i knit wherever i am

when i last popped in, my friend janel and i had been exploring portland, and were heading along the oregon coast for her home in eugene.

we had a lovely visit there together for a couple of days, resting, knitting, and talking—there couldn’t have been a better way to relax after sock summit. i was especially happy about the knitting part, since it felt like i got NO knitting done during the weekend events.

besides catching up on some pattern work and writing, i finished two large-sized secret knitting projects (YAY!), which meant i could relax and play a bit on projects i can show you.

the fallberry hat, knit up in slackford studio pathway sport, gained a lot of length and got smaller around at the same time—i think i finished this up one afternoon while eating that yummy gazpacho you see in the top photo.

it looks a little rippled at the edge, but it still needs to be blocked—as adrienne will demonstrate however, it’s awfully cute even now, once it’s on her head . . .

this roast carrots colorway looks great on everyone—we’ve been marveling over that as we try it on all of our friends along the way.

once i got that off the needles i immediately cast on for the matching scarf—together with the matching mitts, these pieces will be our first release for the fall season.

(and i sooo can’t believe we are already saying the F word, oof.)

i’d like to get this entire set done in the next week so we can release the pattern, which is completely written and proofed—it just needs a photo.

the other project i’ve managed to motor along on this week is my blümchen cardigan in a dusty gray/lavender shade of briar rose sea pearl

somewhere between janel’s house and san francsico, i finished up the left front piece (above) and cast on for the right front. since i got to SF, i’ve been working on it in earnest (along with the scarf, of course)

and wow, this sweater is really knitting up fast, now that it’s just one of two projects i have going. because it’s knit in pieces, it’s very portable, so i can tuck it in my bag when we roll out each day and knit a few rows whenever we sit still for a few minutes. not to mention the time we spend talking, haha

anyway, as you can see, it’s grown quite fast. i’m showing it here with cookie’s sock in progress, which she’s knitting in alice’s sokkusu original yarn—a completely different dyer.

she showed up with it at knit nation and the two of us had a good laugh about how closely it matches my sweater. i keep kidding her that they are MY socks, but i notice she finished the first one and it’s not my size . . .

so—i left eugene and portland last thursday; janel drove me over to corvallis, where we met up with my lovely cousin liz. she and i visited at her house for a bit, exploring her garden and her incredible fiber and sewing work.

besides knitting, gardening and preserving, liz does some great handspinning and sewing, which she sells in her etsy shop—grey poodle designs—that i just found about.

we will definitely be exploring her stuff in more depth—so pretty and well-made that i totally lost track of myself and forgot to take pictures (sorry liz—i promise i’ll do better next time).

so here we are in berkeley, CA—fanTAStic! cookie and i arrived last thursday night to teach the whole weekend at a verb for keeping warm. we are also lucky enough to be staying in adrienne and kristine’s lovely home, with her mom michelle and cleo the dog.

(there is a bird as well and a rabbit named marcel—each day a new animal comes out of adrienne’s room; i’m never sure what’s going to appear next, haha)

anyway, on friday, we went into the shop first thing to set up the trunk show and make sure all the details were settled for our designer talk that evening—we had a bunch of knitters coming to visit.

once we got that squared away, cookie and i headed into the city to get haircuts—i was long overdue, having been on the road for the last month and she made an appointment for me to get shorn while she had a touch up.

i love mine, but i didn’t get photos at the salon because i was too busy taking pictures of her—look at that amazing doo; it was the hit of the party.

when we arrived back at the yarn shop, knitters were beginning to gather, nibbling on yummy cheese and other small bites, while browsing kristine’s beautiful naturally-dyed yarns

the new shop is just incredible—airy, yet rich with color, texture, and inspiration for each knitter or spinner who passes through its doors.
the shop reflects the subtle taste and depth of knowledge of owner and dye studio director kristine vejar (far left, above), who studied textiles and natural dyeing in india before coming back to berkeley to create her fiber business, a verb for keeping warm.

knitters who pass through the door are treated to a host of possibilities within that span several fiber disciplines. besides knitting yarn, the shop offers spinning fiber, classes in both knitting and spinning, and the opportunity to participate in ongoing knitting groups.

verb also carries a nice selection of cotton fabrics for quilting or other projects, housed at the rear of the shop with the necessary tools and accessories to pursue sewing projects.

there is an outdoor patio in back as well and the dye studio sits off to the side. knitters, spinners, and stitchers who are looking for a complete fiber experience will surely appreciate a visit to this beautiful shop.

and on friday night, the place was filled with knitters who came to kick off the weekend with cookie and me. we gave a short talk and fielded questions from listeners, then we all had a glass or two of cheer while mingling. some even brought finished objects to share.

this is jayne and her nightingale wing stole, which is knit in kristine’s holding alpaca lace; same base as the original sample was knit. jayne chose colorway chartreuse’s sister, a fresh mix of yellows and greens, which translates so prettily in the sheer fabric.

our dear friend jessica, who is getting married next month was wearing a beautiful luciole shawl that evening, knit in woolen rabbit opulence, colorway blue moon.

but the big news is that she’s also knit a shawl for each event of her wedding celebration AND one for each of her six bridesmaids. we blocked her wedding shawl in class on sunday—a gorgeous bleeding hearts stole in natural cream cashmere/silk.

i KNOW—how much do we love that??

what a party; it was a wonderful evening. we got to meet readers who we know and love, both online and from other events

honey badgers were in the house—some may have even gone wild over the course of the weekend events (but not too . . .)

classes were really great all weekend—i just love being in a room with focused knitters who are eager to learn. we talked sweater fitness on saturday and had an awesome finishing class on sunday.

we even had a fab dinner party on saturday evening at home—again, no pictures, but i did get a shot of my clean dishes the morning after . . .

yesterday was a day off and we took full advantage of it by getting up (fairly) early and organizing ourselves for a trip to the city.

adrienne and cookie were excited

although cleo wasn’t so happy to be left behind.
i’m going to save the trip to san francisco for the next post so we can spend our last day here out and about, but i promise, it will be great—we had a really fun day, joined by a special friend.

see you next time!