A Four Hour Vacation

After lots of rainy weather, there was a miraculously sunny weekend here in Northwest Oregon!  I had what I thought was the great idea of a family outing at the Pumpkin Patch on Sauvie Island.  However, once we got there.....ugh!  The crowds, the lack of parking and the long waits inspired the Incredible Digit Husband to suggest that we skip the pumpkins altogether and drive further down the road.  With a parking permit and some food and drink in hand, we made our way to the beach - the river beach, that is! 

There's not normally these type of waves on the river but thanks to a variety of boats and ships passing by the kids got to play in the waves quite a bit.  They loved it!

 

  

Honestly, the whole time we were there was like being on vacation.  There were hardly any people there so we did feel like we had the whole beach to ourselves.  Except for..............

The Mermaid and..........

 The Sea Serpent!

 It was a great way to wrap up the weekend especially since we woke up to rain this morning.  If the weather newscasters are to be believed there is a little more sun to enjoy next weekend.  Let's hope they're right!

A New (Writing) Leaf

I've been reading a few blogs that I haven't checked in quite some time and, of course, then remind myself that I also have a blog that I haven't checked in, oh, about a year!  While I would never be accused of having nothing to say, I certainly don't write in this venue with any regularity.  Should I keep going with it?  I do like having this as a place to have my knitting patterns/info/etc. but I don't really update that either.  

So here's the experiment.  I'm going to schedule myself to write here at least once a week and see what I can keep up.  

As of right now I'm getting ready to announce a new needle felting class at All About Yarn (info soon).   A winter landscape on a pre-felted wool bag with lots of details.  I'm really looking forward to sharing this project.  

Also, Oregon Flock & Fiber Festival is right around the corner.  I'll be at my usual spot in the Carolina Homespun booth.  All my fiber friends, come 'round and say hello!

Until next week, here's a pic from the Washington County Fair from this summer.  I need a little reminder of summer now that fall has officially arrived and the weather has decided to comply with that description.  I'm really not ready for cold and blustery yet.

Thanksgiving Greetings

I have to admit that the whole “Christmas before Thanksgiving” marketing is a huge pet peeve of mine.  Thanksgiving is a holiday unique to the United States and celebrates us as a nation.  Yet, every year it gets swept farther and farther under the table of Christmas preparation.  Don’t get me wrong, we enjoy our Christmas traditions and celebrations ……. I would just like to focus on one holiday at a time and not be consumed with getting stuff for the sake of getting stuff.  Okay, rant over.

The Incredible Digit Girl surprised us with a Thanksgiving greeting that I couldn’t help but share.

In case it’s hard to read:

“Thanksgiving is always so fun,
And there’s also supposed to be sun,
There’s usually turkey,
But never beef jerkey,
It takes a long time before we’re done.”

Yes, I’m definitely thankful for our family! 

Knitting Technique Workshop Series

I'm so happy to post that I've scheduled the newest Knitting Technique Workshop Series at All About Yarn in Tigard.  We'll be starting on Saturday, November 17th from 10:00am to 12:00pm.  First technique on the schedule is Matching Your Cast-On and Bind-Off to Your Project.  Not only will I go over each technique, I'll also provide a printed hand-out to take home for each workshop in the series. 

I'm also working hard at coordinating all my design notes so I can get two new patterns published before the end of the year.  Right now I'm focusing on smaller projects that would be great for holiday gifts.  I'll post soon about when and where they will be available!

Getting Back In the Swing of Things

As can definitely be deduced from my last blog post, it has been an awfully long time since I posted anything new to this woefully ignored blog.  Admittedly, it is partly my own laziness and my inability to say no to a variety of projects to good to pass up. 

With fall firmly in season our family begins a cycle of new birthdays.  The Incredible Digit Boy is an astounding eight-years-old.  How did that happen?  The Incredible Digit Girl will soon reach her first decade.  A milestone that hardly seems possible and yet it is.  They both have turned into interesting young people that their father and I enjoy immensely. 

On the Ferris Wheel at the County Fair

The upside to all this growth is that, while they still love to spend time with us (and I'm hoarding these experiences in anticipation of their teenage years), they also do much with their friends, on their own here at home, and at school.......which leaves me with the opportunity to concentrate on my love of all things fiber and craft.  In addition to now having two spinning wheels, I have added a table top Glimakra rigid heddle loom from Carolina Homespun (thank you Morgaine!) and, in a fantastic barter opportunity, a large floor model inkle loom.  Yes, it is indeed, a very slippery slope. 

Over at All About Yarn, we have much to keep us busy.  We're already starting the pattern preparation for the Rose City Yarn Crawl. Mark your calendars for February 28th to March 3rd, 2013.  This will be the second year that it is being organized by our own local consortium of yarn shops and I think they have done an amazing job!  I will also start my monthly technique classes at AAY in November.  I usually start in October but recent travel out of the country (more on that later) means a later start.  I'll post all the info and the list of classes very soon!  

Happy Fall everyone!  I'm looking forward to spending more time here and re-acquainting myself with this community.

September Is Not Even Halfway Thru.....

.....and we've already gotten quite a few things done!

To start September off, we took a trip down to San Francisco to visit with family and celebrate a wedding. We had such a great time.

And both the kids proved that, unlike their parents, they are excellent dancers!

We got home on Labor Day and then got down to business prepping for the first day of school. And it was a biggie since both the Incredible Digit Girl AND Boy would be getting on the bus the next day.

(Big Sis kindly explained the Kindergarten jacket/backpack area for her brother)

They're both enjoying their new classrooms and getting used to the routine. It's all old hat to Digit Girl but for Digit Boy it's all new. He really impressed us by memorizing his six digit lunch payment code in just a few days.....and in time for him to get hot lunch in the cafeteria on Friday.

In addition, the first day of school also brought our Digit Boy's 6th birthday!

For a little extra fun, his dad got the trick candles so the kids just kept blowing and blowing and laughing and laughing!

(and, no, there isn't really something coming out of his nose......I don't think so, anyway)

Luckily, for the Incredible Digit Husband, the plant maintenance shut-down coincided with the first week of school. So not only did he get to be present for all the "firsts", he and I actually got to have a "fancy" lunch at a restaurant downtown. Yippee!

And to top the week off, I went with a great group of people and participated in the Warrior Dash - Northwest. And, yes, as their website states, it was one of the "craziest, frickin' days of my life".

Basically, it's three miles of hills and valleys with an obstacle course. The race completely kicked my butt and it was totally worth it. I definitely didn't set any time records: I was actually the last time in my age group. However, in the overall category there were about fifty people behind me. Considering I did very little (no) training and fell off one of the obstacles (my hip and knee are still a little tender), I feel pretty good about just finishing. The Incredible Digit Boy and Girl were pretty impressed by my layer of mud

(did I mention the mud pit with barbed wire to crawl through?)

but only the Digit Girl was asking when she could participate. Luckily, the age limit is fourteen and older so I have several years to be in good enough shape to keep up with her.

(Thanks to M & M for the Warrior Dash pics!)

Not Quite A Year

Well, I'm definitely coming in under the wire of a full 365 days........I had at least a few months before I hit that milestone. And, no big surprise, once I viewed the neglected blog I found several features not quite working. So I did a little much needed maintenance and was back in business.

Last year brought a few changes. The Incredible Digit Husband spent a few months on the job hunt and luckily found a very good position within six months. We felt very, very lucky that it hadn't taken longer. I was lucky enough to be offered a part-time job during that period, too, so we adjusted our schedules to make sure we had plenty of family time during the week.

Now, we are counting down the days until the Incredible Digit Boy joins the Incredible Digit Girl at their elementary school. He'll be starting Kindergarten and is so excited. Since I will now have roughly seven hours a day to myself a few times a week, I'm really hoping to spend the first few weeks getting organized......fingers crossed ;-)!

And with that extra time keep on the road to posting more regularly.


(a visual momento of my road trip with my mom and aunts this spring)