Put a bird on it - COMPLETE!!!

It wasn't that hard at all....even sewing on the wings and little beak, just took some time and patience! Next up, PURPLE that I bought on the Yarn Crawl...yahoo! Feels SO GOOD to complete something new...I'm the best little starter in the world, must work on FINISHING more things I start!

Knitting in the park (Portlandia style)...

I think it actually got up to 65 degrees today and it was SUNNY!   I was inside until after 5pm, so as soon as I picked up Charlie from daycare, we went straight to the bigger park close by.  Ran around like a crazy maniac and I knitted.  

Charlie loves this park...especially in the summer when she can play in the cool water feature.

Progress on the bird I started yesterday.  It was a kit from the wonderful shop Happy Knits that I purchased last month during the Yarn Crawl.  They totally capitalized on the tv show Portlandia's theme of "Put a bird on it"....can wait to get er done!

Even more progress.  While I watched our Jayhawks not win the National Title, I got this little guy's body done!  Next up are wings, beak and eyes!  I'm gonna "put a bird on it"....

Oops...I did it again....

And I'm still IN SHOCK that I won (again). You may recall that I won one of the 16 baskets from last year and I actually made it to 15 of the 16 shops last year.....This year we had too much going on during the Yarn Crawl, so I had to bail on my friend Janel. I DID however, make it to two shops Friday afternoon, including For Yarn's Sake!!! When I didn't get a call on Sunday, I figured I didn't win anything, no biggie.

Imagine my SURPRISE when Anne (owner of the store) called and left me a voice mail around 2pm today that I WON the basket from their shop...YAHOO..yes, there was a LOT of yelling going on at work...but it was happy yelling.

I should probably have purchased a PowerBall ticket on the way home, but I was too excited to look at the goodies in the basket...cool stuff! You can see which ones Charlotte wants me to keep...I'll be sharing the basket of goodies with my knitting buddies...gotta share the yarn love...

WHY I SMILED TODAY!

Don't insult knitters...

Saw this video on one of my favorite bloggers, Susan B. Anderson's post today. Just made me laugh and smile...knitting, it's SO not uncool anymore! Of course, I never thought it wasn't cool!

New BEE dress for Charlotte...

My friend Betty learned to knit last winter and has been going crazy making stuff ever since. She also has a fancy embroidery machine, so she was able to digitize the Bee (from our Wee Bees for a Cure banner) and put him on the dress! Super cute!

THANK YOU Betty! Charlie loves her new dress! ;-)

My loot from the Portland Yarn Crawl...

YAHOO! $500 worth of merchandise and it's all mine..well, I'm gonna share it with my partner in crime and chauffeur of the day for the Yarn Crawl, Janel! I still can't believe I won one of the 16 baskets!

Here are Nicholette and I at her shop in Vancouver, StitchCraft. I'm so glad we discovered her shop and I plan on being a regular customer..it's only a hop, skip and bridge over the river to her store.

THANK YOU to all the folks that put the 1st Portland Yarn Crawl together. It was so worth the trip!

We got to 15 of the stores...

Janel and I managed to get to 15 of the 16 stores on the Portland Yarn Crawl today. I actually went to store #16 on Friday...We had a wonderful time...amazing weather and lots of FUN! We took Myrtle the Turtle along with us to get photos of her at each shop (just for the heck of it). Also, there was a scavenger hunt and each shop had at least one knitted hat that we had to find in the store and write down it's number, pattern name and pattern designer.

The only disappointing part of the day. We got to store #15 at 5:05pm, not realizing they closed at 5pm. We took a photo outside the store and when we went to open the door it was locked. There were a lot of customers still in it...we knocked and I still can't believe it...one of the employees of the shop opened the door, said she was sorry they were closed and told us we could come back tomorrow...I just stood there shaking my head...I almost fibbed and told her we were from far away, decided that wasn't the right thing to do and just said I couldn't believe it and that she'd lost a customer for life (which she has)! How can you have a shop-hop and seriously not let two knitters in, that are carrying a hand made turtle and just flat out turn them away?? Big mistake in my book!

Besides the disappointing finish...we had a great day! We are so lucky to live in a city that has over 16 independent yarn stores all within driving distance...

Yarn Crawl or bust...

Janel and I will be attempting to hit all 16 knitting stores in the Portland/Vancouver, WA area today that are participating in the 1st annual Portland Yarn Crawl. Basically a shop-hop for yarn lovers...can't wait...

I'll post an update tonight....

Knitting, it's not just for Grandmas anymore...

Cool little article in the Forest Grove Newstimes about knitting... http://www.forestgrovenewstimes.com/features/story.php?story_id=126531036149407800

I'm kind of ahead of the curve on this one...I learned how to crochet when I was 5-6 years old (thanks to Grandma Green) and my mom taught me to knit a couple years later, (takes a little more coordination than crocheting)...I was one of those kids/teenagers that LOVED anything to do with sewing and other hand made items.

YES, I'm sure people thought I was a geek, but I didn't care (still don't)...so much so that there is a small group of us at work that knit together on Thursdays (and sometimes Tuesdays) in the cafe....it all started quite by accident. Janel and I got on the subject of knitting one day and she asked if I wanted to knit during lunch...more and more folks have stopped and asked what we are doing...Found out my friend Lois is quite the sock maker! Who would have thought that Intel and knitting would mix...but THEY DO! TOO COOL!

THANK YOU Grandma and mom for teaching me how to start being creative at a young age...I'm not the best knitter or crocheter in the world....but I'm doing something I love and turning it into a way to raise $$ to fight the horrible disease that has and continues to take away too many people I love, including my Grandma.

By the way...I got some SERIOUS ideas and inspiration at lunch yesterday. I was showing Rosemary, Anne & Rhonda the turtles and a lady offered to buy one from me (my prototype) so I gave her my name and number and asked her to call me in a week....Turtles for Easter baskets and OTHER ideas for sports teams....Oh, just you wait people...this IS my next DGI (darn good idea)....

My first "Braided" scarf is done!

I'm doing the "happy knitting dance" tonight...yahoo...started this earlier this week...completed it tonight! It's probably a little shorter than it should be, but that's the yarn I had...love it. Super cute/fun (EASY) to make...love the braided effect and LOVE the yarn by Spud & Chloe!

The "Braided" pattern courtesy of Susan B. Anderson for Spud & Chloe...check out Susan's Blog AND Spud & Chloe blog. Love her designs, her photos and her work!!! What an AWESOME thing, to get paid to do what you really, REALLY love...knit & design knitting patterns!

Such a wonderful feeling COMPLETING another project!

Kris Knits...

One of my FAVORITE knitting blogs. http://krisknits.blogspot.com/

Kris has both free and patterns that she sells and I love, love, LOVE her blog.

Here's her mystery knit-along dishcloth for January....




















This one is hard to really see, I need to get a better photo...it's a small 2010 dish cloth. Super easy/fun to make.

Nona's Knit-Along...

In an attempt to COMPLETE what I start this year, I'm doing a couple of knit-alongs to keep myself accountable.

Nona's was a fun little scarf. The only part that was tough for me, paying attention to which row I was on. Rows 1-4 are each different and I found myself thinking I knew which row I was on, only to discover that I was off a row, so lots of ripping out, but easy enough to do. I had one skein of a fun chunky yarn that I used and I love it!

Thanks Nona, can't wait to see what's up for February's Knit-Along.

HOPE for the Holidays Expo '09....

Thanks to Rosemary watching our table the entire time, we raised over $300 for our Relay For Life Team today! THANK YOU Rosemary!!! Those knitted dish clothes and coffee cozies can sure rack up some FUNdraising goodness!

























Karie & Jessica from our Beaverton Relay Committee and Team P-Town Moseying Stitchers.



















Larry & Cheryl Saari, Relay friends from Camas.



















Leann & Sam, two of my favorite Vancouver Relayers!