It's vacation time and I've taken a little break from sewing to do some knitting, only because it is a little more portable for me! The little girls, Auntie Nikki and I went to Kah-Nee-Ta resort for some sunning, swimming, and knitting. We swam, we knit but we got thunder and lightning every day most of the days we were there so the sun was a bit sparse. But we were good -- more time to knit. This was a very relaxing time. Kah-Nee-Ta is out in the high desert of Oregon, near Madras. The sage, junipers and pines smell lovely and remind me of many childhood vacations rock hunting with my parents & brother. While Nikki was busy recycling some Debbie Bliss yarn from a first-timer's hat to a lace scarf, I was busy making this darling little "jelly bean bags" from a pattern Halcyon yarn put out recently. They take one skein of cotton and 136 beads. It was my first time knitting with beads and although portions of the process were a pain (twisty yarn) the finished product is great. The girls love them (Angela selected blue, Suzie picked pink). Auntie picked hot pink with black beads which is in process right now.
Part of the wonderful vacation week was coming home to the APNQ quilt show held at the Washington State Convention Center this year. It was one of the best shows I've seen in quite some time. The level of talent, creativity and flawless execution on many of the quilts was humbling. Inspiring?? Yes, to a degree. There is such a gap between the skill portrayed in that room and mine, it's hard to imagine that I could ever deliver such a beautiful piece of work as many that hung in that room. But my optimistic nature says I can and will someday. But before that time comes, I have a few projects to complete.
So, to lay some groundwork for describing my next project series, you'll need to understand that the Mayor of Seattle, Greg Nickols, is a Mr. Green-Save the Planet-Hug a Tree environmentalist. This is super however he convinced our city council to assess a $.20/plastic bag tariff on every bag used in grocery and drug stores. Now, I'll spend a gazillion bucks on something I really like such as a gorgeous hand-dyed yarn or a luxurious silk fabric but I'll be damned if I'll take a $.20 charge on plastic bags. So, I've gotten busy making tote bags of a variety of sizes and fabrics. I'm experimenting on a design my grandmother had that allowed the empty bag to be rolled up and secured for easy storage and toting. I'm using some fabrics from my quilting stash -- you know those fabrics that I loved at one point but never got around to using before my tastes changed? I've gotten some a little big, some not sturdy enough but I'm still experimenting with the designs. Can you just imagine the number of bags you need to stock each car, each bike for store errands, that are enough to carry a full load of groceries and yet still appropriate for a handful of things? I'm not sure how many that will be but I continue to work to expand the collection.
Exciting news on the personal front. Angela, who has a disease called Moya Moya, has had one brain surgery to bypass troublesome arteries in her brain. That most scary event was in May of 2008. The MRA's that she had done the day before we left for vacation showed that the surgery was a huge success -- more blood vessels are branching off from the new artery and we're ready for surgery on the other side to accomplish the same end. Yay!!! We had a large number of people praying for her as we approached the surgery. We've been absolutely blessed to have had it all go so well. Thanks to all!
