A Summer of Waterfalls

This summer I am lucky enough to be living in an area where driving an +/- hour north, east, or west takes one to a plethora of waterfalls. So that is how me and my SO began this summer of 2014, visiting as many waterfalls as we had time and the gusto for. We we led by this amazing guide book which my SO received as a Christmas present in 2013. It is by Thomas E. King who lived in this area for most of his life and visited all the falls in the book. It is called Waterfall Hikes of the Upstate South Carolina.

 

      There are black and white pictures of each fall, along with it's location, description, hike difficulty, and hike length. The pictures never do capture the magic that waterfalls emanate. A few of the hikes alone blew us away and having a waterfall at the end was phenomenal. We would start the hike in the morning and pack our lunches and hike in with them and usually managed to have lunch at the fall. Having a good guide really makes all the difference. Waterfall Hikes of the Upstate turned us on to hikes that Google isn't even privy to; and we brought it with us on our hikes as some of the trails were not well marked. There's pretty much a waterfall per page and I marked all the ones we were interested in with sticky tabs, removing them as we saw them or tucking them inside with notes for next time.

      As you can see, we have still some left unvisited to start us off at the beginning of next spring. I thought I'd share some of my favorites with you here:


























     The waterfall that started it all, Falls Creek Falls. They have a bit of a redundant name, but these are definitely in my top 5 favorite falls we visited. The hike was beautiful and the falls have an upper and lower viewing option, so we were able to hike right up alongside the falls to the top. We did another fall hike to Jones Gap Falls in Ceasers Head State Park, which I won't upload, but these two trips lead to my partner getting Waterfalls of the Upstate for a present that year.

     These are Station Cove Falls. The falls are on a site that served as an old bunker house, which militiamen utilized during the  period of "colonizing" the area. It was a trading post later on and is kept up by the state of South Carolina. The grounds are lovely, with lots of old hickory and walnut trees along the trails, and it's in the name, but the falls are down in a type of cove which made them feel very tucked away.

     This is Yellow Branch Falls. This one is my favorite out of all that we've seen for the beauty of the falls themselves. I love seeing how plants have staked out homes in the enclaves beneath the rock shelves. They look very happy to have been so clever. Yellow Branch Park also had beautiful cement picnic tables which were placed in an almost maze setting but were surrounded by the native trees and vegetation. It created a private setting for catching our breathe after hiking back out and for finishing of our picnic lunch.

     Well, sad news: I just realized that our remaining pictures are no more. I had began uploading them onto my boyfriend's laptop because it was easier, and his laptop's hard drive crashed a couple of weeks ago and he's since replaced it. So those falls are only in our memory now until we get out there next Summer.
     I'll end the waterfall adventure demo with my favorite hike and falls: The Virginia Hawkins Trail and Falls. This was a five hour round hike with the falls four hours in going one way and 1 hour starting from the other way. We crossed four bridges and went through very vegetatively diverse areas as we started from a higher elevation, snaking through rhododendron thickets and went down to a lower one, consisting of species that looked almost tropical. I encourage anyone who can to visit waterfalls or natural sites like these in your area so that they remain something for the public to enjoy.

     In our travels, I found that I could not get enough of crocheting the Octi the Octopus pattern by Maggie Menzel. It is easy to size up and down and I can use up yarn ball scraps easily. In a couple of cases I was too ambitious when it came to playing yarn chicken, but I found that I could have a Mr. Octi body and just attach several curly single crochet chains -and voila- Mr. Octi the Jellyfish was born. I have since given away a couple of Mr. Octi's to friends' little ones but I managed to take a family photo of the ones remaining the other day.

     Here they are, in all their grinning glory. I have never embroidered anything before doing these faces, and I would like to say that it gets easier every time, but I think my first one was the best, which was this one that now lives with my SO's nephew.

     His eyes just really worked out.

     The other thing I managed to work on and finally wrap up during car trips was my Butterfly Hat by Sofiya Cremin. The pattern is written for using only one yarn and I think this hat would be much more fun to knit with just one color. The yarn was a going away present from a friend and is very soft and warm on my dome. 

     Those are my finished objects that I've managed since my last post. I finished another Full of Hearts Scarf but I haven't managed to get a picture of it after blocking it. I am working on a couple more designs and so those will be coming to Stash Eliminator soon.

    That is all I have for you now! See you next time!

It's a Mating Swarm

I managed to wrap up a couple projects recently and while casting off on my Pine Forrest Baby Blanket, I got to witness a nature event that will probably make most people cringe. I loved it.

Mr. Pickens, who hardly leaves my side, was playing with an insect on the floor beside me. Insects in the house is not an abnormal thing, especially when I have the screened porch door open, little moths usually somehow get in and suffer the torture of one of the cats. I was certain this was the case and after the kitten had decided he would not eat this insect but play with it, I thought I would save the moth.

I got up and went over to him and stooped to find that this was no moth but a termite that was in it's mating molt, winged form. I squished it immediately thinking, we do not need anymore of you guys. I sat back down and went back to my knitting. Not long after that, I noticed Mr. Pickens had another one. I squished it and continued knitting. After a trip to go get my freshly brewed coffee, I noticed Mr. Pickens was now fascinated with the window sill.

I came upon this:

I vacuumed them up right away.

But they did not stop coming.

I sat down at my computer and decided to do some research and found this link about indoor swarming insects. I then got the opportunity to look outside as my desktop faces a window. The termites were certainly swarming! Unfortunately I do not have a fancy enough camera to capture it (I tried) but I did get this after going outside to investigate.

There were so many! They were taking to flight as soon as they left this little crack and were also coming out of the flower bed next the me. They were flying into my nose, and into the jaws of the dragonflies, wasps, larger flies that I've never seen before, and birds that were swooping around the yard eating as many as they could. I got to see a dragonfly take out so many termites right out of the air! The dragonflies were the closest termite eater to the ground, probably to keep far enough away from the birds, and so the easiest to see in action. The birds were at every level, but were up to 100 feet above the house. I couldn't see the termites up that far but it was cool to know that they must have been that high. They were very delicate flyers, looking really like dainty moths in flight, with a large wingspan for their size. They certainly revealed the many spider webs against the side of the house as they absolutely clogged them. The birds were amazing in their ability to dip and dive so sharply. I couldn't tell what kind they were, but I know sparrows are best known for being insectivorous, so perhaps they were sparrows. It was awesome to experience.

I emailed my landlord immediately.

My cats were very helpful in eating as many termites as they could before I vacuumed them.


I started and finished a little softie over the weekend. It's a Mr. Octi the Octopus.

I embroidered the face and stuffed it with yarn bits. I got to use my new Halcyarn project bag for this project.

The designer is Dr. Kelly from the Ewe University podcast which I started listening to after Emily of the Fibre Town podcast mentioned it. Ewe University is an audio only podcast and can be a little slow going but I have enjoyed the 2 episodes that I've heard so far. The bag is cute at a cute price and she tucks in a stitch marker and handmade notecard.

I also wrapped up my Pine Forest Baby Blanket.

I just knit on it until I had used up the skein of yarn. I had about 2 yards left over after casting off and it was one of those Red Heart Super Savers that have ~360 yards in them. That's it blocking in my laundry room. I steam blocked it first, but I wasn't satisfied with the lace at that point so I tried hardcore blocking. I have a little electric 3 gallon washing machine that was once used for socks and undies in the days of extreme poverty that were my first years in college, but is now used as a way to wash my knits and handwash only clothes.

This is it. Got it for $30 on Amazon 8 years ago.

For my blanket, and other scratchy knit items, I wash them in this with a tablespoon of hair conditioner. It really improves the cuddlyness. I got that tip from a podcaster, I think, but I don't know who it was anymore.

Now I have begun work on a Butterfly Hat.

As soon as I finish a project, I always say that I will commit time to dabbling into a new craft. Wanting to knit all the things makes this very difficult. But this time, for real. And I'm just going to do a really outdated and difficult and hardly appreciated handicraft: hardanger.
I was out at a community book sale recently and found this book for 0.25.

 

Family members are going to get a lot of useless pieces of embroidered fabric posing as bookmarks this Christmas. Yay! The book did come with a greast surprise and revealed the hardanger fervor of the previous owner:

The card has a hardanger design on it and a note that makes clear that the book was a gift to a younger relative encouraging them to try this craft that has impacted the elder's life so greatly. No hardanger bookmarks, but perhaps Elsie decided to hold on to those.

That is the latest! See you soon.

Full Of Hearts Scarf

Full of Hearts Scarf

This is a lace patterned scarf. It can be easily adapted to a beaded scarf.

Materials:

275 yards or 250 meters (125 grams) of Worsted weight yarn

- I used Loops and Threads Impeccable Solids in Taupe

Size 8 US / 5 mm knitting needles

Gauge:

15 st x 20 rows in  4 inch x 4 inch of lace pattern stitching

Abbreviations:

K# – knit that number of stitches             

YO – yarn over                                                

skp – slip one stitch, knit the next stitch, pass slipped stitch over the knit stitch (slip, knit, pass)  <-this can be replaced with a ssk(slip,slip,knit) stitch              

k2tog – knit 2 stitches together

Pattern points:

The scarf is knit in two halves that are Kitchener stitched together in the end. The first and last 2 stitches of each row in the pattern stitching are always knit to create a border.  Place markers after and before these stitches if you feel it necessary and you want to bling your string.  These knit stitches are written into the pattern and on the chart.

Cast on 27 stitches.

Knit 6 rows in garter stitch.

Next Row- Knit 2 stitches, purl 23,  knit 2.

Begin Pattern:

Row 1 – k 5, YO, skp, k 6, YO, skp, k6, YO, skp, k4

Row 2 and all even rows – k2, purl 23, k2

Row 3 – k3, k2tog, YO, k1, YO, skp, k3, k2tog, YO, k1, YO, skp, k3, k2tog, YO, k1, YO, skp, k3

Row 5 – knit all stitches

Row 7 – k9, YO, skp, k6, YO, skp, k8

Row 9 – k7, k2tog, YO, k1, YO, skp, k3, k2tog, YO, k1, YO, skp, k7

Row 11 – knit all stitches 

Place this half of scarf onto a stitch holder to be joined with the second half later via Kitchener stitch..

Begin other half of scarf following the pattern above and matching the length of the first half.

Prepare for Kitchener join:

Place first half of scarf back onto knitting needle so that pieces can be held ready for Kitchener stitch join with wrong sides together and be sure to avoid twisting stitches so the join is seamless and disguised.

Kitchener:

Note- a good tutorial can be found here. This is just a quick way to remember the order of the stitching for those who are already familiar with Kitchener stitch.

Setup stitches- Thread needle with matching yarn through the front stitch as if purling, then through the back stitch as if knitting.

Repeat these steps until all stitches are incorporated into the new row of stitches-

“knit” front stitch (has already been “purled”, drop stitch

“purl” front stitch

 “purl” back stitch (has already been “knit”), drop stitch

 “knit” back stitch

Block scarf gently and reveal those cutie eyelets!

Wear and dance around in it immediately.

Here is a link to a downloadable, easily printable PDF for Full Of Hearts. 

<a href="http://www.ravelry.com/dls/danielle-hayes-designs/223836?filename=Full_of_Hearts_Scarf.pdf">download now</a>

Backyard Birding

So I'm doing this new thing where my posts are completely random and get done when I have time to do them. Here's another!

I have had some good bird sightings lately. I got a chance to see a flock of bubbly and beautiful Cedar Waxwings come through, a Northern Flicker was set up in our yard for several weeks with a juvenile but seems to have since moved on, and an ever thrashing Brown Thrasher rifles through the shaded parts of the yard. I didn't manage to get photos of of any of them, but I have managed to document two of the cutest bird sightings and I get to share them on the internets.

I first noticed a Downy woodpecker on one of the crab-apple trees on a Saturday a few weeks ago. It was spending a lot of time on a bit of a remaining limb from which a larger limb fell off back in the wintertime. By the end of the day it was still there and now was in one spot and making a hole! I ran inside to Cornell's Ornithology website and looked up the Downy's habits right away. I found this:

Nest Description

Both male and female excavate the nest hole, a job that takes 1 to 3 weeks. Entrance holes are round and 1-1.5 inches across. Cavities are 6-12 inches deep and widen toward the bottom to make room for eggs and the incubating bird. The cavity is lined only with wood chips.

Nest Placement

Cavity

Downy Woodpeckers nest in dead trees or in dead parts of live trees. They typically choose a small stub (averaging around 7 inches in diameter) that leans away from the vertical, and place the entrance hole on the underside. Nest trees are often deciduous and the wood is often infected with a fungus that softens the wood, making excavating easier.

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Downy_Woodpecker/lifehistory

Now, check out one of the pics I scored:

My junky looking crabapple is perfect! It's cool to see a hole where once there was none. The limb broke off back in winter and at the time, I was wishing I had some sort of lil saw to chop that limb off to make the tree look less junky. Now I am happy that I was ill equipped and I am hoping for a maximum clutch size of eight babies! I have been putting bits of peanut butter below the limb for the hard working male and female. I haven't been able to tell which is which and have tried not to disturb them as I don't want them to find out they have a totally nosy neighbor before they lay down their last woodchip.

My other sighting derived from my attempt to save money and spend more time outside by drying my laundry on a line whenever the weather permits. I was doing so on Sunday morning of last week and in the taller, one might say overgrown, bit of yard behind the line I saw this:

It is just too cute! Sunday mornings are just the best for being outside as there is no traffic noise and the bird calls are clearer and sound more sweet. It sat there as though it had just woken up and it kept being a patient lil cutie the whole time I was out there and after I went back inside and came out again with my camera. It's a juvenile Robin. Seeing things like this is also what gets me carrying wet socks and underwear out to my backyard. 


 

 I joined a friend last weekend for a trip to a local alpaca farmer who has a yarn shop on site. It's called Northwood farms and I've mentioned them previously. The owner is amazingly sweet and easy to talk to; there's coffee on hand for shoppers and a seemingly high variety of classes for all things fiber related. I have a very sad pair of size 4 US DPNs which my Mr. Pickens chomped, so I was on the look out for a new pair and ended up finding some other needles that have been on my list to try.

   
I got a pair of Knitter's Pride Karbonz DPNs because people seem to really dig those.

I have also wanted to try out Kollage's square knitting needles after learning about them, so when I found a pair of Symfonie Cubics from Knitter's Pride, I grabbed a size 7 US. 

I haven't started knitting on them yet, but I am looking to make another French Press Cozy. I am going to just knit a lil rectangle in an interesting stitch and put some buttons at the join. More on that to come.




What I have been knitting on is another baby blanket for a coworker. It is the Pine Forest Baby Blanket. 

It's called a seagull lace stitch and it's easy enough. Surprisingly, I haven't messed up a row yet...it's only a matter of time. I should probably use a lifeline-ehhhh I'll just wing it.










I knit up another Anthro-Inspired Scarflette for a Clemson enthusiast at work. I haven't really taken to the orange and purple kablam of color until knitting this scarf. It looks totally retro and funky to me. Smells a little funky too. Oh nope, that would be that skunk smell again.

Ok, so a real skunk-date! There is no more skunk. No skunks were harmed in the time you first heard about it until now. We don't know exactly what happened to it though. We had a bathroom issue arise and when the contractors came to fix it, it was at the moment when we heard them rustling around under the house that my partner and I realized that they may come face to face with our stinky housemate. We decided it was too far past the point for a fair warning and waited out to see who, if anyone, was going to get sprayed. Because anxiety makes some people evil. 
No one got sprayed. And we haven't had a smelly house since the aforementioned skunk dump.

That's the round up lately, may you be stink free as well in your future. Not skunk free though, cause those lil guys are cutie pies!

Knitting Tips & Trade Secrets Review and Skunkified

Hello!
I've been absent; but here I am. Please enjoy the tales I have to tell! ......................



I have a skunk living underneath my house. (Hyperlinked because it's fun to read about skunks!) I have seen it wander through the yard once and my partner has nearly been fired upon while out on the porch, and other than that it had kept to itself. This weekend, our luck ran out. Saturday evening, Partner and I woke to an absolutely suffocating stench. The resident skunk had apparently been spooked and let one rip while hanging out below. The spray was not only smelly skunk spray, but it was gaining entrance through our heating system, ergo, the smelly skunk spray was burning smelly skunk spray and would not leave our olfactory orifices. I mean the stuff was so thick in the air I was eating it! It was impossible to continue sleeping because it was so powerful.
I got up and turned the heat off, turned on some fans, did not opt to open a window because the storm windows are all still on for wintertimes, and joined Beau back in bed to whine and laugh about how absurd the situation was. It really was good luck that it did not happen sooner as we had some friends over for a night of games and brews and that would have really stunk. ^_^ We were also lucky that we had a warm Sunday the following day to open things up and air out the house. It is still lingering in closets as I get a whiff when I open a few of them, and I guess we don't smell or we have extremely understanding people around us at work. Beau is on the platform for telling our landlord about it but I fear an exterminator will be called and they would kill it. And that makes me sad. I wonder if it's a mother in her "den" with kits. I'll write up more as it unfolds.

More things are coming into bloom and I now know what the trees in our yard are now. I knew there was a small apple tree and pomegranate tree, which is more like a bush, but now I know that there's a larger apple and several dogwood trees.

The apple blossoms.

Apple tree

No mistaking a dogwood.

Those photography skills...

Book Review:

 

I checked out Knitting Tips & Trade Secrets, Expanded from my local library branch about 3 weeks ago and I am ready to give you guys a review. It was very difficult to continue picking up this book. I give it a thumbs down and I don't recommend seeking it out. This book was put out by The Taunton Press in 2006 and is not put together very well at all. Taunton is the publisher for "Threads" magazine and compiled reader advice and insights for Knitting Tips & Trade Secrets. There are only nine chapters and the "tips" are individually titled and squished together when refer to the same technique. In fact, many of them just repeat themselves using different words. The organization is such that the reader isn't given information in a format for which it can be easily recalled. I liken it to what a podcast's transcript would look like. The tips are good ones, and some I might try some day, but the book itself is a chore to get through.

That was brutal, but I'm wasting my time on bad knitting books, so you don't have to!

I recently joined a couple of pen-pal groups on Ravelry. One is called Just Because Greeting Cards and the other is For the Love of Letters. I started picking up notecards at antique stores and yard sales a few years ago and have a large collection of postcards from when I traveled around Europe. They go to the lovelies in my life when I need them, but my lovelies just don't have birthdays and graduations often enough to sat my appetite for sending them. I got paired up and sent this one out to my Pal this week:

 

I found several of these cross-stitched ones one time and they have the messages of the original sender in them. They're not that old though; they range from 1971-1978 as the author dated them. Totally awesome way of saying hello! I sent out another card but it's a secret swap and even though she is almost undoubtedly in the dark about this most lovely blog, I'll post it later.

Knitting:

Finished Objects:

I finished up some knitting! I finished my Boneyard Shawl!

This is it blocking on my craft room floor. I really like it and I have sported it around the house in the evening when it gets chilly. Spring has sprung and we've had 70 degree days all week so it'll probably be in the Fall when I get to take it out on the town. :) Wearing the Boneyard is literally like wearing a blanket afterall. My mystery yarn is light but very insulating.

Fun fact: this is the project that showed me that I was purling all wrong. The first four bands of knitting are spaced and twisted while the last four are uniform . I was knitting on this at my knitting group when a friend pointed out my flawed wrapping technique. I feel like such a dunce! I have been purling thw "wrong" way for years! She was as nice as can be about it and explained how the stitches twist when a purl is wrapped counter-clockwise as opposed to clockwise as it should be.

http://sunrisetonyngb.en.made-in-china.com/custom-detail/xExmJnQdPnYrEnxEJEmDQQbE/PURL-STITCH-1.html

I found this on the internet at the website above and it shows the right way to wrap a purl stitch, clockwise around the needle.


I have taken to knitting up my languishing projects. That pile will always exist but shrinking it one item less feels great. I have picked up my Seamless Salomas once again and knit them when I am out somewhere that I can't take my Full of Heart Scarf along with me.

I have been working a lot lately and have been most thankful that I get to wear pajamas, I mean scrubs, to work. While it's very tiring, I am looking forward to that pay check so I can buy all the yarn! And a badly needed new car. When I get a chance to write more and take more amateur photos of my flowers, I'll see you next time! Ciao!

Hats for Caring

As soon as I set a minor goal for my bloggin' self, I fail. My apologies! I am going to shoot for weekly updates but it may happen that I won't meet that self imposed deadline. I will be back...eventually. Because I am always knitting.

Firstly, I finished my friends' hats:

 

Girlfriend's got a little Rasta on me but I think it will be ok. As a tip, this is how I store leftover yarn that actually came with a lable:

I reuse the baggies and store my yarn in tupperware bins organized by weight.

I knit love and goodness into them and I hope that in some way that oozes out onto their little heads when they don them and especially if they aren't feeling up to things someday. I am not a very spiritual person but I do believe there is a chi that is in motion between all things and people can choose to tap into it or not. So when I say I knit goodness into the hats, I just imagine the feeling I get when a loved one hugs me and think about that feeling while I'm knitting.

I am doing  somewhat the same thing with the Fat Squirrel's Gratitude KAL. I am making a Bone Yard Shawl for my mindful knitting and this is the first time I am doing anything like this. Knitting is a form of meditation for me, as my mind is relaxed but remains focused on what I'm doing. During my time in an ecological research laboratory, I tuned into the podcast Stuff to Blow Your Mind when I could, and they talk a lot about the latest studies on brain activity. They often left me wanting more in depth discussions and the hosts seem to have gotten somewhat out of sync recently, but they introduced me to the term Default Mode Network. My DMN is usually going, "Don't forget about the kitty litter...write more on that blog today...remember that time you messed up at work?...Mom said that thing, but could she actually be meaning this thing?...hey! feel bad about that thing that happened 10 years ago!...five donuts is nothing, I'm walking them off as I walk back to my desk...should probably switch kitty litters..." This is all silent whiling knitting. So when faced with the task of mindful knitting, it is a bit of effort to use my brain and knit like I didn't just start yesterday. At first, I was knitting with a rotation of thoughts directly related to who and what I feel lucky to have in my life much like a See n' Say. Once I got really going, it morphed into thoughts of particular moments in time that brought on that warm, now I know what a baking muffin feels like, feeling in regard to who I feel lucky to have in my life. That is knit into my Bonyard and here is my progress so far:

I have eight garter ridges so far and am shooting for eleven, with a good size 102g ball of yarn left. I have knitted thoughts of my Beau, my family, and friends, and of course my kitties into the shawl, as well as the fact that I have the ovaries, or missing synapses, to ramble about knitting in this blog for anyone and their iguana to see. I love knitting so much!

Knitting the final incarnation of my designed scarf took a back-burner as I knit the Antelopes for my pals. I also managed to completely delete my Word Doc of it (??o_O??) and so have started on that again from my written version. I can't wait to put it on Ravelry!

It was a nice week weather-wise so I gave a lot of attention to another passion, my plants. My laundry room has been functioning as a green-house this winter. It isn't insulated so I've spent only as much time as necessary to move laundry from one machine to the next and to water the plants from time to time. I finally went in there and dealt with the aftermath of winter.

I removed those that didn't make it and swept up fallen leaves and flowers. I fed the hungry ones and moved those previously deprived of sunlight into their own sunny sills. I really can't wait for the move to the porch though and I think they can't either.

I also got in some time in the outside beds weeding out periwinkle and English ivy so the cultivated thyme, fennel, basil and green onions have room to grow. I stumbled upon this gooey fungal friend amongst them.

The internet has informed me that these are Wood Ears. They are very jiggly and I had some fun chasing my boyfriend around with them. ^_^
I just love the weird things I'm finding in the yard. I'm sure each season will reveal something new.

My yard and my neighbor's yard appear to be a major stopping point for flocks of grackles. Large numbers have landed in the space between us and the amount of noise they make is awesome! (If you go to the website, check out the "Calls of Flock" soundbite.) A few have taken a dip in the bird bath I have setup and the color show is just great to witness. I always think to grab my camera but I never want to miss a second of the brief display. Here is one from the internet:

Lastly, I thought I'd share a picture of some stitch markers I made a while ago and a cute picture of Mr. Pickens with some crochet. I made a set of stitch markers as a birthday present for a knitting friend and made several of my own in the week afterwords. They are in various project bags and it's fun to rediscover them from time to time.

Next time, I will show off my shawl and designed scarf! See you then!

A Design

Stash Eliminator was made to also showcase some of my designs, and I'm hoping to share one with you soon!

I didn't really think of myself as a designer until my boyfriend's sister requested a pair of fingerless mitts. I picked through my knitting pattern books, then scoured Ravelry, then extended the search to all of the interweb and just didn't find anything that I thought was really "her". This one had too many cables, that one had a weird thumb gusset, and so on. This really surprised me! Modifying patterns is a great way to fit a design to one's desired result, and I was no stranger to doing this at the time, however, I really wanted something useful that a non-knitter could also appreciate. I thought about mitts and gloves I had made previously and what I best liked about them and didn't like. Then I picked up some DPNs and went for it, and for the first time I had made something not only without a pattern, but without an inspirational prototype as well. It was so much fun!

I think many knitters reach this point in their expertise, where they just pick up a forgotten skein from their stash and cast on. The trouble of carrying around a piece of paper and pen left behind, freeing the mind to just knit. I think it hits everyone after they discover how easy it is to make a raglan sweater at least!

I made all too unclear notes when making the mitts and so are useless now when I go back to read them. So I am taking a stab at designing and sharing a different pattern here. It is a scarf and is taking up more of my time that I thought it would! Here is a sneak peak:

 

The past 2 weeks:

Knitting on my lacy design scarf has been at the forefront. In the meantime I did get a little vacation too. I got the opportunity to go tent camping with part of my boyfriend's family. Previously, I had attempted to knit and hike at the same time after reading about Stefanie Japel's book dedication in Fitted Knits, and it just wasn't happening. During the holidays one year not too long ago, Christmas knitting got me walking around during an outing but involved a lot of standing and knitting. Now I can say that I have successfully hiked and knit thanks to pressure to wrap up my scarf design this past weekend! If you haven't tried to do this yet, give it a go! It's pretty fun.

I follow r/knitting from time to time. They have a Ravelry group and are very active at both places with yarn swaps, Secret Santa swaps, and weekly WIPs/FO threads. I stumbled across this article at r/knitting:
"Why Does a Vicuña Jacket Cost $21,000?" It is from the Wall Street Journal and so is written very well and describes one of the most coveted wools in the world and sums up the story about an animal, the vicuña, that was hunted to near extinction and how now it is being protected by the very people who were once the reason for the vicuña's seemingly inevitable demise.

This past weekend was full of sunshine after a week of clouds and rain. There is garden space surrounding most of the wee house that we're renting containing hostas, lilies, herbs, Camellia bushes, Black Eyed Susans and other perennial flowers, and I dove into them to pull out some intruders who were difficult to get out when the ground was somewhat frozen. While doing this I noticed some early bloomers that I would have not noticed otherwise had I not been so close to them!

 

White Fairy Lilies peaking through a very overgrown Periwinkle vine. I haven't lived in a house yet that lacks an overgrowing Periwinkle. No wonder it has reached the invasive species list. That link goes to a Periwinkle fact sheet which loads as a PDF that is from Indiana's state run website.

 

Some wild violets snuggled under the Camellia bush enjoying some afternoon sun.

The Camellia blooms with bonus kitten peeking.

And of course some spring Daffodils, growing behind a boxwood. Daffodils are one of my favorite flowers because they are the first flower I learned to identify. Growing up, rows of them grew along the roadside in front of my grandma's house and were so fragrant. I also really like yellows, whites, and oranges as colors. If only they lasted longer!

WIPs:

So I ended up casting on a Bone Yard Shawl. My first Stephen West pattern and I know errrrrybody loves his stuff and has to say it, but I LOVE HIS STUFF and that he models it very brilliantly and with full on fashionista gusto. Ok, that's over with! ;) I'm making mine from handspun yarn I purchased at a yard sale. It's a coppery salmon color full of slub and silk goodness. I am unsure of the absolute content but it's shiny and has a lot of drape. Here is my progress so far:

My first shawl so this is the litmus test to see if I'm a shawl-wearer or not. Enjoying the pattern, simple, and continuing to love the Chiao Goo Red Lace needle. I am knitting it as part of the Fat Squirrel's Gratitude Knit-A-Long.

I have also cast on one of my favorite hat patterns, an Antelope Hat by Kelly McClure. A couple of friends of mine lost a pet recently and I thought some knitted goods might warm their hearts. I'm casting on another, but in black for the guy and aim to get them done before Sunday.

<to be His hat

                                        Antelope for Her>








 I get to see the ole knitting group tomorrow-yippie! Thanks for stopping by and I'll chat with you soon!