Catch up time for me after a twelve-day road trip and close
to 3,000 miles. I thought I would blog a few times along the way, but I was either missing the time or a reliable internet connection. After three days in the Bay Area to attend the color workshop at Janine‘s house in Berkeley, we drove to Eugene (OR) where we stayed at a sheep farm with Elissa, an old friend from my spinning days who moved from Los Angeles a few years ago and now lives with two dogs, five miniature donkeys and ten sheep.
at Elissa's farm in Eugene
Hay bales, unfortunately rotting in the field after the rain
Elissa and the beasties
Gina, the miniature donkey
Elissa's sheep
Oskar was the only sheep who would get close and be petted. He's a sweet fellow with a beautiful fleece.
Dinner time
From there we drove to Lakewood (WA) making a quick stop in Portland (OR) along the way. More like a blitz, really, and no time to get together with friends though we managed a strategic stop at
Knit Purl, easily the best yarn store I’ve ever set foot into. Half their stock wanted to go home with me and I had to be firm to make it out of there with only four skeins of Isager Tvinni, two skeins of Shibui Cloud and one supersized ball of Kauni.
Marianne Isager Tvinni
Shibui Silk Cloud, color "Suit"
Kauni EC
We spent almost more time trying to get out of Portland than we spent in Portland because of a major accident on the
Interstate Bridge.
Even the rest areas are impressive in Oregon
A bridge in Portland
Another bridge in Portland
In Lakewood we stayed with
Lorette and John and experienced the most marvellous hospitality which included a guided tour with ferry trip to
Bainbridge Island (7-minute visit at
Churchmouse Yarns & Teas), extensive stop at
Pike Market and a
spice shop nearby, and gourmet dinners at their place. Half the extra pounds I came home with were put on in those two days. Not complaining!
Bundled up on the ferry from Seattle to Bainbridge Island
Not the right day to go on the Space Needle
Puget Sound from the ferry
Now you see it, now you do't.
Fish stand at Pike Place Market
On the knitting front, the only activity was mindless scarf knitting in the car. I’ve been working on the Wild Apple scarf that goes with the
hat. The scarf is all in plain broken rib and let me tell you how boring that is to knit, but just what I needed while we were driving 5-8 hours at a time. About 42 inches into the scarf (14 more inches to go) I can see why no one on Ravelry has added that project; they all had more sense than me and worked on either the sweater or the hat. More pics in a couple of days. Now I have to take care of laundry, grocery shopping, and other odds and ends.
Posted by Francesca
