Today I went to the Lavender Festival in Sequim (pronounced like swim with a q - it's a mangling of an American Indian name).
There were fields of lavender...
And baby alpacas...
And hand-dyed yarn...
And 41 other knitters. I signed up for the Seattle Knitters Guild bus trip.
On the way to the Festival we stopped at The Artful Ewe, where the owner dyes all the yarns and fibers. I got the merino/mohair/nylon boucle, the blue llama/merino Peruvian Highland wool, and the very soft alpaca/tencel blend. The spinners all came out with bags of beautiful mixed fibers in interesting color combinations.
From there we rode on to three lavender farms where we lined up to eat food marinated in lavender, waited in line to buy lavender oils, lotions, and soaps, got on line for the restrooms, and stood waist-deep in the middle of fields of lavender and inhaled.
At times the ride was eerily quiet for a bus full of women. Most took advantage of decent stretches of knitting time.
On the way home we stopped at Churchmouse Yarns and Teas. I picked up the Koigu I'd called to put on hold after I watched Kit unpack it and then left without any. Fortunately the 10% discount cards Kit gave tour participants followed her usual rule of expiring in a year. We got only twenty-five minutes there. Forty-two women can't check out in twenty-five minutes, much less do justice to that store.
From Churchmouse, rather than riding the bus across town I walked off the ferry and then the three blocks home through downtown Seattle. The Smile Guy teetered next to his sign. The German family from the ferry opened plaid umbrellas that matched their outfits. A girl wearing a beauty-pagent style sash labeled BRIDESMAID over her cropped black hoodie passed me at a trot.
I enjoyed the trip with a busload of like-minded people, but was happy to be home.
Oh, there was a typo for the number of cast-on stitches in my Pinnate Sholder Shawl. Cast on 60, not 61. Sorry about that.
It sounds like it was great trip. Beautiful yarn and a cute baby alpaca - there are worse ways to spend a summer's day!
Posted by: JoAnne from Ottawa | July 22, 2007 at 06:48 AM
Sweet baby and lovely yarn. It does sound like great way to spend the day. Thanks for the slice of Seattle Knitter life!
Posted by: Karen B. | July 22, 2007 at 07:59 AM
I can almost smell that lavender. The baby alpaca is too too cute.
It sounds like fun to go with a bus loaded full of like minded fibery people.
Posted by: MissPurl | July 22, 2007 at 06:13 PM
Thanks for stopping in to visit everyone. The knitterly company was a blast, as is the company here.
Posted by: KarenJoSeattle | July 22, 2007 at 07:43 PM