Henry's Sweater

It's the baby cardigan from Knitting Pure and Simple. I changed the design a bit (aside from the few "design elements"). Instead of the two I-cords, I just used snaps and added the buttons.

On the road again: destination Moscow, Idaho

This weekend I'm hitting the open road and heading to the beautiful Palouse region in Idaho. We're going to visit some family and cheer the Idaho Vandals football team! I'm really looking forward to visiting the campus. It's just so gorgeous in the fall with all the leaves turning vibrant shades or red, orange and yellow! My camera is charging and the knitting bag is ready to go. I'm also hoping to put a dent in some of my projects including these mittens which are long over due for a friends birthday gift!

Fantasy Football: Week Three

The Knitting Ftball Stars are 3-0! Undefeated baby!

Girls Weekend Get-A-Way

This past weekend, the girls and I headed to Winthrop for a little R & R. There was lots of knitting, reading (I finished the best book!) and just hanging out!


The girls found a guy for a quick photo-op!

Pretty Methow Valley (didn't pay attention to the name of the river...)

We were there for two nights and these are all of Rebecca's projects....

And there was a Square Dancing Festival in town! They shut down part of the main drag (and trapped our car)! We spent the time watching the toe-tappin' couples and shopping through the cute stores!

Fantasy Football Week Two:

After a rough Sunday, I was surprised to see that the Knitting Ftball Stars are still dominating in the league! My defense left a lot to be desired, but luckily my opponent had an even rougher Sunday.

(Editor's note: I'm a little scared about how much I'm picking up about football. I could go into more detail, but I won't. What I find annoying about all of this, is how I can absorb the football lingo/stats/etc. but still can't remember how to SSK when I come across it in a pattern!)

"Obsessively Crafty"

That's one of the new terms I learned from the fabulous knitters I interviewed for my story (or as Rebecca would say - strong-armed into it). Interviewing Stephanie was a lot of fun. We both like to talk about knitting and we both like to knit, so it was a bit challenging to stay focused. And at the end of the interview, she asked about my knitting (we were both knitting during the interview) so I tried to play it cool even though I was secretly gushing on the inside.

(This is a pretty bad picture, I was actually not that far away)

Later we attended her talk at Third Place Books where she continued to entertain with her humor, wit and knitting passion! As usual, she drew a huge crowd plus lots of Purly Girls were there!

(Rebecca and Sasha knit while listening)

(Jessica captures her sock for the moment. Jessica also gave me the term "Obsessively Crafty" I like it better than my Craft A.D.D. term.)

Reasons I like my job.

At my job, I get the opportunity to take complicated political issues and make them relevant to people's lives in a way they understand (hopefully). I get to explain the issues (which, less face it are sometimes really, really boring) in a fun way that gives folks a sense of what city leaders are talking about. I also get to meet interesting, inspiring and fabulous individuals; the political leaders working to make a difference to kids just inspiring change while living with a fatal disease. I've even had the chance to interview a Hollywood Hottie. And tomorrow, I have the chance to sit down with another A-lister:

The Yarn Harlot.

I'll be interviewing her for a story on local knitters, how today's knitters aren't your average, stereotypical knitters and her role in all of this. Then I'll be heading to her book signing to hear from her fans and why they knit.

Hopefully, I'll see you there!

Just have to brag a bit....

So this is a non-knitting comment (kind of). I have succumb to the football in my household and instead of fighting it, I've embraced it by creating my own fantasy football team. I'm in a small league with the new hubby, his Cousin Mike and Cousin Mike's girlfriend Kim (also known as Cousin Kim). Knowing very little about individual players, the computer just randomly selected my players while the hubby, knowing lots of stats and stuff, picked most of his out. We faced off against each other this first week of football, and I have to say - with pride - that my team - the Knitting Ftball Stars - DOMINATED the league! That's one for the knitters and NOTHING for the non-knitters! Stay tuned to see how I fair this week....

A new season starts

A new season has dawned in my household. It's a season that allows much more knitting (not that I need permission for knitting). I can have many more nights to go out and meet knitters or more nights (or afternoons) to curl up at home with a good chick flick and my knitting. I call it knitting season. Others simply call it: football season.

Weekend Get-A-Way!

Matt and I on Hurricane Ridge in the Olympic National Forest. Don't we look cute in our Idaho Vandal gear? It was game day on Saturday!

We took advantage of a three day weekend to pull out the map and find a spot in Washington we had never visited. Destination: the Olympic Peninsula and the Olympic National Forest! It was a beautiful weekend with great weather (until the end - we were in a rain forest!) and fun times! We even took a quick day trip to Victoria, B.C.

The historic Empress Hotel in Victoria. They were having a classic boat show in the harbor.

The Sunken Garden at Buschard Gardens in Victoria.

Marymere Falls in the Olympica National Forest ...a pretty hike through an old growth forest to the falls.

Ruby Beach along the northwest coast of Washington. Note the pouring rain. What would a trip to the rain forest be without a little rain?

New books! New yarn! Oh my!

A couple of gift certificates from my birthday put me in a shopping mood! I hit a book store and Hilltop Yarns (thanks Aunt Julie!) and am now loaded up with fun new reads and projects! I bought Classic Knits by Erika Knight. Thanks to Rebecca's suggestion, I'm going to make the tank top for myself using this beautiful purple yarn from Rowan. I'm very excited about this project because I've always wanted to knit something from the big and chunky line and because it'll knit up quickly!

Then I finally got a copy of Natural Knits for Babies and Moms (the answer to whatever is running through you mind Sara/April/Jen is no.)! However with all of my friends having babies, it's always good to keep a book like this around. After Katie's "trunk show" of the book, I had to have it! I also bought the yarn to whip up a cute little hat (the yarn was on sale!). But before I start any of these projects, I need to make some serious progress on Henry's sweater!

Experiments in front load felting and needle felting

I whipped up these little accessory bags from One Skein Wonders with some left over yarn I had in the stash. I wanted to see how my front loading washer felted. It took only two rounds before they were the perfect size! The next experiment: needle felting! I can't wait to get started on this new little project! I have a feeling it could be my next knitting type of obsession! Stay tuned for results!

It's done!

What: Jenny's Twin Wraps from Hilltop Yarn

How: Tahki's New Tweed

This was a great pattern! I really enjoyed it. It had a great combination of lace, cables and stockinette. It was a repeat of 12 rows. I highly recommend this pattern!

A little light reading

A study came out this week that basically said Americans don't read that much. That really made me a bit sad. While I'll admit I'm not the biggest reader out there, I do love to curl up on the couch with a good book.

And I seem to have no trouble finding good books these days. In fact several of them have been lent to me by fellow book lovers! The challenge is finding the time to read. Plus there's the knitting too. I have quite perfected reading and knitting at the same time. I may have to resort to books on tapes!
Speaking of new books to read, the hubby was in a book store and came upon this little gem: Lost in Austen. It's a choose your own adventure in Jane Austen's books! You are Elizabeth Bennett, a woman of considerable wit, not so much money or fabulous beauty. Your mission is to marry for love and money. As you read, you choose the path of Elizabeth...will she end up with Mr. Darcy, or perhaps Col. Wentworth? Will Willoughby get her off the path? Who knows! That's the fun! (Well, at least I think it's fun!)

Danskin 2007: soaking rains & goals

Mother Nature added her own round of challenges to Sunday's Danskin Triathlon: pouring, soaking rains and wind. But hey, when you start out swimming at 7:37 a.m., what's a little more water, right? That was my thought as I started the very cold swim. Silly little thought.

The rains started the night before, giving the course and transition area a good soaking. Instead of laying my gear on a towel, I laid everything on trash bags with more covering them up. Didn't help. After the swim, I sort of toweled off, threw on my very wet bike helmet (it had been out in the rain all night at the transition area which is required) and hit the road. I was on a fabulous rented bike, but because I was unfamiliar with the bike, and the course was so wet, I couldn't go as fast as I had wanted to. I saw several bad spills and several women, bloodied and bruised ride by. Coming back across the I-90 bridge on Lake Washington was one of the times Mother Nature unleashed her fury: soaking rains and sideway gusting winds. The cars heading West were also kicking up water on us. I thought, this really isn't very fun as I could hear and feel the water sloshing in both shoes. I toweled off again after the bike ride, grabbed my rain jacket, baseball hat and Ipod and took off for the run. At this point, I just wanted to be done and beat my time of 2 hours and 1 minute. I am proud to say that I ran the entire 5K with a sprint at the end to finish in under two hours. Final time: 1 hour 57 mins 44 seconds! I would have like to have had done better, but frankly, I'm just proud of actually showing up in that crappy weather. They say you need to train in any type of weather conditions because you never know what it'll be like on race day and I have never, ever, worked out in weather like that. Nor do I ever plan on doing it again, unless of course, it's like that for next year! Danskin 2008 goal: 1 hour 40 mins! (Editors note: there are no pics to accompany this because I didn't want my camera to get wet. But it still did as the water soaked through my bag and the camera case. No damage though!)

Athlete #2924

That's me! I'm ready for tomorrow's Danskin Triathlon! I've got my race number, body markings and have racked my bike (unfortunately, just like last year, I'm stuck in the back side of the bike racks!) I'm very excited about my race number this year: 2924 - 29 is my birthday and 24 is Matt's birthday! I think it's a good sign. I've also got my new pink Shuffle Ipod (thanks for the great b-day gift mom!) loaded with all my favorite fast running songs to help me power through the last portion of the tri - the run! Last year I did the tri 2 hours one minute. That one minute just kills me! This year my goal is one hour 50 minutes - which I think I can do!

Wish me luck and be thinking warm, sunny thoughts for tomorrow (especially SUNNY!) I hit the water for my race at 7:37 a.m. P.S.T (for those of you on the East Coast!)

Congrats Mara & Mike!

This past Saturday, Mara and Mike got married! It was a beautiful ceremony at her grandparents home just outside Olympia. The house over looked the water and it was a very touching service because that was the same spot her parents were married at. The wedding started off on a fun note as the groom and his crew walked in to the theme of Star Wars!

Mara helped design her dress from a shop in Olympia. She wanted something simple and elegant. Once the dress was made the shop owners liked her dress so much they decided they were going to offer that dress in their collection. They are calling it the "Mara." (My pictures really don't do it justice!) She looked so radiant and happy!

Happy Left Handers Day!

Today is Left Handers Day! A day where all you righties need to appreciate us lefties! Sometimes it's hard living in your world. Everything is built for you guys - notebooks, school desks with the arm rest on the "right hand" side and let's not forget the scissors! As a kid, I had to learn to bat right handed because my softball coach didn't know how to teach a left handed kid. And I knit right handed (same reason). After a few years, I tried to teach myself to do it left handed but it didn't work out so well. I'm celebrating my right to be a lefty!

The summer of my green thumb!

I've never been really good at growing things. I try, the effort is there (sometimes), but it usually ends badly. This summer I decided it was time to try and cultivate something I could actually eat. My fabulous friend June helped me out with this by giving me a beautiful tomato plant with a bunch of herbs. She also gave me some lettuce starts and they have taken off like wildfire! The lettuce was quite yummy! I'm still waiting for the tomatoes to turn red but they are on their way!

Past Pictures

I finally got my camera cord back after it took a little road trip. Here are some pictures from my knitting adventures when I was home alone:

My knitting at Stich & Pitch with Mara. A lot of good knitting and chatting was accomplished, win from the Mariners - not so much.

The full moon over Safeco field didn't give any good luck to the Mariners.

Yarn for Henry's sweater (Cousin Mike, please note how it's not pink.) I'm going to knit him the Easy Baby Cardigan from Knitting Pure & Simple. I can't wait to meet him someday - and for that matter, I'm sure his mom is anxious to do the same! (Editor's note: I wrote this blog entery last night then cast on for the cardigan. Today I found out that Henry was born last night! 7lbs. 7 oz. baby and mamma doing great! Now I really need to knit fast!)