Eagles

On my morning walk I saw a couple of eagles.

Rainbow Invasion

It is raining on and off today. Right now it is partly clear. Earlier there was rainbow by Blake Island. And as I watched it, it got closer and closer.

 

Here it is halfway between Blake Island and my street.

 

Here it is nearly across the street.

 

I think there must be a whale with a pot of gold on his back swimming in the sound!

Modified Susie Hoodie Parts

Last summer I started knitting the Susie Hoodie from Big Girl Knits. I knitted up swatches until I got gauge and then started knitting on the body. I got a good portion of it knitted to the waist when I realized that the gauge was off. So I put it aside because I wasn't ready to frog it. And I had Christmas knitting to start.

I've picked it back up in the last couple of weeks but have decide that I'm only hand knitting the fun part (the cable braid) and then I'm going to use my knitting machine to do the rest. So it isn't really going to be the Susie Hoodie at all but an inspiration of it, especially since I decided to have a collar rather than the hoodie.

Here is what I've knitted so far:

 

These are the cuffs and I plan on putting them on the machine and knitting the rest of the sleeve with it.

Here is one of the button bands (although it won't have buttons):

 

I'm going to knit the back and the two fronts on the machine and then attach the bands after I knit a bottom garter stitch band and top garter stitch collar. I will get to practice the seaming technique I learned in Jean Wong's finishing class a couple of weeks ago at Madrona. This is very timely and has given me the courage to try a project that will require a bit of seaming.

Yesterday I spent some time working out the calculations for the number of rows and stitches I need to use on the machine. I used a favorite cardigan of mine that fits the way I'd like this one to fit for the sizing and Ann Budd's Knitter's Handy Book of Sweater Patterns to get all the numbers.

I hope to knit the back tonight. I need 96 stitches across and the machine has 100. So I'm glad I'm using a worsted weight yarn (Cascade 220 Superwash) or else I'd have had to bought an extension.

Signs Of Spring

I know that it snowed yesterday but the signs of Spring have already started to appear. The other night a friend exclaimed about it being Spring when she saw some Crocus that was starting to bloom.

And that made me realized that I don't know the flowers here that indicate that Spring is coming. I have a great love for Texas wildflowers and when the Texas Toad Flax would start to bloom in early February, I knew another wonderful season of flowers and Spring were about to begin. I was blessed to have lived among a sea of wildflowers when I lived in Texas and I would often spend hours at the Lady Johnson Wildflower Center looking at and taking pictures the many varieties of flowers there.

Last year I bought a book on Washington wildflowers but I was disappointed to find that many of them don't bloom until late May through August. And of course, they don't bloom here in the middle of Seattle.

I also love other types of flowers like tulips and daffodils. It was my great folly to try to grow them in Texas every year. They might make it a week or two before the heat and lack of water killed them. But I kept trying every year thinking I could keep them alive by paying more attention to the amount of water I gave them. But the Texas sun can be brutal for a fragile flower not accustom to draught.

When I moved to Seattle in late 2007 I planted tulip and daffodil bulbs in my back yard and got to enjoy them the following Spring. And for much longer then a week!

Anyway, there a people who think that Texas wildflowers are weeds. And maybe that is so if you consider non-native flowers and grasses not as weeds. But I think "weeds" are beautiful too. So I'm noticing the "weeds" that are flowering here.

Right now the clover is flowering. Clover is a plant I remember from my youth in New Jersey and Chicago. I loved looking for four leaf ones and was always so excited when I found one. I knew it would bring me good luck. And here in the great Pacific Northwest there is clover. I tried to take a picture with my cell phone. But it didn't turn out. I need to start carrying my regular camera with me on my walks with Pachebel.

But I did get a picture of this flower. I'm not sure what plant it is from.



And here is another picture I took of flowers that were planted by the bus stop at the park down the street:


They may be daffodils but I'm not sure. I think these small flowers that look like daffodils have another name. Looks like I have a great adventure ahead of me learning about the native and non-native flowers that thrive here!

And I think I'm going to buy a bunch of tulips and daffodils for a vase here at home.

February Snow

 

 

 

 

Took an invigorating walk with Pachebel and got these pictures of the snow this morning.

ETA: Look while I was taking pictures of Pachebel, some one was taking pictures of us!

The Mountains Are Out

Ferry And Mountains