On to the trip details...

Los Angeles

* A quick note. I bought a new camera for the trip - something portable we could take to the castle since I wasn't lugging my 50 lb. bag in my dress and heels. I'm not really thrilled with the camera - I didn't heed my own best advice - I never finished the manual. I was reading it instead of packing on Sunday night and G said - why don't you save that for the plane and then I knit the whole time on the plane and never read the damn thing. This camera is really for G - the lack of control I had killed me. So anyway, the pictures aren't up to snuff as far as I'm concerned. It really bothers me, but it is what it is. Oh and all the yarn pictures are taken with the GOOD camera at home.

We arrived in LA on Monday noonish (after missing our flight at JFK. LONG story. Suffice it to say we were on the 10AM instead of the 8AM.) and headed straight to our favorite LA spot - the IN-N-OUT right by the airport. Not only is it IN-N-OUT, but you get to watch super huge jet airliners fly right over your head as they land. One of the highlights of the trip was flying OVER the spot we had stood five days earlier as we flew in from SLO to our connection in LA. We're weird, okay?

Then we headed out to our hotel, The Chamberlain, in West Hollywood. Got to say, very nice boutique hotel. They had just finished a refurb and everything looked very nice. It's a sister to The Viceroy in Santa Monica where we stayed last year, but I prefer this one. Much quieter, not as funky. The room was great.

We decided to take a little walk. YES, CALIFORNIANS, I SAID WALK! People literally looked at us like we were crazy as we made our way down La Cienega from Santa Monica to Melrose. I wanted to check out Julia's home away from home (although her home again!) Knit Cafe. What a bright, cozy, inviting place! Suzan, the owner was there and she was very solicitous. Her store is beautiful, and as we were there near close, it was empty but for one lone knitter. I walked around three times trying so hard to find something to buy. I've decided that on these trips of mine, I'm only going to buy yarn that is different than what I can get at home. And since I live in a large Metropolitan Area, there's not much I CAN'T get at home. I was about to buy a t-shirt and then there was some Lorna's Laces, but she only had one skein of the color I liked, so I passed. But a great shop if you're in the neighborhood! I would definitely go again. Thanks Julia for the recommendation! Suzan and I talked about what a great help you've been to her - I'm sure she's so thrilled you're coming home.

On our walk home, I passed a storefront with these casts in the window. It was very spooky.

The neighborhood had mostly antique/furniture/rug stores, but this one didn't even have a name. Just these faces in the window.

Once back at the hotel, we had some time to kill before meeting up with my brother for dinner. What to do, what to do? How about a swim?

Wildfiber

MJ and I had finally connected via email and it was my plan to meet her at Wildfiber before we left LA for Santa Barbara. I thought we might miss her because the plan changed and we were going to leave early, but the office called and we didn't get to see MJ until after noon! And I'm so glad we did! This was one of the highlights of the trip! MJ is wonderful in person - so sweet and I really, really enjoyed meeting her - even if it was really quick. And Wildfibers? Oh my god - all I have to say is MJ is one lucky, lucky girl that this place is her LYS.

I bought some of the most beautiful yarn I've ever seen there - MJ helped me pick it out and man was it expensive, but WORTH EVERY PENNY!

Tanglewood Fiber Creations, 100% Superwash Merino, hand dyed, hand spun - softer than soft. Now I have a question for all you spinners out there (not that I'm interested. Okay? OKAY?) - what is it called that gives you the ply where all the different colors are combined - do you know what I'm talking about? Where in one strand you've got lights and dark and I'm thinking this is the twist or something, right? Anyway, it's gorgeous. This is the kind of handspun I really, really love. I wish I had the money to buy more. But it was ALOT. I did get 404 yards, but still. A LOT.

I also bought some Socks that Rock! I've been wanting to try this and I even bought a colorway that closely matches the Lorna's I had wanted over at Knit Cafe. The colorway is Cobalt Bloom.

We said goodbye to LA and MJ and headed out to SB....

Santa Barbara

It took us no time to drive up the coast to SB and after we checked into our hotel, we found a tux for G, had a taco snack and finally headed off to State Street for dinner. The next day was really fun - BB's Knits in the morning. Great store - and they were expecting me! (Thanks Kathie!) I wandered around - what a packed store for a little space and ended up with some Interlacements Toasty Toes (in the Tanglewood Colorway - LOL) and Koigu. Once again, I'm hitting the same color palate.

By sheer coincidence, I ended up a block from In Stitches, which was, to be honest, quite a disappointment. It was nearly empty - of yarn. About night and day from BB's.

Then it was off to the beach - and sock time!

SB was a very nice community - interesting mix of people, stores - it was so much bigger than we expected. We liked our motel/inn - you really could see the beach from our room, surprisingly enough. Overall, a very pleasant stay.

Pismo Beach, San Simeon, Cambria

We made our way to Pismo Beach on Thursday morning - again the office caused delays! We needed to get there with enough time to get ready for dinner that night - the buses were leaving the hotel at 4PM. We got there with time to spare - a quick trip to check out the beach and take a rest by the pool (a balmy 85 degrees, thank you very much!)

Getting on the bus to go to the Castle was pretty funny. Here are all these women and men - dressed to the nines - dripping in jewels (literally - there was one woman who was OOZING diamonds) getting on buses. The trip took about an hour to San Simeon, and then we got off that bus and walked through the tourist center (even funnier - the looks we got) to get on yet another bus to take us to the top - and the castle.

What a ride! The whole time, you can see the castle in your sights, you can't help but think - how the hell did he get all that crap UP THERE!?! It's a twisty, single lane road with lots of drop offs and this is 2005! Imagine it in the 20s, 30s and 40s when they were building it. Incredible, really. There's no other way to describe it.

Once off the bus, we were given the option of a tour. Needless to say, we took it!

La Casa Grande - the main house.
Designed to look like a Spanish Cathedral - with all the trimmings!



A stairway among the elaborate gardens.
(God I wish I had the good camera!)


Outside of a guest house.


The view - the ocean is in the distance.





Can you see the moon peeking out between the trees?



The amazing pool - set at a wonderful 79 degrees!

There was a photographer by the pool taking "prom" pictures. I'm not kidding - G and I had one taken and I'm sure it's the goofiest thing ever - considering how I look in this picture:

Can you say FRUMPY?

That's it - no more pictures of me. I am NOT happy with my body these days. Maybe Jen can take a nice picture of me with the shawl - we'll see. Just know it was perfect and I still love it.

They served hors d'oeuvres along the pool and it got pretty hot up there. We found a shady spot and watched the sun get lower and lower until it was time for dinner. This was what awaited us!

NINE wine glasses per person!

It was craziness! The first course was a foie gras and some other stuff and they served a VERY sweet white. Next was the fish course - DELICIOUS! - lobster in a creamed corn. Yummy. Two whites. The Fowl course was duck - also very nice - two reds - one of my favorites of the night - a Hitching Post 2003 Highliner Pinot Noir. Meat Course was Dry Aged Beef - two reds. The Cheese course - two reds. I was pretty surprised there was no wine with dessert.

Every time a course was served, two sommeliers would come around and pour wine. They never filled the glass, just a taste (a generous taste!) and if you liked it and wanted more, all you had to do was ask. Georgie and I agreed on the wines all night - and it was the left hand side for us every course! (The wine glasses stood side to side and you identified the ones you liked by whether it was on the left or right.)

Here's what the table looked like at the Fowl Course:

And here's the view when I turned to my right while sitting at the table:

All in all it was a tremendous evening! I had way more fun than I thought I would. I'm so glad we got to have the experience!

The next day G had some business meetings in the morning, so I ordered in a nice big breakfast and tried to surf the Internet. We had such poor connections the whole trip - it was weird. Well, LA was good, but other than that - very, very slow. And since G had a lot of work, I had barely any time online. Which was good too. I had a nice break - but, I did miss my blog (and all of you!)

After breakfast, we decided to make the drive up to Cambria to go to Ball & Skein. We also thought we might be able to hit the IN-N-OUT in Atascadero on the drive back - since it would most definitely be our last chance to get there. The shop was very nice - I bought some gifty type items that I won't show here - not yarn - think tools. And while they had a SHITLOAD of yarn, falling off the shelves, to be honest, I didn't buy anything. Sticking to my rule (and honestly totally going overboard at Wildfiber), I was a good girl. I was thisclose to buying some Noro Blossom for Vicki, but luckily she already found some! Cambria was a very pretty town and it would've been nice, if we had more time, to hang out there. But we wanted to go to the beach - always a top priority - and find that IN-N-OUT!

The ride to Atascadero was exciting to say the least - we started out on Route 1 and crossed about 26 miles of Route 46 to get to Route 101. It was NOTHINGness - unless you count rolling hills, sheer drops and cows. I swear I had a panic attack. I was convinced we'd get stuck like Margene! Georgie was sitting in the passenger seat oohing and ahhing and video-ing the NOTHINGness and I could barely breathe OR keep my hands on the wheel. In the end it was worth it - we found the illustrious IN-N-OUT!

We had a nice dinner that evening at Pelican Point in Pismo - with enough Sideways moments (not us - the table next to us - actually it was The Big Chill meets Sideways. Amusing to say the least....) to last about ten years. Seriously. Is it necessary to stick your whole freaking face INTO the wine glass? Maybe if you just drank it.... Who am I? I know nothing about wines. (Athough I do know what tastes good!)

We left the next morning. Whew! What a trip! Glad to be home. Lots of laundry and work to do. G will be out most of the week with work stuff, so I'll miss him even more than I usually do after spending the week 24/7 together. But you'll keep me company right?

Thanks for reading!
L, C

Posted by Cara at 12:07 AM | Comments (29)

July 15, 2005

Close your eyes...

and feel the sun rest sweet kisses on your shoulders as it sails out beyond the sea. Smell the cool pine usher in the evening. Hear the birds agree to disagree as the violins envelope the night. Bear witness as the oranges and reds and blues battle against the sky, surrendering to a royal purple. Taste the oaky sweet spice of wine caress your tongue.

I’m still drunk from the evening and I’m pretty sure that the nine glasses of wine that were set before me at dinner has nothing to do with it. It was an abundance of senses and I hope I can do it justice. What a magical evening! Certainly, though, my favorite part of the night was coming down the dark turning hills in the dense fog, the stars peaking through like beacons, the air thick with seawater and pine, the wind rushing in my face, as I sought a place to rest my head. I wanted to dream the night all over again....

We’re back home tomorrow night. Much to report. I've missed you all.

Posted by Cara at 11:53 AM | Comments (9)

July 09, 2005

A 3 for 1 Deal

My sock pal socks - Koigu and Evelyn Clark. Doesn't get any better than this. Very easy knit so far - it's going so fast. Right there is two repeats and I could easily get through a third tonight. I have to pace myself for the plane, I think.

I got a dress this morning - tried to find a picture on the web but couldn't. Still need shoes, but I'm not so worried about that. I probably won't post again until after we're in Cali.

Calling All California Knitters

I thought it was pretty funny - I was typing in Santa Barbara knitting into google and you know how it brings up previous search strings? Well I got Santa Barbara clay tennis courts. Guess someone was there before me. My Georgie is such a honey.

Anyway - I'll try to post from California - but if not, be prepared for pictures from San Simeon - and I promise to get a couple of me in my dress and shawl. Thanks!

Posted by Cara at 08:46 PM | Comments (22)

July 08, 2005

I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE IT!

I wore it with flipflops and sweats and a baseball cap to get the mail and I felt so ELEGANT! And I swear, it makes me look skinnier. I'm not kidding. I know I said I wasn't going to take pictures today because the weather is so crap and my house is very dark, but things have been kind of icky at Chez Mon Cerveau Est Démence* - think Exorcist-like demons and the DSM-IV - and I just couldn't resist this huge thing sitting in the middle of my living room. So I pulled out all the little pins and...

(LOTS of pictures ahead!)

Pre-Blocked
Straight Off The Needles!





Blocked Out on the Beach Towel



Night Pins







GLORYGLORYGLORYGLORYGLORY









And, as a special treat - I give you a KISS!



That's me, in G's room. (I got the walk-in closet, he got the third bedroom.)
It's the only room with mirrors. This is the FBS unblocked of course.
Don't you just LOVE the poster?!?

Details: Brown Sheep Cotton Fine, color Candy Apple Red. Size US6 Addis. Seventeen repeats (18 flower baskets before the edging.) My next one will be in DK weight - and I think I'll make the Lace Leaf shawl instead. I think a nice wool shawl for the fall and winter will be the perfect thing on my shoulders. Extra Special Thanks goes to Margene and Teresa and Jen and Becky's indispensible notes (Becky - hope you and your family are okay!)

I promise to get a picture of me wearing the shawl - I may actually let G touch my camera! If not this weekend, then definitely while we're away. The shawl is going to a castle - so that makes me a princess!

Oh and Boo-Kish one - it was ALL worth it!

Suddenly my house seems very bright. Thanks for stopping.

* This is my lame ass attempt at French - House of My Brain is Insane.

Posted by Cara at 04:48 PM | Comments (46)

The Bad Birthday Club

I wrote a story once called "The BBC" or The Bad Birthday Club. It grew out of a conversation I had with a friend after 9-11. 9-11 is her birthday and she was saying how she saw a friend a couple days after and mentioned this fact and he shook his head and said, Oklahoma Bombing. Thus a story was born in which each character is identified by the badness on their birthday. It's a bit more complicated than that, of course, but the main gist is that the story is a commentary on how bad days always happen and always will. It ends with a little girl blowing out candles on her birthday cake - a harbinger of what might happen on her day as well. Yeah. Good times. (ETA: This story was published in the literary journal Fourteen Hills, Spring/Summer 2002.)

When I heard the news from London yesterday, I immediately thought of the date and all those people who now have a bad birthday.

Our phone started ringing around 7:30. It was G's job - he went into crises mode trying to identify all of the people in the US that had traveled to London. Not an easy task, to say the least. Apparently one of the unexploded bombs was found under his company's office in London. That's what he said - I didn't triple check it. I think he's near the Liverpool stop. The day was so stressful for him he came home sick (and G never gets sick - or if he does - he stoically pushes through). He climbed into bed and I did my best Florence Nightingale impersonation all the while feeling my own craziness.

Let me tell you something world - you're not making my decisions any easier! Do you hear me? Stop this nonsense NOW.

I wasn't going to post again until FBS was done. Well, it's done, but the weather here today mimics the tears of England and I don't feel like taking pictures with a gray background. Hopefully the sun with be back out tomorrow and I'll be in a brighter mood as well. In the meantime, my thoughts are with all those people terrorized yet again.

Posted by Cara at 07:50 AM | Comments (9)

July 06, 2005

Devastation

ETA: Okay. I took the plunge and took out the needles to rip back. It wasn't as bad as I thought and I just knit the 8th row of the 16th repeat. So right at this moment I'm three rows back from where I started today (at 3PM.) I'm feeling quite a bit better about it and hopefully I'll finish the repeats, if I can't get to the border.

Always look at the bright side of life....

I was so close. So, so close. I'm literally sitting here in tears - I was having a bad day as it was and then I made the mistake of watching The Notebook while I finished off the last repeat on FBS. Stupid, stupid, stupid me! I found an error - or should I say I thought I found an error and tried to fix it and of course ended up fucking it up even more. I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to rip out an entire repeat - (I was about 3.75 rows into the last one.) I can't figure out how to put in a lifeline further down to just really rip, so I have to pull each freaking stitch off the needles. KILLING ME! I'm so, so sad. All I wanted to do today was finish this shawl. I had a shitty morning and I figured I'd just knit the rest of the day away. I'll be lucky if I can rip it all out today - seriously!

Thanks for letting me vent. I have to go sob for awhile now.

No zen for me, thank you very much. I think I jinxed myself.

Posted by Cara at 06:10 PM | Comments (16)

Inspiration

Where do you find yours?

I got a healthy dose yesterday from MamaCate's Zen entry. I, too, have monkey brain - or gorilla brain - whichever one never gives you a moment's peace - EVER. I've tried the whole stare at the flickering candle meditation route and my brain thinks it's a license to go absolutely berserk. I need something PHYSICAL. It used to be pottery - throwing pots on a wheel. You MUST concentrate or else it won't work. Then running. Trying not to die is a sure way to turn off the thoughts in your brain. (I NEED TO DO THIS MORE.) And, of course, my zen of choice these days, knitting. This one is the most successful of my endeavors to be sure. I can get a mindless knit for when I'm feeling okay. I can tackle something more difficult for when I need to concentrate - and always - it's a physical endeavor that keeps me busy. Idle hands are the devil's tools. I am THE poster child for this idiom.

I'm one of those white coat anxiety people - you know the ones who get nervous before they go to the doctor because they're sure it's bad news (honestly though - when am I NOT anxious?). Not too long ago I was sitting in the GYNs waiting room (never a fun time) and I was knitting. Forty-five minutes later I'm naked in the examining room, still knitting (got to keep warm somehow). When the nurse took my blood pressure, it was the lowest it's ever been. That good healthy low. She was impressed, and I told her - it's the knitting. Calms me down. Only Xanax does a better job. ;-)

Most important about Cate's post is that I've FINALLY gotten FBS! I have one more freaking repeat to go, but last night was the most enjoyable repeat yet. I finally SEE the pattern. (I know, I'm a little late to the game.) I understand the purpose of each stitch, each YO. I wish I had paid more attention earlier, because it would've saved me a lot of time. I barely made a mistake in all ten rows, and when I did, it only took me a couple of stitches to realize it. NO FROGGING ENTIRE ROWS! I'm looking forward to finishing the final repeat today - and hopefully the entire shawl tomorrow. It's got to be blocked and packed by Sunday night.

Anyway, Cate was much more elegant about it than I was (she doesn't mention anyone getting naked) so head over there and check out her post.

While there wasn't any knitting going on this weekend, there were a few moments of inspiration.

I was also flipping through the Anthropologie catalog. Gotta say - been to the store, get the catalog and I'd be hard pressed to ever actually WEAR anything they sell. I'm a khaki/jeans/t-shirt kind of girl myself. BUT, I do love to look at their sweaters - they have a lot of sweaters that don't seem like they would be that hard to make. And looky here what I found on p. 19 in the "fall in love again and again" catalog:

Of course, they're not selling this sweater - they're selling the frilly ridiculous pink thing (straight out of Rowan by the way) on the mannequin/model standing to his right. I cropped her out. But, let's look at the sweater on this guy. Is this not PERFECT for the sweater I've been wanting to make for my dad? Picture it in a grayish brown tweedy Jo Sharp with a V-Neck. Now my dad's not so tall and he does have a decent gut - but I think it will work! I especially like the ribbing around the sides. I may have to incorporate that into my Bohemia cardigan. These cables are super easy to find in my cable books for sure - they all look familiar - and I think the middle panel will split into a v-neck quite easily. Inspiration! Yay!

Someone in the apartment upstairs is drilling away like freaking Marathon Man (don't worry Jen - we WON'T be watching that one) and now my teeth are killing me.

Go! Away with you! Find some inspiration!

Posted by Cara at 09:25 AM | Comments (13)

July 05, 2005

I'll LOVE You With All the Madness In My Soul!*

OH MY GOD! You guys are incredible. I'm LOVING all the LOVE SONGS! What fun I had this weekend. Seriously - some I haven't thought of in a while - some I just adore - some I need to try out. So great. But without further ado, the winner of The Summer of HATE LOVE LACE contest is:

I'd love to send a couple of other PhotoArtCard packages out too - first to Louise, who was the 1776th comment on my blog (she chose Blue Velvet as her lovesong)! It seems fitting that she should get a prize this Fourth of July weekend. Sheepy cards for you! And also for Anne, who chose Silhouettes On the Shade. (Click on the link to HEAR this great song!) Unbeknownst to Anne, that is one of my all time favorite songs. My daddy sang that to us when we were little - all the time! When I told my sister someone had put it on the blog, she said, well you have to send them something! My dad came to visit this weekend too and he got a good laugh out of it as well. Thanks Anne! Sheepy cards for you! (PS - Do you know your domain isn't working? Hope you get it fixed soon!)

Thanks everyone for playing. I'm going to open the comments back up - so feel free to keep adding your love songs. I thought of a couple more I love: As by Stevie Wonder and Lovely Day by Bill Withers and Dancing in the Moonlight by Thin Lizzy. UGH! I could go on and on and on and on! I LOVE me a GOOD LOVE SONG!

The weekend was crazy - as expected. There was some of this:

The Carousel at Van Saun Park

And some of this:

Blankie/Pacie, Uncle Georgie's shades and my Dora bikini!
Ah! This is the life!

And A LOT of this:

Chunkilicious Laughing it UP!

Today we had this:

And let me tell you, them leaving me is a HELL of a lot harder than my leaving them! I was so sad I may have shed a tear or two. Sure my house has been turned upside down! Sure I've got a ton of laundry to do! Sure I didn't touch the knitting AT ALL since Thursday (I think I've been knitting in my sleep though!) But what's better than little Charlotte walking around saying "Cara's house! We're at Cara's house!" Or Max and Georgie swimming together and just hanging out. Or Baby Eli, so, so deliciously fat laughing and laughing and laughing! Nothing. There's nothing better. My house is suddenly very, very quiet. I will be happy when G comes home tonight - I have missed him. Not much quiet time with three kids wreaking delightful havoc!

I've got to get a job out - so I have to dash. And I still need to get through two repeats and the border on the FBS. I'm dying to start my SockaPal2Za socks as well. Thank you again for all your comments and especially all the compliments on FBS. Can't wait to show you a finished project!

Have a great back to real life day. I'm not sure I'm ready for it!
L, C

* Possibly my favorite Bruce lyric EVER. From Born to Run. Definitely a LOVE SONG!

Posted by Cara at 01:10 AM | Comments (11)

July 04, 2005

Posted by Cara at 08:56 AM

July 01, 2005

Summer of Hate Love Lace

In honor of the fact that I only have two more repeats and the edging on my Flower Basket Shawl (which unfortunately will have to wait until after the weekend - I doubt my niece and nephews will let me get in any knitting) I'm giving away some beautiful Zephyr Wool-Silk!

Jagger Spun Zephyr Wool Silk
50% Wool, 50% Tussah Silk
1260 Yards (enough for a large Flower Basket)
Color: Iris

Okay - here's what you need to do to win this yarn. Since I'm all about the love...

I'll start you off with some of my favorites:

The Very Thought of You
Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe
Prove it All Night
Drive All Night
For You

You get the picture. And if you want, I'll throw in some cards - sheep or flowers. Or both. Have fun! Can't wait to see what you come up with - I'm a sucker for a love song.

Have a great weekend everyone - hope I come back with lots of fun pool pictures. If not, I've got plenty of work for everyone!

My New Toys. (Ann! I totally understand now!)

Posted by Cara at 08:47 AM | Comments (186)