The Purple

The Purple, a photo by acornbud on Flickr.

Pattern: Noro hat, pattern by Saartje de Bruijn,
Yarn: Cascade Luna
Needles: size 4 and 5
Mods: decreases on purl sections to reduce the slouch. I knit this one bottom up and tried techknittings method of jogless joins.

Totoro Card

Totoro Card, a photo by acornbud on Flickr.

Embellished Totoro calendar cutout. Commercial cupcake sticker and printed card. Martha Stewart umbrella punch.

Chemo Hat

Chemo Hat, a photo by acornbud on Flickr.

Pattern: Noro hat by Saartje de Bruijn
Yarn: Cascade Luna. I used a little more then one skein of the turquoise an a little less then one skein of the aqua. I enjoyed this yarn. I've read that some skeins of many knots. I encountered 2 in 3 balls.
Needles: Size 6 and 5.
Mods: I knit this top down and went down a needle size for the last 8 rows before binding off. To avoid changing color on the purl row, I knit the last row of each knit set in the new color before doing the 4 purl rows.

This hat was to be for a 14 yo girl who will be going through chemo. I'm a bit worried it's too large, because we all know how cotton stretches and does not spring back like the wonderful wool. I'm going to knit another one with smaller needles, just because I really enjoyed the very soft yarn, and the pattern goes by so quickly.

Ornamental Pineapple

Ornamental Pineapple, a photo by acornbud on Flickr.

It's that time of year again. My little pineapples are pretty but struggling. I suspect some of the colors that make this one look so colorful are a result of not enough dirt and fertilizer in the pot. There has been a lot more rain lately, also.

It's almost time for the Golden Plover to return to the North. They have donned their breeding plummage.

I finished watching Sharpe's Rifles with Sean Bean and was sad as I enjoyed the series. Surprise surprise, I found there were two more later episodes, 15 and 16 and one is now in the mail! Yay!

I'm almost done with the credentialing for my part time job. Yup. I signed up to work as a contractor at the Navy Clinic again. My last hoorah! Well I've said that before.

Deep Blue Slouch

Project: Hat with hand spun, improvised top down beanie.
Yarn: My hand spun from Corgi Hill Farms Superwash BFL.
Needles: 3 and mostly 4
Comments: I have no yet figured out the wraps/inch and going by yardage estimates and weight I thought this yarn was worsted weight, although it looked more sport/fingering to me by the eyeball test. I tried various needle sizes and noted that the yarn did not have much elasticity, perhaps due to the superwashing? Based on yardage I had enough for some kind of neck warmers, fingerless mitts or a hat. The ribbing for the mitts never looked right, so it became a hat. I pretty much improved as I went. The gauge swatch lied so I ended up with a 24 in diameter hat. Loving the colors I just kept kntting until I hit 9 inches, then decreased gradually, changed to size 3 needles, and did and twisted rib. This seemed to tight, so I changed back to size 4 needles and did a regular 2x1 rib to finish out. It actually fits pretty well.
I loved the colors being a blue lover and all.
Hmm, I have just enough left over for a tassle or pom pom...what to do.

Cabled Hat with Ear Flaps

Cabled Hat with Ear Flaps, a photo by acornbud on Flickr.

Pattern: Urban Trekker
by Vladimir Teriokhin
from Lion Brand Yarn: Just Hats

Yarn: Aurora Bulky by Karabella
Bulky / 12 ply
100% Wool
4 skeins. Last ball was used for pom poms.

Needles: Size 10.5

Mods: none

Comments. This was one of those "gotta knit" knits. Now it's done and I'm quite happy with it. I'm not sure it will see much action this summer in Hawaii, lol.
I read that some people found a lot of knots in the yarn, but I only found one in the last ball.
I love that there were no seams or stitches to pick up.

Pettine

Pettine, a photo by acornbud on Flickr.

Pattern: Pettine
by Corrina Ferguson
from Sideways Shawlettes
Yarn: 1.2 skeins. Handmaiden, Mini-Maiden. Colorway Nova Scotia
Needles: size 6 lace Addi
Mod: none.

Comments. This photo shows the the unblocked shawlette, modeled by sister number 4. I loved the sideways pattern and the yarn. I may block this yet, but I like the way the unblocked lace ruffles.

Finally Finished

This quilt block languished in stash for more then a decade and it's finally done! It's quite large so the choice now is a big pillow or have it framed. I'll see if sister number two feels it will match her decor as she has a birthday coming up soon.

Mom's portulaca are blooming in the dmz. Hardly anything grows in this area under the eaves. The soil is pretty poor there and sometimes the rain does not get to it.




I have 3 wips on the needles. That's a lot for this serial knitter.

My new whorl arrived from Majacraft. The original was a bit warped and although it did not affect the function it was quite noticeable so I got a new one. Hopefully Tracy will be able to re-machine the old one and find it another home. The new one is much better:)

Bowl from Empty Bowl event

Bowl from Empty Bowl event a photo by acornbud on Flickr.

Hawaii Potter's Guild Empty Bowl Event

Wayward, Herbivore FO

Pattern: Herbivore, by Stephen West
Yarn: Our Connection colorway, hand dyed by Megan Smith, WaywardYarn on Etsy. 100% merino
Needles: Size 6

No modifications. After knitting with acrylic, this yarn was heavenly. The pattern was quite easy so this project flew off the needles! I'm keeping this one for me:)

Feral Knitting

I have been a big fan of the Feral Knitter and her incredible creations since I first discovered them.



Here's an example in one of my "stealth" photos of her at Madrona. I got to see her amazing shibori jacket in person, too.

I'm a continental knitter and my first efforts at two color knitting was very frustrating. My right hand just couldn't get a clue on how to throw and control the tension. I tried holding both yarns in my left hand and that was only slightly less frustrating, so I gave it up for a while.

Recently I saw a link on Ravelry to the Philospher's Wool video on two-handed Fair Isle technique and decided to give it a try again. These lovely people were at Madrona and teaching classes.

My project is the R2D2 hat by Carolyn posted on her blog, So Much Yarn, So Little Time. and the Star Wars charts by Sarah Bradberry. I found two balls of the the black sock yarn at the thrift store for 50% off of $2.99. Score! The contrasts are odds and ends of Koigu and mystery cream colored stuff.



This is way small for a hat and may become a bag, or maybe it will just remain a sampler. It's getting easier. Maybe this ole dog can learn a new trick.

On a somber note, the devastation in Japan is hard to watch. I don't have family in that part of Japan. I haven't heard from my "penpal" in Tokyo for a while now, but I can't help but worry about the impact there for him.

And I turned 60. Yikes.

Woodland Spirit 2 (testing wip)

Removed 1/8/2025

Eating my way across Tacoma and Seattle

I'm thinking about all the wonderful eating experiences I had on my trip, while putting off doing my taxes and waiting for "mostly sunny". Back to the reality of cooking my own meals :(
I hope the weather clears up for the toddler pool party next door.

Bite, the restaurant at Hotel Murano where the Fiberarts Fesitival is held had a nice hearty, reasonably price brunch. The two meals I had there, mussels/clams and dinner of grilled shrimp and various shared salads were both tasty and served in generous portions. The coffee was good! It was a great way to start the day of fiber shopping and classes.

Galanga Thai was an easy walk up the the street from the hotel, and on a cold evening the fragrant, steaming bowl of beef noodle soup warmed me cockles.

Harbor Lights is and older restaurant on the water with great seafood. I split the pan fried crab and Sandy had a salmon salad. They were both yummy! I like that for a mere $3 more, they gave us each our own salad and starch.

Two Koi is another closeby restaurant. I had lunch there after visiting the Glass Museum, and the Tacoma Art Museum. It had a cute decor, and served huge portions! The food was fairly standard.

Kabuki Japanese Restaurant has been for around for awhile and my sister eats there often. The sukiyaki was very tasty.


Another Thai Restaurant, I'll have to ask my sister the name (Royal Thai). Royal Thai Bistro had very friendly people and wonderful food.



Lola's was my favorite eating place of all. It is one of Tom Douglas's restaurants and has a Greek flair. I don't like poached eggs but Betty's egg's benedict were a work of art. The smashed potatoes were awesome! I had the hand made doughnuts. They were light, puffy pillows served with vanilla marscapone and apple butter. I loved the applewood smoked sausages. They make them in the restaurant, but can't sell them raw/frozen to take home:(




I really wanted one last breakfast at Lola's but it was packed on Sunday, so we went acrss the street to the Dahlia Lounge. Once again Betty went with the Eggs Benedict. Their variation is the Green eggs and ham, but no smashed potatoes.







Palace Kitchen is another Tom Douglas Restaurant. It was quite busy. I was sad the morels were not in season like they were the last time I ate there. I had a very nice beet salad and the appetizer portion of braised lamb shank. The bread was fabulous. They are known for their triple threat coconut pie. The crust has coconut and almonds and so do the pudding and whipped cream layers. No meringue on this baby! I had it twice. They do take out:)

Anita's Crepes serves up whole wheat crepes stuffed with a variety of fillings. The picture is what blogless Margaret ordered. Mine was stuffed with chicken and while tasty was not as photogenic.





Emmer and Rye is named after an heirloom type of wheat called emmer. Spalt is another example. The rye got added because they serve a lot of rye whiskeys and beer. The menu was quite interesting. They offer all types of portions sizes as well...tastes, appetizers, full or half entrees which is quite nice since I can't eat as much as I used too. The pork belly is reminiscent of kau yuk or the roast pork from Chinatown. We tried lots of different things and they were all yummy. The restaurant is in an old house. Our waiter was wonderful!




Top Pot Doughnuts sells "hand-forged" doughnuts. I saw their story on TV recently. The name came from an old restaurant called Top Spot. The sign was stored for a while and the S fell off, so they added a coffee pot and the Top Pot coffee and doughnut place was born. I picked my hotel because if was right around the corner from this place. The coffee was wonderful. The doughnuts were huge. They specialized in buttermilk (old fashioned) doughnuts and cake doughnuts. I think there might have been a glazed in there somewhere. It would get quite busy at times, like a bus stopped and let a bunch of people off. I would love there to be a Top Pot Hawaii, but then of course, I should lay off the doughnuts:(


Honore serves fluffy French pastries.

Bay Cafe is a reasonably priced place to have breakfast.

BluWater Bistro is on the water and has nice burgers and fish.


Vince's Italian Restaurant and Pizzeria makes wonderful pizza.

FOs

Crown Mountain Farms had some cute cards in their booth at Madrona. The couple I remember had to do with yarn snobs...one said something to the effect, "real friends don't let friends buy acrylic" and the other showed a smug boyfriend sitting next to his girlfriend who is holding an armful of Acme acrylic yarn, with a shocked, disgusted look in her eyes.

I was looking for something cheap and quick, so don't judge me, lol.

Jiffy Scarf
Pattern: my own, random stripes
Yarn: Jiffy Thick & Quick by Lion Brand
Needles: size 8
So I got quick and cheap, but the yarn kind of stuck to my dry hands as I knit and was not fun to knit with. Also the mistake rib curled on the edges. Next time I'll add a border.












Home spun Shawlette
Pattern: Splendid Triangle Shawl #80982AD by Lion Brand Yarn from Lion Brand Yarn Free Online Patterns
Yarn: Lion's Homespun
Needles: size 13
I omitted 3 repeats of the pattern for a shawlette and used only one skein. This is to be a gift. I've used this yarn before and and it's a little bit splitty to work with but quite soft. It's quite popular here in Hawaii. This is easily a one day project. I watched the entire Bleak House series (the one with Gillian Anderson) while knitting this for the birthday today. There was enough yarn to do one more pattern repeat. Next time...





Butternut Hat
Yarn: Butternut Woolens
Needles: size 11
Yarn: Butternut Woolens, thick and thin
Pattern: free with yarn.
This was one of those "gotta try" yarns at the Madrona Marketplace. I wish I had made the hat a tiny bit bigger as it doesn't quite cover my ears.











WIP: Stephen West's Herbivore in handyed SW merino sock yarn, by Megan. It feels so good to have some of the good stuff on my needles. This project is flying!

Fun in Seattle

I went on some interesting tours this trip around and learned lots of new things.



Earthhues: I loved this place! There is no name on the building just the address 5129. There were several ladies in the back boiling up dyes on gas burners in the classroom getting ready for a class put on by a lys. The shelves were full of of yarns all dyed with natural dyes in a multitude of shades of wonderful colors. The owner, Michele Wipplinger was in, graciously shared her story and showed us her treasures, collected over her life of learning, giving, world travels and creating. It was truly fascinating!



Theo Chocolate Factory: One of the few makers vs melter's of chocolate. They are the first "green", fair trade and organic chocolate producers in America. Click to read more.

Their name comes from the scientific name of chocolate, Theobroma Cacao. This place smelled so lovely...chocolate...food of the Gods! They were generous with samples!

I made the tour reservations online with my iphone. Sandy's husband may be right. It the future a gadget like the iphone is all one will need, lol. I'm glad I made reservations as there was a wait list when we got there.





The Wing Luke Museum of the Asian Pacific American Experience: Wing Luke immigrated from China when he was 6 years old and became the first Asian American to hold elected office in the Pacific Northwest. It is in Seattle's Chinatown. It got me thinking about the experiences of the Hawaiians, Filipinos, in addition to the Chinese and Japanese. Life was not easy.

I got two prints by Mirikitani. If you have not seen the documentary on his life, The Cats of Mirikitani, I recommend it.



The tour included was of the store next door. The building had businesses on the street level and a boarding house upstairs for new immigrants. The store was operating until 2008. It looks like a lot of places in Honolulu Chinatown.

Northwest Flower and Garden Show: I got in on this in the last hour, so admission was free! There were tons of ideas for dream gardens.

Madrona Classes

I had two really fun classes at Madrona. Batts, Roving and Top taught by Judith Mackenzie and Spinning a Self Striping Yarn. I was loaned a great spinning wheel, a Schacht Matchless. It was set up for Scotch tension. Thanks Lisa!

Judith Mackenzie is a wonderfully calm and warm teacher with lots of fiber experience. I have her DVD, The Gentle Art of Plying, which I got about a month ago. It's been very useful.

We tried various types of fibers. Natural top is a very orderly arrangement of fibers. The process of making top is somewhat like ironing hair was back in the day. When a piece is pulled off it leaves a relatively straight line, while roving pulls off in a point. Dyeing top puts back some of the sproing and disorder into the fiber which explains why the dyed braids do not pull apart as easily. She still recommends not stripping top as it disorders the fibers unless it is for color order. She spins across the end side to side. I got one of my burning questions answered. While spinning, sometimes a big tuff gets away and the twist ends up in the fluff. While a small one can be undone, when I showed her a large one I'd broken off, she said, "Throw it on the floor." And so I did:)

Here she is with one of her assistants.


My second class was taught by the the Bellwether, Amelia Garripoli. She too was great teacher and very knowledgeable. Our class supplies included 12 colors of roving, which were divided for a pair of fingerless mitts. We chose our 4 least favorite colors for a background color. This background color was spun at a smaller gauge. The rest of the colors were spun one at a time, then plied with the thinner single. The background color does not show as much so the solids form stripes. I used the left over roving to practice on my new drops spindles and used the completed yarn for a sweater for Won Bin (my iphone)



I really enjoyed my two classes and learned a lot. It was great fun to see the variety of wheels and share tips and ideas.

Spinning Toys

Two years ago I was adamant about my "no spinning" policy. Now that is history. I've entered the world of spinning and I'm having a ball. Yes, another stash, another reason to shop and the danger of branching out into yet another craft.

The hardest part for me was learning how to draft. I watched a lot of you tubes, watched people spinning and tried a wheel a couple of times. I found that using the drop spindle was a way to slow down things so I could get the hang of drafting out the fibers. Also pre-drafting prior to spinning helped me get the feel of the fibers slipping out. I still find my drafting is not very fast using a wheel.

Adding the foot action was another story. I practiced with some unspun Lopi. It needs no drafting so I could practice the foot and hand motions without having to worry about how much fiber was slipping out (or not slipping out).

I had 4 things on my shopping list for the Madrona Marketplace...traveling kate, wool cards, WPI tool and Majacraft bobbins. No spindles on this list. Sandy said "don't hold back" so in addition to filling my list I have 3 more spindles.

Leopardwood square spindle from SpindleWood CO. It's square, but it really spins nicely. It's quite light for it's size.

This Turkish spindle was a gift from blogless Sandy. Thank you Sandy! It's made of ironwood by Jenkins. It spins great and you have a center pull when you are done. It comes apart like tinker toys. Quite an amazing little invention.

Bosworth Featherweight in walnut. Amelia Garripoli (AsktheBellweather) who taught Sandy's drop spindle class had a whole container full of these babies. Score!


WPI tool of Hawaiian koa wood. I couldn't pass it up and it was on the list;) The Koigu key chain was a little freebee from the Madrona people.

Just think about all the shipping costs I saved!! :)

Madrona FiberArts Winter Retreat

This year's winter retreat earned it's name. Tacoma was wintry indeed and very snowy.



Coming from Hawaii it's always a challenge to know what to bring in the way of crafts and clothes. Lucky me I brought my Beaverslide CPH Vest with the thought of getting into the zipper mini-class. No openings were available but I sewed it in because it was the warmest thing! It was very handy to cover my ears when the wind picked up.

The lovely Hotel Murano was buzzing with like-minded fiber-loving people all spinning, weaving, knitting and sharing their outstanding creations.




I got to meet the weebug and couldn't resist giving her a hug. She was wearing a wonderful hand knit green sweater with the coolest buttons! (I think it was Ginny) Waah! I didn't get a picture.

The Most Illustrious and Mysterious Landcaster has successfully defended his thesis on Server Scheduling and will be granted his MS when the term ends. Congratulations! This momma is proud!

He pointed out to me this trip that my new iPhone (who I named Won Bin after the Korean action star) has more megapixels then my trusty Canon Powershot. As it turns out it is also very convenient to use and I did not use my Powershot at all. Perhaps I will have to get some camera apps now. I'm often trapped in the iTunes Store these days, sigh.

My traveling companion, blogless Sandy set the tone with great advice from her DH. "Don't hold back." I took her advice:)

Kapiolani Community College Farmer's Market

In one of those eye-opening moments, I finally went to the KCC Farmer's Market. I had all kinds of lame excuses for avoiding this weekly event...long drive, too early, big crowds, no parking.... My usual Hoomaluhia walking group decided to do the market and I had another one...shingles. I had a very atypical case just two months shy of the date I'm supposed to get my shingles shot and although I'm almost all better, I'm still a bit whiny. I'm glad I kicked myself in the butt and went! It only took me 15 minutes to drive there and lots of parking. What a variety of foods, flowers and fresh produce! I got some golden beets and pickled some (who knew it was so easy to pickle beets thanks to the Victory Garden cookbook!) and a bunch of fresh Manoa lettuce. There were lots of samples and interesting people to watch. It seems to be very popular with the Japanese tourists who were eating up a storm!

I especially loved the varieties of hibiscus in one booth. I ignored the state flower for many years, but lately I have come to appreciate the many colors and shapes, and the glorious blooms.


KCC is a pretty campus, nestled on the back side of Diamond Head Crater. It was a beautiful blue sky morning, in spite of the forecast.

"Life is not long, and too much of it must not pass in idle deliberation how it shall be spent."
--Samuel Johnson

"Life is always walking up to us and saying, "Come on in, the living's fine," and what do we do? Back off and take its picture."
--Russell Baker

Jo's Salmon Quiche

Lunch was pretty special prepared by blogless Marlies, who really knows how to entertain! We started with a beautiful salad. The dressing was an aromatic vingrette with hints of curry.



The main course was a very tasty Quiche! The recipe originally came from blogless Peggy's friend's mom (Jo) and prepared by Marlies was very tasty and beautiful as well! When I entered the house I could smell it baking and knew I was in for a treat.



Here is the recipe:

Crust:
1 c. whole-wheat flour
2/3 c. grated sharp cheddar
¼ c. chopped almonds
½ t. salt
¼ t. paprika
6 T. oil

Combine and press into 9 inch pie plate or quiche pan, saving ½ c. to sprinkle on top.
Bake 400 deg. for 10 minutes.

Filling:
1 (15 ½ oz.) red salmon. Drain and save juice
3 eggs, beaten
1 c. sour cream
¼ c. mayonnaise
¾ c. grated sharp cheddar cheese
1 T. grated onion
1/4 t. dried dill weed
3 drops Tabasco (or to taste)


Turn oven down to 325 deg.

Add enough water to salmon liquid to make ½ cup. Flake salmon, remove skin and bones. Set aside.
Blend eggs, sour cream, mayo, and salmon liquid. Stir in salmon, cheese, onion, dill and Tabasco

Spoon filling into crust. Sprinkle top with reserved crust mixture.

Bake 325 degree for 45 min. or until firm in center. Serves 6.




We finished the meal off with beautiful Chocolate and Coconut Lacy Cookies. There is no picture, because I ate them. The recipe is by Giada De Laurentiis, on the foodnetwork.com

Totoro Tuesday, Let's Hear it for the Greys!

18 grey Totoro sitting on the stairs, causing great happiness all around! I didn't think I would ever say this, but maybe I have enough for now. If fact maybe I need to liberate some and observe them in the wild instead of keeping them captive.

I'll keep knitting them. In fact here are 3 more, knit from stash.

They are a happy bunch!

I passed my Advanced Life Support re-certification exam on Sunday. I recall the first time I ever took this class it was really tough and so I always get stressed when this comes aroung. Over the years the algorithms have been simplified and the new guidelines are even simpler still. Still, I'm happy this may be the last time I have to take it. The focus now is on quality CPR with chest compressions taking a front seat to breathing.

I've upgraded my beloved red razr flip phone to an iphone4. There is definitely a learning curve and there was a bit of cursing going on tonight...but tomorrow is another day!




The knitting has stalled as I try to psyche up for my next big project. Since I'm attending Madrona Fiber Arts Retreat I'm thinking socks are a good thing to start. Kim wants to do Amelia but I don't have enough Malabrigo Rios for this, and I'm not sure Madelinetosh Worsted colorway is the right one. I kind of like Thea Coleman's Cranberry Capelet
for the Rios and I love the cable.

I managed a couple tiny sheep.
Pattern: Eco Ewe by Andrea McHugh for Rowan, and Knitted Sheep from Flutterby Patch.

Yarn: The cream yarn is from a little boy sheep on the Big Island. I've never met him. The wool was quite dirty and did not have any lock structure and my overzealous washing partially felted it. I spun what I could on my drop spindle and made a two ply. The rest makes very nice stuffing. The black is some mystery black sock yarn from stash.
Needles: Size 2
Comments. Ewe Sheep is a bit odd looking. Knitted sheep has a "coat" in the pattern, and I covered it with 3 stitch bobbles. I think he'll need eyes.