the jkc project

Au Revoir JKC

Wish me luck!  See you in a week or so!!

Quick Pics

First stop:  Artfibers

That's my youngest brother Jim, rockin it for your viewing pleasure.

The yarn that was my undoing:

I bought 2 sweaters' worth - good pics of loot tomorrow.

My mom and I:

My brother Tom and I, with the Pier 39 sea lions in the background:

Yes, those are what you think they are:

The bridge:

Dinner in Sausalito:

We got to know the guy at the package store well:

I started a new sock at a wine tasting - I had to do one with stockinette, because I couldn't keep track of the Jaywalker pattern.....

In Napa:

We made a rookie mistake and bought too much wine:

Late night out with the boys:

The new sock in Monterey:

The new sock out on Pebble Beach:

Jimmy giving the sock some love:

Golf at the Presidio (the old army base from Spanish times):

Unfortunately, I have to get some work done this morning, so I'm not doing the pictures justice, but in case you can't tell from looking at them, boy, did we had a great time.

Like Tripping into Heaven

Hi from San Francisco!

I didn't realize that I'd have a chance to blog from out here, but luckily for me my youngest brother brought his laptop.

Unfortunately, I can't load up my pictures to his computer, but I had to post, because my parents just don't get how awesome this is.

Our hotel is 3 BLOCKS from Artfibers. 

3 BLOCKS.

I've already been there twice. 

I haven't bought anything.  I've just petted.  A lot.

But seriously, 3 BLOCKS. 

So, yesterday we walked down to the waterfront and saw the sea lions and grabbed some food on the water - evidentially San Francisco is having freakishly nice weather 75 and not a cloud in the sky.  The perfect day to be out and about.  My fair Irish skin didn't know what to do at first, but after a good coating of sunscreen, I was able to limit the damage to a light burn.

We drove over the Golden Gate bridge to Sausalito last night and had dinner out on the water.  I had no idea Sausalito was so gorgeous - the name doesn't have the same ring to it as Santa Barbara or Marblehead, but I felt like I was walking into a more northern version of the OC when we stumbled upon the block party on the water to raise money for the Sausalito Nursery School.

When I say block party, I mean that the cozy park right on the water was jam-packed with beautiful people drinking wine and dancing with their little ones to an awesome jazz/blues band.   My college didn't have fund raisers so fabulous.  It was the second time in a day that I felt like I had tripped into a little slice of heaven.

Did I mention that we're 3 BLOCKS from Artfibers?

Today, aside from going to Artfibers, we're hitting up an In-and-Out Burger and heading to Napa Valley.

Heaven indeed.

The End of the Tunnel

When we last saw our intrepid heroine, she was deep in the clutches of wedding mayhem.  Did she survive 5 weeks of chicken dances?  Was she seduced by endless layers of wedding cakes?  Will her liver ever recover from 4 straight open bars??? 

I am sure you've all been sitting on the edges of your seats.

Ahem.

Anyway, we went to our 4th wedding in 5 weeks this past weekend, and as wedding-ed out as I am, I have to say, it was the best traditional wedding we may have ever gone to.  Just a perfect mix of good friends, good music, good dancing, a beautiful ceremony, a happy couple, and not *too* much to drink.

We had a lovely time.

Also, inspired by a musing in one of Stephanie's books, I brought my Hourglass sleeve to the church and worked on it while we were waiting for the ceremony to start.

Hourglass, she grows:

I'm starting to find the balance I was hoping for upon leaving the Man for self-employment and my knitting is getting some love again.  I'm really enjoying Hourglass, but I need to root around for some good travelling knitting, because Hourglass is just too big for me to lug around.  I like to travel light, and I'd like to have some space for yarn on the way back.

Because as if I haven't been doing enough travelling lately, I'm leaving for San Francisco on Thursday, and I'll be gone for 6 days.  And contrary to the the tone of the previous sentence, I'm *really* looking forward to this trip. 

First off, it's not for a wedding.  That's a huge plus.  Secondly, I'm going with my family and my father's planned all sorts of cool stuff, and really, I just always have fun with my family.  The Cunninghams, they know how to have a good time.  Thirdly, it's the last family trip that I'm going to be taking as a Cunningham, and Eric's not coming, so it's going to be nice time as a daughter/sister instead of as a separate adult unit.  Does that make sense? 

Anyway, we have all sorts of stuff planned, like a wine tour and a game at PacBell stadium, but I'm totally going to make time to do yarn shopping, so does anyone have any good suggestions??  I'd really appreciate it!

Car Knitting

Does anyone else remember that old computer game from the 80s "Where iin the World is Carmen Sandiego?" 

I have the theme song from that in my head and it's driving me nuts.  Part of the reason that it's stuck in my head is because I was trying to figure out what to title this post and well, it just popped in and you know what happens next.

But, anyway, I guess the reason it popped in my head in the first place is because I have been bouncing all over the northeast the past two weeks, and even though I don't have any on-site pictures to show you, I have car knitting as proof.

I have driven 7,000 miles over the past 5 weeks.  Yes, you've read that correctly.  Luckily, I've been a passenger for about 2,000 of those miles, and this is what I have to show for it:

I've gotten past the hump on Hourglass.  You know that black hole vortex space time warp Stephanie's always talking about?  Well, after 4 long days in the car, I have arrived on the other side.  Just one more sleeve and I can attach the three pieces for the yoke!  I finally feel like I might actually finish my first adult-sized sweater.   WhooHOO!

So, why so much time in the car?  Because my clients are everywhere in New England, and I'm hauling ass from Boston to NH, to Rhode Island, to Connecticut and dropping by in Worcester, most times 2 or 3 of those in a day.  I no longer work at a desk in front of a computer, but on my phone and out of my car. 

It was great though, because the 2,000 passenger miles (thanks to Eric who drove us back and forth TWICE to Maryland!)  were because my best friend Kate got married over Memorial Day weekend and her reception was last weekend.  No pictures because I was too busy living - it was an incredibly special time with my oldest friend, and the thought of a camera never even crossed my mind.

Speaking of weddings, 3 weeks 5 days till the launch of the real JKP project!   Yay!!!