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Another Snow Event here in the Puget Sound Area, and I really don’t want to schlep out to get more suet cakes, yet worry about the birds finding enough to eat. My jar o’grease that I keep in the freezer has very little in it, so I decided to make a nutritious goo of peanut butter, rolled oats, and Crisco.
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I stuffed this into the bird feeder and put it out in cherry tree in the front yard.
I hope they like it!
Meanwhile, I’m inside busily dyeing Blue Faced Leicester roving to get ready for the Whidbey Spin-In, April 4 and 5. I’ll have a table on the 5th only.
Got wool? Oh, yeah.
Snow, snow, and more snow, piling up here at Chez Moomin!
The garden lizard wishes it would stop.
Something else has been out for a stroll.
Ah, it’s raccoons!
The lake is beginning to freeze over. The lighter grey in the foreground is slushy ice.
The garden hut is sporting an icicle.
Here’s hoping you are warm and cozy!
Two more knitted Christmas presents — done! The scarf I took to France as traveling knitting is done, blocked, and going to the post office tomorrow.
Keeping the snow warm
Here it is on the immaculate half inch of fresh snow on the back deck table. The yarn is Jaggerspun 2/8 wool, from a cone that’s been kicking around in the stash for a few years. As I thought, the pattern is very pretty, easy enough to memorize, yet not deadly dull to knit.
The Noro scarf is done, too.
All of it
The color matchups range from the zingy purple and golden brown below
Part of it
to the subtle, almost lose the stripe blue-grey-green action going on in the lower right here.
Another part of it
Although my right thumb and I are happy to be done with miles of 1×1 ribbing, this is such a rewarding project with the long color changes that I would recommend it to anyone.
With the two pairs of Hand Like a Hole also ready to wrap, I feel that I’m ahead of the curve on this Christmas knitting thing. Or should I try to whip out a hat for a favorite merchant mariner? Since I make them for strangers via the SCI, it would be nice to to do one for someone I actually know.
And yes, it has snowed here, just a bit. It’s very pretty, and is supposed to last a while, what with the record-breaking cold spell they are predicting. More than six days in a row with highs below 32 degrees! Cathy, stop rolling your eyes and laughing in derision over there. We are wimps, we admit it.
Holly and snow
When we were on the way back from Longview, we also stopped at the Nisqually Wildlife Refuge, where I saw this wooly bear crossing the path. What do you think, will it be a cold winter?
- Fur coat
When I was growing up, folklore I heard was that if the wooly bears have a nice thick coat, it’ll be cold; a mild winter if they are not so furry. But according to Wikipedia it’s based on the length of the orange stripe in the middle. Which to be all scientific, has no meaning at all, but it’s fun to think about.
We haven’t done a real road trip in a long time, even a mini one, so when Greg was offered a speaking engagement at Lower Columbia College, in Longview, WA, it seemed like a good excuse to pack up the car and go for a drive. We live north of Seattle, and I thought that Longview was near the Oregon border, so we figured maybe a five hour drive, allowing time for traffic. He needed to be there by 1pm, and we left at oh-dark hundred, heading south at 7am. Traffic was a breeze, and we found ourselves looking for a solid breakfast about 9:30 in the Lacey area.
Shipwreck Cafe
A good solid plate of hashbrowns ‘n’ chili omelet later, we were back on the road, and I was wondering if Shipwreck Cafe had any relation to something else I’d heard of in that area that was named Shipwreck . . . but more on that later.
The day was splendid, sunny with patches of drifting mist parting to reveal glorious fall color. It’s not like back East here, and some years just go straight from green to brown, but this year the leaf color is quite splendid.
We arrived in Longview rather early (not as close to the border as I thought), and had time to drive around town a bit and also get a tiny nap (those early morning wake-ups!) before meeting with the staff of the Language and Literature department. Turns out it was a department member’s birthday, so we got to share in the cake, a dense concoction of peanut butter and chocolate, specially made gluten-free for the honoree.
Deborah Wohrmann gave us a cup of tea and took care of the paperwork before turning Greg over to Klint Hull, who was having Greg speak to his class. There was a small session with the Science Fiction Literature class, and then we moved to a larger venue to continue the talk with other classes joining the group. After that, Klint interviewed Greg for a local cable tv show, then we went for an early dinner, with Deborah and Klint, and were joined by poet and faculty member Joe Green and also Kyle Hammon, Dean of Instruction — who turns out to be a spinner and knitter! We discussed wheels, Cormo vs. Corriedale cross, the properties of silk, etc., to the befuddlement of everyone else. A lovely dinner, then off to the public library where Greg gave another talk. If you are ever invited to speak at Lower Columbia College, they are marvelous people who will treat you exceedingly well, but they will work you!
I was too addled to take pictures of the college and events, but Longview is a charming town, worth stopping by if you need a break on the way from Seattle to Portland. The next day, we breakfasted at Stuffy’s
Case of baked goods
where we did not have the cinnamon rolls that were bigger than a human head. The waffle with bacon inside was splendid, though.
Another beautiful day as we headed home, and the handy navigator led us to the often heard-of but never seen by me mecca for shiny things with holes: Shipwreck Beads.
Shipwreck Beads
It says it is the world’s largest selection of beads, and I can believe it. They even spill out onto the sidewalk.
Beaded sidewalk
Inside, it seems to go on forever.
Got beads?
It’s rather overwhelming.
Got beads!
The last time I was at a really huge bead store, it was Berger’sin Los Angeles, and I found that it was about $1 per minute to be there. It turns out my personal rate of spending has stayed about the same, and we were only there for about $20 . . .err . . . minutes, leaving with supplies for a stealth project, so I’m not showing off at this time.
- So many beads, so little time
But if you are driving on I-5 in the Lacey area and just happen to be a little low on beads, you now know what to do.
