the little red sweater

Whew folks, I am on my way home. I won't tell you how long it takes, start to finish, suffice to say that there's plenty of time for me to stop in and talk about my new sweater:



Kerrera! I made a couple modifications, leaving off the hood (I never wear them and I didn't have enough yarn anyway).



and putting buttons all the way down since the flyaway look is super trendy but a bit breezy.



And I made sewn button loops instead of crocheted, and backed the buttons with buttons since the double garter is a bit flimsy.




(plus, I love buttons and doing this meant that I got to use two of my very favorite ones!)

I finished the sweater (sans buttons) the day before I left for Australia, and I have worn it all day, every day since. I am so glad that I made the trip on many levels, not least because it meant I found some wintertime to appreciate this sweater in. It fits perfectly, the style is so easy and elegant, Gudrun is a genius. 'Nuff said. Thanks to my dad for taking pictures on our last day down under!

To Oz!

Hello friends and compatriots, my best wishes from across the equator and the international date line! I am all kinds of upside-down, but as long as I don't try to think about what day it is where and what time, I do all right. Australia is wonderful, this was our sunset last night:



But I'm getting ahead of myself. Before New South Wales there came a lot of traveling. A few days' worth, in fact, from summer to the tropics (for a brief layover in Rarotonga, then on to Auckland, NZ (and winter) for a day and a night. Thence to Sydney for another night, where we had our crash course (almost literally) in driving on the wrong side of the road. After all that, being firmly ensconced in the Upper Hunter Valley in a little shire called Scone (the horse capital of Australia) is relatively relaxing. Yesterday I did what I came to do in the way of work, so now I'm free to enjoy myself for a few days before making that trip in reverse. But you all don't care about this nonsense, here are some pictures! (I don't have many, work and all, but hopefully now I"ll be able to take more.)


The airstrip in Raro. Crap picture, but I just thought the whole thing so incongruous I had to snap one off.


The Cloud, in Auckland. Taken from the hotel room. This structure has something to do with the upcoming Rugby World Cup, hosted this year by New Zealand. And by night:


Yeah, it's blurry. I'm no brain surgeon.


Breakfast menu in Auckland. Taken only to prove how incredibly expensive EVERYTHING is down here, NZ especially. Yes, I had that $16 bowl of porridge, and it was darn tasty. We had company for our meal as well:




(Look! Knitting! It's my Kerrera, finally off the needles!)


Maritime Museum pics.


(the yacht that won the first America's Cup for NZ)


A socked-in Sydney, from the hotel. We spent all our time outside trying dearly not to die, so there are no other pics as yet.


The man who brought us down, an equine vet who pretty much embodies my childhood idea of James Herriot. Only taller.




My dad.






The Research Centre where we had the teambuilding, and dad did his marketing powerpoint thing, after a bevy of technological SNAFUs. But it always works out in the end, eh?

Today we got to play, which for dad meant golf *snicker* while I went horseback riding. I got to see kangaroos and a cockatoo and some green and red parrots, and he got to see kookaburras and ibises and budgies! An all around success. In the next few days I'll be knitting, punctuated by some sightseeing before we head off to Sydney, the opera, and back home. See you all soon!

of forests and amphibians

For heaven's sake, people, I am the slowest! But (almost) only on the blogosphere, mind you, I manage to keep all those balls tripping merrily through the air in real life. What with patterns and photos and impromptu business trips to Australia and family and work and stuff, things just seems to get a bit snarled up and go nowhere. Does it infringe on your credulity a bit to appeal to your sympathies? Not bloody likely, eh? Poor me, too much of a good thing! But honestly, with all of my great good fortune aside, all I really want to be doing right now is to buckle down to the even more serious business of summertime.

Because, friends, when Summer peeks her insouciant head into the Pacific Northwest, nowhere is it lovelier. And all the natives come out to play (even the ones with very heavy deadlines swinging ominously over them).



Memaloose Lake, with friends. Now why, you may ask, after all that gushing about ripe summertimes, do those people look for all the world as though they are dressed for winter? How astute the blog public is indeed, and the answer lies in the majesty of our mountains and the unpredictability of their weather systems. We swelter in the valleys while the snowmelt continues its journey to our gardens. But it made for such a clear and invigorating hike up to the lake, with still-blooming trilliums and other beauties, nascent huckleberries, and dramatic and swirling mists. And true to the magic of such places, the sun did come out and we were transformed.







And the excuse for my son's attire? The hunt!



I wish I could take pictures for you of the air and the singular way it makes you feel, all the scents of growing things and the story of the temperature changes in each little ion. Refreshing just doesn't cut it. And the trees! And all things green! I will let the pictures do the talking from here.











A perfect day, I hope to have many more like it, and soon. Well, in a couple of weeks perhaps, after I've sampled that antipodal wintertime. Now that will be a shift.

Photo class upcoming!

For those of you who have wanted to join one of the DSLR classes I offer at Twisted, we're trying to schedule one for either a Wednesday or Thursday evening before July 17th...any takers? All comers welcome!

**UPDATE: we nailed the time down to Thursday, July 14 from 5 to 8pm! There is still space if you were on the fence...**

And here, something from the archives so that we're not totally photo-less:


{sign, Chelsea, MI}

Also, folks, I have great news to share! In my capacity as a teambuilder/facilitator I am taking off for the great continent of Australia to offer a workshop! I am, as you all may rest assured, absolutely honored and thrilled. Wish me luck!