Ah, the Pacific Northwest

Last summer the mister and I traveled to the Pacific Northwest (western Washington and Oregon, and also Victoria, BC to be more specific) with a couple of very close friends. We deemed our trip "Beervana," as our goal was to sample as many fine brews as the Pac NW would offer us, while still remaining coherent enough to see the beautiful sites this region has to offer. Or actually in the reverse order: sites first, beer later. Right, so that was pretty much the trip: walking city streets or hiking paths/trails during the day with a breaks for meals at a local brewpub.

Last year, I blogged about some of my favorite beers from the region. Here are some of my favorite non-city sites.

Multnomah Falls, OR.


Sunset over Puget Sound.


Falls at Mount Rainer National Park.


Mount Rainer.



Crescent Lake, WA.


Hurricane Ridge, Olympic National Park... who doesn't love snowmen in July?


Mount Hood, OR, as seen from a vineyard in WA just on the other side of the Hood River.


The Gorge Games in Hood River, OR.


A scenic overlook on the Pacific Coast Highway. Look at the weather front! Sunny on the left, stormy on the right. Amazing!



A view of WA from the ferry between Victoria and Port Angeles, WA.


So, why the trip down memory lane? Well, I just finished knitting up the yarn I bought from a small shop in Cannon Beach, OR. STR (socks that rock) is actually local in Oregon: that's where the stuff is made! What a great way to purchase my first skein!

I spent a long time deciding what to do with this yarn. It's 380 yards of medium weight superwash 4-ply merino in the colorway "Montley Hue." Very appropriate as the sky was pretty much this shade of bluish grey on the day I made the purchase. The tanish flecks remind me of the sand on Cannon Beach. Perfect. Anyway, I decide to make the Shetland Triangle by Evelyn Clark. I did my research on Ravelry and saw that other knitters that used STR for this project knit with size 6 needles. So I decided to do the same. No swatching for me!! As a result, I ended up only having enough yarn for 7 of the 8 body repeats. I should have known better and gone down a needle size from everyone else because I am a loose knitter. The shawl blocked out to 27 inches in length and a 55 inch “wing-span,” (which is larger than what the pattern called for). So, as you can imagine, my "leaves" are pretty big. But I'm happy with it. I can't wait to wear it to a wedding we're attending in March!

Two great accomplishments this week

I made a fantastic soup this Monday. The recipe is amazingly simply... inspired by a pumpkin soup I had a La Tavola a few weeks ago during Baltimore's restaurant week.

Here we go:

step 1: cut up 4 sweet potatoes (leave skins on) and one head of cauliflower.
step 2: steam veggies in large pot with 1/4 inch water and 2 tablespoons canola oil for about 20 minutes
step 3: while the veggies are steaming, boil pearl barley for 15 minutes.
step 4: puree veggies in food processor for several minutes. add water to achieve desired consistency.
step 5: put barley in bowl, pour veggie puree on top. drizzle with balsamic vinegar. add fresh ground pepper if desired.

enjoy!

I presume you could substitute the veggies with others, particularly roots (turnips, for example) or a fall or winter squash.




(also pictured above: sourdough bread rising... used unbleached organic white flour and rye flour in a 2:1 ratio.)


I made a feather and fan cowl from Curious Creek Fibers Etosha (110 yards). I love the name of the colorway: plum thunder. My first knit from the purple color family. It fuzzy and fun to wear! Here's what I did:

- cast on 90 stitches, placing markers every 18 stitches
- rounds 1 and 2: knit
- round 3: begin feather and fan (k2tog 3 times; yo, k1 5 times, ssk 3 times). repeat 4 times to the end of the round (5 repeats total)
- round 4: knit
- repeat last 4 rounds, ending on round 4, until almost out of yarn.
- bind off loosely in knit

And so it goes with a week of creativity. I also have one other FO from this week: my first shawl and my first project using STR (same project). I had fun with both! More on that once I take the pins out and get some pictures.

FO: end paper mitts

I'm making an educated guess that in the in the time it took me to knit up these 187.5 yards of yarn, I could have had a brilliant sweater. But I have: improved my throwing skills, successfully completed by first colorwork project, improved my tubular cast on, and learned the tubular bind off.

Pattern: End Paper Mitts by Eunny Jang
Size: medium
Needles: US 0s and 2s. Per the instructions, size 2 needles would yield the mitts in "small" but since I am a loose knitter, I successfully got a pair of "mediums" by using the 2s.
Yarn: Valley Yarns Huntington (111.2 yards in chocolate and 76.3 yards in cream)

A few issues:

I experienced some tension issues with my throwing color (cream) on the second mitt. I probably got over confident and stop concentrating as much. The tension issues are not very noticeable when I have the mitts on, but definitely noticeable when I have them off.

I used more of the chocolate yarn than I should have: I had to redo one of the thumbs after realizing the middle off the bind off that I forgot the two set-up rows of the tubular bind off. The yarn was cut, so that was that: off to the scrap pile!

The tubular bind off is not very stretchy. I thought this was because my kitchener stitch was too tight, but after further examination, I realized it was the two step up rows that were the problem: my slipped stitches here should have been looser.

Overall, I'm glad the project is finished! I learned a lot, but I am ready to take a break from colorwork for a little while!

I'm up!

I intended to sleep in the this morning. Really. I've been staying up way too late this week and getting up too early in the mornings, so today was my day to sleep in. So you have to understand my disappointment when I rolled over and peeked at the clock with one eye to read the time: 7:32. Damn.

But it's okay. That gives some early morning hours work on my latest project: Endpaper Mitts by Eunny Jang. This is my first colorwork project, and I have learned many things about myself through the first bits of this project. I posted a mini-rant to my Rav buddies the night after I cast on, I will reitterate my greivences here (none of which have to do with the fabulous design):

• I am not very good at the Italian tubular cast on.
• It takes me 45 minutes to get a tubular cast on of 56 stitches that I sort of like.
• I get strange looks from the mister when I talk to videos of Ysolda (teaching the tubular cast on): “what? wait. slow down!!”
• The tubular cast on was just the beginning of my problems with this project.
• I cannot throw well. I am completely uncomfortable holding yarn in my right hand.
• I have no clue how to throw a purl stitch.
• I have no idea if these mitts are actually going to fit me because of how tightly I’m holding the yarn.
• I am sad because I feel like a complete novice knitter again.
• I would rather seam a sweater than continue my end-paper mitt. It’s that bad people.

Well, I've done another pattern repeat since that first night and its getting better. And I really do love the design. May I'll take a bit of a repreive from colorwork when I finish these (the process is really slow for me), but I'll be back. I'm liking the results.

(Did you notice that now I am spending time blogging intstead of working on the project? Hmmm.)



On a side note, while I do like my knees and fingers, they have been replaced, at least for the purposes of winding yarn. This project was my first opportunity to use my new ball winder and swift (gifts from Santy). I love them and can't believe I've lived without them for so long!

New sock pictures

I've been meaning to take new, natural light pictures of my Hedera socks for some time now. I finally got around to it this week. I thought this shoe/sock pairing would be fun. (Full disclosure: I love these shoes but never wear them because realistically they are a little too small for me and I don't have quite the right outfit for them. I bought them in college, so at least 10 years ago, probably for $10 or $15. But for some reason, I can't seem bring myself to put them in donation pile.)

Most importantly, I really happy with the way the colors turned out in these pictures. I love this yarn (Spirit Trail Fiberworks "Brigit" ~ 100% Superwash Merino Yarn), both in color and feel. It's such a difference to have this yarn on my feet, compared to the Jojoland yarn!

Plans for February

The KDAL (knit-down-a-long) is in full swing. I have been so very good: I haven't bought any yarn since last November and have finished projects totally over 5,100 yards of yarn in December and January.

So, now I'm planning my next projects... those that will keep me happily knitting and distract me from any new yarn acquisitions.

I just cast on for the clapotis last night using a gorgeous 100% Peruvian Alpaca tweed that I purchased at MD S&W last year. I love the feel of this stuff as I'm knitting it up!



Earlier in January, I cast on for Francis Revisited to FINALLY use up this yarn that's been in my stash for over 2 years. The Francis pattern is very simple, a perfect match for this complex yarn.



I'm also planning to make a pair of brown and cream endpaper mitts this month for a stranded KAL. This will be my first color work project. I'm nervous/excited to see how I do with my tension...

Of course, I need to fuel my body for all that knitting. This week, for lunches at least, I'll be having lentil soup with celery, carrots, and tomatoes and fresh baked whole wheat sourdough bread. The soup is a staple of mine. Simple and hearty. I seem to make a pot at least 5 or 6 times each winter. The bread was an experiment. This loaf rose over night and weighs as much as a brick. It looks like the crust is going to be thick and the inside is going to be nice and sour. I can't wait to try it!

Finished Firestarters

I finished my first pair of toe up socks. I used Judy's magic cast on instead of the pattern's cast on recommendation. I also worked the socks at the same time on 2 circs instead of dpns (except for the cast on/toe pocket and heel turn, where I had to switch to dpns).

While I really like this pattern, I can't say the same about the yarn. It was thin and splity with some odd sections... not really knots so much, but places where the yarn was spun properly, so there are several "lumps" in the socks. Also, the colors of the two balls I purchaes don't match at all (and yes, I have the same colorway and dye lot). The one sock is much more purpley/greeny/pastely and the other is more greeny/redy/earthy. I used my usual size needles for the socks and ended up with 9 stitches per inch. The socks are nice and tight, which I actually like. As a result, though, I had to do several more pattern repeats so the socks were long enough and tall enough.

Pattern: Firestarter by Yarnissima
Needles: size 1 dpns (Crystal Palace) and 1 size 1 circular needles (Knit Picks)
Yarn: Jojoland Melody Superwash (use 40 grams of each 50 gram ball or 352 of 440 yards)
Mods: see description above