You Spin Me Right Round, Baby, Right Round

Sorry for the bad pun on 1980s New Wave, but spinning's what's been on my mind all weekend.

Remember those beautiful bats Barbara sent me from Arizona?



They look so pretty sitting on the window sill that I almost hated to start spinning them. But I did get one spun into a lovely single today:



The picture here really doesn't do it justice. This is spinning up into the most beautiful coral colors! And it drafts like a dream!

And I finished off a little bit of green that's been resting on the drop spindle for a couple of weeks (actually since before St. Patrick's Day). I had originally intended to crochet some shamrocks and then felt them into a lariat necklace for St. Paddy's Day; but then I got hit with that cruddy cold and didn't get it done. Ah well, it'll still be hanging around for next year.



But just look at that green! It's really obnoxious in the roving, but after spinning, it becomes that brilliant yellow green of new grass in the springtime.

And I also wet set that sample of alpaca from last weekend's spinning. It's OK, but nothing to write home about. I'm putting it aside for just a bit because I just can't keep my hands off those bats from Barbara.



Oh, and if you just have to hear that song, it's here on YouTube. Just don't blame me when it's stuck in your head next week.

Spring, sprang, sprung, sproing . . .

The Wednesday Westside group has sprung from just a few into many . . .



In fact, they've taken over the largest part of Starbucks. And they've started converting muggles.



Like this man who questioned Duffy for quite some time about the mechanics of her spinning wheel. And the woman who questioned me when I was taking pictures; she wanted to know if anyone in the group would be interested in knitting hat/scarf/mitten sets for her to give as Christmas gifts.

A couple of new knitters got a personal lesson in Judy's Magic Cast On from Judy herself.



Kathleen sprang these new point protectors on me:



We actually weren't sure if they were hedgehogs or dogs. So we dubbed them, "hedgedogs".

Cindy declared that "Spring" was also known as "mating season" and had the video to prove it.



She can't be trusted with animals, that one.

The calendar says it's well into Spring, but apparently somebody forgot to reset the weather clocks. Here's "Un-Spring in Portland" so far this year:



Yes, those white things flying past the window were SNOWFLAKES. On March 28. Now, I ask you: What's wrong with that picture?

In fact, it was so Un-Spring in Portland, that our Receptionist Extraordinaire wore my favorite sweater to work,



although she insists on taking it home and keeping it in her closet. This photo really doesn't do the color justice; its a lovely persimmon tweed, with bits of gold, brown, and mossy green in it.



Although it's a "store bought" sweater, I really love this design. The "bodice" part is knit sideways with cables on a reverse stockinette background, then the "yoke" is picked up along the edges and worked in decreasing reverse stockinette to the neck, and the sleeves and body are picked up from the other side and knit down to the hem in a wide ribbing. And the hems are turned with one row of purl to make a crisp edge. Brilliant construction! I've been telling her for months that I wanted my sweater back, but I had to settle for pictures so I could dissect the pattern.

By the end of the day, the skies had cleared (although it's still cold as a well digger's arse outside). I trudged home and found this waiting for me in the mailbox:



Beautiful fiber from the inimitable Barbara in Arizona. Again, the picture really doesn't do them justice; these are blends of pinks, corals, and rose colors. And there are little sparkly bits in there, too. And they are the softest thing you've ever felt. Except for these:



A little tiny bag of "Oh my god this is soft!" sproingy locks dyed in brilliant purples and pinks.

These are the perfect cure for Un-Spring in Portland.

Second Verse, Same as the First . . .

Last weekend was my second Official All-Pajama Weekend in a row. And it wasn't even voluntary; I caught the plague from ToolMan. He got a cold that developed into an upper respiratory infection and wound up in the urgent care clinic. I tried mightily to avoid catching it from him, but to no avail. I stayed home from work last Friday, too sick to read or knit. I slept from Thursday night until Sunday afternoon; waking only to take doses of a well-known cure for what ails you:



That's right; the old reliable hot toddy. ToolMan had bought me two of those little airline bottles of Jack, but when they didn't do the trick, I had to send him out for a bigger bottle. I had to get over it by Monday, not because I needed to be back at work but because I wanted to see the opening night of Dancing With The Stars!

Before I fell victim to the crud, I had started my last contribution for the auction for Thomas:



A Faroese shawl, using the Summer Shawlette pattern from Knitting Daily. I used a single skein of Fortissma Socka and had a little left over (I'm saving little leftovers of sock yarn to do a Celestine. The pattern is free at Berroco.com, and they have a crocheted version, too.) The shawl was a quick knit; I had it done in a week and the pattern was really easy to follow. When I took it in for donation, all the ladies in the office were eyeing it and trying it on. I hope it brings a good price at the auction.

After being sick and working on that lace pattern, I decided to tackle something easy. Since I wear so much black/gray/navy blue/dark brown at work (it is, after all, a law firm), I felt like I needed a brightening up of my wardrobe. Sock yarn to the rescue! I pulled out some of my single skeins to knit up some quick scarves for spring accents. This one is a skein of Lion Brand Magic Stripes in "Jelly Bean":



I started in a faggot stitch, but quickly decided that I needed to break up the random stripes, so I frogged it out and started a multi-directional scarf. This one should give a good shot of spring color to my navy blue suit. Next up, is a skein of my handspun in a soft turquoise, and a couple of beautiful hand-dyed skeins from StitchJones; one in "Dusk" and one in "Summer of Love." You can buy from her own site, or from her Etsy shop; the woman is genius with color!

And I spun and plied a sample of the alpaca I bought last year at OFFF. Here it is, still wet, after being soaked, agitated, wrung out, and thwacked.



It's balanced, but by no means as soft as I'd like. The staple on this alpaca is fairly short, only about 1 1/2 inches long, so I spun it fairly tight to get it to hold together. And it still has guard hairs which I had to pick out as I spun. It's hanging up to dry, so we shall see how it looks tomorrow. I think I'll try to spin the next sample a little thicker and see how that comes out.

Whew! I think that catches up on all the goings on here. Now, I think I'll go make myself another dose of that "cold medicine" and toddle off to bed.

Official All-Pajama Weekend

I declared last weekend was to be Official All-Pajama Weekend for me. The idea is to be comfy enough to putz around the house, never setting foot outside all weekend (which would, after all, getting dressed), work on whatever crafty projects strike your fancy, cook as little as possible, and nap whenever the mood strikes.

So I put on my 'jammies as soon as I got home from work on Friday. Ok, I don't really wear 'jammies; I sleep in a pair of ToolMan's boxers and a paint-splattered t-shirt. Sorry, I know that's probably too much information, right? And now you'll never get that picture out of your head, will you?

But since it's still officially winter, and a just a tad too chilly to lay around in my skivies, I added my Old Navy drawstring polar fleece pants from last Christmas (the white ones that have red and green "Merry Merry" printed on them), a green pullover, and a pair of socks (my own handknit, of course!)

On Friday night I finished up the cotton facecloths and soap bag I had been knitting to go with that pile of stuff I showed you last week. Then Saturday morning, while the laundry was being sorted, washed, dried, folded, hung, and put away (notice there was no "ironed" in that series?), and in between naps, I assembled this fancy schmancy basket for Thomas's auction:



A very Zen Spa Basket: two handknit face cloths and a drawstring soap bag, green tea shower gel and body butter, bath salts, glycerine soap, oatmeal soap, a candle, a mug and a box of green tea bags, and a cd of ocean sounds with piano solos. I hope this brings a nice price at the silent auction!

Then, I plied another skein of handspun and set the twist:



4 ounces Colonial Top from Aurora Colony Fiber Arts in "brick multi" bought last year at OFFF; approximately 250 yards, 2-ply, 11 WPI. I had originally planned on using this with the alpaca for a sweater for ToolMan. I thought this would make a nice accent to use on the yoke and maybe on the cuffs. Now that this was done, on Sunday I pulled out the alpaca:



A whole pound of alpaca, to be exact. But, I don't like the way the brick multi looks with the alpaca. The alpaca is a nice "milk chocolate" color, but the brick multi is just that: "multi" and "brick"; which means it looks terrible with the alpaca. A pound may not be enough for a sweater, but it probably is enough for a vest. No, I didn't get any spinning done, but I did get in another nap!

The sharp-eyed among you may notice my tea brewing back there in the background, and yes, it is Red Rose tea. I drink a pitcher of ice tea almost every day, no sugar, and this is my current favorite. Because I just LOVE getting the little figurine out of the new box.



It's the "Pet Shop Friends" series; they look so cute lined up on the shelf above the sink!

Sunday evening, I dug through the stash and patterns for another project. I want a lightweight shawl for spring and summer so I pulled out some sock yarn and cast on for Summer Shawlette. I'd show you pictures, but it's gone to the frog pond for the second time, so there's really not much to look at yet.

By bedtime on Sunday, I was well rested and well satisfied with my weekend projects. What I wasn't satisfied with was something I smelled. Honestly, you'd think ToolMan would have said something. Next time Official All-Pajama Weekend rolls around, I really must remember to shower at least once.

Wednesday Wackos

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: My Westside Wednesday SipNStitch group is fabulous! There is simply nothing like this group of fiber addicts.

We show off our knitting accomplishments.

And, boy, does Trishhave some! In fact, she's an official "Master Knitter."

Angela has some pretty mad skillz herself.

She was showing off her Slytherin Bag from Charmed Knits. She was just finishing up the lining.

We have conversations about new yarns, patterns, who's working on what project, the local and not so local yarn shops, what fiber fests are coming up, etc. You know, typical knitting group conversations.

Then, every week, somehow, the topics of conversation turn south.

Suddenly, we're talking about other rock music inspiration for StitchJones. There was a suggestion for Robert Plant yarn: blue denim for the jeans, a pinkish red for the flowery manblouse, some pale yellow for the blonde hair. And some mohair to represent the chest hair.

And from there, we slid from "Westside Wednesday" to "Wednesday Wackos."

Duffy discovered some StitchJones yarn that she just couldn't live without.



"Yarn? What yarn? These are my kittens."

Her skeins were "purring". That is, until she decided the green one "tasted like the rainbow." Sadly, (0r maybe not) the picture of that didn't come out well enough to post on the blog.

The craziness spread to Angela, who is normally "the quiet one",



whose kittens were playing in her lap. Until a cat fight broke out.

This lunacy infected even the young knitters.

Kerin was singing to her "babies."

Cindy had a little fling with "Gene Simmons"



and was just a little TOO happy about that.

Then, a conversation about how knitting in a Pride Parade got more comments than the topless women. "Those (pointing to boobs), I can see those anytime. But knitting? That's not something you see everyday!"

This is not your mother's knitting circle!

A little help from my friends

Cancer. Children.

Together, those two words strike fear in the hearts of parents everywhere.

Thomas Gabaldon needs a little help from my friends. Thomas is an energetic ten-year old who enjoys the same things as most other 10-year old boys: baseball, soccer, riding his bike, and playing video games. But Thomas had persistent knee pain, so his mom took him to the doctor. After a bunch of tests, Thomas was diagnosed with osteogenic sarcoma (a type of bone cancer).

Thomas is now undergoing week-long sessions of chemotherapy at Doernbecher Children's Hospital in Portland, Oregon. Being away from home during this treatment has been difficult, but he is committed to beating his cancer. Thomas' mother has quit her job to care for him.

Recently, doctors amputated part of Thomas' leg. Later, he will be fitted with a prosthesis enabling him to walk. After much therapy, hard work, and perseverance he will be able to once again do all of the physical activities ten-year old boys love to do.

"My cancer scare changed my life. I am grateful for every, new healthy day I have. It helped me prioritize my life." - Olivia Newton John

When I heard about Thomas from one of the attorneys in my firm, I did what most people do: I thanked God, my lucky stars, the fates, and whatever and whomever else I could think of that it wasn't my child fighting this fight.

Then I did what most other knitters do: I volunteered to knit an item for a silent auction. And, I called for reinforcements. I posted to the PDX Knit Bloggers asking for donations for a silent auction, asking for any and all donations.

Cindy turned in this limited edition Beanie Buddy in his rocking chair . . .



and this Lantern Moon bag full of international beanie babies.



Sharon knitted up a sweet little child's cap (I wondered if this was her hand-dyed yarn) . . .



And a pair of the most gorgeous mitts you've ever seen.



Trust me, this picture doesn't do them justice. They are the richest amethyst color in real life. And soft!

Kathleen is working on a lace shawl (she's designing the pattern as she goes along!) and, if she has enough time, will be making a pair of beaded earrings to match it.

I finished a shrug in Organic Inca Cotton which is drying as we speak. I also picked up these:



which will become a gift basket for the auction. Yes, I have deliberately obscured things in there; I've got to have something to post about next week, after all.

“If children have the ability to ignore all odds and percentages, then maybe we can all learn from them. When you think about it, what other choice is there but to hope? We have two options, medically and emotionally: give up, or Fight Like Hell.” - Lance Armstrong