Weekend Wrap Up

The boys and I made it down to Eugene on Friday and had a great time. Well, e probably had a better time than o. o was stuck in the stroller most of the time, he'll have plenty of fun next year! e was great with all the critters and made a few friends with the ranchers. It was great to see him so confident with the animals and meeting new people.

On Sunday night we hustled out to the beach to go camping for a few nights. Sadly we only lasted one night with all the rain we had on Monday. There is only so much you can do in a tent with a 1 and 3 year old! I managed to knit only a little on my Marrowstone Shawl. I have 3.5 repeats done of the lace. I love how clever I feel knitting the pattern!

Future fleece inspector

It was nice coming home a little early and having E watch the boys while I got work done. I had a chance to look at the calendar and start planning the next few weeks prep for Sock Summit. Almost induced a panic attack! Time to schedule some baby sitters! And in that light I have to scoot to get a little knitting in for the day.

Is anybody doing Tour de Fleece? I would love to but I'm not totally sure when I'll find the time.

Marrowstone KAL

Have you started yours? (Marrowstone Shawl) Solstice (Tuesday) was the cast on day and I did. I cast on. I even did a few rows. But that's about it. I now have one lace repeat done for the edging, but I'm going to rip back half of it I think. I forgot to knit or purl in a row and the pattern is a little off. I'll try dropping the stitches first to see if I can fix it that way. We're headed to the beach at the end of the weekend so I'm going to blast through the lace edging. I really like design, I think the yarn is a great fit.

I'm also knitting Summer Winds from Carrie. Easy squeezy pattern, perfect for sitting around the fire with. Small confession, my first time knitting with Bling. L-o-v-e it! I can't wait to find another project for the beautiful yarn.

Anne at For Yarn's Sake in Beaverton asked me to come up with a Portland Timber's color. I love it! Even if you aren't a soccer fan I think this yarn is fabulous. Now to find a name...

She also needed a Mariner's color. Again, I l-o-v-e it. I think it's beautiful! I'm thinking of calling it Mojo. Do you remember the ad campaign the mariners did?

The little tiny baby skein in the picture below is MCN (merino/cashmere/nylon). People! I wish you could feel how deliciously soft this yarn is! I have a few skeins to dye up this next week, let me know if you have any requests!

We're going camping in a few days, when I get back I'll have a little wrap up of our quick trip to Black Sheep Gathering. The boys had a blast! (o is waking up so forgive any editing errors! Gotta run!)

Time Warp

Sorry for the radio silence! I'm going to blame it on the boys and their busy body ways. o is walking in full force and climbing. He can climb up the chair and sit at the table. He can climb up the stairs to the slide at the park. He wants to go down the slide face first. Busy body only starts to cover it. He's also getting in six teeth. Thank you kids for taking the blame!

There's lots to cover and I think a list will help

• The winner of yarn and pattern for the next knit a long is Leigh! Thanks for participating in the last knit a long.
• Knit a long II starts next Tuesday on the Solstice. Marrowstone is a beautiful shawl and I think will be great in Shine. How about 25% off Shine with code KAL!
• Thank you for helping with the Stash 4 Cash! There are still some treasures in the previous post. Let me know what you are interested in and I'll ship it out.
• CSY/F went out today, it's a beauty! My sample knitter (neighbor!) is going to do a little baby sweater out of the scraps. I can't wait!
• Octavia has been blocked! Thank you Michele!
• I've been chaneling Gail and taking lots of pictures in the garden. What a gorgeous time of year.
• Last weekend the boys and I went up to the Land where all the Oma's live. Ur Oma turned 89 and we helped her celebrate!

Not too shabby for 89 right?! She was marching around the yarn pulling the boys singing german songs.

e loves to sing happy birthday and blow out candles so he was a big help!

Stash 4 Cash: Joplin Fundraiser

I've stashed dived and came up with some treasures! I was just going through the pictures and had some second guess on a few, but all the $$$ will go to Rebuild Joplin. There are a lot of ways to give, I'm choosing to donate all money that comes in from the sale of my stash to Bright Futures.

"Bright Futures funds will be used to eliminate barriers that stand in the way of a child’s education. Assistance such as tutoring, transportation, and providing for the basic needs of children will be the focus of this fund. You can learn more about Bright Futures atbrightfuturesjoplin.org."

Small disclaimer: I don't remember what I paid for everything. Let me know if my asking price is too expensive or too cheap--the money is going to help Joplin! So hopefully you'll think I should charge more ;)

Artyarns ultramerino4, 100% merino wool, 191 yards, 50 g. $8

Kids Seta, 70% mohair 30% silk, 230 yards, 25 grams. SOLD

Each cone consists of 1750 yards and is a full pound. Perfect for use in circular sock machines, intarsia patterns or multi-color work- great for socks, light weight sweaters, hats and fancy mittens, or how about that lacy scarf? Bartlettyarns Sport Weight is a 2 ply yarn, spun on the “woolen system” for a traditional home-spun appearance. Bartlettyarns Sport Weight is spun on the “woolen system” for a traditional home-spun appearance, consisting of two strands of the sport weight yarn. (borrowed straight from Bartlett Yarns) SOLD

Rainy Days & Wooly Dogs 100% merino, 4 ounces I think. SOLD

Rainy Days & Wooly Dogs 100% merino, 4 ounces I think. $10

Each cone consists of 1750 yards and is a full pound. Perfect for use in circular sock machines, intarsia patterns or multi-color work- great for socks, light weight sweaters, hats and fancy mittens, or how about that lacy scarf? Bartlettyarns Sport Weight is a 2 ply yarn, spun on the “woolen system” for a traditional home-spun appearance. Bartlettyarns Sport Weight is spun on the “woolen system” for a traditional home-spun appearance, consisting of two strands of the sport weight yarn. (borrowed straight from Bartlett Yarns) $15

Araucania, chunky wool. 100% wool, 131 yards, 100 grams 2 available $7 each

Lorna Laces, shepherd sport. 100% Superwash wool 200 yards, 70 grams SOLD

Malabrigo, lace weight. 100% baby merino wool, 470 yards 50 grams $5

dicentra 100% bfl, 4.9 oz, $12

(what's with the underling?!)

All yarn and fiber is stored in plastic bags and/or bins. Please email me or leave a comment on which one you'd like to purchase. As stash sells I'll edit the post. Depending on what you buy (skein v. cone and quantity) the shipping will vary. I'm pretty cheap when I mail though!

Thank you for helping me send money to people in need.

Are you having a sale on your blog? Let me know and I'll add the link.

Stash 4 Cash: Joplin Fundraiser

Howdy! On June 5th I'm going to post some of my personal stash for sale and all $$$ will go to help rebuild Joplin. I got the idea from a yarn shop in Austin Texas hosting a stash sale for their customers. Since I can't go there and participate, why not here on the blog!

A friend from college lives in Joplin. While they were very lucky to not loose anything structurally, they did loose a family member. It's incredible to read her status updates and what's happening there in the community. Stop back by the blog and get some yarn on the cheap and help rebuild Joplin!

Do you have a blog? Do you want to help give Stash 4 Cash? Play along this Sunday! Let me know and I'll share the link.

Another little special treat for you is free shipping in the etsy shop. I have a lot of beautiful fiber and yarn in there ready to ship, use the code SHIPNOW and you won't be paying for shipping! Good through Saturday night.

We're supposed to have beautiful weather here in Portland, I hope it's the same where you live! I'm off to find treasures in the stash to share with you! See you Sunday!

KAL Wrap Up

So did you make it? Do you have anything left on the shawl to knit? I would love to see pictures! Leave a comment on where you're at, you don't have to be finished and you'll be entered to win a skein+pattern for the next KAL, Marrowstone! Winner will be picked June 5th, so comment now!

The next KAL is starting on the first day of summer. Hopefully the weather will realize it's summer too! Yarn for this KAL can be found here. What are you working on between the fun? I have a bunch of WIP that could use attention, but don't you know it I want to cast on something new! We'll see what comes of that!

I've started posting a few things in the Etsy shop. The listing process has greatly improved, and I want to compare it to the shop. Stop by and see if there's something you like! Planning to do a lot more tomorrow, fingers crossed.

How was your Memorial Day weekend? We had a great time at a bluegrass gathering a friend of mine hosts. Here's a few shots!

And tomorrow is this little guys birthday! This time a year ago my water broke!! I can't believe this little guy is one already. His latest trick is to stand on chairs and get into mischief. A trouble maker I tell you!

Mega List

I don't know where to start I have so much fun to share! So we're making a list and checking it twice

1. I finished Octavia!!!! I botched the bind off on 10 stitches but I don't think anybody will notice even once it's blocked. I'm so proud of how the shawl turned out. I had to undo knitting a few times, but I finally got the lace section right. All user error, not designer error. Where are you on your shawl?

unblocked

2. I'm super happy to have this project wrapped up. I'm headed south to the beach and I'm going solo with two little boys. Lace knitting is not great with beach and boys!

3. Now I get to find something to bring for knitting! Not that I don't have 3 projects living in my car and one living in my bag. Here's a secret: I've never knit anything with Bling. Shocking, I know! So I'm thinking of trolling ravelry for a bit and seeing what strikes my fancy.

4. Michele just released this pattern that uses Bling. Beautiful! There's a few skeins in the shop that would be great for this shawl. Michele is also doing a knit a long, she has a coupon code for the pattern if you want to join!

5. I dropped off Cypress Hollow Yarn at Wool N Wares yesterday! The tags are one of my favorite parts, so sweet! On the back side of the heart is a quote from the character that goes with the color. When Rachael sent me a list of the quotes I was ready to start reading the books again! I won't even tell you how many times I've read them. I'm getting close to having the yarn ready to ship from the shop, warm those needles up!

6. I also dropped of some super wash worsted. I had to snap a few pictures, the yarn was so beautiful! I'm glad I can make more, I wanted to cast on some sweet little sweaters!

entangled

lush

desert spirit

7. My neighbor is a great little sewer and made this little gem the other day! The bag is lined and will have a draw string top. She would love any feed back you have or wishes/wants/desires for a knitting bag. I can't wait to put an order in for mine!

8. I've had a few inquiries into the Community Supported Yarn/Fiber and joining a little late. I'm going to open it back up in the shop and just prorate it. So the next shipment is June 15th, $80 (plus shipping) gets you yarn/fiber for the next 4 months.

9. New addition on the Facebook page, you can shop!! Look on the left hand side and in little words you'll see shop. Click there and you'll see all the beauties.

10. Are you still here? Wow, what a post! What are you doing for the holiday weekend? What are you knitting on? I'll see you next week!