Post-Christmas

Christmas was lovely. Unsurprisingly, I didn't finish all the new projects I'd started, but the recipients still loved the half finished gifts. Apparently I didn't take into account that the people I was knitting for would be around during the time I'd planned to knit for them. I'll have to remember that for next year.

I did finish a few things though. I decided (sort of last minute) that I'd make some washcloths for my aunts and grandma. They were actually the fastest projects I've ever knit. I'd say it takes about an hour and a half to finish one.I went out and bought some nice natural soaps and wrapped them with the washcloths and I'll be giving these gifts when I go down to Virginia tomorrow. I'll be gone for a week (and I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to having five whole days off from work!)

In other knitting related news, I received two gift certificates to my LYS for Christmas... looks like my family finally caught on to the fact that I like to knit! Ha!

In which I manage to make myself a present this Chirstmas

So... remember in my last post where I showed you a bit of the Serpentine Mitts I had started? Well, forget those, they've been ripped out. When I got to the cable, it became clear that the variegated yarn wasn't going to show off the cable very well. Not to mention the yarn was just a tad on the itchy side so I probably wouldn't wear them as often as I'd like to.

I dove, yet again, into my stash to find some KnitPicks Essential sock yarn. There is something different about this yarn. I once bought the Essential yarn a couple years ago and it was sort of scratchy. Now it's so soft. I don't know what they did to change it, but I love it!

I started a new pair of Serpentine Mitts and guess what? I finished them within a couple of days.How much do I love these things???? Ummm, that would be A LOT! They're so comfortable. They keep my hands super warm and the best part is I can knit while wearing them. Fabulous!

I finished up all my Christmas presents well ahead of schedule. I think there's some sort of trick that goes on around Christmas that makes you think you have all the time in the world because i started thinking of all these other present I might make... ummm, for some reason a week seems like a perfectly reasonable amount of time to finish four more presents....Perhaps I didn't think this through....

Christmas knitting and giggle fits

First thing's first. I am officially finished with Christmas knitting!
The final pair of socks are complete. They're the Uptown Boot Socks out of the Favorite Socks book from Interweave made in KnitPicks Gloss. They're a little loose on my feet, but my mom has slightly larger feet than I do so they'll fit her perfectly.

I started a pair of Serpentine Mitts out of some Mountain Colors Bearfoot that I had in my stash. So far I'm loving them, but I haven't even gotten to the cable part yet.
The colors are actually a bit darker in real life, but they're still gorgeous.

So I have a little story to tell you folks, but I have a word of warning to you, if you don't appreciate potty humor, you may not appreciate this story.

Recently I've been feeling the need to join some sort of community and not really knowing where to go, I happened to run across a Ravelry group for Unitarian Universalists. I'd heard of them before but never really looked into it because the idea of church never sat well with me. For whatever reason I decided to do a little research and it turns out that UU principles speak pretty closely to some of the things I already believe.

A little more research later and I found a local UU group where I live. The boy and I decided to go to the service last Sunday. Being new, we sat in the back and took in the feel of the service. About five minutes in, a woman brought two elderly gentlemen in to sit in the row in front of us. I barely even noticed their arrival until, not five minutes after that, a rather powerful odor reached my nose.

Turns out one, or quite possibly both, of these gentlemen had a case of the old man farts. Rather than be disrespectful and move, the boy and I sat through the onslaught of pungent flatulence. Somewhere through the middle of this, I looked over at the boy and notice he has his hand to his nose and for whatever reason that sent me into a fit of the giggles.

I don't know if you've ever had a giggle fit in a completely inappropriate place, but I can tell you it's awful. All you want to do is let out this giggle energy but you can't!!! And what escapes your nose is some kind of outward snort and your body is shaking from the silent laughter.

I couldn't even look at the boy because when I did, I would start to silently laugh harder because he was laughing.

Aside from the old man farts, the service was quite nice. It wasn't preachy and there were even light hearted moments where laughter was complete appropriate. Thank god for those moments. Hopefully next week we can pay a bit more attention to the service and less attention to calming a giggle fit.

Up goes the tree.

Last week my roommate and I put up the Christmas tree. Granted it isn't real, but the majority of my Christmases have been spent putting up the artificial tree. In many ways, for me at least, it has become tradition. I can remember every year getting so excited after Thanksgiving because the day after was usually the day we pulled out all the Christmas decorations and put up the tree.

This year was slightly different, but memorable all the same. My roommate (who's also my best friend) never fails to make me laugh and laugh we did as we brought the tree out of storage, out of the box and "fluffed" the branches. What made this particularly festive was the Kid Rock music playing in the background. (I must add here that neither of us actually listen to Kid Rock voluntarily, rather we had a party a couple of weeks ago and made a music mix full of one hit wonders and music you haven't heard in years. It went over well at the party and Jill just happened to have her iTunes on the party playlist while we put up the tree.)

As we headbanged while fluffing the tree it occurred to us that perhaps Christmas music would be more fitting. So the Christmas music was put on and the tree was put up a little jollier and a little less violently. It's amazing how music can affect ones activities.

Here is the tree in all it's glory with the foot of fresh snow outside.It certainly doesn't get much more Christmasy than that.

There's an ornament that I have that has a bit of a story to it. A long time ago, my mom bought an ornament from Hallmark and it became a most cherished ornament. My brother and I adore this little thing. For years we talked about who would get it when mom finally decided to give us the old ornaments. When that day happened my brother conceded and let me have this ornament.Can you see why this is the best Christmas ornament in the world? Imagine yourself as a little kid looking up into the tree to see a little elf working on the light bulbs! It just doesn't get much better than that!

I think the year after I had the elf I was trying to think of a great Christmas present for my brother. A few things came to mind, but mostly I thought about wrapping up the elf and giving it to him. I knew it'd be something special that he'd love. So I did.

Would you like to guess what I received the next year?

So this little elf has been passed between my brother and I for about 5 years now. Each year we try to come up with better ways to wrap it. One year I wrapped it inside box after box after box. (I know this is wasteful but I wouldn't have done it had I suspected these boxes wouldn't be reused!)

This year I have the best plan... and it sort of just fell into my lap. I knew the elf came to me last year so when the tree went up, I went looking for it. Keep in mind I moved rather quickly midway through the year. For the life of me, I couldn't find it. In desperation I called my brother to confirm that it came to me last year. Oh yes, he said, I have it this year and he didn't sound too pleased that I didn't know the whereabouts of the elf. Well friends, I found it today... but I'm not going to let my brother know that!

Happy December everyone!

It's December already? When did that happen?

Lucky for me I'm moving right along on these Christmas presents. I finished up the Jaywalkers.
And, of course, started on another pair. I recently bought the Favorite Socks book from Interweave. I'm already in love with this book. It's so convenient to have all these great sock patterns in one book. I decided to make the Uptown Boot Socks with Knit Picks Gloss.I'm changing the pattern slightly to make short row heels and toes, other than that I'm leaving it alone. It's such an easy pattern too. Very fun to knit.

In completely unrelated news, the boy and I went to the symphony last night to see The Nutcracker Suite. I think it's the first time this season that I've actually started feeling like it's Christmas. Personally, I think retailers ring in the holidays just a tad too early (*read= extremely early) that it kills the feeling sometimes. But anyway, we had a very nice evening and the show was well done and entertaining. It was a nice way to welcome in December.

Christmas knitting update.

One holiday down, a couple to go...

My Thanksgiving was wonderful even if it occurred on Friday rather than Thursday. I was working Thursday night. To be honest, I was somewhat shocked by how many people came out to eat for Thanksgiving rather than be in there own homes with their families. It was really very interesting. Of course, my family came out to eat at the restaurant I work at just so they could spend a little time with me on Thanksgiving even though we'd see each other the next day. I love my family. This is why I'm so happy to be back in the area!

I currently have 373 blog entries to read in my bloglines.... it's safe to say I'm a little behind in reading those. I'm sure spending time with the boy has something to do with this, but lucky for me, he understands my passion to knit and lets me knit even while we're cuddling on the couch watching movies, or in the car, or wherever else the mood strikes me. You see, he has passion for some things too (World of Warcraft and running) so I'm more than happy to allow him his time as well.

Here's the finished socks I was telling you about.The leg looks pitifully short on these, but I'm sure they'll still be worn with love.

I started another pair of socks as well.Those are definitely Jaywalkers out of KnitPicks Felici. I've had trouble in the past with this pattern being too tight to get your foot into, but something about this yarn (perhaps it's the nylon content or the fact that it's superwash, who knows?) makes it a bit more stretchy and allows my foot to fit easily into it. This picture is actually a bit old, I've finished one sock and am turning the heel on the other one.

Now that I'm this far, I don't feel like I'm under too much pressure from my Christmas gifts because I only have two others to finish!

Finally the season it's supposed to be.

In my last post I wrote about how it just didn't feel like November and that it seemed strange that Thanksgiving is so close. Well, with this recent cold snap and a few white things falling out of the sky, it's feeling a bit more like the right season. We actually got more than a few flakes too, I woke up to this...I knew without looking out my window that it had snowed. The light that comes in through the window is totally different when it snows.

Since I had the day off, the boy and I decided to go to this nature center not too far from here and walk some of the trails. By the time we go there the snow had melted some, not to mention there were still quite a few leaves on the trees to catch it and keep the paths clear.

Here are a few pictures from our walk.
There were about a million geese on the lake while we were there. They were about all you could hear. Look closely at this picture and you can see all those little black specks on the lake are geese.
Because we're still young at heart we decided to climb on a fallen tree.The going up part was fine... it was the getting back down that was trickier than I remember as a kid!

By the end our hands were freezing (after all, why would we need gloves on a day that it snowed???) so we called it a day and went home for some hot cocoa and soup. It was great =)

As for the green socks, they're finished. Whatever had been bothering my hands and arms is now a ton better and I'm knitting at my normal speed again. I'll post a picture as soon as I have time to take one. I've started another pair of gift socks and I'll also be posting pictures of those too.

On a side note, I came across a quote the other day that really struck a chord in me and I thought I'd share it.

"You are the creator of your own reality. Therefore, seek not to find out who you are, seek to determine who you want to be and create it."

It really hit me because it's so proactive. It really emphasizes taking control of your own life. I like that.

Stalled

Last weekend I was moving right along on the sock I started. I was fairly determined to finished at least one of them. My roommate and I rented a couple of movies (nothing makes socks grow quicker than watching some good movies while you knit.) I was nearing the toe when it became painfully obvious that I wouldn't have enough yarn to finish the foot.I was so close! I guess it just wasn't meant to be. I ripped, and ripped and ripped and somewhere along the way realized why I usually knit from the toe up. You definitely avoid these sorts of problems when you knit from the toe up!

As if the ripping wasn't bad enough, I had to take a break from knitting to rest my hands and arms. They've developed an ache in them from all the knitting and I just don't want to overdo it. Better to rest and avoid problems in the future than stubbornly press on and develop carpal tunnel or something.

I may not get as much knit for Christmas, but that's alright. I'll do what I can.

I'm finding it hard to believe that Thanksgiving is only a week away. They holidays are upon us and for whatever reason it just doesn't feel like they should be here yet. Perhaps it's the unusually warm weather? I can't say. All I know is that this Fall was one of the most peculiar seasons I've experienced. 70-80 degree weather is not what I think of when I think October in the Northeast, but it's what we got. Strange...

On to the next.

The scarf is finished.This scarf is so soft and squishy that I'm tempted to keep it for myself. I may not have mentioned the best part about this thing. It's superwash merino... yeah, you can wash it in the washing machine without fear of it felting up into a mass of brown and black fiber. I think I'm in love. Anyway, I won't keep it. It'll go to it's intended recipient (whom I can't mention, Christmas gift and all that)

So I started a pair of socks as my next gift.These are moving right along. I guess it helps that I got a couple of audio books from the library and have been listening to those while I knit. It certainly keeps the mind occupied during those mindless portions.

I don't know if I mentioned this but I don't have TV. That is to say, I have a TV but I don't have cable, and local channels don't even come in because there is no antennae. I love not having TV. I loathe TV. Actually, I loathe commercials, certain shows I think are brilliant, but I can't stand the commercials. My strategy now is to watch the shows online or rent the seasons from Netflix. I haven't gotten around to watching too much though. For now, the audio books keep me mentally occupied.

My local library is fantastic too. It just got built about 5 or 6 years ago and it is beautiful and the selection is great and the staff is even greater. Yay for libraries!

It's crunch time...

It's November and with it comes deadlines for Christmas knitting. I have been working quite a bit recently on Christmas presents. I've also been trying to come up with a list of presents that won't be too much work. I'm trying to be realistic this year. I don't want to overburden myself with a ton of projects I can't possibly complete in time. I've decided that this year's presents will consist mainly of socks and washclothes. And maybe a scarf thrown in here and there. Like this one...It's some yarn from Brooks Farm that I bought at Rhinebeck. It's soft and the best part is it's superwash merino. I had no idea superwash could be this soft. I'm actually very happy with how it's pooling. It's not too obnoxious, you know? Though I will admit, I ripped this scarf out... ooooohhh, I'd say about four times. It was mostly because I was trying to see how wide I could get it and still get a long enough scarf. Now that I think of it, I probably could have used some math for that.... but really, it's much more fun to re-knit such beautiful yarn.

With all these Christmas gifts looming, I've had to put my own projects aside. This is the main reason why I haven't got any finished socks to show you from Socktoberfest. It occurred to me sometime in October that I should probably be starting on Christmas gifts instead.

Recently my LYS was having a sale and I couldn't help myself when some of their yarn is 50% off! I ended up buying some Mountain Colors Barefoot and some discontinued Jaegar yarn to make myself a sweater. I'm so motivated to start using some of this yarn... but then the Christmas gifts pop into my head and I don't.... I suppose that's going to be my motivation to get these gifts done huh?

Look what I finished!

The Print 'O the Wave shawl has been on the needles for a very long time. I'm quite sure I was still in school when I started it, which, for some reason, seems like it was a long time ago. I love everything about this pattern, except, of course, the errata in the border. I swear I thought I was doing something wrong. After about the third or fourth attempt, I realized it might not be me!

Then I ran out of yarn while working on the border... I didn't have money to buy more until just recently, and then it was a question of time. Well, I made some time, mostly on the way to Rhinebeck to work on it and just yesterday I finished it up, sewed in the ends and blocked it.I had to block it on my bed. It's the only place that's soft enough for the pins to go in, in a room that I can shut the door from the cats! There's nothing like cats to ruin a good blocking session.

My friends, it turned out amazing. So light and yet so warm! Not to mention the feel is amazing. It is merino laceweight after all.Here it is all opened up.

And then, of course, the model shot!
I do believe I'm addicted to lace...

Rhinebeck... yet another year of fiber and fun.

This was the fourth year I've been to Rhinebeck and, as always, it did not disappoint. Though, unlike other years, I actually had specific things in mind.

I went out there with Jill and Sarah. Just the car ride out there was a blast. I enjoyed every second of hanging out with these two lovely ladies. Many laughs were had for sure!Here's Sarah enjoying her Starbucks and knitting in the back seat. It's a three hour drive, we had to keep ourselves awake somehow!

I had made plans to meet up with a friend of mine that I met in Toronto. We met at the Harlot book signing and the yarn crawl in Toronto. Somehow she convinced her husband that bringing her two small children and him to a fiber festival for the weekend would be a great idea, all the while knowing that they'd be camping... she is a master negotiator!

So we arrived at Rhinebeck, is it just me, or was this year a madhouse? I know it's been busy before, but really? It was just crazy! I sometimes felt like I spent more time in line waiting to pay for my goods than actually fondling fiber (this may be an over exaggeration, but still.)

This is the t-shirt I wore, pretty much the best shirt ever for Rhinebeck. Of course, Jill's shirt wasn't so bad either!It's all about representing with the sheep!

A major highlight for me this year was getting to use the Golding spinning wheel.... drool...We won't mention how much this thing costs... *cough*$5,000*cough*.... It's like butta to spin with, like butta! I covet one, but honestly, I'm perfectly happy with my bottom of the line Kiwi.

Danielle, my friend from Canada, used it too...
And don't think that a fiber festival is all about fiber, on no. There's also this guy who held a wonderfully informed political debate with us.I already love him for his shirt.

I met some wonderful people, including Jess and Casey, the creators of Ravelry and Elisa whose blog I've been reading for years! I didn't even go to any sort of blogger meetup, I just left it all up to chance. Last year was a little overwhelming for me, so this year I decided to take it slow.

The weather was gorgeous (though oddly warm for mid-October) and I'd say that all-in-all, it was a wonderful day with wonderful people.




...what's that you say? You want to see the haul.... oh, alright...

Don't ever get between a girl and her fiber!

The little buggers got me...

The weather has finally turned here. It's finally starting to feel like fall. As we all know, fall is the perfect time to break out the handknits. The other day I thought it would be a great idea to put on a pair of my wool socks. The socks I made in Toronto looked like the perfect pair. They've never been worn so it was certainly time to break them in. As I was slipping them on I was shocked to discover a hole in one of them.... then another hole.... then another!

MOTHS!!!!!Does this not just make your heart hurt? I tore apart my sock drawer to see what I could find and see what other socks got a fly by mothing. One more pair was hit, but aside from that, the rest were fine. Not to mention I didn't find any evidence whatsoever of moths. I'm not sure what to do about this. Anyone have any suggestions?

In an unrelated topic, I'll be heading to Rhinebeck on Saturday. I hope to see some of you there!

I know I haven't blogged in awhile... I have a reason. I've met someone... and he's great. I'll leave it at that.

And without further ado...

I present VaVaVoom 2.0 completed.Here's a photo with a bit more detail of the collar. That darn flash tends to blur the details a bit.Oh yes, this one turned out a million times better than the last. By the way, the sweater pattern is called Paisley and it's out of the book 'A Season's Tale' by Kim Hargreaves. I love her patterns. They always seem to fit me nicely.

As you can imagine, I started a new project now that this one is finished. With it being Socktober, it only seemed right for me to start those socks.I'm doing a basic toe up sock because I can't stand the thought of wasting even an inch of this yarn! It's just too beautiful! It doesn't seem to be pooling or striping much either, which I'm happy about.

I may not have mentioned this, but now that I've been working for over a month and have some funds again, I decided it was time for me to place an order at Knitpicks. After all, it had to be done. I have two lace projects just sitting here waiting to be worked on and I don't have the yarn to work on them. Lucky for me they had the dye lots I was looking for.I couldn't pass up the chance to have free shipping either, so my finger might have slipped a few times and put a few more things in my cart... but just a few things...Given the situation, I'd say I was pretty controlled. I can't guarantee I'm going to be so restrained at Rhinebeck... Did I mention I'm going to be there this year? Can't break tradition now can I?

Progress, people!

Ok, so I know I just blogged yesterday, but I was so excited, that I just had to show you the progress I've made on VaVaVoom 2.0.

I finished up seaming all the pieces together. All that's left now is the collar!I'm already in love with this sweater and it's not even finished yet!

It's October!

I think we all know what that means.... Socktoberfest! And it's also the month where Rhinebeck takes place! Oh I'm looking forward to it this year!

As for the socks... I haven't started a pair because I've been diligently working on VaVaVoom version 2.0. I'm nearly finished with the second sleeve. The end is near. But I do have plans for socks. I plan on using that Lorna's laces sock yarn that I bought in Toronto.Mmmmm, Lorna.... you're so good at what you do... I love these colors. These are my kind of colors! The thing is, I never really wear these colors all together other than in socks. But I do love them. They make me happy!

I have a lot of things making me happy recently. My job is going well. I'm making up for all the time off I took, which is great monetarily because it means I can actually get some of the things I've been putting off getting (like that knitpicks lace yarn to finish those two lace projects I'm working on.) It's also wonderful to be able to come home and have nothing to do. Let me put it this way, I come home and there's no reading assignments, no school projects, no papers that are due in the morning... It's bliss. I loved school, but I'm ready for life again.

I haven't blogged much recently because I've been working full time, but I've also been developing a social life again. One that was put on hold while I was in school. I've been dating, which has been fun, but I'm not sure dating is really what I want to do. How can you expect to get to know someone really well while you're dating? No one really acts the way they really are when they date. There are nerves up the wazoo when you first meet. Not to mention there are all these expectations that go along with it. I'd much rather meet someone as a friend and develop a relationship from there. So, I've been open to friendships at the moment.

Anyway, I have today off and I hope to finish up the pieces for VaVaVoom. I'm nearly there! I wouldn't be surprised if I start piecing it together tonight!

A switching of projects...

So, the trouble I ran into with mesh bag #1 has sort of put my motivation for mesh bag #2 on hold. I hate to say that, but it has. Not to mention my roommate is a wiz at sewing and she's started making canvas grocery bags and let's face it... they take so much less time to make! That doesn't mean I've given up on bag #2, it just means I need to find my inspiration again.

In the mean time, I've been inspired to work on the new Va Va Voom. I had the back completed the last time I mentioned it. Now I have the front finished.Don't ask me what motivated me to pick this one up other than the fact that it's a great fall sweater and fall is here! I'd like to at least wear it once this season... that remains to be seen. Wish me luck!

Being Green

Recently I've become a little obsessed with being green. It was only a matter of time before this spilled over into my knitting. There I was, happily knitting along on a scarf when I happened upon a blog post of a friend of mine from Colorado... She was talking about thinking green, etc. and for whatever reason, it kick started something in me to want to knit some reusable grocery bags.

While I was at the yard sale awhile back there were a couple of cones of cotton yarn that I picked up. I figured they'd be perfect! So I started a bag... Within about three days I was finished. I completely made up the pattern myself.I crocheted around the inside of the handles to reinforce them. And right before I crocheted up the bottom of the bag, my roommate pointed out that it looked like a tank top... Well if that's not an invitation to try it on, I don't know what is.Perhaps I will be designing tank tops next....

Anyway, back to the current bag... Everything looked like it had gone perfectly to plan... until I sewed up the bottom and tried putting things in it. I don't know if you'd believe the amount of stretch this thing has. And I'm talking vertical stretch...If I was to put anything heavy into it, I'd be dragging it along behind me in the grocery store.

So I'm back to square one. I've cast on a new bag with a few modifications to hopefully counteract the stretching. I also plan on making it quite a bit shorter. We'll see how bag number 2 turns out!

RAVELRY!!!

I've finally gotten my Ravelry invite!!! Woohoo! I've only just started updating, etc. so bare with me. Come on over and say hi!


*an actual knitting post soon to come

Trouble with fairies...

Has anyone ever heard of the contact lens fairy? Probably not, because it's not one of those nice fairies that leaves a quarter under your pillow after you lose a tooth. The contact lens fairy is little more than a thief. It steals your contact lenses in the middle of the night, dries them out on its hearth and uses them as clear bowls. My friends, I've been hit by the contact lens fairy and what's worse, it was my last pair.

This would explain why I'm wearing my glasses in this picture to model my sister's finished scarf...Don't get me wrong, I do like my glasses, it's just that I have no prescription sunglasses and they sort of make the bridge of my nose hurt a little by the end of the day.

But really, I'm making up this story to help explain the loss of my contacts when I have absolutely no idea how it happened. I went to put them in one morning and they weren't it my case...they weren't in my eyes either. I have a bit of a bathroom routine when it comes to brushing teeth, washing my face, taking out or putting in my contacts... I just can't explain why they are missing. I hope I'm not losing my mind.

In other news, I went up to my old roommates apartment to pick up my cat, Ludo. He didn't really like the drive back too much so he wedged himself between me and my seat...After awhile he calmed down and moved to my lap where he stayed until we got home. It's been interesting introducing him to my current roommate's cat. I kept him in my room without letting him or the other cat even see each other for a few days. That way they could get the scent of each other and become comfortable with that first. Then it was just little supervised meetings, first for a few minutes, then for an hour, then for the day and now they're chasing each other and playing.

I tell you, there's nothing better than having two cats who get along. I've had cats who hate each other and barely tolerated each other. The screams were horrible. But I'd say that Ludo's settling in nicely...I sure did miss my baby!

A fabulous time with big sis

I'm finally back and I have no more trips in my immediate future. I do love to travel, but sometimes, road trips just aren't as fun unless there's someone in the car with you!

The time spent at my sister's was fantastic. I may not have ever mentioned this, but my sister is actually my half-sister. We never lived in the same house so essentially we didn't grow up together. She's also thirteen years older than I am which has, in the past, made it difficult for us to relate. Now that I'm older, the sisterly bond that's somehow eluded us has been growing by leaps and bounds. I can't even express how happy that makes me.

During my time there, we went to the salon, had long talks over tea, I even helped her with her homework! She's going back to school for her masters in teaching. Now that my nephews are older and more independent, she's decided to pursue her career that's been on hold for the past 13 years. I'm so happy for her because she's fantastic with kids and I really think teaching is perfect for her.

We also had fun going on outings with my nephews. We went to the beach to fly kites and explore the beach for sea creatures.Here's my oldest nephew (he's 13, does that make me feel old?....ummmm....a little) with a starfish we found.Here she is with two of the boys, discovering all the crawly things in the tide pools.

Sometime during the trip, she showed me the most recent picture she had of the two of us. It was taken at her wedding... in 1991... I was 10. I'd say a new picture was in order.
One afternoon while we were there, she took me to a yarn shop that a friend of hers goes to. It was my birthday present from her. Go to the yarn shop and pick whatever you want. That's what she told me! Woohoo! I ended up getting three skeins of Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk Aran to make myself a scarf. My sister liked the yarn so much she got herself three skeins as well... so that I could knit her a scarf!

In fact, I'm nearly finished and I only started it a few days ago!You just gotta love the speed of a seed-stitch scarf on size 10.5 needles!