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Back to Knitting

I decided I have to get back to my alpaca sweater so I can have it finished by the end of the summer. So I wanted to clear a couple of project up first.

I finished my green Baby Surprise Jacket and went to M&T Buttons to get some really cute buttons. The damn buttons cost more then the wool! But they are so cute and match so perfectly. The Lion Brand Superwash Merino worked out very nicely for this project. It took just one skein of yarn. I have a little yarn left and am thinking about putting a collar on it. I am putting this one away for the next baby shower/announcement. I'm closing in on (finally) finishing the Kai-mei socks for Dawn. I'm almost at the toe. These should be done by the weeks end. The skinny scarf is about half way there. I want to finish my sweater. I also want to start a sweater for my son, a blanket for our home, a triangle scarf of my own design, another pair of socks and a few holiday gifts. So much yarn, so many patterns and projects ~ so little time.

Oh and I think I might have found a house! Well it was the second house that we liked and missed by 2 days. Seems the other buyers backed out and we have the chance to get it. I know this is just the beginning of the house closing adventure but I must have looked at over 50 houses and I'm just glad the foreplay is over. I know this is like wishing your kids would talk and then they become teenagers and won't shut up! ...but I'm still gald the looking is over and that my kid can talk!

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More Socks and a Rhinebeck Rant

I finished the socks for Dawn and they fit her like a glove - so she says. Its hard to wear wool socks right now so I understand but come the first frost I hope to have a picture of them in action to post or I may have to kidnap them for the big web.

I tried to work on my Alpaca cardigan but the yarn just sticks to ya and does not illicit the same oo's and ahh's it got from me when I bought it. In this weather its more like ich and uck. This sweater will have to wait until fall.

I started a simple pair of 4x2 rib socks with "Socks that Rock" yarn in a colorway of jewel tones that I really, really like. I finished the first one in about a week. It had wandering cables spiraling down the leg and across the foot. Notice I say "had". I tried it on and it was too small - I went home and checked my sock yarn stash and I had nothing left that was close to this colorway. So yes I did - I frogged it.

Here is a photo of the new larger sock sans the cables (they got lost in the colors). The yarn pools and spirals with the 6 extra stitches that it didn't do before. Before the entire sock was mottled (like the current heel portion) - which I liked - so I was a little taken aback by the new color pattern that was created. I still don't know which one I liked more. Funny how the variables of yarn+knitting works.

I started a log cabin blanket to match the house we are under contract for. It's in LionBrand Fisherman Wool in natural brown and the red stripes are in LionBrand Wool. I like the colors together, they match the cedar on the house. I decided on the thin line of color at the end of every strip. As perfect as the front may look the back shows the masochist side of perfectionism - lots of ends to weave in. I'm trying to weave as I go. I don't know if I'm going to do the whole blanket this way or if I'm going to add more red - we'll see. Even though I am knitting a blanket for the house, we haven't closed yet, so I haven't canceled my reservation for the Roadway Inn in Kingston. House or not - I will be at the Sheep & Wool Festival in Rhinebeck, for the entire weekend, this year. Last year was my first time there - I was so overwhelmed with joyous wool fumes that I missed the Ravelry lunch and couldn't stay for the after party. I did secure all the wool I wanted with no regrets in that department. So this year I will Ravelry! And I will go with hubby and maybe a few friends and we will stay for the weekend and we will Ravelry! And I will restock my sock yarn stash. Its the one thing I loved most at Rhinebeck - all the great indie dyed sock yarn! I also secured a few hundred yards of natural charchol gray alpaca in sport weight and an alpaca/silk/merino blend worsted in beach colors. This year more sock yarn, less frenzy and more time to savor the wool fumes. I pledged to Susie (AKA Knitting Knoobie) that I would try to blog every week but we are going on vacation next week and I won't be blogging then. I will be finishing my socks in air and reading on the beach. We are currently reading Wally Lamb's "The Moment I First Believed". Or I should say I am still reading (Susie finished and I think Megan did too). See ya week after next.

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What I did on my summer vacation.

When I was in grammar school we didn't get reading lists for summer vacation but we did get the same essay every year on the first day of school - What did you do on your summer vacation? It had less to do with travel and more to do with time spent away from school.  I have long left school both as a student and as a parent yet I feel a school type essay coming on.     I spent part of my summer vacation visiting family in Oregon. We enjoyed their company and hometown greatly.  First, I found out that Multnomah is the name of a county in Portland Oregon.

It's also a rather famous waterfall in the same county and a fabulous and simple shawl inspired by the magic that is Portland.     Portland is also a yarny place.  I developed a stiff neck from all the times my head whipped around at the sight of another yarn store.  It seems that every neighborhood has a yarn store.  We visited 3 (hey we only had a week).     Twisted is my favorite of the 3.  The vibe, the people and the yarn selection were all great. They have a lot of indie dyers here.  I found Socks that Rock, Trillium and Hazel Knits - all right there on the wall - in living color!  The store is very laid-back and homey.  I had fun. I could have hung out here for days - its that inviting.

KnitPurl was in the Pearl District.  Another great store.  They carry Jared Floods' Shelter and Loft lines as well as Habu. I purchased a nice pink skein of Shibui and a nice blue MadelineTosh lace there.  Very nice selections of yarns and books.  The store has a little more polish in its decor but the yarn love is just as evident throughout the store.

Honorable mention goes to Yarn Garden for having the best selection of commercial yarns I've seen anywhere.  There are 4 or 5 storefronts all joined together.  Malabrigo, Blue Sky Alpaca, Cascade, Classic Elite, Rowan - the list just goes on and on.  Also a place I could see myself in often were I a resident of this beautiful rose city.

What did you do on your summer vacation?