Michigan Yarn ~

There was a bright spot in our Michigan trip, and that was finding out that our first grand-baby is due in May. To me, this meant that I needed to start some baby knitting, and I had an idea that I should start baby knitting with Michigan yarn.

Although I did find this yarn at their local yarn shop, it was not super wash so I didn't think it would work well for anything to do with babies...but I loved the crazy colors and it made me smile so I thought it would help brighten up the Michigan trip.

So I went to another local yarn shop and found this yarn and this yarn from Italy and a favorite pattern from my past, and had to start knitting....and the hat is so cute!!!!

Veterans' Day ~

I left for Michigan right after the Fort Worden weekend, as my Dad had just gone into Hospice care. I was glad for the fiber and friends paradise of Fort Worden, as it helped me get through my Dad's last days with our family.

Our last great day with Dad was on Veterans' Day, as Mom, my brother and I stood around Dad's bed and had a delightful exchange about camping and our Alaska adventures, and had some laughs as we shared stories. Dad had rallied for these few hours and it was such a special time for all of us. Dad died November 23, just before he would have turned 90. I was glad to have been with him in his last weeks with us.

Fort Worden Knitting ~

This amazing weekend was filled with lots of knitting, and here is a sample of what I was working on:
The Boston Strong hat for my cross country running and track star...

 Debi knit this cowl for her daughter...

Started the drop stitch scarf.....

 Also, started spinning on the newest fiber from Taylored Fibers,

 

 the 33/33/33 Merino/Alpaca/BFL in greens!

Taylored Fibers ~

This year at Fort Worden, we were lucky have a field trip to visit Taylored Fibers in a near by town. We met them at Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival in 2012, where I purchased two lovely bumps of fiber from them. At the 2012 Fort Worden trip, we visited Bazaar Girls knitting shop and found more of their fiber, and I purchased another lovely bump. We also found out that Taylored Fibers were located within 1/2 hour of Fort Worden, so we decided to try to visit them in 2013.

Their farm and operation are amazing, and Barry and Linda are wonderful tour guides and fiber enthusiasts.

They welcomed us like family and we spent an entertaining afternoon learning about fiber and their little flock, plus purchased more great fiber! Since it was so hard to pick fiber, I asked Marion, Debi and Lisa to each pick a bump for me to spin....

 Marion picked a lovely brown and cream blend...

 

Debi picked a blend of greens and...

 

 Lisa picked some wild orange creamsicle and fushia!