Seattle was lovely and rainy (I know!), and my niece is the cutest thing EVAH. I totally respect her parents' wish to not have her photo on the web, but damn, I wish I could show you the pictures. And she's smart! And funny! And she's charmingly mangled my name into something that sounds like "Yorow". Awwwww.
Dad and I did every touristy thing there was to do:
The Underground Tour:
The Science Center (butterflies!):
We also saw a fantastic exhibit that I had been wanting to see for years and I'm so glad I just happened to see the poster in a restaurant one day - Theatre de la Mode at the Museum of History and Industry. Amazing mannequins designed in 1945 to promote the French fashion industry post-WWII. The detail is just stunning - we were practically the only ones there so I had a lot of time to get as close as I could (I set the alarm off a couple of times!) and check them out. I took a ton of photos. And bought the book, of course!
Here's just one of the sets - a Paris street scene:
We also ate so. much. food. I miss Alaskan halibut so much, and of course the salmon was off the hook. Screw Weight Watchers (this week!)
I even have a finished object to show off! And a new skill! (Well, "skill" is a rather strong word for what I can do......)
I present: The One Skein Scarf from Happy Hooker!
(photo taken on my fire escape - I can't figure out what the plaque says. Apparently if I put "okum brance" on the "balcony" I will be fined ten dollars.)
The yarn is the Australian merino I received from Annie when she was my Secret Pal a while back - love the color! It was exactly the right amount, and made for a great stashbuster project. It could use a little blocking - I made my first chain a wee bit tight (203!) so it curves a bit. It was fun! I brought it on the plane with me (and got plenty done due to the TWO HOUR delay. Ahem.) I was painstakingly, sloooowly, working that first row of double crochet in the airport and I finally looked up and saw a lady a few seats away working on a crochet shawl. We smiled and chatted a bit and she must have been watching my, um, progress because she very kindly showed me the difference in the hooks we were using and recommended I try the less-curvy type (Debbie Stoller discusses this in the book as well.) I hooked a bunch on the plane as well - yay for JetBlue and DirectTV and BBC America. I spent a very pleasant couple of hours watching Sea of Souls and slowly making progress.
So. Now I'm home - and I had not one but two awesome packages waiting for me!
First, my booty treasure chest from the awesome Nathania! I knew as soon as I saw her name that it would be wonderful - I love her blog. And it was!
The goods: The Stitch 'n Bitch design journal, a fab batik jolly roger printed circular needle case, Knitters herbal Healing Muscle Soother (mmmmm lavender!), Kookaburra Woolwash (after reading Lauren's FHBF's scientific analysis of this & Eucalan, I'm dying to do my own experiment!), Gloves in a Bottle (which will be great for the days I have to do laundry at work. Yes, I have to do laundry at work. For 7 hours. Ain't showbiz glamorous?) and......the most gorgeous, soft, shiny yarn that I can't wait to use - Louisa Harding Impression, a nylon & mohair blend in beautiful varigated greens & golds. Yummy!
Thanks, Nathania! You rock!
Oh, right. There was another gift in the package. But it's gone now :-)
The other package was from smallthings designs, the jewelry I bought with my Oscar pool winnings - here it is along with the last ring I made in class:
(L-R: smallthings bird ring, my ring, smallthings pods necklace)
I had never seen the smallthings stuff in person but I fell completely in love with what I saw in magazines. While we were in Seattle, we walked through the mall downtown on Easter Sunday when most of the stores were closed. I looked into the window of a small jewelry shop and lo and behold, the whole display was smallthings! And it was beautiful! I was so excited, I knew I would be really happy with my stuff, and I am. Yay!
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