SAFF 2008 recap

We had a great time at SAFF this year. I tried my best to reign in on the spending... I almost succeeded.. I'm definitely on a fiber diet for a while. I bought a few rovings and several skeins of yarn. I got a couple of skeins of lace weight yarn and a skein of sock yarn from the KnitWitch. This was their first SAFF as a vendor and I hope they did well. I'll try and post some pics of my purchases within the next week. I can't believe I took my camera with me and didn't take a single picture the entire weekend.

We stayed at the Econolodge this year and it was much nicer than our previous year's hotel although the free breakfast wasn't too extravagant. The coffee was good, but we still had to make a trip to Starbucks before heading over to the convention center so Steve could get his 'fix'.

We also bought a couple of wine boxes at Target for unwinding in the room before dinner. It's hard work shopping all day for yarn and roving and spinning and checking out each other's purchases... We (Steve and I) weren't feeling any pain by the time we got to the restaurant. We went to Tamarind and had Thai food for dinner last night. It was very good! I'm sure the waiter was glad to see a large group of raucous happy fiber fiends go. We certainly tested his waiter skills, and patience probably, and he did a great job.

We were supposed to eat at Carraba's on Friday night, but when we got to the restaurant they claimed they didn't get the call from Jane that morning to have our group on the call list for a table. I think they probably gave our table to another large group and then didn't want to fess up that they made a mistake. It worked out in our favor anyway as we went to the Mexican restaurant just across the parking lot and had a great dinner with $2.50 margaritas! The food at Carraba's is good, but we ended up getting a great meal at a great price and our group of 14 walked in the door and were seated immediately with really great service too. I think it was Casa Torres but not really sure.

The guys here that made sheep hats (Steve, Lou, Stuart, Rob and I) were supposed to all wear them together yesterday, but we never did see Rob. We only heard from other people that he was there somewhere with his partner and son Mikael wearing the sheep hat. The other four of us did walk around for at least an hour and we had a great time. Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of us, but I'm sure you will see us somewhere as we were stopped about every two steps for someone to snap a picture. Steve was very popular with his felted extra accoutrements on the back of his hat. (If anyone has a picture of us in their Flickr account, please send me a link so I can see it. thanks)

It's early to bed this evening. I'm back at work tomorrow after having been off on vacation for 3 weeks. The time sure flew by, as it always does. I dread what I'll be returning to piled up on my desk. What fun it is to sit and sort through that stack!

Howdy Y'all

I got back from Texas this afternoon. I stayed the night in Jackson, Mississippi last night. There were high school girls softball teams in the hotel too, so it was a little noisy in the hallways last night with people talking and carrying on. I've managed to get the car unloaded and everything unpacked, but I haven't had a chance to download the pictures. It will probably take me a couple of days to go through all of them and resize and edit some for sharing. I usually take about twice as many as I end up keeping and I have about 150 this time to go through.

I finished all the knitting for my SAFF sweater in Texas (except for the collar) and then all that's left is piecing it together and weaving in ends. I have all of next week off too so I shouldn't have any problem getting it finished. I also made the Brooklyn Tweed Habitat hat while I was there.

I'm looking forward to seeing my knittin' buddies at Knitch tomorrow.

A Texas Wedding

I'm at my sister and brother in law's house tonight for dinner.  They got married last night at a friends house in San Marcos, Texas.  The weather has been just perfect for all the wedding activities since we have been dining outdoors for the last two evenings.  We are going to McKinney Falls State Park on Sunday for a picnic and it should be a great time.  I've been taking lots of pictures, I just don't have a way to download any of them until I get home.  I'll share the highlights after I get back.  

I drove as far as Palestine, Texas on Monday.  I decided to avoid the Dallas/Fort Worth area as I would have been going through right at rush hour.  It worked out for the best since there were thunderstorms going through late Monday and I would have also been driving through rain in Dallas.  I was glad I stopped for the night instead of driving through.  The remainder of the drive to Austin on Tuesday morning was very nice and I took my time enjoying the drive and scenery.  I also decided to stop and have BBQ at my favorite spot in Taylor, Texas.  If you have ever been there, you know why.  It's Louis Meuller BBQ and I definitely felt like I had come back to Texas while enjoying a brisket sandwich with pinto beans and potato salad.  I also took some pictures while there to show you the inside of the place.  The walls are black for the most part due to the smoke from the pits.  I talked with one of the employees, Lin (picture later) who told me about the history of the place and the family, and he also gave me a tour and even let me go into the kitchen area to take pictures of the pit.  When I got to Mom's house I could still smell the smokey smell on my t-shirt.  I love the smell of BBQ smoke!

My Aunt and cousin are also here for the wedding and we have been having a great time visiting and getting caught up on the family stuff.  They will be here till next Tuesday.  This if the first time my cousin has been here in about 35 years.  I think she was 8 or 9 years old when she was last here.

I guess I should go rejoin the dinner party on the patio.  :)