Must have been the yarn fumes

So happy to be back in the land of the Spiritual Room Service Menu! I think this time I'll order up the body pillow with the Tao Te Ching, or maybe the Bhagavad Gita. I'm not even sure that that last one is. I'm going to arrange them all on my bed before my as-yet-unknown roommate gets in. That'll freak her out!

Yes, I'm back at the Hotel Murano for the Madrona Fiber Arts Retreat, my fourth year here. More crazy knitting ladies wearing their handmades. This time there's a lot more. The hotel, a 20-something floor nouveau remade of an old Sheraton, is completely sold out. So is the rest of Tacoma - we hear that there's a wrestling tournament and a cheerleaders' convention in town as well. My suggestion: all three groups get together in one convention center, make new friends and learn new skills. We could cheer on a knitting throwdown! Whoo! Who's with me?

Anyway, I went by Lollipop Cabin's booth to collect my pay for doing a sample knit for her and this is what I picked out:

Not sure what got into me - this is pretty rainbow pastelly, or what we call in the knitting world "unicorn barf." I love love love it though. No idea what I'll make out of it. Maybe a cuddly lap robe, 'cause it's unlikely I could ever wear these colors out in the world.

And here's the answer to the question I posed about the pronunciation of Ialiuxh, the first name of the very cool yarntrepreneur behind Lollipop Cabin: it's ill-ay'-uh. No one even came close.

More yarny goodness to come. I'm off to my first class: "Designing your own stitch patterns." Another useless skill to add to my repertoire! Wish me luck.