KNIT. HIKE. BIKE. SHOP. BIRD. PHOTO. REPEAT.

greetings! 

hello! i hope you are well! lately around here...

~  i've been using my phone a lot for photos. i found an attachment for iphone, that might be good substitute sometimes for a camera. it's a 4-in-1 lens system, including a fish eye, wide angle, 10x macro and 15x macro. have you used anything like this? would you recommend it? here is the link olloclip.

~ spring has arrived to california's central coast, the weather has been extremely lovely. i've been hiking and bike riding, and beach walking and gardening. first roses bloomed this week.

 ~ my grandson is in santa barbara magazine! he and his friends (travis is the blonde on the left) and the skateboard park they frequent. favorite designer heidi merrick is on the cover and featured inside, oh this dress and this one. yay heidi and travis!

~  sparrows and house finches are dining at the 'window cafe' (our blue bird feeder) all day long! i'm pretty sure i saw an indigo bunting, hoping to see it again!  these are such tiny colorful birds, the finches a deep rosy red. sometimes 3 or 4 sit on a nearby fence waiting their turn.

~  chuck and i collaborated on an article, it came out last sunday in the los angeles times. we both had 2 photos, one of mine has yarn :) this was a first collaboration for us so very exciting, more to come... :)

~ i made a shawl, a gift for a dear friend, for her upcoming trip to greece and turkey. it's the shetland lace triangle in jade sapphire lace weight cashmere. it took just about 450 yards. the skeins are 400 yards apiece, so i've just enough left of the second to make a very sweet pattern. and the pom pom yarn is now knit up, that was a patience tester. i think it's going to be a pillow, maybe...oh! and i've been collecting wool for the last few months for a long term project. it's all here now and i can start!

~ and little by little making preparations for scotland and the shetland islands. flights and accommodations are booked. we ordered a new bag, it's called the 'black hole' ,a wheeled duffel that has more room than anything i've ever owned. chuck calls it the 'black hole for cramming in yarn'. yep.   :)

and from cape town, more africa here (this is the last article), thank you lara and tamlin!
have a good week dear friends!

first class

dear friends, well, the hoped for wool has not arrived (yet), so a new sweater has been cast on. it's being made with wool from my stash, which is now officially quite low. (yipee!, knit shop here i come!) the pi shawl wool may not have been found in my mail box this week, but a few other surprises were (other non mailbox surprises too!)...

 

this book, 'my heart wanders' by pia jane bijkerk, arrived from england, after winning annie of knitsofactos giveaway. the lush, gorgeous, dreamy photography combined with pia's poetic style of writing, makes this a book to get lost in and treasure. thank you so much annie. i'm just thrilled. (i won the wool wooden block too, see photos below).

~

a red winged blackbird flew into our tree! i heard him first before seeing him (feeling a bit like jack black in the big year! hee hee, he could identify every bird just by it's sound!) but if you've heard the red winged blackbird you know the song it sings is very distinctive. it was the first time we've had one here. this blackbird sang just a few choruses and was off!

come back soon!

~

another package arrived. my helpers are holding up this adorable hand knit purse for you to see. made by my friend emily, this small, charming purse put a lump in my throat. i haven't had a gift of a handknit since i was a child.

and look! emily has cleverly sewn a tiny bit of fabric to the inside, to keep the hand made stitch markers she added from falling out. it's at home now in my knitting basket, i couldn't be more touched.

i read that she missed the beach, this is for you dear emily. thank you so much.

~

putting out woolly scraps each spring for our bird friends. i haven't spotted any yarn cozy nests yet,
but it's something to hope for.

maybe this is one bird's way of saying thank you. :)

~

this is owen. my well mannered puppy (hmmm). last week chuck was gone for work, so it was just owen and i. he apparently felt i wasn't giving him enough undivided attention, because one day, while i was chatting on the phone, i turned around to find bits of green fluff all over the place. his bed had been ransacked. when i sighed and said, oh owen. he gave me this look. (the i'm cute and you still love me look?) hee hee.

when chuck is gone it's easier to stay on my nutrition diet. here i made a small yam topped with avocado, they are falling off the trees by the hundreds right now! and lightly steamed broccoli. i've added a little dressing too, it has extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar, tamari, lemon juice, garlic and water , blended for a minute. with chuck gone there was also more time for knitting. (the reason the shawl in my previous post finished up so quickly!)

~

here is another giveaway win, from annie and fee. in the giveaway you were asked to say one word describing something you were passionate about. now i'm passionate about this block too, it's so sweet.

and very popular here already

thank you again annie and fee, i love it, it's perfect. for your own personalized block visit fee and her shop, chipper nelly here.

~

 

and then! another parcel! these little lambs, from my friend gesche, all the way from germany. hand knitted, made with hand spun wool. oh my goodness. gesche sent this mama and baby lamb along with other easter surprises.

i love my lambs. LOVE them. they are so beautifully made. and hand knit! did i already say that? for me! oh my goodness, twice in one week, i feel truly blessed. welcome to my home little lambs, i hope you'll be very happy here!

~

this is abby. abby is my youngest home schooled knitting student. at six years of age she learned to knit.

but knitting is only one of abby's many talents. she likes to draw and cut and create in three dimension. she can make anything, only limited by her imagination (which is limitless!). can you see what she made here? she made me!

she made me knitting! can you see the detail?  i love my pink polka dot dress and red shoes. and the big smile. but look closer. in my hands are two toothpicks, with knitting on them!! she made a bag, draped over my arm, with a ball of 'wool' in it.

this could be the cutest thing i've ever seen!

ah goodness gracious. thank you miss abby. i was recently invited to a tea party to abby's house, where i met abby's younger sister maddy, a future knitter, at five, she already can't wait to learn! abby and maddy's mama is a lovely student of mine too.

~

and this came too. yes, it's a good thing chuck wasn't home this week, he would have had a good time teasing me about all the packages on the doorstep. this was ordered though. i learned about the super salve company on camillas blog. it only arrived yesterday, but first impression, LOVE. i'm quite sure these will be new favorites. there is a wonderful giveaway here. and the supersalve company is here.

this isn't the red winged black bird again, it's teje's quilted bird! she sent this tiny quilt to live here with me. i think it's the sweetest little quilt i've ever seen. teje said she hoped it might inspire me to quilt too. i think she may be right, looking at her lovely stitches is incredibly inspiring.

looking at home already i think. love the way this little bird is standing in the trees, looking at the flowers, with the sky above.

and on the back, a whole new look. a shy bird, maybe there is a nest in the leafy green? not in the photo is the grecian sea glass she sent too. thank you teje for the lovely surprises that i love. i'm so happy to have this beautiful handmade treasure!

~

i receive so much, i want to give. so a giveaway is next! the only thing better than finding a surprise in the post box is sending one. to enter this giveaway (see below) you don't need to add me as a follower, or like me on face book. it's not necessary to tweet about it or come back here to tell me you did. what i would love is this: once, when i was young, a stranger gave me something i had admired, something she was wearing. it was a necklace with a tiny gold charm. it looked so pretty on her, i told her. she smiled so and thanked me, and then, she took the necklace off and put it in my palm. she held my hand in hers and said to me, she wanted me to have this now, but i must do one thing. i must pay it forward and give to others too. that was almost thirty years ago, but i can hear those words and remember how i felt. such joy and amazement at pure giving. what i would love is to hear your story of giving or receiving, was there one special moment that stands out for you?

 

 i'm giving away one teeny knitted necklace, with pieces of sea glass.

and a nested set of california abalone shells (they are so tiny and cute! the smallest measures one and a half inch and the largest three.)

the necklace slips over your head, and you can change the colors whenever you like, i'll make sure all the pieces fit just right. i'm making these to take to africa. for those i'm filling with buttons and sea glass and any other tiny treasures i can find. something like this is easy to fit in a carry on and is fun to share!

i have a lot of sea glass. here it is poured out, it's hard to tell how much there really is, but i measured this at a foot across and three and a half feet long. if you'd like a necklace with sea glass and the abalone shells, let me know. i'll choose a name on wednesday april eleven, this coming week!

thank you for bearing with me in this extra long post! and thank you again, annie, fee, emily, gesche, abby and teje. what a blessing. happy easter everyone.

 xox lori