Rejuvenation

Yesterday Mike, Laura Marie and I took an impromptu trip to the California coast. I’ve been terribly homesick lately and it’s affected my mood, my ability to get any work done and my just general well being. One of the things I miss the most about Alaska is being near the ocean. I never realized how much I missed it until suddenly I was 300 miles away from the nearest coast and realized that the constant smell of sea water is comforting to me. I’ve never been to a California beach even though I’ve been to CA a dozen or more times over the last 6 years that I’ve lived in Nevada. So off we went:

We stopped in Helendale,CA to visit my grandma and aunt. We snapped this picture because Grandma was wearing jeans and I was wearing a dress. Both of which are nearly unheard of.  It made me so happy to see my grandma and my aunt, even if just for a little while. We always have a such a good time, giggling and laughing and making fun of each other. They are two of the silliest, smartest, weirdest women ever and I am so incredibly blessed that I get to call them family. Look at my tiny grandma! How cute is she? Seriously?

  

 

 

We had a great time. I got my toes in the sand, up to my ankles in the surf (turns out, I’m terrified of waves, there are no waves in the ocean inlets I’m used to being around.) and we had some great fresh seafood on the pier before heading home. I had a big smile on my face the whole day and felt much better when we got home.

I’m regaining some of my lost motivation. I dyed some yarn this week:

Cucumber Salad lace weight. Soon to be up in my www.buydanido.com and ArtFire shop.

‘Kenai’ fingering weight alpaca/cashmere/silk blend. This yarn is so soft it’s sinful.

‘Woronzof’ fingering weight alpaca/cashmere/silk as well. Both of these hanks are named after places I love in Alaska. My little way of honoring the ‘motherland’ when I’m super homesick.

These two yarns are technically sock yarn, but they’re so soft and delicious that I would feel terrible putting them on my feet (for all of 20 seconds before I realized I was wearing the most luxurious socks EVER.) so I’m recommending they be used for scarves, shawls, mitts, hats or other next to skin items where they can be petted, enjoyed and oohed and aaawed over by the general public. (Use code ‘buydanido’ for 10% off either of those yarns.)

I also have 3 more hanks of lace weight and the August Rock Your Socks Off club yarns waiting to be rehanked and photographed as well. Those will be done today and will hopefully appear on this blog later this week.

I am also trying my hand at knitting wool soakers. At the insisting of various friends (mostly my friend Sarah who is a veritable connoisseur of all things cloth diapering, if you’re looking for great and thorough reviews of various cloth diaper styles and companies, look no further than her blog) I have decided to knit up a few soakers to see if they can sell. I made my first pair the other night.

I need to pick up around the leg openings and knit a few rounds of ribbing so they look more finished. I was hoping that these would be a gift for Sarah’s daughter Izzy, but unfortunately when I tried them on Michael Jr. (the doll I use for modeling baby knits) they fit him just right, and he’s the size of a newborn, so I doubt they’ll fit Izzy since she’s about 4 months old now. However, I have another pair on the needles already and have made a few adjustments to the original pattern that I hope will mean a better fit. Also this set of soakers was my first time doing the kitchener stitch. It took two tries, but I did it successfully and it’s not nearly as hard and/or scary as I thought it would be.

I’ll also be making a few sets of longies as well. Any Moms out there with babies that use soakers or longies want to weigh in on what you look for in a pair?

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