Button Wars

So I was stash-busting the other day. And I happened upon some Manos del Uruguay Wool Clasica and I decided to make the Blackberry cowl.

I finished it (whilst watching "Strangers on a Train", totally creepy movie!) and then I found that I needed some buttons.

I don't have a lot of buttons like some other knitters do.

These ones are the only really nice ones I have.

The thing is, I love them. I don't want to give them away.

But I don't have any other buttons.

What's a girl to do? Buy more buttons I guess. ;)

*knit 1 row, purl 1 row, rep from *

I'm working on a sweater right now.

28 inches of stockinette stitch.

This is just the back piece.

I should have done this one in the round.

My Space

Look!

It's my very own studio! Okay, it's just a work-bench in my basement but it's still my studio.
But what I'm going to do in it, I'm not really sure.
I'm thinking dyeing yarn.

I've been reading up on it and starting to gather my supplies, and I think it's going to work for me.

I've never dyed yarn before but I have dyed fabric. It seems pretty easy.

I think I'm going to try easter egg dyes first, since I have them.

Guess what's in the magic garbage bag? A microwave! Yeah! Now I can stuff all the yarn I want in to there without making a mess of our nice microwave! (Yes, you can heat set dye in a micowave.)

I'm almost all set. I need yarn though, cheap yarn. Stuff to practice on. A trip to Michaels is in order!

Vacation, part v

On the last day of the vacation, we drove through Astoria. We enjoyed lunch at the amazing Bowpicker, the best fish and chips ever right across from the Columbia River Maritime Museum. We enjoyed views of the mighty Columbia, imagining what Lewis and Clark must have felt like.

Then we came home.

It's good to be home.

Vacation, part iv

Another part of my vacation that I will miss, is the chocolate dipped twinkies.

Oh! My twinkies! I shall miss you!

Vacation, part iii

I got to shop at one of my favorite LYSs on my vacation.

Creative Beginings.

And I was able to buy a bunch of yarn that I've never tried before!

Like Dye For Me, a yarn that is made for dying. I've never dyed any yarn before, that will be an adventure.

This is the sock yarn weight.

           

And this is the yummy llama sparkley stuff. Also Dye For Me. Yum!

I also got some Noro for the heck of it. I don't use Noro all that much, but I'm giving it a try.

Vacation, part ii

Much time was spent on the beach, relaxing.

And kite flying too.

Vacation, part i

Here's the knitting I did on vacation.

It's Hermione's hat from HBP.

It fits really nicely.

I'm going to try to wear it a lot this fall.

Home again, home again

Well my vacation just ended. I am happy to say that I did get some knitting done. Not to mention about $60 in yarn purchases. Posts to come. I've just gotta get settled in and take some photos.

Anchors Away

I'm all packed!

It's amazing how much yarn you can stuff into a suitcase.

Now if I only didn't have to worry about clothes.

Preperations, and Problems

My socks are too small. There, I said it! My vacation knitting is no more. Why knit on socks that are too small? And I don't have any easy projects just lying around. Nothing that’s summery and beach knit-y. I have Fair Isle. No.

Awwwwww. I was gonna tell you all about my socks! I had the posts all planed out, I was going to tell you that they were Charade socks, then I was going to make daily Charade quotes, because that is one of my favorite movies, and then I was going to tell you all about how cool it was that I was knitting Cary Grant socks and reading his biography. But now I can't! Because they're too small!

What am I going to take with me on vacation?!? There's less than 48 hours to find another pattern!

...I wish the knitting fairy would come and magically make my socks bigger.

A Pocket Full of Yarn

As I await my vacation eagerly, I have been trying to preoccupy myself.

Today I watched a handful of Miss Marple movies.

I love Miss Marple. She's really awesome and clever.

And she knits. You don't see Sam Spade doing that.

When I'm old, I want to be like Miss Marple. Clever, observant, kind, fearless, and smart. And also solve murder mysteries!

Places to go, part ii

On my vacation last year, we traveled farther down the Oregon coast then we will this year.
We went to a couple of yarn stores that I will miss this year.

In Manzanita,
T-Spot.

The store is small but good things come in all sizes.
Lots of really nice yarn, yummy chocolate, and tea too!
I didn't actually buy any yarn there (I spent my whole budget at the next yarn store,) but I did get the chocolate. And even if you're not a knitter, it's worth dropping by for!

I didn't get a picture of this next yarn shop, but I did get a picture of a cute puffin that lives in the great Oregon Coast Aquarium that's just down the road.


In Newport,
Yarn For All Seasons.

It has great sock yarns! I wish I could go there again and spend lots of money! And visit the animals at the aquarium. SAVE THE SNOWY PLOVERS!!! Yeah! Gosh I love those little guys.

Anyway,
if you're heading on down the Oregon coast, check out these shops. I'll have to explore some other LYSs this year. I wonder what there is around Seaside?

Surfer Girl

Here's a preview of vacation knitting.

Styled on my lovely polka-dot skim board.

Yarn: Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock Multi in the colorway Devon.

Pattern: well...
I'll give you a hint.

Getting warmer?

You know you have a knitting obsession...

...when you knit covers for the swiffer, and test different locations for taking pictures of it for your blog.