2015 Purlygirl Retreat

This last weekend was my knitting group's annual retreat to Fort Worden. We go every Spring and spend the weekend eating, laughing, talking, and knitting. 

 

Fort Worden is a beautiful place to walk and I enjoyed some time on the beach (I also took the opportunity to stretch since marathon knitting is hard on my hands). The weather was a bit brisk but warm enough that I didn't need my coat, just a handknit sweater. 

There was knitting on the porch, knitting in the living room, knitting at the dining room table, and knitting in the car. Basically, lots and lots of knitting all of the time and it was wonderful.

It was great to spend time with ladies I don't see very often as well as those that I do see often and spend some time relaxing and catching up. The retreat gets better every year and I can't wait until the next one.

FO: October Leaves Fingerless Mitts

Pattern: October Leaves Fingerless Mitts by Abbie Tilden

Yarn: Sincere Sheep Cushy Fingering in Be Mine

Needles: US #1 (2.25 mm) Hiya Hiya Sharps

Mods: None! (Her wrist looks bumpy because of her watch.)

Remember my super-secret knitting project for my knitting group retreat swap? This is it! I drew Meg for the swap and I knew I'd have fun knitting something for her. She has a toddler size girlie at home and is a working mama so I know she doesn't get as much time to knit as she would like. Meg knits lots of hats so I thought the next best thing would be some fingerless mitts that she could use at the park with her kiddo or going for walks. The swap theme was small accessories with lace or cables or both. I think these mitts fit the bill perfectly - they have cables running up both sides and the gusset increases are integrated into a lace leaf motif. Meg seems like the kind of lady who appreciates a little luxury, so I chose a fingering weight yarn from Sincere Sheep in a merino, nylon, and cashmere blend. The yarn is a dream to work with - nice and round with a bit of density to it that makes it flow through your fingers and off the needles.

Purlygirl Retreat

Later this morning I head off to Port Townsend for the third annual Purlygirl retreat. We'll be staying at Fort Worden and doing lots of knitting, eating, and laughing our heads off. I'm working on packing my knitting projects.

 I'm winding these little lovelies into balls to cast on Fiar by Irish Girlie Knits. My new friend, Sonia, is knitting Fiar and I'm basically just copying her brilliant idea (we have the exact same gradient set). This is a gradient set that I picked up at Vogue Knitting Live and the colorway is Flutter.

 I swatched my French Marigold Miss Babs and got perfect gauge for Aislinn on size 5 needles. The swatch was slightly dense before washing, but after a nice bath it created a lovely fabric. In my experience, superwash yarns have a tendency to become very fluid after washing so I think this yarn knit at a slightly dense gauge will be perfect for a cardigan with both stockinette and lace.

 Mr. B's birthday socks are coming along for the ride. These are what I'll knit on during the ferry ride and any late night shenanigans. The pattern is Gentleman's Half Hose in Ringwood Pattern (a very simple texture pattern).

I also did my nails last night. For three whole days I'll be away from sorting papers at work, housecleaning, and other rough-on-my-hands activities so I thought I'd get extra fancy. I'm not super awesome at painting my own nails but I like this pretty well. Sally Hansen's Black Out with some Essie luxeffects in A Cut Above over the tips. It's 4-year-old approved. 

I'll be back after the weekend! Enjoy yours!

Swap

BFF socks
Originally uploaded by ErinBirnel

My knitting group recently completed a second round of swapping projects. Have you done this before? Someone (as in me and my co-organizer) takes a poll as to who wants to participate, takes a poll as to the type of project people want to make, assigns secret partners, creates a deadline, and then you all swap projects with the appropriate people on swap day. It's great fun when everything goes smoothly - so far this has been a mostly smooth process for our group. In any case, I received these beautiful socks from Sharon in my favorite sock yarn, Hazel Knits Artisan Sock.The pattern is BFF Socks by Cookie A, a pattern that I've been wanting to knit for a while but never have gotten around to knitting. Thanks, Sharon! They're already getting all day wear!

This & That

I realize I've been pretty quiet lately. Maybe that's because now that I'm done organizing our move I've been organizing a crap-ton of other stuff like Knit Night at the Rat City Rollergirls with some of my awesome knitting group. Yeah! I had soooo much fun and got a little over zealous reenacting jams with Stariel who was injured in my..um..excitement. Next up is my housewarming a la People's Pub which is in my new hood and a visit from my BFF at the end of the month. Now that Old Moldy is out of my life I've been doing quite a bit more knitting including my Mom's birthday sweater (Mom, pretend you didn't see this!). When I asked her what she wanted she sent me a picture of a big, woolly, cabley, collared sweater but with added text for something "summery". Ignoring the picture I immediately went to some organic cotton/milk fiber yarn that I've been wanting to try and hit up the ChicKnits patterns we have at the store. I should finish tonight with plenty of time for blocking, drying, and mailing before birthday time.

And this one time at Sock Summit....

I totally lost my head and bought enough yarn to clothe a quiver of children. I'm super tired but had a great time and met lots and lots of people. The highlight of my trip was meeting Meg Swansen (eeeeek!!!) and she is so nice and personable and everything she seems to be from watching her dvds, and gorgeous to boot! I hope to have that skin and those cheekbones when I'm her age! I also spotted the Yarn Harlot several times, Anna Zilborg, Jess & Casey, and oodles of other folks that belong to the kniterati. I hung out with fellow Purlygirls Jessica, Jeanne, and Rebecca and had a wonderful time with them shopping and eating and laughing, laughing, laughing. My tootsies are still sore from being on my feet for two days. I'll try and get my act together to post pictures of yarny goodness once I fully recover.