Fiberly One

Knitting and Sewing, Sewing and Knitting

2009-07-06T11:33:00.000-07:00

New post at Fiberly One's new home:
Knitting and Sewing, Sewing and Knitting

It's my birthday

2009-06-21T07:52:00.000-07:00

New post at Fiberly One's new home:
It's my birthday

An Afternoon in Oakland

2009-05-20T06:52:00.000-07:00

New post at Fiberly One's new home:
An Afternoon in Oakland

A new skirt

2009-05-13T04:58:00.000-07:00

New post at Fiberly One's new home:
A new skirt

May Already?

2009-05-05T07:32:00.000-07:00

New Post at Fiberly One's new home:
May Already?

Three Quick Projects

2009-04-06T06:32:00.000-07:00

New Post at Fiberly One's new home.
Three Quick Projects

Made in March

2009-03-24T09:15:00.000-07:00

New Post at Fiberly One's new home:
Made in March

People, Places and Things

2009-03-05T11:00:00.000-08:00

New Post at Fiberly One's New home:
People, Places and Things

February

2009-03-01T08:07:00.000-08:00

New Post at Fiberly One's New home:
February

Yarn and more yarn

2008-09-30T13:18:00.000-07:00

New Post at Fiberly One's new home:
Yarn and more yarn

Of Skirts and Shirts

2008-09-07T13:31:00.000-07:00

New Post at Fiberly One's new home:
Of Skirts and Shirts

Anniversary night

2008-08-16T06:01:00.000-07:00

New post at Fiberly One's new home:
Anniversary night

Techy and Fiberly meet

2008-08-16T05:58:00.000-07:00

New post at Fiberly One's new home

Techy and Fiberly meet

Knitting Magazines

2008-08-08T05:40:00.000-07:00

New Post at Fiberly One's new home
Knitting Magazines

Fiberly One is moving...

2008-08-03T15:06:00.000-07:00

I've been geeking this week and decided to move the Fiberly One blog to my website, since Blogger doesn't really play nice with Macintosh. So please change any bookmarks and links to the new address:

http://fiberlyone.thehudsons.com/

Let me know what you think.

Catching up

2008-08-02T05:00:00.000-07:00

It all started with trip to San Jose, then Denver, then Chicago, then Phoenix, then back to Phoenix at which time we packed up my mom and moved her to Oregon - in the matter of three months. By some standards that may not be a lot of traveling, but since I don't have a real job, it's a lot for me and my blogging slowed down to practically nil as we tried to get stuff done, entertain Mom, move Mom into her new apartment, etc, etc.

So I've had a geek week processing a large number of digital photos, putting them in to web pages and posting to our server and here's what we have:

Dogs - lots of dogs
There's Jake and Mandy, of course, who continue to entertain us just being them.


There were the visitors, Joey, the beagle and Montana, the large black lab mix, who stopped by in May. Even in San Jose, our house was a dog (and cat) magnet.


We took care of Pepperoni for Mark, when he and his wife were on a road trip to the Grand Canyon in July.


And the now-Oregon-resident Tootsie.


There are even more pictures of the dogs and a little narrative in May Dogs, June Dogs and July Dogs on TheHudsons.com

Willamette River Cruise
Courtesy of Dianne Rodway and John Becker and the City Properties Group, we spent a pleasant Sunday afternoon cruising the Willamette River.


Fifty
Yes, I'm now 50 and I mentioned the party. Here are some pictures.


Jim and Chris Adamson couldn't make the day, but on their way to take a car full of things to their daughter in Seattle, they stopped by.

Fiberly Weekend
There are a few more pictures from the weekend in Chicago, including lots of color from the Chicago Botanic Gardens.


In May, Tom and I walked the Doggie Dash for the Oregon Humane Society. With Jake and Mandy in tow, I wasn't able to do much multi-tasking (ie take pictures), but I did get one.

In June, just before the car came to pick us up for the last leg of the move from Sun City West, I took a great picture of my Mom and her friend Viki Hartsock.

AND I've finally finished Katherine, crocheted a scarf and made shirts for Tom and John Becker for his birthday...and I don't have any pictures yet. So I guess, I'm not quite caught up after all. Oh well.

Jake is Seven

2008-07-30T09:06:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe he's only been our Jake for 11 months, not of all his seven years.

Happy Birthday, Mr Jake!

Something Funny

2008-07-19T04:25:00.000-07:00

After seeing the Clackamas Repertory Theatre (CRT) production of "I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change" two years ago, we subsribed to the three-play season last year, when they performed "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged)," "The Fantasticks," and "The Illustrated Man." All three shows were extremely well staged and performed. So it was a foregone conclusion we would subscribe again.

Last week, the season opened with a British farce called "See How They Run." Last night we saw it, and it was hilarious! Jayson Shanafelt, who we saw in "Shakespeare (unabridged)" last year did not disappoint as Clive. Newcomer Heather Ovalle was also a standout at Ida, the maid. Then again, all the roles were very well-played in this fast paced comedy.

Though the Osterman Theatre at Clackamas Community College is an intimate venue, we have been really impressed with the productions we've seen there, so we look forward to the next two plays and what the CRT has to offer in the future.

There are still six performances. If you like a great production of a really funny play, you should see "See How They Run." Maybe we'll see you there. Oh, and if Cynthia Smith-English, CRT Managing Mirector, asks, tell her we sent you.

Picture processing

2008-07-17T05:31:00.000-07:00

Smariek Knits asked how I get the white backgrounds on my images and as with many things in blog-land I've been slow to respond, but here goes.

I use Photoshop to process my images on my Mac. I'm ex-Adobe, so that's what I have and I know, but if you use another program, perhaps you can adapt some of the steps and processes. This isn't a tutorial on Photoshop; I'm not that good. But there are great tutorials online. Searching on Google for images and definitions for the tools, I found Photoshop Lab and SimplePhotoshop.com.

When possible try to take the digital picture against a background with sharp contrast and/or with as few similar colors as my project.

Use different tools to select either the project or the stuff around the project, then delete the background. The idea is to grab as much of the background creating an outline, without selecting too much of the content from the project. With Contiguous checked, experiment with Tolerance, choose the Magic Wand tool to select batches of color in the background. To add to the selection, hold the shift key down, click on a different section. If too much of the project is selected, reduce the Tolerance number. Once there's a pretty good outline of the project, use the Marquee to select big sections of the background that the Magic Wand.

To select the project instead of the background under the Select Menu choose Inverse.

The arrow below points to where some of the hat has been grabbed along with the background, so the Lasso tool can be used to add the little bit back into the project. Don't forget to hold down the shift key. If at any time, you do forget to hold down the shift key, you can Undo.*

Next Copy the project and paste. A new layer will be created. In the Layers window make the background layer invisible.

Using the Zooming in and using the Eraser tool , clean up any extra backgroud pixels or edges that you don't like. Crop the image to remove extra white space. Depending on the original size of the image, you also may want to reduce the image size.

My last step is to add a drop shadow under Layer Style in the Layer menu, and this is the result.

This is Evelyn Clark's Crusher Hat, crocheted from Puppy Leafy yarn on a size H hook. I needed an instant gratification project. Now what to do with the remaining 6 skeins...

*Alternatley, the Lasso tool can be used to outline the project. In my Googling, I also found another, probably more precise method of removing the background at GraphicSoft.

Presenting Baltic Blossoms

2008-07-08T06:06:00.000-07:00

In the whole scheme of things I really liked knitting Baltic Blossoms and working with the very fine Habu Bamboo lace yarn, though it seemed to take a long time to get it done. The Lily of the Valley section was re-knit a number of times and the nupps aren't nearly as neat as Evelyn Clark's sample, which I think, in part, can be attributed to the slippery quality of the bamboo. But the shawl is finished, and I like the soft, gossamer result.

Here's the shawl before rinsing and blocking:

And after blocking:

I love lace!

Busy week...no pictures

2008-06-30T03:48:00.000-07:00

I keep thinking I want to make sure to include pictures when I post, but if I wait till I get the gumption to process pictures, we could all be waiting a while, so here's a recap of the week sans pictures.

Birthday girl
That was me last Saturday, and it was a great party. In an unusual turn of events, everyone who said they would show up actually did and a person or two who hadn't said they would come showed up. It was a good mix of family, old Apple friends, cruise buddies, neighbors, business owners turned friends, and one high school chum. I will get to processing pictures...soon...I promise.

Tom's eastern North Carolina Barbeque-style was a hit. Most tried and liked the "traditional" sandwich by piling the coleslaw on top of the barbeque on the mini-buns made just for us by Market of Choice. The appetizers brought by friends, my Bill Neal shortcake with Oregon strawberries and, sweet tea (to complete the southern theme) and we all ate quite well.

What a great way to turn 50!

Move-in days
Monday we headed to IKEA to pick up a bed frame and dresser for my mom, then down to Wilsonville to wait for the guys from Take Care Move Assistance to arrive. Somehow we'd managed to fill the moving container in pretty short order, just the two of us, but we were very glad we hired Bill and his guy because to move the contents of the box from the loading area up three floors and down the hall 150 paces (Tom size...he counted) to my mom's new apartment. What took them 1 1/2 hours would surely have taken us the full day. And there was time left on the clock for them to build my mom's bed. Now you just cannot beat that.

We had decided that it was best to start her new apartment experience Tuesday morning so everyone was fresh. So we packed her clothes that we'd moved via Alaska Airlines baggage check and headed over, where even more clothes were waiting. Thanks to neighbor Laurie, we had enough hangers to accomodate without having to make a side trip to the Container Store. We made our first grocery store trip and inagurated the refrigerator. Tom built the dining table (chairs having been built on Monday) and the entertainment unit.

Wednesday the dresser was built, the new phone programmed, and the TV set up (except we couldn't find the remote), and my mom had spent her first night in Wilsonville. She seemed pretty spunky and on seeing her yesterday, she is settling in quite nicely. She's doing something she could never have done in Sun City West - walking Tootsie outside twice a day. We have lovely weather and her new pacemaker to thank for that, I think.

Miscellany
Lest you think I was slacking when we weren't hanging with my mom: I also managed four morning walks and a belated birthday lunch at Zeppo's in Lake Oswego; had printed 200 Columbia River Sewing Guild newsletters which I then (with a little help from my cool hubby) stapled, addressed, stamped and posted; located a long lost cousin to whom my mom wanted to send an address change; made and sent out the address change notices; and made and sent out thank you notes.

Baltic Blossoms
And I finally managed to get in some forward progress knitting on Saturday.

I started the border in early June when we were in AZ. I took out 6 rows of said border when we were in AZ. I thought was my first attempt at nupps but in researching a definition, I find that I must have knit them in Evelyn Clark's Swallowtail. At any rate, they were giving me fits (k1,YO,k1,YO,k1 into one stitch, purl 5 back). I didn't like the results so in my second (or maybe third) attempt I found that knitting into the front and back of the stitch for five stitches made it much easier to purl back. Still, after making unfixable mistakes, I ended up pulling out 16 rows of border (over 200 sts each) without winding the yarn as I went and then spending the ensuing day untangling the yarn. The next time(s?) I did it, I wound the yarn so resuming wasn't to difficult.

Saturday, with no distractions, and Sliding Doors (which I've seen many times) in the background, I whipped out 32 rows of the border without so much as a hitch. Go figure.

My projects for today are to get to the last set of border rows, and do laundry which I don't think I've been caught up on since March. Maybe this week.

We're having a party

2008-06-21T05:47:00.000-07:00

Today I celebrate 50 years. Funny it doesn't feel like 50 years (except I have to wear cheaters to read, and color the obnoxious gray hairS...)

It occurred to me just now that this will be the first birthday since I was 20 that I'll spend in the company of my mom. Now THAT's a great gift!

And it's a great excuse for a party, and I invited a lot of dear friends. We'll have a house full of about 25 people, including my good friend Alistair, who gets honorable mention because he's flying up from San Jose.

And Mark (who hasn't seen my mom since our wedding nearly 26 years ago!) is driving down from Seattle.

I'm off to make shortcake for to go with the yummy local strawberries we'll get today.

'Bye Sun City West

2008-06-12T05:39:00.000-07:00

After 15 years living in Sun City West, my Mom is now living in Oregon. For the next two weeks, she'll be staying with us and then she'll move to her apartment in Wilsonville, when all her things arrive.

Tom and I flew out two weeks ago Wednesday to help her pack and clean up. We rented the smallest moving container from Door-to-Door which arrived on schedule on Thursday. Over the course of the ensuing four days, we proceeded to pack boxes, sort out donations, fold clothes, fill bags, fill and paint, and clean.

On Friday, Ginny and George from What Goes Around arrived to start loading up the furniture, lamps, pictures, appliances, and little decorative goodies for consignment. Ginny was a pleasure to work with and we thank her and George for taking all the large items off our hands for consignment. It made it much easier for us to concentrate on what was coming to Oregon, instead of worrying about the disposition of those things that were not. It was a two-day project for George, and helper Bob - getting everything loaded into their trailer, but by the end of the day on Saturday the house was empty.

It was thanks the hard work of Parke and Jennifer Heffern, that this all happened. It was their marketing of the house, and understanding of how to work with the residents of the Sun Cities, that got my mom's house sold. There were times when we were sure my mom was going to change her mind, but Parke and Jennifer seemed to keep her on track, we got an offer after only three months (quick for that market) and my mom is now in Oregon.

So, my point is this: if you or someone you know is planning to move from the NW Phoenix area - Sun City, Sun City West, Sun City Grand, Sun City Festival, Corte Bella et, al, we highly recommend working with Parke and Jennifer, and Ginny and George. Though we haven't received my mom's moving container (it takes a week to 10 days), based on the experiences we've had with Door-to-Door (and their pricing structure), they are a good moving container company to work with if you're planning to move yourself, but don't want to rent and drive a truck (and with gas prices where they are, who would?)

A funny note
In packing, we filled the small container, shipped two 3 cu ft boxes via UPS and filled my mom's Honda Civic, allowing just enough room for Tom to see out as he drove it from Sun City West to West Linn. When entering the state of California by car, you have to stop at Agricultural Inspection stations. Their job is to prevent potentially diseased produce from entering the state and compromising their crops.

Inspector: "Do you have any food?"
Tom: "Some energy bars and a bologna sandwich."
Inspector: "Is there any lettuce or tomatoes on your sandwich?"
Tom: "Yes, a very small piece of iceberg lettuce."
Inspector: "You'll have to eat the lettuce."

So Tom ate the 4x4 inch piece of lettuce so he could enter the state of California on his trip home.

The rest of the drive was boring by comparison, but he did make it all the way to Redding on day one and was home before we arrived.

Yarning around town

2008-05-30T04:52:00.000-07:00

There's a lot going on in our world, including one more trip to Phoenix next Wednesday to get my Mom moved out of her house and up here to stay. She'll be moving into a nice senior community in Wilsonville, OR. She doesn't "believe it" but we think life will be easier without a house and yard and 100°F-plus to contend with.

Off the needles
In the meantime, I've been knitting away between trips and move planning. Before I headed to Chicago, I found a quick little crochet pattern so I wouldn't go to the Fiberly weekend empty-handed - a soap sack pattern on Simple Knits. I added an extra row of changes to make the edge more lacy and this is what I came up with. It was a quick and easy project, and in the course of a week or so I whipped up about a dozen out of Sugar and Cream cotton yarn.

I started the Indigo Ripples skirt from Interweave Knits Summer 2007 before going to Phoenix, but didn't get much knitting done while I was there. When I got home, I set to work. The yarn is Elann Den-M-Nit Pure Indigo Cotton. The indigo dye seemed to be a little drying to my skin, or it may have simply been having to wash my hands after each knit session. It was a good pattern to knit; it knit up fast and like those who went before me, I do like the result.

On the needles
Evelyn Clark brought several knitted samples to class. One really grabbed me - Baltic Blossoms. So I took a picture to remind me and after I got home, I ordered it.

The Habu Bamboo lace yarn I got from Knit-Purl in Portland had been calling me to knit it up, so I cast on Baltic Blossoms. It's a 20/3 yarn, so very fine and my resulting shawl won't be large, but I think it will be pretty an oh-so-soft.

Portland Area yarn stores
Early this month I got news that Tangle in Lake Oswego will be closing in June. The same week, I also saw a note about a new shop opening in Vancouver, WA, Stitchcraft. It's an interesting market here. I've updated the Yarn Shops lists to reflect the changes.

In the meantime, a couple of days ago, my new neighbor, Laurie (who knits!!!) and I headed on a little shop-hop, since she is new to the area. We started at Mill End Store (she also sews - some). Then to Abundant Yarns, where we each picked up some Abundant Yarn naturally dyed yarn. I got 50/50 wool/silk in Bandon Dunes.

I also found Noro Designer Mini Knits by Jenny Watson that I couldn't resist bring home.

Next Laurie got to experience Yarn Garden. It's a great shop, but neither of us found anything that screamed it had to take it home, so we headed for our next destination - Yarnia. There were lots of yarns in wool, rayon, bamboo, silk, cotton and more and the concept of creating a unique blend of yarn was intriguing, but it's a new one to us, so we left with ideas and will probably return with projects in mind.

We headed across the Columbia into Vancouver to check out Stitchcraft. It's a nice little shop that has some quilt fabric and a very nice yarn selection. We both fell in love with the Purity shawl from Rowan Magazine 43 and decided we had to knit it.

I loved the orange, but I'm just not an orangy girl. The Rowan Kid Silk Haze was just so soft, I actually bought the pattern yarn, but picked out a more red version, which it turns out is not too far from the color of the Habu bamboo. Well at least I'm consistent. So far it's an easy knit in stockinette on size 9 needles.

I also found yet another book: Heartfelt by Kim Hargreaves.

Our last stop was Knit-Purl and Josephine's Dry Goods, where admired the yarn and fabric, but didn't make any purchases.

One more thing
Not yarn related, but worth mentioning is the restaurant we found - Kappaya. I ordered the Tempura bento, which I thought was a little spendy at $7.50, but I was wrong since it came not only with rice, salad, miso, but included two dumplings, pickled vegs, and more than a dozen pieces of tempura - more than half of which went home with me.

While I'm on the subject of Japanese food, I'll give honorable mention to our favorite (though not nearest) Japanese restaurant - Fuji Sushi in Clackamas. Good reasonably priced sushi. My favorite thing is the Sunnyside roll, with tempura shrimp, cucumber, cream cheese and avocado - topped with Fuji sauce. We haven't figured out exactly what's in the sauce, but it is good.

It was a good day out.

Late Doggie Dash report

2008-05-25T05:27:00.000-07:00

Thanks to the generosity of friends, TheHudsons surpassed the dollar amount raised last year for the Oregon Humane Society at Doggie Dash: $1290. It wasn't even close to being enough for the top three like last year, but we're pretty darned pleased.

Jake and Mandy seemed to have a great time. We wandered around for an hour before the walkers took to Naito Parkway, and then walked the two miles. Both dogs were pulling at their leashes the entire walk, and continued to pull as we walked back to the cars. So it was a success all around.