A Couple More Finishes and Then Some ~~~

A couple weeks ago, the flowering plums were in their full glory; now we are having "pink snow" as the petals fall off.

How did this little crocus poke through that maple leaf?

Can you see the snowy mountain in the distance? It's Mount Baker and is north of us, almost to the Canadian border. It gets lots of snow every year and still has lots of snow even in summer.

It was 80 degrees this summer day , but there was still snow in the parking lot of the visitor center, and some trails were still closed.  The mountain in the background is Mount Shuksan. In case you're wondering, it was July 2018!

Primroses are some of the first flowers to bloom each spring and as well as the daffodils.

I also planted some spring flowers in our little planter box.  Can you guess whose school colors they represent?

Oh yeah, I did mean to post my finishes, didn't I? 

This is my second Fisherman's Wife cowl; the light blue color doesn't show well, but that's why I chose the blue buttons. It's a pretty quick knit!

This is my most recent finish; it was supposed to have fringe, but the yarn wants to unravel, so I omitted it. Who knows thought when I'll ever get to give it to the recipient since we are under orders to stay at home!  Hope all of you are weathering this crisis OK!!  We are staying home except for walks in our hilly neighborhood and occasional trips to the nearby grocery store. It's hard to know what day it is when your weekly schedule is interrupted, isn't it?  Stay well everyone!  Hugs from WA!

Friday Felines

 Here's how Ginger spends at least a portion of every day, even when the sun is shining. (It's gray and chilly here today though.)  Happy Friday, and you stay warm, too!

It's Been Awhile but I Have Actually Finished Something!

Hello!  I don't know what happened to the rest of February, even though it had a whole extra day.  We spent ten days in Florida, so perhaps that's the reason.  We had a nice time there, but we were so busy visiting family and friends that we didn't even do any sightseeing!  I did however bring home a souvenir: fire ant bites all over my feet, especially the left one. Thankfully they've finally quit itching after almost 2 weeks! 

It's now March, and I finally finished a project, a pair of socks.  Somehow I didn't finish even one project last month; maybe I'll make up for that this month? The pattern was a gift from brierqueen entitled "Embossed Leaves Redux"; I could only find this version on Ravelry. It's a fun pattern but requires a bit of concentration.

We just got back from a walk in our neighborhood and saw lots of very welcome signs of Spring, including cherry blossoms and daffodils. In our yard we even have pussy willows.

What is now very tall, so tall that it's impossible to cut a branch or two even with a tall ladder, was once less than two feet tall before we moved it to where it is now.

The other night Ginger got very excited by a visit from this critter and 3 of its siblings.  We were glad a glass door kept them apart as both the cat and the raccoons were right against the glass making unfriendly noises at each other.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
Well that's all the news for now except I just learned that our church services will be streamed online this Sunday because of Covid-19. Choir last night was also cancelled for the first time by something other than snow in the 20+ years we've been members!  Our city is taking this virus seriously. Stay well everyone!

Happy Valentine's Weekend!

Hope everyone had a very nice Valentine's Day! Even the weather celebrated here as the sun actually appeared and not even a drop of rain came down. (We had the rainiest January since 1953, and back then I lived in Wisconsin where it probably snowed.) In our family there are quite a few birthdays in December and January, and that caused quite a lot of knitting:

First was a scarf that found a home with Michael: 

Then came Catherine, right after Christmas. I really like this pattern and plan to make it again.

Then comes Max.  Here's what I knit him for Christmas, and not too many days later, came his January birthday. 

I think you'll recognize this guy! He was a fun knit!:

You've already seen this hat, and here are the matching mitts for David, our speedy swimmer and best of all they fit!:

There were two more January finishes:  This one for a choir friend's new baby. (You've seen this pattern before many times.)

and this one for another choir friend who loves tacos:

It's from a sweater pattern, but I used the design to make a pot holder!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That's it for now. Have a wonderful weekend! (We are spending the President's Day holiday with our local grand kids.)  See you next time; now back to breakfast and my February projects. (All are yet to be finished!)

What Happened to December and January?

Yikes!  Will I ever catch up? Don't you think it's time to remove the turkey header?  I am so behind on posts I don't even know where to start. First, I was behind with my Christmas knitting, and now I don't even have an excuse!  I guess I'll start with some of the finished projects.  I made lots of mittens:

 The grand kids in Chicago need lots of mittens.

And so does their mama. She requested really warm mittens, so I used this pattern which includes directions for a lining.  If you want a challenge, here's a link to the pattern, definitely a "don't talk to me" one!  But the results are worth the effort.

Palm ------------------------Top

This slouchy hat was a fun knit.

This hat was fun, too.

This hat was for my oldest grandson who's on a swim team and needs something warm after practice!  It had matching mitts which are on their way to Chicago for his January birthday.  The pattern is interesting and includes both the hat and mitts.

If you want to knit something totally different, try a bracelet!  You can get kits from Ellen Sandin at Earthfaire.

Our youngest grand daughter loves to cook, so I made her this apron.

I got a Christmas surprise, too. The avocado seed finally sprouted after weeks sitting in water.  Now it has lots more leaves and is probably a foot tall!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That's all for now, but I'll be back soon for an update on the late December January birthday projects.  Happy New Year a tad late!

Catching Up with November!

Hello!  I haven't gone into hiding, but somehow this month of November is flying by without any posts from me.  Probably like the rest of you, my needles have been busy  and so have our days. ( I am done with my cataract surgeries and can see well now at a distance. However, I am anxious for my visit with the optician so I will also be able to see well up close!}

My holiday projects have been derailed though by booties for a bunch of babies and their  varied arrivals, one pair last month and three pairs recently!

This pair is for a baby that's due in December.

This hat went along with the all pink booties.

Speaking of hats, I also made  this hat for a friend who is a big SeaHawks fan. ( I removed the pom pom per her request.)

And then I did another Cowl ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Just now this little fairy whispered in my ear that it's time to make supper, so I will sign off.  Have a great week!

Happy Sunday!

Well, it's a chilly and kinda rainy afternoon, so I thought I'd update my blog. This weather lately has been great for knitting although we have braved the rain and taken a few walks. We also spent most of yesterday at the first choir retreat with our new director; it was a fun and productive day as we got a head start on Christmas music. In addition, I even have a few finishes to share.

Can you believe this is the seventeenth Interrupted Cowl that has come off my needles? I just cast on # 18 the other day and still have 2 more skeins of this yarn left.  It's a fun and easy knit.

One of my choir friends is about to have her first grand son, so I made these booties for her to give him. This is another one of my go-to patterns although I swear the yarn I use has less yardage than it used to.

For some reason these socks don't appear to be the same size. Stella tried one of them on, and I think that's why the one looks larger but really isn't.  Maybe it just stretched out?  The pattern is quite interesting although I didn't continue it down the foot of the sock.  I LOVE this yarn color because it makes me think of peppermint sticks. ( I purchased the yarn a while back at  Vogue Knitting Live when it was here in Bellevue.)

Our backyard has been pretty busy lately. This guy and his pals visit regularly along with a squirrel that takes a peanut from my fingers.  Other birds have been here en masse, too, including nuthatches, juncos and towhees. As a result, our bird feeder needs filling several times a week!

Much to my delight, our fall blooming clematis has added a bright spot to our back yard at this time of year.  In addition, it reminds me of my dear friend, Linda, who gave it to me a long time ago.  She is no longer with us, but I think of her so often as she is the one who convinced me to move to Colorado where I met my husband! 

********************************************************************************************************

Hope you all have had a great weekend!