The original fire has died and gone But the riot inside moves on

The weekend started off on a high note - the Rangers took the Devils in 5! On to the next round. I haven't enjoyed a hockey season so much in a long long time. The East is wide open, the West is being fought to the last man. No team (but Ottawa) folded. Boston forced a game 7. Nothing like Springtime Hockey.

The best thing about watching Hockey is I get a LOT of knitting done. I finished another Shetland Triangle, this one in cashmere/silk from Colourmart.

Here it is right off the needles


and here is it blocking


Close up of the yarn

This is such an easy pattern and the results are beautiful, the yarn is lovely too, so soft with a luscious sheen. I made this for one of my Ravelry swaps - the mohair one was supposed to be for the swap, but after reading my swap partners blog, I realized she is allergic to wool and lives in a hot climate - the mohair would not have worked, so I am keeping that one and sending this one instead. I hope she like it.

I also cast on a new shawl - Swallowtail - Knitting Daily had it as a free download and I have been wanting to knit it since I saw it in Interweave Knits. I am using my single skein of Sea Silk.

I love this color and the yarn is so nice to work with.

Galveston, oh Galveston

Finally made it home - yes we were booked on an American Airlines MD80 and yes our original flight was canceled.

I was on the phone for over an hour last night trying to get another flight out today - thankfully AA was very helpful and found us a Continental Flt that was direct ( our original had a stop in Chicago) so even though the Continental flt was delayed over an hour, we still got home earlier than we would have on our original flt.

I think the airline industry has it in for me - every flt I am booked on gets canceled or delayed.

Texas was fun - I loved Austin and wished I had more time there - David liked it best there too. Mother Nature was being difficult as well; it rained in Dallas and Galveston, the only really nice days we had were in Austin/San Antonio, otherwise it was cloudy and dreary.

The traffic in Houston makes rush hour in NYC look like a NASCAR Speedway! We pretty much stayed out of the city - we were staying in Webster, which is halfway between Houston and Galveston and the home of the Johnson Space Center. The only time we went into Houston was to follow train tracks and visit Yarn 2 Ewe. ( where I spent over an hour playing with lovely yarns!)

The obligatory vacation pictures:

The Houston Skyline


The beach in Galveston


This hotel in right on a pier - I would hate to be there during a storm!

I finished the mohair shetland shawl on Tuesday, which necessitated a trip to the yarn store so I had a project for the trip home.


Off the needles on the bed in our motel


close up of the beads (bought in Dallas) on the edging


The yarn I bought in Houston - Wool in the Woods Seeds and Such in the Bashful colorway. Though they are both the same dye lot, the on the needles is a little deeper than the other and has more of the coral color. I am doing a simple scarf in the ostrich plume stitch one side in each color and then grafted in the middle. I can wear either the darker or the lighter end to the front depending on my mood.

Next to the yarn is the Space Bear David bought me, he always buys me a teddy bear from out vacations - I have an italian police bear, a Borg bear, a pilot bear etc. I love my bears.


Blocking on the floor in the boys room.

It is good to be home - I still have tmrw off from work and I plan to do as little as possible, I am afterall on vacation.

Austin - Awesome?

I think so, but I really would have liked to stay longer to really find out.

The weather finally cleared when we got to Austin - beautiful, hot and sunny! We spent the day walking around downtown. I didn't get a map and didn't realize how spread out the city was. I really wanted to spend more time in the SoCo area ( which was much closer to our hotel then we realized) but we only had 1 full day before we had to head to San Antonio and on to Houston.

Some pictures from Austin:

The State Capital


An impressive tree (and David)


A great building with a really looong fire escape!


My favorite piece of the skyline

I did manage to get to one yarn shop - Hill Country Weavers - lovely place filled with beautiful yarn and friendly people - I picked this up:

I want to make a light spring/summer shawl with it.

Yesterday we drove to San Antonio - in case any of you don't know - yesterday was the final match up of the Final Four - San Antonio was PACKED with people - it took us 25 minutes to find a parking lot that wasn't full. We managed to walk along the Riverwalk and see the Alamo, but it was just so crowded.

David is rushing me out now - we are going to the Johnson Space Center this morning then off to Galveston. I'll post more later.

ETA Pictures from San Antonio:

The Riverwalk


David on the Riverwalk

things to do in Dallas when it rains

Day 1. Get sick - it's 50 degrees, windy, wet and freezing here.
find the nearest drug store, but Clariton D - got to bed and pray for sunshine

Day 2. 81 degrees, windy, wet and warm - drugs worked drive around see the sites

Day 3. Wake up - pouring rain - windy and cold again. Decide to drive around and hope it clears
12 noon - the sun is shining - still windy, but warm!

We have been in Dallas 3 days now and the weather has been most uncooperative, though today it finally cleared up and we were able to walk around and see some sights. We went to the Sixth Floor Museum in the old Dallas Book Depository - and took pictures of Dealey Plaza, went to the Fairgrounds, but the Train Museum was closed. Found a bead shop and bought pale green beads for the mohair shetland triangle and are planning to go to the Galleria later.

Some pictures of Dallas:

the view from our hotel window


David in Dealy Plaza

Tomorrow we head to Austin, which is what I am looking forward to. There are a number of yarn shops, stores, restaurants and bars I want to visit while we are there!