Why Texas is just *different*
That, my friends, is a SINK. Not just any sink, of course. This sink was in a McDonald's, at a rest stop somewhere between Amarillo and Dallas. Adam and I walked into our respective restrooms, and when I walked out (he was already out and waiting, of course), I walked up to him, leaned in close and wispered, "Was there a Texas sink in the boys' room, too?" to which he replied, "I was just about to ask you the same thing! Where's the camera?"
When we showed this picture to our friend in Dallas, she told us that someone in her neighborhood has a Texas-shaped POOL.
Updated Photos!
I just finished updating the photo site, there are now pictures of our trip going up to Mesa Verde, but I didn't put titles on everything yet. Enjoy!
Hello from Amarillo, Texas!
Our first night in Texas, and we're going out for BBQ for dinner. YUM!
Was checking up on people and found this website, Not Just Knitting, which made my jaw drop. I consider myself an expert knitter and crocheter, but freeform is something that awes me to no end. I can't stop staring at how beautiful her pieces are! No matter how much I try, it doesn't seem to be in my blood to do freeform . . .
Skyline's got one more color in it, and the LL shawl's done, waiting to be blocked when I'm back in NJ. Off to check some other sites! See ya next time I have a connection!
Hello from Cortez, CO!
We've driven 1,500 miles so far, and we're not even in Texas yet! We're now in Cortez, Colorado, where Mesa Verde National Park is. This is about the half-way point of our trip, at least in time. Driving-wise, we're about 1/3 of the way through . . . the biggest push will come in a few days when we travel through Texas to New Orleans, the stop I'm most excited about!
Since I know this here's a knitting blog, here's some knitting news:
I have been knitting, in case you were worried! I finished the Trivoli tank, and it's a bit short (ran out of yarn, and I know there's no more where it came from, since it's from String!) and wide. My plan is to get home and wash it and stretch it as much as I can, and hopefully it'll more closely resemble my body shape. It's not awful the way it is now, but it's not something I could wear and tell people I made it, if you know what I mean.
With the freed-up needles I started the Silk Corset, but that one appears to be too SMALL! I was working on it in the car yesterday and took it off the needles to measure. I'll tackle that job tonight, measuring in a car is just not worth it.
In the meantime I did work a LOT on my Skyline Shawl. As a response to the comment, this is a shawl I've designed which will be available for sale at Chiagu when it's finished. I've gotten two more colors into it, and am now working with intense reds and oranges (you'll have to take my word for it for now, can't get the pictures onto this computer). I love watching the colors change, it's addictive!
I'm also working on another shawl, this one using Lorna's Laces in the Black Purl color. I'm half-way into the second skein, doing this one in the rectangular top-down shape (my favorite shawl shape). I think I'll keep going for another skein and a half or so, although I did buy 4 skeins so I could make this really big if I wanted to. I'm making this one up on the fly, literally -- the first part uses a lace pattern that I took from another shawl and then inverted to do it top-down, and the second design I litterally made up this morning, since I didn't pack stitch pattern books with me. It was actually a lot of fun! This pattern will likely be a free one at Chiagu, once I'm home and have time to update the site.
Speaking of which, I have a few new sections going up in the near future, including the free pattern section I just mentioned, a project gallery (send pictures of you finished projects using Chiagu patterns to gallery@chiagu.com, include your name, yarn used, your blog, or anything else you want in there), a designer bio section, and a resources section with a few tips and articles I'm working on. There are also two new patterns almost ready to go up, so watch for that over the next two weeks, too!
Off to get some ice cream, it's HOT here in Colorado! See ya next time I can get an internet connection!
Hello from Las Vegas!
We haven't had a chance to get online since we left, so there's a lot to talk about. The flight to San Francisco was awful, complete with whinny child, smelly neighbors, and delays. But we'll talk about fun stuff, instead!
This is Adam and I at the official start of our trip -- we're touching the Pacific!
It was a very foggy day, so that's all you could see of the Golden Gate Bridge behind us (click on image for a big picture)
I realize not everyone will care about this trip, so click below to keep reading. . . knitting talk will be scarce! If you just want to check out all the photos we took, go to the Ofoto site.
We didn't have much time in San Fran (actually, we're rushing through most of the country), but we did hit a few key San Francisco sites. We had clam chowder at Fisherman's Warf, went to the Golden Gate Bridge (as you can see above, it was very foggy), Ghirardelli Square, and Haight/Ashbury. We had dinner with Adam's cousins that night, and the next morning we set off for Yosemite.
The ride to Yosemite was beautiful, we saw many examples of the "Golden Hills of California." By the time we got to the national forest outside Yosemite, we were stopping all the time to take pictures of the scenery. It was amazing.
When we got to Yosemite, we went to check in to Curry Village. We had a momentary scare when they told us they had us booked to arrive the next day, but that was easily resolved. We saw our "cabin tent" and put our food away in a bear locker, then we went to explore the lower Yosemite Falls trail. We got info on all the other trails, and the Upper Yosemite Falls trail seemed the most intriguing -- 6 to 8 hours round trip, all the way to the top of the waterfall. Having never hiked a day in my life, I agreed to go with Adam the next morning.
We woke up early, got coffee, covered ourselves with sunblock and bugspray, and set off. After literally 10 minutes of hiking up rocks, I was already winded. Long story short, I couldn't go further than about half-way (also known as the "easy part" before the "very strenous" part). So I stayed at a lookout called Columbia Rock while Adam hiked up a bit further, then we went down. I am SO sore from that! And now I know that no matter what you hear on Will & Grace, hiking is NOT walking. ;o)
More later, this internet connection is too slow to upload photos from. . .
