Whew! What Happened to January?

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So, here we are in California, after three weeks of visiting, eating, shopping, and tomorrow it's time to head homeward. What else did I do while I was here? Well, I made this little sweater for Tess, who is likely being born even as I write! This was lovely pale, dusky violetty-lavender, a blend of cotton and bamboo. Lovely to knit, washable, soft -- what's not to like? And then I decided to make a little hat, 'cause it was COLD, COLD, COLD here! The hat turned out well, don't you think?Except when Thomas, the eldest grandson, saw it, he decided it was A-OK, so guess who got the hat?! And then, nothing else would do but that I should make a hat for William:
And another for James:
They were duly delivered last evening, and were well received. Granny can return to Oz, knowing the grandsons will have warm heads and cozy ears!

I did a bit of damage to my credit card this trip: yarn from Schoolhouse Press for a sweater and a large shawl, yarn from KnitPicks for two sweaters and a shawl, needles in various sizes. Why more needles, you ask? WELL....Had a funny time at Sydney airport this time...they hassled me about the knitting I was taking on board, claiming my 2.25mm bamboo knitting needles (which had a half finished sock on each of them!) were dangerous. Took them away, cut the bamboo needle tips off, taped up the ends with the socks still on, and returned them to me...grrrrr. Then I confessed to having an envelope of other needles with me, including some stainless steel ones. Consternation! They took the whole lot away to confer with a manager, then came back and told me they were all fine to take on board...including a few sets of bamboos that were identical to those they'd just beheaded before! Go figure! I've carried these onboard before, and last time I even called ahead to be sure it was OK. This time, a different story. Gotta watch those dangerous Terrorist Knitters!

The three weeks here has flown by. We had a lovely long weekend in Amador County, visiting friends and enjoying the snow and cold weather. Then back to Oakland where it was cold and grey, mostly, with a nice rainstorm yesterday to remind us of home! We hear it's raining there for the next week, but not too cold.

Lots of progress on the house remodel...I'll save posting about that till next time, with pics!

Glad to be back, all...

Comments

Libby said…
Oh my those terrorist knitters *s* Reminds me when I had jury duty and they would not allow a sewing needle in the waiting room. At the end of my service, I filled out the 'leave us a comment' form, reminding them that the pens and pencils in the courtroom were far more dangerous than my little bitty needle. I'm certain the county was not going to ban their use. The next time I was called sewing needles were no longer on the 'banned' list *s*
7:40 PM
Carol said…
Well the cardy looks absolutely fabulous. And the hats, wow! Dear me about the knitting needles. I hope they realize what a pain they are doing that to you. Obviously the customs fellows are not knitters, hmmmph.
8:23 PM
Lily Mulholland said…
You have been busy while you've been away! Hope the flight back is easy and you'll settle back in at home without too much trouble :)
10:07 PM
Clare said…
Hope you have a good flight back and looking forward to reading about what's been happening to the house in your absence.
1:58 AM
Mary Johnson said…
Don't you hate that? I've never had problems with knitting needles but it's the inconsistency that the issue. Either I can or can not take something on-board as long as I know ahead of time I don't care!
5:42 PM
Christine Thresh said…
Post some pictures of your building when you get home. Sorry we had such bad weather while you were here. Next week it should be nice in the Bay Area.
6:27 PM
Tracey @ozcountryquiltingmum said…
Love the hats and hope ebverything went well with the baby.
You are probably on a knitter watch list now!! We were flying domestically in Australian and my son had acqired a wooden bendy snake that he wouldn't put down...he held it going through the scanner and promptly had it removed....I am sure a lot of people take over planes with wooden snake toys!!
I manages to wrangle it back, then I had to make up another check -in bag using some hand luggage to go and check it in the underneath luggage or i think the boy would still be standing there crying! Added another hour to the process though!Tracey
2:14 AM
floribunda said…
I just had a knitting needle experience, too. Flying from SFO to London -- no problem. Flying out of London, no carry-on knitting needles allowed! Luckily I was able to cram the knitting into my checked bag, but of course then I couldn't knit! Different countries are very inconsistent about these things -- shoes on or off; laptops in or out of your bag; makes me kinda nuts!
5:20 PM
Nettie said…
Maybe crochet is the answer. Those hats are so sweet, especially the red one.
2:20 AM
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