old news...

about a year and a half ago, this handsome, barefoot boy with shoes of tan and his t-shirt on backwards asked his mother to knit him a pair of socks.

a year ago, she got this far while on vacation in colorado.  she put them away.

last winter, while preparing her knitting for the long drive to san ignacio lagoon in baja california sur, mexico, she rediscovered those socks, and, realizing that THE HARD PART WAS ALREADY DONE, finished them in about an hour while traveling through the desert in baja.

happy boy.

silly mom.

which is also old news.  ツ

beach blanket bingo

we're back from baja, and the beach was lovely.  i did not meet my goal of finishing the complete squares on my mitered tunisian square blanket, but i got some squares done.  above -- how the blanket looked when i got there.

progress!

and -- that was the extent of my progress.

here's where the blanket rested:

and here's where i sat and "worked".

i hope you are enjoying your summer!  we're back to "real life" here, and i hope to get some knitting done.  and maybe a blanket!

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.

my two weeks were spent this way:

 

enjoying the full moon rise over the sea of cortez.

playing on low tide sand bars with enthusiastic children and a puppy.

watching those same children rest in the sunshine.

baking pies.

fishing for bait to fish for more fish.

contemplating my shadow by the light of that same full moon.

best wishes...

... for a happy thanksgiving!  i'm grateful for you, my internet friend.  thank you for allowing me to tame my tempest here with you.

this adorable turkey is a free pattern from webs.  the picture is from the website.

one of these may have to be knit upon arrival at our little campo in baja.  here is a panorama for you -- i'll be enjoying this view for the next week.  as always, double click for a much larger view.

typical...

small fry

i'm back...

... and yes, it was lovely!

i have knitting to share, but no pic's 'til tomorrow.

oh how i love my time in baja

so here's a copy of a little video i made and posted last year.  it was taken with my cell phone's limited video feature, so quality isn't great, but i LOVE how the music goes with the kite's rise and fall.

i should be grocery shopping and packing bathing suits, but i'm thinking about knitting. what should i bring? i like knitting cotton down there, because it can be a little warm, sticky and sandy for wool projects. i'm bored with my current projects, even my "must.finish.this.soon" projects i'd like to have in place for workshop samples. i want to buy new yarn. there. i've said it. like i don't have enough.

OH wait -- i just had an idea! i have some cotton that's been sitting around forever halfway knit into a sweater for my daughter. it was not coming together so i finally frogged it. i saw this scarf on ravelry. it's exactly the same as the multi-directional scarf i just finished, only with 1x1 ribbing instead of seed stitch or garter. it would be awesome with different colored snakey triangles in hot pink, sunshine yellow and bright turquoise!

thanks for the chat. that really helped!  ツ

the grocery shopping and the packing will commence, right after i take these pictures...see you next week!

to knit, or to take pictures...