That Rockefeller Shawl

The Rockefeller Shawl was a Stephen West Mystery KAL and when I saw the first few stages of this project, I wasn't too excited.  Since then the KAL has finished and  I'm really impressed with the shawls I've seen.  This is Stephen West's version:

                                                                             


Here is one done by Mary, a member of a knitting group in the East Bay called the Alamo Yarnies:

 
Mary did this in cashmere and it is really lovely; she is almost done and now that we are heading towards Fall I look forward to seeing her wear it.  For anyone based in the East Bay and looking for a group to join, I highly recommend Alamo Yarnies; they are a fun bunch of ladies who are always knitting something trendy and interesting and are always up for a road trip to see The Yarn Harlot, Stephen West, Clara Parkes, Ysolda Teague  and anyone else who comes through A Verb for Keeping Warm in Oakland.   (How does Verb always seem to snag the hottest knitwear designers?)

Here is one done by Vasilis and I love her color choices:

                                                                           


Here's one done by purpleducks:

                                                                                 

   
    Here's what I have been up to.   Finished this denim tweed sweater for my grandson so he will have a warm sweater to wear when he walks to school:

                                                                             


  Still working away on my Modular Afghan - more pictures next week!  Happy Fiber Arts Friday.


                                                                                                                                                                                                      

Knitting in Oregon

A few more pictures of my trip to Oregon with some knitting info as well.  Portland was having unusually warm weather when I was there and so we decided to head for the coast.  Somewhere out there is the Pacific Ocean:

                                                                                                                                                     

Stopped in Cannon Beach, which is a charming coastal town that reminded me of the old TV show Murder She Wrote;  expected to see Angela Lansbury coming down the street at any moment.  No Angela, but we did discover a really nice yarn shop, Coastal Yarns:

                     

   
I was expecting a tiny little place but this is quite a nice welcoming shop, with a lots of interesting inventory from yarns to books and knitting bags and a big table to sit and knit with the locals.

Back in Portland we stopped by Knit Purl, which is a beautiful shop filled with Madelinetosh yarn and offering lots of interesting classes:

                                                                             

     Taking pictures of the local artwork in the Pearl District:

   

This weekend is the Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival.   My friend will be going with her knitting group and I can't wait to hear about it and see her pictures.

Here's my progress on my Modular Afghan:

Have a good weekend and Happy Fiber Arts Friday !
                                                                                                                                                                                                  

Twisted in Portland

Just got back from a trip to Portland, Oregon where I was visiting a friend.  What a fun place to visit!  Lots of interesting little neighborhoods with many, many small restaurants (does anyone eat at home in Portland?) and some nice touristy things to do with visiting out of towners such as this:

                                                                   
A visit to the Portland Rose Test Garden in Washington Park, which is spectacular.  Oregon's climate is conducive to growing all kinds of things and roses, in particular, thrive there.
Now we know why Portland is called The Rose City.

                                                                       
A visit to the Lan Su Chinese Garden in the middle of  downtown Portland which is the most authentic Chinese garden outside of China.  What a lovely peaceful place.

This city is home to some serious artsy craftsy DIY folks and it seems everywhere you go there are people making things - furniture, clothing,  jewelry, small cottages from recycled goods, artwork and, of course, needlework.  Trust me, you all would love it.

Of course we stopped to check out the local knitting shops and my friend took me to her local hangout, Twisted.  What a great shop!  This is definitely a must see for any knitter visiting Portland:

                 

                                                                                                                             

                                                                         
That sock display is from Chrissy Gardiner's Indie Sock book.  This is a pretty large shop with a very good inventory of yarn including some interesting hand dyed yarns and lots of samples to give you inspiration.

Saw this Rockefeller shawl in a window and had to include this, although it's not the best photo.  Love these colors!  This pattern is Stephen West's mystery KAL project that everyone has been doing.

                                                                   

I have been working on a sweater for my grandson, but I don't have any pictures to show.  Here is my progress on the Modular Afghan:

                                                                     
Have a good weekend everybody and go check out Andrea's blog to see what other fiber folks have been up to.