Ah, SPA!!!

Better late than never, I 'spose. Went to NETA Spa in Portland Maine a few weeks ago, and had a great time. Took Lisa, of course - whenever there is an excuse to get the heck away for awhile, we are so there. Spa weekend doesn't even start until Friday afternoon, but we went up on Thursday just to have more time to relax.

Lisa is standing next to a fantastic mermaid in progress, by Lida Diak at Grafton Fibers. What cracks me up is the mermaid doll the big one is holding. (No, I will NOT pick up another fiber skill. No, I will NOT pick up another fiber skill. No, I will not pick up another fiber skill. But felting is pretty cool. So maybe someday...)

Thursday, Feb. 15th: Got to the Doubletree in Portland after a very easy drive up there (and an excellent lunch at the Galley Hatch in Hampton - EXCELLENT onion rings!!) around 6:00, and stopped at the Shaw's down the street for a few munchies, water, and other stuff we forgot. Would you believe the lobby was full of spinners and knitters already?

Friday, Feb. 16th: Grabbed lunch at Amato's - will definitely go back there again. Great Italian takeout and the owner was a big flirty teddy bear - just my type, if I wasn't married...

Lisa and I did a shift as Greeter Gnomes at the welcome table, got to chat with Tommi Hall for awhile. She's very cool - even took the time to teach someone how to knit on Thursday night. How do I know that? Her pupil got in our elevator, and headed to Tommi's room right across the hall from us.

It killed me, just about, to watch everyone file into the Vendor room at 5:00, when our shift wasn't over until 6:00. The good stuff was going to be all gone!!! Little did I know, there was way more good stuff than could be bought in an hour by hundreds of fiber-ers with itchy credit cards. I liked that most of the fiber for sale was home-grown, home-dyed, and / or home spun. There were products there you would never see in the typical yearn store. And OMG - the spinning wheels were beautiful. I am sticking to my promise never to take up spinning, but it's tough. Maybe a drop spindle some day....


Saturday, Feb. 17th: Was today the day of Lisa's first knitting joke? Or was it Friday - I forget. But we were checking out the vendors, and we found one with about a dozen beautiful fish hanging from her kiosk. She had knitted them, felted them, and stuffed them. So she actually asked - are those (wait for it...) GE-FELTED fish? Bwahahahahahahaha. No really, it was funny at the time.

Also met a very nice lady who was weaving on a jackloom as she ran her kiosk full of yarn, books, weaving tools. Since I am still working up the courage to take my Kromski Loom out of the box, I asked her if she had a book for total weaving idiots, and she made several suggestions. Picked up some books, some Interwoven magazines, checked out her Opal yarn but managed to resist.

Sunday, Feb. 18th: It was hard to check out. Didn't do a whole lot of e xciting things, only hooked up briefly with other knitters, and barely saw the ManchVegas crew, but it was relaxing, and very liberating to do whatever we wanted, when we wanted to. No hubbies, no pets, no kids, no chores. No dishes. Beds made for us. What's not to like?

The Doubletree did a fantastic job for us. I have never slept in a more comfortable bed, with more pillows than one human needed. The restaurant served most meals buffet style, and the food could have been a bit better, but it was fine for the price. Lisa would have been happy with their bean medley for all three meals. Odd girl. Where's the chocolate? Well, it was in our room, that's for damn sure.

Lisa found some super-soft chunky yarn to start another project on. Or maybe to stuff in her bra, right, Gina?

Guess what I FINISHED!!!!! (Merry Thankmas Spoiler, Jess!!)

Yes, I have SPA pics and want to talk about this past fantastic weekend, but FIRST. I finally finished that SMUCKING Cheetos sweater from H - E - double hockey sticks. I think it's gorgeous - soft, slightly shimmery, OK - maybe not perfect, but I think it will fit her. Took the bag o'parts with me to SPA, and told myself I wasn't coming home till it was done. After all, Jess is finally getting her arse home next week, and I promised her she would have her Bolero when she got back.



Since Jess missed so many holidays while in Brazil, we are going to get together soon to catch up - calling the day Thankmas. Cuz HallothankmasNewSuperBowlPrezzyMLK Day was just too long. And who makes greeting cards for that.


So Jess, if you are reading this, pretend you didn't when you unwrap it. Pretend you love it, even if it is a bit lumpy in places. Pretend you will never take it off, even if my finishing skills are less than speck-takkaler.

Cause with every dropped stitch, every frog session, every curse I threw at it, every ARM HOLE I SEWED UP WITHOUT THE SLEEVE IN IT, it still came out kinda cool.

Didn't it? Can't wait to see how the color looks against Jess' tanned just-back-from-Carnival skin. Should be GO-JUSS.

Is it SPA, yet?

Soooo looking forward to going to Portland in a few weeks for SPA weekend. Lisa and I are heading up Thursday night, and not heading home until Sunday. And as luck would have it, Monday is Presidents' Day, so I won't have to sleep on my keyboard at work.

Lisa is working on a really pretty scarf with some difficult (slubby, loose spun) yarn. She is going to work on her first Booga bag next, and as luck would have it, I had picked up four skeins of Noro Kuryeon for her as a surprise. And even more lucky - I picked a colorway she had already looked at and decided that was what she wanted. It's like I can read her smucking mind, ya know?

Lisa and Cris came over today for pre-game munchies and to just hang out awhile. Keith and JP also came over to watch the game - they are in the linving room now with Mark hollering at the TV. I made a killer pulled pork for some fantastic sammies, and tater salad, sausage peppers n' onions, cole slaw, chicken wangs - everyone was walking around with a Buddha-belly before they left. That's my goal - if anyone leaves my house hungry it's cuz their stupid. But for some reason, everyone feels compelled to call me the next day to complain about how their own digestive systems processed my food. It's not MY fault they can't handle onions and garlic and BBQ sauce. Didn't make my truly faht-worthy baked beans this year though, so might have peace and quiet - we'll see.

Working on a willie warmer for one of Cris and Lisa's friends- keeping track of the pattern as I go. So far:

On size one double pointeds (I am using really nice Brittany (birch) shorter needles), cast on 60 stitches, divided across four of the needles. K3 P3 Ribbing for the desired length (yes, ribbed for her pleasure.... shhhhhhhh). Haven't reached the point where I need to do anything tricky - will figure out that part when I hit it. Thought that I might even create some sort of sac with a draw string for the berries in the twigs and berries partnership. I am using this sorta flesh color yarn, with a hint of a mauvy-purple to it.

Question - how long do I make it? And how do I answer that question? The recipient is Brazilian, so I am assuming I will use most or all of this skein!!! HEEHEEHEEHEE...

That's it for now.