A Little Visitor, a Little Sunshine, an Interesting Tree, and Another Hat

This kitty visits us occasionally and totally freaks out our cat, even though this cat is outside and Ginger is not. Does anyone know what kind of cat this is?

On Saturday we finally had some sunshine and were rewarded on our walk by this view of Seattle. If you look closely, you can even see the Space Needle!  Since then it's been raining and raining, and this morning there's even a small "lake" in our driveway.

Look what we found in our nearby neighborhood!  It's a monkey pod tree, but I don't know where these trees originate. Do you?

When they bloom the unusual flowers look like this. When they are done blooming, the flowers turn to pods, hence the name. But I don't know where the "monkey" part comes from. We don't have monkeys around here, just cougars, coyotes, and bobcats! 😉

Here's my most recent finish, hat from yarn that was in my stash but has been discontinued. There were only 40 yards in the ball, and it was somewhat like knitting with rope on the size 15 needles. I added some rows to the pattern, but it's still a really snug fit. And if you're wondering about the flowers, they were already part of the yarn and could be placed by sliding them along the yarn.  You never know what's still in your stash, do you?

Well, that's it for now.  Hopefully I will have another finish soon.  Have a great week!

 

An Early Morning Surprise!

It's been pretty chilly here lately, at least for our part of the world. And this morning we woke up to a dusting of snow!

Happily, we have this reminder in our kitchen that spring will be coming soon!

Enjoy the day!

Another Hat and Another Walk

I just finished this hat before my friend stopped over to pick up some yarn as well as the other hats I'd made for Jubilee Reach, a a great charity in our area. The pattern is Ribbed Cap and is free on Ravelry.

Last weekend, before it got really cold, we took an interesting hike and even learned some Seattle history in the process!  On the way to the O.O. Denny Park, it started to rain and then the rain turned to sleet.  Luckily when we reached our destination, the skies turned blue and stayed that way until the end of our walk. We didn't get too wet though.

Apparently O.O. Denny was the first non-native boy born in Seattle. His parents were some of the founders of Seattle.

The trail includes what is left of the oldest tree in our county.

This tree grew out of an old stump!

And this is Denny Creek which finally empties into Lake Washington.

In addition to the wooded trails, the park is on the beach and apparently a spot where people like to kayak and also where you can see lots of birds. We think these birds are wigeons.

Enjoy your day!  We are going to try to walk today; hopefully we wimps won't freeze as it's only in the twenties here which is unusually cold.

Socks for the Sock Project

Since these two socks didn't match much, I decided to donate them to the Sock Project which I think is part of the WarmSockWarmHeart group. I used Dee's Take Five pattern for them. It's a fun one.

Then I searched through my sock WIPs and found this one which was all done except for sewing in the ends. This was Knitters Brewing Company's Let It Snow sock, the result of a mystery pattern.  It's quite pretty, but I decided I'd probably never finish sock# 2.  So off it goes to a good project.

The snowflake shows up best head-on, doesn't it?

What are you up to on this Saturday?  It's chilly and grey here, but it wasn't raining on our walk, thankfully!  Have a good weekend.

Two Finishes, Our Grand Dog, and a Crazy Plant

Pandmonium is done! It was a bit challenging though.

Here's another Ribbed Cap, this time with a pompom.

Introducing Lulu with Opa who was surprised by her visit.

 

We have this crazy corn plant (Dracena Fragrans) that surprised us last week.  One evening we smelled this oddly sweet smell, and sure enough the bud had opened. The last time it bloomed was maybe 10 years ago when we entered the house after a trip and smelled this same odor. I'm glad it doesn't bloom more often! (Although the flower is kind of cute.)

Hope the rest of your week brings you some surprises, too!

Lots of Pretty Walks!

 I'm homing in on the end of my Pandamonium Hat, hurrah! I am not the best at stranded knitting, but it looks pretty good. Meanwhile since the sun's been out we've been doing some walking and exploring trails in our area. Not too long ago we got to see a male and female wood merganser!

We were also greeted by a Canada Goose and later saw another one sound asleep.

On Friday we explored a new trail that follows the Lewis Creek. It's a beautiful spot with a very hilly trail.

And then we were rewarded by this fellow who was hard at work!

We also saw a very interesting log. I think its covered with turkey tail fungus.

Yesterday the sky was blue without a single cloud so we got to see Mount Baker in all its glory.

Have a fabulous day!

Some Finishes and a Fun Park

Mystery solved! Yesterday I wrote a post and couldn't find it on my blog.  It turned out to have been posted on Tuesday Stitches, a long ago group blog that I belonged to. So I will try again this morning! Lately I've been trying to whittle down my stash by knitting some charity hats.

This one is a baby hat. I used a pattern for a Pumpkin Hat and knit it in the round. 

And this one is a pattern I've made lots of times. Only now I knit it in the round also.

This one is on its way to our older daughter who lives in the chilly Midwest. The pattern is Quick Switch hat and is fun and a bit challenging to make.

Last week we went to Meydenbauer Bay Park which is one of many parks on Lake Washington. It's in Bellevue and is a short walk from the Bellevue Downtown Park. 

And we were rewarded by seeing a cormorant!

We took another fun walk yesterday with our friend, Nancy, but that's for another post.  Maybe by then I'll have another finish?  Have a good day!

 

A Finish Plus a Couple Signs of Spring

 I have started to do some charity knitting in hopes of getting my stash a bit under control. (Don't hold your breath on that one though. 😉) And wish me luck!

Hat # 1

Our weather here yesterday was crazy!  We woke up to rain, then the sun came out. Late in the day there was even some sleet, and snow is predicted today. Go figure.  Apparently there was a lot of snow in our mountains which will make lots of skiers happy. Luckily, we chose to walk in the sunshine and even saw a couple signs of spring: heather and witch hazel.  Almost as soon as we got back home, the clouds began to roll in.

Hope you all have a fabulous day!