Man in Snow, originally uploaded by Victor Keller.

My dad is coming Friday! I can’t tell you how stoked I am. Yesterday I received an email link that of a picture of my dad that his friend Victor Keller had taken. I absolutely adore this picture and I just had to share!

Since I have no work schedule that means that I get to hang out with my dad all day and do weird random things. This is some quality time that I am going to use to really explore Portland, take pictures and get lost a lot.

I’m here in Washington (Ridgefield to be precise) and I love it. I adore it. And I might become a polygamist to mary it too.  The trip up here from California was relatively easy. It was two 8 hour days which isn’t bad considering it took us multiple 14 hour days to get to Ohio & back.  No, this was easy and fast.  There was only one small road we took from the 101N to the 5 that scared the crap out of me. Picture a small winding 2 lane road with small shoulders and narrow lanes. Then picture yourself driving behind your husband who is pulling a u-haul and that you are watching as the sand on the shoulder grabs the trailer wheel and yanks the whole  suburban & u-haul to the right, then you watch as your husband corrects, over corrects, and finally gets it back on the road.  I didn’t want to call him to distract him, but I spent about 20 minutes yelling at him through my windshield to hug the middle yellow line.

That honestly was about the biggest drama we had.  The cats road with me & Tank rode with the Mr. All animals could have cared less about being on the road for all of them except Tank are true veterans of moving. I have 2 cats that have even moved on an airplane!

So yes, the house, it rocks. It beyond rocks. It’s so freaking awesome that you will have to drag me kicking, screaming, spitting, and wrapped up in a straite jacket to get me out of this place.  We are situated on 5 acres outside of Vancouver.  There are 4 fenced paddocks for animals and 1 barn. (OMG I HAVE A BARN!!!!) We have 2 garages, one a 2 car attached, the other a 4 car unattached that will be the Mr’s work shop.

There are lots of trees, flowers, and birds.  Tank is running around like a maniac.

My god there are so many awesome things to talk about I don’t even know where to begin outside of the house so we are just going to number them old school style and I’ll talk more about them later.

1. It’s GREEN
2. There is SWEATER weather
3. There is a fast food place that is all local & sustainable and it’s not hippy and it IS delish
4. Hello world of yarn shops, party of one, I think I’m in heaven
5.Washington has no income tax
6. Oregon has no sales tax
7. I have an ikea with in 20 minutes of me
8. The people up here are SO NICE it’s a little freaky
9. There are lots of restaurants and not ALL of them are mexican!
10. I don’t feel like I’m 10″ tall here or 500lbs since people are NORMAL sized up here!
11. You have reasons to wear cute shoes & socks, not just sandels
. Hats are a reasonable accessory when your hair sucks
13. There is a church & a library in the MALL!
14. People don’t look at you like a freak when you knit in public
15. The grocery stores are fab!

ok I think 15 random reasons why I’m appy to be up here is enough right now. I have knitting to blog about, patterns to publish, pictures to show, and a house that needs to finish being unpacked.  In the mean time here are some random pictures for you~
Tank dug a 2 foot deep hole and pulled out a vole. I was seriously proud.

This is my barn!

We are here in Vancouver Washington! It was a longish drive though not bad at all!!!  The cats rode in my car, the dog with the Mr. It was pretty seamless.  Today we take possession of our new house! It’s so amazingly awesome!!! I will post pictures as soon as I have internet.  Trust me, it’s fabulously awesome!  We have 4 fenced paddocks, a large barn, lots of trees, 2 garages (one of which is a 4 car garage & will be the Mr’s workshop), 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and tons of space.  I’m so in love with this house!!!

Knitting is going along just as normal and I will have projects to talk about as soon as I can post pictures.

Now I have to find a new knitting shop and knit group.  I’m a little (ok a lot) intimidated by this. People think it’s easy for me to make friends because I’m outgoing but I never really believe that people like me for at least 3 months.

Ok, back to the unpacking & moving process If you have any recomendations on knit groups or shops near Vancouver Washington or Portland Oregon I’d love to hear them!

Happy 4th of July to all my American friends.  Today marks the day that we officially told Great Britain ”No more!” in maybe not so polite terms. Today I am going to bring the Tankers down to the Ventura street fair and wander the booths.  I’m always torn about bringing Tank out in to such public settings because on one hand I love showing off my beautiful happy boy, but on the other I don’t like being stopped a million times and asked what kind of dog he is (he’s 1/2 great Dane and we think 1/2 mastiff).

In other news I finished a super cute hat that is now my most favorite hat ever.

Pattern: Twisted Raveler
Yarn: Malabrigo Merino Worsted (Frank Ochre)
Needles: US 7 & 8
Verdict: Absolute perfection!

As with most hats the crown decreases are where it’s at for me. I love a good “in pattern” decrease.  Which is probably why I’ve knit several koolhass hats & Carmel hats.

In other news I’ve been knitting away at two mostly stockingknit sweaters which I haven’t posted here because one can only stand so many pictures of plain stockingknit.  One is an alpaca circle sweater like mine for my dear friend Carol and the other is a light weight zip up hoody for the Mr in celebration of our 7th wedding anniversary.  I think it’s a little funny that it’s our wool anniversary.  How perfect that?

Well, not much else to update about (at least honestly that can be updated as there are still things going on that I will not discuss yet) so I leave you with a picture Bob who firmly believes that everything is better upside down.

I’ve been missing for almost a month and I really don’t know what I’ve been up to.  We go up to our friends’ ranches and screw around in the yard with the dog and I knit.  That’s really about it.  Oh & the truck needs a new transmission which used to stress me out but we are rocking the one car thing right now.

I’m getting back to spinning and trying to work through my stash.

This was some lovely coridale that I received for my birthday last year from my dad. It’s refreshing to have somone beyond the Mr really understand what I’m pastionate about it.

The Mr has started a garden in the backyard and it’s really starting to flurish.

I’ve finally finished a shawl.

I’m also finishing some small projects for my niece who I’ll be seeing at the end of the month when we take a family trip to June Lake all together.

I’m a little worried about this sweater not being long enough so I might add some extra length because Miss Mi is pretty tall.

I’m almost finished with a pair of socks.

And beyond that I know a whole lot of nothing. I’m hoping that this summer will bring lots of fresh vegtables, a loom (I’m in the market for an 8 harness), and lots more knitting. I’ll happen by with another more pictures and updates.

Getting back on the blogwagon here with another new knit.  This sweater I saw right before christmas at my friend Carol’s shop and immediately loved but hated the price tag.  So being a knitter I took some initiative and made a copy.  The result is my favorite sweater ever. 

The result is a light weight warm sweater that’s super soft and delish to wear.

One of the best features is the long round collar that bunches perfectly around your neck to keep you warm.  The reverse stockingknit is fun and interesting and rustic.

I used just under 3 skeins of Henry’s Attic Prime Alpaca in a fingering weight on size 4 needles. At times it was tedious but the result is one of the most wearable sweaters ever.  Perfect for California beaches it’s light and breezy but alpaca strength warm.

I am planning on posting for free the recepie that I used to put this sweater together.  It’s really just a basic cardigan with a bowed front shape and some serious short row shaping through the hem and collar.  This shaping creates length while keeping the nice curve.  Yes, it was a pain because there was a LOT of knitting on this sweater but I’m glad I did it.

Did I mention I love this sweater?!

And I’m not the only one to get a new sweater…

Tank is such a short haired pup he gets cold in the snow and rain so he needs a little help.  One skein of eco wool + and a crochet hook and a sweater is being born.

Another sweater is in the works too.

Garter st and tweed is delish!

Tank still goes to the dog park every day and I can’t tell you how happy I am with this decision. It’s like putting your kid in a really great day care.  He plays really well with the dogs and is Mr popular with dogs and people alike.

Tank has a thing for little dogs and I’m not sure why. He LOVES them and wants to play so badly but mostly they are intimidated by him.

I don’t think that we could have been blessed with a better dog. He’s so well balanced, happy, and willing do please I just feel like such a dork talking about him.

So it’s been kind of a while since I’ve last posted.  The fact is that when I get home from work I’m just not really up for putzing around on the computer especially since I sit in front of a computer all day.

I have been working on some crafty type things.

I’ve crocheted a scarf that I really love.  It’s out of a heavy fingering weight icelandic wool that makes a delicate looking but sturdy and warm scarf.

Even Tank has gotten in on the crocheting.

A few weekends ago the girls and I went to Santa Monica on a small yarn crawl.  I have to say that Wild Fibers is one of the prettiest shops around.

I finally finished spinning some gotland though I still have more to spin up.

Tank is probably the happiest sweetest pup ever. 

Spring is coming around.

We took tank to the beach for the first time and frankly he wasn’t impressed.

I’ve been knitting more & more.  The thing that I’ve finally been working full time on is the huge wrap sweater copy that I fell in love with at Carols.  But with a price tag at over $200 I thanked the gods that I was a knitter.

I will most likely be making this sweater a free pattern though it will only be available in 1 size most likely.  It’s meant to be slouchy though so maybe people will dig it. This sweater is light as air and so silky soft I can’t wait to snuggle in it. 

Tank is doing really well.  He’s learning some new tricks such as “Speak” using sign language (a trick that my husband’s family taught their golden retriever and I kind of dig) to “Paw” and almost a full “Roll Over”.  I’ve never had a dog that did tricks.  Bulldogs are not known to suffer patiently but Tank seems to really enjoy the challenge and learning.  You can see his mind working as he tries to figure out what you want.

I feel like I’m finally coming out of hibernation.  I’ve never really given myself a break from life or people before.  I feel a little guilty about it but I just don’t have the energy for a lot of extra stuff.  Frankly I usually just get so wound up in the lives around me that I’ve never had a chance just to pull back and exhale.  Thankfully the Mr is really super supportive and ready to keep the world at bay if that’s what I need.

The Mr has made me some amazing ebony buttons for this coat and I can’t wait to get them put in place.

I’ve also started a new shawl which I really love.  I can’t figure out what edging to go but I’m thinking a bobble edge.