Taking a Break

After weeks of thinking about, talking about and working on spinning classes, I was getting a little snarky. So, I took a little break to celebrate the passing of another year in my life. Yup, I took the weekend off to party for my birthday!

Our little household set off on a mighty expedition to Edmonton, where we spent some time with family and friends. On Saturday, we went to the St. Albert Farmers Market and got some fresh veggies and some other nibblies. Then I settled out on my Mom's patio and spent the afternoon knitting and chatting in the sunshine. There was a yummy barbecue supper, and some more knitting. Our plans for a fire and s'mores were curtailed by a thunderstorm, but we had a swell time on the covered patio watching the storm.

Sunday was my actual birthday, and I got to do anything I wanted. So here's what I did: First, I went to the zoo.

...and unusually tiny pictures were taken.

I visited Humpty Dumpty.

I nibbled on a little cotton candy. (Of course the pictures upload larger when I am making a pig of myself!)

I got a sheepie puppet! Her name is Meryl Sheep. Of course!

Then we went to visit Brendan at work, where he made me a special birthday cone!

Then we went to Red Lobster, where Meryl got into the Sangria. I may have sipped a little, too...

Then I opened many fabulous fibre-related gifts from my family, including 4 skeins of Lorna's Laces sock yarn, some Lantern Moon dpns, a sheepie tape measure and a Steiff sheep key chain all the way from FAO Schwarz in New York! There were also some gorgeous earrings and a Starbucks coffee card and a whack o' lottery tickets (no big winners, though) and a really awesome little windchime. Wow!

Monday, we rolled on home, rested and refreshed and much less cranky than I have been for weeks. Ready to face the workshop prep ahead.

I also got the knitting finished on my piece for the Gibson's Landing Fibre Festival Instructor's Exhibit! Woo-hooo! I beat my deadline. It's blocked and drying right now--pics to come. For now, here's a peek at the yarn:

Mohair, spun from locks that I bought at the Olds Farmers Market last summer and dyed up inJune. I flicked the locks, then spun them in random sequence. The singles were Navajo-plied to retain the colors and the resulting yarn is about 24 wpi. I gave the yarn a soft brushing to bring out the halo and soften the hand and cast on and entrelac scarf. Stay tuned...