SPRING FLOWERS

     Greetings.  It's been a long seven months since my last post.  I think commuting two hours a day and school work got to me, and I didn't have much left over for writing.  The last eight weeks I've spend mostly sitting with my left foot elevated after bunion surgery.  But I'm mending nicely and no longer have to wear the post-op boot.  I'm in my slippers and Birkenstocks for awhile as the swelling goes down in my foot and toes. I've been knitting mostly wash cloths - something almost mindless, since the pain meds made complicated thinking difficult.  Much better now. Since Spring, I've been accumulating photos from the backyard gardens.  Some plants, especially the cactus and succulents, have a very short blast of showy flowers so we took photos as soon as they opened. 

     The two cactus below are about the size of your thumb and without their flowers, are very plain and look like small rocks.  However, they bloomed spectacular flowers. We were amazed, since this is our first time growing these plants. 

     This pastel pink and yellow bloom is from a round cactus about the size of a softball, a gift to Master Gardener D.  Not only did it produce beautiful flowers, you can see the baby cactus it is producing, too.  These can be (carefullly with gloves) pinched off and replanted. 

What a color. This little, very prickly, cactus produced  the most vibrant flowers.  

This picture is on my computer desktop, saved so I can see it daily, since the blooms are long gone in the garden.

Here's the rock garden up against the wall of the house that gets the hottest blast from the sun.  Since succulents and cacti are desert plants, they love this spot and quietly grow, reproduce, and fill in the area.

And finally, cacti and red blooms up against an old water pump at the Boschi Ranch where Master Gardener D works and pinches cactus.  The new fence in the background is one of his projects.

     Master Gardener D took the following photos - these are just a few of the flowers in the rest of the garden.  Mother Nature is outdoing herself this year.  

And the knitting goes on.  Having foot surgery gave me a good excuse to sit and knit, although being house bound got old very fast.  This is a scarf I made for my sister C who lives in LA where she can use a light weight scarf when the weather isn't "Sunny California."  The yarn is unknown, probably something I found at the thrift shop, but it is beautifully variegated orange and yellow and has the feel of a cotton blend. Unfortunately, this pattern is no longer available.  It was published on Ravelry by Sosae Caetano Handmade Designs. 

        Wash cloths for the Eagles Christmas Bazaar.  I will put some of these together in bundles tied with Christmas ribbon.  Still working on these and have learned a nice crochet edging as seen on the next photo. 

Two bulky knit hats for cold winter nights of watching high school football games or taking to the ski slopes near Tahoe or Mt. Shasta.  These will be going to the Bazaar, also.

          And lastly, a gift for myself.  Love, Love this scarf and it's so easy with yarn that self stripes: http://www.classiceliteyarns.com/WebLetter/283/SkinnyMiteredScarf.pdf  I used Lion Brand "Amazing" yarn which is worsted weight - wool / acrylic blend ... lots of wonderful color blends. 

I hope this post finds everyone enjoying their summer.  In this area, school will be starting in a few weeks.  I'll be substitute teaching a few days a month at my favorite school in the foothills, Elk Creek Jr/Sr High School.  Special kids and staff there that I enjoying seeing. I'll be posting more garden pics and knitting in the upcoming blogs sooner than seven months. Stay cool.  

WINTER KNITTING AND CROCHET

Hello, again.  It's taken me a while to put together this blog.  I don't have the easy access to flowers in the back yard now that everything is dormant or appears dead from freezing night temperatures.  However, I did find the tiny purple violas that always come up without any care under the shrubs or in the lawn in front of the house. They pop up just in time for my birthday in February - color and flower of that month.  So there is color other than brown.  It's coming - Spring.  Also, the shrubs have these lovely red berries, we call Toyon berries, not sure that's correct, but no matter, they're red.  

On to the fiber arts - while helping her mom convalesce after surgery, my niece, D, crocheted two baby blankets.  She was kind enough to send photos and info about the projects for me to share.  These blankets will be donated to local Vancouver, WA - area hospitals.  Some lucky mom will be able to wrap her new baby in a hand made blanket to take home.  

This first blanket was made from a pattern in "Leisure Arts #3524, Crocheting for Baby", designed by Edie Eckman,  and can also be found  on Ravelry:

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/beginner-baby-blanket

D used Lion Brand Babysoft yarn, in Twinkle Print.  The border is Bernat Softee Baby, in Lemon.  The yarn is doubled for both the blanket and border.  She used a size K (6.5) crochet hook.  

The second blanket is a Hooded Bobble Baby Blanket from Lion Brand patterns.  Pattern number: cjif-bobbleBlanket.  It calls for Jiffy Yarn, but D used a Pound of Love yarn, doubled, in Mint Green.  Crocheted with a size K hook.  D is relatively new to crochet but with the guidance of her daughter, L, she has blossomed (still thinking about Spring).  Look forward to more crochet from her on future blogs.

And on to the knitting.  Even though I haven't been blogging for a while, I have been knitting, but not thinking about blogging.   I've made several items, two short scarves and a hat, and mailed them out before taking pictures.  Hopefully, I'll be able to get pics when I see my sisters in the near future. However, I can give you the link to the scarf pattern and a photo. 

 

http://www.bhg.com/crafts/knitting/wearables/knitted-scarf-with-slit/

I have made several of these in Lion Brand Homespun, and they are the coziest to wrap on your neck.  

The hat, I also knit in Homespun - pattern can be found here: 

http://www.michaels.com/Big-Twist-Hat/30242,default,pd.html 

or at Michael's at the Loops & Threads display. 

I'm still knitting to fill the bin for the Eagles Christmas Bazaar in November, digging into my stash of often mystery yarns.  

This scarf is knit in one of my favorite patterns, an easy  Feather and Fan where I used two yarns held together and large needles.  The yarns were different shades of brown in a synthetic mohair looking yarn.  I've used this pattern many times.  It's easy to memorize and the scarves are always lacy and impressive.  

http://www.straw.com/cpy/patterns2/accessories/MochiPlus-FeatherFanScarf.html

Here is another version of the Big Twist Hat.  Love the color.  Again, a mystery yarn, very bulky and soft, so that the cable just about disappears.  Very fast and easy pattern.  

And last - I've knitted blankets and a cozy bed for the cats.  But for minipurl, a plastic bag is her second favorite place (my lap, being the first) to take a snooze.  I hope this blog finds everyone well and participating in your favorite creative activities.  Until next time, keep on knitting and crocheting. 

AUTUMN RAINS

Here it is December already and I'm still working on my autumn rains.  Even though the garden is dying back, our back yard still has wonderful colors.  The leaves are a golden brown carpet announcing the arrival of autumn.  How's that for a metaphor and personification. We're learning about figurative language in my English 9/10 class.  

These are giant naturism leaves that somehow got a super dose of fertilizer and then soaked up the rain.  I had noticed how well nasturtiums thrived over on the coast so now I understand ... they like the cooler, damp weather certainly not found here in the summer but in the fall. 

The grape vines don't survive the winter.  This one made a mad dash across the chain link fence.  They die back and then come back on their own in the spring and are in full form during the summer.  



The roses are shooting out long branches but still are producing a few lovely flowers like this one.  As long as I can, I try to bring in a few cuttings for a vase display.

Here's the golden carpet. I never get tired of the gifts from Mother Nature as long as they're gentle gifts like these.  So far she's been a little crabby dumping a lot of rain on us and swelling Stony Creek in Elk Creek from a mild mannered creek to a roaring river.  I took this photo from the bridge that spans the creek. 

As always the knitting continues.  I couldn't survive with out it.  My knitting storage bin is empty except for the two scarves in the next photos.  All my projects were sold at the Eagles Christmas Bazaar.  They were very appreciative of my efforts, and I'm more than happy to contribute.  The money raised goes toward scholarships, and I'm all for that. 

 This scarf I designed myself using stitches from one of my knitting books.  I like experimenting with a variety of stitches, something to learn and the knitting is not overly repetitive and boring.  I used a worsted weight yarn I found at the thrift shop and size 9 needles.  I like to start this type of  scarf with a few inches of ribbing. Love the speckles of color in the yarn. 

This navy blue scarf is made from bulky yarn, and I can see why so many patterns are calling for bulky yarns - they're for fast knitting which produces a thick, warm product. 

Wow! Red!  My good friend, J and I made scarves for the Red Scarf Project.  These scarves will be given to young people who have been in the Foster Care system and are now going to college.  We've mailed the scarves, and they will be given out in February just in time for Valentines Day.  We usually make scarves for the Winter Special Olympics, but this year they had so many scarves from last year's contributions, they didn't need more.  So we'll wait and see what happens next year. 

 I will leave this blog with a photo of Master Gardener D and his faithful dog, Hunter.  All the lovely flowers and summer vegetables are the results of hard work and loving care by the Master Gardener.  Hunter's contribution is limited since he lives for his dinner and to chase his toys. 

Until the next blog, keep on knitting and crocheting.  I hope to have more photos of my family's crocheting projects in the next blog from my niece, D and her daughter, L.  And more knitting from me - I have a cowl in progress. 

AUTUMN'S ARRIVAL

Greetings.  Since going back to work, only part time, my blogging has slowed to a snail's pace.  Today I'm determined to get a blog sent out into the world of the Internet. Not only has blogging slowed, but so has my knitting and gardening.  However, my 9-week report cards are all done!! I do have some photos of what's been going on with school, family, garden, and knitting, so here goes.  

     Family first: My niece, D, from Vancouver, WA has learned to crochet from her daughter, L.  More about her in a minute.  In an earlier post, there is a photo of a lovely crocheted blue baby blanket, D's first crochet project.  Since then, she has taken on a larger project, a crochet shrug as seen below: 

    
     The pattern for the shrug is from Lion Brand Yarns and is called Homespun Simple Shrug.  Homespun yarn and size 9 mm (size N hook)  D says it is warm and comfortable, so she's working on another one in cream colors.  Homespun has lovely variations of color, is soft and easy to work with. Beautiful.
      D's daughter, L, a self taught crocheter and now entrepreneur,  has a shop on Etsy where she  can showcase her gorgeous crocheted scarves, cowls, and afghans.  Here's the link: 

http://www.etsy.com/shop/rubiazul

        Closer to home, Master Gardener D, has been absent from the garden since he has begun rice harvesting with good friend, Rice Farmer GB.  Once the rice is dried and ready to cut, harvesting is an everyday event until it's all cut and before the rainy weather starts.  Today is going to be a marathon harvesting day, since rain is forecast for tonight or Monday.  If all goes well, they'll have all the rice cut by tonight.  After the rain (and some days of rest), when the ground dries, they'll harvest for two of G's neighboring farmers. D's job is to drive the bank out truck which receives the rice from the harvester.  He then drives the truck to deposit the rice in the drying bins.  Here he is on the job.  Bub, always smiling.

     On the school front, all is going well. We just completed the first quarter on Friday. On 9/11 we had a whole school district remembrance on the bleachers of the football field with a speaker, music, and the local fire trucks, even though most students don't have a memory of the events of 9/11.  The seniors were about 5 or 6 at the time, but have learned from events like this that we take the time to remember the people that died that day.
My art class painted the banner.

This picture gives you an idea of the small size of our school district.  K - 12 can fit into two bleachers.  FFA officers made the presentation of the flags.  This coming week, these same FFA officers and their advisor, Mr.S, will be at the State FFA Conference in Indianapolis which will also include a few days visiting Washington D.C. Wow! Needless to say, they've been very excited and ready to go.  

The knitting continues, always, however slowly.  I had some starts and stops, but finally finished these two.  Although they're together in the photo, they aren't a set..just used some of the same yellow yarn in the hat that I used for the scarf. 

The scarf pattern comes from the knitting book: One Ball Knits/Accessories called Dewdrop Lace Scarf.  I used worsted weight acrylic and size 8 needles.  This is a short scarf about 39 inches.  The lace pattern is paired with a rib section and then finished with a scalloped edging in i-cord.  However, I made mine with crochet. The hat pattern can be found on the Red Heart website - Go Bright Hat.  I used knitting worsted and size 8 circular needles.  I'm thinking of venturing into crochet, next - I think I can do the basics, and I'm inspired by a bag pattern on a site called Attic 24.  We'll see how it goes.

The summer garden is slowly falling into itself.  The corn stalks are dry and the tomato plants are collapsing.  Although they are still producing a few tomatoes.  Never give up!  Some volunteer vines have showed up - morning glories and a few gourds, I think. 

The roses are going strong and still producing beauties. This delicate rose is a sweet contrast to the rough fence post.

And the yellow ones, too.

The pumpkin vines have nearly taken over the back yard and have produced one very large pumpkin that's hidden in this picture, but you can see Mr. Pumpkin in the next photo.    

Linus never gave up on the Great Pumpkin.

And finally from the giant size to the smallest.  This little succulent bloomed four tiny pink flowers.  With succulents and cacti, you never know when you will get a sweet flowering surprise.

I hope this blog finds its readers well and enjoying autumn's arrival.  The trees in our yard are letting go of summer by releasing their grip on their leaves.  Raking time.  And time to keep on knitting and crocheting.  We'll be happy to have some warm hats, scarves, and shrugs when the weather turns chilly.  Until next time - keep on knitting and crocheting - it's good medicine.