An Unplanned Finish ~

Sorry to be so far behind on posting and commenting, but it's been a bit crazy here.  First of all, the sun has been shining more than usual, so the garden has been screaming for attention.  It did reward us though.  Our clematis is beautiful this year.

Whenever the sun comes out, we get the travel bug, and we've had a couple of fun trips lately that I need to share, but all of my good intentions have been derailed upon learning that three friends have recently been diagnosed with metastatic cancer. Thus, I've dropped everything to knit some prayer shawls.  One is done, and the second has been cast on.

I hope it will bring a measure of comfort.  How I wish someone would find a cure for this dreadful disease.

Finally, the Sun Is Out!

Yesterday the sun came out here for the second day in a row, and we logged our warmest temperature this year, 83 degrees!  (We saw 86 degrees on the car dealership thermometer near home.) So, after our morning commitments, we hopped in the car and headed to the Kitsap Peninsula and the town of Poulsbo.  Of course, we stopped at a yarn shop and a quilt shop there before we  crossed the bridge to Bainbridge Island so we could catch the ferry back to Seattle.

Even the mountains were out on this gloriously sunny day!  Our garden appreciated the sunshine also.  Here is what we saw early in the day.

And here is how the same poppy looked when we came back home.

Meanwhile, I'm still working on the long neglected beaded shawl, trying hard to get the correct stitch count for the border, but  this scarf below, one of my favorite patterns for multi-colored yarn,  is now finished. Hopefully it won't be needed for a good long while!  It does go with our blue skies though, doesn't it?

Carpe diem!  Enjoy the sunshine wherever you are, too.

Slow Down, May! Finished UFOs, Hurrah!

Here it is, the beginning of the second week in May!  I'm convinced that someone has put the calendar on "fast forward".  But then that always happens at this time of year, with lots of activities coming to an end for summer.  Lately, I've been working on some ancient UFOs, trying to whittle down their number. (I am way better at starting than finishing.) I was inspired by Judy L. of Patchwork Times suggestion to make a list of 12 unfinished quilt projects, and then she draws the project number to complete each month, only I'm using it on my knit projects, not that I don't have any quilt UFOs. (or cross stitch....)

April's finish is Color Affection which I started in 2012.

February's project Twin Rib Scarf was finally complete on May 1.  If you enlarge the photo, you can see how the sequins sparkle in multiple colors.

I already shared these two projects which were completed in January.  All that was left on the sweater was sewing the seams, something I can procrastinate forever!

These socks were the March project, and I've already shown them also.

And I know you're already wondering about the May project.  Well, it's teaching me a good lesson:  Do not stop in the middle of a project!  I had totally forgotten how to add the beads.  It's not looking good for a finish by the end of the month, that is certain. Sigh. Besides there's another project looming on the horizon that has a real deadline. Yikes!

I almost forgot this month's finish which is a UFO that wasn't on the list, Dublin Bay Socks, a fun and free pattern.  Have a great week and don't stop in the middle of your project!

Where Did April Go?

April has flown by all too quickly!  First we were gone, and then when we came back home, we were busy catching up.  We spent the early part of the month in the Midwest visiting our older daughter and family. Our days there were filled with the kids' activities, including a swim awards program, and a couple of school visits as well as lots of chatting and hugs. After all these years, and on a lovely spring day, we went into the city of Chicago and finally saw "The Bean."

Millennium Park is huge, and we only saw a little bit of it.  The kids had a great time at the play area, and we enjoyed watching them have fun as well as a great lunch afterwards.

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We got back home here just in time to celebrate Easter with our other daughter's extended family.  The Littles found lots of eggs with the help of their older cousins.

They also like to explore their own yard!

Speaking of yards, ours is full of blooming plants at the moment:

These three are about done now, but the ones below are just starting to shine.

And not to be out done, the indoor hibiscus surprised me with a flower this week and even a couple more buds! 

You may have noticed lots of  unraked leaves in some of the photos.  Our recent rains have made getting out to rake a less than desirable option. (We have had the most rain ever here since they probably started keeping track in 1895!)  Mocha and Ginger don't care about the weather though.  As long as they can find a register to sleep/lie on, they are happy.

Oh, and I have finished a couple of projects, but they are drying now and will have to wait till another post.  Happy Thursday!

Florida Photos as Promised

During the first part of March we spent ten days in Florida for another "sun fix".  We had a great time, too, visiting friends and relatives all over the place, including Dee and her husband who kindly met us in Daytona Beach, not too far from one of DH's cousins in New Symerna.  Sadly we didn't take any people photos, but we did get a few nature ones.

Some kind of turtle

Moor Hen

Different shots of what I think is  an anhinga

Sandhill Crane (about 4 feet tall) 

Our hotel was down the road from the race track, and amazingly we got a nice room in a hotel nearby because it happened to be the week between two big races.  Who knew?

There's lots to see and do in this interesting state which is good because it's about as far away from here as you can possible get and still be in the continental US.  Nice people, too!

Where Have I Been?

Right after we got back from Florida, our choir began the final weeks of preparation for our concert last night.  We sang Mozart's Ave Verum and his final work, the Requiem.  The wonderful soprano soloist sang his Exultate and the orchestra opened the program playing his Sonata in C.  It was a wonderfully uplifting evening, but boy are we tired today. (There's a photo on our Facebook page.)  In the meanwhile, I did finish a couple of projects recently.

The Crazy socks are DONE!  It was probably the most complicated sock I have ever made with lots of unusual stitches and direction changes.  The cuffs were knit sideways and then seamed with a modified 3-needle bind-off.  All those direction changes made for a very interesting sole, and the "thing" in the gusset is on both socks and supposed to resemble a butterfly.  I started this project with a plain color yarn which was splitting badly so reverted to this choice which I thought was a tonal but became quite stripy. A plain color would have shown the different stitch patterns better, but this yarn made for a very fun sole.

My hair stylist is soon having her first baby, a girl.  Her color scheme includes lavender, so I made a pair of booties to welcome baby.  (They look blue in this photo though.💜)

As soon as our youngest GD saw her brother's zebra slippers, she asked for a pair.  How could I resist such a sweet request?  The first thing she said when I handed them to her was, "Do they have my name on them?"  That they do, and they even fit!

Just the other day I remembered a promise made last fall to make a pillow for my oldest GD using her latest completed embroidery.  Since we are headed that way soon, I thought I'd better get busy and here it is, ready to hand deliver.  If you click on the photo, you may be better able to see the chicken button.

Those are supposedly Bohemian chickens!?

 So know you know where I have been!  Hope you've had a good several weeks.

Back Home in the Rain ~and a Tiny Bit of Sun

We have been gone and with no way of posting, but now we are back home. I finally finished a pair of embroidered socks!  It was last year's mystery sock from the Knitters Brewing Company.

It's a fairly complex pattern, so I didn't want to overdo it with so much embroidery that you couldn't see the cabling.

 I also finished a scarf and a pair of booties.  Right now I'm trying to finish this year's KBC mystery sock which is based on crazy quilting. Can you imagine that?

Have a good week!  I'll be back with some pictures from our Florida trip.