All sorts of things

Hello from my new home in Portland, Oregon! My husband Mike was offered a job out here, so after he graduated with his MBA in the middle of May we packed up and left Denver. So far we’re liking things a lot. I’m looking for a new job and spending a lot of time wandering around the new neighborhood with my doggie. I miss my friends, but I’m looking forward to meeting some new people too.

Today I went to the CRAFT Magazine launch event at my new LYS, Twisted — and I’m thrilled that is actually is a local yarn shop; I can walk right to it. I had a great time petting yarn, saying hi to people, and experimenting with the craft demos. I even won a raffle prize: a copy of Bead Simple, which has some amazing looking jewelry designs. The author was kind enough to autograph it for me too. :)

During the move, I started and finished my first fitted garment, Stefanie Japel’s Minisweater. I bought a few buttons for it at Twisted today. I think the finished sweater is really cute, and I liked the yarn a lot too (Jo Sharp Silkroad Aran Tweed in Jewel — purchased a while back). I used US size 9 needles. I knit the body a bit longer than the pattern said and made some changes to the sleeves. I left out the increases that made them puffy and knit them in the round instead of flat.

I finished spinning two bobbins of the Mystery Wool and plied them together. Now that my spinning wheel is empty, I’m planning to dive into some of the alpaca roving I have been hoarding and get to work! Before leaving Colorado, my friend Lisa took me to Shuttles in Boulder, where I bought some sparkly glitz to add to my yarn. I love all things shiny so I’m looking forward to playing with it. :)