Catchin' Up

Like my Tea Swap post, this post is a bit belated. I had a very busy weekend as my friend Heidi came to visit from Chicago. Heidi is a good friend from college, and one of the few I've really kept in touch with since we graduated 6 (gasp!) years ago. Heidi arrived on Friday, and Saturday we went to the Fremont Solstice Parade. I've decided to spare you the naked cyclist photos, just in case there are any children watching (although there were plenty of children at the parade, including some in bike seats behind their naked parents, which I suspect will result in expensive therapy a few years down the road). I really liked these penquins, as well as these crazy water-dinosaurs (really I'm not sure what they were meant to be). The parade wasn't as good as in the past, mostly due to even more disorganization than usual and the "chalk fairies," who were kids that came around distributing sidewalk chalk to the audience while also writing on the street, which took forever and really destroyed the momentum from the naked cyclists. Heidi and I were quite crafty. I taught her how to purl (after teaching her to knit almost three years ago), and we almost got to circular needles but ran out of visit time. That will be tackled when I go to Chicago for Labor Day weekend. Saturday night we dyed yarn: This is mine, pre-reskeining, and I'll show you Heidi's when she sends me a photo of the skein. We also made paper:Above is the always-attractive pouring-of-the-pulp shot, and here is some of what we made: Making paper is really addictive, being fast and cheap. If one sheet doesn't go well, you've really lost nothing, you just rip up some more paper and begin again!


We also did some sightseeing. Here I am at the original Starbucks, near Pike Place Market. This is Pike Place Fish Co., the infamous fish throwing booth in the market: Check out the size of that Copper River salmon on the right! We also got to see a lovely sunset city view from West Seattle: And Heidi got to meet the Fremont troll. Yes, that is a genuine Volkswagon Beetle he's crushing! We had a lovely dinner outside at Aqua Verde on Monday night (even saw some otters), and here is a group shot of everyone but me, since I was, as usual, the photographer.Clockwise from the left: Kristen, Shibani, Paul (Rachel's husband), Rachel, Heidi, and Dave. It was really great to see Heidi, and I hope she had a good time as well!
I have loads of knitting to show and talk about, so keep your eyes peeled for a post with actual knitting content soon!