I Gave a Goat Today

'Tis the season of giving. And I gave a goat today to someone, who will nourish her hungry children with its milk.

I never imagined that being a parent would make me so sensitive to a child's suffering. And among so many painful, sad stories associated with children suffering around us, near, far, all around the world, giving a goat or sheep might make a tiny part of it a little better. And the gift will be long lasting, offering a hand to free from the grip of poverty.

So, my choice of the charity this year is Heifer Project International. There's a Knitting Basket gift we could give to a family to produce an income from the spun/knitted items too!

Thanksgiving Half Over

It's rare that we get four days straight off from work. One of the reasons why I love Thanksgiving. Going into the break, I was really engaged into knitting a hooded vest for my son, but the eve of Thanksgiving as I was finishing the back piece, I realized that I was going to run out of the yarn if I just went straight to the front pieces. It has cable center borders on the front that continue to the hood, so I could knit that part in a contrasting yarn. But of course the yarn store would be closed for Thanksgiving. So on the Turkey Day I spun the last hunk of Lisa Souza's silk/merino roving, instead of knitting, while the turkey cooks in the oven. I will have about 1,000 meters of sport-weight yarn by the time I finish plying this.

Oh yeah, I blocked the Column of Leaves scarf, finally.

I threaded a nylon string on the long edges and pinned them onto the ironing board.

What a difference blocking makes on a lace scarf!


I wore it to the trip to Knitterly today, but it was too warm, actually for a knitted scarf. It was 75 degrees outside, and ladies were walking in tanktops!

After lunch, we shopped at a bookstore. I bought a copy of Teva Durham's Loop-d-Loop for $7.50! What a great day to walk around the town. No Black Friday at department stores for this household.

We are off to Erin's house for Knit Night in 40 minutes! Gotta decide. Wheel or Yarn?

Spinnable

My son was watching the TV today, cuddling his stuffed animal on his lap. He pulled a small fur from his "puppy," and examined it closely.

"Mommy, look. Spinnables!"

My son. Good boy.

Ready for Winter

I'm done with Crosspatch, and I'm ready for Winter.
I didn't run out of the handspun yarn -- I have just a small handful left. The pattern by Elizabeth Morrison calls for a ball each of 100-meter yarn, but my estimate is about 60 meters each for MC (gray in my version) and CC (brown), in case any spinners want to knit this with shorter-than-100-meters yarn. I used US 9 needles.

This is only my second FO with my handspun yarn! And since it was something I actually needed, I'm really proud.

This is called mosaic knitting, and this was the first time I ever tried. Mine looks more bumpy, compared to Elizabeth's smooth mosaic pattern, and I'm not sure if it's my lack of technique or my unevenly spun yarn. But I still like it.

My Column of Leaves scarf remains unblocked. I hope I'll get my act together on it soon.

I've also started on a new pair of socks -- the first pair as Christmas gifts. I'm using the Knitpicks Options metal DPNs for the first time. It's fast -- but I have to pay attentions so they don't slip off the stitches. Something I never needed to worry using my bamboo DPNs.

I can't believe it's Thanksgiving next week! Winter's in full swing.

What a Week

Last Friday Mitch started coughing. By the evening it was a full-blown croup, and he was barking like a little lost seal. Of course it had to be a Friday evening. Of we went to the After Hour Pediatric Clinic.

He had a high fever, and the cough was awful. Hard to see a little kid go through this. The first night he woke me up six times, crying. It's rare.

His regular pediatrician is on vacation (the timing was perfect), and we got an appointment with another doctor on Tuesday. By then I was having a bad feeling -- may be pneumonia. Oh yeah. I was right. On a strong antibiotic, he's rapidly recovering -- what a relief.

Staying home with him and trying to work at the same time is pretty tough. I feel sluggish.

But I've finally finished Brooke's Column of Leaves scarf!

I used 2.3 hanks of Blue Sky Alpaca Sport. The picture is before blocking, which is essential to this pattern. I hope to get to it later this week...

I've also started on Crosspatch with my handspun.

I'm worried that I might run out of the yarn... It's always a problem with knitting with handspun; at least for me it has been. I love the pattern though. I also am in love with the yarn -- very lofty and light. The gray yarn has the handful of mohair I got at the Apple Fair blended in it. I wanted to knit a warm hat for my winter trips to Toronto/Montreal. I was going to go to Toronto next week, but with Mitch being sick and all, I've decided to cancel it.

Maybe tomorrow Mitch will be well enough to go take a walk with me. It's been beautiful outside, but we've been cooped up!

Bye Bye Pumpchins

So Halloween is over, and the time has come to take down the bats and spiders. My son has enjoyed trick-or-treating, but he enjoyed treating the kids that came to our door even more.

Mitch gingerly went into the scariest house on the block.

Um, Mom.... Um, can you ding-dong for me?

As soon as the resident of the haunted house appears, Mitch waved to him, backing off, apologizing. "Eh, um, sorry, I just wanted some candies, but it's okay, I don't want it anymore." I was doubling over, laughing.

By the way, my son wanted to be Harry Potter again. What a good boy.

Oh, yes. I've been spinning a lot. Last Friday evening, Huguette, Erin and I went to the bakery to have our first FlourChylde Knit Night. I spun. It was quite interesting to see people stopping to look at what I as doing. If you live in Novato, the bakery will be open Friday evenings, and they serve wine. Come out and knit (or spin) with us!

A week worth of spinning. From left to right -- blend of mohair (from the Apple Fair) and a merino/alpaca roving (from Lambtown), dark-brown merino/alpaca (from Lambtown), green romney (from California Wool and Fiber Festival). The left two hunks are the result of my trying to spin thicker than my regular spinning. I'm planning to knit Crosspatch. I'm not sure if I have enough yardage.

Blending the mohair and the merino/alpaca was fun -- I am a fan of mohair now. It makes the fiber so lustrous and soft.

OK, can I have an angora goat in the back yard? Just one?

The Yettlest Pumpchin

My son is four, and he's the tallest kid in his class. He's talkative and sociable. But the way he talks is so sweet that it often makes people melt. There are so many words he still can't say right. When he says "Mom, I want to tell you sumpin (something)," I secretly hope that he'd keep saying just like that.

Last Friday afternoon when I went to his preschool to pick him up, he was listening to a story called "The Littlest Pumpkin." In it, the littlest pumpkin at the pumpkin farm was left alone on the Halloween night, since no one wanted her. On Sunday, when we went Pumpkin Patching, he was determined to find "the Yettlest Pumpchin" and take her home.

The Yettlest Pumpchin was nowhere to be found.

"I don't think this is the yettlest," says Mitch.

"I found them! Five of them!"

The littlest pumpkins proudly came home with Mitch, and are now in his room.

There were several fiber-related fun at the Tolay Pumpkin Patch in Petaluma too. Two spinners at the Wyammy Ranch booth, and one of them was very young and very experienced, expertly spinning silk. I got to talk with Joann, Wyammy Ranch's owner. I think I bought her dyed romney last year at the Sebastopol Apple Festival.

Mitch also got to try felting.

I should tell you that I've started spinning Erin's alpaca last Saturday at our Knit Night. It's heavenly, not a hint of guard hair, and I was so desperate to spin it I was taking the fiber right off the carders!

Now a dilemma.... I just read in the spinning book that since alpaca has no elasticity, in order to avoid the garment to sag, you should blend some wool into alpaca. Hmmm. I don't have any sheep fleece that matches this sweet coco brown color. What to do? Oh yeah, another visit to the pumpkin patch, obviously!

Spinning in Public (sort of)

There were two hours of phone meetings that I didn't have to run scheduled on my calendar today. I've found last year that knitting while on the phone is a very effective way to listen attentively, and actually get something out of it. But my WIP is a lace scarf, which I mess up too often even when I don't have any distractions. I didn't want to cast on a new, simpler project, as my current mission is to reduce UFOs. So, instead of knitting, I spun. Yup, in my office.

Luckily many of my team members telecommute, and I sit in a corner cube. My Joy is so compact and discreet in its bag, and the building security didn't stop me :-) I spun happily for two hours (not the alpaca though), feeling my stress level going down like the sand in the hourglass. Watching rain falling on the hill, thinking that this would make the grueling conference calls worthwhile. Well, almost.

It's quite interesting that, Stefaneener, the author of one of my daily reads, just posted on her blog about how soothing it has been for her to spin every evening. In fact, all of the spinners I know have said the same. Spinning saves me.

I was only joking when I said I wanted to bring my wheel to the office. Now that I've actually done it, I'm no longer joking. I think I will do this again, as a part of taking care of myself. I'm sure my listening skill will improve. I might even start listening to myself more.

Carrots

I've washed some of the alpaca Erin brought back from McMinnville, OR, for which trip report we still anxiously await. Hint, hint.

(A lock of alpaca on my palm -- see how fine it is!)

I don't know much about the alpaca fiber, so I did some research -- to wash or not to wash and how. Many online sites state that since alpaca fiber doesn't have any lanolin, it doesn't get dirty and many prefer to spin unwashed. If you decide to wash before spinning, the method is pretty much the same with sheep's fleece, but more emphasis on "gentle." No need to scour, again because there's no grease in the fiber.

So I took just a handful from one of two ziplock bags, hand-picked the vegetable matters, and gently lied them over the sink-full of soapy water. I did try carding them to remove the VM, but soon realized that carding really isn't necessary -- the fiber is well aligned, and intact. The VMs are pretty large (and very little questionable contents) and are easy to pick out.

And after sorting out the fiber I thought was just a handful, it expanded -- fluffed up, it's a lot of fiber. Gently swished it in the water, and after a while the water was cloudy-brown. It's fine sand/dust that was in the fiber, that settled down at the bottom of the sink. I think it was a good idea to wash it first.

While washing it, the fiber looked so much like fine hair -- of a read head -- maybe of a child. It was eely! At the wet state, it's all tangly and unruly, and I can now sympathize mothers with fine, long-haired girls! So I gave it a little fiber softener, hoping that it would help detangling. No whining from the alpaca, lucky for me.


Now it's all nicely dried and gently teased by hand, sitting on my kitchen counter. I have to run my fingers through it whenever I walk by. I've been resisting with all my might to spin it -- I have tasked myself to finish some knitting UFOs before I can start spinning it. Now I am on the Brooke's Column of Leaves scarf. If I can knit three leaves an evening, I should be able to get to the alpaca this weekend! See, it's a carrot dangling in front of my nose. It's really hard as I'm not a good lace knitter, and this is a complicated pattern -- well, to me at least. Luckily this is in alpaca too, and makes me fancy about how wonderful spinning the read head alpaca would be!

Pretty fall colors -- We drove to Calistoga on Sunday.

We drove behind a truck with a full-load of grapes through St. Helena. Hmmm, Cabernet or Pinot? Can you see them?

It was quite a sight to witness the bouncing piles of grapes right in front of us!

Fiber Souvenir

So here's the fiber souvenir that Erin brought to treat me for her kids baby-sitting Mitch last Saturday. This feels so wrong -- scoring yarn and alpaca for doing NOTHING?! But of course I'm loving it. (The photo doesn't do justice to the fleece -- it's beautiful and sooooft) It's a first shearing of a young alpaca.

She made the right choice to buy a raw fleece for me, not processed rovings, as I've been wanting to experience the whole process -- alpaca to shawl. I just hope that my skill is up to spinning alpaca.

I am looking forward to reading her post about the alpaca farm she visited! I want to fantasize more about owning a farm. Anyone have a spare land lying around? :-)

I've finished a pair of kid's mittens.

These are for my son's preschool teacher -- she's been asking for them for her nephew. I've improvised the pattern, as you can see from the rather uneven result! I used the leftover yarn from Mitch's mittens and hat, plus from Knitpicks Parade sock yarn. It's just too bad that they discontinued this yarn, as I love it... Very easy to work with, and produces great socks (and mittens)!

Everybody Wants Fingerless Mittens

The number of visitors to our blog who's after "fingerless mittens" patterns has not decreased. Many reach to Liz' post after googling "fingerless mittens handcuffs flat knit" or very similar combinations. And of course, there are several visitors who were obviously after some very different destinations -- "woman in handcuffs." Just imagine the frustration and irritation our site must have caused to this poor guy. Someone needs to knit real handcuffs and post it, wearing them! Any volunteers?

Just some pointers to the knitters who came after fingerless mittens --

Magknits has a nice pattern called Lucky K8, which I do plan to knit sometime.

Knitty has a popular pattern, Fetching.

There is a beautiful pattern in the book called "Folk Style," which I've bought recently, along with the brand-spanking new "The Best of Interweave Knits."

I actually am in search of a child's mitten pattern that uses DPNs and knitted round, as opposed to many visitors who are looking to knit in flat. I don't like sewing with mattress stitch, and I try to avoid it as much as I can. Any leads?

I finally have a real FO with my handspun -- other than the wacky FO of the pirate's blankie! I have many WIP with my yarn, but it feels great to finally finish one.

With my mint-green superwash I spun a while ago. The socks have the "rustic" look, and very comfy. I just love them.

With US 2 DPNs, casted on 48, 4 x 2 ribs with some cables on the cuffs. It's my own design, although I'm sure there are similar patterns!

I need to cast on! I'm just not sure what. I have so many things I want to knit.

I'm done with traveling

I flew to Montreal last week. It was my third trip there this year, fifth to Canada. I've been traveling so much this year that my suitcase just lies by my bed all the time.


I don't really enjoy going on business trip. One thing is that I always end up working 15 hours a day. I have nothing else to do -- no house work, no child to take care of, no commuting. I spend all of my time in front of my laptop. I don't sleep well while I'm in east coast anyway.


It's getting old and tiring -- especially when I have to spend nearly six hours in the tiny seat with no leg room flying. But this time, I've had it. I'm so done with traveling.


The direct flight was full, so I chose a connecting flight from SFO to Denver, then Montreal. That was a mistake. My luggage didn't arrive! I was stranded in Montreal, just with my laptop.

(From the hotel window -- Cathedrale Marie-reine-du-monde.

Only picture I took while in Montreal!)

For the next two days, I was without my clothes, toiletries, glasses, power supply for my laptop and cell phone, knitting magazine and .... my handspun yarn!!!


I went to buy a shirt and bare essentials, hoping that the suitcase is just "delayed" as Air Canada kept describing, not "lost." I had my favorite hand knitted socks in it too. Surely two days later, three o'clock in the morning, it arrived at my hotel. I gave up trying to go back to sleep, and knitted some, lying in bed.


I am so done. I don't like being away from my family. I don't like being away from home. I just want to stay home, spin, and knit for a while.

Dognapping during Knit Night!

It was a perfectly wonderful Knit Night set for Saturday instead of Friday night. We all contributed food or drink. Liz was missing as she went camping, and we added Tina and her daughter Isabella. Everything was wonderful. We had good food, good friends, good yarn, pointy sticks, a spinning wheel and loom. What else could we ask for (other than having Liz there)? At one point during the cooking of the last of the "Make your own pizzas", our house filled with smoke. No problem, just open up the doors and air out the place. Problem solved. Little did we know that the problem was just beginning.

A little while later the phone rings and my hubby answers. A woman on the other end asks if we are missing our dog. Hubby responds "Ahhhh, I don't know". Let's face it - we had a house full of people, food was happening, smoke was happening, the place was being aired out - OH SHOOT the dog got out! Hubby searches around the house and yard and doesn't find the dog. Woman on the phone feels that my husband doesn't care about our dog and they exchange a couple of not so nice comments to each other. It turns out that the woman who called found our dog, June, on Novato Blvd. June almost got hit by a car. The woman picks up our dog, but has to get home in a hurry so she takes our dog to her home in SAN LEANDRO! Now, if your not familiar with this area, let me explain that it takes 45 minutes to a hour to drive to San Leandro. The woman was calling from her home. My husband is angry that this woman took our dog, more less than polite words were exchanged and the woman now hangs up on my husband. He tries to call her back, but the call goes right to voicemail. Hubby is furious, woman is furious and our dog is at a stranger's home. What was June thinking? Was she missing home? How were we going to get her back? That's where I came in. I called the woman and left a frantic message for her. I wanted her to know that we were worried about our dog, and we wanted our dog back! The woman responded to this message and calls right back. I get directions to her house, but she tries to talk me into picking up my dog tomorrow. Hubby leaves right away with our oldest son and his friend to pick up the dog. The knitters, spinners and weavers wait at my home until we get good news.



After about 45 minutes I phone hubby and he is in San Leandro, but he is now waiting for police to meet him. He decided that he needed to call the police to help in this matter. He didn't know what would happen as this was a very odd thing to happen. The police are more than happy to escort him to the house. The woman answers the door somewhat surprised to see the police, and says to my husband "Well, you're a piece of work. I can't believe you are treating me this way after I saved your dog." My husband got June, and the police said he could leave. They stayed to listen to this woman rant about how horrible my husband was to her and how he didn't care about his dog.

All I have to say is thank goodness my knitting pals were there with me to help me pass the time while worrying about my dog. I couldn't knit, but instead tried to busy myself by serving pie, ice cream and coffee. It was yummy apple pie that Tamami made from apples Mitch picked from their tree. Thanks to everyone for their support during this trying time.

Ok, now I have a question for you: Isn't it odd that a woman wanted to save a dog, but didn't call the owners until she was an hour drive away? Let me know in the comments if you think this is weird. Charles thinks it could have been a ploy to extort money out of us. What are your thoughts?

New Everything

Erin has a new carpet and hardwood floor.

Huguette has two new kitties.

Liz has a new job.

Tamami has a new door. New roof to come soon too.

This calls for a Knit Night!

California Wool and Fiber Festival

So we went to THE event that was supposed to be my last fiber-purchasing opportunity for the year 2007!

Boonville is about 90 minutes drive from Novato. It's famous (well, at least to the Northern California beer fans like me) for the great Boonz Beer :-) Wool and beer, the best combination.

I was envisioning an event a little bigger than Lambtown, but I'm not so sure if it's any bigger. And since the fiber vendors and events were confined in one building, it did feel a bit smaller than Lambtown, which was out in the open, with a lot of room to walk around.

The best treat for me was seeing Nancy, who was helping out Carolina Homespun booth. Nancy is my spinning teacher who gave me a session a year ago! Grumph, I forgot to take a picture of us together. I just didn't do well with the photo taking this time, and I don't know why.

Here's a real Navajo spinning. This was the first time I saw a Navajo spindle and the demonstration.
I also saw Charka -- It goes really fast and I was fascinated. Yup, I forgot to photograph! I got to test drive a motorized spinner, and yup, no pictures.

This wasn't the first shearing demonstration Mitch saw, but he was intrigued by Navajo-Churro sheep shearing.

I was on my third shark-circling while the boys watched the shearing, so I missed the explanation, but apparently Navajo-Churro is a very rare breed of sheep. At one time it was facing extinction. The kind lady gave us a handful for souvenir. Of course it really made me happy!

Just 5 grams with lots of grease. It feels very coarse. I'd love to spin only on its own, but I probably blend with something else to stretch it.

Hi Woolie. Be happy and grow wool.

We drove a lot this weekend -- Saturday, to Boonville, Sunday to Williams to tow the CAP glider. Thanks to all that time in the car, my red tweed socks are very close to be done, finally, after two months of being on the needles! I had to finish these up so I can free up the US 2 DPNs -- I only have one set. I am itching to knit a new pair, using my handspun.

Askew FO

It's been a long while since I posted about my FO, and yes I have to admit that I wasn't neglecting to report... I just didn't have any FOs! This is what I get for doing so much spinning and not much time left for knitting.

But here's my version of Askew... Just don't compare the models!

I like the overall style, but I was a bit disappointed when I put it on. It just wasn't comfortable... not very wearable, at least, by me. The shoulder straps are too wide-set in my taste, and very narrow. It felt tight and restricted around my arms and shoulders, but then if I wasn't keeping my back and shoulders consciously straight, the straps would fall off. There's no way I can wear this as a tank top either... I'd have to be pulling up the front all the time, beside the fact that I just don't have a matching figure, like beautiful Cheryl.

So I decided to redo the straps. I made them a bit wider, and make them come inward just a little. The result is a lot more comfortable vest.

Somehow I'm still not very happy about it (I think I look like an Asian Heidi), but hey, an FO is an FO. I loved knitting with Noro Silk Garden too. Especially after it's washed and blocked, it's a very soft and luxurious fiber. I used US 8 Knitpicks Options needles.

I bought several new knitting books, and there are some new sock patterns and a vest I want to try. Knitting season is here!

Here's the Koigu and yellow Rio de la Plata sock yarn that Erin gave me for my birthday. I'm so ready.

Oh yeah, we are going to the California Fiber Festival tomorrow! Anyone going?

Grumble

I really don't like Sunday evenings.

Especially when I realize that it's dark outside before eight. Especially when I realize that I didn't play enough over the weekend. Especially when I don't have a knitting project (that I like) going. (oh yeah, I've finished Askew, and it's being blocked.)

Especially when the work sucks. And it sucks big time right now. Especially when the house is a mess and I have no energy to pick things up.

Especially when I spend hours on the net but still can't find a pattern I want to knit (that I have yarn in my stash for)!

Grumble.... I think I'll go to bed early tonight.

One Year

It's been a year since we started Knit Night. We haven't been able to get together as much, with Liz moving away, and everyone being busy for the summer. But it has been something we all enjoyed and looked forward to for the last year.

Last weekend, Erin, Liz and I planned a Girl's Night Out -- that's actually a first for us to get out of the house to knit on a Friday night. Huguette was back east, visiting her parents. Liz got sick from food poisoning, so it was just Erin and me. Had great dinner by the pool at a local hotel, then knitted in the hotel lobby. Oh yeah, this is nice. Erin gave me two skeins of Koigu -- these are my first Koigu! -- and a skein of kettle-dyed yellow sock yarn. I'd mentioned before that it's hard to find yellow sock yarn. She remembered!

And at the lobby I casted on a new project, Askew, from Knitty.com.

This is something I wanted to knit since June or so... Had the yarn ready too. I don't know what I was waiting for -- summer is over already! But since I probably won't be wearing this as a tank top (no matching physique!), but as a vest, it's not too late.

It goes fast -- I'm done with the two pieces for the front. What worries me is that they are way too narrow right now before blocking. The pattern says that it has to be stretched width-wise when blocked. I'm hoping that it works out...

It's been a year since I started spinning. Nancy gave me a spinning lesson on August 26th, 2006, and ever since my wheel hasn't stopped! Both Nancy and the spinner I met at the Sonoma County Fair told me that I'd be making some beautiful yarn in a year. I'm not sure if I'm there yet, but I have been pretty happy with the yarn I spin. My next challenge is to visualize a knitted item before I start spinning!

A confession. I said before that I'd only go to two more fiber fairs and that'd be the only times that I buy fiber for the rest of the year. Un huh, I lied.

Deep Color Studio is closing the store front -- there will still be classes -- and there was a closing sale. Had to go! I got two silk cap (hankies), above.

Two hunks of brown corriedale.

Hemp! I'm excited to try some new fibers.

And a pound of white merino. Some natural dyes. Sigh... and California Fiber Festival awaits next weekend. Maybe I shouldn't go :-(

Random Thoughts

... in random orders.

1. Trouble One
I bought several pattern books from Webs last months. I don't remember how many. I can't find them! It's driving me crazy.

2. Trouble Two
We've been seeing a couple of small moths flying around the house. You might say, oh, just a couple, no big deal. Nope. A couple, every evening! I've been checking my stash, but I don't see any evidence of the pests. Still, it's very unnerving.

3. Amusing
There has been an increase in the number of visitors to our blog lately, and 90% of them are here after doing a search on "fingerless gloves, knitted, mittens, patterns" on Google! They are all directed to Liz's fingerless gloves entry. Liz, I think you need to post some more pictures!
What's really amusing is that this just started happening in mid-August. Before then, there were visitors from my Lotus Blossom Tank Kal entry. It shows the change of the seasons....

4. The Dilemma
The dilemma continues! I want to knit, but have no time left after an hour of spinning each night. I'm still working on my handspun vest, but I've decided that I need to convert the Japanese knitting chart (which I used to love) to the American knitting pattern (which I used to dislike), and it's taking some time. Alas, my brain pattern has been migrated...

5. Sigh
It's my birthday today. My birthday wish has been to take a day off and knit in the back yard in peace. This wish has not been materialized yet.... Next year, for sure. I've had a nice lunch and cake treated by my coworkers today though, so it's a very nice compromise!

Long Way Home

I'm back. The jet lag coming home is always harder than going to Japan. Our son's recovery from the time difference is the fastest, easiest and noisiest! He's in a constant motion, when he's not asleep, since we came home. Agh.

Yes, I have to say it again. It was HOT. According to everyone I talked to, it has been a record heat in Japan, and it was, at times, simply miserable. We tried to stay inside during the day, and that was all we could do.

But we did have fun, and saw things that were interesting and unusual.

Can you guess what they are? Yeah. They are watermelons, and they are real. Cubic and conic watermelons. We heard that they grow them that way, on purpose, but this is the first time we saw it in real, and I had to take a picture! For your information, the signs say that they are for display, not for sale.

Another thing that we don't have here was the cecadas. It was as if they all came out of the ground at the same time and sending off the mating calls, competing with each other. Must have been ten thousand just around my mom's house. It was deafning. If you go stand under a tree, you could actually spot them on the trunk and branches, while being showered by the screaching noise. Mitch actually got to tickle one of them with a blade of grass!

Before I arrived, I wanted to go on a several fiber-related shops. But then I found out that the spinning shop Perendale Kamakura was closed for the month of August, and then the heat and humidity melted off my desire for wool.

I bought several books though -- one on indigo and shibori, one on Japanese traditional fabric craft, and another on natural dyeing.

Yokohama is big. Every time I go back, I feel overwhelmed. Then when I was growing up, I thought it was a small town! This view is from our hotel window.

When we came back home, I stepped outside in the evening and saw the stars, filling the dark sky. Something I never saw growing up, and never saw on the visit. Made me think how far we flew from Japan.