Halloween 2010

From left to right: Bella's, Judy (my mom's),mine, Kaileigh and M'lis's!~What talent!

Mmm, yummy pumpkin guts!

Ok I did roast the seeds,they were good.

Retreat ~ Part IV ~ KnitWits

Retreat ~ Part III ~ The Women

What an amazing bunch of ladies ~ I felt honored to be included again this year in their outing to the Island.  We had such a great time ~ there were out-of-staters who sadly missed being included in the group photo, and a few other new faces that weren't with us last year.  We knitted and crocheted and stitched and one of us even brought a loom this year (my mantra is 'no new hobbies, no new hobbies, no new hobbies' ~ the loom was beautiful and the process looked addicting!).  We celebrated a birthday, as well as a first-lace finished project and the excitement that came with that last stitch coming off the needle!  The weather couldn't have been nicer for the middle of October ~ blue skies, warm island weather and we even got to witness an outdoor wedding this year.  We came close to tripling last year's donation to Heifer International ~ this year we raised $1320.50 and were able to purchase 2 'Knitter's Gift Baskets' (each basket represents an alpaca, a llama, a sheep and an angora rabbit), 2 'Honeybees', a 'Trio of Rabbits', a Sheep and a Goat. I think the 21 gals that were on the retreat did a GREAT job of not only boosting the Island's economy but also doing something kind and generous to help people in need all over the world.  I'm honored to be part of such a great group of women!

Retreat ~ Part II ~ The Projects

I started 3 new projects while we were in Roche Harbor ~ the 1st and most exciting was I got to test knit Kelli's soon-to-be-released, very first ever pattern ~ her 'Kelli Cap'....here she is modeling it

With the black alpaca yarn that I got at Krystal Acres on the first day of our trip, I cast-on 'Weldon's Vintage Scarf' ~ a pattern that I picked up at Fiber Gallery, one of our many lys'.  It was written by Jessica Rose, who we took a class from a few years ago ~ she's awesome and full of stories and tons of knowledge.

The third thing I cast-on for is Kieran Foley's 'Iceland'.  I'm using Ecobutterfly Organics 'Pakucho Lace' in Vanilla Cream, a Peruvian yarn that I picked up at Churchmouse Yarn and Tea a few years ago and have been waiting for just the right project to use it on ~ I think the wait was worth it. I was lucky enough to find some amazing glass beads made in the Czech Republic when we visited Dream Beads in Friday Harbor last weekend.  I'm about 20% done & I'm having a hard hard hard time putting this project down!

I don't know what I was thinking, starting this many new projects with the holidays looming large and unfinished Christmas gifts taunting me in every corner.......

Retreat ~ Part I ~ Krystal Acres Alpaca Farm

there's so much to tell so I thought I'd do it in installments ~ here we go....

http://krystalacres.com/

I never thought I'd use the word idyllic but this farm on San Juan Island is absolutely the most beautiful, peaceful, calming place I've ever been ~ I would love to just pull up a chair in the middle of the drive and sit and knit all day and look at the scenery and the animals and just soak it all in.  The gift shop did not disappoint and I managed to spend all the money I had saved just for this stop on the retreat ~ I got an amazing Peruvian hand-crocheted alpaca table runner and 3 different colors of alpaca yarn to knit with (the black is from the very first farm produced black alpaca batch they've ever made)

Silent Auction

our retreat is days away ~ San Juan Island here we come! I had nothing to contribute to last year's silent auction and nothing this year, either, so I decided to make a knitting box to auction off for Heifer International (http://www.heifer.org/) ~ last year we were able to raise $560 dollars, with which we purchased a knitting basket (2 llamas & 2 sheep) and a flock of hope (chicks, ducklings and goslings) for needy families somewhere in the world

                 hopefully it will raise a few dollars ~ I may just bid on it myself ;)