CaliforniaGirlinOz (now just California Girl)

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 ...

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 immediatel...

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...

What to do when a very nice friend gives you a very nice skein of yarn for your birthday? Cast about for the perfect pattern, of course, and here we have the beginning of Anne Hanson's Fernfrost. It seems to me to be perfectly paired with the lovely yarn, which is Buffalo Gold's Lux, in colorway Dakota Dawn. The yarn is a wonderful blend of the winter undercoat of pure bison down, mixed with 20% cashmere, 20% silk and 15% Tencel...just incredibly soft, and no doubt quite warm for such an airy, laceweight yarn. The pattern is a bit challenging, mostly because I always have trouble reading the wrong side rows and reversing the knits and purls, hence the red markings on the chart to remind me to purl where it looks like a knit...anyone else have to do this? I can tell already that this is going to take awhile to complete, but WHAT a fun knit! Just need to keep my attention really focussed. Not fun to have to tink back laceweight on 3.25mm needles! I'll probably start ...

Well, I'm on a roll with Meret...this is my second one, made for my sister, Sheri, who lives in Maine. I'm modeling it here, and DH will mail it to Sheri from California next week. Turned out pretty well, I think. Such a fun pattern... Hope it fits, and she likes it! I'm also starting a new project...another Clapotis, but in a scarf size, instead of a wrap, using Malabrigo Sock in Indiecita. No pics yet, but soon, I hope. This will be a gift for my niece, Erin. Hope to deliver it in October. It's warm and sunny here today and I'm loving the sunshine. Shouldn't get too wedded to it, though...more cold weather will be arriving next week. We arrived back here from California 10 days ago to trees laden with blossoms, but within a day or two the huge winds kicked up and soon the blooms were scattered all over the ground...sigh! Kitties, donkeys and horses were all well and happy to see us home again. I celebrated the big 70th birthday during this last trip......

And so the time has come to say farewell to our little friend, Alfonse le Soot. He would have been 13 years old right about now. Those of you who have been reading this blog for awhile may remember his dramatic disappearance in July of 2008. And his equally dramatic return just over a month later. No explanation was ever found for his disappearance, but we were so happy to have him home. In late March of this year we made a trip to California, only to have the terrible news from our wonderful house-sitter, Judy, that Alfonse had collapsed and had to be rushed to the vet the day after we left. The vet tried mightily to save our little fellow, but he had experienced sudden heart failure resulting in a clot that paralyzed his hind legs. After three heart-rending days and a steadily worsening condition, the decision had to be made to let him go. We returned to Australia two days ago and today, with heavy hearts, we picked up Alfonse’s ashes, brought him home and buried him in his final res...

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...