Summer Time

A whole week away can do wonders for your outlook.  Its amazes me how hard it is for me to unplug and just relax, but the week I was in California, I did it.  We spent 6 days there and I am so much the better for it.  We visited with family and went to a wedding and acted like tourists. We went to Laguna Beach, Disneyland, Beverly Hills, Hollywood and Los Angeles. We stayed in Orange County and shopped at South Coast Plaza Mall.  What a blast!  And coming home was just fine, because I'd had a chance to refresh and get my bearings straight.

San Clemente Pier Restaurant

Beverly Hills

Aunt Judy's back yard

Laguna (Pacific Coast Highway)

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Now that we're back, I've started and almost completely finished my next baby project. Its a sort of template sweater on medium sized needles with worsted weight yarn.  Worsted weight yarn is not baby yarn or fine thin yarn, but neither is it bulky, chunky yarn.  For those who don't knit, its your standard, Ford or Chevy yarn.  Dependable, durable and easy to handle.

Grandma's yarn

This particular yarn is special because it came from the "estate" of my husband's mother.  She was also a knitter and there was this one skein left over from a project she'd been working on when she passed away.  She'd been making a shell-stitch throw that I completed years ago and now use in the cold months.  It's actually crochet.  The yarn is off white, and there's only the one skein so I had my fingers crossed that there would be enough for this sweater.

 Last night I finished the right front portion and all that's left is to press the sweater pieces, put them together and add the neck band.  If I run out of yarn, I can use an alternate color to add the trim, and it should look fine, but I think I'm good.  I had a panic moment last week when all looked dim and I thought I'd run out.  Not the end of the world, though.
 
I've spent quite a lot of time lately in the garage, shaping up my little spinning/carding area.  I have this great area rug from my mom's old house and it makes me think of that house every time I stand on it.  We had brick floors in those days and it was no fun to lay around on brick floors watching TV.  The house, being a beach house, needed floors that could stand a lot of wear and tear from dripping, sandy bathing suits and flip flops.  So we had these rugs all over the house. The furniture was rattan with washable cushions.  I never really gave it a second thought until I was older, but it must have been a never ending task to keep that house clean. 

Before we left for California, my husband asked a friend of ours to install some flooring in the attic above the garage for extra storage space.  It definitely made my spinning area more accessible.  What a treat to have my own personal studio!

Attic floor installation

Before clean up

After the attic floor was finished, and the boxes were cleared away, I began my "studio" clean up.
I got out the lace flyer I bought once upon a time and hitched it up to my Ashford Traveler. I played with the yarn meter I got for Christmas years ago that I couldn't seem to get working (now it does!) and set up everything including my new wool combs and drum carder so that I only have to walk in and start working.
 Like a sewing room, its dedicated to all my fiber pursuits, my lifelong yarn hobby.
Don't forget to look at the rug!

After