Psychic Knitter

On this TBT I am going back just two weeks ago when I was on a trip to Portland Oregon. I had the good fortune to be there just a few days before the Rose Festival which means that the rose gardens were in full bloom.It occurred to me, as I was sitting and knitting under a beautiful pink rose tree, that I had just finished a fun summer shawl that could well have been inspired by the colors I was seeing in the rose garden. I used a ball of Freia Hombre Lace in Melon which I purchased at Rose City Yarn Crawl. The only thing that would have made the day more perfect would have been a Cosmopolitan Martini in hand.

My love affair with Portland Oregon continues and the feeling is mutual I know, because The Rose City greeted me with warm sunny days that lasted (just 2 rain days) for over two weeks.
 I finally got to attend the Rose City Yarn Crawl this year! I can't even begin to tell you how much fun I had. Suffice it to say, that I came home with enough yarn to knit with for the rest of my life! I am hoping to use it up this year so that I have an excuse to shop until I drop, again next year! I got to visit some old favorite yarn stores like "Close Knits", "Happy Knits" and "Pearl Fiber Arts", and to discover many fun new stores including my favorite new store, "Twisted"! Twisted has a real Portland  feel and look to it and the staff is very fun! The following is a picture tour of my yarn crawling through the Rose City...

It began with joining the RCYC Mystery Knit Along! I finished my shawl in while in Portland and blocked it in the hotel room. It was fun to see everyone's interpretation of the shawl. I should have taken pictures!

I picked up my bag the day before the yarn crawl started. I even ordered ahead to make sure I got one.

The goods! A basket full of local yarn!!

I discovered Black Trillium at their trunk show at The Knitting Bee. I was surprised that I stopped at just 3 skeins, but it was only my first day. The skein on the left is called "Hedwig" and it will be a shawl. http://blacktrilliumfibres.com

At Twisted I was able to decide on just one beautiful handmade yarn bowl from JAMPDX.. I really wanted at least three of these beautiful bowls.

I joined in on the Friday night party that Happy Knits hosted. Lots of good food and drink AND Three Fates Yarns in all of her awesomeness. I bought this pack of gradient pinks to make a polka dot cowl!

I'm glad I was dedicated to making it to all 15 stores on the crawl. If not I would have missed Wool n Wares in West Linn. This friendly shop offered the weary yarn crawler bottled water, candy and oranges, not to mention the Knitted Wit Trunk show! Her color selection was incredible and beautiful. I bought some of her mini skeins that she calls Gumballs, to coordinate with the skeins I chose. I also picked up a few skeins of some lovely local alpaca and a few other goodies as well.

For Yarn's Sake in Beaverton had author Larissa Brown there on Saturday. She was signing her new book "Beautiful Wreck", a tale of  time travel back to Viking times. Lavender Sheep was there with some specially hand dyed yarn especially made for Larissa's book. I finally managed to pick out a skein. Luckily they also had special small skeins in little bundles so I got one of them as well

It wouldn't be Portland without Voodoo Doughnuts. Northwest Wools (Portland's oldest yarn store) had the pattern for the yarn crawl and this nifty kit which was a must have. I really had to resist the urge to ask, why not pink? :)

At The Naked Sheep Yarn Store I got to sit with author Anne Berk and learn Annetarsia! I hope I remember! If not, I have the book

This past week here in Denver we had the "Yarn Along the Rockies" yarn crawl. This year's crawl included 24 stores ranging from as far north as Lafayette, to as far south as Colorado Springs. I had initially decided to hit just two or three stores and ended up visiting a baker's dozen. Along the way, I visited some old favorites and made some new discoveries as well. I did not limit my purchases to just yarn. My purchases included, stitch markers, dragon scales, fancy knitting needles and alpaca earrings. I clocked many miles traveling up and down the Front Range and was thankful for a wonderfully fun book I was listening to on Audible books. I was also glad to be able to share the last day of the trek with my husband. We combined yarn crawling with a wonderful lunch in Boulder a an incredibly good pub called "Fate". While all of the stores were charming in their own way, I just had to take a few pictures at a cute store in Lafayette called "Mew Mews". The store is named after the cat who is as sweet and friendly as can be. I offered a swap of three of my cats for her but the owner said no deal. I had to settle for a picture.

The WIzard

In the corner of the store stood a knitted figure about 6 feet high. It was simply incredible. The details were astonishing. When I looked closely there were tiny mice being held in one of his hands, no doubt food for the snowy white owl he held in his other hand. I have seen this fiber artists work before at her booth at Denver Comic Con and never realized that she was based out of this tiny store in Lafayette. I met some lovely store owners and had some fun conversations along the way. I would have to say that my favorite "yarn crawl experience" was at a store called "A Knitted Peace"

MewMew

(http://www.aknittedpeace.com) They were so well prepared to welcome the many visitors. I was particularly thrilled to see a huge cooler full of icy water bottles that were a welcome treat on such a warm day. Their pattern was beautiful and available online or as a quality printed pattern. When I purchased my yarn crawl bag it was full of goodies that included some things that were useful to the yarn crawler such as a pen and paper pad so you could note down your favorite yarns and such for future purchases. I also appreciated the discount coupon they included in the bag for use on a return visit. Best of all was the incredible yarn selection. I'm pretty sure I bought too much yarn but how could I resist?
As far as my own knitting projects go, I have finally finished my sweater, or should I say jacket? It turns out that I made the wrong size so instead of a sweater I have a nice boxy jacket. I have since cast on the same sweater pattern, this time using Cascade Heathers in a yummy purple. I am determined to get it right. I also finished enough squares to make a youth blanket for an ongoing community project I work on and have since begun another one, this time with a pink theme. This next one will be slow going as I have to devote my knitting and crafting time to get ready for the Denver Witches Ball where I, along with my friend, will be sharing a space in the vendor section! I'm very excited to be able to sell my hand knitted tarot bags and tarot cloths plus other magical items to a kindred collection of people. Spending so many hours in my craft room may necessitate making my martinis by the pitcher, this time stirred, not shaken....

Future blanket

The Summer is passing too quickly, especially in terms of knitting projects. I have been seriously considering entering my stash of unfinished projects into the Guinness Book of World records for consideration. I really feel I have a shot to win. The other week I spent half the day in my craft room, just organizing the yarn stash. All I can say is that if I ever dare buy another ball of black yarn, my husband has permission to shoot me. Earlier this Summer I went to a trunk show at Fancy Tiger Crafts to see the fabulous Stephen West and Steven Berg.

with the fabulous Steves

This of course resulted in buying several wonderful patterns and of course, yarn. It was special "for the tour only" yarn. I had to do it. Speaking of Stephen West, I joined his Summer KAL and have started working on the "Vertices Unite" shawl. I love all of the stripes! The scarf is fun and easy to knit while I am watching television. Did anybody mention "Outlander"? Oh my! I am about 8 rows from finishing my Dream Stripe shawl using the beautiful Anzula Nebula sock weight yarns. I hope to have a picture up of the finished project sometime between now and the time I die. Speaking of insanity, I found yet another KAL that I cannot resist. It's called the" Four Elements Dragon Mystery KAL". It's a "choose your own adventure" pattern. It reads like something out of Pathfinder. It is a double knit scarf so your dragon will show up on both sides looking ever so cool. Speaking of Pathfinder, I have started making dice bags
both for myself and to sell. I have also been knitting lots and lots of tarot bags both for a special order I received, and for my Etsy store. OK so maybe now I don't feel nearly as bad about the dozens of unfinished projects I have.
The one thing I am getting done are the squares that I work on for an ongoing charity project group I work with. I have a bag of yarn in my car and a square on the needles at all times. I have taken said yarn on hikes, overnight trips and whenever I am in the car. It takes the boredom out of being a passenger.
Our group is now doing some youth size blankets in addition to the regular size blankets. I found out the other day that the youth size blanket will be 20 squares so I now have focus and plan to wait until I have 20 done (all nicely color coordinated) and pack them up and drop them off complete with finishing yarn and a picture for the assembly team. While the knitting has been sitting in bags, I have been getting a nice bit of sewing done thanks to my embroidery machine and some great designs that are out there. I have started embellishing handkerchiefs. My goal is to single handedly bring back the handkerchief industry. I figure my Etsy store is the perfect place to start. Handkerchiefs, are after all, very earth friendly and at the very least make good costume accessories and if nothing else are a good conversation piece. I tea stain white handkerchiefs to give them a vintage feel and take the glare of stark white away. You know, I have always hated ironing so it was only natural for me to take up sewing.
You gotta love 100 % cotton. NOT. I am on my second iron in 4 years. I loved my pink iron but it finally gave up on me so I went with a Rowenta (a very low cost model) which I heard were good. Yes, I went for color over quality with my last iron. It was pink after all. Generally speaking, when purchasing my crafting items I like to go with good brands but the most basic model. My thought is that if I outgrow the basic model, I can upgrade at a later date. So far, this has served me well. For now I am being kept plenty busy with sewing and knitting, not sure I can fit one more crafty thing into my brain. Martinis, however, are quite another story....

It's been well over six months since I last posted! Why? Well, because I have been knitting myself crazy of course! I am always  knitting either  my personal knitting projects, for my Etsy store or my charity knitting. To top it all off I recently purchased an embroidery machine, so the adness has escalated.
Shortly after my last post on here, I began the 2014 Rose City Yarn Crawl KAL. I knew I had little chance of attending this year, but my heart is always with Portland so I decided to join the fun. The project was a bit of a challenge but well worth it since I love the end result. I have been using my shawl a lot now that summer has arrived since Rocky Mountain nights are always cool.

Roses and rain

I added beads to the last section of the shawl. It was very time consuming but I love the results and am happy to be using another new knitting skill. I used Anzula's Nebula fingering weight yarn that I had in my stash! I absolutely LOVE Anzula. It's all about the sparkle. The purple yearn in the shawl is darker and more muted in person and prettier than the picture.
Just before the holidays I got a wild hair and decided to knit a winter cowl and matching hat for myself. I used some wonderful Classic Elite yarn that I purchased at one of my favorite Portland stores called "Close Knits". Because the yarn was a bit bulky, the set knit up in no time and I was able to wear it to my friends Yule party. I was nice and warm as I stood by the fire outside, celebrating the season. I plan to make this set again as a gift to someone for this upcoming Yule. Keeping fingers crossed on that promise.

Nice and warm

Once the new year rolled around, I was determined to do a project from a pattern and yarn I had purchased almost a year ago, once again at "Close Knits" in Portland. I found the Classic Elite cotton yarn with no problem but had a harder time hunting down the pattern. I finally found it and made a Sweetheart Tea Cozy. I love the red and white combo for Valentine's Day. The pattern was a tiny bit confusing but super simple and fast to make. The problem though is that it turned out a bit bigger than I thought so my teapot is completely covered. I actually stuck it on my head and thought it might look nice as a hat but then decided  that I would need to knit a cowl to go with it first.

Tea cozy or hat?

I currently have three active WIPs. I am just about finished with my second sweater. For some reason I am hung up on getting the sleeves done. Hopefully I will be able to post the finished pictures of it soon. I am more than halfway through a shawl called "Dream Stripes" that I am knitting with yet more Nebula yarn that I just had to have when I saw it at the trunk show at my favorite local shop, Fancy Tiger Crafts. Finally, Stephen West came out with a Summer KAL where he gives you a choice of three different patterns. I chose "Vertices Unite". It looks like I will need to keep plenty of chilled martinis on hand this summer as I knit away on my back porch. Heaven!

Fall has ushered in a flurry of knitting for me. It goes without saying that I could use a martini! The biggest project that I finally completed after 10 months {which included a lot of procrastination) was my first ever sweater. It is an Icelandic sweater made with Lopi wool. It was a project that was part of a knit along done at Fancy Tiger Crafts. Fortunately, it's not as bright and purple as it is in this picture.

It's not purple

 It was a great first sweater project that has me planning another Icelandic sweater for myself in the near future. For now I am drowning in last minute holiday knitting projects. I found a beautiful baby alpaca wool from Classic Elite on my latest trip out to Portland, that had been knit into the Color Block wrap. It's an easy and fast project with a simple design. It was so easy, I decided to go back to the store and get yarn to make one for my mother and one for my mother-in-law. I am knitting my mom's in an off white to beige gradient. My own shawl was knit in the gray shades. In October I completed a candy corn color cowl and a Samhain inspired shawl made from a yarn I designed at a store called Yarnia, in Portland. I guess it would be fair to say that I have knitting fever. I have come to discover the pleasure of knitting while listening to an audiobook or watching some of my favorite television shows. I also enjoy knitting at the airport and on planes because I feel I am getting something done while waiting through what seems to be a lot of travel delays. As long as I know that a martini is not too far away, I can relax and knit on!

Color block shawl can be ued as a table runner as long as no food is involved

Well I might not have had a Martini in my hand, but they were very much on my mind as I went crawling along at San Diego's first ever yarn crawl last week. I was thinking about the Martini I would enjoy as I sat and perused my latest local yarn finds. I was able to visit only 4 of the stores because it came during the last days of our vacation. Next year I will know better! I discovered three new yarn shops that I really enjoyed.
 I really loved The Grove (http://grove.lucyslist.net/) because it is a combination book store, fabric, craft and yarn store. I was in crafting heaven. I could have stayed the entire afternoon in total bliss but I had the husband along and a puzzle will only keep him occupied for so long. As it is, I left there with some local San Diego yarn done by a company called "The Grinning Cat", along with a few fun books about the Day of the Dead, oh, and some fabric.
My other favorite store is up in Encinitas, it's called Common Threads (.http://www.fiberartshop.com/) Owner Nancy is one of the friendliest owners I have met. From the street it looks like a tiny little store. However, it goes on and on inside and is crammed with lots of yarn goodies. I got some yarn specially hand dyed for them for the yarn crawl. It's a beautiful multi color yarn with a strong colorway. I also came away with some fun knitting accessories from Slipped Stitch Studios. I especially love the needle pattern wallet and coordinating magnets.

I was so taken with her things that I made the mistake of getting online only to discover that she has a bag of the month club and that this month the bag is made from "Nightmare Before Christmas" material. Did I order it? All I can say is that Oogie Boogie made me do it and it is my birthday month.
Also in Encinitas is The Black Sheep http://www.theblacksheep.biz/This store had Noro hanging from the ceilings and in many bins. I have never seen so much Noro. I was in Noro heaven. They also had a full selection of Louisa Harding ribbon which is super hard to find. I came away with several different yarns that will be knit into a very bohemian looking shawl. For the yarn crawl they had a tassel make and take that was a lot of fun. So many color choices and a great idea for all of those left over bits of yarn.

Finally, I visited my favorite old standby, Needlecraft Cottage (http://www.needlecraftcottage.com/)  in Pacific Beach. They carry a local yarn called Baa. I picked up a skein along with a pattern designed b the folks at Baa so I can have a San Diego scarf. They also carry some wonderful stitch markers that are made locally which I could not resist. I also picked up two Halloween cross stitch bead projects while I was there.

Not only was this San Diego's first yarn crawl, it was also mine. I have missed the one in my home town of Denver and the one in Portland Oregon  by a week. While i was milling around one of the stores, One of the other shoppers told me about the group of ladies who rented a limo to squire them around for the day so that they didn't have to drive AND so they could enjoy some adult beverages in between. Martinis anyone? I'm in!