California Girl in Oz

Tracy's purple Evergreen Socks are finished, washed and mailed off to her.  Hope they fit, and that she likes them: Several new knitting projects have jumped on my needles, too.  Not sure how THAT happened!  Finished one little scarf (that was supposed to be significantly bigger).  It will be a nice little neck warmer, but I'm always disappointed when the sizing doesn't work out.  Also working on a green sweater for myself, and a pair of red socks...pics soon. It's been pretty chilly in Mittagong (down to minus 1 C. a few times already) but still fairly mild during the day, so we decided to attack the garden here at the new house.  There was a huge old tree rose, Crepuscule, that was so overgrown and top-heavy it was in danger of blowing over.  We selected individual branches to remove, then tidied up what was left.  Hopefully we haven't killed it entirely, but Spring will tell... About halfway through the pruning, here's how the poor thing looked.  

Found some lovely MadTosh Merino Light at Knitterly in Petaluma yesterday, to start this gorgeous pattern for sister, Tracy: Evergreen Socks Can't decide between these two yarns: The top one is more purple (the color is called Flashdance) but also has more variegation, which might distract from the pattern.  The lower one has more of a red-violet cast, and also has subtle variegation, though not quite so much.  Sigh...I guess this is one of those cases where you need to do a swatch, huh?  I'm always so anxious to jump right in and get knitting.  Patience, Dianne!

Yes, Australia is still home for us, but we are continuing our peripatetic lifestyle, making about 4 trips to California each year for a month or so each trip.  Over the last 8 years, we have made do with a very small one bedroom condo in Oakland that we viewed as a sort of hotel-room-away-from-home, and it served us very comfortably and well.  Still, after 8 years, and realizing that our back-and-forth life will continue for some years, we realized we'd be a lot more comfortable if we had a bit more space to live in when we are in California.  And so, a few months ago, we bought a larger condo in the small village of Glen Ellen, in Sonoma County. This trip to California has been about getting the Oakland condo cleared out and ready for sale, and getting the Glen Ellen place set up as our new U.S. pied-à-terre...a comfortable place with room for occasional visitors, still near enough for Ross to visit clients in Silicon Valley when needed. Wednesday was the final trip from O

So, it's been yonks since I've posted anything.  I can't imagine where the time went, but there you are. A lot has happened:  We sold Devon Farm, moved temporarily to Lynwood Farm, and finally bought a place in Mittagong.  Moved there last week, barely got settled, and then hit the skies again for a trip to California..again. We continue the back-and-forth cross-Pacific life, though it is taking a little toll on us by now.  Maybe one day we will be all together in one place again! This post will be a trial to see if I still know how to do this, since it's been so long and I don't know how/if Blogger still works.  Should I be migrating this blog to another app?  Maybe someone will give me a clue... Just to try out the photo function, here are a few things I've worked on lately: First a pair of purple socks for DS, my own pattern, now completed:  And my first Hitchhiker scarf, in gorgeous Seasilk from Handmaiden Yarns: And here is a look at t