I drew Becca's gift and she made the cutest bunch of crochet Oreo's in a glass cookie jar. It's going to be a cute addition in my 
craft room. Then, once again, Shelly drew my creation, a felted alpaca. I hand carded and hand spun the merino/alpaca yarn and then felted. I must confess, the little guy turned out so dang adorable that I didn't want to give him away -- just about stayed home and kept him to myself. Guess I'll just have to make up another one sometime.
My hairstylist, Cinnamon, is expecting a baby boy August 10th. She had a baby shower but I was in Colorado so I delivered her handmade gifts to her today. We've been friends for over 15 years so I wanted to make up some special gifts for her and this is just a start: a knitted ripple baby blanket and cotton/chenille bath towel. The rubber ducky added a coordinating, decorative touch.
Lee Ann coordinated a knit and spin retreat for tonight at her church through the Twist Ravelry group. Eight of us showed up toting our wheels, knitting, snacks and a couple bottles of wine. There were cookies too. We had the entire Parish House to ourselves, got our spin on and collectively decided not to spend the night. It was a good time and the accomodations were really nice. Good job, Lee Ann!
We got back home late last night and I had to start the day with a grueling dental appointment that made me half ill. Combine that with lack of sleep, a job and tons of things to catch up on at home -- Hello Monday. While it's good to be home, I'm finding myself missing my friends from the weekend. 
Kinda like that sad feeling when summer camp was over. It was fun to bond with some new friends and we had so much silly fun in the car. Just like the Harley Davidson saying goes, "It's not the destination -- it's the journey." Knit On, Girlfriends!
I woke up early (as always) in our roomy log cabin, started a pot of coffee and knitted on a leather sofa while watching the sun rise over the snow covered mountains in Estes. It was fabulous. 
A couple hours later, 
Indulged in a bag of kettle corn and walked around the judging tents filled with alpacas, llamas, rabbits, sheep and goats. Thought I'd share a picture of the Wensleydale sheep that I absolutely feel in love with and I swear he was smitten with me, too. Then got in more walking through all the souvenir shops in town. Exhaustion kicked in after finding the perfect t-shirts and Laura and I sat down on some rocks by the stream/river and knitted while a soft mountain rainshower passed over us. It was perfect.
Although I purchased the yarn in Gove, KS, I'm calling this my Estes scarf since I finished it there and it serves as a reminder of my trip to the mountains. I even think you'll see the resemblance in this picture of me. 
I've kinda got that bohemian, mountain girl look with my scarf, colorful (NORO!) wool jacket and wool dreadlock ponytail extensions I found at market. I'm hoping I can pull off this look back home in Doo-Dah.
My rabbit hole of knitting has really gifted me with some special friendships and awesome road trips. This time, Laura invited me, Ashley & Jennie along with her to Estes Park, CO for the 2009 Wool Market. 
We hit the road running and within 40 miles of Gove City Yarns, I dazzled my traveling companions by completing a Swiffer cover and started a 2nd one. The pressure to perform kicked in after purchasing a soy silk scarf kit in Gove. (It's one of those yarn shops where you trip over yarn, books and antiques at every turn). 
So then, I rushed through the second cover and started on the scarf by Boulder, CO. We gained an hour in mountain time and arrived in Estes Park in time to go to town for my favorite (mexican) road trip meal -- fish tacos and a very special "Corona moment" on the patio next to a rushing stream.
Guess you could say I'm catching on to this whole eco-friendly business. Today at Twist, Dee and I had our own little knit-along with Mason Dixon's Swiffer cover. Making these from inexpensive cotton is the perfect solution to eliminating purchasing costly, disposable refills for the Swiffer sweeper/mop. I can see myself making several more of these (just like the ballband washrag phase we all went through!)
My short stay at Heartland Farm inspired me to utilize more eco-friendly products and think about ways I could reduce disposables from my life. It was there I saw no soda cans or plastic bottles and fabric napkins replaced paper towels. The other day at lunch Becca and I were sharing ideas and I told her how I use my own reusable grocery bags but feel guilty putting my fruit and vegetables in plastic sacks. She told me there were drawstring bags for sale on etsy and I decided to make my own following the directions from this tutorial. It was a breeze sewing up 4 bags tonight from 2 yards of nylon netting and 8 yards of cotton rope.
