Saturday: Sunny and Rhapsody

I'm at Row 86, and in the second round of decreases on the Rhiannon sock. No pics as yet, just knitting along merrily. The pattern has small multi-column tables where you look up your ankle size to determine the number of rows to make decreases on. Somehow, though, I'm supposed to end up with 88 stitches for my size, and it looks like I will end up with 82 this time, and the first sock, I ended up with 76. May have to adjust a bit when I get there.

Saturday, I went to the Moss St. market and explored around; picked up some yarn I'd ordered from Boutique de Laine - it's Artyarns Silk Rhapsody intended for projects in my queue since 2-3 years from the Lacy Little Knits book. Both Boutique de Laine and Button and Needlework have started to carry the artyarns line; unfortunately, both purchased only the silk rhapsody glitter, instead of the plain silk rhapsody which is very soft and smooth and does not have the rougher glitter piece in it.

Here's the pink and brown:


and the blue and brown:



After BdeL, I headed back downtown and caught the end of the Strawberry Festival at Bastion Square. Very yummy and sweet local strawberries - Mmmmmmm.

Yesterday was sunny and warm. I had a lovely massage at Silk Road - I looove their massages - very definitely relaxing and well worth the money. After the massage, I wandered around the sunday market (mostly crafts and usable art - bags/clothes) and had a snack, then, walked through Chinatown and picked up a mango bubble tea with coconut jelly. It was the perfect day for it. I also found a fab parking spot in front of Opus Art, and guess what ? They were having their once yearly inventory sale. Found a couple of items that never go on sale.

For dinner, I met with friends and we made our own sushi, which was fun and easy, and oh so inexpensive. I found a package of bbq'd eel at Fujiya, so I used that. I'll definitely try making my own sushi again.

I decided last week that I'm on a yarn diet, but didn't decide exactly when I should start. I think I wouldn't stay very well on it right now as there are a lot of sales, and I am still in acquisition mode. One of the gals in my tuesday group asked me if I would knit all my stash, and I told her that I'm more collecting, than knitting. That has happened with other hobbies too. At least I am "collecting" quality yarn (yarn snob that I am !) and not the cheap acrylic stuff.

Speaking of diet, I cancelled my yarn pirate subscription. The last few months have been somewhat of a disappointment. It seems like the colors are recycling through from previous months, and nothing is earth-shatteringly gorgeous.

May 2009 was called Zephyr, and looks like this:
. A bit of blue, green, and some yellow-ish gold, reminiscent of the hope from jan. I haven't decided if I will keep it or not.

Destashed Zinnia (June 2009) on Rav.

Rhiannon Sock Progress

I finally took pictures of the Rhiannon sock pair I'm working on.
Here's Sock 1:



and the detail of the sock from cuff and calf:


to mid-leg (back showing horseshoe cable along the bottom back ridge of the sock)


to the foot:



Oriented to look at the front

Here's the cuff:


mid-section:


and foot:


Sock 2:

After a few false starts, the second sock is underway


and the celtic cable:


knitted from the cuff down in yarn pirate icicle (merino-tencel).

Wollmeise True Love

This week, I received a fabulous surprise - my Wollmeise package, the last and final one for the Wollmeise Sock Club which I was lucky enough to receive this past year.

This quarter's theme was Friendship. The yarn came in two gorgeous colours - True Love and Blue Bell, with a pattern to make with the Blue Bell, and some lovely phrases and poems about Friendship.



True Love is so perfectly my colour - It's red, a red-purple, and almost pink - definitely my colour combinations. Blue Bell is bright blue, darker blue, and almost a navy colour. Both red amd blue combinations are hard to take with my digital camera, so this is the closest I could get the colours to be:



and a side shot:


I will miss receiving these lovely Wollmeise packages - apparently, the Wollmeise Sock Club is no more, but there will be more surprises in store in coming months.

Fabulous Belated Birthday Swap Gift Package (Wollmeise + more)

I Received a wonderful birthday swap package from ekieh, from the Birthday Swap 2009 on Ravelry:-

Here is the before, wrapped in lovely pink and purple mulberry silk wrap:


and the after:


First off - this gorgeous skein of wollmeise Fluffy in Dornroeschen, a lovely red-pink combo:

which I so love love love - thank you Heike!
This is 80% superwash merino; and 20% PA (polyester/nylon? not sure) - anyway, so, so gorgeous - and Heike said she stalked the website for one whole day, so it's amazing she was able to get it.

She also treated me to her favorite yarn Tausandschoen Yarn in colour Spring Fever which is pink, purple, and white:


Also, Heike treated me to many lovely and yummy treats which I remember and miss from Germany:


-Pkg of Milka Tender (chocolate covered yummy cake rolls with cream)
-Pkg of Lindt chocolate eggs filled with strawberry-rhubarb yogurt filling (I hadn’t seen this flavour but looks yummy)
-4 Uberaschungsei (Kinder surprise eggs)
-Pkg of Hachez milk chocolates
-Pkg of Yummy-smelling Red Pepper tea - Rooibos tea with lots of additions (apple pieces, orange peel, ginger pieces, basil, red pepper, coconut pieces, cardamon, black pepper, catnip, strawberry pieces and chili)

Also, for my eyes and heart:
-Pkg of red heart-shaped candles with glass beads
-Lovely pink and red floral napkins
-Post-it notepad - "Make socks not war"


and she had sent earlier in the month - Lily by Marnie MacClean, from Twist Collective.

Thanks so much Heike - I love the package - you’ve definitely spoiled me this birthday!

I say belated because we share a birthday April 6th, and even though we both sent our packages to each other on the same day - the Monday before our birthday; my package arrived in just 5 days in Germany (quoted as a week), and her package to me arrived April 28th (and she was also quoted a week). Most likely, the Easter holiday in both Germany and Canada disrupted delivery. Thankfully, it arrived, and it was well worth the wait.

Whirlwind visit...

Went down to Portland for the weekend - just a short visit.

Primarily, the trip was for the Tigard Knitting Guild Shop Hop, which I had started in 2005. This time, it was Westside shops - Molehill Farm in Lake Oswego, Dublin Bay Knitting in downtown, Knit Purl in downtown, Northwest Wools in Multnomah Village and All About Yarn in Tigard. I was surprised and sad to see that Knitting Bee did not participate as it is one of my favorite shops.

We received 20% off everything all day - yarn, needles, patterns, accessories and books, and it being oregon - no tax (woohoo!). I did buy yarn, but found I was more conservative than normal. In several shops, I was done my shopping before the 1/2 time bell was rung. With just 60 mins in each shop, I actually found that I was a very efficient shopper. I guess subconsciously I know I have enough yarn.

Friday, I had my hair cut - it was time. It was getting scraggly. Went to Trader Joe's and picked up some dried hibiscus flower (which they had! - last time I found these at the end of summer and only found one bag), dried chili mango, and I brought back a couple of 1 pound chocolate bars for work folks.

Friday night and Saturday night, I met with friends for dinner at Peem Kaew, my favorite Thai restaurant in the Park blocks. Friday night, I picked Pumpkin Curry with Salmon which was very yummy and had a bit of a nip. Saturday night, I went back for more - split Pad Thai with Crab with Linda, and Kashmera picked a vegetarian dish with tofu which was good too.



I had worn this fuchsia pink top and all day, guild friends were commenting on how my yarn matched my top. "Pink again", they would lament. In Multnomah Village, I went to Village Beads to take a peek, and picked up some nice blue triangle beads. Yes, they were blue-surprised a few people.

I was able to find some treats for my rav swap partner in the malabrigo swap, and sent along also the cool lantern moon bag we received in the swap. It was orange, not my color at all, and too bulky to bring home. Also in the bag, I received a Knit Picks needle gauge with magnifier, sample skeins from yarn pirate, and crystal palace, a ball of 1824 wool, and eucalan and soak samples. Also, some foofy black yarn which I donated back to the guild. On the bus, they did raffles again (as per the tradition I started), and I received a skein of yellow yarn from peace fleece and a set of russian-american straight needles. The yarn went in the bag to my swap partner who will be thoroughly spoiled. I hope she loves it.

Unfortunately, missed going to Border's books (favorite book store), and also to the Japanese Garden (not on summer hours yet). I did make it to the Gap for pants though.

All in all, a good visit. Stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn in Lake Oswego, which was right next to where the shop hop started. The beds are supremely comfy, and it's kind of a kick to sit in a Herman Miller chair since they cost about $1000 bucks.

Breakfast was $9.95 for a full buffet with yummy pineapple and melon, cereal, yogurt, eggs, hashbrowns, and sausage; coffee and juice. The car I booked through priceline at $17/day for an economy car. win-win.

Belated Gifts...

I received a belated gift on Friday - a gift certificate from Beehive which I used to purchase "Sock Innovation" by Cookie A. I love the book - the patterns look very interesting and she has some information about designing socks, and adjusting existing patterns, which is interesting to me.

Yesterday was a terrible horrible no good very bad day...or at least, it seemed like it at the time. I went to Beer Knit late as I was working late, and ordered a Cobb salad - what came did not resemble any salad I've seen...a small head of iceberg, chopped in quarters, 2 slices of bacon, a soft-boiled egg, chopped in half, and a small cherry tomato chopped in half. Then, drizzled over with the blue cheese dressing. Yay. It has all the components listed on the menu. Was it a salad ? Maybe from the perspective of the kitchen staff who wanted to get back to the playoffs...
I had brought my second sock to knit and ended up unknitting, reknitting, and unknitting again. This morning, I fixed the setup row, but last night, I was tired, and cranky so knitting didn't work so well.

On the way home, I pulled myself out of the hole by treating myself to a helium balloon, and a cute fun pink weight. It was $5.05.






A good price to pay for a little lift, and it's supposed to last 2 weeks. :)

Finished 1 sock...

It's amazing that it took the better part of a month to knit one sock...as my friend Deb said, "It's more like 2 socks...2 of 4 socks". So, there. I've knit 2 of 4 socks. She says this because it took 1 skein of Yarn Pirate Merino-Tencel 400yds to make one heavily cabled sock. The colorway is icicle - a light blue, white, and a slate blue-gray combo that beautifully shows off the celtic cable on the upper leg. I made a few mods from the pattern. Rhiannon, a Cookie A sock. I knit regular cables on the turn-down cuff, made the body of the sock about 2" shorter than the intended pattern, knit a partridge eye heel (rather than a plain stockinette), and skipped the purl row at the toe. It's turned out wonderfully, and it feels good on my foot...and, I finished with just 8.5 yds leftover.

Onto the 2nd skein. The yarn is so slippery, I wound it on my yarnball winder, and I'm knitting from the outside because the inside pull-ball already came out in a clump, and I stuffed it back in. Just started on the rib of the cuff. I'm excited to start sock 3 of 4. I can say that, can't I ? since it's the 2nd skein.

Pics to follow.

weekend birthday fun

Saturday I went with my mom for dim sum at Golden City. I hadn't been there for a long time and I was surprised at how many Chinese people were there and how many people spoke Chinese. The portions were large and affordable (between $3.50 and $5.00 per container). Ate many favorites and took some home too. Re-found a dessert I hadn't seen since Portland - which was called Crystal Balls, which are rice wrapping on the outside (similar to the shrimp dumpling) but with a egg yolk, almost custard on the inside. Yummy. They stopped serving lunch at 2pm, so though we wanted one more the crystal balls dessert, we didn't get another. So, that's for next time.

Afterwards, went across the street to Beehive to see if they had the Cookie A book "Sock Innovation". No such luck. The young woman did not even know about it being published. Went to Chapters and it was "unavailable for new ordering", and looked in the Bay Centre a little bit. Discovered a cute store for stationery called The Papery on Fort, far side of the Bay Centre - note to self, to remember this place has lots of stationery, card, and wrap options, journals, and affordable Small organza bags ($1-$3).

On Monday, I took the day off. I had planned to sleep in, and did, sort of except for the 7AM raise the garage door to put the garbage out wake-up call. After that, I went back to bed, and got up about 10am or so. Ate some dim sum leftovers, and went to Silk Road for my 3 hour Spa appointment - pedicure, foot massage, and body massage. It was very relaxing. It also turned out to be a beautiful sunny day.

In the late evening, went onto Rav, and saw some posts about my birthday. I stayed away from the computer for most of the day. Heike, my birthday swap partner received and opened my swap package and loved it - it's always fun to put together a swap package and have the recipient enjoy what I put together.

Happy Birthday to me..

Last night I went to The Reef for a great and fun early birthday dinner with my friends - there were 8 of us all together, which is a very auspicious number :) especially given saturday's calendar date.

I had a yummy appetizer of scallops and prawns in curry, followed by the margot poisson, a lovely baked mahi mahi with roasted vegies. A few of us shared a lovely pitcher of pink rum cocktail which disappeared very quickly, and left us all quite happy.

Especially fun for me was that I was surprised by fabulous birthday gifts and treats - snacks, knitting, and reading.
Here it is together:-



and the details...

Wendy gave me "Knit Two" by Kate Jacobs. I'd read the first book "Friday Night Knitting Club" in soft cover, but haven't read this one yet. Haribo gummi bears and Tangfastics (my favs), and a huge jar of Pure Shea butter which I love using for my hands. She mined my Ravelry message posts to find my wishes...cool idea.



Marilyn gave me this fun bright bag and almost fluorescent umbrella so that I "don't get run over" on my way to coffee break. This is a private joke (ahem, now public) because we almost got run over in the mcdonald's parking lot near work one day when a guy stepped on the gas as we were crossing in front of his car. There would have been a lot of witnesses and the bonus would have been a flying lesson on Hillside avenue (which is a very busy road). The bag is big and roomy with pink handles (yes, still my favorite colour!), and has a smaller pocket inside.



Marjorie treated me to "Cashmere & Silk" for my birthday.
Here it is...

hiding in lotion form. :)
Also, she made these pretty handmade stitch markers with inspiring words (in English and Chinese). Here's a close-up:

and the card she gave me looks like a cute yarn guy - it's at the bottom left corner of the first pic.

and more - the latest Interweave Magazine Spring 2009 (hadn't bought this yet), a bottle of soak wash for my knit wear (yes, i'm excited about getting soap! - my knitwear is pretty excited about it too, come to think of it.), and a lovely and soft hand knit alpaca cord for a bronzit stone pendant (8-sided with a hole in the middle). Very pretty.



Deb found my queued wishlist and treated me to the Transition Gloves pattern and surprised me with a Namaste Cozy* in a pretty red-pink colour. *It's for straight needles.



Jen gave me a pink tape measure (handy and pink - I like that!) and handmade her gift - handmade pink stitch markers made with swarovski crystals, pearls, and sterling silver. She also handmade the box and the card -very crafty :)



Here's a close-up of the stitch markers - almost hooked Marilyn who was the only non-knitter/crocheter in our group. I could probably also use it as a pendant - yes, then, i'll always have one handy (lol).


and


From Sam, a handmade crafty envelope (she is crafty after all), and wonderful smelling tea from Nanaimo - Pink Pearl of Shanghai, and Lost Emperor's Treasures


Syl treated me to 5 packages of Argentinian Yerba Mate from Special Teas downtown - Regular, and flavoured - cranberry, mango, almond, and vanilla. I hadn't seen any of them other than the regular one. They all smell good and I've packed a couple of packages to bring into work on Tuesday.



For dessert, the restaurant gave me a fried banana smile with rum and honey sauce and 2 scoops of vanilla ice cream for eyes, with a cookie head, and lit a candle in the centre of the smile. I blew out the candle too fast; so I did a re-take and wished again, while my friends sang. Having only remembered my camera with the candle, I didn't get all of my friends in the pic.





Thanks gals - I had a great birthday party, and I've been royally spoiled this birthday. Warm fuzzy memories for years to come.

March Yarn Pirate

Almost the end of the month, and received my March Yarn Pirate - beautiful - it's called "Rain Shadow" and a combination of dark almost forest green, brown, light green, and gray.



and the front:



It's superwash BFL and a keeper, a nice change for me from the last 2 which were not my colors at all.

Back on the needles...

The Shapely Symmetry Sheath went back on the needles on Saturday, after I'd finished the shawl-collared pullover. I decided the top striping of the front piece was still good, and finished it off. I bound-off the edge of the top with the stretchy bind-off, and ended up with this neat edge.



Now, to seam and make the final cording at the waist. I'm not sure about this crochet, it looks a bit wimpy. I think I might try the i-cord after all.

Here's the progress on the Rhiannon sock, currently on hold - I'm trying to decide whether to rip back to before the heel. I had ended up with the same # of stitches (76) as I was supposed to have after ending the horshoe cable. That is, I had already 76 before the double decreases, so I would have ended up with 68 stitches instead of 76. So, I just twisted the cable like so, and it re-expanded when I went to knit the heel. Will try to knit a partridge heel also, as I don't like the plain heel flap that cookie's planned for me. Good thing she's not really watching, as I have veered a lot from her original design.

The Front so far:


and the back:



Sent these cuties off in the mail to a friend in Germany who had her baby Lara Sophie last year. This little girl has a lot of pink in her closet - so i'm sending her some green to spice up her life a little...and of course, there's still a bit of pink in there (to please her mom).



My mom looked at the one on the far left last week and said "cute shamrocks" before she realized they were really cute little butterflies.



$15.80 for postage without a tracking number...hopefully, she'll receive these little lovelies soon.

Also, Chris told me today that she receives many compliments on her beautifully felted green and purple hat. :) It's nice to knit for thankful and happy people.