good little things

my photo appeared in this book! the image is of my husband chuck standup paddleboarding the owen's river, in the eastern sierras, california. through partially frozen water, i paddled my kayak, to get this photo. taken with a vintage pentax super me, and black and white ilford film. our mountain ~ river adventure was written about here. thank you very much photographer's forum!

a new shawl just off the needles, more photos to come, it's so very coldfoggyrainy outside i am happier just now to stay indoors...

(shawl blocking the other evening)

p.s. chuck has a new website for his photography, we're very excited about it. it can be tricky to get it just the way you'd like. if you would like to have a look, go here. my favorite is stock list, africa is in there! i hope you are staying warm and cozy this weekend. xoxo

a fox and a hawk

one day last november a rare (a first for california) gray hawk was spotted in our town. it seemed to be taking up residence in a field nearby our own home. like a scene from a favorite movie, the big year (even if you don't have an interest in birding, it's a wonderful film!) birders from all over the state and country gathered in roads and fields here, with long lenses and spotting scopes, hoping to get a glimpse of the wayward raptor. we've seen it, but haven't gotten any photos yet. yesterday i decided to try my luck and went for a walk through the salt marsh and beach, with my camera to see what i could see...(no, it wasn't to be, no gray hawk sightings, but something equally exciting!)...

hee hee, see? a fox! i found the fox that lives in the marsh! he doesn't see me

 shh, he's hunting

i watched as he jumped in the air, pouncing on his prey

 oops! he spotted me

 bye for now little fox

on my expedition i saw:
seabirds, pelicans and egrets
hummingbirds and black phoebes
green-winged teals and more dabbling and diving ducks
a cooper's hawk, fantastic mr. fox and one heart stone was found.
it was a very good day.

                                                                                 *
and now the winners of the classic cable knit giveaway! random number generator chose:
~ william (susan)
~ alice
~ connie k.
~ karen tsutsumida
~ and eidolons
congratulations everyone! thank you christina! winners please email me lorix5@hotmail.com and i will forward your information to christina so you may receive your pattern.

knit all day

 well, almost. with our temperatures hovering near freezing, needles and wool have been a constant companion. knitting away on the leaves of grass, a  kal (knit along), making progress, greatly enjoying the process (there is still time to join!) when inspiration of another kind took hold. seeing a friends new mushroom pin there became a sudden need for mushrooms here too...

the pattern for the standing mushrooms was found after a always delightful search on ravelry, i used worsted and fingering weight wool to get different sizes, a bit of stuffing is still needed to fill them out. the pin was an attempt by me...

beginning with an icord, then adding in red wool, increasing madly, decreasing and binding off. a safety pin was sewn on the back so it could be worn on a bag (this one i made over ten years ago, maybe more!)

or on a tunic 

here are the books i'm reading, san miguel by t.c. boyle, (like it very much) and best of photography 2012 (a  photo of mine is in it!)

the leaves of grass, while knitting it looks like a pile of grass, but oh but when the knitted on edge part begins and the shawl becomes released from the needles, pure magic...

links to share!

the mushroom pattern:  forever mushroom by nell knits
mushroom inspiration:  julie whitmore
leaves of grass knit along:  girls in sheeps clothing
the weekly yarn along:  sweet ginny
i almost forgot! a giveaway there is still time to enter!

:)

sponsor giveaway ~ classic cable knits

welcome classic cable knits! christina, the lovely knit wear designer of classic cable knits, has generously offered a giveaway. creating knitting patterns is a very special talent (how do they do it?) so i asked christina if she would tell a little about her creative journey...

classic cable knit photo

how you came to knit and then design?
I have an intensely creative mom (for proof you can check out her lovelywatercolors – every time she paints sheep I swoon) and grew up surrounded by art and making things from nothing. When I was about 6 she taught me to crochet. That bug lasted until I was about 13. I rarely used a pattern but would crochet slippers, hats, lace collars for my sisters and mom for Christmas. When I was 14 I decided I wanted to learn to knit a sweater. I saved up my lawn mowing money and went to the local yarn shop where I was guided to a horrible drop-shoulder pattern in bulky yarn. Long story – but it was a horrible sweater to wear. The yarn shop had not been very friendly to a 14-year-old beginner so instead of going back there I went to the library. Guess who I should discover at the library? Yep! Elizabeth Zimmermann. Zimmermann exudes confidence and I soaked it up. I started to knit my own sweaters with my own measurements and my own designs. I still have a black, dk weight cable sweater I made myself. Oh, for teenage eyes! I don’t know if I will ever attempt a solid black sweater now, but I thought nothing of is as a teenager.

Speeding ahead ten + years, when I was married and transitioning from a full-time court reporting career to stay-at-home motherhood I worked at a yarn shop (not the one I went to when I was 14). Not only did I learn a lot at the shop but I found that customers wanted my designs! I was amazed! I never wrote anything down except my gauge and a few numbers so it was a bit transition for me. But the pattern sold well at the shop and I was launched into designing.

classic cable knit photo

your inspiration for patterns?

My inspiration comes from many places – books, stories, something I see in a shop window, the yarn or movies. Rose Petals was a shawl I designed in the summer of 2012 and I drew the inspiration for that from my “New Dawn” climbing rose out my kitchen window. Right now I am smitten by the book,“Call the Midwife” by Jenny Worth and the TV series that accompanies it. I really, really, really want to knit a maroon sweater like the one they wear on the TV series. Whether it will be just for myself or a pattern for others too, we shall see. 

classic cable knit photo

classic cable knit photo

how you go about the process...

Usually my designs start out with a sketch (where I wish I could draw), a photo clipping perhaps, and yarn swatching. Then I write out all my calculations for my size, begin to knit and adjust the calculations depending on if I like how things are coming out. Then I calculate each size on its own. I suppose there are faster ways of doing it but I really like the simplicity of a pen, paper and calculator. 

classic cable knit photo

and of course anything else you'd like to add.

I’m an avid tea drinker –Indian tea with milk, no sugar, please. I love bargain/vintage hunting at local second hand shops – especially when I can find a vintage sweater. And… I love gardening – especially when it comes to roses. Yep, I nurture a compost pile just for my roses.

thank you so much christina for sharing here, your talents are truly inspiring. christina has offered one pattern of choice to 5 readers. go here to see all designs (the above photos are a few of my favorites)  then leave a comment on this post and the winners will be chosen by random number generator saturday, january 19th. good luck to you!

thank you classic cable knits!

hakuna matata

meet pumba

i love this warthog pattern recently released by the incredibly talented south african designer linda dawkins.  and i've been in love with the comically personable ngiri, that is swahili for warthog, or as more commonly known, pumba, since first seeing it in east africa! linda has a pattern for a meercat as well, pumbas pal timon. oh though maybe you haven't heard of timon and pumba? they are characters from disney's movie, the lion king. knitting the little toy, while watching the movie, while singing hakuna matata, which means no worries, made for one lovely afternoon of day dreaming and remembering...

....it was twelve years ago, we were in kenya, having just gotten out of our vehicle to take a short walk to view hippos in a nearby river, my first time in africa and i must have had a little worried (terrified!) look on my face, when one of these gentlemen warriors escorting us said 'hakuna matata mma'. tee hee, and it worked! no more worries! 

here is my warthog tusk given by a zimbabwean friend, it measures over seven inches in length and is very heavy. even though warthogs are cute they are best admired at a distance. to make your own pumba, you can find the pattern here. thank you linda for all the good memories and fun! joining with ginny and the yarnalongers here.

p.s. oops, forgot to share the book part of yarnalong, i'm reading san miguel by t.c. boyle, it is a historical fiction written about the channel islands off our shores here in california. interesting. at the same time, reading the lord of the rings, beginning with the dear hobbit. :)

making pi

thank you. for each comment, every word on my last post. heaven only knows how grateful i am,

though i hope you do too. 

last summer i made a pi shawl, jared floods 'leaves of grass'. before it was even finished and off the needles there were dreams of another. although the knitting looks quite complicated, i assure you it is not. 

(if you knit, would you like to make one too?)

 this week a knit along is beginning, for 'leaves of grass' (i'm hoping you'll join)

here is the one i made a few months ago (you can do it!)

wool chosen, waiting to be knit up. sitting upon my christmas present, a new electric stove! temperatures have dropped to the thirties through the night, and snow even made an appearance on the mountains behind us a few days ago, this little fireplace warms things up!

the knit along began on january first. melissa, of girls in sheeps clothing, hosting this kal says that everyone is welcome, there is still time to join. if you have had a desire to make a pi shawl...wouldn't it be fun to knit one together? ( i would love it if you did) and please believe me this one is very simple. there is something about a knit along to offer friendship, help and support if you need it. this shawl calls for approximately 1375 yards of fingering weight wool. although the last one i made was blanket size and made out of worsted. it took closer to 2000 yards. would you like to see where the leaves of grass shawl blanket i made ended up?

it's been adopted and is happily living in brooklyn nyc. the above photo came with this email...
subject: blanket being put to good use.
message: we're cold and we're all wrapped up in momma girl's love
my feelings: indescribable

here is all the info you need to join in:
the knit along : girls in sheeps clothing
the pattern : jared floods 'leaves of grass'
me, if you have any questions: lorix5@hotmail.com
it would be wonderful to see you there!

there's no place like home

hello dear friends. how are you? i am fine, feeling a bit out of practice here, unable to find my voice for a time. i've been home. spending many hours in my favorite place, my room pictured above. it could be said i was alone, but that is far from true. you see, evidence of friendship surrounds me here. friendships made where i live and in the not so virtual blog world.

even though i wish it came natural for me to talk about what's inside my heart, and how it's been hurt, it is easy telling you that your kindness and concern towards me is like a warm hug that makes all the difference. thank you for checking in, my mom always did say i had the very best friends.

moving into light...did you have a good christmas? would you like to hear my favorite christmas story this year? first, four of my children came home for the holidays, always the best gift of all (but look what my baby girl, who turned twenty two this month, gave to me: a day we spent together here. heaven.) my middle son didn't come, staying instead at his home in brooklyn. so i prepared a box for him, christmas in a box. inside went a string of lights, packaged cocoa and marshmallows, a new mug. his stocking stuffed and gifts wrapped. i filled the box to the brim, if he couldn't be home for christmas, i would send it to him (and a little of me as well). off it went the beginning of december, feeling pretty pleased i had finally been so organized. i let him know to be on the lookout, and he was happy too   :)
days went by and the box had not arrived. i tried not to worry, but did anyway. on saturday december twenty second, the message came, still no box, and my heart sank. we weren't sure if there would be delivery's on the twenty fourth, i tried not to cry, he would be okay i reasoned, it would be okay.

christmas eve. still no box. erik went off to his job that evening. i couldn't sleep thinking about it. after everyone went to bed i sat up with all the lights dimmed, sitting alone with the twinkling tree, when i saw my phone light up too. it was exactly midnight, what? who?

it was my son. he had just gotten home from work, it was three a.m., christmas morning. and he was calling to tell me that there on his doorstep, was the box. christmas had arrived! (santa clause!) maybe i am just turning into a silly old woman? but i truly had the feeling that nothing else mattered. the thing i wished for most of all came true. and that is what i wish for you in the coming year, along with much health and happiness and astonishment and love, that you have the complete and total feeling of nothing else mattering every once in a while.
wishing you the happiest of new years, welcome twenty thirteen.  :)