Busy, Busy, Busy!

Shortly after returning from California my sister and her husband arrived for a week long visit, and we were busy every single day! The first day of their visit, we went to Cannon Beach, one of our favorite spots, and stopped at Astoria en route. (Have you read Astoria by by Peter Stark? It's a great read and has lots of history about the Pacific Northwest.)

While Jane and Ted climbed the 100+ steps to the top of the column, we enjoyed the view and spotted this guy floating toward the Astoria Bridge.

Then we stopped at the beach at Fort Stevens State Park to see the wreck of the Peter Iredale, a ship that ran aground there in 1906. We were lucky to even catch the Ranger's talk!

As you can see, the weather's predictably cool on these beaches.  It was cold and windy at Haystack Rock, too.

Dick even caught a photo of a puffin flying back to its nest on the rock!  Can you see it on the right?

This past Monday we drove up to Mount Baker which is close to the Washington/Canada border.  This time we were able to make it to the end of the road, and it was HOT despite the snow everywhere!

Back home the birds and flowers were very happy in the heat.

With all the car-time, I also managed to finish this project for a certain Little Miss's fifth birthday which is coming right up. Now to think up something else for another August birthday girl......  

Our guests are back home as we head into August.  How did July disappear so quickly?  

PS  On these recent clear nights we've been watching the International Space Station.  You can see the ISS also by entering in your location to find the viewing times where you live!  It's fun, and you don't even need binoculars. (I have a hard time remembering that it's as big as a football field and moving at 18,000 mph!)

How'd It Get to Be June?

It's been busy here!  May and early June are always a bit crazy everywhere, I think.  We had a fun visit at the end of the month with one of my sorority sisters and spent a fun day with her in Gig Harbor.

Part of the family got together on Memorial Day for a picnic in our backyard, and while it was a bit chilly, it didn't rain even one drop! They brought this lovely hanging basket which now hangs on the deck off our living room.

Speaking of the backyard, the flowers (and weeds) have been amazing. First the trillium and bleeding heart bloomed.

As you can see on the header, our clematis is having a great year!  The iris are done and so is the golden chain tree, but the poppies are out in abundance.

There are even flowers inside the house with most of the violets blossoming.

But what about the knitting, you say?  A couple pairs of booties have popped off the needles for the a couple choir Grandma's first grandchildren.

That's about it.  Tonight is our last choir rehearsal until late August.  On Sunday we are premiering a beautiful hymn written especially for our choir.  Here's the link in case you care to hear it. (You can tune in at either 9 or 11 AM PST.) Have a great weekend!

Mystery Solved! And a Finish

Is it possible to have SMS (second mitt syndrome) along with the other issue called SSS?  Well, silly me joined a mystery mitt KAL last month, and now I have a pretty mitt that needs a mate.  However, this little critter gave me some grief, so its friend will just have to wait in time out while I work on some other stuff.

Here's the culprit.  It was good practice on attaching beads with a crochet hook as well as using Vikkel (Estonian) braid on something other than a hat.  While its mate hibernates, I am going to work on some hats for the GK as well as some "what was I thinking" sock KALs.  Here's one hat all finished, and more about the sock projects in another post.

The littlest Miss picked out the pom pom. I'm hoping to finish four more hats for the rest of the GK before our family trip to CO at the end of March.......as well as those Sock KALs.  When will I learn?

Remember this?  Well, this over-performing plant now looks like this.  It's going crazy, isn't it? This photo is from a few days ago, and now there are even more blossoms open. Stalk number three is almost as tall as the other two, and hardly has room to open.  Stay tuned.  (And have a great weekend!)

Finishes! Yay! And a Green Surprise ~

As of today we have a teenage grandson!  How that happened so quickly is a mystery. It seems like just yesterday we got the phone call announcing his arrival.  (And in the interim we have been blessed with  four more grandchildren as well.)

These socks in the colors he requested last summer when we were together were part of his birthday package.  I hope they still fit, as we've heard rumors of how quickly he is growing!

This is the second hat that I've made from this pattern, this time for our son-in-law's birthday. It's a fairly quick knit.

Lately  I've been trying to complete some of my numerous UFOs like this pair of socks. (As you can see sock 2 doesn't quite match up but no one will see that toe in my shoes.  Although it doesn't look like it, they are the same size.  Sock #1 just slithered down the sock blocker while drying.)  I fell in love with this yarn color the minute I saw it!  The pattern is free on Ravelry, and I've used the SKYP stitch on lots of other socks. It's a winner.

This crazy amaryllis was a Christmas gift from our kind neighbor, and I just had to share it.  Have you ever seen an amaryllis with 3 blooms? Who knew what was in that bulb? I guess it's making up for the one I bought last year that had no blossom at all!  Have a wonderful weekend.

Finally, a New Post! (And Some Finishes)

The grand kids "bug" got us, and finally I'm beginning to feel human again.  The plus side is that I've been knitting . (And little else, oh yeah, reading, too.) One of my resolutions is to pare down the stash, and so far, I've been good.

I finished this aging WIP.  The pattern is fun and a little bit challenging; the yarn has been discontinued, but I found some other colors in my stash so will probably make these again now that I've figured out the stitch.

It's definitely been mitts weather here, but these are part of a trio requested by DD#1 for the texters in her family.  (The blue on the right mitt is more true for some reason.)

 I can't find this free pattern on Ravelry, but this link should work. I've made the mitts twice and the hat once.  They are long and surprisingly cozy.

What do you give someone who's birthday is right after Christmas?  I found a pattern for slippers using Top This hat yarn.  Somewhere on line I read that you should use puffy fabric paint to make them less slippery, so that's what I did. It dawned on me that I could write the birthday boy's name on the bottom of each slipper, so hopefully it will work!  The newest TH choices, including this one, are supposed to glow in the dark, but that's yet to be proven.

I'm saving my last finish for another post, but in the mean time look at what our Norfolk pine is doing.  Now we know why its other name is star pine!  Enjoy the rest of the weekend.

Unraveling a Mystery

For the past few weeks I've been working on a mystery sock which was the focus of a KAL sponsored by the Knitters Brewing Company. It was one of the more difficult patterns I've ever attempted and the source of quite a bit of frogging.  However, I kept at it and one sock is DONE! (The sock is actually gray, not beige.)

It was supposed to be the "canvas" for embroidery, but I just couldn't bear to put any kind of stitching on the cables.  The heel on this sock was really unique as well; it's created by a series of yarn overs that are then decreased.  One of these days I'll start on sock #2.

Even though it's been kind of chilly here today, our yard is looking very springlike.  The flowering plum is blossoming as are lots of pretty daffodils.

It was spring inside our house, too.  When we got home last week, the minute we walked in the door, we smelled this almost sickeningly sweet smell but couldn't find the source for a couple of days.  After we'd almost given up, DH found it.  The corn plant had a hidden stalk of flowers behind the canary island pine.  I cut it off, Dick took a photo, and we put it outside!

Still haven't posted about our trip, but I will soon.  Stay tuned.

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.)

Off the Needles and a Christmas Surprise~~~

Phew!  The days are flying by, aren't they?  It pays to step back once in a while and look around.  Very quietly our very old bromeliad was busy producing a flower for the first time in ages, and we almost didn't notice. Each day it gets a bit bigger and reminds us to slow down and enjoy the season.

My needles have been busy, too.  I've made a few themed projects as well as 

things for hands and feet.

Last night on the way home from choir, we sent off some packages, so we're about done with our gift projects. That's it for now. The tree guys are here to take down our cherry tree.
Check Patchwork Times to see what others are knitting.

How Does Your Garden Grow?

Our Garden is the other thing that keeps us busy during the summer.  It's been warmer and sunnier here than usual, and even the grass has been slowly edging out the moss!  Flowers are doing well, but everything requires a bit of attention, right?

As you can see, our backyard is pretty shady.  The golden chain tree is done blooming now, but sure was pretty at the end of May.

I love to put flowers in pots to keep them out of reach from most of the critters.  However just today I discovered something had been burrowing in the green pot. I wonder what?

Columbines have done very well in our yard, especially the frilly ones.  They just reseed everywhere!

This one is my favorite though! No wonder it's Colorado's state flower.

These dark irises have done really well this year, too.  And now I'm realizing we don't have any photos from the front yard, but that's OK as right now not too much is going on out there except for one lily.  However, not to be out done, the indoor violets are very happy at the moment.

And that reminds me, time to go water.  Bye for now!