then I shouldn’t have to type too much (but I’m not a woman of a few words, so you’re probably stuck with both)!  I’m back, it’s crazy, ’nuff said.  We had a super glorious wonderful marvelous time on the cruise, and I was sad to come home!  I connected with old and online friends, made new friends, learned new stuff, bought new yarn (well, duh!) and saw great new places.  I will by no means bore you with the 200+ pictures I took, but I must throw a few in here.  The goal is for them to be somewhat chronological, but there are no promises, even though I was too dumb to turn off the date stamp on the camera!  I will also apologize for the obvious lack of formatting – I’ve been working on this post off and on for 6 hours and just need to get it done!

Saturday – I left on an 8 a.m. flight for Minneapolis, and landed about 10:00 their time.  Mom picked me up, and we went to her house for a visit with my grandma and my aunt Teri.  We did squeeze in a quick visit to Skeins (it wasn’t my idea, I promise!) where Mom picked out some yarn and a book on knitting wire jewelry.  OK, maybe 1 ball she bought was for me, but that’s all, I promise!  We left at 7:00 p.m. for a flight to L.A.  We landed without incident, though we put our lives at risk on the Super Shuttle from LAX to the hotel.  We got in late and crashed – sorry, no pics.

Sunday – We got up, had breakfast, and tried to tour around San Pedro.  Guess what – there’s nothing there.  And nothing open, especially Sunday morning.  We headed off to the ship and got settled in, and headed up to check in with out group and meet up with the knitters.  We discovered at dinner that not only were we seated with the Queen and the Prince, but we were also seated with the celebrities:  Eunny, Amie, and Kaity of Knitty Gritty fame (and her mom and Grandma).  There was late night sea knitting, and we nearly got ourselves kicked out of “our” area because we kept hollering out trivia answers.  I crashed early, and apparently missed the knitters singing Karaoke.  But – before I left, I got a picture of Mama E and my “Niki” colorway sock!

Monday – We had classes most of the day – a color theory class with MamaE that was really cool, then a “making the most of your handpainted yarn” class with Eunny, which was also really cool, since I’ve been running out of ideas.  And no, I won’t share – you just should have been there.  We had formal night that night – I know there were pictures, as I remember posing, but they’re not on my camera – must be on Mom’s.  (Oh – and happy birthday AND Mother’s day, Mom!)

Tuesday – this was our day in port in San Francisco.  While Mom and others took off for Sausalito, Pier 39, and Fisherman’s Wharf, the knitters hopped a bus for San Rafael – more specifically, Marin Fiber Arts.  The people at our breakfast table this morning (3 ladies from Canada, a couple from Mexico, and the Mammogram Technician to the Stars – I swear!) were astounded that I could spend the day at a yarn shop!  What they didn’t realize is that we were meeting someone there – a very special someone – Alison!  She came in to meet us, and show us her gorgeous shawls from her upcoming book.  It was great to finally meet Alison – we’ve been online buddies for a while, but this was our first “in person” meeting.  I certainly hope it won’t be our last.  She brought gorgeous lace scarves for me and Patricia – mine is pink Lisa Souza silk!

I bought lots, but had it shipped home so I wouldn’t have to carry it.  It actually beat me home, and it was like buying it all over again!  That night at dinner, our waiter Shon and our head waiter Ryan brought out an early birthday cake for Eunny (who was suitably embarrassed!).

Our napkins that night were in the shape of a shoe, in honor of Italian night, however, we thought they looked more like socks, and assumed that it was in our honor!

We had more sea knitting that night – here’s a picture of Michelle, Laura, Rose, and the back of Eunny.

Wednesday was another day at sea, and was a bumpy one.  We had many seasick knitters, and we zigged and zagged through the ship trying to keep balanced.  Class was rough, as it was in an enclosed room, and a bit stuffy, and many felt icky.  Somehow the rough seas never upset my stomach, they just messed with my head.  It was hard to get a good picture of the waves, but here is one taken out of our cabin window.

We had more classes, but some of us played a little hooky, and had a mini class of our own.  Here’s a great pic of Laura, Karen, girl who was really sweet but whose name I can’t remember, Rose, and me.  Laura was looking and feeling a bit green that day, but she was a trooper!

Even Patricia managed to sit down and knit for a while – amazing, as she always seemed to be in 3 places at one time, keeping all the plates spinning and balancing!

That night at dinner, as if to make up for it all, we had a beautiful double rainbow.  The longer it lasted, the more intense it got, and we were all snapping pictures like crazy!

That night we of course had more sea knitting – every night our numbers seemed to grow, and people walking through our lounge finally seemed to not freak out at 40 people with pointy sticks in one room.

We also had a chance to chat for a few minutes with MamaE and her son Cowboy.  He may be the only 3 1/2 year old on the planet who can carry on a 15 minute conversation about the Baltimore Orioles!  He was enjoyed by all who met him.

Thursday was our excursion into Victoria, BC.  Other than a major delay in actually getting off the ship, it was a beautiful time and we had a great trip!  We first cruised into town and hit Beehive Wool, and were they ever ready for us!  I got to see yarns I’ve only heard of – Fleece Artist, Handmaiden, Needful Yarns.  We had only an hour, and it just wasn’t enough time to see everything, since there were over 30 of us in there at once!  I came home with Fleece Artist for me, for Mom, and lots of sock yarn.

After Beehive, we toured around Victoria, and stopped in Oak Bay to have high tea at Blethering Place.  It was lots of fun, great food, and there was shopping!  Mom and I sat with Lisa and June, who is apparently blogless.  You can see Mama E and the Queen enjoying their tea right behind us.  We had a great time!

Thursday was also our last night at sea, which was celebrated with a cocktail party and prizes!  Mom and I both won some Socks that Rock (and she won’t give hers up).  It was sad, as I knew it was the last time I’d see some of these people, though I’m hoping to get together again with some of the NC folks.

Here’s a shot of me, Mom, and Amie at the party.

And a shot of Rose, Karen, and me, saying goodbye.

Friday we got off the ship, and Mom and I spent the day and night in Vancouver.  We had a great tiem, but we were SO tired at that point!  We hit the airport Saturday morning, then flew to Minneapolis, then I flew home.  Mark and the girls were still gone, so Kim picked me up at the airport and we got home about midnight.  I slept a good bit of Sunday, and stayed home Monday to try to get myself back on schedule.  I also got to unpack all of this:

And no, I’m not quite done, I still have a wee bit of stuff coming from the Sweet Sheep!

Since I’ve been back, I’ve finished up a few things:
Sweet Georgia Speed Demon socks in Fondant

Two hats for our friend Emily – one in some great soft yarn we found on Granville Island in Vancouver (I swear, there’s yarn everywhere, even when you’re not looking!), and the other in some Opal sock yarn.  Thanks to Hayley for modeling!

and sock #1 of 2 for Nikki the dogsitter in Panda Cotton (I LOVE THIS STUFF!)

OK, this has been my longest post ever.  It’s Sunday night at 9:00, and I’m pooped and going to bed!  Have a great week!

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