Warning: the following entry will contain references to sex. Leave now if you are uncomfortable with the subject matter...OK, for those who have stuck around, here is my haul from my SEX (Stash Enhancement eXpedition) at Stitches West in Santa Clara a couple of weekends ago. Notice that one thing that is sorely missing is YARN... Well, not really, this is all yarn, it's just yarn in the raw form. There was some really YUMMY rovings out there that I picked up from Blue Moon, Carolina Homespun, Lisa Souza Dyeworks and Judy's Novelty Wool! Yes, there is even some raw Corriedale wool in here that is begging to be dyed and spun! Nope, I didn't win one of the Grand Prizes they had there, or there would have been the need for a second suitcase for all of the roving I would have brought home! Stitches West was a real treat! It was HUGE! I have never seen so much sheep, alpaca, cashmere and other natural fibers in one place before. I was tempted to pick up a couple of balls of Tofutsies, but I decided to pick it up here at my LYS instead. The rovings are Corriedale, Blue Faced Leichester, Angora/Rambouillet and Merino wool. Yummy! I also picked up a nifty "Crafty Kate" (we don't call them lazy Kate's any longer) and another niddy noddy to take with me on the road. I am currently spinning up some Merino and hope to get it plied later this week.
The conference was really awesome. I got to see some old friends, get too little sleep, learn a hell of a lot about the new technologies coming in my job and had a chance to do a little bit of wine tasting in Napa Valley. We discovered the best way to go about wine tasting. First, you find a little no-name winery on the side of the road and stop in for a tasting. If the wine is really good (and this one was), you ask the wine server for a recommendation on somewhere else that THEY would visit. This lead us to 3 great wineries that had some of the most unbelievable wines I have had in a while. I was able to pack all of the wine in the suitcase and all are ready to drink now, yippee! I am hoping to break open one of the white wines this weekend.
I have made up another alcoholic concoction. I had so much fun with the Ultimate Grape Martini that I tried for another version in cherry flavor. The first recipe is something I am calling a Virgini-tini. This one has so much cherry flavor to it that it will feel like you got your virginity back :-)
Virgini-tini:
1.5 oz Cherry Vodka (I used 3 Olives brand)
0.5 oz Creme de Griotte (or any cherry liqueur. This is the one they had at BevMo)
Mix in a martini shaker and pour into a chilled martini glass
The next one is the first attempt, the Cherry Martini:
1.5 oz Cherry Vodka (I used 3 Olives brand)
0.5 oz Triple Sec
1.5 oz 7-Up
Mix in a martini shaker and pour into a chilled martini glass
The second recipe has a nice cherry flavor too it, but doesn't go wild with cherry flavor like the Virgini-tini does.
I started on days this week and started working with the Install/Qual team at the new factory. I am learning so much from this new job. I also found out that they aren't moving me for another month. I will have a "new" cube (as in a totally re-designed cube) in the same area as the rest of my counterparts. I am still having problems with this waking up in the morning and driving in rush hour traffic both ways, but I am getting used to it...
Time to get back to my spinning. I hope to have a day this weekend to dye some wool and put it up for sale on Etsy! My yarn is still there, which means that the right home just hasn't seen it yet! :-)
