Back from San Diego













My trip was wonderful. I had a great time with my Mom and my sister. We are a chatty group and spent most of our time catching up, but we also had time for sight-seeing at the Quail Botanical Gardens and the Meditation garden (Koi pond in photo), both in Encinitas. The beautiful weather and brilliant flowers were rejuvinating. In addition, we discovered a raw foods restaurant called Cilantro Live. Amazingly delicious food! I highly recommend it.















I spent a week of my time at a life changing seminar on Life Coaching run by Coach for Life. The marina photo was the view from our meeting room. I felt priviledged to be a part of this group and I felt connected to each and every participant. I had expected to learn about life coaching, but I did not expect to learn so much about myself. I am currently setting up my coaching practice and will post a link to my website as soon as it is complete. Life is an amazing journey and a gift for which I am profoundly grateful.


Fortunately, I also had time to work on my Happy sweater, designed by Elsebeth Lavold. It will be complete soon and I will post a picture of the whole sweater. Until then, here is a sleeve.

I have two other fo's (finished objects) to post today. I completed my Madli shawl that I started on my Christmas trip to London. It was finished in February, but I did not photograph it then. I knit it out of handspun yarn spun from CVM (California Varigated Mutant) roving. It is soft and natural - very comforting. My other shawl is knit following the Tuscany Pattern by Amy Singer out of a blue/blue green silk lace yarn dyed by Claudia. I knit it in May. I wore this shawl to Florida a few weeks ago and again in California. It is my most comfortable and lightweight shawl - lovely for summer evenings.

Sock and Roll!



I am trying to catch up with my posts of FOs (finished objects) therefore, I am posting three pairs of the several pairs of socks that I have completed this year. I am a member of the Socks that Rock sock club. They have sent some wonderful yarn and I have completed two pairs so far. I also knit with a great summer yarn, called Tofutsies. It has wool, soy, and Chitin, a fiber made from crab shell.


Above is Socks that Rock 'Monsoon' knit in a baby cable rib. I like the deep purples and dark, almost khaki, greens. The yarn is soft and the socks are very comfortable.

Below is Socks that Rock 'Walk on the Wild Tide' knit in Elongated Corded Rib. Very different purples and greens from the above sock, but equally as gorgeous. I didn't have time to block these socks, so you can see the difference sock blockers make! Both of the patterns I used came from Sensational Knitted Socks, by Charlene Schurch. It is a great book since you can knit a gauge swatch and then knit any pattern to size. I knit both of these on size 0 double pointed needles.





















Below is the Tofutsie socks knit using a lace pattern from the Socks, Socks, Socks pattern book. It is a variation on the traditional Feather and Fan lace pattern. These are much lighter weight than the other two pairs of socks. It suits a lace pattern. Again, I knit on size 0 double pointed needles. I tend to knit loose therefore need to use smaller needles than is usually called for in a pattern.



In future posts, I will discuss some of my other projects included entrelac, a hemp yarn sweater and the latest craze, the Kauni. It is so interesting to see the influence a superb writer/blogger/knitter can have on the knitting community. Check out the Yarn Harlot, Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, if somehow you have had your head in a bog and missed seeing her books or blog.


This week I leave for San Diego for a two week visit with my Mom, my sister and my best friend. Ah, the sound of palm trees blowing in the breeze, and the scents of the ocean, eucalyptus and sagebrush.