knot another hat

cashmere lace ... {sigh}

I'm finally dumping pictures off of the "good" camera now that I'm getting the website updated with missing yarn pics. I've found all kinds of goodies on this thing - including all the non-phone pics from our trip to Chile last November (like this one:

 
of me atop the Cerro San Cristobal in Santiago)

Other pictures I've found? How about the Cashmere Lace Shawl I knitted my mother for Mother's Day!

 

• Pattern: Bleeding Hearts Stole, by Anne Hanson, from Spring 2008 Interweave Knits
• Yarn: 2 sk Artyarns Cashmere 1 (100% cashmere, 510 yds/50g) in Burgundy
• Needles: US 3 (edgings) and US 4 (main body)

This shawl was two years in the making. For Mother's Day 2009 I grabbed two skeins of this amazing cashmere from the shop and gifted them to my mom, with a pattern in mind to knit for her. This was hot off the heels of a Purlaway lace workshop, and I had just busted out this lace shawl in a week (so let's say I was feeling confident).

I started, and I hated the pattern. It was totally non-intuitive, worked from side-to-side in asymmetrical motifs, and I did not heart it. So I put it down for over a year.

Every time I saw the lonely little project bag with a half-assed bit of knit cashmere in it, I would feel guilty. Especially after Mother's Day 2010 came and went and I had made no progress. I finally realized that it needed to be frogged, and a new pattern chosen! And so Bleeding Hearts it became.

Knitting with this Cashmere single is a dream. So much so that I have brought back the Artyarns Cashmere 1 into the shop - freshly replenished in hot new colors. (I have another great project in mind for this yarn - more on that to come.)

The shawl made it in time for Mother's Day 2011 (whew!), and was well-received. :) I wish the sun wasn't so bright on these pictures so you could see the great deep red color - but c'est la vie! It's done!

 

oldies but goodies: one down, many to go

Remember in the last post when I told the story of my "knittervention"? This FO is one of my long-forgotten WIPs from the epic list.

• Pattern: Jada, by Sarah Hutton, from the Lenpur Linen Collection (Rowan)
• Yarn: 9 balls Rowan Lenpur Linen (75% viscose lenpur, 25% linen) in #565, Lagoon
• Needles: size US 6 (4,0mm)
• Time to complete: almost one year

I cast this beauty on right before I left for Scandinavia last year, and packed it up in my suitcase for travel knitting. I diligently worked on it my first week abroad, when I had hours during the day to myself while Jason was attending a conference. We were in a sleepy little town in Northern Sweden (Skelleftea), and the weather was warm and beautiful, so I knit!

But (did you feel the "but" coming?), when we returned, I just plopped the little project bag with my 25% completed shawl into the bottom of my knitting basket and forgot about it. Or more accurately, abandoned it on purpose. The pattern called for SO MANY INCHES of the lace repeat. It was soooo boring. It was also the time when the new fall mags come out and I was so tempted by new and exciting projects.....

So, long story short: after the knittervention I dug this out and finished it up! And it's beautiful! And just in time for summer!

This yarn is such an interesting way to make a linen yarn - instead of wet spun linen that we are used to with yarns like Louet Euroflax, "lenpur" is processed in the same way a viscose yarn is made (like bamboo, etc). The result is a slinky, soft yarn that is still very cool and has great stitch definition. It was great to work with, and when washed the drape and swing of the fabric is perfect for summer. Yay!

More FOs (and more distractions) coming soon!

oh where, oh where has sarah gone?

To Scandinavia, that's where!

I apologize for the prolonged absence, but I just kept putting off cleaning up my pics of our trip! As many of you know, during the last week of June and the first week of July, Jason and I got to take our first ever trip to Europe. Sweden and Norway, to be precise. And did you notice I said just "Jason and I"? That's right - thanks to our amazing parents who watched our girls, we were kid-free! Jason's work had to send him to a conference in Northern Sweden, and we piggybacked off of that and created our 10th anniversary trip.

We start in Skelleftea, Sweden (sorry to any Facebookers who have seen most of these already):

This quaint, sleepy little town is in Northern Sweden, close to the Arctic Circle, and when we were there (Solstice), the sun never truly set. Which was trippy! Even with two shades drawn and sleep masks, we were disoriented, to say the least.

And we felt that we should be out all night enjoying the light (the above pic was taken about 10:30pm on the town square). (The locals know better - there was almost nobody walking around after 8pm.)

Though quiet, we thoroughly enjoyed Skelleftea's scenic beauty and rich history.

From Skelleftea we went down to Stockholm. Oh! I forgot to mention that both Sweden and Norway were experiencing a heat wave the entire time we were there. Temperatures were in the high 80s and 90s, and the humidity was tangible. Needless to say it made for some sticky-icky sight-seeing.

I loved Stockholm - oy! I had no idea it was comprised of a bunch of islands. Gamla Stan (Old Town) was simply fantastic for it's old Europe architecture and cobblestone streets.

And I found a troll to kiss.

After several glorious days in Stockholm we headed west to Oslo. . . which I have to say somewhat paled in comparison to Stockholm. Oslo had some great architecture (the Parlaiment building, below) definitely has an edgier feel to it.

But we weren't there long before hopping a train west to the Sognefjord - the largest fjord in Norway. We took the amazing Flam Railway down a steep descent into Flam at the top of the Sognefjord. (This is where I took the picture in my previous post.) I can't quite describe the beauty of both the railway (before descending we were above the treeline, in the snow and passing through avalanche tunnel after avalanche tunnel), and the beauty of this tiny, tiny little fjord town.

Our hotel was right up near the water, and had its own brewpub! It was the first and only brewpub we encountered on our trip. And while the beer was good, we were more impressed by the price: US$12.50 per beer! We knew Norway was expensive, but whew!  

From Flam we took a boat up the Sognefjord to the Western coastal town of Bergen. We wished we had more time to spend there - it looked beautiful! But - we had a sleep train to catch back to Oslo, and then home the following day!

It was amazing, amazing, amazing. I saw the Selbu Husflid mittens for sale in some of the nicer shops, which got me all amped up for Purlaway's October workshop making Selbu mittens with Terri Shea. And I purchased an amazing stole from a Norweigan sweater company - Oleana. But overall the yarn choices were unexciting - lots of good, hardy wools and sturdy cottons, and outrageously priced Rowan.

Thanks for letting me take this little excursion on the blog, and stay tuned for actual knitting content!

a room with a view

Can anyone figure out where I am?

TNNA

Whew. 

Where to start? I can tell you I am waaaaayy tired. I've been back for three days and I still haven't caught up! It was a whirlwind - and lots of great things are headed our way. I ordered some amazing things for summer and fall, and can't wait to get everyone (me too!) knitting with the new goodies!

I went by myself, which afforded me some great alone time, but also left me hangin' solo quite a bit. I am just way too introverted to walk up to a group of people and introduce myself....case in point: in the lounge area of my hotel, I walked by a group of knitters hanging out, knitting and having a beer. Oh - let me clarify - by "group of knitters" I mean: Stephanie, Jess, Casey, Amy Singer, Jillian Moreno...and the list goes on.  I know all of those people are probably sweet as pie - but talk about intimidating!!! At any rate - the travel and alone time resulted in a LOT of knitting - we're talking a whole pair of socks, finishing my Hourglass sweater, and knitting an entire summer tunic (more on the knitting to come).

For now I'll just show you a bit of the goodies I brought home:

Moving from left to right is Alpaca With A Twist Punch - a brilliant, super-soft alpaca/tencel blend in a sport weight - perfect for kids and summer alike, and coming in almost all colors available. I also ordered (for Fall) their hand-dyed worsted alpaca, Mojito, an alpaca/merino tweed, Highlander, and Socrates, their new Alpaca/Bamboo blend sock yarn! Next is a Shawl Stick from Annie Adams, and I ordered all manners of Shawl Sticks, Pins, Buttons, and jewelry from her amazing wares. Next are a bunch of little miniskein samples from various companies. Last is a cute little bolero kit from Lanaknits Hemp for Knitting in their new allHemp6 Lux. I didn't order the Lux, but I did order their Cashmere/Hemp/Cotton yarn and a couple of kits and patterns.And underneath it all?? The map of the floor of the show - FREAKING HUGE.

Not pictured but also on the way: Mission Falls! I ordered both the 1824 Cotton line and their brand new Merino 136 - a dk weight washable wool. And? Blue Sky Alpacas!!! Yay! Coming from them is their new Skinny Dyed Organic Cotton and Alpaca Sportweight - interchangeable for gauge - and many of their great patterns. I also ordered some blocking wire kits, Pattern Tamers, new patterns and new colors of our favorites from Nashua Handknits.

Are you tired yet? Just typing this out is making me tired, thinking of all the work to come to make room for these new things!

Yikes!

My, how time flies.

I meant to get this post up right after we returned, but obviously that hasn't happened. Disneyland was amazing. What else can I say about the happiest place on earth? Going back to Disneyland and seeing it all refreshed through the eyes of your child is indescribable. Campbell was in heaven - she waved with all her heart at the princesses on parade, and when the operators addressed her as "princess" she would turn to me and say, with awe in her eyes, Mommy, how did they know????  Mals was the perfect age to take a wee babe - she hung out in her SUV-of-a-stroller (if any of you ever caught a glimpse while she was still hangin' at the store with me you know what I'm talking about), napping, eating, taking it all in. The week really was all about Campbell, and after almost a year of having a new baby in the house I think she really deserved it.

And of course, I have the obligatory sock picture (that's my Noro Kureyon Sock yarn...more about that later):

A sock in the back of the stroller was the perfect diversion when it was my turn to hang with Mals while J and CK went on a ride. It was HOT while we were there - high 80s and low 90s, and even with my sunscreen I still managed to get a nice little sunburn. But the heat made the water rides a helluva lot of fun. :)

So, although I haven't posted in three+ weeks, there has been knitting going on since I got back. I went on a somewhat lovely yarn crawl in Portland and came home with a new sweater project, and I also have been knitting a surprise purpley project that I can't quite tell you all about yet. I finished the DisneylanNoro sock #1 and have started #2, as well as finished and gifted my Silk & Sterling socks to my Mom.  Stay tuned!

Gone, baby, gone.

I'll be here for the next week:

I'm taking my new Noro sock yarn to keep me company. (As if two families with 3 kids and 2 babies weren't enough...)

Scarf for New Coat, #2

So remember a few posts ago, when I mentioned I had a case of Start-itis? Just because I have the diagnosis does not mean that I have sought treatment....

I was due to start teaching the entrelac scarf class last week, and suddenly had the itch to cast on one for myself. I surfed around the store, and being that I had that great new jacket, I spotted some red Noro Silk Garden (#84) , with hints of burgundy, green and black, just begging to become a Rouge-a-lac Scarf for moi.

Here it is, posing nicely with the jacket. (I'll shut up about the jacket now.)

One can never have too many scarves, correct?

And, I am about to start another fairly good size project....here's a peek:

Scarf for New Coat, #1

As I mentioned on a previous post, I received a beautiful new red and black Mountain Hardwear coat for Christmas. All of my existing outerware knits were purply/pink colors, and of course would NOT do against a red jacket! So - I decided I needed a nice black scarf, kind of like the Basic Black Dress, only in neckwear.

So during the big sale in the store on the 5th (why am I shopping at my own sale?!?!?), I grabbed 4 skeins of Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk, and started this simple garter rib scarf.

(I also fell on the black Cashmere 5 that I mentioned in the last post to do some hand warmers to match the coat....)

I'm about halfway done, but I need to get a move on. We're in the middle of a cold snap this week and I need something warm around my neck!

Hello?

Remember this place?

I'm headed there for five days. Aaaah.

Knitting content when I return, I promise.