Here, There, Everywhere.

More photos, since I don't have time for anything else.
We went to the Downtown Gallery Stroll a few weeks ago. My sister Camilla curated a print show at Kayo Gallery; she and my siblings Blue and Claire had prints in it. There was also a horse coin ride on the street in front. It ate a lot of our quarters.

After Kayo, Claire, her boyfriend Alex, and my brother Orson and I hit the design studios of Black Chandelier, a local funky designer label. The studios were open for a little peek at their new children's line. Claire has a friend who works as an illustrator for the label; it was cool to see his workspace. Above is the toilet paper holder in the bathroom. Below is a display of marionettes in Jared Gold's office.

Here, from left, Alex, Orson, Jonah, and me.

I've been reading the Twilight trilogy instead of knitting when I have a second or two. Anybody else read these yet?

Woke Up With a Yen.

Guess what I'm bringing to Stitch'n'Bitch tonight?

Yes, I know I'm a little crazy (that's not like being a "little" pregnant). But they're sooooo good. And I'm very into comfort food right now. See ya'll tonight (and if not, my apologies for having as friends the rockin'est SnBers EVER).

Old Project, New Project.

Walker was an acolyte (essentially an altar boy) at our church for the first time yesterday. He was so proud in his robes. His job is to carry a tall oil candle called a torch during the opening procession and stand in front of in the the sanctuary screen during communion.

Here is the red rippled scarf. The lace pattern is a close derivation of Barbara Walker's Feather and Fan. I wanted the yarn-overs to be a little more balanced with the knit and decrease stitches, so I tweaked it a little. It's also in repeats of five instead of the even four, six, or eight that most patterns feature.

I haven't washed or blocked the scarf yet, even though I know that Euroflax linen softens up a lot with a good soak. What I'm wondering is whether it's worth it to try to block it.

Finally, here's the next pattern to hit my needles: Ann Carol Gilmore's fulled witch hat. I bought the yarn and pattern last week at my LYS, but I haven't had a chance to cast on yet. I better get started though--gotta justify the broom somehow.

There and Back Again.

Here's another quick update, padded by a lot of photos from my recent four day trip to Idaho and British Columbia.

We packed all of our belongings into a portable storage container at the beginning of September, and now we're living at my mother's place while the search for the perfect house continues. The kids started school, and I went on a trip with my friend Thea and my mom.

My mom and I flew to Spokane, WA on Friday morning to meet Thea. The next day at 6am we drove north to Nelson, BC (and said hey to the surly border patrol personnel). There we enjoyed an amazing day of spa treatments and shopping. Sunday, we soaked in the Ainsworth Hotsprings and did a whole lot of other stuff, including checking out the spawning Kokanee salmon heading upstream from Kootenay Lake (I love that word--it's pronounced "koot-nee"). The fish seemed so tireless yet it didn't seem like they ever made any progress upstream. I had to resist the urge to wade into the water and "help" them by chucking them up farther. It was strange, but even stranger to realize how rarely I get into the wild these days, such that the experience was almost surreal.
Driving back to Thea's home in Coeur d'Alene, ID on Sunday, we stopped at the Northern Woven Broom Co. in Canada. I had mocked Thea for buying an extremely expensive broom here the month before (I can't bring myself to tell you how much it cost), but I ate my words once I arrived, and bought my own (less expensive but still pricey) model. These broom are stunning, it is true, but what really makes you want to own one is meeting the man who makes them himself and seeing them hanging in the log barn. The connection is profound. Plus, they work really well and last for forever, and I want to be a witch for Halloween.

On Monday morning, we all got up and after eating breakfast at Thea's cafe, got back on the road to Utah, driving down in Thea's car (the whole point of the trip: to accompany Thea on her drive down here). Jonah was a trooper and pretty good natured about being tied down in his car seat for most of three days, but somewhere in Montana he decided he'd had it, so we took a breather and this photo. I finished my red Euroflax linen scarf shortly before sunset. Now I'm back into the swing of things, sort of, and life goes on. What about you? Busy much?