Ahhhhh.... this is it.

Not the greatest shot, but you get the idea. This is the view from my current hotel:Never mind that I have to lean against the window and look as far left as possible to see this view... heh The rest of my view's pretty decent if I ignore the rooftops of the buildings near my hotel. =) I landed at PDX, got my bags and my rental car and was checked into my hotel all by noon PST on Sunday. Yes, that means I was up and had bags in my car and was on the road by 4:30a EST. I don't recommend that, btw. Not fun. But I'm here now and it's all worth it! We've had gorgeous weather - chilly but clear - the past couple days and are expecting good weather the next week or so at least. Everyone I've met here so far has been really nice and they all seem to love living here. Such a change from Albany where I only got pity when they asked how long we'd be there! And getting to see eagles on my drive in to the office, well... it doesn't suck. =)

Feels like home...

I was home just over a week this time when I got a call on Monday informing me I'd be booked on a flight on Tuesday to... Oregon! Finally! Since Seattle last winter, I've been waiting and hoping to be put on a project back in the Pacific Northwest. I wish I'd had more warning, but wow, how could I be too annoyed when I get to come to such a beautiful place?Gorgeous. My friend Kim and I took a little road trip today and stumbled across this great old school house. Then, further down the road, we came across Emigrant Spring State Park. I fell in love with this great little cabin. Nice park with some great camping spots and of course, the cabins for rent by the night.
As always, the rest of the pics can be found here.
We also checked out the Wildhorse Casino on the Umatilla Indian Reservation. I've never had the urge to go to a casino and now... I still don't get the attraction. I can think of much better ways to blow my money than that. heh I'd love to head back to the reservation to check out the Tamastslikt Cultural Institute. No more casino though...

Headed to the frog pond...

*sigh* Sometimes you just have to take a step back, take a good look with less-biased eyes and realize... this just isn't working!and isn't going to get finished. =( I want to love it! I really, really do! It's my first sweater ever and I love the yarn but... this isn't working. heh Not sure what I was thinking when I chose this pattern other than I knew it would be simple for my first sweater. I'm not a huge fan of crew necks in general (great choice of patterns, huh?) and I'm not so sure the raglan style was a good choice for my body type either. The second being a bad sign for my capelet I began a couple weeks ago, also in a raglan style though it does have a different collar style. Anyhoo, I tried this on again tonight after I've been dragging it around for months, never getting the motivation to knit the button bands (all that's left to finish this other than weaving in ends). Standing in front of a mirror tonight, it is completely obvious... the sleeves are too big and an odd length, the back too wide, the fronts, well, not wide enough to contain the girls... It's also an odd length... not cropped, but too short to be normal length. What the heck was I thinking?! I think with some tweaking (involving completely ripping this out and starting over), it might be okay but really?! Is it worth it??? I say, nope! I've been wishing for awhile I'd picked a more involved pattern for my first sweater. This was just so... basic. Not that basic's bad, but, well, if I'm going to put all this time and effort into a sweater, shouldn't I LOVE it in the end and be proud to say I made it? This, I do not love. At all. Sadly. So, I'm giving up and it's being banished to the frog pond. Might leave it as is until I decide what to knit it up into later and then knit straight from this sweater, frogging as I go, save a few steps. Or maybe I'll just frog and wind it so I don't have to look at this disappointment anymore... heh I did learn a few things in the process at least. Maybe I should stick with hats, gloves and socks for now...

On a happier note, I made an awesome vegetarian lasagna today! Just look at all those veggies...YUM!

Back home again... in Indiana.

And Autumn is firmly upon us...


It was a beautiful, frosty morning today. Chilly enough to pull out Reilly's cold weather wear.

Perfect weather for knitting! I finished the fingerless gloves for my friend last weekand started the matching scarf at the airport while waiting for my flight home from NY Friday evening.Wasn't so sure about this pattern after the first couple of repeats, but now that I have 8" or so, I'm quite pleased with the results. Switching between US4 and US7 makes this scarf progress rather quickly, esp for one made of fingering weight yarn! This set should be nicely cozy yet lightweight, perfect for a cool Seattle day without being overkill. =) One Christmas present (almost) down!

And let the shopping commence...

Yeah, yeah, it's nearly November and I'm just starting to Christmas shop. Okay, in all honesty, I did start last month... a little. I've picked up a couple of small items but today was my first non-stocking-stuffer-like purchase. My mom mentioned wanting a set of interchangeable circular needles so I offered to get them for her for Christmas (no surprise for her - didn't want her to go buy them!). Whew! I'd much rather buy someone something they want and might actually use (yes, I like things to be used not just collect dust on a shelf if I can help it) than try to figure out something they'd like (and don't already have). I looked at costlier sets, but my mother doesn't knit much so this should work well for her limited needs as well as take up very little storage space (if you'd ever seen the house, you've understand that concern!).And I'll be able to afford a few other small items to go in the package too with the deal I got. Jo Ann's doesn't have these sets on sale right now, so I was able to use one of their online coupons (woo! 50% off!) and get these at a great deal. I do love finding good deals. =) Early this year, I found awesome deals on a ball winder and swift and saved my mom a ton since she got them for me for my birthday. I love everyone to get good deals. =) So... this officially begins my Christmas shopping ventures... and it was even knitting-related!

Undercover in Indiana

Last weekend (hey, we're almost current!), I was home... missing the New York Sheep and Wool Festival at Rhinebeck (*sigh*). I got so excited when I saw the signs up for the festival... until I realized it would coincide with my weekend home. Darn it. At least my weekend home also coincided with the Parke County Covered Bridge Festival in Indiana. I had a late flight back on Sunday so I took my mother down with me to the Mansfield festival. It was mostly just a big flea market with a ton of horrible (brick of fries, anyone?) food booths, but there's an old roller mill there that was a ton of fun to shoot. The light was perfect and warm, nicely showing off the antique machinery and wood. Here are just a few of the shots I got: Even caught one of the DNR guys grinding corn into meal. There really is more than corn in Indiana... but I bought a bag for a buck. =)As always, more pics in my flickr stream. It always cheers me up to get a great opportunity to play with my camera. =)
One of the booths did have some great leatherwork. I'm not a big fan of leather, but some of this stuff was pretty impressive.So, that was my morning. Then, back to New York for another two weeks...

A whole lotta water...

Yep, that's Niagara Falls! Two weeks ago (told ya I was behind), I headed out on a 5-hr trip across the state (in the rain the whole way, of course), ending up in Buffalo where a friend is working right now. We'd been planning this since we found out we were both headed to NY. =) We hit Niagara Falls on Saturday. Neither of us had ever been and I'd never really had a huge urge to go... but I gotta tell ya, it's incredible! Completely worth 10-hr car ride there and back It's like the Grand Canyon. You see pictures and think, yeah, that's pretty (and pretty huge), but you just don't realize how incredible it is... until you see it in person.That one (above) will take you to a video I shot of the Falls. I'm betting felting would be really quick there... if the water was warmer. =)

If you haven't been, go! Put it on the list. Amazing.

If you do go... get the Discovery Pass. You buy a booklet for $33 (for adults, not sure on the kid's price) and it covers admission to the observation deck, Maid of the Mist (boat), Cave of the Winds (the decks below the American Falls), the discovery center, the adventure theatre and the Aquarium of Niagara. Oh, and a one-day pass for the trolley that takes you to each spot. FYI - Park at the aquarium (free!) and take the trolley from there to avoid the $10 parking fee. They were letting people on without trolley passes and letting them purchase the passes at the stops next to the stands. Wish we'd known that! heh Also wish I had a passport (yeah, yeah, I know, I should have one by now... but I don't... yet).
We did the Cave of the Winds (awesome)

and the Maid of the Mist (awesome!) and went back on Sunday to see the aquarium (meh, the animals look bored out of their minds and are in too-small enclosures, I think). They do seem to take in some special needs animals though. All of the seals and some of the sea lions are vision-impaired either due to injury or cataracts so that's good. A lot of the fish were pets that outgrew either their tanks or their ownerss interest. I'm hoping the penguins are being rehabilitated too since so many of them looked pretty peaked. They just stood around staring at the rocks. =(

There were a few interesting characters in the mix. The camo crabs:Yeah, there is a crab under there!

I'm a turtle fan and this guy did not disappoint:Don't you just love that face? And he posed nicely for me too. =)

And always a favorite, the sea anemones:

Gotta love that!