I'm being followed by a rain shadow

Jesse and I went East for a restful weekend of visiting friends and family. I enjoyed getting out of town, he does all the driving- so guess who does all the knitting!



The drive is pretty, we started out in the Cascades



held our breath at The Gorge





and were in the land of wheat before we knew it.



We went to Spokane, which as everyone knows is where they keep:



The Hot Carly. I looked around, but my college roommate was in North Carolina. Not Spokane.

We found plenty of hotness however, in nearby Cheney.



Yes, that's Nerissa and I at the hardware store. We can have a good time anywhere.

It was a short trip, but with blue sky, pumpkin pie and these smiling faces



we'll be back for another visit as soon as we can. Which is pretty much as soon as the snow melts. Let's hope for a short winter shall we?

The Silver Fox

We've seen the sweater go from this:



To this:



And finally, we have this:



Doesn't he look regal?

That's my Dad, finally modeling his long awaited sweater. It's knit from Lopi, a rough icelandic wool. I may never knit with it again, but I feel better knowing he appreciates its scratchiness. He feels its rough texture and knows it will last through years of hunting and fishing.

He really does like it and that makes my rough hands and hours of hauling around a large sweater, just to finish that last sleeve, worth it.

Pattern from The Knitters Handy Book of Sweater Patterns by Ann Budd. Which despite the bottom up raglan directions is an excellent book. Just look at the results!

Have I mentioned the quilt?

In all the hubbub with getting married and moving and whatnot I don't think I ever posted about our wedding quilt. If I did it couldn't have been a sufficient post as I don't remember it. And I think this deserves its own post.

Jesse's mother and grandmother, Diane and Stella, made this quilt for us.



I was allowed to choose the colors, because even though it's our quilt, Jesse already has a beautiful quilt that was made just for him. This one was for us, but I really felt like it was for me. A welcome into the family. And what a beautiful one.


The colors I chose aren't the usual palette for Stella or Diane. Looking through their generous fabric stashes I only saw hints of the colors I wanted. Dark reds and aqua blues I said. Rusts in the ocean. Diane looked at me funny, but I don't think anyone could argue with the result.




Thank you Diane and Stella. I love it.