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!

Interesting...

I was catching up on blogs while on vacation and I was reading the Blue Moon Blog when I came across their latest post. The part I found very interesting was that they dye their yarn when it is ordered versus keeping it on hand. I can see where it would work because once the yarn is prepared for dyeing it only takes a day or two to dye it, steam it, rinse it, and let it dry. I'm not planning on changing anything I do in the near future, but I thought it was rather interesting to think about. Other dyers out there, what do you think about dyeing to order? Customers, what do you think about a day or 2 wait to ship?

Also, I want to remind everyone that I'll be at For Yarn's Sake with lots of pretty yarn this Sunday, March 6th, for the Portland Yarn Crawl. Hope to see you there!

Going on Vacation

For some reason this just keeps slipping my mind. We are going on vacation next week. So if you place an order between February 20th - 27th, it won't ship until the 28th. I'll have some internet while we are away, so will answer questions as I have time. I'm planning on lots of knitting time and taking lots of photos! I'll share more when we get back!

Calendar of Events

I thought I would post up all the events coming up for 2011. It's looking like it will be a pretty busy year:

Portland Yarn Crawl - March 6th

For Yarn's Sake

11679 SW Beaverton Hillsdale Highway
Beaverton, Oregon  97005

Details

Abernethy Spring Fiber Sale - March 19th

Upstairs, if in the same place as last time

Abernethy Grange, Oregon City, Oregon

Details

Columbia Gorge Fiber Festival - April 15th - 17th

Top of the Stairs

Hood River Inn - Best Western, Hood River, Oregon

Details

Black Sheep Gathering - June 24th - 26th

Hopefully Inside, if not then out on the lawn

Lane County Fairgrounds, Eugene, Oregon

Details

Sock Summit - July 28th - 31st

Listed under Gardiner Yarn Works

Oregon Convention Center, Portland, Oregon

Details

Oregon Flock & Fiber - September 24th - 25th

On the Lawn

Clackamas County Fairgrounds, Canby, Oregon

Details

I will definitely be talking more about each of these events as time gets closer! I hope to see you there!

Spotlight on Birch Scarf Class

I am very excited about Birch Class. Although there has been a last minute change. Chrissy found there was a conflict with her schedule and this class. So she asked if it would be alright if her business partner Donna Arney stepped in instead. Since I do most, if not all, of my shows with both of them I was happy with the substitution. If you have been to our booth at one of the shows then you probably have met Donna, she is super friendly and can talk to anyone. Donna is an expert knitter, she has designed several patterns for Gardiner Yarn Works including the Frequency Hat and Glendalough Stocking, to name a couple.

The reason I chose this class in the first place is I actually knit this scarf back in April of 2010. It combines entrelac (or quilted knitting) with a simple lace repeat. It was super fun to knit and I knew this would be a great class, because there is so much to learn from it. If you have never knit entrelac before it is a great way to start. If you have knit entrelac then it is a great way to take it to the next level. Chrissy has also promised to show Donna all of her tips and tricks for knitting it. So, make sure you sign up for it today!

Chrissy Gardiner will still be teaching her class on Knitting with Handpainted Yarns on Sunday. She should also be around the booth Saturday afternoon and Sunday afternoon if you want to stop by and say hi, have her sign her wonderful book or even one of her patterns!

Also on a similar note, the Turkish Drop Spindle Class is full! There is still plenty of room in all of the other classes. They are all up to date on the Workshop Page.

Happy February!

I have 2 new things to share just in time for Valentines Day!

First is my new Cashmere Blend Sock Yarn. It is 80% Superwash Merino Wool 10% Nylon and 10% Cashmere. I have dyed a few skeins up in happy spring and Valentine friendly colors.

The second new thing is Plover Designs just released a brand new Heart-Shaped Shawl Pin design. I have it for sale in Aluminum, Copper, and Silver. Also now available is a new leaf design which is available in Aluminum, Copper, and Silver. 

So if you are looking for ideas for your special Valentine or even a little something for yourself, check out the Shop for more details.