the quacking fiber addict

My sleep cycle is all wonky after the Harry Potter release party. It's only been a week, so hopefully it'll stabilize soon. In the meantime, I'm surviving off of catnaps.

On Friday, Mum and I went to Forest Park, the largest park in any city in the US. Over 5000 acres of greenery, paths, and an Audubon sanctuary. We took the Wildwood path, which curves along a very steep drop (above a 100 ft straight down), but the sock wasn't too scared:


The dog was tenacious and general pain in the tuckus. I suppose we should consider ourselves lucky he didn't try to follow a bird off the trail, down the slope. The area is famous for it's few remaining old growth Douglas Firs - some, I'm told, are up to 8 ft in diameter. The largest we saw was about 6 ft. But, the undergrowth (secondary) was full of maidenhair ferns, Solomon's seal, and teeny-tiny wild flowers. I really do love the PNW, just for places like this:


Growing up in an area that had been lived on, and tamed by humans, for thousands of years (the Cherokee and Iroquois were settled, remember?) meant that I never saw a tree 100's of feet high until moving to Oregon. Seeing hundreds of them for the first time (in 2002), blocking out the sun and dizzyingly tall, was an experience I'll never forget. Even now, thousands of acres of wild forest, old and secondary growth, is awe-inspiring to someone raised on concrete and manicured lawns.

It also impresses (and amuses) the hell outta me that women pioneers settled Oregon wearing corsets and skirts (don't tell me they didn't, cuz they did). I often wonder at the foolishness of it all.

But, anyway, that's enough musing. I know all y'all come for the knitting content.

Today, after sitting through a series excruciatingly off-key Torah readings (oy), meeting some of the local Reconstructionist Shul (I miss East Coast Conservative services so much), and escaping narrowly from a rowdy Bar Mitzvah crowd - I dragged the folks to Lint. If you haven't heard by now that Lint is closing, you probably don't live in the PDX area and don't care.

But, as I do, and the Shul was 5 blocks away, we made a stop. This post definitely qualifies for SSE. 10 balls of Rowan 4-Ply Cotton:




For a pair of spocks with antique, enameled black buttons. I cannot wait to finish them. I just have to finish little D's pair (one nearly done!), and then I can CO my own.

Other than that? I put the spencer-bolero-thing back on the needles, because Opus wants a copy of the pattern - but I have to finish knitting the SBT before I can write a pattern for it. I'm 16 rows away from finishing Clue 2 on the Mystery Stole, and am nearly to the heels on Baudelaire.

And that's about everything. I hope this post was better than the last few... And, thank you everyone for your congrats! This is so exciting.

Labels: baudelaire, designing, Portland, SSE

Someone was nudging me, so I surfaced from the depths of sleep to see an-Emmos-shaped entity standing over me, radiating anxiety.

"It's 10:15," she informed me, as I peered at her without my glasses, wondering what was going on. The information settled. I swore loudly and with some proficiency, threw my blankets off and rolled off the air mattress.

We were due at Knit/Purl at 10:30, to meet Opus.

Somehow, less than 10 minutes later, we were in Emmos' car, driving like lunatics. It must be mentioned that my mother aided us in this timely departure - by tracking items down for us, throwing sweaters (hers) at us, and even venturing out to the car in her PJ's to find the Portland Metro map for me. Mum definitely earned her Jewish Mother status yesterday.

Three slightly belated knitters arrived at our destination to find Opus knitting on the corner. We called to her, circled the block several times, and finally found parking 2 blocks away.

"I should have realised this," she called to us as we rushed over, "but since it's Sunday, they don't open until 12."

Oops. Okay. Time to reassess. St M and Opus both needed to visit an ATM. We three needed breakfast. So we set off, first hitting The Pearl Bakery (dangerous, wonderful place to visit), then Anthropologie (it was on the way to WaMu, I swear!), and finally WaMu.

It was 11:20. We still had 40 minutes to kill. "Are there any knit shops nearby you wanted to hit, before we go back to Knit/Purl?" Opus asked. Indeed, there was. Knit Knot Studio. We headed over and were sidetracked by Cargo. 13th St in the Alphabet District is a dangerous place to go for your wallet, lemme tell you.

We arrived at Glisan, wandered around perplexed and discovered that Knit Knot wasn't open on Sundays. Blast. "Let's call the rest of those stores on your list, before we go to them," Emmos suggested. My cell was produced and St M got the job of calling and getting hours for all the stores we'd chosen. Our choices were narrowed to Knit/ Purl, Lint, The Yarn Garden, and Abundant Yarn & Dyeworks. We also decided to try and hit L'Occitaine at some point during the day (before we crossed the river).

We arrived back at Knit/Purl soon after calling the stores on the list, and the girls were suitably impressed. Knit/Purl is quite easily my favourite knit shop ever. They carry high-end yarns that are hard to find, have their own yarn & pattern line, and always have great customer service.

When I was asked if I needed anything, I immediately inquired into the possibility of a special order from Habu Textiles. I explained that, after several failed attempts, I still hadn't managed to get cobweb yarn for the Wedding Ring Shawl. I had seen on Habu's website that they carried a gorgeous silk yarn that fit the shawl's requirements perfectly. But, several months ago, I had been quite disappointed to find that Habu has a minimum order amount of $1000. Eep.

In the end, it took two ladies, the Habu sample book, and a blood oath from me to place an order for degummed Tassar Silk Organizine. I paid a deposit for half of the estimated price, sighed over now-empty bank account (no more yarn for me!), and went to help the girls with their purchases.

As Emmos was paying for her yarns (Shibui sock!), I caught this shot of the group:


From there we drove to Lint. I must admit that I have a mixed review for this store. In the past I've had much better customer service than we received yesterday. There's no arguing that Lint is a great store to visit for knitting accessories and basic yarns like Rowan, Debbie Bliss, and Brown Sheep. But the girls were clearly turned off by the fact that the woman staffing was not impressed with us, nor willing to help us with our inquiries. We left a bit disappointed.

"They're usually much better," Opus said as we left, "it's probably because it's a Sunday..."

Next was L'Occitaine because the girls (Opus excluded) had been coveting my tinted Shea Butter - for lips and cheeks. After spending too much money there (I was good, I swear), we grabbed lunch. Mmmm... tempura.

We then crossed the river to hit The Yarn Garden, my now 2nd favourite knit store in Portland. Their selection of yarns is impressive, they join onto a cafe, have some fabulous sock yarns and pretty decent customer service. I ended up buying a set of Brittany US 1.5 DPNs, signing up for a rewards card (the girls helped me fill it) and contenting myself to coming back when I had money. St M did much better, as they were having a sale on Noro and found a cashmere blend to die for. Emmos bought several balls of sock yarn (are we seeing a trend here?).

By this point we were completely exhausted and still had a yarn store left. We also had less than an hour to find it. I was not the best navigator and we managed to be superbly lost. By some manner of grace, we ended up at Abundant Yarn & Dyeworks 10 minutes before closing.

I have a fairly good review for them. They had a huge selection of Lorna's Laces - yarns and roving (!) - and also carried other spinning fiber. Again, since I was po'r, I only bought a set of DPN's (KA US 0's). But, St M got several hanks of handdyed superwash roving. They, like The Yarn Garden, had a cafe attached. I've definitely bookmarked them to visit again when I have money. The fact that they had some naturally dyed roving was also impressive. I wouldn't visit them for my daily yarn needs (too far away, hard to find, and the selection wasn't as varied as I'd like), but their roving is more than enough to tempt me.

From there we headed back north, dropped Opus off at a Met station - me promising to meet up with her at Knit/Purl's weekly knit night. We three headed back home, completely and utterly exhausted.

As Mum made dinner for us (before the girls had to drive back to Eugene), I snapped this shot of the weekend's haul:


From BSG, in order of purchase:

• A Spindlewood Co. square mini spindle, weighing in at 5/8 oz (been wanting one of these for a looooong while)
  
• Women's M sock blockers by Fiber Trends
  
• Cherry Tree Hill supersock (on sale!) in Peacock and 1 oz of Crosspatch Creations fiber
• 4 oz of the softest wool top, grown in Oregon - a Cormo x Targhee x Merino mix.
• Simply gorgeous sock yarn that was handdyed in Oregon (nope, can't remember the booth, but I'll post the info on the band when I use it)
• And, la creme de la creme - Heirloom Knitting and Prehistoric Textiles. Both of which I have been trying to obtain for... too long.

Yesterday:

• L'Occitaine verbena/ citrus shampoo
• Brittany birch 5" US 1.5 DPNs
• KA 5" US 0 DPNs

And that is everything. Last night, after the girls left, I fell into bed before 7 pm and slept thru 'til this morning. I have a doctor's appt in Eugene at 10 am, so now I have to get ready for that. Oooh, fun, more driving. I have a feeling that I'm never going to want to see inside a car ever again, very very soon.

Labels: BSG, LYS review, SSE

Sorry for the itsy bitsy pictures, but I'm on Portland free Wi-Fi at the moment, and since it's offered by MSN it inherently hates Blogger. Sooo... clickies if you want to see them bigger.

We got up at 9 am when the movers arrived an hour early and started frantically packing (well, I showered first, I can't say as much for my brother). After 4 hours of intensive boxing and sorting, the kitchen was packed and Mum and I were thoroughly exhausted. The boys hadn't finished loading the truck and actually suggested leaving my stuff behind because 'there wasn't enough room'.

Right. Nuh-uh. Mum and I left about an hour earlier than the boys and, alas, I didn't get to test my Contortionist Knitting abilities as I had hoped. The trip was stop-and-go the entire way, so I had to hold onto Lapis' tank with both hands all the way to the house*. I suppose I could have tried knitting with my feet (I can write with my right foot), but it didn't seem feasible as my feet were resting on two bags and ensconced in shoes. Thus is my sad excuse for not making any sock progress.

But, I do bring yarn p0rn! When we went to open the door of our new rental house, I noticed some interesting bulges in the doormat. Our nice postal worker had hidden several packages under the mat! That's a first. Tammy, lovely wonderful person that she is, sent me Socks That Rock! I mentioned to her at the Harlot's Powell's event that I was severely disappointed that I had never managed to get Socks That Rock lightweight yarn in Puck's Mischief, so she sent me some! How sweet is she? And it's sooooo pretty...


I simply must cast on with this yarn ASAP. And I already have a 'thank you' gift arranged, mwahaha. Think lavendar-ish. Anyway, that little parcel totally made up for the 6 hours of sleep I got, packing, moving, unloading, and unpacking many, many boxes and huge pieces of furniture.

Back to the honking big furniture. Dad and Emm (and Charlie) arrived about 1.5 hours after us (Mum and I went grocery shopping in that time), and we immediately got to work, so that everyone would have a bed to sleep in tonight (and maybe some clothes to wear in the morning):


We didn't quite manage the 'clothes to wear in the morning' angle for Mum & Dad as their dressers were the first pieces to be loaded on the truck. Since my stuff was the last to go in, and the first out (I think there might be some envy about that), so I actually have a furnished room at the moment:


All I need to do is summon up the energy to get up, walk down the hall, and put sheets on my bed, and then I can lie in a horizontal position for as long as I like.

Now there is a happy thought. Thank you everyone for the well-wishes, now I think I'm going to sit here and think about nothing. Toodle-oo.

*this did not prevent me from singing Irish ditties as loud as I could the entire way.

Labels: SSE, The Move, yarn p0rn

I recently saw a t-shirt that read, "Spoiled Rotten." I nearly bought it, because I am. I admit it. I love, and deeply appreciate, the fact that I've rarely wanted for anything. And, in my defense, I am not remotely like Paris Hilton. I want to go into the Peace Corps to give back to the global community.

That said, I have a feeling that knitters might just start planning ways to raid my house tonight. I went to Portland with Mum & Dad today, to help them close the lease on the house we're renting for the next year. They asked me to come along, look over the paperwork (did I mention I aced AP Law?), take pictures of the rental, and just help out in general. So, on 5 hours of sleep (waaay too much caffeine yesterday evening), I got up this morning and requested that we make a stop at two shops in Portland - L'Occitane, because I'm out of facial scrub, and Knit/Purl, to ask about local stitch'n'bitch groups.

Honest to goodness, I did NOT plan on shopping. I was good, my intentions were honorable. We made great time and arrived at the rental an hour early (even after we stopped for Pho). After an hour of paperwork, endless signatures and initials, we got the keys and went to look the place over again:


It's VERY cute, and a little under 1/2 the size of our present house (heaven help us). I took tons of pictures of every room, nook, and cranny (just in case). After exploring the neighborhood, we then went onto the fun portion of the afternoon. Dad got to visit his new favourite haberdashery (can you believe I actually get to write that word in a blog post?), while Mum and I played in their Ladies' section (wow, I have never wanted fancy hats so much in my life).

I then asked, because we were 6 blocks away, to hit Knit/Purl. This was agreed to. First, and I came up with this one, we stopped by Josephine's. If you are even remotely fond of fabric, you MUST stop at this store. There are no words to describe the exquisiteness of their wares.

Yet, somehow, Mum and I managed not to buy anything there (a near thing, too, since they had a line of Italian summer cottons out) and walked out with nary a sigh.

Next door is Knit/Purl (and next to them is a needlepoint shop...). Knit/Purl is what I want to grow up and own. It's definitely a Big Kids knitting store. Mum & Dad and I looked around, making conversation about local knitting groups. I was strongly encouraged to come by on Thursday nights, when they have their knitting night. Tempting.

The sock wall was my doom in the end. But, technically (this truly is a hairfine line I'm barely not crossing), I didn't break the Yarn Diet. Seriously. Mum & Dad bought the yarn as a gift. Sooo... it doesn't count, right?

I have a feeling I'm not going to win that argument. Moving on. As I was looking at their patterns (I really love the Shibui line), Dad called me away from the shelves. Sounding frighteningly reminiscent of Mephistopheles, he asked me slyly, "Have you seen this?"

Oh. Dear.

Somehow, 5 minutes later, with a "I hope we start seeing you on Thursday nights!" ringing in my ears, Mum & Dad and I were standing on the street... and I was clutching my new Tote and the forbidden yarn, slightly puzzled over my new acquisitions.

This just skyrockets my Spoiled status through the roof, doesn't it?

But, to keep my karma in the positives, I'm working on a bunch of cute things not for me. On the way home I gleefully finished a bootie for someone's baby (who's already born, darnit, the whole baby-waiting-for-the-knitting-to-be-done is a lie). Since the parent sometimes reads this blog, I'm not going to show the bootie finished. But, here's the front:




I made the pattern up while we waited for Pirates of the Caribbean to start last night. It's a sole-up pattern that I'm not even sure how my demented mind invented. But, everyone admits it's cute. The pattern needs some polishing, but I like it enough to keep trying. Yay for more babies!

I cast on the second bootie, but got dreadfully carsick after awhile, and ended up sitting (slightly bored) for a couple of hours not getting anything done. Blast. This is why I like trains. I never get sick when I knit on them. Or planes. Or boats.

Blarg.

I think I'm going to try to knit the second bootie tonight. I'm off to do that and find a Lo Jack for my new knitting tote.

Labels: family, SSE, The Move

I could neither remember nor find a quote I liked for this post. Ohwell. Tomorrow night.

SSE = Serious Stash Enhancement (phrase coined by Penny)

I'm writing this quickly in the time I have before dinner (the minestrone is simmering and K is blanching halibut). I promised pix of everything I bought yesterday (I refuse to look at the receipts), so here one is:


Left to right: Chasing Rainbows cashmere/ merino and cashmere/ silk in matching colourways (gonna be plied together), 3000 yards of ultrafine merino/ tencel lace yarn (120 grams), 100 grams (1500 + yards) cashmere/ silk lace yarn, Lorna's Laces Helen, then below them are 3 pairs of Lorna's Laces sock yarns (25% off! at one booth) that I have promised for myself.

So, there we have it. Luxury at it's best.

Not much to report today, other than the fact that K and little D have a frightening love of Karaoke (A and I escaped to buy snaps for my Hogwarts Houses swap package). I still haven't had a chance to teach A to knit, and baby T is still a bit fussy. Eerrr... I've forgtotten everything I meant to post, and baby T is crying. GTG.

I need to take more photos of the family later.

Labels: SSE, Stitches West, travel