CaliforniaGirlinOz (now just California Girl)

At last, I have finished Hugo's Wheels, it's quilted, bound, and in the washing machine as I write. Here's a detail that shows the borders and binding pretty well... And another corner... And ther label, too: This was just so much fun, in spite of the tedium of paper-piecing. No doubt this is the last paper-pieced quilt I will do. I will mail this off to Hugo tomorrow and leave for California again on Thursday. Our wonderful housesitter will have her work cut out for her...5 weeks away this time! No promises, but I MIGHT even post while I'm away...

Wow! A finished quilt top! I'm loving how it's turning out, too...Here's the final top, with borders, even! Another view, just cause I'm in love! I made the decision at some point to have the cars and trucks facing the same direction, but alternating direction on each row. Of course, I made a very nice pick-up (ute for my Aussie friends) that I really liked, and only realized I'd made it facing the wrong direction after I'd finished it...what else is new? So, making lemonade from spare lemons, I decided to use the "mistake" block as the quilt label. I think it turned out pretty well...what do YOU think? So, when we return from our overseas trip, all I'll have left to do is put the layers together and actually quilt it. Hopefully then, when Hugo and his family arrive from London for a visit later in March, I can give the actual finished quilt to him and they can hand carry it back. Not that I don't trust the Post... We had a great we...

Can you believe it? SKYP Sock #1 finished, with 2 grams of yarn left. I was sweating it, for sure. I guess it's optimistic to think you can be sure of making a pair of men's socks with two skeins of Koigu. Any feet larger than DH's (about size 10) haven't got a prayer. I was already auditioning scraps of other sock yarn for the toes, just in case. So glad that wasn't necessary. Now, on to Sock #2... Meanwhile, Print O' the Waves has come to a standstill, due to lack of yarn: I got one short side border and most of one long side border knitted on before running out. Fortunately, I have one skein being sent to me in California by a kind Raveler. Can you imagine how annoyed I'd be to have to switch dyelots at this point? Not such happy news on the quilt front, though. I took a cruise through local fabric shops for just the right sashing fabric for Hugo's Wheels, to no avail. So, I'll need to wait till the California trip in two weeks. I h...

So we're doing a little road trip today, to Canberra where it's going to be hot, hot, hot...35 C. Not nice! However, we're hoping both venues where we're going will be air-conditioned. Not sure if this will be going from the Ridiculous to the Sublime or not: first up will be a matinee of Avatar in 3D. Then, for a little "high kulcha," doncha know: the Masterpieces of the Musee d'Orsay at the National Gallery. It's a members only event, so we're hoping the crowds will be a tiny bit less than if we just went on a regular day. Promises to be a fun day! Then the long drive back home, 90 minutes or so. In other news, I've FINALLY finished the paper-pieced blocks for Hugo's Wheels, and am auditioning sashing, cornerstones and borders. Wanna see? I thought so! This gives you an idea of how it might finish up. The dark blue is too dark (looks much darker in person) and I'll look for something a bit lighter with a slightly more turquoise tone to...

It is so hot today, and humid, and enervating. At least the hot winds of earlier today are moderating a bit. Have I mentioned that I don't do well in the heat? So what am I doing? Baking a Nectarine Cobbler. Must be mad! But the nectarines are really delicious this year, and we're going to some friends' house for dinner and I volunteered to bring the pudding (that's Aussie-speak for dessert, dontcha know?), so voila! One Nectarine Cobbler coming up. No progress on Hugo's Wheels today. It's paper-pieced with blocks from EQ6, and I just don't have the patience for all those fiddly bits and the attendant mess today. Did a little work on my Print O' The Waves shawl...I finished the first short side of the knitted-on border. Fun, but slow going. Here are the first blocks I've completed for Hugo's Wheels. Actually there's one more, but I haven't photographed it yet. Here's the Sports Car... and the Fire Truck... and the Double-Dec...

What happened to the last six months? I think Facebook and Twitter took up all my bandwidth and I've been neglecting my blog, but the time has come to make a new start. As you see, summer has arrived in the Southern Highlands, and DH is back into his walking routine. However, given the number and perversity of the blowflies (and ordinary flies) around here, this is his new "look" when walking...quite a fashion statement, no? I told him he looks like he's the bride at a Goth wedding...black veil and all! So what have I been knitting, you wonder? (Well, given my long silence, you may have long since given up wondering, and who could blame you?!) Here are Eli's Footlets. These were part of a Schoolhouse Press Knit-along, so I decided to use up bits and pieces of yarn I had around. These should be cozy when winter rolls around again. And here is a progress shot of my Cookie A. socks, Clandestine, using Slackford Studio's wondrous Stalwart Sock yarn in the...

Can you believe that before we left Australia I didn't get a photo of the completed quilt? Here's the best I can offer...it's all pinned together and laid out on the queen-size guest bed, so at least you can see how it fit. The quilting was a trial, but fun...I have such trouble stuffing large quilts through my home machine. I get stuck, then it all pops free and I get great big stitches, and other fun stuff. Still, Katie has now received the quilt and tells me she really, really likes it, and THAT's what's important! And here's what I've been up to lately: Kindle! With reassurance from some good Blog Buddies, I took the plunge, and I am totally in love... Of course, as usual, here's the first thing we did when we arrived in Oakland. Can you see that happy smile? TACOS! There has been knitting going on, too. This plain ribbed sock, made with gorgeous merino sock yarn from Piedmont Yarn Shop, knit on 2.25 bamboo DPNs. It's such a luscious...

It was a productive week, I'm happy to say! Realized at some point that there's no floor space that's safe to pin on and large enough for a queen-size quilt inside the house. So...a couple of days ago I set myself up in the garage after carefully sweeping up any dust and dirt. It was freezing out there! Worked out pretty well, though. Here's "Life is a Promise, Fulfill It", and all the layers stretched out and ready for pinning. Before I started the layering process, I decided to try to get one shot of the entire quilt top, for posterity. Not easy...had to perch on a ladder and it still isn't really satisfactory. I need a design wall! Back in the house, after all the hours of pinning, sore knees, sore fingers, but that quilt is all pinned together! Here's how I reworked the top border to balance Katie's name a bit. Y.esterday and today I cloistered myself in the sewing room and got the entire top quilted! Hooray! Also got the binding s...

Well, woo-hoo! Yesterday I finished piecing the words for Katie Rose's quilt, at last. I forgot to take a picture of the entire center section when it was spread out on the guest bed, and we've got company coming any moment, so a pic of the full center will have to wait until tomorrow...but here it is with the center section folded up and pieces of the light pink border fabric laid out around the edges, so I could make sure the phrases are going to fit along the sides. Looks like they will! I'm hoping all these words in the border won't make it looke like it's from the Ransom Note School of Quilting! Now the hard part comes: sewing each letter to its tiny piece of background fabric, allowing for extra space between words, and then adding the extra border strips to top and bottom of the phrases so the overall quilt size will be correct. Not to mention deciding what to do about the backing...and THEN there's the actual quilting. Keep your fingers crossed that I c...

So we are home, after an uneventful flight. DH still has a wretched cough, and finally went to the doctor yesterday -- secondary infection, following his bad cold of two weeks ago, resulting in the need for antibiotics and rest. Since the swine flu fear is everywhere, he is to avoid socializing until he is feeling better, and if he gets worse we must have a throat swab taken at the local hospital, just to be sure. No fever, though, so it's doubtful if it's anything but the result of overdoing work duties while he had a cold. Add to that the fun of jet lag, and this is probably not our best week ever! Still, as you can see from the above photo, autumn has landed in Exeter big time. This is one of five big buckets of leaves that had accumulated outside our back door. Nice mulch for the perennials... Not much sewing or knitting at the moment. Hope to be feeling more like doing something in a day or two.

I have postponed writing this because there is so much sadness for DH and me. We got news a few days ago that our beloved Spike was found dead in her kitty condo a few days after we left for California. This is a pic of Spike taken in 2002, when we lived in the Sierra Foothills in California. She spent most of her time in DH's office, so we called her the Secretary Kitty. A word or two about her name might be called for. Spike and her sister, Rosebud, were born under a house in Ione, CA in 1996. A predator took several siblings, so the people whose house it was rescued the remaining kittens and looked for homes for them. We adopted these two adorable furballs in a flash. A visit to the vet for first shots and a general physical inspection was called for, during which the veterinary assistant said, "Well, this one is a girl, and that one is a little boy," (indicating Spike). So we duly named them Rosebud and Spike, and a few months later were shocked when Spike cam...

For some reason, I've been feeling like knitting instead of working on "the" quilt, so I thought I'd share the most recent FO: This is Hypoteneuse (Rav Link), by Anne Hanson of Knitspot. It's really large, and very drapey and soft. Knitted with KnitPicks Swish DK, a really lovely, soft, altogether wonderful yarn. The pic below shows how long it is...it was windy today (surprise, surprise!) and you can see it flipping around in the breeze. And I realized I never posted a pic of the pink alpaca shawl (also Rav link) in its full glory, so here it is. You may remember the disaster of the big hole that appeared in one corner as I was blocking it. Fortunately, I don't think it's too noticeable, but just to be sure, that corner is at the BACK in this pic. And the obligatory close-up, to show off all the lacy detail. The yarn is Misti Alpaca Laceweight, and it's light as a cloud. Still provides a bit of warmth on cool evenings, though, because it...

Well, the journey has begun for Katie Rose's quilt. Here is a shot of the first quadrant of blocks with their sashing and star cornerstones. I've laid the first pieced letters on top: Katie Rose. As you may or may not be able to see, I'm going to have to go back to the drawing board for the "OS" of Rose...the O is too big and clunky, and the S is made from too busy a fabric. Try, try again! I do like the "Katie" part, though. I'm finding there's a little learning curve to come back to the free-pieced letters after a few months away. My brain needs to readjust...kind of like with paper-piecing, only not quite as "backward and upside down," if you know what I mean! You can see the actual blocks and stars better in this upside down shot (taken from the other side of the ironing board. I like the look of the dotted sashing, and the deep pink stars. I'm kind of rushing to get a bit of something together for this quilt, becaus...

Here we are in the boarding lounge at SFO (San Francisco, for non-Californians), having had our flight cancelled last night, after four hours sitting on the tarmac with no news and nothing happening. After scrubbing the flight at around 2AM, they put up in hotels those people who didn't have a place to stay in the Bay Area and told everyone else to go home and come back at 9AM for an 11AM departure. We could have gone to our apartment by taxi, but we didn't like our chances of getting to the apartment, sleeping a couple of hours, and and then making it back to SFO on time, given that it's raining and we'd be in rush hour traffic, so we spent the night on the benches in the terminal. Keep your fingers crossed that this 11AM flight actually goes...our kitties NEED us at home! Wow, looking at the grammar and syntax of that first paragraph, I can see I'm sleep deprived (or maybe just crazed!)... Next post from Oz, one hopes...

Well, I'm back from Stitches West, which was unbelievable. I think I wandered around in a daze for the best part of four hours, unable to focus on anything in particular. Feeling like a kid in a candy store, I just couldn't bring my mind to what I should buy...amazing! Eventually, I did find some gorgeous things. Here's Tactile Superwash Merino Sock Yarn in Aventurine: And, feeling adventurous, I bought some Habu Wool Stainless Steel (75% wool, 25% stainless steel): And a skein of Habu Superfine Merino: My friend Margaret, in Oz, had contacted me this morning to see if I would bring her a couple of bits of Blue Faced Leicester so she could try spinning it. That helped focus my mind a bit, and Lynne ( Yarnivorous ) was a big help in keeping me on track to accomplish that goal. Thanks, Lynne! Here's Lynne admiring some gorgeous yarn in just "her" colors: And here's the BFL I chose for Margaret...first up, A Verb for Keeping Warm, in Color #9: Next, ...