flip-flop weather

well, it's gotten hot fast here in southern california!  i am no longer interested in holding a hot blanket in my lap in the sun at little league games or swim practice.  i need a new outdoor project, one that would qualify as "stoplight knitting", or knitting i can do without paying much attention.

enter the flip-flop sock (ravlink)! 

i cast on yesterday with some frogged project sock yarn, sensations bamboo and ewe from joanns.  it is very soft, but bit splitty to work with.  the socks are knit from the toe(s) up, as you can see, and start with the interesting turkish cast-on.  it is always fun to learn a new technique!

i am still working away on my hip to be square quilt!  indoors only 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.

i can see the snow...

... while running errands around town.  i know it's not very impressive to those living in the far north, but it is a lovely way for mother nature to decorate our view here!

i have slurped the following picture from this ravelry pattern.

thinking about crocheting this rug is the closest i've been to a snowflake lately.  isn't it a fun pattern?  i may have to do this...

ETA -- here is the link to the blog with the pattern for this snowflake.

ps -- thank you for your comments about the shamrocks -- they really are darling in real life ツ

spring is coming. really.

time to start thinking about spring!  and we are about to have our coldest day in a generation here in southern california:

those darling shamrocks (ravlink) are SO easy to crochet -- they take about 10 minutes apiece, and they are such cute little charms.  6 yards of 12 ply silk made 3 of the 4 leaf clovers with about 2 feet of yarn to spare.  i used the silk because it is shinier and will withstand use better than cotton.

here it is in place on my little boy's backpack.  it's not too girlie, is it???

it's still wintertime here...

... but that means it's time for the camellias to begin blooming, and it's time to take the opportunity to pop over to descanso gardens for a mid-winter stroll.  they have wonderful huge koi swimming around in the sky.ツ

no snowdrifts here!  just beautiful white camellias in full bloom.

pink ones, too, but my favorite are the white.  the red ones are pretty spectacular, but how many flower pictures can i post?!

a resident white goose hangs out with a mallard pair (right behind the tree).  there is a pair of wood ducks living there as well, but they were not at this pond when i was there.  the breeze came up as i took this picture, blurring the reflection.

i have never seen a rhododendron this color.  it practically glowed.

not trying to rub it in, really!

ETA: click on picture to really see it, as always.

it's almost embarrassing...

we're having such a lovely day.  i'm spending it doing some spring cleaning -- windows open, fresh air wafting through.

by comparison...

we are thinking it's quite brisk here today -- we had cold rain yesterday and snow in the mountains down to 2500 feet.  but i've never noticed us having wind chill before.  winter time!  warm hats!  scarves, gloves, mittens!  fire in the fireplace!  no, it's YOUR turn to walk the dog!  don't bother mama now, she's knitting some important warm thing!

a rare treat

for a southern california non-mountain dweller, a thunderstorm is rare.  i myself did not see any lightning, but heard some good rollers, and the rain we had came almost from the clear blue sky (behind me when i was taking the picture).  so, we had a double rainbow, hard to see but there nonetheless.

i guess we're no longer hot and dry, but warm and damp?