New Adventures!

It's official. We are finally owners of a cute little condo in downtown Portland, Oregon. After spending 11 months searching we are in! Today I leave again for my 3rd weekend in Portland. It has been really enjoyable. The first weekend I spent trying to piece enough furniture together to make the condo livable. And walked, and walked, and walked. The country is beautiful, yes, but the city has its beauty too, and so many directions to walk, so much activity to watch. And this girl loves to shop!!!! Last weekend I attended my first CrossFit lesson. Oh My Gosh!! My daughter in Southern California does this. Talk about "hard bodies"! Don't have anything like this on the coast. Tomorrow morning is another class. I think I am still sore from last Saturday!! But this is a great way to supplement the workout I already do at home. Rochelle did our first lesson. Turns out she just learned how to knit and she started a new group of knitters on the 1st Friday of each month at a nearby coffee shop. The name of her knitting group? What else . . . . CrossKnit !!!

The sun shines in the condo for the majority of the day. Perfect light for knitting and inbetween walking I've finished my Baby Alpaca Reversible Scarf. Just in time for the cold weather too. It is super thick, super warm and I'm super happy with it. Cascade's Baby Alpaca Chunky normally gets 3.5 sts per inch in stockinet, so any yarn will work that gets that guage, though I suggest keeping to something soft because it is wrapped around your neck. Lorna's Laces Shepherd Bulky and Swirl Chunky would work well, though the silk wrap in Swirl Chunky might prevent the cables and garter ridges from showing as clearly. Another yarn that I will soon have in stock is Cascades 128 Superwash. This is a bulky wool that is washable. I turned my nose up at first, until my rep "accidentally" left his sample hank with me. I sampled up the hank and was really amazed with it. It is soft and supple, and has plenty of definition. Looking again, well duh! it is a superwash merino!! I've got all 42 colors into the computer, and will start ordering some of the colors next week. This yarn will also make a great reversible scarf. As I hand knit, I am thinking how to machine knit this scarf. It is possible. One would need a main bed and a ribber. Takes a bit of thinking, but I'm tempted to set up my SK860 with ribber SR860 and a smaller sized yarn, perhaps Cascade 220 or maybe Cascade Cash Vero (but for fun I'd also combine in a strand of Cascade Kid Seta). There'd be reformed stitches for garter ridges and the cables would have to be transferred to the main bed to be cabled, then moved back to 1x1 rib. That's a lot of stretch for a knitting machine. I may have to make some changes to make it work on a machine, but that's a challenge I enjoy. Don't forget to check out the yarn and books I have on clearance on my clearance page! When I put yarns on clearance, they are marked under cost! I don't mess around. I want the OUT, and NOW!! Enjoy!!