Sleepy Time

I love watching kids when they're asleep. So adorable.

Time Away

Since we had nothing planned for the weekend, hubby and I decided to take a quick jaunt north. I made a reservation at a neat, freshly refurbished motel in Morro Bay and we were off.

Lunch was at Beachside Cafe in Goleta, where we'd never eaten before but was highly recommended by friends. And they were right; we expected a hamburger joint from their description. What we got was a first-rate fish restaurant with great views of the Goleta pier and the storm moving down the coast.

We continued slowly up the coast, stopping in small towns to check out antique stores. Hubby really made out this trip - everywhere we stopped, he found a treasure to add to his collection of woodworking planes and vintage watches.

Despite the rain (in California? in June??) we made good time and checked into our room at the Beach Bungalow Inn & Suites almost 3 hours ahead of schedule. The 50's era motel was completely refurbished 7-months ago (according to the helpful desk clerk) and it was nice. Hardwood floors, comfy bed, lots of floor space, fireplace and big flat-screen TV. Sweet! We decided to hold off on Cayucos, the main goal of our trip, until the next day, so despite the now fairly heavy rain, we headed into Cambria for a little more antiquing. And I found my first treasures of the trip - a $3 vintage niddy-noddy (my favorite find on this trip) and a $3 plastic crochet hook from the '50's or '60's. On Sunday, Cayucos yielded a cute tatted doily ($5) and a 3-tier cut-glass candy dish. Not sure how old it is, but I love the look of cut glass and how the light shines through this particular piece.

At our last stop in Arroyo Grande, I picked up a double-ended crochet hook (in the photo above) and a tube with a sampling of well-used hooks to add to my collection.

It was gray and overcast when we left Cayucos in early afternoon, but the rain caught up with us again as we moved south. But how can you complain when it results in a rainbow over the ocean as big and bold as this one ?

Progress

Projects are getting finished -
and new ones getting started.

Crochet brioche scarf

The Lacy Cables Scarf has been done for awhile, but I've been procrastinating on blocking and photographing it. As with Lacy Cables The First, my buddy Karen did the knitting and I did the crochet. Yarn is Pashmina by madelinetosh, a silk, wool, cashmere blend that feels heavenly and is great to work with. So great in fact, that despite the rather hefty price tag, I'm using 2 colors of Pashmina for the crochet brioche scarf. Really, really love this stuff.

Sealing the Deal

Here's why I'll be shopping at Jimmy Beans Wool again. First, the obvious - they had what I wanted, it was easy to find on their website and the shipping was reasonable. I placed my order on a holiday weekend and I still had it less than 3 business days later.

But the things that sealed the deal for me? They included 2 pieces of candy in a neatly sealed plastic bag that said 'thank you'. And they printed a free knitting pattern on the outside of their packaging. To me, that says they know their audience and they appreciate their customers.

Me like.

Loot

Ended up going to Solvang twice this past week. Once with hubby for date day Tuesday and again on Thursday with three-quarters of the Yarn Mafia (missed you, CG!)

While hubby and the little girls napped on Friday,

Miss Leanne

I took pics of my new treasures.

Leia and the blanket she calls "Baby"

On the drive up with hubby, I carefully made a list of all the things I needed from the weaving store, totally forgetting they are closed on Tuesdays.

But that kinda worked to my benefit; we walked around after visiting our favorite antique store and found a needlepoint shop that sells bobbin lace books and tatting thread. Score!

Lily, 30 seconds away from getting smacked
for batting the thread balls around

Thursday I was able to get everything on my list and more (of course.) More bobbin lace bobbins, three packs of felting fiber (for a really neat felting idea I had on the Tuesday drive; pictures soon, if it works out), cones of red and natural 8/2 cotton for more towels, and four cones of 3/2 cotton to make an inkle band for my Appalachian basket. That ought to keep me busy, for a few days anyway.

Almost All Done

The towels are off the loom, as of about midnight last night. I fought the narrowing shed until the end knots were almost to the heddles, getting those last few inches I needed to make towel #3 the same length as #'s 1 and 2. Today, I zigzagged the ends (the thin blue line is where I'll cut the towels apart), measured them, and tossed them in the washer and dryer. Measured them again when they came out (shrinkage was 1" in width, 3" in length for each towel) -

cute grandchild provided for scale

and spent tonight cutting them apart, pinning the hems and hand stitching the first towel. Hemming them on the machine would be faster but, even with my not so even stitches, I think hand hemming looks nicer. Project details are on my Ravelry page here. (you don't have to be a Ravelry member to view this project.)

Coming this weekend (fingers crossed) - winding a new warp and tying it onto the old one so I can weave companion towels. Or I may be lazy and read a book instead. Depends on how ambitious I feel after Saturday's guild meeting.

Bobbin Lace

Monday was bobbin lace night. I missed a session while we were on vacation and was anxious to get back to it.

This time I learned to turn a corner - which is a very big deal when you realize all the pins must be removed so the pattern can be turned, and then at least one repeat's worth have to be put back. Nerve wracking to say the least.

And I started a butterfly, a new type of bobbin lace for me. See the writing on the top left of the pattern? Mostly in German? That's all the instructions there are for this motif. Basically it says use 5 pairs of bobbins and thin thread (I'm using size 80 tatting thread.) My teacher looks at the picture, both pattern and finished, and decides what stitch(es) I need to do in each section. There is no way I could figure this out for myself. But with Vib's help, I'm having a ton of fun with this.

My buddy, Cherie, finished her bookmark last night too. Of the five (six?) of us that started bobbin lace, she's the only one that's continuing on with me. Don't know if you can tell from the lousy cell phone pictures, but we are using almost the exact same colors in our projects. Could be a reason we were best buds in high school (along with her sister, Colleen, who loves these colors too.)

Finished!

The backpack basket is done - even if it's not a backpack. I decided to leave the straps off; thought they detracted from the whole handmade vibe of the project. I'm planning to make an inkle woven band to go around the top rim. Just need to pick my colors (and remember how to use the inkle loom . . . . )

My basket is 2nd from the left. Only 1 person used the backpack straps.

Backpack Basket

I'm taking a 2-day workshop to make an Appalachian backpack basket. It should end up looking something like this - By early afternoon on Day 1, mine looked like this - Not quite as impressive.

In the beginning.

The weaving part is pretty easy; the part that's killing my hands is adjusting each row of reeds so they are packed tight together.

The bottom is the only part that's not packed together.

Tomorrow we finish weaving, sew the straps together and wear our backpacks home. In theory.

Baskets and Trees

Took my second basketry class yesterday.

In the beginning

This one focused on using natural materials; dried leaves and garden trimmings - things that usually get thrown in the waste bin.

My basket on the left; Edie's on the right

I almost didn't go because I was feeling so icky (bronchial asthma. Thank you, confederate jasmine.) but I'm really glad I did. So. Much. Fun.

The replacement for my poor downed orchid tree arrived today. We paid the nursery to install it - definitely was worth the extra $$ for hubby not to hurt his back again - so it is off to a good start, with two deep watering pipes and a 1 year will-not-die guarantee. I'm thinking it will be a few years before this little thing provides the same view as the old one, but it's a start.

Pretty Baby

We took Leanne for her 3 month pictures today. Isn't she a cutie? She started off pretty well, but by the end of the session she was very tired of flashing lights going off in her face. I think we got some pretty good shots - and won't she just love when we show these to her boyfriends some day.

3 Reasons

Top three reasons it's good to be home:

Naia - in her school play
Leanne - she's grown so much in 10 days!
Leia - loving the stuffed bear we brought her

Journey's End

We spent our last morning back at Biltmore Estate, visiting the Conservatory


and gardens.


I got lots of photos of flowers,


and gardens,


and more flowers,


and gardening vignettes,


and gargoyles and statues,


and yet more flowers.



Then we took the Blue Ridge Parkway from Asheville to the Great Smokey Mountains. Beautiful drive that included more tunnels than I could keep count of, waterfalls,


streams


and a partially restored grist mill.



The last part of the day was spent driving 5 hours back to Atlanta, where we'll catch our flight home early Thursday.


It's been a wonderful vacation, but I'm ready to be home.