Friday, November 6, 2009

vacation in pictures (and a few words)

My trip to the Pacific Northwest was really, really lovely. I can't stress that enough. It was just what I needed. We spent time in Seattle first ... (click to embiggen the photos)

Puget Sound

Space Needle



... before hitting up the Olympic Peninsula to visit Olympic National Park.

Lake Crescent



Josh + something really big

We did some hiking, saw animals (salmon and black-tail deer and starfish!) and spent lots of time reading and (in my case) knitting. Then we drove down the coast to a beachfront condo in Netarts, Oregon.

sunset

view from Cape Meares

beach

The beaches in Oregon (and Washington) are just magnificent. They're so wide and rocky and (at least the ones I saw) mostly devoid of homes.

We rounded out our trip in Portland, where I didn't use my camera as much. (Then again, we were there for only 30 hours.) We had breakfast with a friend who used to work with us, and she snapped a nice shot of us.



If you'd like to see more pictures, check out my album at Flickr.

There was plenty of knitting time on the plane and in the car (Josh did all the driving). I knit a sock and a half out of Socks that Rock mediumweight in County Clare before we returned home. I also knit the foot and gusset of my first toe-up sock.

I finished the County Clare socks soon after we returned:

FO: County Clare traveling socks

This is the 10th pair of socks I've knit in 2009. I can't believe it! I plan on ending up with a minimum of 12 pairs knit in 2009: I'm making a pair of socks for my brother and dad for Christmas.

As for Christmas knitting this year? I'm making my mom, dad and brother each a pair of socks and my brother's girlfriend a hat. Mom's are done and I just finished the first sock in Dad's pair last night. I've cast on for its mate already. I'm knitting my Christmas socks out of Knit Picks Swish DK - it's a nice workhorse yarn. And that's it for Christmas knitting! I'm glad I don't have a ton of pressure to knit for many more people. I know my family will love whatever I make for them. I'm already plotting for next year to increase my sock production and knit each of them a pair of socks for their birthdays, too ...

I'll be back in a day or two with a post about my vacation yarn purchases. I got some really excellent yarn and I can't wait to tell you about it!

1 comment:

  1. Looks like a great, fun trip. That second shot of Olympic Nat'l has made it onto my list 10 best tree pics ever. I love the sense that these giants have grown so huge and old just by standing still, while we rush like crazy, usually going nowhere. I also like the photo of you and the other couple, could be a great album cover!

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