Idyllwild, Day 2

The Road to ISOMATA

This morning I did a few errands in the Village...post office, drug store, etc. Then I packed up my knitting and drove over to the Idyllwild Arts Foundation Campus.

As mentioned in previous posts, I spent many happy summers as a camper and counselor here. I wanted to see how the campus had changed. When I was a student at ISOMATA, it was primarily a summer camp and was used as a retreat for USC faculty and educational groups during the winter. Now, it's a year-round campus.

Wow! I couldn't believe the changes! Instead of rickety lean-to studios, there were fully realized buildings on campus. There's a sound studio, photo lab, dance studios, a full dining hall and more. I saw many students toting their instruments, on their way to workshops. I visited my old haunt...the ceramics studio, while a class was in progress. The equipment was much improved. I did meet up with one or two old friends as I sat among the pines and knit a bit on my February Lady Sweater. It was a great day.

I came back to the Village later, rested a bit before going out to dinner at the Idyllwild Pizza Company and a meet-up with the Idyllwild SnB. Vanessa is the moderator of the Idyllwild SnB. She was so welcoming. The group is great. There were 6 of us there. Sometimes they have more, sometimes less, depending upon everyone's schedules. The ladies were either knitting or crocheting beautiful pieces! It was a very fun evening. I hope to visit again when I can.

Note to all knitters and crocheters: Look up the SnB group in the town where you plan to visit. Stitchers are great people and it's always fun to meet up with your fellow craftsters!

In Idyllwild

On my way up to mile-high Idyllwild today I stopped in Redlands at a very nice little yarn shop called The Yarn Deli. I happened on a sale too! Everything in the shop was at least 20% off and some yarns as much as 50% off. Even on a very hot day in a sizzling town, the yarn shop was crowded and ladies were buying WOOL! I picked up some more Noro Kureyon #182. You just can't have too much of #182. The Noro was 20% off. The prices at the Yarn Deli are a tad more than similar stores in L.A., but the Noro was still a good deal. I also purchased 3 skeins of a yarn I'd never seen before called Ashford Tekapo 100 gm Pure New Zealand Wool @ 50% off. The ladies at the Yarn Deli even gave me a hand-knitted sachet and a store ball point pen along with my purchase. Nice place!

I reached Idyllwild at about 2pm. It must be at least 20 degrees cooler up here than down at the base of the mountain. Perfect.

The Idyllwild Inn

After driving around a bit and re-orienting myself with the place, I checked into the Idyllwild Inn. Very cute place. I'm in a room called "Summer." The town looks much the same as it did when I was a camper up here over 30 years ago, except there are many more "new age" type gift shops. I couldn't find anyplace that sold Idyllwild postcards!

The Village of Idyllwild

I had dinner at the Cafe Aroma. It was delightful....good food and live jazz. More sight-seeing tomorrow and later in the evening I'm meeting up with the Idyllwild SnB group!

View of Mount Tahquitz from the Village

And Now It Begins

Pool and Pagoda with view of Hollywood at Yamashiro's

Last night my B.F.F., Rhoda took me out for a pre-b-day dinner at Yamashiro in Hollywood. It was a beautiful night and the view was spectacular. In years past, Yamashiro was known for it's classic architecture and the view of the City....not the food. Well, there must be a new chef, because the food was fantastic. Rhoda gifted me with some spectacular items too....photos later.

VACATION

IBM Selectric Typewriter

I'm officially on vacation! Over the weekend we stayed close to home at night, watching the first season of "Mad Men." Everyone has been raving about the show. It's just OK....kinda' dark, but interesting characters if you can get past all of the politically incorrectness of it all. ALSO, I'm a stickler for putting the right props for the time period in a production. It's supposed to be 1960. All of the secretaries in the "Mad Men" office are using long carriage Selectric typewriters. I happen to know that most offices were still using manual typewriters or electric typewriters with moving carriages at the time. The Selectric with the golf ball element didn't come in until 1961 and it was a short platen, 12 inches, not a long one of 16 inches. I'm sure that the prop people just couldn't put their hands on a ton of old electric typewriters from that era for the shoot. They explained it away in the script by saying that "these are the latest in technology....no one else has them yet." Yeah, right.
On Saturday morning I went to our once-a-month Stitch & Bitch at the Original Farmers Market. We had about 8-10 people present. It was fun. I had a pre-b-day lunch with some of my cousins after that. After hangin' with them for awhile at The Grove, I double-SnB'd it and went down to the HomeGirl Cafe to sit and knit a bit. I just love that place. It's lively, the food is good, easy parking and it's air-conditioned. One of the reporters from the Downtown L.A. Town Crier interviewed a few of us and took some photos of the group.
Sunday was a quiet day too. We went to our fave coffeeshop, Pann's, for breakfast then to a neighbor's get together in the afternoon.

Today, I met up with the knitters in Montrose and finished the body of my February Lady Sweater, Lipstick Colorway. I'm on my way to the sleeves!

The body of the FLS is now complete! This photo was from last Thursday

Tomorrow morning I'm leaving town for a few days of rest and relaxation in the pine-tree, mountain village of Idyllwild. I'll be sure and take plenty of photos!

Summertime SnB

Big Group at the WeHo SnB Last Night!

I really love my Stitch 'n Bitch groups! The group I've attended for the longest time is the WeHo SnB that meets every Thursday night at the Original Farmers Market (3rd and Fairfax) from 7-9 in the upstairs dining area.

Last night was a particularly well-attended meet-up. We even had a few newcomers!

I left work early and made it over to 3rd and Fairfax by 6:30, so I zoomed into Dupar's to see if Regina and Jenna were still there. When they do attend the WeHo SnB, they often eat first at Dupar's. I caught them and ordered a yummy chicken pot pie.

We walked upstairs and joined the knitters and crocheters. As the evening progressed, more people joined us.It was very exciting to see Baby Vivian do some impressive walking! What a great night! Do join us when you're in town.

This Saturday is our once-a-month morning meeting of the WeHo SnB. We'll be in the upstairs dining area from 10am to noon tomorrow, July 12th. Hope to see you there.

Normandie Authentic French Bistro & Bakery

Ellen's Palm Frond Hat

Today's post is here. This place is a hidden little gem in Mid-City L.A. You'll just love it!

Everyone in the Pool

It's about pooling! I absolutely L*O*V*E variegated yarn. The problem: At times the colors pool, leaving large areas of one color when I want that mixed up sketchy look of variegated yarn. Darn yarn.

Pooling Lace

I decided to stick with the gull lace pattern on my Lipstick February Lady Sweater instead of using a garter stitch/slip stitch pattern. The yarn started to pool in the lace pattern. It's not too bad, but the gull lace pattern doesn't show up too well. It's rather busy. On the advice of knit maveness, Princess Leah, I've added in another skein o' yarn, alternating between skeins every two rows. Hope this helps the pooling. We'll see.

Lithuania Mania

Lithuanian Folk Dancers

On Sunday, our dear friends, Audrey and Jeff, invited us to the 13th Lithuanian Folk Dance Festival at the Galen Center near USC. It seems they know one of the main organizers of the event. I'm always up for Eastern European folkiness (my roots are Ukranian, Russian and Polish), so we accepted their invitation.

It was a sunny, beautiful day. We arrived at USC around 1:30, parked in the parking structure near the dorms on Figueroa and crossed the street to the Galen Center. This is a relatively new building where USC basketball and volleyball are played. It's a really nice, modern building with interesting artistic touches.

We found our $40 apiece seats and saw the Mistress of Ceremonies, Ruta Lee, center stage. Ruta is Lithuanian. Who knew? She's fluent in the language and is an ardent supporter of all things Lithuanian here in the United States. Check out her website and you can read about all of the philanthropic work she's done for the Lithuanian community as well as for the charitable showbiz organization, the Thalians.

The show was a whirling extravaganza of dancers in colorful embroidered and woven costumes. Most of the dances depicted farming and nature rituals. The hundreds of participants were very young to very old. This was family entertainment, for sure! We hung out for a few hours, then decided that we'd had enough of hopping, skipping, jumping and whirling about.

We drove over to the Rodeo Mexican Grill on Olympic Blvd. and Burlington for an early dinner. It was, of course, delicious. Thanks to Audrey and Jeff for inviting us to this memorable performance!

Explosive

Low-Flying Airplane w/Fireworks

We had a great time at Carol's and Thane's house last night for our 4th of July celebration! The BBQ was great, the people were entertaining and the fireworks were excellent. Like I said last year, Inglewood Rocks!
My fave pic from last night's display was this low-flying airplane heading into LAX with a fireworks display right under the plane (above). What a perfect time for a landing!
Here are some more pix of our wonderful evening!

Ready for Fireworks

I just had to crochet a quick headband to wear to our 4th of July party tonight. Stats: Size "H" crochet hook; bits of 100% virgin acrylic in red, white and blue. Chain 2, increase to 10 stitches; add stripes about 1/4 of the way down; continue with red, add stripes on other side; bring to a point to match other side.

I ended up baking a peach and apricot cobbler for dessert. I'll serve it with whipped cream. I also made some haystack cookies using melted chocolate chips and pretzel sticks. I think the semi-sweet with the salty should be yummy! Have a marvelous celebration!

Shock and Awe

Last Year's Lemon Flag Cake

This year we will be attending Carol's and Thane's 4th of July Party once again. Last year's event was divine and we hope to have a repeat performance. The area in Inglewood where Carol and Thane live is near this residential park called The Circle. The fireworks resemble Iraq-style bombings with colorful afterglow. It's really amazing.

Not sure if I'll bring my Lemon Flag Cake this year or Peach Cobbler (a version of my Blueberry Cobbler) or both!

The rest of the weekend will be taken up with relaxing, hanging out, etc. We have been invited to attend the Lithuanian Folk Dance Festival on Sunday at USC's Galen Center by Audrey and Jeff. Ooooo...that should be festive! I think I'll try to fit in and wear something embroidered. Have a marvelous holiday!

Lipstick and Lace

"Lipstick" Variegated Yarn - Gull Lace Stitch

Last night I did a practice swatch for my Lipstick February Lady Sweater in the gull lace pattern. I'm almost done with the yoke portion of the sweater. I thought that the lace pattern might be too busy with the variegation of the yarn. I was right. Too much goin' on for my taste. I will probably continue the body of the sweater in garter stitch with a slipped stitch every inch or so to elongate the look....much like I used for my Mom's taupe sweater.

I've received SO many compliments on on this Lipstick WIP. People have been commenting here and on Ravelry about the colorway of this yarn. That's why I bought it. The different tones of red, pink and burgundy just drew me in. I think it looks like a handpainted custom wool.

Hahahahahahahahaha!

It's Red Heart Super Saver....color: Lipstick. 244 yards for less than $3 per skein. It's not a colorway that I've seen often, so when I do see it, I snap up a few skeins. It is, however kinda' crunchy, since it is 100% virgin acrylic. In this hot weather it has been squeaking a bit on my needles. Once my FLS is knit up, I will work my magic on it and wash it in the machine using fabric softener only...no soap. I did this for my Mom's taupe sweater and it came out silky and soft.

There are so many wonderful new colors and textures coming out in acrylic yarn. Next time your'e in Michael's, Joann's or your local craft store, check the aisles.

Lovin' the Lace

I'm chugging along on my February Lady Sweater (brown tweed version) in between other projects. I'm finally at the lace portion of the cardigan. It is an easy 7 stitch pattern repeat, but I'm waaaay more of a crochet-lace person than knit-lace person. To help keep me on track, I needed to place markers every 14 stitches and have to refer to my crib-sheet constantly for this easy 4-row pattern. Hopefully, after a few more inches, I will have memorized the repeats.

My red "Lipstick" FLS is still at the yoke stage. I've just finished the third buttonhole. I think I might make this yoke slightly deeper than the brown tweed sweater. Also, I may switch up and do a different lace pattern or some other stitch for the body. This yarn is busy and I think that a fussy lace pattern might be too much. We'll see.

To further my excitement about this project, I've chosen buttons for both sweaters.

I love these buttons! They look like candy!
Simple Matte Black Buttons for the sophisticated cardi

Freeway Fun

View from the Balcony, Pacific Beach Cliffs

On Saturday we drove down to San Diego for a family memorial. It was a sad occasion, but it's always good to see everyone, no matter what the circumstances. My cousin, Sasha hosted the event. He lives in a condo right on the cliffs of Ocean Beach in San Diego. In the winter, the ocean waves sometime come all the way up to his balcony. Saturday was a beautiful day. It's quite energizing and fulfilling to just stand on the cliffs and look out at the Pacific Ocean. I understand why he loves living there.

Ellen and Uncle Hi

We left San Diego at about 4:30 and made it back o L.A. in a record 2 hours. We fluffed up and then got right back in the car and drove from Mid-City L.A. over to Atwater for a b-day party. The party was fun....lots of artists and musicians, and we stayed late, even though we were really beat from all that driving earlier in the day.

Sunday, we met the folks at one of our favorite coffee shops for breakfast: Pepy's at the Mar Vista Bowling Alley. Even though I didn't have anything stronger to drink the day before than a club soda, I felt like I had a hangover. All that traveling and running around in the heat got to me. So, I ordered a nice big bowl of menudo with all the fixin's. My Mother was horrified. She has led a sheltered life. She'd never seen anyone eat tripe soup with onion, cilantro and a side of tortillas before. The waiter wanted to know if I wanted a pigfoot in the menudo. Just for the shock value, I said "Sure!" Everyone knows that a bowl of menudo is what one has the day after partying. Even at my advanced age, I'm still a rebellious kid!

mmmmmmmMenudo @ Pepy's

After breakfast, Larry and I made a few stops on the Westside....estate sale and art show, then came home to rest for a few hours. By early evening we were out the door again! This time, on our way to Hollywood to the American Cinematheque to see a double feature. The first documentary, "Love Story" (no not that tear-jerker with Ali MacGraw). This was the story of Arthur Lee and his band, Love...one of the best L.A. bands in the late 60's and early 70's. The group was legendary. They were also one of the first inter-racial rock groups to score big hits. You might recognize one of their famous covers, "My Little Red Book."

The other film documentary was called "This is Gary McFarland" about a brilliant jazz arranger and vibraphonist who died young at the top of his game when he was only 38. McFarland was one of the first arrangers to fuse jazz with pop. He's flown under my radar, so I was glad to know about him. Must go out and find some of his albums! Both movies were wonderful and so engrossing, that we forgot how tired we were. When we finally got home at midnight, we collapsed.

How was your weekend?

YarnSpiration

I just love this yarn. I have tons of it. I don't know what to do with it!

Sometimes, I like to just go into our studio, open up all of my bins o' yarn, take out forgotten tote bags full of old unfinished projects, pull down the rest of the shopping bags full of yarn and gaze at them for INSPIRATION. Yes, I know I have enough yarn to last me for the rest of my life and for the lives of all my knitster friends. I love my yarn and I'm not finished with it yet.

Needless to say, I won't be attending any of the end of summer yarn sales happening around L.A. this weekend. We do have lots of events planned though. Hope your's is great!