trips

Friday last week found me in the waiting room of a hospital near Vancouver, Canada. B’s elderly grandad had a bit of trouble and we felt an immediate visit was pertinent.

I was knitting. A woman watched me for a bit and then said, “Excuse me, are you making a belt?”

I explained that I was making a scarf, but in a funny way. Usually one knits a row, then turns around and knits the next one. This one, you cast on the length first (on circular needles) and then make it as wide as you want.

The lady seemed satisfied with my explanation and we were again silent.

When she was getting up to leave a little later, she asked me about how long I thought the scarf would be. I held it up as best I could (in the middle of a row) and said that it might be shorter than usual, but would probably be ok. “Oh, a proper length, then.” I said that I hoped so. She wished me well and went her way.

I do love the camaraderie of crafters.

The idea for the scarf comes from the book Scarf Style (which is still available for free in the gratitude pages).

We managed a quick visit to the Vancouver Aquarium.

I took a quilt and a few pillows for the ride up. A few soft textures from home go a long way to soothing the soul.

Back on the Washington side (on the way home), we stopped in to a restaurant. We had been there about five years earlier (B used to live in Mt. Vernon, where it is), and not only was it open, but they were still serving the salad we sought. It was just as good as we remembered. Do stop in if you ever get a chance (maybe when you’re there for the tulip festival).

We’ve meant to stop at this sculpture near Vantage, Washington, for a long time. We made it a priority on this trip. More information here.

Turns out I missed the blog. There is an odd phenomenon that when the blog is up, the creativity gets spread thinner as I try to be interesting here. But when the blog is down, I have more projects that I could share, um, on a blog. I’m going to try to keep the posts further apart, and see if that gives me the re-charge I need.

Plus, you take the blog down and then get to be an audience member of the Martha Stewart sewing show. How’s that for bad timing? Don’t get your hopes up for amazing photos of her set, or her, as I didn’t take the camera inside. I was trying to be rather existential and fully present and in the moment and everything. But, some outside shots (thanks, B)!

We had a great time in NYC. And I met some very nice people while standing in line.

I really wanted a show-and-tell of everyone’s projects after the show, but no such luck.

Other than that we
1) wandered around Chelsea,
2) and Central Park (where we saw Gary Sinise filming a show we’ll never see because we don’t watch TV)
3) plus the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where you can clearly see a Nine Patch on the floor

4) and the Museum of Modern Art, where we were not allowed to photograph the coolest thing there (by Richard Serra)
5) We’re also pretty certain we saw Alec Baldwin coming out of a bank near Rockefeller Square. I think celebrity sightings must be fairly common in NYC. I was way happier to see the anonymous woman who helped us when we got lost on the subway…

And a stop at Amy’s Bread for an A-recommended cupcake. She’s right.