Beret Parade

Berets are the hot fashion accessory for Fall. I was a knitting machine this past week. I made three berets this past weekend with a Floppy Hat Pattern from the Stitch Cafe and I also knit up Lé Slouch by Knit and Tonic.




This floppy hat pattern is FAST. You knit it up on size 17 needles. You know how I love me some BIG needles.



The yarn for this hat is Vintage 2006 Bulky in Natural (100% Alpaca), Kathmandu Aran in 122 (85% Merino, 10% Silk, 5% Cashmere), and Glimmer (95% Baby Alpaca, 5% polyester). I doubled stranded the bulky yarn! The pattern is free at the Stitch Cafe! However I purchased the yarn for these hats at Itza Knitterie. I started this hat two weekends ago and had to go back on Saturday to get more yarn to finish up the hat. I also bought more yarn for the next two hats. Oh yeah and two more hats to come!




Vintage 2006 Bulky in Grey (100% Alpaca), Kathmandu DK in 414 (85% Merino, 10% Silk, 5% Cashmere), and Grignasco Top Print in 076 (100% Alpaca).




Vintage 2006 Bulky in Fawn (100% Alpaca), Kathmandu DK in 418 (85% merino, 10% silk, 5% Cashmere), and Grignasco Top Print in 412 (100% alpaca).


Here's Lé Slouch.

Knit Picks Andean Treasure in Sunset (100% Baby Alpaca). This was also double stranded and knit up in a week! Guess what everyone is getting for Christmas!

Itza Knitterie

There is a new knit shop on the block. It's called Itza Knitterie. It's located on the cutest street in Kenneth Village on the border of Glendale and Burbank. Darcy discovered the shop and we made a date to meet on Saturday for some knit time. Lori joined us too. The owner's name is Maritza. She was really friendly. She has a nice selection of yarn (loads of Berroco) and some serious knitting skills. She was working up the cutest, lacy baby dress. All the cotton yarns were on sale. The street the shop is located on harkens back to an earlier era. It's a block long neighborhood street with mom and pop shops lining both sides. The old timey corner gas station is a florist and the old body shop is now a yoga studio. There is a French Bakery, a little market, an Italian restaurant, a pet store, a small coffee house that serves food, a cute clothing store, and a mortuary to name some of the businesses. The closest major cross streets are Glenoak and Western.

Kenneth Village is having a Fall Festival (3-6pm for families) and a Rockabilly Bash (8-11pm for adults) next Saturday October 20. Knitting, a parade, and a rocking bash to boot. Woohoo sounds like fun!

Lori is busy finishing up her Library Science Degree this semester. Hopefully when she is finished we will be seeing and reading more about her in the New Year. Gads...that's fast approaching.

For Carla

Who never met a sewing machine that she didn't like.

Dreaming of Breakfast

This is Ricotta & Dark Chocolate gelati on brioche. This is the Sicilian breakfast. This is my perfect breakfast...a dream breakfast. I will have to keep dreaming until next time I am in Sicilia.

Do you see the sugar crystals topping the brioche?



First bite = Pure BLISS



This is the American Apple Pie I made in Todi.

Isn't she purty?

This is what the table looked like every morning for breakfast.


Usually I had cookies and tea for breakfast, but this particular morning I had apple pie.

YUM!

Welcome Home

There is nothing like being on vacation. Italy has many wonderful things. I would live there in a hot minute. But the beds and the bathrooms...well...the showers are small and the beds are not so good. Traveling for an extended period of time leaves you longing for your own bed and your own shower. My bedroom in Todi was totally cute. Loved it. The twin bed, however, was more of a hammock.

Here is my room.





Small but lovely. And here is my terrace...


It faces the Porta Romana and the Porta Romana faces Roma. The house was just outside the ancient city walls.

And this is the art in my room.



I was definitely in the right place.

But this is about coming home. All good things come to an end and so did my vacation. I was looking forward to seeing all my furry ones. I was missing them.

One Roman taxi, Two AirFrance flights, and one LA taxi later we finally arrive home. YAY HOME! My critters. My own bed. YAY! Where are the kitters? We walk into the bedroom and there was a nice present of poo on top of the bed. Welcome Home! Nothing like a fresh one on the bed to say I love you, I missed you. Wiggs was the culprit. He has a history of bad behavior. And where is the smell of cat piss coming from? Stripped the bed, scowled at the cats, and plopped on the couch. We didn't figure out where the cat piss smell was coming from until five hours later when jet lagged tired we decide to go to bed. Yes...the bed...the cats had been using the bed as a litterbox for who knows how long. There was a two feet in diameter circle of cat pee on the mattress. I am not joking. It was a big ole puddle of cat pee. The mystery of the stench was solved. We spent the first night home on separate couches.

The next morning we bought a brand new tempurpedic bed and it was delivered the same day. Can you believe it?! (If you need a mattress, see Andrew at the Mattress Gallery on Melrose and La Cienaga. He gave us the best customer service. Such a rarity in this day and age. Andrew was awesome and got us our bed the same day.) According to Andrew, they get customers at least once a month due to cats peeing on the bed. Hell hath no fury like a cat and Wiggs is my hellcat. My newest bed accessory is a blue tarp. Yes, the kind you use for camping. We have had no further incidents on our new bed, but Wiggs did pee on the dog bed. Bodhi has had to rough it on the carpet since then. Did I say I missed my critters? I was thinking they might become coyote chow, but we have made a peace. Purrs and snores...We are all sleeping very well on our new bed.