Port Townsend

Things are really busy for me lately, so the vacation updates are quite a bit after the fact.

Our first stop was Port Townsend, WA - but on the way there we stopped at the Chateau Ste. Michelle winery (in the Seattle suburbs). We were drinking their wine the night we got engaged, so we went to the winery on our honeymoon and we had so much fun we decided to go back, do the tour, and buy some wine.

I had to chase this guy a little bit to get him out of our parking spot (and by "chase" I mean "walk slowly toward him with my camera"):


On the tour, they happened to be bottling Chardonnay that day, so we got to see:


These are oak aging barrels, also filled with Chardonnay - they have 15,000 of these. Each one holds a couple hundred bottles worth of wine.


This huge barrel (taller than me) is out on the grounds and I just thought it was fun:


In Port Townsend, we were in a B&B that is a former German Consulate. It's very over-the-top Victorian, which is not my style at all, but the owner of the inn is so entertaining we had to go back (we stayed here on our honeymoon as well). Our room:



One of the main reasons we went back to PT was one of the restaurants we'd found there. The Wild Coho is one of our favorites ever. It's just one guy in the kitchen, one server, and 10 tables in the restaurant. Amazing food, and they are members of the Slow Food movement.


Some crostini with goat cheese and balsamic:


My salad was organic seasonal greens, roasted tomatoes, local cheese, and a tomato-rosemary vinaigrette:


C had escarole with caramelized pear and hazelnuts, and a different locally made cheese:


My entree was rack of elk with wild mushrooms:


C's entree was lamb with onion-artichoke risotto:


I would have made reservations for a second night but unfortunately they are closed Sunday and Monday so we had to make alternate plans for Sunday.

Here is a view of the Admiralty Inlet from the edge of town:


This was a fun weathervane I couldn't resist catching a photo of:


Next vacation installment will be the San Juan Islands. :)

Fetching

Knitted while on vacation!


Pattern: Fetching by Cheryl Niamath
Yarn: Knitpicks Andean Silk
Needles: Size 6 DPN's

Started: September 22, 2007
Finished: September 23, 2007

I didn't really believe the pattern when it said you could knit these in a weekend. But I knit the first one on the 4-hour plane ride to Seattle, and I knit the second one the following afternoon/evening as we hung out at the B&B and had tea and snacks. I wore them all week while I was in WA, but it has been too warm at home since I've gotten back. I love these and look forward to wearing them again.

Where have I been?

I'm still sorting through the photos, but this will give you an idea:


And yes, there was knitting on the trip :)

I did it!!!

Finished just in time for the end of Summer of Socks!!!!



Pattern: Bayerische by Eunny Jang (otherwise known as Satan)
Needles: Size 1 circulars from Knitpicks
Yarn: J Knits Superwash Me Light Sock

Started: June 21, 2007
Finished: Sept 21, 2007

Woohoo!!!

Birthday Wishes

Happy birthday to Kelly...her birthday is actually next weekend, but, um, I won't be posting next weekend. And we celebrated this weekend anyway! (Left to right: Erica, Melissa, Kelly, Vanessa..I am behind the camera) Yay for blue drinks!



I am one pattern repeat into the foot of Bayerische. 4 1/2 more to go, plus the toe. Will I finish before the end of Summer of Socks? Probably not, but I haven't yet completely given up hope.

Be impressed!

I haven't posted in a few days because I was away at my sister's wedding :) (didn't really want to announce online that I wouldn't be home).

But look what I have gotten done!

I got the leg done and am about to start on the heel flap. I posted it along with sock #1 because I knew some people might not believe I'd gotten so far :)

Here is my sister and my new brother-in-law just as the minister announced they were husband and wife:

Yay :) Aren't they cute???

Rare photo of me and C at the reception:


And I got home this afternoon to find an STR shipment awaiting me!!! :)


Gingerbread Dude in lightweight (this one actually belongs to Melissa, but she hasn't paid me yet, so it's mine for now)


Mediumweight in Lunasea (for the Mystic Sea socks)


Lucy in mediumweight (for the Whiskers & Pawprints socks)


Nodding Violet in lightweight (no specific pattern yet but I fell in love with this colorway)


Tanzanite in Silkie (isn't it absolutely gorgeous?). Not sure yet what I will do with this.

I now have a lofty goal of finishing the Bayerische socks in the next 2 weeks. We'll see if that happens.

Yawn.

I'm not yawning because of boredom...I'm just so. freaking. tired.

Those of you who were at the meetup last night know exactly why I'm so tired....because I am a sucker for those frozen mochas at Panera, even though I have caffeine about once every two weeks, and I COULD NOT SLEEP last night even though I was completely exhausted.

And you know I just had to have an 11 hour day at work today that was utterly sucky and stressful.

No knitting tonight because I am so tired I would totally screw it up. But I did get halfway through row 2 of the charts on Bayerische last night, and it wasn't too bad, except for 2 things:
1) My ball of yarn is rebelling against me by producing massive fits of tangles and knots. This means that after every half round, I would commence whining and whimpering and announcing how much I hated the yarn...and then Vanessa would calmly grab my yarn and untangle a few more yards for me. (Love ya Vanessa!)
2) I started row 2 of the chart not realizing Panera was closing and they were trying to gently encourage us to leave without actually saying anything to us. I felt a wave of panic as I tried to get it done as quickly as possible. This is why I only got halfway through row 2. I will do the other half tomorrow.

More sockin'

So I cast on for Anastasia last night...and when I finished the toe I had to start over because I screwed up the "wrap and turns"... this happened last time I did a short row toe by the way...but I persevere because I love not having to graft the toe closed. I went for it again this morning and by late afternoon had finished one chart repeat!


I really like these colors. The yarn is actually a little more purple than it looks like here. I thought I did a decent job capturing the color, but I guess not.

And for my Ktog buddies (I know you were worried) I did cast on for the second Bayerische this evening...I am only 4 rounds into the cuff but figure I will finish the cuff tonight so you can all see me swearing at row 2 of the charts tomorrow! I couldn't let you down!

Jaywalkers

Just finished the grafting!



Pattern: Jaywalker
Yarn: STR mediumweight in Ruby Slippers colorway
Needles: Knitpicks Size 1 DPNs

I will definitely do more of these...but for now I need a change.

Breather

I didn't post (and barely knit) over the past week because I was working so stinking much. And when I wasn't working, I was commuting. It was taking me a minimum of 90 minutes each way due to a combination of construction and flooding (from the storms the week prior). I had a big presentation on Friday and spent a lot of evening hours finishing up the prep work. The presentation went extremely well (to 25 people, are you impressed?) - I don't really get nervous presenting, but I am SO glad all the upfront work is finished. And I am the first in a series of speakers, so I get to relax for the rest of them (they are scheduled about 3 weeks apart).

Will be making a second post to show the completed Jaywalkers :D

Now I need to cast on for the second Bayerische sock, as well as another easier sock. Looking at Anastasia, because I feel like doing a toe-up with a short row toe and heel, and this was the only one I was able to find easily.