WOW! It's been a long time...!

Well, the California PTA Convention snuck up on me and it seems it's been non-stop since! I've barely had time to participate somewhat on Ravelry and post a few things here and there.

Here is what the outgoing California PTA President looked like at convention...
Seriously, there are conventions. PTA Conventions. And they are serious as they are funny.

Kinda weird to have those big ol' televising screens and the teleprompter screens on stage that people read from!

All the seats in front of ours were empty. I think because it was representing the San Jose District and since they were hosting, a bunch of them were running around and working.

The first time I ever attended one, it was so weird to realize what a huge organization it is. And can you tell who this is on stage, helping to give out Arts awards?


Carol Channing herself!



Anyways, the end of school year is a busy time of year, but I managed to get sucked in to an Ulmus KAL that Nartian told me about. The pattern is pretty awesome! I told Nartian that considering the combining of colors, opportunity to use two un-matched skeins of STR from the stash, the ease yet interest of the pattern I could see how this would be quite an attracting KAL. So far, not as popular as our sock KALs going on at the Socks that Rawk Rav group, but it kinda makes it easier for me to keep up with the posts!

So I will share with you my swatching efforts and hope to get some input on which combo I should go with! I swatched the following swatches and will show a close up of sections of the long swatch. Hopefully you will bear with me as I go through this!

So the whole Ulmus color decision started like this:

Hey Everybody, I think I'm going to use Jabberwocky and Rhode Island Red!

Then it went to this...Or perhaps this combination that once looked like 'no way' ...

might work afterall!


The resulting swatches ended up like this...




I suspect that with a whole knit shawl, the colors won't be quite as "blendy" and really, "blendy" is ok, but I'm thinking I may want it to look a bit more contrasty.

So I dove back into my stash and dug out other options to consider, revisiting some options I had earlier tossed aside: Harlotty, Rooster Rock, Brick, Muckity Muck...and even threw in Footsey Foo for a bit of fun!


And here lies my dilemma. Which to choose?

The Jabberwocky/Harlotty combo, shown in the lower portion of the pic below...

The Jabberwocky/Muckity Muck in the lower portion following? Or the Jabberwocky/Rare Gems (Firebird-ish) Silkie STR combo that is showing above it?

Then there was the Jabberwocky/Footsey Foo combo...the pale, minty green contrasting with the darker tones of Jabberwocky look kinda white, but what a contrast!
And a bit more subtle is the Harlotty/Footsey Foo combo...very nice together. Again, the Footsey Foo photographs a bit whiter than it actually looks in the swatch.
The Brick/Jabberwocky is awfully pretty...but maybe a bit more red that I'd like...

The Rooster Rock mad for an interesting pairing with the Brick, too...

So for now, I'm stuck! I like the Jabberwocky/Rhode Island Red combo, and think it may end up being more interesting once knit up as the shawl. The Harlotty/Jabberwocky is pretty pleasing to me, as is the Harlotty/Footsey Foo. I kinda like the Jabberwocky/Muckity Muck but don't think I want to go that orangey.

Of course, I will have to review all of this with Nartian tomorrow!

Oh well...not like I don't have other projects to work on. Like the crocheted scarf I decided to make for the Crochet Challenge at the Socks that Rawk group! It WAS about 85% done when I found a mistake. I tore back and it is probably more like 70% done now.
So this is it pre-crocheted...

I'm knitting the Verdure pattern with my skein of Korppi LSS

I'll post a finished pic when it is completed.

Stalking the BMFA Web site!

Is it wrong of me to be running over to the Blue Moon Fiber Arts site just to see if there may be some new colorway I missed?! Or perhaps one that I didn't realize I'm in love with and may need to add to my list?! Truly a sickness this love of all things BMFA!

Speaking of which, I'm loving this "Guppy" colorway! I'm sure I've missed more colorways that I "need", but I'm also trying to behave myself with the spending. I need to save up my BMFA purchase allowance for my 3 skeins of heavyweight STR in Brick for a February Lady...and a skein of Luscious Silk for the Giselle... and I'm sure there are others I need-like a sweater's worth of Jubilation or Beached! But for now I will continue to look and not buy and hope that I can hold out through Sock Summit!

My Shur' tugals in Lightweight STR Guppy! Not for me, but I am loving knitting it up!

My sister will get these.

I'm such a conflicted knitter! On one hand, I absolutely see the benefits of focusing on a few projects and actually getting them done! But right now, most of my focus is on 'deadline' knitting which translates to gifts, futher translating to 'not for me'.

These were spontaeously knit for a friend's friend's baby.

Now you know I don't just knit socks for ANYONE! But...apparently I do when inspired!

And even a complete set to gift at this past Saturday's shower! After knitting Baby Mine, I even had enough yarn left to make matching Saartje Booties! These were from a mill end I got at Stitches West in the Dutch Canyon colorway! LOVE the colors and my cousin favors greens over pinks and lavendars, so this was a good way to fuse the typical girly color spectrum with her favored green!


OK, so the Queen of Beads are for me, but they are socks and I sooooo want to get moving on my Giselle that has been hibernating by default. And meanwhile, even some gifts without deadlines (read: understanding friends who are willing to wait...) get put aside on hold. And yes, I still committed to making 2 squares for the Barnraising Quilts for Doctors Without Borders which is being coordinated to be unveiled and raffled/auctioned at the upcoming Sock Summit. I have until June 9 to get the squares in. So for now, Giselle is put aside but not forgotten...

So all is well with knitting progress considering the amount I time I am able to devote to it between the PTA, PPS (Parents for Public Schools) and regular school events... I guess it is the same old frustration-so many projects, so little time!!!

April Antics Craft Fair

In the interest of helping Sile (Knit-One-One) get the word out (not that I have much of a huge readership...), I wanted to pass this on! You can read about it at her blog here.

The Crafts fair is this Saturday from 11am-5pm at the Knit-One-One Studio. This is where Rocky (RockinKnit), Marisol (Purls Just Wanna Have Fun) , Nell (Chickenknits) and I took our dying class with Scout! I see that CocoKnits will be there, as well as Stitch Jones. I've never gotten any Stitch Jones yarn yet...hmmm...may need some!

My Saturday schedule is filled with a PPS (Parents for Public Schools) Meeting and a shower, but I"m hoping to fit the fair in between the activities, since I will be passing by that way to the shower. But my mom will be with me, which will absolutely cramp my style!

I SO heart Sile! (Who's name I cannot type correctly cuz I don't know how to do that dash thingie over the "i", but it's "Síle" (pronounced Sheila)-dang, I'm clever! I just cut and pasted that from her email! ;) Anyways, she is the greatest and maybe you'll happen to be able to stop on by for the craft fair. Looks like it may be a monthly thing, so something to take note of!

Looking at the vendor list and goodies, I think I may just need a 'sweater swine'! Too cute, no?

Still behind

It hardly seems like it's been a week and a half since I returned from the Pacific Northwest! I have had a busy week and am still not settled back in!

We returned on a Tuesday night, 10pm, and I went to work the next day. Thank God I have Fridays off! Of course, Easter followed that Sunday, then Monday-PTA meeting; Tuesday-cooked a double batch of turkey chili, two pans of cornbread, a pan of coffee cake and made a double batch of coleslaw for a Habitat for Humanity Build-a-thon fundraiser; Wednesday-conducted said fundraiser; Friday-School Site Council Meeting in the afternoon followed by PTA BINGO NIGHT fundraiser; TODAY-report to the East Bay for the Build-a-thon and spent the day helping to frame a house. (All the hammering promises sore arm muscles! Hope it won't affect the knitting!)

Here, our team raises our first wall! We completed most of the framing today; the exterior walls and most of the interior walls!

Tomorrow? Possibly brunch with our friend; later in the day, a "Teatime for Moms". And of course, I said I'd make something to bring. San Antonio Quinoa salad is fairly quick and easy-thank heavens for quick and easy fixings!

And why it took so long to journey back?

On our way out, we found the waterfall at Port Ludlow!

We stopped off in Port Gamble. Look what I found...

Yep! YARN! And fiber, too. I couldn't resist getting a few items-thanks for the tip-off, Kristen!

We cut over to the coast to check out a lighthouse...
It was already closed for the day by the time we arrived. But we still got to enjoy the view. And Lil' Emp got to read about Gray Whales.


And there was another lighthouse...

With beaches to explore...

Look! I even found a mushroom growing in the sand under a picnic table!

We enjoyed a sunset and we were on the road again...

There were more coasts and lighthouses to explore...
Whale bones to see...
And a trip down memory lane for me...

I hadn't been to the Glass Beach in Fort Bragg in probably nearly 25 years! It had been an old dump site and you can find remnants left from that time. Glass pieces are now polished into stones and here, some chess pieces are 'melted' into the rocks. I almost seem to recall that hot metal was poured into the waters. Maybe this explains the fusion of rocks and chess pieces?

On the knitting front, other than the Baby Mine I completed, I finally got the Shurt'agal KAL socks started! I'll try and get a picture of the sock posted next time.

Sock Camp Part II

My last post was so long and yet there is more to talk about! The crafts portion I had started and meant to post here, so you already got a bit of a preview.

As I'd said, Cockeyed didn't disappoint-we made Joe's Crab Sacks-just for our crabby knitting projects! Non-sewn and silver/gold grommets! We even used some spinning skills to make our drawstrings for the bags-in wonderful, coordinating Spinel and Brick colorways!

IrishGirlieKnits shows off her new Crab Sack! Just needs some grommets and it's good to go!

As if that weren't enough, we also had the opportunity to make some sea-creature stitch markers! (Photo in my last entry...)

But we never did find out why this item was in our goodie bags...
A pickle fork. And I don't believe that Cockeyed has broken her silence on this one, yet...

The Homework...

I shared my homework project in an earlier post. As always, there were quite the incredible projects and while I spent most of my time trying to figure out the best way to get my homework done 'quick and dirty', others put alot of time, planning and effort into their projects. (OK, I did end up putting alot of time, thought and effort into mine, too. Planning? Not so much. For me, things tend to just kinda 'happen'...)

Samro did a whole canvassed piece! Including a crab knit from
EMBROIDERY FLOSS!

Cat and Stephanie didn't let us down; indeed, their previous homework was again recycled-
the chicken now has a magic boat making it a "Sea Creature".
And Cat even knit a Magic "Sea-ji" Board, or whatever it was she called it!
(You had to be there...)

Camp Antics...

Yes, there were camp antics! But never as done before! This year, it was Knitting Jeopardy, a spontaneous round of Colorway Charades and Let's Make a Deal!

my blurry pic of HizKnits wearing his prize from Let's Make a Deal...there were other prizes including BMFA yarns-STR, Lucious Silk Single...and more!

And even a Scavenger Hunt that required Kelly's lipstick print on a napkin...and even this...

A picture of a Heron was on our scavenger list, and look what I saw during an afternoon walk? Gentle encouragement to take in the beauty of our surroundings woven into our activities...I think this is a BMFA trademark!

The Rumors...

Twice a year Sock Camp!...seriously. It's definitely in the stars.
The yarn mill is purchasing new equipment!...At our opening reception, Tina was in tears as she read a letter from the Evil Yarn Mill acknowledging that a problem did, indeed exist with the yarns they had been producing for her! A combination of machinery and worker-bee human issues were explained in this letter along with their commitment to replace the faulty machinery and a promise of improvement and happy yarn for all!
Two New Cat Books! A new one is in the works and is slated to be ready for Sock Summit! And the following book is stewing, too! (but then again, it's Cat-what else could we expect?)
HizKnits is not REALLY a Vegetarian! Straight from Mom Ann's mouth! Go ahead, offer him some shrimp...
Tina truly IS a Vegetarian! Really. Go ahead, offer her some crab legs...



Other great things about camp...

Meeting on-line friends for the first time! I got to meet KnittingGolfer Marcy!

Nartian and KnittingGolfer

Seeing "Charter" camp members!

Stariel returned for the our third year!

I got to have daily Tina hugs!

And convening with my local knitting buddies!

Old and New! And well...Yarn Harlot counts cuz she has to travel
so much she might as well be considered 'local'!

NEW yarn COLORWAYS!!!

And after camp?...Time to enjoy the surroundings and search for a waterfall with Lil' Emp and SassyMan!


Thanks so much, Tina, Cockeyed, and the rest of the Camp Knitty HaHa gang! You always make camp an adventure with lots of fun, friends, sharing and yes...even a bit of knitting and learning!

-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-

And now for some miscellaney...

I guess I should show you my hand-dyed yarns...


We explored our favorites, our likes, our loves, our surrounded by colors. We discussed colors that were absent in our lives, or present and ignored or under-appreciated.

Our mission? Dye up a skein with our favorite colors. Next, dye something with our uncomfortable colors. Last, we got to play with our 'love' colors again.

It's true. I'm not a pastel girl...

And some non-camp stuff...

And I am happy to report that I not only started something on my way back from camp...

Baby Mine, knit with med. wt. Socks that Rock in Dutch Canyon. The sleeves are from the same skein, but the portion they were knit from had a twisted effect, making it a tad lighter in shade and giving it a tweedy effect...

But I finished it today! Just need to sew on some buttons and block it!


And since I learned that yet another baby girl is on her way in July, I will use this camp yarn for another!

This is my "Pastel Play" from class

Camp Knitty HA Ha!

Like I said earlier, by now Camp Knitty ha Ha has been well-covered in the Blogosphere, but I will attempt a rendition of my own.

As in past years, we were broken into tribes. I was in the Peekytoes; there were also Fiddlers, Hermits and hmmm...one other I can't think of offhand! This year due to Rosario Resort on Orcas Island being closed, our venue was moved to Port Ludlow Resort, a bit further southwest and more conveniently accessed with road access from the south and a more frequent ferry from Seattle to Bainbridge Island. As always, Tina did an awesome job finding a perfect venue! No underwater knitting competitions as in the past, but jacuzzi tubs in all the Inn rooms!

The Inn at Port Ludlow Resort

Lil' Emp actually prefers Orcas Island because, "it's an ISLAND..." I suggested it may have seemed more like an island had we ferried in from Seattle, but he said, "No. You can get there by a bridge. ISLANDS don't have BRIDGES." 8 yos have quite the wit and reason about them, don't they? Not as easily fooled, but still easily satisfied.


By adult standards, I think the campers were happier at Port Ludlow Resort given the cell phone availability, internet access and the AWESOME food-not to mention the daily happy hour!

Who (but my WW leader) would oppose two three HOT meals a day and two desserts per day? The nice thing, too, is that our Vegetarian campers didn't have to go hungry! Or at least sustain themselves on bread, cheese and salad.

Our usual evening reception got us pumped up for camp, and the next few days were GO, GO, GO! Sadly there was no Cookie A class this year, but we did have Nathania back helping out and leading a yoga class (that I somehow never was prepared to attend and didn't!) Don't get me wrong, the times I've done yoga in the past, I've enjoyed it. But I have to do it on my terms, which means: comfy stretch pants and a soft, wireless bra! Oh-and the camp store can NOT be open with newly-released camp colors available in limited quantities! My rules.

About the Shop:
Rumor had it that a couple of boxes were left behind and to be expected later. I held out and only purchased a couple of STR the first night. An added surprise was that Tina had a bunch of her old spindles out for sale. I scored an Avi Wasserman spindle! Special as it is that it was once Tina's, I've brought it home and spun with it and have decided that (for me, at least), it is prettier than functional. It just doesn't spin the way my Bosworth does. But...being the Spindling Idiot I am, it could just be the lighter weight and perhaps I need to spin my merino silk or other light, thin stuff on this spindle.

So...Tina had posted on her blog, soliciting colorway suggestions to dye for camp. Then she followed up and mentioned that she would be bringing some NEW colorways! I only purchased one of the new colorways, "Beached". I think Nartian scored just about all of them (well, except for maybe Crabby McHappypants), so if you want to see them, she's got them over at her blog. I regret not getting The Claw. Plankton Ooze, Scum Bubbles and Crabby McHappypants were other new colors.

The Classes:
As always, the classes were incredible! Cat taught yet ANOTHER "Sockitecture" which will be the subject of her next book she is hoping to have ready by Sock Summit in August. Cat is such an amazing person-so many ideas and it never stops! She already has her next book stewing, too! As a little bonus, she shared with us a stretchy bind-off she learned.

My tribe had Tina the next day for Dying. Could everyone have been in sheer heaven from getting to dye with the Depraved Dyer, herself? We shared our color preferences and got to explore them on yarn. We learned about Tina's inspirations and approach to dying. Mostly, we learned there is a heck of alot about translating color to yarn in a meaningful way. Lots of trial and error and work in keeping track of it all to recreate later. We only scratched the surface. Tossing dyes onto yarn is easy; making it translate into something specific and being able to repeat it? Entirely different.

Look what Nartian dyed!

JC did a phenomenol job in teaching us various bind-offs. Not just teaching various ones, but categorizing and explaining the role of a bind-off and why certain methods work more for specific type projects depending on what you want your finished result to be. JC covered alot of grounds and is so thorough!

Then...there was Yarn Harlot Stephanie. "Knitting for Speed and Efficiency". She offered many interesting tidbits about knitting, as well as societal influences on how we knit now and before. This segued into her conclusion that "Lever Knitting" or "Irish Cottage Knitting" is the most efficient and proceeded to teach us this method. Of course, I think most of us left that class wanting to pull out our straight needles or regretting getting rid of them all! I'm definitely planning on conquering this style of knitting in the future!

Crafts:

Cockeyed never lets us down and this year, it was all about "Joe's Crab Sack"!



There is so much to report! I have separated my entries and will continue next time. Next up? Homework. Camp Antics. Crafts. Rumors...and MORE...!