good times

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home again. on the island, the wind blew and the fog rolled in and out throughout the day and into the night. i made a postcard of this photo of us to send to the kids, although it was windy and damp and cold and chuck was working, it is still a very good time   :)
i saw baby foxes!  i saw a baby raven too! the one caw caw cawing. they are so much fun to watch, perhaps i should have been looking a little more closely though, one small wild thing took off with my sock. hee hee. at least my knitting was closely guarded, priorities! i saw wild figs growing and colorful bugs mating. i came home with two new hat commissions, do you know, does superwash merino really mean it can go in the wash? these hats will be for men that will never wash them by hand, and they would like wool...

... back at home, i photographed a soon to be married couple, in a meadow, overlooking the sea. i'm wishing them all the love their hearts can hold. xxxx lori

more islands, men folk and a knit to share

 ...i do know how to pay attention, how to fall down into the grass, how to kneel down in
the grass, how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields, which is what i have been doing all day. 
   mary oliver, the summer day

some of the wandering i've been doing has been out on the islands again. i brought one of my vintage film cameras last week, and set it in the trail to take this self portrait. i found a manual for this lovely old pentax (bought at a flea market) online at orphan cameras here.

santa cruz island

the island fox

they keep getting bolder and bolder. this one came to the portable guide shower for a drink, and then walked so close to me i could have pat him on his tiny little head  :)

in the eastern sierras...

chuck

mountain menfolk, my husband and friends. they climbed mt. whitney (again). this time the east buttress way. chuck is pictured rock climbing up the face. it's difficult to tell in the photo, it's very steep, almost vertical. eeeps. well done men!

a few years back, we went together, taking the trail (not really scary) way to mt. whitney's summit 

then, musical menfolk....

the avett brothers are coming to santa barbara!

i have tickets!!!!

family and friends surfing menfolk

my son came up with friends, their first time to santa barbara 

the sun surf and sea breeze all came too, to make sure they'd have a fabulous time.

a new sweater

(unblocked, ah well, it's finished and just in time!...)

and hat

this is the cobblestone by jared flood, i think maybe the three thousandth one made on ravelry. hee hee. my dear husband is heading out on an epic adventure, to the far north. i tried to surprise him with this, and came close, but he was persistent, who is it for?? it's made of baby alpaca, so so soft. and warm, which was most important. i made him two hats also, the one pictured above is called the wolf pack. he is hoping to see a wolf in the wild, well, one of the things he is hoping to see. i'm hoping for him too, and maybe this hat will be a totem for him, keep him warm and give him luck.
raverly notes for the sweater and hat

not much time for photos, i was able to take these while he was at work at the beach

 (red lifeguard shorts) 

 

wearing his other new hat, the sweater all tucked in his backpack and ready for it's first big adventure!

  safari njema (travel safely) honey, i can't wait to hear your stories!

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