This creamy goodness is the cormo/silk blend I bought at Lambtown years ago and never spun. Thanks to this Spindlicity spin-along, I am getting lots spun up. I got 3 skeins of chunky yarn from this fiber.

These 3 skeins are the English wool I bought from Ashland Bay. Finally spun up too. Now, what will I knit with these yarns??

Two more podcasts I found via the Hoxton Handmade website. One is Cast-on. The podcaster is an American knitter who now lives in Wales. funny stuff.

This second one is simply amazing. This American Life is hosted by guys, non-knitter guys. I'm a fairly new listener so I still can't tell who's who. One of the podcasts is about this chimpanzee Lucy who was raised by humans and then let go to live in the wilds. That's all I will say. You have to listen and form your own opinion. There's a podcast about the secret Coca-cola recipe; there's one about JFK and Marilyn Monroe; another about a British submarine and a sealed letter. I am completely hooked. I listen and I knit and I get a lot done.

Spring is almost here but I'm not ready to let winter go.

I can't get over this podcast thing. I love listening to audio books while I'm knitting. The local library has a ton of downloadable books for FREE. Amazing!

But one day, I came over this podcast via Vera's blog. It's British-made and very funny: the Electric Sheep. I've always admired British dry humor coupled with the lovely British accent. I figured if I listened to this podcast long enough, I may develop same accent. Who knows? A funny sounding Filipino-British accent. Who would have thought?

Joel took the day off last Friday and we were able to go to San Francisco and visit the Exploratorium. Now, we go to San Francisco quite often and are familiar with the streets. We know where the Exploratorium is located since we've been there before but once again, we got lost getting there.

We ended up heading towards the Golden Gate Bridge. We immediately took the last exit before the bridge, took an immediate right turn and found ourselves in the Presidio. Ok, perfect field trip moment. I run off some history about the Presidio (we homeschool, you know, so I never miss moments like these). Then on the way down the hill, we see the beach (super perfect view , mind you). Then it hits me: I haven't seen this view before! Well, maybe I have but just forgot?? I lived in the Bay Area for almost 14 years before we moved to Sacramento. We hung out in San Francisco, Daly City, etc, but why have I not seen this beach view before?

Then, we see on the right Baker Beach. Aha! yes, I've been there before, once. The kids wanted to see Baker Beach and Joel and I yelled NO! If we remember correctly, it's a favorite haunt for nudists. And no, we didn't participate (ha,ha). It was in the late 90s and we didn't stay long after the initial shock.

We made it to the Exploratorium after me telling Joel that we needed to get there before the 5 pm closing. It was 2 pm afterall.

The kids and Joel had a blast. I walked with my Dad, saw some exhibits, tried some, visited the gift shop and sat down near a wi-fi area and played with my iPod.

yeah, yeah, I was planning on doing my homeschool/fieldtrip/teacher gig but decided to let the kids just experience all of it for themselves. Besides, they knew how to manipulate the gadgets more than I did anyway. Now, take me to a Stitches West convention and I can last for hours on end like the Energizer bunny.

So, here's a pic of Emily beside a vortex/whirlpool thingie. To her right (my left) is this huge glass tank filled with water. If you peer closely, you will see the whirlpool.

I am knitting another Thermis cowl, a very addicting pattern. Once in a while, you get those kinds of patterns, once knitted, you want more. Normally for me, once a knit a pattern, I don't want to do it again. There is another one called the Eternity Scarf. Here's a picture of the scarf. This scarf I've knitted 7 times and promptly gave them all away, except for one. That was for me.

On our last visit to San Francisco, we got some Kara's Cupcakes. A day later, they were all gone. The chocolates were for Matthew, Emily and Danielle got the vanillas, I got the Javas, Dad got vanilla/choc, and Joel got carrot. Yumm.

What am I knitting now?

A neckwarmer called Thermis! Neckwarmers, sometimes called Cowls, are those thingies that go over your head and rest on your neck like a scarf. Except, there are no tails to flap around. Picture a turtleneck, detachable, and less choking. I'm using Misti Alpaca in fuschia (although it looks red in the pic). Beside it is a book I'm currently reading. Love Mary Higgins Clark.

This is a view from our bedroom window. Notice the bright sunlight outside. I am almost guilty posting this with all the blizzard and snow in the East Coast. We've been experiencing 60 degree weather here in Sacramento.

You might see some more lace shawls in the coming days. I've finished this Little Shells shawl last year and just now took photos.