Take What You Need

'need' flyer

ready to go

'need' flyer installed at Viento y Agua coffee house

'need' flyer ready to give freely

I found this idea on Pintrest, and just had to pass it on.  The sign is fashioned after a 'for sale',  'for rent' or 'a service offered' flyer with phone numbers at the bottom of the paper, cut into strips for easy tearing.  There is a board for such things at a local coffee house, Viento y Agua on 4th street in Long Beach, California, so I put one up there.  Plans are in the works to make many more and add them to boards around town.  Maybe you will feel like passing this on too, make one and put it up at the grocery store, laundromat or even in your break room at work.  Take What You Need and feed the hungry...delicious.

granny guerrilla

granny bombs

granny bomb hanging

granny seat bomb

toast bomb

toast bomb installed on 'fork'

granny bombs installed above Egg Heaven door

a cozy granny bomb installed

Granny guerrilla's bombs hit 4th and Ximeno tonight, late, hoping to catch the eyes of early morning patrons of Egg Heaven in Long Beach.  Granny is hoping to make those waiting for a seat in this popular eatery more comfortable, cozy and yarn aware.  This place has terrific food and a hippy atmosphere from the early '70's.  Egg heaven is a little bit of breakfast heaven on 4th street, a true local's choice. 
My citrus slices are long gone from the 'fork' in front of the now named 'Scratch' baked goods bakery (not open as of yet) and have been replaced by ... toast!  C'mon, who doesn't like toast?  Toast, all warm and buttery, yeah, toast rocks. 
Yarnivore + toast = happy face.  Tasty!

yarnivore bites! guerrilla linguini

Fork as bicycle rack, sans unlawful decoration.

Fork as bicycle rack, complete with unlawful decoration.

I saw this 'fork' several days ago.  A new installation on dear little 4th street.  I had to look at it twice to figure out what it was...fork as bike rack.  Here in Long Beach, deep in the SoCal artsy beach scene, the city has created bike racks to reflect the businesses in front of which they stand.  Cups of coffee in front of Viento y Agua or Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf.  Slices of pizza in front of Olives and flowers in front of Kava Yoga.  A lovely little Greek deli recently moved out and now the sign sweetly beckons me with the word 'Bakery' in large buttery letters.  Out side of this soon to be den of waist enhancing joy is said fork/bicycle rack.  So lonely, so bare, it needed...something...something starchy...something yummy...something pasta!
Here we have it, linguini as 'unlawful decoration' (thank you Sara for this new description).
I now have a 'fork' to decorate....big piece of crocheted lettuce perhaps?  Crochet bacon? An egg?  The comestible ideas are endless. 
Dropping this bomb on my way to work just made my day that much more....delicious.

modeling for class

As an employee of a yarn shop (1 day a week), knitting for the shop can take up a large chunk of my knitting time. I will be teaching this vest as a class this summer at ABYC. Actually this is a wonderful experience as I knit things that I NEVER would knit otherwise. Take this adorable 'vine lace vest' for example. It knits up super quick and is a fun and easy lace pattern. The yarn/bamboo tape is wonderfully soft, though it needs to be untwisted after a few rows, I am liking it. 1st; I would never wear this, 2nd; it does not come in my size, 3rd; seafoam green is not my color and forth; it is not my style. So, if not for needing a class model I would never have had this knitting experience. I do just love knitting...it is so....yummy.

Duck....Duck....

On my way to the yarn shop, I drive around a wildlife sanctuary, across the street is a Fire Station. The firemen love to feed the ducks and the ducks love to be fed. The issue here is the street separating the two. The answer is; a Duck Crossing! Here is the sign (which I am certain the ducks are blissfully unaware) and ...the ducks...tah dah! I did have to wait in a line of cars for the ducks to cross the street in single file and was able to snap this photo through my car window. I got some wonderful yarn, Noro silk garden, to make a scarf. I will post photos of it shortly....sweeeet.

Southern California Holiday Postcard

How fast time flies when one is busy, and how quickly the holidays come to fore. It was just Thanksgiving and now Yule is past and it is on to the New Year. My gift to you, my dear reader is this 'picture postcard' view of the canals in Naples California viewed from a Duffy boat (piloted by me). We took a two hour cruise around the bay and canals here in Long Beach, California in an adorable little electric Duffy boat on Christmas Eve, December 24th. The skies were a bit gray and there were a few raindrops but all in all it was a lovely day. A large bull seal followed us on our entire trip, he popped up from time to time next to our boat and gave us a smile each time. I never knew when he would show so I was unable to capture him on film. I understand now how hard it must be to get a photo of the Loch Ness Monster or Champ!
Warm and Yummy Wishes for the Season!

tamara twirls

My dear friend Tamara, originally from California but now lives in an artists' collective in New York, NY, came for a visit. Tamara's visits are not usually just visits. They may be brief but she likes to add some spark to her arrival. One thing she is wont to do is performance art. Here we see dear Tamara doing her 'Pocket Lady' performance at the Long Beach Second Saturday Art Walk. She made her pocket skirt and tucked into each pocket a little work of her own art, some beads, beans, corn or who knows what in a bitty baggy and tied the pocket shut. She then approaches bystanders and asks if they want to make a wish. She tells them to think of a wish as she twirls around in front of them. They tell her when to stop and then choose a pocket to untie. They take their treasure and keep it to help them make their wishes come true. People just eat it up!

my summer job

So,
things were a little slow at my day job, teaching at Hope University. We had so many students taking
time off for the summer that I got to take off an extra day too! I decided to get a 'summer job' working in a yarn shop! Not just any yarn shop but a beautiful shop right on Alamitos Bay. Yes, cool ocean breezes, beautiful views of sailboats on the water and happy customers enjoying our Wednesday 'Knit & Cruise' boat trips. Here are a few photos of the shop and surrounding area. If you are ever in Long Beach you should stop in, the water is fine! Sunshine, ocean views and yarn...mmmmm, delicious!

Aqualink!

Here in Long Beach California you can find boats on the transit system. I just love that. My favorite is the Aqualink. I park my car at Alamitos Bay Landing (where there is a wonderful local yarn shop) and board the Aqualink. I then take it down the Long Beach coastline, one stop at the Queen Mary and then on to the Aquarium. Here you see my ocean buddy Mr. Malacari the giant squid looking at the Aqualink and it's Capitan. Next he is riding high on the bow and then looking out over the water, he likes to look at water but he is 'spot clean only'. I went with my two sons on a sunny Sunday afternoon. I did take my knitting but I must admit, I just cannot resist just staring at the ocean. It was delicious.