Just returned from a wonderful weekend up in the Great Pacific Northwest (GPNW to me). We went to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and saw some really beautiful plays. Perfect, gorgeous fall weather: cool, light breeze, sunny, and all the leaves beginning to turn. I did not know this, but apparently there is a misconception that they only have evergreens in the GPNW. I have been told by more than one person that it is a pity there are no deciduous trees, it would be so much prettier in the fall if there were (but they are sure I will have a good time anyway). So, just to clear this up, there are both. And it is hard to beat for a spectacle as the deciduous trees start to change color, as they are all mixed in with the beautiful shades of the evergreen trees.


These are not mine, wish I were so talented. I found them here: Travel Lane County, Girl Behind the Lens (Flikr: Oregon Girl), and The Oregon Bed & Breakfast Guild

But I digress.

We drove down from Portland and stopped along the way at the Rogue Creamery and picked up some cheese, next door there was the Daisy Creek Vineyard and Madrone Mountain winery tasting rooms, so we grabbed a bottle of wine, too, and headed to Ashland.

I think it is so beautiful there, and the WBBF found us a great place to stay that were wee little cabins and an easy 20 minute walk to the theaters. Perfect! There was even an amazing breakfast place called Morning Glory practically next door. Between our wine, artisan cheese, the Farmers Market, the plays and the outdoor gear required to sit through the outdoor plays in the evening, we had a lot of laughs about being straight out of a collection of Stuff White People Like posts (yes, we do have allergies, why do you ask?).

I scanned the crowd every night for handmade hats. Sad, but true, and found one in particular that was inspiring. we'll see if I have luck creating something like it for the WBBF. Sat next to a family of knitters (one rogue crocheter) at a couple plays, they examined my sock in progress, and generally had a lovely time.

And there was yarn. Oh yes, there was yarn.



This gorgeous undyed handspun mohair from Frolic 'n Fibers that I bought at the farmers market



This lovely merino laceweight (Baruffa Cashwool) from The Web*sters

And handcrafted soap from really nice people who used to live in San Diego. And used books. It was wonderful. I want to go back next year.

Coming soon to needles near you!

If, you know, you wanted to knit this, anyway....

Pictures taken at the Botanical Gardens in Tilden Park

I am not a big tooter of my own horn, but last year I knit this hat for myself, and I loved it. While I love to knit, love to knit hats (or just about anything) and think that, empirically, hats are a really good idea, I also think I look pretty stupid in them. But I love this hat. I even think it looks cute on me. My knitting pal Jenny who claims to not like to wear hats because she says she looks silly (she is way too pretty for that, you can see for yourself below) "appropriated" the sample I knit for the shop and wore it every day. In the summer. In Southern California.

Pictures of Jenny taken at Balboa Park by the amazingly talented Trevor Cornell

And it was fun to knit, kept me interested but was not so challenging as to make me curse at myself and let me play with some new (to me) ideas.

When I was home in December my sister and the WBBF encouraged (or badgered, depending on your point of view) me to write it up.

That is harder than I thought, so just about in time for the fall weather this year, I think I have it all done. Final formatting and proofreading approval pending, there will be a hat pattern coming soon!