Blue Citrus Done

Just as the unusually cold week is over, my blue Citrus York Pullover is done. It's way too warm this weekend to actually wear it, but I'm sure I'll have some chance during the summer -- Evenings can be quite chilly in northern California summer, and it's a cotton/silk blend yarn.

Pattern: Citrus York Pullover by Katie Himmelberg, IK Winter 2007. Yarn: Misti Cotton Worsted weight (100g/191 yards a hunk). It took three hunks and 1/3, so total of 330 grams , 649 yards used (600 meters) used. Needles: 10 1/2 DPNs and circular. Modification: I added a little increases on the sleeves (toward the wrists).

Not a big fan of the york part -- Doesn't look very neat to me. Maybe it looks better if I blocked? But it's very comfortable and wearable. I was concerned that the york part may be a bit constrictive and the arm joints very tight -- but was not the case.

Now I am onto "Heartbeat Sweater" from Just One More Row. It seems that the owner is still working on rebuilding her site, so I have no pictures I can link to; I will post a photo next time. This is the pattern I bought at Stitches, and the hand-dyed silk noil yarn to go with it. It's a huge hunk, and the label says 32.5 oz, 1000 yds +-. Here's how big it is rolled up in a ball.

Yup, blue again! Hopefully I'll get to wear it this summer. Going down from 10 1/2 to 6 is a bit of a change in the pace. And of course, the pattern is a lot more challenging.

Three of us went on a bike ride yesterday to the park. It was wonderful, and I managed it. Mitch was very proud of me, and kept announcing to the passers by that this was "mom's first time riding with me!"

Toronto Purchase and Blankie

So I'm back from Toronto. As usual, it was a busy, meeting-filled trip, but I was able to squeeze in a visit to a local yarn store. There is a store that stays open late on Thursdays. I jump on a taxi, then I realize that I forgot my camera, AGAIN!

It's Romni Wools, about 10 minutes taxi ride from the hotel. It's HUGE. I walked around every isle that's filled with amazing inventory of yarn, the large book and pattern section, then found out that there's downstairs. From the stairs I could see wool bats and spinning wheels. Only 20 minutes to the closing time. I hurry down. Woof, there's another big section of yarn there, on top of spinning and weaving stuff!!

I picked up some Noro, some unknown brand cotton yarn, and two braids of Wensleydale wool top -- Gotta get that of course; the codename of the project I'm working on right now is Wensleydale! I'm quite proud of myself to have kept the damage to minimal.

It's a must-see place, if you happened to be in Toronto. I have never seen so much yarn in one place. I said that to the salesperson (could well have been the owner), and she was like "un huh, I've heard that about a million and three times."

I'm plying the Kool-aid yarn with a pale-pink kid mohair.

I was hoping to get the bunny socks effect by plying with mohair, but I'm not sure if this is the color match I wanted. It looks like the Japanese red-white celebration stripes! The mohair should have been a little darker.

Mitch wanted me to knit a blankie for the Pirates. He pointed at the small roll of the mint-green single I had on the lazy kate. Okie dokie.

The lucky recipient of the hand-spun hand-knit blankie is my favorite pirate, Fernando Alonzo (name taken from the F1 racer).

Come to think of it, this is my FIRST FO from my handspun yarn!! I hope he appreciates it.

Coming Home

I was in Montreal again for the most of this week. It was a tiring trip, as usual. I just can't sleep for the first night every time I go to the other coast, so that makes me even more exhausted. At least it wasn't as cold as the last visit to this city.... There were still lots of snow left on the street, but I didn't need a winter coat. People kept telling me that it's spring -- it's warm. To me still, snow on the ground and "warm" don't mix.


Right in front of the hotel.

La basilique Notre-Dame de Montréal. Photo courtesy of my colleague Ken (thanks!).

On Wednesday, my afternoon meeting got cancelled, so for the first time on my fifth visit to this city, I finally had a chance to go venture out to find a yarn store. I marked the map, hailed a cab, then I realized that I left my camera at the hotel -- I'm just not destined to take photos of yarn stores, I guess!

Since I never drive in Montreal, I'm not yet well oriented around town. I got off the cab and looked around, then laughed to myself when I found the restaurant "Joe Beef" that my friend took me to in January. It's a great restaurant -- but very hard to get a table.

Mouliné fils de qualité is on the next block. Very small, but well stocked and cozy. Big end-of-season sale was going on, but I was the only customer. I went around and around in the store so many times. The kind owner let me be. Got some angra, and some muted green superwash. My friend has asked me to knit "socks in sage color." I hope my definition of sage green matches hers.

Maybe it's because of being in East Coast, but there were lots of European brands. The skein with the wooly sheep on the label is English. And the light lettuce green is my very first Phildar. I also bought some yarns from Norway -- Garnstudio. I can't read the ball band. Yeah.

I have a lot of thinking to do about my work -- I knit while I think (I knit, therefore I am?) I plan to finish my mom's dancing socks this weekend. Perhaps I'll do so under the falling petals of the cherry tree, to make up for the missed flower season.

"Washing Life" 3

We took a hike to the waterfall at Vichy Springs Resort property. Supposed to be an easy, mostly flat hike.
The path ran alongside the bubbling brook. How long has it been since you listened to the soothing sound of the creek? I can't even remember...


Spotted a little creature. Can you tell where he is?

And another. In fact, we spotted many of these black salamanders on the trail. Mitch said "they must be fambily (family)."

The trail was pretty unstable and difficult at times, but Mitch handled it very well. At the end, we had to give up before we got to the waterfall -- but we still had fun. I kept thinking about my childhood memories -- there were small creek and a pond near my elementary school. We often played in the water (and mud) catching crayfish. I hope my son will get to make similar memories.

We found another trail on the hill.

After a nice hike, we were all hungry!

Next day we said bye-bye to one of the most beautiful places we've visited. I thoroughly enjoyed the long weekend -- the problem is that it wasn't long enough!

On the way out of the city of Ukiah, we of course made a stop at the yarn shop -- Heidi's Yarn Haven. Mitch came in to show off his hat that I knitted for him, getting compliments as he usually does at any yarn store. The lady at the store told us about Mendocino Fiber Festival -- I think it's in September. This year for sure we are going!

My recent acquisitions --


The left is what I bought at Heidi's Yarn Haven, Mountain Colors hand painted yarn. Middle -- the first yarn I got at DeStash; Three Waters Farm hand painted yarn. The right -- my handspun, Bubble Gum!

I'm so proud of this handspun. I think I did a good job.



What to knit? I keep looking for small projects to do with my handspun -- just too little to do anything other than socks and scarves. I should try to spin in larger quantity.

I need another vacation!

Stitches West

The Stitches West conference was nearby in Santa Clara this weekend, and three of us made it to the market for purchasing our favorite item - yarn. It was yarnatopia, yarnville, yarn, yarn, yarn everywhere in addition to other knitting and crochet related items!! I wanted to take a million pictures, but unfortunately they didn't allow photography - bummer. I was at the convention center when the doors opened at 10. I had my ticket and cash in hand. I took a specific amount of cash to spend and then that was it...no more was to be spent. Huguette and Liz were making their way south but would not arrive for another hour and 20 minutes. They called me to tell me to go ahead without them. Don't they know me well enough by now? Me, wait? For them? When there's yarn to be fondled? What were they thinking? Of course I went ahead without them. In fact, I think that I was fondling yarn when they called to tell me not to wait. Not even 5 minutes had passed when a big chunk of my cash was flowing freely from my hands. It was crazy! I had the best time, but missed experiencing it with my friends. I found all kinds of yarn that I can't get easily in my town. By the time that Huguette and Liz arrived, I had already used all my cash and whipped out my credit card twice in order to buy more. I definitely went over my limit. However, I vow that this is the last yarn purchase until September when there will be another conference in Oakland. (Ok, let's really see how long that will last!)

We had the best time looking all around at the goodies. Liz took quite a while before she purchased any yarn, but she did good. She found what she called "Happy Yarn". Huguette found lots of yarn. I was exhausted and found a place to sit and knit for a while. Liz and Huguette left their bags with me and went forth to buy, buy, buy. I had fun waiting to see who would return and with what. It was almost like a yarn treasure hunt. Before we left Huguette purchased enough beautiful, soft, luxurious alpaca yarn to make a sweater. I can't wait to see it in progress! We made one attempt to leave, but just before going through the door we realized that we had to go back. We heard some specific sock yarn calling our names. It was just whispering to us as we decided to leave, but Huguette and I could hear it yelling our names before we reached the Exit. Our second attempt to extract ourselves from the ultimate yarn shop was successful. We headed to the Hyatt hotel next door to eat. We were tired, thirsty, hungry and high on yarn fumes! Here are our purchases:

First, Liz and her Happy Yarn

Next, Huguette (she won the prize for most yarn purchased)


Then there is myself (Erin) with my purchases:




I have that "MINE, ALL MINE" look on my face. I can't wait to start using all this wonderful yarn!

We missed you Tamami!

Finally Fixated

When I came home, there were boxes sitting by the door. One of them was from Webs! The long awaited Fixation was in it -- and a whole lot more.


I finished the second sock of the Lace Wings in twenty minutes. It's a bit loose around ankle, but I'm still hoping that they'll shrink after a wash. I really love this pattern, and I will try another pair sometime, but I might make it longer next time -- and maybe size 2 needles, instead of 3?


Pair number seven. Now I have an almost-full ball of Fixation in this colorway... OK, another Mitch socks.


What else's in the box from Webs? Of course I couldn't just buy one ball of Fixation. I got a bunch of Araucania NatureWool -- they were on sale! I have been good on my stash control, so I think this is acceptable. After all, this is Christmas time, and I finished the project at work, and... and... It's been pretty stressful at work for the last several days. Yarn hoarding must be better than drinking heavily, right?