Catching Up ~~~

We have a plaque on our kitchen wall that says:The hurrier I go, the behinder I get."  That's sure been me lately. My poor Scoreboard Scarf as been neglected while I've been doing other knitting, some by request and the other by need. All of those things have been finished though, now I can get busy on some other things, including the above scarf!

My son asked me to make a gift for his friend who is expecting their first child. Here's what I did.

A friend of mine from choir is struggling with metatastic breast cancer and told me she's losing her hair again.  She also told me she was wearing a hat I'd made a while ago, so I thought, 'She needs another hat.'  When the hat was done, there was enough yarn left to make a pair of mitts.  The pattern just happened to include a pair of mittens which I modified a bit.  We had lunch together this week, and she happily donned the hat and wore it home.  I think she was glad to have some mitts as well.

The yarn leftovers from both of these projects will go to a quilting friend who makes hats for preemies and hats for American Girl dolls that are donated to needy children.  Of course, I had to replenish my stash, right?  So, my friend and I went to the Mad Cow yarn shop (interesting name, eh?), and it was no problem.  They were even offering a discount on red, white, and pink yarn!  Plus, we read this sign and tried to take it's advice. LOL

Have a great week!

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.)

Just a Few More Days~~~~~

Just a few more days and it really will be Christmas.  In fact, right now it's snowing great big wet flakes in our backyard! But all my projects are done, done, done. ( However, there's no rest for the weary around here as there are a couple of birthdays coming right up, too.) In the mean time though, it's time to kind of kick back and relax, whatever that means. A few packages are waiting to be wrapped and some cards to address, in case the relaxing gets old. Tee Hee!

I liked the first pair of these mitts so much that I did another pair in Malibrigo Rios and have decided I really like that yarn.  Recently I saw a pair of mittens from this pattern that had been embroidered in the area by the thumb and want to try that sometime using  a plain-colored yarn.  BTW, the free pattern is Maize and available on Ravelry. It's quick and easy.

This prayer shawl isn't a Christmas gift, but it's headed off to a friend who's having cancer surgery tomorrow.  I hope she knows how much we love her and wish her the best!

We were the lucky recipients of two beautiful floral arrangements for our table. Aren't they nice? Nothing like flowers to brighten up our gray and mostly days here.  Have a good week!

Goodbye, Cherry Tree! (And a couple of finishes)

Our poor old cherry tree has been ill for a couple of years, and we finally had it cut down this past Friday. It was always so pretty in the spring when it blossomed, and we will miss that.

All that's left is a pile of wood and lots more light in the backyard! Maybe now we can keep a clematis alive on the wooden arch?

This week had a couple of finishes also:  a Seahawks hat and a colorful headband.

I was a bit surprised how much the yarn pooled!

I hope this will help a certain someone keep the hair out of her eyes!  So many people commented on the slippers that I am including a link to the pattern on Ravelry. (Thanks you, Kathy b, for finding this pattern! It's fun and pretty quick.  Now I need to get busy and make some spiced nuts for the holidays.  Have a great week!  PS If you want to listen to our choir program, here's the link.

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.