Purl 'n Hurl Blog

Hello! Our weekly knit-in was so busy last night, I don't know where to begin! We had six participants, which is a big increase; I think that the chilly fall weather that has been setting in here on the north coast is encouraging folks to drag out their UFOs.

But who is this handsome devil? Only the best waiter at Plaza Grill! He was sweet enough to model Eileen's just completed hat for her hubby, Audi. That's a close-up of the hat below, next to her margarita - how did you think she got through the evening? Knit in Noro Iro from the Hot Head pattern in Stitch 'n Bitch: The Knitter's Handbook.




After she finished the hat, Eileen pulled out her scarf, which is coming along nicely, don't you think? That's her in the photo on the right, showing it off for the camera. It's knit in heathery green Elsebeth Lavold silky wool, and it's the Branching Out pattern from Knitty. Eileen says she's loving lace knitting; that started a conversation about first knitting projects, and she said that way back when she taught an ex-boyfriend to knit, and his 1st project was a sweater! Must have been a natural. Eileen first knit mittens, which also seems pretty ambitious. Velma has a friend, Michael, who just quit smoking and is teaching himself to knit so that he has something to do with his hands; she's not just impressed, but excited to see him next month when he's down from Oregon for a visit. Hopefully, he can join us for that week's knitting-under-the-influence-fest.

Heather's first project is this scarf she's making here; she's been working on it for 3 years now (!), since Purl 'n Hurl started. And she doesn't even drink booze.Like her new haircut? Concensus last night was that it suits her; we love it, Heather! She regaled us with tales from her recent trip to Wyoming with hubby Michael. Since most of us are geo-scientist types (read: nature nerds), her stories all featured rocks prominently. Apparently she is enamored of the geodes and, I quote, "caramel candy rocks" she found there. Heather also brought Velma a silk cocoon that she found on one of her forays into the forest; Velma plans to soak it and see if it can be used in spinning. Right now, it's pretty ugly; looks like something an owl pooped out (sorry, no pic yet).

Speaking of Velma, she brought along yet another new project (can you say "short attention span"?). She's knitting the same Hot Head hat that Eileen finished tonight, but she's using Manos del Uruguay space-dyed
wool in 'moss.' It's a commissioned piece for her friend Jeff. Velma: knitting mogul in training. That's her working on it, doing what she does best: tossing back a martini while knitting. Note the devil earrings, a handmade gift from Tamara from Halloween a few years back.

And Tamara, here shown knitting what appears to be a poodle, is actually working on a beautiful scarf stranded in 3 different black and charcoal eyelash yarns. So silky! Velma wants her to call it the "Three-way Scarf" but Tamara didn't sound all that convinced. Although it never came out what Tamara's first knitting project was, I've never seen her working on anything but scarves. Is it time for a knitter-vention? Come on Tamara, I know you have a hat in you! You can do it, just have another cocktail and you're on your way!

Tamara's newish biology consulting firm is doing well, by all accounts. She was excited to hear that Velma got a comment on her blog from a local fish biologist who is planning on attending Purl 'n Hurl in the near future. Since everyone at the table (with the notable exception of slacker-Velma) is a scientist, the new girl should fit right in.

She's busy with wedding plans, and the conversation turned to wedding woes and in-laws who think it's their wedding. That must be what she and Cheri are laughing about in the next photo; either that, or the suggestion that the peach margaritas Tam and fiancee Michael have been slugging down by the pitcher-full are "health smoothies". What? Peaches are healthy!!


And what of Cheri? Her father, who was in the hospital with problems related to chronic pain issues stemming from some heinous back probs, is back home on the mend, so she was back from her Redding trip. She's making a Debbie Bliss sweater, the Raglan with Cable Detail in Noro Silk Garden from the DB Noro Collection book (scroll down to see the sweater she's making). So many of Cheri's knitting projects are gifts for others, it was good to see her working on something for herself. She also had some show-and-tell: a book so new even Velma hadn't heard of it! Not Tonight Darling, I'm Knitting. Full of knitting history and anecdotes (but not patterns), it was decided that this book would be great for bathroom reading.

Last but certainly not least, Melissa was back as our token crocheter. She's seen here working on a scarf using stitch #88 from 101 Crochet Stitches for Afghans. She and Cheri arrived a little late, because Melissa was finishing a batch of individual cheesecakes for her partner Robin's birthday. Velma was tickled by the image of all those wee springform pans (she's easily amused, don't forget).

So this blog was added to the knitblog webring this week, and we're starting to see visitors from outside our little Humboldt enclave. Welcome to Kare, our first commenter! She had nice things to say about us, which just goes to show she's never met us. For the dog-lovers among us (you know who you are), be sure to check out her blog, Shabby Chic, 'cuz she's got cutie-patootie puppies.

And don't forget to visit our flickr set, with more photos from this gathering. See you next week!