New Project

A. bought a stuffed toy as part of a Secret Santa exchange with friends and decided to make a scarf to go with it.

It was a good chance to gather all my projects in one place.

I found lots of crochet hooks,

but not as much yarn as I thought I had.

I have this, too, which I use now and then.

Starting

and done.

Hurray for vacation projects.

Full day

After a beautiful morning run (no pictures, I don't carry a phone although my new running tights have a phone pocket) I helped a neighbor pick a fabric for her gown to wear to the Jane Austen ball. I read some of the morning paper and headed out.

The Sagehens could have beat Cal Tech by a very high score,
but they did not shoot each time they had the ball.

After a soccer team photo I went to the International Festival.
I was not expecting performers and pleasantly surprised.

Most booths has both food and activities.

Next up was the LA Yarn Crawl and we visited
all the places east of Pasadena. I mean both.

We were lucky to come across a zine fest!

D. spent most of the day doing bicycle-related work so we headed to the hot tub to relax. I am proud to say I figured out that the family next to us was speaking Finnish. We enjoyed hearing about their time in Claremont and shared some ideas for more things to do.

It was a great day, but I did not catch up on any reading, writing about travels, or cleaning the mail bowl. Maybe tomorrow.

Knitting

 Just as singing seems to be a big part of Icelandic culture, I get the feeling knitting is, too.

We saw sweaters for sale in person

and advertised in the paper.

Even more amazing were the knitting supplies available in the convenience and grocery stores.

These two pictures were taken in a small grocery store in Búðardalur,
population 266, but maybe it might have been the only store in the area.

This picture was taken at the store in the center of town in Ísafjörður,
population 2571 and the largest town in northern part of the Westfjords.
On the right side and in the back you can see pattern books, needles, etc.

We stayed near the airport the last night and these pictures are from a store in Reykjanesbær, population 15,129. I guess the people need something to do between choir practices.

I did not buy any yarn. I am still trying to use up the yarn I bought in Scotland in 1991.

Fluke

Is there a word for the term when you learn about something you had never heard of and all of a sudden it appears again? That's what happened today.

I heard the radio announcer talking about the LA Yarn Crawl (which I wish I had heard of before) and about collecting all 28 pins from all around the county.

Then I was running errands on my bicycle and right by the rack I saw a pin. I picked it up (hoping it was from CicLAvia), turned it over, and saw a pin that had been given away from Make One in the town to the west.

Maybe I should do a blog post on all the things I find on the side of the road.

Like this, right next to the curb in the left-turn lane on the way home from the grocery store.

Escape

My darling husband and I had a miniature vacation (or a very long date) today.  We cycled to the station, took the train downtown, wandered around, and reversed the trip.  Over 100 pictures later it is time to do a blog post.  I'll string you along and post just a few photos now.

the conductor - our tickets were checked only on the way to LA

in the enormous buck-a-book section of The Last Bookstore

a view out the window

a zoomed-in view

some book art in the same bookstore

part of the property is rented out to artists, including this yarn shop

the hall outside the shop

also this jangleodeon, with a notice not to touch
"There will come a time when you can touch it,
but this is not that time."

just because

ditto

More photos to follow.

Passing Time

I sit on several committees and I have been going to meetings about the introduction of Common Core so my hands need something to do while I listen. Having long finished the green scarf shown here I started another project.

I had seen infinity scarves in stores and a friend shared how easy it was to make one. I found circular needs that were one size too small and decided to use yarn I already had.  I thought I had been careful not to twist it while knitting, but still ended up with some in the final project.  Despite the imperfections I am very happy with the final result and happy I finished it before it got too hot to enjoy wearing it.

I have one meeting tomorrow and at least two next week so it is time to finish another project, the logo from my hometown.