vineyards – Page 2

November Chill

Published on November 21, 2015March 11, 2019 by Jen6 Comments

jenjoycedesign© Autum Landscapes Early this morning I walked to my secret hidden knitting spot which from a neighboring high mountain vineyard overlooks a landscape of beautiful mountain ridges. I caught the sun illuminating the gold on vines, and maple trees, a lovely sight which always takes my breath away. Oh look! Hot air balloons making their way from the valley floor up the side of the mountain!

jenjoycedesign© balloons

This morning, I managed to get a shrouded view of the majestic Mt Diablo in the background. Can you see it there, in the foggy atmosphere?

jenjoycedesign© November Landscape

This one is from yesterday morning, with the rather strikingly deco-esque water tank. . .

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The forested paths seem to sparkle now with golden leaves falling from the trees to the ground, I just love to knit while wandering over these paths which meander through the rustic forest.

jenjoycedesign© November Landscape 5

jenjoycedesign© Autumn Landcape 2

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The chill of Autumn has begun to take hold. We’ve had some rain with more on the way, and the landscape is now turning shades of gold-to-crimson… and with shy sprouts of grasses coming up! These weeks have been busy for me, as I’ve managed to make a string of six new patterns in a relatively short space~~ Altitude Cowls and Mitts (the last being the Twist Mitts)

Its time for walks shuffling through rustling leaves, fires in the wood-stove, and the kettle whistling as mugs are filled and sipped throughout the day ((my new favorite is fresh ginger tea!)) . . . and of course knitting till the cows come home for holiday gifts. Being already past mid-November there are only a short five weeks left to this year, but I am working steady on the designing as well as keeping a firm hold on the homestead.

jenjoycedesign© November Landscape 6

Hoping lots of merriment to you this coming Thanksgiving Holiday!

Each Day In Autumn

Published on September 26, 2014March 11, 2019 by Jen8 Comments

Emma and I have been out walking (and I knitting while walking) everyday this Autumn so far, and plan to walk everyday for the remainder of Autumn, bringing camera and sharing photos often here and celebrate the best time of year ! Harvest is in process, finished in this particular vineyard a stone’s throw from where we live. We passed it along our forest paths near by. Then Emma spied a big yellow fungus !!!

On through hilly & hollow lands we walk….

And with fragrances abound, Emma follows her nose rapturously…

And just around this bend (from the opposite direction of last hike posted) we end up back home …

Vineyard Rows Toque !

Published on May 5, 2014March 11, 2019 by Jen11 Comments

My latest design, another Vineyard Rows accessory . . .

the Vineyard Rows Toque,

which I made allusion to in my previous post All This Talk About Toque.

This design may actually lead to mittens & gloves, pullover & cardigan eventually, but I can’t make any promises yet. I am working with a new yarn which is far easier to find This Side Of The Pond than the Jamiesons’ Spindrift Shetla:nd yarn.

Vineyard Rows Toque is designed with 100% Peruvian Highlands Wool :

Cascade 220 fingering, in Jet, Charcoal, Silver & Natural.

Back-story : Early last Autumn I was sad witness to destruction of a very old vineyard very close by, which was a rich and important part of our lives here on the mountain, and where Emma and I walked nearly every day. When I made this post Seasonal , I was so shaken seeing the old vines ripped right out of the soil, roots and all, and heaped in massive piles on top of plowed soil , never again to be pruned or picked. All the familiar faces of the friendly workers to whom I’d often wave ‘Hola!’ vanished, as there were no vines to be tended.

So I launched into my tribute to those vines, in my Vineyard Rows Collection. There will be many designs in this collection I can only hope , the first being Vineyard Rows Highland Bonnet in Jamieson’s Spindrift Shetland wool, and now there is Vineyard Rows Toque.

The next time you see this toque it will be the pattern debut, and I will have embroidered grapes in wine tones hanging from the grape vines, just as the Vineyard Rows Highland Bonnet has. But this is the unadorned version.

jenjoycedesign©Vineyard Rows Toque

In the mean time you can peruse more posts about vineyards HERE.

Vineyard Rows Tam

Published on November 12, 2013September 10, 2024 by Jen14 Comments

Walking along the old mountain vineyards close by, I found inspiration for a design which I have named “Vineyard Rows”. A California Highlands Bonnet if there is to be one ! I chose four natural shades of Jamiesons Of Shetland Spindrift yarn, because I happen to love this black & white photo of the historic vineyard landscape I took a year ago. Near the highest vineyard knoll on the mountain perhaps, rows against an Autumn sky, leaves blowing off of the vines as a storm was brewing… it was a walk to remember ! So I came up with this . . .

Vineyard Rows Tam : http://jenjoycedesign.wordpress.com/2013/11/12/vineyard-rows-tam/

Vines of grape leaves wind about the wheel, in borders and peeries, along with interruptions of bold checked dicing. To me this tam brings together California Wine Country with Scottish Highlands. Embroidered grape clusters adorn the rambling vines with French knots in wine tones, creating a spectacular and colorful needlework finish I think!

I really went wild with the notion of the toorie and decided that a tam must have accessory options ! Why not an accessory for the accessory ~~ why not tie one on for the mood you’re in ? Basic black, wine red, & marled toories !!!

But before I embroidered the grape clusters into the vines,

I took the hat out into the woods…

Against the moss . . .

And lastly, against a blush of colorful Autumn leaves, showing how the tam’s outer most rim is traditionally useful in shading from the sun.

Well there you have it, my latest design of a tam named “Vineyard Rows”. I have created this tam for all the lovely walks I’ve enjoyed in the beautiful aesthetic of these old vines ~~ this tam is in tribute to them.

If you haven’t yet read a post I made about Knitting & Wine , it is the prelude to this design, as well as other posts and photographs of nearby vineyards, you may peruse in all vineyard posts .

♣ ♣ ♣

Vineyard Rows pattern may be found here .

((as well as details on Ravelry here ))

New (Vineyard) Horizons

Published on November 4, 2013October 6, 2024 by Jen5 Comments

I so wanted to show you this photo taken early today ! It was a windy and cold November morning as Emma and I walked over to our newest (hidden & secret) scenic location, which we discovered only last week from trail-blazing. Here, this morning, happy to greet the young vines, and a south-easterly horizon with distant blue Mt Diablo’s double peak of 3,864 feet visible from where I stood — on a big tree stump, est. elevation of 2100 ft, on a slope facing San Francisco Bay. ( Note, this is not the same vineyards wherein great devastation of historic vines is going on, but a different vineyard. )

I have nearly finished my fourth redesign of the project in natural shades of Jamiesons Spindrift. It is quite an embarrassment to think I was near done, over a week ago, then to have to start over, then over again, and well… it’s a sore subject… but a labor of love and true break-through for me in design, as well as expected set-backs. If I survive this week at all, I will have something to show for all of my determination. I am sure by now you’ve all guessed the theme to have something to do with vineyards.