California Girl in Oz

My cousin Joe reminds me that I haven't posted for ages!  Thanks for the little nudge, Joe... I think this photo says it all about why I haven't been on here: Yes, there's a jumbled up pullover on the left, with only the sleeves left to be knitted.  In the center are two books written by another cousin, Jeff Maulhardt, about my family's roots in Oxnard, California.  In front you see a stack of file folders, organized by my family's various surnames, and some notes...plus the obligatory cup of coffee to keep me going.  Yes, thanks to Mary , I've been bitten by the Ancestry.com genealogy bug!  So engrossing, entertaining, fascinating and obsessive.  Just what I need, one more obsession...no smart cracks, OK?! Meanwhile, out the window, winter is leaving us and spring is trying hard to arrive.  This morning is still very chilly, but here's how things looked a couple of days ago: Cloudy was ready to start his around-the-hard prowl, under the Manchurian P

So I did get this shawl soaked and blocked and dried in time to wear it out for dinner last night.  First up, here's a picture of it blocking: It was BIG...ended up 80" x 45". And here's how it looked when I wore it: And the back view: Glad this one is finally finished, but I feel a little bereft!  Of course, I do have the pullover I'm working on, plus another shawl that's underway... We took a 2-hour walk today up into Mountain View Cemetery at the top of Piedmont Avenue.  This is the cemetery that was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, who designed Central Park.  It was a glorious summer day and I took zillions of pics.  I think they will deserve a separate post. As Yarnivorous Lynne would say...anon!

I thought that knitted-on border was going to finish me off, but there's nothing like keepin' on keepin' on... Here's the finished product, even if it does still look like a large red puddle: Don't have the energy to tackle the blocking at the moment.  But I do have a nice glass of Zin poured and at the ready to celebrate! Tomorrow is soon enough for the soaking, blocking...and modeling!

We were delayed a day in leaving Australia because of the volcanic ash cloud that caused cancelled flights for a few days.  Bad news was we had to route through LAX instead of direct to SFO, but we arrived eventually, tired but ready for some summer.  Oakland was glad to oblige! I did some knitting on the train to Sydney, then gave it a rest for the flight.  The Red Highland Triangle Shawl is proceeding well and I'm knitting the edging now.  Fiddly, but effective.  Wanna see?  Of COURSE you do! The shawl still looks kind of like a big red puddle, but it will change into a dramatic, beautiful piece when it's blocked...I hope.  Here's where we are with it today. As you can see, there's a l-o-n-n-n-n-g way to go, so I'm taking a break and (surprise, surprise) starting something new: I bought this gorgeous yarn at Stitches West last year and have been itching to start something with it.  Now seemed like a good time...  I seem to be on a red kick, don't I?  T

Jetlag has me in its throes...asleep at 5PM, up at 1AM...what's a girl to do?  Why, funny you should ask! On the last trip I wore my greeny-brown Highland Triangle Shawl a lot and enjoyed it every time, so I decided to make another.  I can credit/blame Bells for my color choice...RED, RED, RED.  It's Elsebeth Lavold's Silky Wool, which is the same yarn I used for the last Highland Triangle.  It suits this shawl very well.  Drapey, easy to wrap, not too heavy, a nice sparkle to the color because of the silk content.  This pattern, from Cheryl Oberle's Folk Shawls book, is a dream to knit.  Daunting, at first, because it is such a large shawl, but the pattern is simple, logical, orderly and relaxing to knit once you have the hang of it.  As you see, I photocopy the chart and put it on a board with a rubber band to mark the rows.  I also highlight the pattern repeats to prevent getting lost if my mind wanders, and I use stitch markers on the needles for the same reason

We arrived back today after a very easy flight.  It was a busy trip for me, from a knitting point of view...lots of hats promised and delivered.   Here's the navy watch cap for Ross, finished, at last.  Forgot to take a photo of the brown one for Greg...need to get a modeled shot. And here's the brown Porom for Karine...need to get permission from her to post a pic of her wearing it! It looks MUCH better on her, believe me... And here's me wearing the charcoal beret I made for Rodnay.  Also need to ask if I can post a pic of him wearing it... I think I already posted pics of the Mink/Cashmere berets in blueberry, so I won't post them again.  But here's what I'm up to now.. First, a small triangle shawl, a Mystery Knit-along on Ravelry, pattern by Wendy Johnston.  This picture was taken shortly after I started, and now I'm only waiting for the final clue before finishing. And last, but not least, Anne Hanson's Crooked Walking Shawl is now underwa

We've had a tough couple of years with our little furry friends, and the time has come to say goodbye to little Cassie: She was diagnosed with diabetes a few months ago, but had been responding quite well to her insulin injections.  We boarded her at the vet for this trip to California, so they could continue the insulin therapy.  Sadly, a few days ago she began to be quite ill, listless, not eating, and uninterested in her surroundings.  Investigation revealed a large mass in her abdomen, and this morning we got the news that the end had come for her.  They have been keeping her comfortable with morphine, a heated igloo, hand-fed treats when they could get her to eat.  But the time has come to say goodbye. Here's the little darling in earlier days, as a spry young cat in the Sierra Foothills, lounging on top of her favorite perch: Cassie was a stray, found wandering the streets of the small Gold Country town of Sutter Creek in 1997.  We adopted her from the animal shelt

After finishing the Porom Beret using the glorious 100% Cashmere DK from Great Northern (pics on my Rav project page), I started yesterday on the first of two Monkey Bread Berets for friends.  I made the last one for myself from the deep green 70% Mink/30% Cashmere DK weight from Great Northern and it turned out so beautifully that I knew I wanted to make more of this pattern for a couple of friends.  Both friends chose the Blueberry colorway, and it really is a gorgeous color. You may remember I mentioned I washed the 100% Cashmere in the skein to gain loft before I started knitting.  The Blueberry Mink/Cashmere looks pretty non-bloomy in the skein (as did the dark green when I got it) but I decided to just knit it up and then see where I was...I knew it would bloom in the soak when finished. Yesterday I started the first Monkey Bread and to my amazement the yarn, which has only tiny trace amounts of the light oil used in spinning the yarn, begins to bloom immediately as you start

This was one of the most enjoyable projects I have EVER knit...the Great Northern Yarns cashmere was so soft, light and exquisite, and a perfect match for J ared Flood's wonderful Porom pattern . As this DK weight yarn is a bit lighter than the usual DK, and I didn't want this to be too slouchy but more of a real beret, I used 3.5mm needles for the ribbing and 4mm for the rest.  Jared suggests knitting to about 6 or 6.5" before starting the crown decreases, but as it's pretty lacy and therefore quite stretchy, I decided to knit only to about 5" before starting the decreases to avoid having it be too floppy and stretched out.  Turned out to be absolutely perfect, in my opinion. Here's another shot of it blocking: Once it's dry, I'll try a modelled shot, and then I can deliver it to Karine!  Can't wait!

Do you want to know just how obsessive I am?  Since DH is away, guess who's indulging in an orgy of knitting time?  So, let's see just how bad things are at the moment. Here's the most glorious beret I've ever knit, in Great Northern Yarns 100% Cashmere DK -- this will be a beret for my friend, K (you know who you are, Karine!) and its about half finished.  This yarn is SO soft and light, I think it's going to feel like wearing a kitten on your head! The pattern is Porom , by Jared Flood, a design I've knit a couple of times before --  it's one of my all-time favorites. Here are a couple more pics of the beret, in progress: And I didn't post a pic of my friend A's finished Icarus.  Forgot to take a pic of it on her, but here it is blocking...the yarn is Bendigo Woollen Mills  Luxury 8 Ply, a very fine micron Merino that is soft, silky-feeling and luscious: But to know just how nutso I really am, this picture says it all...yes, there are t

So much fun!  I wore this to the movie, Jane Eyre, yesterday.  No other Jane Eyre Shawls were present, except for the one onscreen!   I really love the look of those ruffles across the back: And here's Jane, herself, wearing her version in the movie, in case you haven't seen it: The movie is fun for the costumes and atmosphere, but a little slow, I thought.  But if you are a knitter, you really should make one of these shawls.  Very warm, slightly shaped over the shoulders so it stays on pretty well.  I think there's another in my future!

 So here we are again...back in Sunny California for nearly a month.  Brought my knittin' with me, and a few quilt blocks: This is my finished To Eyre shawl, pattern by Carol Sunday on Ravelry, following extensive discussions on the Rav boards about the shawl worn by Jane Eyre in the new movie, and Carol's exemplary pattern creation.  HOWEVER...having run out of yarn about two-thirds through the shawl, I was forced to scavenge the collar from a sweater I knitted from the same yarn last year.  Want to see the poor, depleted sweater today? Kinda sad, no?  However, the sweater was a bit too wide for me, and the collar overwhelming for my size, so I think I'll knit a new one, same pattern, smaller size and different yarn. If the new shawl is dry in time I'm hoping to wear it when I go to see the movie tomorrow...wonder if anyone will recognize it as the same shawl Jane's wearing in the movie. And I've been working on a Corn and Beans Quilt for my DS, and br

Here I am again, though I'm sure no one will care any longer...one can only disappear for so long or so many times -- but here I am again. Time to reinvent my blog as a place to keep track of what projects I'm working on and what's up in my life. So, even if no one is listening, here goes . Oh. I see. Blogger STILL puts photos in the reverse order of the way you load them. I would have thought they'd have sorted that out by now, but never mind... Maybe one of these days I'll switch to WordPress or something...how hard is it to do that, anyway? Here's how things looked a couple of days ago, as autumn winds down and winter approaches the Southern Highlands. If I took this picture today, only about one-tenth of the leaves would be remaining on the tree! If you are a Ravelry member, you may have come across the discussion of the shawls worn by the main character in the new movie version of Jane Eyre. A couple of very clever group members developed patterns t