Finito

I'm on my annual visit to the great Pacific North West for the Madrona Fiber Arts retreat in Tacoma, followed by a week with dad on Vancouver Island. I have been working on Alvy by Jared Flood over the last year and actually finished it for Rhinebeck but I quickly realized the sleeves were freakishly long...like 4 inches too long.

 

 

I did a wee bit of surgery on them in January and cut off the cuffs about 6 rows up from the cuff/sleeve transition. I untraveled about 2.5 inches of sleeve, picked up the stitches on the cuff and knit one round on the sleeve, decreasing the 2 stitches I needed to remove to have the same amount as the cuff. Then - I grafted the cuffs back on.

 

I'll post better pictures when I get home but here are a few selfies taken in dad's backyard. BT Shelter is amazing to work with and I have lots in stash with many projects queued. 

 

 

Next up (in Shelter) will be Aspen by Michele Wang from her latest Capsule collection. This yarn is made for cables because it's so very light the garment never gets weighed down so - go nuts!

Catch you on the flip side when I get back home. I bought lots of lovely stuff this trip and can't wait to knit it. 

 

 

 

Is This Thing On? tap tap tap

It's been over a year since I posted to this blog and as Inigo Montoya said in the Princess Bride…"No time to s'plain - let me sum up".  Life was busy, work was busy, then work shifted so I now find myself on sabbatical.  Presumably; I now have time to navel-gaze, knit, spin and blog.  Then I discovered I couldn't access the blog but I finally got things sorted out.  I'm taking a break from the wine industry but will still link beautiful wines to the projects I highlight here.  There are a few I have yet to unveil but thought I'd start today with my latest yarn obsession from The Blue Brick.  The yarn is a DK weight and called Escarpment.  The colour way is named Aurora and is designed as an ombre gradient shading gently through the colours.  I made the Tito hat which is a free pattern on Ravelry.

It's a great take-along project and quick gratification.  I'm embracing the satisfaction of knitting accessories.  

I've been wearing it on my long walks in the woods with my trusty K-9 Phoebe.  For the moment, resting, being present and recharging the batteries is where I need to be.

I'm getting ready to go to the Madrona Fiber Arts Retreat in Washington State mid month.  In celebration of this and all things I've always admired about Washington State but especially these days - I've picked up a beautiful bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon from Substance Wines.

Much like the people of Washington -It's a classy and refined wine but you can taste a beautifully restrained power that was perfect with last night's tenderloin and will be again with tonight's pork tenderloin.  This is a cool climate wine so they are structured and don't over power the food.  It's juicy and gorgeous.  

So my friends - if you're still with me…I'm grateful.  I intend to use this time wisely and showing up here more often is part of the grand plan.