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.

Peacock Feather Shawl makings

I have never been a monogamous knitter. I am distracted by a bright, shiny new project, and startitis rears its ugly head.

Yesterday I opened my mailbox and found the Peacock Feather Shawl pattern, that had been on back-order when I requested it from Woodland Woolworks. I drooled over it for a bit. But I was still captivated by the Bee Fields Shawl, and wanted only to finish with the Great Green Glob so I could start on another lace project. Because I do have some sense of decorum. Two lace project is one more than I should have going at any given time.

But then I went to Tangle yesterday. And a new shipment of Malabrigo Lace had arrived. And there were hanks of this gorgeous colorway – Purple Mystery (#30) – that’s perfect for peacocks. So maybe I brought a little yarn home with me.

The pattern includes specific directions for a swatch. I really didn’t think that simply swatching was cheating on the Great Green Glob. And the yarn was so pretty. So I wound a ball on my trusty nostepinne (we are low-tech here at chez PI). Hanks of laceweight are so deceptively small. There are 470 yds in one skein of Malabringo laceweight. It’s way smaller than, say, a skein of STR. I started winding.

peacock-swatch-21.jpg

And I wound, and wound and wound… three hours later, I was ready to start swatching.

I should really remember this: laceweight takes a long, long time to wind because it’s really, really thin strands of fiber. Please remind me next time I decide to wind it by hand.

So I swatched. And I love, love, love this yarn! It is so incredibly soft, it flows across my needles like butter. I would swear that there was something more than wool in this fiber, but the label says 100% baby merino. Who am I to argue with that? And the color just glows! I’m in love. I keep petting my little swatch and holding it against my face. It’s that good.

The swatch (according to the pattern) should block out to about 7″ x 7″. My swatch, knit on US#4 per the instructions, blocked out to 5-1/2″ x 5-1/2″. sigh I’m not sure if I should go up one size, to US#5, or two sizes, to US#6. I really like the swatch. I keep petting it. But I need to get one closer to the right size. I have no desire to lose a foot off the shawl.

Today I meant to pick up a new USB hub, but instead I paid a visit to a new-ish Portland LYS: Twisted. (I swear my car just drove there with no help.)

Twistini and Poison Apple

Twisted is a cute little shop with a decent selection of yarn, including yarns from several local and/or indie dyers. They have a great selection of sock yarn. Some Yarntini in the store’s own colorway, Twistini, and a skein of Ashabee’s Fiber Oasis in Poison Apple (isn’t that a great name?) jumped off of the shelf into my waiting arms and insisted on coming home with me.

Gentle reader, I ask you: who am I to argue?

I had a wonderful time comparing socks-on-the-needles with one of the owners (Shannon, I think? I will go shoot myself now for not remembering names.) She: Toe-up Monkeys. Me: the dragon-scale, snake-skin, whatevers. It was cool to see the toe-up Monkeys, as I’ve been wanting to knit a pair of Monkeys. But I’m such a toe-up person.

Twisted also has tea — a nice change from the rather ubiquitous coffee (this is Portland, after all, caffeine and micro-brew capital of the world). I didn’t have time to drink a cup and knit for a spell, but I plan on going back some day and doing just that. Some day when my wallet can stand the strain, that is.

Thank you to all for your thoughtful replies to my last post. I would hope that knitters, as a group, would remain inclusive. But I would also hope that we retain our sense of humor — and that includes the ability to laugh at ourselves. Because, as Mama use to say, others are going to anyway so you might as well join in.

Rockin Girl Blogger

Yesterday I learned that Maia of Maia Spins has tagged me as a Rockin’ Girl Blogger.

I’m really flattered, because I love Maia’s blog. She spins and knits and knits to spin and we get to see it all – plus lovelies and goodies from the garden and maybe a furry friend and a bit of real life tossed in for good measure. Her sock design tutorials make me wish I had a design process even remotely as well thought out and put-together. I always want to just sit down with Maia over a cuppa java and pick her brain.

And I know that I’m now supposed to pick five other rockin’ girl bloggers. And I’m going to totally wimp out on that. Because how can I possibly pick only 5 (or 7 or 10 or 50) out of all of the wonderful blogs that I read every day? I’m terrible at making that kind of decision. I often can’t even choose between yarns (thus my stash size)!

So… my head is bloody, but unbowed. Since Maia’s reward to me came at the end of such a sucky week (my previous post only scratched the surface), I think I will reserve my 5 picks and bestow them at times when a rockin’ girl is having a not-very-fun time of it and maybe needs a bit of a boost. So stay tuned.

Not much knitting this week, due to previously mentioned suck-ness. I finished one repeat on the dragon skin, snake scale, whatever-they-want-to-be-named socks. And I’m ready to start knitting away on the fish part of the Great Green Glob. Progress is being made in tiny increments.

There’s an interesting discussion on Ravelry (get in line for an invitation if you haven’t already!) right now about use of the term Muggles to refer to non-knitters. There are those who don’t see any harm in it, and others who find it offensive and demeaning.

I’ve use the term a time or two, in what I hope came across as a rather fond way. There are people to understand the love of fiber and there are people who just don’t. I don’t think that makes me better or them less, it’s just a different point of view. There are many people who think whacking away at tiny little balls with big sticks while strolling around on a very big lawn is just the best thing since sliced bread. I, however, do not see the attraction. Before I get a lot of nasty emails from golfers, I say if that’s your passion, go for it. Just don’t ask me to whack along with you. Would I be offended if a group of golfers referred to non-golfers as muggles. I don’t think so. I’m pretty secure in my non-golf-ness. I’m also pretty certain that if I picked up golf equipment and asked for a little help (not going to really happen, OK?), my former non-golfing status would be quickly forgotten and I’d be right in with the golfing crowd (except maybe the exclusive clubs, but I digress).

As humans, we have a tendency to split the world up into me and not-me, like-me and not-like-me. So… knitter and… what? Non-knitter? Person-who-doesn’t-get-knitting? Person-who-doesn’t-like-fiber? Non-fiber-enthusiast? Non-pointy-stick-wielder? Muggle? We will always find some term refer to other. That’s not to say that knitters as a whole are not an inclusive group. If a person-who-doesn’t-knit picked up pointy sticks and some string, most knitters would be happy to help them learn. I see this happen all the time in the LYS.

Some people also object to the label muggle simply because it originated in the Harry Potter books as a term for people who don’t do magic and don’t even realize magic exists.

What do you think, gentle reader? How do you refer to not-like-me?

dragon scales

The Koigu and I had words.

After it practically crawled out of the stash bin, insisting that it must be knit, I wasn’t going to let it get away with not telling me what it wanted to be. Several swatches later, I forced it to cough up its secret.

It had delusions of dragon-ness.

The stitch pattern is Dragon Skin, from one of the Barbara Walker Treasuries. The stitch pattern, as written, didn’t fit into the gauge I got going around my foot with the Koigu. I had two choices: I could make the pattern smaller, fitting more repetitions in one round. Or, I could make the stitch pattern larger, with fewer reps in a round. I opted for the latter because I thought that the larger scales would play with the colorway better. I love the way that the yarn is mostly grays, with little blings of gold and orange and green and blue.

If I were a dragon, I wouldn’t mind being gray if I could wear multi-colored sparkles.

keychain sock blocker

And this is a little keychain sock-blocker that I knit a little sock for. It will be going to my Sockapalooza pal along with the Java Leaf Socks.

The yarn is a tiny bit of leftover Seasilk from another project. When going through the stash looking for the last of the Cherry Tree Hill so the little sock would match the bigger socks, I ran across the Seasilk. Since the colors are reasonably from the same family, I thought it would be fun for my Sock Pal to have an almost-matching but slightly swankier keychain.

There may be a few other things coming my Sock Pal’s way, too. 😀

Now… I have a question for you, gentle reader.

Saturday I went to a muggle party. It was a fun party and I had a great time. As we all sat around the back yard (perfect BBQ weather), sipping on beverages-of-our-choice and such, I whipped out the dragon scale socks and started knitting.

Is that a nervous habit that you have? one of the other guests asked me.

Nervous habit? I replied. I have to admit I was sort of speechless — and you know, gentle reader, how rare that is! But I really wasn’t quite sure how to respond when my chosen craft was relegated to the level of… I don’t know… a twitch or foot tap or something.

I knit because I really enjoy it and it’s relaxing, I finally said.

The other guest nodded. But I could see that I had just validated for her that what I did was… A Nervous Habit – capitalized, but nervous nonetheless.

I was a bit put out. But after I thought about it… I knit when I’m waiting in line, or I have a quiet moment, or I want to keep my hands busy, or I want to relax.

What do you think? Is there a tiny grain of truth in that question? Is knitting nothing more than A Nervous Habit, or should all nervous habits somehow be raised to the level of craft?

P.S. For those who commented on the Brioche stitch on the Java Leaf Socks. I wasn’t sure if that’s what I should really call it. The first round is worked as YO, K1, P1, repeat. In the second round, the YO and K1 are knit together, and the P1 is purled. So, while the knit stitches are, I guess, technically Brioche, there’s the purl stitches there that make it… something else. Brioche rib?

You will note from the Sidebar Of Shame that the Sockapalooza Java Leaf socks are completely, 100% finished. I really love these socks, but I was ready to have them off my needles. Because so much other lovely sock yarn has been coming my way lately. And it’s been calling to me.

Calling loudest was the Koigu I picked up last Sunday at the PDX Knit Bloggers meet-up. Although it was safely stored away in it’s designated stash bin, I could hear it banging against the sides trying to get out, and I could hear a faint voice crying I know what I want to be so let me out and I’ll show you! I know how yarn can be. It… prevaricates, shall we say? OK. Sometimes it downright lies. But I, a trusting and naive soul, am ever ready to be led astray by a pretty face and an insistence that it knows what’s best.

I swatched the Koigu. It lied. But I’m swatching some more because it is lovely and I want to knit with it. It sucked me in, all right.

Pics of the Java Leaf socks tomorrow, when it should be cool enough to go outside and take some. And I’ll report on the Kiogu swatching progress also. But first… (drum roll please)… Boston.

Nahant beach

This beach lies just across the street from my cousins’ home. I’m not kidding. Directly across the street. This is the view that they get up to every morning and go to bed to every night. There are much worse things to look at, I’m thinking.

That is my muggle cousin Margaret, strolling along the beach and picking up a few of the shells that are literally strewn about everywhere. I walked on this beach every day. It was wonderful!

But yarn called.

Thanks to everyone who sent suggestions of places to visit. I only had one afternoon in the city, and since we rode the T (that’s what Bostonians call their subway), I tried to pick out the ones that were closest to T stops. So that was a little limiting. I would have loved to have made it out to Webs. Maybe next time.

Windsor Buttons

First up, Windsor Buttons.

I wish I could show you a picture of the inside of this shop, but all of the ones I took were totally craptastic and would in no way represent how fun this store actually is. They have an entire wall of button. Can you imagine? A whole wall.

And the other side of the store is all yarn. Lots of yarn. More yarn than it at first appears. I kept turning corners and finding yarn stuck away in a little nook or cranny that I didn’t expect.

I tried valiantly to limit my purchases to only yarn that I can’t get easily at home. At Windsor I mostly succeeded.

But I did point out the Seasilk to Margaret.

Me, stroking a hank of Seasilk or two: Look at this suff. Can you believe it’s made of silk and kelp?

Margaret, from a distance: No! Really? It’s pretty.

Me, holding out a skein: You really need to feel this, to see how lovely it is.

Margaret, touching the tip of one finger briefly to yarn: Yes. Very nice.

Woman Behind Windsor Counter: Don’t you love Seasilk! It smells so good! So… sea-like.

Me: Oh, yes!

Margaret: Eh?

It’s OK. She’s a muggle, but willing to venture into unknown territory.

Woolcot Yarn

The other shop I visited was Woolcott and Company.

I had a wonderful time browsing amongst all the yarn here. This picture is craptastic, also, but it’s unfortunately the best I took.

Do you see that pink lace shawl hanging over the counter in the back? That is one of the most gorgeous pieces of lacework I’ve ever seen. I really, really, really wanted that pattern. But Sean said that he is absolutely unable to keep it in stock, because everybody else wants it, too. It just walks out the door. And he had sold the last copy he had only that morning.

No, I don’t remember the name of the pattern. But I want it. Badly.

Remember… This was a pink object, and I was ga-ga over it. Yeah. It was that good.

I didn’t do as well at Woolcott in sticking to my resolve to buy only yarns not available locally. But… I was pretty good.

The picture is not so good because I realized as I was snapping it that it was getting late and Sean was trying to close, and, having made my purchaes, he probably would be OK with me actually leaving. 🙄 Although, to be fair, Sean was very nice and offered to take a picture of me in the shop. Not with my hair like this, I replied without even thinking. Sean giggled and thanked me for coming in.

Boston yarn pr0n

And here is the obligatory yarn pr0n.

On the left, both from Windsor Buttons: Claudia in Navy Olive; and Schaefer Anne in a colorway that’s olive, gold, rust and berry.

To the right, all from Woolcott: Mountain Colors Bearfoot in Tamarack (yes, I know I can get this at home, but it was so pretty and it talked to me, and we’ve already established that I have no resistance); Schaefer Anne in muted greens; and Woolcott & Co. silk/cashmere cobweb-weight that I think will probably be like knitting with clouds. I have 1326m of the last (about 1450 yds) and I’m looking for just the right project.

Finally, I can’t resist sharing the Nahant fireworks with you. The fireworks are held every year on the beach that’s directly across from my cousins’ home. So naturally they invite friends over and gather on their porch to watch.

The menu included guacamole (my contribution), lobster rolls (yum), a wonderful broccoli salad, Ceasar salad, fruit salad and canolis (to counteract all of the healthy stuff).

The film was shot with my little camera — the same one that takes all of the pictures I show here — and represents less than 1/4 of the actual fireworks show. I would have had more, but I was so captivated by the display that I didn’t think to turn the camera on most of the time. I think it does pretty well on film of the good-enough-for-youtube variety. You can hear the crowd down on the beach, and cheers and comments from my fellow porch-sitters. At one point you will hear yours truly, in one of my more brilliant utterances, exclaim, “oh! oh!” to apparently nothing.

I’m not one of those smart bloggers who can plan ahead and say, I’ll save that one for Friday because I already have something to talk about for Thursday. This has always just seemed to me sort of like a little coffee klatsch with yarn thrown in. So I talk about everything all at once. Because that’s what I do when I coffee klatsch. Sometimes I’m sitting at the table knitting by myself (yes, I realize that means I’m talking to myself too). And sometimes I’m joined by a few friends. Every now and then it’s more like a few thousand friends.

Using free blogging software and being my own webmaster: Worth every penny (ha ha).

Being linked to (in the nicest possible way) by both Wendy and Grumperina on the same day that I boast about the completion of Clapotis #2 on the Mason-Dixon Knitting Slogalong: Priceless. Welcome visitors! Pull up a chair and I’ll pour you a cuppa.

But the sudden 12-fold spike in bandwidth usage (sinking back now to its normal level of semi-obscurity) did point out the need for a few tweaks around here. I’ve been working long hours and what few blogging minutes I’ve had have been mostly spent in shoring up the framework. WordPress is really great software. But I sort of hack it around a bit. So PI is kinda held together with baling twine and bubble gum. I think the comments are working OK again, and hopefully the pages will load a little faster now. I added a bit more baling twine (knitted into I-cord) and propped it up with a couple of extra 2x4s.

I’ve been working long hours the last couple of weeks to get ready, because — drum roll please — I’m on vacation! Ahh…

My cousin Margaret lives near Boston. For years she’s been trying to get me to come over to the right-hand coast for July 4th. Last year around Thanksgiving I told her that this year I would come for sure and she could plan on it and we were both really excited and I made arrangement to take the time off no matter what. And I kept thinking that really I should call her and let her know that really I was coming… really. There’s a 3-hour time difference. And Margaret and I both keep rather odd hours. I usually remembered to call her around midnight here, and I thought she probably didn’t really want to hear from me at 3:00 AM, even if it was with (hopefully) good I’m coming to see you news. But I kept thinking I really needed to call her. And I kept remembering at midnight.

Then I realized that it was… June… and I still hadn’t called her. And wouldn’t she be surprised if I just showed up on her doorstep? Did she remember that I was coming? And would she even be there? So maybe I really, really needed to actually call her. So I tied a piece of yarn around my finger and remembered to call at a reasonable hour. ring… ring…

Margaret: hello.

Me: Hi. It’s me! How have you been?

Margaret: oh! How are you! It’s great to hear from you!

Me: I’m great. How has your summer been? (Then, because I’m not sure if she remembers I’m coming and I don’t want to look really pushy and such if she’s got other plans) What are you doing for the 4th?

Margaret: (in a sad, slow voice) Nothing. I’m sitting here all by myself. (a slight exaggeration, as her son lives with her)

Me: Would you like some company?

And that was how I ended up planning to travel to the Boston area for a few days around the 4th. But I took extra vacation days, because I need them.

Margaret was not sure she could find things to entertain me with. Although she knows, and I reiterated, that I don’t require much in the way of entertainment. Besides, as I told her, there’s probably a yarn shop or two in Boston. Margaret, who is a muggle (but a very much beloved muggle), said I think there’s one in Marblehead.

So, gentle reader, if you know where the best Boston area local yarn shops are, please comment so I can go armed with a list. 😉 Don’t know if I’ll be able to make it to any, but here’s hoping.

java leaf toes in the making

And here are the starts of the Java leaf socks for my Sockapalooza pal. I’m finding this yarn hard to photograph. Of course, it can’t be my skills as a photographer that’s to blame. It’s the yarn. (Right) So I plopped them right on my window sill where I’d get the best possible light.

I wanted to start the leaf pattern right at the end of the toes. But I didn’t want lace all the way at the end, because I didn’t think that would be very comfortable. So I started with stems twining up into the leaves. There are two brioche stitches on either side of the leaf panel. I had planned on a knit/purl sort of diamond pattern on the sides, but as I knit up an inch or so I didn’t like the way it looked. It just wasn’t defined enough on the dark yarn. (It’s darker than it looks in this over-exposed picture.) So I laddered the sides back down and made them stockinette. I’m now planning to twine stems up the sides to the ankle, and have four leaf-panels around the legs, separated by the brioche stitches. And maybe brioche instead of ribbing at the top.

It’s still a work in progress.

The leaf pattern is a fun knit, though. Not so complex that I can’t do other things like watch TV, but still lace and complicated enough to keep my interest.

yarn pr0n

And I think I mentioned that there might have been a little purchase from The Loopy Ewe to assuage my Blacksheep-Gathering-less self.

Just a little.

Left to right —

Stonebarn Fibers Gypsy Girl Creations in Crocus Valley (I love the twist on this yarn and it’s going with me to Boston!)

Seacoast Handpainted Superwash Sock in Meadow (The label says 100% merino, but it feels wonderfully soft and silky.)

Dream In Color Smooshy Sock Yarn in November Muse. (Smooshy is a perfect description for this yarn!)

Cherry Tree Hill Supersock in Peacock (Needed more to see if the first was an aberration or I’m going to fall in love with this yarn as others have before me.)

Scarlet Fleece It’s Tubular X 2 in Lapis Woodland (thick and warm and I think it will wear well)

I notice a preponderance of minty green, orange/brown, and purple. Hmmm… I don’t have much in the way of these combination in my stash. Well… just a little, maybe. I wonder if my color sensibility is shifting. Or maybe it’s the season.

Now… what projects to take to Boston with me…