Where We're Going

So not all the pictures were taken for the What Doin' There post, a wrap up of what's on the needles for everyone at the Dyeworks. Instead, lets talk about where we're going! It's a busy year full of shows all over the West Coast. We'll stick with the first few months of the year so we don't get too overwhelmed.

this is from the halloween Open Studio Saturday

To start off, we're having an Open Studio Saturday on February 5th from 11am to 4pm. Come hang out with your knitting or spinning, do a little shopping and visit with Louie! The bunny that is formerly of Abundant Yarn. There will be an all levels spinning class from 11-1p. Class is $20 and you do not need to RSVP.

Up next, we're headed south to Stitches in Santa Clara California, February 18-20! Our booth number is 1144, the map can be found here, you can plan your route to the booth for the best selection! Debby, Stevanie and Teri are making the trip. The dyeworks has been awash in color getting ready for the show. A featured yarn for Stitches is Soft Touch, an aran weight luscious yarn made of alpaca and wool. It knits up beautifully and there will be many colors to choose from!

Next on the schedule is the Portland Yarn Crawl. Set aside the first weekend in March and get ready to shop! The Dyeworks will be open for business and the scavenger hunt. Bring a wheel for a little spinning, or your current WIP and make some progress!

April has two happenings for your participating pleasure. The first is the inaugural year of the Columbia Gorge Fiber Festival. Yvonne has done a great job getting the show organized. The market place is a shoppers dream, and the class list is fabulous. Debby is teaching a great class that is hopefully on your list! Looking forward to a weekend at the Gorge with fiber!

At the end of April is our annual spring retreat to Imperial Stock Ranch. Our Spring retreat begins Friday, April 29th at 5 pm. Check in and meet up with your hostesses in the Imperial Suite for some food, wine and by-the-fireplace knitting. Saturday there is a continental breakfast, at your leisure, followed by a knitting or spinning class. We’ll take a long break for lunch, plenty of time for a nap or a stroll by the river before the afternoon class. Saturday evening, enjoy your dinner at the Imperial River Company restaurant or bar and gather with us to knit by the firepit in the central courtyard.Sunday begins with breakfast, followed by a tour of the historic Imperial Stock Ranch. For those that have visited the ranch in the past we will have a beaded yarn needle felting class that morning or you may want to relax a little longer before heading back home. Each room is river view and the price includes your river view room, Friday evening dinner, classes, tour to ranch, taxes and fees. The only thing not included will be meals on Saturday and Sunday. Quad occupancy: $230.15, Triple occupancy: $251.86, Double occupancy: $295.29 and Single occupancy: $425.58 Call Imperial River Company to book: 800-395-3903

Wow! And that's only the first few months! We hope you can join us for as many of these adventures as you can! Please let us know if you have questions about any of these happenings.

...And We're Back!

We want to jump right in with what's current! There's only one major piece of news before we get to what's happening: We moved! Maybe this isn't new if you listen to Debby's podcast or follow along in the Ravelry Group. At the beginning of November we moved to SE Portland, not too far from Gino's. The location has turned out to be a winning location with everybody involved! Knitted Wit even made the journey with us!

Back to what's current. TNNA, the trade show for the needle arts, was at the beginning of the month. We had a great time catching up with other dyers, designers and business owners. There is a magic that happens when we all get together. It's like any other show that way. Only so much can be conveyed through emails and tweets! There are some collaborations with different designers and yarn companies coming up, watch here for more details as they develop!

While you aren't supposed to take pictures on the show floor, there was an exception made for one little woodsman!

Knitted Wit (Lorajean) made the trip, which means o-face made the trip too! Joel, from Lantern Moon wore him in the fashion show and o-face was known for the rest of TNNA! Daily there were photo-opps in the booth. A great addition for sure.

The booth had a beautiful theme of being in the woods with fairy's and other magical creatures. We'll be using this set up at a few of our shows this spring, let us know what you think! The hat that o-face is wearing was designed by Sarah and all the little felt creatures were created by Bella Flora Studio. The creatures are available for purchase!

When we weren't at the showing selling yarn and lots of fiber (!) there was dinner at the Lantern Moon house. A great time of food, friends and ping pong! After all the restaurants and hotels it was nice to be in for the evening. The meal was delicious and the competition fierce.

There was also a fun night out with a bunch of fun people: Ysolda, Casey and Jess, Amanda, AVFKW friends, Laura, and more. More pictures need to be taken next time! If you were at the greek dinner and weren't listed, let me know! Yummy food, great time chatting and even a few stitches were knit.

We're hoping to keep the blog a little more up to date, so check back for the next episode. We're calling it "What doing there?" (e-lion's signature question, Lorajean's oldest boy) A little check in with everybody at the studio and what they have on the needles! Also a calendar check in, we're at lots of events this spring and we want to see you at all of them!!