No, I Haven't Disappeared!

It's been a while since I last posted, and here's the reason. I've been spending every spare minute working on this hat which should have been mailed off a few days ago. It's called an Andean Chullo and should be pretty warm, but boy, was it ever a project.  Additionally, I was trying to finish the 650 page book John Adams for this morning's book group.  Both were accomplished, and now I can get back to something easier in both the reading and knitting departments!

Before I started the chullo, I did make a quick baby hat at the request of my son for his friend who's soon to be a dad.  I have a pair of booties and a tiny pair of socks on my needles as part of this as well.

As far as what else is happening on the home front,  We took an overnight trip to Port Townsend last Friday but headed home on Saturday as it was pouring.  (Our room looked right out onto the water, and the place was within walking distance to the ferry terminal. One of the rooms was where scenes from the movie The Officer and the Gentleman was filmed.)

Then yesterday we spent much of the day with the grand kids in Magnolia which had been the site of a yarn bombing!  I heard a little girl say, "Oh, look! That tree is wearing a sweater."  Just about every other tree on both sides of  the main drag was "dressed" that way, too. I guess magnolia trees and their friends need to keep warm?!

Oh yes, someone asked me how often the bromeliad blooms. After the flower blooms, the parent plant dies! (It is a succulent that is related to the pineapple.) As the flower blooms, the plant usually sends up a new shoot, so life goes on! This plant was a Mother's Day gift a long time ago!

Well, Mocha is reminding me that it's time for her dinner, so I'll sign off for now. Have a great week!

January Begins with Snow! And a Finish!

Yesterday on the way home from church, the rain turned into snow, and as we came up our hill it it was snowing in ernest and continued most of the afternoon.

It was too warm for it to accumulate, but our driveway looked a little snowy. I guess it was the snow that covered Portand and then headed to our mountains after leaving a little trail. All gone this morning, and not much by Midwest standards, that's for sure, but that is OK with me.

This little guy turned 4 today, and I finished my project just in time.  He loves legos and all the Superheros, so I hope it fits and that he likes it.  Whatever, it should be warm!

This was rather like making a sweatshirt!

And I'm finally back to work on the Scoreboard Scarf. It's going to be very, very long. The last game of the season was yesterday, so the end is in sight, except I am behind six and a half games.  The good news is that there will be a lot more blue on the next part!  Go Hawks!

Guess where we are headed this evening?  Off to celebrate turning four! Have a great week!

Happy New Year!!! 2016 is here!

Shhhh!  Don't tell anyone, but this is the third day in a row that we've seen the sun!  Tuesday was so beautiful coming home from volunteering that we had to stop and take a photo.  The mountains were glorious!  And even those few clouds have vanished now, so it's been very chilly at night.  But, hey, it's been SUNNY here!

Prior to then we had enough rain to awaken our spring that we discovered a year ago.  It dried up during the summer but the 11+ inches of December rain had it running vigorously until the temperatures dropped below freezing.  Lately the raccoons have been playing in it at night and making quite a racket!

Remember this?   It has continued to grow and now looks like this:

Sadly, when it's done blooming, the whole plant will slowly wither and die. However, there's a new shoot coming to replace it.  This cycle has been going on now for a long time, ever since Mother's Day years ago!

Two birthdays right after Christmas have had me steadily knitting.  This Honey Cowl (It's a fun knit!) has been delivered, and the end is in sight for the second project that is needed on Monday!  I even found a Ninja emblem to put on it as a certain soon-to-be 4 year old is crazy about them and all other Super Heroes.  Meanwhile, I want to wish all of you the best year yet.  Happy, Happy New Year!  (And check Patchwork Times to see what others are knitting.)