LacyWhen I was in New York on the weekend, I went to the lovely eau-de-nil shop on the right (above) and bought some of thisand now I'm knitting this:Actually, the shop, the famous and much vaunted Purl in SoHo, is very pretty, but all the yarns are stacked by colour, which I find weird. And it is t-i-n-y. Take a deep breath, hold your elbows to your side and squeeze in.
It's really not a patch on the yarn stores I go to locally, in Encinitas and Solana Beach. But I thought, since I was right there in SoHo on Sunday, I'd better check Purl out.
There is a similarly bijou Purl patchwork store just a few doors up the road from it.
The pattern is for a wrap called Seascape — free pattern here.
The lace is gorgeous, but is going to give me brain ache. I started on ordinary needles — too blunt — and then I bought myself an Addi turbo circular, which is designed for fine lace knitting, with lovely pointy ends. Much easier.But oh! It's a pain in the arse if you drop a stitch, because you can't see where it went. Correcting mistakes is very hard. You have to come up with ways to compensate and just carry on. In the hope that no-one will ever notice it anyway.
The yarn is Rowan Kidsilk Haze. Beautiful. A blend of mohair and silk. It's like knitting with a cobweb. Don't breathe too hard!
Simultaneously, and to ground me, I have another very chunky beany on a sturdy circular beside me, to stop me floating away.

Recovery
The head cold is in retreat, leaving me with the traditional cough, croak and cold-sore. Noice.
I haven't had the brain power to do very much lately, and I'd hoped to have been churning through Lily's quilt.
But all I've felt like is reading and knitting. Beanies for Will and his mates, who really like them. The endless rounds are quite soothing when you're feeling off.
And a Monteagle bag from Mason Dixon Knitting. You can find a lot of them on Ravelry, too. In my haste to start this one, I used the wrong sort of yarn and the wrong sized needles. But what the hey.It involves some fun stitches, and should all unravel when it's finished to reveal a handy string bag for shopping. It's quick, too.
:: We've been watching Mad Men on DVD. It's set in a Madison Avenue advertising agency in 1960. First episode was very clever, and the period is brilliantly created. But by the third episode, I need a break! So many hideous characters! Such rampant sexism and general arseholery. Shudder.
It won lots of Emmys, but I can see why it hasn't been a massive hit.
Plus, at the end of every episode you feel as if you've smoked a pack of Camels — without the filter tips — and downed a litre of scotch. I'll get back to it after a rest from it!
:: I wrote a story for my old paper back in Perth. felt a bit rusty at first, but as soon as I got the intro down, I was off!
:: We're off to see Neil Young tonight! Yay! With the election so close, he'll be hot to trot. I'll have to have a nanny nap this arvo to manage to keep up late tonight. Death Cab for Cutie is supporting — don't know them at all. But I've discovered — thanks to David — that the band name was the title of a song by the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band from the sixties, which they performed on the Beatles' Magical Mystery Tour. You can see that here. I've been a huge Bonzo Dog fan, since my brother and I lovingly watched every episode of the kids' show, Do Not Adjust Your Set, when we were very young.
:: We've almost settled on another apartment in New York for next week. Despite losing all our money on the last booking rip-off.
:: Got to go — need coffee.

Knubbly lovely
Here's a close-up of how that hand-dyed wool from a couple of posts ago knits up — this is the right side ...... and here it is on the reverse:I'm using a sort of herringbone stitch which I thought would show off the flashes of colour, as they are not big enough to make stripes or anything clever. I found the stitch pattern here.

:: It is unusually hot here. Already. I think it got up to 34C, and it's still 28C. Must be those Santa Ana winds. But it's going to cool down tomorrow and get back to normal through the rest of the week.

:: More bookish posts coming real soon. I'm thrilled and a bit chuffed to report that two publishers and a writer from Arizona have sent me books to read and review!

:: I'm also thrilled and a bit chuffed to report that I'm off to England with Lily in July. My cousin's daughter, Samantha, a lovely English girl who lived with us in Perth for eight months in 1995-96, is getting married in Sussex. I always promised her that I'd be there when she got married, so we're booked and all set. We'll be spending three or four days in Paris as well while we're in the neighbourhood!

Come in spinner!
I think a two-up term is in keeping for the day after Anzac Day — we had the gear ready to go for a rowdy game of two-up at the Bondi yesterday, but somehow it never got played!
Anyway, I'm using the term loosely to show off my yarn, though I only dyed it, I didn't spin it. (It's a long stretch, I know.)
I followed the instructions on Suse's excellent blog, Pea Soup, the exact post of which you can find here. Only my efforts were not nearly so neat, orderly and well-executed as Suse's. Nor were my colours so artfully combined and tasteful! I soaked my wool in the vinegar, and laid it all out on the dining table, and got stuck into the colours. You use those little pointy-capped bottles of food colouring that we used to put in the bath water for the kids when they were little, or to colour cake-icing and Easter eggs.
I was going for a bluesy look (as you can tell!), so I'd mixed teal blue and two lovely purples to go with the blues that came in the packets. I had two packets of ordinary colours, and one of startling neon colours, which had a hot pink and turquoise, which I thought would go quite nicely.
Initially, I used paintbrushes to put the colour where I wanted, but in the end I was having so much fun and listening to some great music, so I resorted to chucking.
And I was so excited and caught up in the whole fabulous process that when I'd used all the colours in my scheme, I couldn't stop. Didn't want to. I frantically went back to the packets I'd opened and rounded up all the unused vials of reds, greens and yellows.
The result is, well, a dog's breakfast ...And my skeins came undone, so I had the mother of all tangles to deal with.
But in a funny sort of way, the colours work, I think, and they are sort of growing on me. So I may just knit the whole mess up into a scarf or something. And I'm absolutely hooked, and now that I've gone berserk and had my fling, I shall approach the whole process with more panache and maturity! Thanks, Suse!

:: I just drove Will to meet up with friends at Encinitas beach, having made him promise he'd not go swimming in the sea!
Yesterday morning, we had a tragic and dreadful shark attack at Solana Beach, just north of the dog beach at Del Mar, the first fatal shark attack in San Diego County for half a century. It has eery similarities to the fatality at Cottesloe (popular metropolitan beach in Perth, Western Australia) seven years ago: same feeling of a tragedy completely out of the blue, same time of day and time of year (spring), same sort of shark, same sort of guy ... spooky.
It was very strange all along the coast this morning. We have a warm, sunny weekend forecast, with highs of 29 and 30C, so people have flocked to the beach — but very few of them have ventured into the ocean. No surprise!

Time out
Just had to take a few minutes out of cleaning the house (yeeuch — please note the elegant apron) to brag about my latest succes d'aiguille. Much more important than frigging about with the Swiffer duster.
This is my Clapotis, which I have finally finished after an entire year. I started it in April last year and knitted about eleven inches, then put it away. But when I had to rush back to Australia the second time, I packed it to take with me, thinking it would provide the brainless, rhythmic knitting therapy I might well need.
And it did. There were plenty of occasions when Mum and I sat at Dad's bedside while he drifted off into an uncomfortable, rattly sleep, and I'd knit on and on and on. I extended the length of it, partly because I couldn't bear to finish it, and partly because I wanted it to be longer than it looks on the pattern — which you can find here.
In the end, because it's so stretchy from being knit on the bias, it's turned out to be over seven feet long - room for plenty of turns around one's once swan-like neck.I cast off while I was still in Perth, and then Mum started unravelling all the dropped stitches for me, which took far, far longer than you'd imagine! Then I packed it up again, still unfinished, to take on our holiday last week. I eventually sewed in all the ends (from switching from one ball of yarn to another) and finished the last of the unravelling when I was in Washington the weekend before last, and wore it on a chilly, sunny day — it was gloriously soft and warm.
I made it out of Debbie Bliss alpaca silk dk (80% baby alpaca, 20% silk), which is extremely soft and luxurious, and it took about ten balls — maybe twelve. Fortunately, I'd bought the yarn online from WEBS where it had been discounted to something ridiculous like $3 a ball, so the whole thing was not too extravagant an exercise.
:: So these, above and below, are the chunky socks I knitted for my brother, mostly in Albany, sitting beside him in his house as he recovered from his horrible hernia operation. I also knitted a few inches here in San Diego between my trips back to Oz.They are for Garry to wear in winter with his beloved Blundies. Garry's a social worker/counsellor who travels all over the Great Southern district of Western Australia meeting his 'clients' and helping them out.
The socks are a bit big for me, but you get the picture. It's lovely soft Cleckheaton wool I bought in Australia, and just a standard old common or garden sock pattern.

:: Both Dad and Garry are on the mend now. In fact, I had a very excited call from Dad this morning to tell me that he had managed to walk 36 metres in the parallel bars at the hospital rehab unit. Such a great achievement!

:: Here are a couple of gratuitous pictures of my very spoiled little dog, Yoshi, who's very happy to have me back, especially my nice, warm bed!

Fortuny socks



At least, I have it in my head that these are Fortuny colours. This is the first sock of a pair for my dad, who has a pair I knitted for him and has worn no other socks since, so I thought he'd better have some more. This is lovely wool from Australia, and very fine, so these should be okay for summer, and not too hot.

:: Feeling a bit cloistered at the moment: writing my novel (!) is taking a lot of my thinking time (hence the knitting) and a lot of my other time as well. So everything else is on hold. But it's coming along. As soon as I finish this I shall be back to it and the churning will begin.

:: Now that I am a novelist (!), my day has completely changed. In the morning, I walk the dogs, tidy the kitchen and then settle down at the computer. In the afternoon, when Will is home, I do all the domestic stuff. Well, when I say, 'all the domestic stuff', I sort of mean tidying up and maybe vacuuming, or folding the washing. Nothing too strenuous! I do so hate housework. Hate it.

:: Off to the Bondi tonight for another of our famous quiz nights. Dave had a call from someone connected to the Australian Navy last week, saying HMAS Sydney was on its way to San Diego and to be prepared for 50 to 70 Australian seamen who were all dead keen on taking part in a true blue Aussie quiz night. So much fun!

(Disneyland jack-o'-lanterns)

One more sleep!

:: All the fabulous kids young people who work at the Bondi have really got into the mood of the week, with no-holds-barred decorations ...

... and lots of worrying about costumes, and tongues wedged firmly in cheeks.

:: I, meanwhile, have been concentrating on knitting for all the Bondi babies. The first to appear was the very beautiful Aivry (I think that's how she spells it), who is the daughter of two very good friends of the Bondi, though they don't actually work there. Kirsten and Andy are both surfers, and both Australians who call San Diego home. But I'm counting Aivry as a Bondi baby anyway, and this is one of her socks:


:: Eric Clapton's autobiography is number one in the LA Times' non-fiction best seller list, and number two in the NY Times'. And there's an audio book of it, read by the lovely Bill Nighy, whom I've loved since seeing him play the ageing pop star in Love Actually.

It's so tempting to explore the whole audio book universe - especially as I'm such a slow reader. Will is listening to George Orwell's 1984 before he goes to sleep, and, not much of a reader, he said he really enjoyed reading the book along with the CD. I'm so ecstatic that he's doing this, and almost off his own bat, too - I think he said a lot of Radiohead lyrics were inspired by 1984. L-o-v-e that band. We are now gently suggesting he go on to read Animal Farm, a copy of which we just happen to have quietly put in the bookcase. Ssssh.
Following the text while class members took it in turns to read out loud was always the way we read the books we had to spoil study in Eng. lit. back in school, though that was in the dim, dim past and may no longer be acceptable.

(More pumpkins at Disneyland)

:: The power of Oprah indeed: since she named Love in the Time of Cholera as her book club pick for October, it has been on sale everywhere, even in the supermarket, alongside all the Nora Robertses and whatsisname Grishams. And last weekend, I saw it was number one in the NY Times' (paperback trade) fiction best seller list and the LA Times' as well.

Pipkins and pumpkins
Sunday arvo, Dave's dozing on the settee, having watched the Chargers (our local American football team) beat Houston, and I've been listening to BBC Radio 4's Afternoon Reading while knitting booties. The perfect afternoon!


These are for brand-new baby Rohan, son of our chef, Chris, and his gorgeous wife Amanda.
I knit them out of Manos del Uruguay hand-dyed 100 % wool, with chunky size 10.5 (6.5mm) double-pointed needles, to a pattern recommended on someone's blog recently (I'm so sorry, I forget whose!). The pattern, by Uniform Studio, is available free if you click here. It's very simple, but after just finishing Mum's socks in fine wool and on fine needles, I felt like a giant manipulating these tiny boots on such thick needles!
I'm also tossing up whether to thread a little tie round the ankles, as they look as though an active baby could kick them off quite quickly.

:: The pumpkins were part of a fabulous display at Disneyland, a couple of weeks ago. Some of the Bondi staffers dragged me along (like I needed much persuasion!) and even forced me on some of the wilder rides. I couldn't move the next day, after spending every roller-coaster-type ride with every muscle tensed, teeth gritted, and eyes screwed shut. I felt as though I'd spent the day being pummelled!

:: Just watching Bill on the telly, wishing Hillary a happy 60th birthday - he's sounding a bit croaky. Must be that multi-million-dollar public speaking circuit taking its toll.

Indoor activities

Dave and I are home alone this weekend and we're staying put. R-e-l-a-x-i-n-g after the madness and chaos of the past week. Reading, telly, coffee, newspapers, chocolate, tea, knitting, and cooking.
Yesterday, Netflix (how I love you, how I love you) came through with the goods: two DVDs of The West Wing, to which we are totally addicted. We never got to watch it while it was new — it was always on a bit late for us in Australia. But this is the way to go, with non-stop episodes, no ads, high-def wide-screen viewing. I love everything about this show; it's perfect weekend viewing.

:: Finished Mum's socks last night, and they're ready to be sent asunder down-under. They're a bit small for me - Mum has teeny-tiny feet. Knitting them kept me going through the unknown on Monday and Tuesday - a day and a half spent knitting, watching fire updates on the telly as the news just kept getting worse and worse, and speaking on the phone to family and friends all over the place anxious for news of us. You can't wring your hands while you're knitting!


:: We've packed Will off to Las Vegas for a rock festival, with a lot of bands I've never heard of, as well as Queens of the Stone Age and Muse (which even I would love to see, though the volume and crush would be more than I could stand - I'd go to a rock concert if I could sit on a patch of grass, in the breezy shade, with a folding chair and a picnic, tea and good coffee available just over there, the band pretty close but not very loud, and big video screens so I could keep a dignified distance. Oh, and it would all be over by 9.30 pm).
Will's gone to Las Vegas with Stephanie, a friend of our eldest son, Simon, and now one of our much-loved managers at the Bondi. After the tensions and restrictions of the week, it'll do these young'uns good to get out of the smoke and ash and haze and dust for a weekend, into the (relatively) clean air of Nevada, for two days of screaming and yelling. We shouted them two nights at a hotel on the strip, and Steph's driving and being The Boss. I can't wait to hear all about it when they get back!

:: At some stage, we're going to call in at the Carmel Valley fire station where they are distributing free masks so you can more safely go outside and attempt to clean up some of the ash and other muck that has settled over everything since last Sunday.
It's a worry, though, whether or not to leave it and wait, because as fast as you sweep it up, more of it will settle. And the news reports about the dust are scary, saying that while the burnt plant material the ash contains won't hurt us, there will also be traces of hazardous substances that we really ought not to breathe in. Impossible!

Green and grey ...

:: Bought flowers yesterday to brighten up the place - two days of May Grey don't do much for the soul. Plus, Andrea came and had lunch with me (roast chicken and cous cous salad, tea and white Lindt chocolate) which was loverly, so flars were in order.
I'm not doing as well as Will when it comes to photographing flowers - though I pinched his big white flashboard (grubby with footprints) for my background.

:: And today it was c-o-l-d as the May Grey digs in. This is the view from our bedroom window upstairs, looking south, at about 2.20pm:


:: All that cloud and humidity mean it'll be an age before the front and back of my linen knitted top dry out. I've 'blocked' them, by wetting them quickly, laying them out flat and gently pulling them into shape. They've been like this on Lily's bed for over 24 hours now ...

:: You can just make out the pattern I knit into the top of the front piece. Though really, how these two daggy looking squares of string will ever manifest as something remotely wearable, let alone flattering to wear, is, quite frankly, a mystery.
In the meantime, it's on with the baby clothes as I await further instructions about my part in the International Tote Exchange.

:: I'm off very soon for dinner at the Bondi - it's chicken parma night tonight! Seeya!

Hot and beefy ...


:: I bought a pair of shoes today - that's them, above! They cost $1.99 in Ralphs. A bargain and perfect for me - though I think they're probably meant for a nine-year-old (with big feet). As I tried them on, I could hear a little voice on my shoulder saying, 'Not MORE shoes!' It was the voice of eight-year-old Simon, who would always castigate me for the number of pairs of shoes I owned - particularly when I'd refused to buy him a $50 pair of trendy sneakers when his feet were still growing so fast. One time, he was so incensed he even went to my wardrobe and, out loud, counted 37 pairs (I was a full-time working career girl then - and shoes have always been a weakness!). Perhaps that's why he's still absolutely obsessed with sneakers. Just like his kid brother ... look at the pair of them!


:: It got up to 35 degrees today (that's 95 F) and it was beaut! The pool is sparkly and the water is warm, there are flowers everywhere (poor Will is sneezy and snotty with rheumy eyes), birds are singing, flutes are trilling (we have a flute player living near us and she/he practises a lot), and everything seems to be screaming 'Summer!' But, of course, let us not forget that first we must experience what the San Diegans call May Grey, and June Gloom - the almost daily occurrences of the 'marine layer', when warm, moist air blows in from the sea, hits the hills and mountains, rises, cools and forms a dense rolling mist that blocks out the sun. Sure, it's grey and gloomy, but it keeps the temperatures down until it dissipates in the sunshine.

:: So that explains the 'hot' of this post's title. The 'beefy' is a reference to a massive hunk of beef I've just prepared for the oven. Dave and I will have it for dinner - or a few slices of it anyway - later as we watch A-merrrrrican Idol (Yay! Can't wait!). Will has gone off with two friends to see Wolfmother in concert, so he's eating on the road.

:: Cate has sent me a manuscript to work on, and I'm all excited about making a start on that tomorrow. Fifty thousand words - looking good!
In the meantime I'm knitting a summer jumper out of linen - a very fiddly yarn, I'm finding.
The pattern calls for two strands to be knitted together, and each strand is made up of three threads, so there's a lot of splitting. And it's a bit like knitting with string - no stretch. But I love the colour and the texture, so I think it will be okay. It's a sleeveless, shapeless sort of top, with a straight-across boat neck. I think the front may look boring and sack-like, so I'm thinking of putting in a pattern of holes just to relieve things a little. We shall see.
I have also to finish Dad's socks, and I have a fabulous stash of wool to knit for all the Bondi babies on the way - three so far, with the first (our chef, Chris, and his wife, Amanda) due in September. Exciting times!

Begosh 'n' begorrah ...

... and that's all the Irish you'll be getting from me today, though I have to admit, the quilt I'm making for Lily (above) does - quite coincidentally - have a sort-of St Pat's Day air about it. Hmmm.
I have to make 96 of these 'flying geese' blocks for her single bed quilt, and so all the massed triangles look good, I am taking great pains to ensure that all the points and angles and measurements are accurate. So this bit of the process is a little slow.
I am loving it upstairs in my little work-room (Mack's bedroom while he was here), and I have started a couple of other projects up there in the peace and quiet.

:: Yes - it's an afghan rug! And yes, these are old-fashioned grannies. The true retro thang. And it's so much fun making them (and keeps me awake when the telly's on)! I'm a bit worried about the white borders, though - do you reckon, when it's all sewn up, they'll get grubby in a house with teenagers and two dogs?


:: And this is the start of the socks I'm knitting for my dad's birthday. When I told Mum I was knitting socks, I think the words "war effort" sprang into her mind. Anyway, she cracked up and told me, "Yes, that's the sort of thing you start to do when you get to your age!" Cheek!
However, I reminded her that when Dad retired, he said that he wasn't going to wear boring socks for the rest of his life but would be bright and adventurous from then on.
Mum reckons he's mad too.

:: The state of Colorado has adopted John Denver's old, old, old song, Rocky Mountain High, as its official song. But that's only after it got lots and lots of advice and reassurance that it wasn't about taking drugs.

:: David and I went out and about today, exploring parts of downtown San Diego we hadn't been to before. We had in our minds the thought that one day - in a year or so, when Will's finished high school - we'd probably buy somewhere to live rather than shell out $2700 a month to rent the house made out of ticky-tacky that we live in now, way out in the 'burbs.
Our whole immediate neighbourhood is governed by the local Home Owners' Association, right down to the colours the houses can be painted, the way you do the front yard, and even the letterbox you have. So the areas we are looking at are full of houses that are all shapes and sizes, and colours!
And this is what the drive downtown is like from up here:

With all the warm weather we've been having lately, we've been experiencing these thick 'marine layers', dense fogs that waft in from the sea (about a mile to the right of this picture) and hang about until the sun dries it off. This morning's layer did make the freeway look particularly uninviting!

:: Oh - U2 are on the telly - it must be St Pat's Day! I must turn it off before the odious Van Morrison lilts his way into something maudlin.
Dave's gone to check out the crowd in the Gaslamp (including the crowd at the Bondi) and Will's gone to yet another party. So I'm going to warm up some soup, crack open a slab of Ghirardelli's mint chocolate, and watch Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr in An Affair to Remember (thank you, Netflix!).

Truckloads of fun ...

:: It's now legally okay to live with your partner in North Dakota. Last week, the state repealed an old law that said unmarried couples living together were sex criminals. Mind you - the vote for repealing this law was tight: 48 to 41. Must be some strong-minded, principled pollies in ND.
This has nothing to do with the truck I photographed above, which I thought you'd enjoy.

:: This (below) is a view of San Diego harbour from the area downtown known as Little Italy, one of my favourite parts of the town. There are lots of little cafes and wine bars, and some great delis and design stores. And they seem to be forever closing off the main street, India Street, to have a festival, or a parade, or a party. It has a great atmosphere.
:: While I was in 'Chi-town' on the weekend, I read in the Tribune that some guy was suing a Chicago tattoo parlour for bad spelling. Yay! The idiots tattooed 'CHI-TONW' on his chest and the poor sucker is now suing for emotional distress caused by 'public ridicule'.

:: As you can probably tell, today was pretty quiet. Dave had to go to Santa Monica and I entertained the idea of driving up with him and spending the day looking at the galleries, but gave it a miss so I could spend the day pretending to do housework.
Anyway, here's a pic of our glorious baseball park, Petco Park, just around the corner from Bondi. This was a fabulous summer's day, and our team, the Padres, was doing brilliantly. We almost got as far as the World Series - though my terminology could be askew.
The 07 season starts very soon, and Dave and I can't wait - it's fantastic fun and a great day's yelling and cheering. Bondi will be selling hot pies and sauce in brown paper bags so you can take them to the game.
:: I'm planning to be back in Perth early April - just have to wait until Will has his spring break and is back at school. I'll spend a few days in Albany, a couple of weeks in Perth to clear out the house so we can put it on the market, and a few days in Melbourne on my way back - if Sue will have me!

Frozen bean land
Well, I'm back after six fabulous days in Chicago, staying with my friend Sue, a former Australian who's lived there for almost thirty years. The picture above is of her lovely 100-year-old house, where I stayed in great warmth and comfort, even when, as you can see, there was a blizzard outside! Once, the snow fell so hard — and horizontally — we had to drive with headlights on in the middle of the day.
It was f-r-e-e-z-i-n-g, sometimes with maximum daily temperatures that never got up to zero (Celsius)! And my thin, Australian-Californian blood had a hard time of it - I'd step outside and the cold would literally take my breath away. But it was also very beautiful, and I loved seeing snow again after 33 years.
:: The pic above, taken on Sunday night in the heart of downtown Chicago, is of the massive Anish Kapoor sculpture, Cloudgate, known affectionately as 'the Bean'. It is made of highly-polished stainless steel and, situated as it is, between the edge of the city and the shore of Lake Michigan, its amazing surface seemed to radiate pure cold.
The reflections of its surroundings, as you can see, are quite something. It has a big concave underside, and when you walk under it, it scoops up your reflection and lifts it up and away - hence its name, I guess!
:: I love the Bean. This (above) is its southern end. It's a photographer's delight.
The picture below is of the Bean on a hot summer's day in July 2005, when we were in Chicago with the kids. Only one end was showing - it had only recently been installed and workers had it under wraps and were polishing up its surface.Lily and Will are also great Bean lovers after seeing just this small part of it two years ago (picture below). We'll have to take them back to Chicago and let them see it in its entirety.
:: On Sunday night, the whole place was ringing with music from the nearby ice-skating rink. In summer, the rink becomes the site of a big outdoor cafe and restaurant, with big umbrellas over tables and cold drinks to help you cope with the heat.
But I love it like this, in the chilly winter air, with mums and dads, grandads and grandmas, kids and parents, brothers and sisters, and young lovers, all circling in the cold on the edge of their wonderful city.:: After the Bean and the skaters, unable to feel our fingers and toes from the cold and with me desperate for hot tea, Sue and I raced back to the car and drove down Michigan Avenue, with the trees all lit up and the shop windows blazing.

:: And back in the warmth - the next day, I finished my socks (below)! Now you can all look out, as winter will be drawing near soon in southern parts, so maybe a pair will come your way!
:: Knitting seemed to have become the theme of my visit! I dragged Sue all over the place visiting yarn shops - well, it's much more of a cold-climate activity, and sure enough, there were some wonderful stores within cooee of her house in Naperville. I stocked up on some odds and ends to work on back here in California, and I even started to teach Sue to knit.
This (below) was her kitchen table as I finished my socks, shortly before I packed my bags and we headed off to O'Hare and my flight back to sunny, warm San Diego.