Crank It up

I'm on fi-yaaaaah! But I'm going to slow down a bit to give my wrists a break. 




This is Globular Hat which is another free pattern on Ravelry.  Gotta love those talented people on Rav to come up with some great patterns.

My friend Matt works outside a lot so he always appreciates my hats that I knit for him. I usually knit with acrylic or wool blend but this time I splurged on some Malabrigo Rios for him which is so soft and machine washable. It's hard to see the different tones/shades of colors in this hat but it's really gorgeous. Sort of a dark gray with bronze in it. The pattern has good texture which highlights the yarn too.

I even had enough for some fingerless mitts. 



Here is a better view of the yarn. As a knitter it really helps me keep going when the colors are so interesting. Actually I enjoyed this pattern more than I thought I would,  here in LA area we don't need super cold weather gear but these are perfect for our chilly mornings/nights.  Like I said before, the yarn is so soft that it feels great on the hands.


Monday was a holiday so the kids and I went to the Redondo Beach pier and then we walked to the Hermosa Pier. It was a nice walk while Josh rode his new longboard, Tyler & I discussed the different architecture of the beach houses. 





We couldn't ask for better weather because the next day was foggy/overcast.




This beach shot is at Hermosa and it's deceiving from this angle. We were standing on top of the pier and this is a huge sand berm where people/kids were hanging out on. Kids brought their snow gliders to slide down this sand hill.

From where we were standing, we could have climbed over the railing and stepped onto the sand. Josh wanted to come back with our snow sled. :)

Monday

Monday is here again with more spring/summer weather over the weekend and now we're back to 66* temps.

With the warmer weather, I asked Josh is he'd like to start riding his skateboard again and that answer is, "Yes!"

The sidewalk at the park by the school is nice and wide with grass on either side. Josh is pretty good at stopping if people/children are walking by to let them pass.

trying to get Josh from looking down too much

Much better

Lean

Essentials

Josh likes to try new things. The latest is crouching down to touch the board.

I wanted to get to the beach for sunset on Sunday but was a bit late. Still a pretty view of PV.

Week at a Glance

Here is our week in review....

Monday at the beach.
















Just a hour outside to get the kids moving and in the sunshine. Gorgeous day but it was really windy/chilly toward the water. The kids were totally happy digging in the sand with their buckets.

I got my yarn shipment....A very pretty yarn in forest greens that I will promptly cast on once I finish a pair of socks on the needles.



Oh, look! I just finished these this morning. A nice lace pattern called On-Hold socks. Easy pattern and I finally got to use this pretty plum yarn. I do love the dark colors but it does get harder to see/knit at night. I either need to get better lighting or lighter yarn. :)





The lace pattern reminds me of ram horns although a person on Ravelry compared them to Fallopian tubes/uterus. Ha, I can totally see that too.

Off to wind my new yarn and get ready for my hockey date night with my one & only cheeseboy! :)

Hawaii Vacation

Hey everyone! Just got back from a terrific 5 day vacation in Waikiki!! Unfortunately, H wasn't able to join us but next time for sure! So the kids and I had a nice relaxing and fun time with great weather. We pretty much stuck to California time so we would beat the breakfast rush and enjoy a leisurely meal and walk around before most of the people were up.

We were able to explore the area and find some nice, reasonably priced ramen places that the kids enjoyed and a massive food court that has almost every imaginable cuisine there. :) I intended to take pics of our food but we were always starving so that never happened.

The kids went SUPing in the lagoon twice and it was lots of fun. Josh got to try SUP for the first time and did a good job. Maybe he will want to try again here.

Did some uploading and here is the Flickr set so far.

Beach Film

Like I said before, I shot a roll of film at the beach today and here are some of the shots. I have a Yashica FR-2 which is a SLR camera and from the photos I got back, I have some learning to do. :)

About half are in focus while the other half is not which I need to figure out. The film loaded up fine but the frame number indicator is stuck so I just have to keep shooting until the end.
When I do have the shot in focus, the image is sharp and the colors are true. I have to put more of the Fuji Superia film on order although I will try some other brands to get a feel for them.

So here are some of my best and worst shots from yesterday...

First shot of roll

Josh romps while Ty & Glenn are to the left of the group in the background

Tyler

Tyler out in the waves

Josh with Tyler and Glenn in the waves

Lots of happy beachgoers

Josh jumping the waves

More beachgoers

Escape to the sea

The water was nice and warm. It was so relaxing listening to the waves crash.

Here is an example of a blurry action shot...

Cartwheel

Overall, I'm happy with the results. I need to focus on the technical aspects of shooting and can only hope to get better...

Heat Wave

Summer is really here for SoCal and we are feeling it. The last couple of summers have been mild and barely warm so this heat is unusual to us. The valleys are a total different story though.

Anyway, my friend Kat and I had tickets to see Strangelove, a Depeche Mode tribute band for several months and of course, it is smack dab in the middle of the heatwave. Luckily the OC Fair is located about 4 miles from the ocean so a nice breeze comes through to cool everything down. We had loads of fun rocking to Strangelove and eating the most awesomest maple bacon donut. It was HUGE, a glazed donut with shaved bacon loaded on top with maple sauce slathered all over it. It was so delicious. :) I hope it will be back next year!!

Ready to rock!

This week is still warm but the cool breeze at night helps a lot. A couple of night though, I opened the doors and windows to let the hot air out and cool air in when a strong, awful smell of skunk comes in that has me running to shut everything back up again. Darn skunks!!!

This afternoon we went to our local beach with Glenn and Laura to get some relief. It was so nice and pretty today. The water was warm and pleasant to swim in. We had to top off our day with some ice cream which hit the spot. Yum!!

I was also busy taking pictures with my Yashica SLR (film) so it is being processed tonight so we shall see if the photos came out and how they look.

They spent a lot of time chatting about their favorite games.

Tyler is in the distance with his boogie board.

Fun times with friends.

Summer afternoon

Nice day to enjoy the sunshine and ocean breeze.





Nice day to be out with friends.

Thursday at the Beach

The sunsets/skies this week have been stunning and I was able to make it down the beach and see for myself. Not as many clouds as the previous days but still a nice clear day.



But as we drive closer, I see the fog rolling in over Palos Verdes... made for some interesting watching since over the the course of a hour, it went from very foggy to clear.

Meanwhile, the kids got busy digging in the sand and getting their feet wet.





They had a really good time frolicing in the sand and sea. Lots to see like, surfers, sailboats, volleyball players and various people doing their thing.











Also, the sunset was beautiful too.