bird's egg blue

dear friends, this post began in my mind last week when a friend requested a blue
hand knit scarf. the pattern and wool were found at quince & co. and two days later the wool
was in my hands. three days later, the shawl was complete. as i was thinking how
i'd like to photograph this before sending it on it's way, i received this email from a favorite
local yarn store in santa barbara...

 

Loop & Leaf News

You won't want to miss out on Gale Zucker's fun upcoming class here at Loop & Leaf. You will first meet here at the shop, then hit the streets with your cameras in this Photo Safari. Gale will help you find inspirational backdrops fitting for your most beautiful hand-knits right here in front of you!
Gale has photographed knitted objects in many familiar books, such as Craft Activism, Shear Spirit and Mason Dixon: Knitting Outside the Lines.
Class will be held Tuesday, March 20th from 10am-1pm - don't forget to sign up.

and that very minute, i did! knitting and photography? and to have a chance to learn from a professional? it's like a dream come true! below are a few photos from today, the above photos (of me) were taken by classmates. thank you mirna and celeste!

 our first exercise was to choose a color and shoot it. i decided on yellow. for the first day of spring today.

we learned about different types of backgrounds to shoot our knits in front of. isn't this shawl beautiful?

 gorgeous

 look how the design in this beautiful shawl mimics the metal gate. and isn't this a clever way to
display and photograph this shawl?

 knits clinging magically to fences and trees

 here are my mittens modeled by my new friend mirna. she makes them look so pretty, even though
this photo didn't turn out well. now if gale had taken it...her photos are truly beautiful.

we learned about light and how to use it to its best

 i learned so much, made new friends, and spent an afternoon with knitting and photography.
it was a perfect day. thank you so much gale and joan (she joined us later for book signing).

shawl : piper's journey - quince & co.
designer : paula emons-fuessle
wool : chickadee
colorway : bird's egg
shawl pin found : here
ravelry notes : here
i loved knitting this, the pattern was fun and interesting. the shawl part is made first and then the lace is knitted on sideways after. i'll make it again, and with chickadee, what a beautiful wool it is.
 julie, i hope you like it   :)

the book i'm reading is craft activism by joan tapper and photographed by gale zucker. i still can't believe the happy coincidences, (is that a word?), i bought the book, then learned about the workshop, finished the shawl last night (it was even a touch damp still from blocking.) and came away with lovely photos and new inspiration. all in time for yarn along. hee hee.

joining with ginny and the yarnalongers here.

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

dreaming of...

africa

africa africa

 africa africa africa

 africa africa

africa

africa word cloud borrowed from #1 ladies detective agency books by alexander mccall smith, if you haven't read this series they are about botswana and it's lovely people and are wonderful! at the end of each book mr. mccall smith writes out africa nine times, just like this. love it. 

we've begun countdown, only fifty nine more days to go, two more months, a bit less than eight weeks, (haven't figured out the hours, hee he). going over our map, marking the route,  it'll be a very zigzaging loop we'll follow. right now the challenge is to not wish these waiting days away. i'm doing my best. 

xxx lori

p.s. all animal photos were mostly taken with a zoom lens. sometimes though one isn't necessary.  :)

charlie's secret

dear friends,  i found a book this week, and it's been weighing on my heart. 'knitwits' was in the children's section of our local second hand store. on the cover is a picture of a young boy. he's sitting on a toilet, holding a pair of knitting needles with a work in progress and a skein of yarn at his feet. on his face is a look i interpreted as embarrassment and surprise. next to his head are the words  'charlie has a really BIG secret'.

intrigued, i turned the book over to read the back:

" Knit a sweater? No sweat!"

"Charlie Kenny's mother is having a baby. And instead of getting the kid a normal present, like a teddy bear or a rattle, Charlie gets himself into a bet. To knit something for the baby.
Sure, Charlie couldn't resist trying to win Alices' collection of skulls (including one from a goat). But he can't knit! And what if the guys on his hockey team find out?
It looks like Charlie has two choices: Break the bet...or find a very good place to hide."

this makes me sad. but hardly surprised. i am not a preadolescent boy, but i have done my share of hiding knitting through my life. it's a complicated subject, and one i still don't understand, why it's this way. back in 1974 elizabeth zimmerman wrote that knitting is almost an orphan among accepted crafts. have things changed enough in the last forty years? would she be happy with the way things are now? although this book was written in 1992, now twenty years later, i am not sure. (i haven't read the book yet, maybe it'll have a different story than what i'm imagining).

sometimes, i still feel it. apologetic. or even, dare i say, embarrassed, to knit in public (i should say this in response to perhaps making someone else feel uncomfortable). i've knit my way around the world (taking these feelings and wool, with me) and i've had various reactions to it, from delight, to disdain. the thing is, i'm not sure it's changed that much. i'm wondering what your feelings are? am i making too much of this book?  do you sometimes feel uneasy while knitting outside your home, or feel you make others uncomfortable by doing so? and non-knitters, your feelings too? i know i'm biased, i think it's a beautiful craft, one of the arts. i've lately wished there were such a thing as yarn along town.
i think i would like to live there.

xxx lori

p.s. my shawl,  it's nearly done.   :)

lovejoy

 on saturday...

in a 'midnight in paris' sort of way, i spent the day with someone i've long admired, author and illustrator, sharon lovejoy. the top photo shows a few of her books that i've collected over the years.
can i just say,

eeeeepps!

she came to my town to visit a friend that had recently relocated here, and i was invited to join them. riding
my bike to town, i could feel the butterflies developing in my tummy. but, as soon as i rode up and found sharon with a garden hose in her hand and a smile on her face, i was at ease. oh my friends, what a day we had, we visited here here here, and here and more. and in that same 'midnight in paris' way, i found a wonderfully kind, sweet, charming, easy to talk with and easy to love, person. (if you haven't seen the movie, it's partly about an ordinary person that meets famously talented people, and finds common ground, and a friend, it's brilliant).

and then on sunday...

a gift of painted lady runner beans

while we were shopping, i found this wooden spool in a basket. an old spool with aged pink thread, carefully wound and saved. a precious reminder to reuse, recycle, and to go gently on this earth.

 i spent the day looking through sharon's books. and then looking at my neglected garden, thinking what would she do? i decided on a spot to plant the painted lady runner beans she gave me, and i picked some freesia to bring inside. but. i am not the gardener sharon is, i wonder if she would like to trade gardening lessons for knitting lessons?    :)

to visit sharon lovejoy, you can find her here
and here, and her books here
xxx lori

p.s. my kids say thank you for all the kind words on the new zealand post!

boys

 i've been blessed to have raised three of them. pictured below is my eldest son, kyle (in the hat). he recently spent five weeks in new zealand, with his love, vanessa and best friend jesse. they played volleyball (one on a pro tour) they surfed and they jumped off things.

kyle sent me a video, brilliantly photographed and edited by jesse, of the three of them in their adventures. the first time i saw it i gasped and wanted to look away, remembering times past. boys on the playground, climbing to the highest part of the jungle gym, 'look at me mom!'  while they balanced precariously or hung with one little arm. ackk! do you know this feeling too? you want to look, but you don't. oh the memories.

now, i've watched this video dozens of times, and even though it scares me, it thrills me. not just because of the things these kids do, but because of the joy that they do it with. i see the awe in their faces, the appreciation they have for where they are, for what they are fortunate to be able to experience. my favorite part is when they are in a blue grotto, looking up in astonishment at the cave surrounding them. but my favorite favorite is seeing my son so happy and fearless and free, loving life.

(you too vanessa darling, i saw you jump!)

kyle is in the black wetsuit (and sometimes hat), jesse in the red and vanessa in the teeny bikini. all are wearing smiles. :)