In an effort to be bigger and better, we’ve switched web platforms. Yes, again.

If you’re reading this, you’ve come to www.twistedpdx.wordpress.com , which is a perfectly reasonable thing to have done. However, this page will no longer be updated. We’re big kids now with our very own domain so come on over to www.twistedpdx.com.

Please forgive us – we’re knitters not techies. Just think of the different iterations as test swatches… and now we’ve got the gauge juuuust right. We liked typepad, we loved wordpress.com, but we’ve come to find out that wordpress.org is where it’s really at. (Who knew? There’s a difference!) So, after a fair amount of wrestling with ICAN, CNAMES, MX records, DNS whatchyamacallits and their acronym brethren we’ve settled into a good groove.

Visit us at www.twistedpdx.com and you’ll always be directed to the right place!

Finally, for your trouble, here is a cute puppy picture.

i have the bestest sister and husband in the entire universe (well, em’s hubbie, m, is pretty cool, too – he’s our architect. can you imagine having your own architect, who is at your beck and call, and of whom you can ask a question before he’s even had his first cup of coffee? ooh, lala. schmancy).

j (sister) and s (husband) have been working away on a fairly involved project for twisted. namely, our counters.

they worked their fool booties off for 2 days straight, and, with some stellar advice from my uber-knowledgeable dad, by the end of those two days, what they had created surpassed all expectations we had had. em and i knew they would do a fantastic job, there was no question of that, but i for one thought they would be super-utilitarian (not that there’s anything wrong with that) and a bit basic. not so. these puppies are anything but basic – they fit into the space perfectly; they are all true (square); they are the exact specified height; and they will accommodate all of our needs perfectly. we joked that they will be the last things standing after the apocalypse, just those counters and the termites. we also found the perfect tops for the counters: butcher-blocks from ikea, and some gorgeous cherry for the front of the counters at mr. plywood. just wait till you all see the finished product.

other aspects of the shop are plugging along, as well. we are fairly certain that may 19 was a dream-land, best-case-scenario date for opening, and, although everything is working out well, we are not living in dream-land. who really lives in dream-land, though? even paris hilton got booted from that place.

Last weekend the little Volvo that could made a trip to Seattle and returned ladened with all things Ikea.  Given that the Vo is old enough to buy its own liquor and currently has no overdrive despite our best efforts to search I5 for compatible fuses, we salute its dedication to our cause.  At Ikea, after I recovered from my shock at the sheer joy of the place, we bought bookshelves, tables, chairs, silverware and even countertop.  In this picture, if you look closely, you will see that a) the car is absolutely packed to the rafters, b) Shannon is securing the tailgate closed with a bungee cord, and c) just behind Shannon is a huge bag of Peanut M&Ms from Costco.

when i first started knitting in earnest, i dove headfirst into the super-chunky-yarn insanity that lures so many new knitters. not that there’s anything wrong with big-needle-knitting, but i haven’t been doing much of it lately. there was quite a trend in the knitting world for a while – knitters all over the world were tripping over each other to get their hands on thick yarn and big ole’ broomstick-looking needles, making thick, gorgeous scarves. i was one of them – i loved chunky knitting, i loved size 17 needles, i loved humongous yarn. then i got slapped across the face with the sock-knitting craze, the shawl craze, the teensy-weensy needle craze.

this most recent swatch has turned me back on to chunky knitting. not as the all-consuming addiction that it once was, but as a welcome respite from cramped hands and microscopic needles. i had forgotten how gratifying practically-instant knitting could be, and i look forward to doing more of it in the near future.

this swatch is knit on debbie bliss donegal tweed chunky, and i’m thinking 2 or 3 skeins will make a fabulous scarf come next winter.

we have been working like mad-crazy fools on the shop, too, and will post about the happenings soon…

twisted will be housed in a great space. a fabulous space. a light, airy, warm space. a space that doesn’t need much to make it just what we need – some construction, a few key pieces of restaurant-quality equipment, and most importantly, a little tlc. as neither emily nor i is a licensed plumber, electrician, or general contractor, we must content ourselves with the more aesthetic endeavors. meaning, we can paint. yeah, baby, we can paint a mean wall, especially if my dear sweet sister is ready, willing, and able to help us. we spent a good portion of the last few days painting.

guess what helped us a great deal?

(yeah, that looks nasty now, but, oh, was it good going down)

this, too, helped us a great deal:

and now, twisted is even more twisted, and will continue to become more twisted (does that make sense to you? yeah, me neither)

portland in the spring can be such a fickle beast. this morning, as the hubby was heading to work, he made a big production out of donning his sunglasses. the air was brisk, the sun was shining, and there was not a cloud in sight. i thought it would be a perfect day for a swatch photo shoot. but, portland being portland, it is now a bit…grey. overcast. decidedly un-sunny. me having been a portlander-in-training for at least a few years, however, i have decided to forge ahead with the photo shoot as previously scheduled.

what’s on the craftastic menu today, you may ask? crewelwork.

there are almost as many fiber arts in the world as there are craftista(o)s, and quite a few (including knitting) have enjoyed a renaissance in recent years. i have my theories on the ‘why’ of the rebirth of craft, not the least of which having to do with the chill of our modern computerized society and the globalization of all, leading to a desire to return to the handmade, the real, the tangible. many crafts have undergone a pretty major face-lift and crewel is one of them.

traditionally, crewel is a type of embroidery worked on linen fabric with very thin wool yarn in short lengths. hoops are employed, as are needles. as with many fiber arts, there are no knots allowed in crewel. wool and hoop has come up with some truly fabulous crewel designs, with a 70’s flava’ and a 21st century flair. crewel is easy to do, and can be used as art, embellishment, (think pillow cases and decorative towels), and even as a greeting card for someone truly special.

the lovely crewel, hanging out with complementary-colored carnations that need to get planted in the next few days.

Since my internet was down at home, I’ve been spending a lot of time at neighborhood coffee shops lately pilfering their wireless internet. That means lots of caffeine and in this little body that means a lot of surplus energy to knit. On the far left in blue is the swatch I knit for the previously blogged upon baby booties in Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino. In green is aMAIZing, a 100% corn fiber yarn from Southwest Trading Company (more about them in posts to come!). It feels a lot like a light cotton with fantastic drape – great for a summer tank top.  I really love this stuff… and not just because I’m from Indiana, home of all things corn. I can’t wait to work more with this yarn.

The solid purple is Euroflax from Louet, which is perfect knit up into my Grandma Marian’s trademark dishcloth.  Here’s my gram. She’s the best.

The last two swatches are yan from Araucania, a company started by a mother and daughter in Santiago, Chile. In photo above the Nature Cotton is yellow and the Atacama Nature Alpaca is varigated purples. A good friend of mine from college was visiting recently and fell into an absolute swoon over the Atacama. It is quite swoon-worthy. So much so that I couldn’t resist making up a little baby hat to see how it would look in cables. The answer is incredible!

em was over yesterday to pilfer wireless from us (poor thing is still stuck in the internet stone age) and we were busily working on our respective computers, doing research on such exciting items as ‘commercial refrigerators’ and ‘pegboard’ when i heard the mail carrier bound up the steps. this particular mail carrier talks on her phone the entire time she is delivering mail, so you can hear her way before she arrives at your doorstep. the thunk of mail being dropped into the box brought me leaping to my feet, and i ran outside, grateful for a break from the computer screen.i was secretly hoping for something exciting, something grand, frankly, i was hoping for absolutely anything other than bills. boy, was i not disappointed.

we ordered a bunch of sock yarn from the wonderful angelina at zen string, and i had requested a skein or two to be sent early, so we could get a shop sample knitted up. what can i say to dear angelina, except: wowza, girl.

this yarn is to die for. (i wish the lighting was better, but, hey, this is oregon in the spring, and we are lucky it’s not raining, right?)

she sent ’strawberry fields forever,’ and i casted on almost immediately. i really should have taken a photo of it skeined up, cuz it was lovely, but i could NOT help myself. i worked on them all evening, at two different bars, to celebrate the birthday of a good friend, and i have to say, i am in love. (yeah, you know me, i am a huge pushover for soft yarn with a tight ply – how predictable). this yarn is really something special, and i’m so glad we are going to be carrying it in the shop. i see a lot of very happy customers wearing zen string yarn come fall. Serendipity sport (scroll down, there’s info about the yarn) has a fabulous ply – not too tight, but definitely not too loose, and the yarn is soft without being overly so. do i sound wishy-washy? it’s just because it’s one of those perfect sock yarns. if you don’t believe me, take a look at these toes:

we have been meeting with contractors, ordering stock, designing our shop layout, comparison-shopping for commercial-grade appliances, making mad-crazy lists, and generally losing our minds trying to figure out everything that needs to be done in order to open twisted by our target date of may 19. whew. but, luckily, we are opening a knitting and craft shop, so an important item that makes its way onto all of our myriad lists is actual crafting, which means on some occassions, we get to sit back, relax, and make some stuff. obviously, a major focus of twisted is knitting, my favorite craft, so shop swatching must continue, which is what i’m going to talk about today. i have been creweling, too, (what a fun craft THAT one is), but that is the subject of another post: today is a day for socks.

i have already talked trekking here. we are going to have a lot of that. but, have i mentioned some of the other sock yarns we are going to have?

for instance:

cherry tree hill…

and, farmhouse…

both very different sock yarns, each unique in her own way:

the cherry tree hill is soft, people, waaaay soft. (well, the ball band does specify as the fiber “100% luxury merino fingering weight,” after all). the ply is tight and sproingy, and the finished sock has quite a bit of drape. i used addi turbo #1s for everything except the heel and toe, on which i used #1 dpns. the colorways in this sock are ‘turquois’ and ‘champlain sunset.’ ooh, la, la.

the farmhouse is a more basic wool – it even smells wooly, in the best possible way. it isn’t as soft as the cherry tree hill, but makes a thicker, more winter-y sock. i can also imagine a felted bag or scarf in this yarn, or something with cables. check out the photos of the flock of sheep used for the yarns – it’s the mark of a great company when you can actually meet (well, virtually, anyway) the animals that produce the fiber you are knitting with. i used addi turbo #3s for this sock, with lantern moon #2 dpns for the heel and toe. the colorway used here is ‘rose garden,’ which, in the city of roses, is uber-appropriate.

time now to tackle a list emily and i put together yesterday. poor emily had an internet-break-down at her home, so is semi-unplugged for the next few days. let’s all raise a glass of prosecco in her honor today, as she struggles with a throwback to early-2000s life, when the majority of folks did NOT have easy internet access…

the twisted girls being what we are (sock knitters), twisted will be carrying a great deal of sock yarn. which means, at this point in twisted’s life span, sock samples. i have been knitting a few sock samples, out of two of trekking’s most popular colorways, and am in love. i can see why this yarn is so popular. bizarrely enough, this is my first foray into the wonderful world of trekking sock yarn. i have always been drawn to the colors this yarn has to offer, particularly the two i knitted into shop samples, which explains the fact that both of these colors just so happened to reside in my (substantial) sock yarn stash.

without further ado, may i present to you, trekking socks the favorites: