well travelled

I'm going to tell you about a little trip, and I can't believe it's been so long since we've been back! So much happened, then the boys went back to school (they go in mid August) and then I had that little mishap with my iPhone. Thankfully, I had already uploaded a ton of the trip photos before I lost everything. (Word to the wise: back up. All the time. Why didn't I do this? I who have back-up upon back-up of my computers? No one–least of all I–knows.) Then the Rim Fire. Honestly, the smoke got into my brain circuits in a bad way. But it's going away now! The wind shifted and I just spent a lovely evening out on the porch with Mr. Romi. We will be enjoying the heck out of it until the wind shifts back.

Anyway. We took a little road trip down to Southern California to visit my Mother-in-Law. I hurriedly wound my lovely Saffron Dyeworks yarn (Casablanca in Rusty Halo*) into a ball to take along, and my first shawl for Y4 went along for the ride.

We saw trees

and desert.

We travelled through the Owens Valley (famous if you have ever read Cadillac Desert or know otherwise about the California water wars and how LA dried out the Owens Valley and Mono Lake).

We visited and we chatted. And when we had tired out Mr. Romi's dear mother for the day, we went down to the water to give her a little break. My knitting went along, of course.

Mr. Romi's cousin happened to be about to go out in search of blue whales in his gorgeous boat (more about that boat later on this week - it's very cool and deserves its own post). My knitting came out for a cameo, but went back in the bag so I could enjoy the beautiful day on the water.

Bear was relaxing in his space.

#1 Son was controlling things.

We saw the whale blow (off to the left there), and I have so many pics, but this one sort of sums up the experience.

We were there for quite awhile, watching the whale surface and then go back down to feed again. And then we went in search of dolphins. We saw Pacific Bottlenose and Common. They swam alongside the boat, playing in our wake with their babies. They were as interested in us as we were in them.

Then our cousin got out his auquaphone. Bear was absolutely lost to us at that point, and we almost didn't get him back in the car to leave. I think we have a oceanographer/marine biologist in the making. He is a true water baby, but to be honest, this was one of the most amazing experiences of my life too, and I am not a big water lover.

We went back to shore.

And then it was time for refreshments.

We visited some more, both MIL and cousin for the long weekend. And then we were back on our way.

We saw Joshua trees,

and then we were home again.

It was a lovely trip.

*(Saffron Dyeworks is currently having problems getting the Casablanca base, but I think Mini Mica would be a great substitute!)

Back again!

I'm back! See? I told you I would blog again today! :)

So...onward after part one! After I taught my morning class, I headed over to the Indie Artist Celebration to see what Kristi and Paul had cooked up for the market! It was in a great space right across the street from Eleganza.

There was live music.

Lots of yarn.

Some super funky and cool alpaca roving wound around baling twine for rugs (from Angel's Kiss Yarn).

More yumminess.

Gorgeous roving from Wild Hare Fibers.

And more loveliness from Angel's Kiss.

Then it was off to do a trunk show! As I put my samples out and talked with people, Brandy hung out and worked on her Taygete. Aren't those colors gorgeous?! I'm hoping she blocks it soon, because I must see it on her!

Later, we all went out to an Ethiopian dinner. Here's Kim Dolce, who I first met on the floor at the celebration. (A friend of mine chose one of her designs for a first sweater, and I was excited to tell her I met the designer!) Can I just add that she is a fellow Dr Martens fan? Yes!

I knew it was time for me to leave when I woke up and it was raining. It's become sort of a tradition for me - travel days are always rainy! And this one had a tornado watch. I was a little nervous until everyone told me that nothing had actually been sighted. Whew.

I packed up my stuff, including this stunning skein of yarn from Alpacas of Windswept Farm. Isn't it absolutely gorgeous?! They had some lovely purple, as well, but I restrained myself.

And Kristi gave me two gorgeous skeins of her Shalimar Yarn for a shawl. Yes - I'm thinking of two colors! Mmmmmmmm.

When she drove me to the airport, Kristi told me that the yarn is named for her horse, who was a rescue animal. It's an amazing story, and I think I'm going to bug her until she puts it up on her site! Then I can link to it. ;) She's also got an adorable Chincoteague Pony that you can see on her blog here.

Then it was just sitting on the plane. And sitting. And sitting. I got a lot of knitting done!

Yes - that's Sevillano! I'm knitting it in Schaefer's Audrey. But it's going to be a smallish shawl/scarf. I was inspired by Diane at Stitches West who loved Sevillano, but doesn't want a shawl. She asked about making a scarf by omitting the mesh middle section. I was intrigued. So I started one. And I can't wait to see how it turns out! If I like it (and I think I will) there will be a pattern. :)

Speaking of patterns, I just finished a secret one. And there are two more secrets in store! I can't wait to show you.

And with that, I'm off to bed. See you all later!

tap tap tap

Is this thing on? I can't believe how long it's been since I've written!

I guess I should start at the beginning, eh? When I returned from Stitches West, I had four days to get ready to fly off to Maryland and the Indie Artist Celebration at Eleganza Yarns in Frederick. I was the featured artist. How cool is that?! I felt very very honored.

The four days were and whirlwind and off to Maryland I went! By way of Charlotte. I know! It was a long day of traveling. (But isn't this row of rocking chairs at the Charlotte airport fabulous?)

The trip, though long, was absolutely worth it. Look at this adorable little shop!

Paul, who owns Eleganza Yarns with Kristi, told me that a family used to live here, and that their ancestors come back and visit as part of a family reunion. It's a log cabin! Now, being a Californian who did not grow up around this type of history, I was completely taken by the story. The history in Frederick is just awe inspiring to me, and I was lucky that Paul is a history buff and was able to tell me all sorts of little factoids while driving around. So cool.

Here's Kristi, sorting patterns.

She doesn't like to have her picture taken, so I had to catch her unawares. (She said it was ok, though!) Isn't her hair gorgeous? I've always envied red heads.

I had two days of classes, but I only took pictures the first day in my Shapely Shawls class. I plead brain death. But I did get some good pics. Here is Brandy, who is one of the moderators on my Ravelry forum. She's wearing Sevillano and that's Elektra and Celaeno on her chair.

She is completely and totally awesome. I just wanted to get that on record. And, apparently, so is her boyfriend. He baked these cookies for me! And they're my very very favorite: oatmeal/chocolate chip. Let's just say that, although I knew Brandy was fabulous, I did not know the extent of her fabulosity.

Here's Brandy with Cindy from my forum. Note the gorgeous Brandywine that Cindy is sporting! I got to knit a row on Cindy's Rayonnant sweater. Is that not cool?!

And while we're talking about Brandywine...today's donation brings me to $17,000 total donated to Doctors without Borders! Thank you knitters!!!

Here's a snap of everyone concentrating. (I've only given names where I am pretty sure people don't mind having them splashed around on my blog - from here on out, name tags are blurred if need be and names are not mentioned.)

Note the lovely Celaeno! It's so much fun seeing these in person after admiring them on Ravelry!

My class was filled with wonderful and friendly people.

I loved the way people were helping each other and we all had a great dialogue going on. I think this is my favorite class to teach! I so enjoy the different shapes that are possible with shawls; it's one of the most interesting things about designing them.

Tomorrow: pics of the yarnz and the celebration! (I really do mean it; I'm going to blog tomorrow too!) :)