Back from the Peninsula

Sorry to have missed last week, but I was away at a retreat organized by the Spindrifters spinning guild down in Seabeck, WA.

Was nice to get away for a few days with the spinning folk. We stopped in Port Gamble and grabbed lunch at the cafe at the General Store. While there checked out the Sea and Shore Museum upstairs and snapped a few photos of these crazy critters.

At the Artful Ewe, I picked up a few skeins of Heidi’s amazing suri silk cloud yarn in luscious, fruity colors.

I just love this stuff. Carrying a strand of it along with another yarn makes the fabric feel so luxurious ( i did that with the back of my first Alcott vest).

From Port Gamble we headed straight down to the Seabeck Conference Center, and got spinning!

I took Moto, my espinner, and worked from rolags to create some new blended colors for stranded knitting-

That is the resulting two-ply yarn of the blendy colors on the left, and a lovely icelandic/silk blend that I picked up from Skagit Woollen Works on the right-

Also started a new knitting project while away at Seabeck- Glaciar Vest– but with some mods. Really like the neckline, and the rounded hem that is longer in the back, but instead of the textured stitch in the pattern for the body I’m just working a broken rib. Using some unspun wool which i think is Briggs and Little Country Roving .I un-plied it and am working with just one strand + Knitting for Olive silk mohair.

Also decided to knit it bottom-up rather than top-down (primarily because short rows for neckline and shoulder shaping aren’t great for social knitting). So for now I’m just going round and round alternating knit and ribbed rows. I find ribbing very relaxing. Will see how far the blue mohair gets me up the body. Not sure it I’ll change roving color when the mohair switches or not. Have a couple shades of roving and mohair to play with.

Alrighty folks- take it easy, and have a good week.