My Seattle Adventure

On Wednesday, March 19th, I took off for Seattle to visit my daughter Maddie. She's going to school there and having a blast! I thought I would post my trip diary to help me remember what I did. I'm expecting to forget cuz I'm gettin' old, you know!
Wed, March 19: Caught an early plane ride and arrived around 8:00 am - just in time for breakfast at CJ's and then stocked up Maddie's apartment with food and goodies. We hit the grocery store first, then Costco, and finally Target. Maddie was pretty thankful and said so many times! Pretty sure we followed that up with Starbucks. We also hit up the little store on 1st that's going out of business to claim Maddie's points. My mind is blank (what did I tell you!) what we did for dinner - but we rushed home to get ready for our KD Lang concert - which was right, and I mean, right across the street at the Moore Theatre.
Oh my gosh, KD Lang sounds exactly how she sounds on her recordings! You know how studio recordings enhance the voice, well, KD needs no enhancing. Her voice is perfect, pure. Her song selections were on target, a great mix between her new album, old albums and her country twang. Maddie was enthralled by the sound of her voice.
Thursday, March 20: Our day to ourselves! First, we hit Starbucks (of course!) then over to the Art Institute for Portfolio Review. We looked at all the departments - Graphic design, animation, interior design, industrial design, even culinary. Most were quite impressive. We then headed over to Pike Street market for lunch - We ate at Beecher's, home of the "World's Best Mac & Cheese". It was as they said! Soooo yummy - the perfect comfort food! I think it was this afternoon we also went to the Seattle Art Museum and took in some modern art and a large show on Roman art from the Louvre, then rushed over to "Ride the Duck". This is an amphibious vehicle that gives tours to "tourists" around the Seattle downtown area and up to Fremont and into the harbor. It was a funny tour with a funny guide who, as it turns out, is from my home town, SIDNEY MT! It was freaky! Can't wait to tell my dad. After the tour, Maddie and I got back to her apartment so we could go have a great dinner at Serious Pie, a pizza place close to Maddie's place. It was great fun, cuz we met up with my good friend Jan's daughter, Katie and she had dinner with us. Lot's of great gourmet pizza. We ended up at home, doing lots of Political Science and Philosophy homework cuz finals for Maddie were on Friday. I'll bet we stayed up till about 1:30 am.
Friday, March 21 Unfortunately, Maddie had finals all day, so I was on my own. I didn't mind thought since I had a few stores to visit. My main shopping mission was jeans. Since Aileens had closed and that's where I bought my David Kahn Jeans, so I needed to replace mine. Katie recommended a store called Karen Danneberg. I had so much fun shopping there. It ended up that my sales girl, Sasha, turned out to know Katie! Small world. I ended up with a black pair of Christopher Blue jeans - can't wait to wear them. After that, I walked over to So Much Yarn. I found some beautiful yarns by Laines du Nord and Pagewood (sock yarn) I loved these together, but not sure what plans I will find for them. Maddie got out early and we drove to Alkai beach and enjoyed the water, then rushed home to join her friends at Umi Sushi Bar. I tried it folks. More on that later. Cheesecake at Cheescake factory. Atonement

Saturday, March 22: We met Lisa and Emily at Starbucks for coffee at 10:00 am and started our shopping spree. We hit Nordstrums and Anthropology. We all got some great finds - shoes and clothes. What fun, then lunch at a local brewery and Lisa and I tried a beer sampling Dookless was the best. Spa in REdmond, home for a late dinner - clam chowder - easter morning, baskets, church, dinner,Sound of Music, home, flyhome.

I hate laundry!

Do you ever have those days when it's finally bedtime and wonder what you did all day? Yeah, today was one of those days. So what's to talk about? Well, I did do some laundry. I hate laundry as a whole. Absolutely hate it. When I was first married, I used do the laundry , but never put it away. What  a mess -  digging to the bottom of the "Leaning tower of Pisa".  I've sort of conquered that hill. Now, I at least fold it out of the dryer, and really try to put away. But you know as well as I do, sometimes you gotta run out before the job is finished. I hate laundry. Towels I don't mind . . . as much . . . Why? Cuz towels fold up quick and always go to just one room - the bathroom. You don't have to separate them into each person's pile and deliver to separate rooms. I absolutely get overwhelmed at the possibility of having to do whites. You all know why. I will choose not to do whites until people are begging for their tidy whities. White are the dinky stuff: socks, underwear, washcloths, a few shirts. AAAcccchhhh! One kids white stinky things will not fill up a wash tub, so you are forced by the voice of your mother or grandmother, "Don't waste water, dear!", to mix everyone's undies and other unmentionables to make up a reasonable -sized load. The upside? Whites don't take long to dry. Then the downside hill slide:  you have to put it ALL away. That means a pile for every person in the house (in my case - four), plus a pile for the kitchen and the bathroom, praying you don't get distracted by the doorbell between rooms with an armfull of underwear when you answer the door.

Two Little Hats

Two little baby hats all in a row!
I finished a couple of hats - they are soooooo cute! Tis the season for babies i guess - I'm just glad it's not me! Babies are sure fun to knit for: quick, easy and a good way to learn new techniques with out wasting a lot of time. The Candy cane hat is seen below and the PomPom hat is a superwash Dale of Norway/Baby Ull.

Stephanie's SweetTarts Candy Baby Hat

The newest little addition to my Baby gift collection. Maddie's friend, Stephanie, is having a bambino soon, so I whipped this out yesterday. I love the yarns together - Katia Arc En Ciel and Kool Kotton. The Katia is a 200 yard skein - I'll be able to get a couple more hats out of this!

3 projects finished! Almost at once!

      It's amazing! I've finished 3 projects almost simultaneously (plus I just took some bread out of the oven) I don't have all the pics yet but that will happen soon. I finished the baby bottle for traca - I think it looks better than the first one, and I finished "Henrietta" the chicken. Kudos to Julia for actually felting them for me - her washing machine is a top-loader; I have a front-loader and it doesn't work as well. Henrietta is at work, so photos will be arriving shortly. She's cute . . . . sort of. We'll see if she generates any buzz.

 I whipped out a quick scarf, based on the Brooklyntweed, using a N.Y. Yarn, Gypsy. Lot's of fringe. I think I'll send it to Maddie, thinking it would go with the A & F Cargo coat I sent her recently (It was a steal - $228 coat for only $40!!!!!)

Target Wave Mitten

I've been working on a new mitten - It's called the Target Wave Mitten, by Norah Gaughn. I found it in the Interweave knits, Fall 06, but it's been published in a book "Knitting Nature" . It appealed to me since it was a small project - I can get done it quickly  -  If by chance there are some techie problems, it wouldn't be much to rip out and fix.  And yes . . .there were some fit issues. I followed the original pattern, calling for a #6 needle for the body and #8 for the the thumb target. It is a kid's mitten, and I made it in the youth large size, but still had problems with the "thumb target" area. It looked too "balloony". So I went back down to the #6 for the thumb area. That helped, but it still poofed too much. I thought about it a bit, and adjusted the decreasing so it got smaller faster, and ended up making the thumb a  bit shorter. It actually matches the original photo from the IK mag, which fits maybe, I don't know, a 6 0r 7 year old.

A side note: If you've knit from this Book, Knitting Nature, here is a link for a knit-along blog.

Mrs. Henry and the Baby Bottle.

This is not a children's story. However, I just finished watching the movie starring Renee Zelweiger and Ewan McGregor about Beatrix Potter, so I gather I'm in the "storybook" frame of mind to come up with this title. I've made my move and decided I just had to get these two projects done. I'm very close on both pieces, so the felting is just around the corner. Mrs. Henry is getting her underside done. She's thrilled, believe me! Wouldn't you like to be tossed about in a bag, in public places mind you, with out your underside. Quite embarrassing, I'm sure. 

And the Baby Bottle . . .  well, a baby bottle isn't a baby bottle  and not much use, mind you,  until the nipple is finished. Just so you know the baby bottle is for my friend Traca! 

NO, she's NOT! 

I also am getting back to Jim's sweater, hopefully, I'll get that done by the end of March. Just in time for the cold weather.

I'm sure my hubby won't read this for a couple of days, so I can say this: While I was watching Miss Potter, I made the"man-of-the-house" an actual birthday cake. I'm a lousy cake maker. Everyone can attest to that. There have been many misshapen cakes at our house. They all taste very good though. But I think I hit the mark on this one. He told us at dinner the other night, that if given the chance, he would overeat on chocolate. Even if he was full, he would keep eating the chocolate. So I made a chocolate cake with really gooey frosting. Sweeetie, if you read this,  act surprised. I hope you'll know that of all your birthday presents, this one took the most effort and love.