Random Sunday Stuff

I was so tired that I ended up falling asleep around 8:30 last night and did not get around to blogging! Eeps! So, today there'll be two blogs :)

Owen and I went to see the new Harry Potter movie with some of my friends. It was actually a day for the books, because it is rare when the 4 of us and our significant others are in the same room together. I really enjoyed the movie. I remembered more of the book than I thought I would, since I read it over 3 years ago.




My favorite part of the movie was at the beginning when they were transporting Harry to the Weasley's house. It reminded me of a scene in the movie Garden State when Sam tells Andrew that "Sidecars are for Bitches" so that must mean that Harry is Hagrid's bitch, awesome!

We found a brand new fro-yo shop that opened near our house! I've been saying for months now that we needed one out here and now we have one! It's called Yogurt Munch. We shared a small sized fro yo. I was in charge of picking everything out, and I went with the Peanut butter-chocolate swirl, and the vanilla-pumpkin pie swirl yogurts. For toppings I added fresh fruit, m&ms, these strange gummy things that had liquid centers and chocolate sauce. Yeah, tasted a little weird. Owen didn't seem to notice, probably because it's exactly what he would have picked out. I think next time I would not do as many toppings like that together.

After reviewing the website, we found a few interesting flavors and toppings:


(click to embiggen)

Log Drives and Splash Dams

My friend Becky was featured on OPB this week on Oregon Field Guide! She just finished her Master's Thesis on splash-dams. Splash-dams were used in the late 1880s-1950s in Oregon as a way to transport logs downstream to mills. The Dams would hold back the water and logs and then it would be released and all the logs would go downstream, but this would cause major damage to the river banks and river beds destroying salmon habitat. Becky's thesis was a study on the rivers today to see if they recovered from these splash-dams. Spoiler alert, the damage is still present in streams today.

The segment is 9 mins, but it's interesting.

An evening with Debbie Stoller

Tonight I got to meet an important icon in the knitting world - Debbie Stoller, author of the "Stitch & Bitch" series of books.  This is the lady that taught me how to knit.  She made it so easy to understand what I was doing, and how to do it.  I have been wanting to meet her since 2004 when I bought Stitch & Bitch, and that time in 2007 when I *almost* met her doesn't count. (but that's another story)

The book signing tonight was at The Yarn Garden in Portland.  I went with my friend Alyssa.  The traffic going downtown was awful (due to a 5 car pileup), but we made it with a few minutes to spare!  We were pretty much the last ones there though, but that meant that we didn't have to wait long for the evening to get going!

First, Debbie talked about her new book Superstar Knitting, and explained what each of the chapters were about.  I am really excited about the colorwork section.  Yeah, yeah, I've been knitting for almost 7 years and have never done colorwork other than stripes....  During this part she passed around the different samples from the book.  They really look different in person, and there are a few things I would not have considered, but after seeing them in person I actually want to knit them!

The second portion of the evening was a small lesson on knitting lace and what stitches make lace (yo, and a few different decreases).  Even though it was remedial for me, since I have knit many lace projects, the one thing that stood out was reasons for where yarn overs (yos) and decreases go in lace.  She had a sample chart that had yos and decreases in different spots and a knitted sample showing what the chart looked like.  Well, it was clear after seeing that, that there is a reason, that sometimes the yos can look "suck ass" (her words) if they're on the wrong side of the slanted decrease.


This is a sample from the book - I loved this tiger in a dress so much! I'm totally making one for Hazy!


Here's the lady that was at the back of the room who ended up with the stack of samples!

At the end of the evening she signed books.  I brought along my Stitch & Bitch book and when we got there we were given the pre-ordered a copy of the new book.  While she signed my books, I gave her a small token of appreciation, a crochet bracelet that I made from her "Happy Hooker" book.


Me and my new friend Debbie ;)

Pumpkin Potluck Party

Last month Tami sent me a link on Facebook to a recipe for Pumpkin Spice Lattes that you make in a crock pot. Here it is. It looked like a good recipe, but I didn't have any occasion to make 12 cups of lattes. I was talking to Shelia about it at knit night and she said if I made the lattes she would bring pumpkin cookies. Then Tami chimed in that she would make pie and Angela said she would make pumpkin fudge and before we knew it, we had the makings of an awesome pumpkin pot luck party. Since Whole Foods requested we do not bring outside food in for knit night, we decided to have it at the grange during our Wednesday spinning group.

So, today was the party! I have to say it was a success. There was soup, breads, pies, cookies, chips and salsa, whip cream and rum for the lattes, and I also brought some home made goat cheese with crackers. It was quite a feast!

I think this worked so well, we should do a similar pot luck around Christmas time!!

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Here's how I made the lattes

I brewed Starbucks Verona coffee espresso strength (1 cup of coffee to 4 cups of water), but I only used 3 cups of coffee in the mixture.
8 cups whole milk
Most of the can of TJ's Organic Pumpkin
1/2 cup of brown sugar
2 T of Vanilla
1.5 T of Pumpkin Pie Spice
optional - a shot of Rum for an extra kick

Put all of the ingredients into your crock pot, taste it to make sure you like the flavor or adjust the amounts to get a flavor you like. Then set your crock pot on Hi for 3 hours. My crock pot doesn't seem to get very hot, so I cook everything on Hi. Yours may vary and you might be ok with Low for 3 hours. Also, I assembled it all the night before so the flavors had time to develop. In the morning I turned the crock pot on and let it heat up.

WWSIP Day 2010

It's come around again, World Wide Spin In Public Day! It seems like last year's event was just yesterday! How did a whole year go by?? I got a little more spinning done today than I did last year, so that's an accomplishment! But I probably spun only a half ounce of fiber. I worked on a Merino/Tencel roving from the Knitted Wit. I had brought more fiber with a pipe dream of getting more done, and a drop spindle for spinning the sample fiber from the goody bag. Oh well. I got a lot of chatting done with my friends and occasionally with someone passing by. This event really got the public's interest! We were at the end of the farmer's market, so I didn't think we would get a lot of people, but we really did! From little kids, to the eldery to dogs dragging their owners in! A nice man even brought us cupcakes from a local vendor! Cool!! Christine from Upstream Alpacas came with a bin of fiber! She included a coupon in our goody bag and once I felt her baby alpaca roving, I had to by some! I bought 4 oz of her Pacific Dusk colorway - it's blue, pink and purple dyed over a grey alpaca roving! I also won a door prize! The table was full of fun prizes to pick from and I walked away with the "101 Designer One Skein Wonders" book (I think Gail donated it, so Thanks Gail!)

Unfortunately I didn't get any pix of myself this year, except this one! And LeeLoo is taking up most of the frame.



So, I hope Tami posts a couple on her blog.


Check out my awesome goody bag - it was stuffed to the brim with fiber samples from local fiber artists and other fun things:



Handmade pink flamingo bag (probably made just for me ;) ) from Duffy
Raw alpaca fiber from the Cupcake Factory
Merino/Silk from Dicentra Designs and a coupon for Cindy's new shop donated by Cindy of Urban Fiber Arts
BFL, a pencil and a coupon from Knitted Wit
Merino from Stitch Jones
Corriedale, a pin, and a coupon from Pico Accuardi Dyeworks
Baby Alpaca and a coupon from Upstream Alpacas
BFL from Rogue Adventures
A generous sample of Rosemary Spearmint soap from Peace of Soap Company
A Handmade i-cord distaff made by me!

Hazel's First Birthday

It's been almost a month since her first birthday (oops), how time flies!

Hazel's real birthday (June 21st) was celebrated along with Father's Day, in Seaside. We drove over to Canon Beach Sunday afternoon. Had lunch at a pizza parlour. I went to the bead store while Owen and Hazel went to the playground. Then we all went and got ice cream cones (Hazel snuck a few licks off of our cones). We stayed the night at the Rivertide Suites. In the morning, we packed up to leave, and went to walk around Seaside. Hazel rode the carousel, then we went to the beach where she walked in the sand and touched the freezing cold ocean! We drove home during her afternoon nap and quickly changed clothes and drove to the Spaghetti Factory in Portland. We had dinner with my mom and Owen's parents. Between salad and the main course, Hazel took a walk around the restaurant and flirted with all of the tables. When it came time to sing happy birthday, everyone in the restaurant sang to her. This made me tear up a bit, because I'm sappy like that. She enjoyed her own vanilla ice cream.


The following weekend we had her birthday party with her friends. Lots of little kids came to play in the water fountain, eat cake and help her open presents! After a full day of fun you can imagine she was exhausted!!

Black Sheep Gathering!

As you may remember, I was in labor last year during the BSG and did not get to attend. I think I made up for it this year though! Check out all the fiber I got!


1 Jenkins Kuchulu spindle in borneo rosewood with a redheart shaft
1 (huge) Alpaca/Wool batt from Superior Fibers
1 mystery batt from Fantasy Fibers
2 bags of assorted Wolf Creek Wools fiber from Sweet Grass Wool
1 handpainted roving from StitchJones (that I actually bought before the show, but I’m counting it anyway)
a goody bag from the Knitmore Girls podcast


Before we even got through the parking lot, I ran into my friends Jamie and Blas who own Urban Fauna Studio They drove up from San Fran for a speaking engagement, and made a side trip to BSG.

Once inside, I headed straight to Stitch Jones' booth to say hi to my friend Sharon. Then the shopping began! My mom and I each got a bottle of hand lotion at Lost Valley Alpacas in Sweet Peaches. At Fantasy Fibers, I snatched up one of the last mystery batts they had in stock. Across the way at Crown Mtn Fibers there was a Knitmore Girls podcast meetup. I have been friends with Jasmin and Gigi since Stitches West last year and they love seeing Hazel!

After the first hour (which seemed like 10 minutes to me) my mom, Owen and Hazel took off to find lunch, leaving me to shop. I met up with Cindy, and she and I enabled each other into getting the mini Jenkens spindles and then she enabled me into getting some fiber from the Sweet Grass Wool.

Again I time warped another hour and the four of us found a park in Eugene to have our TJ's picnic lunch.

Then it was back to the BSG, but this time we focused on meeting the animals. Ohh, was Hazel enjoying this. She got a kiss from a Shetland Sheep, and she got to see cute Pygoras, BFLs and Romneys. Not to mention the Alpacas in the the Alpaca barn! She used her new walking skills to lead us from stall to stall. On the way to the Alpacas we ran into Lisa (slumpyfumbler on Ravelry) and she enabled me to get the HUGE batt from Superior Fibers.

Before we knew it, it was time for the market to close and for us to head home. I am beat!

Catching Butterflies

Imagine this: Billions of butterfly shaped confetti exploding a rainbow into the air and then gently fluttering down to the ground, all while Coldplay are playing one of their tunes to thousands of screaming fans.

Well, it's really hard to imagine if you're not there, in the moment and it's happening to you.

I only wish I had been able to go to their concert when they were here this past July. Sadly, I was recovering from a c-section and taking care of my beautiful baby. On the day of the concert I allowed myself to be disappointed, because I really really really wanted to be there myself! The last time they came out to the PNW was in August of 2005 and it was hands down THE BEST concert I have ever been to. U2 comes in second.

I had won VIP tickets from a local radio station by singing "Yellow" with ice cubes in my mouth to an answering machine. I won, because of my "humor" - I had dropped an ice cube on the floor while I was stating my name and phone number and then I said "I just dropped an ice cube on the ground and it is covered in cat hair, and I don't care because I love Coldplay that much!" and I then I put it in my mouth and sang the song. The next day they were going to announce the winner and I got up early so I wouldn't miss their call. I KNEW they would call me and 5 minutes til they announced, my phone rang!! It was my allergist reminding me of my appointment. Darn! I hung up and my phone rang again. It was Nelson and Terry telling me I had won tickets!! I screamed and probably blew their eardrums out! It was so surreal talking to them, I don't know exactly what I said to them because I was so excited and talking a mile a minute. Anyway, the tickets were not far from the stage (wayyyyy better than the seats I had paid for) and we got VIP parking with our own special entrance to the venue. I didn't get to meet Coldplay, but that's ok, I had the best night with my friends and I won't forget that.

I digress.

So, the next best thing to being there in person is knowing someone else who went to one of their concerts and lovingly sent me some butterflies and the free cd they were handing out at the end of the show! Oh, how I squeeeeeed when I opened the package from my friend Carol in the UK who went to not one, but 3 of their concerts this year and was kind enough to send me some goodies!!

Thank you Carol, you made my day!

An Evening With Franklin Habit

Well, it wasn't the musical production or chorus line that I had pictured in my mind, but it was an hour of comedy that only Franklin could provide :) He talked about lace knitting from the Victorian era, the lace he knit for his niece Abigail and read two of his essays "Knittin' with a whip" and "Immortality" (this one made me tear up a little). He also had a trivia section where the prizes were the totebags from Interweave knits and Knit for you cards (thanks for the card Monica). The highlight of the night for me, was when Franklin brought out his Leaf and Nupp shawl to show off, and I had mine along, and he gushed over it and said that his shawl looked anemic compared to mine! I was over the moon when he said that!!! Overall a fun evening, and thanks to Knit/Purl for hosting him!


Fun swag, and he signed my book too!

Hazel Rose Looms

How cool is it, that there is a company out there with the same name as my baby girl?? I first found out about Hazel Rose Looms back in March when I was at Camp Pluckyfluff. Urban Fauna Studio carried them in their store and I knew I had to have one. During Sock Summit I purchaced the 4" multi loom and I've had fun making coasters with my handspun left overs. I gave those to my friend as a housewarming present. I was delighted to find out from my friend Kathy that Hazel Rose Looms would be at OFFF. Of course, I had to take my Hazel Rose to meet them.


This is Hazel, Hazel Rose and Rose.


Checking out the looms


Look at all the shapes!!


I did add to my collection and bought a 2" multi Loom and a small pick for straightening the wefts. ( I also bought 2 oz of Border Leicester locks dyed blue and purple from Baabaara's Handspun a table I found out in the sheep barn)

Oregon Flock and Fiber 09 - Day 1

OFFF in a nutshell: I bought way too many pretty things, met FRANKLIN HABIT! (and may or may not have gone fangirl on him), created a new spindle group called "The Delights", spent all day spinning on my new spindle and made a few yards of yarn, hung out with all my PDXKB and PDXSpinerati peeps, did not knit a stitch, and did not see any of the animals.


First thing after Angela and I got there was buy a Jenkins Turkish Delight drop spindle!


I did a self portrait and kinneared Franklin Habit at the same time! Cindy did take an actual picture with me and Franklin together, but I'll have to wait for her to post it on her blog. I'm going to see him give a talk on Monday, so I did not hog too much of his time.


Me and Michele spinning on our Turkish Delights



Tami took this picture of "The Delights": Tammy, me, Michele, Duffy, and Leila
I inspired Tammy to get a TD spindle, Michele inspired me and Leila inspired Michele (see this chain reaction thing going on?) Duffy is an honorary member with her top whirl spindle.


My purchases:
Pink BFL and pastel Merino/Tencel from Knitted Wit
10oz of BFL (the blue/green pink) from Dicentra
Turkish Delight drop spindle from Carolina Homespun
A rare gem and a skein of silkie and a pattern from Blue Moon
1oz of white pygora (Cody) from Foggybottom Farms

Ravelry Meetup

This evening was the Ravelry meetup at the forestry center. All the cool people were there!

The first 350 people got this awesome schwag bag:


Inside was a skein of Berroco Vintage, a Namaste reusable bag, Lantern Moon post-it holder, and the Odenwald sock pattern by Stephanie fan der Linden


I found some people I knew to hang out with: Sara, Carissa, Tami, Bobbie,Camille and Lisa from Australia



Carissa didn't want to drag her knitting pattern along, so she wrote it out in sharpie on her wrist. I think she has something going here and wish I had thought of it myself


Check it out I got a picture with Jess of Ravelry and BOB!

I think I was a little too excited about holding Bob!


Turtle tat!!

There was a drawing for some awesome door prizes, alas, I did not win :(

Sock Summit: Day 3

Today is all about Hazel and who she met and who got to hold her!! So, I'll start off with purchases and goody bags :)

No classes for me today, it was shop til I dropped with my mom and my friend Jen. We spent over 5 hours in the marketplace and saw all of the booths, but did not go in them all. This is like the largest yarn shop and it's overwhelming with all the yarn/fiber/accessories.

Here is what I bought today:)


Project bag from Good to be Girl, Blue Moon Socks that Rock in Goody Goody, Gumdrop Socks pattern by JC Briar, Painted Skies hand dyed wool batts from Urban Fauna Studio, Hazel Knits Tulip baby sock kit, purple highlighter tape from purrfectly catchy designs.

This goody bag game from the Knitmore Girls Podcast meetup in the Abstract Fiber booth. Yeah, I know Jasmin and Gigi already, but it's fun to get the goody bags :) There are two sock patterns, a Verena magazine, Purlescense nail file, euclan sample, knitmore girls tape measure and button, and a sample skein of sock yarn from AF, but I gave that to my friend Jen.


At 1pm there was an organized chaos stitch marker trade! I ended up with 30 unique stitch markers from all over. Very cool!




I met the dude knitting 14 pairs of socks at once on one loooooooong circular needle!
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Hazel's first knitting event and first sock summit!

Hazel with Wendy (owner of Hazel Knits)


Hazel with Hazel (the baby of Emily from Twisted)


Hazel with the Knitmore Girls (Gigi and Jasmin)


Hazel with Sharon (Stitch Jones)


Hazel with Dianne (Creatively Dyed)


Hazel with my friend Gretchen


Hazel with my friend Jen


Hazel with my friend Judy Becker (!)


Hazel with the YARN HARLOT (!!!!!!!!)

Luckily I had brought along the Baby Mine sweater for her to wear when she met Stephanie!!