Oregon Flock & Fiber 2011

This year's Oregon Flock & Fiber was very exciting. It was great catching up with friends and seeing everyone for the last show of the year (at least for me). Lots of things happened like my friend LoraJean of Knitted Wit asked me to watch her booth while she chased down a shoplifter. She managed to confront the thief and get her yarn back! Way to go LoraJean!

The weather was also really crazy this weekend. On Saturday it was sunny, hot, and muggy. Our booth was right in the sun which made for a slightly uncomfortable day. Then on Sunday it was cold and misty in the morning. Then in the afternoon it turned into a sudden downpour. I got this video of the rain:

From Instant Upload

We could see the sheet of rain as it came towards us. We saw the cloud and thankfully pulled everything into the center of the booth before it came down. It went like this for probably 10-15 minutes then stopped just as abruptly. Then it rained steadily for the rest of the afternoon, stopping just in time for take down. What a huge contrast to the day before! I'm definitely happy to home safe and sound and out of the weather!

Squash Bread

Since the heat wave is finally over I have been back to baking:

I made Squash Bread! I made this from the Sunburst Squash we received in our CSA Box. I used it instead of Zucchini from this Zucchini bread recipe (minus the walnuts). It is very delicious. I can't tell the difference between it and Zucchini, so I call it a success!

On the Needles

I have a couple new things on the needles:

This first one is in a bit of a time out. I know it doesn't look like much at the moment because there isn't any way to lay it all out. It is the Bulky Raglan Bolero (Rav link) by Sarah Keller of my lys Knot Another Hat. I am knitting it out of my new Superwash Merino Bulky in color Moss. Now the problem isn't with the pattern (which is excellent) or with my yarn, per se. It's that I somehow thought, even though all patterns state 3-4 skeins of yarn, that I could somehow do it with 2. I quickly figured out that was definitely not the case. So it is in time out until I get more yarn in and have time to dye it up. Personal dyeing time doesn't come that often, unfortunately. Hopefully I'll get it done before it is sunny again, so it can go with my pretty new sun dress.

This is the other project on the needles. I am quite enjoying making these socks for my husband (rav link). They are knit out of the leftover yarn from the Willie Sweater, which is Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Dk on #3US. They are squishy soft and so cozy. I have already received confirmation of their excellence from my husband trying on the first one. I am knitting them from the toe up using Judy's magic cast on. I also recently read a post by JC Briar saying that kf-b makes the best toe up socks, so I thought I would try it out. I must say I agree. it is super simple and makes great lines. For the leg I did a simple 3x1 rib followed by my favorite loose bind off, which is k2, sl the 2 sts back to the left needle, k2tog tbl. These socks take one 50 gram ball for the main color and 1/2 a ball for the contrasting heels and toes. So for the pair that's 3 balls of yarn total, which isn't too bad for a man's size 12 foot!

Cuddly Baby Sweater Revisited

I'm very excited about this new little sweater:

This is the Cuddly Baby Cardi (Rav link). The original version I knit to complement the Aztec Boucle yarn. That yarn has since been discontinued (though I still have some in the sale bin). I love this sweater so much I thought it needed a new sample. The fun part was picking out the colors and putting them together. I chose my Superwash Worsted yarn and knit it out of Sea Turtle for the main color and Columbia River for the contrasting color. The really cool thing is 2 skeins makes 2 sweaters if you switch the colors. I also love picking out buttons. These are from my button stash. I thought they were perfect and even reflect the original name of the sweater which was Cuddly Bear Baby Sweater. This sweater is definitely soft and cuddly like a teddy bear!

If you want to see it in person I will have it in my booth on the lawn at Oregon Flock & Fiber. I hope to see you there!

Baby Firsts

This week has been fairly busy. I have submitted a pattern idea for a book, sent out all the contracts to the instructors for the Columbia Gorge Fiber Festival (yay!), and took the car in for service. No wonder the blog has been a little quiet this week! I promise it will improve.

I thought I would share this with you. It makes me so proud! These are the first balls of yarn my 18 month old wound! Aren't they pretty?

Silk Hanky Mitts

It has been such a busy summer, what with shows, travel, and fun! I suddenly realized I never posted the finished Silk Hanky Mitts (rav link). So here they are:

The pattern is the Seeded Rib Wristwarmers. One silk hanky makes 3 mitts! Which means with 2 hankies you can get 3 pairs of mitts!

They turned out super soft and lightweight, but sturdy. I had a lot of fun with the process. If you want a look back I did a tutorial on how to turn a silk hanky into spinning fiber or yarn here. The silk was very easy to knit with. Also, if you don't want to sew in any ends overlap the last couple inches of fiber with the next couple inches of fiber. You can knit the ends right in and because the yarn is naturally thick & thin it doesn't show one bit. I was so happy to get through this project and not have to sew in any ends at all!

New! Plover Design Shawl Pins

Two new Shawl pin designs from Plover!

This first design is an S. Simple, yet stylish. It is available in Copper and Aluminum. If you would like to purchase it in Silver, let me know, I can have it shipped straight to you from the artist himself!

Next up is Design #10. It works the same way as the S, only with an extra squiggle in the middle. It is also available in Aluminum and Copper. Contact me if you want Silver (same as above).

I also had the opportunity to photo all of the shawl pins on shawls outside. One of the biggest questions we get at shows is how they work, and now you can see just that for all of the designs. Of course there isn't a right or wrong way to use the pins, these are just suggestions to get you started!