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From last week's trip.
Gilroy, Ca
Gilroy, Ca
Palmdale, Ca
Mom's house. Palmdale, Ca
Mom's deck, where everyone hangs out on the weekends.
Prickly Pear - My friend Tina got hundreds of those tiny orange thorns in her arm and hands. Tape, very sticky packing or duct tape is the trick to removing those suckers.
Azula - My mom Aussie Shepherd
My Mom.
Antelope Acres/Neenach, Ca
Neenach, Ca
Neenach, Ca
Antelope Acres, Ca
Also wishing you a very happy Easter!
It's always my mother who calls with bad news. Saturday I was enjoying the afternoon with Tom, contemplating dinner options when the phone rang.
"Melissa," Mom said as if she was whispering a secret, "Something terrible has happened."
My heart drops, along with my stomach, and both turn into a pool of mush in my feet. Last time she called a young relative of ours had been killed in a fight. The time before that was the earthquake in Haiti. I will never forget when she woke me up early on the morning of Sept. 11th, 2001, with, "Melissa, something terrible has happened."
This time it was about my best friend from my hometown. Her husband tragically passed away on Saturday morning and she needed me. I canceled my plans for the week. Got my taxes done, woohoo! And now I am packing my bags and heading to southern California.
My friend, who looks and acts like an angel, is now a widow with four children ages 12, 9, 8, and 6. Please pray for them. Send them strength and courage. They have had a very difficult last few years and now this. They deserve a decade or two of peace.
Please wish us all some luck this weekend! Thank you!
I know I am a couple weeks late but HAPPY SPRING!
I have been spending lots of time in the backyard, working in the garden or knitting in the shade with a cup of tea.
I have also been cooking & photographing up a storm for my cooking blog, Shoots & Roots. It's up running away with itself. I am having so much fun telling stories and photographing the food I am cooking. I love it.
I finally finished my Sea Clover Socks! The pattern is by Kate of Confessions of a Graveyard Gypsy. Here is my ravelry page for the project. I used Hazel Knits Artisan Sock yarn which I loved knitting with. I remember it being kinda pricey ($23 on her website) but I would definitely buy it again. Maybe in a green next time.
I picked this pattern because it was super challenging. I really wanted to see if I could do a difficult pattern start to finish. I began the first sock last year in July and finished it in November. At one point I accidentally knitted far too many decrease rows around the gusset of the foot and had to rip back several rows. I totally screwed the ripping back up and had to take a break until a lovely lady from our knitting group helped me pick up all the stitches I had dropped and put them back in the right order. What a sweet patient woman. Bless her heart.
The second sock knitted up easier and faster then the first, as it always does. However, I found that I only wanted to work on it when I was stressed out. As if the difficulty of the pattern put some of my other life stresses in perspective and calmed me down. By the time I was nearing the toe I couldn't wait to be done with the whole thing. I grafted the toe and pulled both socks on only to discover the first sock was a bit larger then the other. After pulling my hair out trying to figure out what I did wrong I realized that it was my stressed out knitting. It is much tighter then my relaxing day knitting and I need to keep that in mind when I am working on gauge sensitive projects.
So you expert sock knitters out there. Can this be fixed with some aggressive blocking of the smaller sock?
I am guessing it can but I havent had the guts to try it yet. I would love to hear some input on how I might fix this.
Happy Knitting!
