A Strand in the Hand: fiber

There are so many things that I LOVE about living in Kodiak. The wild natural beauty, the fishing, the wildflowers, the tidepooling, moments like this:

The dog and me- Pillar Mountain, 2/19/07.

This is my "intrepid explorer" pose.

That being said, there are a lot of sacrifices one must make when living in such a remote area. While I often welcome these minor inconveniences, in winter, they can sometimes be a bit overwhelming. However, I have learned to live without good produce, a Thai restaurant, decent live music on a consistent basis, etc... There is one thing, though, that has been driving me batshit. You see, everyone on the Interwebs is raving about the new issue of IK. We don't have it yet. For the most part, we get magazines 1-2 weeks after everyone else in America. I have learned to deal with this with my beloved Vanity Fair, but I'm dying to get my hands on that entrelac sock pattern- among other things. It seems like such a small thing, but it is a good example of some of the isolation I've been feeling this winter. This is my 4th winter here, and man, it has been a tough one. I don't think I have the S.A.D. or anything, but just a touch of the winter blues. So, I carded a batt the other day to help me overcome:

This has to work.

I seem to be recovered enough from the madness of the holidaze to find time to blog again. I have to say, I have been doing a lot of knitting, but have just not had the motivation to write about it. Mostly this comes from the fact that our Internet connection is verrry slow, and it takes a long time to load pictures. I'm not a fan of very wordy blogs with few photos, so I like to make sure I am avoiding that in this one...

Anyway, we experienced a little bit of disappointment this Christmas- we had plans to travel to Boston to stay with my new in-laws. Unfortunately, the weather in Kodiak did not permit us to fly out on the scheduled date, and with all of the travel woes facing the Lower 48 at that time, the best the airline could have donw was get us into Boston on Christmas Day. We decided to reschedule our trip, got a full refund (!) and are going to head there for St. Paddy's Day. I told the husband that my goal is to puke Guinness all over him, then get in a fight with a barstool. Because I'm classy like that.

I did get to go to Portland, OR for a week shortly after the new year to see my family. Of course, as with any good trip, I stopped at some fiber shops. First, I went to Knit Knot, an adorable lil' shop in the swanky Pearl District. I like this place, it's small, but there is everything you need. The woman who owns the shop (also an Elizabeth) is extremely friendly and helpful. Here is my haul:

Some Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool, Noro Aurora (perfect for AK- actually knits up looking very Aurora-ish), some rainbow mohair (on sale!), some cobwebby NZ wool,

and some Regia Bamboo. Nice.

The best part is, I could not have gotten all of this without a very dear friend. You see, I went downtown to meet my friend Nate for lunch (oh my, Lebanese food- we don't get that in these parts). I was a bit early, so I stopped into Knit Knot on the way and got the mohair and Aurora. When Nate and I met for lunch, he handed me a brown package. "There's a funny story behind this," he said. Curiously, I opened the package, and inside was an envelope with Congratulations written in Arabic (his major at Portland State University) containing a gift certificate to... guess where... Knit Knot! Seems he remembered that I really liked that store last time I came to town, which I mentioned with great excitement when I came to eat at his work just a few doors down on my visit several months before. This was a belated wedding gift, and exceedingly thoughtful. Turns out, he came in the shop about 10 min after I left, and upon speaking with the propreitor about the fact that this was for a friend from Alaska, she realized that same girl had just come in. Smart man though, he made the purchase anyway, knowing that I always am in need of more yarn...

OK, so much for not being too wordy. Next stop, my mom and I went to Northwest Wools, and she bough me the following for a late Christmas present: 8 oz of handpainted Corriedale Roving, some merino top, a little camel down, recycled sari silk, a ball of Silk Garden, and, one of those cute lil' sweater keyrings from Lantern Moon (I LOVE that company!). She insisted, much to my amusement, that I needed one. Love that woman.

In other news, I am knitting a hat for my stepdaughter. She is in a bit of a hippie-dippie phase, which I also went into at that age (almost 15). I decided to make here a hippie-dippie hat using Cascade Pastaza. She is really into llamas, so I thought she would appreciate a hat made of 50/50 llama/wool. The pattern is the "Scrunchie Hat" from One-Skein Wonders (not to be confused with the also awesome book entitled One Skein). This is a great book- especially for us handspinners who have orphan skeins of yarn on our hands. A must buy, and you get a lot of bang for your $18.95! I'm knitting the hat using Us#8 Destiny needles from Lantern Moon (a gift from my boss at the LYS- ebony... OMFG)... also pictured is a sweet lil' silk bag, also from Lantern Moon from the same person, for carrying a small knitting project. She knows that I love to knit hats, and gave me these exceedingly thoughtful gifts for Christmas- thank you!

uggh.. pardon the el crappo pic

Am also knitting up the Purple Pewter yarn into a little lace mini-shawl, using this pattern. I like this pattern very much... easy to get into the rhythm of it, and looks pretty without having to squint at a chart all the time! Of course, it looks all sad and scrunched-up now, but hopefully soon it will be ready for blocking so it's true beauty can come through. The handspun yarn has a painterly quality that I am enjoying very much in the knitted piece, which also has nice hand and drape when knit on us#9 needles.

OK, there is way much more I have been doing, but I am going to give my hands a bit of a break! I will work hard not to be such a hypocrite and have more photos/less text in the next post...