ain't hurtin' nobody

look who joined my photoshoot (5 second video) --  the itsy-bitsy spider! ツ

here are some pictures of the pre-blocked pashmina herringbone scarf.  it's SO pretty in person.  i think blocking will take care of some of the edge curl there, though i see the original has a bit of a curl, so it may be the nature of the stitch.

project notes:  the finished scarf weighs 3.95 ounces, and i have .20 oz. left.  whew!  the last few rounds i weighed my yarn every time i hit that marker.  the last round before binding off i knit using a much smaller needle (size 5) than the whole rest of the scarf (size 11).  i knew i would do a sewn bind-off to match the cast-on edge, and i did not want it to be too saggy and loose.  i had about 1 foot of yarn left over from my sewn bind-off edge!  and i thought i was being overly generous in my length estimate!

here it is doubled around my neck:

here it is with one folded end tucked into the other:

is this what your "seam" looks like?  i think i followed the round transition instructions properly, and i like how it looks, but i haven't found any photos of anyone else's seam. 

 

ETA:  now that i'm DONE, i've noticed that a lot of people solved the edge problem by using a crocheted cast-on and then a typical bind-off.  simple and elegant solution.

even a gloomy day...

... is brightened with a bloody mary that features a giant shrimp, overlooking the pacific ocean!  both the shrimp and i were overlooking the ocean, to be clear, and my husband was there as well. 

we are off celebrating his birthday with a night away from thing one and thing two.  a lys may be visited, for souvenir and research purposes only.ツ

there were vacationing knitters at the next table -- we exchanged ravelry names, and talked about stoplight vs. pay-attention knitting.  so fun!

i need to learn to use the camera on my phone.  this is ridiculous.

sights around town today, and someone i'd like to know

i worked (for pay) today, doing the books down at my husband's office.  i always drive by this wonderful old sears building/factory -- i don't know how old it is, but it looks very art deco.  i snapped this pic with my cellphone, as i was driving by.  i have NO idea how my phone bent the building, but here it is!  unretouched.  sometime i'll get a reasonable picture (it's an amazing building, see the link), but that pic made me laugh.

❣

this is a very old pink building, paint peeling off brick, that i drove by today.  it looks like a school?  a church?  it may be abandoned now, i'm not sure.

❣

then i went to costco, where lettuce is 1/3 the price at the grocery store, and snapped this shot behind the warehouse. the last line of the ATTENTION sign says "OF YOUR TRAILER?"  i wonder how many times trucks have driven off with fork-lifts and operators on board?!?  to warrant a sign like this, i expect at least once!

❣

finally, i'd love to know this person: (the photo is terrible, i'm sorry)

she has such joy in life that her license plate says "SQWEE"!!!  what a thrill to just get in the car and drive!  she had several funny bumper stickers, but my favorite is the light blue one on the right side of the rear window.  it says: "I Haven't Been The Same Since That House Fell On My Sister!" 

me, neither, girl.  me, neither.

needlework update

i got a new toy.  it has enabled me to frog ugly projects, or projects where the yarn does not suit the pattern, or bad ideas gone wrong, and leaves me with beautiful cakes of potential.

this is my laceweight sterling silver impregnated yarn, in its new form.  i wanted to make a shawl out of it, combining knitted lace with tunisian crochet.  it just was ugly.  now i think this yarn wants to be opera length fingerless gloves.  we'll see.

i am stalled at day 11 of the advent calendar scarf.  it is fun, absolutely lovely, and i will continue -- i am NOT going to frog this.  however, it requires a lot of attention, and i'm unable to attend to my knitting right now.
here's a little summary of some of the things i have going, labeled 1-6, starting in the lower left and going clock-wise (you'll have to double-click on it to really see the numbers, sorry):

1. advent calendar scarf:  beautiful, fun, complex, stalled at day 11
2. herringbone cowl:  beautiful, fun, EASY, about 60% done by weight
3. tunisian scarf:  3 color technique illustration for classes:  easy, fun, interesting to look at, hurts my wrist to work on too much, not very portable, about 40% done
4. ball-winder and first frogging victim of the ball-winder
5. cotton projects: dish cloths i knit while traveling, a grocery bag in progress (40%).  easy
6. unblocked tunisian crochet experiment:  mitered square entrelac hobo bag.  just needs to be blocked and seamed -- 90% done.

there you go!  i do not spend ALL of my time bragging about my lovely weather ツ

spring is coming. part 2.

do you suppose that opening the window will blow out all the flu germs?  it certainly makes everyone feel a bit better. ツ

ETA:  the tree you see there is an evergreen, a huge coast live oak we have in our back yard.  so while leaves are starting to bud on other trees right now, the oak always is green.

un milagro para nosotros

here are two short videos from our recent trip to laguna san ignacio, on the pacific side of baja california, to see the whales. we went out on a small panga (boat), the first day with four italian tourists (i got to haul out my ancient french to speak with them), and saw many beautiful california grey whales exhibiting typical behaviors, like the "fluking" i captured here:

the second, more magical trip, on the next day, we took with just our family and an experienced captain. he took us to the mouth of the lagoon, where we encountered a very sociable mother whale, who wanted to introduce her baby to boats and people.  this mama and her HUGE baby were right next to our boat.  she came so close that i was able to touch her head.  it was a remarkable experience.

un milagro -- a miracle -- a gift from the universe.  truly the experience of a lifetime.