Rhinebeck, and Wednesday Nights

This is a pretty amazing fall we're having here, I have to say. Sunny every day, everything smells like pumpkins, I haven't had to bike in my rain pants once yet, and every night when I come home all I want to do is make aromatic vegetable soups and fresh bread. In fact, my sourdough starter that I've been nurturing towards health since June of this year finally took off a couple weeks ago and I just can't get enough.

However, there's something truly different about fall on the east coast, which is where I was last weekend, frolicking in upstate New York with two of my best friends at Rhinebeck. Now I grew up in Seattle, so I certainly can't betray my loyalty to Washington apples, but I have to say, we just don't take cider doughnuts as seriously as they do out there, and appley goodness is definitely a theme of any brisk, sun-dappled fall day. I was stoked to be in a climate where I actually had to wear the hoodie gloves that I had just cranked out on the drive up, and fall was definitely in the air.

Coffee by the river in Poughkeepsie

Hollis fondling 700 yards of something pretty

Dory knitting a fabulous knee sock out of a Yarnia bamboo/wool blend (it really is fabulous--I am not a sock knitter but after I finish up the leg warmers I'm working on, she may have me converted)

Me picking out cones of yarn for you all at my favorite distributor's warehouse, which just happened to be in the neighborhood...I clearly am as gleeful about swimming in a warehouse of cones as most others are at digging their fist into a bag of roving

It wasn't until I lived in Montreal for four years that I realized, oh, this is what people mean when they say the leaves change colors. It's a whole different ballgame. This is us after a long day of admiring handspun yarn and petting sheep, before heading out to the Ravelry party at the Elks Lodge.

Drivin' back to the city. Dory's gaze is unsettlingly far from the actual road.

And now, back in Portland, our attention is turning to fun fall activities at Yarnia, the first of which will be starting up next week! Beginning November 5, we'll be starting up our Wednesday Knit & Crochet Nights here at the store. Bring your projects, bring your friends, bring your pattern questions!

Our first K&C Night, next Wednesday, will be a wine and cheese, and it will be from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Come on by and knit with us, meet some new people and find out what they're working on, and get ideas for holiday projects and gifts!

During the K&C Nights we'll have pre-made yarn and accessories available for sale, but custom winding of cones will not be available after 5:30. Any and all skill levels welcome -- hope to see you there!

No Stop Till Brooklyn

A few weeks ago when carpools full of traveling fiber-lovers came through the shop on their way to Oregon Flock & Fiber, I lamented the fact that I had to miss it; not only was I here at the store both Saturday and Sunday, but was moving to a new apartment that weekend to boot.

I didn't let myself bemoan the fact too much, however, because this weekend I am definitely going to get my fiber festival fill. Thursday night I'm heading out on a red-eye for JFK, where I'm going to meet up with two of my best friends and drive up to Rhinebeck, NY, for the NYS Sheep & Wool Festival (a.k.a. Rhinebeck)!

We made the decision to camp out back when the weather was tempting us with balmy breezes, but now with the campground already reserved I'm thinking I'd better bring some massive quantities of chunky mohair to whip up a blanket in the car...or if push comes to shove we may just have to buy an entire fleece and drape ourselves in it.

In any case, please keep in mind that Yarnia will be CLOSED this Friday, October 17th, but we will in fact be OPEN both Saturday and Sunday, from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. Jessica will be here holding down the fort while I'm away to serve all your yarn-mixing needs (thanks, Jessica!!).

A recent customer's loot: she's making hats for her holiday gifts!

Fall = Cozy Knitting Projects!

Well, if the last few days are any indication, it seems that fall has officially arrived. And that means...fall knitting projects!

As is my style, in a flurry of inspiration I started 4 projects in one day, and scattered them to the four residences of my stash (store, home, big messenger bag, and little everyday bag) to give them all equal play.

So here's what's on the needles as of this week:

This year's winter scarf:

a wool/silk/cashmere/rayon blend in a bulky weight with some unusual stitches to keep it interesting

Gossamer Stars Scarf from the Summer 2008 Interweave Knits

cotton and rayon

Legwarmers!
Because I like to wear skirts all year round.
Hard to tell from the picture but they've got a fun little lacy design going on.

Wool, mohair boucle, and a hint of metallic shimmer

Hoodie Gloves
My famous recipe, with cutoff fingers and a cozy hood to go over top -- so versatile!
alpaca, cashmere, and mohair
(obviously, this is the year that I finally start treating myself to nice yarn!)

Okay, fall, bring it on.

Color blending...again!

Well, as many of you probably know, the fall Knitty came out close to a month ago, but if you're like us and head straight for the patterns, holding off on the articles until you're anxiously checking the site, wondering if it's time for the next season yet, you may have only recently stumbled across their recent article on color blending!

Much like the Interweave Knits' article a few months back, this piece explores all the possibilities that lie before you once you start combining different yarns. They explain how playing with varying levels of hue, value, and intensity in two different colors can help you "tone up" or "tone down" a yarn that's too intense (or not intense enough), dream up yarn contrasts that range from subtle to dramatic, create iridescence in your yarn, or achieve the colorful look of a variegated yarn without the pooling and striping that sometimes appear as a side effect.

Right on, Knitty! So many possibilities...and we'll wind your blended yarns up on a custom cone so you don't even have to hold the strands together or deal with multiple cones/balls/skeins as you knit. We'll have a copy of the article out on the reference table for you to refer to as you play around with different blends!