PDXKnitterati

Promises and Potpourri

Posted on June 11, 2009 | 14 comments

I can’t remember exactly when our blueberries ripened last year, but there are promising signs out there.

All five bushes are heavily laden again this year. I hope they’re ripe soon; I love blueberries!

My Ruffle Tank is showing signs of promise, too. The knitting is easy, and it’s a great take-along knit. I’m almost to the armhole shaping on the back, and still on the first of three skeins of yarn. I don’t think I’m going to run short.

It’s interesting knitting with this linen/merino mix. It’s string-like, but not really hard on the hands. I know that when it gets washed and dried, it’s going to get a lot softer, and it will help even up the stitches, too.

And one more sign of promise:

This robin is nesting in Carole’s lilac. Since our wreath nest was abandoned, Carole says we can share this one instead.

In other local news, Lorajean of Knitted Wit is having a contest. She’s participating in Take Steps for Crohn’s & Colitis, a fundraiser for the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation. For every $5 you donate to Take Steps on her behalf, she’ll enter your name in a drawing for some wonderful prizes, including a Lantern Moon circular needle case, and hand-dyed yarn and fiber.

Deb Accuardi of Mt. Hood Fibers is starting a local sock club, which includes a lunch at Gino’s Restaurant in Sellwood (Portland) with every yarn/pattern release (every other month from October 2009 through August 2010).

And lastly, Saturday is World Wide Knit in Public Day. Last year I was on a camping trip, knitting in a field. I have several choices for this year: Hollywood Farmers’ Market at 8 a.m., Pioneer Courthouse Square at 10 a.m., or Hillsboro from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Get your needles ready!

Looking for a WWKIP Day event near you? Check here!

14 Comments

Posted in Knit

Tagged contest, Knit, Ruffle Tank, WWKIP Day, yarn

Ishbel, you heartbreaker

Posted on June 8, 2009 | 30 comments

Heartbreakingly gorgeous, yes?

It’s been a bumpy road with Ishbel. First, I chose a yarn that I didn’t enjoy working with. Then I switched to a different yarn, and ran out before I was done. (Sooooo close. 1.5 rows, plus bind off.) After a rescue by KellyinTexas from Ravelry, I finished the knitting on Saturday.

Here it is unblocked.

I was pretty pleased, and started the wet block process. I bought blocking wires last year after making my Shetland Triangle shawl. These are a great invention. I love how easy it is to pin out points with these. But seriously, I am going to have to get a plain white towel for blocking. This cacophony of color is just too much!

What is it about a blocking shawl that is so attractive to cats?

As I was pinning the shawl out, I noticed this disintegrating section (without the needle in it, of course).

I must have dropped a stitch during the bind off. I was devastated. But there was nothing I could do, until the shawl was dry. Which gave me time to think it through. There were bound off stitches on each side of the dropped stitch(es), so that meant the run was confined to a small area. After Ishbel was dry, I picked up all the live stitches I could see, and then removed the blocking wires. I tinked back the bound off stitches (luckily, this was near the end), and then proceeded to recreate the three rows that had ripped out. This took three tries to get the lace pattern correctly. I finished binding off again, and voilà!

See the second from the bottom motif on the left? Yeah, I fixed it. Due to the bit of curl, you can’t see the whole motif, but it’s there. It just needs to be blocked to bring out the point. But no, I’m not going to re-block the shawl right now. It’s just fine the way it is.

But I have a comment, and a question. I never quite memorized the lace pattern, despite the fact that the repeat section is the same in sections A, B, and C. Is it because I was fixating on the holes, and not the solid parts? Which is figure, and which is ground? The branching holes, or the solid parts that look like leaves on a vine? What do you see?

Despite all the stumbling blocks, I’d love to knit this shawl again. But I think I’ll make the larger size with the smaller border, or the smaller size with the larger border, to make sure I don’t run out of yarn again! And this yarn blocks like a dream, and is soooo soft. I’m going to love wearing this!

Ishbel, by Ysolda Teague
Larger size, with larger border
Malabrigo Sock yarn in Violeta Africana, one skein plus a few more grams!
Size 6 (4 mm) needles (Lantern Moon ebony circulars)

30 Comments

Posted in Knit, ravelry

Tagged ishbel, Knit, malabrigo, yarn

While I’m waiting…

Posted on June 7, 2009 | 7 comments

While waiting for Ishbel’s yarn supplement to arrive from Texas, I started a new project. (I could have finished the second Kai-Mei sock, but I was looking for an excuse.) It was either the Ruffle Tank or the new Single Skein Club project.

I was really hankering for a semi-mindless knit, so I started the Ruffle Tank. No charts to follow, just 9×2 ribbing for the first 13 inches. I can manage that. I’ll start the Club knit when Ishbel is done. Only one chart project at a time!

This is my first experience with linen, and it’s really different. Where the Malabrigo Sock is buttery soft, the MerLin is like knitting with twine. But I like it! It’s crisp and “dry” and “hard” feeling. The fabric is a bit stiff, but I know that it will soften up when I run it through the washer and :gasp: dryer. Hey, the label says I’m supposed to! I’m not following the advice given in my Tips & Tricks class with Lily Chin; I should wash and dry and hang the swatch. But I just want to get started, and the tank isn’t terribly fitted. Fingers crossed; I just want to knit.

We had a stellar dinner when my in-laws were visiting. Vickie made an unbaked version of it a few weeks ago when we were camping. If you can make it on a Coleman stove, it must be manageable in a real kitchen! We had it with polenta then, but pasta is way easier for me to coordinate. Sorry I don’t have a picture; it disappeared quickly! And the in-laws would have thought I was weird, taking pictures of dinner. Well, weirder than they already think I am.

Baked Shrimp with Tomatoes and Feta

Makes 4 servings (I increased shrimp to 1.5 lbs for 6 peeps, and it was plenty)

1 T olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced (2 tsp)
2 14.5 oz cans diced (roasted) tomatoes with their juice
3 T smoked paprika (pimenton)
pinch crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 cup cilantro leaves
1 1/4 lbs medium shrimp, peeled & deveined (1 lb is enough for 4 peeps)
2/3 C crumbled feta cheese (3 oz)
1 lb dry linguine or other pasta

Start your water for pasta now and timing will be great. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Heat oil, add onion and garlic and cook until onion is soft. Add tomatoes, pepper flakes, paprika; bring to a boil and then reduce heat to simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and transfer to casserole dish. Add shrimp & cilantro. Sprinkle feta over top. (Start cooking your linguine now, takes 12 minutes) Bake until shrimp are cooked through and cheese melts, about 12 minutes. (Linguine is done!)

Serve over drained linguine.

Enjoy!

7 Comments

Posted in Knit, recipe

Tagged Knit, Ruffle Tank, yarn

Ishbel, interrupted

Posted on June 4, 2009 | 14 comments

I must be loose. A looser knitter than Emilee, anyway. She finished her gorgeous Ishbel with less than one skein of Malabrigo sock yarn. That seduced me into thinking I could do the same. As I neared the end, I realized that I wasn’t going to make it. I weighed the remaining yarn and found that it takes a little more than one gram per row. I had 10 grams of yarn left. And 10 rows to go. And a bind off row. Ouch. I really didn’t want to buy another $20 skein for about 3 grams of yarn.

I kept knitting. Now I have three rows left to knit, plus a bind off row. This tiny ball of yarn isn’t going to make it.

Luckily, there is a Ravelry group called Malabrigo Junkies, and they have a forum thread titled “ISO/FT/FS.” In English, that’s “in search of/for trade/for sale.” Since I only needed a little, I posted there. Within a couple hours, I had a reply. KellyInTexas is my hero!

I love a happy ending, don’t you?

14 Comments

Posted in Knit, ravelry

Tagged ishbel, Knit, malabrigo, ravelry, yarn

Single Skein Club is leading me down the path to Sock Summit

Posted on June 2, 2009 | 10 comments

It’s June, and that means it’s time for the next installment of Twisted’s Single Skein Club. This club has updates every other month. I still haven’t knitted April’s project, a cool toe-up sock by Chrissy Gardiner. But I will conquer my toe-up aversion soon. Sock Summit is coming!

Enough chit-chat. If you don’t want to see what’s in June’s package, avert your eyes.

Still here? Let’s see!

Look at this yarn! Malabrigo Lace yarn, one skein (of course). The color is “glazed carrot,” and that’s a great description. It’s not plain orange. There’s a depth to the color that looks like it has a brown sugar glaze.

The exclusive club pattern is the Seedling Sampler Scarf by Sarah Pope. It has three lace patterns in it, and best of all, it has beads! The beads are a bronzy color (I thought they were purple in the shop, go me) and look like seeds. The beads are strung onto the yarn before knitting. How? With this cool collapsible bead needle! I’m going to be using this needle for my other beading projects, too, so this is a great tool. And there’s a sweet SSC stitch marker to round out the package.

I think the gals at Twisted are leading me down the garden path to Sock Summit. First there’s that toe-up thing. Yup, need to know that for a couple of my classes. Now there are the beads. I’m taking a bead class at Sock Summit, too, but I think we’re adding beads as we go, instead of pre-stringing. But still…

Speaking of Sock Summit, DH is bemused by how excited I am about the prospect of a knitting conference. I’ve gone to other conferences before (Stitches and TKGA) but the buzz around those is nothing like the Sock Summit buzz. I keep telling him that it’s the power of personality (Stephanie and Tina), and it’s almost like a cult. DH has also been fascinated by the whole Sock Summit registration ruckus. He’s in marketing, and you can see his take on it here.

And because it’s the beginning of June, I have to show you where that pile of bark mulch ended up:

Two thirds of it is in the front and side yards. The last third has made it to the back yard, but it’s in a pile! Soon and very soon…

10 Comments

Posted in beading, Knit

Tagged Knit, malabrigo, single skein club, sock summit, twistedpdx, yarn

Looking ahead

Posted on May 31, 2009 | 11 comments

Ishbel’s knitting should be finished in the next few days, so I’m looking ahead to a new project (besides all the socks that will be happening for Sock Summit).

At our recent knit nite, Leigh Radford was wearing her Ruffle Tank (Rav link). This was featured in Interweave Knits Spring 2003, and also in The Best of Interweave Knits. I was smitten with the simplicity and elegance of her design.

Although the yarn specified is all linen (Louet Euroflax sport weight), I opted for Louet MerLin Sport, a blend of 60% wet-spun linen, and 40% merino wool. It was mostly a color decision; I liked this blue better than the Euroflax colors at Twisted. But I’m also hoping that the wool will make the linen a little easier to work with, too.

The MerLin has 20 yards less per skein than the Euroflax; I’ll see how close I am at the end and decide if I need all four ruffles, or only three. I have the advantage of being short, so I’ll use less yarn in the length, too, and that may save me right there.

I seem to have done a lot of dreaming about this tank already, but I’m not letting myself cast on, or even swatch, until I’m done knitting Ishbel. I know how diverting a new project can be, and I don’t want Ishbel to languish!

11 Comments

Posted in Knit

Tagged Knit, Ruffle Tank, yarn

School supplies

Posted on May 29, 2009 | 9 comments

Remember how thrilling it was to get your school supplies each fall? The smell of new pencils and crayons…

Now imagine buying supplies for Sock Summit classes. Even better, right? Especially with a friend! Anna is taking two classes with me, so we went bead and yarn shopping this morning.

Here’s what I have:

Both yarns are Louet Gems sport weight. Yes, sport is as thin as I’ve knitted for socks. And I figure I’ll get further, faster with a fatter yarn!

The lilac yarn is for Star Athena’s Sock Design Workshop. The supply list said sock yarn, not too busy and not too dark. Perfect. Even more perfect is that this is the same color I’m using for Kai-Mei, and if I run out before I’m finished with the toe, I’ll just borrow a little of this. It may not be the same dye-lot (I haven’t checked), but it’s better than nothing! And it was very fun shopping for supplies at Twisted, because Star was there and now she’s met Anna, too.

The white yarn is for Hooked on Beads with Sivia Harding. And the beads are for…yeah, you guessed it. I think that some plain white yarn is fine, because I want to see what’s going on with the beads! You may find it boring, but remember, it’s just practice! Perhaps a cute sock cuff, or fingerless mitts. By the way, Dava Bead in Portland is a place of great temptation. I buy a lot of my beading supplies there.

And for Cat Bordhi’s Dancing with Socks class? I’ll probably just play with some natural colored worsted that I use for teaching. Or go shopping again. I was much more restrained than Anna, so I may have to catch up…

9 Comments

Posted in beading, Knit

Tagged Knit, sock summit, yarn

Sock Summit: I’m in!

Posted on May 26, 2009 | 21 comments

That was a wild romp with the Sock Summit server this morning! It kept timing out, but the clock was still ticking, and I'd go back in and see that whatever it was that I tried to add didn't make it, so I had to try again. I finished registration with 48 seconds to spare (they gave a 15 minute hold).

I’m sorry that it didn’t go as smoothly as planned, after all the hard work into the wee hours by Stephanie and Tina. (Stephanie’s updates on twitter were quite informative.) If you didn’t get in, try again; classes that were being held during those 15 minute hold periods go back to the queue if the registration doesn’t go through, and apparently there was also a server glitch that made things look full when they weren’t.

Here’s what I’m taking:

Dancing with Socks with Cat Bordhi
Sock Design Workshop: Know the Rules, Then Break Them with Star Athena
Hooked on Beads with Sivia Harding (one hour wonder)

I’m looking forward to these classes, and to just checking out the market and hanging out with knitters!

And because I can’t run a post without a picture, here are the stitch markers I made to use in Cat Bordhi’s class. The picture is a re-run, but it’s a picture!

21 Comments

Posted in beading, Knit

Tagged sock summit

Tourists at home

Posted on May 25, 2009 | 7 comments

The fun thing about having guests from out of town is that you can play tourist at home. My in-laws are here for the holiday weekend, and CollegeGuy is home for their visit. Fun!

Friday we had a late afternoon sail on the Columbia River. I bought this trip at the youth fundraiser auction in March, and what better time to use it than a gorgeous holiday weekend? The weather was perfect.

The Teen and CollegeGuy each had turns at the, uh, helm? What do I know from boats? It’s a 30 foot Catalina, and it was sweet. We had a leisurely trip east up the river past the Glenn Jackson Bridge, and then a more rambunctious trip back down the river, tacking with the wind. (Note the angle of the boat versus the horizon.)

It was an exhilarating afternoon. Thank you, Kirk, for a great time!

Saturday we headed up to Timberline Lodge. It’s a WPA project, completed in 1937. So grand!

At 6000 feet above sea level, there is skiing and snowboarding action, even in the summer. The kids (!) felt compelled to get into the snow, too. Check out The Teen’s rolling flip.

There’s a great view of Mt. Jefferson and the Three Sisters to the south. This is from the Raven’s Nest on the third floor.

I love the way the snow is higher than the windows…on the second floor.

Did you know that “The Shining” was filmed here? All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy!

Not much knitting going on this weekend, but I’m through the first 8 rows of lace on Ishbel. I can see the pattern, and I like it.

7 Comments

Posted in travel

Tagged timberline lodge

Ishbel exorcism

Posted on May 22, 2009 | 19 comments

Mmmmmm. Malabrigo! I bought this purple Malabrigo Sock yarn, color is Violeta Africana. I really wanted blue, but Twisted didn’t have any, and I needed to cast something on in a hurry. My knitting mojo was at stake.

Looks like this will work just fine. It’s the color of grape soda. The camera can’t quite catch the fizzy goodness; it’s not as blue as you’d think from the picture. But I’m knitting, and I’m happy. One of the problems of not having many projects on the needles is that when one project stops, there aren’t many alternatives. I’m still looking for a good mindless knit project. Right now, Ishbel can be it, until it gets to the lace.

I’m hoping that my next project doesn’t require a yarn change, because I’ve just had two in a row. Ouch.

In other knit news, Sock Summit registration opens on Tuesday at 10 a.m. I still haven’t decided what I want to take, but now the pressure is on!

And in non-knitting news, the Adult Beginner Forum’s quarterly recital went live on the 15th. I haven’t been playing much, but I had this worked up in March before I fell off the piano wagon, and it came back pretty quickly. It’s another waltz from Valses Poeticos by Enrique Granados. This is vals no. 6, also called Vals Sentimental. I love how melancholy and sentimental this is. I envision a woman looking at faded photographs of her long ago love. She goes into quite a reverie in the second half of this piece. But it’s so over, baby…just like I’m over that silk Ishbel.

19 Comments

Posted in Knit, music, piano

Tagged ishbel, Knit, piano