finishing up

washed up

We fly back later today so this morning is all about tidying up and finishing up. A first pair of Maplewood mitts is done; well, the knitting of them is done, but there are a number of ends to be woven in. Darning needles were not on the approved items list for carry-on luggage so that'll have to wait until I'm home. For such a simple pattern of knits and purls, the effect is quite striking. I'm going to cast on another to knit on the plane, after all, with a five and a half hour flight ahead of me plus all the usual waiting around at the airport I figure I should be able to just about knit another pair.

finished up

Yesterday was very cloudy all day. In fact, for most of the afternoon the skies were threatening rain but we got away without that. No point in sightseeing so we rented bikes for the day and worked our way south through Marina Del Ray and Hermosa Beach. It's mile after mile of wide open beaches and endless skies. I think I could bike that every day!

Later in the afternoon we had planned to rent Segways but by the time we were back in Santa Monica we were too late -  the minimum rental is two hours and the rental shops were only open another hour. So we wandered around the pier where I found a souvenir in one of the shops: this little shark tealight (or t-lite if you prefer how it's spelled on the tag).  He's got quite a mouthful of teeth and quite piercing eyes so I had to have him. Now, where can I jam him into my suitcase?