the outside of the barn

The weatherman warned of rain on Saturday, but it was not to be. Although a bit drizzly when I first got up, by the time I left the house the sun was breaking through the clouds. I picked Melissa up early (go visit Melissa and see the gorgeous yarn she spun), because the plan was to meet some of the other PDX Knit Bloggers for breakfast at the Hawaiian Cafe, conveniently located right next to the barn.

This is the outside of the barn. I want you to see this picture, gentle reader, because I want you to note the sheer size of this place.

Breakfast took a little longer than expected. And then I needed to move my car so restaurant patrons could park. And then the lot by the barn was full and I had to turn around and park between the barn and the road. And all this means it was about 10:15 before I actually stepped foot inside the barn.

the inside of the barn

And this was what it looked like inside at about 10:30. Already things were beginning to be a little picked over. And there was a scad of stuff and another scan of knitters there breathing in the yarn fumes.

There were tables down both of the long sides of the barn. To the left of the camera, the tables held cone yarn, books, and a few snacks lest we become faint from hunger (not much chance of that for me after a humongous breakfast at the Hawaiian Cafe). The tables on the right side held grab bags, sheep-to-shoe kits and roving. In the back are racks (it looked like the same racks used at OFFF) holding tons of sock yarn, laceweight, silk, bamboo, mohair, just tons of stuff. And twirly racks of sock yarn, too. People just sort of grabbed stuff willy-nilly and then went to the tables in the middle to sort out what they had.

I want you to pop up this picture and look at the pile in front of the woman on the right towards the middle. Go ahead. I’ll wait right here.

Yes, that was a typical haul.

That’s Tina sitting to the right of the pillar with her back to the camera, taking it all in.

blogless Pat from Longview

This is Pat from Longview (sadly blogless). Her selection is on the windowsill next to her.

You can see why she looks happy.

Yeah. Wouldn’t you?

By the time I finished chatting with Pat and got in line to pay, the lovely Blue Moon ladies had run out of the big plastic tote bags, but offered a couple of the small bags for my purchases. I think they later ran out of those as well.

When we left around 11:00, there wasn’t much left but there were a lot of happy knitters.

my haul

And this is my selection. I was very careful. I didn’t want to load up on sock yarn. I looked for cone yarn and unusual fibers in largish quantities. I also bought a sock-club t-shirt, mostly because the back says Notorious Sock Knitters. Who could pass that up?

The cones in the back are 100% cotton. The green on the left is called Quince and the sunny gold on the right is called… Golden Sun (go figure).

The cones in the front are a 100% viscose mini-boucle. On the right is Black Cherry and on the left is Moss. Pictures do not do justice to the way that red simply glows.

When full, each of these cones holds more than 2000 yds. I have no idea if I have full cones or not, but I do have enough to do something really nice with. I have not yet decided what. Stay tuned.

In the front are two lightweight STR that are marked as mill ends. I think they might be slightly off color Ravens. The one right in front is black with hints of blue and purple, and the other is black with hints of teal. When I picked this yarn off the rack, a knitter standing next to me said but it’s black! I replied No it’s not! and held it in the sun streaming through the windows. OH! she said, and started selecting a few skeins herself.

The yarn to the right of my cones belongs to the famous MonicaPDX who shared my sorting space. I will let her tell you about it. Go visit her, where I sure she will post a blow-by-blow.

Kat tagged me for this meme. So here are the answers to 38 things about me that you may or may not want to know.

1. Name one person who made you laugh last night? Linda at Tangle Thursday Knit Night, who shares my abiding fondness for blaring Jethro Tull on the car stereo.

2. What were you doing at 0800? Working. Fortunately I sometimes get to work from home.

3. What were you doing 30 minutes ago? Working. See above.

4. What happened to you in 2006? At the beginning of 2006 there was the first publication of Judy’s Magic Cast-On. And #1 Son moved away from home. I don’t thing there’s any relation between those two things. They’re just both significant.

5. What was the last thing you said out loud? I love you, but you can’t sit on my keyboard while I’m typing. (To Captain Kidd, one of the resident cats.)

6. How many beverages did you have today? Three cups of coffee and two glasses of water.

7. What color is your hairbrush? Red.

8. What was the last thing you paid for? Lunch yesterday — a turkey burger and fries.

9. Where were you last night? Tangle for Thursday Knit Night until 9:00, then home.

10. What color is your front door? White. Boring, maybe, but nicely set off by the dark gray-green siding.

11. Where do you keep your change? In an antique post office box that has been turned into a penny bank.

12. What’s the weather like today? 50’s. Foggy this morning and now drizzly.

13. What’s the best ice-cream flavor? Butter Brickle. Unfortunately no longer available. Cherry Garcia runs a distant second.

14. What excites you? Knitting! Fiber! Friends! Kids! Books! Work! (yes, really) Turning leaves! Blue skies! Life!

15. Do you want to cut your hair? No. But it could stand a little trim.

16. Are you over the age of 25? Oh, my! That was long, long ago!

17. Do you talk a lot? Sometimes too much. Other times not enough.

18. Do you watch the O.C.? Never have.

19. Do you know anyone named Steven? Yes, several Stevens and Stephens.

20. Do you make up your own words? Of course! What would be the fun in using the same old ones all the time?

21. Are you a jealous person? Not usually. But sometimes. I try to get over it quickly.

22. Name a friend whose name starts with the letter ‘A’. Alice.

23. Name a friend whose name starts with the letter ‘K’. Karen.

24. Who’s the first person on your received call list? #1 Son.

25. What does the last text message you received say? From #1 Son yesterday — huh? — thus revealing the depth of our typical texting communication

26. Do you chew on your straw? No. But I eat my ice.

27. Do you have curly hair? Mostly yes. Except for that one recalcitrant straight lock.

28. Where’s the next place you’re going to? The Blue Moon barn sale!

29. Who’s the rudest person in your life? There are very few rude people in my life. I can think of one. But I will not name that person.

30. What was the last thing you ate? A piece of licorice chalk

31. Will you get married in the future? I don’t plan on marrying again. Once was enough.

32. What’s the best movie you’ve seen in the past 2 weeks? Happy Feet

33. Is there anyone you like right now? I like lots of people. I don’t have any romantic designs, if that’s what you’re asking.

34. When was the last time you did the dishes? This morning.

35. Are you currently depressed? No.

36. Did you cry today? No. Not planning to unless I watch a sad movie tonight.

37. Why did you answer and post this? Because Kat tagged me and it was a slow blogging day since I’m still slogging away on The Great Green Glob.

38. Tag 5 people who would do this survey. I’m tagging a random (very, very random) five out of the whole long list of amazing PDX Knit Bloggers. Gentle reader, you should visit these fine fiberistas!

• Cindy @ Knit For Joy
• Bobbie @ Tiggywinkle Knits
• MonicaPDX @ Animorphia
• Melissa @ Days Of Tea And Knitting
• Karen @ Knit Bitten

Lenore has arrived

Hurry up!

Or at least that’s what I hear it saying.

A raven landed in my mailbox a couple of day ago, courtesy of the Rockin’ Sock Club. Isn’t this just yummy? It’s a little preview of the new Raven colorways that will be available at Blue Moon starting on November 5th. This is Lenore. I love, love, love what Tina has done with these rich, dark, colors. Believe me, the picture does not begin to do justice to the rich maroon and dark gray and black.

I even like the pattern this time. 😉

The pattern is by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee. It’s a top-down lace pattern. But, after perusing the chart closely, I don’t see any reason why it can’t be knit toe-up. I’m going to swatch the lace at the top of the leg to make sure. But it’s a good chance that there are a pair of Lenore in my near future.

But first I have to finish the baby sweater. And, thanks to the encouragement of the PDX Knit Bloggers at the Monday gathering last night, I’m almost there! I just have to bind off about 1/2 of the trim, and then weave the ends. Piece of cake!

PDX Knit Bloggers in their natural habitat
(slideshow)
Barbara spinning
fiberly goings-on inside
traveling on the Canby Ferry

This is a picture-heavy post. I’ve put two groups into slideshows — a few pictures from the fair are in this one, and all of the animal shots are in one at the bottom. Click on the pictures to pop them up. The slideshow controls well be available in the biggy-size. Sorry to those of you who read me in a feedreader, but this probably only works in person on the PI site.

Ah….. Oregon Flock And Fiber Festival. I love this gathering. It’s not as big as Black Sheep or some of the other fiber festivals. But it’s big enough to keep a fiber addict happy for a long time. There are tons of stuff to see and animals to pet and fiber to stroke and yarn to drool over. And did I mention soap? Or hand-blown glass knitting needles? Or books? And if you are of the carnivorous persuasion, lamb sandwiches and shish kabobs and stew. There are two large building just crammed full of booths, with the overflow in the large open area between the main buildings and the barn. Fiber judging and a finished-objects gallery are upstairs. I didn’t even get that far. I was overwhelmed by yarn fumes.

It is the overwhelmingness of the fiber fumes that I blame for falling OFFF my strict intentions for buying. I had brought only a very carefully chosen amount of cash with me, and I was on a mission. I was searching for laceweight handspun in a silk blend. And I wanted to check out a couple of the new STR colorways. And I needed to see and probably acquire Butternut Woolens Supersock in Shelly’s new colorways. And of course I wanted to see all of my blogging and fiber friends.

yarn pr0n

That was the plan. I did pretty well. Sort of. OK… I only had to whip out my credit card once because I only went a little (ahem) over budget. And maybe I had to buy a basket to take my booty home in. But, really, I think I showed admirable restraint. So here, gentle reader, is the yarn pr0n portion of our tale:

on table: natural white cashmere/silk blend from Hokulani Farms in Bend

basket, front row, l-r: 2 skeins of Butternut Woolens Supersock in Shelly’s new colorways, one skein of Monarch Fly Dyed sport weight, two skeins of Abundant Yarns & Dyeworks plant dyed Trekking – Dirty Oxblood (actually a gorgeous berry/gray mix) and Dark Seafoam

basket, back row, l-r: all from Blue Moon — Seduction in Pirates Booty, Silkie STR in Count Cluckula, STR lightweight in Gingerbread Dude, a Rare Gems and Pirates Booty (yes, liked it so much I got two)

Yesterday I bought a new bin to keep it all in. I know, I know… but really, I’m saving for retirement!

Mr. Pink visits OFFF

I had a wonderful, wonderful time. Monica rode down with me and was nice enough to agree to my little Canby Ferry jaunt that is sort of traditional with me when I go to OFFF. We arrived at about 8:30, to find the PDX Knitbloggers had already staked out a table. Bobbie brought our sign and placed it in a prominent location. All day people kept trying to figure out who we were and what we were doing, and were we a booth or something? Several people ventured over to ask about blogging. Many MOO cards were handed out and much fun was had.

I loved having a place to go back to and stash my stuff where I knew it would be safe and watched. And then take a turn watching while I resting my feet and chatted. Barbara spun on her really cute little wheel, and Duffy demoed a tiny little drop spindle that spun forever and ever. And there was much other spinning going on. Which made it tough to resist that particular lure. But if I started spinning I know what would happen — next thing you know I’d have a farm with sheep and goats and bunnies.

Duffy was also there to meet up with Mr. Pink, the Kidnapped Canopener, who is going to visit her for awhile. 😉

I was wonderful to meet everyone. I tried to get around to see all of the people I know, but I’m sure I missed a few. I got a wonderful hug from Shelly, who I’ve been hoping to meet for a couple of years. You must go to her website and see her lovely new colorways in subtle grays. Gorgeous.

rasta sheep
(slideshow)
making fiber is hard work for yaks
take me home!
yummy fiber
don’t they look cuddly?
yum-fiber.jpg

Although the weatherman had threatened us with rain, the day was perfect: warm in the sun, cool in the shade, no rain. I’ve been to OFFF in the rain, and this was much, much nicer.

And the animals… Camels and yaks and llamas and alpacas and sheep and goats and bunnies. And probably some other that I forgot. If it makes fiber on the hoof, it was mostly likely represented somewhere in the barn.

I especially liked this little sheep wearing dreds. And several of the babies who really wanted to go home with me. But, really, the cats would have been quite surprised, I think. And my yard is so small.

I will resist the spinning virus. I will.

Monica and Bobbie rode home with me. We took the ferry again.

I arrived home yarn-dazed and fiber-high and happy.

yarn crawl

The yarn crawl last Saturday was such a blast! If you have never done this in your city, you should organize something similar. We went to five LYS, a cafe (OK, that was in one of the LYS) and a patisserie — all in 7 hours. Whew. Sara did an awesome job of both organizing and herding us around from place to place to make sure we got everywhere we were supposed to be going. Maia was here from out of town, and it was so cool to get to meet her!

We all gathered at Abundant Yarn & Dyeworks. Because almost everyone was a blogger, there was a lot of picture taking going on. Here Cindy and Rodger are engaged in a shoot-out.

There was a bit of yarn shopping that happened at AY&D. And, since they also have a cafe, some lunch happened as well.

yarn crawl

Our next stop was PIX Patisserie for a little dessert. Because it was, like my birthday, and while I don’t really celebrate that any more, still some dessert is called for, dontcha know.

I know that this is a rather glum looking crowd, for some reason. Except for Chrispy.

Chrispy and Cindy braved my taxi-driving skills and drove around with me. Have I mentioned that I’m sometimes easily distracted? I don’t think we had to go around the block more than twice because I got interested in the conversation and forgot to turn.

But I’m really a safe driver. Mostly. Really.

So I don’t think it’s my driving that has caused the glumness. I think it’s because we’re waiting for our dessert to be served. It was well worth the wait.

yarn crawl

Here are a few of the dessert choices. I couldn’t decide between two different goodies, so Maia and I split them.

I can’t begin to tell you how good this stuff was. OMG

And, to make it just a perfect place, I looked up in the rafters and there was a sock monkey, swinging from a fake vine. 🙂

From there we headed up to Yarn Garden. They were a bit low on sock yarn, so I didn’t aquire any new things there. But I did have a great time petting the cashmere and silk.

I don’t seem to have taken any pictures there, either. I think I was overcome by yarn fumes.

yarn crawl

The next stop was Twisted. They have a whole wall of sock yarn there, and much of it is from indie dyers.

I managed to do a bit of stash enhancing at Twisted. Or non-stash-enhancing, since sock yarn doesn’t count. All of us petted the yarn and admired the lace scarf (a pattern for their lace class) and fondled the yarn some more, and then waited patiently to make our purchases, while fondling the yarn.

From Twisted we drove across the river to Knit Purl. Usually finding parking is a challenge there — although well worth the challenge! But I found a place right in front of the door. I like to think of it as a little b-day prezzy from the gods of parking. I don’t expect it to ever happen again.

The nice ladies at Knit Purl were waiting for us with cookies and iced tea. They have a wall of Koigu at Knit Purl. Just in case you didn’t catch that, it’s a wall of Koigu. I madly snapped pictures at Knit Purl, but none of them turned out.

I really, really want a new camera. But because I have other discretionary expenses that I’ve already committed to, I have resolved to learn to take better pictures with the camera I have. Sometimes that works better than other times. Ah well.

yarn crawl

Our last stop was Farmhouse Knit Shop. Despite driving by there on a fairly regular basis, I had never actually stopped in. It’s a really cute little shop.

Sara is fondling the Blue Moon. That entire display case is all Blue Moon of all different kinds. Just in case you didn’t catch that, the entire display case is Blue Moon.

And that’s not all of the Blue Moon, because the sock yarn is back in another room.

I showed what I consider to be a great deal of restraint. I did not get anything at Farmhouse. But they should expect I will be back.

birthday swag

The day ended with dinner at a Thai place with Maia and Roger. And fine company they were!

Chrispy and Cindy, bless them, both brought me a little b-day rememberance. Although I really felt I should be giving them something instead, for having put up with my driving the entire day.

I had a very, very wonderful day!

Top row L-to-R: From Twisted: Ashabee’s Fiber Oasis, Cheeta and Eclipse, Knitted Wit in Eat Your Veggies; from Knit Purl: Koikgu KPPPM in P117 and 116
Bottom row, L-to-R: From Abundant Yarn & Dyeworks: Araucania Ranco in 310 and 306 (love these descriptive colorways); a prezzy from Cindy: a cool little notepad from her blog and Shibui Sock in 3601
Right side: gift from Chrispy: Silk scarf, indigo dyed by herself! She also gave me a little hand-made soap that is not in the picture.

Friday night Blue Moon Fiber Arts held a reception at the World Forestry Center to launch Cat Bordhi’s new book New Pathways for Sock Knitters: Book One I took off from work a wee bit early, it being Friday and all, and drove to a west-side park-n-ride lot to catch Max back to the Zoo. I was afraid that traffic and parking would both be frightful, because there was also a concert at the Zoo, and it was Friday so everybody would be trying to get out of town. Or into town. Depending on their inclination. But at any rate everyone would be trying to get somewhere and a goodly portion of them would be trying to get to the Zoo. So I rode MAX, which at that time, going towards town, was almost empty.

The MAX stop at the Zoo is the deepest transit station in North America, and the second deepest in the world (no, I don’t know which is deepest). There are high-speed elevators that whisk you up to the surface in nothing flat. Every now and then people get stuck in them, and local news has a heyday. But that didn’t happen tonight. I would have been OK because I had knitting with me. But I’m glad I had the usual 20-second ride to the top.

patient knitters

When I exited the elevator, the first person I saw was Bobbie. Apparently she had the same get there early and knit idea that I did. So we sat, and knit, and chatted, and were soon joined by Duffy and Chrispy and several other knitters. And we all sat and knitted and looked at each others WIPs and FOs, and everybody petted my swatches. (The verdict: Malabrigo is really soft and nobody could believe it was 100% Merino. Most people preferred swatch #1, except Duffy. She liked swatch #3 the best. I’m still undecided.)

After knitting and chatting for awhile, we decided to wander over to the World Forestry Center and find the building (Miller Hall) where the reception was. It was not terribly well marked. We ended up briefly crashing a wedding reception, but eventually found Miller Hall. Blue Moon wasn’t quite ready for us, but it wasn’t too long before the doors opened and we were allowed in.

Tables were set up in the foyer with stacks of Cat’s books for sale. There was no yarn. Blue Moon wanted the night to be about Cat’s books, and yarn would have been a distraction. A yummy distraction. But distraction nonetheless.

So we trooped into the hall, where the PDX Knit Bloggers, being the shy types that we are, pretty much took over the left-side front of the seating. Kathy was there, and Cindy and a ton of other people that I’m forgetting. All of the socks that are pictured in the book were spread out on the table where Cat signed her books. We got to look at all of them, and touch them, and admire them. And Cat very graciously answered all of our questions.

my winnings

The plan was that Cat would speak, then sign books, and there would be dessert and coffee served. But traffic tie-ups meant a lot of people could not get there by 7:00 pm. People sort of raided the dessert tables, and Cat began signing books. So Tina Newton of Blue Moon, ever the resourceful hostess, played a little game with the audience. Did I say there was no yarn? I may have slightly misstated that…

Yarn was won for having “unusual” items in knitting bags. Almost everyone there had a knitting bag, so we all began digging. Kathy won the first skein for having a plastic fork used as a lucet to make cording (link borrowed from Cindy) — deemed the most unusual tool made from an ordinary object. I have never used a lucet, but it looks cool and I need to learn. I must have a plastic fork around here somewhere…

I won two skeins, one for having dental floss (what, you don’t carry dental floss in your knitting bag?), and another for having, well… certain feminine articles, let’s say, this being a family-friendly blog and all. You can see them here in my bag, along with the dragon-scale, snake-whatever socks: One skein of light STR in Blue Brick Wall, a gorgeous mix of ecru, periwinkle, cerulean and turquoise that will be on my needles soon I think; and a skein of medium STR in Metamorphic, a steel-blue, rust, gold, lime blend. Duffy won a skein of Oregon Red Clover Honey STR. I had been dying to see this colorway, as a possible contender for the Bee Fields shawl. On the Blue Moon site, the color looks reddish. But the skein I saw was a beautiful golden honey color. And it’s available in a silk lace-weight. That might be the one!

Cat knitting a treehouse

Cat, as always, was witty and charming and told wonderful stories — I think mostly off the cuff. In the picture, she is showing how to knit a treehouse. If nothing else does, that should give you a clue what a strange and wondrous place the mind of Cat Bordhi is. Who else would have thought of knitting a treehouse? Who else would have thought of eight completely new sock architectures? The new sockitectures in her book arose after she realized that the gusset triangles that we sock knitters have, for hundreds of year, been carefully placing to either side of our foot, could in fact be placed anywhere around the foot without changing the fit of the sock. It’s completely brilliant. So there is a sockitecture with the arch shaping underneath, and one with it on the top, and one that has a big gusset only on one side, and one with the increases running in a spiral around the foot and up the leg — eight sockitectures in all with little baby socks to practice on. Book two will reveal sockitectures that don’t start at either the toe or the heel. That should be very interesting! I can’t wait for book two.

Through her whole talk, Cat wove the theme of three things that knitting is made of: Knits, purls, and that unnameable something that makes knitting a magical thing that captivates us and nourishes us and keeps us buying yarn.

Cat announced that her book has sold out (Blue Moon still has a few available via their web site), and the second printing will not be available until October! And then she completely and totally embarrassed me by thanking me again for getting the flu one day and making up the Magic Cast-On.

If you have a chance, check out Cat’s new You Tube videos showing many of the techniques she uses in the book.

And I, who was feeling a little bit slightly famous and cool was reminded that the universe does like to keep me humble. I was asked, for the very first time by a stranger, to autograph a book. She said to me, I have no idea who you are but you’re somebody famous, so sign my book. I truly think it was one of the funniest things anyone has ever said to me. And the other PDX Knit Bloggers got a pretty good laugh about it, too.