Tag Archives: tigard knitting guild

Knitting Guilds! Tigard, Portland…

Do you belong to a knitting guild? I just joined a brand new one, the Puddletown Knitters Guild. Link to Facebook site here; I don’t think there’s a website yet.

What is a knitting guild? It’s a place to share your love for knitting, and it is for all levels of knitters. There is always something new to learn, and something new to share.

Tigard Knitting Guild is our well established and wonderful guild, just outside Portland. I’ll be speaking there later this month, on October 19 at 7 p.m. Social knitting begins at 6 p.m. I’m talking about taking pictures of your knitting (and other things) with your iPhone or other mobile device. Make your pictures shine! Not a member? You can visit twice before joining.

Puddletown Knitters Guild is a new guild that is forming so there is an additional guild option for Portland area knitters. This is especially appealing for those of us on the east side of the Willamette River.

I’ll be the inaugural speaker at Puddletown Knitters Guild on Thursday, November 9. Social knitting begins at 6 p.m., and the meeting begins at 7. We meet at the Friends Meeting House, 4312 SE Stark St. You can visit twice before joining this guild, too.

I’ll be speaking about my design process. I thought about it a lot this summer, because I designed four shawls! Come learn about what I do and why. And maybe how.

Hope to see you at either or both guild meetings!

Portland outdoors, knitting, Tigard Knitting Guild

It’s been a warm dry summer here, which makes getting outdoors a pleasure. Yesterday we climbed a volcano. Within the city limits! Mt. Tabor is an extinct (or maybe just dormant?) volcanic cinder cone, with an elevation of 636 feet. We wanted a short, spur of the moment hike close to home, since we were getting a late (noon) start. This was perfect.

Mt Tabor reservoir

You know most of my hikes involve waterfalls. This will have to do. This is one of the three open air reservoirs on Mt. Tabor, where part of the city’s water supply is held.

Mt Tabor view of Tillikum Crossing

There’s a nice view to the west toward downtown, looking out at Portland’s newest bridge, Tillikum Crossing.

tillikum crossing reflection

DH and I saw that bridge the other day, when I took him on my favorite bridge walk. The reflection of the bridge, and him, on the Portland Opera building was pretty cool.

fire station boat ramp pdx

This was the fifth time I’ve done this walk this summer, and I just noticed the cool sculpture on the fire station. See the concentric circles? They come into focus as you walk eastward on the Hawthorne Bridge.

If you’re looking for more fun free things to do around Portland, the Oregonian just ran a feature today. I’m feeling pretty savvy, because I was already doing some of those things!

Other than that, I’m knitting, knitting, knitting. I took a little detour from my gradient project to work with this lovely yarn from Knitted Wit. There’s a deadline for this design project, so it has moved up to the front burner.

knitted wit sprinkle dye

I’m speaking at the Tigard Knitting Guild tonight, talking about blocking. You know I love blocking! Click the link for details. You can visit the guild twice before joining, so if you’re local, come on by.

Onward!

Like Savoire Faire

I’m everywhere! (Who knows/remembers this cartoon?) I’m feeling a little scattered, and focused at the same time. A lot of knit-related stuff going on this month!

Last Saturday, I did an all day workshop for the Tigard Knitting Guild. What a fun bunch of knitters! We did slip stitch mosaic knitting: The basic how to, first flat and then in the round, with several patterns to try. In the afternoon, students designed and started either hats or cowls with this technique.

pdxknitterati knitting

Ha! Those pattern samples were secret gauge swatches! They’d be more accurate over a larger number of stitches, but it was a good starting point. Everyone started on their designs, which I hope to someday see finished and out in the wild.

Tomorrow I’m teaching in Salem at Tangled Purls. Blocking in the morning, stranded colorwork in the afternoon, a trunk show all day, and a meet and greet between classes.

cowl (375x500)Kerfuffle Cowl, stranded colorwork

Non-stranded (slip stitch) and stranded colorwork, bookends to my week. Fun!

I have a new design, Summertime Blues, that I just finished knitting; it’s off to the test knitter and tech editor. I used Knitted Wit’s Shine, a 50/50 merino tencel blend that I’ve knit and loved before. It has great drape and luster. Photos next week; my model is as busy as I am!

I’m getting ready for the TNNA trade show in Columbus at the end of the month; I’ll have some designs featuring Knitted Wit’s yarns in the Knitted Wit booth (including Summertime Blues, when I’m not wearing it). Cindy (@blackmoondog) knit this version of Sophie’s Rose for us, and I blocked it yesterday.

sophie's rose enchanted forest

Knitted Wit’s Single Fingering in Enchanted Forest and Salted Caramel.

sophie's rose blocking

Delicious!

I’m closing in on the last set of criss crosses on my KAL Tilt Shift. This was on the back burner while I finished Summertime Blues, but I’m back on it now. I’d love to get this finished and blocked today so I can wear it this weekend, but it’s all weather dependent. Yesterday was a glorious blocking day, sunny and warm. Fingers crossed!

What have you finished lately?

Upcoming classes, and catching up the blog

It’s been super busy here since I came home from Port Ludlow, Edmonds, Ellensburg. I feel like there’s a mega-post about that road trip that needs to happen, but I haven’t had a chance to process it yet. So I’m going to jump ahead and let you know what’s going on now, and then work backwards. We’ll pretend it’s ballroom dancing or something…

May is shaping up to be a busy month. I’m doing a workshop for the Tigard Knitting Guild on May 9. We’re going to play with mosaic slipped stitch knitting. In the morning we’ll learn how it works, and in the afternoon we’ll design something with it! This is such a great way to play with color, but we only use one color per row. No carrying, no floats.

pdxknitterati knitting

On May 16, I’ll be down in Salem teaching at Tangled Purls. I’m teaching two classes. The first is Blocking: It’s Magic from 10 to noon.

Rosaria edge detail

In the afternoon I’m teaching beginning stranded colorwork with the Kerfuffle Cowl from 1:30 TO 4 p.m. Contact the shop to register for either of these.

pdxknitterati kerfuffle cowl

I’ll also have my trunk show there all day! We’ll have a meet and greet between classes, so come take a class or just say hello.

I’ve been knitting like mad this month. I’m working with Knitted Wit’s new Targhee Shimmer yarn, 80/20 Targhee/silk in DK and worsted weights. The wool is sourced 100% sheep to skein in the USA. I designed a Criss Cross Cowl in Kiss and Teal (to go with the Criss Cross mitts and hat and beret) with the worsted, pattern coming soon. This color is amazing, but it doesn’t photograph well. In real life, it’s a very rich aquamarine, like a deep blue-green emerald.

pdxknitterati criss cross cowl

I knit a pair of Pointer Mitts with the DK, in Liberally Bleeding Heart.

pdxknitterati pointer mitts

These are going to TNNA, the The National Needlearts Association trade show at the end of May. There will also be a Pointer cap to go with the mitts, but a sample knitter is doing that one for me. And a Sophie’s Rose Shawlette in Knitted Wit’s Single Fingering, in Enchanted Forest and Salted Caramel which I’m not knitting, but I’ll block it. Thank goodness for sample knitters!

I’ve also been diligently knitting on my Tilt Shift KAL project. Two skeins down, one left to go. This is very relaxing knitting for me, because it’s 80% stockinette. I’ve been reading a lot of blogs and watching TV with it. The KAL has been going on all month, and should be wrapping up this week.

Tilt Shift KAL

I don’t know that I’ll have mine done by then, because I have a design project to finish before TNNA which is higher priority because it has a deadline. Click, click, click…

I also blocked my Fern Shawlette that I knit for my previous KAL. Finally! You’ll note that I’m artfully hiding the ends I have yet to sew in.

pdxknitterati fern shawlette

In my spare time (ha!) my friends Carole, Suzanne, and I put on a tea for 60 on Saturday. Planning, shopping, cooking, plating, serving. And no pictures of the event; I was too busy kitchen wenching. But Sue from Tango Mango came and did a presentation with her collection of vintage purses, which was very cool. Here are just a few.

princess mary purseNote the floral detail at the bottom.

vintage beaded bags

And then there was an Earth Day event on Sunday that required folding some origami cranes, among other things…

origami cranes for earth day

I’ll do a report on the Strung Along Retreat soon. It was great. But I have to wash and block my little swatches from Clara Parkes’ class before I can blog it!

What have you been up to while I’ve been away?

Blogging, and more

I’m so pleased to announce that I’m going to be blogging for Lantern Moon! I’ve been in a knitting group (the knit nite group) with Sharon Woodcock, one of the owners of Lantern Moon, for about three years. Our group grew out of an intarsia class that we had with Leigh Radford. I was thrilled when Sharon & Joel (her husband, and co-owner of Lantern Moon) asked me to blog for them. Please come check out the new blog here.

We went to the Tigard Knitting Guild meeting last Thursday; Sharon was the guest speaker. It’s a great group of knitters, and I even participated in the show and tell time, with my Pacific Shawl.

pacific

I still have to finish writing up the pattern; it’s been on the back burner for a bit. But I hope to have it out to test knit in the next few weeks.

So, not much knitting around here, but I’ve been cooking. This is our new favorite pasta salad. It’s just right for summer. You can put any of your favorite things in it, but here’s what I did:

orzo salad

Lemon Orzo Pasta Salad

Dressing: in a jar, combine and shake well:
1/2 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced or run through garlic press
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

For the salad:
1 pound orzo pasta, cooked, rinsed, and cooled (this makes a LOT)
2/3 lb asparagus, cut in 1.5 inch pieces (add these to the pasta for the last 1.5 minutes of cooking)
1 14 ounce can quartered artichoke hearts, drained
1/2 cup kalamata olives, sliced in half
1 pint grape tomatoes (whole)
3 ounces crumbled feta cheese
1/4 cup pine nuts

Combine salad ingredients and toss with 1/2 the dressing. Store the salad, refrigerated, to let the flavors meld. Before serving, add more of the dressing to refresh. (You can use all, or part, of the remaining dressing, as you desire) We served it with grilled chicken, and really enjoyed it!

What’s cooking/knitting with you?