Saturday, April 25, 2009

Harry lives!

Ever have one of those just plain fun days? Today was one of those really extra special times . I went to a Quidditch match between LSU and the Texas Aggies. Great time! Five of us from the knitting group went having learned about it from Ravelry.

So we ate a late lunch, knitted and watched some great Quidditch. Kudos to all who play and survive. Great spectator sport between watching what's going on on the playing field and looking for the snitch. The funniest part was when the snitch opted for the lake in order not to be caught but between the ducks and the water lillies it may not have been the best tactical decision. The LSU seeker managed to finally get the snitch despite having his head put under water for an instant.

I learned that wooden brooms are better than plastic brooms as they don't break as easily but on the other hand, if something is going to connect with some part of my anatomy, I'd just as soon it broke. However, the players don't see it that way and they prefer the wooden brooms.

If you hear of a Quidditch match near you, I encourage you to go. It is a fast paced game which is not gentle and requires quite a bit of athletic ability on the part of the teams. If you are not familiar with Quidditch then immediately read all the Harry Potter books and then go see a game. It's worth the trip.

I am still knitting on the enterlac tote bag but should finish within the next day or so and can then felt it. Feel like I have been knitting on it for a long time but it is just a week. I am enjoying working with the Knit Picks yarn and will definitely use more of it in the future.

I'll get a picture before it is felted and then another one after the felting.

The weeds in the garden are calling.

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

2 Springs

The only thing better than one gorgeous Spring, is 2 gorgeous Springs which I had this year.
The dogwoods in NC were really awesome and I would have taken lots of pictures . The problem was that I was usually driving down the road at 70 mph and it is really, really hard to get a good picture that way.

Speaking of roads...one of my favorite ones is Hwy 64 in NC which runs between Asheboro and the Raleigh area. It's a very pleasant drive, good road and the scenery is so peaceful. Just south of Asheboro is Seagrove which I discovered this trip. I had read about it but never been able to stop before now. Talk about pottery heaven!!! There are at least 100 potters in the area and I only had time to visit 10 of them but did manage to load up the car with some interesting items. Some will be gifts if I can bear to part with them. Still thinking about that. I love my friends but this stuff is really great. Functional pottery in blues are a weakness with me. Still looking for the perfect squatty teapot but I'll find it one day. I have a vision in my head of exactly what it will look like. I'm enjoying the search and it has certainly led to other wonderful things.

Southeast Fiber Forum was lots of fun, particularly getting to visit with Dan and Cheryl. I chickened out on staying at the rental house on the side of a mountain. I have discovered that I am a flat lander and really don't enjoy driving on narrow roads that go up , around, and have sharp turns with big drop offs. That sort of driving does terrible things to my insides.

As a result of this, I ended up staying at a motel in the valley which welcomed dogs. There was about 3/4 of an acre for the dogs to wander (although I never did take them off leash). Behind the property was a wonderful fast moving stream which several mallard ducks were enjoying. It was too funny watching them paddle upstream and not move from where they were.

Allie and Conner thought the water in the stream was nectar and they almost fell in several times trying to get a drink without getting their feet wet. Shelties are very fussy about getting their feet wet sometimes and Allie is worse than most. At one point she was almost standing on her nose with her rear up in the air hanging over the edge of the stream. Naturally, I didn't have my camera with me then either. On the plus side, I did manage to resist the urge to give her a shove just to see what would happen.

The class on entrelac knitting at SFFA was great fun. Very relaxed and entertaining to knit. I am still working on finishing my bag but it is an enjoyable knit. The instructor, Lorie Helms, was great and I look forward to taking another class from her in the future.

The next thing on my list is getting another cell phone which has GPS. I got lost twice on this trip--silly mistakes but it took time to get back on track of where I was supposed to be. Also managed to leave the a/c charger for my cell phone in the motel room which of course they don't have. Seems it is now hard to get them for the phone I have so if I want to charge my phone, I can do it while driving around. SIGH.

Great to be back home but the weather in NC was wonderful and I miss the coolness already.

Oh, I purchased some merino/seacell fiber and also some dyed bombyx silk all of which is in the blue / lavendar color range, of course. Had to buy some fiber to put around the pottery.