First peek at Portland, Oregon.

From our hotel room we could see a lot of the down town including the glass spires of the convention center in the left of this picture. The entire time we were in Portland we walked or took the free train. I really wish we had something like that here at home.

I was feeling pretty shy about taking photos in the market so I grabbed this one quick before too many people noticed.

Our first meal in Portland, in between my two classes on Friday, hubby and I stopped at the highly recommended Burgerville. Amazing veggie burger! Wasn’t too sure about the onion rings but hubby seemed to enjoy them. My Duckies sock also followed us around.

Friday night hubby and I stopped in at Stanfords for dinner. The atomsphere was lots of fun and the staff very nice. Here’s a picture of me after eating.

Saturday turned out completely different than expected and I for one was very happy about the mix up. The plan was Powells books and the evening riding jet boats. It was a lovely day so we decided to walk to the book store. That was about a 1.5 mile walk that neither of us was physically prepared for but we enjoyed it anyway. We walked across a large bridge.

There may or may not have been sharing of pictures with a friend still stuck in her cube….comments of jealousy may or may not have been shared….the weather was perfect for walking (but maybe a little warm for this office dweller!)

After our lovely jaunt down town we stopped into Powells books cafe where I met a lovely knitter (insert name when I find her card!) AnneLena Mattison

After a lovely chat and amazing pastry hubby and I headed off to enjoy the crazy maze that is Powells books.

A quick peek into the knitting isle.

After browsing the store I did come back for a few books and I found a super cute babushka ice mold.

For lunch we stopped at one of our favorite place Noodles & Company. I was impressed with a lot of the (local?) art displayed. Obviously Portland is a very creative place.

With our tummies stuffed we headed back to our hotel via the electric train in a rush to board the jet boats with proper clothing. We never would have made it in time (annoying traffic!) so graciously (cough) the jet boats let us reschedule to Monday. Instead hubby took a nap and I headed back to the convention center for the flash mob where I met Steven Ambrose and did some more market browsing.

Sock Summit Teams in the front of a giant flash mob dance.

For dinner we walked over to Pastini for pretty pomegranate lemonade and tasty vegetarian Italian dishes. If you’ll check out my sock it has moved to some much nicer KnitPicks needles I picked up in the market.

I picked these cute earrings up in the market. The week before Sock Summit I spotted these on Ravelry but didn’t have time to knit them up before the trip. I’m so glad someone decided to sell them. They fit in perfect and I had a lot of people comment on them including our waitress at Pastinis. After dinner we headed back to the convention center to drop off my donations for the For Eloise donations to SnowCap charity.

Two knit monsters went along with a bundle of wash clothes and four scarves.

The Yarn Harlot

A beautiful baby sweater and so many other generous knits for donation. When I left there were four tables covered in hand knit donations.

On top are two Kashmire yarns I picked up from Fiber Optics. I went back for a Spectra scarf pattern and superwash yarn to go with it. Now I’m a little nervous because the pattern calls for 420 yards and I ONLY have 420 yards!

Sunday morning and afternoon was full of classes. In the morning I took the Crystal Heels – Afterthoughts with a shape that fits! class by Lynn Hershberger. On our drive home I finished the first sock that turned out a little short so it might be going to grandma for Christmas (shhh! don’t tell her though) Lynn was a wonderful teacher with a definite love of color! She had multi-colored felted ball earrings that were so fun and she brought this amazing knit self-portrait.

Here is the cuff, funky afterthought heel and the beginning of the foot.

There was a few minutes between another stop at Burgerville for lunch and my next class so I stopped in the market to see the spinning contest and the beginning of the final fastest sock knitter contest.

A sock knitter contestant with a beautiful shawl.

The second class Getting Comfortable Knitting Socks by Angela Davis was three hours of answering questions people had. I always have issues matching my first and second socks and Angela had some ideas for the class. One idea, I’d only just heard of in my Friday class, was keeping a knitting journal or scrapbook with all of your project information and ball bands. It’s such an easy suggestion but I had not thought to carry a journal with me. Hopefully this will help with Actually coming out with matching socks. She even gave us a little welcome gift that included a starter journal. So far using my Rav project pages have gotten me only so far. It would be nice if they had an app for the Droid phone. The scrapbook/journal will be keeping me company from now on. One other thing I took with me was the idea of replacing SSK with a S1 K1 Psso for a less bulky look. Ok, I’m remembering other suggestions like preventing “donkey ears”, too. Anyway….

By 4pm the market was already packing up so I headed to the hotel to collect hubby for dinner at the Blossoming Lotus a vegan restaurant that was recommended by a co-worker. Best. Food. All. Week. mmmmm. I was really unsure if we’d end up with a bland or really weird dinner even after ordering our food. I was surprised and amazed.

Hubby got the Ginger Citrus Stir Fry

I got something from their specials Orkra Gumbo something or other that was amazing!

A great meal was the prefect end to a wonderful Sock Summit. Sadly I was full long before the food was gone with no way to take the leftovers with me. That was also fitting for a weekend that left me with memories. And yarn

http://www.oregonlive.com/living/index.ssf/2011/07/portland_sock_summit_race_from.html

Sock Summit Twitter

Knitting Knewbie

Mr Poopers Day Out

StitchyMcYarnpants

Knittyblog

Knitpicks blog

Blue Moon blog (I attended Tina Newtons seminar on dying fibers)

Crochet Liberation Front

Rogue

Oregon Live on Sock Summit

Knitting Golfers blog 

Fourteenergirl

Lots of yummy yarn pictures and 2 finished socks once my computer is fixed….which might be several days from now based on how slow it’s going. Now off to bed. 13 hours of driving and a full day of work with only 5 hours of sleep in the middle and a hosed work computer ALSO doesn’t leave me with much left over energy. Till tomorrow.

Thursday night we made our way into Portland. The traffic here is rediculous! I can deffinitely see why there is a rail system available. So far we have walked to all of our desinations. That’s all well and good but by 3pm my feet were killing me and hubby and I headed back to our room for a few hours of rest (read sock knitting). I’m getting ahead of myself.

I had a wonderful self striping class from Deb Barnhill and an amusing lecture by Tina Newton from Blue Moon on dying yarn.

I will admit to being too chicken to approach Stephanie Pearl-McPhee when I saw her TWICE and also having a celebrity freak out over seeing Steven Ambrose just Sitting! Do celebs really just SIT?!?! This really must be what people feel about Hollywood stars. I did tell on myself and he obliged by calling me a chicken (self-requested) and asked if I would be around tomorrow.

Lunch was very yummy at Burgerville. The veggie burger was delicious. The order line as ridiculous as the traffic.

Well it seems I’m having issues getting the rest of my photos so gratuitous yarn photos will have to come later. What I do have is sock progress.

Sock Wednesday

Sock Friday

More tomorrow and eventually a really late post on the California State Fair fun.

It’s surprising how similar he looks to my girl Cutie.

He doesn’t have her white paws but similar facial markings. Cutie is decidedly unhappy with the current situation and had to hiss at the baby tonight. He decided to hiss back but they are both fine. My big boy Pippin though is disgruntled and keeping a close on on the kitten. Much hissing has happened there but the kitten doesn’t seem to mind it from Pippin.

Ok, enough rambling it’s time for bed. Ok, one more thing SOCK SUMMIT IS NEXT WEEK!!!!! So excited!

7/21/11 Update: Kitten will be going to his forever home tonight. I’ll miss the sweet baby.

That’s it for now but here are some flowers from my and my mother’s yards.

Memorial Day,  Wedding Anniversary, and Birthday Memories

Post a comment here by June 10, 2010 about a special memory you are willing to share of a favorite Memorial Weekend, an important soldier in your life, your wedding or anniversary, or a birthday. I’ll use a random generator to pick 2 winners.

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My aunt actually sparked my interest last Thanksgiving when she gave my mother one of her Fun Fur combo scarves that she makes for people at her hospital. Per my usual “I could make it better” attitude, that had already sucked me into jewelry making, I dove into a fun filled year of yarn hording. Here is how it went.

In January I picked up some yarn and knitting needles and went to work on my first scarf.

About half way through I got excited about scarves, blankets and socks when I started searching the internet for knitting blogs so it was back to the store for more needles and yarn.

Jarrods Hemlock blanket, pictures 2 and 3 above, was just so pretty that I had to find the pattern and those lovely blogs led me to Ravelry.com. Depending on how you look at it this is a fiber freaks heaven or hell. There is a whole community dedicated to crazy knitters and crocheters.  By the end of February my yarn stash had grown from a few balls of yarn to bags boxes and bags that were taking over the dinning room and desperately needed a more organized storage system. So I bought a three drawer rolling storage bin thinking that would hold me but my yarn packed the three drawers and I still had a box of supplies. Then came the crazed spring months when I discovered the wonders of Etsy.com and joined a knitting group from work.

By the time I went to my first knitters meeting I had 2 scarves, socks, and 3 blankets started. Our group leader was surprised at how many projects I had going but to be fair I had a lot of happy energy fueling my efforts and no kids at home….except the husband. I think he enjoyed the free time to play more video games on his new ipod. All spring I horded fancy hand made yarns and then discovered another facet of this fiber world, felting AND spinning. Now I was collecting roving too! and lusting after fiber fairs with spinning classes. Shortly after this another fiber craft surfaced in the form of weaving. Unfortunately, I have to work for a living and don’t have near enough time in my day to do all the fiber and jewelry crafting I would like. Instead I sit at work and day dream about projects that I MUST do TODAY! and that leads to more yarn purchases that are relatively easy with that Oh So Helpful internet. Ravelry was not helpful with a zillion fun swaps that I had to mail all over the country. In May my obsession was de-railed with 8 wonderful days in Hawaii where I just couldn’t bring myself to knit even though I was crazy and signed up for Sock Wars III even though I had never completed even one sock. Back at home I completed my last swap for the year with a hand knit dish cloth that proved to me that small projects were probably a better idea at this early stage. All three of my above blankets ended up on hold and my sock

was frogged. I did start a new sock but that didn’t turn out well either

so for now I’ll wait for more skills before attempting another sock. In July two wonderful aspects of my life changed. The office that was used for studying and wasn’t being used now that both James and I were finished with classes so we decided to turn it into

a craft room. We removed all the carpet, painted the walls blue, yes blue, and added wood flooring. The room is still a work in progress but I am looking forward to spending time there. The second was the discovery of how much I enjoy crocheting.

To date I’ve started about 9 shell pattern crocheted scarves/wraps three of which I’ve finished and two were gifts to friends. I also discovered that I love to start things but have trouble finishing things.

In September James and I headed to an Alpaca Farm Fair

where we enjoyed seeing the animals and I got to watch someone spin in person.

and they had pretty yarn that I had to take home.

The next weekend I got up nice to attend my very first spinning class. It was horribly unorganized and at someones home but I learned a little. Around that time I also wraped my own table loom after much grumbling and a lot of help from James. It’s really fun to weave but I now understand why people hate to warp a loom. IT IS A PAIN!!! My first project turned into a mouse pad for my dad and I’m sure he will never use it. Oh well. The second warp I did by myself with a lot of cursing and an emergency run for more yarn. It took about 6 hours while watching movies and I still haven’t started weaving.

Instead I’m working on another shell pattern wrap and a hemp pattern dish cloth both of which are so easy and I recommend to new knitters and crocheters.

So there is my year of fiber but I also started two other projects. The first is my own online stores at http://masoncj.etsy.com and http://indenturedmason.etsy.com for kitchen goods and jewelry.

The other was sewing, specifically for Halloween costumes but also for quilting. The craft room is really expanding!

Thankfully this year has been deemed The Year of Junk Removal and Organization.