Yesterday dawned clear and warm – just demanding that the day be spent outdoors. How many more days like this will we get?

And, conveniently, yesterday was the second day of the Oregon Flock & Fiber Festival in Canby.

What great timing, eh? So I had a wonderful fiberish day, starting with a whole barn full of fiber-on-the-hoof. And now my city-girl roots will show. (I had horses when I was a kid, but I do not pretend to know anything at all about other kinds of farm animals. I went to the country to ride my horse – she lived in a farmer’s field – and then I went back to the city. OK… the town.)

This happy goat owner was kind enough to let me pet her friend – who apparently really likes both people and cookies. I fantasized about taking this boy home to serve as a bed-warmer on those cold winter nights. Can you imagine running your toes through that lovely cashmere all night? The owner helpfully suggested that the horns would also keep the blankets from weighing down my feet. I doubt that the resident kitties would appreciate a new bed-buddy, though. Alas my fantasy had to be abandoned.

And then there were these lovelies. Look at all that beautiful angora! Doesn’t it make you want to grab your needles and start knitting?

OK… I know there’s a bit of prep work that needs to be done before this fiber is ready for the needles. And since I’m not a spinner I rely on others to do that prep for me. But I am aware of all of the work that goes into it.

Later in the day, as I sat knitting socks and listening to music, one of my fellow fair-goers stopped to chat and ask about my sock techniques. She is a spinner, and has been spinning fingering-weight yarn lately. She hasn’t knit socks for years, but wants to try again. She was interested in my two-socks-on-two-needles knitting. I taught her the Magic Cast-On and asked her about spinning. Oh, she said, If you think you can spend money now…

We both laughed, but she’s right in that I probably don’t really need another money-sucking fun hobby.

And lest you think, gentle reader, that I’m fixated on goats, here are some lovely Jacob sheep. Who wouldn’t fall in love with their spotty beauty and those amazing horns?

It was dark in the barn, and my pictures of the alpaca, the other wonderful kinds of sheep (there was merino, just walking around!), and the bunnies weren’t very successful.

I can report that no living creature so resembles a tribble as an angora rabbit does. With some of them it was hard to tell which end was which! Both ends, though, are covered with amazingly soft fur. They would make good feet warmers, too.

I do think there were fewer animals and more vendors than last year. I hope that’s not a trend, as I really like the animals. Actually, it would be great to have a ton of animals and a ton of vendors.

For those who prefer their fiber a little more processed, there were two buildings crammed to the gills with all things fibery, from bags of fleece to roving to silk to yarn.

Want a new spindle? There were several booths with gorgeous spindles. Organic, natural-color cotton? Nostepinne? Books? Cashmere socks? Lace shawls? It was all here.

And yarn… yarn of every fiber that could possibly be spun. Yarn of every weight from the finest cobweb to the heaviest bulky. Yarn for knitting, yarn for weaving, yarn for crewel, yarn for tatting — yarn just for the sake of yarn. What more could a yarn collector ask for?

I knew I was in heaven.

Of course, one of the first booths I came across was Blue Moon.

Did you know that Sock Candy comes in about a gazillion solid colors? That whole rack in the front is all Sock Candy.

Look, under the windows… that’s all Socks That Rock. All of it. In three different weights. In amazing colors that I’ve never seen before and that aren’t available on their web site. (I don’t belong to the sock club, and some of these colors might have been introduced there.)

I’m sorry for the blurry nature of the picture. My hands may have been shaking. Just a little.

Outside there was sunshine, food, spinners, spinners and more fiber.

A whole circle of spinners – both women and men – sat in the shade under the trees doing cool things with their wheels. There were spinners everywhere. See at the table? Someone spinning with a drop-spindle.

Everywhere I looked there were spinners. I kept thinking I’d really like to know how to do that. It looks so cool! Thus my comments about learning to spin to the fair-goer who asked about my socks.

But one hobby is probably enough.

Music at OFFF this year was provided by The Standing Stones from the Bay Area.

They played songs from their CD Give Fleece A Chance, an international collection of songs about sheep, shearing, wool, spinning, weaving, and all other things sheepy. Shearing songs on harp. It was great!

Unfortunately I missed actually getting the CD. I was busy knitting and talking. Several people came over to ask me about my socks. One woman asked if I was knitting two socks at once in order to make sure they striped the same. I looked at the randomly-striping Trekking and thought to myself that if that were the case I wasn’t succeeding very well. Out loud, to the vast amusement of those around, I told the truth: I do it this way because I would never otherwise knit the second sock.

When I finished chatting, I noticed that the music had stopped. I turned around and the band was gone. I looked for a website for them, but can’t find one. If anyone knows where to get this CD, please pass the info along to me. It would be was great music to knit by!

One more picture from the fair. And sorry that this picture turned out so badly. Forgive my horrible photography, please.

On the left… a sheep. On the right… a dog.

Notice that, although they are the same color and have almost the same length of pelt, the dog is about 10 times bigger than the sheep.

That dog is bigger than some of the alpaca I saw in the barn.

That is easily the biggest dog I have ever seen in real life.

It was a very nice, dog. Very mellow. I was tempted to ask the owner if she shears him yearly, but I restrained myself. And, before you ask, the sheep was being led around on a leash and didn’t seem to mind at all. A most satisfying end to a most satisfying afternoon.

On the way home, I took the opportunity to ride the Canby Ferry.

I’m a sucker for ferries.

It’s only a short ride across the Willamette River. But I still think it’s fun. And at $1.25 per one-way ticket, it’s a pretty cheap amusement. I held the camera out the window of my car to take this picture. I was first in line so I’m right at the front of the ferry. See how beautiful it was on the river?

Now… Last year I didn’t buy anything at OFFF. I was so overwhelmed by all of the yarn, that I couldn’t choose showed admirable restraint by coming home empty handed.

This year…

There might have been just a tiny, tiny, wee amount of stash enhancement.

At the bottom on the left are a hank of cobweb-thin angora lace weight and a hank of merino lace weight. There is about 1300 yards of each, so there’s plenty enough for a couple of really nice shawls.

At the bottom on the right is bulky weight organic, naturally colored cotton. The color washed out in the picture. In real life it’s a bulky strand of something between an ecru mixed with celery wrapped by a thin strand of cream. It’s unbelievably soft. I haven’t decided what to do with this yet. I have about 270 yards. Maybe a hat, or a scarf?

All of the rest is sock yarn, and so doesn’t count. It’s for the yarn collection, y’know. And if it seems like there’s a preponderance of Blue Moon yarns represented… yeah… well…

The Lapis socks have finally been rescued from the knitting black hole they were in, and I’m actually making progress. And here’s a couple of pics to prove it.

The pattern is the same as the one I used on the red Fixation socks (that I still need to get a page up for and get added into the FO gallery). It’s a little harder to see the stitch pattern on the Sock Candy because of all of the colors. But I think it’s going to be obvious enough.

I’ve stretched one of the socks on a blocker so that it looks a little more like a sock and a little less like a crumpled mass of ribbing. When they’re finished, I’ll take a side-by-side shot so you can see how fraternal they’ve remained. You can see that the one on the blocker pooled at the instep. The other one didn’t pool at all. Until now. It’s pooling on the ankle. Go figure.

This is a close-up of the dropped-stitch rib pattern. I’ve worked one pattern repeat and have three to go. I really like this stitch. It’s fast to work, and it’s always fun to get to drop stitches on purpose! I really like the way that the heel turns out on these, too. It’s a slip-stitch heel masquerading as 2×2 ribbing. I promise to have this pattern up in the Freebies section just as soon as I get these finished and have pics.

I’m so glad to have these out of the black hole! I don’t know how other knitters feel when working socks. But, for me the toe is really fast, and the foot is a slog. The foot just goes on and on and on interminably until I want to stab knitting needles through my head. I have to knit about a million rounds to get 1/2″ of progress.

Then I finally reach the start of the gusset increases, and the black hole is left behind. Heels don’t take any time to turn. And the ankles and cuffs are really fast. And suddenly I have a pair of socks without hardly any effort!

All projects seem to have a place where this happens. With sweaters, the black hole shows up when I’m knitting the back. With bags, it’s the last inch or so. Scarves… well, it shows up when I cast on and it goes away when I bind off. I’m just not a scarf person, but I greatly admire those of you who are! Lace I can knit for a long time and not hit the black hole.

Is there a place in your knitting where your project falls into the black hole? What do you do to rescue it?

See this little cow tape measure with the tail pull? Isn’t it cute? I thought it was cute, too. That’s why one of them came home with me awhile back.

Last Saturday, I pulled out my little Cow from its safe place in one of my knitting bags and used it to measure my progress on the green sweater (which seems to advance in tiny increments smaller than the actual row gauge).

Last night I reached for little Cow to measure the new progress on the green sweater (still advancing in tiny increments). Cow wasn’t there.

Where is Cow?

I searched everywhere. In the cushions of the chair. In every single knitting bag (even ones containing dormant projects that haven’t been opened for way too long). On the ironing board. In my office, where I was knitting samples for the next sock class. In the stash boxes. In the pockets of the jeans I wore on Saturday. Even, lord help me, in the fridge and the pantry (this was Kentucky Derby Day, and I did have a mint julep or two, after all).

Cow was nowhere to be found.

I accused Moo Cow (that’s the cat Moo) of pilfering her namesake. Although I grilled her unmercifully, she just lay there looking innocent and purring. She knows nothing, or so she claims.

If you are holding Cow hostage, please post the ransom amount in a comment.

Poor little lost Cow. The grass isn’t really greener in the other pasture I just want you to come home!

Yeah… OK… this is the semi-obligatory year in review thingy.

In the completed objects category (drum roll please):
— 5 pairs of socks that I will actually admit to
— 4 bags
— 3 pairs of fingerless gloves
— 3 scarves
— 2 sweaters
— 1 clapotis

That’s 18 finished objects, or about 1-1/2 per month. Not bad. I’m proud of myself. 😆

In a more traditional vein, here’s the rundown of the year by month:

January: First completed knitting project in about 30 years; new car; driving with #1 Son and his learner’s permit

February: PI’s first big hit from spam bots (may they be consigned to the lowest circle of hell!)

March: Dead water heater, dying refrigerator, leaking roof – ain’t home ownership fun! And my cousin passes away. Not one of the year’s highlights.

April: Major WordPress upgrade; John Paul II passes away and Benedict XVI is chosen; more nefarious bandwidth-sucking spam bots

May: PI’s 1st blogiversary; PI’s new look; #1 Son’s first “real” suit; Chili fingers at Wendy’s; melting destruction of #1 Son’s printer

June: #1 Son graduates from high school, becomes a licensed driver and moves out for the summer; new position; Wacko Jacko has his day in court; first ride on the Canby Ferry

July: Sandra Day O’Conner resigns; woman drives car down stairs (partially down, that is); Scotty beams up; the Viewmaster water tower comes down, PI had our 10,000th visitors

August: Knitflix; the PI FO Gallery launch; my African violet blooms for the first time in three years; PI moves to new server; #1 Son does not go camping; we visit Fort Clatsop before it burns down (no connection between those two events)

September: Katrina; #1 Son moves home; road trip through Oregon, Idaho and Washington; Myst V is released

October: Cold weather comes; distractions from Woodland Woolworks; Judy needs more time

November: Car woes of #1 Son; Westgate closes; Thanksgiving adventures at B’s house; Harry Potter with kids who shouldn’t be there

December: The local news media try to make news out of the remote possibility it might snow; new camera; Autistic Youth’s whirlwind west coast tour is a success; Christmas with grandpa and grandma; Las Vegas

And that was what I did last year! If interested, you can find the particulars on the History page.

As promised, here’s the finished picture of E’s fingerless gloves. Aren’t the heart snowflakes adorable?

The yarn colors played havoc with my digital camera, and this was the best I could do. The gray is a dark charcoal and the pink is a hot, hot fuchsia pink.

I vaguely use the pattern at the Glove Pattern Generator, except I make several changes: I knit both mittens at once on double circs. I ignore the part about knitting so many stitches past the beginning of the round before starting the thumb gusset increases. Instead I decide that one of the circular needles represents the palm, and I mark the center of the thumb gusset as being the third stitch in from the right for the right-hand glove, and the third stitch in from the left for the left-hand glove. This appears to work pretty well as far as putting the thumb in the correct position. I never seem to end up with the same number of stitches on the fingers that the pattern suggests. I rib the fingers so that they fit more snugly. I usually use a size smaller needle for both the wrist and finger ribbing.

The snowflake motif is from the book Knitting Fair Isle Mittens & Gloves: 40 Great-Looking Designs by Carol Noble I haven’t actually knit any of the gloves in this book, but it’s a wonderful source of inspiration.

When choosing a motif for the back of a pair of gloves, I first work a gauge swatch and determine how many stitches across the back will be, then I choose a motif that’s either the same number of stitches or a couple of stitches smaller than the back of the glove. The color pattern on the glove palm and the thumb gusset I pretty much make up as I go along.

The yarn for these gloves is Frog Tree Alpaca, colors #57 (pink) and # 0012 (gray). The gray is natural, undyed alpaca color. The gloves were knit on size US#2 and US#3 Inox Gray needles. I used 5″ US#2 Bryflex DPNs for the finger ribbing.

Note to #1 Son’s Friends: In the knitting scene, “UFO” = “Unfinished Object”. I am really not into UFOs (Unidentified Flying Objects), despite what #1 Son may have told you.

ed. 11/19/05 3:44 pm: On second thought, carrying around alien spaceships in little tote bags would be pretty cool.

And not all that great S.E.X.* at that.

I arrived at Fiber Arts Northwest at around 11:30 on Thursday. Already the place was packed with people looking for good deals. Since there was a closeout sale on July 4th, everything was pretty well picked over. I did managed to snag 3 skeins of Madil Kid Seta in color 488, which is a yummy mauvish rosy kinda color. I’m not sure exactly what it’s going to turn into. Maybe Kiri, or maybe something else. There’s not a huge amount of yardage to work with, but I should be able to find a pattern that strikes my fancy.

My needle collection was expanded by 4 Addi Turbos and 3 Clover Takumi in various sizes. And I picked up two books: One on slip-stitch knitting and another on knit and crochet with beads.

There was a long line for the cash register. The LYSO was ringing up the sales while an assistant worked the line writing up sales slips in advance. I had put my purchases in a small plastic bag. When writing them up, the assistant noticed that the books were splitting the plastic. She found a paper bag for me to use instead and put the plastic bag inside the paper one. The paper bag was large, but I had a lunch still to eat and a ways to walk and I didn’t want my purchases escaping.

When I got up to the cash register, the LYSO said, “That bags too big for you.” I gently explained that the books split the plastic bag and that was why I needed paper. She put the old plastic bag inside a second plastic bag and said, “That should work for you.” I again explained, nicely, that I had a ways to go and (despite the “helpful” offer of the person behind me to follow along and pick up any lost items), I really didn’t want to be losing things along the way because the bag split. “Fine.” The LYSO said, and with that she threw — and I mean threw — my purchases into the paper bag that was resting on the floor. “Is that good enough for you?” I was a little startled, but I said, “Yes. Thank you. That will be great.” And I took my bag and my purchases, checked to make sure nothing was broken, and left.

I’m sorry her shop is closing, and I sympathize with what must seem like a terrible loss. But I was not trying to capitalize on that. I really wish her the best in the future and hope she is successful at whatever her next venture is. I just wanted to get my stuff home safely. Is using a paper bag such a terrible thing? (Note to reading public… if you go to the sale today or tomorrow, bring your own bag.)

On the good new front, the TSA didn’t bat an eye at my colleague’s new knitting needles, now covered in a couple of rows of knitting. (Shout out to MK! You are too doing great at picking this up and stop arguing with me about it. That bag you think is so cute will be within your grasp before you know it!)

* That’s “Stash Enhancing Experience” for all you lascivious types out there who thought you’d find more prurient content here. This is a fairly family-friendly blog, after all!