The Haul from Portland

We took a quick mini-break in January to relax before the semester went into full swing and to use up an airline credit that would expire shortly. We hit nearly as many yarn shops as wineries. Portland has a fabulous selection of shops, and I'm quite jealous of the variety.

My main goal was to find yarn to match the new red coat I'd purchased in the post-Christmas markdowns. I planned on using this yarn (called di.ve Tesco) to make a cabled scarf, but I didn't like the striping action that was going on. I didn't realize there would be striping action because Mabel's was really dark. Don't dreary Portlanders plan for clouds and rain? Anyway, I decided to go with a vertically knit scarf, and I was much happier with the results.


This picture doesn't really show the fact that this scarf ended up being about 10' long. Whoops. That's what you get for casting on 300 stitches or so. I may reknit it at some point, but it's also kind of fun. The mittens were made from Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Superchunky from the Yarn Garden. The Yarn Garden had such a selection! If only there were space for a store that vast in New York...


Finally, Elmo is modeling the other scarf I got to match the coat. This is from Knit/Purl, which was right around the corner from our hotel. It's Lorna's Laces Shepherd Worsted in Tuscany. The scarf is a lot easier to wear, but I just don't love the pooling that I get with LL. I made another scarf last year for a friend with a different colorway, and the same thing happened.

All in all, Portland was a great city to visit. The hotels were fabulous and relatively cheap; stay at the Hotel Lucia or the Jupiter Hotel if you are ever in town. The food was tasty, but surprisingly right around NYC prices. It's great for a mini-break.