One Year Ago Today

The Inauguration of Barack Obama. Can't believe I was there with my son and my mother. Unforgetable! This was a great start to an amazing year for my family. Not perfect but close enough.

Lotus Blossom Tank Frustrations

my pre-frogged tank

Oh, I was so close to being finished. But, then, I realized I should pin it together and try it on. Alais, the tank was too short at the bottom and the seam for the straight stitch section sat too high. I decided to re-read LIckety-Knits suggested changes and I had missed one other suggested change to the pattern, knitting the straight stitch area below the armholes, an inch longer. Reading further, she inspired me to go ahead and frog (rip-it, rip-it) the tank down to the end of the lotus pattern and add an additional row of the pattern (I must have an even longer torso) and then add the additional into of straight stitch.

What this means now, is I'm knitting like crazy to try and get it finished before leaving this Friday for Maui. My hopes are diminishing that this will actually be a wearable clothing item, but I will keep at it.



Should I actually get this done in time, my next plan is to finish my Maui Monkey Socks while in Hawaii. This will be the 2nd trip back for my yarn, as it was actually hand-dyed on Maui by Maui Yarn Arts. This colorway is inspired by ripe pineapple. I'll be stopping at the yarn shop just a mile from my condo, at least once, to pick up a new yarn or two.

Berries on the Vine by Cathleen Stephen
Cast-On Magazine, November 2006

I have also managed to find 2 of the 3 colorways I needed to start my Berries on the Vine Pillow, by purchasing yarn from another Ravelry member's stash. I may have to purchase the 3rd colorway at a local yarn shop. My favorite shop, Far North Yarns , definitely carries Jo Sharp yarns. Tried to buy these while visiting the SF Bay Area, but the shops in my mom's area didn't carry Jo Sharp. Not sure when I'll get to the pillow, but looking forward to make it. I just hope after I let the guys know how much the yarn costs and the time I took to make it, they won't be using it for a pillow fight.

Well, back to speed knitting the tank.

What's Knitting!

Getting ready to leave for California tonight and have packed up my Lotus Tank Top to finish while I'm down. The link isn't to my project but to another lady who has some great tips that I'm using to help me finish mine.


Thought I'd get this tank done before I left and I'm real close, but still have the shoulders to knit and then I'll need to block it before I can wear it. Hope to be posting a picture of me in it in sunny San Francisco.

This is one of two UFO's (Un-Finished Objects) that are part of my goal to finish before I start back up at work on July 23rd. The other is my Maui sock's that I have a 1/2 a sock left to knit.

And, of course, I'm looking ahead to two other projects I'd like to start. First is a sweater I saw in the Spring 2007 Interweave Knits Magazine. It's called The Dollar and a Half Cardigan. This looks like the perfect sweater to wear at work since it's always cold in the office. I'm sure I'll appreciate the stiff breeze from the ventilation system when menopause kicks in, a long time from know, but in the meantime, I usually have to wear a sweater to keep warm. The yarn in the pattern is Reynolds Soft Linen (53% linen, 47% acrylic) which should mean not an "itchy" sweater. The knitter whose project I have linked to used a worsted weight alpaca and I may have to check that yarn out also. Darn yarn shopping.

The other project I may get started soon, is a pillow that I'd like to put on one of our livingroom couches to make it both more comfortable and also to tie in the colors of the livingroom walls to the couch better. The pillow I choose is from the November 2006 Cast-On Magazine. The pattern is called Berries on the Vine Modular Pillow and it uses a yarn I am very fond of called Jo Sharp Silkroad Aran Tweed. This was the first yarn I'd used with silk and immediately fell in love with silk blends. So in addition to the type of yarn used in the pattern, the colors used in the pattern appear to actually be the colors I'd like to use. More yarn to buy again.

I'll have to post a picture of the pillow from the magazine later. Seems it's not my night to download pictures.

Chick-A-Dee (dee) Observations by a Backyard Naturalist

Chickadee with spider in mouth

For the past few years, we've been lucky enough to have a nesting pair of Chickadee's in a Birch tree, just outside our livingroom window. Chickadee's get their name from the adorable call they use to call to their mate. If one was to inhale helium and then saying "chick-a-dee-dee" and you may end up with a Chickadee sitting on your shoulder.



Even as I'm typing this on my deck, this sunny Memorial Day, I can hear them calling to each other as they return to their brood.






One bird tends to stay with the nestlings, while the other's out getting a few bugs.
















When the "shopper" comes back with food, it makes the chick-a-dee-dee call, and as it gets closer to the nest it will make a shorter call which I think is a "coast is clear" call to which the bird inside, makes a return call, and quickly flys out of the nest.



We did have a few times that I thought they'd died, as we've had 3 small birds hit our windows recently. I had thought one of them may have been the female chickadee, since it had similar but much plainer markings. In many song bird species, the males are usually much more colorful than the females, turns out both male and female chickadee's are the same color.



I was pretty upset when I first discovered this "female" bird and called a sympathetic neighbor (she rescues birds every summer), and took a picture of the bird before I buried it in my flower bed, so I could identify it later. Still not sure what type it is but I know it's not what I thought it was.













Our chickadee's are very busy right now feeding they're chick or chicks. I can't see into the nest to figure out how many. It's only about 5 feet off the ground so it isn't too hard to see into, but the hole is very deep. Tried several times to get Vince to stand next to the hole without making a silly face, but was unsuccessful. So I'm posting this picture so readers can get a better idea on how easily accessible this nest is. Luckily, even if a cat could get to it, I'm not sure they'd be able to reach into the nest and get a snack out.











And, it seems Memorial Weekend is when our "State Bird" the Mosquito (wink, wink) comes out in full force. Great for the birds, not so great for us walking blood banks. Time for us all to smell like toxic waste. I'm going to give a herbal repelent I bought in Kauai, one more try, as I can't stand regular repelents.





The picture is of our attempt at curbing our mosquito problems with a Mosquito Magnet. This is after just a few days and they are in a one gallon ziploc bag. It does seem to help, at least out in the yard.

chickadee waiting for "Coast is Clear" call

But I hope this little Chickadee get busy and makes some more bug-eating babies.

When I was 23.........

These young ladies were our "Naturalist" on our snorkel trip to Molokini and the Turtle Arches with the Pacific Whale Foundation. As they started talking to us about the fish, whales and turtles we might see on our tour, one of the ladies jumped off the boat to dive down and grab the permanent mooring to "anchor" us to our spot and all I could think was,"Wow, I could of been doing this at 23 (bang head, band head, bang head)".

When I was 23, I was ready for an adventure. I was on my 5th year of college getting a degree in biology, it seemed to be taking forever. I was offered an internship at the SF Zoo and offered an opportunity to study dolphins at Marine World, USA after asking my professor a question she didn't know the answer to about her research dolphins. For some reason these two opportunities seemed too "tied down for me".

I had spent 3 months in Paris a couple years earlier and I knew I wanted to travel more, have an adventure. My boyfriend innocently mentioned that his dad invited us to come to Alaska, stay with him, until we got settled and check it out. At this time, we were pretty active hikers and skiing as often as we could, two things we could definitely do in Alaska.











A few months later, we were on our way, driving the Al-Can to Alaska, in our cars both packed to the tipping point with our belongings (except our bicycles, for another story). Eighteen years later, we're still here and it still, occasionally, feels like an adventure, but more and more it's home.

Vacation Knitting-Maui Monkey Socks on Maui

Usually when heading on a trip, I have to spend some time deciding what knitting project I'm going to take with me. This trip, it's an easy decision. My second Monkey Sock. Why? The yarn I'm using is from Maui Yarns. The yarn color is called Ripe Pineapple and I'll be seeing it's inspiration frequently for the next 10 days.



I've finished the first sock today, finally, and plan to start the second sock on the plane. Maybe will even work on it while on the beach.

I've heard there is a yarn shop near where I'm staying and plan on picking up a few more Hawaiian inspired yarns for future projects, because I just don't have enough yarn.

Yes, I do have a yarn addiction. It's a great addiction to have if you ask me. Besides, it's only taking up two shelves in the garage, a shelf in a cabinet in the living room and one of the vinyl storage boxes we use as a coffee table. I'm pretty sure I can fit a few more skeins in one of these spots.

Shared Knitting and New Friends

A couple weekends ago, I found myself waiting for my sons to finish up with Junior Nordic and I was without a knitting project. I noticed a woman knitting and made a comment about forgetting mine. To which she offered me an extra knitting project of hers to knit. Normally I would thank someone and decline, but that day I was feeling adventurous and went for it.

We started talking and it turns out that we had much in common, besides knitting. We both are bikers (mtn bikers) and have a mutual friend, Rose. Her child went to the same elementary school as mine are attending. She is the maker of some beautiful quilts that were used at our school as fundraisers for Malawi Village School and the cards I used for thank you's were made by her.

The knitting project I worked on was a lot of fun and, my new friend, Tina, emailed me the pattern so I could start knitting one myself. The pattern is the Multidirectional Diagonal Scarf by Karen Baumer. If you're signed up for Ravelry here's a link to some finished scarfs.



I'm using Noro Silk Garden which is a joy to knit with. I've silk blends a few times and each time I've really enjoyed how it feels on the needles. Maybe it's the slight elasticity the yarn has. My only concern is that I occasionally find a grass fiber in the yarn that I pull out.

I find this pattern to be an easy "take along" project. It's difficult to lose your place, and, therefore, can be stopped at any point with no fear of where you left off.

Because of my new friend, Tina, I've decided to always carry a second project with me so I can "pay it forward" and, maybe, make more new friend in the process.