Baby, baby, baby, baby

All this inspiration in my knitting library...

And I still find myself combing through the "Webs" (as my friend Tuulia likes to refer to the Internet) and finding baby jacket inspiration elsewhere. I'm up to my neck in babies-on-the-way -- and mostly twins, if you can believe it. Thank you to the modern miracle of in-vitro fertilization and baby-planning saved for mid-life. I have to hurry, four are due in the time it takes to knit four sweaters!

Currently, I'm testing this Drops sweater pattern using mandarin Petit cotton
yarn from SandnesGarn. If I love the result, I'll be making a slew of them.

Oh? Did you notice that all the books on the bedside table were not about babies? Well, spinning seems to slip it's way into the task list, the reading list, and every list.

Seattle-to-Portland Yarn Train Report!

This was my second year to pull together a Yarn Crawl that starts in Seattle at 7am, crawls via train to several wonderful yarn stores in Portland, and then pulls the 59+ knitters back to Seattle by 10pm. All in a day!

Prepping for the Crawl, Uh Oh.
The cabinet below is a new acquisition to my studio. Four hours of putting it together the week prior to the crawl, and several more hours placing my best yarn in it made it abundantly clear that I did not need to buy yarn. (Notice, I did not say all my yarn...there is more in the yarn closet. OMG, I have to incorporate my yarn into my will, I'll never outlive it.) So, the yarn crawl had to serve other purposes than stash enhancement.

Read about the Yarn Crawl, See Photos, Blogs, and More. Be inspired.
Read about the crawl here. See photos from the day from many of the participants here (on Flickr). Follow the rabble on Ravelry here

The Day Did Not Disappoint.
Here are photos of my loot from the day. (With my everpresent Ben, overseeing the photoshoot. Kinda.)

Yarn gift bags prepped for the Seattle-to-Portland Yarn Crawlers. The bag had two skeins of Knit Picks Swish yarn and chocolates in each bag. We had a hat knitalong on the train with the yarn. By the way, purple was the first and foremost pick of this knit crowd.

My hat made with the knitalong yarn. I love this shape.

Gifts from Portland Indie Dyers Abstract Fiber, and Stitchjones

The "boobie prize" yarn (top) from last year came back to haunt me as a scarf. (The winner of the "dud" yarn last year, Ialiuxh, knit it and brought it to me.) Ben doesn't seem that wild about it either. The remains for the day (bottom): baby colors were not so popular - the only leftover gift bag.

Book acquisitions from Dublin Bay (top), Knit/Purl (bottom)

And one more, too intriguing to pass up: a Knitter's Graphic Novel, whoo hoo! (Also from Knit/Purl)

ShiBui (created by Darcy, owner of Knit/Purl) offers the coolest knit totes and needle cases too:

Knit Knot is famous for carrying local artist's jewelry - so I made a beeline there first. (top) Shawl pin and earrings. Last but not least, a knitter needs to see the stitches! Knit/Purl comes to the rescue with eyebobs reading glasses (bottom).

All in all, an amazing day. I can't wait for next year!

Knitted on I-Cord

A benefit of the Yarn Train trip last week: Elizabeth Prusiewicz of Knit Knot Studio yarn shop in Portland, Oregon shows us how to do an applied I-cord. See her Web site at: http://knitknotstudiopdx.com/

Excuse the dust

This blog is currently being migrated to this wonderful new location.

Old location: http://charisa-martin.livejournal.com/
New Location: You are here -- http://pulsh.blogspot.com/

Please excuse any oddities in links bouncing from the new-to-the-old. Sadly, an artifact of the migration is loss of previous comments.

In the meantime check the right column and sign up for PULSH announcements, enjoy the free patterns, translate PULSH into your own language, and feel free to comment on any post!

Pocket Spinner! Plus a New Adoption

My Pocket Wheel finally arrived - and I picked it up yesterday. It's so little! The opening of basket to the right of the wheel measures at 10", and the measurement from orifice metal opening to where the pocket wheel sits is 18". I'm already on my second bobbin. Fun!

Then guess what followed me home? Big Bertha! You can't quite tell that it's BIG, but to give you an idea, the trim on the wall is at 36", and the floor-to-top-of-wheel measures 45".

And for entertainment's sake, see the two together!