I took Rob to the airport at 3:45 am on Saturday for him to catch his flight to Colorado. He began his "hut to hut" mountain bike adventure from Telluride to Moab, Utah with 5 others. He will be out of cell phone range and essentially in the middle of "no where" until next weekend. Whimsy and I drove to West Seattle to Little Knits. A yarn store in a house in the middle of a neighborhood. They had sent me an email that they were having a sale. Any excuse to paw through yarn. I found quite a bit to buy (sock yarn, needles for magic loop and handpainted mohair) but as luck would have it, none of what I chose was on sale. I almost purchased some cashmere and silk yarn in a beautiful heather pale green color but when informed the cost was $22.00 each for a 125 yard skein I quickly came to my senses. Even I have my limits! Whimsy and I got lost on the way to Alki Beach and ended up on the on ramp to the freeway home, so we continued on and then went for a walk in Lakemont Park instead. Down to the grocery store to get crab cakes, salad and twice baked potatoes for dinner. Rob's mom, Marilyn came over for dinner and "movie night" since we like to watch what Rob calls "chick flicks" when he is out of town. The movie featured Kevin Costner as a serial killer so I don't know if the selection fits into the category of "chick flick" after all. I have never liked the term "chick" so I'm surprising myself by even referring to it. I started knitting a baby sweater using a pattern from a favorite Bouton d'Or book. The stitch pattern is an off-center basketweave look and I like it a lot. The cast on of 101 stitches for the front of a worsted weight baby sweater seemed excessive. How wide is this baby going to be? I knit on, putting full trust in the pattern. In the morning, under the light of day and without the distraction of suspenseful moments from a movie, I realized that even with the "correct" number of stitches cast on, the sweater seems quite wide. It would be more likely to fit a pre-adolescent child since the sweater is 17 inches across the front and 34 inch circumference. I've tried 3 different baby sweater projects and have struck out each time. That settles it - I'm going to design my own rather than use a store pattern.
Sunday morning, Whimsy and I went to Seward Park alongside Lake Washington to participate in the 3rd Annual Sickle Cell Walk sponsored by the Bobby Engram Foundation. Bobby is a Wide Receiver for the Seattle Seahawks and is an amazing person both on and off the field. He started the foundation after learning his young daughter had the disease. Whimsy and I arrived earlier than anticipated since traffic was light and it was easy to find a place nearby to park. I signed up for Bone Marrow Donor screening and had a brief conversation with Bobby while he signed my T-shirt. He is a charming man - what a class act.
At least 10 other Seahawk players were there to interact with the small crowd by signing shirts, autographing caps and posters to support the cause. Whimsy likes to participate in philantrophic activities such as this. She howled during the singing of the Star Spangled Banner before the race and had fun meeting the other dogs there. Whimsy (always the Seattle Seahawk groupie) wanted her picture taken with some of the players. We especially liked being next to tackle Walter Jones (6'5", 325 lbs) as we felt SMALL next to him. Leonard Weaver was very sweet and had a playful sense of humor. It was an intimate, family oriented, genuinely warm and friendly event with vibrant music, cookies, water, muffins, snack bars, and barbeque. It was a wonderful way to spend the morning - in support of a fantastic cause and getting some much needed exercise at the same time. I am glad we participated and will plan to do so again next year.
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