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.

Fingerless Mitts

Fingerless Mitts
Originally uploaded by acornbud

Pattern: Susie's Reading Mitts, by Janelle Masters from Dancing Ewe Yarns
Needles: size 2
Yarn: Woolarina handpaint. Repurposed from Ella.
Modified for smaller gauge.


Great pattern, fun, fast knit.

Redwood Lacey Hoodie, FO

Pattern: Lacy Leisure Hoodie, by Gayle Bunn, from Creative Knitting, May 2008
Yarn: 7 skeins of Berroco Ultra Alpaca, colorway Redwood. I had only a few inches left.
Needles: Size 8 circs
Mods: I eliminated ribbing at sleeves and body of the sweater. I knit most of it in the round. Picked up stitches around the armholes and knit in the round, top down. I missed increasing stitches after the ribbing so the pattern did not match up in shoulders:(. My sleeves came out quite wide. If I had more yarn, I would have made the sweater a little longer.

Comments: I love knitting with Ultra Alpaca. It slips smoothly on the needles. I am a bit done with fuzzy yarn for a while, though. I bought so much of this yarn on sale at Webs, and I have finally used it all up!! The pattern is well written and easy to follow. The lace is very pretty and easy to remember.

Bangle

Bangle
Originally uploaded by acornbud

Gypsy Wire Bangle from "MakeWireJewelry" free download from Beading Daily. Tutorial by Janice Berkebile' Ruby-zoisite beads, recycled bells from earring. I tried out the liver of sulfur gel. The project sheet adds one more bead on every other cluster, but I didn't find anything in stash to match. This was a quick project and completely from stash!

Handspun Kitty

Blogless Sandy and I are having fun learning to spin. An Opalism (after the Hyperactive Monkey who is our mentor) is "never buy only 2 oz of roving". Now that I've spun some yardage, I understand why. What can you do with only a few yards of anything? Thus the mini-cat. The brown yarn in this mini-cat (4 inches tall) amounted to ~36 yards. One single is bamboo merino, and the other single is merino. I used every bit the yarn up. The white is some bandless ball of cream stuff. I knit him up on size 2 needles using Brownie the Cat pattern (link on side bar). His eyes are needle felted on. I was trying for the yellow/green eyes like my folks cat. Perhaps he needs a mouth.

Totoro has a shelf at Windward Mall!!!

Animation Magic, Windward Mall
Originally uploaded by acornbud

Totoro are pretty rare around town when compared to Ms. Kitty, so I was happy to discover he has part of a shelf at Animation Magic in Windward Mall. Good thing world domination is not part of Totoro's philosophy as it is common knowledge one shelf leads to another.

Today was a spinning day. I got to work with my Bosworth Drop spindle on SW merino wool/cashmere sample from Corgi Hill Farm. It was most luscious and the spindle is more than!!! I am going to order another Bosworth spindle. Blogless Sandy and I both worked on our plain white stuff...a little boring, but we agree we both love our Majacraft wheels. She made the best lunch of Chinese chicken salad and pork roast with lavender rub. As we say here in Hawaii...onolicious! I even went home with leftovers for dinner! Thank you!

Sandy has a very sweet kitty named Koa and a fish named Cupcake.


A surprise was waiting when I got home. Polwarth Roving by Woolgathering in the mail from the Knitted Brow herself, in these great blues. I've really been wanting to try some. Thank you, Kim!


On the knitting seen, are wips and more wips. I had dropped Lacey hoodie in the ugh pile, but keep getting it out as it seems the least of the all the other evil wips. It's all the mods (knitting in the round and leaving out the ribbing) I tried to do and the fact that I am really short some yarn. It was chilly here last night so I caught myself wearing it even though it has only one sleeve. The sleeves came out like giant bells.

Card Day with Sister Rita

Card Day with Sister Rita
Originally uploaded by acornbud

Today's card day theme was thank you cards. Totoro was recycled from my calendar cutouts. Sister Rita was in a Valentine's Day mood, so the theme shifted.

We both loved the Sizzix flourish and the puffy rabbit stickers. All the prefab stickers and things make creating so easy.

Totoro clock

Totoro clock
Originally uploaded by acornbud

MDF Acorn shape from damboisedesigns etsy store. Clock movement from Klockit is much more quiet and hopefully be more durable then the one I got a the local craft store. The decoupage is made from a Totoro Calendar cover sheet.

My atomic clock movement did not fit, so I'll try another one and have the Landcaster drill a recess for the hex nut. I got the acorn shape in 2008
and it just sat until I finally got the paint and the Modgepodge. The hardest thing for me is waiting for the coats of Modgepodge to dry. In the end it was worth the wait.

Totoro Tuesday

We are taking a break.

Happy Totoro Holidays 2010!

Catbus Tuesday

The catbus is one of the coolest things. The Totoro ride around in the catbus and all that flying around at night creates the wind. I don't think there is a limit as to how many Totoro can fit in one catbus. It is a very plush and intuitive ride. It always takes you exactly where you want to go, even if the place is where the lost baby sister is. It has mice for headlights.





I don't have very many catbuses in my stash. It's all about Totoro, you know.

I'm still looking for a topper for my tree.


Pattern: Michael's Crochet Christmas Tree
Yarn: Plymouth Encore
Hook: size H

I added a crochet chain for a silver/white yarn and eyelash yarn from stash. I used one strand of mini-lights. I wish I had two of them. Blogless Sandy gave me a whole mess of felted acorns. Thanks, Sandy! They were perfect for my tree.



The Ginger Totoro were a little overcooked, but tasty. I'm going to try and frost the next batch with some Royal Icing. After reading up, I am a little paranoid about the Salmonella so will go with the meringue powder type.

Tuesday and more Totoros!

Here are 3 Totoro cups. The first is Noritake and has the usual beautiful and intricate designs. I so love the Japanese attention to detail! The second is a mug. I can't remember where I got this one from. Maybe I'll see if my coffee tastes better in it. The last is fan art created by placidrain.




The latest gray Totoro are helping me write my pattern down. I'm trying to use Excel and used ChemKnit's tutorial as a starting place. Let me say, my Excel skills are rudimentary at best and I'm in awe of those who can actually make Excel do complex math! It's really an amazing thing, but then I digress. I found two free fonts to try out...Aire River Knitting Font and David Xenakis Knitter's symbols. The trick is to have a grid that actually fits the font and double digit numbers and still print out on one page. I tried the trick of zooming the excel page and doing a page capture but the numbers and symbols went all wonky on me. I can tell this is going to be painful and long, lol.


The bigger gray Totoro is a mystery yarn, and I'm not sure it will take to needle felting of the facial features. So for now, he is blind and will only show his back side.

They are sitting in front of 1290 yds. of redwood mix Ultra Alpaca which I finally wound into cakes. I'm not sure what it will be. I'm feeling pullover with cables for Madrona. Tacoma is chilly in February.

Totoro Tuesday

Thanksgiving flew by! We cheated this year and got the turkey dinner from the big box store. The turkey was very good, imo. Dad actually got dressed for the occasion and said he had a good time, so I am grateful for that.

I found a cute, free acorn and leaf pattern for my Totoro. I used size one needles and left over sock yarn.



There was no left over turkey for the bento box.


I have not used my Totoro utensils, either. I like the little chopsticks.

I managed a couple FO's.


Pattern: Monkey Socks, by Cookie A
Yarn: Lorna's Laces, colorway Roadside Gerry
Needles: size 1
Mods: I did 5 repeats instead of 6 for the leg.
When I saw this combination on Rav, I knew it would be the perfect combo. I hope they fit my niece up there in the frigid north. I really enjoyed working with this yarn.



Pattern: Jacques Cousteau Hat, by Minusta
Yarn: Silja Sock Yarn by Gjestal
Needles: Size 3
Mods: none

This hat is nice and stretchy. It is very pointy at rest, but rounds out nicely when worn. The pattern is very easy to follow. I made the larger size. I may make a worsted version in the future.



I had a very productive earring day with the blogless muffy multitasker. My favorite are the "package" earrings. I'll have to go find some little Swarovski cubes to make a couple more.

And last but not least...dum dum dee dum!!!!

My Majacraft Rose. She suffered a little travel damage, so replacements are on the way, but she still spins wonderfully. I just couldn't wait.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!
Originally uploaded by acornbud

I am so much to be thankful for on this glorious day. Wishing everyone life's bounty!

Thankful for Totoro

Thank you Mr. Hayazaki for creating Totoro! Without you, I would have no Totoro's to count.


In this photo are 2 wallets, 3 totes and one camera bag. I use the camera bag and love that fact that it attaches with a carabiner. They are such cool gadgets, imo. Most of these bags were gifts. I do use them occasionally. So far the wallets have just stayed in stash, but I'm tempted to use the one on the left. I'm thankful for friends and family, who put up with me and enable my Totoro habit!

On the knitting scene:

Invisibility Clapotis continues to languish. I may have to mark it hibernating. The only good thing about Harry Potter #7 being divided into two movies is that I may yet finish this scarf in time for the second installment. Otherwise it's just plain torture to make me wait.

Btw, she who rarely blogs and I went to see it last night. The theater was very uncrowded for the 6:30 pm showing. Chris sported her Griffindor scarf. I won't say much about the movie for fear of spoilers. I enjoyed it and have started re-reading book 7.

Grover Hat was well received. This smile says it all! It gave this crafter great joy!












I rarely repeat a pattern when it comes to garments but Gnome #5 has joined he buddies. I love this Alan Dart pattern, especially the small and medium sizes. I knit them in the round as I dread seaming. This ball of Kureyon 264 had quite a surprising array of colors.





















Stogie Blue Crossed Slouch is my first wearable garment made from my hand spun. The pattern Star Crossed Slouchy Beret by Natalie Larson from Strands of Me worked well. I used size 9 and 11 needles.

I hope everyone's Thanksgiving plans are going well!

Totoro Tuesday Comes Around Again!

2/3 of these zippered Totoro's have a bag in side. I don't have the heart to use them as they may get dirty. I think the other one is a coin purse or maybe a cell phone bag. The softee just sits on the acorn, looking charming. It was a dark and dreary morning, and the lighting was suboptimal.

Blogless Sandy gave me some black, single ply wool so I made a cat. The model, Kiko, has a habit of stretching out, often on her back when she is relaxing. It's quite unlike any other cat I've met. The real Kiko only has a tiny white spot on her chest has the strangest green/yellow eyes.


















It's been awhile since my boys were toddlers and they never watched sesame street. They were Ninja Turtle kind of guys. A FB friend was talking about her son's love for "Gro Gro" and it became a bit of an obsession. After doing a web search, I discovered that Grover is NOT related to the other blue guy and has pink nose. The hat is modeled by a Care Bear their grandmother made for the boys.


Pattern: Blue Fuzzy Monster Who Likes Baked Goods Hat

Needles: 10.5 circular and dpns, size 3 for eyes and nose
Yarn: Red Heart worsted and Nohea eyelash

Saturday I went to a baby luau for one of my former coworkers. The tradition here is to throw a big feast for the first birthday. Guess back in the day it was cause for a big celebration as infant mortality was high. The food was great, and the music too. Wouldn't you know my camera battery would die before the baby woke up! I did get one shot of Heeia Pond.


My blogless card-making partner has returned from her log cabin building on Camano Island and we had our Thanksgiving card day. I was quite happy with the results! Next up will be Christmas tags.
Tomorrow I'm participating in a succulent wreath class at Wahiawa Botanical Garden. It should be fun!

And finally, the big news. My spinning wheel order is being processed by Majacraft. I decided on the Rose because of it's more classic look. I hope it gets here from New Zealand before Christmas!

FO, Mystery Sock KAL 2010

mystery KAL 2010
Originally uploaded by acornbud

Finally done for Socktoberfest, Kirsten Kapur's (Through the Loops) Mystery sock KAL, 2010. Thanks, Kirsten!
Yarn: Shaeffer Anne

I did two at a time magic loop. My sock mojo is low, and the one 3 stitch twisting row did me in. I missed on twist row on the leg, but decided to knit on. The yarn has a bit of a halo. I love the colorway. I frogged a scarf for this project and have a ton of yarn left. It's just a bit scratchy for a neck, imo.

I love my red socks:)