Sweater & Sock

I figure at the current rate I am going I am never going to catch up on all the knitting I have been doing, among other things! So today is a twofer!

First up, I finished the Willie Sweater (Rav link). I was short 2 buttons from my stash, so a quick trip to the Button Emporium and I was on my way. I love this sweater! It is super cute on X. He wears it all the time! I especially love the added ear, which I ended up tacking down to keep it laying flat. I definitely plan on knitting another one of these in a bigger size when X grows out of it. I knit it out of Debbie Bliss DK, doubled to make the chunky weight. The colors I used were 041-Dusky Blue, 019-Petrol Blue, and 021-Chocolate Brown.

The second project I finished is another booth sample. This is the Cabled Lace Sock by Gardiner Yarn Works. I knit it out of my new Cashmere Blend Sock Yarn in color Summer Sky. What I love about this yarn is the cashmere makes it feel super soft and the added nylon makes it feel super strong. I know these socks would stand up to a lot of wear! I also love the stitch definition this yarn has. I definitely plan on knitting more things out of it. I can see where it would be wonderful for baby clothes or a scarf/shawl.

Thumbs Up!

I finished a sample for my Hood River Top Down Mitts before we headed to the coast. As you can see I am catching up on all my knitted things!

I love this pattern and this yarn. I knit out of Superwash Worsted in color Mountain Sunset. One skein will make a lovely pair of mitts up past your elbow! I will also say that they are very toasty warm and comfortable.

I thought I would also take a moment and discuss the thumb. I have noticed a couple of comments about the thumb on Ravelry and I thought I would address them here. In order to do the thumb from the top down you have to cast-on stitches to make the hole for the thumb. In my pattern I recommend using a backwards loop cast on, but if you are more comfortable using a cable or knit-on cast on, then by all means do so!

There is also one other way to do the thumb. I read that some people like to have a longer thumb. I like a shorter thumb, so this wasn't an issue for me. However if you like have a longer thumb, the solution is simple. Use a provisional cast on for the cast on for the thumb. Then when you are finished with the mitts go back and take out the provisional cast on and knit in pattern for a few rounds, until it is as long as you like. I recommend picking up a stitch or two from the hand to avoid any gaps where the thumb and hand meet.

Also, as with any of the patterns I design or sell, please feel free to email me if there is a question or a problem with a pattern. I am more than happy to help with any issue.

Belmont Bag

Introducing a new pattern, by me! This is the Belmont bag (rav link):

It is named after one of the major streets in Hood River, because this bag is on the go. It's very cute and perfect for a tablet or favorite book. Finished size is 8" x 10", which can vary a little due to the felting process. First the handle is knit separate and then the bag is knit all in one handy dandy piece.

While we were at the coast I was able to get some photos taken with it. The yarn is held double, which makes knitting it super fast and fun! The bag only uses 1 skein of Worsted Wool. It is $5 for the pattern or FREE with a purchase of the yarn.

I will also have it on display at the Columbia Gorge Fiber Festival, which is coming up very soon. Less than a month to go!

On the Road...

I have been fairly busy lately what with the Portland Yarn Crawl and last weekend's Abernethy Grange Sale. So I thought I would combine both events into one big post as a start to everything I have to catch up on!

This first yarn is from Wynona Studios. I went with my cousin on Friday of the Portland Yarn Crawl and we visited Wynona and Pico Accuardi Dyeworks. Neither of us had been to Wynona Studios before, so it was fairly interesting. Mostly they rent out equipment for people to use at the shop, like looms and sewing machines. They also sell recycled yarn, like this beautiful 100% cashmere yarn above. There is around 550 yards of DK weight cashmere and it cost me only $13!!! I chose the white because, of course, I can dye it any color I choose. Now to decide what to make with it!

 

On Sunday I went and spent the day hanging out with Donna and Colin of Plover Designs at For Yarn's Sake. Of course when you sit me next to the Madelintosh and Malabrigo Sock yarn all day I have to come home with something, it's just too tempting! I have no idea what these will be either, but they will be something pretty. I think the Madelintosh (the green on the bottom) will probably end up being a scarf or something since it is a single ply. I'm thinking the Malabrigo (the pink on the top) might be a pair of socks or maybe a baby something for the next person I know having a girl.

This is pretty much what the setup looked like for both locations. Blair is only sitting there temporarily to check his phone. The guys hung out doing fun guy things like visiting the lego store and fry's electronics while I sold my wares. This is actually at Abernethy Grange. I'm happy this show is back and hopefully by next year it will draw in the crowds again.

Now we are down to the last few weeks before the Columbia Gorge Fiber Festival! I am busy busy busy with last minute details, but I'm having loads of fun in the process. Hopefully I will be back soon with knitting and yarn!

Happy Birthday to my Baby!

Today my little guy is a year old! It's amazing it's already been a year since this!

In honor of his birthday we had a little party and I tried out some new recipes. I thought I would share them with you as a little birthday treat. Our friends and party goers have many different dietary needs, so I cooked accordingly. We had pizza made in the bread machine, which was super awesome. Then we had cupcakes. I made Vanilla Cupcakes from Martha Stewart with Billy's Vanilla Buttercream Frosting. I only wish I hadn't mixed them as much as the recipe said because they came out a little dense.

Then I made orange cupcakes from the Vanilla Cupcake recipe by adding orange zest, substituting orange flavoring for vanilla flavoring, and substituting 1/2 c of milk and 1/4 c of orange juice for the 3/4 c of milk . For the frosting I made half the recipe and substituted orange flavoring for vanilla flavoring and orange juice for the milk. They came out tasting like orange cream soda, which was very tasty!

I made vegan chocolate cupcakes from this recipe, which is based on a depression era recipe that didn't use eggs to save on money. I substituted the cocoa and sugar for 3/4 c of Penzey's hot chocolate mix (also works with their mint chocolate mix) and 3/4 c of sugar. Then I used this recipe for the frosting. I substituted safflower oil for the vegan butter. I got a bar of 100% cacao for the chocolate part. Because of my diet I can't eat chocolate, but my husband and our guests said they were very delicious. Though probably shouldn't be eaten too late at night because of all of the chocolate!

We have also joined the Hood River Organic CSA, so I will be sharing more recipes with you as we try out new vegetables. I already have a couple of new favorites, which I'll make sure to share with you soon.

I will be at the Abernethy Spring Fiber Sale this Saturday in Oregon City from 10am - 4pm. Make sure to stop by and check out the booth!

To Be Discontinued...

These past couple of months have been the worst for yarn. There has been a lot of upheaval. Pretty much all of my yarn bases have gone up in price. Some so high I have decided to discontinue them. Such as the Silk Sport yarn, which is a gorgeous 100% silk sport weight yarn. You can now find it all on the sale page. Other yarns have been discontinued before I even was able to bring them on, such as the Cashmere fingering and DK I showed you guys back in January. (I did manage to get 20 skeins of the Cashmere DK before they were gone, I just need to get them dyed up.) It will be replaced by a Cashmere Silk Blend sometime this spring, which I will definitely be looking at once it is available. The latest to meet the chopping block is this yarn:

This post was supposed to be about how much I love this yarn. It is the featured yarn in Chrissy Gardiner's CSK for the month of April. I dyed the colorway specifically for the book. It is named Owen, after Chrissy's son and my friend Lorajean of Knitted Wit's son. It reminds me of comfy jeans and playing in the dirt. I did have plenty to dye up for the CSK. However it means this week I am dyeing up the colorway, which will still be featured in the book, on a couple of different bases, so a new, not discontinued yarn, will be featured in the book. So, if you love the Panda Superwash Sock as much as I do, make sure to buy a skein or 2 from the shop before they are gone!

I'm hoping from here on out everything will even out and go smoothly in my little yarn world! Next Saturday is the Abernethy Spring Sale! I will be there all day from 10am - 4pm! I hope to see you there!

Cannon Beach

We are back from our vacation to the Oregon Coast. We had a wonderful restful time. I thought I would share a few photos:




Of course it looks very different from the last time we were there in June, instead of February. Still, I love the Oregon Coast. and it's many changing ways. Click on the slideshow to read my captions.

I also had a wonderful time during the Portland Yarn Crawl this past weekend. More about that soon and what I was knitting during the trip!