Tuesday, September 29, 2009

My new helper

We adopted a new kitty on Sunday. Actually we adopted 2 (from the Denver Dumb Friends League) but first I wanted to introduce Simba. He is 2 and a half years old and was relinquished by his owner (not sure why). We got to bring him home first since the other kitty (Rtu) had to stay overnight to be spayed.

Simba likes to climb...a lot! He especially likes the precarious positions among the junk on my desk. And I have photographic evidence.



So I say "Simba, get down from there"






When I tell him he is a naughty kitty for climbing on my desk this is the look he gives me:


How can ya be mad at that face?

He also really likes it on my shoulder or my back which makes it somewhat difficult to type. I'm hoping he might help me write my dissertation, what do you think?


So far neither kitty has shown much interest in yarn so that's a definite plus! Next time I'll introduce you to Rtu.

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Sock Summit hangover

I can't even begin to describe the fun and joy of Sock Summit 2009! I left Denver at 8:30am Wednesday morning (8/5) and returned LATE on Sunday (8/9). In fact, my plane actually got in at 11:45pm and by the time I got my bags, got to the car where hubby was waiting and got home it was after 1am. Of course, I hadn't taken Monday off so it was up and at 'em Monday morning. Today I was feeling mighty exhausted but I just felt I HAD to get something posted on the blog, right?
Here's a shot of Mt. Hood as I was flying in...lovely!


Here was the line for registration Wednesday afternoon.


And a picture of the tasty tuna fish sandwich and tots I had at McMenamins. It was delicious (either that or I was really, really hungry...which is possible).


After registration we went back to the hotel and scoured the program book to figure out what else was going on...besides our classes. There was so much happening I was almost sorry I had signed up for classes in all the slots (I said ALMOST). There were demonstrations every hour in the marketplace and let me just say...OMG the marketplace was amazing! (and dangerous to my pocketbook).


I'll post more later about my classes, opening ceremony, sock hop and luminary panel (and maybe get some pictures of my latest acquisitions).

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Breakfast in Phoenix

My first morning in Phoenix (here for this conference) I checked the web for some place yummy for breakfast that might be out of the convention traffic. I scored an awesome place, Matt's BIG Breakfast! A quick 10 minute walk from my hotel and I was there feasting on the Hog and Chick with bacon and home fries. Heart attack on a plate my friends but worth every bite. The bacon was a great peppery treat and the home fries were swimming in butter and sautéed onions. Heaven! And hey, I did walk down there. The place was PACKED at 6:45am (they open at 6:30) and by the time I left at 7:15 there were few places to sit. I highly recommend checking out Matt's if you're ever in the downtown Phoenix area...but you might want to park a few miles away and walk there to burn off the massive calories you will consume!



Okay, guess I'll head to the sessions now.

Sunday, May 31, 2009

Outside

Today was a beautiful day. I wanted to be outside but my to do list said I needed to work on photographing my stash and adding it to Ravlery. I needed to work on this because I realize I have a LOT of yarn and it's taking over the guest room (see photo) and since I'm going to Sock Summit in August I wanted to be sure I knew what I had.
Hey, at least my stash isn't THIS big.
But I really wanted to go outside. Then I had an idea...I'll take my yarn lovelies outside for a photo shoot! The light in the house is usually pretty crummy at capturing the true colors anyway. Excellent idea. However, the back patio was very overgrown and dirty so I had to get the broom and sweep. And then chop down all the weeds growing in the cracks. And since I had the broom I just kept sweeping the deck and the sidewalk and then chopping down more weeds, etc. Finally I realized that while I was doing a fine job cleaning the back yard I wasn't getting any yarn photographed. So quick as a squirrel, I grabbed some yarn from the massive pile and started snapping.

Look, it does grown on trees!


That's just a few of what seemed like millions of skeins I cataloged. But guess what, I'm not even close to done...and it's 6pm and I probably should get things ready for work tomorrow. Not to mention my light is gone and it's starting to rain. Oh well, there's always next week.

Friday, April 17, 2009

A splash of color

As I work through my pictures from sock camp 2009 (from Blue Moon Fiber Arts) I though I would first post some more of my color study pictures that I took at the Pike Place Market in Seattle.


The market is certainly a "colorful" place.





All the flowers and fruit stands were loaded with color.

I also snapped a picture of the crabs since that was going to be our camp mascot.


At camp all this focus on color paid off when we got to dye our very own yarn!

Here is Tina explaining the dying process to us:



And here is one of mine all wrapped up and ready to steam:


Drying on the rack:



These are my final 3! Love them. (this picture of mine is a little blurry but I figure at least I'll get something posted and try to take a better snapshot later.)


Warning: this process can be highly addictive. I'm now looking around the house for a good place to set up my dying station. :)

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Spring green

I'm going to sock camp in just four short days!!! In addition to packing I have to work on my homework.

One of our homework "assignments" is to do a week long color journal where we take note of the colors we see in our lives, in our homes, nature, etc. Being the total slacker that I am I'm just now getting around to starting my color journal. So here's entry number one: the lovely spring green of my allium plant before it shoots up its stalks of purple bulb flowers. Did you know the Allium is actually in the onion family? Strange but true. Who knew an onion could make such a pretty flower?


I don't have a fabulous camera so it doesn't do justice to the bright green of these leaves but you get the idea...

Of course there is the funny story about me and alliums when I was a little girl but I don't think I'll go into that right now.

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Sticks N' Stiches

I wanted to take a few minutes to talk about the upcoming Sticks N'
Stitches event coming up at the end of the month. It's a fun time to
get together with fellow knitters and crocheters to watch some hockey
and help out a good cause. Check out last year's event here.

Here's the details:

Colorado Avalanche VS Anaheim Ducks
Jan 31st , 1 p.m. @ Pepsi Center
Tickets: $27 includes hot dog , soda, $5 ESPN Zone Game card.
To order: 303-405-6074 or go click on this link to order online.
We are sponsoring a local charity this time - Kaps for Kendall - so
folks can bring a knitted or crocheted hat to the game. Some of the
hat patterns are pretty simple and quick so I'm working on prizes for
the knitters/crocheters who can complete a hat by the end of the game.
I'll also have some raffle drawings during each intermission.


If you're a LYS owner/manager (or an indie dyer, spinner, etc) who
would like to donate anything for the raffle, provide info about your
shop, send some coupons, or supply any other giveaways let me know!

I hope to see you all there!