A Change Of Scene

I was very lucky this past weekend to have the opportunity to escape this:

which, let's face it, gets a little old after a while.  I got to spend a whole 36 hours in much more welcoming weather.

Ahhhhhhhh... doesn't that look much better?  I was in Los Angeles this weekend playing an audition for grad school and was so glad to have timed it perfectly to catch the day or two of sun between all the rain they've been having in California (although I don't actually know if it was as far south as LA).  It was nice to enjoy the warmth, to see hummingbirds and palm trees, to walk on grass again, to hang out with my favorite birds ever*, and to spend a day in the company of my sister and brother-in-law, who were kind enough to drive up to LA for the day and accompany me to my audition (and take me out to lunch, and to dinner, and keep me company, and take me to Unwind, etc...).

I even brought some knitting on my day-long trip.  Normally I'm not a public knitter because I think it draws too much attention to myself and I don't like being in the spotlight, and I tend to be patient enough to not need it to keep me sane.  However, I knew that I would be spending plenty of time on airplanes and that I have a lot of knitting projects that have been on the needles for months that I want to get done.  I actually almost cast on a pair of socks to bring on the trip, but at the last minute - because I couldn't find my swatch measurements anywhere and didn't want to knit yet another swatch just for a pair of socks - I instead grabbed my Fernfrost and went on my merry way.

and look!  It's almost done now.  And yes, you get a B&W picture because my camera wasn't cooperating.  The yarn is white anyway, so it's not a big deal.  That there I think is 9 of the recommended 11 repeats for the scarf.  I'm a bit worried though, because the finished measurements say it should be 48" long, and I don't think mine is anywhere near that.  I'm just going to knit until I run out of yarn anyway (which most likely will be in about two repeats, go figure) and block it to death.  Sound good?

Oh, and I know I promised more pictures of Brigade, but uh, don't hold your breath, ok?  Thanks.  He was actually lost for a while, but then I found him (on the way to the airport, he was in my back seat) and, well, I just don't think I'll ever get around to taking more pictures of it.  Sorry.

Also, I'll probably continue to be relatively absent from the blog for the next couple of weeks.  I'm only back in town for two days and then I have to drive to Michigan for another audition, and then another city in Michigan the next day, and then I have to drive back to Wisconsin and fly out to Pittsburgh and, well, I don't predict there will be much knitting to show in the near future.

*My sister likes to make fun of me for being so excited about my favorite birds being in the tree outside my audition building in Los Angeles, but really, it was wonderful.  Cedar Waxwings I think are both really beautiful to look at, and their talking (I wouldn't call it chirping, and I don't think you can call it singing, I guess it's more like whistling) is so relaxing and peaceful.  They're not loud or piercing, it's just a gentle background chatter they have going on and I love listening to them.  (Although seagulls - more accurately I suppose I should just say "gulls" as those of the "sea" variety are just one of the many kinds -  are a close runner-up because I love watching them fly.)