Wednesday, March 14, 2012

turquoise













it's sea glass hunting time again! i've had good luck lately and just this weekend found another very rare piece of red glass! when i spotted it, it was under water, and a wave was coming. the only thing to do was wait and hope it would still be there when the ocean calmed, it was! the above photo shows some of my best pieces i've collected over the years. and though i like them all, the turquoise and aqua colors are my favorites. i found this book pure sea glass by richard lamotte, this weekend too, at the sea glass festival my sister and i went to. it's a fantastic reference. it describes where different colors may originate from, it could be that these pieces started as a bottle or dish or even a lantern. i'm so happy to add this to my library, if you like collecting sea glass, and would like to know more about it, i think you'll love this book.

turquoise found it's way into my knitting too. at the request of child number five, a new bikini was made (need to make one for daughter number one). i used 'butterfly' from greece, this mercerized cotton yarn was recommended for swim suits. when i was younger i made and wore knitted swim suits too. they are comfortable and look so cute on. there is no one here to model this one, sigh, so you'll have to take my word that it fits.  :)

pattern - here
yarn  - here
ravelry notes - here

and joining with ginny and all the lovely yarn alongers here
xxx lori

86 comments:

  1. That bikini is too cute! Wish I were 20 years younger, I'd wear one, lol.

    The sea glass is soooo beautiful. We never find that on our beaches here.

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  2. I love beach combing and sea glass is so exciting to find. I have to say, I never imagined that there was a book out there about sea glass! Squeak! I am going to look for this one. The bikini is cute. Oh and your beautiful blue skies. We are still in pea soup here, so I'm really enjoying your photos.

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  3. I just adore sea glass, but it's not something we see much of here in North Wales on our sandy, rock-pool-free, beaches. Enjoy the hunt!

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  4. Oh Lori, I remember wearing knit bath suit's, although my daughter informs me now that I'm a grandmother I really should give up my bikini!
    How super to find a red piece of sea glass! I have never seen one. All my glass is pink or green with two pieces of blue that I found.
    Thank you so much for another great book recommendation!

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    1. tracey, i think if your comfortable and happy you should keep wearing one. i was a grandmother at age 42 and still had bikinis. six years ago, for my honeymoon i knit a similar suit and wore it, it was my husbands favorite part of our trip. well, we were on a nearly deserted island... :)

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  5. Iiik, red sea glass, a book and even festival! That is really exiting! Those glass balls are amazing!
    How cute knitted bikini - I wish I could use that too! How you found greek cotton?! They have really beautiful colours in the yarn!
    I'm off to the beach...
    x Teje

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  6. Sea glass is just the most beautiful thing to find! And the bikini? I've often pondered making one up, it sure would get a lot more use down here than a sweater!

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  7. I found a lovely piece of sea glass on Panama City Beach a few weeks ago .. a frosted green color! I am going to glue it to a small magnet and give it to my sister for her birthday ... lovely bikini!!

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  8. What an itsy bitsy teeny weeny bikini! Love it.
    I think that book would be so fascinating. I always wonder where our treasures originate.

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  9. oh pretty!!! i love the bikini. not sure i'll ever wear one again but if i do, you can bet it will be handknit.

    and the sea glass...swoon. so loving that.

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  10. Beautiful! We used to spend long weekends at the beach, but I've never once found sea glass. Maybe it's not a North Florida gulf coast thing? :/

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  11. I love beach combing and collecting sea glass. I think I only have one tiny piece of red!

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  12. Red sea glass!! Oh my, I actually gasped when I saw that photo. Rare, indeed, and I have never found a piece, though I keep looking. Your collection is so beautiful! The bikini is beautiful, too. Oh, to be that willowy again! :)

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  13. I just noticed the orange glass heart! Heart-shaped! Oh, swoon.

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    1. kristen i've read that orange is the most rare of all, i've never seen one before! it is heart shaped!

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  14. I always threaten to make myself a knit biknini but I haven't done it yet.
    Soon!

    and the sea glass is so pretty! I have only ever found white but I don't get to search for it very often.

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  15. You are such a lucky duck to find all that sea glass. Whenever we are at the ocean I am always looking! Wow on the bikini!!! Nice work :)

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  16. We love sea glass here too. The colours are beautiful. Your bikini looks wonderful!
    xo

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  17. Love the texture in your beautiful photos Lori.
    There is something so enchanting about sea glass, the blue is my favourite too. That bikini is very fetching indeed and lucky the lady who has the figure for it ; ) x

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  18. Lori,
    Just when I thought you were the most amazing person ever. You found red sea glass and made an amazing bathing suit. I am speechless.

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  19. Lori, I love your sea glass collection. The first picture is my favourite :D

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  20. No sea glass here, either. What we are hunting for is amber, but you have to look right after a storm, and then many people are at the beach. All we can do is buy it in form of rings or necklaces.
    That bikini looks tiny and cute. I thought it was for a child! Such a pretty pattern! I have gone back to knitting doll`s skirts.

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  21. I have never seen a knit bikini! Now I'm wondering why that is so :-)

    I have a stash of sea glass sent to me by a special friend. It is in a glass jar and sometimes I just pour some pieces in my hand and feel the calm. One day, I think my sea glass is going to become part of a cement stoop. I will smile for many reasons every time it welcomes me

    Xoxo lori

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  22. What treasure! How beautiful your sea glass collection is. That bikini is amazing! Someone is going to look incredible in it I'm sure!!

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  23. I cannot wait to go on my seaside holiday....just a few more weeks!
    I loved yoyr pictures today!xx

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  24. I always just love your pictures! The sea glass is so pretty. That bikini--wow! It is just the coolest thing. If I could have the body to go with it................

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  25. Lovely, all of it I wish I could wear a bikini! I love your collection and I can imagine it's quite addictive looking for treasures x

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  26. i absolutely love the bikini! i wish i could make one. i have been looking for a cute crochet bikini for the past two summers. beautiful : )

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  27. Who doesn't just love sea glass...it brings to mind childhood, and summertime and walks on beaches. I babysat one summer and collected loads of it...it's in a brandy snifter at my mom's house and I want it back...asked for it after she passes...and bikinis and me are long since past their prime...but also fond memories of one I had--yellow with embroidered daisies all around the edges...

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  28. Do you mean that bikini isn't yours???? LOL What beautiful sea glass. Oh how I remember finding treasures when I was a girl along the beach. Now I am landlocked and have to content myself with gazing at mountains. :-)

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  29. Your photos are gorgeous. I've heard sea glass is more rare now we use so much plastic in the world.

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  30. Oh Lori - wonderful photos. I've only ever found one red glass myself and its a lot like yours in size and shape. My sister lives in Nice, France and it came from that beach 2 years or so ago. I've just ordered Pure Sea Glass for myself for Mothers Day - which is this Sunday here in the UK. Looking forward to a good read.

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    1. happy mothers day ann :) i hope you'll enjoy your new book! i'd love to hear what you think of it.

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  31. Lovely collection of sea glass. I've never heard of anyone collecting it before and now I've heard that there's also a book about it. Wow, must keep my eye open for some next time at the beach. love the bikini the colour is gorgeous.

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  32. what an amazing collection of sea glass---i hardly ever find any anymore, but I always look! I must look for that book!!! If I can't find any, maybe I can read about it. Thanks for sharing....!!!! As always, amazing beach pictures!!!

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  33. I love sea glass - and I've never found a red piece! The aqua is my favorite. The bikini is just too adorable. If I was five billion years younger and three hundred pounds lighter, I would love to wear one. :)) You are one talented chica! xoxo

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  34. You have a sea glass festival??? I wonder what that must be like, it sounds fantastic. Your sea glass collection - my what a treasure!!!

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  35. Your sea glass is beautiful. I'm lucky to live very close to Seaham Beach which is the most awesome place to collect sea glass and have tubs and tubs of it which we've collected on our walks along with some special multi pieces. Maybe they mention Seaham in that lovely book.

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    1. periwinkle, i didn't see it in the book, but after a little searching i found this:

      http://www.odysseyseaglass.com/collected-off-seaham-beach-north-east-of-england.html

      i think i need to come for a visit!

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  36. A sea glass festival sounds amazing! Love your collection ♥
    The bikini is adorable ~ love the colour.

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  37. Lori, I love sea glass, and your finds are wonderful. I have a very small collection because I only get to the ocean about once a year :-( and I have no red.
    I love the bikini and would give anything to have ever been able to wear one, sigh.
    Thank you got this little hit of sea air.
    xoxo

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  38. Love the 4th photo from the top especially - the lighting and the diagonal lines on the rocks are just very nice. Do you just like to collect the sea glass or do something with it- use a piece for a special pendant? That would be pretty too.

    Love the bikini - all I can think of is itsy bitsy teeny weeny... and flab. Mine, that is! :)

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    1. i've not done anything with the hundreds of pieces i've found ellen, they fill up large jars and make me happy. sometimes i give some away. i've been collecting all my life, i love everything about it.

      if you spill a few handfuls out on a rug and then run your hand over them, it makes the same sound as if they were on the shore with the water running over them. kind of like hearing the ocean in a seashell. it's lovely.

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  39. Lori, I love sea glass, and your finds are wonderful. I have a very small collection because I only get to the ocean about once a year :-( and I have no red.
    I love the bikini and would give anything to have ever been able to wear one, sigh.
    Thank you got this little hit of sea air.
    xoxo

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  40. Oh the beach, how I miss it... I've only ever found good sea glass in Greece. It's all snapped up in the U.S.

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    1. come to california allison, you'll find it here :)

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  41. Lori, love sea glass and the little treasures you collect on your seaside strolls. Oh to fit into that itsy bitsy bluesy bikini! Gorgeous!

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  42. Dear Lori...Oh, how I'd like to stroll along that beach just about now ~ we still have snow falling as I type!!! And to find such sparkling gems tossed up by the surf sounds like a weekend well spent. I love the bikini and my 3 year old daughter loves it, also. Have you ever made a really small bikini and if so, what pattern did you use? My Sunshine girl loves pink so I can imagine how nicely our two daughters would look beside each other! Happy week to you, sweet Lori!
    xo Jules

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    1. jules, oh dear, it's been a long time! my girls are grown up now. but you could make this easily. it's really two knitted triangles with half double crochet all the way round for the top. the bottom of the band is four rows i think. the bottoms are an hourglass shape with the same hdc all the way around. you can try it on your little sunshine as you go along, for a good fit! i hope you try it! and yes! pink and blue, so pretty. :)

      (the pretty lacy bit is just yo knit 2 together for a few rows)

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  43. I remember the joy of finding sea glass (well, Great Lakes glass to be accurate)as a child. It was a deep green, and - oh!- the smoothness of it was intoxicating. I may as well have found a priceless gem stone, so was my excitement over it. I wonder what ever happened to it.

    The bikini is fabulous. I LOVE the colour of it!

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    1. wsw, i just learned this weekend there is a difference between lake glass and ocean glass! there were sellers at the festival from the great lakes area and i saw the glass they had. it was smooth and shiny! ours is cloudy when it's dry and it can be rough and or pockmarked, the ocean is apparently harder on it. i feel that excitement too everytime i find a new piece!

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    2. Okay now you will have me looking for lake glass...this should be fun!!!

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  44. lori what an exciting post! ive found sea glass locally here in broome at cable beach..that book looks awesome. love the teeny bikini! :)

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  45. Your photos are amazing! They remind me so much of the Central Coast and of our Morro Bay visits.

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  46. Beautiful, Lori! My daughter would love the rocks - she collects. And the bikini is just as cute as can be. I'm sure it fits perfectly!

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  47. love everything about your post!!!
    xxx Alessandra

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  48. I am going to the beach next week and I'm going to spend the whole time looking for sea glass now! Bikini is gorgeous. And I love your lacy bunting in the background.

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  49. Wow, such a sweet bikini. I never made or wore a knitted one - maybe it's time! ;)
    Love your seaglass collection.. beautiful!

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  50. I always want to jump right into your photos Lori, love them. That sea glass looks so very smooth and that bikini is gorgeous. I'm sure your girl will love it!

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  51. I love the knitting, but what I am really jealous of is the sea glass! Beautiful!

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  52. Lori there is going to be a big storm here this weekend, that means beachcombing for glass and pottery bits at San Simeon.
    If I am lucky, I will send a picture! (The most darling swimsuit.)
    xx
    julie

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    1. julie, i may just drive up after the rain, i LOVE finding pottery too, and any excuse to be in san simeon...

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  53. Me too, me too. Love all the sea glass, and wish I had some.
    I'm also wishing to be young enough again to wear a bikini!
    Yours is so beautiful!

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  54. What a gorgeous beach! Looks quiet, just the right spot for meditating. And oh my! Your sea glass is wonderful! I had no idea that they could come out perfectly round, like marbles! WOWWW!

    Adorable bikini! I love that color.

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    1. oh bella, sorry, those are marbles, but after they've been tumbled in the sea, they get to be called sea glass too. and they are super exciting to find!

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  55. Your pictures are amazing and that bikini, wow, love it!!!

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  56. Incredible shots, knitting, and sea glass-whoa I can't get over the fact that you knit bikinis. You are so inspiring. I absolutely love your photos!
    xo,
    Ang

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  57. Those pictures are amazing. I live close to the beach also but the beaches here in The Netherlands look very different. The are gorgeous too but different. Too bad I never find sea glass. Only thing I find are shells, fishnets, dead fish, dead crabs (my dogs love rolling around in those, yuch) and sometimes a jellyfish.

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    1. bianca we do have those too things too (my puppy loves to do that too!) the second photo has an old lobster trap in the picture. i wonder if you may find some in another spot? look at low tide and if you see rocks (they may be small) scattered on the shore.

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  58. I treasure my bottle of sea glass received from a friend. :)

    The bikini. Oh my. I just can't even imagine it. It's gorgeous but I just can't imagine it. Really.

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  59. A knitted bikini! This is daring! It is beautiful! First time I hear of sea glass. Nice!

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  60. Beautiful sea glass, Lori! I love to collect it too, and can happily spend hours examining the beach! You have some lovely colours there...I rarely find red over here, but lots of green and blue. Last year on the Devon coast I found a little blue heart shaped piece of sea glass...so special!
    Your knitting is so amazing...the turquoise bikini is lovely!
    Have a happy weekend.
    Helen x

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  61. Gorgeous sea glass and beautiful bikini!!! You inspire in all that you post dear lady!!!! I still wear bikinis :). When I was younger, I had major issues with body image and squandered all that youth away from bikinis, water sports or anything that would show my body. Since then, I have refused to throw any of that time away again :). Now that we are in mountain country and there are no beaches nearby, I will have to work extra hard to get to one, but you can bet it will continue to be bikini season! I will be that old wrinkled prune lady with a hot pink triangle top :).
    cheers
    xo

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  62. dear Lori~

    If I ever find red sea glass here I'll send it to you :)

    I know that the deep blue and red are rare. The green is most likely beer bottles thrown overboard s well as the white and brown, right? But I like to think of them as something more exotic than that!

    The photos are wonderful. And that bikini, sigh. Oh yes, I sort of remember when!

    xoxo
    Lo♥♥

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  63. Hi Lori,
    how have u been? I know have been away a really long time...
    love the bikini,it's beautiful and so are the sea glasses:)
    So long...
    Shantana

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  64. Hi Lori. I've been away for so long, just like the previous comment, but now am back! So great to see the sea glass again, and the amazing bikini, and knitting book, and the New Zealand kids! I will need more time to go back more and catch up on everything!! I'll be back... sunday greetings from africa x

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  65. Love your sea glass treasures. I am having a hard time deciding which one is my favorite. That bikini is way too cute.

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  66. I have never seen red sea glass before! Now I must find a beach and start hunting.

    Woohoo for a knitted bikini!

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  67. Just read your sweet comments ~ thank you so much! Sea glass is something we don't get to experience much in Louisiana! What I am most intrigued with is that knitted bikini ~ now that is a true work of art! I love it. I am going to attempt to knit that as most knitted items are just not that useful in LA...but a bathing suit...I can use that, especially since I have three girls. I love yours and hope we get to see you in it! But, understandible if we don't

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  68. Your sea glass collection is so pretty. The bikini is adorable too, but you're right, it won't be going in my queue. My stomach didn't survive baby number one...
    And funny, I commented out loud to Jonny (who reads blogs over my shoulder)that I can't imagine a knitted bikini staying on. He said, "Isn't that the point?" Hee hee. men.

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  69. My mom has this book and she loves it. Sadly, our sea glass hunts turn up little these days at the Jersey Shore. Just not much left now that everyone recycles. But she does go hunting down in Bahamas at her friend's cottage. She has found gorgeous stuff there. Your coast looks so beautiful. So different than ours here on the east coast. Oh...and just love the tini bikini. Wish I could still wear something so skimpy :)

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  70. That little knitted bikini is so sweet!

    Love the sea inspired colour too.

    Happy Knitting
    Fleur xx

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  71. That knitted little turquoise bikini is awesome! I love it :)

    And your collection of beautiful colored glass is so gorgeous! Do you keep it in a jar, or do you plan on displaying it elsewhere? The rainbow of colors makes it so cool!

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  72. The cheesecake at midnight won't be the same without you

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  73. This post makes me want to move to California, collect sea glass and knit bikinis. Gorgeous photos!

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  74. That is an impressive collection of sea glass. I collect sea glass here from the Atlantic Ocean but I've never found any red...yet. That bikini is adorable.

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xoxo lori