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!

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...

An Ending and a Beginning

A sadness is over the knitting community due to the closing of our local yarn shop.

Knitting there one last time was sad, but...

I had the joy of teaching one special Grandma and her granddaughter to knit today. And that helped make up for one sad ending. And made it a day of new beginnings.

And they caught on very quickly. I hope it brings them great joy! I know it did for me!

Bad Women Get Yarn and Fainting Goat Gelato

It was a full day out with my mom exploring the sites of Queen Anne, Ballard and Wallingford. The places we went were many. Here are but a few. The Wallingford Center which houses many awesome shops... Including a Trophy Cupcakes, which we resisted, since we knew we were headed later for something even more amazing.

One of the planned stops was Bad Woman Yarn, which was having a sale on practically the entire store. It was a great shop and had lots to choose from. Very friendly staff who told us the story of how they came to have the store name, and how they originated in Manzanita, OR.

All those were sale tags, yep. They have a big sale on the entire month of July.

I came away with this 100% merino that I fell in love with just due to the colorway.

After that, we braved going out in the heat in search for our final destination: The Fainting Goat Gelato. I'd read about it in the paper and had wanted to try it out. We got there after a late lunch so it wasn't too crowded. Definitely a line, but not out the door. They allow you 3 taste samples. I tried the Espresso. It was good. I wanted to try the Mango, the Mint, and a million others. But we had figured out that one of us would get the Salted Caramel and the other would get the Tiramisu. The paper had pointed out the Salted Caramel was a favorite and the lady in line ahead of us said so too. So we knew it was going to be good....

Don't you just love their logos? The Fainting Goat. The owners are Armenian and I think that is where the fainting goats originate. They had T-shirts too. I wanted one. OK, back to the choices. Here are a few of them...they were so smooth looking. Like pulled taffy, kind of shiny.

Ok, so for one scoop it was $3.30. So we only did one each. I wanted the cute goat cup, but that was only if you bought a pint. And in this heat that would melt before we got to the car.

Hey, look it had organic dairy and sugar. So even though I totally BLEW my "no sugar diet" thing on it, at least it was organic. I can feel good about that. Can't I? Yes, I can...
The one on the left is the Salted Caramel and the one on the right, the Tiramisu. Can't see the difference here. The taste, was well....divine...Almost too good to be true. We laughed so hard because it was so good. We shared them and practically licked the bowls. We wanted to try this other flavor we couldn't pronounce...but would've been too embarrassed to go back in line!

So we'll just have to go back to try more flavors again....

On the sidewalk as we left the block. My sentiments exactly!

Visiting Snohomish and Country Yarns

The cowl's a big hit!

Wearing the new cowl to visit the nearby quaint town of Snohomish today in the glorious sunshine! We took a walk along the Snohomish River. The Cascade mountain range was on display today and looked in fine form, snow topped and beautiful. I did try out some of the Java Inn coffee while in town. They have moved out of this building recently to a new location down the block...

I found some of the Mirasol "Hacho" merino wool that I like to make the "Baby Surprise Jacket" out of at the Country Yarns shop.

This was a great shop to visit and had very friendly staff and clientele. They also had a room in the back where they offer a place for spinning, as well as alot of beautiful locally dyed roving available for purchase, just ready for spinners.

A peek inside the shop!

And of course, a wall of wool, my personal favorite!

And that's about all I had time for since I had a half hour timeframe in which to shop! Yarn, coffee and sunshine...no better way to spend the day!