Late Doggie Dash report

Thanks to the generosity of friends, TheHudsons surpassed the dollar amount raised last year for the Oregon Humane Society at Doggie Dash: $1290. It wasn't even close to being enough for the top three like last year, but we're pretty darned pleased.

Jake and Mandy seemed to have a great time. We wandered around for an hour before the walkers took to Naito Parkway, and then walked the two miles. Both dogs were pulling at their leashes the entire walk, and continued to pull as we walked back to the cars. So it was a success all around.

Fiberly Weekend in Chicago

It was all about "meeting" friends, fabric shopping and just hanging out. Patti Ferguson organized the weekend in Chicago where Mardel Fehrenbach, Barbara Bell, and Diane Egelston (DianeE on the Pattern Review and Stitcher's Guild sites) and I headed out, after four quick days at home, on April 25th. It was great to meet Mardel and Barbara for the first time, and see Diane and Patti again. We were missing Carolyn Norman and Marji Van Zile who at the last minute could not join us, but we were thinking of them all weekend.

Friday, we convened at Patti's house where she served up a delicious dinner of salads and home-baked bread. We had an informal show and tell, where I showed the only piece from my "planned" travel wardrobe I managed to complete. Butterick 4991; Silk Brocade purchased from Mrs Kimura's in Hawai'i


Saturday began at Vogue Fabrics in Evanston, where we all came away with something. I was surprised to find a dog fabric in silk. And though there was a considerable selection fabrics to tempt, in the end I brought home only the silk dogs, a pretty blue rayon remnant and acetate slinky floral.
  

Cennetta Walker, is a local sewist/blogger that Patti invited to meet us at Vogue. We enjoyed a nice lunch learning more about each other before heading to Fishman's Fabrics. Their selection of colors in different fabrics was pretty amazing, but unlike Mardel, I had not come prepared with swatches and a plan, so was happy just to enjoy the experience. We said goodbye to Cennetta, but not before getting a quick group shot.

Cennetta, Diane, Barbara, Patti, and Mardel

Next to Hancock Fabrics where Vogue patterns were on sale. Right off the bat, I found the cotton patterns and three dog fabrics for Tom. Then I headed back to patterns, with no intention to buy or look, but because of my susceptibilty to the the power of suggestion (mostly from Diane), I picked out two Sandra Betzina patterns, Vogue 2980, because Diane was wearing it, and 1036, because she pulled it out and I liked it.
  

Dinner at Tapas Barcelona with three of Patti's friends, Shelia Crumine and Barbara DeCoster, both sewists, and Margie Rogasner (in her words "the outlyer") was great fun because of the company as well as the food. Post dinner we went back to Patti's house where three husbands, Norm, David and Bill, were waiting, had some lively discussions, dessert and again, I was the first to fold. Patti planned to stay at the hotel to have a grown up slumber party, which she, Mardel, Diane and Barbara did, as I fell into my bed.

Sunday morning, before we had to bid farewell to Diane and Mardel, we posed for one more Fiberly friends picture.


Afterwards, Barbara, Patti and I took in the Chicago Botanical Gardens, where the bulbs were in full bloom and beautiful.


Patti and I said goodbye to Barbara at the airport and headed to meet Pam Walters for dinner.


What a great weekend it was!

Mile High Lace Knitting Conference

I believe this was the second such conference and it was quite intimate and small, which I quite enjoyed. Perhaps had I known it wasn't as big as even Madrona Fiberarts, I might have signed up for more of the non-class activities, but there were meals to be had with friends, so it was all good.

In the end, I did not take the class I had been looking for, but took Intarsia Lace from Galina Khemeleva thinking that maybe she could convert me to like intarsia if it were lace. Nope. I didn't even finish my sample swatch. But I did learn some new skills and enjoyed the class and instructor.

On Friday, I took Haapsalu Ratik (changed to Haapsalu Sal), knitting a traditional Estonian shawl, from Nancy Bush. I knit a nice little lace swatch, with nups (a new stitch for me) - which I've managed to misplace in all my unpacking and packing - but I did not follow tradition and sew on the separately knit border. While it's good to know the tradition, in my case, I'll probably not embrace the technique. I will, however, purchase her upcoming book Knitted Lace of Estonia: Techniques, Patterns, and Traditions (due out in October), after seeing the book samples and being assured that there were other border attachment options.

Saturday was Knitting Triangle Shawls taught by Evelyn Clark. I had purchased her book of the same title, and figure this was the only way I was assured to read it. I started the Sunshine and Shadows Shawl in class and finished it a few days ago, while in Phoenix. The yarn is Dream In Color Baby Lace that I purchased in Sunnyvale in March.


Adding to the stash
The conference was small and the vendor market was small - only four vendors. But I did manage to find some lovely lace yarn in the Skaska Designs booth. I learned about Yarn Place yarns on that San Jose trip in March, and was tempted by the fibers, colors and value of Touch (cashmere/tencel/merino), Heaven (tencel/merino), and Gentle (wool/cashmere):
 


I also couldn't resist taking home a hank each of Skaska's silk/cashmere and camel/silk yarns, as well as an Australian cashmere yarn.
   

And finally I came home to yarn that Bonnie sent from Japan. I'm pretty sure she bought it because of the brand - Puppy Yarn. It's washi paper yarn made from cotton.

Denver

I was looking for a particular class taught by Galina Khemeleva and happened on the Mile High Lace Knitting Conference in Denver. I'm all about lace AND I graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School in Denver (more than a few years ago) so clearly I was destined to go. It turned out to be a very small conference held at the Renaissance Hotel across from what was, in "my day", Stapleton International Airport. I won't bore you with how much had changed in places, but it was significant.

Truth be told the knitting was an excuse to look up and see old friends. The visits started on Tuesday when it got to over 80 degrees farenheit and was still 76 degrees as I headed home (the significance of this comes up next) from dinner with Stephanie Brearton. I met Stephanie when we both pledged Alpha Phi at Colorado State. The chapter didn't last, but our friendship did.



I arrived on Monday, but the conference didn't start till Wednesday evening, so I stayed the first two nights at what we've come to call Hotel Shelton, aka Robert and Edith's house. They are the parents of my good friend Mark and I always enjoy spending time there. I don't like to visit someone's house empty handed, but have a hard time thinking what to make men, so I packed a full biscuit "kit", consisting of Oregon ingredients: Bob's Red Mill flour, baking soda, and baking powder, Tillamook butter, and Market of Choice buttermilk (and salt) to make Robert. For Edith, I made Elisa's Nest Tote in Bernat Kitchen Cotton. I knit in the round (taking a cue from a Ravelry-er), left the stitches live and knit on the i-cord for the handles, and it was done in just a few days.


Before I left for my stay at the hotel, I took Robert and Edith to lunch.


The snow flurries began as we left the restaurant, and by evening there was a nice blanket of snow. Gotta love that Denver weather! One June day circa 1979, the week before summer solstice, I was scraping snow off my car onto my cold sandaled feet.

Thursday morning, I enjoyed the snow in the early morning as I drove to meet Linda Williams for coffee.
 

Linda Williams was the senior class president and was consistently one of the nicest people at TJ even to those of us who were bussed in. Our friendship has remained intact and I'm expecting her to visit sometime this year so she can meet her goal of visiting all 50 states by the end of her 50th year. She has Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Alaska to go.



Friday I took advantage of the two hour lunch break and had lunch with Mark Forsyth, my date to the senior prom. Considering we haven't been in touch since we graduated, it was a remarkably fun lunch. Mark is a retired cop, teaching at Regis College in Denver. I asked Mark to the prom and he probably warned me that he couldn't dance, but I chose to ignore the fact, but he was telling the truth. At 17, that was pretty "tragic", but years later it's laughable. We shared only one class (that I know of) - photography, and all I have is the impression of how nice he was. Next month his daughter will marry and he's been told he must dance with her. And he will. He asked me to "dump" the photo I took, so in deference, here's a prom picture.


That evening, the plan was to meet also have dinner with Dan and Dori Hugo and their twin 18-month-old boys, but while the latter were calm and quiet in the morning, when the plan was set, by evening it was decided that Dan would have to meet me solo. Despite the disappointment, Dan and I had a great dinner and evening catching up. It was such a good evening, the camera never came out of my bag. I'm promised a family photo some day.

Saturday evening my good friend Randy Roorda picked me up and we headed for dinner at one of his favorite Mexican Restaurants in Aurora. We met senior year in Mr Miles Sociology class when alphabetically he sat in the desk in front of me. And the rest is friendship history. He's a teacher, who has been off the past year. He says if he doesn't find the right position in Denver he'd like to move to Oregon. We can only hope.

Trying to catch up

There's that general premise that as you get older time seems to go by more quickly. Add to that 9 planes in 21 days, of which onl 6 were spent at home and the month of April was just a blink in the proverbial eye. That, along, with a last minute visit from my mom that proceeded the three weeks of travel, in part explains my absence from blogland. I started writing this thinking I'd do one big post, but as I looked at all the unprocessed pictures, I realize my catching up will have to occur over several posts. So here I start in the middle.

I promised some pictures when last I posted:

Dianne's skirt and jacket
These were finished well before they were gifted to Dianne but, of course, couldn't be posted till she had them in her hands. It started with the Sandra Betzina skirt pattern, Vogue 2933. Tom found the fabric, at the Mill End Store in Milwaukie and I decided that I need to make something to go with it so we picked a cool eyelet.

The skirt was completed, with the "help" of some Pattern Review-ers to sort out the "wings." The fabric feels like rayon, but is a poly microfiber (the clerk at Mill End was sure the bolt description was wrong so did a burn test).



The jacket was Vogue 8398. I took my sewing machine and serger up to Puyallup with me and set up a little sewing station at the hotel. I underlined the eyelet with silk organza to give it some body and got most of it completed during the trip, just wanting to use my "good" machine to do the topstitching of the bias tape facing.



Another shirt for Tom
Tom got three new shirts in March - two to take to San Jose and one for his birthday - not that I need an excuse. I managed to post the first SJ shirt, but finished the second on the morning of the trip and forgot all about it.



The birthday shirt and the birthday boy with his second biggest fan.




Alpine Lace Scarf
It's done. All the time my mom was in town, she said she didn't think I'd ever finish it. And there were times I didn't disagree with her. Like immediatly after I made the decision to unknit back 14 inches to correct the mistake in the border that probably only I would see, but I'd know it was there. But I did finish it.

Doggie Dash 2008

Last year Tom and I walked the Doggie Dash and raised enough donations for the Oregon Humane Society to put us in the top three teams (excluding the board of directors). We're walking again this year (with Jake and Mandy) and, though I have no expectations of repeating the team placement, I do want to at least match the dollar amount we raised and once again I'm asking for your help. All donations count! Here's the skinny:

On Saturday, May 10 thousands of animal lovers, many with their favorite canines will run and walk two miles at the Tom McCall Waterfront Park in Portland, Oregon. 100% of the fees and donations go to the Oregon Humane Society toward reaching their goal of finding homes for 10,000 pets in 2008.

The Oregon Humane Society has been helping homeless animals since 1868. Last year OHS found homes for 9118, which includes animals transferred to OHS from other shelters in Oregon, Washington, and California. Additionally, OHS transfers animals who they don't think they can adopt out to other adoptions organizations to give them another chance. (That's how Jake found us.) The adoption rate at OHS is 3-4 times higher than the national average.

There's more on their website.

Please support the Oregon Humane Society with your donation by clicking here.

Thanks,

What's going on?

Three weeks ago we all decided that it would be a good idea for my mom to visit us so her realtors could really work on selling her house. The good news is that two offers came in; the bad news is they were really bad offers. So we wait. But having Mom and pooch around has thrown off my routine and I've had less time to spend at the computer. That means all the pictures I've taken are still in the camera and I haven't posted for a while. Sorry about that.

But I have been doing stuff and in the course of the next few weeks, hopefully, I'll get caught up.

Here's a synopsis:
  Dianne's birthday skirt and jacket (sewn)
  One shirt for Tom (now there's a surprise)
  Progress on the Japanese crochet shrug
  Elisa's Nest Tote
  FINISHED Alpine Lace Scarf (and my mom said it wasn't going to happen)

Next week, I'm off to Denver to attend the Mile High Lace Knitting Conference and (another big surprise) eat and drink with friends, including one Alpha Phi sorority sister (didn't know I was in a sorority in college did you?) and three high school friends, including my senior prom date, whom I've not seen since the 10 year reunion.

THEN, after spending some quality time with hubby and two silly dogs, it's off to Chicago for a weekend to meet some Fiberly Friends some of whom I've met, more I have not.

By the way, how did it get to be April already?

Hooks and Needles

Sometime ago I started Mondnacht, a lace shawl from one of the many Japanese knitting and crochet books I've acquired. I didn't make a lot of progress because there are no pattern repeats in the entire shawl, so it requires that I really pay attention, so I gave it up - at least for a while. So I decided to start another Japanese pattern. This time it's a crochet shrug pattern from one Let's Knit 15 that I picked up in Seattle last month. I started it last week and have made a fair bit of progress. It was started in the middle back and crocheted to the left sleeve, which I've completed. Then stitches were picked up for the right side. The yarn is another "aged" stash yarn. It's 50/50 rayon/cotton and a bit stiff. I'm hoping it softens when it's washed, something I won't know till I finish, since, I did do a swatch, but didn't think keep it and wash it.


In the meantime, I continue to work on the Alpine lace scarf. I've gotten a rhythm going and am mostly pleased with the progress. Notice the smaller ball? That's about half of what I pulled out when I noticed a mistake in the border. I spent a day contemplating whether to leave it ("No one would really see it...") but in the end it would probably nag me, so about 14 inches came out. The pulling out and picking back up wasn't so traumatic, but the untangling and rewinding was a bit of a chore.


Then new VK arrived. What lovely lace patterns! I really need a formal event so I have an excuse to make the Mari Tobita's skirt or the dress by Shirley Paden.
 

On the other hand, even though it's featured as part of the wedding spread, the cardigan by Simone Merchant-Dest is definitely doable, as is the tank by Magumi Harai. And I like Kristen TenDyke's lace top.
  

And there were some non-lace patterns that caught my eye, as well, like Mari Lynn Patrick's colorwork top and Vladimir Terokhin's raglan pullover.
 

I think I need longer days...

Dogs on Thursday

Sun Dog
Jake likes to be warm. We've had a fair bit of sun over the past few weeks (we're told that it's almost spring!) and when it shines into the bathroom, Jake finds the spots.



And he's fine till my picture taking apparently starts to bother him.

Knitting progress

While in San Jose, I did get some knitting done.

I finished the Herringbone Stitch Chemo Cap.


And got quite a bit done on the Alpine Knit lace scarf. The significance of this progress is that it took me longer to get through the bottom border than it did to work the border/body so far. This is the first project where I seriously considered lifelines. The yarn is slippery silk on slippery needles. But I'm apparently a glutton for punishment because I never did add the lifelines, and unknit and unknit and reknit. But there's good news because I finally have the pattern in my head (though not memorized) enough to where I can see the issues without having to frog rows, which is usually my downfall.

Cupertino, San Jose and Scotts Valley

Through in visits to Santa Cruz, Sunnyvale and Campbell and you have our weekend destinations. The trip down to see Jack at Year Round Tax (in Scotts Valley) and Dr Ballentine (in San Jose) was just an excuse so we could

..have coffee with Maria (an hour just isn't enough time)


..deliver the 20-something annual birthday pineapple upside down cake for Bill (never mind that his birthday was last month)


..spend the better part of an afternoon with Chris for the first time in a very long time


..have brunch with Amy and Ron, who at different times took care of Cody and Mandy



..see former neighbors Joe and Connie and check out what's going on with our previous house.
 

It also gave us the chance to visit a new-to-us yarn shop, Purlescence Yarns in Sunnyvale and add to my SABLE.

Yarn Place Graceful Lace - very soft fine wool


Dream in Color Baby Lace Weight Merino wool, in a black that had shades of green, brown and blue


Crystal Palace Maizy - corn fiber and elastic nylon



And stay at the Cypress Hotel in Cupertino for the second year in a row, where we hung out with Spotty the fish. If you can afford the rack rates or get a good promo price (which is the category we fell into), I highly recommend Kimpton Hotels. Their In Touch membership program is all about hospitality. In addition to the fresh chocolate chip cookies they set out for guests every afternoon, as an In Touch member, I always get a note, bottle of water and a snack. If our dogs were good travelers and we weren't flying, we'd brought them to stay with us, since the Kimpton hotels welcome doggy guests. We have also stayed at the Alexis in Seattle (where the notes were hand written) and the Hotel Monaco in San Francisco.



 

South Bay yarn shop update

If you happened to head to my SF Bay area yarn shop list and download it, I already have some corrections.

There's good news and bad news about downtown Campbell and yarn. Bad news: We discovered that Rug and Yarn Hut is no longer with us, but a walk down the block found yarn in a shop window, but the store is not yet open. The good news is that Green Planet Yarn plans to open in April 2008.

We did stop by Purlescence in Sunnyvale and had a lovely visit (and I found some Yarn Place yarn). More later after I get some pictures taken.

Bay Area bound

It's time for our annual trek to San Jose to take care of taxes. It's not that we couldn't just send the information down, but what's the fun in that. (An "no" the trip is not tax deductible—we asked.)

In preparation, I did a little yarn shop research, found a couple of new-to-me shops to try to visit and posted a list of Bay Area Yarn shops on my website.

In addition to the trusty iPod Touch, I'll be taking a Herringbone Stitch Chemo Cap, a free pattern from Fiber Rhythm, I'm knitting in Knit Picks Shine Sport. It's my carry along project so, though it's an easy project, it may be a while before it's finished, since I only will get to it when were waiting for something and I need to keep busy. Or I may get it done while we're away. You never know.
 
And the obligatory lace project: Alpine knit scarf from Victorian Lace Today in Claudia Hand Painted Silk Lace yarn in Pecan.



Tom gets to take a new shirt.