Cool Sock Blockers on a Humid Day

The sock blockers arrived!  I have wanted some since I first saw them on the cover of Cat Bordhi's latest book, New Pathways for Sock Knitters, Bk. One.  A friend from the past two BMFA sock camps on Orcas Island, Chappy, sells them (her husband, John, makes them) through her website. They are really beautifully finished and well worth the money. You can have just about any image on top...hedgehogs, for some crazy reason appealed to me.

Stash Enhancement

The packages arrived on Thursday, but because I had not finished some other tasks related to recent travels (like unpacking and laundry)...I forced myself to wait to fondle my new yarn.  This morning, after the gym and breakfast, I brought the packages into the studio for the unveiling.  Beto couldn't wait to see the crow and yarn.

Well, here it is-

Blue Moon Fiber Arts Rare Gems ...

and Mill Ends...

Then there were the skeins and skeins of assorted Lightweight BMFA's colorways that called to me....

and the purchases made during the infamous Knotorious Sock Knitters yarn crawl....

Beto was overcome with joy.  Me, too!

Spookie, our rather large cat, has a new friend.  He/she is a feral cat we have named Tuxedo for obvious reasons.  As you can see, they enjoy many of the same things...

like taking a siesta in the late morning sun...

I thought it was odd because, until recently, Spookie had seemed uninterested in other cats....then l I discovered...on close inspection of the ground around their napping spot...that they were really hunting buddies!

Out for Delivery/ Camp Fun

Thank God for UPS tracking.  It says my two packages from Orcas are "out for delivery." I can't wait to hear the truck turn down my street....that means my yarn is almost home. YIPPEE!!!!

This is a  shot of me in the winners' (yes, there were several categories) circle for our TP project.  My entry was judged to be The Tallest.

The bottom bit is a large, messy crow's nest filled with metalic and other assorted yarns, the crow is perched atop a TP holder made with several yarns held together (my first attempt at crochet) sporting a gold tassel, and the crow was fashioned from fabric I knitted, cut and sewed onto a coat hanger armature. 

Some of the following pictures you may have seen on other blogs-they ALL were amazing.                   

                                   

Then there were the Funky Monkeys and The Mother of all Monkeys, Cockeyed.  Little did she know when she wrote the pattern what she would become....

or did she?

They were all great works of art...don't you think?  I learned to needle felt when I made my monkey's handlebar.

  

The night before they were presented, a group of us were sitting at the Rosario bar sipping on The Ghost of Alice and other drinks...Chappy (on Ravelry) was next to me furiously needle felting her monkey's fez.  A lady siddled up to her and inquired what she was doing.  It appeared that her husband was a Shriner and her daughter thought Chappy was performing a voodoo rite on a Shriner image when she saw her stabbing her monkey.

Tonight we are going out to Daisy Mint for dinner.  Knitdad mentioned it to me a couple of times - and my daughter said that she really liked the place.  Greg and I decided to try it for lunch yesterday and were surprised that we knew the owner, John. Several years ago he was a fellow customer of Eagle Tools, a business Greg has purchased some woodworking machinery from. They recognized each other immediately.  Small world. Daisy Mint is receiving good reviews which are well deserved.  Our lunch was delicious!

Over the weekend I will post the yarns purchased during the crawl and at camp.

Day 3-Alpaca Farm on Way to Orcas

Monday, after a leisurely breakfast at the cafe in Roche Harbor, the van was repacked and we headed off on more pre-camp adventures.  A few projects were being finished on the drive...one ended up on the dashboard for a quick shot.  That is the top of Alice's head in the review mirror. 

We made two stops on our journey to the to the ferry and our ultimate destination, Rosario Resort and BMFA's Sock Camp. 

Krystal Acres was truly beautiful.  After making many purchases at their Country Store, we headed out for a brief tour of the farm and met some of the sweet alpacas. 

This one is named Houdini and will be the sire of all farm offspring this season! 

We were able to pet and feed some of the animals-they are very social and like to be with their pasture mates.

The other stop we made that morning was a vista point for whale watching and a short hike to a lighthouse.  I managed to snap a few shots there, too.










I didn't see any whales, but the view was fantastic.  Some people stayed back to work on projects....I am glad that mine was shipped ahead so the vista point wasn't missed.

Oh, that reminds me...the packages are finally on their way back home, stuffed to the rafters with yarn.  UPS tracking is fantastic...if you are obsessive, like me, you can check on your package's progress hourly.  The last time I checked the two boxes departed West Sacramento, early this morning.  At least they are off the island and moving in a southerly direction.

Tomorrow's post will be a consolidation of camp pictures...socks and funky monkeys.