where the grass is green

Posted on Posted in book reviews/events, designing, lace/shawls, projects

it seems like weeks ago that i landed in seattle—i’ve been on the go ever since—but it was actually just a few days back. this part of the country is in the midst of spring blooming season and wow, just WOW.

everywhere you look, something is bursting open.

no small thanks to the temperate climate and the wealth of rain—because believe me, there is a lot of that out here, especially this week.

actually, the first couple of days weren’t quite as wet as the last few have been, which gave me plenty of time to enjoy the city with cookie, who i met up with upon landing here last tuesday, along with our dear friend karolyn, whose birthday it is today—happy BD karolyn!

we headed immediately to bainbridge island for lunch and a trip to the yarn shop. there, we introduced karolyn to her first sushi meal, which i think she enjoyed (that’s just one of the beautiful sweaters karolyn has knit for herself this past year; she’s the speediest of knitters). after that, we headed for churchmouse yarns & teas, where we wiled away an hour or two, browsing the yarn selection and dawdling over buttons.

we managed to find ice cream in very close proximity to the yarn shop (imagine that), so we indulged a little on a treat to end the afternoon. it was so good to see karolyn; i always wish we lived closer.

next, cookie and i headed back to our very charming vintage hotel in queen anne, where we settled in to a beautiful room, complete with sitting room and kitchen—we had no idea it would be so nice (the staff is terrific, too; we highly recommend it).

we had a nice evening of knitting and talking, catching up on gossip and news. i have actually been knitting a LOT on this trip—i got this gray lace scarf nearly done on the flight out and finished it up here at camp. i just have this one crummy photo in the hotel room, but i’ll try to take another today, when the light is nice.

what i really wish is that i could block it and take modeling shots here at camp, but i don’t know if i can make that happen . . . i considered doing it for my talent show entry last night, but thought it would probably take too much time, hee-hee!

the next day, we enjoyed a special treat when we met up with wendee from hazel knits and her assistant julie, first to enjoy a delicious pizza lunch at via tribunali in georgetown, followed by a visit to the hazel knits studio for a bit of afternoon-into-evening dyeing.

wendee makes the nicest yarn—really nice—and also works very hard to make her business a success, so we all had a lot to talk about; sometimes it feels really good to talk shop with another small business owner.

once we were back in her studio though, it was all fun and science—we spent several hours experimenting with dye and different ways of using it on yarn.

she was excited to show us around the studio and share the projects she’s been working on lately. it’s a snug space, but extremely well organized and wendee certainly cranks out a lot of yarn here.

here is just a sample of some of her gorgeous colorways, knit up into a sock display . . .

we each mixed a different colorway and then used it in two separate processes. our yarn wasn’t set or dry enough to take away with us, but i’ll show it to you once i have it back at home.

haha, this is my favorite photo of the day—we look like lucy and ethel in the chocolate factory here.

i’m afraid we stayed pretty late into the evening—late enough to snack on this yummy shortbread that julie made—and i hope we didn’t keep wendee up too far past her usual bedtime, but we really enjoyed our day with her. i’m anxious to see waht my yarn looks like as well . . .

i’ve never spent time in seattle before, but as i mentioned the other day, i was lucky enough to arrive at that height of cherry blossom season, so my morning walk the next day was a thing of beauty.

queen anne is a great neighborhood for walking, with classic, well-kept homes and plenty of interesting nooks and crannies to explore.

first i headed toward the arts center area, where the ballet, and metro arena are located, along with some public gardens.

like i said, everything was just coming into peak bloom, offering a spectacular backdrop to a vigorous and hilly walk.

i’ll take this kind of snow any day over the snow we had at home the night before . . .

this part of seattle offers a variety of butt-busting hills (my personal favorite), and i looked for those as i headed back.

and of course, where ye will seek, ye shall find—i was both amused by and grateful for these crenelated sidewalks, which i hadn’t seen before, as i climbed. i wish they had these everywhere that hills exist; they are fantastic.

our end of the neighborhood was blessed with a series of hills that put my legs to the test (in a good way), but were worth every ounce of effort for the they views revealed, once i reached the top.

where i was just under the space needle at the one end of my walk, i was now looking down on it from above and afar, along with the harbor; so cool.

just about at this point, i started to feel the rain come down, so i made my way back to the hotel to grab a hot shower before breakfast.

just across from the hotel was a gem of a restaurant, toulouse petit, which was so good that we ate there twice in two days

once for late-night dinner and once for breakfast the next morning, haha. the menu is quite different for those two meals, but deliciously varied for both. the decor though, might even top even the food—it’s incredibly inventive.

that’s my eliza neckwarmer project, BTW, which is also now finished and ready for blocking (i really should try to get some of that done while i’m here).

after breakfast we took a hike to an urban oasis—can you guess where we are now?

i mentioned to cookie that i’d never been to an REI store and she promptly whisked me off to one, here in seattle. wow, it’s like a little island of forest and mountains, right in the middle of the city.

ok, i know it’s still a commercial property and still all about selling stuff, but i thought it was great that they put so much thought into making it pretty and peaceful—it even sounds nice.

and so wrapped up our visit with each other in the pacific northwest—cookie was off next to vancouver island and i was headed to sock camp, where i am now. MUCH news to show and tell from here, but i’ll save that for next time.

don’t be surprised though, if in the meantime, you see me hula-hooping on twitter—yes, that really happened.

and apparently, what happens at camp does NOT stay at camp any more, haha!

29 thoughts on “where the grass is green

  1. Anne – one of my dear friends manages the Marqueen Hotel and you made a great choice there.

    As ever – I love/miss Seattle and your explorations are spot on!

    Have a lovely time at Sock Camp!!

    Bonnie in Lake Oswego

  2. The Mexican restaurant across the street from your hotel in the sixth picture from the top was my favorite restaurant in Seattle when I was there for a visit. I can’t remember the name of it…

  3. Action-packed days! I so want to have a go at dyeing yarn. Wendee has some beautiful colourways. That shortbread looks delicious, at least the hula-hooping will have helped keep it off your hips!!! (unless you have better self control than I would have had and only ate one piece of course!) I had no idea, before I started reading your blog, just how much travelling you did (and Cookie too for that matter.) I hope David is making good progress with the bathroom and bedroom renovations while you are away. Happy Sock Camp!

  4. There is nothing like Seattle, I am forunate to have my son and family living there. I have never been there that there wasn’t a new haunt to discover. Give me Seattle any time.
    Soon of to visit.
    There is yarn and more yarn there.
    Next time take in Pike Market.

  5. I haven’t lived there for thirty yeaars, but that’s still where I say I am from. I shared a house on Queen Anne with my two best friends my last year at Seattle U… thanks for the memories! (and I’m so glad you loved it!)

  6. I’ve booked a trip to Seattle in September- you’ve made me even more excited about going. I wonder if I can pounce on Hazel knits too!

  7. I loved cherry blossom season when I lived in Japan, I was able to scooter all over traveling to my classes and got to see quite a bit of beauty 9I taught English as a second language.
    LOVE the sock display for the dyeing shop! what a great solution for second sock syndrome. My own solution is to wear mismatches socks. :-}

  8. As a former Seattleite (though I haven’t lived there in ten years), I loved this tour of my home town. Thank you for the lovely pictures and the great perspective!

  9. Wow! so pretty! And I can’t wait to see you hulahooping! Say hi to Linda for me (in the last picture!), and give her a big hug. She is awesome. 🙂

  10. Wish I could be there. The pictures are lovely as usual. Looking forward to the zig zag scarf.

  11. Sounds like you had a beautiful visit. I had to smile when I saw all the aquafina bottles filled with dyes it reminds me of my own dyes in aquafina and soda bottles. The Food really looked fantastic. I do love the green I hope it will be green here in Maine before long we got snow on friday again.

  12. Looks like you’re having a great time. After watching ‘Fraser’ for years and reading lots of Debbie Macomber’s books set in or near Seattle, I’ve been very keen to visit. Perhaps one day I’ll make it across there. Seeing your pics has wanted me to visit even more.

  13. You were just a couple blocks from my house. I live on Queen Anne, about half way up the hill.

    Next time you are here send me a message and we’ll have you over (or take you out).

    I also visited Wendee one time in her dye studio to pick up some yarn. Love her yarns.

    Hope you are having a blast at Sock Camp. I’m definitely going to work on getting the time off for it next year.

  14. Happy Birthday to JoyfulPurls!!!! So fun to see her on the blog. And of course i love her sweater. . . . .

  15. Fantastic photos and posting. The pictures are a sight for sore old tired winter eyes. Enjoy your sock time.

  16. I just love the Pacific Northwest. I lived in Oregon for several years and that part of the country, in my opinion, is one of the most beautiful places ever. How lovely that you are there in the Spring!
    Joyful Travels!

  17. You are SO lucky to travel the way that you do. I love seeing your pictures and traveling vicariously thru you. 🙂

  18. Loved all of the pictures, Anne. My favorite one might be the Lucy and Ethel one. Too funny.

    Sounds like you’re having a great time. Good for you! Enjoy.

  19. It sounds like lots of your readers are from the Seattle area! I’m not, but I visited an aunt in Port Angeles last summer, and I got the biggest kick out of recognizing some of the locations you’ve pictured. I caught the ferry out of Bainbridge, but not before discovering Churchmouse Yarns & Teas (which floored me with their layout and selection) and having Lavender ice cream at that same shop!

  20. So wonderful to read this entry! I’ve lived in Seattle for six years and love how the flowers are just starting to bloom. Very happy that Anne got to see the first splashes of spring color.

  21. The trees are so pretty! We have some mini-daffodils popping up, but not near the abundance of Seattle’s flowering, especially not the trees, just yet. After this winter I’m so happy to see signs of spring, even from afar.

  22. Oh Anne! I’m so glad you got a chance to explore Seattle, especially the Queen Anne area. Up until last year I lived on top of the hill, and though we don’t live that far away I still miss QA. Your pictures totally brought a smile to my face. 🙂

  23. I just love to see my city reflected in someone else’s eyes and camera lens. So happy that you had a grand time here.

  24. Looks like you had fun in Seattle and got to experience some of our rainy/cloudy every day weather! I’m so jealous you got to dye yarn with Wendee…she really is awesome, and I look forward to seeing what you cooked up!

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