Wedding tie

Wedding: June 20, 2009 Portland, Oregon



Wedding Tie, Malabrigio Silky Wool, "Cape Cod Grey" 1 skein; needles, size 4

pattern from Wandering Spirits by Jean Moss

luna violets

I spent some time by the water this past week...



This is Portsmouth, an old coastal town that is full of good shoes, good yarn, and great popovers. There might be lobsters. Just maybe. But if there are, I'm not telling.

We were supposed to spend the week in Maine, where there are also great popovers and yarn and lobsters, but the cat got a massive ear infection (the vet said it was so bad that Catherine was having headaches - imagine, a cat with headaches!) and one of the dogs sprained and inflamed his knee ligament and had to be on steroids and morphine and carried in and out of doors three times a day. So we spent the week nursing the sick and injured, going to cheap matinee movies, taking short day trips to the coast and scraping together $600 for vet bills.

I played with fiber. We met some friends in Portsmouth and one of them is just learning to crochet. We decided to make the Luna Lovegood scarf at the same time. She did hers in a Rowan tweed - brown with pink and yellow bits in it. I used BMFA Socks That Rock lightweight in one of last year's Club colours, The Incredible Shrinking Violet.





This was an incredible time-shrinking project! I mean it went so fast that I was done by the second day. I used half a skein (approx 180 yards) with an F hook. If I made this a second time, I think I'd go down a hook size and on the first foundation row I would single crochet instead of double crochet.

in search of petrol at the Sheep and Wool Fair

Sheep and Wool Fair today!!!

I love the fairgrounds where this is held...it's an old fairgrounds in the midst of an old wood. Every time I walk the winding path through the trees and over the meandering stream, I see some wildflower I hadn't noticed the year before.



This year it was two Lady slipper plants - hardly noticeable in the spring woods in their still-green unbloomed state. There were Star flowers and Solomon's Seal, and Checker berries too.

I wasn't the first one in this year; one of my friends parked right beside me and so we walked in together. She is so nice and really the best knitter I've ever known. Even the almost-strangers walking by noticed her gorgeous sweater and asked a hundred questions! She was meeting someone at the Fair and stayed near the entrance to wait, so I walked on. The first thing that I saw was the sheep-herding up the hill!

These animals need herding:



and here's a clever dog to do that job!



I was on a mission to find a skein of lace-weight in a colour called "Petrol" for my friend Nad in Germany. What colour is Petrol? I got various answers to that question throughout the day and they ranged from purple, to blue, to grey and finally someone suggested a dark olive green! What do you think? I've seen the petrol that comes out of the hose when I fill my car, and that is bright pink! I don't think my friend meant pink!

I first tried to find it at the Ball and Skein booth. There was nothing I would consider Petrol, but I did buy a beautiful skein of sea-blue cashmere for a shawl for my boyfriend's mother, and a shawl pattern called "Beach Glass".



I wandered on, passed some prize-winning llamas that were being shown round a ring by a group of young girls. They looked very proud and regal (the llamas) and so they should with their big royal blue ribbons on their pen door!



My next stop was at a vendor I hadn't ever seen before: Ancient Colours. This booth was set up with wooden slatted walls like a Japanese open-air tea room and most of the shelves were filled with glass bottles of brilliant powdered dyes and handmade Japanese bamboo camel-hair brushes for handpainting yarn and fabric. The colours were from natural substances, and they were deep and subtle...

Do you see any Petrol here?



I bought three colours fo yarn from this booth!

On the far side of the Fair, the Alpaca farms have their stalls and booths. This is one of my favorite parts of the Sheep and Wool fair because I get to meet the animals and their owners and get yarn that they have spun themselves. Some of my favorite farms print pictures of the particular alpaca that the fleece came from right on the skein label. I like to buy the yarn of Samantha, and Cinnamon, and Cinnabar and see them prancing happily in their photos.

This happy, curious fellow is the child of the alpaca who gave me a few skeins of very soft fibers for a new sweater:



and here is his cousin... Does his fleece look like Petrol?



My last stop was to see the dyers from Plimoth Plantation Colonial Village (Living History Museum). This plantation is on the coast in a neighbouring state, but two re-enactors who are the dyers and spinners for the place came to the fair to create demonstrations.



They use madder and wode, and onion skins, and sage with iron, indigo, goldenrod and cochineal and so many other herbs and plants and even bugs! I was so taken with all these colours and found myself especially drawn to all the shades that madder produces, from deep rosey pinkish-red to light orange...

The yarn they produce is called The Merry Little Lamb and I brought home two shades of madder and one deep goldenrod:



What nice people! We talked for a while about the dyes and authentic historical colours going back to medieval times until someone else walked up and began talking about a SCA group nearby....

So that was my whole day at the Fair. I still don't know what colour Petrol is, but I had such fun looking for it!

vintage baby wrapped shirt

Baby Wrap Sweater from Greetings from the Knit Cafe

Yarn: Classic Elite Premiere, cotton and tencel 2 skeins (the directions say 4 skeins - I had exactly 3 feet left from two skeins)

Needles: size 5 dpns and size 20" 5 circular

As I said before, I decided not to knit the ties because I thought a big knot in the front or the back would be uncomfortable for baby. I made buttonholes in little side tabs that would button under each arm.



My buttons on either side don't match the buttons trimming the front, but since they're vintage, and from my grandmother's button tin, I still think they're charming...



Next I have two red WIPs to finish: the BSJ with hood, and my own design for a big soft cardigan that I've been working on since Christmas. I liked it - didn't like it - liked it - didn't like it = planned to frog it and stuck it in a bag for a few months, pulled it out and suddenly liked it again. So now I just had the pockets, buttons, and weaving-in-of-ends to do and it will be finished!

The sheep and wool fair is only three days away. I was so excited as it got closer, and then I realised that economy issues mean that I won't be able to participate with any degree of abandon. I can look and enjoy but will have to calculate just a few purchases very carefully. I'm sure I won't be the only person in this situation. I do want to get a fleece for the baby's cradle though and hope I can find a nice one this year.

This, and the rain, have gotten me down. A couple of days ago my cherry and crab apple trees were in full bloom. Now the raindrops have beaten the petals from the branches and are working on the lilacs and the forsythia. The scent of lilacs is my favorite of all the year and I like it last as long as possible. Don't you love it when you're walking down the street and the scent of lilacs follows you from a blooming bush in a nearby yard? It's especially beautiful at night when you can't see the lilac bushes there, but can see them in your mind's eye because you can smell them...

little feet

I had a great find in the charity shop this week for just $4 - The Tuxedo Baby Bootee Pak:





This was a prepackaged knitting kit for baby bootees with soles. I have this 1930's booklet in my vintage knitting collection that helped me to identify the company and the era...



The Tuxedo company specialized in replaceable soles for slippers and apres-ski sock-boots and had kits for all ages. They are no longer in business, sadly. Based on this bootee kit, they had this down to a science! I especially love the soft felt-lined soles:



They even included a little gift card to give with your finished product, similar to what Kim Hargreaves does with her (more elegant) knitted cl0thing knits today.

The kit came with four patterns to choose from and enough yarn to make one of these. The patterns included a simple garter stitch bootee and a pretty shell stitch crochet version, a Mary-Jane sandal pattern, and a tall cabled shoe.





Soles like these, but in suede, (and without the soft attached felting) can be found from Fiber Trends in all sizes. My local yarn store carries them, as does Webs, which has an online store. Leave a comment if you'd like me to post one of these patterns so you can have 1930's baby bootee replica too!

In Your Sleeve, People!

Everyone at work is worried about the flu that's going around. The nurses here are scurrying to calm people down and check that they have their flu shots. Someone posted THIS video on the work website. Hilarious! I recommend it to anyone - good family fun!

It is only 2 weeks until the Sheep & Wool Fair. I can't wait. Even though there is no yarn or fiber I could conceivably need, I still look forward to it with an unparalleled anticipation. Every year I'm eager to visit the Vermont Spinnery, Foxfire Fibers, Zeilinger's Wool Company, Grafton Fibers, and Spirit Trail yarns. Not only are the yarns, fibers and tools beautiful but the people are so nice! It's amazing that they recognize me every year, even though we only meet once and they see so many people in the course of their busy fiber-y lives. As you know (If you been following my blog for a few years), I like to slip in anonymously and early and spirit my way through the fair quietly. We'll see if I succeed this year.

I'm almost finished with the Baby Wrap Sweater. It almost reminds me of wrapping sushi, the yarn is so slippery and soft!



As you can see, I decided to go with button wraps on the sides instead of the big bow in the back or front. I thought ties wouldn't be quite so comfortable for a wriggly baby. Next steps: sleeves and cute buttons.

This post wouldn't be complete with a flashing of the stash! Woolgirl had a sale recently on some selected sock yarns and I bought a skein of Dancing Dachs in the colourway, Toadstool. Isn't it lively and vibrant? I don't know yet what it's going to be, but I have high expectations of a yarn called Toadstool. It will definitely have to be something fun.



PS - You won't understand the title of this post unless you watch the video.

Yesterday's excursions...

I thought that, today, I'd take you with me on my weekend rambles. You'll get to see a little bit of what my town and area looks like, as well as a typical Saturday. It's probably pretty much like your Saturday...

The plan started with the Natural Market which was holding it's first Organic Farmer's Market of the year. The day was warm, but cloudy and overcast, looking like rain, but even so the streets were crowded. I circled the square several times and finally had to park down the hill and walk a couple of blocks. The good news is that this took me past some of the lovely old buildings in that part of town.

The first one that caught my eye was the Art Gallery:



It's been there for a while and Jule worked there before she went to college. One time they had a painting of our house in the window - a local artist had thought it was pretty and, unbeknownst to me, painted it: "Yellow House on X Street"

This week's art is abstract and I found it very soothing:



I stood at the window and admired the paintings for a while, and then continued up the hill, past this little enchanted alcove:



All those bricks! There used to be a brick-making factory in this town in an early time, and there still is a huge granite quarry in the hills outside of town. That's why we all have so much granite - posts, steps, and foundations - in and around our houses, and why so many of the downtown buildings are built of granite and brick.

The market is at the top of a little rise and across the main street...



Being the first one of the season meant that this market day was an incredible bun fight! But there were lots of samples (artisan cheese, macaroni and cheese with mushrooms, lemon and artichoke ravioli, freshly made fried potatoes, Greek yogurt, ice cream...) and free giveaways - I got two new re-usable shopping bags, a green one and a yellow one! I bought a loaf of Oatmeal Bread that had been baked that morning, a container of the Mushroom Macaroni & Cheese, some Greek yogurt (with honey), a package of ice cream sandwiches, and a fresh-baked scone (which has just this minute been eaten while I type)...

With my groceries in my new shopping bags, I made my way back downhill to the car, passed the Mexican Restaurant:



and passed a beautiful old barn that has been renovated for offices:



I particularly liked the big black crow who decided that the very pinnacle of the cupola was his special spot for surveying the entire town.

My next stop was a yarn shop nearby that was having a big sale before closing for their spring vacation. This shop is in a pretty college town at the top of a small mountain:



The houses and the town green are typical of my state where there are many places that go back to the 1600's, 1700's and 1800's. I know that's young by European standards...



The yarn store, Knit New London, is a tiny little store packed full with a wonderful collection of special yarns that I don't see everywhere else... lot's of locally produced yarns (including a baby camel yarn from Cape Cod) and most of the Rowan booklets, which I love.



Of course, the shop was super-crowded because of the sale. One mother-daughter team was pushing in front of everyone else to snatch up the skeins they wanted and spreading the yarn from the shelves all over the floor to choose their colours. The women working the sale were kept very busy putting everything back on the shelves in their wake!

As usual, the shop owner and the others there were very friendly and helpful. At 30% off, I did collect quite a lot for my stash:



1. Malabrigo Silky Wool 2. Namaste Crocheted Flower Tape-measure 3. Rowan Kidsilk Haze 4. Blue Sky Alpacas Silk & Alpaca 5. Classic Elite Premiere Cotton and Tencel

The Premiere cotton is for this little sweater from Greetings from the Knit Cafe, a book I already have in my pattern stash.



But that will have to wait. After yesterday's excursions, I have to spend this sunny day raking the back yard and staking the blackberry bushes...