Giant Wobot Twees

Finally. It has been an unseasonably warm October. We have only needed to set a couple of fires and the cottonwoods, which should be bare now, are finally turning gold. It's good to see storm clouds. Even in New York, the weather had been so warm that the trees in Central Park only started to turn the days before we left. Worrisome.

Cottonwood trees are ubiquitous to Northern Nevada. Walter Van Tildenburg Clark named his classic book, City of Trembling Leaves, after these mammoth trees. They have a wonderful sound, a rustling, rather like running water in a creek bed.

I parked and waited until the clouds parted to catch this photo. Their color is brilliant when the sun hits them. I was late for the meeting I was driving to because I just wanted to get one more picture, and one more, and...
one more. Since I had parked the car, I just had to walk up and catch this picture of the dammed pond at Ross Creek. Nevada doesn't have many colors so that makes what we get all the more special.

I love these trees. They speak to me of the ability to thrive against odds. When grandson Kiernan was little and we'd drive by, he anticipated seeing the "giant wobot twees." He saw them as awesome, and that was the best he could describe them. Not bad.

Fiber stuff to come - spin-in here tomorrow.

Mexican Shawl

We got back from California last Saturday to find a postal delivery notice in our mailbox. A surprise package! A local horse rancher allows parcels to be delivered to her ranch so that we don't have to drive all the way back into town for them, so even though the post office was closed, we got our box.
My sister-in-law in Washing-
ton had sent us this shawl, hand-
woven from hand spun singles from two natural colors of wool.
The weaver is from San Miguel de Allande. She and my brother had lived there for ten years when they had a designer furniture business, prior to the market crash. Many of the things in their home come from there, and I have admired this shawl for years.
She has been going through things and passing them onto family members ever since Bob died two years ago. When we were there this summer, she and I went through photos. When I called to thank her for the shawl, she said that in cleaning things out, she came across a second shawl and knew it should belong to me. Click for big - the work blows me away.



I decided it should live here, at least for now. While it is beautiful, it is not soft. Suddenly I am awash in shawls - all the more reason to weave yardage.

Mt Lassen National Park

Last weekend we ran (hah) over to Redding, a three-hour drive, to watch grandson CJ play football. This is CJ's senior year and he is now getting academic and sports scholarship offers. Since we're retired, we finally get to see him play. We drove home, taking a side trip through Lassen National Park.

We have talked about driving through the park forever, but this time we did it, though I did wince at the $10 price tag. This is Lake Ellen - one of the many lakes and a convenient "convenience" stop.
We were lucky to have unseason-
able weather. The water is so clear that from our point of view, you can see see though the water all the way to the shoreline rocks.
Lassen is known as an area of volcantic activity, and I think people people forget that it also has glacial history. Here you can see an erratic and also the glacial polish on nearby stones.
If you look closely (really, you must click for big) you can see how the glaciers slid across these stones and wore them off to be the truncated rocks that they are today. This really is a geologically young area.
I took about a hundred pictures and it has been so hard to parse them into a few. This is a plug. It's an extrusion from the lava source and had dirt around it which wasn't as durable. Thus, you see it - a plug.
The vent from this sulfurous steam hole is beyond descrip-
tion. It's like farts on steroids - I actually stood in front of it so I know this. I'm a good sport but not enough for that picture.

Boiling mud, anyone? It's right across the roadway from the steam vents. You can see the shadow of the protective fence - a reminder that Lassen is an active volcano.

We parked and walked back to see it - scary and marvelous. We want to go back and take some of the hikes. We're retired. Next year. Snow is in the forecast.

What I Did Yesterday

I need more hat yarn so oven-dyed four batches of four-ounce rovings and put them on the deck to dry. We have had unseasonably warm weather, but I did need to bring them in overnight since it was going to get down to freezing.
I went over to Mim's today after lunch. We looked at her new sheep that she talked about here. We sat up in her studio, talked and talked, she spun and I knitted, and we teased the rovings into these lovely bumps.
I used past Blogger dye notes and used this color in a progres-
sion, maybe transition? Dye notes for me in Gaywool Dyes:
1. Mulberry, olive and honeycomb.
2. Lily, honeycomb and mulberry.

I got pink in my mind so the last two have pink and no yellow.

3. Blend of myrtle/
indigo, mulberry, cyclamen.
4. Myrtle, lily and cyclamen.

It was such a pretty day. I stopped the car and to catch this shot. We call these peaks The Pinnacles.

Trip Knitting

Jimmy Bean's had some sock yarn earlier this year that was custom dyed by Indie Dyer. I bought two skeins. I took both with me, not expecting to knit two pair of socks, but I did. This pair is for me.

These are for Little Sharon. I wasn't able to finish them while she was with us but did finish them before we got home. I've since put them in the mail to her.
I used the same pattern for both pair and really like how it makes a little ripple effect. I use a basic sock pattern that I have memorized and cast on 60 stitches. It's a six-stitch pattern over four rows.

Chevron Lace:
1. k2, k2 tog, k2, yo
2. knit
3. yo,k2, k2 tog, k2
4. knit

Saying Goodbye to New York

We are standing on the High Line, which is an abandoned elevated freight railroad line built in the 1930s to eliminate fatal accidents in the Chelsea and meat packing district. By public demand it has been rescued and is now designated as a greenway. Currently it runs about 1.5 miles though more development is planned. The people fought for it and the people use it.

There is seating everywhere, something that was in short supply on our jaunts so we availed ourselves. It's really a long thin park, planted in xeric landscape and wonderfully enveloping environment. As we look our leave, I noticed this artist and asked if he'd mind if I took his picture.


I took this picture from the living room window the night before we left of the sun setting over the Hudson River. We had the full gamut of weather while we were there, as though it were thwarting all prognostications.
So what did we bring back from New York besides memories. Let's see. I brought back a signed copy of The Women by T.C. Boyle. And this is, in fact, a picture of T.C. Boyle that I took with my very own camera. Our book group read his book, Inner Circle last month, so I was able to have a easy conversation with him about it. I had expected a dude with a 'tude and I couldn't have been more wrong. I found him warm, interested and quick witted, though I already knew about the latter.
What else did we bring back from New York? This wig for Alexia for one thing. She absolutely loves it. I also brought back books from The Strand, a bookstore on 12th Street and Broadway that advertises 8.2 miles of books on three floors. Niece Allison showed it to us on our first trip and it has been a destination for me ever since. No visit there is long for me. In fact, I bought so many books that I had to buy a backpack at Macy's - okay, I did buy something besides a beer - so I could put them in there and check the bag. With Southwest, you get two bags. It was a real book bag. I guess I don't have to tell you that I had a great time.

Shopping New York

For dinner shopping, we ended up at the Fairway Market at rush hour and this is what the deli counter looks like then. The Fairway is a traditional grocery store in the Upper West Side and if you haven't been there, you will probably run across this name at some point.
The selection and shopping compe-
tition is crazy, but my favorite part is the cheese corner which is right behind the olive barrels. It has the best fromages counter I have experienced. We made cheese and bread our dinner every night - cheap and delicious. Our big meal was noon.
If you are a fan of Fashion Runway, then you under-
stand this. I went to Mood. It's at 225 W 37th Street and not obvious at all. We found it thanks to a FedEx delivery guy. It is in a commercial building and you get there by elevator, operator run, and the elevator has to call back for you.

I haven't sewed for 20 years at least so I'm not sure why I wanted to come, other than that I love Project Runway. Also, I've been saying that I want to weave to sew - so. I bought fabric. Expensive fabric. And since returning home, I've dragged down my sewing machine to the dining room. I'm practicing on "other" fabric for now.

I am very confused about sewing from my own hand-
woven fabric, and as expensive as the Mood fabrics were, I won't cringe like I will when I cut into handwoven. I am trying to sort this out in my head because come what may - I am going to sew with my own fabric in 2010.

I need to move on and promise to wrap up New York tomorrow. I could go on and on - but I won't.

New York Chic

Little Sharon, who lives in San Francisco, wore these boots in New York (subway shot). I learned very quickly why these boots are practical. When it rains, your legs stay dry. I, on the other hand, brought Keens and my pants in the rain were wet half way to my knees.





Please note the woman in the center - those are the boots I'm talking about. We had just left the Museum of Art and Design at Columbus Circle, now my most favorite museum in the world.
It got weird in a hurry. Police were every-
where and two dump trucks were backing up together in front of the Time Warner Building. Ian wondered if there was a bomb threat.

It was pretty strange because with the blockade and police, there really was no where to go. Lights changed but no one could cross so we thronged - is that a verb? To throng or not to throng. It wasn't the quesiton. We thronged.
I asked one of the many policeman who said simply - The President is coming. Ah hah. He was coming to The Mandarin which is in the Time Warner building. That explained the blockade and resulting throng. What I want you to see is the astounding propensity for New Yorkers to wear black.

Sitting outside of 30 Rock watching the ice skaters, I had to laugh. Even the pigeons wear black. If you're going to New York, here's my advice. Pack black.


We stopped for a sit-down at Herald Square. There's only so much the feet can take. I realized when I saw the couple sitting across from us that fashion in New York has a very elastic definition.

Check out his shoes and handbag.

Architecture II

These are the buildings outside MOMA. Little Sharon said she was disap-
pointed when she got to the place we were staying, because she expected New York to have tall buildings. These are tall buildings and I probably what people think of when they think of NYC skyline.
This from MOMA. It's the only picture of the exhibits I took but I just had to - Campbell. It was our first visit to MOMA and we flew through in a mere 3 1/2 hours. We were unaware that the museum opened to the public on Friday nights and by the time we left, the building was flooded with art fans. Retrieving our coats from coat check was an experience all in itself - a good one, thanks to humorous and creative staff.


I couldn't resist the Mc-
Donald's marquee in Times Square. I think it speaks volumes.

We were staying in the Upper West Side so this was our subway stop. It's just north of where Amsterdam and Broadway cross and that is the source of a lot confusion. This is the oldest subway station and about a half mile walk for us from Rochelle's apartment.


It is also the site for the Ansonia, built at the turn of the century. It was another residential apartment building that was slated for the wrecking ball, but was converted into condos in the 1990s.
Another fascinating building at the 72nd Street subway station is the Dorilton. It was built as a masonic temple but has been since reclaimed into yet another apartment building. I can't help but be fascinated by the mansard roof and gargoyles. Who doesn't love a gargoyle.





Also near the subway station is Ian's favorite NYC fast food - apart from chocolate chip cookies and bagels - Gray's Papaya. You get two hot dogs and papaya juice for one low price. I love the lady walking her dog. Irony?
Michelle expressed surprise at the water towers. They're actually required by law for fire purposes. It's difficult to pump water to the top of buildings in the the case of fire, hence their existence. I'm not sure how effective they are but I think they're cool.
I took this picture from the kitchen window one night and I hope it emparts the energy of the city at night. We didn't partake.