Babies, Babies, Babies at Eastside Stitchers

Hello:

I am such a bad reporter!  We had 4 babies at our  Eastside Stitchers meet up at Crossroads Mall tonight, but I only snapped a photo of Addie!  Elena, and Caroline joined us at the beginning of the evening, and Genevieve (BlueBerryMary's Grand-Niece) joined near the end.  It was fun to have so many future knitters at the round tables near Half-Price Books and Starbucks.

Anerenbe was making things for her expected new knitter.  She finished another baby hat

and was almost done with the Newborn Vertebrae cardigan.

She is using Sunshine Yarns Classic Sock Yarn in the Cliffdiving colorway.

ReadnitDream brought some finished crochet hats for charity.

The Eastside Knitters Guild is calling 2014 The Year of the Hat.  We are crafting hats for all different charities.

ReadnitDream was crocheting some super bulky yarn into a lovely afghan.

On the opposite end of the fiber weight scale, Tara1682 continues to make progress on her lovely Juno Regina Shawl.  This week she allowed me to photograph how far she has gotten.

GwenS not only brought the lovely and happy Addie, but she stayed and knit.  She is working on a beautiful Leaded Windows cowl.  The yarn is Malabrigo, of course.

Chockelet brought her finished beaded shawl, Iznik I heart you shawl, by bunnymuff.  All she needs to do is block it.

Here is a close up of the beads.

and domesticshorthair came right near the end with her angora scarf, the Celtic Bunny Scarf by Toots LeBlanc & Co.

Weirdly, I didn't think to get my camera out at the beginning.  I missed Wajio's Straightforward Mitts, Hrvdmnky's babies, and SeattleAmy.  O!  Alphabetadell was there in the very beginning, too, and I missed her project.  Editing this right away to say that BlueBerry Mary joined us with her beautiful grand-niece, Genevieve, but brought nothing to work on.  It was fun to watch the two little girls interact.  Ha ha ha, after I went to bed, I also remembered that Pam2 was knitting with us at the beginning.  She brought the cotton summer sweater that she is absolutely cranking away on.  I'm sorry I didn't get a photo of that, as she has made great progress.

But, this is one of the things I love about Stitch Night.  People come and join in when they can for as long as they can.  It is very informal and fun.

Peace,
f1bercat
shaping the planet with Harry Potter Homework as the Spring Term starts tomorrow.  Got to run, I need to get my WIP the First Project ready!

Crazy Busy Day

But I wanted to post photos of the YOTH (Yarn On The House) yarn that I bought at the Eastside Knitters Guild meeting last night.

I woke up, or rather was woken by the phone at 7 am.  I was called in to substitute for the Spanish teacher at Skeinherder's school.  By the time I had showered, eaten some yogurt, and headed out through a surprising amount of morning traffic (though I didn't need to take the freeway to this school), I was 15 minutes late.  Ugh!  but I can only go when they call, if they call me late, I can't get to the school on time.

I supervised (I can't really say I taught) a Spanish 1A class.  I have never taken Spanish, but, since I grew up in So. California, I know a bit.  Ha ha ha and if I get stuck, I just switch to French.

After the first class, I had a 3 hour break.  I went to the cafeteria, and with 3 cups of coffee, I spent the rest of the morning knitting a sweater for my soon-to-be new great-niece.

Then I taught 2 more beginning Spanish classes, and one advanced class.  The students were great, and I discovered that I actually know more Spanish than I thought.

I rushed home to take photos of the YOTH yarn for the blog, ate an early dinner, and headed out to BC to tutor two new students.  I didn't finish that until 9 pm.  Wow, it is almost 1 am, and I am so tired.

But back to the YOTH yarn.  I bought the fingering weight since I hope to make socks from one of the skeins.

I haven't knit any socks for Doc this year, and he does love hand knit socks.  I thought this beautiful dark gray would make a lovely pair for him.

The other skein of fingering I bought is a greenish gray.  I plan to donate this to Gryffindor for the HPKCHC.  This yarn can only be bought at Tolt, so this rare yarn would make a nice prize.

I wish I had knitted my stash down more, because I wanted to buy some of the Big Sister yarn, too.  Big Sister is a Sport Weight yarn.  Oh well, if I am good, maybe I can buy more this summer... or on the North Puget Sound Yarn Crawl.

Peace,
f1bercat
shaping the planet with 80% merino, 10% cashmere, 10% nylon

Eastside Knitters Guild, Tolt Yarn & Wool, and Y.O.T.H.

Hello:

We had a great program at the Eastside Knitters Guild meeting tonight. Anna Dianich, owner of Tolt Yarn and Wool, and Veronika Jobe and her little brother, Daniel, of Y.O.T.H. (Yarn On The House) were the guest speakers.

Anna talked about starting her yarn shop in Carnation.  I have blogged about this wonderful shop a few times, already. It is becoming a destination yarn shop.  Anna told us wonderful little nuggets, like how the wood on the walls and the fixtures was originally the floor of what was once a hardware shop.  I asked how she chooses the yarns that her shop carries, and she said that she chooses the yarns she loves.  Also, she really wants to have enough yarn in the shop so that if a customer wants a sweater's quantity, it is available.  One of the fun things she discussed was that one of her original reasons for starting a yarn shop in Carnation is that there was a real need for a place for knitters to gather.  And, Told Yarn and Wool is now that place.  Thursday nights is a community night, and it sounds like so much fun.

Veronika and Daniel brought some of their wonderful new yarn with them.  They have one base, Merino/Cashmere/Nylon, in two yarn weights, DK and Fingering.  They have their first color palette, neutral tones, and are almost ready with their next palette, blues and greens.

The neutrals are lovely.  They brought samples knit up, both swatches knit with different needle sizes, and finished projects from hats to shawls.  The yarn shows texture stitches and cables beautifully.

The two weights of yarn are named for the co-owners:  The DK is called Big Sister, and the Fingering is called Little Brother.

Even though the South Puget Sound LYS Crawl is this coming weekend, I bought two skeins of Little Brother (the fingering weight).  I plan to donate one of the skeins as a prize for the HPKCHC.  The yarn can only be bought at Tolt Yarn & Wool, so that will make this prize extra special.  The other skein will be knit into a pair of socks for the Doc.  I haven't made him any socks this year, and this will be a really special pair.

Both Anna and Veronika donated yarn to be raffled off during the meeting.  I didn't win any... and they donated quite a lot.  It was very generous.  But, I have the yarn I bought, and I plan to go out to Tolt soon for one of their Thursday evenings.

Peace,
f1bercat
shaping the planet with new YOTH yarn

Fiber Friday, Again!

It is weirdly tough to get a decent photo of our Stellar's Jays.  For such loud big birds, they are camera shy.

Ok, this has to be fast because I'm supposed to be folding the last 2 loads of laundry and packing for my trip to Arizona to watch Himes dance.  But, I got on Ravelry, and now I'm way behind.

Ok, Four of us met at Crossroads this morning.  I make it to this group less and less often, but every time I do manage to have a Friday morning off, I think, I need a 4 day a week job!

JulieMustKnit called this a failed swatch because she knows she needs to frog and change needle size, but CathieC said, "no that makes it a successful swatch, because you learned what you need to do to make the project successful BEFORE you ended up with something you don't love."  Words of wisdom!

Schrike is still knitting for the soon-to-be best dressed baby in Washington.

He is finishing up the last sleeve of this gorgeous colorwork sweater.

And, LOOK!  CathieC has finished the Douglas Fir hat she was working on at the Wednesday meet up.  Everything  but the final weaving in.

I brought the latest square for the Sampler Baby Afghan I am knitting.

I have also been doing some crocheting of baby items

That is just a peek, as these are gifts!

I will try to post from Arizona, but I think our hotel does not have free internet (WHAT'S UP WITH THAT??) and I am way too cheap to pay, so it might have to wait until I get back to So. Calif. on Sunday evening.

I hope I have some photos of Himes and Tucson and the family in general.  If we are allowed, I will try to take some video of the performance.  (I don't think we will be allowed to video, but if we are...)

Peace,
f1bercat
shaping the planet with great Friday friends.

Eastside Stitchers Wednesday Meet Up

 

Hello:

Two tables tonight at Crossroads for the Wednesday night meet up of the Eastside Stitchers.  There were so many people there, that I am just going to do a quick run down of who showed up, and what they brought to stitch.

CathieC had been taking a break form the madness of Mal March.  But she was back tonight with one of her Mal March projects, a lovely Douglas Fir hat by Melissa Schaschwary, in Malabrigo Worsted, of course.

I just love the ribbing on this hat.

Alphabetadell brought yet another Dogwood Blossom Afghan. 

See, the problem is, that when you make such a gorgeous gift, and other people see this gift, they are likely to want one, too.

Wajio was not working on baby socks... though she still has a bit of that skein left... She did bring in a pair for show and tell

She was working on what I think is the second of her Straightforward Mitts.

One of our newest Stitchers joined the group.  She did very little knitting, but kept us all entertained with her sparkling conversation, instead.

Chockelet had a Knitting Night Out.  She brought an amazing beaded shawl.  It is the Iznik-I-Heart-You Shawl by bunnymuff.

This shawl takes about 1500 beads.

Anerenbe brought a baby hat.  The pattern is the Easy Peasy Newborn Sock Hat by Keri McKiernan.  The yarn is Sunshine Yarns Classic Sock Yarn in Cliffdiving.

WireKnitter is knitting a Madrona Lace Scarf by  Evelyn A. Clark.  This was the official pattern for the Madrona Fiber Arts Festival this year.

Tara1682 wouldn't let me photograph her Juno Regina shawl, as she says it looks just like last week, but with maybe 1 inch more.

I had to take a quick shot of the shawl peeking out of her knitting bag.

Readnitdream brought her first Fair Isle hat.  She is doing a lovely job with the colorwork.  The pattern is Vermont Hat by Shannon M. Simonelli.

BlueBerryMary brought the sleeves for the sweater she is knitting for her grandson.

DomesticShortHair brought a lovely cabled scarf.  The pattern is Celtic Bunny Scarf by Toots LeBlanc and Co.  The yarn is a merino/angora blend and is wonderfully soft.

Pam2 has made good progress on the summer sweater she is knitting. 

Ugh, I don't have the pattern or the yarn.  But, Pam2 had a good story about the yarn.  She was worried that she wouldn't have enough of the yarn, and it has been discontinued.  I suggested that she check Ravelry to see if anyone has it in their stash.  Maybe they would be willing to sell or trade it.  Well, it worked.  She found the yarn she needed, and although it wasn't listed as For Sale, she contacted the owner, and was able to buy the yarn!  Thank goodness for Ravelry.  And thank goodness for all of the knitting podcasts that I listen to, as that is where I got the idea.  I'm pretty sure Abby of KnitKnit Cafe, has bought yarn she needed this way.

I almost forgot to show you what GwenS brought, other that the gorgeous Addy.  Like Chockelet, GwenS is finishing up a Mal March project.  This is the Leaded Windows Cowl by Kate Vanover.  The yarn is Malabrigo Rios in Arcos Iris and Azul Profundo.

Ok, I have to work tomorrow, so I need to get to bed.  I just want to say how much I enjoy our meet ups, and how much I enjoy my knitting friends.

Peace,
f1bercat
shaping the planet with friends

Finished Round 3

Happy Easter (a day late)

I almost finished my Round 3 socks for Sock Madness yesterday.  After the actual socks are finished,

you have to go back and knit a row of icords in the 7 contrast colors for the button band.  This was very fiddly, and mine are not super even, but, I don't care, they are finished.  Also, there are about 1 gazillion ends to weave in.

There are all the ends for the cuffs, and for the heels, though I wove those in when I finished the heels.  Then, at the bottom of the foot, near the toes, there is another set of rainbow stripes.  These are not done in linen stitch, just stockinette, but there are ends for every color.

Before I knit the icord button bands, I wanted to get the weaving in finished.  THEN, after the band is knit, you have to sew on the buttons.  There are only two button holes, but you put buttons on the inside AND the outside so the cuffs can be worn either up or folded down.

I finished third in the Tenacious Tadpoles bracket.  25 finishers in each bracket will move on to the next round, so I am guaranteed to move on.  I should have 1 - 2 weeks to work on other things while I wait for the next round to start.

Not sure how much I like these.  I love the heels.  The stripes on the feet are nice, too. Not really a fan of the "pipes" (the icord).  I might use these heels, or a variation of them, on a design of my own.  They are really pretty.

Peace,
f1bercat
shaping the planet with rainbow icords.