Another Day, Another Sweater

Maui police encounter

Happy Easter Officers....

Today as I was speeding home from Safeway with my Easter dinner goodies securely packed in the trunk, I glanced over at the little cove near Canoe Beach, and lo and behold, a mother whale and her calf were goofing around really close to shore.  So I pulled safely onto the shoulder...aka bike lane and enjoyed the view for a few minutes.  I was joined by three or four other cars...all rentals. 

Another 5 minutes go by, and along comes the Maui Police Department....two cars, just in case there might be trouble.  They were so sweet, checking on me to make sure I hadn't had an accident....surrounded as I was by all the rental cars, what else could it be?  The whales had moved on by this time, so the show was over and everyone was moving on anyway.  The nice officer wished me well, and drove on....with me calling out, "Happy Easter" at the top of my lungs. 

So Happy Easter from me and the whales here in Maui! (small disclaimer, not my photography....pacific whale foundation image)

And Now for Something Knitted

I finally brought out the camera to document some knitting.....

I love these things....they aren't mine, I knitted them for my roommate, so they are still in the house, but they do not belong to me.  I will probably have to knit some for myself one day.

The pattern is from Melanie Falick's book Handknit Holidays and the design is Annie Modesitt's.   I loved kntting these so much, I knitted a second set for someone else last Xmas.  I obviously did not have the camera out the entire month of November or December, while these were coming together.  I actually had to buy needles for this project.  I know, and me with more needles than you can shake a stick at...ha ha.  Actually, I bought Aluminum needles and they worked great with the wire.  It took a while to find the wire here in paradise, because a shopper's paradise it is not.  Luckily, I met some nice people along the way to finding the beads and the wire.  There are several bead shops here, but only one carries the 24 gauge wire.

Now then, since the camera was out and about....here's one of the sunsets I blame for me not producing alot of finished objects: 

note the teenie tiny sliver of moon

Shameless Yarn Plug---Wow Sunrise

Ok, so I have been working my way through the sunrise series....with this as the latest entry:

Wow Sunrise
100% Superwash Merino Fingering Weight Wool
100g skein, 440 yds +/-
Gauge:  28-32 stitches per 4 inches on US 1-3 needles
First Quality 3 ply yarn, perfect for socks, clothing or lace
Maui Yarn Color: Wow Sunrise

This color was inspired by the Wow factor created by the bright sunrises here in Maui. This wonderfully soft yarn is a multi colored yarn. It will knit up as a multi-colored yarn ranging from pale pink orange and yellow to brighter tones.

***Talk Story with Maui Yarns***

I see visitors in restaurants all the time, nearly falling out of their chairs at 8 pm, their body clocks telling them that it's midnight or later. These are the same visitors who wake up at 4 am, and cannot go back to sleep. These people are at loose ends until anything opens, so they are out walking before sunrise. I see them walking along the road on my way to work. I've even nearly picked off a few backing out of the driveway in the morning. They like to stop at the top of the driveway and watch the whales. If I have the top down on the car, I have a chance of seeing them, but if the top is up....look out! At any rate, I have actually seen the walkers become gawkers in the middle of the road while watching the sun come up over the West Maui Mountains. They risk life and limb...literally standing in the middle of traffic, their faces all wearing the same expressions, mouths wide open saying "Wow." You should come and see it, really you should.

So what's happening here? No Knitting, that's for sure

Lots of little stuff, crazy landlady left, and tile guy came and made this mess in our yard:
 

The yard looks like it's distressed right now, as the landscapers have been here and aerated and then sanded to level everything out.  Then our nasty tile guy came and dumped his gunk in the yard.  Keep in mind this washes directly down the hill and into the ocean.  YUK.
So we are angry and concerned about what will happen when he installs the kitchen countertops and onyx backsplash.  Nightmare mess, I am sure.

Yarnie goodness

Ok, so this is pretty fun, I have just been moving along, growing little by little as time goes by, and all of a sudden I am recognized!  Today, Happy Valentine's Day, I have been outed by Lime & Violet's Daily Chum.

You can go and see the sweet pictures and write up here.

I am really excited, flattered and thrilled. 

Howzit?

Ok, so it took me a while to get used to this expression.  It seems as though "howzit" is really more of a male expression here.  It's very casual....kind of like the French, "ca va?" 

So as far as how it's going here, I have been plenty busy.  Dyeing yarn as if there is no tomorrow and cooking up a storm at the same time.  There might be a cleanup and kitchen sanitization in between each phase.  I have been having some crazy fun in the kitchen, duck breast with pomegranate wine sauce last week, and this week I made some seafood stock....I swear I had shrimp legs everywhere...even in my hair.  Luckily, there isn't any of my hair in the shrimp stock, and there are no shrimp legs in the yarn dye pots.   Tomorrow the stock will become Red Pepper shrimp bisque...first course to grilled veal chop.  I roasted and pureed the red peppers tonight....happy valentines.  Here are some highlights, the yarn is going to be featured in an ad here in Maui, one of the visitor magazines placed in each and every hotel and condo room in West Maui (not this pic...a different one).  No, I didn't have to pay for this advertising.....they even asked me if they needed to pay me for the digital images.

Approaching the Heel!

Ok, so now I feel as though I have made some progress.  I have the Christmas tree up, not fluffed or decorated, but it is in an upright position in the living room. 

No cookies baked, no packages wrapped, nothing is really getting done....but I am approaching the heel!
I have a few more rows to go before I start the heel, but now that I am finished with the Big A, it will be smooth sailing until I decide how deep to make the heel!  It's just math, the figuring part.....my least favorite part.

I was really worried that the A would disappear, it's not as bad as it could be....

The good news is that a lining will not be required, maybe down the road I will line it, but not in the next three weeks.

In other totally unrelated news, The Police are coming to Oahu, and they just announced a second show.  As if I could go....that is the only show I would want to go see.

The Morning After

Big win, I am sure there are quite a few hangovers around.  My neighbors threw a giant football party last night...fun was had by all.  Ok, so maybe not by the nearby condos full of uncomprehending tourists on Eastern time. 

A little knitting, a little sunning

Finally, a nearly finished knit!  This is the felted Prism bag, one more step closer to completion.  I now have the fabric and the handles for the bag....now comes the sewing!! ha ha ha haha.  Luckily I have a super fantastic sewing machine, and some free time coming this weekend.  Wish me luck!  By the way, this bag was photographed at a friend's house....I was house sitting for the weekend, and she has an older top loading washing machine...one cycle and it was done.

No Turkeys allowed

So this year Thanksgiving was at my house.  We had a nice group, good friends-good wine and NO Turkey.

If you are afraid of red meat, you need to look away now.

The rib roast was fabulous.  Only one of the group liked well done, so her endcut went back into the oven....yuk.

The wine of the evening was Goats Do Roam....kind of funny play on words, a fun wine from South Africa. 

I am still trying to recover from the extravaganza.