Tigard Knitting Guild and Twist Collective

New Post at Fiberly One's new home
Tigard Knitting Guild and Twist Collective

Knitting and Sewing, Sewing and Knitting

New post at Fiberly One's new home:
Knitting and Sewing, Sewing and Knitting

An Afternoon in Oakland

New post at Fiberly One's new home:
An Afternoon in Oakland

A new skirt

New post at Fiberly One's new home:
A new skirt

Three Quick Projects

New Post at Fiberly One's new home.
Three Quick Projects

Made in March

New Post at Fiberly One's new home:
Made in March

February

New Post at Fiberly One's New home:
February

Yarn and more yarn

New Post at Fiberly One's new home:
Yarn and more yarn

Of Skirts and Shirts

New Post at Fiberly One's new home:
Of Skirts and Shirts

Anniversary night

New post at Fiberly One's new home:
Anniversary night

Techy and Fiberly meet

New post at Fiberly One's new home

Techy and Fiberly meet

Knitting Magazines

New Post at Fiberly One's new home
Knitting Magazines

Presenting Baltic Blossoms

In the whole scheme of things I really liked knitting Baltic Blossoms and working with the very fine Habu Bamboo lace yarn, though it seemed to take a long time to get it done. The Lily of the Valley section was re-knit a number of times and the nupps aren't nearly as neat as Evelyn Clark's sample, which I think, in part, can be attributed to the slippery quality of the bamboo. But the shawl is finished, and I like the soft, gossamer result.

Here's the shawl before rinsing and blocking:


And after blocking:






I love lace!

Busy week...no pictures

I keep thinking I want to make sure to include pictures when I post, but if I wait till I get the gumption to process pictures, we could all be waiting a while, so here's a recap of the week sans pictures.

Birthday girl
That was me last Saturday, and it was a great party. In an unusual turn of events, everyone who said they would show up actually did and a person or two who hadn't said they would come showed up. It was a good mix of family, old Apple friends, cruise buddies, neighbors, business owners turned friends, and one high school chum. I will get to processing pictures...soon...I promise.

Tom's eastern North Carolina Barbeque-style was a hit. Most tried and liked the "traditional" sandwich by piling the coleslaw on top of the barbeque on the mini-buns made just for us by Market of Choice. The appetizers brought by friends, my Bill Neal shortcake with Oregon strawberries and, sweet tea (to complete the southern theme) and we all ate quite well.

What a great way to turn 50!

Move-in days
Monday we headed to IKEA to pick up a bed frame and dresser for my mom, then down to Wilsonville to wait for the guys from Take Care Move Assistance to arrive. Somehow we'd managed to fill the moving container in pretty short order, just the two of us, but we were very glad we hired Bill and his guy because to move the contents of the box from the loading area up three floors and down the hall 150 paces (Tom size...he counted) to my mom's new apartment. What took them 1 1/2 hours would surely have taken us the full day. And there was time left on the clock for them to build my mom's bed. Now you just cannot beat that.

We had decided that it was best to start her new apartment experience Tuesday morning so everyone was fresh. So we packed her clothes that we'd moved via Alaska Airlines baggage check and headed over, where even more clothes were waiting. Thanks to neighbor Laurie, we had enough hangers to accomodate without having to make a side trip to the Container Store. We made our first grocery store trip and inagurated the refrigerator. Tom built the dining table (chairs having been built on Monday) and the entertainment unit.

Wednesday the dresser was built, the new phone programmed, and the TV set up (except we couldn't find the remote), and my mom had spent her first night in Wilsonville. She seemed pretty spunky and on seeing her yesterday, she is settling in quite nicely. She's doing something she could never have done in Sun City West - walking Tootsie outside twice a day. We have lovely weather and her new pacemaker to thank for that, I think.

Miscellany
Lest you think I was slacking when we weren't hanging with my mom: I also managed four morning walks and a belated birthday lunch at Zeppo's in Lake Oswego; had printed 200 Columbia River Sewing Guild newsletters which I then (with a little help from my cool hubby) stapled, addressed, stamped and posted; located a long lost cousin to whom my mom wanted to send an address change; made and sent out the address change notices; and made and sent out thank you notes.

Baltic Blossoms
And I finally managed to get in some forward progress knitting on Saturday.

I started the border in early June when we were in AZ. I took out 6 rows of said border when we were in AZ. I thought was my first attempt at nupps but in researching a definition, I find that I must have knit them in Evelyn Clark's Swallowtail. At any rate, they were giving me fits (k1,YO,k1,YO,k1 into one stitch, purl 5 back). I didn't like the results so in my second (or maybe third) attempt I found that knitting into the front and back of the stitch for five stitches made it much easier to purl back. Still, after making unfixable mistakes, I ended up pulling out 16 rows of border (over 200 sts each) without winding the yarn as I went and then spending the ensuing day untangling the yarn. The next time(s?) I did it, I wound the yarn so resuming wasn't to difficult.

Saturday, with no distractions, and Sliding Doors (which I've seen many times) in the background, I whipped out 32 rows of the border without so much as a hitch. Go figure.

My projects for today are to get to the last set of border rows, and do laundry which I don't think I've been caught up on since March. Maybe this week.

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.

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...

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.