Bedraggled Butterfly

So my DH and I decided to spend this Father's Day tidying up the front yard a bit and filling bird feeders. We did have a nice breakfast at Green Street and a tour around Armstrong Nursery before getting to work.

This poor creature was perched on cuttings from our morning's labor in the front yard. He seems to be on his last legs as his wings are quite tattered and he is missing the end of one of his antennae.

The hummingbird feeders are now filled and waiting for clients! If I am lucky, there may be a picture or two later this week. On my trip to Alaska, there were feeders everywhere with many happy customers in attendance.

On the knitting front, the Rowan Iceland has been growing. It is an easy knit with just enough going on to keep me entertained.

Happy Fathers Day Weekend!!

I wanted to wish everyone a very happy Father's Day this Sunday. Our DD sent an overnight package that arrived with directions for me to open it upon arrival and give Greg one of his gifts early. What a wonderful, yummy treat she made for her Dad! Lucky me, I get to have some, too. She is quite the accomplished bread baker....

Greg's favorite rose bush, deep red with touches of black, produced some lovely blooms that are in the waiting room. They are just in time for his special day.

Knittingwise, the Iceland (scroll down in this link) is now on the front burner. It is a kimono-style garment that was started and neglected. Not that I don't like it...just that I have been easily distracted by other projects. My goal is to finish most of it before going back to work next Tuesday. In any case, a photo of the progress will be posted soon. Now that I have said it here...perhaps it will actually happen.

D'oh!

D'oh!

Yesterday was going to be filled with knitting with friends. I planned to knit in the morning/early afternoon with one group and later on with another. The morning meet-up went as planned and was lovely...then I drove to where I thought the second group was meeting. However, no one else showed up. It turned out that I was at the wrong place. I was at Panera in Hastings Ranch and they were at Corner Bakery. I didn't discover the error of my ways until I got home and re-read the reminder. Well, at least I did do the finishing on my last two projects...and I listened to an audiobook (Let the Great World Spin). So, it wasn't a total disaster.

Lesson learned: read carefully!

Two Walks....

This morning Greg and I took a walk down Colorado Blvd. . We parked near Target and walked to Europane's new cafe. It is just across from the Paseo Mall (if that is any help to you). We thought it wouldn't be as busy as the older location. WRONG... I am so happy for Sumi that she knows her customer base and was brave enough in this economy to open a second location. This one will appeal to the workers at City Hall and the legal talent at the court for a wonderful option. Europane is full of good smells and eye candy. Tasty treats, too.

My second walk took place after a rather long session on the Citron project. The rows are getting longer, and longer. Not quite sure if I am going to have the heart to let this become a store sample. We'll see how I feel about it when it is finished.

I took a camera along to take shots of plants and whatever else I might find during my stroll...

There are so many beautiful flowers right now. It is hard for me to select which ones to share here....

Knit in Public Day

Today is a World Wide Knit in Public Day...at least it was in Altadena at the Coffee Gallery. I met two friends for our own mini version today. It was a relaxed morning/early afternoon spent sorting stitches and other things out. Quite a nice day even though we are suffering from June Gloom! Hope you all celebrated WWKIP in a similar fashion....did you?

See the Sea Lettuce

grow by twists and turns. Sea Lettuce by Lucy Neatby is so addictive. This is one of those projects you can just stuff into your bag and pull out whenever you have a spare minute or two to knit. After the first bit you can say goodbye to the pattern until the bind off. I plan to make another out of some Colinette Jitterbug sitting in the bin just behind me. This next scarf will be the larger version of Lucy's pattern.

Skein will be closed next week as AM and KC are off to find new things to tempt us all with - they have gone to TNNA. I can't wait to see what wonders they find....love to see those boxes full of yarn arrive! Don't you??

The Cosette Wrap

The Cosette Wrap is off the needles and blocking. As I mentioned in the last posting, I must have bought JoAnn's entire supply of coiless pins by the last wrap & turn. The markers really do help to locate them easily...a tip I heeded from the pattern. On my Ravelry project page, I noted that the upper portion of the shawl (the first skein) was considerably darker than the bottom (second skein). This was not apparent immediately when I was knitting. However, I am quite happy with the outcome. You can see the difference in this shot...

Just Off the Needles...

is a project (Alchemical Snood) that I thought would be perfect for my daughter on those chilly Boston mornings. Ann Mary made one for a store sample to show off Araucania Trauco (cashmere) and I knew it would be something my DD would appreciate. My fantasy was that it would be finished during my recent trip. The only project that saw any progress was the Circle Socks. This snood pattern from Stitch Diva is a mobius with a Fibonacci sequence. In order to correctly complete the Fibonacci Sequence, it takes an increasing number of rows. I am pleased with the way it turned out - so pleased that another may be made for me!

The next project, a Cosette shawl, is well underway. It took only two trips to JoAnn's to pick up enough coiless safety pins to use as wrap markers yesterday! Yes, there are many, many wraps to complete before I am finished with this - but it promises to be quite nice.

I have two final pictures from the trip to share here and then a group shot that most of us managed to make on the chilly rear deck pool area. Thanks for putting up with them!

I am the sensible one wearing the plaid deck blanket (you can't take the Arizona out of this girl).

Back Home and Back to Work!

It has been so much fun organizing my photos from Alaska with all of the iphoto tools. Putting together a slide show with music was simple enough for me to do...proof that I was born at the right time.

I thought you might enjoy two more muskox related shots.

The first shot was taken on the musk ox farm started by John Teal Jr. as a non-profit in 1954. He believed that viable regional agriculture must come from the domestication of native species. The under wool, gathered in the Spring, is delivered to a native knitters' coop. The coop's 250 members knit the qiviuk into beautiful garments using traditional village patterns. Money from the sale of the items provides much needed income to the knitters. While the farm is currently struggling to stay afloat, it seems that Quill, his granddaughter, is focused on keeping his vision alive.

The photo on the right was taken from inside the Windy Valley Musk Ox shop. It is actually a room in their home! I couldn't resist the pattern hanging in the window. Isn't it lovely? It takes an unusual blend of youth, strength and vision to raise musk ox, offer beautiful patterns and luxury fiber for sale while raising five year old triplets on a farm in Alaska.

The next two shots are from a train ride that was truly breathtaking...

Yes, that is the front of the my train, crossing a bridge and entering a tunnel.

The last Alaskan snapshot is of a Tibetan Mastiff lounging in his owner's truck. He occupied the entire front seat! I purchased a pair of earrings from his owner minutes after taking this picture.

Since arriving home on Sunday, I have been dividing my time between catching up on mail, laundry mountain, a few hours at Skein and dealing with the rose bushes in our front yard. Can you spot the insect in the first picture and the basking lizard on the rock?