02-01T16:33:00.000-08:00

My Kauni is finally done. Guess I can go to Madrona after all! Just kidding - of course I would have gone, but I really wanted this sweater done. I started the sweater last July (July 28?) and knit the body up to the shoulders by August 25th. It then marinated in it's bag for a few months, working on it every so often. I finally decided it had to be done by Madrona, and pulled it out to finish it on January 1st. Actual finish date was 1/31/2008. I really like the buttons I used - I found them at Pacific Fabrics at Northgate for any locals - they are LaMode brand, style 24656 5/8". Here's what I had left after all was said and done. Now, I will be reknitting the side of the button band with the buttonholes - what a nightmare! - but not until after Madrona. I tried and tried to get the count just right to pick up a goodly amount of stitches, and then space 7 buttonholes. I thought I had it all good and went on my merry way. I had even put a line of pins on our carpet to try and space them exactly right. When I was done, I realized that what I was thinking was the neck edge was really the bottom edge. Poo. I'll cut it off in a few weeks and rework this band. I still need to block this too - I only steam blocked it for the pictures, but I'm waiting for my new wooly board to get here first.

So, what's next now that it's officially February? These three projects (and of course, really there's more). On the left is the aran pullover from Two Sticks and a String that has been in a ziploc bag and on needles since 2004. I had actually made this once before, but in a size medium and out of merino wool. Why a second one? 1) the size M was 50" circumference - way too big and 2) my wool was very, very pilly. It ended up going to Value Village. I bought this heavy worsted perendale wool from someone - don't really remember who - and it took about 6 months for her to get it to me. Yikes. Bad internet buying experience. Anyway, I readdressed the project at hand today to figure out where I had left off. I was able to get a bit of the first sleeve going and hope to finish said sleeve this weekend. I'll just have to do one more sleeve, 15" of the body and it'll be done. Prognosis for this getting done this month is very good.

Second up on the needles are these balls of Sugar 'n Cream. I bought these last summer on a lark - at work we eat our lunch at the back table and face this one wall of yarn. For a few days in a row, I had noticed all these really cute bright colors of this yarn all lined up in the cubby. I counted. Seven of those really bright colors. Shoot - seven days in a week. Wouldn't they make great washcloths - one for everyday of the week for a certain daughter? Yep - I got them with the idea of adjusting the patterns for the washcloths seen in Knitters Stash for worsted weight instead of sportweight. These will be for Sara's birthday on March 17th. I know she'll love them.

Last but not least on the needles for this month is the Peace Fleece Everyday Cardigan. I'll talk more about that one in another post - can't tell all my thoughts today or I won't have anything to talk about!

I think the following will be the last of the Christmas pictures/postings for this year/season.

I have great friends - you guys already know this - but Amy, Naomi and I met at Trophy Cupcakes the Friday before Christmas to exchange gifts. The picture above is of the snowman that the barista made on top of my latte. Isn't it cute? I also had a peppermint chocolate cupcake, or rather part of one - they are so sweet that I can't usually eat the whole thing without a major sugar rush. Anyway, Amy gave me a great sock bag out of Amy Butler fabrics that her mom has been making. These bags are so great. There is a cute clip to attach to a belt loop and the yarn guide on the inside of the bag closes by snaps so you can take your project out unlike other bags. So, so cute! Keep checking Amy's blog - her mom has been making more and you need to get one! She also gave me a cute tape measure and some really fun kleenex. And a mitered square stitch marker! Thank you so much again, Amy! (Note: I love this bag so much that I actually bought a second one!)

From Naomi I received some beautiful laceweight yarn from whitewillow in the Autumn Oak colorway. 100% merino and 880 yards. I'll be looking through the Victorian Lace Today book for something that will go well with this beautiful yarn. There was also a stitch marker and sachet attached to the yarn, and two tickets to visit the Nordic Museum. I've never been to this Museum, so I'm looking forward to going with her sometime soon!

Last but not least, I need to pay homage to Junior the tree. What is now grass in this picture had been a perennial flower bed last summer. A few years ago I found this little fir tree seedling in the bed and decided to let it grow. I groomed it and pruned it really nice this summer with the plans that it would be Christmas tree for our kitchen. In the meantime, we planned the firepit (see the concrete squares) and plans to change the shape of the bed. It was strongly suggested that it come out at that time. This all took place in September and October, and it really needed to be removed so we could plant grass, but Doug was nice and let junior stay until it was time to cut it/him? in December. It was a nice tree while it lasted!

It's Thursday, must be time for a post.

2008-01-31T09:03:00.000-08:00

Funny thing - my husband reads my blog sometimes and saw my blog post. Wanted to know why I was saying bad things about my computer (my computer is stupid and a FO). Now he doesn't speak "yarnie" too much....he thought the FO was something directed towards my computer, not a lovely comfy new "finished object", being my Ella Rae sweater.

Computer news isn't really any better. I found a program online that was supposed to fix registry issues and the like, including .dll files. Well, in everyone else's case but mine. Humph. So right now I've lost my most recent class invoice for work, my week 4 and 5 beginning knitting file (for teaching - fortunately I had sent weeks 1-3 to my gmail account!) and my itunes is defunct. I tried downloading a new itunes, but same problem. Also reloaded office, still no change. Patrick offered to check it out when he gets home in March for spring break, so we'll see.

Knitting is going great however. I'm leaving soon this morning to try and find some decent buttons for my Kauni! Yes, I bound off last night and got all the ends tucked in and will hopefully sew buttons on today. Pictures probably tomorrow and then I'll block. Hooray! It got done in time for Madrona. I'm very relieved.

Besides my crazy list I posted, I do have class samples to make and store samples to work on. For work right now, I have a baby sweater (or is it a vest?) in Baby Cashmerino, the Louet felted cable bag out of Riverstone, a Leaf lace shawl out of Kauni (the brown, gold, blue colorway - gotta get this done for Madrona!) baby socks from the leftovers of Baby Cashmerino, and that's just what's currently in my bag. Gotta get these done quickly - the new spring yarns are starting to arrive, and there's some great stuff in there!

Pictures! I have pictures of lots of stuff - these would be from Christmas - on the left is Sara, and the right Patrick. I also did quite a bit of Christmas knitting - I didn't get pictures of everything, so I just have a bit of a representation. Final tally was 1 pair of socks for Patrick (look! Doug even learned how to knit - see below - he did one round!), 1 pair of socks for Doug out of ShiBui Sock, 1 pair of socks for my brother Dave, 1 wrap out of seasilk for my Mom (my own pattern - Mermaid Wrap which I really don't think I can post her because the shop paid me for the pattern. I suppose they basically own it, so I can't republish here), 6 felted sheep, a horizontal herringbone scarf out of Manos silk blend for Sara, a sweater for Patrick, a cabled shortie poncho out of Plymouth Baby Alpaca Grande for Sara, and an afghan for my mom and her fiance out of Manos wool. The sheep went one each to my sister-in-laws. Those are little wooden stars that I painted red, green, or yellow around their sheepy necks.

So, why don't I post too often? Guess I knit too much! I know I really need to get better about documenting my projects and I'm trying to get better about it.

Have a great day!

My computer is stupid and a FO

2008-01-24T10:53:00.000-08:00

So, a few weeks ago we had some snow. Not that big a deal, maybe 1 1/2 inches. At 6:00 the next morning, our power suddenly went out. Doug eventually got up, got ready for work and headed out into the cold unfriendliness. He was back in under 5 minutes. Apparently a large maple had fallen across the road completely blocking access to the outside world. There was a sheriff car there with lights flashing and everyone was told it would be 2 hours or more before the road would be opened again. Well, for some reason my computer has been acting strangely ever since. Naomi suggested I shut it down and repower it, which I was thinking should be done also, so I did this past weekend. Shoot. It came back on with a blue screen saying I had all sorts of corrupt file messages and the whatnot. So, the end result right now is that all of my beginning knitting teaching files are gone. Just gone. Zappo. Nowhere to be found. Same with most of my pictures, and my itunes. I'm hoping that I'm not totally messed up on the itunes, but I'm too scared to plug my ipod in to the computer. Fortunately Patrick is lending me his itrip so I can charge my big ipod that way. Does anyone know what a RICHED20.dll is? Apparently mine is gone.

My last post had a boatload of over ambitousness on my part that I'm really trying to fufill. Here's a picture of the first one - the Ella Rae T-Shirt sweater.

Ella Rae TShirt Sweater

Yarn - Atacama, color 500 8 skeins

I made the longer version, with the shorter sleeves

Started October (?) finished January 11, 2008

Love it! Really quick knit, nothing fancy which is what I was after. I really like it over a white oxford shirt with the sleeves rolled up and the tails of the shirt sticking out.

More pictures later - time to head out to work!

This, that, and the other

2008-01-18T19:29:00.000-08:00

Sorry, no pictures this post -my camera is acting weird. Probably just operator error, no surprise!

So, I thought I should write down my plans/goals for knitting this year. As you will see from my list, I tend to try and be an overachiever. Note, I said try to be, not that I actually am. So here goes.

To start this off, I have a lot of yarn. I really have a lot of yarn. Maybe not as much as alot of people out there, but still. I have decided for my own sanity, I'm not going to buy much yarn (although it's okay to buy at Madrona, of course!) this year until I get some of my projects done and some of the stash whittled down. So I plan to try and get one to two sweaters done per month. That won't take care of any of my laceweight or fingering weight, but that's okay.

January - Ella Rae TShirt Sweater in Atacama yarn, color 500. Done 1/11/08
Ruth's Kauni Cardigan
Cabled poncho for Sara in Plymouth Baby Grande Alpaca ,in dark green. Done 1/16/08
1 row of Pi Shawl per day. I started this with Naomi on January 1st. More later.

February - Peace Fleece Everyday Cardigan. Yes, I already did this in August 2007. More on this later too.
Aran sweater that was started 4 years ago. Just get it done already!
7 washcloths for Sara for her birthday. Cute cotton ones, one for each day of the week -(these will be for her birthday in March)

March - Lavold Margery Sweater in Silky Tweed
Hourglass sweater from Last Minute Knitted gifts in some yarn from Elann

April - Top down sweater out of my homespun (Spinderella's Thrums)

May - Lavold Hempathy top in orange - don't remember the name right now, doesn't matter right now
A Louet top in purple. All I remember about this pattern is that Naomi has it and it was purchased last LYS tour at churchmouse.

June - Another Lavold Hempathy top in Blue
A Louet top in a pretty blue and green tweed

July - Hand dye some knitpicks yarn I have for a new rogue (to replace the one that got shrunkified)
I have some Hemp6 but I can't remember which top, but they also came out with another top that I think I like even better.

August - Top down sweater in pink (moscow magic pink) Peace Fleece

Huh, I really thought I had this planned out through September, so that will give more more room to plan. I really think I'll be plenty busy!

Sad

2007-12-30T22:04:00.000-08:00

The Gowey family lost another beloved member tonight, the last one of the older generation. Doug's Aunt Kathy passed away this evening due to complications of a broken hip. She broke her hip about 3 or 4 weeks ago, and she never really recovered from it.

Aunt Kathy was the one who gave Sara her early appreciation for tea. She had small teapots (brown betties) that the girls (her great-nieces) were always allowed to use when they'd come over to visit. She had a marvelous doll house that was the anticipation of many a visit for the kids. She and her husband Hal (who passed away many years ago, not quite sure how long ago) would make the kids wonderful homemade toys - dolls, small knitted items, trucks, boats and many miniature items. Every Christmas would have a new intricately designed Christmas card.
She also had a very dry wit about her and she knew so much about the family history.

Kathy and Hal never had children of their own, so really took an interest in their nieces and nephews and their families. She will be greatly missed by us all.

Knitting still goes on here, but I've just taken a "too busy" break from blogging I guess. I hope to be more consistent soon!

"Darlin' it's betta, down where it's wetta"

2007-12-03T14:19:00.000-08:00

And the rain just keeps coming. I don't know how many inches so far today, but wow. I ended up not going into work - I tried getting down Juanita Drive towards work this morning and got stuck in standing traffic. Apparently there is quite a bit of flooding in Kenmore, and then also in Lake Forest Park. I called into work and Deb and I decided there would be enough warm bodies there today for me to turn around and go home. Deb called back later this morning and said someone else had gone my same route and it took them 3 hours. It usually just takes me 20 minutes. All around me are flooded roads - Kirkland, Bothell, Kenmore. Wet, wet, wet.

Doug called earlier today and the parking lot where he works was flooding. The rain will let up for 15 minutes or so, and then we are back to torrents. I'm glad I live on top of the hill, away from the ravine!

So, I'm home today, drinking tea - checking king5.com for reports and catching up on knitting.

Stay dry and warm!

It's raining....

2007-12-03T08:53:00.000-08:00

It's pouring! We have had quite a weekend of weather around here - two inches or so of snow on Saturday, and then the temperatures quickly rose 10 degrees and it's been raining buckets every since. There are apparently quite a few mudslides around town, and many roads are starting to be closed due to flooding. Great. We should be getting a windstorm sometime this afternoon too. I didn't have a blog last December when we had the huge storm, but I can tell you it was a mess. And it can be a bit scary (and most likely stupid!) driving underneath huge fir trees leaning over the road.

So what have I been doing during my time under a rock in November? I definitely have been knitting, but nothing really has been finished. Patrick came home for Thanksgiving, and tried his sweater on. I had worked and worked to get it up to the underarms. Now, he's very athletic, and likes his clothing to be more profile fitting. No baggy clothes for him! So, I made the size small, and got to his recommended 17" long from the underarms. Tried it on. Drat - it needed to be another inch or two bigger around. So, I spent two days powering through restarting the sweater. It's now 8 stitches bigger around, and 18 1/2" to the underarms. I've now started the sleeves - we'll see how that goes!

I also finished a pair of socks for my brother. These are out of Lana Grossa Mega Boots stretch in color 719. Looking at the skein I had, I thought there was just browns and greys in the mix. There is actually a section of blue in there too. Hope he likes them! He doesn't understand the merits of handknit socks, so we shall see.

Also new in the mix are a whole flock of sheep!

I really like the Fibertrends sheep pattern. There are two at the shop that I made a few years ago. Really cute with a waxed linen string around their neck and a rusty star. Sort of reminds me of the old German sheep. These are destined for my sisters-in-law. (Psst - Eliza! Don't tell!)

I still have 2 pairs of socks to make, one more fetching glove, a scarf of some sort out of the new Manos silk blend (ooo, yummy!) finish Patrick's sweater, a SeaSilk wrap for my mom and finish one more block on an afghan. Whew!

Day Late....

2007-12-02T09:18:00.001-08:00

Happy December 1st! Although today is really Sunday, I had really wanted to post yesterday, just was out all day and busy last night.

In our family, December 1st has been the day to kick off the Christmas season. I buy a wreath for the door, the Christmas dishes come out, we have a nice dinner and it's okay to start putting out decorations and play Christmas music. When the kids were at home, they would get their advent calendar at dinner. Sundays in December are always a nice sit down dinner, and we even get dessert!(we never have dessert!)

Last night, we had a smaller version of what I've done in the past. Doug and I had been out shopping all day (we are trying to find a new loveseat/couch for our living room) and time was getting short to make dinner. I ended up making Butternut Squash Risotto with Kalamata Olive bread from Trader Joe's and Steamed Asparagus. We also had some pink champagne to drink. Dessert was to have been lemon tarts, but we were too full!

Happy December 1st!

Frustrated

2007-11-12T08:58:00.000-08:00

ETA - I did finally get in and I did get my classes just fine. I'm taking Ruth's designing with Kauni yarn all day Friday, and Judith's Spinning for Socks on Sunday afternoon. Village Yarn and Tea will have a vendor booth there too, so I'll spend my non-class time working there and having fun with friends at night!

I got up all ready to register for Madrona Fiber Arts this morning. Got everything all filled out, my classes were still open and - bam!- an error message. Not twice, but five seperate times. I really wanted the class with Ruth on designing with Kauni yarns and the class with Judith on spinning for socks. Now registration is suspended due to technical difficulties, and I have to head off to work.

Poor Suzanne - I know it's not her fault at all - we are also having a bit of a windstorm out here, so I wonder if that was part of the problem.

Goin' for it~

2007-11-10T21:50:00.000-08:00

I learned a nifty new bind-off technique today from Naomi and Melinda who had learned it at the Nihon class they are taking. It's similar to a 3-needle bind off, but it doesn't have such a thick selvage on the wrong side. Nice. So, after accidentally seaming the two front edges together (oops!) I'm ready to baste the steek stitches and cut the armholes. Oh my. Here goes!This is my new sewing machine. It's not fancy at all, but it's fairly heavy duty and has what I need. I've sewn since I was 10, and I'm not one for the computerized or embroidery machines. Maybe one day, but this is good for now. I had a great Bernina Sport machine but I gave it to Sara when she moved into her apartment in September.

Here's the beginning of the basting.

And the cut. There's no going back from here! Next I need to pick up stitches for the sleeves. At least I'm still breathing!

Over the (blue) moon

2007-11-10T11:01:00.000-08:00

Amy, Naomi and I did a group order for some Blue Moon goodness a couple of weeks ago. It arrived yesterday!

I bought STR in Rocktober, Grinchy and JingleBell Rock. I also was talked into Laci in Red Clover Honey (I see Bee Fields in my future!) and I also got a Sheep to Shoe kit in Thistle. I really want to get better at spinning for socks, so we'll see.

I'm off to get a haircut and then Naomi's for an afternoon of knitting, friends, and fun. I'm hoping to finally decide if and how I'm going to get my shoulder seams finished for my Kauni. I need to move on with it.

Patrick's sweater is coming along. The pattern is written to be 15" from the cast-on edge to the armholes. I'm there now, so I've sent off an email to him to measure himself and a favorite other shirt (he doesn't wear sweaters - hasn't found the right one yet - )to figure out really how long he wants it.

I've made a bit of progress on my Ella Rae sweater - I put it aside for a bit to work on Patrick's, but since I'm waiting to hear from him, I can work more on it. I've been working it two balls at a time, switching them out every second row. It's looking great! I think it's doing a great job of not pooling or flashing.

(No, this is not me)

I think I can, I think I can....

2007-11-09T15:04:00.000-08:00

I think I have my Christmas gift knitting all set. Of course various people who will be recipients of same gifts pop in to read my blog from time to time, so I guess I can't say too much about them. Patrick knows what I'm making, as he picked it out. I'm modifying the ribbed cardigan in Last Minute Knitted Gifts to be a 1/4-zip pullover. He picked Plymouth Tweed in charcoal and away I went. I swatched Tuesday night, got gauge and finally cast on Wednesday night.

Let me say here and now that I am not a perfect knitter. I know. It's shocking, huh? So, I got about 5 inches into the thing and I realized the whole front was going to be wonky. You see, the pattern is for a full zip cardigan. There are k2 ribs on either side of the zipper and the body is knit all in a one piece 4x4 rib. So I had merrily cast on my full cadre of stitches and went on my way. I stopped to admire the work and I realized that the zipper placement will just not look right with a K4 on the right and a P4 on the left. Dumb, dumb, dumb. Off to the frog pond with that baby.

Cast back on yesterday morning and I left four stitches off on each side. I don't need a zipper selvedge, and Patrick wants to make sure it is not at all baggy - more athletic cut. So now I have the center front centered on a K4 rib and that will be divided (K2,zipper,K2) at the appropriate time.

Here's progress so far:

It does seem to be going rather quickly - I need 15" until the armhole shaping - I think I'm around 9 inches right now.

I'll post more later tonight - Amy and I are headed to IKEA to check our their Christmas stuff and who knows what else. I'll leave you with two recently finished shop models.

even more....

2007-10-31T09:01:00.001-07:00

Just a few more pictures from Cannon Beach, and then on to new things: We went to the Lazy Susan (awesome breakfasts!) Sunday morning. I had a oatmeal waffle - who knew it would be a happy waffle? The other pictures are Amy and Naomi's food. Yum!

Other favorite landmarks are the Cannon Beach Bakery (Haystack Bread!) and Bruce's Candy Kitchen. I guess all things change at some point. The bakery has moved into new quarters since the last time I went, and Bruce's is up for a major remodel starting soon -I think they said November. That would be the lovely Amy pointing out the bakery sign.

Onto knitting! In mid-September, I talked about taking a workshop with Evelyn Clark on designing lace triangles. I did finally finish mine.

I used 1 skein of Malabrigo Lace and size 4 Addi lace needles. I'm not sure you can see the detail all that well, but it starts out with leaves, then a ripple motif, a medallion and then repeats the ripple and leaves. Fun to do. The book is marvelous. A great jumping off point to start to wrap my head around designing shawls.

While at Cannon Beach, we made many, many stops at Coastal Yarns right there in town. It was the first stop before even checking into our motel (we arrived 15 minutes before closing) and stopped in a few more times Saturday and Sunday. I ended up buying some STR and some Atacama in color 500 to make the Ella Rae t-shirt sweater. Since it's a handpainted yarn, I'm going to work two balls at the same time so I hopefully won't get too much pooling.

Obviously, I've started the sweater. I couldn't help myself!

Boo!

2007-10-30T22:27:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween to you!

No, I did not get washed to sea at Cannon Beach, I did not get blown away in the windstorm we had two weeks ago and yes, I'm fine. I've just been really busy with work and getting some stuff done around here, but mostly trying to get knitting projects done. It seems most days for me are get up early, work on a shop model (once in awhile something for me) go to work and work and teach for up to 10 hours and come home, make dinner and knit for a few more hours. I'm not complaining at all - I said I could work more hours - I'm just tired alot.

I've decided on a self-imposed knitting break for shop models for a bit. I need to be able to get a few of my own projects done and I have some gifts to make. I forgot to take pictures of the lastest shop models to post here, so I'll try and remember tomorrow. I hope.

So, instead of a hugely long post, I'll just put up some new pictures and tell you about them. I'll probably do this for a few days and hopefully catch up. That's also one of the reasons I haven't been posting - things start adding up, then I get overwhelmed about the amount of time it would take to chronicle it all. Okay, enough jabbering,let's have some pictures. I realize I never posted anything about Cannon Beach. Here's a photo montag- basically we knit, hung out, shop,ate, knit some more, got soaked by rain, then knit and ate more. See a pattern?

This is a picture of the house that my dad's side of the family owned for about 40 years. It was bought by my grandparents in 1959. We sold it in 2001. I still miss that we don't have ownership, but that's another story. I love that it still looks exactly the same. I miss you Beach House!

Guess that's it for pictures for now - Blogger isn't letting me upload anymore. Maybe they went to bed. I think I need to do the same!

Ravelry

2007-10-04T19:06:00.001-07:00

I've finally decided on a name for ravelry. Look for me as middlename!

"All my bags are packed.....

2007-09-28T10:22:00.000-07:00

I'm ready to go! Today is the day Naomi, Amy and I are headed out to Cannon Beach for a quick little knitting weekend. Of course, there is more to do in Cannon Beach. Bruce's Candy Kitchen, Bill's Tavern, Lazy Susan Cafe, Pizza a Fetta and more await us. Oh, of course there's Coastal Yarns too.

Patrick knows I'm only a cell phone away. He's out of the hospital as of yesterday afternoon and back at his dorm. He has lots of friends visiting with him, and I'm sure quite a bit of homework to catch up on. I don't think I'll be headed over right now, but of course I had already checked out all the airline flights (of which there were none, I'd have to drive) just in case he had gone to surgery.

Oh -there's the Noni adventure bag - yes, it holds a lot of stuff. I've got sweaters and sweatshirts and more in there. I think I may add some shorty handles on the sides later though. It seems that I'm asking a lot of that one strap!

I'll be back late Sunday night - hold down the fort!

Oh my.

2007-09-25T22:18:00.000-07:00

Wed. morning update: I called Patrick at 8 this morning. He did not have to go into surgery last night, he doesn't know anything else yet. He's very tired and hungry (he hasn't eaten since 3 pm Monday. Hopefully I'll hear more later today.

I got a call from Patrick (my son) while at work this afternoon. "Mom, I messed up my leg playing soccer last night (he plays on two intramural teams) I'm not sure if it's broken."

So a couple of calls back and forth with updates. Yes, he has indeed broken his fibula. By getting kicked. He spent a majority of the day at the WSU clinic, and they noted that the capillary pressures in his leg were elevated to a degree that they weren't comfortable with. They transferred him to the hospital in Pullman, where they are monitoring him overnight. If the pressure goes too high, they will be performing emergency surgery.

I really want to be able to go and sit with him, but I can't. Work is such that I can't be gone right now, we don't have anyone to cover for me. Patrick is actually a really healthy, athletic kid - he has never had a broken bone, never been in the hospital except for when he was born. Right now, we are just checking in on him by phone. I did speak with the orthopedic surgeon tonight, and, after checking him out on the internet, -don't we all love Google!! - it turns out he had played football for the Cougars for a few years in the 80's, got hurt a few times too many, and decided to go into medicine. He graduated with his MD from UW, and is the football team doctor for both WSU and Univ. of Idaho. I think Patrick is in great hands, I'm just hoping the pressure will go down and he can skip surgery and the resulting scars and rod in his leg.

Wow.

Knitting - finished my humongo Noni bag tonight - got the rings for the handle on, and zipper is sewn it. I wanted to get purse feet for it tonight, but obviously I had other pressing matters to attend to. Hopefully tomorrow night. I plan to use this bag this weekend!

Heroes and Cannon Beach

2007-09-24T22:42:00.000-07:00

I'm so excited that Heroes finally started again tonight! I love, love, love this show. Both my daughter and I watch it, so it's kinda fun to compare notes and see what insights she might have.
I also really like Grey's Anatomy - I often go over to Amy's to watch it . It's really fun to watch a favorite show with a friend! Besides, Amys is pretty much the ultimate hostess.

Knitting front - I'm going to Cannon Beach with Amy and Naomi this weekend, so I'm trying to figure out what to bring. I've already decided to not bring shop knitting (duh!) so I'm leaning towards my Kauni, Elsebeth Lavold's Margery and the latest Socks that Rock club socks. That should keep me plenty busy.

What are you working on?

A-OK

2007-09-21T19:28:00.000-07:00

Thanks everyone for your well wishes for my mom. I spent the day at the hospital today and the surgery was just fine. Very routine surgery. Mom will spend the night at the hospital tonight, just to monitor her, and the Dr. said he plans to release her tomorrow. Knit a bunch on a monkey sock (2/3 done) and just chatted and read a book. Tonight, we are folding the programs?/bulletins? what ever you hand out at a memorial service. Tomorrow will be Ed's service and we will have a family pizza get-together afterwards.

Not much else - enjoy your weekend!

I'm in! I'm in!

2007-09-20T20:45:00.000-07:00

I just got home from work and my Ravelry invite was in my inbox! Hurray! Now I can see what the fuss is about. Of course, first I need to stress over what my user name should be. Is thatsmymiddlename too long? Should I pick something else?

of bento, lace and fun

2007-09-20T10:59:00.000-07:00

This past Friday (okay, I know it's almost been a week, but I'm trying!) I went and saw a harlot. Not just any harlot, but this one.

Stephanie Pearl-McPhee aka the yarn harlot was in the 'hood. I met up with Naomi, Amy,
Ryan and TMK at Third Place Books. She was hilarious! I had met her before (she stopped in at the shop before her talk for the the first book), but I had never heard her speak.

Earlier in the day, Amy and I took a quick break in our days to head over to Bad Woman Knits and Trophy Cupcakes. I didn't get anything at Bad Woman, but I did have a vanilla with chocolate frosting cupcake and bought 2 buttons for my knitting bag. The cupcake was good, but since I don't really each much sugar, it was a bit too sweet for me. I felt like I was on extreme sugar high for the rest of the afternoon!

Do you know Jane Jenni buttons? They had a bunch of these that I hadn't seen before. On my knitting bag I've had happy camper and busy bee for a while. Now added to the collection are black sheep and goof ball.

I've been trying to get another sweater done for this weekend. Saturday will be my father-in-law's memorial service, and I wanted something not so somber to wear. This will be the Tithe sweater (no link available) from the book "Noro Unlimited".
The sweater is fairly unstructured, and didn't even have ribbing at the edges. I changed that to four rows of seed stitch, as I really didn't want the rolled edge look. The sleeves are elbow length, so I really think I'll be able to get it done today, block at work and seam tomorrow. Oh - the yarn is Noro Kureyon, color 188 (scrumptious, no?)

Last weekend I was lucky enough to get to take a workshop with Evelyn Clark. She is such a nice person. We worked on making our own designs using her new book (great stuff!) and also how to chart and design our own lace. She is so gracious at sharing information so that we too can design. I also love that she throws in quirkly sayings like I do, such as "wonky". Naomi also took the workshop, so we carpooled together. Very,very fun weekend. Here is my progress on a shawl using the book:

It's sort of hard to see, (very hard to see?) but it will have three sections of leaves at the top, transition to ripple, then medallion, ripple, and 3 sets of leaves. What's my story? It's leaves, with wind (ripple) and the sun (medallion). Evelyn talked about having a theme or a story to your work, so that it had a flow to it. So, that's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

I'm really looking forward to putting the designing bits into practice, but want to finish this green number first, and probably finish the Mystery Stole also. Oh, I decided that even though I'm a bit hesistant about the wing on the MS3, I'm just going to go for it as written. The finished stoles I've seen on the web are quite pretty.

Why bento in the title? Sara spent the summer commuting to her job and class on campus at the UW. She has long been into everything Japanese, so she made bento lunches most days. I was even the lucky receipient a few times. Here is one of her creations. I especially like where she took two different colored plums, cut a star shape out of each and then swapped colors. So cute!
It's a bit hard to see in the pix, but it's the dark purple moundy thing near the top.I signed up for Ravelry a few months back. Now that it's old hat for most people, I'm almost on! I checked this morning, and there are only 180 people ahead of me. I bet I get on it the day before they are done beta testing. Off to finish my sleeve!

ETA: For any of you that pray, or can just wish good thoughts my way, I'd appreciate it tomorrow. My mom is going in for some vascular surgery (carotid artery) tomorrow morning. Should be fine, but it is considered pretty major surgery with risk of stroke among other things. My brother and I are headed down to wait it out with her fiance at 5:15 tomorrow morning. The procedure starts at 6 am, should last three hours. Thanks, I really appreciate the support.

all the pretty houses

2007-09-20T08:42:00.001-07:00

See these birdhouses? When Doug and I took Patrick to WSU in August, we took a few afternoon side trips in the Idaho countryside. This was just outside of one of the many small towns around Moscow. There was this big red barn, and then on the east side of the barn, every fence post had a painted red bird house attached. I thought they might be bluebird houses, but I think they are too low to the ground and on a fairly busy road. The west side of the barn had pastel bird houses, laid out in the same manner. I just thought they were so charming!So, too much time has passed since we took him over to blog about. But, Thursday night (when we were looking to pass some time) we went and saw "Hairspray" and had beer and a light dinner at this cool old pub in downtown Pullman. I saw Hairspray at the 5th Avenue theatre on the premier night and loved it, so was really looking forward to seeing the movie. It was great. I laughed so hard - very funny to see John Travolta in a pink sequined dress, dancing and singing. Oh my.

On the way home after our weekend in the Palouse, we decided to get some dinner. We don't always like to stop at the chain restaurants(McD's, Taco Smell and the like), and usually have good luck with those little local hamburger places you find in small towns. We both really like onion rings, so we informally started an onion ring tour this summer. Not that we have been going out of our way to do so, it's just something fun. Anyway, we thought we'd stop in at Ellensburg to get some dinner. The exit we took just had the usual chain places, and we decided to skip them and keep looking. We spotted a sign for "Red Horse Diner" on the freeway and decided to investigate. This is what we found:

It's an old gas station themed diner. Hamburgers and sandwiches are named after cars. Really good food too (including, yes, onion rings!) The funny thing about this place is that when I was growing up in Portland (Oregon), there was a Mobilgas station just around the corner from our house. I could see this same horse sign out my bedroom window, and it was sort of what I remember as my nightlight.

Knitting has been taking place around here - the Noni bag that ate my firepit has been felted,it definitely is smaller, yet still quite large. I finally found some rings that will work, and now need to put the zipper in and attach the rings. I plan to use this as a weekend travel bag.

We have a Noni trunk show in at work right now. One of the bags is the medium adventure bag. I hope to get a picture of all three of the bags lined up in a row, since I have also made the smallest adventure bag awhile back... guess I need to hustle and get this one done!

I did block my adventures in color blending Koigu shawl. I think it turned out quite pretty.

I have a question for those of you who have knit lace shawls - how do you store them? On a hanger? In a drawer or storage box? Right now I've been carefully folding them and putting them in a drawer. Just looking to see if there are better options out there.

I DID IT!!

2007-09-10T11:33:00.000-07:00

This past weekend in Seattle I walked 60 miles. Most of you know by now that I participated in the Susan G. Komen 3-day walk for Breast Cancer. I don't have any pictures of the event, because I tend to be a don't break the rules type of person. The packing list said no cell phones, no cameras, so I didn't bring them. Turns out most people did. I'll just have to recap in words (hopefully there will be some pictures somewhere, and I can add them later!)

So here's a "quick as I can" version of my experience.

I couldn't sleep at all the night before. Not because I was excited, but because I was very apprehensive about the whole thing. I was scared. I've had tendonitits in my left ankle all along, I'm not an especially athletic person and I didn't know anyone participating.

The starting point was Bellevue Community College. It began with Opening ceremonies, a group stretch and then we hit the road around 7 am. There were around 2500 participants. It was so cool to cross overpasses and have cars honking and waving. Along the street you could see commuters in their cars - some wouldn't look at us, some were moved to tears. Very inspirational. We crossed over the I-90 bridge into Mercer Island, then into Seattle. Walked down towards the Stan Sayres pits where there was a cheering section, (I saw Patty and Mary driving by - they had been passing out knitted sweatbands and saved me one!) I saw some rowers in the distance (hey Patrick - it was Mt. Bakers masters, 2 8's, 1 quad and a pair), and had lunch at Seward Park. This was my first exposure to how much food they give you. We had pit stops every 2.5 miles or so - port-a-potties, water, gatorade, snacks like chips, pretzels, animal cookies, bananas, oranges. At lunch they gave us a sandwich, chips, an apple, potato salad and cookies. They are constantly telling you to "eat, drink and pee". I ended up carrying a good portion of my lunch along the way because I just couldn't eat it all, and didn't want to throw it away. After lunch we headed down through Renton, and to another cheering station in Tukwila. My mom and her fiance were at this one. she had a poster saying "Go, Ellen", a candy bar (Big Hunk -her favorite - I didn't take it) and a small battery operated fan. The fan was great, and it was great to see someone I know. The cheering sections were fun because so many people were there cheering on not just their family members, but all of us. Lots of cute little kids with spray bottles, candies, stickers, popsicles. I don't normally buy Otter pops - but they sure taste good when you are walking! Lots of cheering and positive things to say. The best is when you see survivors, and they are thanking you. Very moving.

We finished up the first day by heading to Burien, past the back side of Sea-Tac airport. There was this long, gradual hill - it just seemed to go on forever. I was pretty exhausted at that point but I kept going on. It was great to be done the first day. 23.5 miles. Wow. The furthest I had ever walked in my life. Got my gear, grabbed a tent to set up and found my designated campsite. There were two angel-girls there that showed up out of nowhere. They were local girl scouts who were doing community service, setting up our tents. How sweet. I know it's just thread the poles through the holes and pop the tent up, but it was so nice that they did it for me. Waited around a bit for my randomly selected tent mate to show up, but she never did. Turns out some people don't show. I had the tent to myself, good and bad. Good, in that I could spread my stuff out, and sleep in the middle of the tent (there was so much dew, the sides leaked the first morning). Bad, in that I didn't really have anyone to hang out with. It was a bit lonely. Went to dinner, had spaghetti, salad and an eclair (they ran out of green beans and rolls in my line) and then a shower after.

Ah yes, the showers. One of my greatest fears - communal showers. So this wasn't really communal showers, just communal undressing. I did it, but very quickly. Harumph.

Went to bed around 9. I had brought some knitting along - I'm a knitter, I had to! - but only got half a round on a sock and decided I was too tired and just went to sleep.

Day 2: Didn't sleep at all the night before 'cause I was too cold. I knew the route opened at 6:30 so I was up at 5:30, ate breakfast, group stretching and off I went. Day 2 was 19.5 miles - we were by the Sea-Tac runways, saw lots of planes taking off, down to Des Moines along the waterfront there, and past gorgeous homes along the way. There is a fun looking farmers' market on the waterfront. I'd like to go back and visit it. Very, very nice day, lots of breeze. Lots of hills too. It's much harder to go downhill than uphill I found out. Really hard on the knees and toes. We basically did a loop from our camp south, then back to camp.

Day 3: Slept a bit better, had a sleeping bag warmer pouch that helped a bit. We had to pack up our gear and tents before hitting the road, so I planned to get up at 5:30 and get on the bus at 6:30. People in tents behind me had a different idea, as they were up at 4:30 talking and packing. I rolled out at 4:45, packed up, ate and ended up on one of the earlier buses. We were bused up to Lincoln Park near the Coleman ferry docks. Day 3 took us through West Seattle (more pricey homes!) and along Alki. There were quite a few people out on Alki, cheering us on. Headed across the West Seattle bridge into Seattle, up towards the stadiums. There was a Seahawks game yesterday, so we were in the midst of all that craziness too. What I didn't know at the time was that I was in the front of the pack so to speak. We were having to try and get these people who were having tailgate parties to get out of our way, and they didn't really know what was going on yet. Were they going to be in for an awakening later! The last pit stop was right by Qwest field. Awesome - they said we were at the 57-mile point. At that point I knew I was going to be able to finish - 3 miles was a piece of cake! I got a quick snack - I usually grabbed a half banana, filled up my water bottle, and a bag of pretzels and I was off with a new spring in my step. I ended up getting to Seattle Center at 1 pm. It was so cool - there were lots of people lining the sides as we crossed the 60 mile point. People cheering inside the holding area too, where we picked up our tee-shirts. There weren't very many people there in the building at the time. I asked one of the staff people where everyone went, and she said they hadn't arrived yet. This shocked me. For three days, I had been passed by so many people. I actually was one of the first 100 or so to get to the finish. It's not a race at all, but I really pushed myself all three days to be in the middle of the pack. I think I did okay.

Thanks so much to all of you who donated. I needed to raise a minimum of $2200 in order to participate. With your help, I raised over $2700. I am inspired. You guys kept me going. I didn't want to let anyone down. Thank you so, so much.

So, what did I learn?

Just do it. Don't put things off until you are in better shape or whatever. You never know when your time will come. The time to do is now.

Eat bananas. Good for their potassium. Great for achy muscles. Who knew?

Chat with people. Reach out. Share experiences. Take time to listen.

It's okay to break the rules sometimes. Next time, I'm getting a bigger pack to carry, and my cell phone and camera are coming with me.

Burt's bees lipgloss does not have sunscreen. Yes, wonderfully minty fresh, but now my lips are swollen. Ow. Need better sunscreen too.

Last, but not least, push yourself but don't hurt yourself. You can do more than you think you can. There were all sizes and abilities on this walk. Very athletic people, very non-athletic people. Cancer survivors, current cancer patients, old people, young people (16 and older). Some were men who lost a wife or mother to breast cancer.

Okay, I'm off. Have to work and teach tonight.

One more thing. I am definitely doing this again. Hopefully next year. Want to sponsor me?? (I'm starting early!)

Thank you!

2007-08-30T08:08:00.000-07:00

Thanks for all of your kind words about Ed's passing. And, if you are coming here from Amy's blog, thank you so much for your contributions towards my 3-day goal. Oh my goodness, I am so touched by this - especially when I see the dedications to loved ones who have passed on. Thank you so, so much. Amy had been so sweet to run a contest for me on her blog. Thanks so much Amy!

It's time to post some knitting. It definitely has been missing here, but I have been working on stuff. I finished my first pair of monkey socks.

These were so fun! I used Fleece Artist merino in an older colorway. It took me a bit to figure out the repetition of the pattern, but once I understood the pattern, it was smooth sailing. I did 5 repeats (short legs), heel, then 6 repeats for the foot. I've started another color with some failed hand-dyed that I had hanging around.What is failed hand-dyed you ask? Well, some friends and I had a dye day two summers ago and we didn't realize that the dye had to set for a bit before we rinsed it. Oops. So what should have been a purple, blue and a forgotten third color turned out to be a grayish purple, turquoise, hot pink monstrosity. Monkey socks are so cool though, that any color would look okay. We'll see....

I started this little number at Naomi's on July 28th. It's been ready to steek for a bit over a week now, but I'm dragging my feet. See, I've never steeked. I'm sure it will be fine, I know the decreases are right at the neck, but I'm waiting for a second opinion. I also need to measure it against another cardigan, I want to know that it will fit! (ETA: I just measured it against an Eddie Bauer size M cardigan I have. It's the same - yahoo!)

Oh - another quickie flew off my needles. I don't have a picture of it on my camera, but I did an Everyday Cardigan in Peace Fleece, colorway Grassroots. I started it in the car on the way to Pullman 8/15, and finished it this past Monday 8/27. I made the size 44" to be able to layer it. It's at work right now waiting for some cool buttons to finish it off. Hopefully in the next few days. I like Peace Fleece - it's not the softest wool, but I like it's rough, workhorse nature. Apparently we got our shipment in at work yesterday, I might get some of the pink to make an hourglass sweater from Last Minute Knits.

Edward Archie Gowey

2007-08-29T17:33:00.001-07:00

My father-in-law, Ed or "Papa" as my kids called him passed away this morning at 6:59 am. I was closer to him than I am my own father, and really a great model of what a father should be.

He and his wife, Donnie, would have celebrated their 60th anniversary next week. Wow. It's so hard to believe that they are both gone.

Ed was king of the silly songs - "you are my favorite chunk of cheese" was one that kept running through my head this morning as family gathered to say our last goodbyes before they took him to the funeral home. He also worked at the same job for either 54 or 55 years, as an accountant for Fisher Flour Mills - those in Seattle would know this as the family that also owns KOMO tv and of the famous fair scones.

He died peacefully and without pain, his blood pressure just got lower and lower- his heart was just too weak. He had suffered from dementia for the past 2 1/2 years or so, there were times he would know us, and other times he wouldn't. But he also had 6 children, children-in-law and 14 grandchildren and some of them with spouses to try and keep straight. As our kids were growing up, he would often pull one of us to the side and say how proud he was of how we were raising our family and how he himself had such a wonderful family.

Ed, you were and are so very loved by your entire family. You will be sorely missed, but I'm so glad you are at peace now and are home with Donnie.

Edward Archie Gowey b. 1-24-1924 d. 8-29-2007

Chatter Creek

2007-08-26T17:19:00.000-07:00

The first weekend of August, the majority of Doug's side of the family went camping at Chatter Creek campground, 16 miles outside of Leavenworth. The last time we did this was 14 years ago, Sara would have been 7, Patrick 4. It's hard to believe it was so long ago! We did this for about 3 or 4 summers (no one is sure exactly which) and the kids (nieces and nephews) wanted to reinstate this tradition. We were able to get a reservation for the group site, and plans were made.

All in all, there were 21 of us, 8 adults and 13 kids. These "kids" aren't really kids anymore -except for two of them -2 year old Amanda and almost 5 year old Kayla. The others ranged in age from 18 to 30 (her birthday is next week). Our nephew Robert (Rob) was even able to join us - he currently lives in Colorado.

It was just a short, 3 day trip, but fun nevertheless. It was fun playing games around the campfire and just hanging out and chatting. Two of my sister-in-laws and I went into Cashmere to check out an antique mall. On the way, we saw a mama deer and 3 (3!) babies. I'm not sure if she "adopted" one, or if it's possible to for deer to have triplets. Unfortunately, I was only able to get a picture of two of them crossing the road.

Whenever the Gowey boys get together, much silliness ensues. They are all adults, with adult jobs, but get the four of them together and they are silly boys. Christmas, they make the stuffed animals "talk" and throw candy across the room. Easter, the kids might find olives or carrots in their plastic easter eggs during the family easter egg hunt. There are 6 kids in their family, 2 girls, 4 boys. (girl, boy, boy, girl, boy, boy) The girls didn't come on this trip (oldest sister's 2 daughters came with their husbands)but all four of the boys were there with their families. There is always some type of a friendly competition going on, which included this time, among other activities, frisbee golf. But the end of our trip was the best. Doug(my husband, 5th child), Patrick and Mike (3rd child) made boats to float down the creek. Doug had the Bud boat (modified beer can), Mike had a juice bottle boat, and Patrick had a wood boat he had been carving part of the weekend. The passengers were some army guys some previous camper-child had left strewn around the campsite. Everyone got all packed up, and then it was time for the race. This is pure silliness, but I was able to get a portion of this excitement preserved as a video clip. (Hmmm... I just spent 5 hours trying to get it to download - it's taking much too long, I think I'll skip the video!)

Here are some more various pictures from the weekend (no glamour shots, we were camping, no makeup was involved....) I guess it looks like we just sat around all weekend!

We're going back next year!

Welcome Baby Noah!

2007-08-24T11:09:00.000-07:00

Noah Jonathan (leaving out the last name for privacy!) was born on July 27th. His mom is Tava - a customer/student/friend. Ipreviously posted a very close up picture of a sweater I knit for him, but waited to post the final product until I knew for sure the sweater was in hand.

So here it is:

I'm terrible about pattern specs. I know it took me about 3 days to knit and put together.

Pattern: Kai Cable Sweater from Natural Knits for Babies and Moms by Louisa Harding.

Yarn: 2 skeins Blue Sky Alpaca, Cotton worsted

Size: 1 yr.

One really nifty thing about this pattern is that the neck was knit flat. There is a split in the cable to give a bit of extra room for getting over baby's head. Genius!

So cute. Love this book. I recommend this book all the time for people knitting for moms-to-be and babies. The most clever thing about this book is that it starts with maternity items, goes to cute, simple, practical baby clothing, and then goes on to nursing tops for mom.

Happy Birthday, Naomi!

2007-08-24T08:22:00.000-07:00

Today is Naomi's birthday! She should have had the day off from work, but she's swamped, so she doesn't. Poor girl!

Hop on over to her blog and wish her Happy Birthday!

Naomi and I met at Village Yarn and Tea where she was taking a class. This would be Rebecca's Thursday night "Build Your Skills" class. This is always a fun group, and I like to see how everyone is doing and what they are working on. Naomi was always making something that either I had already made, or had plans to make. We are pretty funny that way, we are often drawn to the same colorways and/or the same patterns. It's sort of a funny joke/bond we have. She's just a very sweet person with a heart of gold.

Felted firepit cover

2007-08-24T07:45:00.000-07:00

Remember this? It grew to this -

And finally this monstrosity, otherwise known as a firepit cover.

What is it you ask? It's the largest Noni adventure bag. Boy this thing is huge! Not too much to the construction of it - a basic bag, no shaping or anything. Add some little strap tabs, knit some more and then an 8-stitch I-cord/strap to be attached later. I'm hoping to felt it today. The pattern called for 9 skeins of Cascade 220, I only used 8. I was right on gauge, so I suspect that the designer possibly only used a small portion of the last skein. I ended up with about 15" of yarn at the end. That's the little squiglet you see on the bag here:I wanted to felt it last week as soon as I had cast off, so I asked the boys (husband and son) if they had any jeans that needed to be washed. They(wanting to know what ulterior motives I might have with their pant wear of choice) warily asked "Why...?" Turns out they really don't appreciate my taking their jeans and washing them in hot water for 20 minutes or so. It tends to shrink them especially lengthwise. So my plan is to buy two pairs of jeans at value village today and those will be my felting jeans.

Funny felting story. I don't felt with towels anymore after Christmas Eve, about two years ago. See, I had made this really cute purse for my niece Heather for Christmas, and the last step was felting. No jeans were to be had, so I went and grabbed a couple of towels and proceeded on my merry way. I had used Mountain Colors Mountain Goat, it felted beautifully and it was all good. Until. Yep, until I took it out and noticed a few little lint-y nubbins from the towel. Okay, I figured I'd just pick those out when it was all dry. Well, as the bag dried some more, many more towel nubbins became apparent. Like the body of the bag and the strap were absolutely covered. Do you have any idea how long it takes to pick all of those out with tweezers? Wow. No more towels for me. Now I know I should use a zippered pillow cover or lingerie bag, but I don't most of the time. Everytime I teach a felting class though, I do tell this story and recommend some sort of case or whatnot. So I'm a jeans girl.

I'll post a picture when it's done with the zipper sewn in and the straps attached.

Stitch and Pitch

2007-08-23T20:43:00.000-07:00

and on we go with updating....

So the day of Stitch and Pitch was fun - we got to the field about 3:15 or 3:3o or so. The cool thing about this event is that we go through the VIP entrance where there are some offices, a receptionist and such. We go through these big service type elevators and then go to the set up area. We have had the same spot for the past three years. It's in an open area where we can actually see the field, the scoreboard and the fans. Some shops have been in the outer concourse area, where I think you just wouldn't feel as much a part of the game. Just my feeling.

I love working Stitch and Pitch. I love seeing our customers out in another venue, and they are all excited to see us, and introduce us to their best friend/mom/sister whatever. There is so much energy going on. Here's some pictures from the evening:

Deb munching on some dinner: (she'll love this one!) I spyed Libby (one of our customers),

is she working on her sock pal sock?

Look at all the knitters!
The view from our side of the table:

and here's what we had to sell:

I did buy some goodies too. The purple and black cones are for the Habu Stainless Steel scarf - I know it has a better name, but I don't remember it. The important thing is this - stainless steel yarn, and the japanese pattern. Cool interesting yarn, and a bit of a dabble into reading the japanese patterns. The pretty, pretty green yarn is Malabrigio laceweight.

Of course, I brought the goodies back to our table, showed them and V immediately asked why the Malabrigio. Well, I had absolutely no idea that we had ordered it for fall (and it arrived today! beautimous!)

The last fun thing about Seattle Stitch and Pitch is reading what the bloggers have to say the next day. My pattern was even being mentioned! Wow!

so where were we....

2007-08-23T14:18:00.000-07:00

Okay, instead of one massive blog update, (because that's what tends to overwhelm me!) I'm going to try and do a few different snippets over the next few days to try and catch up.

I guess I never said anything about Stitch n' Pitch other than "bye, I'm off!" I can certainly do a bit better than that, albeit a month later. So, as you know I whipped up a new lace wrap pattern to try and have a bit of a way to raise funds for my 3-day walk. No pressure, no mind that I came up with this idea about a week and a half before the date. It did get done, and the finished project turned out great - both the knitted sample and most of all I think the pattern looks really cool. The hardest part for me, not being especially computer savvy was getting the chart to fit correctly on the page. Sara to the rescue, and it worked. I did a photo shoot the morning of SnP in my yard, trying to come up with a nice representation of the finished product. That is always fun, as I have quite a few "props" in my yard. Here were some of my options:

Wasabi got in the way in this one!

I ended up with this one.

Thanks to everyone who purchased this pattern. We did sell out of all 33 that I brought to the game, more are available at the shop. So far I have raised about $125 from this pattern! Also really fun has been the feedback from people on their blogs (and they aren't all my friends!)

Oooh - off to work. I'll post more tonight!

Happy Anniversary!

2007-08-14T21:43:00.001-07:00

Today is Doug's and my 25th wedding anniversary. We've been together 27, but got married August 14th, 1982 - it also happened to be his mom's birthday. We are getting ready to take Patrick over to WSU first thing in the morning, so we are having a very simple evening. I bought some deli salads from the grocery store near my work (Ballinger Thriftway/ Village Thriftway has the best deli!) and a great bottle of champagne. We are planning a trip to North Carolina hopefully in October so I was just looking for something simple. I did buy a really cool fire bowl for Doug for a gift, so that's how dinner evolved into a picnic on the patio. My gift, to be selected when things aren't quite so busy, will be a simple anniversary band.

That's it for now - we have a bottle-ly shaped gift of some sort to open from the kids later this evening - after Sara gets home from work. There is definitely a cork in it......

Livin' green (or something)

2007-07-31T09:26:00.000-07:00

Sara and I went to the Redmond saturday market on (Duh!) Saturday. We bought some great apples, some beautiful basil, and a few other items.

While we were there, I had remembered that I had read that there was a store at Redmond Town Center that was carrying the Envirosax and thus, I wouldn't have to pay shipping. All that I could remember was that it was an Australian import store. We found a map for the center, and guessed that Bangalla had the right sound to it. Yes! Success. I had planned on only purchasing one to try, but ended up getting the retro set. They are oh so nifty and really hold alot too. Now the only trick will be to make sure I have them with me!

Stole'n Bases

2007-07-26T11:10:00.000-07:00

Hi there -ever get so busy that you sort of kinda just forgot that you have a blog to post to? I was thinking it had just been a few days. Uhh, no it had not. So then, where was I?

Tonight is Stitch n' Pitch in Seattle. Very busy, very crazy, but so much fun! I really like working at it because you are behind the scenes, and really get to met a whole lot of people. So, if you are attending tonight, be sure and come and introduce yourself! I will be at the Village Yarn and Tea table. I don't know exactly where we will be set up until we get there, but the past two years we have been in the big open square area, at the front right corner as you face the field. Just ask anyone there for Ellen, if you don't already know me!

In the past, some of us at the shop have written a pattern or two specifically for this game. For the first Stitch 'n Pitch, I made a short row "baseball" bag. My kids think it's really ugly. I was asked to make some sort of bag, had a specific yarn I was supposed to use and very little time. I'll let you be the judge!

So this year, after the success of the touring wrap for the LYS tour, I thought I'll try some more of the Fleece Artist Suri Blue. So very, very nice to work with. I played around a bit, and thought about it some while working on my Mystery Stole 3. All of a sudden it clicked! Stole. Baseball. Bases. And Eureka, Stole'n Bases came to be born. It's at the printer right now, but I got to see the first print - it looks cool! (and much more dignified)

This pattern will be available for sale at the game tonight. My driving force behind this is that I really need to raise a ton more money for the 3-day walk. All of my proceeds from this pattern will be going to my 3-day account. Right now, I'm at $45.00, and I need to raise a total of $2200. I have two very wonderful people who have donated, but with two kids in college, I can't afford to write off the rest (I couldn't even if they weren't in college!) So, if you feel so inclined, I would so appreciate any pattern purchase or other donation you may feel like you can do. Okay, enough of that for now. I will try and figure out a direct link to post on the left hand side of this page, but computers and I don't always get along too easily. Leave a message in this post if you have questions. Thank you so much!

What else have I been up to? We finally had a graduation party for Patrick - just a simple bbq and all in the yard. Do you ever feel like these "simple" bbqs just wallop you? We got the yard all cleaned up, cooked for two days, spent way too much money on food and assorted beverages, etc. It was a very fun time though, and I think Patrick had a good time visiting with friends and family.

The Noni humongo adventure bag is coming along. I have done 63 of the 90 rounds and have about 3 1/2 skeins left to work with. It's quite heavy, and very, very big so far.

Doug and I took a trip on the Spirit of Washington Dinner train last Wednesday. We had wanted to go for a long, long time, but had never gotten around to it. Last fall they started talking about the possibility that they would either stop doing the train or that it would have to move, and so we felt like we should just make reservations and do it. Of course, it took us 6 months (probably more!) to get around to it, but I'm glad we did. Food wasn't really that great, but it was fun traveling along looking out the window and seeing the sights. About half the trip goes through our regular "stomping grounds" so we just got to see things from a different perspective. Here are some pictures from the trip. Alot of them were pretty blurry, so I am popping in a few so you can feel like you were along for the ride.

Bellevue at night from the Wilburton train trestle:

Happy Hubby on the train!

Big pile o'tires - artfully stacked?

Hopefully I will see some of you tonight - go to go get ready now!

I'm feeling a tad warm....

2007-07-11T18:56:00.000-07:00

Not that I'm complaining or anything, but boy is it hot!! Temperature inside right now is 97.9. Our outside thermometer is currently in the sun, so it has pegged at 130. Yeah, I know I'm still alive, so I think that one is not quite accurate.

I finished the shawl in Koigu, but it hasn't been blocked yet. It looks quite pretty though, and when it's not quite so wool inappropriate out, I'll really enjoy it.

Pattern: Forest Canopy Shawl

Yarn: 5 different skeins of Koigu KPPPM

Needles: size 6 (I think - I already put it away!)

Cast on 7/5/07, finished 7/8/07

The pattern instructs you to knit until there are 195 stitches on the needles for the scarf version. Since I was doing a color work idea (1, 2+1, 2, 3+2, 3, 4+3, 4, 5+4, 5), I made it bigger. I did two pattern repeats with color 1, then worked 2 rows with color 2, and 2 rows with color 1. I continued on in this manner until I had done two more repeats, then dropped out color 1, continued on with color 2 and so on. At the last repeat with color 5, I worked only one repeat, and then worked the edging with color 5 so that the amount of color would balance out. I'm planning on making another one of these very soon but in Sea Silk (Popsicle colorway), and a size 4 ( or 5? or 6? - I'll play with it) needle.

Ever have an "oh-oh" moment with your knitting?

Here's a very nice Blue Sky Organics Alpaca Sweater from Fall 2006 Interweave. It's the same issue with Evelyn's Swallowtail pattern and the really cool yoked neck fair isle sweater (on the cover)that I knit. Yep, nice sweater, nice pattern. All is good. Except for this:

These would be some pretty ceramic buttons. Handmade buttons. Made by the mother of Debbie Abrams (of Rowan fame). I bought them last summer when Debbie was at our shop teaching a workshop. Crum bum. I absentmindedly threw it in the dryer for 5 minutes to "fluff" it up. Don't do this with ceramic buttons. You will not be happy. At all.

These will be the replacement buttons. I don't plan on any future fluffing of the sweater.

I started a new adventure bag this weekend. The pattern says that it's huge, I feel that I personally need to experience how huge it really is. I would like it to be large enough to comfortably use as a weekend bag, as my usual weekend bag is quite floral and 1980ish looking. Here's a peek at the start of what I hope will be a monstrosity.

Stay cool!

PS - Amy is so sweet, she brought Popsicles for us at work today! What a nice friend! Thanks Amy!

.... and I don't have a speech

2007-07-06T17:02:00.000-07:00

I've been tagged with this:

Which brings to mind a new blog on the web that I haven't talked about. The yarn shop I work for started a shop blog right around the time of the LYS tour. Pretty much just Deb blogs on it, but it's fun to read about tea, new yarns we have coming in, and this that and the other. Check it out here! Okay, so I guess I'm supposed to nominate others for this.... I choose Kim, Ginger and the Yarn Girls (Rebecca and Peggy). Enjoy!

What's on the needles today you ask?? Well, I totally gave up on the Charlotte's Web Shawl. That thing had been on the needles for about 4 years and I had it. For some reason my mind could not get itself around the chart and the written out part didn't seem quite right. Grrr. Oh well, I have been wanting to do the Forest Canopy Shawl anyways, so I am taking the color blending concept of good ol' Charlotte, and incorporating it into the FCS. There. Solved that problem. I don't really care that it's a beginner shawl, I'm also working on the MS3, so that's quite enough lace for right now. Should be done this weekend, and you know I'll be on to something new!

I've been trying to finish up projects on the needles. There are so many that I'm a bit nuts, frankly. I know I don't have as big a stash as a lot of you, but working in a yarn store, there is always something new I want to try!

If you are a customer of Village Yarn and Tea (my paycheck provider), be sure and come to knit night tonight! We are having a Harry Potter themed evening, with articles made up from the Charmed Knits book , and some Harry-inspired treats. We also brought in a bunch of Cascade 220 in appropriate house colors, so you can knit a scarf or something while you wait for the movie and book to come out. I'm not going to be there - we are going out with some old friends - but I'm sure you'll have fun without me.

Have a great evening!

Ahem....

2007-07-05T11:35:00.000-07:00

So I think I know what was wrong with my camera, besides trying to find the time to investigate why the computer wouldn't recognize the thing..... perhaps I was connecting in the wrong order?? and I thought I was trying different configurations, but my computer non-savviness still shone brightly? Hmmm..... I did find my cheat sheet, and lo and behold I have pictures! Now just to remember this order, or keep the cheat sheet close at hand.

Okay first up - graduation. Two weeks ago. Yep. Here's a picture of Patrick (the happy graduate) and his sister, Sara. Another one of Doug, Patrick and I.

So, we are on to the world of two kids in college. Yikes! I'm so glad they are both going though, I didn't have the chance to go to a 4-year university (4 years of various community college and then some, and then much later, a medical transcription certificate.) I really value higher education, so I hope I've instilled that in them, and that they will make the best of it!

So, what else have I been doing? I have so many projects on needles, that sometimes it gets a big overwhelming. I've been trying to reclaim some of these needles and get some things done. I did finish a Debbie Bliss jacket out of Astrakhan for the shop (no picture, I forgot). Made a market type bag with hemp6 :

I do like this yarn (twine???) I know that some are hesitant because of the feel, but sometimes you have to concentrate on what the end result will be, not just how it feels to knit with. It does soften up as you work with it, and there is a bit of hemp oil still present, so your hands feel a bit softer. The pattern for this is the shopper bag from LanaKnits that we have at the shop. I chose the dark brown color for two reasons. #1: I like it. #2: I had a student that had a ball left over that she didn't want. I am such a yarn rescuer, that of course I had to give it a home! I plan to use this bag next time I head to one of our many local farmers markets.

I also caved into the "everybody's doin' it" pressure and signed up for MS3. That's the Mystery Stole 3 in case you didn't jump on the bandwagon. I signed up a bit late (7/2) bought the laceweight yarn at work Monday, beads at BeadHut in Kirkland Tuesday morning before work/class and cast on that night. I'm done with the first clue now, and feel all caught up. It's not 100% perfect, but it's close enough for me at this juncture, so I'm going with it. Here's my progress. I can't really tell what it is yet, but that is exactly the point! I'm using Zephyr Merino/Silk in the mushroom colorway, on size 4- 24" Addi lace needles. I found these really cool greenish/brownish beads (hematite??) to go with it. If you are interested in starting this, she is closing sign-ups July 6th at 9 pm eastern time. Go here to sign up!

I've worked on something in secret......

and am getting ready to frog something else.

These are the Pomatomus socks from Knitty. We are not friends. I tried to like them. I restarted 3 times. I'm just not loving them. They have been sitting in my knitting basket for over a month, and i don't care if they get finished. Time for the frog pond! I'm going to do Monkey socks instead. People seem to love the pattern, so I'm going to give it a try. (Yarn is Fleece Artist merino - I don't think they make this colorway anymore.)

So I'll leave you with prettiness: Thursday sky we are having incredible weather~

Just passing through....

2007-06-19T17:29:00.000-07:00

Just a quickie to acknowledge the fact that I'm a horrible blogger right now. Things have been so hectic that I haven't really even had time to get my exercise or knitting time in. Grump.

Patrick turned 18 last Friday. Nationals were great - they were 9th overall out of 19 qualifying boats. Pretty good considering this is only his second year rowing. The kids also went to Kings Island while they were back there. I take it that it is a pretty awesome amusement park from the sound of things.

So I'm off to Patrick's high school graduation. I should have pictures to post tomorrow.

Knitting front - just finished Sivia Harding's Fantasy Diamond Scarf using Fleece Artist SeaWool. Very quick knit - started last Tuesday, blocked yesterday, up on the class sample board today. I'm hoping to teach this as a class in September. Other item on the needles, a jacket out of Debbie Bliss Astrakhan.

Gotta go get a good seat!

I'm it!

2007-06-05T23:27:00.000-07:00

(So, I wrote this post over a week ago. I just hadn't hyperlinked my hyperlink. I do tend to procrastinate. hmmmmm)

Kim tagged me for a meme. Having never done one of these before, I'm a little bit nervous, but here goes!

Seven random things:

1. I don't really like mushrooms. When I was a kid, I truly hated the slimy things because I was afraid that perhaps a mushroom picker person accidentally put a poisonous one in the bunch. I had the same fear for both canned and fresh mushrooms.

2. My favorite place to live would be Cannon Beach, Oregon. I love this place, I love the beach. My grandparents bought a place there in the late 50's and my dad's side of the family(my dad, uncle, aunt, my brother and I) owned it until about 6 years ago. We would go every summer for a week or so at a time, and often multiple times throughout the year. I often think it would be wonderful to eventually retire there someday.

3. I was extremely shy until I was 30 years old. At that point I had been asked to be on the board for a moms group I attended and I almost said no. But, I decided that I had enough of the shy routine, and decided that was something major I could change about myself. I still can be pretty quiet in a group, but I can also hold my own for the most part.

4. I wanted to be a math teacher when I was growing up. I was very good at math (and spelling!) and felt like that would be so fun. That is, until I got to 9th grade geometry. I took this class 3 times, and still couldn't pass it. The first two tries I had the same teacher. She and I didn't click (see above, I was shy and was very intimidated by her!) Third time, I don't know went wrong. I am still very quick at figuring things out, but have never gotten over my hatred of geometry. I then set my career goal towards music.

5. I didn't end up with a career in music (duh! I work in a yarn shop) I did take every music class that I could in high school and college. Our high school music teacher, Tom Reich, even came up with a special music class for those 5 of us that actually had some promise in this field. I do remember working on re-arranging music, don't remember much else except for that one of the main guys in the band, Queensryche (Eddie something or other) was also in this group. Maybe this was his grand start! Yeah, probably not.

6. When I was a kid, I used to dream that the Brady Bunch and/or Partridge Family was my own. I too sung on stage with Keith and Laurie and shook that tambourine. Or, I would drive around LA in a convertible with the whole Brady Bunch.

7. I am needle phobic. I get nauseous when they give injections on television. My mom tells of me having to be held down by a doctor and a nurse to get booster shots. I don't remember this. However, wouldn't you know, I'm ended up having to have bothof my kids by C-section. I'm the one they say "oops, I never have this much trouble" when it's time for an IV or blood test. I pretty much can handle it now, but I have to pinch my hand or something to hurt myself somewhere else on my body to take away the feeling of the needle. I think alot of it is trust, similar to the mushrooms. What if they have something sinister in mind? Keeping this all in mind, when I was trying to figure out a career/job/what I wanted to be, I really wanted to be a dental hygienist. The thing that held me back was that I was going to have to give patients injections, and that in school we would be practicing on each other. No way. I did dental assisting instead. I do love medical shows - Trauma, Life in the ER and certain things about House and I have a certificate in Medical Transcription. Just don't show a close-up of needle please!

Okay so now who should I tag? I think Naomi, and the first other six people who want to play along! (I don't know many who haven't done this yet, and those that I was planning to tag got tagged by our store blog. poo.)

Rules of the game: Each person tagged gives 7 random facts about themselves. Those tagged need to write on their blogs 7 facts, as well as the rules of the game. You need to tag seven others and list their names on your blog. You have to leave those you plan on tagging a note in their comments so they know that they have been tagged and need to read your blog.

Waiting 'til midnight.....

2007-06-01T19:40:00.001-07:00

Hey there, hi there, ho there! Busy busy around chez Gowey these days. Between work and the training schedule for the 3-day walk, there isn't much extra time. I visited my new podiatrist last week, and he said when people train as much as I am, it's really just like a part time job. I heartily agree! Tomorrow, I will be doing another 10-mile trek and I figure it will take me around 3 hours. Whew! I am getting in shape, and I have the motivation, which for me is one of the hardest things.

Doug and I won't be going to Ohio after all - Patrick doesn't want us to go because of the money mostly, so we hope we can do something fun as a family instead. He leaves next Wednesday night (last day of finals for him, yeah!) and comes back late Monday. Hops on another plane sometime around noon or so on Tuesday, because he is supposed to be in Spokane to work on building houses for Habitat for Humanity all week for school. The school he goes to is called a "choice" school in our district - 7-12th grade, parents put in 30 hours minimum per year, and the students basically have 6 core subjects they work on for those 6 years - Humanities, International Studies, Art, Spanish, Science and Math. It's a very small school, but public - 360 students. His graduating class is around 55 kids, Sara had 32 in hers. One week a year, the teachers plan week-long outings for the kids, they sign up and off they go. Sara went to Greece and Italy one year, but for the most part, our kids pick the ones that aren't quite so pricey.

Why the reference to midnight in the title of this post?? Well, besides knitting I also do other crafty-like things. One of this is mosaics. About two years ago, I picked up this cabinet at a second hand store:

This is basically what the structure of the cabinet looks like - of course it wasn't all cute and painted, it was basically a wreck! It had been a high kitchen cabinet that I assume was attached to the ceiling. I painted the inside of the cabinet and drawers green, and then the outside sort of a softened white. The best part of all is what has taken so long - mosaic!

I can't get the whole top in this picture, but I did mosaic tiles on the top, using hydrangea leaves as a template. (There are five leaves total - there is one more to the right in this picture) Then there is a purple and copper border along the two side edges and the front. I think it's quite pretty! So why midnight? Because I put the sealer on at 4 pm, and it will be dry and ready to move into our dining room then! Well, we will wait until tomorrow, but I am so relieved to be done with this project! Off to crate and barrel soon to get some cool glassware.....

On the knitting front - I've done these and these:

Finished the lifestyle socks (not sure I like the non-matchyness) and an elephant from the Knitting @Knoon pattern. Currently working on (Naomi will love this) Pomatomus socks from knitty.com, in yes, Fleece Artist. Naomi and I laugh because we very often pick the same patterns - she is currently on vacation in Bonaire, and started these socks. I had no idea she was even considering them, and I know she didn't know I was starting them. Too funny.

If you aren't doing anything tomorrow night, VYT is hosting a Dulaan-a-Than from 6 pm to 6 am. Find out more here. I think I'll go for a bit, but I do have a family extravaganza all day and then work all day Sunday. I'm thinking show up when I can, and leave around midnight or so.

I hope to post more regularly - have a great weekend!

We're going to.......!!

2007-05-21T11:38:00.000-07:00

No, not Disneyland, but Cincinnati! I don't think I've mentioned this before, but our son, Patrick is an avid rower. The NW Junior Regionals were held in Vancouver, WA this past weekend, and his Lightweight 8 (varsity)boat qualified for nationals. He is also the stroke for the Varsity Lightweight 4, but they cancelled the race due to weather so I think it's wait and see if that boat qualifies. We haven't made our reservations yet, but I really think we will go to watch the races. I've never been to Cincinnati before (actually it's Batavia, OH) are there any sites we should be sure to not miss? Granted most of our time will be spent at the lake watching various races, but still, I'm sure there will be some downtime.

As for the knitting front, I'm busy reorganizing my stash and trying to finish some projects this morning before I head off to work. Has anyone made the Noni Adventure bags? I'm having a hard time trying to find the 16" zipper with a double pull and plastic teeth that they recommend. I emailed the designer about the purse rings they show in the picture, the silver ones only retail for $100! Wow - I think I'll stick with the $4.99 ones I found at Pacific Fabrics thank you very much.

.....and fun was had by all

2007-05-19T18:47:00.000-07:00

We had so much fun yesterday. Each shop in the LYS tour had a free one skein pattern, and the yarn for that pattern was 10% off. We started by meeting at my house and hopped on 405 South towards Kent. First stop - Renaissance Yarns. They had Duet Sock yarn in DK weight. So many colors to choose from! I ended up with a burgundy, black and blue colorway called Midnight Sky. I kept going back and changing my mind on the colorway, but in the end I really like this one. I did also purchase some Blue Sky Organic Cotton in a really pretty teal-ish light blue.

The next shop on our quest was the Knittery in Renton. This shop has been around for over 40 years. Their pattern was for cabled fingerless gloves, with novelty yarn at the cuff. I did take the pattern, couldn't figure out what the yarn was that they used, but I didn't feel I needed this. Working in a yarn shop, I have to say no sometimes! I did pick up a ball of Trekking in color 101 however....

Next stop - The Yarn Stash in Burien. Cute shop and fairly good stash of sock yarn. I bought some Tofutsies there, color #2173. I've been wanting to try this yarn out - wool, soy cotton and chitin (crab and shrimp shells) blend. It looks pretty splitty, but we'll see. The free pattern here was for what they called a rice roll - basically a tube lined with muslin and then you can fill it with rice. The cool thing (okay, I fell for it) was that it uses the scented meditation yarn from skacel. I chose lavender. If I decide I don't like it, I know my mom would enjoy the novelty of it for her birthday!

Fourth stop on the tour was to head over to West Seattle and visit Seattle Yarn Gallery. The pattern there was for a small entrelac bag using Noro Tidiori. Oh of course I caved on this one too! I bought colorway #5. I haven't done entrelac anyway, and I wanted something small so, what the heck.

By this time it was after 12, so we thought we'd hurry on to the ferry to Bainbridge Island and Churchmouse. Our original plan was lunch, Churchmouse and then Mora ice cream. We quickly realized that since we couldn't drive on water, we'd never make that ferry, so we stopped at Alki Baking Company for some lunch to go and then off to the ferry lines.

While in line for the ferry, we had our lunch (yum!) and the trunk of Naomi's car looked like this:

Here's a shot of the ferry lines too:

Off we went on the ferry for our Bainbridge adventure. Churchmouse Yarn and Tea is just such a cute, fun shop. Of course, they carry STR which is awesomely stupendous (not like I'm in this year's sock club or anything). I did buy one skein of STR lightweight in Farmhouse for me, and picked up a skein of Puck's Mischief for Brad at work. Their one-skein pattern was for a tea cozy, using STR in heavyweight. I decided I really don't need a tea cozy so passed on that one. I did pick up a skein of Louet Euroflax in light green for I think a washcloth and 3 skeins of the light purple to make a summer shell. It was nice talking to Kit and John (the owners) too - they are so nice, and remembered who I was from our shop. Kit had on the cutest sweater - Now I'm on a quest to find the rowan design book 2 so I can make it.

Ice cream break at Mora's afterwards - I tried two flavors - Cinnamon and Blackberry. Yummy!!

So Much Yarn was next - by that time we were fading fast. Lauren has a really cute shop, and it was nice to see her again. She has a shop dog who was busy snoozing behind the counter. Shop pattern(s) were a seed stitch wrap and/or a baby sweater.

Village Yarn and Tea (where I work!)was our last stop - We thought we'd stop in for some tea and Naomi was going to pick up a skein of Suri Blue while she could still get some. There were only four skeins left - I'm guessing people liked it! There was a person there who is blogging about knitting for the Seattle PI - she took a picture of me with my wrap (I called it the touring wrap, because of the LYS tour). Here's a link to her post.

So we all had fun. I decided that I wasn't going to visit more shops today though. I wanted to go to weaving works for a few things, but I think I'll go later this week. I am working 10-6 tomorrow for the tour, so I felt I really needed to get some things done around the house - one of them being to somehow get my stash in order. So off to finish that - hopefully I'll be done with that tonight.

Happy knitting!

Fleece Artist goodness

2007-05-18T07:07:00.000-07:00

So what, pray tell, might this new yarn be? (see previous post) For the LYS tour, we have a brand new Fleece Artist yarn - Suri Blue. It's a 50% suri alpaca, 50% blue face leicester blend in laceweight and 660 yards. I came up with a wrap pattern for our shop pattern for the tour. Hopefully everyone will love it!

If VYT is on your list for the LYS tour, be sure and check out the new stitch markers Amy brought in last night. There's a picture of the VYT stitch markers on her blog. I had a fun picture of all the Suri Blue skeins lined up and ready to go, but my camera battery died. Rats.

I'm currently working on a second toe-up sock (using Wendy's sock pattern) with Lifestyle yarn. Very interesting yarn.... it's patterned, but very randomly. Colorway is brown, pink and blue. Just trying to get projects done!

I'm off for a day of LYS touring and ice cream eating with Amy and Naomi. Camera is charged, hopefully plenty will be documented. We are going to have a blast!

LYS Tour and 3-day walk

2007-05-15T07:44:00.000-07:00

Obviously things have been busy around here, thus the lack of posting. This coming weekend in the greater Puget Sound region (Bellingham to Renton and Bainbridge Island to Bellevue) 20 yarn shops are participating in a LYS tour. This will be Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and hours are extended until 9 pm Fri and Sat, and 6 on Sun. Each shop has come up with a one skein pattern exclusive to the tour and the yarn for the pattern will be 10% off. Amy, Naomi and I are going to spend the day together going to the shops in the south part of the tour.

I wrote the pattern for what our shop is doing, and the yarn.... you won't believe the coolness of the yarn. I can't talk about it until Friday, but the pattern was written for the yarn, not the other way around. No one else has this yarn, so it's kind of fun being part of it.

So here's my plan. I'm going to buy one of these exclusive skeins that everyone will want (!) and offer it as a contest. As I've mentioned before, I'm training for the 3-day walk that takes place in Seattle Sept. 7-9. I need to raise $2200 to participate, so to kick that off, everyone that donates to my 3-day account up until Friday June 1st will be included in this drawing. Here is a link on how to get to the donation page: 3-day . Click on donate today, then Seattle, then search on Ellen Gowey. That's me! If you decided to donate, and donations are tax deductible, leave a comment so I know who is in the drawing. Go ahead and spread the word! It's a great cause.

Okay - time for yoga and weights, then work. Have an awesome day!

2007-05-15T07:35:00.000-07:00

I've seen this list on a few blogs, I thought I'd do it too. Bold for stuff you've done, italics for stuff you plan to do one day, and normal for stuff you're not planning on doing.

Afghan/Blanket (baby)
I-cord
Garter stitch
Knitting with metal wire
Shawl (wrap?)
Stockinette stitch
Socks: top-down
Socks: toe-up
Knitting with camel yarn
Mittens: Cuff-up
Mittens: Tip-down
Hat
Knitting with silk
Moebius band knitting
Participating in a KAL
Sweater
Drop stitch patterns
Knitting with recycled/secondhand yarn
Slip stitch patterns
Knitting with banana fiber yarn
Domino knitting (modular knitting)
Twisted stitch patterns
Knitting with bamboo yarn
Two end knitting
Charity knitting
Knitting with soy yarn
Cardigan
Toy/doll clothing
Knitting with circular needles
Knitting with your own handspun yarn
Slippers
Graffiti knitting (knitting items on, or to be left on the street)
Continental knitting
Designing knitted garments
Cable stitch patterns (incl. Aran)
Lace patterns
Publishing a knitting book
Scarf
Teaching a child to knit
American/English knitting (as opposed to continental)
Knitting to make money
Button holes
Knitting with alpaca
Fair Isle knitting
Norwegian knitting
Dying with plant colors
Knitting items for a wedding
Household items (dishcloths, washcloths, tea cozies…)
Knitting socks (or other small tubular items) on two circulars
Olympic knitting
Knitting with someone else’s handspun yarn
Knitting with DPNs
Holiday related knitting
Teaching a male how to knit
Bobbles
Knitting for a living
Knitting with cotton
Knitting smocking
Dying yarn
Steeks
Knitting art
Fulling/felting
Knitting with wool
Textured knitting
Kitchener BO
Purses/bags
Knitting with beads
Swatching
Long Tail CO
Entrelac
Knitting and purling backward
Machine knitting
Knitting with self-patterning/self-striping/variegating yarn
Stuffed toys
Baby items
Knitting with cashmere
Darning
Jewelry
Knitting with synthetic yarn
Writing a pattern
Gloves
Intarsia
Knitting with linen
Knitting for preemies
Tubular CO
Freeform knitting
Short rows
Cuffs/fingerless mitts/arm warmers
Pillows
Knitting a pattern from an online knitting magazine
Rug
Knitting on a loom
Thrummed knitting
Knitting a gift
Knitting for pets
Shrug/bolero/poncho
Knitting with dog/cat hair
Hair accessories
Knitting in public

I guess that's quite a bit. Try it for yourself - is there anything that you think is just beyond what you'd do? I personally think the dog/cat hair thing is gross, and I do have a cat. Hair accessories? Somethings are better left for the drugstore. Just my opinion though.

2 minute update

2007-05-07T14:29:00.000-07:00

Yes, I'm still around, just short of time and now I have to leave for work in two minutes.

Here's a quick update -
- I finished a victorian shoulderette with handspun and beads. Picture soon.
- Patrick got into Washington State University. Wahoo! Yes, he will be attending. I will have a Cougar and a Husky.
- Superbusy with yard, and trying to get organized. (Never ending battle?)
- Still walking. Went to the podiatrist about my ankle last week. Turns out I have anterior tibial insertion tendinitis. Got excellent running shoes (Brooks) need to heat my ankle before walking and then ice after. But I do have the okay for the 3-day walk.
- I have signed up for the 3-day walk. More on this later. But, I do have an account if you would like to sponsor me. Go to 3-day. click donate, select Seattle as the site. When it asks for name, enter Ellen Gowey. Thank you so, so much.
- Busy with end of year PTA, graduation too.

Time to go - I so hope to write more soon!

Roy G. Biv

2007-04-20T14:02:00.000-07:00

I did a bit of playing around with colored pencils to try and decide how color placement should be on the Kauni cardigan. These are my options:

That might be a bit hard to see, but I have three options based on how the yarn is wound. Actually, mathmatically there are more, but I want the colors to develop in the same order. I have three "cakes" and a wee one that I am not counting (more as a continuation of the the smallest cake instead). So I numbered them 1,2,3. Those are the numbers you see in the picture. I think right now my favorite is the first one, starting with balls 1 and 2. I'm not a huge orange fan, although I like it enough, I don't think I want it at the bottom of the sweater. Purple and green is my absolute favorite color combination, so I guess my choice was easy.

I got the idea from Naomi - she said go and look at Melinda's color study for the sweater. She's also making the same sweater - it's nice to be able to check in on the two of them to check progress!

Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows

2007-04-20T11:24:00.000-07:00

Yes, we have sunshine. No lollipops, but look at this!

This is a wonderful shetland wool from Estonia, to make Ruth's Kauni cardigan. Naomi has made a wonderful new Danish friend (Ruth)and she graciously offered to ship Naomi another order so that I and a few others can also make this. I am so excited! I'll be going over to Naomi's house to knit on Saturday for a bit, so I will be trying to finish a few things around here today so that I can swatch and get started tomorrow. Check out Naomi's blog to see how her sweater is coming along. Thank you so much Naomi!!

After work last night, I went over to Amy's to knit and watch Grey's. We have some really yummy edamame, this great iced tea she got in London (marzipan, who knew it would be so good as an iced tea?)and raspberry turnovers. Check out her hearth she just tiled. Very cool in person and fits her decorating style just right.

People have heard me talk about our cat Wasabi. We got her at the King County animal shelter about 1 1/2 years ago. We do let her outside, but only with extreme supervision, and for the most part she is very good about coming when we call her. (I trained her with dried salmon kitty treats.)She is a smoke colored kitty - her undercoat is very light grey, with a black top coat. Her toes have these cool light colored tufts between them, so I like to fluff them up and make them look like claws. Makes her look tough. (She's not).

We have a new sock yarn at the shop from Skacel/Zitron called "Freestyle". Not quite sure how I'm liking it. The stripes aren't consistent, actually very random. I wish there was some more blue in it too - I think the blue is mostly going to show up in the toe and the cuff of the sock. I chose to make this as a toe up sock 1) because there is only 165 yards in this puppy, and 2) I wanted the practice. I thought about a pattern from Sensational Knitted Socks, but it's too busy for that.
Here's the photo:
Have a great day!

Got it

2007-04-19T11:58:00.000-07:00

Okay, I am now able to download pictures off of my new camera, and there are no worries whether I will overwrite or change anything for Doug's camera on the computer. We both now have Canon cameras, and I wasn't sure if it was okay to load the software or not. I called this morning, and computers are smarter that I give them credit for. It will be fine.

That said, here is the garter stitch jacket (Fleece Artist) that I recently did for the shop: I know it's a little wonky on the hanger, but you can get the basic idea of what it looks like.

More finished goodies: My trekking 100 socks are done

as well as this mystery item.(see green below) It seems Doug had a pair of jeans that needed to be washed, so I took the opportunity to quickly knit up one of the new Noni Adventure bags. I made the small one (called for 3 skeins Cascade 220, but I hardly used the third one). Started it Friday night, and felted sometime on Saturday. Yes, I did do other things besides knit, but it really was very quick to do. It's drying right now, and then I'll put in the zipper and find some cool hardware for the straps. I'm planning on making the huge one too as an overnight bag, I hear you can practically fit your whole family in it! (Just kidding - I think!)

Still walking, walking, walking. I did 6 miles today, was shooting for 4, but the trail markers aren't always as good as they should be. That's okay, the temperature was just right out, with even a sprinkle or two, so I didn't really mind the extra distance.

More soon!

Where in the world?

2007-04-12T08:26:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd try one of those quiz thingies I see other people posting - huh - London. I've really never had a hankering to visit there.. who knew? I am hoping the four of us can go to Europe next summer though!

You Belong in London

A little old fashioned, and a little modern.

A little traditional, and a little bit punk rock.

A unique soul like you needs a city that offers everything.

No wonder you and London will get along so well.

What City Do You Belong In?

Other places I really would like to visit someday.. Colorado, the NE in fall, North Carolina (hopefully this summer?), Nova Scotia and PEI. Mexico is somewhere in there too, Patrick is pretty fluent so he could help us middle through. Love to go back to Hawaii again.

Why North Carolina? Doug's mom Donnie was from Woodleaf, NC. She came to Seattle in her late teens to stay with an Aunt and Uncle for the summer, met her future husband, and ended up moving back out here. They ended up being married for I think 55 or 56 years: 6 kids, 16 grandchildren. Donnie would take the kids on the train from Seattle to NC every few years to visit. There is an extended family back there still, and the huge house is still in the family (although I'm not sure it's in a condition to stay there!). Anyway, longer story short, Donnie died of cancer this past Oct. 29 so we thought it might be a nice vacation to do. I've never been on a train before either (except a Seattle-Portland run when I was young) so could be interesting too. Right now we are waiting to see what the kids schedules will be like for summer, as we definitely want them to go (they want to go too).

Sara is waiting to hear from some internships that she applied to - she won't hear until end of May. Otherwise, she has a job on campus in a lab, doing lab stuff. (Actually, the studies sound interesting). Patrick may have an easier schedule... he will either look for a job in construction or stay at the grocery store stocking those shelves.

What else is going on? Well, I haven't offically signed up for the Avon 3-day walk, but I have been training for it. I guess I did mention that before, but amazing for me, I am sticking with it. Today I'll walk 4 miles, tomorrow 5.

On the knitting front, I did finish my trekking 100 socks. I have a picture in my camera, but I have to make sure that since I have the same brand as my husband but a different model that I don't mess something up by loading the software. I haven't had enough downtime with taxes, etc. to read the booklet yet. So I just take some pictures for future use!

I also finished a baby sweater (size 1-2) for the shop. I used the Nashua Ecologie Cotton in the grey color and did the rope sweater from Miss Bea's Seaside. Cute, fun quick knit. I'd do it again, but would like to try the Rowan denim to have the shrinkage and the color fade. Alas and alack, we don't carry that right now, so I subsituted.

Tonight's spinning at VYT(6-9). If you're around, bring your wheel or drop spindle, or just hang out with some fun people. Thursday nights are usually pretty fun anyways!

What should it be?

2007-04-04T08:49:00.000-07:00

I haven't just been knitting shop items and socks that rock, I started spinning almost exactly two years ago. I still consider myself a rank beginner, 'specially when I hang around with some of the people I do at work. We have a spinning group at work that meets the second Thursday of each month, so that has been a lot of great learning and inspiration.

Anyway, the latest item off the wheel is this:

It started out as pencil roving from Crown Mountain Farms - specifically their superwash merino in the "I've got you babe" colorway. I purchased it at Oregon Flock and Fiber festival last fall. When I was done spinning and plying, I thought I had fingering weight, but after soaking and drying it had definitely "bloomed". Now I'm thinking it's more DK weight. The original intention for this was going to be socks, but now I'm considering Evelyn's lace leaf shawl.

What do you think?

Not MIA!

2007-04-03T08:21:00.000-07:00

Okay, I think posts will start to be a bit more regular now - I bought a camera for myself from Amazon and it's here! I'll need a few days to figure out getting it set up on the computer, but it's cute and lovely and I can take it along with me. Yippee!

So what have I been up to? Doug and I have been doing massive weed patrol in the yard, and still have two piles of branches to cut up and get rid of. Better yet, my STR monsoon socks are done! (pictures not from my new camera yet, alas...) Alot of people doing these have been having trouble with fit. They were worked toe up, with a short row heel and then a 5/1/5 cable on the leg so there wasn't a whole lot of give there. The yarn is their midweight, but I ended up doing the toes on 00's, the foot and heel on 0's and the leg on 1's. Of course I did these on Addi turbos (my favorite needles) so the leg was really a 2.5mm.

The foot did that weird swirly-stripe that STR can do, and then the leg was a more consistent stripe - hard to see with the ribs and the cables though.

The other thing I've been working on a lot is training for the Avon 3-day walk. This will take place September 7-9. I am not a person who works out. At all. I did play soccer in high school, but that was really a long time ago. Right now I walk 3-4 miles 4 times a week and do a crosstrain twice a week (I chose yoga). I was so very very sore the first week or two, but now I'm getting better at it!

More soon - time to get ready for work!

Here I am!

2007-03-23T19:22:00.000-07:00

Yikes - I didn't realize it had been so long since I'd updated! I've been camera-less this week - D and S took a father/daughter road trip for her spring break (her choice). They went to Eastern Oregon to explore abandoned buildings, look for interesting roads, and ghost towns. They both really enjoy photography, so S took her cameras, and D took his digital. As a result, no pictures of recently finished items, and I am now shopping for a digital camera of my own!

So what's new?? I finished the Lady of the Lake Garter Stitch jacket for the shop today - I'm looking forward to wearing it once in a while this spring before the weather gets too warm. It's a very quick knit - knit sideways and very little shaping. I'll be posting a picture as soon as I can.

S turned 21 last Saturday - yes, my daughter is a St. Patrick's Day baby. She went out with her best friend and got to be legal and all. The four of us went out the next night to DragonFish - a pan-asian restaurant in downtown Seattle. We hadn't been there before, but my friend Jessica recommended it, and we all liked it. We will definitely be going back.

Last weekend was a busy knitting and spinning one. Victoria, one of the shop owners had a gathering at her house Friday night, and also invited along some of our shop regulars. Amy was there, as well as Naomi and others. Naomi has a cute picture on her blog showing all of us that wore their handknit socks.

Saturday morning I made a nice birthday breakfast of quiche, fruit salad, and cinnamon rolls, and then went to Naomi's to spin some more. I ended up finishing up some spinning I've been working on - I bought 8 ounces of superwash merino from Crown Mountain Farms in the "I've Got You Babe" colorway. I sort of liked it when I bought it at Oregon Flock and Fiber last fall, and then had a heck of a time spinning this and wasn't really sure I liked it at all when it was a single. Plied, it's starting to grow on me. We'll see. Again, pictures are forthcoming...

2007-03-12T11:54:00.000-07:00

D and I spent a good part of Saturday trying to clean up more from the December storm that we had and getting spring weeds under control. We managed to very quickly fill up all of our yard waste cans, and still have enough branches for one more go at it. I didn't have a blog at the time of that storm, but it was pretty bad around here. Our yard was literally covered with branches and limbs, and then to top that off, we were out of power for 5 days. Anyway, that's over and we have some pretty major stuff to clean up and organize in the yard. More on that as time goes by.

Not a lot of knitting going on - I was working on the Lady of The Lake jacket for work, but came across a snafu in the the pattern - I'll email Fleece Artist today to get some clarification. I know how I would work this section (the label on the first front section) but I need a better answer for customers.

I also worked a bit on the STR monsoon/February socks - I'm not too sure about the toe, as it seems a bit big. We didn't have any size 00 needles at work, so I'm at a holding point until I decide what I'm going to do.

D also put our crown moulding up on our cabinets, which means I can take my Bauer bowls and the remainder of my kitchen things out of storage. We have been remodeling this house we are in ever since we moved here in 1994. Pretty much one room at a time - kids rooms first, then bathrooms. Five years ago we started a major kitchen remodel - completely gutting the existing kitchen, taking a deck off, and pushing the side of the house out. We ended up having our kitchen in our living room for about a year or so (a bit longer), but now the end is definitely in sight.

That's all for now. I have to go find the last of those kitchen boxes - it's like Christmas!

"Bea"utiful!

2007-03-08T12:25:00.000-08:00

I finally finished the little girl coat that I've been working on as a shop model. It's called "Bea" - knit with Rowan Soft Baby and the pattern is found in the Rowan Little Treasures book. I added the silk ribbon french knots on the yoke just to make it even more decorative. It even has this really cool pleat in the back!

My socks that rock socks finally got here on Monday. I'm excited to start these - but I've been trying to get a few other things off the needles first. Here's a peek at what arrived! The colorway is called "Monsoon". There is a message inside the label that says "Stay on your toes". The pattern for this month is a toe-up sock with short row heels. Not the way I prefer to make my socks, but I'm planning on doing the pattern as written, so I'm game.

Next up is a gauge swatch!

Edited to add: Hooray! I got gauge on the first go-round on size 0 needles.

Clover the Bunny

2007-03-02T15:29:00.000-08:00

Just to be silly, I wanted to name this bunny "Pat" but didn't. She just looks like a "Clover" to me. Cast on 2/21, finished knitting 2/22, but the finishing touches weren't done until a day or so ago. I thought the rear-end portion looked odd, Ginger pointed out I forgot a tail! Oops - borrowed the shop pom-pom maker last night and voila! C'est fini. Another project to cross off.

Specs: Fibertrends Bunny Fun pattern
1 skein Cascade 220 quattro - sort of a tan and cream color
bits of leftover mohair (ears) and brown Cascade 220 (feet)
1 yard Hana silk ribbon for neck

Jess and I cast on for our shawls at the shop yesterday - she's a bit wary of charts but she was also short on time, so we got the first 12 rows done (only 22 sts right now). We'll start some chart tackling soon. She's actually a very brave and adventuresome knitter. I had her in a class sometime last year - maybe spring? She signed up for a build your skills class, but hadn't really done much knitting. Her first project was that wedge shaped lace wrap in weekend knits (I don't have the book, and don't have time to research it out). She's very much a go-for-it girl.

Today I took S (my daughter) to the DMV so she could get her license renewed. There doesn't seem to be a convienient DMV near the University, so we got to spend some time together this morning. This had to be a record time for the DMV - we walked in, took a number and they immediately called it. Cool! Since she's 15 days short of 21, she still will have the vertical license, but it doesn't really matter to her as long as it's legal. She's lucky that her picture turned out really cute too.

Last but not least we are having a pajama party tonight at work (remember, I work at a yarn store). Once a month (first Friday) we have something called "Knit Night" where we stay open later ('til 9) and have tea and snacks and customers can come in and hang out and meet other customers and such. Tonight will be fun because not only are we there until midnight, but we are having Yarn Pirate's first trunk show, and we got a bunch of new Rowan in. More things in store too!

Comments -

2007-03-01T13:17:00.000-08:00

Hi and thank you to everyone that has commented on this blog. I want to comment back, but I think I have something turned off in my settings. It's only letting me see people's profiles and sometimes any groups or a-longs that you may belong to.

So I plan to remedy that - hopefully I can enlist Amy or Ginger to clue me in. (remember I said I'm not very computer-savvy?)

So please for now consider this a great big "Hi" and thanks so much for reading and commenting. I was quite surprised to receive so many!

March??

2007-03-01T13:05:00.000-08:00

Although the calendar says March, we woke up this morning to 2" of snow on the ground. Some places north of me got up to 10" of snow! This just does not happen in the greater Seattle area. Sure, we get some late winter snow (I've been known to even wish for snow on my birthday) - but usually it's just a dusting. Wonky~!

Since it's the first of the month, I like to start something new on the needles - doesn't always happen but today it will. I have a student/customer/friend (Jessica) that has really been wanting to do the Fiddlesticks Peacock Feathers Shawl. I too have been wanting to make it - we carry some of the Fiddlesticks patterns at work, have the Zephyr laceweight yarn, so I told her I'd start with her on March 1st and we'll do a shawl-along. Should be fun!

We got a huge shipment of Fleece Artist yarn in at the shop yesterday - Lady of the Lake Jackets, lots of the poncho kits, some roving and 66 skeins of the merino sock yarn. Beautiful, beautiful stuff! We have had the new SeaWool for a week or so, and that is flying out the door too (Seasilk is gone - we ordered more). So the point of saying this, is that I get to make one of the Lady of the Lake jackets as a shop model! I'm excited to start this too - I'll be casting on for that today also.

Have a great March 1st!

Spring's coming!

2007-02-28T07:52:00.000-08:00

.....but first we have to get a bit of wet snow out of the way. We have some mixed snow and rain at our house this morning. I did spot some pulmonaria starting to bloom the other day though:

I love the cheery blue of pulmonaria and the freckles on the leaves as the year progresses. (I also have these in white and red - love them!)

The Fibertrends bunny is done - no picture yet, as she needs a nose and some accessories. This is a shop model, so I'll probably dress her with some of the Hana silk around her neck. We have some leftover laceweight too, so I'll see if I'm ambitious enough to make a little shawl.

Okay here's a funny one - I teach knitting. I stress the importance of a gauge swatch. Over and over again. I get the right gauge probably 90% of the time. Guess what I did? Didn't bother to swatch on the hemp6 top. Will be ripping out 7" tomorrow. I was wondering why those rounds were taking so long.

Have a great day!

Go With the Flow

2007-02-23T13:31:00.000-08:00

My latest FO is this shell from Fiona Ellis's book "Inspired Cable Knits" she calls it Go With the Flow.

I cast on for this on January 1st and finished at 12:10 am Tuesday Feb. 20. Technically it didn't really take me all of that time to knit it - I took two weeks off to let my right wrist heal a bit and had some other items I worked on at the same time.

Why let my wrist rest you may ask? Well, I do knit quite a bit but the yarn for this was Dale of N*rway Stork. This is a fingering to sport weight yarn, and I worked this on size 1 addi turbos. And although I do knit continental (I pick), the lack of "give" on 100% cotton yarn tends to make my right wrist a bit sore.

Close up of the cables:

and of the lace and cable border:

All in all it was fun, it looks smoother now after a good wet blocking then it did for the photos. I really like the book and have plans to make more from this same book.

Have a great day!

Oops!

2007-02-23T07:46:00.000-08:00

Sorry if you saw my previous post, I tried to make links but it turned out they were dead ends. I am really not that computer literate, and I was feeling oh so smart getting pictures in there and what I thought were true links. OOPS! Yep, all those https and the sort have meaning.....So I looked around for some help this morning and I think I get it. As far as I can tell, it works now! I'll post a bit later on my latest finished item......

Thank you, Thank you!

2007-02-22T07:14:00.001-08:00

I had such a fun birthday on Tuesday - first my co-workers had a card for me and bought my lunch, then a bit later my at-first-customer now customer-buddy-fellow-grey's-watcher Amy stopped by with her friend Denise and brought these:

Cupcakes! And not just any cupcakes, some of the best vanilla cupcakes I've ever had. I shared them with my co-workers - they loved them too. See the cute box they are sitting on? She found a cupcake holder box at Michaels - so cute! I may have to find some so I could more easily deliver to S at school.

And there was even more loveliness....

A really cute stripey bag, lovely card, cute blue and brown notecards and yarn! This yarn is the peaches and cream yarn used in the Mason-Dixon Knitting book. Amy and I had talked about this yarn a week or so ago, specifically the fiesta colorway - on the left - (although I didn't know the name of it at the time) and she remembered! She's so nice. Anyway, I'm thinking that the fiesta colorway is asking to be the ballband washcloth(s) from the same book, and the rainbow-ish yarn may be hoping to grow up to be a garterlac dishcloth from Criminy Jickets. Thank you so much again Amy!

Also that afternoon, my(our) daughter S, a junior at UW, called to wish me a happy birthday. We are all four planning on going out this weekend, but it was great hearing from her too!

The day was somewhat hectic, but when I got home, my husband had started dinner. We had gone through the cookbook the previous evening to see if there was something that was doable enough for him, and that sounded festive-ish for a birthday. We all three decided that "Ginger Flank Steak with Wasabi Smashed Potatoes and Seared Savoy Cabbage" sounded really good. This was really good - we didn't do the savoy cabbage though - what is a savoy cabbage and where in the heck do you find one? - we had a green salad instead. I picked up "M@rie Ant*nette" at B*bstr on the way home from work and we dined and viewed the evening away.

After the movie, I got to open presents - John M@yer's new CD, and a cake pedestal. I've never had one, I've always used a dinner plate but have really wanted one. This one is nice and simple. Plans are in the works to make a cake over the weekend.

P is now driving, so he went to SurLaTable and got a silicone whisk so we don't scratch our pots and pans. Even more impressive, he did this on his own - I had mentioned I'd like one - without prodding and did the errand a day early!

Other phone calls came from family throughout the day, so I feel celebrated!