close call

a few days ago,  there was a small fire on my road.  Here's the report from yubanet: 

"August 8, 2013 at 10:34 AM The fire on Sycamore Lane was caused by a downed powerline. The fire is fully contained, but some interior burning is occurring. PG&E en route. Firefighters are on scene, smoke can be seen in the Bullards Bar area."

Here in Northern California everyone knows how quickly a small fire can turn into a big fire real quick.  I'm always on edge till the end of fall when the rains return.  Every summer we try to be prepared if the horrible does happen and we have to evacuate. What to bring?  

Well, yesterday the fire was super close.  Too close for comfort.  I realized if it spread quickly the road could be blocked.  When we saw the flames I said to liam, time to pack the truck.  We calmly raced around the house grabbing items and shoving them into boxes and bags.  I already had our important papers box packed.  

Later it was really interesting to see what we both packed.  Roy was out of town.  These things always happen when he is out of town.  I took some photos of what I packed.

I packed one apron, my iPad, dittie bag still packed from last overnight trip, favorite dress, one dog leash, knitting bag with my Stephen West old forge blanket project and my autographed copy of the pattern book 3(see previous post), my calendar book, my glasses, a stripped linen shirt, 2 pairs of skivvies, one bra like thing, bass pro bag packed full of knitting paraphernalia, my awesomely new knitting project bag made by soxy sue herself- which contains the man shawl thendara project I'm making for hubby, 2 skeins of yarn and a gorgeous pigeonroof studios merino braid in the verbena colorway. If our house was going to burn down and all my fiber with it, I needed at least one braid so all was not lost. oh, and my pockets were crammed full of little sentimental objects too dear for me to post.

 

Here's some close ups:

liam packed his bike and his mandolin and his current hemingway book, "to have and have not."  i was totally freaked out that i couldn't find the old baby photo books.  it was very fortunate that my neighbor was in her garden when it happened and was able to call PG&E and Fire right away or the outcome might not have been so good.  We lost power for the day and late into the night.  liam took these shots of the fire:

  

 that was a close call.  two days later another fire started by yet another downed power line.  not so close this time but still in the area.  we lost power again.  sigh.  i'm very thankful to all the incredible fire fighters we have here that help us in so many way.  thank you.  and yes, in case you are wondering we did pack the dragon.

spring delights

spring is definitely here!  the hens finally started laying again.  i was not happy buying eggs and chicken feed!  driving the canyon to town this past week the bush lupines, indian paint brush and blue dicks are blooming!  even the laundry on the line smells fresh and alive.

our lettuce is doing mighty fine.  i just planted some radishes, kale, rainbow chard and more salad greens.

 looks like i need to do some thinning!

i've been knitting up a storm lately.  trying to finish katie's cowl-made from luscious baby alpaca-ran out of yarn.  my lys is out and they are trying to find me a skein so i can get this to poor katie's cold neck before summer.
 

here is my dark and lovely merino/cashmere ananke shawl.  the yarn is from pigeon roof studios.  love her stuff!!!  so bummed she was not at stitches this year.  the picture does not capture the colors at all.  so much better in real life.

my daybreak shawl which i renamed "north sea quarry" is turning out nicely.  western sky knits dyes wonderful colorways as well.

how's that for a quick update.  now i must get out and walk the dragon!

stitches west 2011 part 2

Dang, i better wrap up my stitches west trip-before it's ancient history. we spent the entire day friday till 6pm on the market floor. oh the intensity!!! i found a few new vendors that i just adored and thought i'd share them with you.

there was WOOL CANDY from san carlos ,ca. adrienne had beautiful colors and ultra soft fibers. sorry, i didn't get a photo. i bought some roving from her-couldn't resist.

BECOMING ART was a definite must! Lisa was super sweet. here's rhodi and i modeling with our favorite colorways-merino and cashmere roving- buttery soft!


of course there was SANGUINE GRYPHON. amazing-about sums up their booth.

here's another booth photo- the photos don't do it justice. they had some awesome steam punk stuff too! i wish i'd gotten some photos of the gals working the booth-their costumes were amazing.

we spent a lot of time at the SUNSHINE YARN booth. dani put up with our weirdness and out came the credit card....shhh!!!!

SOXCHIK and i had the opportunity to meet ALI MacGRAW!!! OMG! she was so nice and sincere! ALI just loved my fraggles. she still looks fabulous! she was there promoting the ali hat from "love story."note her hand on my shoulder!


about half way thru the day-i was overcome with waves of intense nausea and faintness. oh no! i was beside myself-i just couldn't get sick at stitches. then my mom's instant cure popped into my head:

works every time!!! there's nothing like a cold icy coke when you need one. i was feeling refreshed and ready to walk the floor again, breath in more yarn fumes and spend more money.

found some awesome buttons- my computer has decided the picture should be sideways-????

this is the first year i took a class at stitches. i have realized that my knitting knowledge hasn't really deepened or expanded in the past years so, i decided to take a class- a real class. not a "fun" class but a "brain" class. i had to leave all my friends in the market place and head to my classroom. i was feeling a bit anxious. of course i was the last one to arrive to class-i wasn't late, but i wasn't there early getting all set up like a good student. i came in with fraggles, wearing a vintage apron, dropping all my stuff like the total geek that i am -at least i remembered my homework. but forgot my calculator-! i was taking J.C. BRIAR'S slick set in sleeves-seamless!!! after 5 minutes of the class i was ready to bolt. thinking about all my buddies having a gas in the market-and me sitting at a table in the back of the room, completely confused with a brain that was really hurting. wow! i realized- you haven't worked the old noggin in awhile. having a major conversation with myself-i talked myself into staying-mainly cause the class was not cheap. i'm sure glad i did. i ended up learning tons and J.C. was a great teacher. i'm hoping she can come and teach this class for our guild. i want to take it again!

after my class, i headed back down to the market to find my cronies. i had a fabulous surprise waiting for me. i had won one of the daily drawings-i felt like ed mcman just knocked on my door!

check it out:

i effin won a skein of BUGGA from sanguine gryphon!!!! blessed be! i chose a stormy ocean color, the name really got me too! potato leafhopper.

i plan on making the clothilde shawl with it. chomping on the bit to start-tying to be good and finish up some projects first.

needing a break, i sat at a table for needle felters... tatoos. right on!

here's the gals from girl on the rocks and pigeonroof studios. got some sock yarn and roving....wanted more.


saturday evening rhodi and i had to head back up to our hill before we turned into pumpkins- we said our goodbyes and sadly left the convention center.

as promised, my stash enhancement:

have a closer look!

the colors make my heart sing!

i reserved the fleece last year at stitches from judy gunn of judy's novelty knits in utah. the fleece is a from one of her merino sheep named "darlin." it's her 4th shearing. she has wonderful fleeces. last year at stitches judy taught us locker rug hooking.

nice! i also got many cool patterns. nice to see stuff knit up in real life before buying a pattern. another fabulous time at stitches...still floating!