Walking again

The day started out lovely in Camas Washington. Ok this cool picture is not mine. It was taken by

Randy Cox of the Oregonian, but it could have been taken yesterday. By the time we finished our walk yesterday this is what it looked like. We were totally drenched. A friend lives nearby and luckily was prepared with a dryer and a pot of warm soup. I brought my homemade bread.

It was a good day

I neglected to bring a camera though. So I went searching for a photo on the internet that revealed the drama of the sky in the Columbia Gorge as the storm approached. This one comes close

Lovely, Camas Oregon Taken on another day from atop Prune Hill just outside of Camas Washington, where I walked yesterday. The photo taken for ACTIVERAIN realtor shows the view in the morning when it was clear and the sky was a deep blue.

The black part of the sky did show in the distance. We were certain we would make it through the walk before the sky which had quickly darkened opened up. By the time we finished the thunder and lightening was dramatic and the rain was torrential.

It has been a long time since I could walk more than a few blocks; it felt great to be able to walk 7k. Long way from the marathons I have done in past years, but I am starting to believe I will one day walk distances again.

I know, uncool to go grab the photos of others. I am not taking credit for them and I did not steal bbandwidth. I will one day remember to bring my own camera and then remember to take a picture.

This is the view from the deck of the beachhouse in Neahkanie Oregon.

I spent two nights there and replenished my spirit and exhausted my body with long beach walks at dawn and at sunset. In between I wandered about, or sat on the deck knitting, or meandered through the short tiny "downtown" shops.

A longer stay would have been wonderful, but I am grateful for the time I had.

I completed the japanese vine scarf, picuture will be added shortly. Current work in progress is a shawl with sleeves from "A Gathering of Lace" a mini-cabled pair of socks and a scarf designed by Chrissy Gardiner. Cool autumn evenings are perfect knitting weather and I hope to be prolifically occupied with the needles in anticipation of holiday gift giving.

Can we talk about Knitting?

Its a habit of mine. I tend to develop a list when I start to feel overwhelmed by all I must, or rather WANT, to do. Right now its the knitting projects that are dancing before me and calling me to the needles. I am conflicted and mildly stressed trying to decide which to focus on. I have several projects on the needles right now. I admit to a sense of happiness in going from one to the other; although I do feel a little anxious about getting any of them completed. Here is my current list:

Ishbel shawl to replace the one lost on the TriMet bus. ( I pause to visualize the homeless woman likely sporting my lost, lovely shawl. At least she has a fashionable garment to ward off the morning chill.) I find the stockinette portion comforting to pick up for those parts of the day when I need to focus on more than knitting, like when my husband is sharing one of his stories (of course I 've heard his stories a few times in the past 37 years so full focus is rarely essential)

This pattern is the best. It has a healthy section in stockinette before it starts an interesting but very do-able lace section. Even if mistakes are made and not corrected it STILL looks good when complete. Just what I need. In a Blue Moon Geisha yarn, its yummy.

Goddess Mystery Shawl #13 It is really dormant because I am unhappy but not quite enough to rip it out. First experiment incorporating beads. Not my thing.

Socks for Krista I don't like this Bamboo yarn and while its a straightforward vanilla pattern, I have frogged it several times. It may sit a long time

Sweater for me in DROPS alpaca: A straightforward Gray cardigan The yarn feels so soft and wonderful to my fingers; I long to pet it. I adapted a back and forth pattern for straight needles to knitting on circulars. Its my intent to try steeking for the first time. I am brave, really really brave. (For any member of my non knitting family reading this. "Steeking" means taking scissors to the knitted fabric. A very traumatic image.)

Cable sweater for Steve Haven't really started this one, although I have the yarn. There is a competing pattern I would like to use this yarn for but haven't made up my mind.

Central Park Hoodie Its a KAL using a pattern from Interweave. I would like to join it but was going to use the yarn I had identified for Steve. Dilemma.

GlennaC Silkgarden socks A simple sock with a simple cable along the site. I am not using the NORO yarn she intended so have to change the pattern. Want to get into this, its a deceptively simple cable pattern. I have,however, become sidetracked with the stockinette portion of the Ishbel. By the way, Glenna has a lovely blog called "KNITTING TO STAY SANE". The pattern is a free download.

Japanese Vines scarf. A present for Mom (shh-don't tell her) Love the pattern, love the Louet eggplant color yarn in laceweight. Easy pattern to read in the knitted fabric once a bit of it is done, so its possible to identify mistakes as I go. This is a great pattern to learn a discipline of lace-- Meaning balancing reading the chart with reading the knitting and counting stitches as I go. There are four purl stitches that appear in the exact same place while all the other stitches vary with each of the 31 row repeat. That purl stitch grounds me as I proceed.

SIGH .. then there is a list of yarns beckoning to me from my stash with patterns that beckon for me to play with them. I especially want to use some FiberOptics laceweight for a snowdrop lace scarf design (Chrissy Gardiner design). Of couse I was going to double the width into a stole. Christmas is coming in the time it may take to complete about 2 lace, 1 sweater, and four sock project timelines. And there is a very lovely handmaiden seasilk yarn simply insisting its destiny as an elegant patterned scarf, if I will only let it find its way to that form through my fingers.

At least I have something to do .....

Of course I have lists of other things I must do before I pick up the needles. Too much on that list. Might as well knit.

Embracing paradox

By maturity I mean the ego capacity to appreciate the relativity of situations, the ability to take a historical point of view and to tolerate paradox. .. (From "Wisdom of the Ego" by George E. Vaillant - 1995 - Psychology - 394 pages)

Sock Summit 2009 is This Week

SOCK SUMMIT -

ITS A YARN STORM!

The upcoming ultimate knitting gathering, called the, SOCK SUMMIT 2009, begins this Thursday with events through August 9th. Oregon Convention Center is the place to be for all fashionable fiber nuts this weekend.

Yarn Dyers, fiber artists, spinners, designers, book authors, and lovers of all things yarn will be arriving from all parts of the United States and Canada as well as more far flung reaches of the knitting community. This event has been discussed, planned and anticipated by bloggers and knitters everywhere as THE PLACE TO BE this weekend.

Many are heartbroken at not being able to find a place in one of the classes,they filled quickly, no registration is required to attend the MARKETPLACE. This is an event that will likely be stupendous (sorry I couldn't think of a more descriptive word)As near as I can tell every yarn dyer and spinner, as well as other vendors of all things yarny will be there with their wares. AND there will be the knitting equivalent of rock stars, including:

Cookie A • Star Athena • Deb Barnhill • Judy Becker • Lorilee Beltman • Anne Berk • Cat Bordhi • JC Briar • Nancy Bush • Laurel Coombs • Angela Davis

• Carson Demers • Amy Detjen • Laurie Drew • Abby Franquemont • Chrissy Gardiner • Priscilla Gibson-Roberts • Marjan Hammink • Anne Hanson • Sivia Harding • Stephen Houghton • Janel Laidman

• Judith MacKenzie McCuin • Betsy McCarthy • Denny McMillan • Melissa Morgan-Oakes • Lucy Neatby • Tina Newton • Heather Ordover • Clara Parkes • Stephanie Pearl-McPhee • Karen Ratto-Whooley • Deb Robson

• Merike Saarniit • Joan Schrouder • Charlene Schurch • Amy R Singer • Meg Swansen • Barbara Walker • Anna Zilboorg

Its such a long list of knitting greats, I listed them all.

In addition the list of yarn brands represented seems to include every finer fiber artist from throughout this country and Canada.

AND to top it off there will be Guiness World Recordbreaking event for simultaneous knitting on Friday at 12:15. Tickets will be first come first serve.

Some local knitting shops are also offering events. Ask your favorite LYS what they are offering.

Personally I hope to meet a few of the wonderfully clever and talented people I have come to know through my laptop.

I may pick up an ounce of yarn or two.

Granddaughter's Self Portrait - Cailin at 4 years old.

I found this drawing in my office. I had saved it many years ago when my granddaughter was about 4 years old. Wasn't she adorable? Couldn't scan the color but she portrayed herself with bright colors; Yellow hair, red and blue stripes, blue pants.

As I moved offices over the years, taking different jobs, getting promotions, starting again; I must have carried the drawing with me. Haven't seen it in about nine years. She is 25 years old now. I see this photo now through eyes of love, with many wonderful memories of then and now.

Miss the child, but love the woman.

Now this could bust any STASH - bug cozy

This is an example of an obsession gone wild, or a great stash buster. I found the image on a website and wanted to share. Here's the SOURCE

I'm thinking a cotton superwash in bulky weight, wouldn't want to try it in a laceweight. Though a big shawl with an openlacework pattern would work. Could place a HUGE EYELET for the windshield. Could be a cute design element.

Learning to accept the present season

Dreaming of cool breezes and the sound of water, could be a river, or waterfall or better yet the sound of waves in the evening. Waves sound different at night, I think. I want to be slowly walking along the beach feeling the evening breeze. I think I will also think of the cold hint of a wave licking my feet making them sink into the sand.

I am hot and very miserable. I know there will be a future time in a couple of months when I will again be pining for warmth but right now that is very hard to believe.

I have spent a significant portion of my adult life learning to accept and even rejoice the present and learning not to waste what little time I have in life wishing for a different place or time or circumstance.

However,

O HELL WITH THAT .ITS Hot and I am tired of it. No philosophy. Just whining.

I'm going to bed

Public Knitting - Starting a movement?

A group called Masquerade has developed a new style of "tagging" its guerrilla style of public knitting that is evident in Alcapulco, Mexico, France, Italy, and Sweden. We need to start this in Portland, Oregon since its become a homebase of fiberarts.

Think about it. Perhaps we need to knit socks for mile posts or caps for speedbumps.

Masquerade members have embroidery tagging as well on subway seat cushions and similar public fabrics. My twitter post this morning includes links to more example photos on FLICKR

A Time for Cockatoos

My home is bird habitat At one time there were five birds roosting here. Now I just have Angel, shown in the adjacent photo.

Angel is a common name given to Cockatoos, its a name assigned to it before the bird's devilish nature has been revealed.

Yes, she looks innocent in this picture, but don't you believe it. A few minutes after this shot was taken, while I left the room for just a few brief moments, Angel ate my house. Not the whole thing, but the molding around the windows in the kitchen lay splintered and strewn around the floor. Right now she is doing a rather garish, expressive cockatoo dance because she does not want to share my time with the dog, the cat, or the computer. ( Where is the video camera when one truly needs one?) In addition to chewing wood and flitting from chair to sofa, and TV top, she is jumping on my head and screaming in a manner that is causing my ears to ring. I am certain her complaints can be heard from the other side of town. My sanity is becoming questionable

Devilish bird.

Knitting with Baby Fine Alpaca

I am almost finished with a second shawl using the Ishbel pattern . I chose a homespun babyfine 100% alpaca because it was soft and I am a tactile fiend. Of course I did not swatch and I did not research to discover if there were special attributes to this yarn choice.

As I knit, I noticed that the completed portion of the fabric tends to grow,and that the fiber has bloomed a bit under my hands. With belated curiosity I conducted a little google research.

Alpaca is a wondrous animal breed and grows an astonishingly soft and warm hair (or is it fur?). I doubt if everyone is as interested in the animal psychology and mating habits of alpaca, so I wont go into that aspect of my research. Here are links for two informative articles. http://tinyurl.com/l3o8fn is one written by Kelly and Bob Petkin from Knitpicks, and an Interweave article on the same topic http://tinyurl.com/n5lrvj

Alpaca is a lovely warm yarn, light and soft, almost as luxurious as cashmere. But Alpaca hasn't the crimp of wool and yarn made from it lacks elasticity. Alpaca knitted garments, I am informed, will stretch in length from their own weight so its likely a poor choice for heavier patterns, like cable. I am even dubious about the stockinette portion of my current projectI can only hope it will transform a bit during blocking because it seems to have a scrunched appearance, much less of a drape than the silk wool blend I used for this pattern previously. If used again, I will definitely choose an open, but less patterned, pattern. Maybe a simpler faggot, light and airy.

Another interesting fact is that the alpaca fiber is hollow, heavier than wool, and warmer than wool. My shawl, when done, will have a tendency to grow and will not be a summer garment but will be well suited to cold fall evenings.

The Alpaca animal is kinda cute, too. I include a picture copied from a blog about starting an Alpaca Farm. I live in a city which frowns on Alpaca herds within its limits, so this is not an option for my immediate future. Although, I did consider it very briefly.

Learning more about the fibers I use in my knitting helps to take my activity to a new level. I wonder if a smallish Alpaca would fit an urban backyard?

I jest. Honest, honey, I wouldn't.

Would be nice to have an endless supply of alpaca fiber. Hmm.

There is more to life than knitting - really there is

After spending in excess of eight hours knitting a shawl, I am knitting fatigued. Rose from bed at 5:00 am and found myself with a desire to hustle & bustle. I wanted to vacuum, clean-up, walk the dog, weed the garden, Suddenly I want the other me back; the one that rose early, walked for miles, loved intense spinning (bicycle, not yarn) classes.

Where did she go?

My husband mounted pictures all over the den of me at verious walking events: at the top of Mount Elinore tired and triumphant, crossing the marathon finish with a big smile, hugging my girl friend on a rain drenched hike in the Columbia Gorge. And one crossing a finish line that I almost didn't achieve. That one is my favorite. Although not attractive, its flattering in the way it shows off a tendency to tenacity. Tenacity is one of my few virtues, although some would prefer the term stubborn.

It was 2 and a half years ago I last walked in an event or went snowshoing and hiking. Over a year since I rode my bike. Several socks, sweaters, scarves, and shawls is what I have instead.

I am off to walk

Lana