Winding Up

So a little knitting did get done while we were vacationing. I knit in the car for most of our travelling, working on the Gathered Scarf. Nice, easy, mindless knitting. Perfect for a long car ride with constant interruptions from the bored children sitting behind you. I began it in the line-up for the border crossing from BC into Washington State. I'm using Knit Picks Gloss fingering weight yarn and size 7 & 9 needles. It's producing a lovely fabric, I can't wait to wear it this fall! It's only a couple of feet long at this point, but it'll be a good travelling project to work on at work in the coming months.


A few months back, for my birthday, I received a ball winder and swift from KnitPicks. Because of our crazy double move I only just recently had a chance to wind up some yarn with it. I was very disappointed. The swift is a bit rough around the edges, not a nice smooth wood like I would have expected, but that is something I can live with. The disappointing part was the ball winder. No matter what I did it would not produce lovely looking yarn cakes like I have seen all over the Internet, and in person from my friends. In fact, one of my friends owns the KnitPicks ball winder and her cakes come out awesome. So I went on to every knitters favorite website, Ravelry, and onto the forums where I found a whole thread about this particular ball winder. Turns out I wasn't the only one to get crazy lopsided piles of yarn, it wasn't me, it was a problem with the actual winder. So late on a Sunday night I sent an email to KnitPicks, not expecting a response for a while, I mean, they were closed and all, but low and behold, immediately the next morning I had a response apologizing for my funky ball winder and that they would send another out in the mail to me immediately! They didn't even want the old one back! They said just to chuck it! Crazy!

I have always heard good things about the customer service from KnitPicks, but this was my first experience with it, and I have to say I am thoroughly impressed!

Anyways, my ball winder has crossed the Canadian Border (according to Canada Post), and I expect it will arrive any day now. I'll let you know how the new one works.

A Vacation in Pictures

Cannon Beach, Oregon

(The Cabin Where We Stayed)

Long Beach, Oregon

(Kite Festival)

(Wild Bunnies)

We are so going back.

Heat Wave!

Well I guess it's from one extreme to the next around here! Last post I was talking about how we were so cold in the house since we've turned the furnace off, now we are in a bit of a heat wave! My car thermometer registered 40 C (104 F) on my drive home from work the other day. Granted, the hot metal of the car usually ups the temp by a few degrees, but wow. For some of my friends who are used to this kind of heat (hi Charmaine who lives in Phoenix!!!) are probably rolling their eyes at me right now, but we do not have a pool in our backyard, nor do we have air conditioning. So to us, this is significant. I have been surviving by laying on the couch with a fan blasted right at me, spreading out as far as I can so none of my skin touches, and eating plenty of ice cream sandwiches. I've gained 3 pounds. I am so not made to live in the heat!

We had a family reunion yesterday - all the relatives from my mom's side of the family. It was pretty cool to see everyone - some I haven't see for at least 15 years! My cousin hosted at his home, a very beautiful home on acreage. There was so much to do. We spent the afternoon swimming in the pool, jumping on the trampoline and flying down the zip line!

Here the kids are getting ready to come flying down. It was soooo high up. I was really scared when it was my turn, it was so hard to step off the ledge! (I'm a big chicken.)

The smaller kids were just rippin' down. It was very fun. The event was catered courtesy of my cousin John (the host), and the food was FANTASTIC. I never in a million years expected such extravagance. I thought it was going to be hot dogs, hamburgers, and pasta salad - typical BBQ fair, but instead there was Fillet Mignon, salmon, brisket, so many salads and yummy vegetables., and chocolate fondue for dessert. It was heaven.

Here's Maeghan with a couple of cousins (my second cousins) whom she has never met. The girls were inseparable. They had a great time. It was especially nice for Maeghan because on Aidan's side of the family there are no other girls her age. And in our immediate family no girls at all. So she was really thrilled, I hope we can keep in touch with everyone a little bit better.

Tomorrow evening we are having a family dinner to celebrate my brother Darren's 30th birthday (Happy Birthday Darren!) and my Dad's 61st Birthday (Happy Birthday Dad!). Their birthdays are 3 days apart, as well as Aidan and I having our wedding anniversary right in between! It will be 7 years this year. Time flies!

I'm going to need this weather to cool down a bit if there's going to be any knitting in the near future. I'm trying to think of a project to take along to Oregon this summer (road trip!). Something small, and portable. Maybe I'll start some of those Ribby Slippers fr0m last year's IK Gifts. They would make good gifts. Or perhaps a lacy scarf for me. Hmmm, I'll have to think on it a bit more. Have a great weekend everyone! Happy BC Day! I love long weekends!