So now I am BACK from Nantucket, and I'm warning you this will be a long picture-heavy post, because I've got lots to tell!
First off, pics of the gorgeous cashmere scarf Rosalynn sent me as my One Skein SP project. How gorgeous is it?!? She tells me it will look great with
a blue jacket, and being that I have bright blue eyes, I know it's going to look fantastic. She also included these hot stitch markers, which she made herself! So so happy with my first SP swap, thank you again Rosalynn! In the other direction, my "downstream" pal Megan received her One Skein gift courtesy of moi...an Odessa hat just like the one I made for myself a while back. Stop by her blog, Stash to Treasure, and say hi, she's got some great pattern suggestions and stash-busting ideas!!!
You might note that the scarf pics were snapped on the hood of a car. That would be my current car, since my new car just arrived in Michigan TODAY! Some of you may remember that the car was supposed to get here on the 11th, and be all purty and prepped for me yesterday morning. We got back from Nantucket on Sunday, Monday morning I got up, dressed pretty, went to the bank whistling a happy tune (although I withdrew half my money market account, which gave me chest pains), came home and called AAA to switch the insurance to the new car. JP asked if I was SURE the car was in. I said of course, my buddy Chad and I planned all this out, he knew I was coming in Monday. But I called the dealership and left Chad a voicemail, which he returned ten mintues later. He told me he had bad news, that my car wasn't in yet. Oh really? And being that I took the day off work (pre-planned), why couldn't he have called and mentioned this change of events? Well, he said, you were on vacation. Now I can appreciate if he made a judgement call and didn't want to disturb me on my vacation, but I was MUCH more disturbed that I had taken a full day off work for nothing and had gotten some seriously crappy news when I was all dressed up and ready to fork over piles of cash for my Camry Hybrid. There is more to the story (including me getting all Alpha Bitch over the phone with him), but suffice to say I called the sales manager today and politely complained, and he called me the second the truck pulled onto the lot with my car on it. He said it'll definitely be ready (leather! moonroof! XM!) Friday, possibly Thursday evening. So I'm still waiting, grudgingly.
Nantucket...I can't begin to say how wonderful our vacation was, we were so lucky everything went perfectly according to plan . We drove all the way to Wooster, MA the first day, then hopped down the Cape the next morning and caught the 9:15 ferry. The weather was beautiful, the first two days were VERY windy but warm, and then it rained the day we left, which made leaving a little easier.
We lay endlessly in the sun, rented a Durango and drove all over the beaches, ate fabulous meals, and enjoyed the most beautiful scenery and views anyone could ask for. We stayed at the Brant Point Inn, which was lovely and very quiet and private. I won't post reviews for all the restaurants we ate at because it would take forever, but if anyone is heading out there and wants a heads-up, shoot me an e-mail.
We had dinner at Oran Mor, The Lobster Trap, Seagrille, and the Straight Wharf. Lunch at the Ropewalk, Brotherhood of Thieves, and Something Natural (twice).
JP caught two fish, and we did visit Sheep to Shore, the only LYS on the island. I was very impressed, they had a nice selection and the most beautiful colorways of Koigu I have ever seen...we each picked out enough for a pair. I didn't get as much knitting done as I thought I would, but I started the
Simply Marilyn sweater and the
U-Neck sweater from the Modern English collection in the Fall 2006 Vogue Knitting. I LOVE the neckline, but I'm doing away with the fair isle and I'm knitting it in the round up to the armholes.
Last but not least, how about a finished Audrey sweater? I finished this two days before we left. I love it, it's beautiful, I've gotten a ton of compliments on it, but it's not super-flattering to my body type. Let's just say I look a lil' bit top-heavy. But I'm pretty proud that I did an entire sweater in 2x2 ribbing!
Here's a pic of me in it, knitting on the ferry ride back. I pulled out my needles as soon as we sat down, and a native Nantucketer sitting across from us pulled out her knitting after she saw me. She must have been afraid of JP, though, because she would only talk to me when he wandered off to pace the deck (aka smoke break). Details will be in the Finished Objects blog ASAP.
One last pic...before leaving, I finished spinning up some Gotland fiber from Heritage. I'm not as rapturously in love with it as some spinners are, the staple length is a little long for my personal taste. But I'm sure I'll knit up something special out of it.
Finally, what you've all been waiting for, the winner of the Pimp my Camry contest! Indeed there were two winners, one of which I was pretty sure would win: Summer, my roommate and dear friend from Georgetown College. Georgetown College is in Georgetown, Kentucky, home of the Toyota plant that will begin churning out American Camry Hybrids in less than a month. We often said if it were not for the College and the Toyota plant, Georgetown wouldn't exist (cue the hate mail from Georgetown councilmen and women), so I'm proud to buy a car that will ultimately help out my alma mater's hometown. Funny how things come full circle, huh?
Anyhoo, I knew Summer would automatically win, so both she and Marj are getting a skein of Debbie Bliss Pure Silk to do with what they will. Summer isn't a knitter or a blogger, but she does crochet and I know she'll do beautiful things with the silk. Marj you know, (oh, and please send me your mailing address in case I miss you at the Sheep and Wool festival this weekend!). To satisfy everyone's curiosity, I got freaky at Georgetown in a Mustang, not a Camry (my boyfriend's), but those were good guesses too. :-) Yes, Summer, I'm talking about Dave (ick).
P.S. - There will be more Nantucket pics to follow. Too many for one post right now.
P.P.S. - Lorinda, the Camry's name will be Lola. For more than one reason, but I'm sure all you Kinks fans will get it. I'll spell it out later.