Ready to Take Off!

Here's our newest picture of Sophia wearing her purple hat. Just six months old, she is rarin' to go!

So far, I've knit 3 different hats from these two yarns, and it looks like there's still enough left for another one. The pattern is from a class I took at So Much Yarn which is up the street from Catherine a bit.

The Many Faces of the Big Island

Sunset from our Condo Window
We've been home from our trip to Kona, Hawaii, for a little less than a week, and readjusting to this climate has been made easier by the fact that the sun has shone every day since we got back! We had a wonderful time exploring the Big Island and enjoyed lots of relaxing in our Magic Sands condo and at the beach next door. The surf was very high (15-20 feet) so we only waded a bit near the shore. Being pale Washington residents, we were also very careful not to get sunburned like we did the first time we visited this lovely state.

One day we drove over to where the lava has closed the highway and also destroyed nearly 200 homes.
Can you see all 4 birds?
We also really loved watching the birds and visiting a botanical garden that had so many beautiful plants, orchids, and surprisingly, mosquitoes.This flower is called cat whiskers.
And another highlight was discovering a quiltshop that also carried yarn and embroidery thread where I found some beautiful batiks as well as a missing DMC thread for a long ago started UFO.

Partially Embellished Heart

We just got back from being gone for over a week, but before we left I got a bit of embellishing done on my heart. It was really fun figuring out a way to attach the hearts!

Part One Is Finished!

Just this week, Pam announced a new spring SAL, starting in March, but I just finished part one of the Valentine SAL and am trying very hard to finish projects before starting any more new ones. However, since I am really happy with the way this SAL is coming along and like Pam's patterns a lot, it's very tempting to try another one.

Part 2, not to mention the rest of it, is definitely NOT going to be done by Valentine's Day, even though I've already done a little bit that part. My friend Nancy told me her daughter's due date has been moved up to the end of the month! Now I need to drop everything else, get cracking, and make something for the babe. Yikes!

CQ Heart

Even though the Fall block isn't finished, I decided to piece a heart, using the idea of a 5-sided shape in the middle. Well....something happened to the fifth side, but I think it looks OK anyhow. So, I will embellish it with some of Susan's thread that came in today's mail. How did she know the colors I needed?

American Hero Quilt

Our quilt group is participating in the American Hero Quilt project and making a quilt for a returning soldier hospitalized at Madigan here in Washington. Shirley designed the quilt which is to be made of Sawtooth Stars. Well, the flying geese part fought me all the way, so Irene showed us how she does it. ( Susan Nixon told me that she uses Eleanor Burns's ruler.)

Introducing Big-Beak Duck!

All those pieces from my earlier post go together to make.....a duck! The directions for the beak said, "approximately 48 rows" which is, in my opinion, too many but, hey, it did turn out pretty cute anyhow. Ducky directions as well as instructions for 23 other toys can be found in Knit a square & make a toy from Cole's Home Library Craftbooks. It was nice to find a way to use practice squares!
Big-Beak Duck