a fair isle

 i've been on an island!  my cardigan is finished and came along to be photographed here, from the shetland islands to california's channel islands, this well traveled wool has found a new home with me...

but first, a few photos of this spectacular place. chuck works on santa cruz island, part of the channel islands national park. he works many days in a row out here. we miss being apart, so we made a plan. i caught the boat over. he is all set up in the guides camp (in the above photo), our tent, supplies and food all there. a backpack and camera bag is all that's needed for me. hi honey!

 the island fox, endemic to the channel islands, SO much fun to watch. these little foxes are smaller than the average house cat, and cheeky, they get into everything!

while chuck worked i watched the foxes and the birds and i knit. enjoying the quiet for the time being, there were many children on the island this trip. chuck was guiding a group of waldorf students kayaking in the above photo.  the boat i came over on had sixty five schoolchildren day tripper's (the waldorf group was camping).

  a pacific-slope fly-catcher (the cutest bird i've ever seen!)

 do you see who's coming to visit?

those foxes!

 playful foxes and children, coming and going all day

and look who's sleeping! now this may be the cutest thing i've ever seen

 at the office

 going to welcome new paddling clients arriving to the island

 giving the kayak briefing and demonstration

 although it was very windy and the current strong, this group made it into five caves today!

 while i sat on the wind whipped shore i saw some things. a curious harbor seal...

 and hee hee,

 a fox. a fox on rocks.

 have you ever seen a fox on rocks on the beach? me neither!

 i saw the waldorf group going on a hike

a cairn builder

 and i saw a friend kayaking away, surfboard strapped to his boat, heading to the closest surf spot on the island, four miles away (one way!)

 and i saw more silly foxes run past me, then across, first one way, then the other, a wild chase

at first light next morning, we braced the wind and cold to take photos of my new fair isle sweater. it was still damp when i brought it out here, and when i lay it out to dry that seemed a perfect invitation to every raven and fox in the channel islands national park, they all climbed and landed on it. a friend suggested i may be a little obsessed at the length i'd gone to get photos of it out here on these islands, and she is probably right, but if you are a knitter, i know you'd understand... i love it here so much, and now this sweater too, from the shetland islands to the channel islands...

 this is conifer, a bottom up, reverse fair isle yoke with optional wristwarmers. it's a bit big on me, i know the fault is mine, always opting for a larger size, not paying enough attention to measurements. i omitted the buttonholes and instead have sort of wrapped it closed with an antler pin to fasten it. makes it that much warmer, the fair isle hugging the shoulders

this is my favorite design feature, the wrist warmers, which could easily be adapted to any sweater/jumper pattern. it's cozy warm, the shetland wool softened beautifully after a soak, maybe the foxes and ravens had something to do with that   ;)  

 this is dudleya nesiotica, a rare and endangered plant from the stonecrop family, the santa cruz island live forever

 the inside, looks like the right side, but is really the wrong side

thank you my dear husband for taking these photos (following me all over the place), it sort of feels like the more time you put into a project the more photos you take (sorry), this sweater taking about three months to knit. but it was also the astonishing beauty of these treasured islands that we both feel can never be shared enough through photos (so to protect)

i'm on the boat now, it's time to leave...

 i watched as chuck raced back to camp for his surfboard. remember the friend with the board tied to the back of his kayak? paddling over four miles for surf? chuck was on his way now too (have fun, be careful!)

bye honey and thank you! thank you for reading.  for more information on the conifer cardigan or kayaking in channel islands national park:

ravelry 

channel island outfitters