It's Time to Visit the Kids

Today is devoted to getting ready to leave for 2 weeks tomorrow morning. Water the plants, do the laundry, pack, feed the birds. I'll be visiting with Son #1 and Grand-daughter #1 in Washington (state) first (these pictures were taken last year), then with Daughter #2 and Grand-daughter #5 in Los Angeles, then it's an Elderhostel trip beginning in Ventura, to the Channel Islands off the California coast and San Simeon.

Last week I finished a book by Debbie Macomber - one of the three books about a yarn shop in Seattle - and I found out she lives about 20 miles from my son. I checked out her website and blog, and I hope to buy one of her knitting pattern books at her LYS, and of course some yarn too. The book, "A Good Yarn", was a good story and Debbie keeps you turning the pages.

Plans are to drive to Mount St. Helens on this trip, also visit the Seattle Museum of Art which was closed for renovations last time I was there. The construction of the Seattle Library really does look like that Koolhas hat designed by Jared. I'll also be shopping in Poulsbo, which has 2 yarn shops, 2 antiques shops and a couple of nice spots for lunch, all on the same street - the perfect town in my opinion.

No plans for what to do in LA yet. Daughter #2 has been threatening to take me to Disneyland for years (she says I'll love it, but I really have no interest in long lines and people dressed up as cartoon characters). Last year on the day she had designated as Disney Day, it actually rained for the first time in months. So this year we'll see - perhaps the heavens will open again. The big draw for that leg of the trip is Grand-daughter #5, who is almost 5 and cute, cute, cute. The lilac sundress I'm making is for her, and I'm bringing the part I've finished (the skirt) with me so I can fit it on her and finish the top. I hope she doesn't grow out of it too fast.

Lastly, D#2 will drive me up to Ventura for the Elderhostel portion of the trip. I've signed up for a room-mate (pot-luck), so I hope I get someone compatible. Coincidentally, and very happily, the Ventura flea market which is held only every couple of months is on that day, so we'll both be shoppin' til we droppin' before she brings me to the hotel.

The weather forecast is only calling for 60s in LA at this time of year, and 40s in the Seattle area, so I'm packing stuff much warmer than I had originally planned. Lots of layers.

A Passion for Antiques

This blog is mostly about knitting, but I wanted to mention a word about my second passion, or I should say my other passion, because it certainly isn't second. ANTIQUES!

The photo to the right is a gorgeous knitted doily I found in a box lot of linens - that's the thrill of the hunt.

I've been an antiques dealer and collector in a small way since 1990, but have gone full speed ahead since I retired (not entirely of my own accord) in 2002. With several spaces at an Antiques Mall, an on-line shop, and the occasional set-up at a show, it keeps me almost as busy as the "real' job did. But I don't have an 80-mile a day commute anymore, and I don't have to set the alarm for 6:30 anymore. The logo at the top of my profile was captured from Antiques Journal - the brilliant John Fiske is promoting this campaign. If you haven't visited an antiques shop lately, give yourself a treat - decorate the house, find a special gift, add to or start a collection, find the perfect ring or necklace - and just think, it's all recycled!

Random Thoughts

This is the cute little size 3 vest I made to donate to Warm Woolies http://www.warmwoolies.org/. they want warm wool sweaters, vests and hats to donate to needy children. This vest is their own pattern and it worked up very quickly in bulky wool. I didn't have enough of the purple to finish so the top is a different wool, but I think it worked out nicely. I've started another one using the white wool, maybe I'll trim it with the purple.

The Cobblestone is coming along nicely - I've finished up to the underarms and have started on the sleeves, which are done separately and then attached on a big circular needle at the underarms and the yoke worked in the round. Should be interesting to work with that huge number of stitches.

In a couple of days, I have to start packing for my 2-week trip to the West Coast - more on that later. I always get nervous before any trip (what did I forget to pack? to do? is the whole trip worth it?), but I'm promising myself not to start worrying until Thursday. I have a huge permanent list of things to do/pack, and I check all of them off the day before. Just a little bit anal.

Kitty Thing

I had to share this ultra-cute ornament - too cute to keep just for Christmas. I think I'll hang him up year-round over my computer.

Hooray for the Internet!

If anyone out there is reading this, I want to shout out loud and clear for the fun I'm having lately with knitting that is all due to the Internet. And it's all been building ever since I had the idea of looking up something knitting-related on Google (can't even remember what). That led me to the blogs - so many!!! - and I happened on Audioknit's blog which mentioned the Ocean States Knitting Guild, which is near enough for me to belong. I've met so many nice women there, with new ideas and beautiful knitted inspirations, and some of them have blogs. That gave me the incentive to start my own (and here it is). And then there's Ravelry, also mentioned by one of the Guild members. So I have my own Ravelry notebook now, which prompted me to actually look at my stash (boxes in the cellar closet!) and put it in some kind of order and make some decisions about what to knit with it. And from Ravelry, I joined two more groups (and probably more later) - one of the groups is British Knitters, which keeps me in touch vicariously with a land I've loved since childhood (I've always wanted to be Miss Marple, living in a small town in the English countryside with a vicar and a pub, and probably a local knitting shop). Hubster and I have been there twice now - not enough! Through Ravelry I found someone else who lives in my town (but I haven't convinced her yet to attend a Guild meeting.) The Internet connections keep spreading outward wider and wider. And I haven't even mentioned all the patterns and technique instruction available. And marvelous yarns to buy ---- and on and on.

In re-reading this post, I have discovered just how many parentheses I use (not to mention exclamation points!!) - and there's one more of each.

Charity Knitting Today

I decided to take a break from knitting Cobblestone, and decided a charity knitting project would be nice, and also use up some of my single skeins. I found a site called Warm Woolies, www.warmwoolies.org, which collects wool vests, sweaters, hats, etc., and distributes them to children in need of warm clothing. They have a vest pattern on the website for a small vest, size 3-6, which looked about right for a couple of nights work. I started it in a deep purple bulky wool, but by the time I was half-way through I knew it wouldn't be enough, so I'm doing the top third in a bulky cream color. It looks kind of cute - I'll attached a picture when it's complete.

I was able to knit a few inches on it today while "working" at the antique shop. Weekday mornings are generally pretty slow, so I sat and knitted and was still on call if someone wanted a showcase opened or any other customer help. kIP - knitting in public.

The new snow on the trees with a bright blue sky behind was absolutely beautiful - one of those days when Winter is truly a Wonderland, as the song goes.

Second Toe

I'm currently working on the Cobblestone sweater (like so many others - Ravelry has over 100 others with this in their projects). I'm making it for the Hubster, he was very particular about choosing just the right yarn for this; I never knew him to be so fussy. But the yarn is really lovely and nice to work with - it's Jo Sharp Silkroad DK Tweed, in Magnolia color, which is a soft grey.

The second project is a sundress for my grand-daughter Maisie, who lives in Los Angeles. I'm going out for a visit in a couple of weeks, and plan to bring this with me, so I can try it on her. I've only done the skirt so far, and I don't know if it will be the right length, and also need to know how to fit the top. Here's what I've done so far. It's a cotton yarn with a little bit of wool in it - Cotton Fine by Brown Sheep, in color Alpine Lilac (purple is supposed to be Maisie's favorite color).

Hubster has gone to Vermont for the weekend, so I'm now going to get out the pint of Cherry Garcia that's in the fridge, and put on a Netflix movie. My treats when he's gone.

A toe in the water

Last night at the Knitters Guild meeting, Cindy told me it was easy to set up a blog. So I tried it, and now I don't know what to write. That's the hard part, I guess. Anyway, this is a start, and as soon as I think of something, I'll be back.