I finally got around to developing the film from the disposable camera I used during our trip to Portland, OR for Markus’ supercomputing conference. And wow, the cost for developing film including the digital CD is astronomical, considering the fact that the photos came out less than stellar. Gees, I can take mediocre pictures for free on my digital camera! Heh. We sent our digital camera to Canon today to have them fix the CCD sensor. Hopefully it’ll arrive back here all shiny and new before the holidays! So now back to Portland.

First of all, where were all the sock knitters??? I showed up at the Oregon Convention Center with my sock yarn at the ready but the only people there were supercomputing people. Hmmm, I guess I missed the Sock Summit by about 3 months. (see above, I’m holding a skein of purple Hazel Knits sock yarn)

We stayed at a super hotel, the Ace Hotel. Our room was wallpapered with pages from a dictionary. The lobby is attached to a coffee shop, and as you can see in the mediocre photo above, there is a photo booth in the main lobby. I spent a few hours sitting in the lobby sipping coffee on the spacious couch while knitting, just watching people get their photos taken. Funny stuff! If you’re going to Portland and want to stay in the coolest, most unique, hip, and modern hotel ever, then I recommend the Ace Hotel wholeheartedly. If for no other reason than postage stamps are complimentary for guests. That’s a Dealbreaker right there.

As usual, I honed in on the yarn shops. I went to 4 shops in Portland: Knit Purl, Dublin Bay Knitting Company, Knit Knot Studio, and Twisted.

I knew Star Athena at Twisted was giving a class on sock design while I was in town and fortunately there was still space in the class. I bought the Hazel Knits yarn from Twisted’s wall of sock yarn to use in class.

Me and Star in front of the wall of sock yarn. Let me point out that this is only 1/3 of the wall of sock yarn. Do you know how long it took me to decide which yarn to buy? Anyway, Star was gracious enough to pose for a photo with me. I really enjoyed meeting her and I recommend taking a class from her if you’re in the Twisted area.

Susan’s Top 8, yes 8, list of non-cultural things to do in Portland because who wants to see another museum when you can go to a yarn store?
1. Go to Twisted and drool over the wall of sock yarn (not literally, that would just be gross)
2. Stay at the Ace Hotel which is connected to Stumptown Coffee Roasters
3. Go to Powell’s bookstore and try not to hyperventilate
4. Eat a yummy lunch or dinner at Santeria Mexican restaurant, 703 SW Ankeny, then pop next door to the Tugboat Brewing Company and quench your thirst
5. Go to Powell’s bookstore again now that you’ve grasped the full extent of the bookstore and this time, choose from one of the thousands of knitting books, order coffee and read your book in the cafe
6. Stop by Costello’s Travel Caffé which is a few doors down from Twisted for a bite to eat and a cup of coffee. Do you see a coffee pattern developing here?
7. Have a delicious pancake breakfast at Byways Cafe in the Pearl District
8. Go to Oblation Papers & Press, 516 NW 12th Ave, and watch them do letterpress printing on antique presses

Markus says: “These swag sunglasses from Microsoft are hot”

I hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving holiday! As usual, we watched The Creature from the Black Lagoon, a Thanksgiving tradition in my family. After it finished my uncle suggested we watch The Blob. Wow, now that was a B movie if ever I saw one. Ah yes, Thanksgiving, a time for family, pumpkin pie and monster movies…

So I knit up this beret while we were in Portland. It’s from the book Handmade Underground Knitwear: 25 Fun Accessories for All Seasons by Laura Long and Melissa Halvorson. I can’t say the name of the beret as it shares the name of the recipient (and I do believe she reads my blog occasionally), but if you’re interested in knitting it, the beret can be found on p. 61.

I really wasn’t too taken with many of the other projects in this book, but I think this hat is just too cute! It knit up so darn fast that I’m tempted to knit another. I have extra yarn since I bought double what I needed. The pattern calls for 2 skeins of Misti Alpaca Chunky at 108 yds each (for a total of 216 yds). I’m convinced that’s a typo in the book, since I used just under 108 yds of the Frog Tree Alpaca Chunky. Just FYI.

Pattern: ***** Beret from the book “Handmade Underground Knitwear”
Yarn: Frog Tree Alpaca Chunky
Needles: size 10 US
Gauge: 16 sts and 20 rows = 4″

Next time I think I’ll go up to size 10.5 needles because the beret seems just a little snug, but I haven’t blocked it yet which could change everything…

Markus and I just got back today from a week in Portland Oregon. He had a Supercomputing Conference there and since I’ve never been to Oregon, I thought I’d tag along. While he did his computing stuff at the convention center, I went to 4 yarn shops, bought lots of sock yarn, knit a hat for my SIL, bought 2 knitting books and a western at Powell’s, and took a sock design class with Star Athena (who is a terrific teacher, BTW). Needless to say, my camera is still broken, so I bought a disposable camera for the trip. Gee whiz, I haven’t used one of those in years! Once I get the pictures developed and online, I’ll talk more about my trip because a blog post without any pictures is just plain sad.

In the meantime, here’s my latest sweater design. It’s called Aspinwall Pullover and it’s in the Interweave Knits Winter 2009 issue. It’s a man’s sweater knit in the round with stripes of colorwork across the chest and cuffs. David Reidy has commented in the past about the lack of designs for men in knitting magazines, so this one’s for you David! Wishing you a speedy recovery!!

Photo copyright Interweave Press

(I posted a small errata for this pattern here, Ravelry link)

I finished Ishbel and sent it on its merry way to my aunt. I think the shawl turned out lovely!

Pattern: Ishbel by Ysolda Teague
Yarn: Annadele Alpacas (50% alpaca/50% nylon) from the booth at the Waynesburg Sheep and Fiber Festival
Needles: size 6 US
Gauge: I don’t need no stinkin’ gauge!

The ball band didn’t say much about yarn weight or needle size, so I randomly picked needles (ones that weren’t in use at the time) and cast on. The skein contained a total of 450 yards, and I used exactly 337.5 yards. I made the smallest size stockinette and lace. It looked so tiny after casting off, but after blocking and stretching and pinning it grew to a 44″ wingspan! Never underestimate the power of blocking…

I seem to be turning into a part-time blogger! I think I’d first like to blame my crappy camera, and the fact that every post should include at least one photo, therefore, no posts for way too long. No, I haven’t gotten a new camera yet. *grumble, grumble* It’s also difficult to blog about knitting when I can’t really talk about or show my current knitting projects. I’m often working on projects I’d like to submit to magazines and I can’t divulge anything!

One thing I can divulge is that the “Pico Socks” have arrived at their final destination and have been really well received. My aunt said they fit perfectly! Whew! My next project will be to finish Ishbel and give it to someone who just received some bad news. That should cheer her up a little I hope! I’m also still working on a sock design with the lovely Pagewood Farms Denali sock yarn, but that’s about all I can say…

I had another great Halloween this year at Lisa’s. Here’s the motely crew in full glory…

(Thanks to Lisa for sending me this photo). This year I was Raggedy Ann, and Markus was Zorro. I was Raggedy Ann for Halloween when I was 3, then again during college, and then this year. As usual, Lisa’s house was mobbed with kids, and at one point there was even a line to get up to the front door!

Oh I almost forgot, check out Knitcircus Issue #8. I have a men’s sweater pattern in there called “Zipp”. It is pretty cool. It has detachable sleeves. That’s all kinds of awesome right there.