I felt obsessed. . . .

Remember the bag I was test knitting? Well, I love the design of the bag, but the fabric was just too floppy and unsubstantial to hold up over the long haul. I'm really glad I decided to use wool to test knit it so it could be felted. After two rounds in the washer (inside a zippered pillow cover) in hot water and the small load setting, I am "obsessed":



with "wool":



This came out great! The Dale of Norway wool felted into a thick, dense fabric that will definitely hold up over time. It's about 8 inches tall, and not quite 6 inches across. Now, I need to find some fabric to make a drawstring lining and two buttons to sew on the handle and I'll have a great bag to use for small projects, or maybe for my knitting notions. When Anne gets the final pattern out, I'll let you know.

Saturday, ToolMan and I ran our errands and did some shopping. I've been wanting a decent scale for weighing yarn and didn't want to pay an arm and a leg for one. I'd love to have one of the fancy schmancy digital ones, but LinensNThings wanted $69 for the cheapest one, so I settled on this nice, old fashioned dial one. It does weigh in grams and ounces, up to 10 pounds, so it'll definitely handle a skein of yarn or two. Oh, and I bought that wood folding chair in the back to use for spinning.

Good thing I bought a folding chair, since I just got an invite to spin at the both Artisan's Village Fiber Arts Booth and at the Home Arts Demonstration Area at the Oregon State Fair this year. Now, all I have to do is figure out which days (and how many) I can spend there.



Oh, that green stuff? Really obnoxious color isn't it? It's the left overs from an impromptu plying lesson from last week's Westside Wednesday. Last year at OFFF, I bought two 1-pound braids of roving from one of the vendors (I don't remember who it was, but if you go back to that post, I probably had a name then). One is this garish lime green and the other is a dull moss green. At the time, I thought I'd ply them into a marl and make a cardigan. What was I thinking? I don't wear a lot of green because it's just not very complimentary to my complextion. And I don't really like green. Especially these two greens. So, I've been using the bright one for demonstration purposes because it catches attention. I think I'll probably wind up overdying both of them and maybe combing them together to get something usable. Or I can make a truck load of felted shamrocks for St. Patrick's Day.

On the far right there is a bump of roving I'm currently spinning. It's from OFFF, too; 8 ounces of Colonial Top in "brick" colorway. It has browns, creams, dark reds, and grays and spins up into really nice singles.



I bought this to use as an accent to the pound of brown alpaca from OFFF last year. Both will eventually become a cardigan for ToolMan.

Last week, one of the attorneys in the office found out that one of the children in her daughter's class has been diagnosed with bone cancer in his knee, and they also found a spot of cancer in his lungs. Thomas is only 10 years old, and is facing a fight for his life. The doctors have had to amputate his knee. Remarkably, they reattached the lower leg and foot in a "rotationplasty"; now his foot faces backwards, but eventually it will fit inside a prothesis and he'll be able to use that ankle to work the new, man-made foot and leg they'll build for him. Thomas' family doesn't have much money, and now his mom will have to give up her job to take care of him during his chemo and rehap.

The attorney is coordinating a silent auction to raise money for the family. I've put out the word to the PDX Knit Bloggers for donations and I'm sure they'll come through as they always do. In the meantime, I pulled out a shawl and put it in a gift bag with a card for the mother to let her know that a bunch of moms were thinking of her and sending good vibes to her and Thomas. Then I started pulling yarns out of the stash, thinking of what I can whip up in the next six weeks to include in that auction. First up, a single skein of Cascade Sierra Quatro; perfect for a mobius.



If you'd like to donate something for the auction, please leave me a comment with your email address and I'll make sure it gets included.

Stuff that makes my day . . .

A couple weeks ago, StitchJones tagged me with a "You Make My Day" award. Then, last week, Shelly did the same. So, rather than just list the bloggers and people that make my day, I thought I'd list some of the stuff that "makes my day."

Like the Westside Wedneday SipNStitch group:



From left to right: Angela, Kathleen, Cindy, Karen, and Duffy. We usually also have Judy and Kerin, but they missed "picture night" (otherwise known as, "the one time I remembered to bring my camera").



These gals never fail to "make my day" every Wednesday.

You know what else "makes my day"? Yarn shops. Local yarn shops, to be specific.

On Saturday morning, a bunch of us rendevoused at the new yarn shop in town, Yarnia.



Yarnia is the brain child of Lindsay Ross. Lindsay found a similar shop in Montreal and decided that we needed one on this side of the border.



See those pretty cones of yarn that Linday is selling? Well, those aren't just any old yarns, nosirrebob! Those are "custom" yarns.

Imagine: a local yarn shop that makes yarn "to order." Lindsay has done the leg work of finding suppliers for single ply cones in various fibers, colors, and textures.

Like these shelves frull of wool, angora, and mohair.



Or these shelves full of silks and synthetics.



You pick out single plys by color, texture, fiber, etc. By whatever "makes your day" at that particular moment.

Then Lindsay uses her yarn making machine to turn those single plies into your very own custom, just for you, none other like it in the world, yarn.



Needless to say, this concept totally "makes my day."

Apparently, the PDX Knit Bloggers thought so, too.



And just in case inspiration doesn't strike, or you become too overwhelmed by the choices, Lindsay wisely has cones of already made yarn ready for the buying.



She even has chairs, coffee, small snacks, and a vase full of knitting needles to keep you occupied while she makes your yarn for you. Her inventory is limited right now; heck, she's only been open two weeks! But she tells us that she intends to expand her inventory as funds allow.

I bought two cones of singles, and didn't ask Lindsay to ply them for me. For handspinners, Yarnia is a fabulous source of inspiration. And lace knitters would be over the moon at the fine silks and kid mohair.



One is a silk boucle in autumn colors that I intend to ply with some of the wine-colored bamboo left over from the "Sweater from Hell." The other is a wool/rayon blend in navy, pink, orange, red that I intend to knit as is into a shawl.

After shopping, the PDXKB gang needed sustenance. So off we trotted to Berlin Inn. Hey, shopping's hard work; we needed protein!

When we walked in and told them we were a party of 8, they gave us our own room! Yep, that's the whole room!



Kerin loves her some bacon. So much so that she wanted to wear it like bunny ears. Bacon makes her day!



MonicaPDX and Duffy were far too ladylike to be playing with their food. Nope, they just stabbed it, dunked it cheese, and ate it. No matter what it was.



Did I mention that ToolMan was the chauffer for this trip? Any man that will drive a van full of crazed knitters around to shop for yarn is definitely someone who "makes my day." In fact, he's been "making my day" for almost 20 years!

While riding in the car and waiting for lunch, I knitted on a scarf made from the handspun "Bouncy" from Butternut Woolens. Making handspun and knitting handspun always "make my day."



Andy Rooney (our substitute child) was glad to see us home. Having a warm, fuzzy boy waiting for us at home "makes my day."



What's not to love about a boy that models handknits?

Today, my friend Maryanne came over for brunch. Since the old office closed, we haven't been able to get together nearly as much as we would like, even though we live only a few blocks apart. Seeing her "made my day." Now, if I could just get her to stop that silly quilting and take up knitting. That would really "make my day"!

The reason "fit" is so important

We knitters spend a LOT of time to ensure we have good "fit."

We spy a pattern we love, and we begin to envision the finished garment and how it will be worn. We fantasize about wearing that particular item and how perfect it will be when we've finished it.
To that end, we might search out the specified yarn and begin to swatch. We painstakingly measure stitches and rows to ensure we have gauge. If we don't hit it dead on the first time, then we change needles and try again.

Or we might decide to substitute yarn, in which case we contemplate the diameter of the yarn, the characteristics of the fiber the yarn is made with, the availabilty of what's in our stash, the type of fabric said yarn will create, and a hundred other things before we even start that first swatch.

Then, if we like the substituted yarn, we aim for gauge. Lord help us if we have a yarn with which we can't make gauge, or we don't like the feel of the fabric in gauge. For then, it's off to find a calculator and revise the pattern in our new gauge to ensure a good "fit."

We also consider the shaping of the garment we're going to make. whether it has negative or positive ease, and how it will hang on our body. We may alter a pattern to have shorter or longer sleeves, fall above or below our hips, change the neckline, and add or remove shaping.

We measure, consider, measure again, go out to buy a mannequin (or occassionally, make our own body double using a t-shirt and duct tape).

Then we knit, try on, frog, re-knit, and repeat ad infinitum until we finally have a garment that is perfectly suited to us.

All in an attempt to get good "fit."

But, there are some people who never consider "fit." Some people just buy clothing off a shelf or rack and never consider how the garment should "fit."

There can be sad consequences for ignoring "fit."

Imagine the following:

You have just made it through your wedding ceremony and have stepped out on the front steps of the church. The photographer raises his camera. Following a family tradition, both of you hold white doves which you will release together.

You and your new spouse stand shoulder to shoulder, each with a dove in your hands as your friends and family eagerly wait.

The photographer gives the signal and you both open your hands toward the sky. Not a dry eye anywhere, the camera flashes; the moment is saved for eternity...




THIS is why "fit" is important.

Better late than never . . . .

Yeah, I know, no post last week. I don't really have any excuste except laziness. The long, dark days of a Pacific Northwet (and no, that's NOT a misspelling) Winter never bothered ToolMan and I until this year. For whatever reason, the long gloomy is starting to get to us and all we want to do is stay inside, where it's warm and dry. I did have a minor recurrence of the sarcoid flare, but prednisone and vicodin for few nights seem to have it beaten back into submission again; I think I was just to optimistic and stopped them too soon a couple weeks ago.

I got a lovely surprise last weekend; a call from my old boss and her partner, now living in Mexico! It was such a surprise to pick up the phone and hear her voice! Although the conversation was short, it was really nice to hear her voice and to hear that both of them are settling in and doing well.

Last week I started spinning some roving I bought last summer at OFFF from Aurora Colony Fiber Arts and plied it up this afternoon.

It's 4.2 ounces of Colonial Wool Top in the colorway "Burgundy Multi", although I'd be hardpressed to call this burgundy. It's more of a navy multi to me. I got 375 yards of 2-ply at 12 WPI. I plied it on the spinning wheel rather than the drop spindle like I did with "Bouncy" last week so the twist is much tighter and more even.

I did my usual routine of processing after it was plied: soaked in my big stainless steel bowl full of the hottest water I can get, with just a few drops of dishwashing detergent until it reaches room temperature (a good 45 minutes or so), then wring it out, rinse in room temp running water by alternately agitating and wringing the skein, then a final rinse in the coldest water I can get (out of the fridge dispenser) to shock the fibers, another final wringing, then out to the deck where I "thwack" the skein against the stairs. Lastly, I rotate the skein, hand over hand to even it out, then loop it over a plastic hanger and put it in the guest bathroom to drip dry.

I also finished test knitting the Yang Mao Bag from Sugar Apple Creations. This side is Yang, or obsession:

And this side is Mao, or wool:

The pattern was written by Anne Lukito of Sugar Apple Creations. She originally wrote the pattern with a chart for the character "Fu", or good fortune, on each side, but then added the two charts that I chose to knit. Anne's pattern instructions call for the bag to be blocked, stabilizer added to bottom and top rim, and lined with fabric and a drawstring top. Since I don't have to give the bag to Anne, after I email my comments to her, I'm going to felt it in the washing machine before I do anything else to it. After it's felted, I'll probably line it with an oriental print fabric and use it for a sock project bag or a knitting notions bag.

I have lots of the yarn left over and I'm thinking it would be cute knitted up and felted into mug cozies and coasters for office gifts next Christmas. Of course, when the time comes to actually think about next year's presents, I'll have forgotten my brilliant idea, used the yarn for something else or lost it in the stash bins, misplaced the patterns, and by the time I remember, find the yarn and the pattern, I will run out of time to actually do the knitting anyway. ;)

ToolMan and I spent the entire day inside today. Although neither of us cared one whit about the Super Bowl, other than the commercials, we had the pre-game and game on all afternoon. I plied yarn, finished the Yang Mao bag, started a new project with "Bouncy", and did laundry. ToolMan putzed in his garage and made a wonderful dinner.

A slow-roasted hunk of beef, tender enough to cut with your fork, with carrots and onions roasted in the pan, scallopped cabbage (or "scabbage" as my family calls it), and biscuits. By time for dinner, the house smelled wonderful! How lucky I am to have a husband who loves to cook!