follow your arrow

i finished my 'follow your arrow' mystery knit along shawl with ysolda! it's a bit wild, the colors!  but kind of part of the mystery and experimenting, this was SO MUCH FUN! a very first mystery kal for me. suddenly mondays became something extra to look forward to, each clue was released this day, there were five in all. i so enjoyed reading through the threads in the raverly group set up just for this. every week would start the same, jump out of bed, check for the new clue, go to work (thinking about which clue to choose, there were two options within each) and hurry home to begin knitting. i'm going to miss it!  

raverly link ~ follow your arrow

joining with ~ yarn along

lately a lot of fun (and not so much) has been happening. i went wine tasting with good friends again, up to the santa ynez valley, santa barbara's wine country. we met the sweetest puppy at one of the winery's, saw LOTS of ducks in a nearby pond, and found handmade cork ponies.  visited a new to us fantastic restaurant, and i found pom pom yarn! somehow the pom pom's knit right into the fabric, we'll see... the pom pom party continues here. hee hee. the not so fun thing that happened was i've not been feeling well. better now, thankfully. flowers are blooming and birds are singing, clogs are getting broken in :)  it is feeling very much like spring.






* more africa here!

xxxxxxxxxxx lori

wine country

welcome to the wine country! we visited a few of northern santa barbara county's tasting rooms on tuesday
(i got the day off work) my friends pat and karen had a wine pickup ready and invited me along. i LOVE going to wine country!

"the hit motion picture, Sideways, put the Santa Maria Valley viticultural appellation, including the Foxen Canyon Wine Trail, on the map in 2004. Following the picturesque winding roads of  Tepesquet and Foxen Canyon will lead you to world-class wineries by way of sprawling vineyards and rolling hills. In the more northern region of the appellation, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir reign due to the maritime climate. This ensures a long temperate growing season which the Burgundian varietals crave. In the southern region of the appellation, the trail moves a bit east resulting in hotter days and cooler nights. Bordeaux and Rhone varieties flourish in this more extreme climate. The wineries in this region boast a concentration of California's most well know wine-makers; join them year round in the tasting rooms or at the many weekend events."

the day was glorious, sunshiny and autumny warm, a slight breeze sent turning leaves across our path. we visited four wineries and i made many uneducated impressions about the wines we tasted. my friends said it matters not, you know what you like! we spent the entire day out, returning home with thirty minutes to spare before our needlework ~ embroidery class. which was kind of funny, and probably not the best idea to combine these activities in the same day. :)  without looking too closely, here is what i am working on...

wool felt embroidery on wool and a little needlebook, it was one of our first projects, it's so handy and i really love the oak leaves and acorns.  :)
xxxxxxxxx lori