A Glimpse of Barcelona and Yarn

Hello my friends.  I hope you had a lovely Labor Day holiday.  Can you believe that summer is almost over and that fall is on it's way?  Back in July, I was in Barcelona, Spain for a few days.  My sister-in-law, who is an avid knitter, wanted to visit a yarn shop.  We found via Google a shop named All you Knit is Love.  

If you ever happen to visit Barcelona, this shop is so easy to find. It is located at Carrer de la Barra de Ferro which is a street that branches off from the street where the Picasso Museum is located.  If you put your back against the entrance to the museum and look straight ahead, you will find this quaint, little, gothic street.  As you can see, it is a well stocked yarn shop with many delightful wooly things to choose from . . .

I loved this knitted shawl that was in the window.  The use of the different yarns and their textures really add to it's loveliness.  The yarn shop is owned by an American lady and her Catalan husband. . .

Here's a photo of my sister-in-law, Linda, chatting with designer who is Greta and the Fibers. If you look towards the back of this photo, you will see the natural, undyed yarn that she is preparing to dye.  I bought two different skeins of her hand dyed yarn. The shop had such a special feel with the exposed brick walls and antique lighting. . .

I knew exactly how I was going to use my new yarn.  Awhile back I joined the Shawl Society which is a subscription to six shawl patterns; one released each month for six months.  I was thrilled to receive pattern #2 while I was in Turkey and use my new Spanish yarn.  The pattern is called Amulet.

 

The Spanish yarn knit up beautifully.  I so enjoyed knitting the lace section and there was also an addition of Czech glass beads that I added throughout the shawl.  Helen Stewart is the very talented designer behind the Shawl Society.  I had gradually gotten into lace knitting but I don't do charts.  Lucky for me, Helen's patterns are both written and charted so no problems there!

It was my third time to visit Barcelona and that beautiful city never disappoints. I love the architecture and the little streets that weave in and out.  We found a cute little place, Brunells, on the same street corner to pop in for an Iberian ham sandwich, Catalan pastries and some coffee.  

I'm so excited as I am going to be attending a knitting retreat with my sister-in-law.  I'm a self taught knitter, way before there was any internet.  I bought myself a Coats and Clark's Learn to Knit booklet back in the early 1970's;  I still have this book!  Since I moved to California six years ago, I've really tried to step out of my comfort zone and learn some new knitting techniques.  I think you could say that I'm addicted to Ravelry!

The retreat is going to be held on Bois Blanc Island in the upper peninsula of Michigan.  I've been to the UP before, but never to Bois Blanc Island.  The weather there looks heavenly with cool temps and rain.  What better way than to spend my day in glorious rain clouds with my knitting needles in hand!  I remember years ago when I was young and working at the bank in our small town.  We had a piece of returned mail from the post office.  It was addressed to Sault Ste. Marie and had been returned and stamped with something like ". . .weather. . .ferry service cancelled . . ."  Looking back, I think it may have been sent to Sugar Island in the UP where they receive tons of snow being on the St. Marys River.  This place sounded so exotic compared to the flat, farmland area of where I was living at the time!

I hope you dear readers are all doing well.  I always enjoy reading your comments and I will do my best to visit your blogs, too. Thank you for visiting Lilly My Cat today!

With my best to you,

Pat 

Linking to:

Five on Friday . . .    

Spice of Life - Foods of Turkey

Greetings my dear friends (and new readers, too).  Today's post is going to be about food.  Lovely, colorful, tasty, Turkish Food.  My dear daughter told me I should write about different port cities, sights, landmarks, etc., and I may in the future, but I thought I'd spice it up a bit and talk about food!  I love to eat delicious food and make delicious food.  So, here are some photos of some great Turkish food from my last trip to Turkey in July . . .

We arrived in our seaside town the first part of July during the Ramazan festivities.  Corn was in season and on the way to our home this guy had set up a roadside roasted corn stand.  We stopped a couple of times and bought delicious, warm, roasted corn.  He wrapped it oh so carefully and even included some wet wipes to clean our hands!

We always look forward to going to the weekly farmers market.  Every Thursday the vendors set up their wares in the small streets behind one of the big grocery stores.  Since we know the area and know where to park, we love to venture to this market each week.  I've never seen such a  huge selection of fruits and vegetables as in the Turkish market.  It reminds me of all the years I used to visit Pike Place Market in Seattle.

 

We had very warm temps this year in July and it seemed even warmer at the market stalls.  My husband loves to bargain (it's in his blood), and he made friends with one of the fruit sellers. 

Turkey has an array of wonderful breads.  One afternoon we went downtown to do some banking/business.  We decided to eat lunch at one of the "tourist" restaurants.  We usually like to find places off the beaten path, but it was a warm day and we were hungry.  We chose a corner restaurant and we were not disappointed when this bread suddenly appeared, hot from the oven!

My husband always like to order adana kabob, but I love Turkish Pide or Turkish pizza.  This one is topped with seasoned ground beef which was spiced just perfect on a warm, hot, crusty base.

We are lucky that we have some large grocery stores in Alanya.  We were shopping at Carrefour and found this lovely lady making Gozleme in the bakery department!  We had tried this delicous hand rolled pastry that is stuffed with oil and herbs at the farmers market but we were surprised to find it at the bakery.  Of course, we bought a couple of gozleme hot off the grill and enjoyed them when we returned home.

I know I've shared this before, but experiencing a Turkish breakfast is a must when you come to Turkey.  This is our "breakfast" at our favorite little restaurant tucked up on the mountain.  Most of the items have been homemade by the restaurant owner.  And, of course, endless glasses of Turkish tea!

If you're not a tea drinker then you can try Turkey's Efes beer.  This year at the beach they served it to me in a glass with ice.  It was delicious and so cooling under the hot rays of sunshine.

And, if beer is not to your liking, there are many coffee/tea shops in Turkey, including Starbucks.  But, I'm not a Starbucks person really.  Being from the Seattle area, when coffee shops first took hold they were classy places with coffee served in proper cups.  Sadly many of the coffee houses have gone by the wayside.  My OCD really gets me going when I go into a Starbucks and see the overflowing trash, paper cups, napkins, etc., all every which way.  Here comes Roberts Coffee to the rescue.  It's a classy, beautifully decorated coffee house in Alanya.  I could spend the whole day there.

 

 On the last day of our trip, we decided to try a new restaurant down on the waterfront.  The seafood salad was delicious and the view was even better.

I love trying different foods and places.  Sadly, I don't have a photo of our favorite place called Simitci where we can enjoy coffee, tea, pastries, or sweets while sitting at their sidewalk cafe and people watching.  

Turkey is a vast country with a huge array of agricultural products that they produce.  I found it quite interesting that the following are some of their largest exports:

1.  Refined sunflower oil (Turkey #1 exporter)

2.  Hazelnuts (Turkey #1 exporter)

3.  Raisins (Turkey #1 exporter)

4. Poultry

5. Pasta (Turkey took over market in Africa)

I hope you have enjoyed another glimpse into this fascinating country.  Please feel free to share what you have been busy with as I'd love to hear from you.  Until next time. . .

My Best Wishes,

Pat

Linking with:

Five on Friday . . .  

P.S.  I finished knitting my Amulet Shawl - Hooray!  I'll share a photo of it with you another time. 

Summer is Winding Down

I can feel the fall in the air these past couple of days.  We have had such lovely, moderate weather although they are predicting a couple of more days of hot temps.  Summer will soon be over and it's been a enjoyable time here at Lilly My Cat.  I thought I'd share some random photos of what's been happening around here. . .

My daughter sent me this photo today of this little deer she saw on her walk this morning.  We do have deer in the hills around us and it always bring a smile to my face when I see one of these beautiful creatures. . .

Speaking of beautiful creatures, Lilly my cat keeps us entertained.  She's a joy to have around and although she hasn't caught any geckos lately, she's been busy hunting them.  My heartfelt sympathy goes out to two dear blog friends who have recently lost their beloved pets. . .

This knitting project has really "consumed" my life so to speak.  I'll soon be done with this shawl and all the fussy stitches and hand beading.  I'm excited to see how it will look when completed.  I'll hopefully share a photo when that happens. . .

Here is little Sadie wearing the dress I knit for her awhile back. It fits her perfect! I enjoyed designing the colors and embellishments for this little knit. . .

We meet up with my daughter and her family for an evening picnic at Laguna Beach.  It's a short drive away from where we live and always a fun time to be had. . .

 We were invited to a friends home for dinner this past week.  I wanted to take something to share and made this baba au rhum.  It's such an easy cake to make.  The recipe is from Ina Garten's "Barefoot in Paris".  Here's a link to this recipe.  I love all of Ina's recipes as they are spot on . . .

Yes, summer time is winding down but soon the holidays will be fast approaching.  I've already started on my menu planning for our Christmas celebrations.  Next month I'll be off to a knitting workshop on Bois Blanc Island in Michigan.  I can hardly wait!  Take care dear friends and I'd love to hear what you been doing this summer.

With my best wishes,

Pat

A Special Birthday, Houses and Clouds

Hello my dear friends.  It's Sunday afternoon here in southern California and it's a pleasant day as our hot weather has subsided a bit.  There's so many things I want to share with you but first I must say thank you so much for your kind words and wise advice you gave me in regard to my last blog post.  Life is good!

This past week my little granddaughter, Sadie, turned one year old.  My daughter had a wonderful tea party celebration for her featuring delicious tea sandwiches (made by my daughter), scones, tea and vintage coronation china (which she and I both collect).

The table was set so pretty in it's pink tea party theme. . .

Here's the little birthday girl,  Sadie,  modeling the sweater I knitted for her . . .

Yesterday, we visited a new church nearer our home.  (Yes, it was on Saturday but it's a new Orthodox church that doesn't yet have their own building so they meet on Saturday at the Greek church).  It was a very pleasant experience that both my husband and I enjoyed.  From there, we went to look at a new housing development.  We ventured further south via a new road that has just opened up.  We were there in just a few minutes (so nice versus taking crowded Interstate 5).

Here's the backyard of one of the model homes we viewed.  You can see the ocean view beyond the backyard area.  This home was huge but on a little lot which is quite normal here in southern California . . .

There are four different areas in this development.  All the model homes had been "staged" which made them look very beautiful.  I loved seeing the kitchens and getting some ideas for my own kitchen.  But, the price tag was unbelievable . . . $3.5M for this home pictured above!  I couldn't nor would I buy this home at this price.  But, that's southern California. . .

We viewed the other area in the same development which had condos.  They were well planned and very spacious.  I'm the kind of person that doesn't have to have everything to please my taste, however, this graffiti tile would have to go if I lived here.  What do you think?  And, it's actual tile that had been adhered to the walls and grouted!

On the way home, via the "new road", we stopped at another open house that was in a traditional subdivision.  It was warm, inviting, nice and very much to my taste. However, we wouldn't be downsizing and there was still a pool.  We arrived home and came to the conclusion that we are very happy where we are.  We may not have an ocean view but we do have a lovely view of the mountains.

 We bought our home six years ago when the market was at it's lowest.  We'd love to have less to take care of but prices have skyrocketed again here.  I'm always content but it's my dear husband who has caught the real estate bug.  Hopefully, he will get "well" soon.

Oops, almost forgot to mention these beautiful clouds that appeared this week.  I love clouds but they soon disappeared and no rain is expected. . .

As for my WIPs, I'm still working on my Amulet Shawl. It's the kind of knitting where I have to pay attention and think about.  We're off to the beach this afternoon for a picnic.  I'm taking another little knitting project that I don't have to think about.

I hope each of you have enjoyed your weekend.  The start of the new week is almost here and I wish for each of you all the best.  And, I so appreciate your friendship!

With my best wishes,

Pat

Blogging Etiquette (...if there is such a thing...)

Hello dear friends.  I'm writing to you from very hot, southern California.  I thought we'd have a break in the weather by now but no luck as of yet! 

Since you, my readers, have always been so kind and willing to help me, I wanted to ask your opinion about something.  It regards blogging etiquette. . .

I remember reading Emily Post years ago and trying to adhere to all the rights/wrongs

Maybe my generational gap is showing it's age but here's my story.  It has been a joy seeing my blog, Lilly My Cat, become a place where I can share what I've been making or doing.  Along with that, I have met some wonderful people and my blog has become a true hobby for me.  

My daughter was the one who originally helped me with getting my blog and readership in order.  She told me that I should visit other blogs and comment and see what is out there in blogland.  In time, I found different blogs hosting link parties where I was not only able to share my blog but find other blogs that I could follow.

Some of those link parties had like 200 links and my blog got lost as did I.  But, there were a couple where I could link to and thoroughly enjoying meeting new friends.  Namely, Handmade Monday and Amy's Five on Friday at Love Made My Home.

Now, both of these blog hosts are in the UK and I'm in California.  But, in blogland it doesn't make any difference as we can share in each others interests, trials and triumphs no matter where we are located.  I have met such dear friends through these two links.  And, in return, you have met me (haha).

So, here's the glitch I have.  Over a year ago I found a lovely blog that hosts a link up party each week for those who want to share their knitting.  I was thrilled to find this party and faithfully added my link up each week (the blog is on EST time, three hours ahead of California time so even when I linked up at 8:00AM my time, I was sometimes late to the party).  This week I linked up since I had written a post about my knitting and I thought I would share it with like minded readers.  I was excited to see some comments as I visited new sites via the link party and commented and also got some new ideas.

Here's what happened....nothing.  Zilch.  Not one comment.  Now this link party had just under 75 link ups.  What did I do wrong?  My daughter told me ". . .now don't get yourself upset . . ."  But it makes me wonder what is blogging/link parties all about?  I originally thought that maybe US bloggers are a bit shy vs the UK bloggers but that's not correct.  As I have some great blog friends here in the US.  Friends that I can "talk" to via our comments or email.  This situation has left me a bit puzzled.

In the meantime, I have taken down my link on both my post and at the link party.  And, I don't think I will join in anytime soon.  Maybe I expect too much of people now?  I remember a year or so ago when I wrote a blog post about my daily routine.  One of the comments was a bit impolite as to "how nice to have time to . . .as some of us work. . ."  I published that comment but I wanted to say that "yes, I have time now but I too used to work full time, raise two children and manage a rental business".  I know people are busy and there's more to life than commenting on blogs.  But really, if you're going to share something, shouldn't it be equal?

I know you dear readers will set my straight on this.  Maybe the heat is getting to me :)

Wishing you the best,

Pat

Linking with:

Lilly My Cat :)  

Knitting Update: Sweater, Sweater and Shawl!

It is hot here!  Summer is still here and it's decided to give us another heatwave down here in southern California.  I'm really looking forward to cooler weather.  How is it where you are dear readers?  I know there's too much rain in some parts of our country; how I wish that rain could reach dry, parched California.  The drought has really started to take it's toll as you can now see old, established trees that are dying or dead.  Sad times..

But, on a brighter note, here's what I've been working on.  I knitted two little sweaters for my dear granddaughter whose birthday will be this coming week.  She's turning one year old.

 

First up is the Flowertot Sweater which I made from Australian super washed wool that I received in my Little Woollie Yarny Love Club. The buttons are made from Liberty of London fabric and were also included in the box!

This was so much fun to knit and design the color scheme as I went along.  The original pattern called for leaves all the way around but I thought that may be a bit too much.  I hope Sadie will like this!

Next up is the Charlie girl sweater.  Last year I had purchased five skeins of Brown Sheep cotton fleece to make myself a sweater.  It didn't work...the pattern size as wrong and I didn't care for the look of the yarn.  I was determined not to "waste" this yarn so here's one of the items I made from it.

I tweaked the pattern a bit and added an edging around the collar and only did an edging on the buttonhole side of the yoke.  I found these bow buttons online and thought that they coordinated quite well with the bow in the back. 

Lastly, here is the first shawl I completed from the Shawl Society.  It looks bigger than it really is as it's more a shawl that you would wrap around your neck.  It was a easy knit that I completed while I was in Turkey this summer.  I added some beads to the edging but they don't show up that well.

My pattern notes can be found here.  There are six shawls in the Shawl Society and right now I am working on shawl number two.  Helen Stewart is an outstanding designer and the patterns are written out in addition to being charted.  As I live in California and I'm always too warm, haha, I plan on giving this shawl away as a gift.

So, what's on my needles now?  Shawl Society #2 shawl which has quite a bit of lace which I find fun and challenging.  I'm also knitting a little baby hat; a quick and easy project.  And, I'm making some quick crocheted coasters using the tapestry crochet technique.

Thank you for taking time to visit Lilly My Cat.  Lilly, by the way, sends her meows to all of you.  She's been a bit naughty lately as she decided to bite me for no reason this week.  I was sitting at my computer desk and she was at my feet.  She's a naughty little kitty but I love her dearly!

With my best wishes,

Pat

 Linking with:

Handmade Monday . . . 

Am I Getting Old? (i don't feel old...)

Hello my lovely friends.  I hope  you have been enjoying your summer vacation.  I've been home for almost two weeks and life is back to it's normal routine around here.  I thought I'd share with you an incident that happened this weekend...

My husband and I ventured off to Laguna Beach on Friday afternoon.  We took our beach chairs and a picnic lunch to enjoy.  We didn't sit down on the beach but instead we found a picnic table at the park overlooking the ocean and proceeded to enjoy our afternoon.  Not much later, some gentlemen came and set up their things at the adjoining table.  The one guy said he was going to get married later that day in the gazebo overlooking the beach.  We gave him our congratulations and wished him the best.

He proceeded to tell us that this wedding was only going to cost him around $500.00 and that 30 to 40 people would be arriving later; they would be in the same little picnic area where we were seated (remember, this is a public park).  We didn't think much of it as we would be going home in a couple of hours.  My husband took off and walked down to the beach while I tried to knit a bit.  The sun was getting hot so I decided to move our things to a shady, grassy area.  I told the guy that he could now use our table.  He mentioned something about "....I was hoping you guys would stick around..."  I didn't think much of it but when I went back to get my last items from the table, I overheard a woman say "I thought that older couple could stay and watch our items".  Wow, it took me for a loop as I don't consider myself or my husband as "an older couple".  Basically, they just wanted us to sit there and babysit their wedding venue items while they get married!  I don't know what is wrong with people today.  I really think their minds only think in the present; instant gratification, in the now with no idea of the past or present.  I told this story to my daughter and she said a similar thing happened to her this week with the sales clerk at Nordstrom.  And, my daughter is a young 37 year old woman!

Lilly is back to her old tricks.  She hunted down this gecko the other day and brought it right where I was sitting.  She basically likes to play with it; luckily, I think this one got away as I didn't find it later.

However, it lost it's tail and I was a bit surprised to see it wiggle for the next few minutes . . .

I was going to share some pictures of my latest completed knitting projects; two sweaters and a shawl.  I'll try to photograph them for next time.  The shawl yarn stained my new bamboo needles.  I contacted the yarn company and they are going to send me two free skeins of yarn.  Happy :)  However, I bought myself some new needles since I needed them for the project I'm working on now.

We'll be celebrating two birthdays in the next few days.  My little granddaughter is turning a big one year old and my little grandson is going to be seven.  It will be a joyous time to celebrate with them.

I'd love to hear how your summer is getting along.  Feel free to comment if you have the time.  Until next time,

My best wishes to you,

Pat