Quick and Easy

makes me feel as if I'm accomplishing things.

Our family room is really, really dull. The Baseball fanatics sent me some fabric that they brought back from Ethiopia. Some of it became curtains Saturday.
When we have a chance, we are going to frame the Ethiopian posters and hang them up down there. A room with a theme and it isn't early American garage sale.

Wiz picked out a cotton/wool blend yarn in pinks and purple and asked for a hat to wear after his surgery. It had to be a bit loose, not itchy, and cover the back of his head and upper neck where his incision site will be. I asked my friends over at Knittyboard for ideas and showed him the patterns. He picked this one.

It was an easy and fun knit. It worked very well with the yarn he chose (Sierra Quatro: a pima cotton/wool blend) and it was easy to down size for him. He is quite happy with it. I hope that it will do the trick!
Pattern: stella's hat by Melissa LaBarre
Yarn: Sierra Quatro in colorway 86
Needles: size 6 circular and dpns

Mods: Knit on smaller needles and shortened the body of the hat to fit a small boy. That's pretty much it!

It took me very little time. I started on Thursday and finished on Sunday.

TWO FOs

Here we are, the last week of Januray, and I have actually finished 2 items. (Actually, 4 because mittens come in pairs. )
The first are the lovely Annemor #4 from Selbuvotter: Biography of a Knitting Traditon, by Terri Shea. You'll see a lot of these, because I've joined a knit-a-long for the patterns out of the book. So far, one pair down. 11 to go.

These were knit for Game Boy. Warm, toasty mittens, with dogs on them. The pattern had a flower on the end, but it was too long for him, so I dropped the flower. He really seems to like them. If he'll wear them, I can't say. We shall see.

The other finished object is Jasmine, for the sister who comes right after me in the birth order. I'd knit for my other sisters, so it was her turn. She chose the color. I used Bamboo and Ewe yarn from Jo-Ann's. It is pretty soft, and not bad to knit with at all. I hope that they fit her.
This picture is a better representative of the color and the mock cable cuff. The one below shows the entire set.

The next project is a hat for Wiz. He'll be having part of his head shaved and he'll have an interesting scar, so he wants a hat. On our last trip to Seattle, we went to Acorn Yarns. I'm not usually a retail therapy sort of person, but we wanted to get a little fresh air, and it's a couple of blocks from our cousins' house. Wiz picked out this yarn: Cascade Yarns Sierra Quatro. If there's enough left over, I'll be knitting him a pair of fingerless mitts.

I'm almost to the heel on the Collar's first sock. One more inch--I only knit them while waiting for other things (like listening to Wiz's reading, sitting in waiting rooms, etc.) so I'm doing pretty well on it. No pictures yet, but the color patterning is pretty amazing.

A Winter's Walk

Today is MLK, Jr. Day, and all of us were off work or school. It's not usual for us to have that opportunity, so we took advantage of it. The weather cooperated, too. It was somewhere in the 60's today, so we went off to the park with the dogs in tow. (It's still winter--see the snow on the mountain?)
There weren't as many birds around today, but we did spot this pair of ducks.

I'm always last, because I take pictures. Of course, it means I take pictures like this. Lulu is some where ahead of us but here are all the boys and Maisie.

The water sparkled today--the sun may not be out for long (but it's out longer EVERY day), but when we see it, it's spectacular. With few clouds, and the sun, the sky is that intense blue I remember from last spring. I've really missed that blue.
Even when the earth is fallow, you can see the beauty of this place. The fields are waiting for spring, and the mountains are still in their winter mode. Spring is coming, and after today, I can actually believe that.

Pictures courtesy of the new camera. I love it.

Other news:

We still haven't heard about Wiz's biopsy results. I expect that this week. I'm trying not to think about his upcoming surgery. I'm saving the Bearfoot yarn for while he's in the hospital. Maybe.

I'm halfway finished with a pair of mittens for Game Boy. I'll try to take pictures soon. I'm also working on socks for the Collar (which look really strange) and a pair of fingerless mitts for my sister (one is completed, one is halfway finished).

Oh, and I did knit some Christmas presents. I'll tell you which things were presents next time.

Starting Off With a Bang

Wiz had several doctors' appointments in Seattle this week. We drove over Sunday, and met one of my knitty friends for lunch. Wiz wasn't feeling well, but it was nice to meet one of my virtual friends.
Monday was only one appointment. We saw the neurosurgeon, who will be doing Wiz's surgery. While we waited, he drew random dots on the whiteboard, and then drew a picture. This was serious to him.
This is the orca and her baby that we see every time we go to the hospital. Wiz loves this. He wants to count all of the faces in the two orcas.One thing he has always wanted to do is to go up into the Space Needle. We finally had time. It wasn't the best day to go up (rainy, foggy, and cold), but we went up anyway. It was really neat to see Seattle from up there. It's probably better on days that aren't cold, rainy and foggy, but we had fun.

The fog was actually a bit better after the sun went down, and we saw this when we were wandering around Seattle Center before we headed for dinner with a couple of my college friends.
We also saw this fountain in front of Key Arena. Wiz thought it was beautiful and amazing. The water was coordinated with music. He wants to go and watch it again.
Tuesday was all appointments, all day. He was exhausted after it was over.

The weather was clear and sunny on our way back. This is part of the Stuart Mountains that we saw from the rest area between Cle Elum and Ellensburg.
I've been trying to find something wonderful in all of these trips for medical appointments. This one was particularly good.

A Good Beginning

We had warmer weather and sun today. We took full advantage of this fact, and went to Pioneer Park with the dogs. I took the new camera.

We always wander around the aviary. The birds were pretty busy today.
While the sun was out, the views were their usual stunning selves. Now I have a camera that can capture it better, too.

It was a lovely wander. By the time we made it back home, the clouds were back and the rain started.

Occupo lumen! Especially when you live pretty far north.