Big day. We went down to Portland to make a payment on the stuff we've ordered over the phone, and bought our tables while we were there. I was disappointed not to find any used tables that would have been suitable. Poor us: we're going to have to use new.

I'm looking forward to actually cooking and feeding people.

I've finished one sleeve, started the other, and still have no idea how it's going to fit.

I forgot to mention that Anne was shocked to meet the sweater (just the yoke at that point) that she had read about on this blog. She had pictured "pink" as "pink," the gentle color used to designate which babies are of the feminine persuasion. No, the hand-dyed alpaca I'm using in the current project is a deep and lust-driven cherry. For the first alternate color I chose a medium grey. I wasn't completely sure I'd have enough yarn (I like my sweaters loose and long), so I also added an off-black as a third color for the lower parts of the sweater.

Currently, I've done the collar, yoke, a few inches of the torso, and most of one sleeve. I thought I'd do the sleeves before finishing the body. That way, I could knit and knit, and let the body of the sweater be as long as it wants to be, without having to worry about saving enough yarn for the sleeves.

It's been an action-packed couple of weeks since I last posted.

Tom and I went to LA together. There, we went to a first-rate Western Swing concert, where I met June Foray (voice of Rocket J. Squirrel, among many others) for the first time, and Tom renewed his acquaintance with her. Anne went with us to the annual chocolate party at Sandy's house, where I won the competition with Le Tarte du Roi, my Elvis tribute. I spread a shortbread shell with peanut butter, added a layer of bananas, filled it with chocolate pudding, and then garnished it with candied bacon and whipped cream stabilized with cream cheese. On tasting, I found the peanut butter a bit jarring, but I heard no complaints from the other guests. Of the other entries, I most feared competition from some delicious fajitas made by a late arrival. She only scored about fourth, though. Maybe, since she arrived after most of the guest/judges had already eaten, she suffered from their lack of hunger. I make an effort to arrive on time for this party, so people taste my entry while they're still hungry.

The drive home was spectacular. I saw pronghorns and cranes, which I had never seen before, and lots of eagles and magpies, which I have seen on many occasions, but still get a kick from.

During our brief time at home, we met with the health inspector, who gave us more direction about the remodel.

Friday, we went to Seattle to see Tim Minchin in concert. The show was a blast. Tom and I may have been the oldest people in the audience; apparently, he has mostly a college-age demo. Good for him. Our motel happened to be across the street from a restaurant supply house, so we spent a couple of hours shopping. We bought our slicer, flatware, and glasses for the restaurant, so the trip became a deductible business expense. Yipee! Nice store, too. Much more user-friendly layout than the big warehouses in Portland. They didn't have colored dishes, so I'll still have to get them online. With the supplies in the trunk, we went to the Woodland Park Zoo, where we saw the exhibits for which we lacked the endurance, last time. I can't say our endurance has gotten any better, but we saw half the zoo a few weeks ago, and the other half today. It's a very nice zoo, one of the better ones I've been to.

Nikki did much better in doggy camp, this time. She came out to greet us, and allowed the other dogs to play with her. Last time we left her, she stayed under a table the whole time we were gone. She's making progress.

It's a good thing I did some necessary sewing and weeding this morning before I started the colorwork portion of the sweater. Once I started, it was very hard to put down. I designed a yoke of elongated lozenges, which become heavier and larger as the work progresses, so the solid pink neck segues into a solid grey body by way of the colorwork.

It's the first colorwork I've done, aside from a very elementary pair of socks.

Today, I finished the neck, and I've just started the increases for the yoke. I'm doing this sweater in colorwork, pink and grey, but haven't decided on the exact pattern, yet. I'll have to make those decisions after a few more rows.

Tom and I went to the new "X-Men" movie today. Dayyum, that's good! The characters are fully realized, their motivations are believable... The original concept is ridiculous, but that's okay. You give up something whenever you view fiction. After "X-Men," we watched "North by Northwest," which was much less believable, for my money.

Feeling better today.

I've started another sweater, this one in sportweight alpaca. I'm doing it neck down, starting with a hot pink turtleneck, which will change gradually into a medium grey torso. I haven't worked out the pattern, yet. As the yarn is very fine, it will be a few days at least until I come to the color change part. Heck, it may take a few days to even do the turtleneck.

I've been dieting for three days, now. Why am I not slim yet?

Tom and I took the dogs for a sunset walk around the block. As we're on a steep hill, and the roads don't run at right angles, that's closer to six blocks than four. My knee didn't bother me a bit. Tomorrow will make a month since the surgery. I'm pleased.

I've had better days.

Today was a recovery day. I didn't get dressed until late afternoon, didn't start my chores until early evening. I'll have to finish tomorrow.

Tom gave me a lovely necklace for our anniversary; I gave him the sweater I knit a couple of weeks ago.

Amazing weekend. Drove to Vancouver, BC, with Tom. On the way up, we stopped in Seattle, did a bit of sightseeing at Pike Place Market, and bought lunch. Got over the border without problem, found our hotel, and emailed our friend that we had arrived.

Saturday, we spent most of the day at the aquarium, which was just enough different from any other aquarium I'd seen to keep me spellbound. Instead of bottlenose dolphins performing, they had whitesides. Instead of California sea lions, they had Steller's. Instead of, well, anything, they had a small pod of beluga whales. That's what really blew me away. I'd seen Steller's sea lions in the wild, and whitesided dolphins, but I've never been within a thousand miles of a wild beluga whale. They were so white, so beauti... so white. I can't pretend that they were pretty. They didn't have the sleek symmetry I expect from cetaceans. They were lumpy.

Sunday, on the way home, we stopped at the Woodland Zoo, north of Seattle. While my knee has healed well post-surgery, I'm pretty out-of-condition, after being laid up for five months. We managed to see less than half the zoo before collapsing with exhaustion. Honest: I fell asleep as soon as we were back in the car. It's a good thing Tom was driving! We'll go back in a couple of weeks, when we're in town for the Tim Minchin show.

Yes, I did give the finished scarf to our friend. She, in turn, gave me some maple-cured salmon. Holy Pete, that stuff was good! I didn't have to worry about getting it back over the border; I had eaten it all before than.

I pulled weeds today. That may not sound like much, but it's the closest I've gotten to heavy physical labor since I messed up my knee last December.

The scarf is almost done-- just a few rows left-- and I'm considering giving it away again. Just considering. I do like the colors.

Not much of interest today, just more chores and knitting.

I think I'll keep this scarf. I like the colors.