gnomiejo knits!

A "Naomi" gift

2010-12-20T14:44:00.000-08:00

It's that time of year when the world falls in love, every song your hear seems to say....Merry Christmas....

You know the tune, don't you?

I received a gift from my friend Michale for Christmas. I started doing some research on the artist that created it and you can see the present I received here. Take a look at her blog and her etsy site. She creates some incredible pieces of art.

The blog post is titled "Why I would like to be Purple". Very fitting for me - my favorite colors are anything purple, pink, bordeaux'ish, etc. You get the idea - look at the color I chose for my blog!

This is a perfect gift because in the past couple of months I have really become a fan of supported spindling. I love Russian spindles and absolutely love working on Tibetan spindles. It is such a relaxing way to spin!

This bag will be perfect for a spindle, bowl and fiber!

Thank you Michale. It was a very thoughtful gift. I now understand why you could not wait to give it to me!

My baby turns 16

2010-09-11T06:40:00.000-07:00

Chase, my purebred Yorkshire Terrier, turns 16 today.

We all have memories associated with 9/11, mainly terrorist attack related.

For me 9/11 is very special because Chase was born on this day.

I bought my first house in May 1994. Most people are thrilled to buy their own home because it is a sign of success. I was thrilled because that it meant I could get a dog.

Growing up I loved animals, bugs, birds, etc. I felt a connection to all living things and dogs were at the top of that list.

I moved in to my home and settled in. In the fall I started thinking more seriously about getting a dog. I read books and researched to figure out what dog breed would be a good fit for me. My main criteria was a non-shedding breed. I read books on Yorkshire Terriers. I was almost directed away from them because I read they were hard to housebreak.

Not Chase. He was so easy to house train. He just seemed to understand what I wanted of him. He even scratched at the door when he needed to go potty. I remember the first time he scratched at the door. I was shocked. I didn't know how he learned to do that but he just started doing it. It took two weeks to house train him. I am not kidding you.

When I got Chase he weighed a whopping 2.5 pounds. He was beyond adorable(and still is, in my opinion).

I am grateful every day Chase is alive. A Yorkshire Terrier's life expectancy is 12-15 years. What a gift that he has surpassed this milestone. I keep hoping for at least a couple more!

Chase is small(but a giant in Yorkie terms - he is at the top of the standard; 9 pounds) but he has a huge personality. He is always on the hunt for food. If he isn't sleeping, he is looking for food.

He loves to eat. He lives to eat.

Interestingly he loves to eat hibiscus flowers. When I had a hibiscus tree in the house he would inhale those flowers whenever one would drop to the floor. I would even find him on his hind legs getting into the pot, hoping to find more spent flowers.

Sometimes I would find him standing next to the tree, whining. He would look at me, then look up at the plant, then back at me. Yes, Chase. I know what you are trying to tell me but you know what? There are no flowers to give you!

This summer Greg purchased two hibiscus plants to decorate the back deck area.

Chase smelled out the hibiscus flowers.

It is obvious Chase has been here.

Caught in the act!

Is that tasty, Chase?

Chase, you didn't finish your snack!

Everyday with this guy is an adventure and a gift. He brings me so much joy, happiness and peace.

Sometimes he has accidents in the house now. I can't blame him, really. His human age equivalent is 112!!!

Boy, I love this guy.

Happy Birthday Chase!!

Plucky Primo meets Ophidian

2010-09-08T14:19:00.000-07:00

I was lucky enough to snag some Plucky Primo (70.20.5 Extra fine italian merino, cashmere, nylon blend) in a recent shop update in "Listen to the Wine".

When I received the yarn I swooned. It was the most perfect color. It is aubergine, eggplant with fine, subtle shading of pinkish wine. It is to die(dye) for!!!

On a recent trip up to the Anacortes Arts Festival with Michale and Melinda, we stopped by Wild Fiber on the way home. They had a sample of Sivia Harding's Ophidian.

I have so many shawl's on my To Do list. Something about this pattern and this yarn made me shout with joy. I had to do this pattern, with this yarn!

According to the pattern I should have been able to get 4 repeats of the main pattern. I finished the fourth pattern repeat and I knew I would not have enough for the edging. I frogged the one repeat(yes, it was painful) and then continued with the edging.

The particulars:

Yarn: Plucky Primo
Needles: Addi lace US5, 3.75mm
Finished measurement: wingspan 48 inches, depth 24 inches.

This pattern was a breeze to complete. I finished it in about a week and a half. If you are an experienced lace knitter you can whip this out. The lace is easy to memorize and adding the beads breaks up the monotony.

I chuckle at photos of myself. I have decided as I get older that growing my hair out is a thing of the past. When I was less sure of myself I really hated the wingy dingy things on the sides of my neck. With longer hair I could hide them. I would call them the Samurai wings. I rejected these hairy bits, wishing for cleaner lines. Now I embrace my ancestry. They are out on full display in the photo above.

Note: this is my first blog entry using my iPad. I'm using an app called Blogpress. They also have an app for the iPhone. For some reason using the browser directly logging in to Blogger on the iPad does not work properly.

A few steps back to make progress

2010-08-07T17:53:00.000-07:00

I was going great guns on Paper Crane.

You know how you have a voice in your head that tells you things and you don't listen. You know the one. The one that is right on, the one that saves you heartache and grief? The one that you don't listen to?

As I stated earlier, I was was cruising along on my Paper Crane, oblivious to potential issues. (Ok, this is not entirely true because I just said in the sentence above that there was a voice I was ignoring!)

I finally started to listen to that wise voice that was saying "this sweater is looking very big". I talk myself out of it because I have already knit miles of fine linen...and on size 2.5mm needles.

I know I tend to overestimate my bust size(wishful thinking?). I also believe I am a bigger size than I truly am.

I finally took the knitting off the needles and you know what? This sweater was approximately 5 inches too large. 5 inches!!!! You heard me. Wayyyyy too big.

So I re-read the instructions. Yes, I know. There is a washed gauge and an unwashed guage. Ok, no problem. I read that over and over numerous times. Well, there is another sentence underneath those gauge numbers. This sentence says what the gauge is that was used in calculating the sweater size instructions. How many gauges are required and which one does a knitter use? To me it has been a guessing game, almost.

Here is my pattern with all my notes.

Here is about 7 inches knit of the sweater. Beanie is there to provide moral support because I know what I have to do.

Ok, here goes. I have a lot of frogging to do. Beanie looks suspicious. He's probably wondering why I am doing this!

There you go. All frogged. I immediately cast-on for a size that was two smaller than the one I originally started. The reason? I measured my favorite lightweight sweater and used that measurement as one factor. The other consideration was the gauge. Since the pattern lists 3 gauges, I took that into account on what size I was finally going to go ahead with.

I went back to basics. I figured my gauge(washed) and did some math. I am not sure I understand why the designer gives all the various gauges. Actually I do know why. She was getting varying gauge numbers and probably wanted to cover all her bases. As someone knitting the design I would like things more definitive. That is why I buy a pattern rather than creating my own.

I am starting to appreciate designing and calculating my own numbers. I am looking forward to Nihon Vogue starting up at the end of next month!

On to something more helpful.

While I was in Italy this past spring, I was knitting Trevi by Anne Hanson. I had a great 100% silk lace weight yarn from Sundara, a perfect color for this pattern. I wanted to knit something inspired by my trip. (I did take pictures of me with my in-progress Trevi at the Trevi fountain in Rome)

On the plane ride over I realized that I did not have any stitch markers. What was I going to do to keep track of the pattern repeats?

I had dental floss(mint, by the way) in my purse. I made my own stitch markers out of dental floss and they worked great. They were light weight and easily visible against the yarn! If you are ever traveling and you don't have stitch markers turn to your dental floss!

Paper Crane

2010-07-29T05:40:00.000-07:00

While out at Camano, Arlene was just getting started on her Paper Crane project.

I had seen it in a Knit Purl newsletter and promptly put it on a very back burner in my mind. There are so many darn things I want to do and I only have 2 more months before Nihon Vogue starts up again. I have to be very selective in what I decide to knit or spin until then.

A side note about Knit Purl. I am not affiliated with this shop. I love getting their newsletters. They are well put together, they are slick and very sexy. They do a great job at preparing for the upcoming seasons in the projects they highlight. I love to see what yarns they decide to pair with those highlighted patterns. I like it for entertainment value and every now and then I get sucked in!

Back to the Paper Crane. I love fine gauge cardigans. I purchased one from LL Bean(of all places) in their Bend, OR outlet 10 years ago. I know I bought it ten years ago because I bought it before Greg and I went on our first trip to Europe together. I love this cardigan. It is made out of a very fine(weight-wise) wool. I love it for layering-it has been to many parts of the world. It doesn't take up much space and it is just a great basic, charcoal cardi. It is one of my go-to sweaters because it goes with just about anything. I have wanted to knit something like this but shied away from it because doing a fine gauge sweater in stockinette makes me think...not such a good idea.

Something about the yarn, this pattern and the fact that a friend of mine was also going to knit it(pass around the misery - very fine yarn on 2.5mm needles) made me move beyond just the "dreaming of it" stage. I love this design because it is very Eileen Fisher-esque. I buy a fair amount of Eileen Fisher clothes because they are modern classics and the pieces coordinate well.

Despite my lack of long-term attention span to knitting projects(only on the non Nihon Vogue ones - we must finish the ones for class!) I decided to tackle this project.

I knit on it here and there, in the car(only when I am not driving, of course!) and while watching TV. This is a lot of plain stockinette stitch at a fine gauge. I can knit without looking so it is perfect for feeling productive while watching TV. I have a feeling I will be watching a fair amount of tv in the future. I have about 15 inches to knit before the next step.

Here it is in progress. Right now the back and front are knit all in one piece up to the armholes.

Yarn: Habu Textiles XS-21 100% linen. 218 yards per ounce. The information on their website is wrong. It is not 98 yards per ounce! I confirmed this with them when I ordered the yarn.

Needles: Knitpicks harmony in 2.5 mm.

I don't really understand how the gauge swatch (according to the designer) would get smaller after washing. I had no change in gauge after I washed my swatch. It will be interesting to see the outcome. She also says that the garment relaxed significantly after wearing. Seems counter intuitive to me. The guage swatch shrinks after washing but relaxes when wearing. Does that mean the gauge, in the end, is about what the pre-washed gauge is?

My goal is to have it completed before I head to Bonaire in January. That gives me 6 months! The average weather temperatures in January are highs of 84 (28.9C) and lows of 76(24.4C) I usually get a tiny chill in the evening. Remember there is almost always a breeze day and night on Bonaire so the wind chill is probably 72 or something like that in the evening!!! :) I think this lightweight linen will be perfect!

The color of the yarn is very versatile. It is got a brown tone, yet gray. It is like a chameleon that can change color depending what it is next to.

Also displayed in the photo is my iPad. Now I love this device. Talk about slick and sexy! I love it because I can have all my knitting pdf's on it! Just another great "need" for you knitters out there.

Camano Island Retreat

2010-07-28T07:20:00.000-07:00

I have been absent for quite a long time!

I have created numerous blog posts complete with photos. They just have not progressed past my brain!

I got my office all set up in the way I want. I was having issues with my old Sony laptop(way too slow, way too old) so now I have the hand me down Macbook. Greg hooked it up to his old hand me down Dell monitor and it is a perfect setup for me. Really. No excuses for lack of blogging going forward.

I have tons of photos from my visit to see Ruth a year ago as well as photos from Sock Summit 2009. Anyway....

A couple weekends ago I was invited to my friend Arlene's vacation house on Camano Island. I had a wonderful weekend relaxing with friends. These women have been my companions and support system through the Nihon Vogue program. As I look into the future I see these woman being life-long friends. Believe it or not, I do not have a photo of Joni. Joni took most of these photos which explains why she is absent! I won't make that same mistake again! I will be more diligent about taking photos. Maybe.

Arlene, Joni and Whimsey came by to pick me up on the way up to Camano. You have 3 women, a dog and their gear for 2.5 days. What size vehicle do you think we would need? Obviously an SUV was just big enough to fit all our stuff. The smallest bags crammed into the car were the ones for our clothes. The rest was food, knitting and spinning gear. We know what our priorities are!

Our creative goal for the weekend was to learn how to do some right angle weave beading. Joni was a wonderful instructor! This is not your average beginner project! I think we needed a break from design, design, design, knitting, knitting, knitting. We were all pretty burned out after the completion of year two of Nihon Vogue. So we learned to do something different!

Arlene has an idyllic atmosphere to learn this technique!

As we were progressing in our creations we were a bit unsure of the bead colors we had purchased for our bracelets. Thankfully Joni has a nice stash selection that we all looked through to see if we wanted something different than the beads we had originally purchased. Here Arlene and Melinda are looking through some of Joni's stash.

Candace is hard at work. We all know what a hard worker she is!

These are what we made! Another hobby in the works!

In the process, I was flipping Joni off for some reason. Can you believe that? Me?

We ate such great food! I need to be around these ladies more often! So healthy!

I had a great time! Walking along the beach was heavenly!

Although we were heads down beading, spinning and knitting when we looked up this is the view we saw during the day and night. Perfection.

Thank you Arlene for a wonderful weekend!

Wool Peddler

2010-02-01T14:02:00.000-08:00

A couple years ago at the Madrona Fiber Arts Retreat, I saw my friend Jen's Wool Peddler Shawl. Her shawl was made out of handspun yarn. This shawl can be found in Cheryl Oberle's book, Folk Shawls.

I was bound and determined to spin up some of my own yarn for this project. I was a fairly new spinner at that time and thought it would take me forever to spin one pound of anything. In 2008 Ellen and I trekked down to the Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival. I found the perfect fiber for the Wool Peddler shawl I had conjured in my dreams.

The fiber was 50% silk, 50% merino dyed by Lisa Souza. I fell in love with this color...called Purzurple. I purchased one pound(since Jen said hers took about 1 pound) and I went home happily. I started spinning this soon after I purchased it. The roving(I didn't take any pictures) was very deep purple(some areas almost looked black) with pinks and various shades of purple. Once I started spinning the inside of the roving was white. I did my best to blend the white, where the dye had not saturated into the fiber, with the outer part of the fiber, to blend them. It did concern me at the time because the color range in the yarn was wider than I had hoped.

As you all know, Nihon Vogue got in the way of this project(as well as many others). Over time I spun up this roving into a beautiful yarn. I had to keep taking out my spinners control card to make sure I was spinning it "fat" enough. I kept tending to spin it too fine but with my frequent checks against the control card, I got almost a 2-ply worsted weight yarn.

Finally all the fiber was spun up and I was ready to continue with this project. Now for the knitting!

Mind you....although I have spun up a good amount of fiber in my time as a spinner, I had never knit with any of it! Yes, it is true. I have a small'ish stash of handspun that has sat in my studio just begging to be used!

Then, last year at Madrona, my friend Angela was wearing her Wool Peddler and hers had some mohair fiber that made it so soft and cozy.

That made me think...hmmnnn maybe I should knit a strand of my handspun with a mohair yarn for the same effect. I had some Colinette Parisienne in my stash. I purchased this yarn a few years ago in Cannon Beach. It was earmarked for a shawl at some point. The color I had was a deep purple. I thought this would be a great pairing to help minimize the areas in my handspun that had more of the white/lighter colors.

It worked wonderfully, in my opinion.

Hands down, this is my favorite shawl to cozy up with. It is soft, it is warm and I am so happy with the result. As you can see from the photos below it is quite large.

As soon as I graduated from year two of Nihon Vogue, this was the second project I finished.

I have a lot of blogging to catch up on!

I still have to post pictures of my last few Nihon Vogue projects. I also want to blog about my trip to Estonia this past summer!

I really don't have any excuse for not updating the blog. Now that I have a new'ish laptop and a better setup here I REALLY don't have any excuses for such large gaps in my posts!

Nihon Vogue Year Two Project-Dolman

2009-11-24T19:40:00.000-08:00

The dolman design was something I really did not want to do(who wants a bat wing garment anyway?). As I was to discover, you can do any size bat wing. I chose a minimal size dolman. I must say, this is one of my favorite sweaters. I think the combination of yarn, design and wearability puts it on my favorite list.

I used Rowan Felted Tweed with a 3.75 mm needle.

The dolman construction is unique. To pick up the stitches for the sleeve, you actually use a crochet chain that includes all the stitches you will need down the length of the sleeve and you pick up as you go up the sleeve. At the top of the sleeve you graft the front/back sleeve together. One side is live stitches and one side is bound off. This way you get the structure of the bound off edge without it being too bulky. There is also a ton of short rows at the top of the sleeve. It is a slick way of creating the sleeve.

I wanted a simple cardigan, one that I could hold closed with a shawl pin rather than buttons. I find I rarely button up a cardigan from top to bottom plus I think it can look more dressy this way. Another reason to love this design is you can dress her up or dress her down.

I used a reversible cable so when the fronts flopped opened it had a finished look.

I had to calculate the number of cable repeats would fit around the neck line and luckily the numbers worked out beautifully. I was able to complete 20 full repeats of the cable and I think it looks nice.

Here is some cable detailing on the back neck.

As you knit the pieces, you knit the front/back including the sleeves. This can seem like you are knitting forever without getting anywhere. I had to remind myself that I wasn't just knitting a front or a back. I was knitting the sleeves as well.

I have seen many designs lately that are shrugs that have a rounded bottom front. Rather than being a 45 degree angle, it is rounded. I considered doing a cardigan with this shaping for my final project for year two. I asked Jean about it and she said that this rounding uses the same concept of the dolman curve. I think someday I will have to tackle this, just for fun!

I just finalized my design for my final project for year two. I have wavered many, many times. Cardigan, skirt, cardigan, skirt. Drum roll please. The winner is....skirt.

While my classmates made a capelet, I was the only student that ventured into skirt-land. I knit a worsted weight linen skirt and I think it is very cute. Having just finished that(still have to put the elastic in and sew the band to the skirt and Jean has to show me how to do this) I am inspired to do another skirt. Linen is so easy to care for(washer, then dryer and a quick iron block) and it is good to go. Great for travel because it doesn't get wrinkled.

My final project is done in sport weight linen(on 2.5 mm - a US 1). I pored over so many stitch pattern books and settled on two stitch patterns from one of Barbara Walker's books. I am done swatching and I need to wash/dry it and then I can calculate my final numbers. I hope to cast on in the morning on Thanksgiving before I head to my sister's house.

Also to my fellow classmates...I finished the gansey! When Greg comes home I just have to make sure the bottom ribbing is long enough and then I can finish with the invisible, sewn cast-off. This has been like a marathon. A post is forthcoming but it won't be until next month.

I'm in the home stretch for completing year two! Whew.

This will be my last post before the Thanksgiving holiday. Americans, have a nice long weekend! Enjoy being with friends/family and hopefully you will have some time for some fibery fun!

Nihon Vogue Year Two Project-Raglan

2009-11-23T07:23:00.000-08:00

The raglan. A popular, classic design.

Most raglan's knit today are done in the round, from the top down. Done in this manner it is convenient because you can try the garment on as you go along and there is virtually no seaming.

This Nihon Vogue raglan for year two is not done in this way. It is a very complex, geometrical way to design a raglan. I learned a lot and I also learned that I may not want to do a raglan of this type again. I did a post on the more technical side of this design in this post.

The upside is learning something new. Supposedly by designing a raglan in this way it will fit better. There isn't as much gapping in the armpit area.

The downside you need to be very exacting and accurate in your knitting. This design is knit in pieces.

There is a good amount of calculation. In addition, I found that you must chart the decreases on a spreadsheet. You MUST do the front/back/sleeve decreases EXACTLY on the same rows. If you don't, when you seam your pieces together the patterns won't match/line up.

I even had to re-knit my sleeves. Ok, I didn't have to re-knit the whole sleeve. I had finished my pieces and Jean was showing me how to sew it up, I realized I had an extra stitch when I began the decreases for the sleeve cap. I asked her, "Can't we just fudge this in?". No. She kind of gave me this look and I knew right then and there what the answer was before she uttered a word. It must be right! So...I undid the sleeve cap portion of both sleeves so my numbers would be right.

I know what you are thinking. Really? One darn(I used a much more appropriate word) stitch? Come on! It is knitting!!

No, this is Nihon Vogue and the whole reason we endeavor into this program is to have professional level garments. This is what I signed up for. I love it. Sure. I didn't love it at that very moment. When I wear it I know things are *just* right. It definitely was worth the extra effort. That is another lesson I am learning in Nihon Vogue. If it is worth doing, it is worth doing it right, especially if you are going to dedicate hours to a project.

There will be plenty of you out there arguing the point that knitting should be enjoyable and fun. Yes, it should. Nihon Vogue is about knitting at a different level. Sure I knit from published patterns and I like not having to *think* about it. I follow the step by step instructions. Nihon Vogue is about creating my own instructions. That is why during my Nihon Vogue projects I take detailed notes about what I did. We have to turn these in with our design notes. Really the design notes are for me, not Jean. They are a history of what I did for a particular design.

Sorry for the detour. Back to the Raglan.

This was an exercise in getting your patterns to match up, whether they be stripes or stitch patterns.

I used a discontinued yarn-Rowan Magpie. This was a wonderful yarn and I don't understand why Rowan discontinued it. I was able to get sweater quantity amounts from some fellow Ravelers. I still have a purplish color and a very beautiful charcoal gray in the stash(ten skeins each). If you have a chance to get your hands on some of this yarn, do so. It shows of cables and patterns very well. It is three ply yarn.

I did my raglan on 5.0mm for the body and 4.0mm for the ribbing. I only used 7.5 skeins which included swatching.

My inspiriation for the pattern was the Charade Socks. I love the simpleness of it and decided to use that stitch for the raglan challenge...lining up the patterns.

The cable for the front was from a Starmore design...can't remember which at the moment and I am too lazy to go look.

This is a warm and cozy sweater and now that the temperature has fallen it will get more use!

Nihon Vogue Year Two Project-Aran

2009-11-22T12:07:00.000-08:00

Another classic design. An aran sweater with saddle shoulders.

This was something I was really excited about. I hunted and hunted for traditional aran yarn(3-ply). I was going to use some of my Rowan Magpie but I wasn unsure if I had enough yardage. Since this yarn is not easy to find, I opted to find something that was readily available.

I settled on Wendy Traditional Aran. I knit this on a 4.00 mm.

The wonderful thing about this design was learning a way to do the saddle so it stays centered on your sleeve as you wear it. If you knit saddles in the "traditional" way, both sleeves are knit identically.

With Nihon Vogue, the two sleeves are just ever so slightly different. What do I mean?

When you draw/design your sleeve, your saddle is not centered identically. For example, my saddle was 7 centemeters. I positioned my saddle so that 4cm of the saddle was going to the front of my sleeve and 3cm was going to the back of the sleeve. The difference in actual stitches was only 2 stitches but the difference in how the garment lays when worn makes all the difference.

I used many traditional aran stitch patterns. For instance, the honeycomb used on the front was only using 3/4 of a full stitch pattern so that I could fit the patterns I wanted in the real estate I had available(my body measurements).

I used a Beth Brown Reinsel design/pattern stitch for the button bands, lower band and neck band. The way the buttonhole side of the XO patterns is knit, is it incorporates a buttonhole without altering the look of the stitch pattern. Brilliant.

Here are other details of the sweater:

As you can see on the back, for the honeycomb I only used 1/2 a usual repeat so I could fit the design elements I wanted, within that real estate. Although the two honecomb pattern is slightly different on the front and back, it is an okay design element(in my opinion) because they are separated by the saddle. This gives more design freedom between the front and back pieces.

This was a very time consuming project but well worth the results.

I must say, my year two projects have been designs I really am proud to wear. Things I designed and knit in year one...well there is only one that I really like. Now that I have such a strong foundation of skills and design practice, I am more satisfied with the end result of my designs this year.

Even though I am not yet done with year two, I look forward to year 3 and 4. That is when the real design work happens. I feel confident about it because Jean has given me such a strong foundation.

Nihon Vogue Year Two Project-Puffy Sleeve

2009-11-16T12:38:00.001-08:00

I admit. The blog has taken a back seat to my Nihon Vogue projects.

As I always say, I love the Nihon Vogue program. It is challenging, it is fun and there are many rewards from the hard work.

The first project for year two was a puffy sleeve garment. I used a Trendsetter Yarns Superkid Seta. It is 70%superkid mohair and 30% seta silk. I wanted something lightweight, yet warm. I imagined the puffy part of the sleeve being light and airy. Not like the large puffy sleeves from the eighty's.

I used a 3.25 mm needle(US5) with a single strand of the yarn. I think I used only 3 skeins.

If I were to knit this again, I would make the sleeves much shorter. I love this garment and I have worn it a lot. I loved learning the technique on making the puff for the sleeve. I also did some short rows near the ribbing at the bottom of the sleeve so there would be a little puff shelf-like thing. It didn't do exactly what I wanted but if I were to do it again I think the modifications I would do would make it exactly how I envisioned.

As I was knitting the garment, I realized I had an issue with the lace pattern I used. I found this lace pattern in a Japanese stitch pattern book. In the book with 1000 patterns, it is number 271.

Because of the mohair, the patterning is obscured, which is good in this case. I like symmetry. The lace is not symmetrical on each side of the center line of the front and on the back. It looks just fine but it is just something to think about in design. Despite this design flaw on this garment, I had the same "issue" in another garment this year. Oh well.

Isn't that how life is? Lessons everywhere!

It has been waaayyyy too long

2009-11-11T11:56:00.001-08:00

I think I have a lot in common with other bloggers. How?

I create a ton of blog entries in my head. That is where they have stayed for the past couple months.

I want to share my Nihon Vogue projects I have completed for year two. I have been dragging my feet in doing an entry because the photos are on my husband's computer. Since he is the professional photographer he takes the photos I need to turn in my projects for Nihon Vogue. We need to turn in a design notebook with all the details of a design as well as a photo.

I will post photos soon(I always have good intentions!).

I just want to do a quick post. I am not even sure if there are still people out there reading my blog!

Why did I have enough motivation to do a post?

I am anxiously awaiting a Golding Fiber Tools drop spindle. I don't have one of those! I have friends that like them. I also have friends that are lukewarm about them. I get to find out for myself!

What prompted a Golding purchase? This past weekend I was in Nihon Vogue class and a couple of my friends are rabid spindlers! I just love that! Candace had her Golding and it is just so pretty! I had to have one! It is research after all, right?

I was so excited for today. My spindle was to arrive today. I then realized....it is a holiday. So it won't arrive until tomorrow!

Oh, the anticipation!

I ordered the Celtic Sheep which is currently out of stock.

I want to post more, just to share what I am doing in my retirement! I am actually productive!

Blogging from my iPhone

2009-08-31T06:29:00.001-07:00

While surfing the iPhone app store I found this app that enables you to create and post blog entries outside the phone browser.

I thought it might be worth the $2.99 pricetag.

Here is my first blog post from the comforts of my bed, sleeping husband two feet away.

I just returned from spending 5 days at our lake place. Here is a photo from the deck. I love it there. It is so quiet and peaceful.

I think this app might be worth it.

Now, let me try publishing this!

I published it, editted it and now am re-posting my entry. I think this is going to work out great.

If you want to know what app this is, it is called Blogpress.

-- Post From My iPhone

Hanging out near Ebeltoft

2009-08-27T09:15:00.000-07:00

During our first few days in Ebeltoft, we did a lot of hanging out.

This was a nice way to transition to the time zone.

One day Ruth took us to one of her favorite beaches. This is a place where she and Jens sometimes take a quick, refreshing dip into the very cold water. It was the middle of summer and it was chilly to me. I can't imagine taking a dip into that water!!

I love the area around Ebeltoft. Just minutes away from the middle of the town, you go into the countryside. It is so beautiful. You can go from middle of a tourist area to a very rural area within 10 minutes.

The beautiful wildflowers:

A thatched roof home right on the beach(this is a rare thing. They don't allow much building right ON the shore line as they do in the states. This house has been there for a very long time, before there were laws banning it):

A view from the beach where we sat down and just chatted about life:

I love this picture. There is just something about this photo that speaks to me. It is ordinary Danish life(always enjoying the outdoors) with modern life injected in with the modern windmills in the background.

Copenhagen

2009-08-21T07:00:00.000-07:00

When I was flying to Ebeltoft, Denmark, I took a flight from Seattle to Copenhagen and then another flight from Copenhagen to Aarhus. The Aarhus airport is only about 15 minutes from Ruth's house which makes it very convenient to go visit. Since it is so easy, maybe I should plan another trip! Just kidding, Ruth!

Ruth needed to go to Copenhagen to take care of some family business. We took the ferry(!) from Ebeltoft to (?) I am not sure where and then drove for about 45 minutes. My lack of concrete details tells you how relaxed I was on the trip!

Here we are driving onto the ferry.

Honestly I must tell you that this was one of THE MOST RELAXING vacations/trips I have been on. I think it was because Ruth and Jens are very laid back people and I felt so very comfortable in their home. I really felt like I was a member of the family. I slept so well at their house! Maybe I should live there part-time(Don't worry Ruth..I don't mean at your house!). After all, the Danes are the happiest people in the world!

Once we got to Copenhagen, Ellen and I left Ruth to take care of her personal business. We left with a map in hand and started on our discovery. Mind you we are knitters and we only had 5-6 hours. The night before we had traced out where we absolutely had to go. You know the places we had to find were the yarn shops!!

Joni also has a much more detailed review of a couple of the shops we visited. See her post here.

We walked along the canals and finally made our way to Uldstedet & Gepard. This shop was underground. If you are a Hanne Falkenberg fan, they had a lot of her finished designs. It was nice to see all the various designs completed, in person. This shop only took cash or debit cards so I was turned off by this as I always use my credit card. More on that issue later.

Here is a photo of Uldstedet & Gepard. Very unassuming entrance. We almost walked right by it.

They had nice yarn but they carried a lot of yarn I can find here so we left without buying anything.

Next we found Strikkeboden. This was very close to Uldstedet & Gepard. He had wonderful window displays. He also displayed the yarn very nicely in the shop. He knew how to merchandise his yarns. I was taken by some linen blend yarns. They had wonderful colors. I love linen yarn and in Denmark they have a lot more linen/linen blend yarns. I wish I would have had more time to go back to Strikkeboden so I could purchase some of that yarn. No need to worry. I found PLENTY to buy while on my trip, believe me!!! The man in the shop was very helpful and even gave us some recommendations for where to go for really great dessert!

After Strikkeboden we found a nice cafe to have a wonderful lunch. It was a bookstore/cafe that had outside seating so we could people watch while we enjoyed our lunch. It was a beautiful day. This was one rare store where I could actually use my credit card. He had to enter the transaction differently but he knew how to deal with my type of credit card!

After lunch we ventured to find Sommerfuglen. I think we were in this shop for TWO HOURS! They had great stuff. Ellen and I kept looking around, talking about this design and that design. Man, it was heaven and at the same time it was hell! Trying to decide what to buy without going completely insane was challenging.

We each bought a Hanne Falkenberg kit. How could you NOT when in Denmark. The price is 1/2 the cost of what it would be here in the States. I had planned to buy one before I left home but I just had to decide which one I really wanted. I bought Tweedie. Ellen bought Blues.

We also bought a kit designed by Geilsk> I love her designs. I purchased the design called Uppercut. So cute!

The women working in the shop were so kind and helpful. While Ellen and I were in the shop another American woman was shopping. I was so embarrassed by her rudeness and behavior. Sometimes when I am abroad and see people acting like they are entitled to be waited on hand and foot I hate to admit being from the same country. I see it more often than I would like. Where has the kindness and respect gone? If you are American, please remember you represent all Americans when travelling abroad!

I was supposed to call Ruth by 4pm to find out if she was going to have to stay overnight. If that were the case then Ellen and I were going to have to take the train to Aarhus and have Jens pick us up from the train station. Unfortunately I could not get cell coverage in Denmark. Ellen and I both have iPhones and she could get service but I couldn't. Very curious and maddening!

I can't say enough about the help we received at Sommerfuglen. They were great. It is a must see shop for knitters visiting Copenhagen! Not only do they have a great selection of yarn and designs, you will get excellent help.

Ellen asked the kind ladies at Sommerfuglen if we could use their phone to call Ruth and they happily obliged. It was so generous of them because without that we were going to have to walk a VERY long way to get back to Ruth.

Ruth needed to stay overnight. She picked us up so we could all share dinner together. We went to a sushi place near the train station. It was a very nice place to eat. Since I was so bad about 1) taking pictures and 2) documenting what we did, I can't tell you the name of the restaurant!

Then we walked over to the train station to buy our tickets and catch the train. Once again I could not use my darn credit card. Sad, so sad!

In Denmark they now have a certain chip in their credit cards and you have to enter a PIN number. I don't have that kind of card which meant....I couldn't use my credit card in many places. It was certainly maddening. I have used my credit card all over the world and have never had a problem. Ever. Good thing I could use my ATM card. The bad thing is knowing how much money I needed and having to carry it around. When I travel I rarely carry cash and always use credit. This was very frustrating. I kept saying that the Danes didn't want me to leave my money in their country! I even encountered shops that only took Danish Visa. Ok, what does that say to tourists??? Enough on that *issue*.

We had a nice train ride from Copenhagen to Aarhus. We got to ride in their newest train! It was very nice. We sat next to a very nice young Swiss man. He was an exchange student for a year in Pennsylvania when he was in high school. I thought it was neat that he told us he remembered when he had his first dream in English. At that point he knew the language was really taking root in his brain.

We arrived back in Aarhus around midnight. It is about a 45 minute drive from the train station to Ruth and Jens' house. As we were driving Jens mentioned something about midnight and I was surprised. It doesn't get very dark at night that far north. That was one thing I just didn't get used to while we were there. I always thought it was earlier in the evening than it was because of all of the light.

We had a wonderful day. We only saw a very specific segment of Copenhagen. Next visit there I would like to take in historical sights and museums and just wander around the city. Of course I will have to see the yarn shops again as well.

Some Sock Knitting

2009-08-20T16:32:00.000-07:00

I have been knitting some socks. Honestly when am I NOT knitting on a pair of socks?

I have yet to report on my trip to Sock Summit. It was another truly unique experience and I am so grateful I went. That report is yet to come....

I finished a couple pair of socks while in Denmark and Estonia.

I was so glad to get the Queen of Beads, designed by Sivia Harding, done. I started these way back in February when we were in Hawaii. This was the first knitting project where I strung the beads on the yarn before knitting.

This was an installment of the Blue Moon Fiber Arts Rockin Sock Club.

I am quite behind in my sock club knitting. I have not started on any club designs since Queen of Beads! When the installment this month arrives, I will be 3 pair of socks behind.

The next pair are good old Monkey socks. I love this pattern. It is easy to memorize yet interesting. I don't get bored and they go really fast.

This yarn is from Ginny at FatCatKnits. This yarn is a 75% wool/ 25% nylon blend in colorway Small Cheer. I usually buy fiber from her. Her fiber/colors are amazing. I am very pleased with how these turned out. It was almost like they knit themselves.

The background for the socks is a blanket I purchased from a Gotland sheep farmer that Ruth knows. This blanket is hand woven and made from Gotland wool. I bought this for Greg during my trip and it matches our new master bedroom furniture and bedding perfectly!

As I write this post I am am preparing for my first colonoscopy tomorrow. I have to drink this stuff called magnesium citrate(as well as take lovely laxatives). I laughed because on the bottle, it says "pleasing lemony flavor". Pleasing? What a crock!

Sometimes I think about these kinds of things. It just *seems* that with how advanced we are technologically that they could actually create a version of this stuff that actually tastes pleasing.

I guess scientists are busy trying to eradicate cancer and those sorts of things rather than creating a good tasting magnesium citrate. Ok, I just had to let my thought process go through its iterations. I don't need a good tasting magnesium citrate if they find the cure to cancer!

Eight Flights in Two Weeks

2009-08-19T07:55:00.000-07:00

A month ago I started this post. It was right when I got back from Denmark.

During my trip to Denmark, Ellen and I took 8 flights in 15 days! This is the first post that will try to document a bit about my trip to Denmark and Estonia.

I just got back from a wonderful trip to see my friend Ruth.

On my way to Denmark I was re-playing in my mind how the internet enabled us to become friends. It all started with her design, the Kauni Cardigan. If you are new to reading this blog, read this old post which explains how we "met".

A few months later in 2007, as Ruth and I were corresponding via email, I had this hair-brained idea. Maybe I should approach Suzanne about Ruth and how popular the Kauni Cardigan design had become because of a post done by the Yarn Harlot. I knew the Yarn Harlot was going to be comng to Madrona. How great it would be if Steph could meet Ruth and vice versa! I was nervous about asking Suzanne about it because I personally did not know Ruth. I did not know if she was a good knitting instructor. I figured "what the hell?".

Some 8 months later I found myself picking Ruth up at Seatac. We had arranged for her to come stay with me. When I told her I would pick her up at baggage claim. I realized "how would she recognize me?". Uh, yeah! I would wear my Kauni Cardigan!

As I waited for Ruth to get through customs, a woman came up to me and asked, "Are you going to Madrona?". I asked "How did you know?". She pointed to Ruth's Kauni Cardigan! I introduced her to Ruth and another knitting connection was made.

Later, while at Charity night at Madrona, I was the moderator. I spoke about how the internet connects us as knitters and I even mentioned the lady I met at the baggage claim. I asked if she was in the audience and she was! I just love how the internet connects us in ways we never could have imagined.

For two years now she has come to stay with me while she teaches at Madrona. This year she even brought her husband, Jens, along for the ride. I am grateful that they enjoy coming to stay as it has allowed us to become lifelong friends.

Back to Ruth's visit this year. During her trip here we talked about me coming to visit her. Before I knew it, Ellen and I were booking flights to go visit her in her neck of the woods!

I really wish I would have taken the time to blog while on the trip!!! I am thankful that Ellen took so many photos. Ruth and I designated her our "official photographer". The photos I am posting are some of the few I took.

Our first full day in Denmark we spent walking around Ebeltoft with Ruth. This is such a charming seaside town! It is absolutely lovely!! No wonder there are many German tourists that flock there during summer. Ellen and I were amazed that even though we were cold(wearing fleece) that there were many people walking around in short sleeves. Ruth reminded us they they come from further north and it was warmer in Ebeltoft than where they were coming from! BRRRRR.

Here is Ellen posing in front of this quaint home. She loved all the different doors on the various homes. She took lots of photos of those and I wish I had those to share a few with you.

A "common" street veiw in Ebeltoft.

Ruth posing for me in front of a common home in the old part of town.

This was taken down near the waterfront. The waterfront is a very tourist-y area. In the background of this photo is the famous art/glass museum(a must see when in Ebeltoft). Here kids are in large bubbles on the water. I wanted to give it a try but I am sure I was over the weight limit!

Hollyhock are everywhere in Ebeltoft. I love Hollyhock. They remind me of my mother.

Next post: Copenhagen

I Intend......

2009-08-17T21:43:00.000-07:00

Each week I say to myself "this week I WILL update my blog". Each week passes and it does not happen. As you notice, the last sentence was in passive voice. That is how I seem to be. Passive.

Honestly, I have been very tired. Today, I was so fatigued that I was glad I set my alarm for a 3pm doctor appointment because it went off and I realized I was so tired I could barely move! Glad I set that alarm or I would have missed this last minute appointment! I must apologize to Joni publicly! I feel guilty(oh, that darn Catholic, or recovering Catholic, guilt!) that I had to cancel our fun excursion to see the Seattle Seahawks practice this afternoon(I am glad you still went). My primary doc called to say they had a cancellation so I took the appointment so I could see her sooner than originally scheduled.

I try to not let this fatigue get to me. I put on a brave face and go, go go. I don't want to complain. I really admire people that can overcome challenging situations with minimal complaint.

Since February I have been battling nausea and fatigue(no, not due to pregnancy). I spent a good 4.5 months dealing with it..first thinking it was gerd, then thinking it was caffeine withdrawal, etc. I had numerous tests. Ultrasounds, gastric emptying test, blood tests. It ends up I have a gallbladder polyp. Mind you they don't know definitively if this is the cause of the nausea and fatigue, but it is their best guess.

I am looking forward to getting the gallbladder out which is scheduled for September 1. My busy social calendar has kept me from scheduling surgery sooner. I had made many commitments that I felt I could not break.

First was my trip to see Ruth in Denmark, and our side trip to Estonia.

Then I had committed to volunteering time at Sock Summit. I had personally promised Tina I would come down to Sock Summit to volunteer.

Then I was hosting my family at our lake place the week of August 10-16.

Then my gastroenterologist wanted me to have a colonoscopy, scheduled for August 21. Then I scheduled a mammogram at Village Yarn and Tea(this event is what makes me schedule this yearly "celebration") on August 22. I want to thank Village Yarn and Tea for their Women's Health Fair. They do this every year and without it, I would not be diligent in getting my annual mammogram. Thank you!!!!!!

My birthday is August 24. I am going to the Mariner game taking my sisters Trish and Kathy that night. Then I will be going to the Mariner game on August 25 taking my sisters Karen and Cheryl! New this year if you have season tickets in the Diamond Club, you can trade tickets for one date for another. We traded some tickets when I was going to be in Denmark so we could have 4 tickets together on my birthday! So much fun this way!!! Actually I was having a hard time trying to decide which sisters to bring. Originally we had 4 tickets only on my actual birth date. Greg traded some tickets we had when I was in Portland for the day after my birthday so I could be sure to take all my sisters that live in Seattle. That way I wouldn't have to decide who could/couldn't go. Have I told you how thoughtful he is?

Then we are hosting some friends out at the lake again from the 27th to the 30th. I am sad to miss out on Stitch N Pitch!!

The good thing...I will come home, have a couple days to rest(and get homework done)then have my surgery! Many people have told me that they, or someone they know, felt SO MUCH BETTER after getting that darn gallbladder out!

So, once again I must say that I INTEND on getting back to regular posting!

I have a lot to blog about!!!!!!

Realization!

2009-06-01T10:43:00.000-07:00

I realized that I have never blogged that I will be going to Denmark(with Ellen that hasn't blogged in quite awhile)!

Can you guess who I am going to visit????

Ruth!

I will leave the husband and dogs behind and fly out on July 9, 2009!

I am really looking forward to seeing Ruth and Jens. When they stayed with me in February I had the best time. We got to see a lot of local sights and I got to know Jens(Ruth's husband) better.

I feel like I have made some lifelong friends. They are wonderful people and I am looking forward to seeing their everyday life!

I also am planning to make a little side trip to Estonia!

When did I have time to work?

2009-05-12T15:07:00.000-07:00

Time passes and I wonder where it goes. I just don't know how I ever had time to work!

Things have been busy around our house! Finally got all the finishing touches of the house siding project finished. It is a l-l-l-l-o-o-o-n-n-n-n-g-g-g-g story. Let's just say that the downturn in the economy that hit the construction industry affected our project as well. It cost us some additional funds but now it is all done! Looks great! We are very pleased.

We have been working on re-landscaping the outside of our house as well. We have taken many trips to various nursery's in the area to shop for plants and trees. We have also been working hard at getting the 5 yards of topsoil and compost into our various garden beds.

Greg put in a beautiful water feature in our yard and it is even more magnificent at night with the artful placement of lighting. Have I ever told you what a gem he is?

The next house project was having some areas of the drywall patched/fixed. This has been a pain because furniture is in the middle of rooms and we have to re-paint the interior of our home. Did I tell you that there is dust everywhere?

We are also in the process of getting estimates to have hardwood floors put in on the 3rd floor. Hopefully within 3 weeks that project will be done as well. I am not a fan of carpeting and I will be so happy to say "see ya!" to this carpet.

I will be glad when the home projects are DONE and we can enjoy our home, once again!

I hate to admit that Nihon Vogue homework has been giving me angst. I feel torn between house projects and the time reality of what it takes to get this round of homework done!

The aran and the gansey/guernsey are very time consuming. For both projects I have chosen to use very traditional yarns.

For the aran I am using Wendy Traditional Aran yarn. I am using a smaller needle than probably what is recommended. I liked the resulting fabric of my swatch but this has proven to be....not a mistake but it has been hard on my hands. Overall I like my design.

Here are the fronts. I still need to do the shoulder slope and I will be ready for class.

For the button band, I am using the XO design and have built in the buttonholes while knitting. The technique is something I got from a Beth Brown-Reinsel pattern. It is very clever because you do not see the button holes.

Here is the back. Originally I had planned to use the diamond pattern that I used on the fronts, repeated on the back. As I was knitting I didn't like how it developing so I tore it out and found a cable pattern with the exact number of stitches I needed. I didn't tear out the whole back, I just tore out the section I was replacing and re-knit. I think it looks rather nice, if I say so myself! :O)

I hate to admit this "rookie mistake" I made while knitting the back. I chart every row to keep track of patterns, decreases, etc. I used the same chart for the front and back. In Nihon Vogue, the armhole decreases are not identical on the front and back. So I happily knit away, finishing the back and realized...I used the decreases for the front, on the back. I had to rip out 50 rows. Those of you that have knit an Aran sweater can empathize on how painful ripping those 50 rows was! I ripped and moved on. No time for tears!

Here is the detail of the aran "ribbing". It is curling quite a bit without blocking. I am hoping it will hold a block well.

I still have to knit the sleeves. My goal is to get one sleeve done by class at the end of the month. Jean is going to show us how to sew the sleeve on to the fronts/back.

For the gansey I am also using British Breeds Guernsey 5-ply from Two Swans(thanks Karen for ordering the Navy!).

I am knitting this project for my husband. I showed him all different colors and he had to choose the darkest color. As my eyes age, I have to be near a good lighting source! This, too, is time consuming. I am knitting on 2.75mm needles. Yes, 2.75mm. Can you say "Very time consuming? Let's repeat that. Very Time Consuming!" It will be very beautiful when it is completed!

Here is my progress so far(I am on row 69 and I need to do 128 for class so I will be ready to knit the gusset at the underarm):

Here are a couple photos to give you more detail of the patterning on the sweater.

What is the purple stuff at the bottom of the gansey you ask? I did a provisional cast-on using waste yarn. The reason? I did not like the channel island cast-on(traditional gansey cast-on, usually used if you are doing garter stitch to begin your gansey). Also per Jean, decreases look better than increases. So I will take out the waste yarn and decrease the number of stitches needed for the 2x2 ribbing.

Some of my fellow students are also knitting the gansey for their husbands. Each year we complete, Suzanne hosts a dinner where the family member's attend and help us celebrate completing another year. We laughed and suggested that we do a cat-walk for the husband's to show off our completed designs. Now THAT is something I am looking forward to and I'll have to take video! Ha!

Oh, to update you on the caffeine withdrawal. Well, I realized I was feeling really crummy because of a medication I was taking. I did get off the caffeine but what I was feeling was not totally caused by the withdrawal. I am still trying to find the right medication for my gerd but I am not feeling bad like I was. I am also eating better by trying to minimize the amount of processed food I eat(I love junk food, by the way so it isn't easy - it is a process!). The biggest and most helpful thing to my overall well-being has been getting up by 6am and working out. I walk briskly for 4 miles to start out the day. It does wonders for my mood and outlook on everything. I highly recommend it!

Recently I went out to Suzanne's to meet and talk to some people that are interested in taking Nihon Vogue year one. People in the fiber community are top notch! One woman was from L.A. I forget your name but if you read this, leave a comment! It was so nice to meet you!

I leave this post with the best intentions. I would like to blog more. Maybe once the house projects are done I'll have more time!

Looking Forward to Spring and Summer

2009-03-24T10:13:00.001-07:00

We all need some sunshine and cheer. I can give you some!

Now...this is all about doing some colorwork and more specifically some of Ruth Sorensen's designs. You know how much I love Ruth AND her designs.

First up is the Spring Sweater.

I started the Spring Sweater some time ago. I actually started it way back when she released the pattern. As with many projects I start, they languish in a bag, waiting for more attention and love! Truth be told, I did have to set it aside for Nihon Vogue!

The pink color for the flowers is Kauni. The yarn for the background is Evilla. The Evilla has VERY long striping. I am happy with the very long striping because I wanted the brown to represent sand and the blue to represent the ocean and the sky. I think that is going to work out just fine. The blue will be up closer to my face which is much better for my skin color.

Here is my very slight progress.

This is a shot of the yarns - Evilla on the left and Kauni on the right.

Next is the Summer Shawl. I started a teeny tiny bit of this while Ruth was still here. I don't have anything to really show at this point. I do have a photo of Ruth's version that was displayed at Village Yarn and Tea while she was visiting us last month. I have always wanted to do a fair isle shawl in the round. Now I have my project! The colors Ruth chose are perfect for me. The pinks/purples for the roses and that cheery green as the background. The kicker for me in doing this project was that roses are my favorite flowers. When I sold my house, 15 well established hybrid tea rose plants stayed there in my english style garden. When this is complete, I will have some other roses to cheer me up! It is absolutely gorgeous in person. Note: Ruth...I'm so glad you finally got the pattern up on your website!!!

If you need some "spring" and "summer" projects, here are two suggestions.

Downside of Addiction

2009-03-24T09:17:00.000-07:00

That really is a bad title for a blog post. Is there an upside to addiction?

If you are a fellow blogger, don't you have a whole bunch of ideas for blog posts swimming around in your head where they stay only for you to enjoy?

I've got many swimming around up in the brainsphere(is that a word?). They seem to stay up there due to a severe lack of motivation and drive.

Those of you that know me personally know what a "producer" I am. I am driven. I am motivated. I can get something done if I really need to or want to. This has not been me of late.

It all started after Madrona and I headed to Hawaii for vacation.

Due to a heavy caffeine addiction I have not been feeling well and have had a huge decrease in overall motivation and drive. In Hawaii I did not have my regular access to my espresso machine.

I love this machine. We purchased this (an older model) at Starbucks right after we got married. We bought a demonstrator machine which was something like 1/2 the regular price. It went on the blink before the warranty expired so we turned it in and got another one. This happened to us twice. Even though we had to pay a little bit of money each time, we were able to get the newest model. We've had the current one for at least 2 years now.

Anyway(I seem to get off track a lot-that is one of the symptoms of caffeine withdrawal-lack of focus) I didn't understand why some days I would have annoying headaches(not debilitating ones) and mildly nauseated. I thought it was something I ate because there was no regularity to my symptoms.

While in Hawaii, some days I would go to Starbucks and sometimes I wouldn't. On the days I didn't go I would just make coffee at the condo. I guess I wasn't drinking enough caffeine those days when I was feeling a bit under the weather. I was also trying to get off diet soda so I was really good about not having one in the afternoon. I'm beginning to wonder if I was feeling bad on the days I was trying to be good and not have a soda in the afternoon.

An added twist to this story is I also have acid reflux/gerd issues and have been on prescription medicine for about the past 6 months, post endoscopy. My father died of stomach cancer so once I started getting acid stomach symptoms I scheduled an endoscopy. Yes, I had inflammation and yes, I needed to keep it in check especially with my family history.

Since I have been back from Hawaii, some days I would have caffeine in the afternoon(in the form of a diet soda or espresso) and some days I wouldn't. I never connected my feeling "not like myself" to the caffeine, or lack of it.

Well, I began having the same symptoms I had prior to the endoscopy(nausea, acid feeling stomach, etc) and I thought I should look at the no-no list of foods for acid stomach.

One was coffee/caffeine. That is a big one. So yesterday morning I thought I'll try to go off caffeine. I only had one shot instead of two in the morning(I actually didn't even finish the one) and had nothing with caffeine in the afternoon.

Yesterday was a bad day, really bad day. I felt terrible. Big headaches(which I knew I would get) but also a whole host of symptoms(I had all of them). I woke up last night at 3am with a killer headache. I took my trusty little iPhone and looked up caffeine withdrawal symptoms while lying in bed. That was it!

They say to decrease caffeine consumption slowly. Take my advice, if you want to get off your caffeine habit, don't go cold turkey!

I am starting to feel a bit better now that I have had my regular dose of caffeine. I still feel a bit under the weather but I must be feeling well enough to do a post.

Can you believe I haven't even been knitting? I know I'm not feeling well when the thought of knitting doesn't even sound enticing. Maybe soon I'll feel like getting back to the things that bring me joy!

Proof

2009-03-18T17:22:00.000-07:00

I am doing homework.

Finally I have flushed out my design. I decided to move beyond analysis paralysis(a phrase I used to use when I could get bogged down in the analysis of IT systems designs-not too far off from knit designs quite honestly).

I have charted my design onto the body measurements to make sure all the pieces fit into my garment's real estate. If you have ever designed an aran you will quickly realize that you don't have as much real estate as you think you do.

With an aran, you have multiple design pieces, cables, honeycomb, diamonds, etc. When pieced together, they must fit into your set space. There is much calculation and then there is more calculation. (Heather in Alaska, you are going to like this!)

Not only is there challenge horizontally, but vertically. My most glaring challenge is the diamond pattern. Each diamond repeat, vertically, is 9.5 cm. If you want to have a complete diamond at the top of the sweater you must move and measure down from there to see if the diamond will get cut off at the length you want the finished garment. I had to adjust my sweater an additional 3.7 cm because I didn't want to start the diamond in the middle, I wanted a complete repeat.

Once your biggest, most noticeable cable is measured out, you must measure each design element, like the honeycomb to make sure its repeat will begin/end within the new length. Since I'm not as bothered by honeycomb ending mid pattern, that was easier to deal with.

My other large headache was getting the traditional X and O patterns to work out in my design/garment. I am doing the X and O pattern vertically to use as my button band. In addition, I am also doing the X and O pattern horizontally along the bottom band. In order to make all those X's and O's line up...well I had to pray the numbers would work out. As it turns out, they did. Beautifully I must say.

On the right and left front pieces I had to use only half an X for the numbers to work out. A full X or O would make the piece 1.75cm too large.

That means that on the back, on each side of the back I also have to knit half an X so when I sew, there will be a full X at the sides. I could not believe my lucky stars that the number of X and O's on the back work to exactly the 56cm. I took 56cm and subtracted 3.5cm (the two half X's for the sides to match the other 1/2 of the X from the fronts) and I'm left with 52.5cm. 52.5/3.5(width of each X and O) = 15. I needed and odd number to make sure two X's or O's wouldn't be next to each other. Do you understand what I'm saying?

Time to celebrate that the numbers worked out!!!

I am now excited to actually start the knitting part. Design is so much trickier and there is a ton of math and calculation involved.

I really appreciate all the work good designers go to in order to make a *good* design. Boy, I can sure spot issues with designs now.

Here is a tidbit of how my design worked out. It is hard to see. I have a hell of a time photographing the velum like graph paper.

Yes, another diversion

2009-03-18T12:25:00.000-07:00

What can I say?

I'm lacking any motivation WHATSOEVER to do Nihon Vogue homework.

It isn't that I don't enjoy my education. It isn't that I don't love Jean(which I DO). It isn't that I'm not learning anything(I learn so much!). I can't exactly put my finger on why I haven't tackled ANY homework since last class.

Oh! I know why.

There are so many other exciting and tempting things out there that are catching my attention.

One is this Mystery Shawl Along #12 hosted by Goddess Knits. Renee' Leverington designs some amazing lace shawls.

I have never joined a mystery anything.

Friends know I am a lace ho. I love knitting lace and I collect lace yarn. You know one reason I gravitate to lace yarn? It doesn't take up that much space. It is lots of yardage in a very small package.

Why did I decide to do a mystery lace knit along? Consider my habits. I love starting projects. I love the anticipation of casting on, of dreaming about the finished product. I'm just one of those folks that loves *beginnings*.

My first thoughts on a mystery shawl was "what if I don't like the shawl at the end and I've committed all these hours to it?"

Then I began to think in terms of reality. I know I love to start projects. I know I love lace. I know I have a lot of lace yarn in the stash.

Hell, why not do a mystery shawl?

These are the pro's: It will be fun because uh, it's a mystery and I love mysteries and suspense. I can use up lace stash. I love knitting lace. I love starting things. Since a clue(or the next part of the chart) is released on a weekly basis, it is like getting to start a new project every week, yet it is also continuing a project. At the end of 6 weeks a mystery will be solved and I will have used up a small part of my stash and have a beautiful shawl to show for it. What are the cons? Are there any? Ok, maybe the con is that I have spent hours away from doing Nihon homework. As my friend Melinda pointed out that I will be able to DO IT ALL since I took Stephanie's Speed Knitting course(I'm sure her message was sent in a facetious tone which can't be conveyed in a text message). Oh, if only one could have those skills just by taking a class and not actually practicing the technique!

So I began my shawl on March 11, the day after I returned from Hawaii. Clue 2 was released this past Saturday. I finished clue two and this is what the shawl looks like so far.

Yarn: Posh Yarn Cecilia(50%cashmere/50%silk) 100g with 1300 yds - colorway aquarium

Needles used: Addi Turbo lace US4/3.5mm

Now back to designing my Aran for Nihon Vogue homework! It has been a rough go. I don't like anything I think will look good together. I thought last weekend I had my design pretty much figured out, now today I don't like it(the reason I have not posted any photos yet). Maybe my change in satisfaction had to do with the migraine I had yesterday? I am thinking of scraping what I had conceptualized. That is the hard part about design. Its all about lots of swatching and literally going back to the drawing board.

Back to the drawing board. I better get coffee first! (Do you see how my brain tries to protect me by diverting me to the kitchen rather than my desk?)

Queen of Beads

2009-03-05T20:00:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I decided to start the first installment of the Rockin' Sock Club 2009 - World Domination Tour.

The first design is called Queen of Beads, designed by Sivia Harding.

First detour from Queen of Beads:

I had an opportunity to meet Sivia at the Madrona Fiber Arts Winter retreat 3 weeks ago. I happen to be a member of a private Yahoo group. Each year at Madrona a bunch of us meet up and have dinner one night during the retreat. Sivia is also a member of that group.

As knitter notoriety goes, Sivia is right up there. She might laugh about this but when she showed up for dinner(I had heard rumor's she was going to be there), I felt nervous excitement! Having dinner with Sivia Harding? She was also helping Cat Bordhi in her sock class so I had a chance to talk to her in class. She is such a kind and gracious person.

Back to the socks!

Here is the wonderfully dyed yarn(thank you Tina!) with the very beautiful beads sitting next to my refreshing tropical drink.

I have never strung beads onto yarn before knitting. I usually use a crochet hook to place the beads as I am knitting.

I don't know a lot about bead knitting so I had to call Ellen on the phone to find out how she strung her beads. The way I was thinking I was going to string them on the yarn did not work(using a fine needle and stringing them on the yarn like I did as a child making bead jewelry).

I had planned on placing the beads on the yarn while we drove 2 hours north to the quaint little town of Hawi. Since that didn't work I knit on my Mandala shawl.

Note - Second detour from talking about the Queen of Beads:

As we got closer to the northern end of the island there was a brush fire. The next photo was taken as we approached the area of the brush fire. Don't you wonder what the fire/police think when tourists are taking dumb photos like these? Ooohhh, I was on vacation and there was a *brush fire*. Great excitement. :)

I'll blame it on Greg. He said "get the camera out and take some photos!" So I did!

On the way back to the condo after sightseeing on the north end of the island yesterday I asked to stop at Longs Drug to get dental floss threaders. After talking with Ellen and failing at stringing the beads with a needle, I was intent on getting those beads ON the yarn!

Back on track with the socks:

This is how you string beads onto yarn using a floss threader.

Start with a single floss threader:

Drape your yarn through the loop of the floss threader:

Begin stringing the beads using the pointed tip of the floss threader:

Once the bead/beads are on the floss threader, push the bead down the yarn. I had some difficulty getting some of my beads down past where the floss threader ends and where the yarn is doubled. I think there are just some beads that were just too small to get on the yarn.

I've strung about 190 beads on the yarn for the first sock. I am ready to begin.

The other photographer in the family

2009-03-02T13:11:00.001-08:00

As we were coming to our condo on the big island we went down a residential street. Obviously this is a well travelled street that required some speed bumps be installed to slow traffic.

As Greg drove, I was trying to get my camera focused and ready. As many speed bumps as there were on this road, I could not get a good, clear shot.

First attempt:

Second attempt:

Third and final attempt:

Good thing there is another photographer in the family!

I love the term "Speed Hump". Cracked me up. Funny how a one letter difference can really change how one reacts to a particular phrase. Obviously it moved me enough to try and get my camera out to take a photo.

On another note, I love taking photos of Greg taking photos. Why? I like to see the context in which a particular photo or photos are taken.

Greg taking photos of the sunset on the big island.

This is one of the photos he took when I was taking the photo of him:

This next round of photos are for Ellen and her son Patrick in memory of Monty! This little guy took up residence on our lanai.

Here is Greg taking photos of Monty II.

Here are some of the photos of Monty II that Greg took:

Monty II closeup:

Monty II feeling threatened:
Monty II looking like a dog, begging for a treat!

I'll end today's post by wishing my sister, Trish, a very Happy Birthday! Have a great dinner with the kids at Marlai! Hopefully they will treat you(although we know that it probably isn't likely! HA!). Hope you had a great day!

Yes, I AM doing some knitting

2009-03-01T17:07:00.000-08:00

Aloha!

I always, whether I blog about it or not, have some knitting going. Usually I have Nihon Vogue homework to keep me busy but I needed a break from it.

While on vacation(I know, everyday is vacation for me nowadays), I am even taking a break from Nihon Vogue.

As most knitters can relate, trying to decide what knitting to bring on a trip is harder than what clothes/shoes to pack. Again, as most knitters will agree, they usually take too much knitting along, ever optimistic as to how much knitting one can actually get done on vacation!

What I *have* managed to make progess on are the following.

The Stalwart Left Right Socks. This yarn was a definite splurge AND unexpected purchase at Madrona. The fiber is basically the Merlin product by Louet but hand-dyed by Tactile Fiber Arts. I bought two skeins(I know, a $62 pair of socks?) but I just wanted to make Greg some special socks for summer. They will be very hard wearing with the linen. Since Greg is not good about hand washing his hand-knit socks, I thought this would be a good fiber for him - he can wash them in the washer and stick them in the dryer. I heard good things from a fellow student in my Cat Bordhi sock class. She swears by the wearability of this fiber combo.

Here is my progress. Notice I am using Knitpicks harmony dpns. Well, I had Greg try them on as he has very thin ankles and I wanted him to try them on to make sure they were not too big. I start out on a 2.5mm and just about a couple inches down from the cuff I transition to 2.25mm. When he was trying them on he was having a hard time getting the sock over his heel. Instead of gently pulling them on, he just bullies the sock on. Snap! Good thing Knitpicks come with 6 dpns. I think this is a clear example of why I need to invest in the Signature Knitting Needle dpns. I have one coveted pair and at $55 for a set of 5, it is a real investment. But I must say, a worthy investment. I love them.

Sorry I got distracted. Here is my progress.

I also like to have a no-brainer knitting project along. At the last minute(you know, you are stuffing a skein of yarn here and there in the suitcases) I put in my Summer of Love colorway from Plucky Knitter. I bought this at the last Stitch 'N Pitch. As a side note, is there a Seattle Mariner fan out there that isn't completely thrilled to have Griffey back this season? I'm over the moon! Looking forward to our season tickets! Here I go again getting distracted.

Here are my Summer of Love Nutkin socks. I love the Nutkin pattern. Mindless, yet interesting. I love how the color splash is spiriling around the sock.

At Madrona, I bought some to die(or is it dye) for wild tussah silk/merino lace yarn in the colorway Plum Thunder(sound like it would be *my* color, doesn't it?) from Curious Creek Fibers. I am knitting the Mandala Shawl. I am enjoying this very much. I started knitting this at Madrona and was almost done with Chart 3(on a US4) when I realized that I didn't like the fabric. Back in some dark corner of my brain, I heard Catherine Lowe say "Why wouldn't you do a large swatch for a shawl?". Well, lesson learned. I had put many hours into the shawl and had to frog. Don't get me wrong. I happily frogged it knowing I would be much happier with the end result. I enjoyed knitting it so much that I will enjoy is just as well the second time around(this time on a US7).

Here is lies on the chaise lounge looking like a blob of seaweed. Laziness prevents me from putting it on a longer circular needle to show off its detail.

I feel bad for you folks back at home that braved the snow and are dealing with a good dose of rain. I hate to say how nice it is here where I am. It is nice. It is about 80 degrees with light winds. I'll send sun your way!

Our World Underwater

2009-02-26T14:50:00.000-08:00

For those of you that read my blog, know that my husband, Greg, is an avid underwater photographer.

He has entered photography contests before and we even won a trip to Fiji once.

Like most artists, he is shy about selling himself and his photographs. You can see more of his work on his website.

Recently he entered a contest hosted by Wetpixel and DivePhotoGuide. In the wide angle unrestricted category he placed third! I was so excited to hear he had placed because I knew they had quite a few people entering their art. I think there were about 3500 entrants!

You can see images of the other winners here. Although the images can be somewhat disturbing, take a look at the Environment and Conservation section. This highlights the need for better care for the beings living below the water's surface.

I am so proud of what Greg does as a photographer.

What was really cool about this competition was that one of the judges was David Doubilet. Many of you may be familiar with him as he has done many, many National Geographic assignments. It is cool to know he looked at some of Greg's images and must have been impressed with his Manta Heaven.

He hasn't had a chance to do much diving here on Maui. He dove one day and the past two days the boat has cancelled their trips due to high winds!

Great job, honey!

It has been awhile

2009-02-25T17:53:00.000-08:00

Hi!

I've been away for quite some time.

How is it that I hosted Ruth Sorensen and Jens Mikkelsen for a couple weeks, then went off to Madrona and I didn't take any pictures?!!!

I think I *may* have some photos on my laptop at home but not on the laptop I am working on in the next couple weeks.

Madrona was a blast. I had a great time. I shared a room with Jen(who just became an owner of a Jensen Tina II spinning wheel - another one bites the dust!), Amy, and Ellen. We happily were able to get an adjoining room with Melinda, Michale and JoniO.

I took a few classes. I took Catherine Lowe's Foundations of Couture Knitting. This was a perfectionist's dream. Talk about attentiveness to detail. Catherine is amazing in her attention to the little things. I got a lot out of the class and I was glad I took it. I would like to learn more from her.

I took Cat Bordhi's Hybrid Sock Architecture class. This was an all-day class that I thought could have been a good half day class. Much of what I learned in the class can be found in her sock book. Cat is very entertaining and a very good teacher.

I also took Stephanie Pearl-McPhee's Knitting for Speed and Efficiency. This class was worth its weight in gold. I am a fairly proficient knitter(can knit 50 sts per minute) but if I can get this Lever Knitting down, I can really speed up my production. I have been trying to practice a bit everyday. Its like learning to knit all over again. I know I can *get* this technique with practice. I remember all those years ago when I taught myself to knit that I never thought I would be able to relax and knit. I know at some point, this lever knitting will feel like second nature as well.

Where have I been? A couple days ago Greg and I hiked down a road to see these petroglyphs.

I crack up about the island culture.

On the mainland, you would see signs directing you to a sightseeing place like this. No. Not in the islands. It is like "island time" but directed at where to go.

We get to the road and find where it says basically that you will find the petroglyph's by hiking down this rocky road. We walk down the road and see the only thing that looks like it could have petroglyph's there. We see this very, very "OSHA nightmare" platform(how they describe it in the guidebook Maui Revealed) and we don't see anything. We hike around this area and don't see any petroglyph's. Then we run into this couple from Colorado and ask them if they saw the petroglyph's? No.

We go back to the area we initially hiked up to. We aren't talking hiking trail. We are talking overgrown, dirt, steep incline up to this "platform" which is very sketchy. It is pretty dangerous. There were no signs posted. Nothing. Funny!

We are on Maui right now. Enjoying some relaxation and warmer weather.

As I gain a bit more color(looking more native - my dad was born and raised in Hawaii) I think about something Jens said during his visit. He was incredulous that there can be such discrimination towards people of color and yet people lie out, go to tanning salons to get more color!

I did bring some knitting along. No Nihon Vogue homework!

I brought a lace shawl and a number of sock projects.

As I leave you today, a birthday shout out to my friend JoniB. She is celebrating a milestone birthday today! Happy 50th Joni!!

I'm not kidding you

2009-02-09T09:14:00.000-08:00

I just finished the Baltic Blossom Shawl designed by Evelyn Clark.

I purchased 3 skeins of Handmaiden Swiss Cashmere Silk yarn in the Amethyst colorway at Village Yarn and Tea's New Year's Day sale. I had been eyeing this yarn for quite some time.

I hunted for the perfect shawl for this amazing yarn with the right yardage. As it ended up, I only used 2 skeins. I'm not kidding you, I had *just* enough yarn. I had about 1.5 yards left!!! See photo below:

This is a beauty and it is finished just in time for the Madrona Fiber Arts Winter Retreat 2009!

Here are more photos of Baltic.

I hope to connect with all of you at the retreat!

I have spent the past two weeks with Ruth Sorensen and her husband, Jens. We have been busy running around sightseeing. This is the reason for lack of posts.

For those of you signed up for her Mitten and Wristwarmer classes at Madrona, you are in for a real treat!

Polly, Pocket Wheel

2009-01-19T11:05:00.000-08:00

Because I have a number of nieces, I have seen all things related to Polly Pocket toys.

I have a new toy. For some reason I can.not get "Polly Pocket Wheel" out of my head!

My spinning wheels have names. Do yours?

My very first wheel was a Louet Victoria and I call her Lil' Vicki. She was a very good first wheel and my travel wheel.

Next came the Schact Matchess. She is named Stipulation. Huh, you say? When I purchased it Greg said to go ahead and buy it but there was one stipulation. She couldn't "live" in the living room. That is how she got her name.

Since July 2008 I have been on the waiting list for a Pocket Wheel by Doug Dodd.

Last week Ellen and I drove up to Bellingham to pick up our wheels. I was beyond thrilled and excited! Now that I have had some time to spin on her, I love her even more than I thought I would.

Here is a photo comparison of Stipulation against Polly Pocket.

When I put my deposit down in July I was hoping for Christmas delivery. I would email Doug from time to time to find out where I was on the list and I realized I wasn't going to get it even before the Madrona Fiber Arts Retreat mid February. Well I do have it! Yes! But...there is a story to be told because I would still be on the the waiting list. You'll have to read on to discover how I got her.

Since he first came out with this wheel, he has made a few design changes. His most current design of the wheel does not have a leather strap. I have always wanted the leather strap version for ease of transport. You can still get the design with the leather strap but it is special order now.

He had three wheels available to take delivery of now. He wasn't willing to ship these. I believe he had taken them to a St. Distaff Day gathering and one woman had wanted one of the wheels but never contacted Doug. Ellen just happened to e-mail Doug about a week and a half ago inquiring on the progress of the waiting list and he happened to mention he had three wheels available now that had leather straps. There were two maple and one prunewood. She took the prunewood.

I had a choice between the two maple ones. At first I wasn't sure I wanted to take delivery of a maple one because I had set my mind on Cherry. I decided the type of wood wasn't so important to me but having the leather handle was. Plus I figured maple might be just a tad lighter than Cherry. Do I have to mention that getting one now was a real motivator?

I had to decide between a change in the design of how the ratio change thingy(my technical term) attaches to the wheel. The change in the design was made so it is easier for him to create. One had the new design, the other had the old design. With a waiting list of over 70 now, he has had to make some design changes so he can make all us spinners happy!

He says there is no difference in functionality with this change but I liked having the older model. He said it makes it slightly easier to treadle. That doesn't make much difference because this baby is easy to treadle anyway. I have only compared my wheel(with the old design) and Ellen's(with the new design). I do think the treadling is a bit smoother and my wheel seems to be a tiny bit quieter but I can't say if this is due to this design change or something else.

This baby is small! So adorable and she spins SO smoothly. It really is an amazing design.

Being vertically challenged(petite) this wheel really is comfortable for me. The pedals are higher up so there is less strain on my low back. I can sit on a sofa, a dining room chair, my office desk chair and they are all comfortable. This has not been the case with my other wheels.

It is a scotch tension and it comes with 3 bobbins.

This wheel, by design, has an infinite # of ratios. You can purchase the wheel with a high speed option but I am not sure this is really necessary. For most folks the regular option is definitely going to work just fine. How are ratios changed on this wheel?

As you see in the photo above, there is a metal roller thing that moves up and down the silver shaft. You just take a little allen wrench tool and loosen the mechanism. You just move the roller thing up and down and this is what changes the ratio. As you move it toward the outer edge of the wheel, it has a faster/higher ratio. As you move it toward the center of the wheel, it has a slower/lower ratio. See? Infinite number of ratios and you don't need to carry and change whorls when necessary.

At this point I only have nice things to say about this wheel. I am seriously considering selling my Louet Victoria(for sure) and even possibly, the Schacht. I get a lot more spinning done because I just tote Polly around from room to room. I get in a few minutes here and there and before I know it a bobbin is full!

I even tried putting her under my desk. She fits. So I can be at my desk doing "work" and spin here and there as I need a break. Yes, I don't work anymore at a real job. If you do work at a job, you can hide your pocket wheel under your desk and spin from time to time! Your co-workers won't even know! :)

Grafting the Dolman Shoulder Seam

2009-01-12T20:05:00.000-08:00

As I was happily graphting (I say facetiously) 129 stitches on the shoulder seam of my dolman, I thought I would break up the monotony by taking some photos of what I was doing.

Setup: Put the piece of the garment with the live stitches closest to you, right side facing. The piece with the bound off stitches goes above the piece with the live stitches, right side facing.

Step 1: Go into the first stitch on the piece closest to you with the live stitches, purlwise. Leave on needle.

Step 2: Find the first stitch of the bound off piece. You will see a 'V' shape and you want to go behind the two legs of the 'V'from right to left.

Step 3: Go into the first stitch on the front(live stitches) needle knitwise(left to right) and take off the needle.

Continue with steps 1-3 until all stitches have been grafted.

It's like driving across Montana

2009-01-06T14:52:00.000-08:00

My friend, and fellow Nihon Vogue student, Joni compared knitting a dolman garment to driving across Montana. It just seems to go on, and on,and on!

I wholeheartedly agree. I might even say it is like driving to Florida and back!

As tried to remind myself while knitting that as I was knitting the front or the back, that I was also knitting the sleeve at the same time!

Let me tell you something you don't want to do. Make a mistake and have to frog. I made an error in my cable and had to rip back 20 rows(it was an unrecoverable type of mistake or else I would have just frogged the cable portion). I wasn't just ripping out 20 rows of my left front, it was also 20 rows of the sleeve!

During the project drafting phase I wanted to minimize the bat-wingy-ness of the garment. As you will see in the photo below, my bat wing is pretty small.

I just finished knitting all my dolman pieces. As you may recall, the cable is from A Cardigan for Arwen by Kate Gilbert. I love that the cable is reversible.

I still need to decide how I am going to finish the neckline. Will I do the same cable as the collar, will I do a rib(saw a cute stand up rib on Arwen in Ravelry - looked very sharp)? Hmmmnnn. So many options. That is what I love about creating my own design rather than following a pattern - I call the shots!

Can you see all the markers along the shoulder line in the photo above? That is where you do a ton of short rows to create the shoulder slope.

How to join the shoulders? You can do a 3 needle NV technique bind off, you can kitchener it or you can do as I am doing. The 3 needles bind off will result in a seam that you can see rather readily. The kitchener may not provide enough support for the whole garment. The technique I am going to do is to bind off the front and then kitchener the front and back pieces together. This will give the most seamless look while providing more support at the shoulder seam.

Elegant Arrows Moebius

2009-01-04T22:00:00.000-08:00

I was reading the Blue Moon Fiber Arts blog tonight. Tina's latest post resonated with me.

I was moved by it. I believe as she does in the power of mindfulness, the power of intention and the power we have as individuals to help move the planet towards peace.

Sivia Harding posted in the comments about a moebius scarf she designed that may be used in a KAL of sorts, suggested by Cat Bordhi. Sivia wrote "Cat Bordhi has suggested that knitting a Moebius while watching the inauguration would be an especially fitting way to usher in the “new era” with peace, oneness and unity." There are more specifics in this post on Sivia's blog.

Even with as much Nihon homework as I have to do in the coming weeks I want to cast-on this scarf on Tuesday January 20, 2009.

For me this moebius will be a symbol of the peace and hope I feel as we usher in a new president. It will remind me of this historical day.

Will you join me?

Projects, Projects Everywhere! All NON Nihon Vogue!

2009-01-02T11:05:00.002-08:00

If you have followed my blog you will know I do a whole lot of starting of projects and only a handful of finishing! I can blame a part of that on my Nihon Vogue certification. I do finish 8 sweaters in the course of a year. The following projects are just side projects or what I call Contraband Knitting.

I finished a shawl for my mother-in-law for Christmas. This yarn is from Toots LeBlanc. It is in the 60/40angora/wool blend. The wool portion of the blend is either Rambouillet or Merino. It really blooms after washing. The pattern is the Foliage Shawl by Miriam Felton. I only used 2 skeins or 500 yards. I had the smallest amount left over. It was close. I did do one extra repeat of the pattern to make the shawl a little bit bigger.

I had some issues with the pattern. In the pattern instructions Miriam says you can make the shawl bigger by adding repeats but she doesn't go into detail in how that affects the knitted on border. I e-mailed her about it but it took her a bit of time to get back with me. By that time I had already forged ahead. I had to make some small adjustments but it wasn't noticeable in the finished product.

I had never done a knitted on border before. I think it turned out beautifully and Evie loves it.

I could not leave my father-in-law out in the cold, so to speak. I made him a scarf in a 4 ply scottish cashmere. I purchased this recycled yarn off Ebay. In a prior life it was a sweater. I took the yarn which was in cakes, took four balls and strung it around my knitty noddy, washed it and dried it before knitting. This scarf is so thick and yummy. I had never used recycled yarn before and I think it is a very cool(no pun intended) way to go. I do have a fair amount of cashmere yarn in my stash but *my color's* wouldn't suit Ron!

I found this pattern out of one of my Japanese knitting books with patterns/designs for men. (Note: Amy, do you see the project bag in the background? I am never without my knitting!)

I also knitted some socks for my niece, Jenn, who turned 30 this month. She makes hand made books and she inquired one day about doing a trade - one of her books for a pair of hand knit socks. I told her "there is no freakin' way". I don't gift knit to non-knitters because I have had a bad experience with it. Non-knitters do not understand the number of hours it takes to knit a scarf or a pair of socks. I made an exception because this is a very special milestone in her life.

The pattern is Biological Clock from Janel Laidman's Eclectic Sole book. This was not a hint for her to get going in the motherly way(she isn't married) but she is a scientist. The DNA strands were perfect for her! These photos are not very good. I gave them to her Christmas night so there was no natural lighting. I had forgotten to take photos before I gave them to her.

I am a member of the Rockin' Sock Club. I love this club. The last installment of the year is a lovely colourway that happened by mistake by Tina and it has become her new favorite. We got the yarn in mediumweight paired with a wonderful, easy to memorize pattern by Anne Hanson. How could you NOT love a pattern by Anne of Knitspot. All her patterns are very well written and easy to follow.

Recently on a black-hole tour(You know the one. You go into Ravelry to just check your messages, maybe check out what is going on in a few of your groups, maybe stop by to see what your friends are doing and next thing you know a couple hours have gone by. Familiar?) in Ravelry I came upon these adorable mittens. Like the sea turtles, I love seahorses. I have never seen one in the wild(I would have to scuba dive). I just think they are such fascinating creatures.

Greg took some awesome photos like this one while in Indonesia. I would love to see this guy in person. Can you believe that this little guy is about as big as your pinkie fingernail?

I know a lot of you out there with left over Kauni yarn. Will this project be added to your Ravelry queue?

Saying Goodbye to 2008

2008-12-31T16:30:00.000-08:00

2008 was a very good year for me. I had a number of life changes and as difficult as change can be, it is always good.

The biggest change in my life this year was being able to say goodbye to my IT career. It took me some months to adjust from my high stress, deadline driven career to a life of leisure. Now that I have adjusted to it, I wake up every single morning grateful for the freedom to do as I choose.

My oldest sister, Val, has been in town for the past few weeks. All of my other siblings live in the area so it is a real treat to have her visit so the family is all together. My parents would be proud to see how close their children are to one another. This time of year is always a bit bittersweet for me as my parents and my sister Deb are no longer earthbound and I miss being with them.

As the new year approaches, I want to leave you all with a photo of me and "my sibs", as I call them. They are near and dear to me. They are my best friends, a part of my wonderful support network. I have no doubt that they would drop everything for me if life dictated such a response. We all would, and have done so, for one another.

We laugh, we cry, we chat, chat, chat and we laugh some more. On Christmas Val said she had a headache from laughing so much.

Not a day goes by that I don't talk to at least one of my sisters.

Dear Ooka girls(this is what we call ourselves), I love you all so very much. You are the center of my heart around which everything else revolves. Life is so much more fun, so much more fulfilling because we are a family!

Greg, you are at the center of my heart, too. They have just been with me since the day I was born!

The day I was born my dad called home to tell my sisters whether I was a boy or a girl. When they found out I was a girl, they danced around the house singing "it's a girl, it's a girl." They were relieved. What would they do with a brother?

I have always felt loved, cared for and protected. Honestly I say I had 7 mothers. Six older sisters and one mother that birthed me!

On December 27, 2008 my Auntie Sumi celebrated her 80th birthday. She isn't a *true* aunt in the bloodline way. She was my mom's best friend. This photo was taken at her birthday party.

From Left to Right: Naomi, Cheryl, Val, Karen, Auntie Sumi, Kathy and Trish.

As I leave this post to go party with my sibs, I wish you all the best for 2009! Be safe tonight and I'll see you in the New Year!

When you didn't think you would use geometry again...

2008-12-30T10:01:00.000-08:00

I originally wrote this post over a month ago(Nov 11). Someone help me slow time down!

I just attended another weekend of Nihon Vogue classes for year two.

I had a wonderful weekend. I spent it with 11 other students learning from Jean Wong. I love my Nihon Vogue weekends.

The newest project we have to tackle is a raglan. This isn't a top down raglan, this raglan is knit in pieces.

If you go out and research raglan designs, very few are designed so a pattern meets up and matches on the body over to the sleeves(yes it is easy to do if knitting it from the top down). This is a very challenging design to do. I recall Jean saying this is our most challenging design for year two.

The reason? It takes a lot of math. It takes very accurate measurements and calculations(isn't this what Nihon Vogue is all about? Exacting attention to detail!) I created an isosceles triangle on my design which will ensure my patterns line up. Of course there is more to it than just that but the basis for this technique is the isosceles triangle. Do you see it in the upper left corner portion of the photo?

Isoceles triangle? I thought I left that behind a long time ago!

Creating the template for the design is the easy part(yeah right-draw this, then at a right angle to this point, draw a line that is perpendicular to that, etc, etc!) but taking some stitch patterns and making them work on your body measurements....another story. This design is going to take some time. Some thinking. Some trial and error, I suspect. Dec 30, 2008: Now that I have completed that portion of the design, I can tell you that it did take me a bit of time to find a pattern that was interesting, yet simple.

Jean's guidance dictated that we find a repeating design that has few stitches, the lower the number of stitches in the repeat, the better. They are easier to match up from body to sleeve.

I chose a cable/bobble combination for the center front of my sweater and a herringbone pattern for the rest of the body and sleeve.

I found the herringbone stitch from a sock pattern. Some of my friends have knit Charade socks. I used the herringbone rib pattern that was used in this pattern.

The yarn? A wonderful discontinued yarn I have had in my stash for quite some time. Rowan Magpie in Coffee Bean. This yarn has a lot of loft and shows patterning beautifully. Magpie has 153 yards(140m) in 100g. (Note: I bought two stashes from a wonderful woman in the UK. Both lots had 10 skeins each. One in the color Float and one in Charcoal. Love this yarn!) Why don't they still make this?

My brain is full of information. It is so energizing to learn something that mathematically works, in creative pursuit. Nihon Vogue is a perfect pairing of analytical calculation and the creative aspects of knitting design.

What I learned in our December class is the calculations for doing the body and sleeve decreases. I am glad I have my exact calculations written down with copious notes. I have not done any homework since the last class due to Christmas project knitting! I missed the second day of class due to snow so I have a lot of catching up to do. Project 4 is an Aran. Now that is going to be fun!

Back to the raglan. The tricky part to knitting the decreases is that all pieces(front, back and both sleeves) the decreases MUST be done for all pieces on the same row. If you miss your decrease on one or more pieces, your pattern will NOT line up. There is no fudging here. Did you hear me on that? NO fudging?

So to help us, Jean suggested we use a very long circular needle and knit all the pieces at the same time. No, the pieces are not connected to one another but you can better keep the continuity of the decreases on all pieces if done in this manner.

Yikes. I'll keep you posted on my progress!

Coyotes!

2008-12-16T08:25:00.000-08:00

Yesterday afternoon there were a couple coyotes in our backyard. One was an adult and the other, a pup.

They are such beautiful creatures. I'm saddened that they have had to come into populated areas to survive.

There have been a few incidents in the past couple weeks that raised questions in my and Greg's minds. The first happened one afternoon while we were sitting in our living room and we heard animal fighting. It was very loud. We both looked at each other and quickly went out the back door to listen to what was going on. Some animal was obviously in distress. Then as quickly as it started, there was silence. The second incidence happened at 2am when we were awaken by loud crying or howling.

This latest sighting brings the puzzle pieces together.

Greg was able to capture a very artsy photo of the adult. I was in my office when Greg called to me. I looked out my office window and there they were. The adult and the pup just lazily trotting across the hillside. I love all animals and they were so pretty. I felt sadness at the same time. They are not in their element.

Everytime Chase and Beanie go outside to take care of their potty business, I am out there as well protecting my pack!

No Posts!

2008-12-08T07:18:00.000-08:00

I realize it has been quite some time since I published a post. I am a bit sheepish to admit why there has been such a large gap.

I got my very cool Nikon Coolpix S60 in September. Well...I can.not.find(!) the cord that I hook into the USB to load the photos. We have every other kind of card reader to put a memory card in to load media and I thought I would just use one of those instead. They do not have a slot for the particular SD card the coolpix uses(it does have an SD card slot but this is a different kind of SD). The camera came with a cord I can put into the camera and then connect to my computer to load the photos. We have a million of those kinds of cords from our various toys. The Nikon one has to have an input that is just a little bit different than the ones we have so all the ones I have tried DO NOT FIT. Honestly. Greg has 3 types of Nikon digital SLR's. Don't you think we would have something that works?

That is the reason I have not been posting.

I hate to publish a post lacking photos so until I find the cord I won't be posting.

I hear some of you saying "Just go out and buy a cord!" I am too cheap(I realize I am a study in contradictions as I do love my Louis Vuitton bags and we all know those babies are NOT cheap) - I'd rather use that $$ on fiber or cool knitting tools. Yes, for you non-knitters out there, there ARE cool knitting and spinning tools!

I know the cord disappeared when Greg came home from a 3 week vacation to Palau. This is what happened: I had sort of camped out in Greg's office during the day while he was gone. He has a ginormous computer monitor which is great for watching on-demand Netflix. There was another benefit. Our house has a very open design so it can be hard to heat or have the house feel cozy warm. I'm too cheap to heat the whole house when I can camp out in one room and close the door and trap the heat in the one room. I'd close his office door, settle in with Chase and Beanie and it was perfect!

After I moved all my various spinning and knitting projects, laptop, camera stuff, etc.(yes there was stuff everywhere) from his office back upstairs to my office, that is when the cord suddenly disappeared. Yes, it is probably in some project bag. I could swear I have looked everywhere but that is just not possible is it? It has to be here, somewhere.

Now I am on the last week before our next Nihon class and I just don't have the time to look for the cord and do a blog post.

Next blog post: Next week. With photos. If I absolutely can't find the cord, I will go buy a new one as this is getting a bit ridiculous!

Valkyrie and my gnomiejo knits orifice hook!

2008-11-06T21:50:00.000-08:00

When Ellen and I went down to the Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival in September I purchased some roving from Blue Moon Fiber Arts - 50% merino, 50% silk in the Valkyrie colorway.

This particular purchase was a definite impulse buy. Here comes the justification logic. I figure you can't purchase roving(except superwash merino) on-line. When you go to conventions and festivals they always have roving of different fibers. This is the time you *need* to stock up on BMFA roving! Plus!...you know Tina's take on color...you can't resist!

I had gone back to their booth because I had loaned Tina Newton(owner and dyer extraordinaire of Blue Moon) a sweater I had made out of BMFA mediumweight Socks that Rock to display in their booth. I picked up my sweater and also picked up this roving. I recall trying to call Ellen on the cell to have her talk me out of it but she didn't hear her phone ring. I guess her not picking up the phone worked out well for me!

I finished spinning this up into 2-ply laceweight. It is very pretty and I enjoyed spinning this. I wasn't sure if I would like working with this blend and I found out that I really enjoy it(good thing because I bought a lot of merino/silk blends at OFFF). It is approximately 7 ounces. I'll have to check again but I think it is around 22 wpi.

I made a recent purchase at Rainy Days and Wooly Dogs. I know one of the owners of the shop, Shiori, as she is a fellow student in Nihon Vogue. I saw an orifice hook with a gnome on it in their shop. I emailed Shiori right away and asked if she could do some custom work on it. Her business partner, Stephanie, makes these works of art and she graciously agreed to make me a custom hook!

I wanted her to add 'gnomiejo knits' somewhere on the hook for me and she did!

Isn't it just wonderful?

I love the glass bead they added to the base which has a toadstool look to it. I appreciate the attention to detail that went into creating this work of art.

Nihon Vogue Year Two, so far

2008-11-03T21:06:00.000-08:00

When I began year two I had the best intentions to blog in more detail what I am learning.

It is now the day before our second session and I have not given you more information on what we are learning.

I am thoroughly enjoying my journey in year two. It is amazing what NOT working does for a student taking on this level of certification.

Project one is a puffy/gathered sleeve garment. My inspiration came from the Skater's Top by Veronik Avery. I am knitting this garment out of a fiber exactly like Kidsilk Haze but made by another company.

Here is the body sewn up but without the neckline ribbing.

The concepts involved in creating a puffy sleeve is very intriguing. During class when Jean showed us how to make the design, all I could think was "how cool is that?". I feel fortunate that as we are learning this concept just as the puffy sleeve has come back into fashion. I am seeing them in many fashion magazines.

For this short sleeve tee, when creating the puffy sleeve, after you have drawn the sleeve cap curve, you take tracing paper and draw the cap only onto the paper. Cut it out. Then anchoring at the underarm point, pivot the cap at that point upward. Then you can draw the new sleeve cap.

With each garment we design, I learn more on how to determine if a certain pattern will work with the design or not. I learned, after knitting the front, that the stitch pattern I chose isn't going to work out as well as I thought it would.

The lace pattern I am using is a 9 stitch repeat and there is no center stitch, per se. It is not a balanced pattern, as you can see above.

I should have mirrored the lace stitch pattern on the left and right sides of the center front and center back, or use a different stitch pattern altogether. Luckily the fuzziness of this yarn will disguise this *problem* a teeny, tiny bit but *I* will know there is a problem. I wasn't willing to start all over and re-knit the front once I realized the issue but I will chalk it up experience.

Not only did I make the sleeve so it will be gathered at the top of the sleeve, but I also did short rows right after the provisional cast-on to create a little puffy shelf-y thing at the bottom of the sleeve right before the ribbing. In essence you are creating a collar shaped fabric on the sleeve.

To create this on your actual pattern you create an area of short rows.

To explain how this creates additional fabric, the photo below of my notes may help you to understand. The orange line is the provisional cast-on and you knit up from this line. The purple line indicates where the ribbing is done downward. You still knit down from the provisional cast-on but the drawing is trying to indicate and show the extra fabric that you will create.

Project Two. Dolman sleeve garment. More detail to come later(I would rather do some spinning today!). Originally I was going to do a very short sleeved pullover out of Euroflax for a cute summer top. That design went out the window the day of class where we learned the dolman sleeve concepts. I didn't want to do a short-sleeved garment as I felt I would be short changing my learning on the technicalities to create the dolman sleeve.

I landed on doing a dolman sleeved version of Kate Gilbert's A Cardigan for Arwen. The dolman area of the sleeve will be very small(no wing bats for me). I won't do a hooded version but I have yet to determine how I will finish the neckline.

Here is my progress on the front. The back is done up to this point but it is just stockinette so there is no point really showing you.

We also had to knit 4 guage samples out of 100% wool with about 110 meters(120yds) in 50g. Each swatch is 25 sts, 25 rows. One swatch for 3.25, 3.5, 3.75 and 4mm needle.

This will help us determine, in our own knitting, about how much each change in needle size will give us in our knitting.

To help me keep track of what needle size I used for each swatch, I put little knots in the cast-on yarn. Here is an example of my knots for my 3.25 swatch.

Have a great weekend! I know I will! Going to Nihon Vogue class is always exciting and fun, and little exhausting.

'Cuz you asked

2008-11-03T16:40:00.000-08:00

I've had a number of inquiries about our home siding project.

Well....it is still incomplete. I'm glad we had a fixed price bid, not time and materials bid because we would have gone way over budget.

The area in the photo above where the orange is the master bedroom deck. They came to lay some decking material and found additional rot(not sure why they didn't discover this before). We decided to put in a new sliding glass door there while we are at it before they put up the Hardie Board. Did you know it can take awhile to get the door delivered? No wonder these projects go on and on!

Here is the south side of the house comprised of the Hardie board. As you can see the boards were cut to our design of varying sizes. Of course this added time for installation.

This week the guys are doing finishing/detail work. This crew had never put up the sandstone/Nichiha product and now they are experts. Here is a closeup of that material.

Whew! The end is in sight and I'll be able to have my quiet once again!

I have had my fill of living in a fishbowl, so to speak. I've also had my fill of noise and feeling that my home really isn't my home from 8am to 5pm.

I'm retired now. I can sleep in if I want. I can take a nap if I want. NOT!

The upside is the men that are working are 1) nice and respectful 2) detail oriented, 3) competent. As much as I like them, I just wish I wouldn't see them everyday! I usually make some type of baked good/treat once a week for them because they are so nice!

The Hardie board still needs to be painted a dark charcoal grey(currently beige/tan in the photos). The doors and railings will be sundried tomato. Since our contract included painting of the Hardie board we have had a couple sub-contractors out to take a look so they can bid with the company we contracted with. Both said they wouldn't be available for at least a couple weeks and then...well we know Seattle weather in winter....will depend on weather conditions. I sure hope that it can get painted soon!

The frustrating thing is the Hardie board installation has been complete on the sides and back of the house for quite some time. The past month they have mainly been working on getting the sandstone up. We told the company many times over the past month(nag, nag, nag) to get someone out to paint now before the weather turns. The weather has turned.

The crew had never installed the Hardie board in this fashion with a rainscreen and a reveal before. They had never installed the sandstone Nichiha product so there was a learning curve on all fronts of this project. It is no wonder this project has taken over a month longer than the company estimated.

Now to the fiber portion of this post!

I found this wonderful pencil roving from FiberOptic. It is superwash combined with nylon! I was curious to try this combination in a roving because it would be perfect for socks!

What I love about this roving is it is split into two mini pencil rovings. I just separate the two lengthwise and spin away.

2-ply sock yarn made easy! No drafting really. Goes really quickly. I spun the singles in an afternoon and plied them the next day.

It is hard to capture the depth of the colors in the yarn but it is wonderful. This is a fun fiber to spin. I recommend it! In fact she is dying some up for me and should be ready this week. I think she will be updating her shop on Wednesday and she will be listing more of this fiber. I hate to tell you all because I want it all for myself but that would be too selfish!

One last thing. I looked out the window last week because it had rained and the sun was shining brightly across the lake. I was in awe of the autumn colors across the way and by the time I got my camera, the rainbow appeared.

Nutso for Nutkin, Knitzi and Knitterly Things!

2008-10-27T10:06:00.000-07:00

We all know how Ravelry can be a big black hole of time consumption!

I have no idea what circuitous path brought me to Nutkin but I'm glad I found it.

This sock pattern is almost as easy as stockinette for me, in terms of mindless knitting. I didn't do the short-row toe that was in the pattern. I did what the pattern said but when it came to binding off, it was a 3 needle bind off on top of the toe. It felt too bunchy for me so I frogged and did the regular toe decrease.

I have been experimenting with toe shaping and I think I have come up with a decrease that works for my Fred Flinstone shaped feet. I do the decreases every other row until I have about 1/3 of the original number of stitches(I think most patterns do this decrease until about 1/2 the original number of stitches). Then I do the decreases every row about 5-6 times and then I kitchener with about 16 stitches remaining.

Finding Nutkin brought me to the Knitzi. Love this dp sock holder(see in the photo above)! If you are dp sock knitter...these holders are functional and beautiful.

The yarn is Knitterly Things vesper sock yarn. Julia began a sock club awhile ago and I was invited to join. This one is from the September 2008 shipment, an exclusive colorway called Pumpkin Spice.

These socks are great and they are done!

Speechless

2008-10-08T16:39:00.001-07:00

Almost 2 weeks ago I decided to send my friend Ruth an email. We had not corresponded in some time but she is always on my mind.

I went on with my day and happily headed downtown to meet Michale and Melinda for lunch at my favorite Japanese restaurant, Fuji Sushi. What is better than sharing great food with great friends? The only time constraint for me was that I had to get home before 1pm as the oven repair person was coming to fix our oven between 1 and 4(The oven saga is worthy of its own blog post! I was without an oven for 3 months).

I arrived home to find a package at my doorstep. A package? I didn't recall ordering anything!

I knew the return address. Ebeltoft, Denmark. I knew it was from Ruth.

I thought how coincidental life events can be. I had been thinking about Ruth, I sent her an email in the morning and in the afternoon I had a package from Ruth on my doorstep. I find it interesting how connected we humans can be.

The package was squishy. I thought...Oh how nice, Ruth is sending me some yarn!

I opened the package and quickly realized it was NOT yarn.

I carefully took out this incredibly intricate, large shawl done in "my colors". The tears(happy, sentimental ones) began to flow. I could not believe my eyes. I just wanted to wrap myself in this shawl, never to take it off.

I appreciate the caring, time and love that went into producing something of this magnitude. In an email I received over the summer I recall that she mentioned that she thought about me everyday. I know why! Of course she was thinking of me! She was knitting this. Think of all the hours she spent creating it.

This photo shows how truly HUGE this is!

As a fellow knitter I UNDERSTAND the level of effort that this takes. Here I am wearing it to Nihon class. It looks great with the shawl pin that her husband makes out of animal horn.

The next photo shows the edging detail.

I think about how Ruth and I "met". It all started with her Kauni Cardigan. Remember how she was my Yarn Angel, described in this post, this post and this post. Through the internet we have created a life-long friendship. I am so grateful!

Ruth, thank you so much!

I love it and will cherish it for the rest of my life!

Clown Pants and Kimono

2008-10-03T10:54:00.000-07:00

What do Clown Pants and Kimono have in common?

They are handspun!

The first is Clown Pants by Dragonfibers. I was drawn to the life of the colors. The roving just looked "cheery" to me. I had never spun targhee before. It is very easy to spin! The 2-ply yarn is very squishy and soft. This is about 12wpi.

I am always amazed at how different something can look all spun up as opposed to how it looks in the roving.

The second one was done from a batt created by Loop. This was my first purchase from Steph. I was reading on the Ravelry Loop group that some fans pefer to spin singles from her batts. Since I have never spun from a batt before, I tried it.

This batt according to Steph's description is "This time I'm using about 60% bamboo (50% china red and 10% hot pink), 25% amazingly shiny, soft yearling mohair in a rich purple, and 15% corriedale in an amazing deep eggplant. It's all topped off with a sprinkling of white glitz for a shimmery sheen". It shows off the different fibers well.

My next post will give you a preview of the first two project for year 2 of Nihon Vogue. We need to come to class tomorrow with 4 swatches. Two per project - one washed, one unwashed for a dolman sleeve and puffy sleeve project.

I also received an amazing gift from my friend Ruth yesterday. This came totally out of the blue. All I can say is that I cherish it and I cried(fondly and sentimentally) when I opened the package. Photos to come!

OFFF was a blast! (picture heavy post!)

2008-10-01T09:09:00.001-07:00

This was my first trip to OFFF(Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival) in Canby, Oregon.

I understand why a lot of folks say that this is their favorite. It is small, laid back and just very down to earth!

Ellen and I started our trek at 6am on Saturday. I picked her up at her house, had to get some gas, and then began our trip south.

We arrived at the festival somewhere around 10am. We checked the map and made our priority list. Priority 1 was Lisa Souza's booth. Here is Ellen at the booth, with Lisa in the background on the left.

I bought about a pound of 50%merino, 50% silk roving in Pur-Zurple(16 oz). My last attempt at spinning for a specific project ended in a yarn that was dk rather than worsted. I am hoping this will end up worsted for the Wool Peddler Shawl.

Then we had to go visit Dicentra Designs. Here is Ellen in the booth - I wanted to get a photo of the huge roving on top of the display!

I bought some yummy silk/merino, again! This is the Edoras colorway(7.9oz). It is practically alive! The colors are so saturated and beautiful.

They also had some bins of sale roving and these two were 75% off! I paid something like $9 for both. On the left is BFL in Twilight(5oz) and on the right is Superwash Merino in Longbottom Leaf(4.2oz).

Then we headed over to Blue Moon Fiber Arts. We were hoping to see Tina so we could show off our sweaters made out of BMFA Mediumweight Socks That Rock. She remembered me and said "Naomi!" and gave me a big hug. I let them borrow my sweater on Saturday for their displays. She has posted a photo of me and Ellen on the BMFA blog, here.

I continued to make more damage to the Bang finances by purchasing these at BMFA:

Pucks Mischief in 70%Merino/30%Mohair(7.75oz). I couldn't pass up this fiber combo and the colors...well we all know Tina KNOWS color!

This makes me drool. It is 7.5 oz in 50%merino/50%silk in Valkyrie.

We then went to Crown Mountain Farms and purchased this which Ellen and I will split. It is Born to Be Wild 8 Oz of Superwash Merino.

We went upstairs in the main hall to check out the judged fibers. I purchased a sheltand fleece in dark brown/silver gray/black. So pretty. It won a reserve champion prize. Since I don't know much about what to look for I felt comfortable going this route for my first raw fleece purchase.

We decided we needed to STOP shopping. There were so many folks sitting under the tree in front of the main hall knitting and spinning. We got our chairs/wheels out of the car and sat down to spin the afternoon away. It was so relaxing! It was perfect weather!

The funny thing is on the way down Ellen and I were talking about our stashes and how we need to decrease the stash or make plans on how to tackle it. We really, really came through the gates trying to do our best to stay *calm* and be easy on the pocketbook. I wasn't very successful, was I?

Sunday we got up at a reasonable time so we could make the parking lot sale. This is where people bring their fleeces and you go in and just buy a raw fleece if that is your thing.

Here is Ellen as we wait in line.

We each bought a white shetland fleece from this adorable couple. I have started scouring this fleece and I think Ellen is just about scouring hers already! It is going to make some beautiful yarn and a beautiful sweater.

We ran into Tina on Sunday as we were spinning in the shade under the tree. She had this mischevious look and guess what? She bought a bunny. She was so cute, full of giddy excitedness! We were cracking up because she said the Blue Moon ladies have said they want a Barn Boy(aka Pool Boy) and now she said they have one!

Here she is with her new baby, Henry.

I finally got a photo of me and Tina!

We talked about the Sock Summit and plans for that fun event August of 2009. Go sign up for more infomation HERE. We chatted briefly and I am planning on volunteering my time to help with what I can. Sounds like a really fun event! The teachers they are getting and some of the ideas she shared with me...clear out those dates. You won't be disappointed!

I could go on and on...but this was a really, really fun trip. So much fun that I didn't miss my boys(a first for me)!

I'll definitely be going again next year...but with a budget limit!

Getting Stuff Done!

2008-09-26T06:15:00.000-07:00

You know what? I am finally getting a bit of the hang of this retirement thing. I really am in better spirits, sleeping so much better and just feeling a sense of well-being, overall.

(Note: I've been up since 3:30 am this morning! I couldn't sleep. You know what? I didn't workout yesterday and look what happens...insomnia! I really do need that workout, don't I?)

A big part of changing my attitude has been working out again.

About two weeks ago I hired my friend, Kathie, to help me achieve my fitness goals. She recently passed the tests that allow her to be a fitness trainer. I have watched her get fit and lose almost 100 pounds in the past year. She is truly an inspiration.

My sister Cheryl and I meet with Kathie once a week and then we do our own workouts in-between sessions. I have faithfully been doing at least 5 workouts a week. I must tell you how much better I feel. Mentally, physically, spiritually.

If you are curious, I lift weights 3x a week and do one hour of cardio about 5 times a week. My cardio has been on the treadmill - 4 miles per session. I just love cardio! Weights...not so much but that is why I have Kathie. She pushes me to do the thing I hate most and I know when I see her she will ask how my workouts for the week went and I'll have to be honest and tell her. I'd be embarassed if I didn't do what I was supposed to do!

How does this relate to knitting? I have felt much more energy and motivation to get things done.

In the past few days I finished the following:

Raglan Body Hugger from The Knitting Experience Book 2: The Purl Stitch.

I made mine out Blue Moon Fiber Arts Mediumweight Sock yarn in Mr. Green Jeans. I started this on September 5 and completed it on September 25. Done in just under three weeks! It fits great and I did use some Nihon Vogue finishing techniques! I used the invisible cast-on and the invisible cast-off. I suppose I am getting ready for Year Two which begins on October 4! Coming right up!

I really like this yarn-now I know it is not just for socks! I would definitely use this yarn again for a sweater - so warm and cozy.

Next up...My Noni Night Garden Felted Evening Bag. I purchased the yarn for this about a year ago when Amy, Ellen and I took a weekend trip to Cannon Beach. I knit the bag and handles while there but hadn't touched it since. Part of the reason was I was trying to find the light pink color in cascade 220. At least that is the excuse I used for why it has languished in a plastic bag for the past year.

Recently I was going through my half finished projects and this was one I thought "oh,it won't take me too long to finish". It took a lot longer than I anticipated.

While out at Bangrila I finished knitting all the pieces and felted it. I can't felt here at home because our front loader won't let me open it mid cycle. Once I got the pieces felted...I just had to finish because it was looking so darn cute. I had to find the beads and thread to put it all together. I'm grateful that my sister Cheryl is a big time quilter. I just *shop* at her house for thread. I use a bit and then return it. Nice! Thanks Cheryl!

Putting the beads on was a bit of a hassle but now it is done!

I also got sucked into knitting a scarf recently(not that I don't already have 3 UNfinished ones sitting around...no make that 4(my so called scarf, Lascala by Hanne Falkenberg, Seaweed Scarf by Starmore and the Modern Quilt Wrap).

Sarah, Plucky Knitter, introduced me to this scarf. I wanted mindless knitting and this surely provided that. I made mine out of 3 colors of Mirasol Hacho that I purchased at Village Yarn and Tea.

I didn't have anyone around to either take my picture or to put the scarf on so I put it around one of our art pieces...doesn't it brighten him up a bit?

Coming up - Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival. Ellen and I are making the trek down to Canby this weekend. Should be lots of fun.

I have year 2 of Nihon Vogue starting up in just over a week! Our first two projects are: a puffy sleeve garment and a dolman sleeve garment. And yes, both are coming back into fashion.

I have been poring over old magazines, books, Ravelry, etc. If you have ANY ideas for these two projects please email me! I need help! I have some ideas for them but nothing I feel really excited about. Next week will be all about drafting and making swatches.

Selling My Husband

2008-09-19T15:25:00.000-07:00

My husband, Greg Bang, is an avid underwater photographer.

Personally I think his photos are great, wonderful, fantastic!

For the past month and a half, some of his photos have been on display at the main Starbucks at University Village.

His photos will be on display until the end of September. So if you are in the area stop by and take a look!

Reclaimed!

2008-09-18T15:25:00.000-07:00

I have never reclaimed a yarn from a previously knit item.

According to the Websters Dictionary, 'reclaimed' is:

To rescue from an undesirable state

Here is a poncho I made years ago - it was cute and served its purpose at the time. (This bad photo was taken with my iPhone in low light)

This yarn, seen below, screamed to be reclaimed. Isn't it pretty? It is Blue Sky Alpacas Bulky 50%wool/50%alpaca in Blossom. I loved this pink color and I loved the yarn. I kept looking at it, listening to it beg to be made into something that could show off all of her good attributes.

What to do with this yarn? I'm thinking Fantine by French Girl Knits.

The photo of the reclaimed yarn shows the yarn pretty darn close to how it looks in person. It was taken with:

My new Nikon CoolPix S60. If you recall I conducted a poll to determine which Coolpix color I should choose. My personal first choice was Crimson Red and that was also top choice in the poll. As luck would have it, MY color was just released! None of the other colors are available yet. I have been playing with this camera and as I suspected, I really love the touch screen operability. So intuitive to use.

I have take *some* photos and I do like the quality of the pictures.

This baby came just in time for OFFF...hopefully I'll remember to actually take some photos rather than get caught up in all the fibery goodness!

Non Knitting Content!

2008-09-16T09:10:00.000-07:00

As you know our house is in the process of being re-sided.

Things are going slower than we anticipated(isn't that how home projects always go?).

As you may recall, this is what our old siding looked like and still looks like on one small part of the house where they have not torn it down, yet.

A bit closer detail of the old, yucky stuff!

The new stuff, James Hardie board is almost all done on the north side of the house.

The orange parts of the picture above will be done in a faux sandstone material made by Nichiha which like the James Hardie products are a fiber cement material.

I love the details. We have a rain screen behind the panels and nice metal details in between the boards. The panels are screwed in rather than nailed in to enhance the look and was purposefully done as a design element. I am sure this has added additional time as the installers have to make sure all the screws line up correctly. I am sure the they just love us! I think it looks fantastic.

The south side of the house only has the battons up. Siding has yet to go up there.

The back of our house, or the west side, is what they have been working on last week and this week. This is where the design of the panels was very important to us. We had something specific in mind for the center part of the house. The center part is where it will be painted blood red(sundried tomato) and the panels are also cut in squares...different from the rest of the house. It is a bit hard to see the difference in the photos below.

The two decks require work and that has yet to be completed.

The whole project was to be completed by next Friday. Given that they still have work on the two decks to do before they can install the Nichiha and the south side and east side to get siding up on, as well painting the whole house, I don't believe they can finish by September 26!

By the way...Any of you going to OFFF (Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival)? Drop me a line at gnomiejo@gmail.com if you are going and want to meet up at some point. Ellen and I will be there!

Projects

2008-09-15T09:25:00.000-07:00

There has been a lot of activity here!

The siding project is going slow. We were supposed to have full crews the past week and we've only had 3 guys here. This kind of siding is time consuming and the men putting it up must be detail oriented. So, things are going slower than we had hoped. All I can say is it is going to beautiful! I'm too lazy to take photos right now so I'll post photos soon.

Now to the fiber portion of this post.

I knit a scarf for Michale's birthday in Plucky Knitter 50%merino/50% silk in Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds. The scarf is Alhambra by Anne Hanson. Unfortunately I was in such a hurry to get this project completed in time for her birthday that I did not get photos of the post blocked scarf. Hopefully Michale will send me some photos!

Here is a pre-blocking photo.

A warning on this pattern. As with all of Anne's patterns, it is well written and easy to follow. The downside with this particular pattern...there are pattern rows on the purl side. Usually you get the non-thinking brain section on the purl rows but this one...you have to keep the brain engaged on all rows!

While out at Churchmouse with Plucky, Ellen and I looked at this sweater knit out of Socks that Rock Mediumweight. She noticed it first. She mentioned something to me about it and I didn't want to listen(only because I could hear that sucking sound - you know the one - the one right before you get sucked into doing a project). Then I kept going back to the sweater, looking at it. Then I said to Ellen in a stern voice "Ellen, I need to talk to you!". She asked me "Am I in trouble?". I said "we have to do this". So we succumbed and are doing the sweater in the book The Purl Stitch by Sally Melville on page 92 - called the Raglan Body Hugger. I haven't looked at that book in quite some time but it has a lot of really good, simple projects in it. If you have the book it might be worth looking through again!

I went out of my color comfort zone and am doing mine out of Mr. Green Jeans. At first I started calling it my Seahawks Sweater because the colors are very Seahawk-y but now that I see a larger portion of it knit up, it doesn't look so much like Seahawk colors.

I made a boo-boo while out at Churchmouse. The shop sample said it required 4 skeins. I didn't bother looking at the pattern in book at the shop to find out that for my size I only needed 3 skeins. I have an extra skein...for matching socks! I have finished the front and am working on the back. Honestly, by now, Ellen is probably finished with her sweater!

I finished knitting and feling a cute little Noni bag. I just got the beads and need to sew them on and put the bag together. When that is complete I will post photos.

I also started a brainless-to-knit scarf. Thanks to Plucky I became obsessed with finding yarn for this project. I could not find a nice dk weight yarn for this while Sarah was here. I even went through my stash - believe it or not I do not have much dk weight yarn and definitely not any yarn that was fitting for this project. Then I went on Ravelry looking for dk weight yarn and found Mirasol Hacho. I knew they carried it at Village Yarn and Tea so I got my three skeins there this past Thursday. I am on the third color and close to being finished.

I've also been spinning. Look what I started last Thursday night at Village. This is 100% wool dyed by Julia Vesper. This was one of the first rovings I purchased when I started spinning. It is about 3 oz, and 11wpi.

This next photo is of some lovely handspun that Ellen gave me for my birthday. It is Crown Mountain corriedale. It is 17-20 wpi depending on where you measure and her tag says it is 15.75 oz. When I weighed it measured 8.5 ounces. I am not sure what happened to the fiber in-between 15.75 and 8.5 oz?? Regardless, this will be a wonderful shawl! Thank you Ellen!

Now to the enabling part of the post. Are you a spinner? Are you looking for small, lightweight, portable spinning wheel?

I was introduced to the Pocket Wheel about 6 months ago and have been thinking about it since. See in the url, it is gnoam.com? It is a sign!

In early August I contacted Doug Dodd, the maker of the wheel. He lives in Bellingham. I inquired about going up to visit him so I could try the wheel out. We scheduled a day/time for me and Ellen to drive up and try this baby out. The night before our adventure he called to say he was ill and it would be better if we cancelled our appointment. I knew Village Yarn and Tea was going to have him up for the September Spinning Night and I could try the wheel out at that time.

Well I couldn't wait. I sent my deposit in the next day to get on the waiting list. At that time I knew the wait for the wheel was 3 months out and I just had a sense that this was going to be a good, no great, wheel. The folks that had raved about it were long-time spinners so I trusted what I had heard.

Now the wait is 6 months out. He is working with a furniture maker to make some of the parts and it is at that part in the process that things are getting delayed.

When I got to spin on it Thursday night I was blissing out. Being short it can be hard for me to find a chair to comfortably spin in. The peddles on this baby are higher and slanted a tiny bit. I felt so comfortable spinning on this. Plus the wheel is very smooth. I know I'm going to love it.

I can only imagine just being able to put it in a little bag and be on my way to meet friends to spin. It really CAN just go in a tote bag. I'm hoping to have my wheel by Madrona in February 2009!

I call it my Gnome Wheel! Very fitting!

Plucky Came to Visit

2008-09-14T07:33:00.000-07:00

A week and a half ago, Plucky Knitter aka Sarah came to visit!

I was so excited that she would come to visit and play at Bangrila with me and my friends! I can't remember if it was Amy or Ellen that said I should invite Sarah to Bangrila and see if she would come back to visit us! Lo and behold, she said yes!

Note: What is Bangrila? It is a heavenly get-a-way named using the Bang family name coined off of Shangrila. It is the family "cabin" on a lake in Mason County. And yes, it is called Bangrila. There are even signs on the property marking it "Bangrila".

Wednesday September 3, Sarah arrived at 11:30 am and the three of us picked her up at the airport and promptly headed over to Churchmouse Yarn and Teas where we perused for quite some time. You do know that Churchmouse carries Plucky Knitter yarn, don't you?

We also had to stop off at Mora for ice cream.

We had a whirlwind couple days taking Sarah shopping(shoes, yarn and Trophy cupcake) before we headed out to Bangrila for the weekend where Joni, Melinda, Michale and Bob(Sarah's hubby) joined us.

Sarah got THE cutest pair of red shoes at Market Street Shoes(see Sarah's blog for a photo of them). I spotted them as soon as I walked into the store and they are beautiful! I might have to go back and get me a pair!

Side note: did you know what Crocs makes a line of shoes called You by Crocs? They are adorable, sexy AND comfortable. I tried on a to-die-for, cute pair of 3 1/2 inch high pumps that were amazingly comfortable! I might have to go back for those...for those events I sometimes attend that require something more dressy than Crocs or Dansko's!

Friday we headed out to Bangrila. We mostly sat around and knit(chatted and snacked, too) out on the patio. Oh! Sarah introduced me to a very yummy drink that is low cal...diet Squirt and Stoli Peach Vodka. A new gnomiejo favorite!

Saturday we headed out to see the couple yarn stores in the area, the Allyn Knit Shop and Fancy Image Yarn

We returned to the patio in the afternoon. Amy started spinning on Ellen's Majacraft Rose. Once Amy got the real hang of things...well it was all over. Believe it or not she already owns a wheel now and is spinning up a storm! Another one has come over to the dark side!

Bob, Sarah's husband, arrived Saturday night just in time for our scrumptious risotto and salmon dinner.

Sunday we hung out for a bit and then Sarah and Bob left to do lots of sight-seeing in the area. Some of us watched the terrible Seahawk game and some folks headed for home. By mid afternoon all my guests had left and I had one more night to myself out at the lake.

I spent a few hours cleaning(this always takes me longer than I think it will - vacuuming, mopping, cleaning all the bathrooms, etc.). Then I had the whole house to myself. Now that I am free from work-life I may just go out there more often. I can't tell you how peaceful and quiet it is out there.

We had so much fun(at least I did) and I look forward to hosting friends at Bangrila again.

I hooked up with Sarah and Bob one last time this past Thursday at Village Yarn and Tea before they were to head home

I don't know how 5 days went by and I did not take any photos of our fun! Check out Joni's blog entry for more detail and photos.

I hope that Sarah and Bob(and Shelby) will come back to Seattle and visit us again!

Happy Birthday Baby Chase!

2008-09-11T14:55:00.001-07:00

14 years ago today, my baby Chase was born.

As I reflect about the past 14 years I can't believe the time has passed so quickly.

He has seen me through love breakups and the death of my mom and my sister and countless other life challenges(like breaking Greg in as husband! HA!).

Just about 2 years ago I almost lost him to pancreatitis.

I have some photos, of photos, from my scrapbooks I would like to share. Chase is a purebred Yorkshire Terrier and his official AKC name is Gnome's Magnanimous Chaser. He was born September 11, 1994.

He was the easiest dog to raise. I got him when he was 8 weeks old. He was raised by a very loving human mother that had 3 human boy children that picked him up, played with him and socialized him well to come and live with me. When I took Chase home, his first human mama was crying as she gave him over to me. Yes, he has been well loved since he was born.

Back in 1994 I had purchased my first home and was excited that I could finally get a dog. I had done a ton of research to determine what kind of dog I wanted. I knew I wanted a non-shedding small dog. A breed with lots of personality. I decided on a Yorkshire Terrier.

Remember way back 14 years ago. You couldn't just go on the internet to see photos of potential family members!

I found this home breeder in the Seattle Times classifieds and something about the ad called to me. I called my sister Cheryl to find out if she would go with me "just to look" at these Yorkies. At the last minute I put my checkbook in my purse and drove over to my sister's house. Next thing I knew I was coming home with a new family member!

I had read that puppies can go to their new homes and cry at night so I was prepared for a sleepless night. Chase slept through the whole night-no crying or whining. He was easy to housetrain as well. Within 2 weeks he had the hang of it and was very reliable. He even figured how to scratch at the door to let me know he had to go out to do his business.

Here we are 14 years ago on the day I brought him home. He was 2.5 pounds.

Here is Chase's baby photo. I love this photo of him. His coloring has changed a lot!

Here is Chase with his Yorkie parents.

He was not too cooperative in letting me take his photo today as he was hunting around for food in the kitchen. Here is my sweetheart who turned 98 years old in dog years today. Each year that passes and we can celebrate his birthday is a real milestone.

Seriously I can't imagine my life without this little guy. He has definitely enhanced my life in ways I never could have imagined.

Happy Birthday Chase!

Noisy!

2008-08-27T09:22:00.000-07:00

It is noisy around here!

The trade-off is it is like getting a new house(how it looks) without having to pack, move boxes and unpack!

Here is the progress as of the end of day two.

Front:

Back:

Northwest Corner:

North side:

This photo shows that some parts of the house are pretty high off the ground. Frederico, be careful!

As I stated in the last entry, there are a few areas of rot that will have to be rebuilt/replaced such as what is shown in the photo below. We are fortunate because we expected that it might be worse given the issues and lawsuits that have resulted from the siding that we are replacing.

I decided to knit the ever popular February Lady Sweater. What is this wonderful yarn? Handspun by my friend Terry(she is the one that highly encouraged me to spin and helped me get my first wheel). I have been waiting for the perfect project for this cherished yarn. This is a perfect pairing.

I am going to frog back. I tried it on and I think I need to start the sleeve portion much earlier. I did try it on before the part where you put the sleeve stitches on waste yarn but it I found it difficult to really *see* how it was going to look. I tried it on this morning and I don't like the fit. I need to start the lace section earlier.

I have learned from year one of Nihon vogue if I have a doubt about the fit, then take the time to do it right. Confession: Our first project in year one was a top-down raglan. I will look at my notes to apply what I learned for that project and apply it to this one. I should have done that initially but...it was nice to just follow a pattern rather than figure it out for myself. Lesson learned...I know it will fit better if I tailor this design to my own body rather than following someone else's calculations!

I have loved wearing my sweaters I made during year one because they do fit and I am proud to wear them. I know when February Lady Sweater is done, I will feel the same way.

Siding has officially begun!

2008-08-25T10:56:00.000-07:00

Our siding project was scheduled to begin last Tuesday but due to weather conditions and scheduling issues with the siding company, the siding work officially began this morning.

So far things are status quo with the boys. Chase and Beanie don't seem to bothered by the noise. Luckily my sister Cheryl has offered her home to me as a safe haven during the work day so I can escape if the noise becomes too irritating.

I love this photo. Shows how when the original siding went up that the workers neglected to put a paper shield on this particular section which caused some water damage.

Greg and I went through numerous rounds of putting up paint samples around the outside of the house. We knew we wanted 'charcoal gray' and 'blood red'.

Yeah, no problem.

Do you know how many charcoal grays and blood reds there are out there?

We instantly agreed on the gray, once we found the *right* one(Iron Ore) but the blood red was a harder one to agree on.

Greg was sure of his choice, I wasn't. I painted some larger samples on the back of the house so we could watch it through the phases of the day, seeing it in all types of lighting. We finally settled on 'Sundried Tomato', the one on the right. This will be our accent color.

The back of the house is just flat, no protruding sections. So the Sundried Tomato will be painted as an accent the full height of the house, in the middle 1/3, to add some contrast and interest. The section where the sundried tomato will be painted will have new lighting fixtures and will provide a nice, interesting backdrop for the outside room I plan on creating next spring/summer!

I imagine some nice cozy furniture with coordinating tables for an inviting sitting area.

Birthday Sunrise(NOT Surprise!)

2008-08-24T08:44:00.000-07:00

I've been waking up early this week. This is what welcomed me to my day, my birthday.

This birthday will be memorable in some ways because of how my husband could not keep any sort of secret as to what he was going to *surprise* me with.

A couple days ago I walked into his office and he quickly shut down some of his computer page screens and opened another. The one he opened up was one he was actually trying to close down. I said "oh, I'm getting a new camera for my birthday?". He said various swear words.

I have had my current little point and shoot for probably 4 years. I didn't like how whites/lights really blew out the photo. I could manage to make photos *ok* with Adobe Photoshop Lightroom but I was never really happy with the camera. I could manage to manipulate photos and make them passable which meant I couldn't justify a new camera. I was ready to get a new camera with hopes to decrease the amount of time I spend manipulating my photos.

I am going to get the new Nikon Coolpix S60 which is scheduled for release in September. I like that there are no buttons on the camera, operation very similar to the iPhone(which I love). Now the biggest decision is what color body do I want? Wanna vote on what color you like best? Go vote on the sidebar.

One surprise bites the dust!

Yesterday afternoon I hung out at my friend Jamie's. We sat out on her patio chatted and relaxed (can you believe I didn't knit one stitch?). It was a nice, relaxing, girl chatter filled few hours.

When I got home Greg and I were talking. He had just spent the day at his parents house helping his folks do some chores outside(which he does almost once a week). He mentioned he saw my car out in front of Jamie's. Mind you Jamie's house is not on the way home from his parent's house. I said "oh really?". He had to have gone to my favorite yarn store to get a gift card. I asked "oh, did you go to Village?". More swear words came out of his mouth.

Today he presented me with this card...with my, as predicted, Village Yarn and Tea gift card inside.

Surprise two bites the dust!

On the fiber front, while at Bangrila I spun up 4oz of Falkland wool dyed by FatCatKnits. This is a 3-ply in colorway called Common Cause.

I wish I would have taken a photo of the roving before I spun it.

I just divided the roving and split it into 3. Say it was 60 inches long, each section was 20 inches.

What did I learn spinning this? Well....since this is a 3 ply, the colors are going to get more muted the more plies. The yarn in person has a lot of depth and complexity but from a distance it looks fairly monochromatic.

I am enjoying playing with how you divide roving and use it will give you very different results spun up. If I had it to do over again I would split the roving lengthwise in 3 sections, spin the singles in the same color order so when they were plied together the colors would line up to preserve how the roving looked originally.

I took 'Getting the most from your painted Roving' from Janel Laidman at Madrona this year. A person has so many possibilities what can be done with a single roving depending on how you divide up the roving.

Looks like there will be a lot more experimentation and play in my future!

Latvian Mittens

2008-08-23T07:00:00.000-07:00

Way back on July13 I went to the Nordic Heritage Museum to see the Latvian exhibit.

The exhibit was ending soon and Melinda had suggested we go see it. So she, Michale and I headed down to the museum(does not have air conditioning) on a sweltering July day.

The mitten display was just amazing. I have never attempted to knit any Latvian style mittens but after seeing them in person I have added them to my knitting 'to do' list.

I also want to purchase the book Latvian Mittens by Lizbeth Upitis. Michale got the last copy at the Museum so this is still on my book wish list.

Although my iphone photos are not the best, this will give a little taste of what we saw.

They are amazing to see in person. We chatted with a woman that is heavily involved in the Latvian community and she was a delight to talk to. She had so many interesting things to share with us.

I took this next photo in the museum gift shop. I came thisclose to buying this mug(it says 'Living with a Norwegian Builds Character'). I can relate to the sentiment since I am married to a man of norwegian heritage!

Spinning!

2008-08-22T09:33:00.000-07:00

I've finally gotten some time on the wheel.

I am slowly improving my spinning skills. Although I got my first wheel about 15 months ago, I haven't had much time to spin.

Ellen and I bought some roving at Madrona 2008 so we could spin some yarn to make the Wool Peddler's Shawl by Cheryl Oberle.

I finished spinning about 12 ounces of BFL in the colorway called Ocean Collection. It is a 3-ply yarn about 12wpi. I wanted it more on the worsted side of things but I'm still learning how to get the results I want and what I need to do to get there.

This time I put more twist in the singles with more twist in the ply. It was fun to try different things(ah....the benefits of retirement). The first time I plied a bit of this I did not have enough twist and the result was a sproingy mess! I just kept playing with it until I got a balanced yarn and I felt so proud of myself as a result.

Even though this isn't exactly what I was going for(worsted weight), I think it is still amazing that I can create yarn like this. See...you can do anything you want with enough time, determination, lots of practice and patience!

Mittens

2008-08-21T09:55:00.000-07:00

I have also been on a quest to find the perfect yarn for the Druid Mittens.

I started out with Jamieson and Smith Lipstick. I liked it *ok*.

Then a couple nights ago I tried Raspberry.

I so want to absolutely LOVE these when I am done but I have not found the perfect yarn/color!

In that time of half awake, half asleep, right before you really wake up, I thought about some solid Kauni yarn I have in my stash. I'm thinking it is going to be perfect! I jump out of bed and headed to the stash. Greg was like "what is going on?".

You all understand, when the creative juices flow, you gotta go with that flow!

The Lipstick was just a little too light, the Raspberry was too heathery and dark which would distract from the cables and design. I think this Kauni(in the middle) is going to be *JUST RIGHT*.

What I need to do in the future is START at the stash rather than going to yarn stores buying new yarn. I've probably got the perfect yarn for a million projects sitting right in my own home!

What is your vote? Go to the sidebar and vote on what color you like best of the three above. The left is Lipstick, center is Kauni, and right is Raspberry.

On the non-knitting portion of this poist, we are on the verge of having our siding re-done on our home. It is going to take 3-4 weeks to do this job. When the siding folks arrived Tuesday morning they were not the most organized bunch. My work organization and task completion side of me kicked in and I thought "I could really help these folks make more use out of their time and money". Uh no. Naomi, you are retired now.

Greg has been stressed out about the siding project. It took us weeks to decide what materials we wanted to use, how to use them, what color(s) did we want, etc.

Given the complexity of our project and design elements, there are many, many small design details that Greg wants *just so*. I'm thinking he has potential for becoming a side-zilla!

Although we have been having some really unseasonally cold and rainy weather here the past few days, this appeared out my window yesterday afternoon.

Where have I been?

2008-08-20T11:25:00.000-07:00

Well I got back into town a couple days ago. I spent the week at Bangrila with my family. We had so much fun! We had 90 degree weather, spent time in the lake, Greg drove the boat so the kids(and adult kids) could intertube on the lake. We ate like crazy and just laughed a lot and cheered all the Olympic athletes on.

We even had our own version of the Olympics. We had a table top tennis aka ping pong event hosted out in the front yard. We had seating as well as a full awards ceremony. The nieces made the medals and made a medal stand so the winners could stand properly as we sang the National Anthem(cover your ears)!

Well, as promised I finally have some photos for you of my final project for Nihon Vogue year one. Here is what the chain 3, slip, chain 3 looks like. I am not a crocheter but this crochet edging made me want to enahance my crochet skills for finishing.

This little edging was perfect for this project because I didn't want a full button band because the fit of the sweater was a little bit bigger than I had conceived. You can see more details about that below. The edging made it possible to have a nice finished edge AND have buttonholes for my little buttons.

Here is the final sweater.

I attempted bust darts with this project as well as doing a tiny bell at the bottom of the sleeves and changing needle sizes to get a bit of flaring in the lace area. Overall I am pleased with the results.

What I would change if I were to do this over again(which I won't) is to raise where the stockinette area changes to lace. I thought I had measured *accurately* where the bottom of my bra was so it would be more empire waist-y. I would ask Jean to help me measure this so it would turn out as I imagined. I would not use alpaca/silk which tends to grow length-wise(but I wanted to use something from the stash)

I would also not put any ease into the body. I put in 2cm ease and this caused the body section to not hug my body as I had hoped. That said, if I would have taken the time to really *think* about it I would have realized that in order to get the body hugging result I would either add zero ease or even possibly have negative ease.

I finally finished the Hemlock Ring Blanket while at Bangrila. I used 6 skeins of Blue Sky Alpaca Dyed Cotton. It is very soft and cozy. As Ellen predicted, the bind off for this thing takes a LOT of yarn. So if you are making this, keep this in mind!

Of course Chase has to get in on the action:

This is sitting on our guest bed which is a queen size bed. This will give you some perspective on the size of it. It almost spans the width of the bed.

The transition to this new chapter in my life has been interesting. I'm adjusting and feeling a tiny bit out of sorts, still.

I was at my monthly massage appointment a week and a half ago and Mimi and I were talking about life. She's going through a big life change and so am I. I was lying there all relaxed and telling her about some health concerns I've been dealing with. My doctor suggested I take up meditation or yoga, something to calm the type-A tendencies. I proceeded to tell her "I need to work harder at relaxing". Mimi cracked up! She said, "Did you hear what you just said? You need to work harder at relaxing".

Some habits are hard to break!

I crossed the Nihon Finish Line!

2008-07-29T21:30:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the lack of posting! I was busy getting all my homework done!

This past weekend was the final class for our the Nihon Vogue level 1 course. Joni has some good photos of the weekend. Go to her blog and check them out.

Here I am with Jean and my certificate. Do you know how much this certificate means to me? It feels better than when I got my CPA certificate/license! Honestly this course work was much harder than studying for and passing the CPA exam!!

Coming into the weekend I was determined to turn in all 8 projects and have them approved by the end of the weekend. I really longed to have a summer break!

I dedicated many hours in the past two weeks working on my projects. I still had quite a bit of knitting to do. The biggest task was filling out my design notebook. This notebook shows your designs on paper - the design is drawn 1/4 scale and you need to document needle sizes, guage, how many rows to the armhole, how many stitches were cast on, the calculation of armhole and neckline decreases, etc. It took me, on average, 3-4 hours per design to do the documentation. I wish I would have done the design notebook earlier because it helped me find mistakes in my designs. I think I would have carried my learning further into future projects if I had taken the time to do the design notebook as soon as I drew up my designs on the life size patterns.

Honestly I had a moment of panic when I turned in my projects for Jean to review. As I watched her look over my projects(turning them inside and out, looking at details, etc), and at my design notes/calculations I began to sweat. It wasn't workout sweat, it was fear sweat! Here she is checking my work.

Saturday night, Suzanne hosted a celebratory dinner for all students and loved ones. It was a fabulous way to end the year. We all displayed our completed projects around the room. It was amazing to see everyone's designs. This is a talented bunch of artists!

Here is a sampling of my fellow student's work.

Isn't it amazing what we all have produced in the past year?

Saturday night after the celebration dinner I had to go home and continue finishing my projects. The crochet project was a killer. I spent all day Saturday during class and I stayed up till 2am to make as much progress as I could on this crochet project because I knew I still have the front closure on the final project to complete before I could turn in the last two designs. I was determined to make my goal and I did what I had to in order to make sure I came home with my certificate.

In all honesty, the past week was as much work and as stressful and exhausting as actually doing a software upgrade. I'm not kidding you. In 2001 I actually did the work to upgrade the City of Seattle's financial system. Me and another person did around the clock work to get the database upgraded over the span of a week. Like the upgrade, I had this Nihon deadline and I was going to make the deadline come hell or high water! :)

Jean showed me this super cute edging for my final project(picture will come soon - too lazy to photograph it right now). It is just a chain 3, slip stitch crochet edging. So simple and so cute. I think this is the only crochet I will be doing in my future...edgings only!

Man, when Jean signed off on my last two projects I had to just jump up and down and say some loud works of excitement! Boy was I happy!!!

I'd like to take a minute to say a bit about this course. All 15 of us(I saw someone out there on the web term us THE NIHON 15) struggled at the beginning of the course. We were overwhelmed and not sure where Jean was going to take us. Jean has taken us on an amazing journey. She has stretched us, she has encouraged us, she has laughed with us and she has taught us SO much. Jean, you are wonderful!

Anything this hard comes with a tremendous feeling of accomplishment. This has been an awesome experience. I am so grateful to have been given this opportunity.

I also want to thank Suzanne Pedersen at Madrona Fiber Arts for bringing such incredible teacher's for us to learn from. (I took a 3-day spinning class two weekends ago from Carol H. Rhoades - tech editor of Spin-Off - I will do a post on that soon, I promise). Without Suzanne's commitment to us, we would not be able to continue with year two. You all know I was wavering about continuing on with year 2.

You know what? I wouldn't miss it for the world.

Here is a photo of the Nihon 15(Shiori and Meredith are not photographed). I have so enjoyed the journey with these incredible women. Not only do I learn from Jean, but I learn from these women as well(and it isn't always knitting related!).

I joked with a fellow student that we all need t-shirts that say "I survived Year One of Nihon Vogue". Not only did we survive, we thrived. Isn't that what learning is about? They don't call it growing pains for nothing! We all survived with the help and support of each other. I have established a very special bond with these women.

Bring on Year Two!

Knitters are Athletes

2008-07-10T21:05:00.000-07:00

It has been awhile - trying to get a handle on this retirement gig.

As the Beijing Olympics approach I am reminded about how my massage therapist views knitters(besides obsessed!).

I met Mimi Polvino when I took a class titled "Self Care for Knitters" at Hilltop Yarns quite a few years ago. I was taken by her holistic approach to the human body.

She has worked on athletes from Philadelphia Eagle football players to Pacific Norhtwest Ballet dancers and everyone in-between.

She views knitters as athletes because of how we use our bodies - repetitive motion in pursuit of our *sport*. Most of us, when we knit, are endurance athletes. Yes, we all may know that we *should* get up every 15-30 minutes to stretch our bodies but we rarely do so. I know you all do it - marathon knitting!

Greg used to worry about me and my body abuse with my knitting. I used to have bad wrist pain. Being a computer programmer, avid knitter and gardener took its toll on my body.

Since I have been seeing Mimi regularly, I don't have wrist pain anymore.

As I said before, I love her holistic approach. She is fascinated by the human body. One of her hobbies is to learn about anatomy(besides running and staying in incredible physical condition). She is like a sponge when it comes to learning more about biomechanics and how all the pieces of the body work together.

I make once a month appointments(because she is only in Seattle for a few days each month so you have to schedule in advance) with her because there is usually something that crops up by the time the next month rolls around. I went in to see her yesterday with this annoying ankle pain. I have been walking about 4 miles a day and I had to take a number of days off because I felt I needed to baby the darn thing. She evaluated my body and said ok...you have this shoulder thing going on which is affecting your opposite hip which is pulling this on your leg and pulling this in your calf. She worked my various parts, pulled on my ankle and all my body pieces re-aligned and my ankle is happy, once again. Yesterday I had residual soreness but today I worked out and my ankle is happy as a clam.

There are some clients of hers that don't *get* this approach. They say "Oh but 'X' part of my body hurts. Why are you working way over here?". People have to learn there is much more to a productive massage. You have to get to the source!

I am fascinated by this approach. I find it hard to find a massage therapist that can do this. Most figure you come in for relaxation only. Sure I love the relaxation aspect but I love the pain relief as well.

For months, Mimi and her partner discussed moving from Seattle to Bend, Oregon. I was in denial. Then she told me it was firm. The house was up for sale. I was devastated. My first thoughts were "I can't live without you! I have to be able to knit and spin!". I'm a marathoner!

Luckily she comes back to Seattle once a month to maintain her clients here. I am relieved because I know without my bodywork with her, I could not maintain the healthy mechanics of my body. Greg was asking about this expense recently and this is not something I'm willing to give up. I'm an athlete for goodness sakes! :)

Note: Greg was not saying this in any kind of negative way - it was more of just an overall evaluation of our living expenses. We ARE on a fixed income now and must make good decisions - especially the way the stock market is performing!

For all you fellow Knitting Athletes out there, don't forget to take care of your body! Maintenance is the key!

Don't forget to get up a couple times an hour to stretch your body/neck, arms, hands, etc!

Covert Knitting!

2008-07-01T06:15:00.000-07:00

Now...for the CONTRABAND KNITTING! (My term for non Nihon Vogue knitting projects while taking the Nihon Vogue certification course)

The word contraband is used more in the illegal trade of goods. Maybe I should term my non-Nihon knitting as Clandestine or Covert Knitting. Maybe Cloak-and-Dagger Knitting?

Whatever you want to call it, you know me. I can't just do Nihon Vogue!

I started a Clapotis. Yes, I know. This was popular years ago and I am just getting to this. I have always wanted to knit one. I guess it is like marriage, I was waiting for just the right yarn. This is Sundara's Blooming Fuschia.

This yarn is was one of Sundara's Season's yarn subscription yarns for the summer season. I wrote to Sundara to tell her if I could have created up a color that was *Naomi*, this was/is it. I love the color and I love the yarn base. It is 50% merino and 50% silk. So yummy and cozy. Perfect for a Clapotis. I'm making it wider than the pattern design(I inquired after the packages were sent out to see if she had additional skeins I could purchase). I just want to be able to wrap myself up in it! In person it is more fuschia than purple-ish. It is hard to capture the complexity of the color in a photo.

At the left part of the photo you can see a bunch of my cute stitch markers made by Amy. Her shop can be found here. She hasn't had a stitch marker sale in awhile(hint, hint Amy!).

Here is a photo showing a bit of the dropped stitches.

A couple weeks ago a couple of my friends and I started a Hemlock Ring . What possessed me to agree to do this with them? 'It isn't homework' seems to be my only criteria these days!

I'm making mine out of Blue Sky Alpaca's Cotton. I really like working with this yarn. It is very soft and perfect for this project.

Here is yet another project. I love the portability of socks. I always have a pair going(gotta have something to knit on at the Mariner games that doesn't take concentration). This is self-striping Vesper Sock yarn - this one is Serendipitous. I'm a sucker for self-striping sock yarn - especially hand dyed ones.

I also knit a square for Ryan - as you may know she is going through a difficult time. Janine is organizing the project to make a blanket for Ryan. She is extending the deadline to make a square to July 10. See Janine's blog for more detail. Here is my square(Ryan knows about it so I won't be spoiling the surprise of what my square looks like - she has already seen it).

I am dying to start a lace project. I remind myself that my final Nihon project is half lace. I am going to cast-on my final project today...which begins with the lace section.

You see? I can say no to myself to NOT start another project. After all, I can get my lace fix with my Nihon homework! A round of applause, please!

:)

LOTS O' KNITTIN'

2008-06-30T16:10:00.000-07:00

I am liking this retirement gig. I highly recommend it!

The weeks leading up to my last day at work I was very nervous. I am not sure why now, looking back. I have not gotten to a point where I feel relaxed. I think it is going to take awhile.

The past 10 years of my career have been very high stress. I was always on a system implementation schedule which can be very stressful and full of deadlines. Although I prefer system implemenations to system maintenance, it still takes a toll on ones body and mind.

As a transition, it is good to have my deadlines with Nihon Vogue. I feel like I still have firm deadlines and things I HAVE to get done. I'm grateful to have this right now.

I am finalizing the design on my final project and putting the details on paper/pattern.

Here is a rough sketch of my final project.

The upper part of the garment where the bust dart is placed and the sleeves will be done in stockinette stitch. The bottom section of the garment will be a lace pattern. Here is my swatch of the stitches to be used.

I have never created a garment with bust darts. Since the upper part of my design will be more fitted, I wanted to learn how to do bust darts using Japanese short rows. There a number of measurements that need to be taken which determines the placement of the dart on the pattern. Here is a photo of bust dart placement for my design - it is the triangle drawn on the pattern.

There are a couple of techniques I am using to get the look I want for this garment. The first one is the bust darts, the second is getting the flaring on the sleeves and bottom of the sweater. The flare on the bottom part of the sweater can be a challenge because the pattern is lace. Instead of decreasing stitches, which can destroy the continuity of the lace pattern, I will achieve this by changing needle sizes. For every .25 mm you go up/down, this will change your guage approximately 4%. Using this guide, you can then figure out how many times you will need to change needle sizes to get the result you want.

Since retiring I have also completed two Nihon projects.

The first is the v-neck pullover that I have struggled doing the grafting on. As I got more and more experienced grafting the 2X2 ribbing, I wondered why I couldn't see the stitches and how to graft. That is what experience is all about, isn't it?

Here is my finished garment. I am very pleased with the fit of this project.

I have also finished(with the exception of sewing on the buttons - still trying to decide between 2 buttons) the round neck cardigan. I call this one my Pepto Bismol sweater. The reason - this project seemed to go on and on, and on and on some more. I was getting nauseated with it - I needed some Pepto as a cure for the nausea!

I like the fit, overall, but the sleeves on this are tad bit tight.

I am also finishing up the v-neck cardigan. I just finished knitting the sleeves yesterday and the sleeves are on the blocking board right now. I just have to attach the sleeves and finish knitting and putting on the vertical button band. I will write more on that in another post. Vertical button bands deserve their own full blog post! (what a pain...why would anyone ever do this?)

I have tried uploading some photos of my "contraband knitting" but they won't load. I guess I can only update you on my Nihon Vogue work!

Hey Seattle - isn't this weather awesome? Now this is the heat I like! I know some of you may be wilting, but this girl is in heaven! Not too cold, not too hot. It is JUST right!

Candace is running a Marathon!

2008-06-26T10:12:00.001-07:00

A fellow student in the Nihon Vogue course is running a marathon for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. This organization holds a special place in my charitable giving heart.

My niece Nicole has leukemia(which is in remission). (I realize now I should have done a post requesting donations when Nicole's brother, Connor, did the Big Climb earlier this year - oh well, I will do it next year).

Anyway...Candace is training to do a marathon. The proceeds will go to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. This organization has been a wonderful resource for my family.

I did a post on Nicole's birthday last year which will give you more information about my niece's battle with leukemia.

Here is a recent photo of Nicole with her brother Connor(far left) and cousin Cameron (center) at Cam's high school graduation a few weeks ago. You can see that she is doing well.

The drug that Nicole is on, which keeps her in remission, would not be possible without the charitable contributions of people like you and me.

If you have the means and the desire, go to Candace's giving website to donate directly to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society via her efforts!

Thanks so much!

Also a big round of applause to Candace for taking on such a big commitment to help the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society!!!!

5 Years Served of a Life Sentence

2008-06-25T14:40:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine, Linda, jokingly talks about marriage as a life sentence(with a big smile)!

This past Sunday Greg and I celebrated 5 years of marriage.

We are late bloomer's regarding marriage. On our wedding day I was almost 37 years old and Greg was 51. Yes, it is both our first marriage. We both say it took each of us so long because we were waiting for the *right* person.

We had our share of relationships that didn't work out. We agree that we had gotten to a point in our lives that we were happy in our lives as they were as single people. If we met someone special, great. If not, we were perfectly happy being single.

We continue this independant-ness in our marriage. Yes, our marriage is very, very important but it isn't all there is in our lives. We share so much but we continue having lives and interests outside our marriage. For us, this is what makes our marriage so strong and beautiful. We have our passions in our marriage and we have passions outside our marriage. His passions outside our marriage are photography and scuba diving, mine are my dogs and anything fiber related!

Here is a wedding photo of us on the waterfront. We were posing for photos when the fire boat comes by. We couldn't have asked for a better photo op.

I tell people I wish that people looking for love could have what we have. We have tremendous respect for each other, we support one another to pursue the things that are important to us, we love each other's families, we laugh every single day(this was in our marriage vows) and we share so many common values.

When I imagined THE PERFECT man for me, I could not have conjured up this man in my dreams.

This photo shows our playful side:

I love this next photo. Greg is my safe place. He is my soft place to fall. He is compassionate, he is loving, he DOES have an emotional bone in his body! I think this photo says it all.

On Sunday I was running around the house in the morning getting ready for my Nihon class and Greg asks if I have time to have coffee with him. I said "kinda". He said he had something for me. I gave him that side-wise look. We had agreed not to exchange gifts this year. He presented me with a gift wrapped box. Inside were a pair of diamond earrings.

I told Greg we should return them because I would rather have the $$ go towards ripping out the carpet and putting new flooring in upstairs in our home. He wouldn't hear of it. (Did I mention he is thoughtful, too?)

A life sentence seems doesn't seem long enough for me.

My Mariner Scarf

2008-06-17T08:40:00.000-07:00

As most of Seattle knows, the Seattle Mariners are not doing well this season. It has been hard on the fans. There was so much hope going into this season. Unfortunately the team has not lived up to those hopes.

I still enjoy going to the games. In fact I will be going to tonight's game.

On a somewhat related topic, when I retired I received some very kind and generous retirement celebration gifts(more posts to come on those). One was from Michale. She knew I have been wanting to knit the Chevron scarf from Last Minute Knitted Gifts(currently 1273 projects in Ravelry). Michale knit this for me because she knew I have been wanting to knit this but knew I would not be getting to knitting it any time soon.

I wore this scarf at the game this past Saturday night when we played the Washington Nationals...and lost. Here is a photo of me wearing my scarf sitting with my mother-in-law Evie.

I'll surely be wearing it tonight. Currently it is cool out and raining. Will summer ever arrive in Seattle?

Getting the Hang of it

2008-06-13T10:20:00.000-07:00

I would be wondering "Why Naomi is having such a hard time grafting her invisible cast-on piece to the main piece?".

I have looked at books, I have watched Lucy Neatby's Finesse Your Knitting DVD (thank you Michale for loaning it to me). This video is very good by the way. I would buy it myself but now that I am on a "fixed income" I know where I can borrow it! :)

My problem isn't doing normal grafting. I can do normal grafting. My problem is half of my material is as you would see in videos and books and the other half(which was knit from a provisional, crochet cast-on) is not. Since the stitches from the provisional are a 1/2 stitch off, this makes it challenging(at least for me).

The photo below shows the little piece I am trying to graft on which began with an invisible cast-on. The white yarn is some smooth waste yarn that shows me now the yarn should be sewn to join the pieces together. This is what I would call the piece that is shown in "normal" grafting examples.

The photo below really shows what I mean by the knitting being a 1/2 stitch off. In Lucy's DVD she has you put smooth waste yarn on each piece you will be graphting together. I can not do this with the piece that is 1/2 stitch off - this is the whole reason for the need to graft these pieces together. If it were as easy as just picking up from the waste yarn, this would eliminate the need for this grafting.

I'm getting the hang of this. I have seen some *issues* with my latest piece of grafting and I may have to rip out and start again. I think this is because I tried doing it late at night. The photo below is the piece I did during the day and I am quite pleased with the results. As long as it took me to do this(lots of sewing, then re-sewing - trying to read the stitches correctly) I was thinking I could have re-knit the whole sleeve. I guess that would go against what I am trying to learn here...plus I am NOT going to re-knit the whole front and back just because of this darn situation. Looks pretty good..or as good as I am going to get since this is really making me very behind in other homework. It took me probably 4-5 hours for just one sleeve. Honestly. I think I will get quicker the more I can really memorize what I should be doing.

I must say that having this time is priceless. Spending all this time practicing, doing and re-doing this graft has been an enjoyable learning experience rather than a frustrating, race against time *chore*. Just by being able to take my time with it is just amazing. I'm enjoying this learning process rather than being frustrated by it.

I am also getting the hang of this NOT WORKING gig. It is so nice! I'm tending to stay up later. I was waking up about 5:30 everyday but today I made it till 7am! (I make it sound like I have been doing it awhile - today is day 3 of freedom!)

It almost seems like a dream not having the performance pressures from work. It is so nice to wake up and look at what my day might be. Go downstairs, wake and feed the boys, have my coffee(G is still making my latte's) and just sit for a bit to figure out what I will do with my day. Pure luxury.

The Manta Ray Video, Finally

2008-06-12T09:52:00.000-07:00

As most of you know Greg and I took a vacation to Hawaii in late April through early May.

My most memorable experience on the trip was doing the night snorkel to see the famed Manta Ray's on the Big Island. We did the snorkel/dive on Wednesday April 30. I believe 12-13 manta's showed up.

Big Bertha, the biggest Manta in the area, was there. Her wingspan is 14 feet across. I think the average wingspan of the manta's in that area is about 10 feet. One of the newer baby Manta's was also there. Greg termed this one "gnome sized" because he is only about 5 feet across.

Back in 2003 on my honeymoon in Tahiti I had the experience of seeing the Manta's on a day snorkel and I could just make out the outline of their large bodies far below me.

When I learned about this excursion, I knew I had to get to Kona to see this. They have been drawing the manta's to this area(Kona) for the purpose of tourism for quite some time.

I have no information confirming this in any way but I worry that at some point they will stop doing this for the safety of these beings. I know some of them can get bruised by running into people and their equipment. There are stupid people that try to touch them. Manta's have a protective coating on their bodies and our body products, etc. can be harmful to them. I wanted to see them just in case they stop doing this in the future.

We booked the excursion through Kona Honu Divers.

I took this video with a little waterproof Sanyo video camera. You don't have to be a scuba diver to enjoy and be blown away by this excursion.

These animals are very curious and gentle beings. They are truly remarkable.

Enjoy.

A New Beginning

2008-06-10T14:11:00.000-07:00

I made it out of work today with minimal tears!

My co-workers were very generous and contributed $310 to the National Marrow Donor Program in lieu of flowers or gifts for my retirement gift.

The team tricked me and came into the conference room as I was doing my exit meeting with my boss and brought a huge box of Trophy cupcakes (my favorite) to celebrate the beginning of a new chapter in my life.

What is my first trip in retirement?

I am running off to Costco right now! :)

For the Sock Knitter

2008-06-09T18:50:00.000-07:00

Dani at Sunshine Yarns has created some self striping yarns for all of the Harry Potter Hogwarts School house colors and I had to have Gryffindor House. I love how these turned out!

The story about getting this yarn is this: I have enjoyed Dani's creations and had longed to get some of the Harry Potter inspired house self-striping sock yarn(I'm a huge sucker for self-striping sock yarn!). She emails when she is going to update the shop(Tomorrow June 10, 11am eastern) and I knew she would be listing some Harry Potter inspired skeins. I was all set to go. I had blocked out my work calendar for about 15 minutes so I could take a break just at the precise moment she was going to list.

I was working away and got called into a last minute meeting. I returned to my desk about 1.5 hours after her listing time and I just knew all the Gryffindor House colors would be sold out.

I ran to my desk and guess what? There was one skein left of Gryffindor House. I was stunned. Still one more skein out there? I was meant to make these socks!

They look especially cute in my new clear Converse shoes. Have y'all seen these shoes? Perfect for the nerdy sock knitter like me! You can get them here.

Sock Books

Janel Laidman's sock book is out! I did a pre-order and got mine signed. They are now available for sale here.

I own a lot of sock books. I love some, I'm mediocre on others. This one is FAB-O. Go out and buy it.

I love each and every design in this book. Honestly I want to knit each and every one. (Move over Nihon Vogue!)

The night I received this book in the mail I lay in bed gazing over and over(and over and over and over) the pages of this book. Here is a sampling of the designs included in this book.

Rivendell

Of course you probably know this pattern - the Yarn Harlot made this famous. You can get the pattern in the book or you can purchase just the pattern here.

Biological Clock

Don't you love the DNA strands?

Northern Lights

The colorwork folks are not left out in the cold.

Thistle and Fox Socks - Lisa Lloyd

I purchased this booklet through Foxfire Fiber and Designs some time ago.

The designs in the booklet are timeless. I have a hard time finding designs that my man would wear. I found more than one in this book.

The design that prompted me to purchase this booklet is called Snowstar.

Another lovely pattern is Bluegrass.

I am a bit on a non-Nihon Vogue bent right now.

I'm a little frustrated trying to graft that darn v-neck ribbing(still). I am getting better at it. After sewing across almost a half a wrist ribbing I found this little not-quite-right stitch. Most folks won't even notice it but I know Jean will.

I get discouraged because it isn't *perfect*. Damn perfectionism.

The bad thing about perfectionism(there are lots of bad things) is that when something isn't perfect to me then I just want to set it down and never pick it up again. I don't like that I have this impulse but Nihon is really helping me to pick it back up and finish it. It may not be 100% perfect but just finishing it is a huge thing for me. That is probably why I have a multitude of UFO's in my house. Nihon is really, really helping me get beyond this impulse.

The non-knitting content:

Today driving into work, my sister Deb popped up in my head. She pops up at very significant times in my life. I think it is because she was my champion. She was my endless supporter and she is doing that even now. Even though she is no longer living.

I imagined her calling me tonight(which I know she would have) saying "Aren't you excited for your last day of work?". She would be supporting me telling me how excited she is for me. I get tears writing this. No matter what was going on with her, she always found time to show her interest in my life. I miss that love and demonstrativeness.

I didn't fully appreciate her interest in my life and how much she showed her love for me by just by making a quick phone call to say hi.

For most folks dreaming about retirement they could not imagine the transition from work life to retirement being a challenge. It is more challenging than I would have imagined. The future is full of unknowns(I know...full of endless opportunity as well).

I am also anxious leaving some people behind at work. The environment I am leaving is getting harder and harder to work in each week that passes. I care a lot about my friends there and hate to leave them behind. I will miss them a lot.

Today I received a letter in the mail from the National Marrow Donor Program saying that two of my co-worker's had made contributions in my name. I started crying. This gesture means a lot to me. (I told my work that I didn't want a party or gifts but they could make contributions to the NMDP). They went out of their way to really honor me and the time we have spent together in the workplace.

Ready or not tomorrow I graduate from work life!

Wow. It has been awhile!

2008-06-07T16:26:00.000-07:00

I've had a lot to write about, just not a lot of time to do it in.

What will get me out of the quiets on the blog? A Meme.

Ellen meme'd me and I think I can do this quickly(I hope).

The rules: Are posted at the beginning. At the end of the post, the player then tags 6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blog and leaves a comment, letting them know they've been tagged and asking them to read your blog.Let the person who tagged you know when you've posted your answer. Play nice, children.

1. What was I doing 10 years ago? Let's see. 11 years ago I made a career change and was deep into the first year of transition. I was an accountant/CPA turning to software developer. I was working 12-16 hours a day on a Y2K project. I was a newby developer on a project that had many seasoned veterans and I was working many hours to just keep up. I was motivated to be successful in my new career so I spent many hours at the job.

2. What are 5 things on my to-do list today- not in any particular order? Have breakfast with my friend Jamie, color my hair, get cute wrapping paper for my friend Amy's birthday present, wash the bed linens, get started on a square for Ryan's afghan(see details here. It is the June 6 post.) You all probably know Ryan from Mossy Cottage Knits and Dulaan. She's going through a rough time and folks are contributing squares for an afghan. Go see Janine's post for details. She has done so much for people, it is time we do something for her.

3. Snacks I enjoy: I'm a junk food queen. I love any kind of food. If I eat something sweet, then I need something salty to follow. When I eat something salty then I need something sweet to follow. As you can tell, this can be a dangerous circle that never ends!

4. Places I've lived: I've only lived in two places during my almost 42 years of life. Ellensburg, WA and then Seattle, WA.

5. Things I would do if I were a billionaire: Well. A Billion dollars is a lot of cash. I would give money to my sisters so they could retire. I would give money to my friends so they could retire and we could all play! I would give money to charity and maybe even start my own foundation for starving fiber artists.

6. What are some jobs you've had: My dad owned many rental properties and an apartment building. Early on(starting at age 7) I had to water outdoor plants, weed, paint, etc. As a teenager I worked in a local fast food drive-in as a cashier and I bussed tables at a local restaurant. In college I worked at the UW Huskly Athletic ticket office - in ticket sales. Also while in college I worked at NOAA as a computer hardware installer(changing out mother boards, etc). I have worked as an accountant and software developer.

7. Peeps I want to know more about: Jamie, Melinda(she probably won't do it though!), Michale, Peggy and Rebecca, Joni

Note: I have two more work days. Monday and Tuesday are it. It seems a bit of a letdown of sorts. Not sure why. I think it is because it doesn't feel real yet. Plus I'm fighting a summer cold and it has me feeling a but whimpy. You can bet I'll be posting more regularly very soon!

Another Nihon Vogue Weekend

2008-05-18T19:40:00.000-07:00

I love the weekends I attend class for Nihon Vogue year one certification!

I learn so much! It is so cool!

Jean is such a wonderful instructor!

Don't have much time to write but here are some photos giving you a small hint about what we learned.

The next two photos show how Jean is teaching us about tank top fitting. Our crochet project is to crochet a tank top. Many students are crocheting a tank to fit themselves. I am going the smart route. Tank top for a 2 year old!

As part of the design process we must chart out every row, every stitch on the area of the armhole and neckline decreases for this crochet project. A very tedious task for homework. Luckily by doing the 2 year old size, there won't be as much work here for me.

Melinda is the only student done with her crewneck cardigan(I think she is the only one). Jean was telling us how to reinforce the neckline ribbing on a garment like this. This sweater is very heavy which can pull the neckline out of shape. We learned how to not only reinforce this area but how to keep it so it does not get stretched out.

We also learned how to attach a vertical button band onto our v-neck cardigan. There are many calculations that have to be made in order to make this work. Imagine knitting row upon row of a button band that goes from left front ribbing, up the front of the sweater, up and around the neck and back down the right front down to the right front ribbing. That is a lot of rows. It can be very tedious.

As part of the knitting of the vertical button band you need to calculate where the button holes are and hope that when all is said and knit up...that it fits the garment side as well. Of course it sounds like you leave it all to chance but there is a lot to calculate and make sure this all works out correctly.

Once you have done all that figuring and knitting, you have to learn to sew on the vertical button band to the garment. Here is Jean's illustration of how this is done. I'm actually looking forward to seeing how mine works out.

I am so very grateful to be given the opportunity to commit to such an amazing class. I have learned so much. As I discussed with my fellow students we acknowledge that it has been a very challenging year, full of growing pains. As difficult as things have been, I don't believe any of us would trade this experience. We still have to finish off the year but I think there are only two or three students out of the fifteen that are still undecided about committing to year two. The rest of my class has already committed to moving ahead to year 2.

Last night Greg asked me "If you had to decide today whether you were going to take year two, what would you decide?". I told him "I definitely would".

I look forward to trying all the things I learned in the past two days. It is nice to see my fellow students and teacher. I would definitely miss seeing them if I didn't continue with my Nihon education.

The woman that sits behind me was having a hell of a time with the button band calculations and the results over this weekend. She had to re-do it 4 times. I look at her as a seasoned knitter. She knows an awful lot and has years of experience. Not that I want Sarah to struggle but I realize that I am not the only one experiencing those hard earned growing pains.

We will celebrate when we complete year one(One student suggested lots of margaritas). This is definitely something to be proud of.

Still Behind

2008-05-11T19:58:00.001-07:00

This coming weekend is a Nihon Vogue Weekend. I am perpetually behind.

The crewneck cardigan is coming out nicely. I am happy with the pattern and yarn but I'm disappointed in the fit of the sleeves. I added more ease with this pattern but It is still too tight. I blocked it to my design measurements. It is still too tight. I am going to try to block the sleeve out more so it is more comfortable to wear.

I think the overall fit of the sweater is going to be a bit tight. Read my prior post. I think I need to take new body measurements to base my designs on!

This is the progress I have made. For the sake of time I decided to do a 1X1 rib. I was going to do something more visually pleasing but I just don't have time. I just have to get this done. Originally I tried doing the ribbing in the same needle size as the pattern/body but it didn't look good. I am not fond of tighter ribbing like what it currently is, but it will have to do for now.

Remember the frogging of the seed stitch on the sides of the body? I took out just that secion to do it in pattern. Here is the sewn side seams. I think it looks pretty darn good. It isn't perfect and I had some issues figuring out where to pick up stitches at the yarn overs.

I still have to sew up one sleeve, attach the sleeves to the body and do the button/neck bands. This I want to finish before class on Saturday.

Here is my progress on the v-neck. As I was knitting the front neck decreases I checked the pattern against the 15 shoulder stitches on the back to make sure the pattern was going to match up. I checked it how many times and re-knit it once already. I was confident the end result as good. I blocked the pieces and went to sew the shoulder seams. No. Pattern is wrong. I have to undo the fronts down to the first yarn marker(see photo) and re knit.

I still have to knit a swatch for my vertical button band for the v-neck cardigan. Still have the sleeves to knit. Based on how my sleeves for the round neck cardigan fit, I am going to re-calculate the increases on the sleeves. Leave the sleeve cap the same width(don't want to have to re-knit the body armholes) and make the wrist width wider. I can leave the sleeve to knit after this upcoming class...

I want the v-neck cardigan in such a state that I can follow the vertical button band lessons in class.

I have abaondoned the grafting of the ribbing to be done on the v-neck pullover for now.

I don't know what it is with me and Nihon. I check my notes, I check my knitting, I check out how patterns are going to line up and I still have issues. I do believe it is my need to get knitting done and I just miss things because I am rushing to get it all done.

I know I will feel differently when I have more time. I know I will enjoy Nihon much more. Let's see, how many more work days? I work 4 days a week. I am requesting to take a vacation day this coming week to work on my homework, I have Memorial Day off...so that makes it Sweet 16!

Crochet? Yes. We have to do a crochet project. My swatches look like crap. I see mistakes but I just don't crochet and don't know how to read the stitches. I have never crocheted a garment. This is going to be interesting!

My swatches are in Knit Picks Gloss - fingering weight in Woodland Sage. The right swatch is done in a larger hook size. I want the most bang for my time! I bought this from a fellow Raveler. I didn't want to spend much on this project. I got 10 skeins for $25. I'm following Melinda's lead - child sized garment only.

I have been thinking about my final project. It is a design your own - which really is what we have been doing all along so it really isn't all that much different than our other projects.

I am going to knit my final project in Blue Sky Alpacas Alpaca Silk - creamy white. It will be an empire waist deep round neck cardigan sweater with a lace pattern on the top, down to the bustline, then stockinette from the bust-line down. The sleeves will have the lace pattern down to near the elbows, then stockinette with a flared sleeve. There will only be a few buttons from the neckline down to the bust and no buttons below.

I have a concept drawing done but nothing ready to show yet.

I know it is a long post but I must comment about Nihon Vogue. It is a rigorous and demanding course. I think the few of us with blogs may highlight our frustrations and our stress for time.

I have taken some time to really ponder whether I will take year 2. Before my vacation I was 95% sure I would continue. Now it is about 60%. I know I will have a better sense once I'm done working. I will have a month and a half from the time I retire and when we have our last class(which is when I have to know if I am taking year 2).

The reason for the decrease in likelihood is not a reflection on Jean or the course. There is just so much OTHER knitting I would like to do, not to mention spinning, too!

I have learned so much this past year. I KNOW I will use all of the techniques I have learned. It has taken my knitting to a whole new level. It has also given me a boost in confidence in my knitting. I know it may not sound like it from my nihon blog entries but I am much more confident in my abilities.

I must also comment that Jean is an incredible teacher. She is so kind and patient with all of us and our stresses, our impatience. She expects the best from herself and she expects that from us as well.

You know how you take classes and you get all jazzed and you may or may not use what you learn? I will walk away from year one with a sense of accomplishment and with many, many new tools in my knitting tool box! Who can say they knit 8 garments in 13 months?

Extra Baggage

2008-05-11T19:30:00.000-07:00

Now isn't that a loaded title!

I've had a post in the wings for all of you regarding my trip to see the Manta Ray's. It was such a memorable night. I'm waiting for hubby to get my video up on Utube to share. As soon as he does, I will post that entry. In the meantime...I have a more serious post.

I have been pondering about a weighty subject, literally.

When Greg and I travel we have to be very conscious of how much our check-in luggage weighs in order to prevent having to pay for overweight luggage. We take so much diving and camera equipment. We have to be smart so we pack, weigh, re-pack and re-weigh, re-pack, etc.

I got to thinking...How much does my carry-on bag weigh? I packed of my laptop, various battery chargers, my priceless Nihon Vogue notes and minimum clothes I might need in case my checked in luggage gets lost or is delayed by a couple days(it does happen). My carry on weighed somewhere in the neighborhood of 20-22 pounds.

Well, when we arrived in Kona, we had to carry our carry-on luggage down the stairs to the tarmac. When we got home, I also had to carry this bag from the ground floor of our house up to the master bedroom(3 flights of stairs). It gets heavy and annoying if you can't just roll it around!

I have gained about that much weight since meeting Greg 8 years ago.

I had a light bulb moment.

The weight of my carry-on is what I carry around with me now, everywhere I go. I carry it up and down the stairs everyday at home, I carry it with me to the grocery store, I carry it EVERY-WHERE.

No wonder I feel more tired. No wonder why I feel more winded going up stairs. No wonder why I feel out of shape.

It has woken me up a bit about the reality of my weight gain and how much energy it takes to cart it around.

I have gained it slowly so I have not noticed how my body, bones and muscles have accommodated to deal with this additional load. When I had to lift and carry the bag I definitely noticed how much it made me work.

I don't want to carry that carry-on bag with me everywhere anymore. I wish getting rid of it was as easy as checking it in at the airport and sending it to some other destination!

It is true. I AM spoiled

2008-04-30T16:10:00.001-07:00

I didn't post about it earlier. I'm somewhat embarassed.

It is true. I admit it. I am spoiled.

Greg bought me a new Louis Vuitton while we were on Maui. It is his gift to me to celebrate my retirement(as if getting to retire wasn't enough!).

He really liked this new style that just came out - Galliera PM.

Greg is really a thoughtful husband. After I chose which bag I wanted he was nice enough to ask if there was anything else I wanted!

A Happy Wife is a Happy Life. :)

We have our 5 year anniversary coming up in June. I told him that since we both got such a late start in life, marriage-wise, that for every year we are married it really counts as two. I think you earn it too because the longer it takes for a person to get married for the first time, the harder it is to learn to compromise...hence the credit for two years for every year of marriage. Sounds reasonable, no?

That really is just ego justification logic for better anniversary gifts. HA!

Actually this bag is a retirement, anniversary, birthday gift! See I can be reasonable! :)

On a completely different note:

I DID get to see a turtle today! It was absolutely thrilling. She was just swimming around and she let me swim alongside her. Then after following her for awhile, so close I could almost touch her, she came to to surface for air. I could see her open her mouth and get some air, saw a few bubbles in the water as she went back under and followed her for a bit more before the surge took me too close to the rocks. Oh it was so cool!

I am glad Greg got some video of it. I am going back there tomorrow!

I hope this is a good omen for seeing the Manta's tonight! We went into the dive shop this past Saturday to sign up for the Manta trip and the night before the Manta's did not show up. Now that would be very disappointing!

Wish us luck!

The Good, Bad and the Ugly

2008-04-30T12:45:00.000-07:00

We went to a shave ice place in Kailua-Kona...close to a really, really good hole-in-the-wall restaurant. This little corner of Kailua-Kona is my favorite!

Now this is authentic Shave Ice. When you look at this photo - this is the size SMALL shave ice.

This brought back memories. When I was a child, my dad bought us a shave ice machine. It was all manual but I can still see it in my mind. You would freeze water in this specific shaped mold that would fit into this machine, turn the hand crank to get the ice shaved and add this sugary syrup to it. I can still see me and Trish fighting over who was going to turn the crank! [Trish, do you remember that?]

Having this "real" shave ice made me very happy!

What didn't make me happy is my NihonV homework. I have been playing with the V-neck cardigan back. I was trying to figure out how to fix my mistake on the provisional cast-on. After futzing with it I just decided to tear the whole thing out.

What happened? I had done a provisional cast-on but rather then stockinette the first 3 rows, I started immediately in pattern. This was my mistake. I won't ever do that again. See? The more you make mistakes the more you learn!

In the last class I learned how to do an invisible cast-on specifically for seed stitch which is what I was planning on doing for the ribbing. I wish I had learned this Before I started my project but I didn't. So yesterday I tore out the back. I was done up to the armhole.

Yes. I tore out the back. I will have to do this with the front also because...I want them to look consistent, especially at the side seams.

I was sad but I just could not figure out how to *fix* my boo boo at the beginning of the back.

Here is the before:

Here is the after with ribbing:

I am still struggling with the V-neck pullover..trying to graft on the "ribbing", invisible cast-on piece (same as my pattern stitch)to the main piece. Since we had not learned the invisible cast-on when I started this project I did the provisional cast-on. With my pattern stitch the 1/2 stitch off between provisional cast-on and ribbing would be very apparent. This is another example of: If I stayed really behind in my homework I would learned the cast-on before I got started and save myself this challenge. I guess it requires me to learn more than other students in my class.

In fact one student has only done stockinette stitch in all her projects. I could have done that to save myself all this headache but I wouldn't have learned nearly as much either.

Here is the pre-grafting materials. The bottom part of the photo - the purple is what I am trying to graft on the main part of the knitting, the white is the material that is my guide to graft with the real yarn - this is the graft row, the pink is just a placeholder which will go away as I graft the bottom("ribbing") to the body.

I am learning a lot about reading stitches and how the stitches are made and what loop goes with this and what loop makes up that. I still can't get the grafting to look right and I really wanted to finish up this project before next class.

With all the time I have taken to try to figure this out, I may just wait until I see Jean and have her help me with it. I just don't have the time to spend on all this fixing right now. I don't like feeling stressed on my vacation!

I am just beginning to get the hang of the grafting but the yarn is very fuzzy, making it hard to easily see the stitches. When I graft it, the front look passable but there are some stitches that are not right on the back side. I am sure Jean could just go *zip, zip, zip* (my attempt at sound in words) and have it all stitched up in no time.

I want to learn how to do this correctly. I don't want her to do it for me.

Now I am off to do some relaxation. I am on the hunt to see some turtles. I've been dying to see turtles! Tonight we are doing a night snorkel(kind of scares me!) to hopefully see the big Manta Rays. Last time Greg was here he saw 10 and they were all swimming around the divers and snorkelers. See the site of the outfit we are going with HERE.

I hear Seattle is cold and rainy. Sorry guys! I will try to bring the sunshine home with me!

Miss Dem Boyz

2008-04-28T19:38:00.000-07:00

You all know I am just *slightly* attached to my boys. I have been away from them for 11 days now.

Here are some photos I had on my phone.

My sister Trish is taking good care of them. I call her just about every third day to find out how they are doing. I would call her everyday but I'm sure she would get sick of me calling just to see if they are doing ok.

She did tell me her son Connor had some friends over one night for a pizza dinner and Chase was wrestling with some kid for a piece of pizza. The kid yelled out to Trish "Chase is attacking me". Imagine seeing Chase, a 10 pound Yorkie(yes, he is a giant Yorkie), duking it out with some 80-90 pound kid? Trish said Chase got a good couple bites out of the pizza before she could get it from him. No wonder he likes staying with Auntie Trish!

The only stories I get about Beanie are that he is so easy and he just loves to sit and cuddle on the couch. Maltese were bred for that and he is true to his breed.

One downside of our travels is being away from "the boys". Even Greg admits he is missing them. He mentioned we needed to find a place where we could take them and stay for a few months(we could do this in Bonaire - one of Greg's favorite diving places. He has friends that have a house there and they always bring their dog)!

I never thought I would ever hear him say such a thing because initially he didn't want to meet me because I had two dogs.

Those boys have a way of worming their way into a person's heart. They sure have worked their magic on Greg. Boy am I glad they did!

Our Daily Bread

2008-04-25T11:20:00.000-07:00

I had issues getting this posted yesterday. First, blogger was having problems uploading photos. Then when we arrived at our new home away from home, the internet service was not working.

Thank goodness for the iPhone! Since we are "renting" this condo, the don't provide a contact number, just an e-mail. Kind of hard to e-mail if you can't get on the internet, huh? So I just emailed them from my iPhone. Gotta love this phone.

Here is the original post:

This is our last morning at Two Mermaids. I have enjoyed our stay here very much. Being away from the hustle and bustle of the crowds has done wonders for my soul. I had have some much needed rest and I am on the road back to feeling like Naomi again.

Every morning, Juddee brings us a wonderful plate of goodies for breakfast. Here is a sample of what we got in our basket set outside our door.

I also have some random photos of me and my food on the trip.

I had this really yummy french onion soup at a restaurant on Maui called Cafe O' Lei. The soup was delicious and much more than an appetizer size! This could have been my whole meal. The angle at which the photo was taken does not give you true perspective on the size, but it was quite large!

Here I am at the Tommy Bahama Cafe at the Shops at Wailea enjoying a mango martini!

Finally some photos of us at Spago. I'm enjoying the Poke inspired Wolfgang Puck appetizer while Greg sits back and enjoys the awesome view.

We went to the local Farmer's Market this morning after our morning coffee. It is just like the ones at home. We stopped off at this beautiful orchid stand...can't believe how cheap the prices are for cut orchids.

Of course I'm at the Farmer's Market and I go to the booth's with food. Here I am with homemade yummy's in the background.

I'll leave you with a photo of the view from our new place. We want to go out and explore now. I really want to go next door to the beach...this is where Greg saw lots of turtles last time. Have a great day!

Deb, did you see us?

2008-04-24T20:42:00.000-07:00

Last night Greg and I dined at Spago at the Four Seasons Hotel in Wailea.

The hotel is absolutely gorgeous! It is so luxurious and the service impeccable.

The reason why I titled my post "Deb, did you see us?" is because my sister Deb, the one that died of pancreatic cancer, would vacation at the Four Seasons Maui every year with her husband. When they had their daughter, then the three of them would enjoy vacations there. I heard stories of seeing Arnold Schwarzenegger with Maria and their kids there as well as how she and Morgan Fairchild became friends while staying there.

Deb would have been in her element there! As I looked from the balcony table we sat at dinner last night, I could only think of Deb and replaying some of the memories she shared with me about her visits there. She loved the Four Season's Maui and looked forward to their annual vacations there. I felt especially close to her knowing how many vacations she spent there.

More about our dinner experience.

The staff was perfect.

Our "bread girl", which is what I called her(I know, it is not the most respectful - sorry!) because she came to each table offering bread - there were 5 types and all freshly made. So delicious. She was from Ballard! We chatted it up with her throughout the night which was very fun.

We had a very extravagent dinner last night - Greg loves these kinds of outings. Honestly this is not my kind of place(I like the more low-key places) but Greg loves this kind of experience. I call this kind of place - "where the beautiful people are!".

The view was beautiful and we booked our reservation early enough so we could see the sunset.

The food was excellent. I had Wolfgang's version of Poke for an appetizer and it was absolutely memorable. No wonder it is a signature appetizer. Greg enjoyed seafood risotto which was incredible as well. I thought about Michale when he ordered it...Michale is crazy about risotto.

We enjoyed a bottle of Cab from a Washington winery called Amavi. It was very good wine.

For the main course, Greg had Seared Ahi Tuna while enjoyed a Macadamia Nut crusted Mahi Mahi. I wouldn't order the Mahi Mahi again. It was ok but the Ahi was delicious!

I did not indulge in dessert because I was just too full. Greg had a nice glass of port to top off the evening.

It was a memorable experience and I wish I would have brought my camera!

Sorry for the lack of photos! I just have not been taking many photos at all!

Tomorrow we are off to the Big Island to enjoy another 8 days of sunshine! I will take more photos, I promise!

More Maui Ramblings

2008-04-23T16:37:00.001-07:00

First off, a big round of applause and Thank You to Melinda.

She saved my bacon(which is getting bigger and bigger here - such yummy food!) For one, she transcribed Jean's DVD for the 2X2 invisible cast-on for me. Then she also realized/researched/told me that on Jean's website, that one of Jean's DVD samples is on the 2X2 invisible cast-on! Thank goodness! I've been saved!

Go HERE and you can sample Jean's DVD as well. As I said in my last post, I would highly recommend this DVD!

Yesterday we headed up to Lahaina for lunch. Greg wanted to eat at a place with a view so we ate at the Hard Rock Cafe. We sat at a table that was open to the street and had a view of the water. It was very pleasant. Here is a not so good photo from our table.

Here is a photo Greg took...

Honestly I was not fond of Lahaina. It is too tourist-y for my taste. I don't know what I expected.

We walked up Front Street. I HAD to go into the CROC's store(the only store I ventured into). Admittedly I *used* to think Croc's were ugly. Then I got a pair and became a convert. They are SO comfortable! Now I own several colors/styles.

Here I am in the Croc store, looking like I got caught with my hand in the cookie jar:

Greg and I got in a little tiff ("How many of these do you need?" he asks. It is kind of like asking "how much yarn do you need?". This did not go over very well with me as you can imagine! He should know better than to say that to me!) He should be careful. Why? We went into the Louis Vuitton store at the Wailea shops a couple days ago. I threated him yesterday as we were walking up Front Street that today while he was off diving I was going to buy this cute new LV style I had my eye on for a retirement gift from him to me!

Which collection of things would he prefer I add to? Croc's or Louis Vuitton?

Back to the Croc's. I just thought this style was so cute. If you aren't a Croc's fan you won't be able to relate to why I thought these were cute. I'm really a granola/earthy type deep down. Really I am - my sister's always laugh at this. I know...Naomi wearing her Croc's carrying her Louis Vuitton's. Ok, I'm only part earthy.

I stormed down Front Street, totally forgetting to check out the knit shop that I told Joni about. She went there and I didn't. Go check out her blog and read about her yarn. Funny story!

It didn't take us long to be done with walking around Lahaina. We got Shave Ice(like a snow cone but much better!) on the way to the car to head back "home".

On Maui we are staying at a Bed and Breakfast called the Two Mermaids.
Their site does not do the place justice. We are in the poolside suite. Last time Greg was here he stayed in this same room/place but it was just the studio. This time he booked the full suite so we have a full separate bedroom and the studio, combined.

I love it here because it feels like we are just visiting relatives. We are away from the commercialized Hawaii, which is what I prefer.

Here is our view from our chaise lounges. It is so nice to go out our door and lay in the sun/shade, reading.

Here is the entrance to our home away from home. You can see Greg going in at left.

This morning we were up at 4:30 am. Both of us couldn't sleep. We would have to get up at 5am anyway.

Our daily routine is to head over to Piilani Village Shopping Center...

to get our morning Coffee.

Greg has already made acquantances with another man he sees at 5:20 am. Today I met an adorable and friendly dog that let me pet him all I wanted. Made me really miss my boys.

I had to call my sister right then and there to get the latest on Chase and Beanie. (Don't worry-5:20 our time was 8:20 Seattle time) As usual she describes Chase as a character, and Beanie as such a cutie. She also relates how easy they are to take care of. Yep. Sounds about right.

I drop Greg off at the boat at 6am and head back *home* which is less than 5 minutes from the boat launch.

Well enough for now. I'm off to do may daily routine. Sit out at the pool in the afternoon and just read and nap! I'm starting to look more like a local rather than a Haole.

Oh. Funny quick story. Last night we did take out because I didn't want to get dressed up to go out. So we are waiting at the Hawaiian take out place. There were some locals in front of us and when they packaged up their order they asked if they wanted "Shoyu". I grew up calling soy sauce Shoyu.

When our order is ready they ask "do you want soy sauce?". It must have been Greg that made them think we were Haole! :)