Portland Sock Summit Day 3

Ok, there is so much to say, but lets face it, you just want to see the pictures! So I will keep the talking to a minimum. First up, a Portland must...

And what does come in this pink box....

From this Portland landmark...


Jasmin with her Voodoo Doughnut

And Amanda from Lorna's Laces and Nathania Apple enjoying their Voodoo Doughnuts.

Who did I meet today? Most all of you toe up sock knitters have this lady to thank, Judy Becker of Judy's Magical Cast-on!


She was so lovely and so smart and just a great person to hang and knit with. And other people I met? How about Nancy Bush, she likes Merlot, just in case you wanted to know...


This was taken after a long day and a couple of glasses of wine. She then was heading out to dinner with Ann Budd.


Then we met up with Sandi Wiseheart, wow, she is fun to hang out with!


She and I had the same thing to eat for dinner, Lamb wants a bite too as you can see. I had dug into mine already and decided that I wanted a picture so this is really Sandi's food. It was the best Mac n' Cheese that I had ever eaten!


Besides the Mac n' Cheese, several drinks and laughs (many many laughs, whoop! whoop!) were exchanged.

My market place finds? I found this guy at Skacel knitting all these socks on one really long circular needle.


I bought yarn from Webs, yes, it is lace weight and I am at a sock knitting event, but this was an UNBELIEVABLE price and could not be turned down, seriously


Besides the lace weight yarn, I found this too.


And lets not forget some beautiful tools, these are ebony and I am in love. Now I just have to drop a stitch so I can use one, I am sure that it will happen naturally soon.


I have much more to show you. I am a day behind, sorry I am just having to much fun to keep it timely. But seriously, stay tunned, I got emotional today (Saturday) and you will find out why. It was the whole reason I came to SS09, can't wait to show you.

Portland Sock Summit Day 2

After such a long day yesterday, I slept in. The hotel that we are staying at is WONDERFUL!! We are at the Courtyard Portland City Center. If you are ever in Portland, you can't go wrong staying here. Today we went to a great cafe on the other side of the Lloyd Center called Costello's Travel Caffe, great food and drinks. After that we ran some errands and then went to the convention center and knitted, waiting for the market preview to open. Lots of new people to meet.

While we were waiting for the market to open, Meg Swansen and Amy Detjen came walking by and I wanted to just run up to Meg and proclaim my admiration of her, but my senses got the better of me, I will just wait until Saturday when I take her class....joking (maybe.)

Not much picture taking today, tomorrow will be better I am sure. But I did manage to take a picture of the hanging art/time piece at the convention center, it was intriguing.

I did buy some stuff today. I will take pictures tomorrow and put proper links to things and people tomorrow. It is late, I am full of pizza and wine and need to sleep. Tomorrow is going to be another big day!

Portland Sock Summit Day 1

Ok, got up at the ass crack of dawn (4am to be exact) after going to bed at 1:30am. I must have been really anxious for this trip. So I was very tired. I got to the airport with Maribel (my knitting travel buddy for this trip) we meet Jasmin and Gigi (The Knitmore Girls) there and while we are in the security line I look over and see this man that looks like Steve Young. So I whisper to the girls, "hey I think that is Steve Young." They looked at me like, ok, who is that? No big sports fans, so I told them who he was. We continue on, get to our gate and I see him again, this time I was for sure that it was him and he was on our flight. So I snapped a couple of pics of him, yes, I kinneared Steve Young. The photos are not quality but it was the best I could do for 5:30am.

We did not approach him for a photo or bother him for an autograph, it was pointed out ot me that 5:30am is not the best time to be bothered with something like that. I sadly agreed and boarded the plane. When we landed, we headed to the bathrooms and Steve was in front of us and as we went through a crowd of people, this guy stopped turned and looked at Steve with a perplexed expression. I looked at the man and said, "Yes, it is him" His reply, "Ok, I thought so."

So Portland is really nice, I am loving it so far. We went to breakfast here...

And then walked around a bit and headed to Powell Bookstore (wow that place is big!) and on our travels there we ran across this...

It is full of water! Promotional thing with Mountain Dew.

Ok, I will check back in for Day 2 tomorrow!!

Socks, Socks and Socks...It is all about the socks!

As you may already know, I will be heading to Portland, OR for the the 2009 Sock Summit that runs from August 6-9th. I am super excited. I will be Tweeting from the Summit, not sure how much Facebook updating I will be doing but I will have access to email as well. If you are not following me on Twitter, I am Twistedstitches (original, I know!)

I am only taking two classes at the Sock Summit. One class is Elizabeth Zimmerman's Wearable Art Stockings taught by her daughter Meg Swansen. This class among several others has homework! I am a little behind on my homework, but that should be no surprise to many in my circle who know me well. Our homework instructed us to use two colors and any small 6 stitch repeat. They offered a couple of 6 stitch charts but I was not thrilled with them, so I pulled out several books in search of something that I liked better and would fit. This is what I came up with...

It is a bit argylish (if that is even a word!) I chose the baby blue and chocolate brown, I just love that color combination. I have no idea if I am going to make a complete pair or if I will just do one. If I make the pair, I have to find someone that will fit these knee high socks cause they won't go over my huge calves. I am using a superwash worsted weight wool, so they are not going to be socks that you can wear with shoes, they will be just too thick. Oh and the other class that I will be taking is Textured Colorwork Socks with Chrissy Gardiner.

And just in time for Sock Summit, I will have a new sock project to work on. Delia from Wine and Needles and I are having a mini-KAL. Through email and blog postings we discovered that we both had the same sock yarn, Shibui Sock, in the same colorway. This colorway was so hard to capture, it is really a beautiful blue green and I believe the colorway is called Peacock. So I asked her what she was going to knit with it and one thing lead to another and we are both going to knit the Snicket Socks by Sabine Riefler.

If you would like to join us, please do! The official start is tomorrow, August 1st, but by all means, start when ever you want and use what ever sock yarn you want. Since I have rather large feet, much larger than Delia's, I will probably stay up until midnight and cast on, I am gonna need a head start. That is fair, it would be August 1st! Now I know this is not a race, but I would like to have it started so I have some plane knitting on my way to the Sock Summit. Can't wait to see my friends in Portland and meeting new friends too.

Birthday Gift Realized....Finally

My sweet niece turned 7 back in February, yeah, that was a while ago. I started a cute navy blue cardigan for her but my finishing skills are something I need to seriously work on. The hems looked OK, but they just didn't look quality. My vision was not coming to fruition, so I abandoned that project and started something new for her. Since we were fast approaching summer and she lives in a very hot climate, I decided that A Good Striped Dress was the perfect project.

I did some modifications to the pattern. The first obvious one is that I made this a two color project instead of a 3 color project as the pattern was written. This decision was due to not wanting to purchase more yarn and just use what I had in my stash. The modification was that I did not do as many increases as directed and it ended up not as long either; I was a bit afraid of running out of yarn.

Little brother Josiah had to get into the action of the photo shoot. Let me say, my niece and nephew are NOT camera shy. As you can see, they love each other very much.

See, NOT camera shy. He loves making silly pictures.

And if you don't already know, I am going to be going to Sock Summit!!! Yay for me! I am excited for several reasons.

1. I will be knitting, duh
2. I am taking a class from Meg Swansen. (Elizabeth Zimmerman's Wearable Art Stockings)
3. I am pretty confident that I will be getting a picture of Barbara Walker, even if I have to stalk her or call in the help of some of my knitting buddies (Cookie A, yes I mean you.)
4. I have never been to Portland, OR and have heard such great things.
5. Lots of yarn, friends, and well there will be a bit of drinking I am sure.

I will be staying at the Courtyard by Marriott Portland City Center and joining me are my knitting buddies Maribel and The Knitmore Girls (Jasmin and Gigi). Party at the Courtyard!

The Sock Summit is holding a contest called Dye for Glory. Vote for your favorite hand dyed yarns in several different categories if you are a member of Ravelry. For more information, log onto Ravelry and the homepage gives you all the details and to vote, go here.

Are you going to Sock Summit? Am I going to be seeing you there?

Hello, are you still there?

Wow, it has been a long time since I blogged. Several reasons, none of which I can go into length about, but suffice it to say that I have been on a huge emotional roller coaster and I am hoping the ride is about over. I am tired of being poked and prodded. I assure you that I am not terminally ill, but this will all make sense to you sooner or later. Positive thoughts and prayers are welcome. Now on to the fun stuff!

I have been knitting, not as much as I thought I would, but I have been. One project that I am working on is a sample knit for Curious Creek Fibers, that has been going slower than I am comfortable with because well, when I tell you I am going to get it done, I do it. But I have been attacked by the knitting gnomes with this project, I have had to rip it out several times. It is on a small time out for the moment.

Another knitting sample that I have recently completed is a pair of socks for my designer friend Kristi Geraci, Knitters Anonymous.

"Bailiwick was originally created as the pattern for theknitter.com’s September 2008 installment of the sock of the month club. The Bailiwick socks use cable and diamond patterns, which are commonly used in Guernsey (Gansey) sweaters. A bailiwick is an area that is overseen by a bailiff – Guernsey is one of two bailiwicks in the Channel Islands. These socks would be suitable for either a man or a woman, and knit up quickly. The socks are designed to be asymmetric, with the pattern down the leg mirrored from the right sock to the left."

Kristi wanted to show off the pattern in a solid also and I think that a traditional grey looks quite nice! If you want to knit your very own Bailiwick Socks you can purchase the pattern on Ravelry or at Knitters Anonymous.

Remember Stitches West? I do. And my good friends at Purlescence Yarns remembered me too. This past Stitches West I helped them out with the booth set up and a couple of market days. As a thank you, they had a get together for all the helpers and as a thank you I was gifted this beautiful handspun yarn by Sandi (one of the owners) a hand made stitch markers.

Yes, that is my name on those beautiful stitch markers! I am so happy to get some handspun, I have never been given handspun before and I can't wait to see what I can make with it. It is not my first handspun in my stash, but it is the first "knitable" handspun I have. My first handspun, well, you can read about here, the end is the best part. Enjoy.

Secret Lives of Seahorses

Sensei and I had an unusual day off together since it was Memorial Day and we decided it would be fun to drive to Monterey and go to the aquarium. Ok it was my idea, he agreed. However the "Behind the Scenes Tour" made the rest of the aquarium very interesting for the both of us.

Here are some of the highlights...

The Jellies



Secret Lives of Seahorses
(a new exhibit at the Monterey Bay Aquarium)


I knew there was a reason that I liked seahorses, read this and you'll know why.

Cannery Row

Click here to view the complete set of photos, there are many many more!

Best Boy

Today is my best boy's birthday, Mugsy turns 8 years old today. I realized that I have never told the story as to how Mugsy came in my life so now is as good as any.

Almost 8 years ago I got a call from my sister-in-law (the one that is married to the cop brother) and she said that she "rescued" two puppies and did I want one? Well, I had been wanting a dog badly, didn't really care what kind of dog, how old, I just wanted one. The only information that I did get was that she had two boy puppies, they thought they were Pekingese and that their neighbor down the street was going to take one and who ever got there first got first pick. I was working in Emeryville at the time and they live in Reedley, CA (south east of Fresno), that is a 4 hour trip easy. So I left the office a bit early on Friday and got on the road. I arrived at the house and there he was, he was not picked by the neighbor. Even though I am his mommy, I think I got the better dog, I saw his brother 3 years later and I really did get the better dog. I got him wrapped up in a little blanket, placed him on my lap and back I drove, this time to home, Vallejo (from Reedley, 5 hours easy!) First thing Saturday morning, I called a vet and took him to get checked out. From the exam the vet said that if he was 8 weeks old, he was barely 8 weeks old.

This was taken July 21, 2001 the day after I picked him up.

A few years later while on a walk with him in Mill Valley, a lady commented what a cute Tibetan Spaniel I had. I corrected her and told her that he was a Pekingese, she insisted that I was wrong. I had never heard of that breed, so when I got home I looked it up and what do you know he was a Tibetan Spaniel. All this time I was waiting for all the hair to grow on him like a Pekingese has, like a fur ball, but nope it never came. There were pictures of other Tibbies on a web site that looked just like him. So I talked to a breeder and found out that Pekingese and Tibetan Spaniels look the same as puppies and develop their minor differences as they grow. The only "Pekingese" feature he has is his face and the breeder says that sometimes Tibbies come out that way. Otherwise he is all Tibetan Spaniel. I am so happy that 8 years ago I just said yes blindly and drove 10 hours to bring him into my life.

Now, knitting. There has been knitting. I have worked on the blanket for my boss. I have knit a hat for my mom and then had it ripped out completely because it was too big. I am working on sock and mittens for sample work. Nothing to show now, but I have knit.

I have been a bit silent on the blog, not on purpose, just happened. My absence is due to some personal reasons, all to which I hopefully can elaborate on more later. Don't freak out, I am not dying or have some terminal illness, just going through some stuff that is fairly draining.

30,800 in 35 hours

Back several months ago, I undertook a rather large project. I knew it was big, but I was willing to take on the challenge. After 35 hours of work knitting 30,800 stitches, this is what she looks like so far...

Now, how do I know those statistics? I did the math. Yes, I know, I HATE math, but I did it (ok, I had some help)

First I timed myself on how long it took me to do one triangle from the picking up of stitches to the last decreasing join, result-15 minutes. My speed was not crazy fast Miriam Tegels speed but fairly quick. So, there are 20 rectangles per tier to give me 300 minutes, there are 7 tiers completed, that is 35 hours (give or take a few minutes.) Then to obtain my stitch count was easy. My rectangles are 10 stitches wide by 22 rows, 220 stitches per rectangle, 20 rectangles per tier comes to 4,400 stitches per tier and with 7 tiers completed that comes to a whopping 30,800 stitches! Whew, I am tired aren't you?

So, how much more do I have to knit? She wants it like 6 feet long. Unblocked here in the pictures, I have knit 1 foot, I have 5 more feet to go! Hmmm, I am tired of math, so if anyone else wants to figure out how much more time (estimated of course) and stitches I have to knit, that would be fun! Leave me a comment and show off your math skills by May 20th and I will pick someone at random to give a prize. And if you wanted to get real detailed, you can tell me how many rectangles I would need to complete each day from now until October 14, my bosses birthday to be done with the blanket!

Now before you leave me comments like "are you insane? I would never do that!" or "wow, I hope you are getting a raise for that!" or my favorite "Oh hell no! You kidding me, I would say good morning to my boss if I was not obligated!" let me tell you that my boss is a great lady. She gives me tickets (good tickets to boot) to see the Giants play often during the baseball season and is just a caring and fair woman. Besides, she bought all the yarn (and she bought more than what was needed) and said that I can keep the rest.

Ok, I am looking forward to all the comments!

Hellooooo???

Breaking the blog silence...

I have had no real good knitting to share, no other life altering news to share and so I have been a little silent. I am hoping to cure that very soon with some great knitting. I can tell you what has gone wrong with my knitting lately. The cardigan that I was knitting for my niece, well, my finishing skills are NOT good. I had no clue as to why I thought that knitting a child's cardigan in pieces with set in sleeves was a good idea and that I could do it no problem (right!) The individual pieces were not an issue, unless maybe I didn't think out the way I would do the edges the best way for seaming. Suffice it to say, I seamed it all together less the buttons bands and I am not sure even a good steaming is going to help. I did have her try it on, in the unfinished state and it fit pretty well, sleeve length was perfect, body length was great, the seams - FUGLY! So, she being a very smart 7 year old understood that Aunt Lisa was not perfect and I had to take the sweater back to attempt to finish it. What needs to be done? The entire thing has to be taken apart and re-seamed and I really don't have it in me to do it. I am not even sure if she will ever see that sweater again! But what did make me feel good, she ran out of the room to go and put her socks on that I knit her, brought out Sophie that I made her and told me that she loved them! She knows how to pat an ego...

Here are a few pictures that I took of my niece and nephew while visiting them recently.

Yes, they are cute, yes, they have the same parents (I get asked that all the time.) My brother (their father) and I were just like that when we were little. But here is the most recent picture of my brother and I together taken January 2009...

Left to right, niece Caitlin, Sensei, Me, Mimi (grandmother) Kelly (brother) Crystal (sister-in-law) and Josiah (nephew)

I will have to dig up a picture of the two of us when we were little as a comparison soon.

Intervention?

I think I just might be a good candidate for the show Intervention on A&E. You know the one that the person with the issue thinks they are part of some documentary on either gambling, drug use, eating disorders, yarn additions, etc etc etc.
Sometime last week I got an email blast from my LYS that they had just received a shipment of Handmaiden Casbah at the store and to come early and soon to get the best selection. Well, I work and live not really close enough to just skip over at lunch to feed my now out of control yarn habit, but a friend of mine works real close and I knew that she was going on her lunch break. So of course I sent her a message asking her to just check things out and see if there were any colors that I would like (she knows what I will and will not knit/wear.) Later that day I got a nice little message telling me that there were 2 hanks on hold for me. Yay!! Take a look at what I added to my stash...



Then this weekend I took a long hard look at my stash, which only maybe 1/3 of it is listed on Ravelry and thought to myself, this is getting out of control! Now by no means do I have the largest stash ever known to man, I actually think that belongs to a woman in Boulder, CO ( you know who you are!) but it is pretty large for me and my standards. In order to contain and keep all my yarn clean and safe until it comes time to be used, I will need to go buy some more storage containers. I need to go on a yarn diet, not buy new storage! I hear of knitting monogamy, I wonder if I can be faithful to one project. In the past I have never been successful at knitting only one project at a time, however, I know that I would have many more finished projects had I tried.

This Casbah is my last stash enhancement for some time. I probably should have passed but I love the Casbah Sock yarn and here is why...

1. Casbah has not felted at all. I have other socks that have felted in the bottom of the foot from wash/wear and feel like lead boots when I wear them. I have wash/worn my Casbah socks just as often, actually more and they have held up like a champ!

2. Casbah has not faded (well not that much.) Other sock yarn that come in fabulous colors have faded significantly with in 1-2 washes. Yes, I am machine washing them in the gentle cycle with cold water and I lay them flat to dry and it still happens.

3. Casbah has a little amount of cashmere and who does not love cashmere on their feet?!?! I sure do. There is 9% cashmere, but that 9% makes a huge difference.

The only downside to the Casbah? The yardage is a little light for a girl with feet my size. I am a 10 (shoe size) I am not ashamed, but I am frustrated by short yardage on sock yarns. So I try to stay away from yarns that do not give me at least 400 yards. I make the exception for Casbah because it is a little bit heavier fingering weight and I can squeak out a pair of either stockinette or ribbed socks for myself with one hank.

Here are a couple of hanks that were already in my stash.

So I am going to put this out in the world as a sort of incentive to keep me on my new path.

I have decided to only knit one project at a time until it is done. I will not be casting on for a new project until all my unfinished projects are completed or totally frogged. The only caveat to this goal is socks; I need a travel project and socks fit that bill.

So wish me luck!!

Oh and in August, I am going to Portland, OR. More about that later!