Busy as a Bumblebee

Even though we've been doing so much travelling lately, I've managed to get quite a lot of knitting done. I have 6 finished projects, two of which I will write about today and one which I have to keep secret until Christmas. And I also have another two projects which I will finish this week (not to mention my icarus shawl and a new cardigan that I started last week)!

The first finished project is a cardigan I knit back in September for my niece Charlotte. It was only just recently finished since it sat around for almost 2 months waiting for me to attach a button!
Pattern: Ribbed Jacket from the book "Special Knits" by Debbie Bliss.

Yarn: Knit Picks "Swish Superwash" (100% Superwash Wool) in Bubblegum

The pattern was easy to follow and I LOVED that it only had two seams! I would definitely knit this again.

My second finished project is a felted purse/make-up bag that I made for my cousin and it is my own pattern (very easy)!!! I had intended for it to be a make-up bag but it ended up a bit wider than I had anticipated. I'm really very happy with it though - I think it's cute!

Pattern: Made it up as I went along!

Yarn: Brown Sheep Nature Spun worsted weight (100% Wool) in Charcoal.

So there you have it - two finished projects! We have a short work week this week because of Thanksgiving, so hopefully I will be able to update you with some more finished projects and photos of our trip to Carlsbad Caverns and Arizona.

California Part 2

Picking up where we left off.....
After 3 wonderful days in San Francisco, we picked up our hire car and headed south to San Diego. On our way, we visited Monterey where I had my first clam chowder experience - YUM!!!!

We also drove "17 Mile Drive" between Monterey and Carmel and saw the famous Pebble Beach golf course.

We ended that day at Pismo Beach, arriving to see a beautiful sunset. We hit the road early the following morning - our first stop, the cute Danish village of Solvang.
We drove through Malibu and hit LA traffic at about 2pm, which was pretty scary (though Brad did a great job). We finally arrived in San Diego where we stayed at La Pensione, a great little hotel in Little Italy and as soon as we arrived, we headed off to discover the harbour.

The following day we headed off the the San Diego zoo. I think we arrived at the zoo at 10am and didn't end up leaving until almost 5pm - it is massive! The only negative, maybe a few too many antelopes and pigs!

Our second last day of our trip was spent at Seaworld where we saw the famous killer whale Shamu. We also saw a few other animals that we had never seen before, I think the walrus was our favourite. We also got to see the manatees (aka. sea cows) which I think they're pretty cute.

Our last morning in San Diego was spent down in the gaslamp district and around the harbour. I was actually sad to leave San Diego. It is a really beautiful city with great food, public transport and the ocean - I think it would be a great place to live!

Warning: There will be A LOT of knitting content in the next post!