chile beckons once again.  wednesday i aboard a 14 hour flight down the panamerican coast duty bound.  so these next few days you will find me focused on last minute arrangements, making sure all the right things are gathered.  so many things one cannot forget.  first and foremost my camera and my netbook, my rosary and prayer book, my passport and chilean documents, bus pass, id.  and ofcourse knitting needles and thread just in case i should get fidgety, a good book (made sure of stopping by barnes & noble yesterday and picked up a great biography on teddy roosevelt.  i have now read the lives of all the most important presidents and have become an expert on american history), tums, advils, perfume, the basic black dress, the basic white dress, a bathing suit, tons of clean underwear, the list goes on and on.  not to mention gifts for two newborn babies and friends.  and leaving all the upcoming bills paid in advance lest i should be charged late fees.  thankfully my head is in a better space now and i think i have covered it all.

i have also decided to make this an adventurous trip in between the paperwork and bureaucracy.  so have been looking up short trips to mendoza, argentina and little cabins on the coast where i could possibly escape to with a friend or two.  driving distances between santiago and the coast and/or the mountains are very short; remember chile is a very long, narrow country.

it will be sunny i repeat to myself.  it will be sunny or i shall make it sunny. no woes this time around.
i will miss all of you and think of you, hopefully making time to visit and comment on your lives and surroundings.  i carry you with you, i carry you in my heart.

amish thanksgiving?

i wasn't even thinking of a thanksgiving theme when i began these.  it just so happened that i have this huge spool of ecru cotton, the same i used for the icicles, and kept looking at it and thinking what else can i make with this.  i have always loved cotton, especially the whites and butter colored tones. the same with linen, it just speaks minimalist elegance. 

i wanted to knit a vintage inspired baby christening cap.  i had no pattern, just the inspiration and the intuition of what to do.  it was a success.  it was knitted with tiny tiny stitches since i used the thinnest knitting needles i have with just one thread of cotton. 

the spool has shrunk from huge to large with plenty of giving in it still so i proceeded to begin a baptimal dress (in the works).

i love it when i can accomplish what i envisioned.

i so look forward to thursday.  thanksgiving is by far my favorite celebration of the year.  the turkey has been purchased and all the trimmings (yes, you guessed, no costa rica, i have broken off a five year relationship which was a real roller coaster) the cinnamon broom at trader joe's scents the house and invitations made to my children and a couple of friends. new beginnings, new reasons to give thanks, new reasons to hope and plan and come alive again. a bit scary i must admit but a decision made based on truth. 

driftwood and icicles

cotton and wood, they go well together: earthy, pure & simple yet strikingly elegant.  i had saved this driftwood for years in a bucket knowing they would speak to me sooner or later and after i learned a few more crochet stitches set myself to the task of giving them an answer.  in the spirit of economizing and homespun decor i made this mobile with diminutive crochet stitching.  i love to watch it swirl in my bedroom as i air the room and make my bed.  so not only have cotton and wood blended but they have come to life in movement.

knit, purl, crochet and bit of collage

mini book created with paper bags

i immediately fell in love with this yarn when i saw it and also immediately imagined what i would knit with it, a soft, stretchy, peppermint colored newborn baby blanket.  as i look at it now, finished, i wonder how many stitches went into it.  two solid afternoons and evenings knitting and crocheting after spending the most wonderful afternoon yesterday gardening and watering all the fruit trees, pruning the lavender deadheads and roses and watching callico take his afternoon nap on the deck and all the birds hovering around me happy at the sight of water and fresh birdseed in the bird feeder. 

and last, but not least, the pleasure of browsing through the blog of my newest follower

ciripibogar what a delight in nature photography

we have booked passage to Uvita, Costa Rica for Thanksgiving and will stay with family and friends for 5 days and then travel the following five.  when i return though, i have to jump on a plane right away to go to chile, something i am really not looking forward too in spite of it being summer there in december.  the previous trip really left deep scars from which i have not quite recovered and i will be there mainly for more and more piles of paperwork and bureaucracy but be what it may, i have to do it.  to lighten the load, i have decided to rent a small furnished apartment since mom's no longer is habitable after the pending sale and will try to hook up with cecilia and paty and patty and rebeca as much as i can to take my mind off  all the work up ahead.

in the interim, camarillo has welcomed the rains and the colors of autumn which i have wirnessed first hand by driving around the farms closeby and taking photos

i will NOT be blogging for a while since i am taking a much needed break (as in beach).  i am going on a  holiday but will be back to tell you all about my travels and travails when i return.  wishing you all happy blogging in the interim and looking forward to seeing you all when things get a bit more settled. 

in the meantime i leave you with my latest entirely handsewn project.

bilingual splits

the sinking dollar, i refuse to look that way

and even though it hurts in one way more than another because i see how my children, independent as they are, are struggling, i cling to life, whatever will make me forget the dire straits up ahead. no, this is just the beginning, we have made too many mistakes to sweep the dirt under the carpet overnight, and i empathize with obama who inherited this whole mess.  one must not blame him, he is just awaiting that one brilliant switch of the thninking bulb to turn things around.  if only his wife would get rid of those 30 servants she has along with her at all times and set an example like the queen of england did during world war II.  no more nouveau rich mentality, this is NOT the time, it's all about the big picture, being sensitive enough to see everything around you and that's a gift few of us have.  sustainability is the answer, not growth.  but what few understand this in the midst of so much egocentrism and hooplah?  what is wrong with just saying it like it is? 

so i hide! i hide 'neath my turtlehide and self protect from the outside world by making pretty things.  it might sound sick and even a denial but what better way to isolate myself from a world that's pure chaos,with no rhym or reason, with so many underworlds one cannot keep track of, with so so so many lies.  oh, wanderlust your's is the answer, to become a rambler, never quite touching anything, living a free life of enchantment, forgetting the mores

siempre las telas, innumerables telas, de diferentes texturas, colores, interpretaciones.  siempre he sido una enamorada de las telas.  mi proximo proyecto mas ambicioso sera una capa de puras telas.  saldre por la noche con mi antifaz a esparcir creatividad al menos pare que el ojo del observador  pueda ver que hay infinitas posibilidades, apreciar, entrar en shock y quizas encender la llama creativa en alguien que vive una vida sedentaria y sin imaginacion, que lamentablemnte son los mas.

es que para mi la imaginacion es todo.  como si no vivir en un mundo tan politicamente correcto, tan "como deberian ser las cosas" que es lo mas patetico, tan falto de pasion y de romper moldes, tan ignorante de la inteligencia del hombre comun, tan manipulador de como deberiamos vivir nuestras vidas.  independiente, eso es lo que soy, a concho, porque ya no me trago nada de lo que me ensenaron en el colegio, segui mi propio camino, rompo capas como Steppenwolf, y bajo la capa siguen apareciendo gloriosas visiones de vida.

hogar dulce hogar