A Postcard from the Road

Greetings from Vancouver!

I am once again on the move, this time strictly for fun.  I'm hanging out in Vancouver, disrupting the lives of my two older children this week before journeying to Quadra Island to take a workshop with the incomparable Jacey Boggs of Insubordiknit fame.

I arrived on Tuesday, and was promptly roped into helping two male actors find budget-friendly dresses for a drag improv show.  Words cannot describe the experience, except maybe the word "bizarre".  And/or "hilarious".  These guys had no idea what women go through to look so good, and it turned out that they were pickier than any girl I've ever shopped with.  I came home with sore feet from all the walking, and sore sides from laughing so hard.

Wednesday got off to a bad start...

Yep, that's my Trindle.  I pulled it out of my bag to stuff more fibre around it.  Apparently that was a bad idea.  (After close examination, I have deemed the shaft repairable, but it was a bad idea anyway.)

So I consoled myself with a trip to Maiwa Supply on Granville Island.  Things improved quickly...

Yes, The Fleece and Fiber Sourcebook. 

I shall digress into a mini-review:

This is an epic work that took authors Deborah Robson and Carol Ekarius years to produce, and it shows.  The attention to detail is remarkable, and the photos are stunning.  There is a ton of information packed into this book, valid information, with references and everything.  And not just about sheep--the authors have included other fur-bearing critters, including cats and dogs.  Each species and breed is given a full history, a description of its physical attributes, a description of its fleece or fibre, and photos of its fibre unwashed, washed, and spun. This book will prove to be a priceless resource for spinners for years to come, and should be required reading for EVERYONE in the Master Spinner Program.

One small caveat to the Master Spinner types out there, some of the samples are less than perfectly spun, but Deb Robson herself told me that the book is not about perfect spinning, it is about fleece and fibre.

(By the way, I did say that this book contains a ton of information...that is also how much the book weighs!  It is wonderful, in this day of ebooks and Kindles to see a publisher commit to a big, solid reference that, frankly, will only appeal to a niche market.  But this book should take that niche by storm.  It is awesome.  BUY IT.)

We now return you to your regularly scheduled blog:

I also scored some dyes and some bits and bobs for the Fibre Week Kids Camp.

Then I mosied on down to the Silk Weaving Studio, where I found these...

SQUEEEEEEEEE!

I can hardly wait to see what today will bring!`

Whoa! What Just Happened?

There is just a blur where the last two weeks of my life should be!

I have been remiss in keeping my blog up to date, but I do have many good excuses.  Honest!  But when people start emailing, and even my Mom is asking for updates (okay, she wants to know the answer to the last riddle!), you know it's time to sit down at the old keyboard...

So, what have I been up to?

Well, there were the 12 days spent in Vancouver...

...which were pretty darned action-packed.  I visited the Vancouver Aquarium, rode The Ghost Train...

...throught the Gates of Hell and back.  I also rode on Surrey's Terror Train, meandered the pier at White Rock and walked Jericho Beach.  I taught Miss Lexi to knit...

...and then couldn't get her to stop.  I visited the phenomenal Lynn Anderson at Knitopia in her last week in  her Langley location. (She's back in White Rock now, and has suggested that you grease your hips before you visit her somewhat smaller shop.)

I took a little spinning workshop...

...which I intend to blog more about soon.  I went to see Mika in concert...

...which was waaaay too much fun for someone of my advancing years.  I listened to Elizabeth Wayland-Barber speak on Women's Work:  The First 20,000 Years.  And I got to spend some seriously high-quality time with my older daughter, an amazing young woman whom I don't get to see enough of since she has moved so far from home.

Then I had a long, weird day full of hilarious travel stories.  And I was home.

Just in time for two solid days of preparations for Halloween.

The crypt was built, cobwebs were strewn, and ghoulish goodies concocted...

...just in time for our first good snowfall of the year!  Between the snow (which made for some really icy road conditions!) and H1N1,  Halloween was a little, well, quiet.  The brave handful who ventured out to trick or treat scored much candy, and the braver handful who came to the annual party made for a marvelous , though somewhat more sedate than usual, evening.

And, for those of you waiting for the answer to the last countdown riddle:

Why wouldn't the mummy go on vacation?

He was afraid he might relax and unwind too much!

Mwahahahaha!

And after all of that activity, plus a couple of days of frantinc scrambling to get the household back in order, it only figures that my immune system would be ready to take a break.  So guess who woke up sick on Wednesday morning?  The last two days have been a festival of fevers and chills, accompanied by a sensation something like I would imagine it would be like having a flaming stake driven through my chest.  This morning, the coughing has started, and, oddly, I feel much better.  However, a couple of days on the couch, knitting, seems prudent at this point.

That's my story, and I'm stickin' to it.  **COUGH**