Rose City Yarn Crawl 2015: My Bag Overfloweth

Now that I've told you all about it, what did I buy? (Answer: probably too much, but what's a fiber-lovin' girl to do?) I did try to keep to the parameters of locally made, hard to find, or interesting fibers. The two zauberballs are really the only exceptions, but I'd never purchased one before so I'm calling it good.

I was super excited to finally meet 'The Spinsters' behind Spincycle Yarns at For Yarn's Sake in Beaverton on Saturday afternoon. I've been stalking following their instagram since I participated in the Pine Bough KAL and just love their yarn, colors and process. Those three skeins of Knit Fast Die Young are slated for a macro lace shawl, but I may find something else I love more between now and then. The two skeins of Dyed in the Wool in the colorway July, July won out over Salty Dog only because it's my birthday month. They'll be paired with some Pepperberry to make the Dynastid cowl...I don't love bugs, but for whatever reason, this beetle-laden cowl is asking to be made.

Yarntastic in Sellwood was our other Friday night stop, and I picked up This cushy single ply by Abstract Fiber in the colorway Lichen, and a skein of sock yarn by Nerd Girl in the colorway Grimm. Fun Portland connections all around.

 This loop pouch, hand-made by Portlander Queen Bee, is a heavy duty canvas project bag. Along with some Blissfull Knits sock yarn in the color way Chamber of Secrets (50/50 silk and wool, and so luscious) and a Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock in the colorway Saturday Market-I left Twisted a happy girl.

 Pearl Fiber Arts located in, you guessed it, The Pearl was hosting a couple of local artists so it was really fun to chat with them about their process. This coral gradient kit by Thoroughly Thwacked will look beautiful knit up into the shell-patterned cowl feautured in their front window. Alexandra of Alexandra's Crafts was there and I had a great time talking with her about her color process. This sock yarn is Black Butte in Stained Glass, but she also has a line called La Grande, which was a fun connection to my hometown. I love that they really are targeting tourists and people who want to knit something with yarn made by a local artisan. Their inventory was very heavy with Northwest yarns.

Close Knit on NE Alberta was a cute shop, and I picked up the yarn to go with the Yarn Crawl pattern for that store. Extra, by Blue Sky Alpaca will make the fun, striped Kumori Cowl.

In Multnomah Village, we went to Northwest Wools and I picked up these two skeins of Autumn Winds by lotus yarns in a pretty purple and grey to make this sweet dress for baby Stella. She was a fairly good traveler...for a three month old.

Black Trillium fibers were featured in a trunk show at Knitting Bee in outer SW Portland (Washington County) and it is just beautiful! That skein of charcoal grey laceweight was a whopping 1450 yards-enough to make a shawl with just one skein. And a Crazy Zauberball for good measure. With the Trillium, I'm planning on a color block or striped shawl using the two different weights (fingering and lace). There are tons of patterns online for the zauberball, so I'll tackle that when I get there.

 

At Dublin Bay in the Pearl, I found Hedgehog Fibers Sock Yarn and Solstice Camel-Silk blend. See that beautiful golden halo? Camel. And it's so soft. Some 'Wool Fat' soap and dpn's rounded out that stop.

 At Happy Knits, I saw two bags I'd been looking at online for awhile, so it was time... Fringe Supply Co. and Knit Picks are the sources online but it was nice to see them in person first.

My stop at Knit Purl on Friday night yielded this bright pink lace-weight (looks more red in the photo) skein of 100% silk.  It was definitely the most special (some might say expensive, but that's just a word, really...) yarn I purchased. The colorway is Torchere. Because giving it a fancy french name makes you feel less guilty about the cost. I love the trend toward neon colors. This Merino Light hand-dyed is Madeline Tosh's 'Edison Bulb'.

Have you ever participated in the Yarn Crawl? What were some of your most treasured finds? How did you strategize? Any regrets? (I have none) I did make myself completely address and organize my stash before heading out, but that's for another post.

Rose City Yarn Crawl 2015

Last year, I happened to have a trip scheduled in Portland for the same weekend as the Rose City Yarn Crawl. I had never heard of it before, and didn't end up having time to go into any stores other than a quick step into Knit Purl (still one of my favorites after this trip).

This year, shortly after Stella was born, I looked up this year's dates and realized that it coincided with a weekend that J was scheduled to be off, save one night. Huzzah! A quick text to my partner in crime, plus a plea to my mother to fill the gap of evening childcare, and we were slated to attend the weekend-long event with her best friend.

The yarn crawl consists of fifteen local yarn stores that apply to be included, with a passport to be stamped and a free pattern with purchase at each stop. There is a mystery knitalong that precedes the event (spoiler alert: It was kind of granny and neither of us completed it) and each shop has their own huge prize basket to be entered for and there is a grand prize for one lucky crawler that visits all fifteen shops.  I think that with an extra full day for shopping and one less infant, we'll be able to hit all fifteen next year, but this year I was happy to get to the ones we did.

Of the fifteen, we went to Twisted, For Yarn's Sake, Yarntastic! Fiber Arts, Pearl Fiber Arts, Close Knit, Northwest Wools, Knitting Bee, Dublin Bay, Happy Knits, Knit Purl, The Black Sheep and Yarnia.  All but Yarnia and The Black Sheep resulted in my yarn crawl bag getting fuller and my wallet a little lighter.

An obvious joy of the trip was to be able to touch and see, and swoon over, all the beautiful yarns but what was really fun was seeing how differently the shops were set up. Learning what aesthetics I really like and how it makes the most sense to set up a shop, what brands would be awesome to carry, what ones missed the mark, the list goes on. It was a great trip to help solidify our hopes for a future yarn store, and to narrow down our vision.

Starting on Friday afternoon when we rolled into town, we visited Knit Purl which was just a few blocks from our hotel, and then grabbed some dinner at Tasty 'n Alder before picking up her friend and her infant son and heading to Yarntastic!, her friend's most visited local store. Both resulted in fun purchases and a great start to our crawl. Miss Stella was proving to be a somewhat unhappy participant and we headed back to the hotel for what would prove to be her first time sleeping through the night.

Saturday morning we grabbed breakfast in the hotel restaurant in time to hit Knit Purl (her friend hadn't been yet for the crawl) when it opened at nine. Except that it didn't open until ten. So we walked toward the Pearl and the next store on our agenda for the day, which also opened at ten. By the time we got to the furthest store, Dublin Bay, it was just opening. I really liked the layout of the shop, including a semi-secluded area with cushy seating for knitters, a fireplace and a TV queued up with Downton Abbey. Next we went to Pearl Fiber Arts, where there were two trunk shows (Thoroughly Thwacked of Hillsboro and Alexandra's Crafts out of Silverton) and they also had a pretty big supply of this huge (with a huge pricetag) yarn used to make rugs, poufs and squishy throws.

By the time we were headed back to Knit Purl, we decided to make our scheduled stop at Blue Star Donuts, where I indulged in a Lemon Poppyseed Buttermilk Donut. So delicious. A stop at Starbucks where there was available seating to feed and change the babes and we were off to Knit Purl at last. I ogled the Woolfolk and Pepperberry displays once more and we were off to the West side stores.

I love KnitPurl's clean, crisp displays and signage

Knitting Bee, located in outer Northwest Portland on Barnes Road proved to be a really pleasant surprise. With great signage, a trunk show for Black Trillium Fibers and excellent staff, I had a great time in the store. Next we headed to Hillsboro to visit The Black Sheep. It's kind of a tricky location in the lower level of a three story townhouse and I ended up nursing Stella who was fairly inconsolable instead of looking at the yarn. I can't say that I really missed anything and don't know that I'd go back but that could totally be due to the crying baby and lack of time to look around.

It was late afternoon by then and we were all fading fast, so we grabbed a late lunch/dinner before going to For Yarn's Sake in Beaverton, which I had been particularly look forward to because the Spinsters of Spincycle yarns were holding a trunk show there. I was not disappointed-they're just as nice and passionate about their product as I hoped they'd be. I was so excited to meet them that I didn't get a photo. That store definitely got the lion's share of my yarn dollars. They had a really big selection, the trunk show was huge and their staff was super friendly.

After that we headed back toward Portland and Northwest Wools in Multnomah Village. It was a fairly small store but, again, the staff was enthusiastic about their product and knowledgeable. For the last stop of the night, we headed to Yarnia, which is a really cool concept that could be a fun part of a bigger yarn shop, but I left feeling pretty meh. The idea is that they have large cones of different fibers and colors that you can custom mix to make your own multi-strand yarn and pay by the ounce or pound. It was fairly empty with only one other set of crawlers yet no employees came to talk to me, our stop there was in the early evening and the lighting was terrible-almost bar lighting so you couldn't see what the true colors would be, and the employee that did chat with my friend didn't seem to have a lot of information about where the fibers came from. Because it's just multiple strands together, not a stranded yarn that's then worsted, it would be nearly impossible to crochet and pick up all the strands, and hard for knitting.

awesome concept, not my favorite execution

Back to the hotel to put a finally sleeping Stella to bed, a chance to admire our haul so far, room service late dinner and then to bed ourselves.

I got to breakfast with old friends the next morning, my bestie even brought her kids who I didn't get to see last time I visited, and then I met back with my fellow crawlers for a final day of shopping at two more stores; Happy Knits on SE Hawthorne and Close Knit in Northeast Portland. Happy Knits was one of my favorite stops with a really great selection, happy staff and a couch in the back that proved perfect for a stop to feed Stella (again, some more). We ended on Alberta at Close Knit where I picked up the yarn for their crawl pattern submission and then lunch at Bunk for a cuban sandwich before the final reward of my first visit to Salt & Straw (Lumberjack Stack and Honey Lavendar in a waffle cone, thanks for asking!)

Then it was back to reality, and the babe slept almost the entire way home after crying as if her seat were made of flames during the actual crawl. A good time was had by all, and I'm already thinking about next year...after I use the yarn I purchased this year, of course. It was so nice to get home and have the kids excited to see me. A weekend away always gives me the chance to appreciate my family a little more because it's too easy to get bogged down in the everyday.

Wondering what goodies I got? That post is coming at you at 6am tomorrow!

Mile High Club

I'm sure you've all been waiting with baited breath, but I think it's taken this long for me to think about the second half of the flight to Aruba as anything bordering on amusing. Because we lived across the country from our friends and family for so long, my kids have flown a lot. I feel like I'm a fairly seasoned mama flyer to date, so I've got a pretty good system in place. I knew what to pack, what wasn't necessary, and kind of what to expect from my kiddos.

Since we planned to stay at the hotel for the duration of the trip, we decided to forego lugging the carseats around the airport and just see how wonderful our little cherub could perform in only the confines of the seatbelt. Could they make those things any easier to unlatch? Sure, it's great if you're in a plane crash, but when you're trying to contain a three year-old? Not so much.

After driving four hours to Portland, we had dinner with the fam, bathed the kids there and put them in jammies in preparation for our first leg, which was a red eye to JFK. The check-in process could seriously have not gone any more smoothly, and before I knew it we were settled on the plan and both kids had fallen asleep-a state in which they remained for the duration of the flight. I'm not a stupid person, but it honestly hadn't dawned on me that when we landed at JFK at 6am, it would really only be 3am. I gathered a sleeping C in the sling and started to carry him through the airport. Of course he didn't stay asleep. We had a very tight connection and had just enough time to squirt some Stonyfield yogurt tubes down their throats and take a quick trip to the potty before they were boarding our second flight. And that's where it all went downhill.

Being awoken in the middle of the night isn't much fun for anyone, but it's aparrently really not fun for Charlie, and he wasn't afraid to let us know. For the next five hours, J and I alternated between sitting next to H, who was strangely and almost concerningly content for the entire 5.5 hour flight, and sitting next to a child who I was sure at any moment would spin his head around and vomit all over everyone. If you've met Charlie in real life, you'd know he is not a quiet child. Between trying to physically retrain him from climbing all over the seats, quiet him as he screamed in proportion to my growing frustration, and nursing my split lip that was the result of him head butting me-I finally just had to let some tears roll down the ole cheeks and pray for this part of the trip to be over.

Crazily, we didn't get the stink eye from anyone and when we landed, Charlie magically turned into Sir Charming, and had the couples in front and behind of us laughing. I was not joining them. I am a grudge holder, and he wasn't my favorite person just then.

We made it down the concourse in one piece and proceeded to customs. Trying to keep the kids still after sitting for almost 12 hours was super fun, and my shining moment was when I looked over at the adjacent (empty) cubicle to see Charlie standing in a customs officer's chair, getting ready to tap on the computer keys. They were not amused. Luckily, we were still allowed in the country.

We exited into the humid air and glorious sunshine just as a taxi pulled up to the curb, and I could feel my tension lift. As we pulled up to the hotel, our bags were collected and held to the side while we went inside to see if, please God yes, our room was ready for early check-in.

We were arriving several hours before my sister and her family, and she'd told us that they should have the room ready for early check-in, but if not it wouldn't be long...she lied.

As my feral children ran circles around me on the slick marble tile, I waited patiently while they explained that our room wasn't ready, but it should be in about an hour. We decided to sit and have some lunch, where J and I sucked down frozen concoctions laced with alcohol and the kids enjoyed a virgin version of the same. When we walked back to the lobby, we were notified that our room wasn't quite ready yet and we had to go through several people in order to access our bags, because we figured we could at least spend the extra time in the pool, instead of crying a river of self-pitying and pathetic tears. Being tired is not pretty on me.

J is usually a very practical person, but he stood rifling through his bags in his flannel shirt which was by now soaked with sweat. Flannel is very practicaly for the Pacific Northwest, but not so much when you know when you're flying to the Carribbean.

Blissfully ensconsed in the pool, we immediately forgot that we'd been sticking to our clothing just moments before, and almost forgot that our kids had been acting like total jerks. I kept trying to remind myself; You're in paradise. Stop being a baby. But really, all I wanted to do was lay down in a bed and sleep. I checked back at the front desk an hour later and was told that our room would now not be ready until after the actual check-in time. Seriously? Did Metallica stay in our room and trash it?

Not happening. This is when it came in handy that someone had witnessed my stellar parenting, because another hotel employee came over and asked if I hadn't been in there with the two little boys. Yes, yes that was me. We've come from the west coast, we're exhausted and I'm trying to be nice, but I'm really tired.

With a couple clicks of the keyboard, we were moved one room over to a clean room with everything else the same and I went to collect my children...I really just wanted to go up to the room by myself, but I'm pretty sure J would have divorced me.

Showered and changed into island appropriate attire, we settled the kiddos down for a nap, and I promptly fell into a coma next to them. I awoke a few hours later to the sounds of my sister and her family arriving, along with delivered pizza. It wasn't even good pizza, but I didn't realize how hungry I'd been until I started eating. Sherrific and I then caught a cab and went grocery shopping for our week. The next morning, it was as if the flight had never happened. We were all extremely well-rested and ready to face the biggest decision of our trip; beach or pool, pool or beach? Don't worry, we did both.

It was blissful. Perfect temperatures, wonderful water, and spending time with my sister which is a rarity now that she's decided that she's a mid-westerner at heart for seven whole days. Henry loved being in the water and Charlie had a ball with his cousin, who was equally as wary of that liquid stuff that kept encroaching on their personal space. Yep, they were the edge clingers.

The only blip came when Charlie threw the biggest tantrum of his life on our next to last day. Sheer exhaustion caused him to bust out his only curse word, buttface, which he used approximately 700 times in a three minute period, mimicing a fantastic tourrettes episode. He was spitting, screaming, yelling, kicking and biting me for almost thirty minutes before I finally 'swaddled' him in a beach towel and rocked him to sleep. It was a tantrum of epic proportions and I couldn't help being a little impressed by his stick to-it attitude. The kid is nothing if not willful. I kept waiting for the knock on the door from a security guard saying they'd heard a child being abuse in the next room, but it never came, I stayed calm and all's well that ends well. He awoke three hours later with no memory of his terrible behavior. Which I guess is good?

Too soon, we were pakcing our bags again and I was terrified that we'd have an encore performance of the previous flight, but alas-they were exhaused in the best way. Seven days of sand, sun and water had created the zen they needed to be angels. I'm not being sarcastic. Henry was in heaven since the only kid show playing on the TV was Sponge Bob, so he finally got to partake in the wonder of the little creature who lives in a pineapple under the sea-and Charlie was content to play with stickers. We arrived in Portland tanned and happy, settled into our hotel and drove home the next day just in time for H to attend his class Christmas party.

Both J and I agreed that, beautiful as it was, it'd be a long time before we fly that far for a beach again. Hawaii's just a short flight away, and we've yet to explore Mexico...lots of beautiful beach vacations await!

Whew! It's been a crazy few weeks. I'm fully into the swing of marathon training now, and am starting to feel confident and, dare I say, excited about completing a full in June. You can read all about my progress over at My Sole Sister. It's Superbowl Sunday, which means I'll be rewarding myself post-run today with pizza or some other ridiculously high calorie grease-fest. Go Packers!

On the knitting front, I've made significant progress on Tree of Life, with just one row of trees left to complete, then the border and I'm done. I went to 'the' mall for the first time since we moved here yesterday, and was pleasantly surprised that I'm able to fit in shirts two sizes smaller than before. I love that the scale isn't the only way to measure change.

In planning out my month, I'm realizing that this is the only weekend I don't have something on deck. Between running, birthdays, guests coming to town and just plain life happening, I'm booked almost solid until the weekend of the marathon and H's last week of school.

Which brings me to a couple of conclusions I've come to in my life. I'm ready to admit that I need help keeping my house clean. I'm not talking about someone to do my laundry or the dishes, or even making beds and vacuuming. But hells yes, I am talking about someone else to scrub my tubs, the stovetop and the inside of my microwave. Not to mention dusting and even washing the windows. H is starting swimming lessons this week and I know that life will only continue to get more hectic.

Speaking of throwing money at your problems: J and I decided this summer that we wouldn't put anything on our card we couldn't pay off the following month. We just want to have it in use, but won't be carrying a balance. So far, so good. All of our home projects have been paid for from our account so far, with only deposits for vacation rentals put on the card, and I feel really good about it. The down-side is that the house is coming together slowly, the upside being that I'm able to live in it and see how I really want it to be before making any rash decisions.

The next project I'm ready to tackle is tiling the bath surround in the master (good-bye wet walls everytime I let the kids bathe in my tub) and the backsplash in the kitchen. Keeping in mind this isn't our forever home, I've decided to stick with the simple tumbled tile that we already have, but in a rectangular shape in a subway pattern. For the bathroom, I'm taking it up to the windowsill...will that make it look too boxed in? Yes, I'm really asking for your opinion.

In addition to not accumulating new debt, we're committed to having zero debt when we purchase our next house (in about 5 years), excluding our mortgage, but including student loan debt. Anyone with experience with aggressive debt reduction while still having some luxuries and fun is welcome to leave a comment with a program you followed or things that you found worked for you.

I watched Oprah's special on happiness and it cemented my desire to give my kids experiences over giving them things. Did you know that the income at which happiness is no longer increased caps out at $75,000 a year? That was surprising to me. Additionally, joining a club in which you are expected to attend once a month increases your happiness the same amount that doubling your income would. It's all about feeling a connectedness to those around you, and having experiences rather than things.

So, of course, I immediately went online and bought the two pair of shoes (not on credit, mind you) I'd been coveting. What?! I'm not expected to experience everything with sub-par footwear am I? I know...all over the place with this one, but that's what happens when I go so long without posting.

Lastly, in exactly a month, I'll be having quite an experience as I celebrate my friend's 40th birthday with her at Kelea Surf Spa (paid in advance, thank you) on the North Shore of Oahu. This mama has worked long and hard and I feel like I deserve this break. Here's the thing, I hadn't even questioned that fact until people started looking at me in wonderment when they heard what I was doing, where I was going, and that my husband was okay with being left to fend for himself and the kids. Well, I guess my boss was right: You'll never have to worry about Wutzke getting her needs met. I do appreciate the support of a spouse who hasn't questioned my deserve level either. There, J, I said it.

Home Again, Home Again

I'm home from my whirlwind trip to the Right Coast where I got to see a ton of people (though there were still those I didn't get to connect with), drank a few too many cocktails, and got to shower our expecting friends in the picturesque town of Northampton.

Being back felt so surreal because it was almost as thought I'd never left. But then, I had. Driving through the tolls for the first time I was so lucky I actually had cash, as it was the first time in a long time I'd driven without a Fast Lane pass. Going to the Y to celebrate with my team, I accidentally drove right past and into the old apartment complex parking lot. Dunkin' Donuts was there to greet me en masse at the airport, and that brash accent wrapped around me like an old friend.

While it's good to be back in the Northwest, there is definitely a part of me that will always feel very comfortable in New England. My trip home was full of poor planning on my part, as my flight got in just after 8pm and I had to drive home the four-plus hours immediately, since J had to work the next morning at seven. By the time I dragged my sorry booty into my bed, I'd been up for almost 24-hours. My kids woke up the next morning at six to find the bag of munchkins I'd drug through the airport and crunched under the seat in front of me just so they'd have that little piece of familiarity in the place that still feels foreign to them.

Settled back in, I'm almost finished with the entrelac scarf, and also got an order for a set of five Java Jackets and am having fun with some new un-felted patterned ones. I ordered a couple kits through Knit Picks, so look for some fun pictures and a new etsy listing. I'm also in the process of purchasing the rights to make the Hannah and Josie newsboys for resale, so hope to crank a few more of those out before the holidays.

After spending several days trying to play catch-up on the cleaning I missed while I was gone, I put in a call to the local cleaning service so that I could get an estimate. A day after I got back, I hosted my dad and sister at my house as my sister was in town to have surgery. There was a thin dusting of grime everywhere I turned but I never caught my second wind to do more than de-fur the house and make sure dishes and laundry were done before they got here. Ah well, next time, right?

Aside from knitting, I still have two more stockings to make so we can have a matched set of four (well, five with Clifford's) to hang from our awesome sheet-rock mantle. Yes, our mantle is made of contoured sheet rock. At the top of our project list, behind tiling the backsplash and installing a banquette in the dining room is now 'make a real mantle, because having a mantle made of wall is weird.'

I'm also motivated to finally make the paper piecing baby quilt, a pattern for which I purchased last year. Because that's just how I roll. Actually, I can't feel too badly about it since safely in its bag upstairs, I still have the pattern book and all the fabric for the Underground Railroad quilt I purchased in Montana the very first time I went to meet my in-laws. Yes, that would be over a decade ago. I was also pouring over Amy Butler's In Stitches last night and looking at the fun throw pillows and cushions I could make for the as-yet-uninstalled, purchased or even decided on, banquette.

Today, I go to my first courtroom observation as part of my required in-court hours for the CASA program. I'm so excited to volunteer in a way that will involve me in the Child Welfare world without the same levels of stress and case management, and a fractional commitment of time. I'm nervous, though, about learning another juvenile court system. They all seem to be vastly different, from the lingo to the dress code.

And that's my little slice of life for now!

visited 29 states (58%)
Create your own visited map of The United States

This is kind of a fun activity, and a great visual of where you've been! All the red states are ones that I've been to, and the grey are ones that I've not. Looks like I've got some work to do if I plan to visit all 50! To make your own map, click here!