Black Sheep Gathering 2007

It was overwhelming to say the least! Only in the Northwest would you find a wool sculptured Salmon - complete with fly!! It was stunning....

This felted purse was pretty niffty too - very creative design I thought.
All you spinners out there would have been in hog (or sheep) heaven. Very few booths were yarn only - of course Blue Moon was there - but I restrained myself and bought these instead.

The camera doesn't do the colors of the two on the right justice - they are great. I'm going to "Pink Ribbon" socks for my sister with the Pine and something for me with the other. I just liked the other two and don't know what they're for other than to look at! The TOFUtsies is an interesting combo - superwash, soysilk, cotton and Chitin (Shrimp and crab shells!) I think this too is for socks for me!
Then I had to have this book - have always wanted it - it will be my sock design source for awhile I hope.
I've been looking for a daily use purse that I can store all my stuff - planner, camera, iPod, and of course Knitting (Duh) and this was inexpensive and I think will fit the bill. Plus some of the money goes to Guatemalan orphanges....so a good thing all around. But this was my best find - I swear they made it for me. I don't usually wear pins - but this was just irresistable. Had to have!
A very good day.

I am happy to report that my sister is doing really well - she is one of those people who can't stop moving - she used to knit but it's too sedentary for her - you'd hardly know that a week ago she had an 15 hour surgery. She now is cancer free, has perky breasts (or will when the swelling goes down and darn it - has a flat Tummy (they used the tissue for the reconstruction). She absolutely made the correct choice with the mastecomy and the reconstruction procedure. She doesn't have to have chemo or radiation or yearly checkups - she's done and has a new body to boot! What a deal. In the last year she has also lost a ton of weight - so was well on her way to a new body - but this takes it up a big notch!

I'm glad to be home - now I can play with my new toys for a few days before all ***** breaks loose again - my 16 year old neice and two of her swim team buddies are coming next weekend for a meet and Molly is moving home - if she can find someone to move her...hopefully her dad will step in and give her a hand - otherwise she'll have to wait til week after for me to have time. It will all work out I'm sure. I brought a load home today - but of course there is lots more including furniture that won't fit in anyones car - moving van time!

Gotta go - have a great rest of the weekend!

I Told you so...

Sockapalooza - I'm working on them. Plain Jane to show the color - but with a cable rib cuff. Not very exciting or challenging - actually the challenge was to find a pattern that didn't muddle the colorway - it's just too busy! But this works and it's easy conversation knitting.

I am so excited about my Clematis - I've always wanted one and finally broke down this spring - look at those blossoms and this is only the first year. I may have to seek out some more. Now to figure out where to prune to continue blooms all summer.

Lots of watering and weed pulling to do today before heading to the big city tomorrow....maybe I'll get a little shopping in while I'm there - for sure at Black Sheep - oh I can't wait!

Roxie - I'm going to call you if I have a chance to escape from nursing duties! If not this time - in a few weeks when I come back to take Marianne to see Body World at OMSI.

Later all!

Once again - I do knit

See I told you so - just not much these days. I want to carry my camera in my purse and a regular case is just too bulky - so I knit this up - works just great! Now on to my Sockapalooza socks!

It has been a busy week. Actually not that busy as I only worked in Camp Sherman one day and maybe a total of 10 hours on the other job. But there was a lot going on here at the girls house. The Backpackers came back - they had a blast in the Trinity Alps, sore and blistered - but tons of fun. Molly decided that it was time to come back to Central Oregon (we have way more backpacking opportunities than the Eugene area - the Three Sisters Wilderness is within a half hour drive!). So she will be packing her stuff up over the next few weeks and moving back home. Her goal is to have her own place by September. She's already arranged to transfer back to the Bend REI - so all is in motion.

I was planning to change bedrooms this summer anyway - move to the bigger bedroom at the front of the house - thought being there would be more comfortable than sleeping way in the back of the house after Marianne is off to college - so to make more room for Molly's stuff - I moved my stuff on Thursday. I love the room, (It's the one I just painted a great terra cotta color) but am a little disoriented waking up in the middle of the night. Privacy is an issue too I discovered - the family bath is in the back of the house! I knew there was something I wasn't considering - oh well we'll see how it goes. Once nice thing is all my knitting stash and stuff is neatly stored in this room - I can sit in bed, read knitting catalogs and stare at baskets of yarn and shelves of books!

My sisters surgery was yesterday - and I mean yesterday - all day - she was under all day and half the night!!! She went in at 6:00 AM Friday and got to her room at 2:00 AM Saturday!! I talked to her for a few minutes this morning - all seems well. I'm going up on Tue or Wed to look after her for a few days. I also get to have lunch with my mother's best friends - Auntie Mina and Aunt Maggie - absolute dears - second mothers to me. Am looking forward to seeing them. Hopefully I'll still have time to get to Blacksheep. I feel bad about leaving Marianee home alone that long - luckily the boyfriend is out of town with his family so don't have to worry about that! ( I wouldn't anyway - but you know!) It will be a busy week...but I must get serious about my socks. I've started them 5 times and not been satisfied. The color is a beautiful green - but I'm beginning to think a plain jane stockinette is going to be best - doesn't seem very special! Once again I'll try it and see. Should have lots of sitting around knitting and visiting time at my sisters, so hopefull there will be progress!!

Hope all is well!

Two naps a day

I am exhausted - took two naps today! Graduation was wonderful as you can see in the previous post! Marianne's speech was by far the best - everyone said so! My family was all here and we had a lot of fun together. The gods where shinning on us - Friday was the only nice day of the week - so the picnic was outside, the flowers where blooming and the wind and rain went away. We celebrated Marianne and had a great time. The graduation ceremony was wonderful - I did shed a few tears - I can't believe it's the last one.

Of course yesterday we had to go out and start spending some of her gifts - you know - dorm stuff. It was fun. I had gotten so frustrated with my camera during the celebration - I had to pose every picture because it's so slow - that I bought myself a new camera. Shopping is good.

Today I've been trying to get my knitting mojo back. I've got three projects on the needles - the Celtic Cardigan (Still!) - these great socks - I'm half way down the cuff of the second one. I've

also started my Sockapalooza socks - not enough to show yet - but a pretty green hand-dyed that I picked up recently. More to follow.

This was also the Portland Rose Festival Parade - we often go up for the weekend. Next year maybe. But the recent rose additions in our house make good picture practice. This first rose was a gift plant from my ex husbands girl friend to me - it brought me to tears - she said she had been through the last graduation too and remembered what it was like for her. This was the second time she brought me tears. During the graduation ceremony - we were sitting at opposite ends of the row - and she offered to trade places with me so I could see better. My ex is fortunate - she is a really nice lady. I hope she can put up with him! If circumstances were different - we might be friends. Weird.

This second rose is from the bouquet I gave Marianne after graduation. The house smells so good - they were still almost buds on Friday and they've really opened up since then.

The big kids are on a backpacking trip in the Trinity Alps in Northern California - they left early Saturday morning - it was so fun watching them pack and repack and repack and repack thier backpacks - each trying to weigh less than the other - who has the coolest gear. It was like listening to knitters gab! REI techno-speak!

This will be a busy week - lots of planning meetings on new development project - the final land use hearing is week after. Last two days in Camp Sherman - lots to do there. My sister's surgery is on Friday and I will be going up to look after her when she gets home from the hospital on the following Tuesday - then at the end of that week is Black Sheep!!! I better have my mojo back by then!!

I am so proud!

What a great family!

The Graduate and her mom! This is my sister and my accomplished niece. What a lucky aunt I am! We all had a great weekend with the cousins, very hectic and short - but lots of fun. Now home safe and sound and starting to panic about getting ready for our graduation on Thursday night. Of course we will all be together again. I feel so fortunate that we are all great friends - here are all the kids......

My own cousins were also celebrating with us at the party afterwards - one cousins daughter also graduated with my niece so it was really a family event. I also really enjoy my cousins and every time I am with them I wish we lived closer! My children feel the same way about thier cousins too.

Although I didn't knit a stitch - I had to wait to pick up M1 son from work on Friday and funny thing - there is a little yarn store next door to his office. I found some great sock yarn for my Sockapolooza pal - just the colorway she suggested - not that I probably couldn't find any in my stash - but it's always good to plan ahead!

I plan on doing some major stash enhancement when I go to the Black Sheep Gathering later this month.....I'm going to be looking after my sister following her surgery - she's having a total masectomy and then can bop down to Eugene and feel the fibre and spend the night with M2 daughter.

I've got a lot to do this week to get ready for graduation and company - so you probably won't hear from me for awhile - I do hope to get some knitting in - I'm afraid I will really need yarn therapy!!

Dream Knit Peace