like bees and honey

i hope love surrounded you this weekend, whether you are a mother, have one near (or far) to hug or call, or, bless, have just the memory of her... my kids made me cry, with cards and gifts and words, those words. the best gift of all. happy mother's day to all!

friday it was time to take hannah back to the airport, oh dear, already? my best friend left on friday too, for almost a month long holiday half way around the world. driving back from los angeles international airport, feeling sad, trying not to cry (i did anyway). i know... bookstore therapy! it really did the trick, sitting with stacks of books and magazines, and a strong coffee, i spent a few hours and felt much better. i found a magazine with an article on shetland, and 'the magic of shetland lace knitting'. and a fictional novel, bought for the cover (i don't really read fiction). but LOOK at that shawl! i want to make a shawl just like the one on the cover of 'If you follow me'. can't stop looking at it!

arriving home, where it is way too quiet again, those feelings came back. after moping around a bit, i went to collect the mail. OH MY GOSH! inside my mailbox was an incredible surprise. all the way from Sweden, from a dear friend, was a piece of handmade lace (top photo). made by my friend's mother. i'm still so touched, all feelings of sadness disappeared. thank you so much irene for your thoughtfulness and generosity. the lace is a treasure i adore. the delicate impeccable handwork (how was this done?!) will be forever appreciated.

i made a cowl too, so pretty, the pattern and yarn came together, like bee's & honey, more on this soon! i hope you have a wonderful week ahead! xoxo lori

for sadie

thank you so much for the kindness shown 

towards the photo of my girl on The Sartorialist

 (there are over 10,000 hearts for the image on Instagram)

 such a thrill!

with friends sharing the joy, the experience is ten times more!

 sadie turned twelve years old this week. the sweetest age to be, she loves nature and animals and lucky for us, spending time with her visiting auntie and granma. to celebrate, hannah and i took her for the day, first to the ostrich ~ emu farm, where we fed those gangly birds (feisty beasts!) and got to hold four day old 'buddy' a baby emu! heading a little further up the road to solvang, we pretended we were in scandinavia, shopping for clogs and eating danish pastries. then we went blueberry picking and had a contest to see who could pick the biggest one. we'll never know though since we couldn't help eating them. :) our last stop was to classic organic farm and sadie pet the resident pigs, while donkeys and goats looked on (i brought home fresh asparagus from the farm for dinner). it was a good day celebrating sadie, and hannah's time home this week. i've learned there is no better thing, in the whole world, than to have a grown child return home for a visit. :)
 i hope you are having a wonderful week, see you soon!  xox lori

today in the east village

my girl called 'mama, what's the one thing you told me i should do here in nyc??! 

'get photographed by the sartorialist?!'

(i was kidding, well half way)

'i JUST DID!!!' 

last week in the east village hannah was walking and window shopping down 9th street in manhattan,

after stopping for an iced coffee, she found scott schuman waiting on a bench outside 

sustainable nyc cafe for her. 

this morning he posted the photo he took (The Sartorialist)

hannah and i are sitting together giggling over it all

(the comments, please be kind)

since she is here now, she flew in yesterday for a week, we get to share together!!

thank you scott, i know i'm her mother, but i love the photo!

photo by Scott Schuman  The Sartorialist 

the things they made

just over the hill and around the lake, in a sunny little valley near my home, was a small fiber festival. i went sunday morning and met talented spinners, dyers, felters and a brilliant sculptor. the yarn over truck was even there!
i was a good girl (on a budget) saving up for my summer trip or i would have brought home that sculpted fox oh! and the kiwi! everything sara created was exquisite. her fanciful imagination realized in the most incredible (cannot use enough superlatives) whimsical pieces. and then i saw the felted owls. oh goodness. these are the creation of borbala. bori teaches natural dying and felting, i signed up for her felted owl necklace class. :) sad to not bring one of these treasures home, but i didn't go away completely empty handed, i found these pretty speckly hanks of wool and silk. i think they kind of match the wild lupine i saw growing in meadows surrounding the festival.
you can find sara's sculpture's at her etsy shop ~ spun on cotton and borbala's felted goods at bori dolls
the wool is from shari (sorry to have forgotten your photo shari!) at morro fleece works in morro bay. lovely work ladies!


and along with lots of knitting lately...

i've been practicing sashiko. i recently found preprinted sashiko designs, you only have to begin stitching. the leaf pattern i am working on is supposed to be a pillow top. i think maybe it wants to be a project bag instead. :)  did you see the felt scissor case? that is the work of my sweet friend karen (she made the pin cushion too, a white owl, love) if you need a good pair of embroidery scissors (gingher) with a very lovely handmade case, karen has them in her etsy shop crows nest studios. 

and honestly, i don't understand how it happened. there is an extraordinary (embarrassing) amount of projects on the needles. a sample knit was just finished, it needs a teeny bit of seaming and off it goes (yay! whew) then there is the in progress dress, and shawl and another shawl. i happily joined in a new kal with lovely leigh, and even though she said it would be just fine to keep knitting whatever you are already working on, i was compelled to cast on the same project she was making, the beautiful shallows cowl. the start of which is shown dangling above. it is such a pretty thing. have a wonderful week ahead. xxx lori