A new article- a new year- a new half-finished project...

I attempted to post this sentence somewhere around December 21st, while we were in Florida over winter break:

"We are on vacation, visiting family, but this article came out on the CBC:

Ditching online anonymity could actually make us better people"
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but as you might guess, it didn't work.  In fact, I am not sure if it was the Blogger app, or juggling twin 4 year olds in a new place, or what!?  but I just got down to basics.  I gave up on the complicated online stuff, and focused on the essentials.

There were a lot of things to focus on: sunshine, sand, beaches, digging (our guys love to dig) and trying to keep them from killing themselves or others.  In the process, in the first week, we visited Sarasota, saw 21 relatives from the Professor's family (yup.  21.) and in the second, well, that was my family, and there were only (wait here....) 11 of us, getting together to celebrate my parents' 50th wedding anniversary.  Yet, on the second week, we drove across Florida to Cocoa Beach, took our first ever cruise (Disney cruise), and you know, there were over two thousand people on that, and that does not count the crew.

We ended the vacation back where we started.  Our direct flight to Winnipeg left from Orlando, and if you have ever been to Orlando during winter break, well, even if you do not go to Epcot or Disney?  Even if you just try to drive to someplace for dinner?  Crazy making.

But?  It was warm and sunny, there were endless amounts of sand, and the boys met a lot of relatives. We had some important celebrating to do.

I think it would be fair to say that I am an introvert, and that I was absolutely peopled-out.  We are very glad to be home, in "snow time" again, with our dogs.  Yesterday, both twins cheerfully pulled on their snow suits and boots, and the Professor, our sons and dogs all went out to the front yard together to dig, move around about a foot of accumulated snow, and chase each other.  Ahh.  Home.

I will definitely be adding more excitements to other posts, but in the meanwhile:
Here is a quick snapshot of twin sweater #2, knit on #5(3.75mm) needles.  That's 2 ply handspun Shetland naturally brown yarn for the body of the sweater, and the collar is 2 ply, hand-dyed (by me) silk/merino handspun.  This is the only shot I could find where he wasn't moving at the speed of light.  The sweater already looks a bit worn= he likes it!

I brought a small Turkish spindle, a little pocket of Tussah silk, and some sock knitting on the beach adventures.  Each morning while we were in Sarasota, we took all our borrowed sand toys and walked to the beach for an hour.  I tried to sit still as much as possible, watch two boys constantly, and I fit in a bit of spindle spinning.  (More on that coming up, too.)

I plied the yarn yesterday, in between loads of 'coming home' laundry.  It's about 22 yards, for a friend who makes books.  She will use it to sew exposed bindings, I think.  It's shiny, skinny, and strong stuff--just a bit of gorgeous fluff can do with a spindle.

I'm continuing to use that Patons Kroy sock yarn.  I've always found it wears well, but am noticing that the most recent batch seems silkier than I remember...always good for little boy feet.  Their feet are growing like weeds so I need to get going on making more woolly socks!

Last, but certainly not least....if you're interested in picking up a spindle and beginning to spin, I've got something for you!

I'm teaching a Learn to Spin class on January 24th in Winnipeg.  It's a Sunday afternoon event, hosted by the Norwood Naughty Knitters, and it's designed to enable new spinners to walk away spinning on a spindle by the end of class.  You'll leave with a spindle, some wool, and a brand new skill!  Please sign up soon to get your spot!

a vicarious vacation

My trip to Florida was filled with family time, the professor's colleagues, and travel to and fro. Therefore, all my photos are from Saturday and Sunday. I managed to snap photos for the blog in between large amounts of eating and socializing. Here's a trip to Florida if you're suffering from winter doldrums!

In Sarasota, you can swim in a heated pool with a view of the real water beyond. Lots of people live in enormous high rises that are taller even than the palm trees. There are also lots of flowers in the winter time.

We went to the local farmer's market, which was very crowded with people and well behaved dogs...and my brother-in-law loaded up on vegetables to cook later on. We found cold press Italian olive oil, specially imported from a family farm in Italy to the Sarasota Farmer's Market. We also found good tea, organic star fruit, and other edible delights.

We dropped by two bookstores and one fabulously friendly yarn shop, Picasso's Moon, to talk to folks about my new book, Fiber Gathering. (Click on the link to the right of the post if you need more information on that! It's going to be available soon!)

I find the book promotion stuff a bit awkward, but my father-in-law buoyed me along and apparently also acted as my advance team, since two out of the three places recognized us already!

On Friday night, we went out for a very upscale meal. (I had duck cooked two ways. Fancy.) On Saturday, we ate brunch at my father-in-law's place, Lebanese food for lunch at a restaurant, and my brother-in-law cooked up a lot of those veggies for dinner. We ate well.

We even stopped by a grocery store on Saturday night to grab a bottle of wine and caught this sunset from the parking lot. Imagine, a grocery store parking lot with an ocean view!

On Sunday, we drove to Gainesville so the professor could give a lecture at the McGuire Center for Lepidoptera Research.

On the way, we stopped at Hancock Groves, a citrus farm that has been owned by one family for 100 years. We loaded up on citrus for the professor's colleague and our host for the next couple of days.

We're now home again and I'm very tired! The trip was sunny and full of friendly people, but I'm glad to be back home with my dogs...

PS: I never made it to the 3rd knitting project. The first deadline project is done and I've got half a sock left to do. After that? Maybe I'll be getting to some mittens with the yarn pictured above...

I hope you've enjoyed the Florida photos!?