secret gift knitting revealed

Over the past few weeks, I've been working on a few projects that I couldn't advertise, as Mom would have discovered them before she unwrapped them! The following are the Blueberry Waffle socks, in Sliver Moon Farm superwash. The official name of the yarn is denim, but I found it to be a good match for my idea of yummy waffles. (I forgot to take a picture before mailing them off, so this is a WIP shot.)

The other handknit item she received was partially a gift from her. While on an Alaskan cruise this summer, Mom gave me a skein of yarn from a hand-dyer in Sitka. I wanted to use it with another yarn, to ensure that I'd get a big and warm scarf. Paired here with Louet Riverstone, it was cushy and should be warm enough for even an Alaskan winter. (Not that Mom will be in Alaska in the winter.)

Hope you had a very merry holiday (whichever you celebrate)!

snow day

When I woke this morning, I checked the Transit Tracker website to see what the bus situation was at my stop. The answer? There was a bus headed my way, and it was only 11.6 miles from the stop! Oh, happy day: I'm not getting on a bus today. The rails aren't really working either, so I'm homebound today. There is now enough snow that even I'm impressed.


We attempted to drive to a little Hanukkah party yesterday, and the snow was not cooperating with the car. We got to meet some of our neighbors as they helped us push the car back into the driveway, so that was nice. And then we walked, with wine and brisket and potatoes for latkes and menorahs in our backpacks, through the deserted streets. There may have been snowball fight on the way back home, too, when the packs were lighter.

My new hat was blocked while on my head. A commenter asked about the pattern (Koolhaas, by Jared Flood): it was published in the Interweave Knits Holiday 2007 magazine, and I believe that you can buy it directly from the IK website as an individual pattern, too.

Stay warm out there!

grape head

The yarn's official name is "Violetas", which is much lovelier than grape, but I do feel a bit like there's a bowl full of grape jelly on my head while wearing my Koolhaas hat. I think it might be time for a trip to Seattle so I can model it in front of the library that inspired the design.

Thanks to the Blizzard of 2008*, I had lots of knitting time over the past two days. This morning was just lovely: Jonathan Schwartz's 39th Annual Christmas Show over the computer (yay for free XM Radio trial periods!), knitting with Malabrigo, the noble fir tree in the corner, soy egg nog in a cocktail glass, the Times... a pretty good way to while away the shortest day of the year.


*4 inches of snow.

Can I confess that I did a happy dance upon completion?

Cushy and warm... just the thing to light up the longest night of the year.

it's a wonderful snow storm

It’s pretty much chaos in the streets here in Portland. There’s snow! There’s ice! There’s a commitment to keep the rivers clean, so there’s no salt! But the panic resulted in a very empty train ride for me today, which was nice. Schools on the west side of town have been closed all week; poor east-side kids had to report in Tuesday. Panic caused the west-side schools to close again today, and since then, the sun has been shining brightly. All of my meetings and events this week were cancelled (that first week of January is not going to be relaxing). But before the winter weather hit town, I cut down my Christmas tree!

This is a fascinating article about "It's a Wonderful Life" that I really enjoyed. Check it out.

winter wonderland

I finished half a scarf this past week, and took a really dreadful photo.

Luckily, the scarf is a lot nicer than this picture. I really enjoyed the little bit of lace, followed by inches and inches of plain knitting. Just when it was getting to be a bit of a slog, and I couldn't believe that all this knitting was only getting me 8" of fabric, it was time to move into high gear and start zipping along. I'll probably get the other half started tonight, to be ready for the bus ride tomorrow morning.

It's been snowing all day (well, mostly just blowing now), and we've enjoyed being home-bound. We did walk to the local coffee shop this morning, and I just walked to the store to get some spinach for dinner... so we weren't exactly trapped. But the city seems quite paralyzed by this inch of accumulation. I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings!

The good thing about being at home for the day is the fact that I got all my present wrapping done, and nearly everything is boxed and ready for shipping. Yes, I'm much later than I anticipated, but I'm fairly certain that the boxes will arrive on time.

Soon: pictures of me as a lumberjack, cutting down my Christmas tree.

my list

There are a bunch of projects I want to begin, now that my holiday knitting is done! I have all the yarn, and now just want to start. All of these are going to be great on the commute...

The Koolhaas hat, in purple Malabrigo.


The Snowball hat, in a lovely burgundy Lamb's Pride.


The scarf on the right, in an alpaca yarn that's pretty close to the color shown. (I might want to do the scarf on the left, too.)

And a Monkey Cowl - which isn't quite like this one - but made in a wildly varigated yarn that never worked as socks.

thankful (a little late)

Yes, I have many things for which I am thankful. They are that I (not necessarily in order of importance):

1) finally found good Chinese and NY-style pizza in Portland*
2) am one present away from finished with holiday knitting
3) am signed up for Jared's class on designing Aran sweaters in January
4) have a job - here - that I like, because it's slim pickings out there
5) went to my first yoga class in nearly two years, and almost managed to keep up
6) have a farmer's market still operating, in December! (OK, so there aren't nearly as many vendors around as there were, but some are still there with winter greens, apples, and our happy pork producers

*Yummy Yummy on 82nd across from Fubonn, and Apizza Scholls on Hawthorne for anyone still searching.

I hope that you all had a lovely holiday weekend! And feel thankful for all that you have.

two days, two good things

Yes, I've been quite absent lately, and for that, I apologize. Getting back into the swing of working outside the home has been a challenge. Everything there is still good, and I'm headed off on my first business trip with them tomorrow afternoon.

Onto the good things: knitting isn't the only thing that's been suffering lately; I've been having the durndest time getting engrossed in a book. I hadn't finished a book in weeks, and even Sarah Vowell's new book couldn't hold my attention (I know, right? If not Sarah, then who?). So imagine my extreme joy when I grabbed The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society from my stack of library books, started reading at the bus stop, and then didn't want to get off the bus because I was hooked. I devoured it quickly, and can't recommend it highly enough. It's a post-WWII novel, but I won't say another word because everyone should read it right away.

And today, I found the waterproof boots I'd been searching for. And cute brown shoes as well.

I hope to start reading blogs again soon (I'm so very behind...) and also doing that knitting thing. Yay for a six hour (round trip) car ride and a long Thanksgiving weekend ahead!

diamonds and pearls

Phew. Superwash yarn does, in fact, block out.


The Diamond and Pearls Shawl from the Knitter's Book of Yarn is completed, and blocked successfully. Another Christmas present is finished!


My k2tog vs. ssk problem isn't quite as glaring in the blocked shawl (k2togs: above left, ssks: above right), but I will need to try a substitute on the next lace project that I start. Maybe I'm just doing them wrong? Hm...

Detail-oriented viewers will note that I did not use the elaborate, loopy edging for the cast off. I tried it - a number of times - but never liked the final result. My alternative was to use a #13 needle for the cast off, and just cruise straight across. I'm entirely fine with the final product, and hope that grandma will like it too!


The Dream in Color Classy is a lovely yarn. The yardage is great for the price, and it's handpainted! No irritating pooling, and it did seem reminiscent of a deep seaflower.

(Also, the job is going well. People are lovely, etc., and I think that they'll keep me.)

cozy, but warm

Last weekend, I finished my Herringbone Neck Warmer, and it kept me warm and cozy for the two days that I needed it. Temperatures have recently been in the 60s, making an extra layer of wool not really, really necessary.

I tried out some vintage buttons, but the the colors weren't really floating my boat. I'm sure that I'll find a great use for them at some point, and as you can see, they didn't really break the bank.

Ultimately, some shell buttons from Joann's were the best solution. I really enjoyed this project, and the yarn (Morehouse Merino) was sublime. Do you see all those pools of pink and green? They don't even bug me. They are just delicious. The weather will be taking a cooler turn soon, and I expect to get a lot of good use out of this soon. All I can say is: yay for busting lovely yarn out of the stash for a quick project!