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!

Keeping warm

I love capelets! Love them! So I whipped one out from Wrap Style:

It is a simple wrap, and it has its flaws, such as the bottom edge rolling up in an unflattering way. It was a great introduction, and the yarn was yummy to knit with.

Pattern: Eyelet Capelet from Wrap Style

Yarn: Online Linie 157 Tessa, 50g, 5 skeins (or 6? I don't remember)

Needles: Boye #9 aluminum circulars

Notes: Lucky me, the gauge was spot-on, since I really wanted to make this pattern using this yarn. I followed the pattern to the letter, and really had fun with it! Once I gave the edges a light steam, they stayed put much nicer.

Odessa

Finally, to match my Clapotis, an Odessa!

Pattern: Odessa from MagKnits

Yarn: Cherry Tree Hill Twister in Blues and Greens, about 100 grams

Needles: Boye #3 and #4 aluminum circular

Notes: I did not use beads, since this yarn is very speckly already, and I am too lazy to stop and figure out beading. I also squooshed the yarn down to gauge with teensier and teensier needles, until the numbers came out correctly. Had I stopped to think about the pattern, I would have used the proper needle size of #8 or so, and reduced the repeats. Now the hat is the correct size, but lacks spring and so doesn't cling to my noggin like it should.

Ah well, live and learn! And I still love the hat!

Past is Present

DH's friend made me this hand-carved spindle top, it is his first attempt. I am going to finish the wood somehow, I thought that a wax finish would make it smooth and good for spinning. Any suggestions are welcome!






Here is an excerpt about the craft:



Salish women were considered virtually unrivalled in their ability to produce beautiful textiles that had social and spiritual significance. The ancient art of weaving Salish-style blankets was revived in the 1960s and it continues as a vibrant expression of cultural identity.


Many Salish spindle whorls have sophisticated and powerful carved designs -- human, animal and geometric. The whorl was placed on a wooden spindle to add the weight needed to maintain the spinning motion, and to prevent the wool from falling off the rod as it was being spun. As the whorl turned, the designs would blur together, mesmerizing the spinner. This trance state was considered vital: it gave the spinner the ability to create textiles imbued with special powers.

Coast Salish Spindle Whorl
Spindle Whorl Samples

Sharing the Love

There must be a lot of love in the world for this much to land in my mailbox. Thanks to the thoughtful Ali for putting together the Knitty "Spread the Love" VD campaign!

From Knitmonkey, I just got a pile of rocks. Just kidding, they are the edible kind, lovely and yummy! Oh, how did you know how much I love these?

And my special Secret VD infector was CelticCoyote! Yarn, yummies, and some wonderful muscle creams. Love-in-a Box!!!

Look closely and you can see the specially engraved WonkyRock (tm):

What? I got more! A surprise gift from Ali herself! In a beautiful bag:

Were these lovelies! And a lot of delectables as well, unfortunately they did not survive long enough to make the photo shoot:

And I can't leave out the lovin' from my dear man!

* sigh *

Hedera!

I am sliding down the slippery slope of sock knitting addiction. Witness!

Pattern: Hedera from Knitty.com

Yarn: Lana Grossa Meilenweit colortweed

Notes: Fun! I love the laciness, and it looks great with a striped yarn IMHO.

Christmas Blog-o-rama!

After long months stashed in the closet, the gifts I made for Christmas can finally come out! Wait, that's not quite what I meant.

This year's theme: Toasty Heads and Necks. Previous years, I made cookies and helped add to that winter weight. This year, I'm getting us all out of the house and into the weather with some warm hats and scarves.

I have an obsession with Noro Silk Garden and found its perfect use: Entrelac. What a fun technique, and with the color changes in the yarn, I never got bored. In fact, I couldn't stop until I ran out of Noro.

Three different scarves, using the Entrelac technique.

Yarn: 3 skeins Noro Silk Garden

Needles: US #8 Bamboo straight needles

Pattern notes: Cast on 18 stitches, and use 6 stitches per triangle.

More Noro! Now I find myself with single skeins of Noro Kureyon, and found a great pattern for beanies. This was a great quick knit, and a wonderful way to show off the beautiful colors in this yarn.

Pattern was based on Kureyon Skull Cap

Yarn: 1 skein of Noro Kureyon

Needles: US #9 and #10 circulars and #10 dpns

Notes: I did this pattern in the round rather than knit flat. I also did not want to do the crocheted edge, so I increased the number of rows in the straight stretch from 11 to 18.

Two-Movie Hat

Pattern: Two Movie Hat

Yarn: Encore Plymouth, one 100g skein each of grey, brown, and charcoal

Needles: #6 circulars and #6 dpns

Notes: This was a bit loose for an adult head. For the boy's pattern, I modified the pattern as follows: Use US #4 needles, and cast on 76 stitches. On row 8, increase by one more than the pattern says. Knit straight for slightly more than 5 inches. Skip rows 31 and 32.

Mom's hat and scarf

My So Called Scarf and Marsan Watchcap

Yarn: 1 skein of Schaefer Marjaana in Jane Addams color

Notes: I really loved My So Called Scarf! What a great way to show off a variegated yarn! This is a closeup of the stitch pattern:

Merry Christmas everyone!