Happy Holidays!

The snow is finally melting here, be that good or bad. We now have flood warnings, but we are up high enough that it shouldn't effect us. The melting also means that the snow is extra heavy and our car now sinks. Yesterday we had quite an adventure. We got out just fine, but on the way home it took us roughly an hour to go the last 50ft of our street to our driveway. It has melted even more today, so we shall see if we can get out.


In much more cheerful news, I got some very pretty things from my family for Christmas. Looks like this year is the year of the sheep! Lots of cute sheepy things that fill my heart with glee! Our big gift this year is actually a brand new couch. We asked for money towards it and that was part of our adventure yesterday. As soon as the weather has completely cleared our street then it will be delivered. This should give us just about enough time to clear out the space and move the old couch up to my studio-in-progress!

Now back to knitting for the last few gifts to wrap up! I hope everyone is staying warm and dry! Also don't forget that this is the last week for free shipping in the shop! January means a new sale thing and my annual blog contest, so please stay tuned!

Boy Scarves

We are still snowed in:


That is 20" of snow. Blair went out and measured. We are still just fine. The freeway between us and Portland has been closed since Saturday night. We have some friends stuck there, but they are staying with family until things are better. The freeway between here and The Dalles is still open, so Blair can still make it into work. In the mean time I am knitting away for Christmas, though not anything I can show at the moment. I did, however, get a couple of scarves blocked for the Christmas box:


The first one is the Toby Scarf. I don't think I have talked about this one too much. The story of this scarf goes back to a kitty. I made a kitty for a friend of our's son. He totally fell in love with this kitty. He is also a big fan of Thomas the Tank Engine, including one of the characters named Toby. So he had to name his kitty Toby Cat. Well, then for Christmas I made him a matching hat, which he named Toby Hat. He then insisted that Toby Cat and Toby Hat become a part of his bedtime stories. So they have adventures like going to the zoo and making hats for all the animals. I just think this is awesome. So, when he specifically requested a Toby Scarf I just couldn't argue. This should hopefully keep him warm in all this snowy weather!

The second scarf, which matches the 2nd hat I made last year, is for the other little boy in our group. The yarn is soft malabrigo. The pattern for both of them is a very simply rib, until I either ran out of yarn or it looked long enough. Both are very cuddly and warm for this winter weather.


Lastly, I will leave you with a picture of Soot. She really likes to get out and run all over the upstairs living room, especially since it is so cold out. She is pretty curious about the Christmas tree, but so far has mainly sniffed the ornaments. Plastic table legs and cardboard boxes aren't so lucky! She tries to nibble on them, but is quickly shooed off towards carrot sticks and celery.

I hope everyone else out there is staying warm and dry!

Sheep Notions Bags

We are still snowed in! This is the longest storm I have seen in this area:

This is also the first day that Blair has been snowed in to the point where he can't make it into work. So he is working from home today. Though, don't worry, if we need to get out my parents have AWD and can come and get us in a pinch.


Thankfully I have plenty to do, so I have kept rather busy. This is the newest addition to the shop. They come in Cream, Black, and Grey. They are made from wool felt in Nepal using Fair Trade. So you know that the wonderful people working on these are paid more than a rice ball for their talents!


I just love them. You just know, though, that if it is wool and cream that I will try to dye it. So, I handpainted Purple Sheep! I might try dyeing some other combinations as the mood strikes me. Each bag has a cotton lining and zipper. There are two different sizes: Mama sheep (7.5" x 6.5" ) and Baby Sheep (4.5" x 3.75"). Both are perfect for carrying around little notions like scissors, stitch markers, darning needles, etc... I also have some project bags (scroll down the page) made up that are perfect for small projects like socks or mitts.

As long as this snow stays around then I should get plenty done on the website. We are going to attempt to go to the grocery store this afternoon to get extra supplies. There is supposed to be another wave of snow coming over the weekend, so we need to be prepared. I hope that everyone is having a great holiday season and getting lots of knitting done!

Norman Rockwell Eat Your Heart out...

Today is a much brighter and sunnier day. The snow still isn't melting, but it sure is beautiful:

winter08

That is a album of some of the photos I took outside. It just is so pretty and picturesque. I just love how very blue the sky and water are right now. It makes me very happy.

Since I have been stuck inside I have finished up a pair of mitts. I have a couple other things all blocked that I'll share next time. These mitts are, of course, GYW Seeded Rib Wristwarmers. They are so nice and fast! I knit them out of Superwash Worsted in experimental color Monet's Garden. I knit them on #8US.

I have also been working on the website. Pretty much every item now has a photo! yay! I am now working on descriptions and getting some new items up. If you see something and want to know more about it feel free to email me. I am happy to help out in any way I can!

It's Beginning to Look a lot like Christmas...

A view from our house:

From December 2008 storm

I think it looks like a good day to stay home and knit!

A Little Holiday Knitting!

I have been working on some other projects, besides the Jayne Hats. All of them are in preparation for the holiday season!


These were super quick to knit up! I just love them! I used my Superwash Worsted Yarn in Color Dark Sugarplum Fairy. The pattern is the always wonderful Seeded Rib Wristwarmers by Chrissy Gardiner. Since the yarn is a little on the light side of worsted I used a #8US instead of the called for #9US. It makes the mitts a little smaller, but they fit a woman's hands just perfectly. I know the person I am knitting them for will just love them! They only used less than 1/2 of a skein of yarn so I can knit another pair for myself!

Next up on the gift knitting is a canning jar cozy. One of our friends that works with Blair loves to carry water or hot tea around in a canning jar. He loves them because they are made from glass so they don't have the potential harm found in plastics. I thought it would be pretty cool to make him a cozy. This should make tea drinking much easier! It should save his hands from being burnt and keep his tea warm much longer. I might even write up the pattern and offer it free! The yarn used is Henry's Attic Inca Organic Cotton.

Pretty much I am just knitting away! I have a few things in progress that I should be able to show you in the next week. I think I am finally down to the last few projects for Christmas!

Christmas Tree Hunting!

This year we ended up just going with my parents. Still an adventure in an of itself!


Here is our tree in the wild! Blair and I are very quick in choosing our tree. In fact if it is bent or leaning all the better. We think it adds character. As long as it can hold up the ornaments that is all we really need. Also, this year was really green. It didn't have anywhere near the snow as last year.


Here is the family trying to put my parent's tree up on their roof. My parents, on the other hand, are very particular about the symmetry and lack of leaning in their tree. They hunt around until they find just the right tree. Oh, and that tarp did not stay on for long! The weather was pretty rainy, which turned into snow. It just wasn't cold enough to stick while we were up there. I was thankful that we found our tree quickly and could sit in the warm car while they continued to hunt. I knit on Jayne hats in warmth and comfort, since it was Sunday when we went out.


Here is our tree all decorated. Blair and I had a blast decorating the tree. It is upstairs this year instead of in our living room. I have turned the upstairs of the house into a dye studio and craft room. Blair has part of it. It isn't entirely finished, but when it is I will make sure to give you guys a tour. I have ideas that will encompass dyeing, knitting, spinning, and sewing. It will be so awesome! I love that our tree can be a part of it. I now need to knit stockings for the mantle piece for us and maybe do a wee bit more decorating. I think it has finally done the trick for making me realize that it actually is the holiday season!

Oh, Jayne!

Apparently this is going to be the year of the hat!


So this last week the official notice went out for the Google Holiday party. I had been planning out my pretty clothes for a good week or two before this, so boy was I surprised when they told us that there it will be a western theme, including mechanical bull and poker tables. I had no idea what I would do. Then an addendum came to the email saying that Firefly counts as western! I was so thrilled. A couple of years ago I saw that Erika of Redshirt Knitting had made a Jayne hat and offered a pattern. (Note: Jayne is a super macho, gun toting guy and this hat was made for him by his mother and he loves it and wore it through the whole episode). So an idea started forming in my head, but I was a little nervous to do it all on my own. I got a hold of my friend Denise (rav link), who is also going to the party, and told her about the hats. She was in the same predicament as I was since she had also already picked out her pretty clothes. So I told her about the Jayne hats and she thought they were totally cool too. So we decided to knit them up and go as "Jayne's Girls". As in his fan club. This way we can still wear our pretty clothes and fit the theme!


Here is a shot of the front. Now the trouble came when the guys in our group found out that we were making Jayne hats. All of them wanted one too! They started quoting lines from the episode and offering me bribes. What could I do, but knit hats for them too? Thankfully they are super fast hats to knit on size 11s or 13s. The first one I did on 11s just fits me. So for the guys I knit them on 13s. I have made 4 hats in total now, all over the weekend, and just in time for the party, which is next weekend. I have all of them posted over on Ravelry. I made mine out of Cascade 220. Denise made hers out of peaches & creme because she is a vegan knitter. Each one that I made is slightly different. I will try and make sure to take my camera to the party to get lots of photos. I think it will be simply hilarious for a whole group of us to wear the Jayne hats to the party. Now I just need to add a little bit of straw or raffia to make them completely authentic!

Happy December!

I have something very special planned for December!

First off: December's Special is FREE SHIPPING! That is anywhere in the world on any number of items! I consider it my little gift to you guys for the holiday season. I understand that times are tough, so why not save a little on shipping?

I am also very happy to announce a Holiday Gift Buying Guide! I scoured the shop for a few of my favorite things and put them all together in one pretty place. There is a little something for everyone! So go take a look or send your loved ones to look, to find that perfect gift for the holiday season!

Thanks and Happy Holidays!

Happy Post Thanksgiving!

Just thought I would jump on here and wish everyone a happy belated Thanksgiving! This week has been a bit busy. I finished dyeing up the last of the skeins for the Knit/Purl Sock Club! Yay! Now all that is left is to rewind and label everything. It will be January's yarn. It is so exciting! I really can't wait to see what everyone thinks of the yarn.

Besides that there were 2 days of cooking for Thanksgiving. The day itself was awesome, even if the turkey took an extra 2 hours to cook properly. Mom cooked the turkey. It turned out to be a much denser bird than last years. Still it was really tasty, so was all of the food. My brother and I had a pumpkin pie cook-off. We decided that my filling was better (made from a real pumpkin), but that his crust was better (made with real butter). So we both have some things to work on. I think next year I am going to grow my own pumpkin vine.

Sorry about the lack of pictures. Everything has been so busy around here I haven't had the chance. However next week should be a tiny bit calmer, so lots of pictures then. I am also verycexcited about what I have come up with for December's special, so stay tuned!

It's Bunnies All the Time Around Here...

That's right! They are even very happy bunnies!

I took my little Soot to the vet yesterday just to get her all checked out since she was more or less a wild bunny. She wasn't so happy about going to the vet, but plenty happy to be home. I forgot to mention that I named her Soot. She is named after the soot sprites from the Miyazaki films, because she is a black fluff ball. The vet also said that she was a girl, but with no guarantees. If boy parts appear then she is a he, but I won't know that for a couple of months. I also found out that she is a very healthy rabbit and the vet gave me lots of tips on how to take care of her and keep her healthy.

Speaking of bunnies, do you remember the bunny hat I made for Mim's baby? She sent me an action shot! Isn't it just the cutest? Mims said that she gets compliments whenever it is worn. So I definitely recommend knitting this hat! The picture was taken by Mims and is used with permission. I love how she matches the bunny in the picture. So cute!

In other news: I have a question for my lovely readers. I have been thinking about taking on some patterns that are paper only. Which do you prefer paper or .pdf for your knitting patterns?

Cirque

I have a brand new colorway!


This color is called Cirque! I actually first dyed it up last spring as a custom order. I just loved it! Apparently the customer did too because she just ordered 4 more skeins of it in Superwash Worsted. So I dyed up an extra skein for the shop. I also added it to the custom order form just in case somebody wants it in another yarn weight.

When I dyed this color up I was instantly reminded of the tents from Cirque du Soleil. That's why I named it Cirque! I also have a couple more colorways up my sleeve that hopefully will appear in the next month or so.

Bunny Love +1

I have adopted a bunny!

Isn't it cute?

I adopted it from my friend Susan. One of her neighbors let loose some domestic rabbits. These rabbits then eat my friend Susan's garden out of hundreds of dollars of plants. So she livetraps them. Her kitty brought in this bitty baby bunny. Her kitty was so proud of her catch. It was still alive so Susan fed it and had it in an outdoor hutch. I heard about the bunny and offered to take it in. It is very skiddish. It is a couple of generations from the original freed rabbits, so it isn't tame. At least not entirely. It is getting there. We have found that it really loves baby carrots. It will hide in the corner of its cage then will run over and grab a carrot and take it back to its corner. I just find this hilarious.

Last night I took it out. It doesn't mind being picked up. It just looks terrified. I let it down on the table, while Blair did some work from home. It tried to hide in the shadow of Blair's laptop, while peeking around the edge. It's so cute! I plan on taking more photos and I am sure there will be lots of updates herein the future.

Hats Off to Christmas Knitting!

I have been knitting! Lots and lots of knitting. I planned this year to knit super simple things for Christmas. I have this hope that I will be able to start another sweater for me before Christmas. Anyway, here is my progress so far:


That is 5 hats for 5 lucky Christmas recipients. They are all guy hats and have been approved by my husband as good manly hats. I really loved making these. They were super fast. The pattern is Jared Flood's Turn a Square Hat (rav link). I think it took me about 2 weeks to make all of these hats. I knit them out of Cascade 220 Superwash and Noro Silk Garden Color #245. What was really awesome is that I figured out that with one ball of Cascade 220 Superwash and one ball of Noro Silk Garden I can get 3 hats!

The other quick knit I just finished up is this set of spa cloths. The pattern is aptly named Spa Cloth Set and is from Gardiner Yarn Works. It is super easy to knit up. I knit this out of an organic cotton that is available through Henry's Attic. I knit these on 8s instead of 7s because of the slightly bulkier yarn. I also took out one pattern repeat due to the bigger gauge. All changes were entirely due to my own stubbornness and had nothing to do with with the fabulously well written pattern. The pattern actually gives two choices for spa cloths, but I liked this one the best! It looks cabled, but really it is all done with yarn-overs, k2tog, and ssk.

So, if you are looking for a quick and easy knit for the holiday season I really recommend these two patterns! I will have more quick knits in the near future. I have decided that this year is the year for quick knits!

Happy November!

I just love this time of year! October is such a lovely month with apples, pumpkins, and an assortment of other crops coming in. November, though much more rainy, has the joy of Thanksgiving and lots of Christmas knitting to look forward to.


One more thing to look forward to: the November Sale in the shop! I am continuing October's sale of Fall colored yarn and roving at 10% off. Then I am adding to it any holiday colored yarn and roving. This includes custom orders!

I also always have buy 4 items and get free shipping anywhere in the US! If you are international then buy 5 items and the shipping is free!

Lastly, I have lowered the price on all of my superwash roving, superfine merino roving, and one-of-a-kind roving! Make sure to check them all out!

Happy Knitting!

I have knitting to share! I have actually been knitting quite a bit lately. It feels so good to get back to it. Especially since Christmas is coming closer all the time!



First up is a bunny hat for Mim's baby Sadie. I just love this hat. The pattern is from Itty Bitty Hats. I knit it out of debbie bliss baby cashmerino in color #608 Lilac. The yarn is slightly smaller than what is called for. At least I wanted a tighter gauge than what was called for, so I knit these on 6s. I followed the largest size for stitch count, which came out to the measurements around as the 6 month size. So I followed the 6 month size for length. It was super easy to make. I would definitely make it again. I just love how cute it is! The only thing I left out was the bunny tail on the back. This is because the baby is so new. I was afraid that it would poke the back of her head, since she obviously isn't sitting up quite yet. I would definitely add it for an older baby that sits up. I have heard from Mims and it has been a great success. She sent me a photo, but I won't add it without her permission.


Second gift is a lovely sweater for my friend Amy's cocker spaniel Maggie. Maggie gets so cold in winter, because she is shaved. Amy asked me for a sweater way back in February, but I was a little busy with baby knitting, so I didn't get to it. However, November 1 is Maggie's birthday, so I got it done in time for that! The pattern is from Handknit Holidays by Melanie Falick. I knit it out of Nashua Creative Focus Superwash in Black for the edging. The main body is my Superwash Worsted in Color Bad Girl. It took a little over 1/2 a skein of yarn of the Superwash Worsted. Which means that the whole thing could be knit out of less than one skein. How cool is that? I think if I knit it again I will do steeks for the leg holes. That way there wouldn't be the pooling that is caused by knitting back and forth for the leg holes. Thanks to Amy for the awesome photo of Maggie. I just love how it matches her collar!

This weekend Blair and I headed out to some of the different farms in the area for Heirloom Apple Days. I only got a couple of photos, but Amy has a good post of all the things we did with lots of pretty pictures.

In shop news: I have every skein of yarn listed in the shop now. I am working on photos and getting detail pages for each one. Sorry it is taking me so long. I am currently buried under tons of yarn for the Knit/Purl Sock Club. It is coming right along, but it does keep me busy.

Scrub-a-dub

I have brand new soap to show you!


After the wonderful success of selling out all of the bars of Purple LavenderSheep Soap (which are now available), I thought I would add a new color! This is a dye free, natural cream color! Isn't it pretty? I just love how cute it is! Very pretty sheepies! I have ten bars of each color available in the shop. Act quick, they sell fast!

As long as you are shopping, I have a couple of other things to mention.

1. My friend Susan has started carrying my baby sock kits in her online shop! She carries all handmade and organic things. Remember the meditating lawn gnome I gave my mother way back for Mother's Day? Well Susan now has them available in her shop for $34 and that includes shipping and handling! I know my mother just loves her's, so make sure to check them out!

2. My friend Amy, who is a very talented photographer, has started an Etsy shop making earrings. She took a class and apparently has a real talent for it. Check out her designs here!

I Promise You that I Still Knit...

Though I sometimes wonder where I find the time!

I finally finished up the Sugarplum Raglan Sweater. I actually had a lot of fun knitting this. It was very mindless to just knit and knit and knit. This sweater is really super comfortable too. I wore it the other day when it was a bit cold out and it kept me toasty warm. It is soft and cuddly. I could wear it all the time! It is knit out of my handpainted Superwash Worsted in Color Dark Sugarplum Fairy and the pattern is Knitting Pure & Simple #265 Top-Down Raglan. I made a couple of adjustments to the pattern. I lengthened the body and the sleeves a little. I also did 2 inches of ribbing everywhere it said to do 1", so sleeves, waist, and collar. There is also an error in the pattern with the sleeves, which seems to be pretty common with these patterns. I made the 42", but when I counted my sleeve stitches after picking up I had the amount needed for the 46". I went back through carefully with my math and sure enough the pattern is wrong. I decided that I didn't want to take the sweater clear back out to the sleeves, because the fit was fine. So I did some more math and figured out that if I still decreased at the same rate, plus a couple extra decrease rounds, I would have the perfect sleeves. I will say that the benefit to these patterns is that I can try them on as I go so it is much easier to adapt them to fit my body.

ETA: I am so sorry. After going over the numbers with the lovely designer, Diane Soucy, I see that the error is all my fault. I looked at the wrong number when increasing for the back. I saw the next size up, which of course would make the sleeve number wrong. The pattern is correct as written. My sweater is still very comfortable, so I am not going to rip it out. I will probably make another one in the future with the right numbers!

The next project off the needles is the Passport Pouch by Chrissy Gardiner. This was a breeze to knit. I just love it! I knit it out of my Silk Sport yarn in Color Midnight Rose. It only takes a 50 gram skein to knit it, so I have divided all of the skeins to make perfect Passport Pouch Skeins. Just think, for under $20 you can have a pure silk bag perfect for evenings out or a wallet/cell phone bag for those trips out shopping when you want to pack light.


Lastly I knit the Snowdrop Lace Scarf out of Silky Sock in color Sugarplum Fairy. This was also very fast and fun to knit up. The pattern is easily memorized and so much fun to see those rows upon rows of snowdrops appear. I was even happier when it was blocked. The silk in the yarn just made this scarf light and flowing, while the merino wool made it warm to wear around my neck. This is definitely a favorite that will get a lot of use during this chilly fall weather.

I have dyed skeins of all of the above yarns available. However I am still photographing and doing inventory of all of the yarn, so I only have a preliminary list up in the shop of what is available. They are completely ready for purchase. I just need to get their detail pages up. If you have any questions feel free to email me (lavendersheep at gmail dot com) or leave me a comment and I will get back to you as quickly as I can.

New Items!

First off I need to introduce you to my friend Erika a little better. I know I already mentioned her in this post. Erika is simply amazing! I taught her how to knit and she took right to it and then I taught her to spin and she was spinning beautiful fine thread in no time! She is also amazing to shop with. She just loves the finest fibers like cashmere, silk, angora, etc... Then she actually buys them, because why work with anything less than the best?

Then she started making Stitch Markers. They are all incredible. She uses semi-precious stones and real silver rings. I haven't seen any others that even compare to the quality and craftsmanship that she puts into these.


So, then one day I was talking about having a booth at Oregon Flock and Fiber and how I would love to sell her stitch markers there. We both thought this was a great idea. After the show I offered to sell them on the website and at the same time she was going to ask me if I would sell them on my website! So it worked out well for both of us! Make sure to check them all out! This set is one of my favorites. It is a set of 7 stitch markers made from lace agate and silver rings.


Lastly, I have one other awesome product to share with you! This is Lavender Sheep Soap made by Spinning Ginny. I started out with about 10 bars at OFFF and they simply flew out the door. I am down to only 2 now! They are a goats milk soap with lavender fragrance and real grade 1 lavender buds. I think it is just perfect for keeping the yarn eating beasties away from the stash and making it smell really nice too. Of course it can also be used for its intended purpose of washing things up!

Oregon Coast Yarn Shops - part 2

Continuing Part 2 of the yarn reviews. By the way, if you would like to find all of these yarn shops I used Knit Map to find them all. You can also use Ravelry!


Manzanita -T-Spot Yarn, Teas and Chocolates
This shop was really cute. It was a little out of our way in the small town of Manzanita. On top of yarn they carried chocolate and loose leaf tea in one corner. They had a lot of really nice yarns and the service was wonderful. I wasn't there when the owner was there, but it sounds like she has a pretty creative mind. She had knit an entire dress out of tape from an old cassette! This shop is a brand new shop. Across the street there used to be a shop called Bad Woman Yarns. The owner decided to retire and close her shop. However she was very influential in opening up this new shop, which I thought was really cool. I ended up buying the book Wool Pets. I have long admired the Wool Pets Shop on Etsy, but just couldn't decide on a particular kit to buy. The book solves this because it has most of her most popular patterns in it. I have plenty of fiber on hand. So when I get a spare moment I may work on a couple of these. I think I might just need a purple sheep!


Tillamook - Cordelia Yarns
This yarn shop was another blend of shops. It was part yarn shop, part antique store. I'm not sure that I would have otherwise bought a lot of yarn there because they mostly carried Cascade yarns, which my LYS has in abundance. Although they could have carried more brands and I would have never known. This poor shop has lost its lease and is going out of business. The yarn, that had already been discounted, was an additional 30% off. I bought everything in the picture for about $50, which is crazy cheap. It is 8 balls of Cascade Superwash, a sweater stone, and a cute pattern I have long admired. I would have felt worse for finding such a good deal if the owner had been sad about it. She, however, seemed very cheerful. She was excited to have more free time to knit and spin and quilt. She is on her way to the next big adventure. She also was preparing for a gallery show of her quilts, I believe. I didn't get details, unfortunately. I believe that she will be open until the last of the month. There was still plenty of Cascade 220, but I think I got all but 2 balls of the superwash!


Tillamook - Latimer Textile Museum
The owner of Cordelia's Yarns recommended that I go visit the Latimer Textile Museum. I am really glad that I did! We were too late the first day because Blair wanted to visit the Air Museum, which was a fun guy treat. So we came back the next day and toured all over the museum. The lady there was really nice. They have it divided into 3 sections, there is a loom room with looms (of course!) and spinning wheels, a quilt room, and a back exhibition hall with their latest show. If I was in the area I would definitely get a membership there! As it is I might go back and teach a workshop and definitely visit the next time I am at the coast. They didn't really have any yarn for sale, but they did have some handmade items that were on consignment. They also had a selection of books. I got a couple of books for my mother on dating fabric. She has a few family heirloom quilts that these books will help her to identify.

Oregon Coast 2008

For more photos of our trip and our adventures, make sure to check out my photo album! There are a lot of photos of the beach as well as the Tillamook Cheese Factory, more of the Latimer Textile Museum, and a few other things.

Oregon Coast Yarn Shops - part 1

I thought with all of the yarn shops that I visited on the coast that I would do a small review of each. I had a lot of fun and would highly recommend visiting yarn shops at the Oregon Coast.

First off I have a couple of rules when I shop on vacation. 1. I won't buy yarn that I can get from my own yarn shop unless it deeply on sale. 2. I try to buy things that are unique to the area or difficult for me to get otherwise.


Cannon Beach - Coastal Yarns
By far this was my favorite yarn shop to visit. It had a good variety of yarns. Their claim to fame is that they carry Blue Moon Yarns. The yarns that I purchased are Noro Silk Garden and Noro Silk Garden Sock Yarn. I can get Noro Silk Garden at home, but I wanted it specifically for a hat I am working on. Their prices were a tiny bit higher than I am used to, but it wasn't too bad for the selection and their location.
Seaside - Creative Beginnings
This shop was alright. They had a little bit of everything. They had beads, scrapbooking supplies, and yarn. They also had a sweater knitting service that seemed very reasonably priced. My only thought was that they had so many different things that they didn't focus that well on any one thing. They carried a pretty standard set of yarn, but nothing really stuck out as special beyond what my LYS already carries.

Astoria - Custom Threads
This shop also is more than just a yarn shop. It is part yarn shop, part fabric shop, part gift shop. They also rent tuxedos. They had a varied set of yarn for sale. It really was a treasure hunt to go in there. They had acrylic and then next to that would be Dale of Norway. A lot of their yarn would be right at retail and then some would be much cheaper. I found such gems as Alice Starmore books, but I already own copies of both of the ones that they had or I would have snatched them up. It was obvious that this shop had been there for a long time and had a little bit of everything. I didn't end up buying anything there. Mainly because of spending my money at another shop that I will talk about next time. However, I think that I would definitely go back there.

At the Beach!

We are here at the Oregon Coast for the week!


This is the view from our hotel room! We didn't know when we booked the room that we would actually have an ocean view, but we do! I guess that is the joy of going to the beach in the off season.

We did a bit of sight seeing today. We hit nearly 3 yarn shops, which made me really happy. We went to Coastal Yarns in Cannon Beach, which was really awesome! I got a skein of Noro Silk Garden and a skein of Noro Silk Garden Sock from them. We then went to Creative Beginnings in Seaside. They were alright. They had a lot of different things, like yarn, beads, and scrapbooking supplies all in one shop. We were also going to visit a yarn store in Astoria, but they are closed on Mondays. I guess we'll just have to try them again later! It looked like they carry yarn and fabric, so that should be interesting.


Up and down the coastal highway are these signs for Tsunami Hazard Zones. I thought they were interesting, so I thought I would share! They are kinda funny and kinda scary all at the same time.

Lastly I will leave you with this video of the stormy weather and waves from our window. It was just fun to try to take a little video and see how to post it to my blog. Enjoy!

Oregon Flock & Fiber - Pretty Purchases

I was very good this year! I only bought a couple of things that I couldn't resist, but overall kept my shopping to a minimum.

First up I had to buy some roving from Dicentra Designs. Her giant balls of roving always draw me in. Somtime I think I might have to try dyeing in mass quantity like that, if only to have a giant ball of roving to myself! I also found out at the show that she now has an Etsy shop, so I can be tempted by her things year round now!


After that I ventured near the Blue Moon booth. I was very very good. I was very tempted to buy many of their colors, but I told myself firmly that I have lots of their yarn in the stash and that I must knit some of it up before I buy anything else. So I only bought the Yarn Harlot's two new patterns for baby sweaters. They are just too cute!

Ok, this may look like I fell off the wagon and bought Blue Moon yarn anyway, but that isn't entirely the case. Actually my husband needed to use the bathroom so I told him where it was. Then I hinted that Blue Moon was in the very same building and that they happen to take credit cards. So this yarn is actually Blair's! hehe. He said that I could have some of it if I like. I think the middle skein will definitely go into his sock stash and I will make him some socks out of it. It is the least I can do for all the wonderful help he gave me over the weekend.

Lastly a friend of ours that works with Blair just got back from the UK. He tried very hard to find yarn from the UK to bring back for me, but all he could find was this yarn that was imported from New Zealand. It is Black Hills NZ Yarn. I think it is really awesome! I am thinking kilt socks to keep with the whole UK theme. I am thinking either this pattern or this pattern.

In other news: Blair and I are heading to the beach this next week. So all orders will be shipped after I get back. Patterns will be shipped as normal. I should be able to blog from the beach. It is supposed to be rainy (ie typical Oregon Coast weather), so I am expecting lots of knitting time!

Oregon Flock & Fiber

Oregon Flock & Fiber was so awesome!


Here is Blair setting up the tent. I think he is putting stakes in the ground. It is just amazing to me that the lawn can go from bare grass to all these fabulous tents full of fibery goodness.


Here is most of my booth at the end of the first day. I just love all of the colors and how everything looked inside the booth. It was like having my own tiny yarn shop for the weekend. Also, an amazing thing to note is that we managed to pack every thing up in our little 2006 Toyota Corolla and I didn't even feel all that crowded!

Next to me was the wonderful Gardiner Yarn Works. Believe me her designs are even more wonderful in person. The shawl there in front is the Amethyst Wrap, which sold out on Saturday and still had people wanting more! I think I might have to knit it myself in the near future, maybe out of silky sock....mmm, ideas!


One of my good friends, Erika, had classes both days so she stopped by with her wheel and showed off her purchases both days. She is the one in the exquisite while lace shawl. I should have some news involving her and a new wonderful product for the shop in the next few days. She is here comparing notes on the same wonderful shawl with another woman across from her. They both have the same shawl, only Erika's is knit out of merino/angora and the other lady's is from her handspun.

Overall, it was a pretty successful weekend. I think I will definitely have to do it again next year! I just have to do some inventory and then everything will be posted back up on the website.