Portlandia and Yarnia

For mid winter break, we thought we'd look for our adventures in Portland this week. I had three goals: Food, Coffee and Yarn! I can say that every goal was met beyond my expectations!

What a great place to get away for the feel of a different city, with fantastic restaurants and all within either trolley or walking distance from our hotel. Shown here, a fabulous meal at Pazzo. Filet mignon prepared "just so"...over braised kale and roasted sea salted fingerling potatoes. Need I say more? My husband had the duck. I was too busy eating mine to ask him about

how he liked his!

   

 House made bread...carbo-licious!

 Tiramisu, of course for dessert...the best we'd ever eaten.

 So, as you can see, the food part of the story was going well. Now for the yarn and coffee hunt.Within a short trolley ride we found ourselves in the Pearl District. And while I waited for a yarn shop to open (they were late!)...pretty views like this were near by.

 Coming back to the yarn shop, after getting coffee, I found they had opened. I had been here once before: Dublin Bay Knitting Company.

They have a lovely selection, though sometimes not the particular brand or type you might find readily elsewhere. I was looking for a chunky wool but ended up finding a chunky worsted cotton from Blue Sky Alpaca instead.

 My little purchase in the color "Jasper", awaiting the trolley. 5 skeins should be enough to do the pattern, Sidecar Jacket.

Besides yarn, the main reason I am walking around out here in the Pearl District is to find the Sisters Coffee, always a favorite of ours when we head down to Bend, OR.  This is one of their newer stores.

 And I was not disappointed...aaah!

 Lots of shops to browse in through the Pearl District. In the Keen store I found this cute chalk art sign and met the artist/clerk. A very fun discovery!

Another fabulous dinner out at the famous "Paley's". A trolley ride into the Pearl landed us practically at the door step. Set inside a large house in huge living room setting, is a gem of a restaurant.

My exquisite 4 oz. rib eye on a bed of farrow, with peppers and beef jus. Delectable!

For dessert, vanilla creme brulee and complimentary coconut macaroons. Our tummies happily rode the chilly trolley ride home.

Our last day, so I must make the most of getting up early and off to fetch my second latte of the trip at Stumptown Coffee, another favorite we also discovered in Bend that has since opened also in Seattle. So I have met the food and coffee goals, indeed.

Though I have a destination point to reach: Voo Doo Doughnuts. I have heard about this place, apparently open 24/7 and it had a line around the block the day prior to my visit. Today, however being a regular work day for most people, I had the place to myself.

It is the quirkiest place you will find, with more sugar on each doughnut than you ever thought imaginable. I came for the bacon and maple bars, their most popular one. I ended up settling for something smaller and just getting a picture of all the madness in the case that you can pick from.

Satisfied with my choice, and now REALLY needing to get in my walk for my "Walk Challenge" that I started this week, in an even bigger way...I headed over to Powell's Books back by our hotel. That might give me, oh 1/2 a mile or so and burn a few calories.

 It looks like even the dogs around here are in need of a little scarf and leggings.

Well will you look at this? This whole entire wall filled with books about knitting! And a little birdie said they may soon also carry yarn here as well.

I settle for a knitting magazine and head out into the rain. It's time to check out of the hotel and we have one last important destination before we leave Portland.....We are headed to the land of Yarnia! Here is is on the other side of town on SE Division street. I had seen it online and knew immediately I was headed there on this trip. Here, you choose from an array of fibers to custom make your own yarn. A sort of do it yourself yarn place! Genius! I set to work to pick out my fibers. Which should I choose? I had a project in mind and they were very helpful in assisting me to assure I had enough fibers to make the appropriate weight for my garment.

I have chosen my fibers: wool, cotton, rayon, linen and together, they will make my sport weight needed to do "Leaving" sweater. Here she is calculating my yarn weight and pricing.

Next she sets the yarn up and readies it for the machine. It's all so exciting!

And away the machine whirs! My yarn is winding up here rather swiftly and in no time flat, I have 1240 or so yards!

It is a lovely light weight and pretty blend of seafoam and mushroom tones. I hope for a great outcome using it for my sweater!

Here is a video clip of the actual "making" of the yarn on the cool machine! Enjoy!

George, the Sock Monkey Coffee Cozy

With a little bit of Fisherman's Wool and some Paton's Classic Wool, George, the Sock Monkey Coffee Cozy has come to life tonight. After all, every coffee cup needs its own little sweater. Especially if it lives in Seattle where the weather is fickle.

This was the first version, but I added more red to the mouth and spaced the eyes farther apart.

 The little cozy warmer is nice just on its own actually, before adding accessories such as ears and face:

This was a free pattern on Ravelry and it was finished in a matter of hours. Size 5 dpns were used. Fall is in the air and that means more lattes!

Yarn and coffee in Mt. Vernon, WA

A sneak preview of my upcoming project: Mythos. It's a sweater using fingering weight yarn on size 7 needles. Slow going with the stockinette stitch, but I am alternating between two colorways of yarn that keeps me "paying attention." If you want to see a fabulous version of Mythos, you should check out my side bar and go to Busy Bea Knits. Hers is fantastic!

I got to visit the Wild Fibers yarn shop in Mt. Vernon, WA on our way up north today. They had a fantastic selection. I really loved all they carried. All the great "names" in yarn: Cascade, Noro, and Debbie Bliss, Spud and Chloe, Berroco, Rowan, Manos del Uruguay, etc... and some pretty hand painted sock yarns. They also had some really cute buttons. Plus, they were open on a Sunday. Cute sign in the bathroom that reads: This bathroom is very old- it used to be the jail! The toilet will not flush properly unless it has stopped running from the previous flush....

Ristretto coffee had a nice latte made for me, not too hot... and festive straws for the season. Ahhh...

Celtic Coffee Break

We did another coffee exploration field trip today to the city of Redmond, WA. A friend of mine had recommended Victor's Celtic Coffee Co. After attempting to find another recommended roaster, Lusso Coffee Roasters, and discovering it apparently was not a walk in coffee shop, we put in our GPS coordinates for Victor's and after driving a bit, we found it! The coffee was very smooth and not bitter at all. We really enjoyed it. Though no "latte art" on top...and for that I was disappointed. They offered many Irish sounding coffee flavors as well as breakfast sandwiches and soup of the day. We had an egg/ham/cheese sandwich. Very nice!

The best part of all was when my husband discovered a wall of handknit sweaters, I kid you not!, right in the middle of the store near the restroom! I about knocked him over getting up to go look. Sure enough, a fellow knitter has her lovely handknit sweaters on the wall and posted next to them is her name, her email and her etsy shop site for all to see and order custom sweaters! I have always believed that knitting and coffee go hand in hand. This is proof for all to see!:

Sorry I don't have her name to include here, you will have to go see for yourself! :)
It was truly a great adventure getting a great latte, AND seeing handknit sweaters all in one fell swoop!
To top off our coffee "snob" experience for the day, my husband had his glass Chemex brewer arrive in the mail from Sweet Maria's Coffee Roasters. He ordered this along with the filters. It provides an "old style" purist form of brewing. Similar to the french press method, however different in a few ways. Allow me to demonstrate, for all you coffee lovers out there. First, you take the Chemex filter and fold it so one side has 3 layers and that is the side toward the spout:

Next you grind your coffee, which we are going to experiment with. You don't want it so fine that the coffee just sludges through too slowly, nor do you want it so coarse it runs too quickly.
We are going to try it out on a pretty coarse "french press" grind. About 1 rounded Tablespoon scoop per 5 oz. of water.

While that is getting ground, heat your water to boiling.

Important: You want to "wet" your filter with hot water, prior to brewing, which you can do over the sink and pour the water back into the sink. Your filter sticks to the glass and will not come back off when you pour off the water.

Here's our grind in the wet filter, ready to brew:

Once your water boils, take it off the heat for 30 sec. to let the temp. arrive at the recommended heat. Somewhere between 195-205 degrees F, the perfect brewing temperature.

Pour a small amount of coffee over the grinds, to let them swell or "bloom".

Fill the filter about 1/2 way, getting all the grinds wet in the process. After the first "wetting", pour slowly in a circular motion, keeping the coffee inward as compact as possible.

You can see how the coffee has "bloomed" in this photo:

Keep pouring in coffee at intervals until the desired amount of water has passed through the grounds. This took about 4 minutes, same amount of time as a french press method.

Dispose of the spent grounds by lifting the filter out of the coffeemaker (use for compost if desired).

We poured our brewed coffee into a stainless steel carafe so that it was kept hot, but not kept in the glass carafe. Keeping your coffee warm, but not on a burner will avoid the burned flavor.

And voila! A perfect cup of brewed coffee without the residue of old coffee oils, and cleaner than an auto-brewed cup. Apparently auto drip makers will brew at lower and lower temperatures over time, not being capable of brewing at the desired temperature consistently. Best of all, with this method, there is no "off" or bitter taste.

Aaahhhhhhhhh....Just makes you want to have a cup and knit, doesn't it?