Magnificent Multnomahs

Magnificent Multnomahs, originally uploaded by mamakinznot.

I'm really loving this pattern. It's easy enough to be relaxing, yet have some interest when the fan & feather comes around. And working with Wollmeise for the first time is really a treat. I'm so glad that the first thing I make in this yarn is for my daughter. What Wollmeise is to yarn, my daughter is to people-the very best-, and she's my first. Every year at this time I get all teary eyed and bore her to tears with the entire story of how I'd been told I couldn't get pregnant. That there was no medical reason, but that it just happened that way sometimes. Since I'd tried for years & used everything the doctors could invent all to no avail, her arrival was the best thing I'd ever been blessed with in my life. My son gets the same story about his birth when his day nears. They tolerate me and my overflowing heart every year, God bless them. One day I hope they know the same joy they give me when they have children of their own. Then we can cry happy tears together.

In the meantime, I've been knitting away on some birthday gifts for my girl and the first one I finished is the Multnomah Shawl with Wollmeise Twin in Sabrina. It's a magnificent color and makes me think of being in a forest of evergreens; and somehow Claudia managed to dye fiber to bring that very combination of subtle colorways to perfection. I made a mosaic of the Multnomah and my quality control Kitty on the job. This one is much smaller than the first one I made. I used one skein of DIC Knitosophy for the garter and one for the fan and feather section so it turned out quite large, and I really liked it since it would go with anything. I'm pretty sure it's going to be the first thing made jsut for me.mwahahaha

Now I've started my first Clapotis. I'm making it in Madelinetosh's worsted in Toast and I love the color variations and the feel of the yarn. It looked a bit small to me for a wrap so I added 2 repeats on the increase section...now that I've started dropping stitches, I'm realizing the genius of the pattern and how much larger it's going to get. So my next concern is having enough yarn...it's always something. This one is going to be a gift for my daughter's birthday too. I should have taken out stock in these yarn companies-I could have retired in a week.

So, today I give you the photo mosaic of the Sabrina Multnomah....and the quality control manager here.

Unbelievably Talented Women

I'm stealing most of this post from the Phat Fiber Sample Box group on Ravelry because nobody says it better than Jessie and I want to share the talents of some of our terrific members.
First up is Beth, who is soon to be published for her incredible knitting bags-well, bags you wouldn't even think of as just for knitting since they're so beautiful. I especially have a thing for her Arsenic and Old Lace caddy...it's calling my name...loudly! She also spins and has some stunning batts & yarn at her shop. Stop by the Phat Fiber site for more info, a chance to browse her shop & even win one of her handmade bags.

Blue Mountain Handcrafts Bag Giveaway!

In case you haven't heard the secret- Our Beth from Blue Mountain Handcrafts will be featured in Interweave Crochet very soon! Look for her hand sewn bags under the new and notable section. You know what that means... her bags will be in even higher demand! If you were thinking of purchasing one, now would be the time!

Beth is a temptress of the worst *ahem* BEST kind! I have spun her batts and absolutely adore them! As I prepare and plan for the Ravelympics, The rainbow-dyed BFL I purchased from her is beckoning me!

Rachel, at Counting Sheep Farm has a site you can get lost in. It's informative, interesting, shows off her farm beautifully & it even has an easy way to purchase her beautiful batts, I'm particularly partial to The Bog Farm Fresh Batt as the colors remind me of the ocean and I think I'm ready for spring already. She carries beautiful yarn by My8kidsmom & I'm totally in love with "Fright", a hand dyed sock yarn that reminds me of Van Gogh's Starry Night, it's as if she lifted the colors right off the painting. She's also having a giveaway of her amazing lace yarn & a pattern to make a spectacular shawl. I'm really loving that! Again, stop by the Phat Fiber site for more information, and here's a sneak peek snatched right from Jessie again-nobody does it better :-) Now that you've seen all these goodies, how can you resist -run over and start shopping!

Counting Sheep Farm Giveaway!

Rachel from Counting Sheep Farm has an amazing new website! We're so excited for her and hope that this change brings much prosperity!

Above is a sneak preview of what could be in your Phat Fiber box this month- beautiful "Emerald City" carded batts!

I'll skip right to the part you're all wondering about- the giveaway! Rachel has sent in a book called "Maiden Shawl" by Jane Ann Jibson- more about the book att Arbor Yarns.
She also sent in enough My8KidsMom hand dyed laceweight ( in a gorgeous mottled gray!) to complete the shawl pattern that illustrates the book!

And Now A Word From Our Sponsors Enablers

I was just sitting here (at 2:30 AM !!) thinking about the economy and how it has affected everyone in one way or another. If you're one of the lucky 3 people in the country it hasn't touched, I'm sure you know hundreds it has. Everyone is changing something about their lives because of the economy; some things are small things, like giving up having someone clean their home, and others are huge changes where people have taken 1 or even 2 more jobs just to make ends meet while they cut everything to bare bones just to keep the heat and light in their homes, or have lost their homes because even that wasn't enough.

I was thinking of this in terms of those of us who are knitting. What have we been doing to continue knitting, which brings us so much pleasure, not to mention relief from stress in a way we can't manage to find any other way? How do we buy the quality yarn to make our projects extra special, last for generations in some cases, or just not fall apart after spending weeks and even months working on intricate patterns that can drive us blind and batty while also giving us such a sense of pride and accomplishment? Is it worth spending $20 to $40 for a skein of yarn that would cost us $5 in the acrylic version? And with the holidays speeding toward us, and many of us making knit or crochet gifts for those we love the most, it's become a question I've been giving an exorbitant amount of time pondering.

When I knit baby items for the local hospital, I've been told that they must be done in acrylic yarn to make it easier for the new parents who receive these sweaters, hats, booties,blankets, etc. That may well be so, but I'm always thinking that I'm making something that should be very special for the occasion of a new birth, something that can be passed down to other children and perhaps even their children. It should be made well and made with love. Still, I have some issues making beautiful clothing from acrylic yarn, even if it is cost effective and easy to launder. An entire sweater and hat can be made for about $5 worth of acrylic yarn...but my time added to that makes it priceless. So, I've come to terms with acrylic yarn ( and there are some very lovely acrylics out there) for certain projects. I just don't want a stash of acrylics. That's just me.

When I make things for my children I always look for the best yarn I can work with for the project. I want whatever I make to feel wonderful, so wonderful that they want to wear it all the time because they love the feel of it. There's nothing quite as satisfying as having a 20 year old son letting you know how much he loves the socks you made for him, and how they feel better than any store bought socks. It really makes my day. I could cry from joy. The same thing goes when my soon to be 24 year old daughter takes her shoes off to show anyone who'll listen that her mom made these socks, these are mom socks. People look at them, feel them, are in awe that such a creation could occur, and let her know how lucky she is to have such terrific socks. I cry from laughter (and joy) from those moments.

I have lists of things I want to make for my children and certain people in my family. I've given up on keeping up with a time line since I've learned I don't work well when I feel pressured to churn out finished products, it just creates stress when I'm trying to reduce it. But I have patterns marked with names, books with markers on certain pages labeled with the names of the people I want to make them for. Nothing on these lists have anything to do with acrylic yarn...just saying.

Most knitters have a stash, yarn they just had to have for a thousand personal reasons, but have yet to use. I learned many years ago that just storing them wasn't a good thing for me. I'd go to my stash and find 18 skeins of Noro and have absolutely no idea why I had so many skeins or what I had in mind to make with them when I bought them. But **I'll get back to this stash stuff in a bit**those of you who know, know that that's a major investment in yarn. I figured that if I bought so many skeins in the same dye lot, there was a plan in my head when I found them and took them home. It took me weeks of going through books and magazines hoping to find the pattern that went with the yarn, and when I finally found it, and had my Aha! moment, it wasn't just for finding the pattern that went with the yarn, it was also my Gestalt moment for how to deal with future stashes and yarn purposes. The Noro was for a stunning Entrelac long shawl for my daughter, and it was breathtaking when she first put it on. I felt as if I'd created something spectacular, mind blowing, with the potential of becoming an heirloom that one day, if she should have one, her daughter would wear. That's a lot to be thinking about a shawl you made, but there it is, that's part of what I felt. Now I've been writing this and wondering...would I have had the same reaction if I'd made that shawl from a very good acrylic yarn instead of the Noro? I'm ashamed to admit that I wouldn't. It might have been a lovely shawl, but the textures, colors,and fibers that make up a Noro yarn would have been missing, and sorely missed from the beauty and drape of the finished shawl.

I haven't purchased any more Noro of any kind (I'd really like to try their sock yarn), but I do have enough of their Silk Garden to make another shawl. I originally thought it would be for me, but I just don't know. I say this because I have yet to make something, anything, even a pair of socks, for me. I love making things for those I love, and am finding I'm very picky about who I knit for,but somehow, things for me never get on the list. I've got to give this some thought. I'd like a pair of socks at the very least.

So, back to that stash... I've learned a lot about how to keep my stash of beautiful yarns from becoming just a bunch of yarn I can't remember why I bought. I now make a copy of the pattern I want to make out of the yarn with the yarn when I pack it away. It seems to make me feel better about having a stash to begin with, and much better about having a stash of really good yarns. Working this way has also kept me from buying yarn just because it's beautiful, which would have me living in a tiny space in a corner of a house filled with luscious yarns. I know this with certainty because lately I've fallen off the stash wagon so to speak. Yup, I've been figuring that even one skein of a totally fabulous yarn can be made into something wonderful like a hat or small shawl or scarf, socks or something. And this is certainly not the time in our economy where any knitter should fall off the stash wagon.

I blame the enablers. Yes, I've said it and I'm sticking to it. I'm just so not ready to blame myself for loving some of these yarns that much. It has to be the fault of the enablers out there who make such beautiful yarns, that feel like heaven, and smell wonderful, and are squooshy (definitely a yarn term) and soft and have unbelievably blended, saturated colors from meticulous hand dyeing. It certainly couldn't be me *sigh*.

There are some yarns out there that even in this economy are so hard to get because of their amazing properties that it's like discovering a gold mine in your backyard when you get a skein or two or three. Yarns like Wollmeise from Germany that a lovely woman named Claudia dyes by herself and sells in a marketplace, on line, and very recently in a new brick and mortar shop. I'm not lying when I tell you I want to go to Germany just to go to the shop and buy as much of her yarn as I can get my hands on in every colorway I fall in love with. I'd be happy just touching all the different skeins and breathing in the aroma of her yarns while sitting in a chair knitting. For now I'm just one of hundreds of people from all over the world who "stalk" her site for the chance to hit an update once or twice a week just in case one of the colors I love will be available and won't jump out of my cart before I can buy it. Yes, that happens all the time and it's a nightmare for anyone who has had it happen to them. This addiction, and that's what it feels like, has you on a high from the moment the site goes gray and the In Stock page goes up with a list of available yarn, knowing that it will all be gone in about two minutes-TRUE- to when you purchase your yarn, to the wait for the delivery you have to sign for to receive, right through to the moment when you open the package to find a bag with knitting terms written in English and German, open the bag and find the little package of mini Gummi Bears Claudia & company puts in every order, an invoice written in German with the amount in Euros, and then........you touch the yarn......and you find that you've been holding your breath as you let out a long sigh of happiness. That's some enabler, I've got to tell you. My Wollmeise is in a special container apart from all my other yarns, and there are no patterns stored with any of that yarn. It's just a lovely box of Wollmeise, and I'm very happy looking at it.

The Sanguine Gryphon is another enabler. Her Bugga! yarn (just to name one) is so popular she has decided to pull many of her colors and post just a few of them at a time so her server doesn't crash every time she puts up new stock. Definitely a sign of some really good yarn. Definitely an enabler. She very kindly puts a list on her blog to let us know what colors and types of yarns are going to be put up on what day and time. The thinking is that if it's not what you're looking for you won't have to visit and maybe buy...but I'm not sure if that really works. I love knowing what's going up and when since I have a wish list of yarns I want. I've even dragged my daughter into this by having her look at the list of what will be going up to see if there's anything there that she would want something made from. See, I'm really trying to be careful in this economy. I'm trying not to get everything I love, I'm checking in with my personal enabler, the one I make the most things for, to see if there's anything I really need. If you believe that I have a bridge to sell you. Because of knowing what is going up I've been able to get more skeins than I care to mention of yarns on my wish list that I probably wouldn't have gotten if it weren't for that enabling blog. I'd never guess to look at the site at the exact moment it goes up, and the yarns are gone in two minutes. True again.

Time is a tricky thing when it comes to the best yarn and fiber enablers. One of the best is the monthly Phat Fiber box. This is a box of fibers, yarns, patterns, stitch markers, soaps, lotions,etc. donated by various talented artists who give samples of their products to help fill this box of surprises. Box quantities are limited and there are hundreds of us "Phatties" who chat about it on Ravelry, stalk our emails for the drop date and time every month, and race to go through the process of getting a box for $33. These boxes are gone within a minute. Yes, many of us have timed it and it comes in under a minute - incredible! Once we have our boxes in hand we get to try various products and of course we love them, and the very generous enablers contributors give us discounts at their Etsy shops so we run over and buy more fiber and yarn from new enablers artists. We even trade with each other. If one of us got fiber and wanted yarn, and someone else wants to spin but got yarn, a match made in heaven is made with a simple trade. It's a beautiful system and a great group of people, contributors and members alike. I love this box, and the whole family is in it with me, asking if I got one and getting excited for me when it arrives. A great family activity if you ask me. This month, I'm giving someone else a chance to get a box. I'm sitting it out. I'm not even going to watch the drop as I may not be able to keep my resolve, so I'm busy blogging about it instead. So far, so good. But it's not easy.

I really am trying to remember that this is not the time to buy new yarn or fiber. The economy is horrible and I'm trying to make a bold move here and go on a yarn diet. Not trying to get a Phat Fiber box is a good first step. Not stalking Wollmeise is even better. I am waiting for the shipment from my last order though, so there is that... And I really got lucky with my last two Sanguine Gryphon updates and got wish listed yarns I'd been waiting for for six months. I'm good, I keep telling myself, for a good long while.

I'm thinking of starting to knit with my older stash yarn during these difficult times, and keeping my newly acquired precious yarns for emergency touching and holding when I feel my resolve melting away, which could be tomorrow. Maybe I'll take pictures of the Wollmeise and Bugga! from time to time and post that if I'm feeling weak. It could help. Well, it couldn't hurt to try.

It's about twelve hours since I started writing this. I decided to sleep since talking about the yarn was getting me thinking about sewing on the beads for the Martini Scarf I made for my daughter. Going to sleep seemed the safe way to go at the time. Now that I've finished writing, I'm going to sew on those beads and start the matching gloves, then finish some socks and start a new pair of socks for my son, and then.....maybe I'll go play with that Wollmeise. This may be harder than I thought.

But I Have An Excuse ! ! !

There are days when I feel like I get nothing done. I know I think I'm working on something. I do my exercises for my back and legs - I remember the pain so I know I did them, but I look at my WIP and wonder how it's possible to have so many.
I do try to do a little spinning & knitting every day so I think I should be farther along than I am. So why am I still working on a pair of socks that have been on my needles for over a year. I just can't figure it out.