Tuesday, April 26, 2011

road trip treasures

I was headed home from Albany after taking an test for my Anthropology class, and decided to see if the new (ish..it's been open a while but new enough nonetheless) yarn shop in Brownsville was open. I had been messaging a fellow Raveler about it on our Oregon knitting group and really wanted to check it out.

Friends, I introduce you to: The Brownsville Stitching Parlor.

 The Proprietor, Jamie Kampfer, is on the left, showing a nice lady a new technique at the lesson table.

                          One of the displays featuring beautiful hand made clothes for dolls.



               The floor loom for teaching. The weaving hanging on the edge were wonderful!


There is a local sheep owner whose rovings you see.Classes are held to learn to spin and weave.


                         An overall view of the shop. Jamie has a wide array of brand names. 

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Outside the front door. It is a very old Pioneer town, and the building has been wonderfully preserved.



The shop is located in this building.
you can reach Jamie online at;
stitchparlor@peak.org
541-466-3660
Hours are Tues-Fri 10am-5pm
Saturday 11am-4pm

I can't wait to go back! Brownsville is less than 30 miles away. 
Happy stitching!

Monday, April 18, 2011

Catching my breath

It seems the time between posts keeps getting longer. Sundays come around, and instead of  happily blogging, and playing around on Flickr, I am hunched over the keyboard, a book and a calculator, fiercely learning the ins and outs of Economics. (in the long run, that will probably pay better than this blog.. sigh).

Time management has been my challenge pretty much my whole life. Online classes make it even more challenging. I try to balance homework time with days I work, and so far it's a bumpy road traveled.
I have been crocheting as well as knitting. My cousin is due this month with baby #2, (a boy) and asked me to make hats and blankets for both children.

Here is what resulted:
Bernat Baby in blue and white. Ripple stitch pattern from 101 Ripple stitch patterns.

Vanna' choice yarn with scrap yarn for the flower.

Vanna's Choice yarn in pink and chocolate.

Frank, showing us the baby hat.

I enjoyed the knitted hat because I was using Debbie Bliss's Baby Cashmerino. SO soft! I wanted that yarn all to myself! I could knit a pillow out of it and sleep with it every night. Ahh...

The Crocheted items are always fun to make. I like crocheting blankets and afghans because they work up so much faster than knitting. I have knit an afghan before, a large modified 'feather and fan', but. Wow. I whittled away at at that thing for years, it seemed like.

In addition, I finished these in time for Easter for Emily:
Sadie modeling her sister's socks

These were a breeze to knit. Italian wool, soft and baby-ish. I used my Generic sock pattern. I am in the Self-imposed Sock club on Ravelry, and haven't been keeping up. This is my attempt to remedy that. 
I can not stop knitting. It keeps me sane. If I had to choose between coffee and knitting, or beer and knitting, I would dump the coffee and give away the beer. Knitting makes everything alright again. Always.

Back to Economics and the phenomenon called, "elasticity"..

Sunday, April 3, 2011

my new obsession

Knitting has been and always will be my obsession. I should define that better. Passion. I am passionate about knitting. It keeps me calm, and focused, sort of like Yoga for the brain.

Photography is quickly catching up to the knitting though. Not only am I trying to get creative with the photos I snap of projects, I carry my little camera around right along with my knitting. I even went as far as stopping in the emergency median on a road trip recently to take photos of some cool stuff on the railroad tracks. (I plan the road trips to allow for time to stop and take pics, too!)

The cool thing is that both are quite portable, and one inspires the other. My rooster is wonderful shades of amber and if I ever run across a  yarn that comes close, I will knit something and it will remind me of him long after he is gone.

 A few recent ones: (click on them- you'll get a larger version. I promise!)







OMG the sun is out! I'm going out to take more photos. Might even knit some more today too..