Party, Eat, Eat

My friend Abby is getting married and, as tradition would dictate, Abby had a party to celebrate. I went to the beach to celebrate with her. She, Jill and I all used to work together so we got used to seeing each other every day. Since we have all gone our own ways, we only get to see each other once and a while. It was a good day to sit on the beach getting sand blasted and catching up with the girls.

Jill, Abby and me

The next evening our veggie dinner club reassembled for the first veggie dinner of the summer. We feasted on vegan goodness prepared by Miriam and Sylvie and played Apples to Apples.

Stop making that face, Paul!!

There was some wine, too. Some of us really like wine with our veggie dinners.

This morning Paul and I finally got around to eating at a local breakfast place we have been eyeing for months. It is the sort of place that tends to have a line of people waiting outside of it so we expected it to be good eats. This place is aptly named The Neighborhood Restaurant.

They have indoor and outdoor seating but it seemed like on nice days they only serve the outdoor tables. The tables all have umbrellas and are set up under a canopy of grapevines.

The meals are really well priced when you take into account that each breakfast comes with unlimited coffee or tea, a small fresh squeezed orange juice, fresh fruit, homefries and whatever else you ordered. In our case, french toast and eggs for me and steak and eggs for Paul.

We did find it humorous that the "fresh fruit" of the day was a baked apple. Humorous but tasty. I also got to watch little kids at a nearby table try to figure out how to eat one. They wanted to pick it up but that didn't work. They tried a fork. Nope. That didn't work either. Then they tried a spoon. Nope. Not working. Finally, their dad saved the day by cutting it into more manageable chunks.

So, come and visit us and we'll go to our Neighborhood Restaurant. You have to check out their bathroom. I have never experienced a bathroom like theirs.

I've been knitting, too.

I have also gotten behind on posting some finished projects. Here they are in no particular order.

There are going to be some babies born soon to friends and family so I am working on baby gifts.

Pattern: Saartje's Bootees

Yarn: Berroco Suede

Colors: Hopalong Cassidy and Wrangler

These bootees are tiny.

Pattern: Bib O' Love from Mason-Dixon Knitting

Yarn: Lion Brand Kitchen Cotton

Color: Poppy Red

My knitting project in New Mexico was a pair of socks. I chose these socks because the pattern used a few techniques that I haven't learned. Namely, short row heels and toes and a zigzag bind-off. My verdict: loved the short row heels and toes but hated the zigzag bind-off.

Here is what the toe looks like before the bind-off. The short row toe is worked exactly as the short row heel is worked which results in a little toe pocket.

I worked the first sock using the zigzag bind off and found that it resulted in a huge ridge across the top of the toe. I didn't like the way it looked or felt so I worked the next sock by kitchener stitching the toe seam. I likes that way better.

Here is a comparison of the two methods. Why the pattern was written with that bind off I do not understand.

Here you can see the details of the short row heel. I think it works really well with the color pattern of the yarn.

Pattern: Priscilla's Dream Socks

Yarn: Cascade - Fixation

Color: 9780

Variations: I used the table in the pattern to recalculate it for a different gauge and chose to kitchener stitch the toe seam.

My Sockapalooza 4 Package

My Sockapalooza package arrived while I was in New Mexico. I knew it had arrived so I was excited to get home and open it. My pal Sherry definitely did not disappoint me. In fact, she spoiled me with expertly knit socks and lots of knitterly goods. My package included a whole skein of yarn that she had been thinking about using for my socks but didn't use. It also included two chocolates in Michigan related shapes: car and football, Kookaburra wool wash (which I have been meaning to try), a sock key chain/mini sock blocker kit, a card and the leftovers from the sock yarn she used for my socks.

Tchazo thought they smelled really good. It makes me wonder if Sherry has a pet. He seemed awfully interested. They fit me perfectly.

The socks are knit with Regia Stretch and are in the Mock Wave Cable Socks pattern from the Favorite Socks book.

In case you are wondering, I knit my Sockapalooza socks for Christian.

I have really enjoyed being a part of this exchange and will keep my eye out for the next round of Sockapalooza.

Departure Time

The group worked together to create a lap blanket to leave at the fort. The blanket consisted of a square from each of us and finishing/seaming done by Cindy and Elaine. We have dreams of adding a new chunk to the blanket if we have another knitting retreat next year.

Some of us suspect that it may become Princess Gita's blanket and we are OK with that.

We also stopped for one last group photo before piling in the cars and heading for the El Paso airport. It is hard to get all of us in the same place, standing still and smiling. This photo is missing Barrett and Nancy (and Nancy's John). Thanks for this photo Constance!

Thank you ladies for an amazing trip and thank you to Barrett for her endless patience and generosity while hosting us. We are a handful!

Royal Fiber Spinnery

Part of the reason I went along to the Inn of the Mountain Gods was that I didn't want to miss what came after: The Royal Fiber Spinnery. It was the only thing yarn related that could be found in that region of New Mexico so we had to go.

The owner gave us a tour and explained how his business came to be and how alpaca is processed and spun.

He only processes alpaca and spins it into unblended alpaca yarn.

Alpaca fiber

I have been on spinnery tours before but I have never seen anyone using this clever method to get some of the dirt out of the fiber before washing it. The owner said that he saves a lot of money by spinning some of the dirt out and it helps to keep his machines in better shape. Very smart.

They also had a shop that sold their yarn in various weights and colors. I ended up with a rich brown that is almost black. I am slowly building enough stash of alpaca yarn from smaller sources so that I can make something that uses all of them.