Summer Reruns

I'm on vacation, so I have some special blog posts scheduled.

Today you will get to read more about our vacation in Oregon in July, 2011, which included the quilt show at Sisters on July 9th. You can see all my photos from this event here. I thought you might enjoy another look at it, since it's coming up next weekend. If you are close enough to go, do so. it's well worth it.

The quilt above (from 2011) was my favorite, but there were a number of quilts that were close to beating this one out! On top of that, some of the ladies from Gees Bend were there, signing their book and occasionally breaking into song. Here are some of them in front of The Stitchin' Post, the quilt (and yarn) shop that sponsors the show.

The quilt show was a girls' bonding experience with my new DDIL, who is a knitter, but not a quilter. She enjoyed the quilts, though, and was impressed with the variety.

These two little girls proved that life doesn't have to hand you lemons before you could make "Lemon aid." I think they were giving away more photos than selling their product, though.

For you spinners, the Tour de Fleece started shortly after we left on our trip. Stanzi, my beloved Kromski Sonata spinning wheel went along. Together we completed 88 gms. of Stroll spinning fiber from Knit Picks.

It was some I had dyed recently using food coloring. Here's what my finished yarn looked like. My three-ply was 150 yds and 15 WPI, so close to the fingering weight I was aiming for.

Remember the little supported spindle I picked up at a friend's garage sale? I'm still looking for a good support for it*, but a plate works fine, and I'm getting a very fine singles from it. I can even use it as a drop spindle once some twist has built up. This is some of the 100% merino I had left over from the Pacapoo I blended before Christmas.

*The spinner I bought it from actually had a little pedestal for it. No need to find a support.

Last week I mentioned my trip to the Beaverton Fresenius dialysis clinic to help Eevi Emminger, founder of Mitts of Steal, deliver fingerless mitts to patients. The pair I had just finished was snatched up by this patient, hot off the needles, and a hot colorway, too. This is the only photo I have of these mitts. I used Lorna's Laces sport weight superwash yarn.

Another knitting project, Daphne's Bees' Knees cardigan from Mary Scott Huff's The New Stranded Colorwork, is coming along. I'm using Knit Picks Stroll tonal and bare, and some old Knit Picks Essential from my stash. Since this photo was taken, I have finished the body and am ready to start on the sleeves, but I got sidetracked with some socks to work on during my trip to Portland for Sock Summit next week.

The pups go to the groomer tomorrow, thank Heaven! They are quite scraggly from all the fun while camping, as you can see from this photo taken at Suttle Lake, near Sisters.

For cuteness this week, though, I offer up this photo of the newlyweds in front of their new vacation home:

Yes, we went with them on their honeymoon. (Actually, they are planning a "Minimoon" to Crater Lake later on. This was sort of a dry run for setting up the tent.) They have no air mattresses, so they borrowed the seat cushions from our dining area in the trailer. Very comfy!

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July, 2015:

Boy, does this bring back memories. As you read this, DH and I should be on the Rhine River on the Viking Sun, possibly docked at Breisach, Germany, celebrating our 50th anniversary a couple of months ahead of the September 15th date. Daphne has grown out of her Bees Knees sweater, and so has her younger brother, Zachary. DS2 and DDIL2 have two children, Soren and Johan. Rocky and Sunny are living the good life at Camp Barkalot in Salt Lake City, where they get to play with new friends until we get back. Watch for special blog posts while we're gone and some fun photos from our trip when we get back.

What's on my needles: The Coral Reef Shawl and the Fair Isle Flower Socks. Watch for posts/updates with progress, if I have Internet
What's on my iPad: Still Etiquette & Espionage by Gail Carrier. Also The Poignant Sting: Homage to Jane Austen's Emma, by Sherwood Smith on the Kindle app.
What's my app of the week: Blogger. It finally works well.
What's in my wine glass: The big bottle of Nathanson Creek Merlot. I've mentioned it before, but with the frog on the label makes me think this would be a good wine to drink if you have to frog your knitting project. (For nonknitters, "frogging" means you have to "rip-it, rip-it."


Note: This blog post was produced entirely on the iPad and its big brother, the MacBook. No other computer was used in any stage of composition or posting, and no Windows were opened, waited for or cleaned.