Weave In All Ends, Block Gently.

You thought we were done, didn’t you? Not quite yet. David and I have been at something of a loss as to what to do with this space. I’ve begun blogging at NEXT SIGNAL which will contain not only my knitting but also more personal posts about what I’m doing including cooking, dating, and anything else interesting. See you there!

- Rodger

When it comes to goodbyes, I seldom feel I’m particularly equipped to deal with the emotions that get all tied up within them. Portland is a very blessed city in that there are so many wonderfully talented people here, forming a strong and unbreakable community. I’m so glad to have become acquainted with these people, and even though a community meeting space has been lost, I know this wonderful community will find a new home.

In the meantime, a lot of my creative efforts have been refocused on Splendor, where, with my design partner, I will continue blogging about knitting and, by the end of this month, releasing several patterns for sale (and some freebies!) I also have a lot of other exciting prospects on the horizon, so you haven’t seen the last of my knitting yet

-David

Now for some closing numbers. We had a hard time picking just one, knowing that people would feel a range of emotions as they read this. So we’ve picked some happy, some sad, some hopeful, and some just fun.

Dye For Glory voting is up!

And you can click the link to vote: http://www.ravelry.com/socksummit

"Neon Bible" by Stevanie Pico

Stevanie and Larissa have both been dyeing up a variety of colorways, I think they have an entry in nearly every category. This one is probably my favorite, though. It’s done using only natural dyes and very clever techniques.

It’s A Party!

That one time at the yarn store...

You all may recall some time ago when we had our first over night party at the store. Well it’s that time again! July 11th, from 7 pm to July 12th, 8am. Come stay up all night, eating, knitting, watching movies. I think Hannah is intent on getting some henna in there, and we’ll have a few door prizes for those lucky enough to get them. The cost? Just $10.00. We know that times are tight, so we’ve cut the normal price of attending down drastically so that even those of you who might not have come in the past can come on down. We do provide a place to set up an air mattress to bed down in, or you’re welcome to sleep at home and come back in the morning for a breakfast we provide! Dinner is a potluck, which as I said starts at 7 on the 11th. I hope y’all will consider coming, because it’s one of the most fun things we do here at the store and there’s not much funnier than a miscrossed cable at 4 AM (ask me how I know.)

- Rodger

Excuse The Tears

Blog post about TNNA soon, but right now we’re handling an unexpected loss to our lives and community. Please excuse the tears.

A gathering in memory of our friend Michele Gibson will be held at Abundant Yarn & Dyeworks from noon to 1 PM, June 23rd 2009. Her family will be present and friends of Michele’s are welcome to come share a good story, a good cry, and wonderful memories of a lady who has left such a mark on our community.

- Rodger

Planner, Party

Wasn’t that last post from David nice? Now I can stop poking him to post on here.

In my job descrption I am lucky enough to be responsible for the classes that happen here at the store. Right now I’ve planned out a lot of our July schedule and I’m waiting for confirmations from our wonderful teachers. In July all of our classes are free when you buy the materials here in the shop. We have a great line-up and I’m proud to have our teachers so ready to instruct and provide their knowledge to you, the wonderful, willing public.

Yada yada, onto the thing that’s got me REALLY excited.

About 3 years ago Jenna and Hannah had this great idea for having an all-night knitting party in the summer, to celebrate the shortest night of the year and it was a roaring success! Some of you may recall my post about it oh-so-many-moons ago. Well it’s coming up again. Sadly, it won’t be the shortest night of the year but it will be in the summer. Second weekend of July. For 10 bucks you get a night of movies, coffee, help, we’ll even have a contest and a few clinics to address specific issues/techniques.

This button here will let you add the event to your Google calendars so that you don’t forget! You can sign up over the phone, in the shop, or on our wesbsite.

This whole day I just feel like a big ol’ party planner. Now all I need is some celebrity clients and I can hit the big time!

- RodgerPM

Is This What Adulthood Feels Like?

Today after I woke up and showered I grabbed the early bus to work and after I got off I walked into Lili’s Pattiserie just up the street from the shop to grab a turkey and Swiss croissant for breakfast. My point here is: I never, ever do that. Waking up early? Practicing a routine? Who the hell am I, my mother?

Not that I wouldn’t want to be my mother. Well, I mean, I wouldn’t want to be my mother. But I wouldn’t mind bearing a strong resemblence in temperment and since I do it’s just as well that I don’t mind.

Anyway, it was sort of pleasing to take the uncrowded bus and the leisurely walk and eat the delicious pastry. I mean, I didn’t woop and holler or skip but it felt productive and fun. I vacuumed the shop when I got in, I put away the yarns from last night, prepped for our sale today. (Yay Mother’s Day!)

Is this what it feels like to be a grown up? It’s not half bad – except for the going to bed early.

Contest, Contest, We’re Having A Contest!

Call the shop if you have any questions about entering the contest or the retreat!

503-258-9276

Some Fresh Energy

Holy. Carp.

Hi guys! We’ve been busy here at the store. Um, let’s see…where to start.

We have new owners, our dear Hannah’s parents Jim and Linda who are ridiculously sweet and well-adjusted. They are awesome.
An upgraded inventory management system which has fixed many glitches and given us much cause for rejoicing. Also replacing the previous problems with some new ones that we discover anew every day. It’s like an easter egg hunt. Only the eggs are spiky. And poisoned.

A new website and online store which have radically altered our world. It’s alllll about the online store at work right now. “Did you take pictures for X?” “Is Y class up yet?” “Does it have Z already?” Oy!

A new store layout. Everything’s arranged by weight and fiber. Worsted weights are all together, and sorted into different blends. It’s. Lovely.

New Assistant Manager, our dear Hannah.

A new employee, David, who will ALSO be blogging here now that a lot of my time has been sucked away into class scheduling and making sure Stev isn’t forgetting to go to sleep, eat, or go to the bathroom. Don’t worry, I’ll still post from time to time but you should be expecting the majority of the content to be coming from David. Be nice to him, or I will come back and give you all such a kick!

There is sooo much more coming up, but I just had to let ya’ll know what’s going on here at home. News from abroad soon, I promise!

Designs by Marcie Nishioka

Marcie [Ravelry link][Blogger link] has a minimalist, whimsical feeling to her patterns which I like. For instance, I can think of no use for but still adore her knitted cherries – Complete with stems!

Ice Cream Cones by Marcie Nishikoa Copyright 2008

Her patterns are for a few hats, and several small items. It’s playful in a way that a lot of people try to get at but instead of getting wacky she just puts a yarny twist on everyday things – From Ice Cream Cones to Olives

Knitted Cherries by Marcie Nishikoa Copyright 2008

I can see a lot of these things as toys for kids, or just small pretties for yourself. I keep picturing my friend’s dauhter with a bucketful of unmeltable ice cream cones to play with when she’s a bit older and my heart just melts a bit.

These things all seem to be pretty simple knits, using techniques any adventerous beginner could learn pretty quickly. The most advanced would be her Snowflower hats which use stranded colorwork but her Button Tab hat is a great spin on a beginner project and allows plenty of room for personalization which is key, I think, for knitters who want to make things their own.

Japanese Maples

My beautiful sweater is no match for the chill of my heart.

I did this sweater so quickly that many people commented that they don’t even remember seeing me work on it. It’s true, I can churn out a stockinette sweater in a week or two depending on the amount of time I have and how much ripping out has to be done. This one lingered for want of cardiganization. Now that the final process has been completed, you may bask in its glorious fall hue as I have been. It’s very cozy, and surprisingly heavy. My Beaverslide cardigan is much lighter than this one, despite being of a thicker yarn. I think that in the end, I like both of them equally though I may have a slight preference for woolen spun yarns.

This sweater is entirely seamless, with a set-in sleeve a la Zimmermann. Honestly, do I knit anything else? I thought not. The set in sleeve and I have some disagreements. I like to add gussets to sweaters, while the set in sleeve seems to feel that this is most inappropriate and protests by being a bit…mutton-sleevish. It’s not enough to bother me a great deal, but I think in the future I would use only half gussets on the body of the sweater when doing set-in sleeves. On the other hand, my lovely saddle shoulder sweaters have complained not a whit about gussets. and for that I love them.

 

Garter stitch is good for everything

 

 

On the button bands, I decided to do a few things that dear Mrs. Zimmermann suggests. One was to decrease by one third across the back neck halfway through the band. Those of you who say that one ought to bind off and pick up for necklines will be happy to know that this prevents any sagging, flaring, cursing, or unsightly dancing on the part of my neck band. He is perfectly well behaved and lays just as one would wish. I also did mitered corners on the neckband as well, accentuated by a slipped stitch on the wrong side rows. Elizabeth says to purl it – I say to hell with purling. This is a garter stitch button band.

At first I was concerned by the ribbing at the bottom pulling too much and causing the button band to gap awkwardly, but even when fully buttoned the sweater looks well and I have a penchant for leaving the bottom and top buttons undone in most cases anyway. I blame Auntie Mame for my heedless bohemian dress.

Oh yes, the specifics.

Yarn: Cascade 220 in Japanese Maples (heathered) and Natural. Half dozen of the first, one of the other.

Needles: US 3 for the ribbing and body, US 2 for the button- and neckband. I knit loosely, sue me.

Gauge: 5.5 stitches to the inch or something like it. The Heathers of Cascade 220 are thinner than the others, so I find that knitting them on a 3 for me yields a nice fabric. Knitting the thicker colours on 3’s also yields a nice fabric. I don’t pretend to understand why.

Pattern: My dears, if you really think that at this time of life I have any sweaters knit from patterns you have not been reading with us nearly long enough.