by Cara.
Super long. Proceed at own risk.
First off, I got a lot of knitting done. Everday we were awakened (early – NY time!) by G’s office with one crisis after another. It wasn’t fun for either of us, but I did get a lot accomplished:
One sock pal sock down (although I need to fix the toe close) and one almost done. I was hoping for two repeats on the plane home last night – I managed to finish all four. Now I only have nine rows of the lace before I do the heel. I should be finished with it in a day or two. I LOVE these socks. Sorry, sock pal, but I’ve been trying them on left and right. (I even tried them on for the flight attendant last night when she asked what I was knitting.)
I’m not usually a big fan of lace socks, but these are different. As G said, there’s just a hint of skin peeking through – and the color of this Koigu is just beautiful. I’m in love. It’s going to be VERY hard to give them up. (That’s okay – I’ll just make myself a pair!)
The pattern is very well written (thank you Evelyn Clark) and it goes so fast, really. I have nothing to complain about at all. (And all that ripping I’ve done – completely my own fault.)
Oh and thanks for all your comments the other day – and thanks Alison for the update!
Here’s a close-up of the lace:
On to the trip details…
Los Angeles
* A quick note. I bought a new camera for the trip – something portable we could take to the castle since I wasn’t lugging my 50 lb. bag in my dress and heels. I’m not really thrilled with the camera – I didn’t heed my own best advice – I never finished the manual. I was reading it instead of packing on Sunday night and G said – why don’t you save that for the plane and then I knit the whole time on the plane and never read the damn thing. This camera is really for G – the lack of control I had killed me. So anyway, the pictures aren’t up to snuff as far as I’m concerned. It really bothers me, but it is what it is. Oh and all the yarn pictures are taken with the GOOD camera at home.
We arrived in LA on Monday noonish (after missing our flight at JFK. LONG story. Suffice it to say we were on the 10AM instead of the 8AM.) and headed straight to our favorite LA spot – the IN-N-OUT right by the airport. Not only is it IN-N-OUT, but you get to watch super huge jet airliners fly right over your head as they land. One of the highlights of the trip was flying OVER the spot we had stood five days earlier as we flew in from SLO to our connection in LA. We’re weird, okay?
Then we headed out to our hotel, The Chamberlain, in West Hollywood. Got to say, very nice boutique hotel. They had just finished a refurb and everything looked very nice. It’s a sister to The Viceroy in Santa Monica where we stayed last year, but I prefer this one. Much quieter, not as funky. The room was great.
We decided to take a little walk. YES, CALIFORNIANS, I SAID WALK! People literally looked at us like we were crazy as we made our way down La Cienega from Santa Monica to Melrose. I wanted to check out Julia‘s home away from home (although her home again!) Knit Cafe. What a bright, cozy, inviting place! Suzan, the owner was there and she was very solicitous. Her store is beautiful, and as we were there near close, it was empty but for one lone knitter. I walked around three times trying so hard to find something to buy. I’ve decided that on these trips of mine, I’m only going to buy yarn that is different than what I can get at home. And since I live in a large Metropolitan Area, there’s not much I CAN’T get at home. I was about to buy a t-shirt and then there was some Lorna’s Laces, but she only had one skein of the color I liked, so I passed. But a great shop if you’re in the neighborhood! I would definitely go again. Thanks Julia for the recommendation! Suzan and I talked about what a great help you’ve been to her – I’m sure she’s so thrilled you’re coming home.
On our walk home, I passed a storefront with these casts in the window. It was very spooky.
The neighborhood had mostly antique/furniture/rug stores, but this one didn’t even have a name. Just these faces in the window.
Once back at the hotel, we had some time to kill before meeting up with my brother for dinner. What to do, what to do? How about a swim?
The pool was on the roof – overlooking LA (the Hollywood Hills were behind me when I took the picture) and there was no one there but us! What a lovely romantic swim! The water was nice and WARM too. (Everywhere we went people took immense pleasure in telling us the temperature of the pool. Our pool is set to 86 degrees. Our pool is comfortable 80 degrees.)
Wildfiber
MJ and I had finally connected via email and it was my plan to meet her at Wildfiber before we left LA for Santa Barbara. I thought we might miss her because the plan changed and we were going to leave early, but the office called and we didn’t get to see MJ until after noon! And I’m so glad we did! This was one of the highlights of the trip! MJ is wonderful in person – so sweet and I really, really enjoyed meeting her – even if it was really quick. And Wildfibers? Oh my god – all I have to say is MJ is one lucky, lucky girl that this place is her LYS.
Here we are in front of the Koigu wall. Can you think of a better place for a photograph?
I bought some of the most beautiful yarn I’ve ever seen there – MJ helped me pick it out and man was it expensive, but WORTH EVERY PENNY!
Tanglewood Fiber Creations, 100% Superwash Merino, hand dyed, hand spun – softer than soft. Now I have a question for all you spinners out there (not that I’m interested. Okay? OKAY?) – what is it called that gives you the ply where all the different colors are combined – do you know what I’m talking about? Where in one strand you’ve got lights and dark and I’m thinking this is the twist or something, right? Anyway, it’s gorgeous. This is the kind of handspun I really, really love. I wish I had the money to buy more. But it was ALOT. I did get 404 yards, but still. A LOT.
I also bought some Socks that Rock! I’ve been wanting to try this and I even bought a colorway that closely matches the Lorna’s I had wanted over at Knit Cafe. The colorway is Cobalt Bloom.
Wildfiber had a special guest, Prudence Mapstone, and I have to tell you, her work was some of the most beautiful, most inspiring ART (in any medium) I have ever seen. I want to dedicate a whole post to her – hopefully tomorrow.
We said goodbye to LA and MJ and headed out to SB….
Santa Barbara
It took us no time to drive up the coast to SB and after we checked into our hotel, we found a tux for G, had a taco snack and finally headed o
ff to State Street for dinner. The next day was really fun – BB’s Knits in the morning. Great store – and they were expecting me! (Thanks Kathie!) I wandered around – what a packed store for a little space and ended up with some Interlacements Toasty Toes (in the Tanglewood Colorway – LOL) and Koigu. Once again, I’m hitting the same color palate.
By sheer coincidence, I ended up a block from In Stitches, which was, to be honest, quite a disappointment. It was nearly empty – of yarn. About night and day from BB’s.
Then it was off to the beach – and sock time!
SB was a very nice community – interesting mix of people, stores – it was so much bigger than we expected. We liked our motel/inn – you really could see the beach from our room, surprisingly enough. Overall, a very pleasant stay.
Pismo Beach, San Simeon, Cambria
We made our way to Pismo Beach on Thursday morning – again the office caused delays! We needed to get there with enough time to get ready for dinner that night – the buses were leaving the hotel at 4PM. We got there with time to spare – a quick trip to check out the beach and take a rest by the pool (a balmy 85 degrees, thank you very much!)
Getting on the bus to go to the Castle was pretty funny. Here are all these women and men – dressed to the nines – dripping in jewels (literally – there was one woman who was OOZING diamonds) getting on buses. The trip took about an hour to San Simeon, and then we got off that bus and walked through the tourist center (even funnier – the looks we got) to get on yet another bus to take us to the top – and the castle.
What a ride! The whole time, you can see the castle in your sights, you can’t help but think – how the hell did he get all that crap UP THERE!?! It’s a twisty, single lane road with lots of drop offs and this is 2005! Imagine it in the 20s, 30s and 40s when they were building it. Incredible, really. There’s no other way to describe it.
Once off the bus, we were given the option of a tour. Needless to say, we took it!
La Casa Grande – the main house.
Designed to look like a Spanish Cathedral – with all the trimmings!
A stairway among the elaborate gardens.
(God I wish I had the good camera!)
Outside of a guest house.
The view – the ocean is in the distance.
Can you see the moon peeking out between the trees?
The amazing pool – set at a wonderful 79 degrees!
There was a photographer by the pool taking “prom” pictures. I’m not kidding – G and I had one taken and I’m sure it’s the goofiest thing ever – considering how I look in this picture:
Can you say FRUMPY?
That’s it – no more pictures of me. I am NOT happy with my body these days. Maybe Jen can take a nice picture of me with the shawl – we’ll see. Just know it was perfect and I still love it.
They served hors d’oeuvres along the pool and it got pretty hot up there. We found a shady spot and watched the sun get lower and lower until it was time for dinner. This was what awaited us!
NINE wine glasses per person!
It was craziness! The first course was a foie gras and some other stuff and they served a VERY sweet white. Next was the fish course – DELICIOUS! – lobster in a creamed corn. Yummy. Two whites. The Fowl course was duck – also very nice – two reds – one of my favorites of the night – a Hitching Post 2003 Highliner Pinot Noir. Meat Course was Dry Aged Beef – two reds. The Cheese course – two reds. I was pretty surprised there was no wine with dessert.
Every time a course was served, two sommeliers would come around and pour wine. They never filled the glass, just a taste (a generous taste!) and if you liked it and wanted more, all you had to do was ask. Georgie and I agreed on the wines all night – and it was the left hand side for us every course! (The wine glasses stood side to side and you identified the ones you liked by whether it was on the left or right.)
Here’s what the table looked like at the Fowl Course:
And the Cheese course:
And here’s the view when I turned to my right while sitting at the table:
All in all it was a tremendous evening! I had way more fun than I thought I would. I’m so glad we got to have the experience!
The next day G had some business meetings in the morning, so I ordered in a nice big breakfast and tried to surf the Internet. We had such poor connections the whole trip – it was weird. Well, LA was good, but other than that – very, very slow. And since G had a lot of work, I had barely any time online. Which was good too. I had a nice break – but, I did miss my blog (and all of you!)
After breakfast, we decided to make the drive up to Cambria to go to Ball & Skein. We also thought we might be able to hit the IN-N-OUT in Atascadero on the drive back – since it would most definitely be our last chance to get there. The shop was very nice – I bought some gifty type items that I won’t show here – not yarn – think tools. And while they had a SHITLOAD of yarn, falling off the shelves, to be honest, I didn’t buy anything. Sticking to my rule (and honestly totally going overboard at Wildfiber), I was a good girl. I was thisclose to buying some Noro Blossom for Vicki, but luckily she already found some! Cambria was a very pretty town and it would’ve been nice, if we had more time, to hang out there. But we wanted to go to the beach – always a top priority – and find that IN-N-OUT!
The ride to Atascadero was exciting to say the least – we started out on Route 1 and crossed about 26 miles of Route 46 to get to Route 101. It was NOTHINGness – unless you count rolling hills, sheer drops and cows. I swear I had a panic attack. I was convinced we’d get stuck like Margene! Georgie was sitting in the passenger seat oohing and ahhing and video-ing the NOTHINGness and I could barely breathe OR keep my hands on the wheel. In the end it was worth it – we found the illustrious IN-N-OUT!
We had a nice dinner that evening at Pelican Point in Pismo – with enough Sideways moments (not us – the table next to us – actually it was The Big Chill meets Sideways. Amusing to say the least….) to last about ten years. Seriously. Is it necessary to stick your whole freaking face INTO the wine glass? Maybe if you just drank it…. Who am I? I know nothing about wines. (Athough I do know what tastes good!)
We left the next morning. Whew! What a trip! Glad to be home. Lots of laundry and work to do. G will be out most of the week with work stuff, so I’ll miss him even more than I usually do after spending the week 24/7 together. But you’ll keep me company right?
Thanks for reading!
L, C
1. The lace socks are gorgeous. My sock pal is going to wish you’d gotten her name.
2. Pretty, pretty yarn…what do you think you’ll do with the 400 yards of handspun?
3. Travelogues are always fun.
Mmmm, pretty buildings. Yeah, it’s really 2:10am–can’t sleep.
so much fun reading about your trip. beautiful socks, and so much beautiful yarn.
Sounds like a wonderful trip. I would love to have a week away with Kevin…Socks look great.
Your yarn purchases are fabulous, and you and the shawl do NOT look frumpy!
All you have to do to find out about how the handspun is made is to try a little spinning…. c’mon, you know you want to…. heh heh heh.
Hooray for plane knitting! And travelogues!
I spent part of a year working out of Morro Bay, so all of the places you describe are so familiar I can still see them in my mind. Thanks for the memories!
Oh thank you, thank you! You just blogged about my favorite place! Cambria is the first place my husband took me and where we fell in love, so I guess it might be a sort of sentimental thing. Last time we were there (Jan 2005) we went to Hearst 3 times! It was during the rainy time and the hils around Hearst were emerald green. The yarn store in Cambria is kind of a trip, isn’t it? So much stuff crammed into such a small space! Btw, you do not look frumpy!
Love the wineglass shot…my head is kind of spinning at the thought 🙂
You are not frumpy.
And your socks are gorgeous. 🙂
“Pismo beach and all the clams we can eat!”
~Bugs Bunny
the trip looks great — Mr. Georgie is quite the burgermeister! does he know great burger joints in every city? Love the Tanglewood yarn you bought – out with it, how much??
You’re so cute! You’re not frumpy at all. Thanks for sharing all the pictures from your trip. (And I agree with Ann — how much, how much?)
When you use roving that is already dyed a bunch of colors and then spin it, the singles (what each strand of a plied yarn is called) will have a bunch of colors in it. When you make another singles, that one will have a different progression of colors. When you ply them together, sometimes the colors will “barber pole”…a light bit of one strand plies up against a dark bit of the other. Some people love barberpole-ing and some people hate it. Me, I think it looks lovely and tweedy in the finished garment.
Interested?
😉
Phew, what an adventure! I love the contrast of a bajillion course meal at Hearst Castle and In-and-Out Burger. Makes perfect sense to me! So was this a business trip or pure pleasure? Either way, it sounds lovely.
Oh, and as for the handspun, that’s just what happens when you randomly ply a multicolored batt or roving. Frequently we spend a fair amount of time avoiding that effect, though it’s gorgeous in that yarn. Are you thinking about trying something new, perhaps? Hmmm? 😉
Everything about your trip is beautiful. It was a funny to hear you and Georgie oohing and aahing about nothingness. The West if so different than the East in that respect (and others). It looks like a wonderful trip, with the right amount of purchasing, eating, sight seeing and fun. You are NOT frumpy! We just need to see more of the shawl wrapped around you;-)
Totally jealous of all the fabulous sock yarn you bought, especially the Socks that Rock…been wanting to try that forever. Love your acorn socks, too…Evelyn Clark is the best. I’m actually working on some Leaf Lace socks of hers right now.
Frumpy??? I’ll show you frumpy, Missy!
The Nite of Nine Wines sounds fabby. The whole trip sounds fabby. The Inn N Out sounds like destination dining. Welcome back! xoxo Kay
Glad you had fun at BB’s–we always do!
Kathie
Cara, again it was great meeting you! I know the In-n-Out you’re talking about, my bro *always* drops by when he flies in-and-out!
Beautiful pictures, it sounds like you had a wonderful time! And your dress looks good on you!
I’m so glad you’re back! What a wonderful time — your pics are all fine (love the table settings!) and you look great! Wonderful yarn — colors to die for. I love that barberpole effect and have some sock yarn like that — I won it in a contest and I think I might be ready to use it now (or soon).
Gorgeous socks, yes. Gorgeous yarn, yes. Frumpy, no.
That’s the kind of trip you always hope for, but rarely get.
what a trip! gorgeous photos.
There are so many reasons for me to be jealous here. I just don’t know where to start. The socks are beautiful. I find myself wishing they were mine. Could I be that lucky? I certainly wasn’t lucky enough to have that fabulous vacation. Hearst Castle is fun, though, isn’t. We did that on our honeymoon romp through CA, and then the film got shredded somehow, so there’s no proof of it. Glad to see that didn’t happen to you.
Thoroughly enjoyed the stories and the pictures. If only your good camera fit in the palm of your hand, right? 😉 The new one did a nice job, anyway, though (it’s NEVER the photographer, we know that – hehehe!).
Glad to have you back, C.
Jen
The socks! The yarn! The wine glasses! It looks like you had a wonderful time.
Wow–I just wanted to pop in and say that those socks are gorgeous! I haven’t seen that many people’s yet where I think “ooh, I hope those are mine!” but I do for these! I am having some serious sock envy, between the ones you’re knitting and the yarns you bought.
Coming out of lurkdom to tell you I enjoyed your travelogue very much! Be careful of those spinner addicts, you know they’re trying to suck you into the spinning vortex!
What a great trip! Thanks for sharing it all with us. Your socks are absolutely fabulous – your sock pal is going to be HAPPY. And I can’t believe they gave you nine glasses of wine!! How fun is that?
P.S. I think you look great in that picture.
P.S. again. That handspun you bought looks great too.
Wow. Great Pictures. Great Fun. Great Sockapal2za socks. Beautiful Stash Enhancement. Can’t wait to see all the wonderful knits you make!
Those socks are perfect-are you sure you’re in the beginner group?
PS The masks in that picture above ARE creepy!
Hi – just happened by your blog from the Sockapal2za site, and had to comment since I used to live in Santa Barbara, just a few blocks from BB’s! And I completely agree with your evaluation of the two stores… plus BB’s always had a terrific selection of sale oddballs that I’d raid for mittens and hats and such. But I recommend the Rudy’s veggie burrito over La Super Rica, personally. 🙂