blueberries, eucalyptus, knit cafe

last week i had the perfect summer day: met C. at the farmer's market, then on to an organic blueberry farm to pick berries, then of course since we were nearby, we had to stop at the LYS...

last week i joined mr. boot in L.A. for a few days for a part-work, part-play trip. i interviewed an amazing artist for my dissertation, hung out with my roommate from olden days, played on the beach, ate at a really good (but not strict) macrobiotic place and saw a eucalyptus tree looking just like bee's fairy trees from Mad. Sq. Art:

not only that, i went to my new favorite yarn store, knit cafe and spend a really lovely hour there. what an amazing store--they've got an excellent stash of back issues of interweave knits, including this one, with teva durham's tartan jacket; beautiful yarn; and the people were so so friendly. the owner of the store, Suzan, was wonderfully welcoming and interested in my knitting and background, even though a famous actress was in the shop for a quick lesson (she was nice, too)... there was even a part-time job available...sigh..if only i lived a few thousand miles closer, i'd do it in a minute! anyway, i highly recommend the shop to anyone visiting the area!

with all of the cross-country flights, i had tons of time to turn this...

...into this (the beads of earth scarf from scarf style: my first attempt at beading)...

...and this... my very first sock, undertaken as a joint project with C., another newbie to sock knitting. i'm a bit stalled out on the instep, but we're meeting tonight, so i'm hoping to be inspired by her gorgeous progress...
for now, i'm off to study for exams (which are only 5 months away): this week i'm reading about fluxus...

100 degrees, 100 pillows

it's been about 100 degrees here the last few days, so i've been staying inside, knitting, and sewing. i went to a carrboro knitting group last night at open eye and met a whole crowd of amazing and like-minded knitters. most are on ravelry--one is a moderator of the new destash--and, unlike other knit groups i've attended in the area, all of them are totally online-knit savvy and no one was knitting with acrylic. i even met a super-fun knitter who shares my current fancy for getting pygmy goats. our landlord would love that.

as for sewing, i'm the official museum seamstress: the preparators hired me to make pillow inserts for 25 pillowcases that will be included in their next exhibition. i'll post a photo of the mountain of pillows and my makeshift sewing area next time...

for the moment, a few projects. here's jarrett, a rather sweltering piece to knit in this heat, for mr. boot.
and a quick string bag, crocheted from a pattern in erika knight's simple crochet with leftover recycled cotton yarn. i began this one after attempting the magknits saturday market bag and failing miserably at even this simple lace stitch, in size 15 needles. but i like this bag better, anyway. yeah.

the bag is filled with cucumbers: there are currently 11 in the fridge. i must make pickles soon and find people to take them off my hands. any takers?

and finally, a parting shot of this week's CSA box: