The Big Faucet Will Be Turned "ON" Soon

September and October are truly the best months of the year to reside in Portland. The days are typically sunny, mild (low 70's this week) and rain-free. As we were warned when we first moved here from New Mexico 15 years ago, "If you want to do anything outdoors, do it before November 1st." That is about the time the Big Faucet in the Sky comes on and the next 8-9 months of uninterrupted rain commence.

I'm like most people around here. We accept and embrace the inevitable rain that gives us the year-round green landscape, amazing produce, beautiful Douglas firs, great vineyards and more bookstore and coffee places per capita than anywhere else in the country (except for maybe Seattle). The first few weeks of rainy season are welcomed with extra coffee and hot tea, curling up under an afghan with a good book and evenings spent next to the fireplace cozily knitting away. Ahhhh, this is why we live here...

I will be spending this winter tucked into my cozy place as seen in the adjacent picture. I was really lucky to end up in this situation as my unit is one of only three currently inhabited. This is my favorite home so far - high ceilings, floor-to-ceiling windows and beautiful wood floors. I spend many pleasant hours knitting and designing here in my cozy little tree house.

Currently my designing and knitting it is in an out-of-control phase. I have 5 project designs in the works including a baby cardigan, adult slippers, a toddler creature hat, a mohair adult pullover for a contest and a lengthwise scarf (probably the next one finished which I will post on here). My WIP (work in progress) list includes: 2 adult cardigans, 3-4 pairs of socks, a pink toddler cabled hoodie cardigan, a boy's pullover knit from sock yarn (that will take awhile), knit bead necklaces, and ongoing chunky scarves to sell on etsy.com.

I must point out that is only the projects in my Oregon place. The WIP's in my workroom in the Texas house probably number in the dozens at this point. I can't even begin to remember, much less count all of them since it has been nearly a year since I was there. I have packed a number of them ready to be shipped up here eventually and plan to finish as many as possible when I spend several weeks there at Thanksgiving.

Writing about my WIP's is making me anxious. Better wrap this up and get busy !

Now that its been almost 13 MONTHS!

I'm treating Labor Day 2o1o weekend like my own New Year with a bunch of fresh starts. Hard to believe it has been almost 13 months since my last blog post. I'm determined to do better this time and am aiming for weekly updates at the very least.

So much water under the bridge in the last year. I am no longer a travelling financial advisor as of this past March. I finally had my fill of the non-stop hotels, planes and rental cars and inability to return to my home base for months at a time. The two years of travel experiences were great and I don't regret any of the places I spent time and new friends I made all over the US, but I'm basically a homebody at heart. There's something to be said for dwelling among your own things and sleeping in your own bed at night. Plus I have way too much knitting paraphernalia to be toting it all over the place for weeks at a time...

So now I'm situated in a cool urban loft back in Portland, Oregon, truly the knitting epicenter of the US. I live a 5 minute walk from my work at an Edward Jones financial office and use all my extra non-commuting time to (what else?) knit even more. My place has great natural light, bookshelves crammed with yarn and knitting books and a whole extra room devoted to knitting and designing (photos to follow eventually). The Max (lightrail) runs right out front and I can easily get to the airport if I need to head down to East Texas to check on my house there.

I'm anxiously awaiting the publication of Debbie Stoller's newest Stitch 'N Bitch book, "Superstar Knitting" coming out November 1, 2010. I've seen the previews of my pattern design, "Baby Corn" and am blown away by the photos and layout. Yes, I knit the yellow dress the model is wearing in the picture on the beach and it will go all over the country in the upcoming trunk shows promoting the book release. Just hope I wove all those ends in tight enough!

Hangin' With the Amish

My most recent job brought me to a part of the country I had never seen. I'm working in York, PA, which is 45 minutes from the heart of Lancaster County/Intercourse/Amish country. The original job looked like it would take less than a week, but due to unforeseen circumstances, it looks like I will be stationed here much longer. It isn't too hot and the countryside is beautiful, as you can see from my Amish laundry picture (taken as I was driving) so I'm okay with that.

In a way I was glad to extend my visit as it allowed me to visit Lancaster County yesterday. Had a wonderful, surreal time wandering around Bird-in-Hand and Intercourse, where I found several great yarn shops and a lovely quilt museum. There are Amish buggies zooming all over the place and it all seems very authentic, not commercialized as much as you would think.

I was on a quest for local handspun yarn and I found some. I posted a photo of the 3 skeins I bought. The two on the left are natural-colored (one very grey and the other medium brown, which didn't photograph well) and spun from Corriedale sheep on a nearby farm. I bought them in Labadie Looms enroute to Intercourse from a fascinating shop owner that told me her family had been weaving/spinning for 300 years.

I love the golden yarn on the right. I bought it at Lancaster Yarn Shop (see two violinists playing on their back steps in the photo). It was also spun locally from Corriedale sheep and said on the tag it was "aster dyed". It looks like over 200 yards of worsted weight (already balled!) and only set me back $8.95. I can see it knitted up into a complicated, lush winter scarf. That color would look great with any color of outerwear.

York is an interesting area. I hate driving here as they are even more aggressive than Dallas drivers, but my hotel situation is great. The teenagers and 20-somethings here are some of the most polite I've encountered anywhere in my US travels. I'm planning to see Hershey and re-visit Amish country before I leave. I'm also about an hour north of Baltimore and two hours from Delaware. If I make it to those two states I can mark them off my states-I-need-to-visit list.

So This is What a Staycation Looks Like

I'm kind of shocked to realize how long it has been since I posted on here. I'm pleading busy on this one. Summer is always kinda crazy, and this one has been extra nuts for me with lots of travel and family activities.

I started off the summer leaving my great job assignment in Turlock, CA and moving directly to a job in Oregon. The job lasted two months in Lebanon, a small farming community near Corvallis and Albany (just south of Salem). I was covering for an advisor out on medical leave.

As it turned out, I was able to stay in my new place in Orenco (Hillsboro, OR) on the weekends and took my two week vacation over July 4th. Sayde came up to visit from Texas and stayed 6 weeks visiting me, her two older sisters and nephew. The weather was perfect and we had a blast. It was a true "staycation" as we played tourist in the Portland area, visiting places we saw years ago and places we had always wanted to go.

The highlights of our staycation included lots of swimming in the apartment pool, picnics in the park, every farmer's market in the area, the Oregon Zoo, OMSI (Or Museum of Science), 4th of July parade, trip to Voodoo Donuts in downtown Portland and much more. Fortunately Sayde took lots of photos so I can put my favorites on here.

Unfortunately the vacation ended, Sayde returned to Texas and we all returned to reality. I finished my last two weeks in Lebanon, spent a week in Orenco on "retreat" and was sent to Henderson, NV last Friday to another office. Henderson is a suburb of Las Vegas so that has been fun. I'm in a brand new hotel right up the street from the Green Valley Ranch Casino. Had to do the all-you-can-eat crab leg buffet yesterday and play a few slots. Today was 111 degrees - whoa , that is like a blast furnace on my pale, weak Oregonian skin.

More California Fun

I'm still in Turlock, California after 10 weeks so far. I like the area and am the longest-running tenant/guest in my Fairfield Inn. I joke with the hotel staff that they need to make a name plate for my room (top floor, far left) since I am about the only person that has resided here since the place opened. My room is very comfortable and I sleep better here than anywhere I've stayed so far. Even the hourly train that runs right by the hotel is restful.

I also enjoy the Prius rentals I have managed to score the last month or so in Sacramento when I fly in. The mileage really is unbelievable (about 50 mpg) and I can see owning one myself someday. I am trying to limit my In 'N Out Burger runs to one a week, but their excellent brewed ice tea brings me back.

My sister, Judy flew out several weeks ago and we had a great weekend visiting Napa/Sonoma (less than 2 hours from here). We had a brand new Holiday Inn Express hotel in American Canyon at the base of the Napa Valley loop. Spent the very rainy weekend enjoying Boon Fly Cafe (at the Carneros Inn), Sterling Vineyards (my absolute fave), Beringer, Frank Family Winery and others. The whole valley is magical and even in the rain it was so much fun. Judy and I had lots of fun drinking wine and hit a yarn store or two. She liked Turlock and we visited the Hilmar Cheese Factory before she left.

I spent Mother's Day in Portland totally alone as it turned out. Long story, but I'm looking forward to being there with Sayde and the girls (and Hudsy) in late June/early July for two weeks of vacation. I did get to Powell's City of Books and finally got a HUGE U.S. map to mark all the jobs I'm doing.

J-Knits asked me to test knit a lacy sock pattern for them. It is in a soft hand-dyed green sock yarn and has taken quite awhile (it is on size 0's). I'm also finishing up the Lace Ribbon scarf I've been laboring over for a year, a blue garter stitch pullover for Hudsy and more crocheted cotton market bags so I can be p.c. in Portland...

Finally on the Left Side

Yeah, I finally got sent on an assignment on the West Coast! I'm working in an office in Turlock, California, in the San Joaquin Valley. It is an interesting, agricultural area and a very conservative/religious island in the middle of very liberal California. The weather has been wonderful and the people are particularly friendly and welcoming. I feel right at home.

I'm definitely enjoying my stay here so far (3 weeks and counting) with a brand new hotel to stay in and plenty of great restaurants and shopping nearby. I'm trying to limit myself to one In-N-Out Burger per week, which is difficult. Anytime I have a drive-thru Starbucks right across the street from my hotel, I'm in heaven...

Since I am so near Oregon in this gig, I've flown up to Portland twice now. I hadn't been back in the state in two years and it was pretty emotional for me. Of course it was typical March rainy weather and I picked up a cold on the first trip, but I embraced it all. I'm determined to get around there now using only the public transit system. So far that has worked out well, although last weekend Jade hauled me around a bit for expediency sake.

Speaking of Jade (my 22 year old middle daughter), it was great to spend time with her. We did some heavy-duty shopping and restauranting packed into two short days last weekend. From the free breakfast at Ikea to Hotpot & Sushi (where the sushi comes by your table on a conveyer belt) we hit as many places as we could.

My knitting has suffered a bit with all the Portland weekend travel. I have 5 projects with me currently and haven't finished a thing. I'm plugging away on two pairs of socks - one with alternating scrap stripes with 6 different leftovers and one pair I'm designing in graphic black and white checks, stripes, circles. I'm plugging away on a cabled baby hoodie in melon, cream bamboo/wool baby mary jane booties and a stuffed teddy bear out of self-striping wool for the Hudsie. I'm hoping to finish up the booties today with a hole-up Sunday in my hotel room.

I did a quick yarn store search up in Modesto yesterday (10 miles north) and found all their former shops had closed. I was left with Michaels, Joanns and Beverlys which had a sad selection. I did score 3 pairs of smaller-sized Clover bamboo SPs at 30% off and 3 skeins of marked down brown wool/silk which will be perfect for a stuffed bunny (maybe the one in the Spring Debbie Bliss magazine).

The EDJ office I'm in here is the first I've worked as a Transition Rep that belongs to a friend. The FA is out on medical leave with debilitating migraines and he and I were in the same training class back in 1995 when we first started with Jones. It is gratifying to be able to help out someone I know but I'm am saddened by his health issues. I could be here awhile.

Texan Fun

I returned February 27th from a 2 week work gig in Fort Worth, TX. I was able to drive my own car & had an awesome hotel downtown so it was good. My birthday was on February 21st (a week ago Saturday). Mike and Sayde drove over from Lindale to hang out so I didn't spend it alone. We went down to "Cowtown" in the oldest part of Fort Worth, wandered around the old west shops and museums and saw the daily longhorn herding (see pics).

It was really cold and windy so eventually we took refuge in the giant Barnes and Noble in the heart of downtown Ft Worth. I found some great knitting books I had to have (hey, it was my birthday). I insisted we go to the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame museum which was so kitschy it was cool. The highlight was Sayde riding a mechanical bucking bronco (see pics) which was videotaped and hilarious. I'll get around to posting the short video eventually.

Last but not least, we "toured" Central Market, a Whole Foods wannabe I drove by between my hotel and the office. It was huge and was like a food/wine museum itself. I did get some good brown rice sushi and white cupcakes (yummmm) so my bd was complete.

Now I'm back in Lindale waiting for my next job and knitting obsessively on the Diminishing Rib cardigan (from Interweave Knits Spring '09). I started it several weeks ago and am using "Mohana" yarn which is very hairy and sheds. I'm finishing the tubular bind off on the body today and will pick up and knit the sleeves next. Several other people knitting this sweater have called it a "quick knit". I must be slow because I haven't found it quick at all. Of course, I am simultaneously working on Aran cable slippers, patchwork blocks afghan, a top-down toddler cardigan and many other projects so my knitting time is always diluted by project-jumping. I accept my knitting ADHD as my personal style these days. Hey, whatever works...