Asotin Creek

It's almost December, and the fear of cabin fever is running high. Luckily there is the Umatilla National Forest. The Wildlife Area follows Asotin Creek with a lazy two-track trail.

The trail is enclosed by basalt canyon walls which harbor tough, drought-tolerant plants. This will be a great hike for spring and fall, and perhaps winter.

The sunny grassy trail soon turned frosty.

This Northern Pygmy Owl sat in a thicket of sumac and let us pass close by.

The dogs loved this trail - plenty of scents and sounds. Although we kept them on leash due to the quantity of horseapples along the way. Nobody wanted to have to take a bath when we got home.

Idaho hold 'em

In a misguided effort to boost the bloggage, I have signed myself up for a full round of self-revelatory and potentially embarrassing posts. I am now part of the Knitty Blog Stalker 2 webring. Yes, that sounds vaguely threatening to me too.

I missed post 1, so I'm skipping right to the juicy stuff.


What's

In

My

Purse


Here is The Purse. I only have one. I like the looks of most bags, but I require a high degree of functionality. You will see.



I have carried this purse for 2 years now. I fully intend to carry it until either it or I am too worn and threadbare to continue to function. Every purse I have really used in the past 20 years (did I just say 20 years? no, I do not speak as I write. that is only for reading) fits this model:

The Star Fleet Standard Tricorder. What could possibly be more useful than that? Note the ever-present pen, ready for the draw:

Let's peek inside. The flap is velcroed shut. The flap reveals a handy pocket.

Unzip the flap and you will find my one nod to femininity. Yes, I have an extensive supply of tinted lip gloss. Along with bandaids, one lonely Sudafed tablet and the tampon that is not necessary until you don't have it along.

More boy scout material: personal cell phone, albuterol, travel kleenex, and a calculator.

Now to the guts of it. Here, you think, is where it gets interesting.

Nope.

Wallet, maxi-pad, work phone, work phone charger, work keys, tiny mirror (if there is any doubt, it clearly states MIRROR on its frame), and I kid you not, a swiss army knife.

That's it! Really! I'm not pretty, but dang if I'm not prepared for anything.

Pandas will love me

Here I am breaking new ground in the world of fiber. I bought this Blue Moon Fiber Arts Bambu because I have had a hankering for Convertible. The yarn for both projects was Blue Moon Fiber Arts Bambu in colorway Pebble Beach.

Convertible

I thought this was a very clever construction, with its ability to wrap or scarf or shrug itself around me.

Pattern: Convertible from Knitty.com
Needles: #6 aluminum straights
Notions: 20 pearl blue buttons
Notes: I only did 14 pattern repeats, since I stopped when I got from one wrist to the other. I used 1 3/4 skeins.

To make the double-sided buttons, I used back-threading buttons with a flat bottom. That way they stayed together nicely when they were back-to-back. And instead of using wire, I just tied them together with the pattern yarn. I was worried about whether wire would catch on the garment, and also about my technical abilities with pliers.

This was a fun knit, interesting enough to keep going for the whole stretch of the wrap, and yet simple enough to let me watch Mystery! or talk. Or both.


Leftovers Dream Swatch

Waste not, want not! I took the last 1/4 skein of Bambu to whip up a Dream Swatch headband.

Pattern: Dream Swatch by Wendy Bernard
Needles: #3 aluminum straights
Notes: Easy Peasy! The yarn was a little splitty for the crosshatching stitch, but it worked.

Hooking the orifice

My yard sale find Ashford Traditional wheel had a few missing parts. Like a brake band, extra bobbins, a lazy kate, and an orifice hook. This post is about my cheapness and impatience, which result in a lot of DIY.

No ordinary orifice hook for me. No, give me some scrap electrical wire, a wire cutter and needlenose pliers (and a scrap of beauteous pink silk), and I get all McGyver on it.

Here is my new orifice hook. And the bonus is that it actually works!

Fiber Haul

In which our heroine attends a rummage sale and comes across vast quantities of alpaca fleece


The sign said alpaca fleeces for $5 a bag. I asked the nice young lady if any were left, and how large the bags were. These were 30 gallon trash bags, and did I want the white, brown, or black? Yes please.

Yes sir, yes sir, three bags full.

A closeup of the white fleece:



The brown is a lovely cinnamon, which for some reason the camera is rejecting. There is no grey in there in real life.

More fibery closeups:



And the black is breathtaking.

Even the guard hairs are pretty! But out they must come.


So concludes this chapter.

Flora

A satisfying project for those lovely lonely single hanks of spendy yarn - Flora! Modelled here by the incomparable Natuzzi.

Pattern: Flora from Knitty.com
Needles: #8 bamboo straights



Yarn for the blue one is a wool/silk blend that I got from eBay. I have no background information on this yarn except that it was lovely to work with.


The scarlet scarf is made from Tilli Tomas' Simply Heaven, 100% silk in colorway American Beauty. Gifted to me from the wonderful Ali! Thank you, darling!

Stamens on both scarfs were made by holding a strand of the main color with a strand of Noro Kureyon. The buttons came from my Random Button Collection.

I chose not to make the flower removable, since I did not trust the leetle buttons to secure it against random neck twitchings and double-takes.

And I'm thinking of a third for that single hank of candy-pink banana silk. And I have the perfect button for it too...

Where oh where have you been?

Where is me Momma? Where has she gone?

Don't worry Little D!

Momma's been a-knittin' and soon will be home!

In chronological order, the objects of my obsession:

Stockinette Tube Scarf

This is a stockinette tube scarf, knitted to the specifications of the Darling DH. We came up with the pattern ourselves, although as you continue reading you will witness the paucity of my genius.

I was hoping this pic would display the slipstitch edge, but it more faithfully represents the hairiness of the alpaca:

Yarn: 2 strands of AlpacaWare alpaca yarn held together

Needles: #3 aluminum circular Boyes

Pattern was easy:

CO 30 stitches

row 1: Knit one row in the round.

row 2: K 14, slip 1, K 14, slip 1.

Repeat rows 1 and 2 until the scarf is "Long Enough", your fingers crack and fall off, or your brain turns numb.

Bind off using 3-needle bind off. Sew up the beginning seam. Weave in ends.

Shedir

This was my second Shedir. I love this pattern, the way it all comes together at the top is sheer genius.

Pattern: Shedir from Knitty.com

Yarn: Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino, 1.1 skeins

Needles: #2 aluminum Boye circs and #2 aluminum Boye dpns (from grandma!)

Modifications: My last Shedir was a bit long, so I left off one set of the row repeats. This one came out quite nicely, I love this yarn!

Monkey

Honestly, I made two. I swear it! This pattern was such a joy, I had no problems with Second Sock Syndrome whatsoever. And here is a shot with my knitting muse.

Pattern: Monkey from Knitty.com
Yarn: Fleece Artist Merino Wool sockyarn in Wild Flower colorway

Needles: #2 bamboo dpns

No modifications required, this is a Cookie pattern! Thanks for all your beautiful work, Cookie!