Birds of a feather flock together

Saturday was the first meeting of the new group, Portland Spinnerati. We gathered for the first time at Portland Central Library. I had reserved the US Bank Meeting Room in the Central Library, and as you can see from the pictures, it is a perfect space for us; lots of room, lots of chairs, carpet to keep wheels from sliding around, and most importantly there are huge windows for natural light.

Because of the PDX Knit Bloggers, I feel like I know so many fiber-crazed people in Portland, but I was surprised how many new faces were there for the first meeting.



And surprisingly, I don't think any two spinners had the same kind of wheel! There was a Journey Wheel, several different MajaCraft, a Mach I, two different Lendrums, Ashfords, Kromskis, some one-of-a-kind wheels, and a couple of drop spindlers as well.



After settling in to our circle, we made introductions all around, telling how long we had been spinning, how we got started, and what we wanted to learn. Then it was time to see what everyone was spinning, share stories, and compare fibers. All too soon, the 2 1/2 hours had flown by and our time was up! We are all excited about getting together next month.



Gail was particularly excited about the meeting; not only is she a spinning fanatic, but Saturday was her birthday. Rachel gave her a birthday card, and



a pair of hand-knit socks.



I don't think that's exactly what Gail had in mind when she requested red socks to match her hair!

I debated over what fiber to take to Spinnerati; I didn't want anything that I would have to concentrate on. That meant nothing slick like bamboo, or with short fibers like camel or yak, nothing hard on the hands like silk. No, this required something that I could spin without looking, something that I could do entirely by feel; something like wool. So I pulled out that candy-colored Corriedale I bought from Knitted Wit at OFFF.



I waited until too late to use natural light, so this isn't really a good picture, and the colors are over saturated. Actually, the colors are very soft, almost pastels. I'm spinning it in a very thin single; I'm planning on doing a 2-ply to get a lace weight. I have 4 ounces of this and I think the soft colors will make a very nice Ice Queen.

On the knitting front, I finished up the Star Doily Blanket for Baby Love. This was a fast, fun knit; Paton's' Shetland Chunky on size 10 needles; five days from cast on to cast off.



Andy Rooney posed with the blankie; he wanted to show off his new "do." He went to the groomer's (referred to in his presence as "the doggie spa") for a shampoo, haircut, and pedicure. The hair is growing back on his head where he scalped himself and the groomer managed to get it blended in pretty well. And they shaved a spot on between his shoulders so we can give him his insulin shots easily.

And I made three premie hats for Aunties In Stitches this week while commuting; all in baby blue Oh, My! on size 9 dpns. Two were bottom up and one was top down; but I can't remember which was which.



After all that big yarn, I had a hankering for something light weight. So I tossed the stash and came up with four balls of Paton's Beehive in white. Just the thing for a shawl I've been wanting to try; Queen Anne's Lace.



I'm on row 41; only 118 to go.