All that driving to lower Canadia, all that math, all the homework, all of that.

The purple sweater was finished. FINISHED. Done. Ends woven in and everything. Turned in, proclaimed to be “very beautiful” by Jean (WOOT!), done done done. Well… Except for that tiny bit of “next time, you can do this other thing, if you want to…” from Jean, pointing out something about the neckline that was, once again, used as an example in front of the class.

See, I had followed what she’d taught us thus far when I did the neckline and ribbing, and it was fine, but there was (of course) a slightly different and better way it could be done next time. HA! And then I tried it on, and it was all perfect everywhere except the neckline. Of course. That was too big. WAY too big.

Here’s where the proofy bit comes in – my reaction to the neckline being too big? “oh, I’ll just RIP IT OUT AND REDO IT”. No swearing, no trepidation, nothing other than maybe a wee bit of excitement (which, honestly, strikes me as maybe a touch of insanity…). So I did. Ripped it right the fuck back. Didn’t even hesitate. It was SO freakin’ liberating!. RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIP! Then, of course, I got to pick up all those stitches again, and do a crapload of math because now I not only had to evenly space the decreases, but I had to not decrease across the center of the front, *and* I had to figure out how to space the decreases while doing 2×2 ribbing that matched the center stitches. And? And? I did it. It took a while, but the math got done and the decreases are spaced evenly into the ribbing and the ribbing matches at the center front and it won’t be too big this time.

Critterboy, of course, looked at me like I was a total loon when I started ripping the neckline back and doing all that math. And then especially when I was doing the triumphant happy dance when I finished it and it all worked. Heh.

This hasn’t been a tremendously difficult pattern, really, even with all the ripping back and redoing of the maths, but I’ve learned SO much on this one, and have absolutely lost my fear of crazy knitting math and pattern drafting. And that, my friends, makes it ALL worth it.

And in other news: MADRONA! Today! More on that later, after I’ve been and seen and (omg! Bluster Bay Woodworks!) bought…

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Hey, y’all. Remember me? I’m not sure I do, really, but that’s ok. It’s been a crazy few months. There are stories, but I won’t be telling most of them.

There’s been work. And a (not very) Random Stranger From The Internets (ok, so maybe not really a *stranger* – we’ve “known” him for about 3 years, but this was the first time we’d actually met him all in person like). And a wedding (not mine). And some more work. And Very Little Knitting. But hey! I have pictures, so it’s all good, right?

There was a gigantic shawl knit for Melissa of Peace Weavers (which I swear I have a picture of, but I can’t find it to save my own life. Ang? Help?) edit! Found it! (It’s the Lady Of The Forest shawl from Ilga Leja)

And then there was the RSFTI, who we adored before we met, and are utterly smitten with now. (Along with most of the bride’s female relatives…)
This one being my favorite pic of him from the weekend – he’s the one on the left, the guy on the right being another one of Critter Boy’s imaginary friends, who flew in from Hawaii for the meetup (on his way to somewhere else I think).

Lastly, the “what I did with my summer weekend” series… The label on the roving claimed it to be biffle from Dicentra in the Eomund colorway. I believe the biffle and Dicentra bits, but from the pics I’ve seen online, I’m not buying that it’s the Eomund colorway. No clue which one it is, but probably not what it was labeled as. Whatever, though. It’s purty.
Pre-drafted goodness:

Followed by the mandatory ‘in progress’ shot:

And, finally, the rare Biffle Boa, in it’s unnatural environment:

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I’m finally back. I’m exhausted. It was SO much more fun this time than the last time I went down, just because I knew a bunch of vendors and got to see a bunch of good friends I never get to see. OFFF 2004 was my very first fiber fest, and I went down solo, and really enjoyed it, but it was kind of lonely (and slightly overwhelming). This time I was prepared for the sensory overload, and I had a List with me (fat lot of good it did me, mind you, but I had it – mostly the problem was that only two of the four things on the list were actually available).

Many cute critters, some joyous allergy attacks, and lots of good time with wonderful folks. I have pics, but have to unpack and figure out where the camera landed before I can post those. Full report when I’ve slept and recovered.

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You know that nagging feeling you get when you leave for the weekend? That “I know I’ve forgotten something” feeling? And you know how it’s usually either a)imaginary or b)something utterly trivial? Um… Yeah.

I had that feeling when I left. I knew pretty soon after I left that I’d forgotten some yarn for my secret pal, but I was soooo sure there was something else.

And then it hit me.

Pants. And shirts. PANTS AND SHIRTS, PEOPLE. Ferfuxake. Spinning wheel? check. Knitting? Check. Bathing suit? check. Entire car full of probably unnecessary crap? check! 6 different spf’s of sunscreen? check! Pants and shirts? D’oh! Damn good thing there’s an Old Navy about every three miles, huh?

Aaaaaanyway. Oregon! Ahhh, Oregon.

I’m now here in lovely Oregon City, in a hotel room with some… uh… Very Vocal neighbors. And no, they’re not arguing, if’n you get my drift. With any luck they’re getting it out of the way now, and it won’t continue on through the night, as always seems to be my luck with hotel rooms.

ANYWAY! I can’t even begin to tell you how excited I am, that I just had dinner with my secret pal! It was soooo cool to get to meet Lori and her husband and two very cute and charming daughters and have a VERY tasty Italian-ish dinner. So good. I really liked her in email, and it turns out she’s even more fun in person. The whole family was absolutely great. Much fun! (but DAMN I’m full) (but wild mushroom risotto with marinated-for-24-hours steak and grilled asparagus!).

And tomorrow and Sunday? OFFF!

Kim and Angela and Sam and Barb and Tina and Sheila and Jessica are all going to be here, and there will be more Socks That Rock than you can shake a stick at.

Now, if only the wireless here at the hotel were actually working so I could post this…

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Tomorrow evening I will be getting together with my friend Erika (yes, THAT Erika! Again with the hob-nobbing with the famous folk) and her friend Cheri to, yes, knit. In public even. The original plan was to hook up at the Starbucks by Occidental and… Main? Jackson? something. The one in Pioneer Square that’s not the one on first and Yesler. You know. That other one.

And then we realized that tomorrow evening is… Stitch n’ Pitch.

Yes, folks, we’ve been chased away from our first choice of mutually convenientish public knitting spot by….

wait for it……..

too.
many.
knitters.

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Ok, so it didn’t bite the dust (but you’re singing it now, arentcha?), but one more xmas knitting project is DONE! Done, I tell you! Done! Blocked and everything! #1? Done! #2? DONE! #3? Gonna be workin’ on that one for a while…

This one, #2, is one of these done in the leftovers from this. Woo! How’s that for picture-be-takin’ avoidance? That’s right, baby, I got your slack right here.

Critterboy swears I should keep #1 and make another one for the xmas pile. Maybe I’ll post pics at some point this week and let all y’all decide on that one. #3 is still cooking (and from the feeling of those long repeats, it’s gonna be for a while now, and judging by the math? Holy CRAP it’s gonna be a while…) Then it’s just on to #’s 4-9, and all is good. (no, not all of them are knit, so some will be finished a LOT sooner than the others). Whew!

AND! In other exciting news, we finally got around to ordering our tickets for xmas, so Colorado – here we come! Yay! I was beginning to worry about it, dontchaknow.

And (oh yes, there’s more)… I’m going to love him and pet him and call him George. And… See above. Since I got your slack right here (meaning you can’t use it, so get to work), I don’t have a picture of George yet. I’ll see if I can’t do something about that tonight. ‘Cos OMFG he’s cute.

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We got home a couple of hours ago from a wonderful weekend in Vancouver. I love Vancouver above almost all other cities. And now that I have friends up there, well, hell! There’s no telling how often I could end up visiting my favorite city. Woo!

We headed north for our annual Thanksgiving day avoidance trip, and spent three food-filled days with Angela and her honey, and then got to see Mel on our way back home this afternoon for more fiber and more food. ‘Cos you can’t really ever eat enough up there, apparently. Or maybe you can, judging by the looks we got as the waiter stood by our table last night trying desperately to figure out where to put that one last plate of sushi…

But it was Good, and I’ll write more about it tomorrow when I’ve had a chance to sleep off some of this food baby I’ve got going.

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No matter how good it tastes at teh time, half a pound of Lindt chocolate does NOT make for a viable lunch. Just sayin’…

On a completely related note (I’ll leave it to you to figure out the relationship there), I had SUCH a cool weekend. Saturday I finally got to meet Sam in person! She is amazing and wonderful and it was much fun. The Booger spent, get this, Five Straight Hours cranking the big-ol’ drum carder making batts for Kim to spin. She’s currently knitting herself up a hat out of the two skeins she ended up with. There was much spinning, and there were tasty vegan foodsnax (omg. If I could live on that apple pie and these donuts, I could be vegan. Alas. But those donuts? Not present at the demo, but available at hippie-marts everywhere, and worth the trip and the price. And that’s coming from a confirmed donut snob.). Other than the temperature in the greenhouse when we arrived (none of us were prepared for HOT), the day totally rocked. Especially the part after the demo when we got to go have dinner at Kim’s. Not only are Kim and her husband Franck both phenomenal cooks, so the food was super tasty, but then we had to take some chocolate home with us. Oh, oh the burdens we must bear…

Sunday morning, The Booger, who has up to this point never had the slightest interest in spinning on anything but spindles, decided that she wanted to learn to spin on the wheel. It was a rocky start, but once she got it, she really got it. I’ll have pictures of her first wheel-spun skeins later this week. They’re very cool.

So there you have it. Life is still a train wreck, but at least there was one good weekend in the middle of it all. Ooh! and I’m in the middle of making plans to invade Canada! Well, at least one small hotel in Vancouver over turkey-day weekend. And some yarn stores. And buttons? Did someone say buttons?

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godDAMN fall seems to arrive with a vengance in this town. I swear that a mere week ago I was a)not getting up in the dark, b)not getting home in the dark, and c)not freezing my ass off at all times. Sigh. Didn’t the sky used to be some color other than grey? Yes, I realize that to us locals here in the pacific north wet the day star is scary and bright, but dammit, I’m starting to miss sunlight already.

On the bright side, this means that Woooo! It’s sweater weather! And perfect sock knitting weather. And, well, yeah. I dig the hell outta that.

So, yes, with the bad comes good. Not always, mind you, but generally. Sometimes you have to wait a damn long time for the good after the bad, and by then you’ve forgotten the bad and it all seems so unrelated, but lo! it is not. So there.

If you’re in the Redmond area this weekend, there’s agonna be a spinnin’ demo at Classic’s Nursery (damn but I hope that’s the right link) on Saturday. Afternoonish, methinks. All afternoonish. C’mon by! Say hello!

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We’re down to mere hours until Kimber and I will be on Salt Spring Island for the Fibre Fest. A whole weekend of fibery goodness. The weather looks like it will be perfect, the house we’re renting looks like it, too, will be perfect, and other than forgetting the camera battery and charger (Critterboy is bringing them in with him, so I can pick them up downtown before I leave), I’m pretty sure I’m packed and ready to go. Woo!

The only lameness here is that Critterboy may well be on his way to San Francisco before I get back, which is gonna be suckful as all hell.

Oooh! And we have three new baby chickies! These are a cross between Noodle and Rocky the Polish rooster, so they’re super tiny and have fuzzy feet and beards. They’re all kinds of cute. I’ll photo them when I get back. Promise.

edit: Critterboy just sent me an IM letting me know he forgot the battery. Ack!

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I got an email today from a long-lost friend of mine! I had run into her down at OFFF this past summer, but somehow had managed to lose every, single business card that I came home with, including the one with her (very unlisted) phone number on it. Waaaahhh! Turns out that the evening after we left she discovered that the Booger had won the Kid’s Gift Basket, so she had picked it up for us, figuring that we’d be talking in the following week…

But, this morning, there was email from her, and we’ll be getting together on Sunday. AND! And and and and and – she is working Sundays at a LYS that I’ve been dying to go check out, and
Sunday is the drop-in day for spinners and knitters and they have a perfect cashmere spindle AND I have to go into the city on Sunday ANYWAY, sooooo not only do I get to hang out with her on Sunday and spin, but I get to do it at a well-stocked little LYS! Woot!

On top of all of this, I just found out that work is kicking everyone out at 3 today, so I get to go pick up the kidlet and work more on the Apricot jacket while waiting in the endless pre-holiday weekend ferry line. But I’m ok with that. Yes indeed.

Here’s hoping that the rest of the birthday weekend will continue to be this good!

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Yay! I’m finally back from the Holidays in Colorado! I actually got to spend xmas with The Boy this year, which kicked all available ass, and got to meet the fabulous ‘rents, and hang with all the wonderful relatives. And I got to see Highlands Ranch.

Wade warned me that it was frighteningly huge. I scoffed. Silly me. You think you’ve seen sprawl? You haven’t seen anything until you’ve seen Highlands Ranch. And for all you HR natives who have run the hell away, there’s a Tattered Cover there now. IN Highlands Ranch. No, I’m not kidding.

As for knitting progress? None. Nada. Zip. Zilch. Pathetic to an extreme. We visited almost every yarn store in the greater Castle Rock area (the Red Wheel was pretty nice, and I almost wish I had gone back for some more fibery goodness, and maybe a loom. I didn’t say that. Nope. Not I, said the little red hen…).

We shopped, we ate, we shopped some more, and we got to watch TV, which is a novelty for The Boy and I, and was great fun. Who knew there were so many shows about stealing people’s cars and fixing them up for them? Weird.

I did manage to spend almost the entire day yesterday in my pj’s, on my butt, doin’ nothin’ but knitting and watching dvd’s. And it was Good. Yea, verily. One sleeve of the Apricot Cardi that’s not Apricot is done. Woo! And can I just say that my new yarn love is Debbie Bliss Cashmerino? Oh my yes. It’s yummy to work with. Maybe tonight I’ll spin up some more alpaca. That needs to happen.

And then there was the dawning realization that I will be turning 35 on friday. Where the hell did that come from? What the hell happened to the last 10 years? Where did they go? Alas. Good thing I’m digging my crow’s feet and the grey hairs and the smile lines. It’s all good.

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I’m reasonably positive I’ve posted since October 30th… Wonder what happened to those posts? Crap.

Whatever. I’m finally back from the Oregon coast and the bitchin’ Beavercraft weekend at the ocean. Once again it kicked all available ass. There were, get this, ELEVEN of us this year, plus one 9 month old (who knew any child could be that cute???) and two on the way.

As for what I managed to accomplish on the three day weekend of non-stop knitting? That’s right. Fuck. All. Nothing. I finished my second STR sock not just once, but THREE times. Three! Hooray for me! Finished three times, ripped out three times. Yay! (grumble). For whatever reason I just could not get the toe to be ‘right’. It consistently wanted to be very very wrong. Very wrong. In three different icky ways. It’s in the penalty box at this point, and will not be touched again until Rogue is finished.

I did manage to make some progress on Rogue (so the weekend wasn’t a total loss, and I didn’t really accomplish nothing, just mostly nothing), but I think I’ve made more progress on Rogue since I’ve been back than I did while I was at the beach.

On the ferry this morning I finished the left side of the front, and got a healthy start on the right side. With any luck I can start on the hood tonight, and maybe finish the whole thing by tomorrow morning. Then I can block the crap out of it and start wearing it. I may wind up having to tear the bottom few rows out of it and redo them on smaller needles, since the entire bottom edge is curling like a Canadian with some ice and a broom… We’ll have to see once it’s all blocked and done. But I won’t be surprised if I do have to do that. No big deal. (at least I have this idea that it won’t be a big deal. I could be very wrong on that front though).

Pix from the ocean weekend will be up in the gallery at some point in the next couple of days, just as soon as I get around to that. Which I will. Soon. I promise.

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