What a wonderful weekend!

My weekend started early, with a surprise in the mail! A mysterious package arrived on our doorstep this week, addressed to me, but with an unfamiliar return address. Inside was a beautiful quilted tea cozy from Roxie!





















I don't know just how she knew the colors to go with my decor, or the size to fit my great-grandmother's teapot, or just how she found my address since I didn't give it to her, but she was spot on all three! She's a pretty smart cookie, that Roxie is!

Saturday was spent running errands after our traditional weekend breakfast out. We've recently found a new place for breakfast; Maxwell's Pub & Grill on 185th at Baseline. Good food at very reasonable prices; breakfast for both of us, with drinks was under $15! The only drawback is that they don't open until 9, which really hasn't been a problem for us lately; we've both learned to sleep late in the last year.

Sunday was spent at SIL Faye and BIL Jim's new home in Our Vancouver. We give them a hard time about subjecting us to interstate travel to visit them now, but it really is less than half the distance from where they lived in Sandy. Niece Jane built the house next to her mom and dad, so we get to visit with her when we drive up there. BIL Myron and SIL Joan came up from West Linn for the day, too. We all spent the day out on the patio, talking, catching up on family goings-on, and trading places in and out of the sun. I took my wheel and got some spinning done. I finished one bobbin of StitchJones' "Earth Angel"; I split it into 4 lengths, intending to make a 2-ply lace weight with it.



















Then, I went back to the yak/merino blend that gave me such fits a couple weeks ago. I must have been more relaxed, because this time the long-draw came very easily and I finished spinning the entire 8 ounces in about two hours! I'm going to let this rest on the bobbins for awhile before I ply it. It should come out nicely woolen spun, probably sport or worsted weight. I don't know what it will be knitted into yet, but whatever it is will be really soft!

Today, ToolMan and I stayed home and puttered around the yard a bit. I scrubbed a winter's worth of moss and dirt off the table and chairs on the deck; ToolMan power washed the front stoop, trimmed limbs off the maple tree, moved some hooks for the bird bath and mobile, and repaired a solar light. When the chairs were dry, we sat out on the deck with a couple of friends



















and enjoyed the view. The grass suffered last year, when we had all the reconstruction going on, but as long as we have Andy Rooney using the back yard, there's little hope of it recovering.
























We cranked out the awning, took our cold beverages out on the deck, and enjoyed the great weather while I cranked on a knitting project.




















Yep, another Clapotis! This one is in my hand spun; made from the Blue Moon Fiber Arts: 8 ounces of superwash Merino combed top, an Oops! dye of Rooster Rock that I got at Tina's first de-stashing sale. I'll have more than enough for a Clapotis, but I don't know what I'll do with the remainders. Maybe a pair of gloves to go with it?

Fasten your seatbelts. It's going to be a bumpy night.

My apologies to Bette Davis, but this is a rather disjointed post. So hang onto your hats!

This is Devon, my new neighbor, and her mother, Nancy. Devon and her husband bought the house next door several months ago, but Devon's been in Phoenix trying to get their house there sold or rented and finally got here last week. ToolMan apologized for making so much noise in his garage (running the woodworking equipment making shawl pins), Devon said she was a crocheter but wanted to learn to knit and spin. Poor thing didn't know what hit her.



















When she came to, she was in the middle of Westside Wednesday, being forced to play with sticks and string. Nancy had been a knitter, but hadn't picked it up in years; by the end of the night, she was back to doing garter, stockinette, and ribbing like nobody's business.

Last week was unofficial "Sweater Night" at Westside Wednesday. There were "February Lady Sweaters" in abundance.



















And a "Hey, Teach!" was there as well.
























Kathleen presented a darling turtle sweater to Rachel.
























And trtlgrl herself finished teeny, tiny sweater dress! Some of us who are already mothers thought trtlbby might have already outgrown this one; hopefully, it'll fit long enough for her to wear it home next month!



















I finished, or mostly finished, a sweater for trtlbby this week, too. A BSJ made from Red Heart's Heart and Sole in the "Mellow Stripe" colorway. This is one of their fairly new yarns; it's a superwash merino and nylon blend which has been infused with aloe vera that's supposed to last through about 50 washings. It's didn't feel especially soft when I was knitting it, but it did soften a lot when I washed it.


















I had 2 balls and you can see how much was left over. I used US 6 needles and did an I-cord edge all around the neck/front/bottom. It's about a 6-month size. I didn't leave buttonholes; I think I'll add either I-cord toggles or loops for buttons.

The TKGA Spring Show was in Portland this weekend, so Tami and I rode MAX into downtown on Saturday morning to hit the marketplace. We met Kathleen and Sara for lunch; they were both working the Carolina Handspun booth for Morgaine. The lucky girls are getting paid in fiber!

We arrived at the marketplace about 11:30 but Kathleen didn't get out of her class until 12, so we went to Morgaine's booth to visit a few minutes with Sara and Sheila until Kathleen arrived. Somehow, in that short space of time, Tami bought her first wheel! Well, to be fair, she's been wanting a Lendrum for awhile; she's not been terribly happy with the borrowed Louet with the warped wheel, so it's not like it was a real spur of the moment purchase!

The four of us had a nice lunch (fried egg and bacon sandwiches, Reuben sandwiches, sweet potato fries, and onion rings) at the DoubleTree Inn and headed back to the marketplace. Kathleen and Sara went to work, and so did Tami and I; we methodically went up and down every row and every booth. Partly to look for the best buys, and partly to visit with friends and vendors. I tried to restrain my spending but there were a few things that fell into my bag.

Klaus at Crown Mountain Farms had this exceptional black silk roving. The picture just doesn't do this justice. It's a true, deep black and the silk sheen is beautiful! I bought 2 ounces which I think will eventually become a shawl with jet beads.

And from Morgaine at Carolina Handspun, I picked up 4 ounces of merino in a luscious turquoise and 4 ounces of merino in a heathered blue/green.

Good thing Tami and I got home early on Saturday because we were up bright and early this morning to meet Cindy and head for Islay Hill Alpacas. The owners, Jan and Jim Grammer, invited us to come for the spring shearing.

The shearers got an early start on the llamas and were almost done with them by the time we arrived.

Then it was time for the alpacas. Jim had separated the boys into a separate pen, and divided the girls into two holding pens. While the shearers finished up the llamas, Jim talked about alpaca babies, including one little cria who was absolutely adorable.

That low humming or moaning sound in the background is the alpacas. I thought they sounded like one of Andy Rooney's toys when the squeaker is almost shot.

The girls waited patiently for their beautification,

and then spent a few minutes recuperating afterward.

Then it was time for the boys, who were generally not as cooperative; it's all that testosterone, you know.

I know Tami had her camera and took some videos of the shearing; go over to her blog and check them out.

When everybody had their new "do's", it was time to head home.

By noon, all 6 llamas and 20 alpacas had new haircuts, Jan and Jim had fiber bagged and weighed and ready for sale, their daughter Kate had gotten a drop spindle lesson, a little white dog named "Perogi" had herded alpacas, and 3 fiber fanatics had fondled a lot of fiber. All in all, a pretty good way to spend a sunny Sunday.

Milestones and New Starts

Well, the first week of my new job went very smoothly! Even though I'm working for a very large international insurance company, it's a small branch office of 5 attorneys and 4 support staff. Everyone seems very nice, and they're weren't even freaked out when they discovered I'm a knitter and spinner. Confused, maybe; but not freaked out.

I did stop by the old office a couple times last week, just for a couple of hours on Tuesday and Thursday to take care of important items. Tuesday was my birthday, and after working a full day and then another couple hours, I was too tired to even enjoy it! I didn't get home until almost 8, and after feeding Andy Rooney and getting his insulin shot taken care of, I wolfed down a couple slices of cold pizza and collapsed in bed. I had originally offered to work a couple hours twice a week plus a few hours on Saturday to cover until a replacement was found; but after last week, I've decided that I just physically can't do it. Working just a couple hours means I don't get home until nearly 8 p.m., so I don't have enough time to eat and relax before going to bed; and that means I wake up exhausted the next day. I've offered to train someone, but I just can't keep doing the extra work; especially when they haven't even started running an ad for the job.

Now that I'm back to commuting 5 days a week, I'm back to commuter knitting. I pulled out the Heart and Sole that was in the swag bag from the TKGA last fall with the intent of making myself a pair of socks. Well, on the last row of toe increases, I found a knot. Dang! So, I did a Russian join, marked that side as being the bottom, and went on. Barely another inch knitted, and out popped another knot! Needless to say, I was really ticked off by this turn of events. Good thing I had the Harlot's latest book in my bag, or my fellow commuters might have been in danger. Knitting, in one form or another, has often kept me from maiming people.

Anyway, once I got home, I frogged out the sock and wound the yarn on the ball winder to find out if there were any more knots in there. Good thing I did, because I found 6 knots in one ball! Of course, there were none in the second skein. Well, 6 knots is just too many to deal with in a sock, so I wound both skeins into one ball and cast on for something else. I can't tell you what it will be yet. Yes, I know what it will be! But it's going to be gifted and I don't want to take a chance on spoiling the surprise for the recipient!



















I almost forgot; the spring TKGA conference is next weekend. I'll be going on Saturday to meet Kathleen after her class; we're going to have lunch in Chinatown and then back to TKGA for shopping. This year's marketplace looks even better than last year; I'll have a full report for you next week, provided I remember to bring the camera!

I've also been slogging away on re-designing that driving cap. It's going, slowly but surely. I'm not entirely happy with the way this one is turning out; or rather, not any happier with this version than with the first. I haven't discovered what works exactly the way I want it, but I have learned several things that don't work. To paraphrase Elizabeth Zimmerman, I'm "unventing" a driving cap, so I shouldn't expect success the first time around. It's a good thing the Traveling Stitch Markers arrived a couple weeks ago; I've needed every one of them on this project!



















Last week at Westside Wednesday, I started spinning the yak and merino blend. I did a little sampling of it, but I'm not entirely happy with the way it was coming out. It's so incredibly soft and I want to preserve that loft and softness, but I also want to stretch it out as far as I can. After sampling, I've decided to let it set for awhile and I'll go back to it. I'll go back to it in a couple weeks and see how it goes.



















After putting away the yak, I bought a braid of this beautiful merino from StitchJones in "Earth Angel." Yesterday was the May meeting of Portland Spinnerati and since the yak blend wasn't working out, I took the Earth Angel with me. I'm spinning it very thin; it should come out to a fine laceweight. I don't know what I'll do with it, but aren't the colors just beautiful?

ToolMan and I met our new neighbor this week and learned that she wants to learn to knit and spin! I'll be taking her to Westside Wednesday with me this week, and maybe to TKGA if she's game. And next weekend is TKGA on Saturday, and alpaca shearing on Sunday, so I'll have lots to report when next we meet. Until then, see you in the funnies!

Playing Prairie Dog

You know how people pop their heads up over cubicle walls to tell their neighbor something short? Well that's called "prairie dogging" and here's my version for this week:

Very little knitting going on. I'm working on another version of the driving cap but not much to show for it yet.

I got the coral/pink single plied up; it measured out at 210 yards of 2-ply sport weight and has been popped into the stash.

ToolMan and I went to Faire In The Grove yesterday, where we ran into pnwbookgirl and her DH and trtlgrl and her DH. Unfortunately, I forgot the camera, so no pictures. We only stayed a short while. Good thing, too, because right after we got in the car to come home, the skies opened up and it poured!

Last, but not least, I start a new job tomorrow. The opportunity sort of fell into my lap unexpectedly, but was just too good to pass up. I'll be a paralegal to in-house counsel for a large international insurance company and will be mostly working on defending customers in semi-truck and auto accidents.

Next weekend is another Spinnerati meeting and another field trip, so I should have some pictures for you then.

Bye, for now; I'm going back down into my prairie dog hole. See you next week!