Tea Party at A Tangled Skein

We had a great time on Sunday at the LYS in Hyattsville called A Tangled Skein. They organized a tea party with scones, watercress sandwiches, Assam and other teas, and, of course, yarn samples to knit. We knit yarns made from linen, bamboo, silk, cotton, and even sugar cane and milk. Perfect choices for a tea party!

It was organized by Cheryl, the store owner, and Jennifer.



There was much concentration as we knit our swatches.


Even my friend, Patty, came to try out the new summer yarns.

Central Park Hoodie
So many of my friends at A Tangled Skein (in Hyattsville, MD) were knitting the Central Park Hoodie (Shelly, CiCi, Chellette, Jennifer), that I had to try it too! I knit it in three weeks last November-December. I love the pattern and only changed it slightly by shaping it a bit at the waist. I left the sleeves long, because I like the flare. For the yarn, I used Tahki Donagal Tweed in dark purple. I have worn this sweater frequently and love the feel, the fit and the cables. It was a joy to knit and I found the perfect buttons to match.

Hydrangea Bag
I am far behind in my posting about my knitting projects. Today, I start to catch up.
This is my Hydrangea Noni bag that I made last May. It is knit will Ella Rae yarn. Beads were added to the center of the flowers. I am very pleased with the result. I am not much for sewing linings, but I did put in plastic canvas and a lining for this bag.

Alaska - land of soul touching beauty and bizarre politics

I recently traveled to Anchorage Alaska for work. I attended a meeting with representatives from other Federal agencies and from Alaskan agencies, universities, and non-profit groups to discuss the lack of geographic information for the state. It is very far behind the coverage and quality of the data in the lower 48 states. This lack of information has an impact on plans to deal with many issues in the state such as coastal erosion, air travel (poor elevation data means more accidents), settlement of native property rights, pipeline development and several other important issues facing the future of Alaska.
I met many wonderful people on my trip and was in constant amazement by the beautiful landscapes. I will not comment on Alaska's politics (this is not a political blog), but will say that I would be in a minority there. Liberal, vegetarian, tree-hugging, feminist, fiber obsessive, anti-gun, hippie-renaissance women like myself are not plentiful, though, they do exist.

This first picture is of me in my recently finished Pi Shawl standing on Byron Glacier (near Portage Glacier in Girnwood just south of Anchorage).

I knit this in Lorna's Laces Helen's Lace 'Black Purl' and 'Blackberry'. I used about 2600 yards of yarn and the shawl is huge. It is so comfortable and versatile to wear. Here is a picture that shows off the concentric rings. It began as a travel knitting project in the spring, so I stuck to the simple, concentric circle pattern which shows off the variegated colors well. I choose to do a border of flowers with a lace pattern knitted onto the edge in the solid blackberry.

I flew to Alaska a couple of days before my meeting. I took a train from Anchorage to Seward, a boat trip out into Resurrection Bay, then the train back, all in one day. It is arranged to make this possible for visitors and it worked out very conveniently. The views from the train are spectacular (I wish my photos could show the grandeur, it was absolutely breathtaking). The boat trip enabled us to see a variety of wildlife and a glacier.






Sea Lions in Resurrection Bay. We also saw bald eagles, sea otters, seals, two type of puffins, kittiwakes and other gulls. From the train we saw moose, mountain goats, Dall sheep and beluga whales. Later in the week I saw more moose and a black bear.

At the conference, we saw two young moose eating from a planter outside of our meeting room window on the campus of Pacific University in Anchorage. Right after this photo was taken, the FedEx truck's engine startled the moose, and, as they ran away, one had the bamboo stake hanging around it's neck. Later it was spotted after having shook it off.











After the several days of meetings, I went to the Alaska State Fair in Palmer, about an hour north of Anchorage. I bought some Quiviut, the soft fiber down from the Musk Ox. I also had a tour of a musk ox farm in the Palmer area. They are such ancient a gorgeous creatures.

The women that I met at the demonstration area of the fair were very friendly and generous. They shared tips on spinning and fiber blending. Here is a photo of a one-of-a-kind spinning wheel. This woman's husband made it for her! Marjorie even shared some fiber and a spindle kit with me. It made me want to move to Alaska to join their guild!

I have so much about creating with fiber, my travels and life in general to share that I will be post frequently now that I again have access to blogging more easily (computer issues that I will not waste your time with.)

I leave you with one last photo. The beauty of milky glacial runoff (due to the silt content).

Happy First Anniversary to my LYS, A Tangled Skein in Hyattsville, Maryland!

On Friday evening, we had wonderful food and music to celebrate the first anniversary of the store. A Tangled Skein also had one of their great sales and extra long "Sit and Knit" events (9-midnight) to mark the occasion.

Here are some of the knitters (from Wednesday night, the actual anniversary, when we had a mini-party), concentrating very hard on their intricate knitting! That is Pat in the middle, a Knitting Wise Woman with an answer to any knitting problem. Sonia is in the corner, finding a cozy space in the crowded store.

Chelette is putting all of her focus on her lovely sock.

For the big event on Friday, Bob, Jennifer's husband, provided yet another night of pleasant folk music to enliven our evening.

Susan's husband, Chris, joined her for part of the evening, proving that you don't have to knit to have fun in a knitting shop.

Rivka and Pat were busy at the register with all of the sale purchases. Even those of us who vowed to stay within our budget did manage to get some new skeins of Noro sock yarn.

OMG! - you like to make socks too! It's that second sock that's the killer though...........

Happy First Anniversary to "A Tangled Skein". Here is hoping there are many more anniversaries to come!

SOAR

I returned from SOAR (Spin Off Autumn Retreat) in Michigan last week. What a fantastic time! I learned so much about spinning, knitting and other fiber arts. There were so many incredibly knowledgeable and generous people at the retreat willing to share ideas. The fall scenery was gorgeous as well.

My three day workshop with Katherine Alexander was full of experimentation with new ideas. She showed us how to use S spun and Z spun singles to create amazing energized forms in our knitting. What fun to see the knitted fabric curve from the energy of the singles. Katherine has tremendous energy herself and it was a pleasure to be in her class.

Here she is modeling one of her sweaters with a classmate from Minnesota wearing a sweater knit from one of Katherine's patterns. The color combinations and shapes are fantastic.

Then we had four, half-day workshops. My first was in hand combing with Robin Russo. Combing creates a lovely, light and airy top from which to spin. I can't wait to tackle the 3 fleece I have waiting to be washes and combed at home.

Next was a workshop with Margaret Stove from New Zealand in spinning and knitting lace. She taught the class how to wash a Merino fleece lock by lock and then spin it from the lock to achieve a smooth, very fine, lace weight yarn. It is amazing how much yardage one can get out of a single lock!

The next morning I took a workshop with Janel Laidman in carding batts using many colors. What fun we had experimenting with blending, striping and mixing multiple colors of fiber.

Here is the fiber we had to choose from.

This is my carding partner, Linda, with the batts we made and yarn she spun from her batts. We tried several different methods including choosing colors we don't like, just to see the outcome. We liked all the batts we created.

My final class was learning to use my wheel more effectively to get specific types of yarn. The teacher, was wonderful and helped us to see the difference that a gentle take up can make on the final yarn. I also learned the wonders of steaming the yarn.

The final night we had a spin-in complete with a bluegrass band. Imagine 200+ people in the same room spinning and knitting to bluegrass. Good Stuff.

Here are two of the scholarship receipients.

And, two new friends from my Katharine Alexander class, Jillian and Carla.

A night with the Harlot!

Last night was great! I went to Borders in Bailey Crossroads, VA to see the Yarn Harlot, aka Stephanie Pearl-McPhee. I went with friends from my Wednesday knit night at A Tangled Skein, CiCi, Chelette, and Joyce. (Thanks to CiCi and Chelette for letting me 'borrow' their photo.)














Photo: Left to Right: CiCi, Chelette, Stephanie, Joyce, Anne














We were early in the line to get a number for book signing (I was number 12). It was fun sitting in the Science Fiction aisle, scaring the Muggles (non-knitters) while we knit. I sat next to the cutest baby named Oz. Then we went and sat in chairs waiting for the Harlot. It was well worth the wait! She is so funny and has a way of making her point stronger through her use of humor. Her descriptions of the perceptions of non-knitters towards knitters is right on target and her stash jokes are the best.

When we went up to get our books signed, I asked her how to pronounce the yarn, Kauni (connie) pointing to my bag. Well, she asked me if I had planned to knit a bag or if it was the result of a gauge mistake. When I looked at her sheepishly (pun intended) she said "Busted". She was right of course. I decided to make a bag, and felt it, after I had realized that my sweater was going to be 50" around. I love how it turned out though, so a mistake can be redesigned into something beautiful!

I had such a great time being with knitters. I saw so many wonderful garments and creative people. It is nice to be with 'your own kind' once in awhile. :)

Finished Happy!

What a wonderful name for a sweater pattern - 'Happy' by Elsebeth Lavold. It really was a joy to knit. I used the recommended yarn, Hempathy, which is easy to knit with and feels very comfortable next to the skin. I absolutely love the way the sweater turned out! I knit it mostly while visiting in San Diego as the colors remind me of the beach. A friend in my knit group at A Tangled Skein in Hyattsville Maryland is knitting this pattern in another colorway. There are endless possibilities for this simple, but engaging pattern.

I am currently working on the Kauni. I have taken a slight detour on this project and will detail this in my next post. I am behind in my Socks that Rock club and need to quickly knit the current pair before the next skein comes in the mail.

My life is blossoming into a new direction and I am both excited and terrified of this adventure that I have begun. I am currently developing a new career as a Life Coach. As I develop my website and settle more into this new role, I will discuss it in future posts and create a link to my site. Until then, remember to ask for what you want to create in your life, but also be prepared to receive it. If you ask you will always receive an answer, but it may not be the answer that you expect!

Back from San Diego













My trip was wonderful. I had a great time with my Mom and my sister. We are a chatty group and spent most of our time catching up, but we also had time for sight-seeing at the Quail Botanical Gardens and the Meditation garden (Koi pond in photo), both in Encinitas. The beautiful weather and brilliant flowers were rejuvinating. In addition, we discovered a raw foods restaurant called Cilantro Live. Amazingly delicious food! I highly recommend it.















I spent a week of my time at a life changing seminar on Life Coaching run by Coach for Life. The marina photo was the view from our meeting room. I felt priviledged to be a part of this group and I felt connected to each and every participant. I had expected to learn about life coaching, but I did not expect to learn so much about myself. I am currently setting up my coaching practice and will post a link to my website as soon as it is complete. Life is an amazing journey and a gift for which I am profoundly grateful.


Fortunately, I also had time to work on my Happy sweater, designed by Elsebeth Lavold. It will be complete soon and I will post a picture of the whole sweater. Until then, here is a sleeve.

I have two other fo's (finished objects) to post today. I completed my Madli shawl that I started on my Christmas trip to London. It was finished in February, but I did not photograph it then. I knit it out of handspun yarn spun from CVM (California Varigated Mutant) roving. It is soft and natural - very comforting. My other shawl is knit following the Tuscany Pattern by Amy Singer out of a blue/blue green silk lace yarn dyed by Claudia. I knit it in May. I wore this shawl to Florida a few weeks ago and again in California. It is my most comfortable and lightweight shawl - lovely for summer evenings.

Sock and Roll!



I am trying to catch up with my posts of FOs (finished objects) therefore, I am posting three pairs of the several pairs of socks that I have completed this year. I am a member of the Socks that Rock sock club. They have sent some wonderful yarn and I have completed two pairs so far. I also knit with a great summer yarn, called Tofutsies. It has wool, soy, and Chitin, a fiber made from crab shell.


Above is Socks that Rock 'Monsoon' knit in a baby cable rib. I like the deep purples and dark, almost khaki, greens. The yarn is soft and the socks are very comfortable.

Below is Socks that Rock 'Walk on the Wild Tide' knit in Elongated Corded Rib. Very different purples and greens from the above sock, but equally as gorgeous. I didn't have time to block these socks, so you can see the difference sock blockers make! Both of the patterns I used came from Sensational Knitted Socks, by Charlene Schurch. It is a great book since you can knit a gauge swatch and then knit any pattern to size. I knit both of these on size 0 double pointed needles.





















Below is the Tofutsie socks knit using a lace pattern from the Socks, Socks, Socks pattern book. It is a variation on the traditional Feather and Fan lace pattern. These are much lighter weight than the other two pairs of socks. It suits a lace pattern. Again, I knit on size 0 double pointed needles. I tend to knit loose therefore need to use smaller needles than is usually called for in a pattern.



In future posts, I will discuss some of my other projects included entrelac, a hemp yarn sweater and the latest craze, the Kauni. It is so interesting to see the influence a superb writer/blogger/knitter can have on the knitting community. Check out the Yarn Harlot, Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, if somehow you have had your head in a bog and missed seeing her books or blog.


This week I leave for San Diego for a two week visit with my Mom, my sister and my best friend. Ah, the sound of palm trees blowing in the breeze, and the scents of the ocean, eucalyptus and sagebrush.