Warm & Cozy...in July???

Edited for better photos!  Original batch was yuck! Check it out?

I love to knit...but I don't consider myself a knitter. My finished work definitely reeks of homemade!

I love the feel of the yarns and the rhythmic busywork for my hands, as I sit and visit with friends who come to share my beach. It's waaay too hot to hold a big quilt on my lap, to sew those endless binding edges that are so patiently awaiting me...and so I knit.

I found this cool knitting and crocheting site: Ravelry through blogging. I love it---all these patterns available for a fast download (some even free!). I chose a scarf: Just Enough Ruffles by Laura Chau.

I forget if I found the yarn resource there too, or on another blog: Purl Soho . I wanted to buy cashmere (um, no. gosh, it is expensive!) but chose this lovely alpaca merino blend instead, in a soft pale grey-blue, like fog: Blue Sky Alpacas Suri Merino.

The photos don't do the color justice, it's so delicate and pretty. It reminds me of my hydrangeas as their colors begin to fade...so next winter when I wear it I'll remember today was one of the hottest days of July. And it will keep me toasty warm!

Feels so  soft and cozy too.

The pattern Just Enough Ruffles by Laura Chau is fun and fairly fast (I am a veerrry slow knitter). It has a weird wrap and shape thing going on here that I don't consciously understand, but so far it seems to be okay.

If I like the result I may try this Lion Brand Merino cashmere...It seems to be priced okay, until you see that the skeins are very small...but great colors. Palest shell pink? The turquoise?  For a special someone's Christmas, maybe?  bet it would make wonderful socks too.

I sure hope the ruffles work!

Have a great weekend!

love

                lizzy

   gone to the beach...

Summer Evenings

I love to walk on the beach on a hot summer evening...

I have a swim, do some beachcombing....

Lotta beachcombing competition in the summer! Some weekends the sand seems swept clean, lol...

I love to look at the big pieces that wash ashore. Wonder what this was? It's huge!

A pier or dock? A ship plank? The rusty bolts are almost as thick as my wrists...

And this wonderfully weathered big crate...

I see a chic beachy coffee table here: some whitewash, a glass top, baskets in the partitioned spaces.

So cool, right?

Lucky for me (and my living room) it weighed about 100 pounds.

Then I enjoy the glorious sunset! It looked like mother-of-pearl tonight.

PS Please remember! ONLY swim when beaches are open and there are lifeguards present! Never venture further than ankle deep as dusk approaches---and never take your eyes off your kids! Have fun, be safe. And please teach your kids to respect the shore birds [including gulls] and horseshoe crabs! It is their beach, not ours.

love

           lizzy

            ............gone to the beach

Havin' a Heat Wave!

Oh it is soooo hot! (No surprises there, right? It's hot where you are too, I bet.)

Too hot for  the flea market! Almost too hot for the beach.....

So instead of new flea market finds today, here's what I've been doing with that glass heart mold I got in the spring....

Here it is with a simple white vanilla-scented  pillar candle anchored in a handful of white beach pebbles...

...a few favorite sea treasures and old white ironstone platter and jug.

I love the way the white marble washstand top echoes the colors and graining of my beach stones. I hold the pebbles in my wet sandy hand and wonder where they come from? Are they marble too...or quartz?

And this is the heart and candle with a few nautical pretties, for a festive outdoor dinner....

and today it holds new beach finds...

and pocket gleanings from this hottest July day...

The hunt is fun...and the oh wow moment when a new old thing suddenly works is great too. Like---Ya knew you loved it, now what? And then...ah-ha!

Any ah-ha flea market moments in your summer? I want to know.

love

                         lizzy

gone to the beach............