UFO Roundup

Yes, I know I haven't posted much about the UFO situation around here. It's hard to come to terms with the critters when you're 500 miles north of them. Thus, it's easy to blissfully shop for yarn while ignoring what's hiding at home.
But I have plans for some of this yarn. First, there's a view of the first layer of the box that's going out today. (I send this sort of thing to the XRX offices, where they pass it along to their local prison, which has a program where inmates can earn the privilege of knitting. They make stuff for the kids on the local reservation. A great win-win for all!)
Next up, two UFOs that have been lurking in bags and boxes. One is a pink fuzzy sweater out of Paton's Divine. I was going to put it in the box but then I relented. I think I still like the fabric it's making, and it would be a nice little sweater for one of the granddaughters.


Then we have the notorious cotton denim--Elann's Den-m-nit, in ecru. I love the look of the finished sweaters--I have blanked out the designs on the cover and won't show you which one I'm making, due to some copyright issues which AS pursues rather vigorously. I'm doing Inishmaan. This book is, as far as I know, still in print and was available from several sources. Great patterns! I just don't know if I can knit a whole sweater out of string. I'd better adjust--I have quite a bit of this stuff.


A half-ball or so of these little guys. I made a scarf out of them and it went to my DIL. I was going to make another one but I am SO over fuzzy sparkly yarns...

Last layer of the box. Note t hat large lump of white in the front--that is another UFO that is now going bye-bye. I'll let the guys unravel her. It was going to be the cover capelet from Knitting On the Edge--see the little sample pink knitted rose there? I may make the capelet yet (D3 requested it, in ivory) but not in this yarn (LB Jiffy). In fact, I'm going on a hunt now for more of this stuff, which will go to a different charitable group, the shawl knitters. Hey, I'm working on a shawl for them out of Jiffy, too, but I know I just don't want to do any more than finish the current one. Spoiled by all that good alpaca and merino and STR and Yarn Pirate and... Yes, my STR club yarn arrived. I'll blog it, and the YP that came from Seattle Marie yesterday. Today I'm on a purge binge! and besides, I don't want to post any spoilers.

Here We Go Again!

I think this is wind damage. We've had a lot of hot dry wind lately--one reason the temps are up into the 90's. The good thing is, when I called the roofing company, the response was immediate: we'll be out tomorrow to fix it. Since that means "today" we'll find out if they meant it. They'll also need to check the rest of t he roof--don't know if you can tell from this photo, but the angle is very steep, and I don't climb up there!

This is what I see when I look out of my back window. Good t hing we got out of the habit of using that door, since the bush is so heavily weighted down that you can't get past it! But it's gorgeous to look at.

Some quilt-y eye candy for you today. This is one of "my" quilters with his grandson, who is making his second project. Noah was very proud of this, and I think he'll be back to quilting next time he visits the grandparents! This is a charity quilt, one of many this couple has made. He cuts and measures and presses, she sews and quilts. We all want to clone him!

Since the news came out about the closing of the quilt shop soon (owners are moving away) it was a very somber gathering on Tuesday night. Felt like a wake! No one wants to see the group disbanded and scattered, so we're exploring alternatives. One problem is that the shop has provided so much visual and creative stimulation that it will be hard to replace that unless we can find another shop (in the same geographic vicinity) with enough room and a spot on the schedule.

Finished!

Look! It's a real FO!! Well, she needs blocking and fringe, but the knitting and crocheting (along the two short ends, to hold the fringe) is done. Arm courtesy of the Knit Devil.




Here she is with a random Coffee Bean customer--sorry, lady!

Close-up of a corner. Won't take too much blocking, but she definitely needs a bath after all the places she's been--I wouldn't want to do a bacteria count on her! Stats: Rowan Tapestry, can't remember the color and I think 7 balls. Oh dear... that's the problem with taking so long on a project!





Mom and Ds at the LA Music Center--the opera was Mahagonny, and Patti and Audra were in fine voice. Beautiful singing and a good time was had by all. The sculpture in the fountain is called Peace on Earth; the water levels change all the time and it's most interesting. Here's D3 (Carrot's mom, aka Caitlin), D4 (birthday girl and opera/musical fan, aka Meighan), moi, and D5 (aka Courtney).

Lastly, a couple of pictures of GiGi, who went to join her "daddy" and other cat-siblings today. She was almost 20 and declined very quickly.

She's been a good cat all these years and has contributed lots of fun and love to the family.

She was the "fetching" cat--she'd retrieve her paper "balls" anywhere you threw them, even if it was inside someone's shoe (boots were a little tricky, but she managed) or on top of the mantel. She loved to sleep with me--no, correction, she'd permit me to share HER bed and HER pillow, although she'd be very vocal about it if I dared to overstep my assigned area.

The other problems that have been weighing so heavily on me are continuing, although there has been progress in some areas. This week is going to be the most critical time and I won't really be able to rest easily till Friday at the earliest--so if you have any spare prayers, good thoughts, good wishes, etc, please direct them our way. Thank you!

Full Worm Moon

...with crape myrtle seedpods and frostbitten orange tree.

Artistic, no? Yeah, I didn't think so either. What is it with these full moon names? I am rather amused.

This is going to be a rather short post today, as I am feeling pretty wiped out. You know how my last post was so upbeat about all the time I am going to have and all the fun things ahead? Well, that'll larn me to challenge Whoever is in charge of "stuff." We've suddenly had a whole series of sad/bad/challenging events and I'm just having a hard time wrapping my brain around it. Would truly appreciate any prayers, good thoughts, etc that you'd care to send our way. I will fill all y'all in on stuff as it goes along but not today, 'kay?
Oh, if you leave me a comment, please be aware that Blogger doesn't let me reply to you. So unless I have your email address, all I can do is try to track you down via your blog or whatever. You can email me at mehitabel AT earthlink DOT net if you have any questions or private comments.
Also, I think I was crowing too much about the joys of unemployment. I found out on Sat. that the quilt shop where I teach on Tuesday nights will be closing down in mid-May. So my last class will be the night before I leave on my tour of France and as it turns out, that will be the last week they'll have classes. I don't have a lot of info on the closing yet, but I'm sure there will be some coming along and I'll pass it on for anyone who's interested. I do know the owners plan to open a new shop in the Phoenix area, and will be selling fabric there--but I'm sure they won't be moving all of the inventory, fixtures etc.
Enough for now. Off to the opera (Mahoganny) with the daughters and friend!

Addenda Day

Padua was highly amused by the foot-foto day. Can you tell he's perched on top of the shredder? I can't leave it plugged in for fear one of the fuzzballs will shred a foot or a tail or something!
This is the first quilt top I did at Asilomar. One way that I like to work is to go through the whole process once, naturally trying to get a good quilt top out of it, but also to get a handle on how it's all going to work. This was a good example of that for me. Picking the right values of fabrics, for instance--and who would have thought that I, having endured the 70's and the stream of orange/brown/gold that characterized it, would ever decide to make an orange quilt? Or even have so many orange fabrics? Truly amazing. Anyway, I am very pleased with this quilt top, even though I made a glaring mistake. I'm sooo smart. I had to buy a new cutting ruler, since I managed to get away without one; I didn't realize that it was one of those newfangled ones that's actually 6 1/2 inches wide--and I cut my 2 1/2" strips with the wrong side, so they actually came out 3" wide! didn't even catch on till the blocks were all assembled and I was measuring them for proportions on the sashing. Sigh. It's okay though, because since I mean to teach this as a class, I think the larger blocks will actually be "friendlier" and less intimidating to prospective students. I hope! I also know that it will look a whole lot better once it's quilted--it is very square, as is the other one, but being pinned to a board makes them look a little askew.

You know I can't resist putting in wildlife photos when I can. Asilomar has quite a herd of deer roaming around--this is the view out of the window of our classroom. On this particular day, there were 6 of the critters grazing on the hillside. They didn't even look up when we went out on the deck to take pictures! Too bad I didn't take pictures of the "midnight raiders" aka raccoons, who knocked over our trash cans and then stared me down when I went out to see what the noise was!
Finally, some more flowers. These are along the sidewalk at the entrance to the Apple Farm's restaurant/gift shop. It's one of our favorite places to stop since San Luis Obispo is about halfway between home and Monterey and is just south of a particularly difficult stretch of road--the Cuesta Grade--so fortification is needed before or after driving it. Also (especially poignant today) Bob and I stayed there for the weekend to celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary. (Today would be the 44th.) The grounds are beautifully landscaped and even in the winter they put on a magnificent floral display--the purple stuff at the back of the picture is kale. Yes, that kind of kale! The tall green thing in the pot is another kind of kale, but this one has "bolted" and no longer looks like a flower.

One more note--I have resigned from the bookstore and am now a "lady of leisure." With everything that needs to be done here at home, I don't think I will be at a loss for things to do, and hopefully I'll have a little more time to do some of the things I love. It was a real wake-up call for me to find that my quilting tools and fabric were still packed up from my trip to Asilomar last year. There has to be something seriously out of whack when I don't touch something I love to do for that long! I still love to read, and will spend lots of time in the bookstore, but I'm hoping that I'll also be able to quilt, and teach a few more classes, and spend lots of time KNITTING up that yarn I've brought home!

Fuzzfeet for La

WHO wants pictures of my WHAT??




For this you woke me up?






Hi-Hi didn't want his feet shown, but here they are.

Home Again, Home Again

Lots and lots of goodies to share after my almost-two-weeks away! First, here's the stuff from Stitches West that followed me home. In back some spun silk and natural alpaca (both from Village Weaving and Spinning in Solvang), then (l to r) some Geisha, Spectrum, and STR Lucy from Blue Moon; some lovely heathered alpaca from Honey Lane; two shades of KPM, one from Yarn Lady and one from Foxyknits; and finally a lovely celery-green alpaca/silk, also from Village.



Came home to some mini daffs blooming in the yard. These little guys are barely 3" tall. Can you tell how dry and hard the soil has baked? It's been a very dry winter and there's no rain in the forecast. Scary. (This picture is especially for you, Sheepie!)
By contrast, here's a view of sunset at Asilomar the first night we were there. It did rain but only overnight; the days were clear, crisp, and very pleasant. Such bliss to work in such beautiful surroundings--I promise, I'll also post some pictures of the deer and the ocean and even of our little classroom building. We had a fire in the fireplace every morning (the elves come and lay it while we're at breakfast, apparently) and three meals a day, cooked by someone else and the dishes done by someone else too--a great week.
What did I do, you may ask? Well, here's one of my projects--the top is cut off but it does have full side and top and bottom borders. We were working on exploring the three-dimensional look--I think this quilt top is pretty successful at that. The blocks really do look 3-D and seem to float right off the quilt. I'm going to try to get this one, and the other project which I'll post later, quilted and ready for classes on the next shop schedule.





If you want to read more about our adventures at Stitches West--it was a real hoot, a great trip!--check out Jillian, Madge, Mary, and Annette's take on it. We even got to meet THE Ellen Bloom! Ellen even posted a pic of us on her blog--here it is, "borrowed" and with many thanks!
I think there are quite a few of us who will be making plans to return next year. I'm hoping to even have some wonderful hand-knits to wear. Can you spot the two SKBs in this photo, and Jillian's Marilyn? (She's got a good series of photos of it and details on her blog today.)
Lots more things to talk about but I'm still in the process of wrapping up now that I'm back home again. Two weeks is a long time to be away! No laundry facilities, for one thing, so I brought home a large suitcase full of grubbies. Most of the cats were pretty blase about my return, except for Hi-Hi (aka the big fat fluffball) who has barely left my side whenever I'm here. Even wakes me up during the night for reassurance that I really am here. Sigh. I guess it's nice to be loved.

Monterey Bay

A pretty wild poppy--Matilija poppy?-- growing on the edge of the sidewalk. Lots and lots of flowers, even in February. I won't bore you with all the flower pictures I took, though... let this one stand in for the rest of them.

I didn't take a whole lot of pictures at the aquarium, mainly because I've done it before and let's face it, one picture of a tank full of fish swimming back and forth is pretty much like another picture of a tankful of fish swimming back and forth!
But I did take this one of the aquarium itself...I just love this view. And yes, the sky was a beautiful blue. The weather has been perfect since we've been up here. We'll see if it holds for the whole time; there is rain in the forecast, but we all know how forecasts go!

The coastline shot was taken from the deck on the upper floor of the aquarium, looking across the bay. If you look reallly closely you will see a pinkish block on the far shore--that's our hotel. Sorta stands out, huh?
The boat is actually inside the aquarium, part of a display of the building's former history as a cannery. Did you know this is the original Cannery Row that John Steinbeck wrote about? Monterey is prime Steinbeck country--the aquarium's bookstore has a complete set of his books, as well as biographies etc. Yeah, the old bookseller has to visit bookstores even on vacation.

Time to pack up the hotel room and move to the park. It will be interesting to see what kind of internet connections might be available. Imagine if I had to live my life "in person" instead of on line...

On the Road Again...

View from the 11th floor, Seaside, CA, aka Monterey Bay. The adventure begins.
Well, it's really not that adventurous--we're talking a nice hotel, a pleasant drive with great weather, nice and clear and sunny. Not too warm, not too cold...
Today is the "hiatus" day and gives me a chance to do a little computer stuff in the hotel before we head out to the Aquarium. Look for those pictures next. Hoping to see the baby otters, but don't know if they will be on display or not.
Knitting will be happening today, I'm sure... and then it will be 5-6 days of quilting. The projects all got packed and it will be fun to see what's in the supply tubs.

Yes, tubs. I should take a picture of the inside of the car, shouldn't I? Four sewing machines, each in its case; lots of bags, boxes, and tubs of fabric and tools. Not to mention a couple of suitcases full of clothes. Two women, 12 days, quilting and knitting, what more do you want?
Anyway, the tubs are still packed from last year's excursion to Asilomar. This tells me a couple of things: the major one being that I have sorely neglected my quilting. I think there are a lot of things that have taken a back seat, and I'm hoping to use this time away to assess and evaluate and maybe see what directions I should be moving in.
'Nuff with the serious stuff. There are fishes and otters and other sea critters waiting for me, so I'll be back (hopefully--depending on hotel wi-fi for this!) with more!

Twice Today!

First, the usual camellia eye candy. This bush has an interesting history, sort of. It was growing next to the "old" back door of this house, along with another one. When we added on, it was obvious that the other one would have to be moved, but we thought this one could be left in place. Sure enough, the deck was built with a nice opening for its trunk. It's been thriving, and even outlasted the first version of the deck. Its sister, a deep red peony-flowered variety, was moved--Nurseryman: you can't move camellias in September! Husband: It's that or cut it down. Nurseryman: here's how to do it. Success!


Now, here we have something much less successful. Way, way, WAY less! This got frogged as soon as it had been photographed. And no, it's not my version of a thong--it's the start of a Candleflame shawl. So unsuitable in this yarn!

Version #2: much more successful. This is great waiting-room and "coffee" knitting!


Finally, some snowdrops looking as if they'd much rather be in the snow than in the hard-baked clay that is my yard:







Knit Devil (fiendish person that she is) sent me a letter for her meme (read all about it on her blog) which basically asks you to list 10 things that are important to you that start with that letter. She assigned me C. (If you want your own letter, leave a comment on her blog, and she'll send you one of your very own.)
So here are mine, in no particular order.
1. My maiden name begins with a C. Which, of course, means that my dad and brother have the same last name. They are both known as Chick or Chicky.
2. Caitlin, aka D3. Obvious, no?
3. Courtney, aka D5. Ditto. When my husband called my mom to tell her that she had a new granddaughter and her name was Courtney, he said there was a long pause. Finally my mom said, Well, we'll love her anyway.
4. Cats. Love them furball critters!
5. Connecticut. My spiritual home, I think.
6. Cobalt blue glass--Royal Lace pattern especially.
7. Children's books. I have loved to read ever since I was a wee little thing. The family story is that I taught myself to read from the newspaper, which would have been a neat trick since it was an English-language paper and I didn't speak English till I went to school.
8. Craftsman-style houses. No, I don't live in one; my 1921 house is a pseudo-Tudor. I still love the style!
9. Chilly weather. I don't do well in the heat; I'm one of those people who, like my favorite flowers, needs a winter chill to thrive. If I don't get it I have a very cranky outlook.
10. Chocolate Candy. Nuff said??
Hmmm... there are a lot of things I love that didn't get on this list. Who could believe that not a single one of my grand-darlings has a name that starts with C??

Presenting... the UFO of the Month!

This month, I hereby resolve to work on... Birch! Hmm, she's not blue, grey, or white... but she sure is a weight on my conscience, so she's getting the nod. I love the pattern, I love the yarn, but as a knit, I'm having a doozy of a time working on her. I've had her on so many different needles it's a miracle she's still OTN!! She's going to come traveling with me, and I'll see if I can't get her done.

Anybody want to guess where this building is?

Short-ish post today, as I have a list of things to do as long as my arm--longer, actually. Part of the "fun" of leaving town for a couple of weeks is all the prep it takes, especially when the two weeks are going to be taken up with fibery pastimes. (Yes, the family will hold down the fort at home, and the fuzzballs will be well cared for. I, however, will be in fur deprivation mode. After all, I can talk to the people, but I can't pet cats from far away!) So I'm trying to get the sewing machines ready, the fabric and gear for quilting, and then the knitting to take to Stitches with me. Yes, I am going to lose my Stitches virginity this year.

I don't know how much blogging I'll be able to do from either of these venues. I do have a laptop now, and I'll be taking it with me, so there is every possibility of finding someplace to connect from. Stay tuned--but don't hold your breath!

Frost, Mail, Flahrs

Is it wrong to dislike plants? I mean, to the point where, when something like this happens to them, you say, good job Jack Frost!

I mean, I like a lot of plants, and some I love. These, I detest. They are my neighbor's and grow on the other side of the fence, but their big ugly rubbery leaves hang over and drop all over, and they just make me unhappy. So when the frost came, and all of them (she has 5 of the things, in varying sizes) got frostbitten, I was not unhappy. Of course now there are dead brown leaves falling in my yard, and as you can sorta tell by looking at this one, the whole plant isn't dead. I imagine that by summer, they'll all be back to their repulsive glory.

When you have a bad day at work, what makes you feel better? Coming home to a front porch bearing treasure, that's what! Here we have the new Rowan 41, which on a quick leaf-through looks to be full of yummies, beginning with the cover. Now, I don't always knit much from the Rowan books, but I love them for the inspiration they provide. Yeah, I'm still chugging on Birch, which is from # what, 30 or something? Hey, a girl needs all the eye candy she can get, some days! then there's my bundle from Yarn of the Month, and a Don't Knit and Drive mug (all the way from Seattle, thanks Marie!) because while I don't knit and drive, I DO drink (coffee) and drive. Lastly, my big treat--and I did it, I cannot tell a lie--some yummies from Dave Daniels at Cabin Cove Mercantile. Note the very Project Spectrum-like colors!

And here's a splash of sunshine (speaking of which, it's been in the high 80's here for the last few days, and I'm doing some serious watering to try to counteract it!) courtesy of a very tough little gazania. This plant used to live alongside my driveway, back when the driveway was blacktop. It survived the giant trucks and tractors that hauled away the tons of oak tree; it survived being moved before the new driveway went in, and it has survived the heat and dryness of this past year. And still has the courage to bloom this effusively.

I'm going to try to take a lesson.

On the bandwagon again...

What Kind of Knitter Are You?

You appear to be a Knitting Guru. You love knitting and do it all the time. While finishing a piece is the plan, you still love the process, and can't imagine a day going by without giving some time to your yarn. Packing for vacation involves leaving ample space for the stash and supplies. It can be hard to tell where the yarn ends and you begin.http://marniemaclean.com
Take this quiz!








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Saturday Sky??

A little grey/blue/white in this snap I took last night on my way into work:There are some very interesting buildings going up around town--I like the way the light worked on these. Definitely not a generic skyline!
The camellias are from my yard. I don't know their names, but the house was built by a nurseryman and there are a lot of "experimental" varieties around here. Seeing how slowly camellias grow, I have no problem believing that these have been here since the early days--house was built in 1920. And it shows. Everywhere. Especially the kitchen. Don't let me get started on that; let's just stop and smell the flowers.
Oh, that's right. Camellias have no fragrance. That's why they are such great corsage flowers. Yeah, my very first corsage ever--college freshman, fixed up with someone's buddy Rudy. Pink camellia. Gorgeous thing, loved the flower, wasn't too keen on the guy. He never called me back after the Sunday afternoon when he called and my cousin Richard gave him a real hard time. Who needs a big brother, right?
This last one is actually a white blossom, with the sun shining through it. The quest for a yellow camellia is ongoing, but so far it's not happening.
My town is "famous" for its annual Camellia Festival, but the only thing camellia-related is that the floats for the parade have to be covered in camellias. Nothing else. So you're basically working with a palette of pink, red, white, green leaves, brown (you have to cook the leaves, or pick nice fallen ones), and yellow from stamens. It is amazing what the kids can do--yeah, these are done by kids, some grown-up help allowed but all the flowers etc have to be pasted on by kid hands.
It was great training for my kids--when they worked on floats for the Rose Parade, they already knew how to keep the glue off their clothes!
More info on the Festival here if you are interested!