Yarn Harlot and Birthday presents

First off, thank you Yarn Harlot for coming to Eugene. You were fabulous! You made us giggle, snicker, and full out laugh. It was all good. I loved your stories of telling people you're a knitter and the silence that follows. Imagine this if you will: telling people you are a librarian, knitter, and cat owner. Its all downhill from there. I would love to sit and knit and laugh with you one day. Hope to see you again soon.














Lorie stopped by our new digs in the Portland area. Her visit inspired me to finish the cat bed. It is felted and quite pretty, if I do say so myself. However, said cats from first paragraph have yet to give it the time of day. Here's the metamorphasis from pre to post-felting.













Besides the cat bed, I'm finishing up my second Kate. I have two arms and a leg to go! Hopefully today she will be put together in all of her glory. Inexplicably the second Kate is 3 inches larger around in diameter than the first kate. I call her big sister kate, since the pair are intended for my little nieces. I'm also trying to finish the baby afghan I started so I can send it off as soon as the baby is born.



I recieved fabulous gifts for my birthday. Dani knit me not one but TWO washcloths from Mason Dixon. And hand dyed yarn from some other Dani! What fabulous birthday prezzies.










Lorie gave me my favorite book of the year--Knitting in Nature. Its full of inspiration. My grandmother got me the Yarn Harlot's book Knitting Rules. I'll also be purchasing Big Girl Knits and One Skein with birthday money. My friend Marla gave me Debbie Bliss Soho in a cream, gray, and purple colorway. Stunning.










Rumor has it I'm getting two skeins of Karabella Boise in red, but I have yet to see it! All in all a happy knitting birthday. Dani is the yarn enough to make a full pair of socks? If not, I'm knitting a lacy scarf with it. But if so, I can't wait to get it on my feet. My sister made me a set of three fabric nesting bowls to hold my yarn in and display it around the house. They are really pretty. So pretty I like to look at them without yarn. However, after listening to Stephanie talk about moths, I'm reading to buy a chest freezer and store it all there. Reminder to self: go and invest in many ziploc bags. Many Many Many.






Rich totally got me on my birthday. You can read more about his nefarious plans and my reaction on his blog, which is linked on the side : Mind Wanderings... Here was the final present: An electric teapot that boils water in 3 minutes! I love it. It will make my tea making habit so much faster and easier. Those Germans. Great engineering with fine looks too.











Finally here is a sunset from the Washington coast where Rich and I went yesterday. It was a great trip. We found one dead sand dollar, but saw many live ones, which is great.