Shift of Focus

July 05, 2012


Just a few days ago I finished Shift of Focus.
Darn cute garter stitch jacket knit in an inky blue cotton wool blend.
The designer Veera Valmaski is some kind of knitting genius.
Really, such a clever construction and very fun to knit.
The peplum is created by using short rows which
makes it beautifully billow out like a curtain.


 Just in time to wear for 4th of July.

Raveled here.



First off, my husband took pictures of me underneath the 
beautiful Blaze arbor below, but I looked super scary, 
(that happens to me all the time now).
I insisted we redo under the kinder light 'neath a tree.


 Another shift in focus for some more inky blue,
this time in berries.
Beautiful olallieberries.
My husband and I went berry picking last week.
Aren't they gorgeous?
 One morning last week
we headed south on 101 and then took Highway 129 west.
We do love our California back roads and 129 is a beauty.
It's pure country-quiet, pictured below, 
but soon opens up to miles and miles of berries and artichokes 
before it meets the sea.

 We stopped at Gizdich Ranch in Watsonville,
a pick-yourself berry farm
where you can pick strawberries, olallies, raspberries and boysenberries,
plus apples in the fall.
You might not be familiar with olallies, 
but they are very common here in California.
They are large and sweet and juicy, similar to a blackberry.

After picking our fill, we took Highway 1 home.
The top was down and the Pacific Coast Highway was beautiful.

We stopped for lunch and sat on the patio
and enjoyed views of the blue Pacific Ocean
and the crazy crayon-colored beach cottages of Capitola-By-The-Sea.

We favor fish and chip joints with a view,
 where the fish is local and fresh
 served up in red plastic baskets.

I could have sat all day.
(half eaten, oops)

We took the beautiful Highway 17 home.
Studded with redwoods and oaks, you almost don't mind all the curves.

At home I went right to work and made olallie jam
 

and FOUR pies!
One for baking now and 3 for the freezer.
Olallies make the BEST jam and pies.
 

At 7:00 I fairly collapsed on the sofa.
Really, I can't remember being that tired in such a long time.
My husband had the nerve to ask me what was for dinner.

I said, "jam".  
;-)


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6 Comments

  1. Love your new sweater! What a great newsy post - my sister used to live in Soquel and we would jaunt down to Capitola and go shopping and have lunch.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi dear Kristen, First of all, your knitted cardigan is absolutely beautiful. You seems so beautiful with your cardigan. And your trip to Pasific ocean and bluberry farm is so exiting. I enjoy your photos.. Ohh I miss holiday so much.. I want to go to sea too:))
    Happy days...

    ReplyDelete
  3. Beautiful cardigan. Those berries look like blackberries to me as I have never heard of the other ones. What pretty views you have on your drive!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Wow! So much eye candy in this post!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I really love that sweater and the buttons. Berries look really yummy as well as your garden. Thanks for the nice Presbyterianscancook blog. Really nice.

    ReplyDelete

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