Birthday fun ~

We celebrated Debi's birthday on Saturday, complete with knitting and dinner. Complete, too, with Signature Needles as her gift from us. What a great tradition this has become, as it is almost worth it to get a little older just to get a pair of these amazing needles!Here we are on the beach before dinner, walking along by the ferry dock and having a whale of a time!

Cross country pack ~

Great xcountry meet today. Four high schools and four races, - girls varsity, girls jr varsity, boys varsity and boys jr varsity. Our kids stayed in their running packs and won the meet.Here's a great picture of my daughter's "pack" as they are about to take the turn into the woods. Look closely to the left corner and see the kick of who they are chasing! Hurrah!

Perfect Pocket Day ~

The day had arrived when my pocket wheel was ready to be picked up. I first tried one at the Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival in September, 2010 and ordered it in November, 2010. At that time it was scheduled to be done in July, 2011. Life happens, and the handcrafters took more time, so I ended up waiting patiently for 11 months. Jitteryknitter and I took the ferry over to Whidbey Island to pick up my wheel, and had the most enjoyable afternoon with "Mr & Mrs Pocket Wheel" They introduced us to their sheep (Violet and flock) and their chickens, plus their angora bunny (can't believe we didn't take any pictures - too excited!). Then we toured the wood working area, and the finishing area, and then into the house to get a spinning lesson. Ahhhhh, the spinning!My zebra wood bobbin seemed to have some tension issues, but I had a blast learning all about my wheel. Their living room was a dream, several pocket wheels to sample, several big baskets of all sorts of fiber, and several big baskets of handspun ~ what a dream! I started getting better at the spinning, and we would have stayed all night! Now there is not so much tension in my singles....(See how one side of the blue has a lot less tension than the other?! Hurrah!)The zebra bobbin still has tension issues we are working out!!!Stay tuned for more fun with the Pocket Wheel!

Peaceful Tea ~

I made progress on mum's Peaceful shawl while waiting to pick up kids at youth group. The pattern seems to be working well, and the yarn and needles are a dreamy combination!I just need to keep up the Christmas knitting so I can finish on time to send to Michigan...(lots of time, right?)

Christmas cast on ~

Now that is it October, are there any knitters out there wondering how to get all your knitting treasures finished for Christmas? I've scaled down my Christmas knitting plans this year, so I hope that I won't be so frantic in December...famous theories for 50, right? Here is a lovely cast on for mum's shawl/wrap, a fun pattern called Peaceful Leaves Yoga Wrap. I'll knit it and not attach the buttons, as my mum would just use it as a shawl.I'm using my Cascade Eco Alpaca, from our wonderful tour of their warehouse (when was that?), as mum has wool issues, and the alpaca is knitting up very sweet, indeed. Using my birthday Signature Needles helps make this a lovely knitting adventure! Not sure if this picture shows off the knitting best, as it was wonderfully sunny when I snapped the picture...now the sunshine is rumored to be gone for this week....

Salmon Days' Success ~

We interrupt the knitting to bring you this news flash. Our 13 year old, still coughing from the remnants of her cold, begins the Salmon Days 5K with a smile and a kick!She finishes with a major spurt of speed, rounding the last corner to the finish with flying feet!Plus a personal PR of 23:28! Hurrah!!!!!! Go Girl Go!!!

Twilight Success ~

We interrupt the knitting to bring you the news flash from the Tomahawk Twilight xcountry race.Yes, she did really well, wore her new 'half inch' spikes for the first time, and they are still full of great golf course dirt and grass! Plus she earned an awesome blue ribbon! Hurrah!
(P.S. The "Twilight" in the name is because they run at dusk ~ no vampires were running)