Knitting Gnome Swap

Are we still swapping?

2008-01-14T14:11:00.002-08:00

Are we still doing the swap? Has Rae sent a gnome back out to continue on?

Gnorm on his way to Rae,

2007-11-29T20:49:00.000-08:00

I think Gnorm is a little upset with me after his visit. It started well. He visited work with me, met the kids, hung out with me at lunch and did a bunch of errands with me. It was the last errand that upset him. A trip to the dentist, I figured he should get a cleaning as long as he was there. After that he insisted we were through and that I send him back to Michigan..he should be there by Monday, if not sooner.

Wake up call from Gnorm!

2007-11-27T04:57:00.000-08:00

Hi! Amysue in Massachusetts here. I was fast asleep this morning and felt something get dropped on my legs. I just rolled over because often my husband brings a cooler with my Boost in it so that I don't try to skip the morning insulin and breakfast. When I woke up a little later I saw that there were two squareish objects on the bed and one was a box from Wisconsin! Gnorm had arrived and he brought some amazing goodies with him:

Vesper Sock Yarn! in an amazingly bright and cheery (especially on a cold, wet, late fall morning like today) colorway called Aquamelon.
A trio of delightful heartshaped soap from The Alchemic Dragon.
A bar of 74% cacao organic chocolate from Dagoba!!
A recipe I'll be making for our family Chanukah Party for Spicy Black Bean Dip.
Finally, the cutest, most wonderful and already cherished stitch marker ever in the shape of a tiny little gnome.

Of course, this was the moment my camera battery died and the charger went into hiding. No worries though...I have a cell phone that can take pictures! You can see Gnorm (up top) just after he came out of his box, resting with my still sleeping son! Here to the right is Gnorm with all the goodies he (and Ann in Wisconsin! Thank you!) brought with him.

Gnorm has a busy day ahead of him. He'll be going to my local LYS for a quick hello before I go to work and he'll be spending the day at my synagogue, which is were I work in the religious school.

But first...I HAVE NO IDEA WHERE TO SEND GNORM NEXT!!!!! I thought I had something in email from the summer, but this is a new laptop and perhaps it got lost. Please let me know where this guy is traveling next if anyone knows so that I can get him out before the end of the week!

Gnorm Has Arrived!!

2007-10-28T19:00:00.000-07:00

Gnorm arrived here in Northeast Wisconsin this past week and he's been enjoying a variety of outings with some new friends! We have more planned during the next few days and will have many pictures and details to share with you all in the near future.

Will be in touch!

Ann K.

Bordercrossing: there and back again

2007-10-24T16:45:00.000-07:00

Greetings from Gnorm! Oh, the adventures I've been having lately!

Immediately upon my arrival here in the Great White North the fun began. Emily picked me up from my hideout at the postal station (had to be cautious, given my recent run-in with the law!), and from there we quickly blended ourselves into the bustling crowds of Toronto's Chinatown. Minutes later, and there scene changed completely as we headed into Kensington Market, and into the cozy warmth of Lettuce Knit.

It was knitnight, and I was just getting acquainted with some of the knitters (and checking out the sock yarns) when I had a brush with knitting celebrity!

Stephanie Pearl-McPhee was kind enough to share some of her Big Fat Burrito (a Lettuce Knit tradition, I'm told), and let me get a photo with the Yarn Harlot herself.

What more could Toronto have to offer, you may ask? Lots! From the University of Toronto campus, where I got to sit in on a "Stitch & Lunch" (and cuddle up to some cashmere!)...

...To the government buildings at Queen's Park...

...To the Art Gallery of Ontario and the Ontario College of Art and Design...

And of course, the CN Tower was always there in the background!

I would have toured Toronto further, as I was enjoying getting "out and about" as the Canadians say, but I was beginning to get a bit lonesome for my homeland. Could I ever return?

Emily concocted a plan -- we daringly ditched my arrest anklet and smuggled me back across the border with a family vacation as our disguise!

Next thing I knew, I was dancing at her cousin's wedding in Richmond, Virginia and taking in the sights at Colonial Williamsburg! I rather enjoyed the shopping...

But may have had a bit of a scare with the local (if 18th Century) law!!

I think perhaps I should keep moving on, but am happy to be back in the good ol' U-S-of-A. It's rather hot in Virginia, though... maybe going northward again would be nice...

~Gnorm

Can A Gnome Handle Freezing Weather Conditions?

2007-10-14T23:35:00.000-07:00

I see Gnorm has recently arrived at one of his destinations during the last few days, but how's Gnuman doing? Is he MIA? Or?

Shall I expect either of these little guys PRIOR to the New Year?

Heeheheheheheeee!!

I am just wanting to plan for a nice visit with one of them and seriously - Wisconsin in January and February can be very very VERY cold!!

I had plans for some outdoor adventures but may need to revisit my ideas and head into a different direction. I'm not sure Gnomes can handle such frigid weather. Maybe I should plan to knit the little guy an additional coat, socks and mittens?

When I finally do receive a visit from a Gnome at my door, I may be so surprised, I won't know what to do with him!

I will do my best,

Ann

Gnorm has arrived!

2007-10-10T20:25:00.000-07:00

Gnorm is safe and sound in Toronto, and has already had a fun evening... You'll hear from him soon enough, but for now he's getting rested before he takes the tour of the big TO!

~Emily

I Fought the Law and the Law Won

2007-10-01T02:41:00.001-07:00

Man, that was quite a bumpy ride from Pennsylvania to Michigan but nothing prepared me for the adventures of this stop. I arrived to a very noisy household but my gifts from Marcia seemed well received.

I love kids but this was a little much. I was pulled, tugged, biten, thrown, and even was the source of one long game of tug of war.

We took a drive through my birthplace with a few stops along the way. I stopped by the capital to have a convo with Governer Granholm regarding my thoughts of the budget crisis and potential State government shutdown but the entrance was closed.

It was quite a sunny day and nothing beats a walk through the MSU campus and a visit to Sparty.

It was a long day and time for hanging downtown for a cocktail or two - I needed a little something to ease the stress of the day. With a full bladder of good Michigan ale, I was in search of a gnome friendly facility to no avail.

This seemed as good of a place as any, I'll just tuck behind this wheel.

OOPS!

One Drunk and Disordly and One Public Urination citation later, I'm booked and in the Clink.

See, here's the problem Officer, even the jailhouse doesn't cater to the needs of a Gnome.

A night in the Big House really makes you think. How do I explain this one to Rae?

Kristi bonded me out this morning but before I left, I was forced to have this ankle bracelet attached to me and was told to not leave the state or the country. Hmmmm.....life on the lam sounds like an adventure, now to plan my escape....Perhaps, out of the country....

Gnorm Back In Michigan

2007-09-29T04:42:00.000-07:00

Gnorm landed back in his birthplace of Lansing, Michigan - he was a little homesick and needed to come back to his roots for a little fun before he leaves on his next destination. Thanks Marsha for all the goodies. We're off for a day of fun in the Capital City!

Gnorm hangs out with some gnitters

2007-09-26T15:22:00.000-07:00

Freed from the confines of his traveling box--and liberated from the clutches of a two-year-old--Gnorm accompanied me to the (nearly) weekly get-together of my local knitting group. Last night's location: the cafe at Barnes and Noble. (Coffee, tasty desserts, and a place that stays open until 11 p.m.--a great combination!) First, he surveyed some of the treats arrayed on the table.

Then he helped Katie count rows. She's in the homestretch of a Wonderful Wallaby hooded pullover sweater for her daughter, and Gnorm shouted some encouraging words: "It's placket time! You can do it! This is going to look great!" After that, there's just the hood to knit and two little underarm seams to graft, and then the sweater will be all done--just in time for autumn.

All of that cheerleading wore him out, though. Fortunately, Linda has been knitting ball-band washcloths like crazy since she discovered them a month ago. She brought a stack of ten of them (each in a different color combination!) to show everyone, and they provided the perfect place for a quick snooze. We thought about seeing if "the princess and the pea" was also applicable to "the gnome and the pea," but he woke up before we could put something under his bed to test the theory.

Rejuvenated after that catnap, he stopped by Beth's end of the table to examine the moebius scarf she'd just started. She's using Rowan Kid Silk Haze, the absolutely luscious stuff that the Yarn Harlot famously nicknamed Crack Silk Haze. And for good reason: once you touch this yarn, you don't want to put it down. Just look at Gnorm here. We had a hard time peeling him away from this skein of it...

A new knitter, Aimee, joined us for the first time last night. Gnorm offered lots of encouragement as she cast on for a gauge swatch: "Lookin' good!" He started to warn her about the dangers of becoming a knitter and developing serious Stash Enhancement Tendencies, but the rest of us shushed him and whisked him away...

...down to Ruth, who's working on an adorable baby sweater. "Very nice pattern," Gnorm said approvingly, as he looked it over. "That's one lucky baby who'll be wearing that!"

Gnorm had a great time meeting everyone and playing with their yarn, but by the end of the evening he was pretty tuckered out.

He enjoyed his stay here, but he's been traveling for several months now and is eager to get back on the road to get home eventually. So this morning I bid him a fond farewell, packed some luggage for him, and sent him off to his next destination!

Gnorm arrives in Exton, Pennsylvania

2007-09-24T17:54:00.000-07:00

After a long journey, Gnorm has arrived in Exton, Pennsylvania, which is about forty-five minutes west of Philadelphia. (Technically, we are part of the Philly suburbs. But if you go another forty-five minutes west, you're right smack in the middle of Amish country. So, to be fair, I should say we are part of those suburbs, too!) He arrived in style, in a lovely purple box that looks like it's seen a few miles but is still doing a great job keeping him and his luggage safe.

Crammed into the box with him were lots of wonderful goodies from Lia, who did a fabulous job of choosing items that were just right for me. (Chocolate? Check! Yarns made from interesting natural fibers--in this case, bamboo and corn? Check! Sock-knitting accessories? Check!) Thanks, Lia!

He spent the day at my home. As you can see, my two-year-old daughter has taken quite a shine to him (in this case, "shine" is defined as "toddler death-grip on the knitted gnome").

"Can I keep him?" she asked. I explained that I was going to send him to someone else in a few days, and she was rather bummed about that. But then I added that I could knit one for her soon, and that cheered her up. The first order of business: stuffing the gnome into the "trunk" of her toy car. She was rather annoyed when the lid wouldn't close (Gnome is a bit too stout to fit comfortably in this vehicle)...

...so she transferred him to the "trunk" of her tricyle. "So he can watch me ride my car," she explained. And so he did.

Tomorrow evening, Gnorm gets to meet my local knitting group!

[NOTE: I've moved my blog since this swap started. My old blog links to the new one, but if you want to get there directly go here.]

Gnews of Gnorm

2007-09-23T19:05:00.000-07:00

Hi, everyone! Gnorm has just arrived at my house! I'll show him around for a few days, then will send him on his merry way.

(Will post more later--just wanted to send a quick note, since I know we've all been worried about him!)

Calling All Gnomes!

2007-09-20T05:56:00.000-07:00

Looks like our gnome friends are still MIA. Can we get the ball rolling again? I would love to show Gnorm or Gnuman around Chicago in the fall and I have a package of goodies ready to send to my pal.

If people are having a hard time putting a parcel together, could you maybe just send the gnome on to your swap partner? Sometimes things come up, and we all understand that. I would be more than happy to put together an extra package for your pal.

Updates...

2007-08-31T21:15:00.000-07:00

Okay, I'm hoping that people will get back on the ball about
A) sending the Gnomes out in a timely fashion
B) sending me tracking info for those packages (remember there are prizes to be awarded for doing so...)
C) Posting about the gnomes during their stay

August was a very quiet month here, lets try to make September a little better.

Here's what I know right now, Gnuman finally made it to Ahren on Monday & I've been informed he will shortly be on his way to his next hostess.

I can't get a hold of Lia, I believe she still has Gnorm. I've checked in with his next stop & she hasn't seen him yet. Lia, will you please contact me. I hate to put this on the blog, but you seem to be ignoring my emails.

Thanks all for bearing with me, I am sending out emails daily tracking down the gnomes & hope to have everything running smoothly soon.

Gnuman Found!

2007-08-18T20:09:00.000-07:00

Yippy, We've located Gnuman!
I think Megan will be posting here soon, but he had an unintentional extended stay with her & is now winging his way to his next stop.
She has posted some great photos on the flickr page with some commentary. For some reason blogger isn't showing any of the editing options so I can't make it a link, but here's the URL~
http://www.flickr.com/photos/70531558@N00/1063655484/in/pool-384103@N23/

I hope we'll soon be hearing from Gnorm as well...
~Rae

Calling All Gnomes!

2007-08-15T11:43:00.001-07:00

Gnuman....Gnorm... Where are you?

We're starting to get a little worried. Can whoever the gnomes are visiting right now please send a quick check in email or blog post. We miss them!

Thanks~
Rae

Gnorm made it to NJ!!

2007-07-29T07:07:00.000-07:00

I had a nice little nap at the Hammonton Post Office while I was waiting for Lia to pick me up. Millie, the Postmistress, took good care of me. Saturday morning, I was snoozing when the box started to move. I heard Millie and Lia chatting, and off we went. Lia opened the box, and I jumped out. She introduced me to Daniel, her step-son, and I learned that we were off to pick blackberries - YUM!

We went to Russo's farm and got lots of yummy fruit. Here I am with our haul. Everyone was very interested in me, and Lia told them all about my recent travels. Here I am with the nice lady from the farm.

After the farm, Lia and Daniel took me to Lia's favorite yarn shop, Woolbearers. I got to meet Myra and all the other ladies at the shop. There was a spinning demo going on, and it was very interesting. Daniel had never seen that before, so he asked lots of questions. To be honest, they were the same questions I would have asked, but I just sat there nodding knowledgeably as he asked away! We walked around the store, and I got to pet all of the very soft and yummy yarns. Daniel was on the hunt for something shiny, and Myra helped him find a shiny button. I sat in a cozy loop of Woolbear's hand-dyed yarn while Myra packed up all of Lia's goodies. Then we were off for home.

Lia got busy and made blackberry jam with some of the fat juicy berries we picked. She made some honey oatmeal bread and a mixed berry cake - I can't wait until dessert and breakfast tomorrow! Lia has more excitement planned to tomorrow - we are going to visit her Mom and go to a NJ diner - how fun! After all this, we were tuckered out. Lia will open the rest of the package in the morning.

Gnuman makes the rounds, Part II

2007-07-25T16:04:00.000-07:00

After the children were put down to nap, Jennifer said she was finally going to give me the Grand Tour on her way to the market. I think she was really proud she was finally getting her act together.

First, we went by that old house she mentioned earlier; she knows it at Mrs. King's house. She tried to take a photo, but there were too many cars in front, she parked illegally in front of the school and then a police car drove by and she didn't want to get stopped--we had a lot to do! The basic story, as best Jennifer remembers from her middle school project, is that the house was built in the 1600's, supposedly was a tavern during the Revolutionary War, and is supposedly haunted. She had a tour of the home at that time, and the then-owner related several experiences, including the night she heard the sound of a cannon ball rolling across her bedroom floor, and she woke up to see a soldier in Revolutionary War dress standing in her bedroom. Ooooh! Eerie!

She then showed me the house on the other side of the school, which also dates from the 1600's and which she also toured way back when. She even took a photo but...

Ack! Too blurry! At least I look good (that is, the parts she got in the frame).

This is me at the intersection of Main Street (yes, Metuchen has a Main Street!) and Middlesex Avenue (Rte. 27), the main intersection in town.

The building on my left is the newly reconstructed Boro Hall. The building between the tree and me in the background is the Volunteer Fire Department which came to Jennifer's house once when she smelled smoke at the children's bedtime. Everyone sat in the minivan while four fire engines' worth of volunteers left their homes, dinners, etc. to check the house. Jennifer was embarrassed but grateful.

Here is another partial shot of Main Street, one block down.

A few blocks down, Jennifer pulled into a parking spot opposite the post office, in front of the Colonial Cemetery. Here I am:

We then climbed about 10 steps up into the cemetery. We walked around and looked at the old gravestones, and found a few marking the plots of Revolutionary War soldiers.

We both thought it was pretty neat. Purportedly, there was a Revolutionary War skirmish in the area; there is a sign about it by Boro Hall. "Of course," Jennifer said, "New Jersey is the 'Washington slept here' state."

When we left the cemetery, we were directly opposite the Post Office:
(That's me in the corner of the picture)

Jennifer said that inside the Post Office, there is a plaque listing the names of Metuchen residents who fought in the Revolutionary War. She said I won't get to see it, because I'll be in my Priority Mail Box when she brings me there. Although I'm leaving Metuchen either tomorrow or Friday, Jennifer assured me that I'm not traveling too far, and shouldn't spend more than two or three days in transit. She also said that my next destination is interesting and a lot of fun; it has a lot of history and great yarn stores!

Across the street from the Post Office is the train station. On the corner is Freedom Plaza:

It's a memorial/tribute to those who lost their lives on 9/11. Metuchen lost one resident.

After all this sightseeing, Jennifer rushed to the market to do her food shopping and get everything unloaded and put away before the children woke up from nap. And once they did, I got to meet Crocus!

Margery bought Crocus for Boy M after he watched a Thomas the Tank Engine episode that had lots of gnomes. He could not stop talking about the gnomes for weeks! Easily understandable, I say.

The boys were very curious about our conversation. "Gnome business," I told them. But Crocus asked me to tell everyone that he is not caged, he is very happy in the garden with the flowers and his mushroom, and that the yard was fenced that way long before he arrived (to keep triplets from escaping).

This may very well be my last post from Metuchen. Jennifer says that if you want more information about Metuchen, you can find it here. I'm certainly looking forward to my next adventure!

Gnuman makes the rounds

2007-07-25T14:34:00.000-07:00

For the past few days, I've been hanging around the house. We've had some child craziness (i.e., Jennifer had to give the kids her undivided attention and couldn't get to the Grand Tour) and a summer Nor'easter (Jennifer did not want me to get wet). So today, I got to hit the local roads with her.

First, Jennifer took the boys to camp and came back to drop off Baby Girl for a walk. Our plans for the tour were again delayed as Jennifer had to pick up three full changes of clothes, shoes and bathing suits because the boys played in water on the playground before camp began and used up their clothing changes. This is why Jennifer did not take me to camp. I went with her on the clothing run. Then we went to Jennifer's mother's house to help with a yarn project. Here is the house Jennifer grew up in:

The two windows in the upper left corner are in Jennifer's bedroom. It's still a bedroom, but it also houses her mother's stash.

On a side note, Jennifer pointed out the house two doors down. Those neighbors had a son Jennifer's age and were friendly with David Copperfield's parents. Yes, the magician David Copperfield grew up in Metuchen! Jennifer actually remembers a birthday party where he performed magic for the children! Also, when she was in high school, Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous filmed part of a segment on David Copperfield in her chemistry class. Her chemistry teacher notably told David Copperfield to give up the magic because it wouldn't get him anywhere.

Back to the yarn project. Jennifer's mother, Margery, decided she wanted open bins to store her stash. So now, the bins (bookshelves) were assembled and we watched as Margery began to sort and store the yarn:

That's me snuggled in with the cashmere; Jennifer and Margery say I have good taste in yarn. Here's a close up:

It looks like a yarn store in there! I heard Jennifer ask her mother for a house account. It was approved. Lucky Jennifer!

We then went home to take Baby Girl to her swim lesson and lunch, and then back to camp to retrieve the boys. Here I am in the car:

That pouch with the numbers is Jennifer's most favorite knitting accessory (a brilliantly designed sock project pouch with an accessory/notions pouch from Piddleloop) and contains a sock in progress. The boys were excited to see me. On the way home, they insisted I see the diggers and bulldozers doing construction at Metuchen High School:

Before nap, they promised to introduce me to Crocus the gnome! I'll tell you about the afternoon in the next post.

Gnorm's Last Day in MN

2007-07-24T07:37:00.000-07:00

I had such a full last day in Minnesota. Our final yarn shop visit was to Creative Fibers in Minneapolis. Lorraine had been visiting the Fiberit blog for a long time and was thrilled to finally put a face to a blogger.

What made the visit extra special for Lorraine was the fact that the shop owner is moving to her neck of the woods and they talked about starting a knitting/spinning group at a local coffee shop. To say she's excited by the prospect is an understatement.

As for me, I loved hanging out with the Colinette model. Isn't she gorgeous!!! I think I'm in love.

Last stop before shipping off for my next destination was a charming little ice cream/chocolate shop called It's Just Perfect. It is housed in an historic railway station in downtown Chaska. I enjoyed visiting with the owner and an employee while Lorraine browsed the gift store. She found some double-dipped peanuts to bring home for her hubby and a great photo card to send along with me to the next destination.

We enjoyed a single scoop of mocha almond ice cream. The bench outside the shop was the perfect place to kick back and share a few friendly moments before I had to leave.

From here, we headed to the post office to ship out to my next destination. My lips are sealed as to the exact destination but East Coast, here I come!

Gnorm goes Shop Hopping

2007-07-23T15:25:00.001-07:00

I so rock as a shopping companion. First of all, all the yarn shop owners think I'm the most charming fella they've ever seen. It is so much fun to be fussed over.

Second, I love helping the lovely ladies who are hosting me pick wonderful yarns, and then helping them justify the expenditure.

My first yarn shop stop in Minnesota was at Coldwater Collaborative in Excelsior. The interior of this shop was so cozy and delightful. I loved the fireplace and old woodwork.

I managed to convince Lorraine she just couldn't live without trying the popular Noro Silk Garden Lite. She also just needed to get a pair of the new Addi Turbo Lace needles and a 40" cable for her Denise Interchangeable set. The other two cakes of yarn are additional colors of Summer Tweed, to go with the hank she received when I arrived.

Our next stop was Zandy's Yarn Etc. This shop is in Burnsville and also carries needlework supplies. Once again, I was the center of attention. I basked in the adoration, while Lorraine found this yarn for a pair of socks for her DH and located the sock blockers she found out she desperately needs, right now, this minute, 'cause she just can't live without them. Of course, I didn't have anything to do with her sudden, overwhelming need for these but was happy to endorse them as a prudent purchase.

More shop hopping in the next installment.

Gnorm Update

2007-07-20T10:56:00.000-07:00

Whew, after a very full and busy day with Lorraine, we're heading out to go to her family's home in Iowa for the weekend. I'm getting two states for the price of one, this time around.

If you're interested in photos of my first day in Minnesota, check out these pics on Flickr.

See ya'll Monday!

Gnuman in NJ - Day 1

2007-07-19T18:35:00.000-07:00

I met the children this morning. Guess what! Jennifer has triplets! And then she had a daughter! The triplets are three years old, all boys, and all boy, which is what I guess all that wrestling and tussling was about. Her daughter is 23 months old (going on 40, Jennifer says) and thinks she's one of the boys. She took a liking to me right away:

Boy E (Jennifer asked me not to use their names) took a liking to me right away, too, and tried to tackle Baby Girl in order to reach me.

That's Boy E in the green shirt. Fortunately, Jennifer dropped the camera and intervened none too soon--I didn't want to be in the middle of that!

We then hit the road for the Grand Tour. Boy E wanted to show me the sights:

He spent a few minutes feeling my nose and then said, "I like his nose." Thank you, Boy E!

It was a traditional NJ summer day, hazy, hot and humid, or as Boy M said, "hot and steamy." It didn't hold us back, though. We took a walk down Main Street to a playground that is fenced in and backs onto the train station. The boys complained if we tried to stop and take pictures, so we're going to try to do the Grand Tour tomorrow when they're in camp.

Metuchen sits right on the Northeast Corridor train line, which runs from Boston, MA to Washington, DC; it's used by NJ Transit, Amtrak (Metroliners and Acela) and the occasional freight train. There are a lot of commuters in town, which is approximately 25 miles south of New York City (Jennifer's two sisters, both knitters, live in Manhattan). The boys love trains and like to watch them as they go by. Boy E took me to see one:

It was so cool! I also had snack with Boy J (on the left) and Boy M:

The boys even let me drive the car!

Then Boy J took a fall, scraped his chin and cut his mouth. He was ok, but he was done with the playground. So we took a long walk to Jennifer's mother's house. She also lives in Metuchen (in the house where Jennifer grew up). The house is two houses from "The Woods," which is formally known as Woodwild Park. That's me at one of the entrances:

The children love to run through the paths, but we stayed in the strollers this time.

Jennifer's mom (the original knitter in the family) was really excited to meet me. She bought my pattern online about a year ago in a crazy bidding thing from eBay. She was totally impressed, too, and examined everything, even my seams! Unfortunately, we didn't get to take any pictures there. But she made lunch for all of us, and then we walked home. Or actually, everyone but me walked home and I was left behind. Bad Jennifer! But after she put the children down for a nap, she came back for me and brought me home. I was pooped! So Jennifer let me take a nap, too:

But before napping, I couldn't resist snuggling her WIP, a Monkey Sock in Shelby B's Nymphadora Tonks colorway:

Jennifer is making it for her sister in honor of the release of the last Harry Potter book. Obviously, she's behind schedule, but her sister understands. And Jennifer promised to share Book 7 with me when it arrives on Saturday. I'm glad I won't miss out!

Gnuman Arrives in NJ!

2007-07-18T18:02:00.000-07:00

About 3 p.m. today, I was deposited on Jennifer's doorstep in Metuchen, NJ. It was hot, muggy, and there was a gentle thud of another box being placed on top of me. Jennifer didn't open me until about 5 p.m., but I did hear her "Wow!" of surprise when she lifted my box and realized how heavy it was. As she lifted out the layers to find me, I heard her exclaiming about how Kelli just outdid herself! Being as Jennifer's children were out of the house, she immediately brought me outside for photos; we didn't have much time, though, because she had to make dinner for the crew.

Here's a picture of me getting my first airing in Jennifer's backyard:

As you can see, I have a new companion to keep me company in my travel box, so the trip wasn't as lonely or dull as it could have been. Jennifer tells me that at the base of the (barely visible) fence post to the left of the rabbit is Crocus the Gnome, who has been anxiously awaiting my arrival all summer. She didn't introduce me tonight because the ground was too wet from a rainstorm.

Jennifer asked me to tell you just how generous Kelli was: she sent 3 skeins of Lamb's Pride in a lovely shade of pink; one skein of Alpaca With A Twist Fino in a slightly darker shade of pink; Amish Country Midnight Blue Popcorn for popping; a sheep journal; and Bath & Body Works Anti-Bacterial hand soap in Country Apple scent. From what Jennifer tells me, they can really use the soap, and I'll she what she means tomorrow. We didn't have time to take pictures of the treats, but we'll get to it soon.

We have an early start tomorrow: I'm going to surprise the children at breakfast and join them on their day (Jennifer's a "retired" lawyer who's now a stay-at-home mom to four children). We have swim class tomorrow at 8:15 a.m. I may go along for the ride, but I'm definitely not joining them in the pool! Rain is in the forecast, but if it's not raining, we'll take a walk around town and see the "sights". Jennifer says that Metuchen has been around since the late 1600's, and there's even a house that was supposedly a tavern during the Revolutionary War and is reported to be haunted.

Oh, and that other box: Jennifer's Yarn Pirate Booty Club package. It was a big day for yarn!

Warm welcome to the Land of 10,000 Lakes

2007-07-18T12:34:00.000-07:00

After a whirlwind flight from Washington, D.C., I arrived safely on the doorstep of Lorraine in Minnesota. As usual, I traveled in fragrant luxury, snuggled up with Rowan Summer Tweed and enjoying the heavenly aroma of Peppermint Tea and an Orange Peel Chocolate Bar. Yummy!

I came bearing some pretty snazzy gifts, too. Beads that coordinate with the Rowan Summer Tweed, lovely beaded stitch markers in a hand-made gift box, and a black sheep tape measure were the knitterly items. Also included was a souvenir deck of cards from D.C., an exquisite hand-painted pin and a sweet die-cut notebook.

I am constantly amazed at how excited my hostesses get when I arrive. Before I was even liberated from my travel accommodations, I could hear the squeals of happiness. Lorraine was beside herself with joy as she dove into the pile of gifts that accompanied me. It seems that she was just telling a friend how she wished I would arrive before her upcoming yarn shop hop, so she could show me off on her spending spree. First stop tomorrow morning is the Sidewalk Sale at Coldwater Collaborative.

Honestly, I felt like a genie instead of a gnome, making such wishes come true. More pictures to come!

Gnorm is En Route

2007-07-16T15:35:00.000-07:00

Gnorm is on his way to his next destination. I mistakenly sealed the package without the card introducing myself, but, it's Gnorm, so he'll introduce himself. He was a great guest.

Gnorm - More Adventures

2007-07-14T15:01:00.000-07:00

Next Gnorm and I swung by the National Building Museum for a look.

And then it was on to the Verizon Center, which, as with most sports centers, used to be called other things.

These are the teams that play there.

As it turned out, just a few blocks away, there was an event for the WNBA All-Stars going on, so we checked that out.

It was getting a bit toasty, so we ducked into a shop where Gnorm found some friends.

We stopped by the Friendship Archway in Chinatown.

After that we were both tired, so we headed back to my place.

Gnorm Again

2007-07-14T14:52:00.001-07:00

Then we spotted an R2D2 mail box.
And next, we went to the Old Post Office building. Here Gnorm became a bit of a star, attracting the attention of some friendly women and a cute little boy.

Our next stop was the Navy Memorial. (Yes we are quite fond of statues and fountains downtown. Gnorm and I just hit a few.)

Gnorm took another peak at the Washington Monument.

More Gnorm in the City

2007-07-14T14:29:00.000-07:00

Then we walked over to Freedom Plaza. Here a concerned gentleman stopped to make sure that Gnorm had not been kidnapped. Gnorm was able to assure the gentleman that he was a guest not a hostage.

You can see the Capitol building in the distance. I would have taken Gnorm on a tour, but tours are typically arranged by your Senator and I am a DC resident. Ah well, we had a busy day anyway.
We also passed by the Wilson building, home of the DC government.

Gnorm in the City

2007-07-14T14:04:00.000-07:00

Saturday, Gnorm and I went to downtown DC. We took the bus.

The bus runs down Sixteenth Street so Gnorm got to see the sights along the way. There are quite a few churches, embassies and other interesting buildings.
Our first stop was President's Park, where we took a peak at the White House.

And then a closer look.

And then we went to Pershing Park where Gnorm sat and looked at the Washington Monument.

Pershing Park also has great fountains.

Gnorm goes to Rockville

2007-07-14T13:45:00.001-07:00

I will probably break this up into a few posts since Gnorm and I went a bit picture crazy.
Thursday, by some strange coincidence, I found my knit discount card for one of the LYS's. It was a convergence of events since I had to head to Rockville, MD for a hair appointment that afternoon anyway. So, Gnorm came to the yarn shop with me. He drove for a little, then I took over.

Gnorm took a little break before we went inside.

Gnorm helped me pick out some great stuff.

Gnorm - Stuck Inside

2007-07-11T14:08:00.000-07:00

Well, what with work and the weather Gnorm didn't get to see a lot of the city today. But here's what did happen.
First, Gnorm met my cat. (Since Gnorm, as I typically do, sported some animal fur himself, I felt confident this meeting would be successful.)

There was some minor, yet polite, sniffing on the part of my cat, but the meeting went well.
I telecommute now, so today Gnorm helped me work a bit.

He thinks I use too many post-its.
Gnorm wanted to go play outside, but the weather was a bit rainy.

So, then Gnorm went up to the fitness center. I told him, unfortunately the center didn't really have gnome sized equipment, but he seemed to make it work.

Gnuman Views Purdue

2007-07-10T15:18:00.002-07:00

My day was most interesting again as Kelli showed me around Purdue. Here I am at the original gate to Purdue. It was donated by the class of 1897 and has been moved and widened several times. Kelli told me that Purdue was founded in 1869 and named after a man who donated land to start the University, John Purdue. Straight through this walkway is the University building which is the oldest building in continuous use on campus.
Here I am at the Hello Walk. The Hello Walk used to be right by State Street, but to protect it, it was moved to the center of the Memorial Mall.
Apparently they have some strange people in Indiana. This is the grave of John Purdue. He is buried right on the Memorial Mall and his grave site was part of the promise the University board made when accepting his land donation.
This is the famous Lion's fountain. It was donated by the class of 1903 and there is a legend that says the Lion's roar when a virgin walks past. Supposedly the Lion hasn't roared in 40 years.
I was mightily taken by the Purdue University welcome sign, but a bit confused as to why it is in the center of campus instead of on the edge.
My trip wouldn't have been complete without viewing the 4-H flag that had been in space.
Hovde Hall is where the students go to register and pay for their classes. I tried to convince the desk clerk that I was a student, but she didn't believe me. I'm sitting above the plaque on the left.
After a long day of sightseeing and touring, it was time to go to one of Purdue's greatest institutions, Pappy's! The staff there were very nice about taking a picture and even posed with me. I blushed quite a bit as two of the ladies kept telling me I was handsome. Next time I come to visit, I'm going to enjoy a big milkshake from Pappy's, I was just too tired to have one this time.

For more of Gnuman's adventure at Purdue click here.

Gnorm is in DC

2007-07-10T14:46:00.000-07:00

Well, Gnorm arrived yesterday, but the Post Office wanted me to wait until today to retrieve him. After one trip that was aborted due to severe weather, I made it to the post office, which fortunately for Gnorm, was freezing cold. The rain had cooled down the weather, so I opened up the box in the Post Office, so Gnorm could see the post office. No, really, it was so he could appreciate the ride home.
We stopped and took a peak at Rock Creek Park.

And I showed Gnorm the lions on the bridge on 16th Street. A passerby called Gnorm a muppet, but I told Gnorm that gnome appreciation was something we are all working on. And really, muppets are nice. Anyway Gnorm thought they looked more like tigers, so we looked it up - and he was right - they are tigers, not lions.

Well, then we came home and I unpacked the goodies that Gnorm brought with him from Heather.

Wow, yarn, a hat pattern, yummy fine fabric wash - which may have been what helped Gnorm smell so great, and Mallo Cups!
Stay tuned for more adventures!

Gnuman Lands in Indiana

2007-07-09T14:31:00.000-07:00

Gnuman landed in Indiana on Thursday and has had an interesting stay so far. He brought along some delightful treats from Dana . I already broke out the stitchmarkers to use this weekend. :)
When Gnuman discovered that I was going on a trip that evening he asked to go along. Caitlynn agreed to pose for a picture with him and he was quite taken with her. It was especially hard to convince him that we still had lots of things to see back in West Lafayette, IN.
Today I had a strange day, Kelli was kind enough to take me to work with her so that I wouldn't get bored at her house. With all of the fiber around, I assured her that I wouldn't be bored, but she insisted that it would be fun to see a graduate student's office. First I met her boss, they call him Pops.

Next I had quite a time watching the delivery trucks out the window and hanging out with Herbie the office plant.
Next I checked out Kelli's desk and helped her while she worked.
Then I decided to look at some of the educational material in her office and learned about body condition scoring in horses. It was very enlightening.After meeting this beauty, I truly understood why Kelli came to work. It was with reluctance that I took myself over to the Japanese display where I met another lovely bear.

At this point, it was time to leave for the day. Kelli tells me that we're going to explore Purdue campus tomorrow before she sends me on my way.

Central PA. wingding!

2007-07-06T12:41:00.000-07:00

I arrived here while Heather and her family were away on vacation, so I patiently held my breath in the box and was finally let out early this morning. Whew! Heather lives in Hollidaysburg, PA., which is a small town right next to the small city of Altoona. We visited several unusual places today and boy am I beat...

First stop: The Altoona Railroaders Museum. Apparently at one time in our nation's history, Altoona was the hub of all things train related. Railroading was the lifeline of the economy and supposedly people set their watches by the running of the trains. The world famous Horseshoe Curve is here, and it is one of the impressive examples of engineering and ingenuity I can think of. Today this part of the economy has been greatly diminished, however many people in this area retain a strong attachment to this part of the town's history.

Second stop: The Boyer candy factory. Did you know that Altoona is the home of one of the most successful family owned candy factories in America? Me neither. But it appears that there is something known as the 'Mallo cup' and women experiencing PMS have been known to draw blood over it...I toured the factory and sampled some of these Mallo Cups--they are worthy of all the hype, believe me!

Third stop: The Slinky factory. Back in Hollidaysburg resides the Slinky factory. Yes, Hollidaysburg is the home of the Slinky. In fact the captain of industry owner of the factory drives a fancy Cadillac around town with a license plate that reads--you guessed it--SLINKY! The people at the factory store let me sit on a pile of them and have my picture taken. Being surrounded by Slinkies made me feel very...odd.

I arrived here with many wonderful gifts from Heather in Utah, including some lovely origami paper, a skein of Wool in the Woods, a unique ball holder and other nice gifts. She was very generous! Today I am off (via Priority Mail) to my next destination and I promise not to eat any more Mallo Cups!

-Gnorm

Sorry that Gnorm remained in a box for the last week while we were away. Having him was a great opportunity to see my town from a gnome's perspective!

Here I am... where will I be?

2007-07-03T12:27:00.000-07:00

Gnuman here...

I am alive and well and on my way to my next destination. Dana did start a post about my visit with her but didn't realize that the final draft w/pictures didn't get posted. When she realized that it never went up, she edited the post and Blogger posted in with a June 19th date stamp, so it doesn't come up with today's date! You can read all about my adventures in Media with Dana here! See you soon!

Editor's note: My sincerest apologies to everyone in the swap for my delay in posting and sending. Some unfortunate family and health circumstances have left me kinda nuts the last month or so, and off my feet for the last week. I didn't mean to hold things up! ~ Dana

Gnuman

2007-07-02T20:42:00.000-07:00

Hi!

I just wanted to post in response to an email that I received and also to all of the comments wondering where Gnuman is. I did send him to his intended destination - Dana - in PA. He did arrive safe and sound. I do know that Dana opened him and that she was intending to take him around. I do not know where he is at this time. Just wanted to clear things up.

Debbi

Field Trip!

2007-06-26T20:28:00.000-07:00

So we went on a field trip around Provo on Monday. We went to Heindselman's again, but only got one good picture...stupid flash camera!

This is the Provo City Library. The building is over a hundred years old; it was originally the building for Brigham Young Academy, which later became BYU. Now the building is the property of the library.

So Provo is a college town. Heather moved to Provo for that very purpose (with graduation looming this August!), so you're going to get to see us at work and around campus!

Heather works for the math department as a research assistant studying Pisano periods and lattice reducing algorithms. Here's the computer she works at.

Heather also works for the Chemical Engineering department as a research assistant translating Fischer-Tropsch related documents from World War II. The Germans were trying to make fuel from hydrogen and carbon dioxide, so she gets to read all the technical papers and boring German patents.

McKay, Heather's husband works computer support on camps and also a research job in the computer science department.

So onto the fun part of the field trip!

This is the Maeser building. It was built on top of a cemetary, but Heather promises me they moved all the bodies out before the construction. I'm in the flower bed, if you can see me! I don't think the flower bed was haunted...

This is the pendulum in the Eyring Science center. It has a strange history of being stolen.

All college campuses have modern art. Here's the Tree of Wisdom sculpture.

And no college campus is legitimate without the mascot!

Here's the Carillon. It rings on every hour between 8am and 9pm, and dings every half hour in between.

And of course, no university can be without the token, barley dressed, American Indian statue! This is Chief Massasoit of Wampanoags Tribe of Massachusetts. See me in his hand?

We finished up our field trip at the BYU Creamery. Mmm... Cherry Limeade sherbert!

It was a party!
-Gnorm

Gnorm has been sent off and is on his way to his next destination! I had so much fun with him, and I'm sure he'll enjoy his next adventures! -Heather

Hiking the "Y"

2007-06-23T17:09:00.000-07:00

Why the "Y"? There's a Wikipedia article that explains a little bit of the history of the Y on Y mountain. The BYU class of 1907 attempted to graffiti the mountain with their class year. However, the class of 1906, the graduating class at the time was quite upset. Eventually, the perpetrators of the 1907 class were caught and disciplined. Not wanting to destroy their spirits, the president of BYU, George Brimhall, decided to allow the letters BYU be placed on the mountain. The land was surveyed and plans to construct the letters went into action. In 1906, men of the 1906 and 1907 graduating classes, lined up a trail, every 8 feet, to pass lime, salt, and rocks up the mountain. Thinking the job would only take a couple of hours, they hadn't planned for the day, and by 4 o'clock when the Y was finished, many of the young men had fainted in the heat for lack of water and food! That's probably why they decided to just leave the Y on the mountain and not bother with the other two letters! The Y is whitewashed every 2-5 years to keep it shining and bright.

Here I am at the trail head. (that's me in the middle of that gate!)

I didn't thing the hike would be too bad. Here's a picture of Heather and me (don't worry. We remembered our sunscreen!)

But by the end of the hike, I was tuckered out! It was only a mile hike, but it was a HIKE!
But the view was worth it!

Here's Heather and I pointing to her house in Provo.

Here we are next to the Y. It was huge!

And here I am on the "Y"

Getting back down from the mountain took about half as long as it did going up (and I'm glad, too!)! The Y on Y mountain is the largest collegiate letter in the world!

The Y is not the only letter on the mountains in Utah, there are 50 letters on mountains in Utah! In Salt Lake City, there is a "U" for the University of Utah. Cities have their own letters, too, such as a "G", which Heather says if for Pleasant Grove. I think it ought to be for Gnorm.

-Gnorm

In Provo now

2007-06-23T14:17:00.000-07:00

Greetings from Utah!
So I arrived in Provo, UT on Friday afternoon, all tidied up in a box (I'm in the bottom box).

Heather was trying to hurry home to get her laundry done, but was very glad, she said, to have an excuse to not do laundry (aka, open up all her wonderful goodies) Thanks, Jae! Now we need to find a beautiful project for that beautiful yarn! You should have heard Heather's excitement! She swears to me that she hasn't acted that girly in a long time. She is in love with the yarn.

But because laundry was imminent, we did stop by the laundromat.

Heather had to go to the yarn store, too. So we went there. Heindselman's is 6 blocks from Heather's house and it's the oldest yarn store in the country.
When we went inside, the first thing the ladies asked was to see me!
"Can we see your doll?"
Ack, they called me a doll! I'm a very serious (albeit adorable) gnome! NOT a doll! Ugh!

Heather had taken some pictures in the store, but for some reason, she couldn't find them on the camera! Alas! I guess she'll have to make another stop there this afternoon or Monday (oh woe is us! haha!)

We had a great and adventurous morning this Saturday! We hiked a mountain! This one to be exact. More photos later!

And yes, that is the letter "Y" on the mountain.

-Gnorm

Out For A Long Walk

2007-06-20T17:00:00.000-07:00

I had a great time visiting Jae. Thursday we went to the LYS where she teaches knitting occasionally.

The store is known locally for it's wonderful hand dyed yarns. Each of type of yarn is named after a Michigan city and the colorways are named Michigan terms or places - like River Rouge, Trout, Up North, or Bois Blanc Island.

While I was there, I took a ride on a fancy yarn carousel ride. Jae called it a swift, but I thought it was more like an amusement park ride.

Saturday morning, Jae and I went on a walking tour of Clarkston. The downtown area is small and very old. She told me that in the 1980's the village of Clarkston was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. The first settlers arrived in 1830 and some of the buildings date back to the mid 1800's.

Originally, part of a land settlement for soldiers in the War of 1812, Clarkston had an early history of lumber mills. The mill pond still exists and runs through the center of town.

We also saw the old school house that Henry Ford converted into a factory. On the third floor, Mr. Ford used to hold squared dances. Now it is the building for the city's local government.

Across the street from the town hall is one of the oldest homes of Clarkston. It used to belong to Nelson Clark. Nelson and his brother Jeremiah were important characters in the history of Clarkston and the town is named after them.

I had a great time seing the city. Although, all the walking around town really wore me out. I'm glad that Jae packed my things and made a nice place for me to rest on my journey. I can't wait until I see what wonderful places I'll go next.

I (Jae) need to add that my husband mailed Gnorm to his next destination but failed to put enough postage on him. I don't want to give away the surprise, but if he arrives postage due - I promise to make good on it. Please forgive my husband. He is truly sorry and doesn't want to face the wrath of knitters. ;)

Gnuman in Everybody's Hometown

2007-06-19T19:13:00.000-07:00

Hello from Media, PA!

I arrived at Dana's house last week, but managed to get put in a hiding spot (a.k.a. the living room) until someone told her to look! When she freed me from my suitcase, she was thrilled to find that I arrived safe and sound with these goodies from Debbi:

There was a skein of Trekking XXL in a great colorway, some tea and other treats. She loved the Cool Crochet yarn, the Yarn mug (now holding pencils on her craft table), stitchmarkers, and even the little gnome on a bunny figure. Dana loved them everything, but really fell in love with me. Unfortunately, she was a bit laid up with some family stuff and her approaching knee surgery (6/27/07). Things were really crazy for her, so my arrival came just in time to cheer her up. Even with the limp, she managed to show me a good time over the weekend.

We started a beautiful Saturday morning at A.C. Moore, where she went to pick up a couple balls of cotton for dishcloths. Can you spot me hiding among the cotton?

It was off to start a dishcloth from that cotton while getting a little mani-pedi action. Don't we look relaxed? Just what I needed after a long trip from MA.

Next, we stopped at Dana's LYS, Finely a Knitting Party, to visit Cathy (the shop owner and Dana's knitting teacher) and the other knitters there. What a great little shop! The "Starbucks Corner" is the newest addition at the shop for friends to sit and knit, and I got to stop for a spell there and do some more relaxing while Dana knitting a bit.

We got up bright and early on Sunday morning (6:45AM) to sneak off to Dana's favorite knitting place: the Plum Street Mall in Media. We stopped for coffee & a muffin at the Seven Stones Cafe, then knitting as the town woke up. Media is such a great little town, just 12 miles outside of Philadelphia. Did you know it is the first Fair Trade Town in the US? And the last suburban town in America with a trolley running down the main street?

I really had a great time with Dana in Media. Even her 2 dogs, Dizzle & Mini enjoyed my visit.

Uh oh... looks like I'm going back into the trunk for another adventure! Where am I off to next?

Public Service Announcement: Please warn your loved ones of my pending arrival so they don't bring my package inside off the front step and put you in an inconspicuous location.

~Gnuman

Home Again, Almost

2007-06-12T17:07:00.000-07:00

Hi, It's Gnorm! Jae was so kind to free me from my comfortable surroundings. She told me that I was in Clarkston, MI. She showed me on a map that I was only an hour from Rae, where my adventures began. I started in Lansing and Clarkston can be found just above Waterford.

Of course, I didn't arrive empty handed. Teej sent me off with some wonderful gifts. Jae thinks Teej might be slightly psychic because the Springbreak colorway of Claudia Handpaint is a color that she almost bought during a recent yarn shopping spree.

I arrived with Eucalan wash and there was also some soap and a candle - apricot freesia and beanpod. That explains why I kept smelling such delicious scents during my journey. Jae said that the keychain sweater was a little too small for me and that she would use it for her keys to the house. I was sorely tempted to break into the nutella hazelnut spread (a gnome can get mighty hungry from all the traveling) but in the end I resisted. Jae has never tried this before but her husband assures her that it is very yummy. Infact, Jae immediately hid it so her husband (and I) wouldn't steal it later.

Tomorrow Jae is taking me to her LYS. I can hardly wait! The people at all the yarn stores have been so nice to me. I'm sure this one won't be any different.

P.S. Jae says that she wants Teej to know she is very thankful for all the wonderful goodies that I arrived with!

Knit Yourself A Gnome Buddy!

2007-06-11T19:05:00.000-07:00

I know when Rae first set up this swap there were a lot of people that asked her where she got the pattern for Gnorm and his buddy Gnuman. I just wanted to let all of you know that there is currently a special issue of the British magazine Simply Knitting, called "The Big Book of Family Knits", on shelves at Barnes and Noble that contains the pattern for these cute little gnomes. It's kind of pricey ($19.99) but there are also a lot of other really nice patterns in here and if you don't regularly buy Simply Knitting, there's quite a few from the regular publication also. So hope this helps all those knitters who are feverishly searching for the pattern! I'm sure Gnorm and Gnuman would love some new friends, so knit on everybody!

Water and Heights!

2007-06-08T10:18:00.000-07:00

What a gorgeous day! After the storms blew through yesterday (while we were in the movie theatre) the humidity dropped and the sky cleared and we awoke this morning to a gorgeous sunny day with some moderate winds. It was a great day for viewing the sights of La Crosse.

Teej explained yesterday that while she lives in Caledonia, MN, a town of about 3,000 people, she works and her husband goes to school in La Crosse, WI, a much larger town about 25 miles east of Caledonia. To get from Minnesota to Wisconsin, we have to cross the Mississippi River; there are two bridges - one on Cass Street and one on Cameron Street - that take traffic across the river and I was driven across both of them yesterday and then again today. The Cameron Street bridge is new - it was just built a couple of years ago - but I think the engineers did a great job of fitting it into the form of the Cass Street bridge.

The Cameron Street bridge is the front one and it's the rounded middle "peak"; the Cass Street bridge is the one in back and it's the two end "peaks". I think it's sort of neat that the trees on the other shore are Minnesota, but I was in Wisconsin when we took this picture!

We were at a little park that sits along the edge of the river to the south of the bridges and I was a little surprised at how small the river seemed up here. I've been told about "the Mighty Mississippi" and I always imagined it much bigger. Teej assures me that as the river wends its way south it gets much bigger, but that there's a place in Itasca, MN where even I could just step right over it in one stride!

Teej tells me that the two "attractions" in La Crosse are the river and the bluff and just in driving from her home in Caledonia into La Crosse I can see why. The bluffs are gorgeous - though Teej says they're even more impressive in the autumn when the trees all change colors - and I even got to go up to the very tip top of the largest one in La Crosse - Grandad's Bluff.

It's quite a height! It was windier up on the top of the bluff and I was a little nervous that I'd get blown over the edge, but Teej kept a good hold on me so I could get a look over the edge at the city of La Crosse spread out beneath us.

Teej pointed out that we could see the building she works in on campus - where I met all the people yesterday.

A little ways out of town is the marsh, which is a natural wetlands area that is home to lots of waterfowl. Teej says that's it common for her and her husband, Jack, to see herons and egrets on their commute into town, as well as lots and lots of falcons and eagles. I don't think I saw any, but I have to admit that I tried not to look - I would be just the perfect size for lunch. *shudder*

Teej needed to stop at her local yarn shop - Fitting Knit Shop - to get a couple skeins of black yarn to make swatches for a DNA scarf she's making for a friend and while we were there, I got to meet Mimi, who showed me how to knit while we were waiting for Teej to pick out the yarn she needed:

Mimi said that she thought one of my cousins might live in her shop, and sure enough, it turns out that Sven and I are related:

Sven is Norwegian and is originally from Vanberia in Decorah, IA. Mimi said that the Vanberia store had patterns for both Sven and his wife as well as for an Irish couple.

On our way back to Caledonia, Teej had to stop in quickly to Houston County Women's Resources, where she is the Board President, to check in on some planning for one of their upcoming events and chat briefly about the preparations for next fiscal year's budget.

Now I'm tucking away the goodies that Teej is sending along with me for my next host and pretty soon I'll be off on my way again! I'm looking forward to my next stop - Teej says she's been watching the blog of my next host and knows that she's just as excited to have me as Teej was!

Take Your Gnome to Work Day

2007-06-07T18:12:00.000-07:00

Whew! I had a pretty busy day today, checking out Teej's office and meeting her co-workers.

Teej has two computers in her office - a desktop that is her primary computer and a tablet laptop that is her travel computer. As an extra bonus, her tablet has quite a lot of music burned onto it, so I got to check out some new-to-me tunes by Rusted Root, the Cowboy Junkies, Sweet Honey in the Rock and a few I didn't catch the names of. I grooved out for awhile with Wilcoxon, Teej's moose, enjoying a cuppa the fabulous Market Spice tea that Stephanie sent. Teej is right - it's really, really tasty!

Deb - a professor in the Women's Studies and University Honors programs - came by to say hi...

...and took me on a quick tour of the office while Teej went to a meeting so I got to meet the folks who work in the Provost's office:

Chandra
Carmen
Betsy
Karyn

They were all really nice about showing me around. Once Teej got back, though, we were off again, this time to Samulnori rehearsal! Samulnori is a form of traditional Korean drumming and Teej plays the Janggu, which is a double-headed, hourglass shaped drum that is played with two mallets, one held in each hand. Emily - a professor in Psychology - showed me how to play the Janggu:

One of the other types of drums used in Samulnori is a Buk, which is like a small bass drum. Ronda - a professor in Communication Studies - held her Buk for me so I could try it out:

After Samulnori rehearsal, Teej's husband Jack came to get us and we went to a theatre to see the new Pirates movie. It was pretty good, but all that water made me a little nervous, so I was kind of relieved when it was over! We had a quiet dinner at home and are now chilling out watching some television. Tomorrow we're going to do a little more site seeing around the bluffs in La Crosse and spend some time in Teej's garden before I have to jet off to my next stop.

Safe arrival!

2007-06-07T07:28:00.000-07:00

{Editor's Note: As I had feared, Gnorm arrived on my doorstep while I was out of town for work. I sincerely apologize for the delay in posting about his adventures; I returned last night to find him patiently waiting so he should be all rested up for a whirlwind tour before jetting off again tomorrow so he's not late in getting to his next destination!

As an aside, all the photos are clickable thumbnails to avoid long waits for the page to load for those on dial-up.}

*yawn**stretch* What a wonderful nap! It was so very kind of Stephanie to send me off so comfortably!

I had some lovely Yarn Pirate yarn as a squishy soft pillow that kept me from being bored by exploring the myriad beauty of the Deep Cove colorway:

..and some tea to enjoy by candlelight from Market Spice in Seattle (which Teej says is her *favorite* tea of all time - how did Stephanie know?!):

..and she she even sent along some absolutely splendid handmade soaps (made by Stephanie herself!) so I would be sure to arrive smelling fresh and clean:

After apologizing profusely for leaving me alone for so long, Teej explained that she needed to unpack her own bags from her recent trip to Kansas City as well. In doing so, she left me to pet and admire the spinning fiber she acquired while there - some lovely cashgora and a small stack of silk hankies from a marvelous little shop called Cottage Fibers:

After she unpacked, Teej wandered out to check on some of her plants to see how they'd been faring in her absence. I was really fascinated with the morning glories climbing up the twine on her front porch:

As we were walking back inside, I spied a portrait of a long lost relative:

I'll have to check my genealogy books and charts when I get back home to figure out just how I'm related to the gnome in the portrait, but I'm sure I must come from the same family tree.

When it was time to get ready for bed, Teej offered me the use of her newly finished linen washcloths and my pick of the soaps from Stephanie to wash up with. I picked the Sweet Surrender bar because it's such an intoxicating scent and the bar itself is swirled with gorgeous colors:

Today I'm accompanying Teej to her office for the morning so she can catch up from being away this week and attend a few meetings. This afternoon, though, we're sneaking out a little early to do some sight seeing and take in a show - Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End!

Gone but not forgotten

2007-06-04T19:43:00.000-07:00

Well we took Gnuman to the post office and bid him a fond farewell. He was a wonderful house guest and will be missed. I hope that he and his new host family have as much fun with him as we did. Here is his very last photo op. It just so happens that Mary's sister Jeannie works at the US Post Office in Nashua NH, so of course we had to take Gnuman there for his trip to ........ Jeannie is as great about these things as everyone else has been so she agreed to pose for a picture.

My oh My oh My

2007-06-01T20:39:00.000-07:00

Last night Debbi took me to meet the knitting ladies, Julie, Crystal, Christine and Kathy. We met at the hotel that they knit at and we enjoyed some beverages and dinner and did some knitting and Julie was kind enough to make some origimi book marks to send with me when I leave here and go to my next destination. Debbi and I hope that my next pal will enjoy them. I am looking forward to traveling again. I believe that I will be leaving here on Saturday (if Cheryl will take me to the post office) and I should arrive at my next destination on Tuesday or Wednesday at the latest. Debbi, Mary and the kids will miss me (according to Debbi) and I them.

Friday A.M.

Today I was kidnapped (or Gnomenapped as the case may be) by Debbi's sister Cheryl. She is a lovely lady who works at a school for goodness sakes. She decided that the kids and the teachers and the workers at the Thompson School in North Andover would love for me to visit so off we went. Here I am in front of one of the sweatshirts. Thanks be to God, the Tiger is not real or I would not be making it to my next destination.

I had lots of fun with the kids and with a wonderful woman named Amy that runs the office of the school. She and Cheryl are great chums and laughed a lot at the thought of a Gnome at school. After meeting Amy, Cheryl and I went into the Cafeteria which is where she works (she is a lunch monitor and runs the cash register. Here I got to share her salad with her and she even gave me a few sips of her iced coffee (I would have preferred a pint but it was a little early in the day)

I thought that was all for the day but some of the children wanted to hold a real live Gnome so Cheryl let them.

The only problem is that ice cream and knitted Gnomes don't really go well together (I am clean now). The custodian John Mullen needed a little help in the clean up department before lunch time so I obliged him as I wanted to make sure that everyone was happy during my little visit. So I showed him how to push the broom around to make the floors really clean. He seemed to like my way of doing it.

After I finished up my work with John, I had to help in the kitchen. Here I am opening the oven door so that they could put the pizza in for lunch for the kids. I have to say when I got home it was nice to lay down and take a little nap.

Tomorrow it is off to the Post Office so watch your mailboxes ladies, I may be coming to your town next.

Off to work and to fondle some yarn we go

2007-05-30T21:27:00.001-07:00

Today Mary took me with her when she went to work. She and Debbi work for the same company but at different locations. Mary works over 40 miles away and she gets very tired when she is driving at 6:00 a.m. so she let me take the wheel for a bit. Here I am driving along Interstate 495. It was quite an adventure.

When we arrived at work, I found out that Mary is the person that gets all the boxes off the truck - I was tired looking at her but she told me that I was going to learn a new skill today (other than driving that is) and she showed me how to steer a pallet jack to get all the skids off the large truck. The driver was quite amazed at my strength (especially since he has never seen a Gnome before and did not know that we are magical creatures).

After all that hard work, I took a nap for the rest of the day in the back room on Mary's desk. Her boss Tamara was very nice to me and let me sleep. When we got back to the house, I learned that after supper we would be heading out to the LYS to see the owner Cyndy and look at all of the beautiful yarn and other exciting items that she has there. http://www.yarnandfiber.com It was GREAT. The women there were so excited to meet me. Cyndy posed for a picture with me and then took a picture of me with the Wednesday night knitting group for her blog. We took some pictures as well and after lots of discussion and some laughs we headed for home. We will be meeting up with the knitting girls tomorrow night at the hotel lounge that they knit in. Maybe I can talk them into buying me a pint or two. We will see.

Here are the pictures from The Yarn and Fiber Company in Windham, NH.

Gnuman has arrived

2007-05-29T19:36:00.000-07:00

Gnuman here. I arrived at Debbi's house in Methuen, MA on Saturday. Her sister Cheryl was kind enough to take me out of the box since Debbi was at work. It was good to get out and stretch my legs. I then learned that we would be going away for the weekend as Debbi and her family camp every weekend in the next state, NH. So off I went with Debbi's daughter and son to meet up with Debbi at her job. We then went for a little ride and arrived at the campground. http://www.circle9ranch.com/index.html

WOW!!!!!!! There were lots of people there but the kids and Debbi and her wife Mary made me feel right at home. Soon they were introducing me to some of the locals - this is Butch - AKA Santa. He is someone that lives at the Camp and is extremely nice and helpful to Debbi and her family and friends Kathy and her brother Jim. Below Butch is Debbi and Jared, her son. Kelsie and Jared are twins which I thought was very cool.

We had a very relaxing time. We watched the turtles in the pond, saw some wild life, even saw some endangered species. Here I am with Rocky the Racoon. They also have the rare Lady Slipper plant and the extremely rare and very dangerous, wild Pink Flamingoo. Also there was a very nice dog named Gilligan who lives with Kathy and her family. He did smell me but decided I was not a good dinner. Thank you Gilligan!! Look below, Mary took some great shots of me with some of my new friends.

I do have to say that I think that I have found true love. Kelsie is a dear girl and if I was just a wee bit taller I think that we would be a lovely couple. I am afraid that I am going to break her heart when I leave in a few days but I will try and let her down easily.

I also helped Kelsie with her science experiment. She is a very intelligent young lady and has worked very hard to make this work, even bringing it with her on her little holiday weekend. I hope it turns out really well.

Tomorrow I am going to work with Mary. I am sure that we will have fun there. Debbi is planning to take me to her knitting group and to her LYS so we will be very busy for the next couple of days while I am here. Debbi also wanted to make sure that I posted the picture of the goodies that came with me from Washington. She was very excited and extremely pleased.

Gnorm has left the building

2007-05-29T19:15:00.001-07:00

Gnorm is officially on his way again. He left Seattle a happy gnome and a little more well traveled. He will be sorely missed around these parts. WE LOVE YOU GNORM!!!!

He's on his way to......wouldn't you like to know :o) I totally enjoyed this swap (thanks again Kris for my goodies!!!) and hope you all had fun reading about his adventures here in the Pacific Northwest. I can't wait to read about his and Gnumans further adventures. Thanks again Rae for hosting as well! It's been a blast!

Gnorm takes on Seattle

2007-05-27T18:01:00.001-07:00

I had a delightful day today with Stephanie and 2 of the kiddos. We went on quite the adventure!! Before we got to go out to Seattle we had to stop for some "fundage" as Stephanie called it.

I'm not sure what this "fundage" thing is...but it was amazing. Stephanie went up to the machine and out came money! I want to get one of these machines as well! It seems pretty convenient.

On our way out to Seattle we had to go over the scariest bridge ever. Stephanie said it was Evergreen Point Floating Bridge. Apparently it's the longest floating bridge in the world. it sure seemed long to be over the water like that....floating or not!

There were some cool art thingies at the end of it though. Stephanie said that they might be pretty but when it's sunny she thinks they are meant to blind the drivers.

She called this thing the Space Needle.

It sure looks like it's from outter space! Who built this thing anyway?? Weird. And Stephanie said that you can ride an elevator to the top!! We didn't go though because there was some sort of festival going on and there were lots and lots of people.

Kyrin was kind enough to let me take my picture with her. I like her a lot.

Next we went downtown to the Pike Place Market.

This place was busy. Busy like I have never seen!! People everywhere....and flying fish! I didn't get to see the flying fish but I saw the guy that catches them!

There were lots of things to see in this market. It's a big huge Farmer's Market so there were fresh fruits and fish of course..and lots of flowers.

We went into a cute little store that Stephanie likes. It's called Tenzing Momo. The man behind the counter really seemed to like me. He wanted to pose with me. Stephanie took our picture.

I was glad to get out of there. It smelled like incense and there were lots of weird herbs behind the counter. I don't even know what most of them were!!!

I decided to take a little break and sit on the biggest piggy bank I've ever seen.

It was a long day and we decided to grab some coffee (these Seattle people are a little nuts about having coffee!)

Stephanie said that this is the original Starbucks.

I think she wanted me to be impressed...but....I'm a gnome! I don't really like coffee. Stephanie said that was a shame. She's trying to not drink it as well but has a hard time sometimes.

On our way back home on the loooooong bridge Stephanie pointed out someone's house. This guy, she said, was a big computer type guy. She pointed out the house....I didn't see why it was so special...

She said his name is Bill Gates. She seemed to think he was a big shot. I don't really care because I don't really use the computer much....

I meant it when I said these people are serious about thier coffee. Stephanie and the kids took me through the drive thru Starbucks on the way home to bring some coffee back to the Mr.

Is there anywhere else that has 24 hr drive thru Starbucks? I have never heard of such a place!!

It was a great day and I really enjoyed sight seeing in Seattle. I really liked staying over at Stephanie's house and am looking forward to my next trip to...I don't know where she's sending me yet. She won't tell me. She says it's a surprise. I guess I'll see when I get there!

Thanks Stephanie and family! I've had a lot of fun!!

Gnorm & knitting

2007-05-26T18:42:00.000-07:00

Today was a pretty laid back day. We were suppose to do lots of yard work but Stephanie's husband and kids went to see Shrek the third or something and we ended up just kickin' back at her house. She's been busy knitting.

I definitely like it! But...they are a bit too big for me. I'm kind of sad because I think I would look lovely in them!

She says we are going into Seattle tomorrow and that I will get to see some cool stuff. I sure hope so! Seattle sounds like a pretty cool place from what I've heard her saying. I'm looking forward to it!

Day 2 in Seattle

2007-05-25T08:43:00.000-07:00

I am having a pleasant enough time here at Stephanie's house. She sure does have a lot of kids though! I think I counted 4. Phew. That's a lot!

So...I was initiated into their daily TV watching. I must admit....I rather like Charlie and Lola!

Her son Jaiden even let me sit with him.

After watching cartoons for a little while we went outside to play. I've heard before that Seattle only gets rain. I don't know what they are talking about! It is really lovely and warm here! I asked some of the natives if this was how it usually is.....but....

They weren't saying much.

So I went outside with everyone and saw the most amazing thing ever. Stephanie claims it's a dog.

But I think she's mixed up. I definitely think this is some sort of small horse.

I tried to ride it but he didn't seem to like that much. I still think Stephanie is crazy. That is *not* a dog.

We're going to play some more today and then Stephanie was talking about Saturday and something called "yard work". I'm not quite sure what that is yet...but if I get to play outside then I'll be happy! I can't wait for my trip into Seattle on Sunday. I've overheard Stephanie talking about some places we get to go to. I think it's going to be a lot of fun!

Blame It On The Drugs

2007-05-24T21:48:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone!

I just have to send out a quick apology to my secret pal (who won't be so secret before too long) and everyone else who is anxiously awaiting Gnuman's arrival at his next destination. In my drug addled state on Saturday, I didn't give proper directions to my "personal assistant" (DH) and Mr. Gnuman was sent Fed Ex and wasn't actually shipped out until Monday afternoon (he missed his connecting flight on Saturday afternoon). This means he won't arrive at his next destination until Saturday :( I'm awfully sorry, but he should get there very soon! I'm not blaming it on DH, but I will blame it on the drugs which unfortunately, didn't even give me any exciting hallucinations. Thanks everybody for your patience!

BTW: I forgot to mention when Gnuman was visiting, that my elementary school mascot was actually a gnome! I wanted to take Gnuman by for a photo op, but they're doing construction near the school and it would have been impossible to get into the lot. Besides, some of the parents might have gotten kind of freaked at seeing a grown woman carrying around a gnome and snapping shots of herself with said gnome in front of the school!

Gnorm Arrives in Seattle!

2007-05-23T18:31:00.000-07:00

I was delighted to see Gnorm on my doorstep today. We have already started our adventures together!

Gnorm was the bringer of many delightful things! Here is the swappy goodness I got from Kris.

Can you see that yarn. Oh...the yarn. It's luscious. I actually got goosebumps when I saw it. It's beautiful! And a personalized candle?...I am a lucky girl!!!

There were some other serious goodies too. Chocolates and magnets and lipbalm (my daughter has already stolen it) So Thanks again Kris! Now I'll turn the stage over to Gnorm....after all...he is the guest ya know.

Hi! Gnorm here! I just arrived in Kirkland, WA today. I don't really know where that is but Stephanie assures me that it's right outside of Seattle. I was so glad to get out and stretch my legs after that long "plane ride" I got to take. It was dark in there! Well...Stephanie already had a fun afternoon planned! I got to join her in a trip to the yarn store (I do so love yarn stores!)

Before we got going I did inspect her goodies. It all looks good! I approve!

It does however remind me of the seat I had on "the plane" It looks eerily familiar.....

That door was a bit heavy but I was trying to be gentlemanly. I think Stephanie really appreciated it.

Oh my....I really liked these yarns.

I tried to take a little nap in them but Stephanie said we would be meeting someone soon so I didn't have enough time.

Does this color compliment my skin tone?

Finally I got to sit down with Stephanie. She put a basket of something good smelling on the table. I couldn't get a good look so I got a little closer.

It was soap! She had a basket of soap! She explained that these were the reason we were at the yarn shop. Stephanie was meeting up with Georgia to swap some soaps for yarn. I didn't know why she was so excited until she told me that the yarns I really wanted to sleep on were Georgia's hand painted yarns! Georgia is the Yarn Pirate! I am so honored that I got to meet her. Georgia was quite nice. I think she wanted to kiss me......but instead I talked her into looking really pretty with me instead.

They both had a nice chat but I didn't listen for too long...I did finally get to take a nap on the yarn that Stephanie had traded her for. It was a good nap.

I think Stephanie said that we were going to go into Seattle on Sunday. I can't wait. It's been a good trip so far and I think I'll be meeting the rest of the family tomorrow. I can't wait. Washington seems pretty cool so far!

Gnorm is tucked in his box and heading to...

2007-05-21T05:17:00.000-07:00

can't tell you where, silly! :) But...Gnorm is traveling via USPS with delivery confirmation to another home for a week. It's off to the post office we go! We really enjoyed Gnorm's visit to New Hampshire and have sent pics, a postcard, and goodies to the next host. Enjoy the week!
P.S. Rae, my little Annie is VERY appreciative of her horse dog toy...it's her new favorite....
a big thank you from a little canine. :)

Gnuman's On His Way!

2007-05-20T19:30:00.000-07:00

Gnuman is now officially on his way to his next stop - Sshhh, it's a secret where he's headed! My husband sent him on his way yesterday and he should be on to his next destination shortly. We hope he has a safe trip and enjoyed his time here in Washington State. We sure enjoyed having him for a visit! I think our puppies might be wondering where their new playmate went....

Thanks so much to everyone who stopped to comment on our posts about his visit and for all the thoughtful well wishes on my knee (things are progressing pretty well :) And many thanks again to Rae for putting together such a fun swap and for all the delightful goodies.

Have a great trip Gnuman! And have a great time with your new friends!

Gnorm in NH...a bit of this and a bit of that

2007-05-18T19:20:00.001-07:00

Gnorm says hello from Goffstown, New Hampshire! Here's what he was spending his Thursday with our family. Photos are a bit mixed up...but here we go.
We started the day with pancakes, and REAL maple syrup, which New England is well know for. I found Gnorm sitting on the windowsill, slugging down the syrup while I was doing the breakfast dishes.
The kids and I then headed to the homeschool group which meets on Tuesdays and Thursdays...it was yearbook signing day, so he added his two cents and a few comments to a few yearbooks
with one of my students, below. Gnorm was VERY POPULAR with the Jr and Sr teens...

Next, Gnorm and I share my daily favorite...a large Dunkin Donuts coffee, while knitting socks.Other moms and I spend Mom time, knitting, cross stitching, etc. while the kids have class time. Gnorm stayed close to me so he wouldn't disappear with a wee one. It was a long day, so when we returned home, Gnorm snuggled up with my youngster for rest time.
Gnorm helped himself to a bag of Peanuts for a quick pick-me-up snack, and then met...Annie...the puppy, through the kennel door.

BRAVE GNOME!

We ended the day with a "memorial" for Mr s. a nd Mr. Duck, who were whisked away by a fox or fisher cat this week (see my blog for details). This photo is Gnorm, spending a quiet time reflecting on our deceased fowl he's never met...

As far as sightseeing here in New Hampshire...its' been 40-45 degrees the past 2 days, and raining like the Dickens. We'll see what "touristy" stuff we can see today before he's send on his way in a few hours to ____________. Can't tell you where he's heading next...but he's coming with a box full of goodies.

Gnuman in Washington: Tuesday & Wednesday - May 15 & 16, 2007

2007-05-16T22:42:00.000-07:00

Like most Pacific Northwesterners (she lives 80 miles north of Seattle), Maryanne can't start her day without some major caffeination. So we stop for a treat at Starbuck's on our way to work. Her "usual" is an iced single grande caramel mocha. I figure, "When in Rome"..... This must be the only place in the US where you can get a coffee the same size as you are! Definitely yummy though!
Maryanne is a microbiologist and she works in a lab that does dental, food, water and dairy testing. Part of her job is to make microbiological media for use in their testing. She's a bit overeducated for all this business, but she likes not having tons of responsibility at her job so that she can focus on stuff she likes better (knitting, hanging out with her husband, reading). Needless to say, she had her work cut out for her this week as she had to prepare her co-workers for her absence when she gets her knee fixed. Here I am helping her to fill test tubes with media. Later we put caps on all those tubes and then put them in the autoclave to sterilize them. Don't worry - I didn't get any yuckies on myself!

Here I'm watching some broth Maryanne is making that will later be dispensed into more tubes. She's doing the dishes and jamming to the Scissor Sisters (which always reminds her of her husband since he digs the song too) and I'm making sure it doesn't boil over. Whew, this science stuff is harder than it looks! It's kind of hard to sit still after all that Starbuck's!

Lunchtime! Maryanne usually packs her lunch, but she was out of town over the weekend and doesn't have any groceries, so she picked something up on the way to work. We're going to check the website to see what Gnorm is up to.

Hey, check it out! Maryanne's co-worker Amano brought his buddy to work for a visit when he found out I'd be in town. He's from Atlanta and his street name is "Juicy G". I've never met a real live gangsta gnome before, so this was a cool surprise. He's got a pretty good gig guarding Amano's apartment in exchange for tasty snacks and delicious cold brews every now and then. I promised to look him up next time I'm in B-town.

Here's me outside Maryanne's lab. It's been a long day, but we've had fun. Her co-workers are cool and I've learned a lot.

There probably won't be many more opportunities for Maryanne to take pics for me and post them before the end of my visit. She's planning on sending me on to my next stop on Saturday and she'll be laid up from later on today until then. But you can be sure I had a good visit and will be watching cartoons and eating bon bons for the next couple days. Man, Washington rocks so far. Can't wait to come back!

Gnuman Does The Pacific Northwest: Monday - May 14, 2007

2007-05-16T19:19:00.000-07:00

Today I arrived in Washington State on Maryanne's doorstep. She was pretty excited to see me. I found myself in a place with lots of waterfront, beautiful mountains, and lush green forests. And you know what? The sun was shining! I'd heard all kinds of bad things about how gloomy and rainy the Pacific Northwest is, but I'll tell you, there's no place like it when the sun's shining! The first thing we did was take a tour of her garden. She's awfully proud of her little flower garden and insisted I get a closer look at the irises she currently has blooming. I think it will be a few days before my hind end recovers.....

After that, I met the family. Nelson (the Jack Russell) wasn't too sure what to make of me. He thought I smelled interesting, but when he came closer for a lick, I got a little nervous. Jack's are known to eat small things, so I thought I'd better keep my distance. I think he might have been tasting me! Eeeep!

This sweet old gal is Britt the chocolate lab. We got along great once I got used to her "aroma" (Maryanne just calls her "stinky"). She wanted to give me a few kisses, but I had to pretend I had a girl back home so things wouldn't get awkward when I leave in 5 days. Don't worry. I'll let her down easy.

After Maryanne's husband R arrived home and all the introductions were finished, they drove me down to the park where they got married. It's right along the waterfront and behind me you can see Puget Sound and the San Juan Islands. She tells me that it's usually really breezy and cool down here at the waterfront, but tonight it was just right. The view was gorgeous and we saw quite a few sailboats enjoying the nice weather.

Here's me relaxing on the grass at the park. Normally you can see Mt. Baker with its snowy peak (even in July!) in the background, but it didn't show up in our photo. There's lots of boaters up here and Maryanne and her husband take advantage of the scenic waterways with their kayaks when the weather's nice (and when her knee isn't acting grumpy).

After the park, we drove down to a historic part of town and poked around a little. Here I am posing against a mural painted on one of the buildings downtown that shows the rich Native American, Pioneer, logging, fishing and shipping history of their town. Kind of cool!

This is me posing on the front steps of the museum downtown. It's a shame you can't see the whole building, because it's pretty cool looking. During the 1800's this was actually the city hall for their town. Since then, they've moved city hall and they've preserved the building as a museum with quite a few permanent collections, and then rotating collections of all kinds. Maryanne remembers going to a really amazing one close to 10 years ago that consisted of historic recreations of teenagers' bedrooms from the early 1900's on up to the 1980's. She tells me she's a sucker for all that retro stuff.

Well, that's my visit so far. Maryanne feels pretty bad about having her knee surgery this week and not being able to take me very many cool places. But I'm having an o.k. time so far. She took me to work with her yesterday and today and I've got some fun things to tell you about that, but that will have to wait for tomorrow. Until then - greetings from Washington State!

We Welcome Gnorm to New Hampshire!

2007-05-16T11:29:00.000-07:00

Gnorm arrived safely in New Hampshire! I must say, his visit was quite a surprise this week, but a welcome one. :)
I thank Rae for including quite a few wonderful goodies with Gnorm...a huge milk chocolate bar, a soft dog toy for our puppy Annie, puppy stickers, scrumptious Mackinac Island fudge, Michigan Cherry Coffee Beans, a Bing Cherry candle (did I mention Gnorm traveled from Michigan?) and 2 skeins of the softest, most lovely Claudia Handpainted 100% Merino Wool in the perfect New Hampshire colorway of John B! Thank you, Rae! Now...Gnorm has a bit of sightseeing to do these next few days, then he's on his way to...oops!...can't tell you! :) He'll be sending some New Hampshire goodies, photos, and yarn for the next Gnorm recipient! Tomorrow Gnorm will begin his whirlwind tour of my bitty corner of New England.

Gnorm Arrives in New Hampshire!

2007-05-16T04:12:00.000-07:00

No, Gnorm did NOT get arrested! This picture was just to get your attention! Gnorm can't get into trouble that fast, because...well...let me tell you...
OK, poor Gnorm actually arrived here on Monday...but NO ONE(the kids) told me my guest had arrived! Yikes! He's STILL in the box, but will be welcomed properly...just as soon as I get home after I drop off the puppy at the groomer's "salon"this morning. I want to welcome Gnorm in a warm Yankee fashion, so perhaps he doesn't realize that he's at his destination! I'm SO glad and surprised that he's here!
I have lots planned for him to see during his short visit here. I'll be back to blog here once I greet Gnorm later today...

Gnuman Arrives!

2007-05-14T17:37:00.000-07:00

Gnuman has arrived in Washington State!

The Knitting Gnome Swap has begun! And, lucky me, I got the first gnomie visitor!! Thank you *so* much Rae, for all the gorgeous and yummy items he brought with him! And thank you so much for choosing my name nomination (Gnuman) from the first gnome contest! I'm a little nervous that I won't be able to show my new visitor a good time while he's here. I'm scheduled for knee surgery this Thursday and will be laid up for at least a week so I won't be very good company - boo-oo-oo! - (that is, unless he doesn't mind watching Spongebob and eating Sour Patch Kids all day......) So, needless to say, Gnuman and I won't be drinking any margaritas or dancing on any tables to Joan Jett tunes while he's here. But he seems like a quiet kind of guy, so perhaps he'll be content to meet our puppies, visit the waterfront and go out to dinner with us. I've only got 5 days with him though, so at least if I'm too boring, he'll be on to his next stop soon enough :) Stay tuned for some groovy Pacific Northwest adventures......

And they're off!

2007-05-14T08:48:00.000-07:00

Finally, Gnorm & Gnuman the knitting gnomes have been sent on their way. Finishing up Gnuman took everything I had in me, but he turned out so cute!
So, this morning they started scheming...

They opened up the Knitter's Travel Guide to try and decided where they should stop first.

So Where will they stop first? Swappers keep an eye on your mailbox. Gnorm & Gnuman have packed their bags, jumped on a plane & should be arriving at their first stops by Tuesday!

Lets do a quick review, what to do once your Gnome arrives.
~Blog! Say a quick thank you to last gnome host and of course share your cool goodies with us.
~Tour! Take Gnorm or Gnuman out for a day on the town. Show them (and us) what's cool about where you live. This could be local landmarks, local yarn shops, your work or home...
~Blog again... Post photos over at our flickr page. Then Gnorm or Gnuman write up a blog post telling us about the tour.
~Pack him up! Place a photo or post card in the photo album & place the album and the gnome back in his box. Then add in the goodies for the next stop.
~Ship him out! Ship him onto his next stop (either UPS or Priority mail). If you're shipping within the US please get delivery confirmation and email me the tracking info. At the end of the swap I'll have a little contest for those of you who send that info to me (if you're shipping internationally just send me an email to let me know the box is shipped).

Thanks & Let the Fun Begin!!!

Welcome to the Swap

2007-04-30T17:57:00.000-07:00

Hello,
I want to welcome everyone to the swap! By now you should have gotten your matches & hopefully your invite to contribute to this blog. Remember this is a 'Round Robin' type swap, so you never know when Norm or his bud will be by to visit you. I recommend starting to get things together for your partner early because once he gets to you you'll only have a few days to give him a tour of your town & send him on to his next stop.

Norm & his yet unnamed friend (more on that below) are getting packed and ready to be sent off. I plan on sending them on their way this weekend, so be on the lookout!

Contest Number 1:
So, I apparently used up all my Gnome naming skills coming up with Norm. His friend needs a name, so I need your help.
To enter leave a comment with your suggestion for a good gnome name. I'll pick my favorite & the winner will get a set of handmade stitch markers.

Good Luck~