Pacific Grove

Yikes!  I guess I've had Blogger's Block! A whole month with nothing to share??  One would have thought that May 2010 was a horribly boring, uncreative 31 days of my life.  But actually, it was quite the opposite.  I have been knitting up a storm, and have even taught myself to crochet (although that was technically a June event...more on why it's been classified as an "event" later). 

A highlight of my May was a trip to California to visit some very special friends and celebrate the upcoming delivery of a very special baby.  Here are the deets:

Pacific Grove, California - "PG" to the locals - is the hometown of my wonderful friend C. (who happens to have an *amazing* food blog).  I've been so lucky to have C. on the East coast for the past 7-or-so years - her friendship is a true blessing in my life.  I've also been lucky to have the opportunity to travel to "PG" once or twice to see her 'hood and celebrate some important events. If you've never been to PG or the Monterey peninsula, you should probably just stop reading right now and hop onto orbitz or travelocity or kayak.com or...something!  You are totally missing out.  It's beyond ridiculously gorgeous...blue water, rocky coastline, abundant succulents of all shapes and sizes.  And the people - creative, friendly, open-minded.  I mean seriously - take a look:

Heaven!

PG is also home to Monarch Knitting and Quilts, a great yarn shop nestled into downtown with a huge supply of cool stuff.  C. has asked me to knit/crochet her a pair of these, which she found on etsy (twist my arm!!) - they are baby versions of these knitted Uggs...and are so irresistable. Her little girl is going to look so freaking cute sporting these things!  I like the crocheted version MUCH better than the knit version (hence the crochet "event" that pretty much consumed my life last week) and have been committed to producing them with perfection since I was charged with the task.  I'm happy to say that after several botched attempts, and a few sleepless nights, I finally have a finished product and can now call myself a (beginner) crocheter!  (And certifiably OCD).  I will post the pics in a few weeks, after the mini-Uggs have been gifted to my dear C. (and baby Peaches).

C. and I spent some time together at Monarch the morning of her baby shower and she picked out the coolest yarn for these booties.  It is made by women in Bolivia and distributed by a non-profit called Frog Tree Yarns - a company which imports eco-friendly, fair trade, hand crafted items from South America, primarily Peru and Bolivia.  Their website tells their story - check it out, and ask your LYS if they carry their stuff.  If they don't, they should.  We found a blue-ish gray sport weight Alpaca which worked out perfectly.  C. also picked out some adorable buttons that give the booties a girlie twist but keep them funky. I can't wait to post the pics!!

The trip to Monarch was only one highlight of my California adventure. I got to spend lots of quality time with my friend P., who recently relocated from Boston to Santa Monica (and whom I miss dearly), and C.'s baby shower was beautiful, fun, and so darn creative!  Her friend A. hosted the event and is brilliantly creative - (check out her stationary company) so the shower was full of clever details.  So inspiring!  The icing on the cake is that I even got to make a pit stop in Chicago (thanks to an airline snafu) to see N. and baby Lilah!!!  What a treat!!!  I'm still buzzing...

I certainly didn't think that this blog would evolve into being all about baby knitting, but that's just where I'm at right now I guess (er...I mean where my friends are at! Don't get too excited yet Mom!!)

I'll leave you with this:

xoxo.