Party Girls

Jo and Zoe's first play date!

Tuesday night was our knitting guild's 2nd birthday party and what better place for the girls to meet for the first time?!  It was a really fun meeting ~ everyone brought snacks, there were cakes from Snohomish Bakery, members shared their ribbons from the Evergreen State Fair a few weeks ago, there were prizes for UFO's ~ biggest, smallest and oldest! ~ and the new officers were sworn in for our upcoming membership year.

It was great to see our guest blogger Morgen, who surprised me with an unexpected, tremendously generous and oh, so loved already, birthday gift:

Zoe cuddling with my birthday yarn

Yes, that's my favorite yarn ~ madelinetosh ~ in a weight I haven't tried ~ sock ~ in the most beautiful variegated colorway I've ever seen ~ Magnolia Leaf.  There's a little over 1000yds which is plenty enough to make a gorgeous shawl.  I'm going to have so much fun planning for this yarn!!  Thanks again, Morgen ~ I'm still shocked ~ and thanks also for the loan of the book.  I can't wait to delve into this one!

There's been little knitting time lately as I've been spending every spare minute getting ready to start my position as 'Knit News' reporter for the guild.  I'll have the opportunity every month at our meetings to do a presentation on any topic that happens to strike my fancy.  I'm close to done with my first presentation ~ the topic is top secret until October ~ but I have to say, every person that I contacted on Ravelry in regards to project, photo, and pattern sharing has been so generous and encouraging that I think I'll be able to work through all my jitters about speaking in front of the group on a regular basis.  I'm excited to see if I'm 'interesting' or if I 'bomb' ~ as a fairly new knitter, what do you talk about that would interest a room full of lifelong amazing crafters.  It will certainly be a challenge!  I'll let you know how it goes after our next meeting.  Wish me luck!

I did manage to finish a project this week ~ just what the doctor ordered since nothing feels 'done' right now (home, knitting, guild, you name it) and I needed to complete something. 

This is Vitamin D by Heidi Kirrmaier in one of my top 5 favorite yarns ~ Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool in Coffee Bean.  I'm thrilled with this knit and the drape of the yarn.  I'll get a ton of use out of this one this fall and winter.  This was a great knit with a little math and short rows, which kept all the stockinette from getting too boring.  I loved this pattern.

That's about all that's new for me ~ Kelli just finished a really pretty vest but if you want to see it you'll either have to check her out on Ravelry or razz her a little here to post more often (I'm all for option #2 ~ give her some grief, please!!).  Enjoy the last week of summer as we start hunkering down for some cooler weather and prime knitting time.  Happy weekend, all!      ~ Melissa

[Edited to add:  DANG ~ I was just rereading this after I posted and I HAVE finished something this summer ~ look at that awesome deck I'm standing on!!!  I stained that all by myself ~ 2 coats of stain and 38 man(or woman!)hours later ~ it took just about every single minute of sunny weather we had this summer that I wasn't at work!!!  So proud ~ and so pooped ~ but it is FINISHED!!!!  I get excited when it rains now since the water beads up which means I did a good job ~ yeah, for me!]

Evergreen State Fair Photo Album 2011

Who is that cutie in the corner.....stay tuned!

The day started perfectly ~ amazing sunny, summer, DRY weather.  Free parking pass, free admission tickets for us knitters and half price tickets for the tagalongs:

First stop was Barn 500 to look for the Knitwits' entries and see how we did.......holy cow, it was wonderful to have so many people enter that we had a hard time finding our things!! 

HOORAY Washington Fiber Artists ~ what a turnout!!!

Kelli won a 1st Place Blue Ribbon!!!!

...and so did Melissa!!!!

What fun ~ blue ribbons at the State Fair.  How cool is that?!?!

Then it was off to the Knit-In ~ they provided us with a lovely windowed tent in a nice shady spot to sit and knit and visit for 3 hours.  It was great fun to see many from our Snohomish Knitters Guild, meet some new people from the Eastside Guild and run into a friend from my work.  We sat and knit and chatted and ate smoked turkey legs, curly fries and cookies, and had a smashing good time:

The knit-in was over before we knew it and we weren't quite ready to leave, so we strolled around and looked at a few things that we hadn't seen yet:

We had such a great time, from watching the 4H'ers enjoying being part of the fair to witnessing a woman in her 90's participate in the knit-in.  We are already looking forward to next year.

Oh yeah, and thanks, Kelli, for teaching me to knit (I don't think I've mentioned that to you at all in the last couple days!  Ok - maybe 10 times or so but I do mean it!)
~  Melissa

Vacation ~ Vol 8

Today was World Wide Knit in Public Day and of course, we woke up to another drizzly gray Seattle day.

Instead of knitting outside Seattle Center at the fountain, we met everyone inside the Center House where the 5th Annual Iranian Festival was also being held, so we were treated to all sorts of entertainment while we sat and knit.  There was a children's parade and singing and dancing and book readings.  I also had a great lunch from their catering booth.  I had Fesenjan, which is a stew with poultry (mine had chicken) and a sauce of pomegranate, walnuts and spices, served over rice with nan and spiced yogurt on the side.  It was wonderful.  I love trying new ethnic foods and rarely find something that I don't like.

Back to the knitting ~ we had a wonderful time.  Charisa put a lot of hard work into the day and we had new-knitter bags to hand out, filled with yarn and a pattern, and signs to put on our tables about why we knit and we also each scored a free skein of yarn for showing up fairly early.

Here are a few pics from the day ~ it was a blast and a great 1st knit in public day for me!

Oneknitwit & her youngest

Mel & Kel and oo, ah, oh ~ is that Rock Island I see?!

One more day of vacation....sigh.  I've had too much fun this week which will make going back to work far too hard.  Hope I haven't bored everyone to tears with all my adventures!  ~ Melissa

Vacation ~ Vol 4

With a northern exposure view, we rarely get the brilliant sunsets but last night was an exception.

 

Ran errands this morning, which left me with a sense of accomplishment since I took care of a few things that have been on my to-do list for months.  Went into Edmonds to use the gift certificate I got from my folks for Christmas...last year...to Spin A Yarn.  I didn't bring any yarn home but found a couple of great little leaflets on crocheted edgings and completed my set of KnitPicks Harmony Interchangeable Needles, as well as getting a few other things:

Surprised mom with a drop in visit on the way since I saw she was home ~ thanks for the chat and the goodies above, mom!  I also FINALLY got my new watch sized (can I still call it new even though it was a gift from my husband last year?  I haven't worn it until today!) and had to wait just long enough that I managed to find myself a little trinket that I just had to have:

Isn't it pretty?  It goes so well with the watch that I just had to get it, right?  Anyway, capped off today with the monthly meeting of the Snohomish Knitters Guild. 

Great presentation tonight by Beth Newfeld and Suzanne Tidwell about knitting on a large scale and where their ideas have led them.  Check out Suzanne's website for photos of their first project and also their current project.  It's amazing stuff and truly a labor of love (and there is loads of labor involved!).  I can't wait to check out their artwork in person this summer.  I'm glad that they came to speak to the guild.  It's so interesting every month to hear how someones passion for knitting has led them in all these different directions.  Where will your knitting lead you?  I'm still figuring it out....

Happy Flag Day!  ~ Melissa

Flood Season

I'm not talking about the weather ~ we actually had a beautiful spring day on Saturday ~ sunshine from start to finish....

and we realized we have some new neighbors this year.  We finally removed Harley's dog kennel from under this tree (bittersweet) only to have this unused bird house finally fill up with a chickadee family.  I'll be on the lookout for tiny babies poking their heads out one of these days!

Nope, I'm talking about Flood, as in Jared, and if you've ever been on Ravelry you know who he is.  I've made 2 Hemlock Ring Blankets ~ both of which have been gifted... this one went to Trudy and this one went to a friend battling breast cancer.  I also have his patterns for Terra, Juneberry, and Celes, and can't wait to choose which one to get started on next since I'm very close to finishing Rock Island.

The KnitWits finally used the money we made speaking at the SKG meeting last October and took a day trip over to Bainbridge Island for shopping at Churchmouse Yarns and Teas followed by lunch at the Blackbird Bakery (delicious!) last Saturday.  It was a fun day ~ they have a wonderful Jared Flood display:

and I did get yarn for my first project from the newest Knitting Traditions magazine ~ here is the yarn I chose for my Appalachian Gathering Basket ~ a felted Fair Isle....hmmm....sounds pretty challenging for me!  I know choosing the colors was HARD!!!  What do you think?

So, that pretty much catches us up for the last 2 weeks.  The home projects continue, the furniture is delivered and much loved already, spring is here at last and I still am managing to get some knitting done.  What does everyone have on the needles right now?  Are you knitting for summer or looking ahead already to the next cold weather seasons?  Me, I'll just keep stitching away on my lace and hope for another sunny day in the not so distant future!  Have a great week, all!  ~ Melissa

Oh, the blather....

I love that word.  We had Kathleen Taylor, author of Fearless Fair Isle Knitting and self-described blatherer (the word even sounds blathery!) speak at our guild meeting last night.  She was wonderful, although after having been through the public speaking experiment a few months back, I will always say that anyone that can get up in front of a group of strangers and speak for an hour without the slightest of a swoon will always be wonderful in my book.  She shared her story of how she became who she is and how she is still evolving into the next phase of her knitting journey.  She talked a bit about her new book that I mentioned above and although most of the sample knits that are in the book are out on a trunk show, she was wearing the hands-down masterpiece ~ this beautiful Fair Isle piece (or stranded if you so choose to arguably call her work) that she designed and knitted herself ~ you'll have to click on the link to see it since I cannot find a single picture of it to download and share ~ Dragon Ride Shawl.  That's her wearing it ~ isn't it amazing!?  I have said before that one of the things I dislike about stranded knitting is the look of the carries on the backside ~ I know, I know, you don't see them but I know they're there and they bother me.  They just look plain messy and unfinished, but I discovered last night that it's not the carries I don't like, it's my carries!!  The backside of this shawl was like artwork ~ I definitely need lots more practice and some technique tips. 

Which is why I signed up this morning for the 'Tips and Tricks' class she's teaching at Great Yarns this Saturday.  I haven't taken a class for awhile so it will be fun and I'm sure I can learn a thing or two...or ten from her.  Plus, there's a wine and cheese reception afterwards so what could be more fun than spending the day in my local LYS, surrounded by yarn, and wine, and cheese and amazing people?  Sounds like a great way to waste away a stormy Pacific NW day.

I am getting some knitting done and I reached the halfway point on my Mondo Cable Vest last night.

  I'm getting better at talking and knitting at the same time, a skill I completely lacked until very recently.  Which reminds me, I sat and chatted with a fellow guild member last night for quite awhile and after a bit she said that I reminded her of a girl that had come to speak a few months back and that I looked so much like her that I could be her twin ~ we had quite a laugh when I told her that WAS me!  She said 'you're the shy girl?! ~ I don't believe it!'.  Kelli, that story is for you ~ the turtle has her itty bitty shy head poked so far out of the shell these days people don't even recognize me (the baseball cap could have had something to do with the confusion, though!).  I'm sure enjoying the guild and my new friends and all the encouragement and getting to see so many talented people sharing what they love with each other.  It is such a creative and supportive environment to be in.  I highly, highly recommend everyone that isn't part of a local knitting group check out what's available in your area and get involved.  I always leave so inspired and anticipating the next get together!

Betsy Herschberg, Get Out of My Left-Brained Head!

Yep, I'm pretty sure she's been poking around in there somehow and reading my thoughts.  We were lucky to have Betsy speak at our monthly guild meeting last night.  She makes these amazing, one of a kind, knitted and beaded jewelry pieces but what struck me about her was having someone put a voice to all my 'way too analytical to be creative' self-doubt.  I related to every single 'I can't do this', 'I shouldn't be doing this', and 'I can't believe I'm doing this...and that people like what I'm doing' moment she shared with us.  Great speaker.  Very inspirational to me and at a critical point, I think, in my thought process.  I've been having these internal debates with myself about how much satisfaction I get from recreating someone else's design to the letter.  It used to be enough ~ that 'it's perfect' moment when I've followed a pattern down to the last bound off stitch ~ but I'm not getting that feeling to the same extent anymore.  I think that I'm at a turning point where I need to focus my time and energy a little bit towards seeing what I can do that screams ~ 'Not only did I make this awesome thing, but I imagined it from the very beginning and it's all mine!!'  Betsy did just that and found her voice and an outlet for a creativity that she didn't think she had in her.  Thanks, Betsy for helping me to affirm that I can at least try to see what I can do.  What harm can come of that?  You can decide for yourself if she's creative or not on her website, Studio B Knits.

I could go on and on ~ it's been a busy week but I'll sum it up with a few pics and hopefully not too many more words!  (Reminds me of my favorite line from the movie 'Amadeus' where the king tells Mozart that his music has 'too many notes'.....very funny!)

I met Snohomish Shepherdess a little before the meeting started last night so we could sit and visit.  Our first real chat.  It was good to get to know her a little better and spend some time knitting with her.  AND, when the evening was over, she generously gave me this from her bountiful kitchen: 

 Clockwise from upper left: Kiwi Jam, Grape Jelly, Apricot-Pineapple Jam and Red Pepper Jam
Thanks so much, Tamra!  My husband and I are looking forward to trying them all!

I did finish a few projects this week:

On the left are Bella's Mittens, a free pattern that I made with Rowan Cocoon.  These are a birthday gift for my sister.  On the right are Brushed Suri Mitts from Blue Sky Alpaca that I made with BSA Brushed Suri in Lollipop, a hot pink yarn that matches the highlights in my brother's girlfriend's hair.  They are her birthday gift and she's excited about them (I showed her the yarn before I started).

And I'll end the post with an update on Kelli and my top secret test knits that we did for Coralie Meslin this past summer.  They are officially in print in two of Tahki Yarns recent Spring\Summer 2011 publications.

Above:  Kelli's knit showed up in City Tweed, Tweed Collection 5th Edition ~ it's called the Boerum Hill Top.  I love this pattern!  I would definitely wear this!

Below:  My knit showed up in Kaleidoscope Cotton Classic 5th Edition ~ it's called Aqua Velva 1-Shoulder Tank.  A bit too daring for me but it looks smashing on the gorgeous model, don't you think?!  Thanks Coralie, for giving us the opportunity to knit up a couple of your new designs and getting the chance to see something that we had on our very own needles pop up in print.  So cool!! 

STP Yarn Train 2011

King Street Station

After getting off to a rough start which included spilling an entire cup of coffee in my lap at the train station as the train was boarding (managed to soak my jeans, my camera and my cell phone all in one fell swoop ~ no damage done other than a big stain on my pants so no harm no foul!), we headed south a little drowsy but excited for our first trip to Portland on the annual Yarn Train sponsored by the Snohomish Knitters Guild.


my first train ride ever!

 The trip down was fun as we started waking up and visiting with other knitters, and watching the light of day break outside our window.


left to right: Kelli, me (see the stain on my knee?), Trudy, Sherry

 It proved to be a rough day for a walking tour since it rained a hard, non-stop, torrential downpour the entire time we were in Oregon. We opted for a taxi to our first stop of the day, Knit Purl, a great shop with a stellar staff that made us all feel welcome and gave us some free swag as well as our 10% event day discount.


Union Station in Portland

 Our second stop was Dublin Bay, one of my favorite stops of the day.  It's beautiful inside and I wish I could have sat and knitted for awhile in front of the fireplace to dry out from the rain.  They had a great book selection and I picked up a copy of 'Knitted Lace of Estonia' by Nancy Bush, among other things.  I didn't realize until I uploaded pictures when I got home that I was lucky enough to catch our guest KAL blogger, Morgen, while she was shopping (that's her in the gray sweater below).


Dublin Bay

 Our third stop was Twisted, not on the walking tour but since we were taking a taxi everywhere we had some extra time so we headed out to see if Sivia Harding was there.  This is her home shop below, where she works.  We weren't lucky enough to be there on a day when she was there, but the shop was offering a 15% discount for the tour so of course, we shopped a bit...


Twisted

 ...and Trudy got to rest her weary knees and do a little reading.


Trudy

 Our last stop was Urban Fiber Arts, which had some great things we hadn't seen anywhere else during the day, but we were tired and hungry and the shop was really crowded so we decided not to linger and went down the street to Deschutes Brewery & Public House.  I had a fantastic breakfast-lunch-dinner (we hadn't really eaten all day!) ~ grilled sirloin with rosemary jus, smashed potatoes with white cheddar, bacon and hops, grilled squash and an ice cold Cascade Ale (one of my new favorites!).  I think everyone enjoyed the food as much as I did but I was so engrossed in my meal I don't think I even asked how their food was!


are you drooling??

We found some amazing stash builders (that's mine in the above photo), got lost trying to walk to Voodoo Doughnuts for the still elusive bacon maple bars (we ended up in a reaaaaaly bad neighborhood and quickly decided it was time to turn around and get our butts to the train station), had lots of laughs (broken umbrellas, crazy taxi drivers, almost leaving Sherry behind in Portland....I'm so sorry Sherry!!!  I lost my mind!), and had a fantastic adventure.  Thanks to everyone at the guild who helped to organize this trip ~ especially Mo! ~ what a huge undertaking!  You gave 200 knitters, us included, a day full of cherished memories!