I so admire the man who found personal transformation and a sense of home deep in the wilderness of the High Sierra Nevada mountains, and fought to bring his experience of the territory into the lives of the general masses … Continue reading
Its already been almost three weeks since we were at 9000 ft elevation and I was knitting-in-the-wild beneath a lovely brewing storm on a huge granite rock. I had so thoroughly enjoyed the quick packing trek to Granite Lake, the sitting cross-legged on the granite in complete stitching meditation, one with the darkening sky and gathering storm, the quiet of everything before the outbreak, even the fish hunkering down. Yet I remember yet distinct intermittent sounds ~~ the wind whipping the tent about and water boiling to make trail coffee. And it just doesn’t get any better than that ( High Sierra trip posted here ).
So here my friends, are another pair of Penny Candy Socks. Just a simple, wild & maybe even frivolous (and very blue) pair of socks, made on that High Sierra excursion but I hadn’t gotten around to washing & blocking them until just now.
And they are added to the slowly growing pile of knitted socks designated for xmas gifts….
Gad… already LESS than only five months away! Horror of the crafting gift-maker-and-giver is that xmas appears in a blink after sweltering heat of summer, when one couldn’t feel further away from the winter solstice and gift-giving frenzy. But I’m wise now, at my age, I’ve learned, and I am already stashing knitted gifts…
* * *
I’ve already gotten about 12″ into one of two Autumn Sweaters 2014 , but no hints on that yet (top top secret!) . In contrast to tiny stitches of fingering & fine fingering yarn for socks, gloves, hats…. I am knitting rounds and rounds of worsted-weight, and how refreshingly speedy I’m turning out the rounds for a change!
In the next few days my nieces will be visiting up here in the Hermitage again, for a visit in their last week of summer vacation, so we’ll be up to baking in the kitchen, in addition to just generally “chil-laxing” as they put it, and not without their ECD’s ((electronic devices of choice ))~~ but no doubt the visit will be punctuated with famously artistic and fun photo-shoot after digging through my cedar trunk now becoming quite full of knitteds. Looking forward to that, and we’ll see you on the flipside of the riotous occasion!
Note: Oh! The hand-made wooden Shaker-style box, if not authentic Shaker box, was found last week at my favorite thrift shop for $4 ~ a bargain ! It is now a lovely knitting notions box & photo prop as well, and I’m super pleased with myself for finding it.
We three ~ Jeff, Emma, & me ~ went for a short & sweet trip to High Sierras over the weekend for our anniversary. There was a little hiking, cooking, tea & coffee drinking, fishing & knitting, sniffing around….
Restorative in many ways, as always, the alpine scenery soothed a yearning that only it can do. What is it about pitching a tent in the wilderness at high altitude to claim some spot in nature as our home for a few days?
Something about the fragile alpine flowers …
and gnarled trees.
fast and furious rain storms …
The granite everywhere and deep crystal clear blue lakes …
wide horizon of jagged ridges and expressive skies.
A storm is brewing!
Windy thunder & rain storms which suddenly take hold for a couple of hours in the afternoon,
sending us for cover in our cozy tent to wait it out.
Granite Lake in Mokelumne Wilderness was just what I craved. Bundled up quite puffy in down and wool layers, knitting in the cold & windy pause between storms …
Abandoned my knitting to go fire up the camp stove and make hot coffee!
Jeff got to fish a couple of times, though he didn’t get even one bite, too stormy.
Then it was time for trail coffee & tea !!!
We found that Emma was perfectly able to handle carrying a doggie pack and hike as she did once before, and it was as if her little arthritic limp of late almost disappeared completely. 
She is in top form !
Most importantly, this trip to the Sierras was to celebrate a very important mark in our partnership,
We were so lucky to have Granite Lake all to ourselves, at near 9000′ elevation & less than three miles from the trail-head. It is my theory that the forecast dramatic thunderstorms cleared the lake for us. We were prepared to hike cross-country (off-trail) to another lake for privacy, but had no need, it was a total stroke of luck.
With only a little over 3 hour drive, we can be in the High Sierra, fishing & knitting at a granite bowl. It just doesn’t get any better than that ! Off we go back home, but we’ll be back . . .
Jenjoyce Design 