A "Naomi" gift

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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