Cowl Obsession

My vacation yarn knit up very quickly in this easy-to-memorize cowl pattern. Somehow I was always picking it up, and in a few days, I was finished! Somehow my souvenir yarns are mostly becoming cowls. Look HERE for another example. Below is the newest cowl.



I used the pattern loosely to serve the color changes of the yarn. Instead of making an eyelet row every 10 rows, I waited until a new color revealed itself fully. Most of the knit rows contain 13 or 14 rows. I knit until I mostly ran out of yarn. A very tiny bit remained.



The pattern is Stacked Eyelet Cowl by Ami Madison in Sour Cherries. And the yarn is by Spincycle in Sport weight with color way "rusted rainbow," which I find quite apt!



Here's how the cowl wears in real life, a little more slouchy, or pulled up as if there are gale force winds.



While I am not quite ready for summer to be over, school to start, or gardening to end, I am looking forward to cooler weather so I can wear this treat!

New Seattle Yarn!

Vacation time = time to buy some souvenir yarn. Seattle did not disappoint with its So Much Yarn shop really close to the Pike Market, a true tourist destination. This beauty is by Spincycle Yarns, local to Washington State, in color way "rusted rainbow." I have to confess to being a little obsessed; it is knitting up like a dream into a lovely cowl. More on that later…


We also visited the lovely Chihuly Museum and Garden. It was an unbelievable splash of color, light, and creativity. The museum tour available straight to your phone was very enlightening. Dale Chihuly spoke about his creative process and gave background on each piece.

In the Garden under the Space Needle.


A rowboat filled with glass balls, inspired by an installation in Norway where he would throw glass balls into the water and some teenagers would fish them out of the water for him to repeat the process.


A small part of a glass garden inspired by the gardening his mother used to do while he was growing up.


The Pike Place Public Market, located on the ocean and offering so many delights: fresh flowers, anything you might want to eat, raw or processed, bake shops, craft booths, etc. We spent a lot of time looking around here!


The flowers! I wanted ALL of the bouquets for placing around my house!


So many delicious fruits to sample. This vendor caught my eye with all three colors of currants, blackberries, and Rainier cherries in a pre-made nosh cup ready for eating. I did not partake, but was so tempted...


Beautiful displays of chili and garlic. They look a little bit like Chihuly chandeliers!


I want my next cheese plate to feature every one of each of these. WOW! I would eat way too much if I lived close by.


So many colors of veggies!




Tourist enjoying the Market!!


The arrival hall in Seattle for the Amtrak train. Allow me to recommend the ride from Vancouver to Seattle. Great ocean views right on the water most of the time.


And here we are: a couple of SHEEP standing in front of the original Starbucks store taking a selfie like everyone else! (Can't have a knitting blog without some sort of sheep feature!)


Hope you are enjoying summer!

Peepers 2.0

We got a new chicken house from a neighbor a few weeks ago (crazy story of getting it to the house), and felt compelled to get some new birds.



Introducing Thanks and Giving, the new turkey chicks.



They are adorable, with the softest, highest pitch peeps you can imagine. So cute!



Yesterday was the first day they were allowed to be outside. They sat in one place for nearly two hours before they started to move around. I think they enjoyed themselves once they got over their skittishness. Here's looking forward to a summer of fun bird watching!

Camelid Collection

End-of-year thank you notes and gifts made their way to my desk the last few weeks.

There were quite a few handmade alpaca cards and a llama drinking bottle in the mix. So thoughtful of my students to remember my passion for these animals and so polite to write heartfelt messages! And a good reminder to me that creating and writing notes of appreciation completely make someone’s day. I am starting my summer with that lesson and returning some personal emails. Letters to follow!
Happy Writing!

Washcloth Factory

It’s Yarn Along Day! Check other crafty goodness out here: http://www.gsheller.com/2018/06/yarn-along-june.html 

Let’s start with the reading, which was featured in January as well. I am actually going to through-hike the 58-mile-long Knobstone Trail this week! Just a little reading to brush up on the details before I leave early tomorrow morning. I am beyond excited!!! Woohoo!

I’ve been wanting some mindless knitting and needing some quick end-of-school thank you gifts for the secretaries. Washcloths to the rescue. Now I can’t stop, though, so if you know someone who needs a washcloth, message me!

This is the little gift combo I came up with for some important secretaries: reuse cute pails that a student gifted me cookies in with a handmade washcloth, some organic handcrafted soap, and a thank you note.

Happy Summer and enjoy your crafting!

Shearing 2018

Every shearing day is unique. Unfortunately this year no one was home to see it happen. The Farmer had to hood a graduating doctoral candidate, and I had State Orchestra Finals, both pretty important reasons to miss.

The animals were sleek and skinny when we arrived home and there was plenty of fleece for processing in spite of the reduced herd size. All of us are ready for summer!!

Next up: GARDENING!

Athena with Egg #1

There was snow and ice this week, but Spring is right around the corner! The proof is that Athena laid EGG #1 of the season yesterday, a stunning first for this reluctant layer hen. Our other chicken, Heinrich, is still molting, which she started in January this year: oddly late.

Anyway, my iPhone died a pitiful death on Wednesday, and my replacement iPhone is not completely decked out with all of my apps yet, so I'll post the picture of the egg some other day. Just wanted to document the first egg of the season, as I do every year.

Happy Day to All!