Confessed UFO's

Almost finished shrug started last Summer

I know I haven't posted much actual knitting lately, but that doesn't mean I'm not knitting! Somehow though, things are just not getting finished. There's also a couple of secret project like gifts and test knit projects not listed here, so add on 3 more large projects!

February Lady Sweater started this Winter.

Trident lace socks, 1st one almost finished

Basic socks, second one on the needles

Forest Canopy Shawl knit in Malabrigo Lace

First of two 3 skeins spun of merino/silk

First of ? Skeins to be spun from Mohair locks and silk thread

This is a different colorway of the yarn above that I've finished and am know knitting into shawl

So, I have this friend...

This friend is the one who helped me come up with the coins on the spinning wheel. They were actually her foreign coins.Wendy and I met briefly in San Diego when I lived there. We went to some of the same knitting meetups, but we never got a chance to really talk. The first year I moved to Portland I was on my home from a knitting store and there she was, on a bus with a friend. They bad both attending some kind of fiber event and were just in town for the day.
Since then, we haven't seen each other much but she does live closer now, in Northern, CA. After she moved there I realized that I had a pound of white merino just sitting here. I knew I was not going to dye it myself. Hmmmm. Let's make WENDY do it. Yes, that girl who would cart a spinning wheel to Starbucks and had become quite the master dyer was my first pick for turning white Merino straw into gold.
I waiting months, then 6 months and I really didn't give it a thought. I knew someday it would come back to me, fabulous.
Last week there was a mystery package waiting for me and there it was!
although Wendy's business is in a bit of a hibernation stage, I knew you would all want the link to her stuff after seeing this beauty, so here you go.

Gaia's Colours!

I love Gaia's colors, I mean the colors that she (Ursa) chooses! The base yarn is really nice as well. Nice and dense, high twist. I have fondled this yarn properly, had it sit in different places in my apartment and it is particularly fond of a bronze handbag that I have. They look good coupled. (I hope they don't run away together....)
So, this means I will be knitting very, very soon with this particular yarn. Check back in with me. Meanwhile, I asked Ursa about this particular colorway:

"This colourway, "Cernunnos, variegated version", was inspired by Cernunnos, "a pagan Celtic god whose representations were widespread in the ancient Celtic lands of western Europe". He is associated with the hunt, with wild animals, especially horned animals, and is often shown with large horns sprouting out from the top of his head. The snake is also associated with him. He is linked fertility, death and rebirth and all things "wild". I have a solid version of this colourway - a deep brown, but with the variegated version I wanted to bring in lots of earthy colours - deep gold, orange, brown and olive green. These reflect many of the colours of the wild - hooves and horns, fur, feathers and scales, earth and bark and leaves, in their living and dying cycles."

Ursa Hawthorne is the woman behind Gaia's Colours Fibre Arts, a West Coast Canadian company that emerged in the spring of 2008. Gaia's Colours is a hand-dyed yarn and spinning fibre company inspired by the many names and faces of the Gods, as well as the colours of our planet Earth, Gaia. Ursa uses her love of nature and World Mythology to create lovely and unique colourways for a variety of yarn weights and fibre types. Ursa's passion for dyeing yarn was born of her love of knitting, plus discovering the incredible world of Etsy.com and the assortment of lovely indie dyers in the online world. As a stay-at-home mother of two young boys, Ursa needed a creative outlet, some "playtime" of her own, and dyeing seemed a natural extension of the creation process of knitting. She currently sells online through Etsy, at her own online store, and at one local yarn & fiber store in her resident city of Victoria, BC.

Knit a Lace Bookmark!

Mary McCall sent me this great kit to try out. It's a lace bookmark kit complete with a little hank of slubby silk yarn and charted instructions.
Oh, how I love kits!
When I first considered knitting lace, some years back, a friend said: Make a bookmark!
I didn't. It meant I had to figure out what pattern to use, make sure it was charted, buy a skein of something that I may not use all of, etc. This is the way to go, you beginning lace knitters!

You can reach Mary McCall to order at Wool and Fiber Originals

Sure I Can Bake!

Don't ask me for recipes. Not digital. Old fashioned cookbook. Seriously old fashioned cookbook. The one I grew up with: Fanny Farmer. That would be Oatmeal Bread at the top and Cream Scones at the bottom there.
So, I was in a mood. It lasted one whole day and this is what came of it.
Back to spinning, knitting and way too much time on the computer.

A Walk on the Beach

Jeez, it's Saturday already and I can tell that trying to post to my Biz blog everyday is making this a little hard to manage. But, yesterday I said, what the heck and took a day off and shot some cool new photos. I have to keep my nature images up, I was thinking. The way it came out though was really just a walk on the beach...

New Yarn and Sunday Knitting Again

Sometimes when one is more in the destashing stage, it's a thrill to get a skein of yarn in the mail that really floats your boat. I did a trade and got this lovely merino-silk lace weight from No Two Snowflakes. This of course assumes that I will finish my current lace project(s) to be able to start a new one. This is certainly inspiration.

Forever ago, I started a Norwegian sweater. I got the entire body done. (This was the design your own Norwegian sweater from Donna's Ethnic Knitting Discovery book) Then a year passed. I realized that I was not going to finish this sweater because I didnt' feel inspired to wear it. I've changed my sweater style and am going to thinner layers instead of heavy. My colorwork sweater there was DK weight and quite a lump-o-wool. Last week I decided to make it into a felted totebag. Here is the "before" shot and I will post the "after" shot when I have some handles on it and line it.Yesterday for Sunday knit together we went to Gaby's and saw my 2 year old boyfriend.
Paula finished her latest sweater and modeled it for us. A good time was had by all, but especially me.

Lisa's New Sock Pattern

Steel Toed Boot Socks

I haven't knit these socks yet, but after having the pattern in my hot little hands, you know I will. Lisa of Be Still and Knit sent it to me. I really like the look and format of her pattern. I know I don't love toe up socks, but I think I'm going to make an exception here. Really elegant and easy to read pattern, and just between us---SUCH the bargain. Check it out.

The fair Lisa

Fiber Untitled 1

A couple of weeks ago I was at a knitting meetup and decided I'd rather ball up some handspun and measure it than actually knit. Low attention span. Again, I was surprised by how much more l liked it balled up. It showed me more of what it will do, knitted. Enough for a shawl.
This is the merino I spun at the Pendleton event, using their merino top. Wow. Really spingy stuff after setting the twist. My irregular spinning was in no doubt because of all the talking I did. At least that's what I'm telling myself.
This past weekend, 21 people showed up at the monthly Portland Spinnerati event at the library. Really pleased with how that's going. That said, I'm still learning the social behavior of spinners. It's different than knitters, but mostly because we've got this big wheel in front of us. Other things too. Not sure yet though how to describe. Comments from the Spinning Gallery?

New patterns emerging in my life: melding of professional and fiber art life. Tune in for further developments...

The Pull Towards Spring

The rain stopped and the sun came out. I felt kind of sleepy but wanted some pictures. I opened the windows and this is what I saw.
(You do know you can click on any picture and see it really big, right?)

Meet Anne Hanson

Knitspot owner and designer Anne Hanson, a life-long knitter with a background in the fashion and graphic design fields, began designing knitwear sometime in the 1970s. Anne also teaches and writes about knitting, spinning, and designing at her blog, knitspot.com, and lives in Ohio with David, who loves wool, too.

Anne’s background as a patternmaker/draper, technical designer, and costumer in New York City’s garment district informs her work, providing a rich source of experience in garment construction and fit, as well as knowledge of a wide range of fibers and fabrics.

Anne’s design work has been included in Knitty, Interweave Knits, and Twist Collective, as well as several upcoming publications. In addition, her designs have been commissioned for several popular sock and lace clubs, including the Rockin’ Sock Club®, the Woolgirl Sock Club, the Yarn4Socks club, the Fearless Fibers “Seven Deadly Sins” sock club, and the Wooly Wonka Seasons of Lace Club.

(Let me to preface this with the comment that I thought that Anne would have an impossible time answering this. I was really having fun with this thought...until this morning when Anne answered it in the most succinct way!)

If you had to choose one element of nature with which to draw your inspiration, what would it be?

Light.

I love to look at light in all its forms and the effect it has on objects and air. I'm fascinated by the negative spaces in nature, the shapes that are created around light, almost anything from a spider web to criss-crossed twigs to flower create spaces between and translucent light effects that interest me. I assume that's why lace and textured fabrics appeal so much to me in my work!

100 Years of Pendleton

This weekend in Portland at the Home and Garden show at the Expo Center, Pendleton Mills is celebrating their century mark. I was really, really honored to be a part of that celebration yesterday. Last month I was tapped to find some spinners for their "wool story" exhibit.
In the picture above, you can see they had bleachers set up for the 3 demo's of the day. What actually happened is that folks just flowed through the space all day and we just kept going. The wonderful Kathy Monaghan was the organizer at Pendleton that I had been working with and the lady was on fire! She talked each person who came to see us through the entire process of making a blanket. I certainly learned plenty.
You can see here some of the fabulous fashions, past and present, on display.
Here you can really see the amazing display of 100 blankets representing 100 years of Pendleton.And there's my weird little wheel where I was sitting on a platform all day, yesterday. To the left you can see actual 50o lb bales of wool that they purchase for making their wool blankets, etc. Young and old alike were asked to take a bit 'o wool with them. The kids loved it! The orginal plan was to have live sheep there, but then upon the realization that it's lambing season and on top of that folks couldn't touch the sheep (because of hygene reasons) we had a lot of "stuffed" sheep instead. Still went over well...

I ended up talking to folks the entire time about just how it all works. I ended up spinning one whole bobbin of laceweight merino. They had this huge round of about 50lbs of sliver just to my left. Today I've been plying it. Really gorgeous stuff I had to work with. I actually tried first the "craft wool" that they sell for felting and that didn't go too well. The staple was too short.

So, "my people" will be there today, Saturday and Sunday. I'm not sure I could have done all four days even if it had been suggested. I actually carried my spinning wheel on the MAX train, after walking about 7 blocks with it. It rolled along on a carrier, but because of my height, I have to bend a little to use something like that. I did get a ride home though from my fellow demo gal, Lise who was weaving just in front of me, to complete the circle. The circle of the WOOL.

Marnie MacLean

This is the first in a series where I ask knitwear designers all sorts of probing questions. Since I'm really interested in the way nature "informs and inspires" design, my first interviews will focus on that. So, will a drum roll, I give you....

Marnie MacLean is a knitwear designer in lovely Portland Oregon, where she lives with her two adorable dogs and a spectacular guy, all of whom are endlessly patient with her ever-growing supply of yarn. You can find Marnie online at http://marniemaclean.com

Is there a singular inspiration for you in nature?

There is really no one inspiration for me in nature. I certainly combine various aspects of it into my designs, like Astoria, with it's wave motif and Lily with it's lily of the valley motifs. But neither of those were necessarily triggered by nature itself. I'm more inspired by the way shapes, color, and fit can flatter (or not!) the human form. So first, I have a concept that I think will be flattering, then I fill in the details. For instance, in the case of Lily, I wanted a motif that ran up the sides but would look good split to follow the raglans. The idea being that the details would draw a visual line inside the torso that would slim the whole body. With Astoria, I wanted a colorwork combination that would emphasize an hourglass figure, by drawing attention at the bust and minimizing the size of the waist. Dark color and darts in the waist area, are meant to achieve that. While the colorwork band is lighter and busier, adding emphasis to the area. In the pattern itself, I give suggestions for flattering other figure types by changing the colors and the location of the motif.

My Blog Wasn't loading!

To test this problem and apparently solve it, I needed to put kittens on my page. Go figure....

A Color Trend?

I wasn't really thinking so, but perhaps it was my tribute to Valentine's Day. I had several pounds of natural aran weight and have been waiting on doing something with it. I waited no more. I had at it in two kettle batches. It was only as I was about to post this that I realized that in my last yarny post I was working with the same colors, kinda.
This is enough for a sweater so I think I'll blend the two lots in alternating rows and maybe take that one really scarlet one out for something else.Yes, this is the yarn I spun in a previous post that got make into a hat. It did fun color repeat stuff that accentuated the lace pattern. I like when it works in our favor!

New Cooperative Marketing Magic

As many of you may already know, I've had this blog, "just because", for many years now. I want to formally thank all my new and old faithful readers. You've been great to have along on my ride. Now I'm introducing a new "curve to the ride". I've never had any regular features here but right now, today I am announcing a brand new one:

Cooperative Marketing

This is the way it's going to work here on Days of Tea and Knitting:
Once a week, I'm going to do a feature on a bunch of fiberarts folks who want to get their products out there. I will show a lovely picture of what they are selling, I'll review it, I'll tell you where you can buy it. It's that simple. The artist gets a free advertisement for their product for the minimal cost of sending me something in the mail.

If I use the yarn or fiber (or whatever) in a project, I will link to them again with pictures galore.
This is cooperative because the Artist will then link to me and my readership will rise and there will be more and more people reading about the cool stuff you send me.

Listen, I know from doing one contest on this site how long this can take in terms of my effort, editing photos that may not be quite right, sending more emails to an Artist if something doesn't come through right. But, I'm willing to do this to support the Artist.

What I'm asking from everyone who reads this blog and has a blog is to now LINK to me, please. I know from my stats that most of my readers come from links from other blogs. Let's all benefit from social media and help each other out!

If you decide you want to send me your work to feature, I'll send you a Word file with an agreement of how everything will go, where to send, etc.

Meanwhile, I'll promise to still show you my lame and not so lame projects and pictures of Portland and all that other stuff you've come to expect from me.

Family Colors

This is fiber that my dad spun sometime in the 1980's and I just dyed it a month ago. I love the way the dye took. It's rather mottled because he apparently used different fibers carded together but didn't note that at all, so I don't know what kinds of wool he used. My mom made all these little notations on the labels that are very vague and cute though. Like: "thin", "heavier" in her little pencil handwriting.
These are some blocks that he carved for me in 1986 when I was in NYC and had a small business, block printing simple kimonos. I took the designs from a book and he carved them for me. Well used as you can see.
What you see here on the nostepinne above is what was spun below (plus some color correction on the photo) I knew that I was spinning to intentionally create a long color repeat thing goin' on here, I just couldn't see the success until I got it put up in a ball. Cool, huh? Fiber is silk/merino from RedFish, although they don't sell roving online so I got it at a show.
I'm knitting a hat from it right now but would rather blog a picture when it's done tomorrow. I know, deadline knitting but this one's personal.

Not feeling very "wordy" today. Just wanted to share some stuff I was looking at in my world. I'm doing much more blogging--daily-- in my biz blog right now. Have no fear fiber friends. I will never abandon you!