Seattle Update, Finally!

The reason I came to Seattle in the first place: My baby, Clara Rose, graduated from Mariner High, with Honors. She sang a duet of "over the Rainbow", the IZ version and it was the highlight of the whole ceremony! I couldn't be more proud of all my children. And, I get to see them often. It does my heart good, I can tell you :)

I have been having a busy summer here in Seattle. I had to move twice and am staying now in a house with 4 other women, 5 dogs and one cat. It is an adventure! I really am having a good time, for all the chaos that my lifestyle involves.

My job at the Fiber Gallery is very wonderful. I work mainly on the weekends and fill in when others are on vacation. I get to teach some of the classes and am the resident "right handed" crocheter. So I have been doing some wonderful crochet for the shop as well as on my own.

I went to one of the local kntting groups, the Capitol Hill Knitters of Doom (group on Ravelry) and met some really nice gals. Two of them met me at the shop the next day and we had a great time hanging out. Then, yesterday, one of them came over and we did some dying! Here are some pics:




So, I have to get going for the rest of my day and prepare more for the crochet class I teach this weekend. Best to all and now that I am back on Ravelry, you can find me there, too! Hugs, KC

Updates and movin' on

Well, it has been a long time since I updated my blog. I just got to the point where everything I had to report was upsetting, but now the future is more settled feeling and looks brighter!

I moved out of my house, and feel much lighter.
I have my two dear dogs, Hershey the brown toy poodle and Lucky the schauzer mix. We are staying with my friends Jill and Lura until we go to Seattle in early June.

I visited Seattle in the early spring and it felt like HOME again. I got to see my actress daughter in her high school play and met up with some new friends and got to hang out with them. My oldest daughter and I went to our favorite yarn shop and I got to see my brother and my son as well. The trip confirmed for me that I was wanting to go back to Seattle longer term.

After toying with the idea of getting a trailer to live in and tow behind my Volvo, I decided to rent a room in a house in Mountlake Terrace. It is a suburb in south snohomish county, half way between where my kids live and where my friends live and easy access to everywhere. It has a big, fenced yard for the dogs and a nice living area and bedroom for me. My landlord (a young computer programer) will be my housemate and there are other housemates in the downstairs of the split level. So I am hoping that it all works smoothly. But at least, for now, I have a place to land for a month so I can look for work. (I got laid off from DR H the home builder, in Dec, 08)

I am finishing up my tenure as knitting guild president and have found someone to take the membership responsibilities! This is a huge load off of my mind.

Living with J and L has been a good learning experience. I have begun weaving and have learned alot about keeping an organized home from watching Miss Lura and her sharpie pens and lables!

I have done some small knitted soap sacks for the ladies who helped me this year in the guild. Each one is a bit different, but basicly, I cast on 25 or so on size 8needles with dishcloth cotton. I do a few rows of seed stitch, K1, P1 and then P1 K1 on the opposite row. I slip the first stitch purlwise and on a purl row, knit the last stitch so that I get a chain edge.

After the seed stitch I add a row of eyelet for a drawstring, k1, yo, k2 tog across. If the numbers don't come out even, oh well! Then purl back and do several rows of stockinette. Knit one row, purl the next.

Then I throw in some more lace holes for interest. I like the one with the three holes that lookes like a violet or a heart or on the diagonal. Just have fun. Knit for a total of 4 inches or so (more if you are using a big bar of soap) and then bind off.
Leave a long tail after you bind off. Fold sack in half and sew up with the tail the bottom and the side. Crochet a chain, knot the ends and thread it through the eyelet row.

These sacks are quick, fun and neat to use. They hold an expensive bar of soap that you want to stay dry until you use it, or little bits and pieces of soap that you want to use all the way up. The sack works as a washcloth and can be washed after the soap has run out. I rinse mine off after every use, but hey, it is soap in there, how dirty could it get??!

Now that I am back up and feeling good, I will attempt to keep up the blog and let everyone know how I am doing as I travel! KC