I "Should" Have Pictures of Beautiful Mountains....

However, I'm an idiot and forgot to put the memory card back in my camera. Seth's Mom and Joe arrived on Friday night and we took them up to Portland on Saturday. The weather was gorgeous and we drove up to Pittock Mansion to get a great view of all the surrounding mountains. We also hit the Portland Farmer's Market, Powell's Books, and the Organic BrewFest. If I hadn't forgotten the memory card for my camera, I would have pictures to share of all of these things. Ah, well.

Sunday we took a drive out to the coast and stopped at Seal Rock State Park:

Seth defying the rules, per usual:

The Oregon coast certainly isn't for sunbathing. It was about 20 degrees colder out at the coast than it was inland at our house. But, the weather was gorgeous despite it being a little chilly.

We also stopped at Yaquina Bay Lighthouse and walked through and saw a gorgeous view from the top floor:

There was also a spinning wheel and a bowl with yarn in the "sitting room" on the first floor:

After spending time down at the ocean, we wandered around the town of Newport and got some dinner a great little local place. While we were walking around Newport we saw some Sea Lions hanging out down on the docks:

Aren't they adorable?!

Needless to say, we were all pretty exhausted by Monday! 

In knitting news, I finally took some pictures of my Beaumont Beanie:

Do you have any idea how hard it is to take a picture of the top of your head?? Quite difficult, I tell you. 

Blocking made this look 100 times better than it did right after I finished it! It's a little big....but for my first colorwork project, I'm thrilled with it. 

I also spun up some yarn today:

It's a camel/merino blend that I picked up at the fiber festival a couple weekends ago...it came out soooo soft and squishy! 

I feel like this post has been a little bit all over the place! I promise a more coherent, cohesive post next time! 

Love,

liz :)

Yarn and Sheep and Fiber, OH MY!

Oh boy, I have lots to share.

But first...100 degrees?! Yuck. Good thing you work at a camp that can just hook you up to a saline drip, huh? It's finally hit the mid 70s here and it's actually been really beautiful the last couple of days.

Great that F is going to road trip with you!! Makes me think of the great time we had on our road trip from VJGC to upstate NY. And awesome that you are going to be there for baby C's first birthday party! I can't wait to see that cute little dress all knitted up. Knitting baby things is so fun. Speaking of which, the new issue of Petite Purls is up. Gotta love fun, free patterns!

This weekend was the Black Sheep Gathering, a local fiber festival, down in Eugene. I took a drive down on Saturday with the goal of buying some natural colored fiber to blend with all the alpaca I have. Alpaca doesn't hold it's shape very well, so I'm planning on blending a good portion of it with other fibers.

Here's what I ended up with:

I bought some superfine merino, BFL, silk, and a little bit of llama. I also bought a camel/merino blend just to spin up on its own.

I did buy a wee bit of yarn too...

...a skein of Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock in a color called "A Little Dab'll Do Ya" and a 500 yard skein of a yarn called "Peru" also from Blue Moon Fiber Arts. I don't have a picture of that skein because I wound it up and started knitting with it immediately. Keep reading, that skein will be featured in a bit.

I also bought a basket to keep yarn/fiber in:

In addition to all of the vendors at the fiber festival, there were also about 3 barns full of sheep and goats.

This guy was my absolute favorite...he was really friendly and was watching everything (despite the fact that you can't see his eyes!!):

I also have a couple of new projects to show you!

Here's a shawlette I made from Three Irish Girls Springvale DK:

Pattern: Dandy Neckerchief by Ariane Caron-Lacoste

Yarn: Three Irish Girls Springvale DK - 1 skein

Three Irish Girls do a thing called "Carpe Yarnem" on their blog every so often. Sharon (the leading lady of TIG), puts up one-of-a-kind skeins for sale. Sometimes there are a few skeins of one colorway but most of the time they are single skeins of each color. You can see what was for sale during the last one here. Gorgeous, gorgeous stuff. 

Here's what I made with the other yarn I bought this weekend:

This is the Cayuga Set designed by the talented Connie Chang Chinchio (she also designed the Alexandria Cardigan). The yarn I used is an alpaca/merino/silk blend...yum. The hat was really fun to knit. The band is knit first and then you pick up along the side and knit the rest of the hat. There are short rows in the front so that it slouches to the back. I'm really, really pleased with the way this came out. I haven't started the mittens yet, but I'm guessing I'm going to love those too! 

On Sunday I went up to Portland and took a stranded colorwork class with Jared Flood. He taught a total of 5 classes at Knit-Purl last weekend. I'm kicking myself for not taking more than the one class. The class covered the basics of stranded colorwork and we worked on the Beaumont Tam (or beanie version). Jared was a fantastic teacher and I learned a TON. I finished my hat, but it is still drying and not yet ready for a photoshoot. It certainly isn't my best knitting, but I'm pleased with the way it turned out and I learned a lot while doing it. 

Phew. Are you sick of my ramblings yet? :)

My garden is looking much better, thankfully. The fence seems to be keeping the bunnies out although there are some other critters nibbling at the plants. I bought some organic spray that seems to be working for those, though. 

Well, I think I've gone on long enough! Plus, it's time to make pizza.

Love,

liz 

updates

woke up for the second day with a raging headache- and as it's going to stay over 100 degrees for the third day in a row, thought it was time to stop chasing the dehydration and take advantage of the medical services surrounding me... so im hooked up to a saline drip for the next few hours in the med center, hopefully getting over this nonsense...

with that said, i can take a moment to update you on life!  this week is a wicked low week- 58 kids.  to say we are overstaffed is an understatement...  but the kids are great, the staff is improving and the committee work is top notch!  

on the knitting front.... im making hearts for the lodges right now in their lodge colors, which are super simple but im stalling on getting them done which is tragic.  im also cranking out baby c's first birthday dress... it's on my ravelry page.... the issue is the pattern- i had to search through tons of different people's pictures of the dress to understand the pattern-  there are three parts to start- the front and then two back pieces... she states to join the 1st and second piece- it took me two hours to realize she meant to join the two back pieces (it's technically knit up in two pieces - a front and back, but lots of people did the whole thing in the round...)... i was just having trouble visualizing what i was doing in the actual piece.... hopefully i can back track a little and not have to frog too much... i already started over once as i decided the size two would be HUGE on her as most folks were mentioning how large their final projects were..

i'll keep you posted on that... i also used the excess yarn from my cowl to make a matching slouchy hat.  im hoping it loosens up when i block it- it's a tad too tight- but we'll see :)

my parents were here last week- which was great- they got to experience camp for the first time.  clearly they loved the house.... and the dog :)  it was great to just get to see them!  im really missing the family right about now..

speaking of, baby charlotte's first birthday party is the middle of august and it looks like i'll be able to make it!!  franklin is going to fly out for the closing of summer, drive back with me and then do the return trip with me a week later and fly home.  good man, that one :)

and last but not least- my veggies are getting there!!! tomatoes are just starting to turn red.  basil is still pathetic but the other herbs are totally out of control!  the peppers i planted (later in the season) are starting to take off a bit too :)

photos soon :)
how are you?  what are you up to these days?

You said to keep posting photos....

Glad to hear camp is going well!! I'm so excited for you to get the package I sent out the other day...it should be arriving any day now!

I have lots of things to show you!

First up....more knitting project bags (actually you could use these for a whole host of things!):

When I was up in Maine in April, I bought some Heather Ross fat quarters at Purl Diva. (The new Heather Ross line is amazing. It's called Far, Far Away 2-would be amazing for a little girl quilt...but anyways...) I don't know what this line is called, and I never thought I would buy fabric with mermaids on it, but it's so gosh darn whimsical and cute. And I love the colors. Especially the dark purple.

How about some more pictures?

I usually don't line my drawstring bags, but I decided to do it this time around. And I really like the sturdiness of them. I had thought about reversing the fabrics to contrast with the box bags, but how dirty would those white prints get?

More pictures, you say? Okay...

This one already has my yarn and needles for the class I'm taking on Sunday! 

How dang cute are those fish????

I haven't posted any spinning up here in a while, and I think it's time...

I am in love with this skein. It is mohair, nylon, and little merino. I had never spun mohair before and was a little nervous about it. But, it really turned out lovely (minus the mohair that was all. over. the. house). If it a) wasn't mohair and b) was washable, it would make a really lovely baby gift.

This is some Blue Faced Leicester yarn that I left as a single ply. It's a bit thick and thin...I think it is destined to become a simple hat of some sort.

I've been walking/hiking quite a bit with Valerie and her dog Diamond, especially now that the weather has warmed up a bit (just a bit though....we're about 10 degrees below normal temps for this time of year!). I tried to get some pictures of the dogs last time we were out....but boy, are they fast.

They just adore each other!

Well, I've been terribly unproductive today with regards to housework (although I have done 2 loads of laundry...I guess that counts for something) and we have one of Seth's friends from med school coming tomorrow night for dinner!

I am going to a local sheep and wool festival this weekend, though, so I'll be sure to take lots of pictures of the yummy yarn, fiber and cute animals!

Love,
liz

I swear I'm not dead!

Hey Lady :)

I have many updates, but you know camp life.  Your time is not your own!  We are in the home stretch of our second session (st jude sickle cell clinic) and it's been a great week.  Highlights include eating hot sauce on everything available at lunch (including yogurt! ack!), having my parents come for a visit and getting to teach kids to swim everyday :)

I have knitting updates too and a day off to get back into the groove of knitting, so I will post pictures soon :)

Keep posting your photos, its so exciting to wake up to a post!!

Love
cb

Rose City

Oh, I am long overdue for an update here. I tried blogging both Saturday and Sunday, but our internet has been acting slow and I wasn't able to upload any pictures...but that seems to be fixed. So here we go...


The Portland Rose Festival has been going on for the last few weeks, and everyone has been telling us we need to get up and partake in some of the festivities. So, we headed up to Portland Saturday morning.

Our first stop was the Portland Farmer's Market:

This is my lone Portland Farmer's Market shot. See all those tents in the distance? That's maybe 1/3 of the vendors. The PFM is one seriously impressive farmer's market! Not only are there locally grown fruits, veggies, and meats but there are tons of bakeries and vendors selling hot food for breakfast or lunch. It was hard to choose what to eat for lunch with so many choices, including wood fired pizza (yes, there was a little brick oven set up!). I settled on a sandwich from Pine State Biscuits that had bacon, egg, and cheese on a ridiculously yummy biscuit. It was heaven. Since we were going to be in Portland most of the day, we only bought a few things that could survive being in the hot car while we walked around. Seth picked up some strawberries and we bought some fresh bagels (herb and cheese!) and some cinnamon bread. Now, this is no ordinary cinnamon bread. It's like eating a cinnamon bun. So delicious. And it's whole grain bread rolled in oats. So it's sorta healthy, right? That's my story anyways. So, short story long....the PFM is amazing. Next time we'll bring a big cooler so that we can get fresh fish and meats. Yum!

After we had stuffed ourselves at the farmer's market we dropped our goodies off at the car and saw that the Grand Floral Parade was just a couple of blocks away. Seth isn't one for standing still too long, so we caught a few glimpses of the parade and walked a bit and then caught a few more floats.

After checking out the parade we walked down to the river and watched the Dragon Boat Races. They were way more intense than I ever could have imagined! Each team had a big tent set up at the top of the park where they had food for the rowers and all the teams were stretching and hanging out.

There were races with kids rowing when we first got there and when we left they had just moved on to the women's races.

The weather was perfect this weekend! There were great views of Mount Hood and Mount Saint Helens from the highway, but I didn't snap any photos.

I don't have any knitting to show off, but I've been buzzing right along on my Mom's sweater and I'll be taking a class with Jared Flood this weekend at Knit-Purl in Portland. I'm also headed to the Black Sheep Gathering on Friday, which is a local sheep and wool festival. I'm sure I'll have lots of goodies to show off after that!

Love,
liz

Modeled Alexandria...and a Hat for Seth

I finally got around to getting some modeled photos of my Alexandria Cardigan:

And here's a hat I whipped up for Seth:

He picked out the colors of Lopi from my stash, and specified exactly how many rows he wanted each of the stripes to be.

That's it for now!

Love,
liz

Resurrecting the Garden....Sort Of.

This week I've been trying to resurrect the garden. I installed a fence around the raised beds and replanted the radishes (they seem to be doing well so far!). Seth and I hit up the Farmer's Market on Saturday and bought some plants for the garden. Since all of my tomato starters died, we picked up 4 tomato plants. We also bought some jalapenos (again, to replace my starters that bit the dust) and a zucchini plant. Next year, I'll just save myself the trouble and buy plants instead of starting seeds inside! Our green beans are looking okay, but there are definitely some bugs nibbling at them. Our raspberry bush has had a few ripe fruits already, and it looks like we'll have more than we could ever eat! Raspberry jelly/jam, anyone?  Our apple tree also has tons of fruit.

In knitting news, I finished my Alexandria Cardigan as part of the KAL at Purl Diva. I don't have any pictures of it on me, but here are a few detail shots:

                                             

I love the faux seam at the side. The look of a side seam, but without actually having to sew anything together! 

                                            

I really like the use of bust darts for shaping (you'll be able to see the effect of those better in a modeled shot). 

                           

Pattern: Alexandria Cardigan by Connie Chang Chinchio

Yarn: Fleece Artist Woolie Silk in colorway Salt Spray

(bought from the lovely Purl Diva)

Modifications: I made the body a wee bit longer than the pattern called for (maybe just 1/2 inch or so), and the sleeves are probably a bit shorter than called for (I just tried them on as I knit them). 

I've also started another Tea Leaves Cardigan, but this one will be for my Mom. She has soooooo much yarn and so little time to knit. So, I told her to pick out yarn from her stash and a sweater pattern for me to make for her (this is a very belated mother's day gift!). 

Switching gears to food...

                             

We had some neighbors over for dinner and Seth requested a dessert with fresh strawberries from the Farmer's Market. Chocolate cake, homemade whipped cream (can we just discuss how much I heart my Kitchen Aid!?), and fresh strawberries. We do have strawberries in our yard under the grape vines, but the rabbits really like those. I find them half eaten in various places around the yard. Ah well, at least the garden is protected now.

And one last parting shot (because he's just so darn cute):

                  

Miss you! I hope camp is going smoothly....

Love,

liz