the sign that greets you as you enter the town. which is just one of the charming sights we saw as we arrived on saturday to meet up with knitting friends for my last day in southern california (boo-hoo!!).
we met up with jocelyn and laura at a little craft bazaar just inside town.
i’m confessing right now: i was not a good blog photographer yesterday—we spent so much time chattering and mooning over each other’s knits that i forgot to use my camera (blame it on “deer in the headlights” syndrome).
we got right down to business with eating first thing, and settled on this charming peruvian café, which turned out to be a most excellent choice
peruvian—who knew?? i don’t think i’d ever seen a restaurant devoted to that cuisine before, but wow, do they know good eats (and drinks!). i highly recommend it; everything we ordered was yummy, yummy, and yummy. and they left us lots of time to talk, talk, talk—cuz, you know we will run on.
after that we scooted back down the block to common threads yarn shop
where nancy, one of the owners, was a most gracious host. the yarn collected here is widely varied and arranged mostly by color in room after room. then way in the back there is a comfortable spot to peruse a large selection of books and patterns. or, to chat and fawn over each other’s knits (and those of other customers passing through; ummm, we might have groped one or two passersby . . . ). we took a few snaps of each other in our various laces
that’s laura on the left, kim (sadly blogless) in the middle, and jocelyn on the right. kim and laura are wearing a couple of laura’s original knitted shawls, and jocelyn is sporting her hand knitted gust scarf.
then we hiked up to the black sheep, where we found another great selection of yarns, bags, buttons, and fiber goodies.
i bought a beautiful hand button to add to my hand collection, but nothing else . . i was so good, even though i was actually wanting to buy at least one thing in each shop. but i have so much yarn already . . . .
we managed to find a chocolate shop (seriously how hard is that with four knitters on the lookout), so that i could get a tasty gift to bring home for david. at Chuao we found the perfect selection for any discerning chocolate lover,
plus samples and tables to sit and talk some more. i mean it, we really need to schedule several days for knitters summit talks next time . . .
it was a fun, fun day, and so good to meet up with friends.
after some sweet good-byes with the kids (there may have been a tear or two on my part), kim dropped me at the airport to catch my all-night flight home. i was the only passenger with a light on all night—i was awake and knitting the whole flight. i finished the body of the star shawl and started the edging, only to find that i hated it.
with a little reorganizing of the edging choice needed, i put that project away and knitted on the second spectator sock. i had about 3 inches on it when we took off, and now i’m almost done. but i’m pretty sure i’m going to run out of yarn at the toe—drat! i’ll run over to ravelry when i’m through here and see if i can scare up a few yards of someone’s leftovers to buy.
or you know, if anyone out there happens to have leftovers of medium weight STR in haida colorway, give me a shout-out!
i’ll show pictures of that stuff tomorrow . . . i’ve been sleeping since i got home at noon, and now it’s too dark to get pictures. but one thing i did attend to
there was a little box sitting on the hall steps with my name on it when i got in from the airport—a surprise gift from our friend >ronni. just take a gander at that delicious, smooshy yarn . . . is that me or what?? it’s handmaiden casbah—my first; i’ve never knit with handmaiden before, so this is bound to be a real treat. and i love the little bee candle. i don’t think i can bring myself to burn it, but maybe some night out on the porch i will . . . we can’t hang onto everything past its prime, after all . . . .
this week we will be back to our regular knitting posts, with scenes of the past week running through my head. can’t wait to show you what my garden has been up to while i was gone.
ok, time for me to go make up with my shawl and proceed to the finish with it. and, i have about a bajillion patterns to print and ship (hmm, for the sake of accuracy, maybe i’ll do that tomorrow).
23 thoughts on “nothing says “encinitas” like . . .”
I’m glad you had a good time, but I’m glad you’re home. You had some great surprises waiting for you! What colorway is the Casbah?
Welcome back! I vicariously enjoyed your trip so much. I love Laura’s shawl with the black edging. Clever idea. Now I can’t wait to see what’s next from your needles and garden.
Sorry, my Haida is heavyweight not mediumweight. I’m sorry to hear you and the shawl had a falling out. I hope you kiss and make up soon. I wanna see it.
Welcome home! I really enjoyed reading about your trip to SoCal….*sigh* someday I will make it back there.
Welcome home, my friend – goodbyes are always so bittersweet.
Donn’cha just hate it when you run out of yarn on a sock project? ugh. I will bet that someone has some – or maybe just email Tina and Kaci (they might have some bits hanging around – and since it’s YOU, they’ll send them on! – *grin* they’re nice that way)
Have a restful week ahead, as you ease back into mid-west time zone.
It was *wonderful* meeting you, Kim, and Jocelyn on Saturday. Had tons of fun. Wasn’t lunch incredible? I’d eat there again in a heartbeat.
I had a great time, too — it was so lovely to finally “meet” you (and Laura and Kim!) in person (have to put quotes there; I feel like we’d already met!) 🙂 I know what you mean about photos — I went to look at mine and found that I’d only taken five… I was having far too much fun to get the camera out!
BOO HOO and BOO HOO!!!!! that’s all we have to say about it at our house!!!!!! And chica still misses you….
Welcome home Anne and thank you such a lovely run down on your vacation. I loved all the pictures. 🙂 You could get a job in the Tourist Board, I really want to visit there now 🙂
Happy Knitting 🙂
Wow, talk about Seriously Good Times Made!
That little candle… I was thinking the same thing, it would be hard to light that little Beauty.
Catch up on your sleep and take it easy, if you can! What a fun day of knitting/shopping, too! Glad you made it home safely.
Looks like you had a wonderful trip!
Sounds like you had a great time! I can’t wait to see all the knitting you have been doing and how your garden looks now.
glad you’re back home (so we can get more garden pictures) but i have had *tons* of fun seeing highlights of your trip to places i know so well – you made me miss southern california even more than usual!
Oh, I love Common Threads! I regularly drive 40 minutes each way to visit the yarn there.
Did you try Chuao’s spicy hot chocolate? It’s the best!
Black Sheep! My favorite shop in the area. (I’ve never managed to get to Common Threads during their business hours.) Those ladies actually let me stay past closing once whilst DH ran off to find a drugstore for some diapers. Sigh. I so miss Encinitas. Vigilucci’s is good for pasta, next time you’re there.
To me, being back home usually feels both sad (vacation is over!) and good (ah, *my* bed!) at the same time, and I think that bittersweet feeling is quite enjoyable in itself. Enjoy the best of it while you revel in the great memories and discover again all those little things you love at home.
It looks like you had a fantastic trip! Must be good to be home, though. I can’t wait to see what your garden has been up to. I live in a basement apartment right now, so I live vicariously through your garden. 🙂
Welcome back! BTW, I was at MD Sheep and Wool this weekend, and one of the big prize winners in the arts/ projects section was your Bee Fields shawl, done in red Jaggerspun… gorgeous! The knitter was from Baltimore, but I didn’t get her name. It was so nice to see it in person! Now if I can find some time to start on mine…
For a minute there, I was worried about the lack of stash enhancement, but then I remembered that your stash gets enhanced all the time! Seriously, Handmaiden Casbah that just lands on your doorstep? It must really suck to be you! 😉
I’m making a pair of socks in the Casbah right now and it’s lovely yarn! Smooshy and springy, with a nice body to it, doesn’t split or fuzz… just finger flow through smooooooth.
you certainly hit the best spots on your vacation and you captured it wonderfully with your camera. I’m thrilled to learn about the chocolate shop I hadn’t heard of it before and chocolate and knitting are a fabulous combination. I’m waiting on some handmaiden and looking forward to knitting it for the first time! Can’t wait to see your garden pics! =)
OMG I love that Peruvian restaurant! I’m so glad you got to go there. YUM! And those are both great yarn shops… I got my first skein of sock yarn and first pair of sock needles at Black Sheep. Such a cute little town and a great rest stop between LA and San Diego. I’m glad you had so much fun!
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