Weekending

 Most weekends find me at home, catching up on housework, running errands, spending time with the family, and squeezing in homework and knitting with various rates of success. But this weekend my family headed over to Bainbridge Island for my Sister-in-law's graduation from the IslandWood program of UW. We took the ferry Saturday afternoon and Little A looked like she was up to no good, as usual.

 IslandWood is a beautiful environmental education center with several outdoor classrooms and we did a lot of wandering around the center and the gardens. They have a fountain shaped like a cabbage that captured Little A's imagination. A cabbage! A fountain! A cabbage fountain! You get the idea. 

 Trellises supported all kinds of yummy growing things.

 Color inspiration in the form of flowers and painted spigots.

Post-paella (really, giant pans of paella cooked over an open fire may be a new favorite of mine) walks in the slightly muggy, but very beautiful, evening and a perfectly still pond. There was also a suspension bridge involved in this walk but it made me feel slightly wobbly on my pins, so no picture. 

I didn't take pictures of the graduation ceremony, the enormous quantities of delicious food, and the never-ending sangria on Saturday night, but I think you get the idea. Just the right amount of travel for an overnight trip with minimal effort on my part and lots of good family time (and knitting). Congratulations, Chloe! Hope you had a wonderful weekend!

Stitches!

Not much can beat the feeling of Friday on a Thursday, especially a Thursday that includes flying down to the Bay Area for a wonderful event known as Stitches West. I'm heading to the airport after work with three of my besties where I'll experience my first trip on the light rail that runs from Downtown Seattle to the airport. This is a novelty for me since I'm usually flying with a husband, a child, a carseat, and various bags so I'm looking forward riding it in a lovely touristy way. Airports are airports so nothing special there but I'm looking forward to a beer on the plane ride.

Thanks to Nina and Sonia who gave me advice on what to do about my Stitches knitting project. Just after posting on Tuesday I decided what had to be done - I cast on for a new project. That yarn on the left is Madeline Tosh DK in Moorland which is currently being knit into the Pressed Leaves hat from Alana Dakos' new book Botanical Knits. That is the perfect yarn and pattern combination I spoke of on Tuesday which is not my Stitches project. That blue yarn on the bottom right?  That is my brand spankin' new project. The yarn is Quince & Co. Tern in the Back Bay color - a gift from my husband two Christmases ago. I'll cast on during my lunch break today for the Bristol Hat which I believe is the absolute perfect combination of small, portable project, yarn from stash, pattern from my library and queue, and ease of knitting for socializing purposes.

And if I happen to finish my hat over the next two days I'll just have to dive into some newly purchased Stitches yarn.

Best Laid Plans

I'm going to Stitches West this weekend. That's right, Stitches West. I'll be winging my way down to Santa Clara Thursday evening along with three of my good friends and then spending a couple of days in a yarn induced spending frenzy. I have a firm budget. I have a place to stay. But I need a plan.

What am I going to take with me to knit?

My friends, I am seriously indecisive on this count. I have a sneaking suspicion that I should continue with my current trend of finishing lingering WIPs. While this sounds totally boring, I'm gaining momentum on several projects that are woefully unremarkable in their ability to capture my attention for any length of knitting time and I figure I should just ride that train to the station.

But.

Over the weekend I pulled three skeins of yarn out of my stash and I am itching, ITCHING, to cast on with them. Two of these yarns are for a hat pattern which I purchased in December and has been lingering at the top of my knitting queue. The other is for a brand new pattern, not even queued, for which I have the perfect yarn in a beautiful color.

I really only need one project to carry with me since I'll be at a venue where yarn, needles, and patterns abound should I need them. So what would you do? Ride the WIP train or take something brand spankin' new? How do you choose knitting projects for your travels?