Birthday Spinning Surprise ~

Marion helped me pick out this fiber at the 2012 Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival. Eight ounces of lovely greens and purples, so much like a garden that Marion would have.

So I spun it and then plyed it, and took a very long time... and it turned out fabulous!  I was pleased with the outcome, and I know Marion was surprised and thrilled to get some hand spun named "Marion's Garden" because how great to have yarn named after one's garden!  Love to be able to give hand spun to knitters that appreciate the care, love and effort that goes into this yarn!

KingCo Preview ~

Another great race today, and she ran strong and fast and did very well. We are so proud of her, and I was so happy to be able to be there to see her race.

Here she is in her pack, strong and determined.

Here she is with her friends, teammates and sister, happy to have another race behind them and time together to celebrate! Loved being there to watch her race, plus a bonus of a long car ride for some sock knitting!

Four month anniversary ~

Yes, I am still counting my months of boot camp!  I am still having fun and working hard, plus a bonus that my 18 year old has also been attending as she waits for college to begin.  Very nice to have someone else wake up at 5:30 AM for a 6:00 AM class.... we must be nuts!

Here we are with one of our "fans" from the surrounding neighborhood that comes through the park to work out when we are almost done. He asked to get his picture taken with us so he could send to his family in New Deli.

We are international now!

Tracy Walters Invite ~

The race today was great - our daughter ran fast and strong, plus her first in "varsity whites" and the weather made the day enjoyable for runners and spectators. Super deluxe day!

Here is my kiddo with teammates - their faces show how amazingly great this race was for all of them. Below, they all are in their Varsity Whites!

Here they are after the race, celebrating with Hawaiian shirts, most of these shirts are from our family. The smiles tell how fun this race was, and how great it is to be celebrating now!!!

Odd to think all families might not have a collection of Hawaiian shirts??? They are such fun to wear, and fun to share!!!

 I was pleased we could supply half the team with shirts!!  Hurrah!

Road Trip Birthday ~

For the past five years, our family has taken a road trip on my birthday. This year our trip was to Spokane to watch our 15 year old run in the Tracy Walters Cross Country Invitational with her team. Fabulous drive over there, and cast on two (yes, two) projects that will count toward my "Birthday cast-on tradition" this year.

This first cast on are socks for my 15 year old cross country runner, in the colorway we bought together in Bellingham during college orientation for my 18 year old.  Also using a new brand of needles that I scored years ago on Ebay but had never used.  So far, they are working well.  Plus, I love the twist of this yarn - a great choice!

The second cast on are socks for my mum for Christmas. She cannot wear wool, so these are soft and cozy Alpaca with a Twist.
She says that she wears the other alpaca socks I have knitted for her all the time, and she needs new ones...so I had better get knitting!