Off the Needles at Last!

Haven't gotten around to posting this yet, but I finally finished this scarf that I started a long time ago.  Don't know why I didn't finish it but must have been distracted by another more interesting project.  But it is DONE now. Yay!

The pattern is Ann Norling's Short Row Multi-Directional Scarf and the yarn is Taos.  It's actually a fun project, and I've already started my fourth one.  You can make it any width you wish. Nothing else to show in the project department, but look who showed up last week?

Not sure whether it's the same one or now, but it seems like this deer comes to our yard every Wednesday!  On last week's visit it did some snacking and seems to me to be saying, "Excuse me, but you interrupted my lunch!" I wonder whether it'll show up tomorrow?

Happy Easter/Passover everyone! And happy stitching/knitting, too!

Sorting though the Stash ?!

Last week I spent some time sorting though my various stashes and found a couple of projects screaming to be finished.  Who could resist? So out they came; we'll see how long it takes! (I'm not telling when these were started either!)

Speaking of stitching projects, isn't this cute?  Dee made it for me; it's a Seahawk snowman and sure made me feel better after that last game.  She sure is a good cross stitcher!

I'm working on a secret project at the moment.  Can't tell any more than that.

Guess what finally decided to open?  The orchid.  I had a 50% success rate: of 2 buds, one opened and the other shriveled up and fell off! Why? I have no idea.  I just have to be happy with the one, right?

And no post is complete with out a grand kid photo or two.

Now off to get dinner started and who knows what else?  Have a good day!

Off the Needles~More Dishcloths

Dishcloths make perfect travel knitting. The patterns aren't too complex, and it doesn't take too long to finish. They are also a good place to try out new stitch patterns.

This one is a variation on Grandma's Favorite Dishcloth.  It does require a bit of concentration though. (Ask me how I know.....)

This one is a fun variation on the basket weave.

And these two are Mere's favorite wash cloth pattern.  Something happened this time, and the first one turned out a bit wonky, more lack of concentration, probably, but the second one is just fine.

This pattern is called Stacatto and was from the KnitPicks site.

This is a fun stitch called the waffle stitch and is interesting on both sides.

Links to all of these patterns can be found on my Ravelry page: jatshaw. Try one; they are fun! To see what others have on their needles go to Patchwork Times.

Happy First Day of Spring!

Spring has come early to the Pacific Northwest, and  we have lots of signs of it in our yard.

The flowering plum was given to me by my friend Nancy when Mom passed away and always brings back sweet memories when I see it, especially when it's blooming.

Aren't these pink camelias beautiful?

This forsythia was standing up straight until it rained so hard on Saturday night.

For me, primroses are a true sign of spring.  I was delighted to see some green leaves on this little plant from last year!

Here's another early bloomer, Hellebore, sometimes called Lenten Rose.

Catherine gave me this plant when it outgrew her pot. I think it is called Euphorbia and is related to the poinsettia.

We have lots and lots of daffodils because the squirrels and deer leave them alone unlike tulips which they devour.

And this little character visited again and seems quite comfortable, don't you agree?
PS After consulting the bird book, I think the mystery bird in the last post is a Pacific Golden Plover!

Exploring Maui~~~

After Catherine and family left to go back to Seattle, we did a bit of exploring. First we hiked along the boardwalk at the Kealia Pond and saw all kinds of interesting birds.

(If you enlarge this photo, you can see a whole line of wind turbines on the mountain.)

This is a mystery bird.  Do you know what it is?

Cattle egrets are everywhere, even parking lots!

This bird is an endangered one, but we saw quite a few at the pond. It's a black-necked stilt.

We think this is a baby night heron that will eventually look like this adult:

Later that day, we drove past Wailea to the end of the road where you can see the lava flows from an eruption of Haleakla in 1790. Another day we drove up to the crater, but it was raining sideways and was so windy that we didn't get any pictures.  There were many brave bicyclists that we encountered on our way up the rainy mountain! We were glad to be in our car.

One of my favorite places we went was the Hookipa Beach Park where we saw lots of sea turtles. They are huge!

Our last day in Maui we went to the Iao Valley which was very beautiful.

We read that warriors kept watch on the Needle long ago.

It was fun walking on the trails through all the greenery.

 We never expected to see this little fellow and on a leash, no less!.

We had a great trip, but it's good to be back home, awaiting the first day of spring.

Aloha!

We just got back earlier this week from 10 days in Maui.   Despite the fact that the weather was less than stellar, we had a great time. It was warm, but rainy and windy also for quite a few of the days; in fact, I never even got out my swimsuit! We had fun exploring though and saw lots of interesting flowers, plants, and wildlife.

Our condo looked right out onto the water and a couple of times we saw humpback whales frolicking in the distance.

Some interesting birds visited our patio each day.

Our younger daughter and her family were there, too; they were the ones who convinced us to come and our time there overlapped a few days with theirs. Their condo was about an hour away, but we still managed to visit them each day.  

One afternoon, we went into Lahaina Town and walked around in Banyan Tree Park.  Just one tree makes up the whole park!  It's 60 feet tall and 200 feet wide and dates back to 1873!

Not too far from the park, a man was offering to photograph people with his parrots.  He had 7 of them, all different, and they were fun to watch.

In the lot where we parked, we discovered a breadfruit tree

and saw these beautiful hills in the distance. 

In another post I'll show some photos from our excursions after the kids left when we had some time to explore on our own.  But for now, I'm headed to bed as I'm still not used to the time change, and we have to be a church early to sing tomorrow. G'night!