LA must be like Chicago in the winter..."OH MY GOSH IT IS SNOWING, EVERYONE IN FROM THE STREET! Oh, wait, the snow is not accumulating." Chicago is getting rain today too. It wasn't forcasted and it was supposed to be in the 70s. They lied.

Laurie, seeing you are from LA I do have to apologize for the Sox. I really wanted to see LA win. Hey, where WAS the Rally Monkey????

When it reaches 68 degrees here in Minnesota, we go swimming--love your blog, keep writing!

Funny how the first three posts are from the Midwest. Here in Wisconsin we sunbathe when it's 68º. That is actually the forecast high for today. We had rain this morning, but now it's sunny and beautiful. I may have to knit myself a swimsuit.
And your commute - do you ever get in trouble for being late because of traffic? Or is it just a California thing that you get to work whenever you get to work? I'm just wondering.

hehehe. I SO understand. I just finished my first ever knitted pair of socks last night (thank you, thank you ... ah schucks, stop with the applause!) and was going to wear them today but then thought ... "but wait, I can't just wear these on my feet like ... well, like SOCKS".

So instead ... they sit at home. Where they are safe. From everything but cat hair, that is!

We get super crazy weather here in Colorado Springs. In fact, two weeks ago on Monday I was wearing shorts, by the middle of the week it had snowed and the world was ending, the following day the snow was gone in most areas, and by the weekend, it was gorgeous shorts weather again. We have an old adage here..."if you don't like the weather wait ten minutes." --You bright and inspire me every day! Keep it up.

PS. Wondered if Mr. X knew about your blog?

Oh, yeah, about the blocking? Think of it like hair. You can iron your hair, and at a certain humidity level it will start to frizz. And that certain humidity level will depend on the hair.
(Gee, that wasn't exactly an answer, but I hope it was helpful.)

Isn't it the best? Now if only the 'Children of America' didn't smell like wet dogs...

Ha! Another Chicagoan here...and I must be a bigger Cub fan that I thought because I had a hard time being excited about the win last night.

I think your scarf will be fine unless it gets completely soaking wet.

Um, I love reading you and all, but seeing SO COLD and 68 DEGREES in the same sentence almost made me want to cry. 68 degrees is just about perfect weather up in my neck of the woods (Boston) and I have to admit, I often wonder how in LA you ever get to wear your knitted woolens with it being so hot all the time and all.

I mean, really? Is is all the A/C?

68 is not scarf weather where I am either but to each her own.

Blocking is not permanent but I bet you won't have to do that really heavy pinning it out block ever again. You may need to give it a bit of a stretch back into shape and lay it flat to dry, though.

Purl, I feel your pain. I took the MonkeyGurl to Dizzyland for her birthday on Friday - THREE AND A HALF HOURS to get from Bel Air to Anaheim. AND I got truckers making googlie eyes at me. Yuck. Oooh. Lots o' thunder happening here now. Real "weather". :)

-D.

I'm with the Bostonians....here in Pittsburgh 68 degrees is still shorts weather.... We a gorgeous 53 sunny degrees today and all my windows are open!!!

Hey Laurie,
Your very pretty, very cool scarf should be fine if it gets rained on. If it rains so hard that LA is actually in danger of perishing, you will want to lay it flat to dry (which is also true if you need to wash it...by hand, in lukewarm water, using Dawn, or shampoo, or something equally kind to your handknits. But NOT Woolite, which is apparently too "detergenty" and harsh.) It may close up a bit, but you shouldn't need to pin it out again.
--Lee

Being European and all, the Fahrenheit is *very* confusing... I try to wrap my brain around how hot or cold 68 degrees can be...but no. Doesn't work. I can only say that if it was 68 NORMAL degrees (heh), it would be really, really too hot for scarves. Or clothes for that matter. I love your blog! Almost makes me want to move to LA...not that I'm a stalker or anything! =)

Wow, these pictures are such a nostalgia trip! DH and I used to work above the Engine Co. restaurant at Wilshire & Fig - just around the corner from where you were taking these! We used to go to the Standard for lunch all the time. Almost makes me miss LA. And the STORM WATCH news - what a crack-up. Now that I'm in Portland, it's the one week of 90 degree weather that makes the news, not a little rain...

I don't normally comment, but the 68 F being scarf wearing weather thing drove me to it.

My dear, that is summer weather here (it's also the temperature I keep my house at during the day) and for me it'd be time for sleeveless tops and capris.

Oh and for those who'd like to know what 68 F is in *real* temperatures, it's 20 C.

Liza {who's from the Great White North, eh?}

One more Chicagoan here, temperature is all relative. 68 deg here in March and we're all in shorts and tank tops. 68 deg in september and we're taking the long johns out of moth balls. And for the "so-called" Chicagoans who can't support the hometown team going to the World Series...smells like sour grapes to me.

Man, if you want some rain, you're welcome to some of ours ... Here in Florida ("The Hurricane Bullseye State") we're watching Wilma form in the Gulf .. oh, swell. Supposed to go to Vegas next week, I can only imagine how Wilma will conspire with the evil forces of morality to screw up my flight.

Yeah, that's right, Vegas.

I live near Seattle, I love rain!! How do you take all that glaring sunshine day after day after day after day?

Don't worry, the scarf will withstand a few sprinkles. My Transitions scarf held up well all last winter. It suffered more because I wad things up into a little ball and shove them into bags, etc. than from anything else. I'll probably wash once and then leave it until spring, or I spill coffee on it.

sorry but the thundred storm system passing through last night was making me wet my bed.

so NOT cool to me.

I kept thinking I had HID lights while I was heading home on the 90.. those lighting just kept coming.

eek!

lol. thundred. (was thinking of money when I typed that)

I mean thunder.

whatevers!

Laurie, if you still like the Patons UpCountry, check the Mary Maxim website. They have it for $3.97 a ball.

In the midwest, we consider temps in the 40's in winter shirt-sleeve weather.

Hey, I consider 68 degrees scarf weather too. It was a frigid fifty-something degrees here in Mississippi over night. We all sat on the front porch in our scarves and sandals, complaining about how absolutely FREEZING it was... but appreciating the fact that our beer didn't get warm as quickly.

P.S. Blocking mystifies me as well...

Funny little thing about blocking... well, let's just say you don't want to get caught in a downpour in your freshly blocked alpaca lace shawl. Fondling the fruits and veggies at the supermarket while reaking of a wet herd of alpaca can be a bit embarrassing.

Did ya'll get the hail downtown? It was hailing up a storm here in Pasadena. Yes, you heard me. ICE FELL FROM THE SKY. IN LOS ANGELES.

How fun, I know where you work now. I mean from the angle of that shot toward the Standard rooftop. Next time I visit LA I will look toward your window & wave. Going to the Standard is so very very El Lay I have to do it just about every time I'm there. (Kind of like cable cars here in SF, I guess. I don't know. I've never ridden one.)

Funny that 68 is cold in LA. I live in San Francisco, where we are equally spoiled about the weather, but in a different way. If you live in a foggy neighborhood, like I do, it's chilly almost year round (which I adore). So a couple of weeks ago my boyfriend and I were sitting in our living room on a Saturday and we noticed it was HOT. Hot enough the turn on the fan, and even seriously discuss the AC. We bitched and moaned about the yucky hot weather that was making me want to change out of my cute new sweater into short sleeves and not make a pot roast that night (because the oven would further overheat the house and we would certainly DIE). Then we looked up the weather and found out it was 68, and had to laugh at ourselves, since he grew up in LA and I grew up in AZ and should both know better.
Love your blog.

It was so exciting to finally get rain and cooler temps! Sorry about the commute, I know how you feel. The first rain last year, it took me three hours to get to work and three hours to get home. I can't believe what rain does to LA commuters. . . I feel the need to create some wintery weather wear, now that we have stopped climing into the 100's! 68 is curl up with tea and a blanket weather. . . or wine Auntie?

I guess I'm a wuss, because I'm in MN, and I too consider 68 scarf weather.

Loving the comments here on weather. I've actually complained this week about the heat in WI...60's and mostly sunny. It's gorgeous, and the trees are at their peak color, but ug. My classroom. Too hot. I have wooly things waiting to be worn! Let's go with the coolness. I know lots of folks like the heat, but it'd kill me. Seriously. And I'm trying to convince my studmuffin we need to stay here down the road in retirement. I'm willing to vacation and visit Hades, but I'm staying here. With the seasons. And snow. And ice. Love the winter.

Hey ya'll! I'm from LA and when I was a kid whenever it hit 70 degrees mom broke out the winter coats and turned on the furnace!!!! lol! LOVE LOVE LOVE your blog!It makes me laugh no matter how down i am!

Special Severe Weather Update: Attention, Storm Watchers! It is pouring buckets in the Inland Empire! There was hail in Pasadena! It is the END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT!! You must stay indoors! It is pointless even trying to go anywhere in Southern California today...by the time you get there, it's time to turn around & go home anyway...So just call in sick & stay on the Internet all day - especially if you're PMS'ing, you're feeling pretty witchy & you KNOW what happens to witches when they get wet! Except you really necessary people that run the electricity & stuff - you guys be really careful out there, OK? 'Cause I really, really need my Internet today...

68F, that's 20 to us Europeans, which is as warm as I like the house to get, any warmer, and I turn on the fans and close the shades against the sunlight. At that temperature, I'd seriously consider not going out until the cool of the evening, and I'd most definitley be slathered in factor 60 sun cream, wearing a hat, and seeking the shade. If I had access to an outdoor pool, I'd be doing laps and dreaming I was in Sydney.

The blocking thing, nope, you won't have to pin it out on the bedspread again, but reshape whilst damp, and dry flat. You can fold it up to save space, but not too much folded, 3 layers is about the max. Yeah, you'll smell of damp sheep/alpaca/whatever, so maybe it would be a kindness not to wear it to the office. Unhappy memories of the whiff of damp wool school blazers on pubescent girls - uuuurp!

My classroom overlooks the Verdugo mountains in Glendale and my students started freaking out with the thunder and lightning. The funniest thing is we were discussing the wrath of God as it relates to "The Crucible" and then the lightning and thunder struck. The kids were totally freaking out. Some covered their ears and others put their heads down. When the sky turned green (around the time of the hail) I sort of gave up. My students back in Chicago wouldn't have even bothered to look out the window, but this is an event out here! I almost died when I saw the "Storm Watch 2005!" ABC wasted no time trucking that out last night! Sheesh! LA is crazy.

Go White Sox! I'm a Cubs fan and any Cubs fan who isn't cheering for the White Sox right now is a big ol' loser! Get over yourself! It's the World Series!

There's a little saying we have here in Vermit: at 20 degrees F, it's time to put on pants; at zero degrees F, it's time to close your windows, and at 20 degrees below, it's time to turn on the furnace.

And Purl, me friend - here at the Catty Casbah, the thermostat stays at 65 degrees F all winter long. Vermit - 9 months of winter, and 3 months of really bad skiing.

Imagine that your scarf was still attached to a sheep. Psychedelic! The sheep would be fine in the rain. UNLESS: The rain was like 85 degrees or hotter (probably more like BOILING) or there was LOTS OF AGITATION.. think of getting free Rose Parade passes at, um, the Staples Center or something. Then you'd have a felted sheep. Otherwise, a little gentle drying and patting will bring your sheep/scarf back to her/his original condition.

We need rain, too. (Texas)

Yeah, I totally have some pink shoes that I still consider new since I bought them 2 months ago and I won't be able to buy more for months and months that I still won't wear in the rain cause I don't want them to get gross. I have no idea about the blocking, but I so understand the dilemma. I want rain. It's still freaking 83 here!

it's amazing what happens down here when it rains, i've never seen such chaos! the news was saying how it's been flooding down here and it's BARELY rained the past two days. insanity! miss you, laurie!

Wrap it in crinkly plastic that way it doesn't get wet. AND you get a reputation as a hypocondriac AS well as OCD.
It gives you PERSONALITY...

Aw, hell, girl, I feel ya. When you've been suffering through 100+ heat (as we have been until recently in Austin, TX), 80 feels like a cold front and 68 is definitely thermal undie-wearing weather.

Woohoo!

Hey, purlycue, I tried to email you but it came back to me (I'm on an EVIL computer - it is the tool of Alisonknits blog - a good and gracious woman - but her computer is PURE evil. There, I've said it...)

Anyways, as to your email, anything you want to do with me is fine as long as I'm fully clothed.

THAT will set the tongues a waggin, huh?

Can't wait to see you again - and I'm so glad it's raining. That must be JUST for li'l ol' me - you KNEW I'd miss it after almost TWO SOLID WEEKS of rain in the Northeast. Hooray!

my dog Pickles would certainly argue that this is "sprinkling."

he refuses to poo in the rain unless i hold the umbrella over him, so i would welcome sprinkling.

Is the rain over? Can I leave my house?

Wait - Dusa, "at 20 degrees F, it's time to put on pants"?!?! What the heck do you do when its warmer, run around nekked?!

AGH!! I live over by Magic Mountain in So-Cal... and around 2pm yesterday... omg i thought the world was going to end!! It was raining sooooo hard and then it started to hail... oh my it was sight! Also yesterday at like 3am there was some seriously loud thunder... it actually woke ME up... of all people! lol.

Ha!`Storm Watch indeed! here in Massachusetts, over the past two days the breaking news has been "dam in small MA city is STILL STANDING." They're just waiting for this thing to burst. Yep-floods, fires, mudslides...bird flu. We're toast. Great site!

Oh my gosh I am visiting L.A in a couple of weeks from England, and I just dont know what clothes to pack!!! This 20 dgrees thing sounds bloody lovely!! I'm gonna be in my shorts sunning myself!