So, where the heck have I been anyway?
It's been a loooooooooooong stretch this time between posts. Sometimes, these periods of silence are just because I can't think of anything to say, and I'm a great believer in keeping my mouth shut if there's not much worth listening to coming out of it. This time, however, I've been busy, busy, busy working on a marathon of a project, but I'm on the home stretch now, so I figured I'd stretch the ol' brain out here for a while!
We got back from a wonderful few days' vacation in Los Angeles a few days ago... sigh. In short, we left this:
And came home to this:
But, such is winter in the Great White North.
We have perfect weather in L.A. - not too hot, not too chilly, even in the evenings. We explored markets, hiked through mountains, enjoyed the breeze on the beach, did a wee bit of shopping... that's my idea of the perfect holiday! No where to be, but plenty of time to be there. I reckon that four days is a pretty good length of time to be away, too. I tend to get a little bored staying in one place for too long.
One thing that was a bit of a bust was my plan to shop for yarn in L.A. I didn't buy a single strand of it there. I was disappointed, mostly in myself, since I really didn't have any idea what I'd find there. It's not that the shops that I found weren't any good - in fact, they were amazing places, but it's just that I didn't really have the budget or the time to buy up a bunch of yarn that I hadn't planned on. Goodness knows that I have quite the stash taking over my living room right now, and I just didn't want to come home with something for which I didn't have a project in mind. And, on top of that, a lot of the yarn brands I saw there I can get readily here in Canada, or were just things that were out of my price range. I guess I'm not that disappointed - better to have my finances intact right now, since I've had a bunch of expenses to take care of.
Something I always strive to do when on vacation is to try to experience unique while I'm there. It's usually nothing that earth-shattering. This time, I wanted to try to see L.A. from a different point of view. When I told people that we were going to L.A., they kept asking me, "Why?" I guess most people envision L.A. as a huge urban metropolis of smog and haze. I suppose they're right - since that's what we always see on tv, but there's usually so much more to a place.
For example, we had a great day hiking through Malibu Creek State Park, formally home to Bob Hope and the Reagan Ranch. It was warm, sunny, and perfectly green - so much outside of what people would expect of L.A. I'm so glad we spent time there.
Just think of all the little nooks and crannies of places that nobody ever explores because of preconceptions! I'll be honest and say that I had no idea that this place was even anywhere in the city - my husband found it while surfing the internet in the hotel. It's a good thing he never wants to just go shopping, otherwise, I'd never see the great outdoors!
In the meantime, I have been working my little fingers off on a sweater for a friend of mine that is already late! The thing about working quickly on something, as many of you probably already know, is that it always takes ten times longer to get anything done! Case in point: this morning I got up to finish the placket of one side of this sweater. I figured it would take me an hour to get it started and knit in the buttonholes. I was STILL working on them by this afternoon, after screwing it up three times. Work faster, rip back faster, it seems. Still, although it's been a bit of a long haul, I'm looking forward to him seeing it! And I'm quite proud of how it's all turning out, especially since I just did a sewn hem - pretty snazzy-looking!
Speaking of which, I'd better get back to work!
We got back from a wonderful few days' vacation in Los Angeles a few days ago... sigh. In short, we left this:
And came home to this:
But, such is winter in the Great White North.
We have perfect weather in L.A. - not too hot, not too chilly, even in the evenings. We explored markets, hiked through mountains, enjoyed the breeze on the beach, did a wee bit of shopping... that's my idea of the perfect holiday! No where to be, but plenty of time to be there. I reckon that four days is a pretty good length of time to be away, too. I tend to get a little bored staying in one place for too long.
One thing that was a bit of a bust was my plan to shop for yarn in L.A. I didn't buy a single strand of it there. I was disappointed, mostly in myself, since I really didn't have any idea what I'd find there. It's not that the shops that I found weren't any good - in fact, they were amazing places, but it's just that I didn't really have the budget or the time to buy up a bunch of yarn that I hadn't planned on. Goodness knows that I have quite the stash taking over my living room right now, and I just didn't want to come home with something for which I didn't have a project in mind. And, on top of that, a lot of the yarn brands I saw there I can get readily here in Canada, or were just things that were out of my price range. I guess I'm not that disappointed - better to have my finances intact right now, since I've had a bunch of expenses to take care of.
Something I always strive to do when on vacation is to try to experience unique while I'm there. It's usually nothing that earth-shattering. This time, I wanted to try to see L.A. from a different point of view. When I told people that we were going to L.A., they kept asking me, "Why?" I guess most people envision L.A. as a huge urban metropolis of smog and haze. I suppose they're right - since that's what we always see on tv, but there's usually so much more to a place.
For example, we had a great day hiking through Malibu Creek State Park, formally home to Bob Hope and the Reagan Ranch. It was warm, sunny, and perfectly green - so much outside of what people would expect of L.A. I'm so glad we spent time there.
Just think of all the little nooks and crannies of places that nobody ever explores because of preconceptions! I'll be honest and say that I had no idea that this place was even anywhere in the city - my husband found it while surfing the internet in the hotel. It's a good thing he never wants to just go shopping, otherwise, I'd never see the great outdoors!
In the meantime, I have been working my little fingers off on a sweater for a friend of mine that is already late! The thing about working quickly on something, as many of you probably already know, is that it always takes ten times longer to get anything done! Case in point: this morning I got up to finish the placket of one side of this sweater. I figured it would take me an hour to get it started and knit in the buttonholes. I was STILL working on them by this afternoon, after screwing it up three times. Work faster, rip back faster, it seems. Still, although it's been a bit of a long haul, I'm looking forward to him seeing it! And I'm quite proud of how it's all turning out, especially since I just did a sewn hem - pretty snazzy-looking!
Speaking of which, I'd better get back to work!
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