Saturday, January 30, 2016

Zuzu!


Yay, I finished this little cowl/ shawlette in only a few days and it was so much fun to make! An easy pattern with enough interest to.... well, keep things interesting! {smile} 

My yarn choice was solely based on the comfy factor (Cascade Yarns Eco Duo in Zebra) and it probably wasn't the best for this particular lace pattern (which is now sort of hidden in the shawl), but I love it! The lace pattern will probably become more apparent once I've washed and blocked it, but for now I never want to take it off again...

Capturing my inner 'Dandy Highway (Wo)Man'!

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After that fabulous 'Perhaps, Perhaps' shawl from last week, I started a 'grandpa' cardigan called 'Dark & Stormy' which is designed by Thea Colman. It has a beautiful cable pattern on the back and will feature an impressive shawl collar in the end, but oh boy, this is already a very difficult project for me. Now that I've finished the little Zuzu's Petals shawl that has now given me a bit more confidence, I will tackle the rest of that cardigan again. This is what I've got so far...

The yarn is Madeline Tosh Pashmina Worsted in 'Worn Denim'...


Thursday, January 21, 2016

Perhaps, Perhaps...

Click! to enlarge...

Just a quick post today: I finished the Perhaps, Perhaps shawl designed by Melanie Berg! It measures almost 95 inches / 2,5 meters in length, quite a feat...

Sorry, not quite focused right, but it is soooo dark here today...

I used Madeline Tosh DK in Nutmeg for the yellow / orange parts, Madeline Tosh Sport in Earl Grey for the lighter stripes and YOTH yarns in a dark grey for three of the stripes and a lighter grey for the one stripe. I wanted to use yarns from my stash and I did.

I think I'll be wearing this all the time! {smile}




Tuesday, January 19, 2016

Quite Hard...

A totally unrelated picture, taken this time last year...


We dropped off Master C. at the Greyhound bus already over a week ago, and yesterday we made the trip to the airport with Miss M. who is now safely back in Los Angeles. Sigh...

It is quite hard, this letting go business...

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Friday, January 15, 2016

A Walk...


Yesterday a good friend came over with her two Labrador Retrievers and we walked along the Tolt River for three and a half miles. It was a glorious day with lots of sunshine! I'm glad we spent that much time outside, since today it is back to utter gloominess...



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In other news: this is happening today...  {smile}




Thursday, January 14, 2016

Light & Color...


Slowly but surely I'm starting to see more Light & Color. (despite the extremely sad tidings about David Bowie and Alan Rickman this week...)

The cold that hit me last week turned into a proper sinus infection: no fun. I'm on day 9 now and still working on getting all of that stuff out of my head. But, the energy levels are nearly back to normal and I've managed two excursions out of doors this week already!

I watched quite a bit of Netflix (Jane Eyre, North & South, Mansfield Park and Anna Karenina) and in between things I knit the Baa-ble hat from the Shetland Woolweek. Just out of stash yarn, no swatching or anything. I decided on knitting the hat two needle sizes smaller than suggested and it is still a little too big, but no matter, I thoroughly enjoyed knitting it!  {smile}

So much light this morning...

Tomorrow my 'baby boy' will be turning 21, I just cannot believe it: so proud!

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Friday, January 8, 2016

Foggy Head...

Morning light...

Two days ago I came downstairs, made my coffee and sat down to check out my usual websites. Mr. G. was getting ready to leave for work and I mentioned to him that I had a slight inclination that I might get a sore throat. Only a couple of hours later I did indeed get that sore throat and I received a text from Mr. G. that his nose was running like crazy. Uhoh! We're now in day three and we both have a full blown head cold! I can't remember when I was last sick, thank goodness for that, but bah, what a whopper! No fever or anything like that, but I'm definitely laying low...

The only thing that keeps me going is knowing that I always feel so much better with more energy and creativity after an episode like this, so here's to hoping... <wink>


Wednesday, January 6, 2016

Explorations...


Trying to up the 'movement of the body levels' a bit, I decided to walk to my favorite yarn store yesterday morning to join that morning's knitting circle. It was close to freezing level but somewhat dry (not so much on the way back with some frozen pellets mixed in between the rain drops) and very dark and gloomy out. Here are some pics I took along the way there, about a 0,85 mile walk one way...


Made it!


Over the past few months I've become more and more of a recluse and so I'm trying very hard to get out more. That's why I'm visiting these knitting circles, to find more like minded people and to socialize. It is harder than it sounds...

Found this on the internet...

During stitch circle one of the ladies brought her grandbaby by who had a great time exploring the shop...


Of course I did some yarn exploration myself, lots of colors and textures to be touched! Have not been able to decide on a new project yet, but I've been drawn to the Tweed yarns and maybe some Fair Isle/ stranded knitting. We'll see...


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I had done some serious squatting and lunging exercises the day before and so I was hoping this walk might help with the rather sore muscles. The walking was fine, but I made the mistake of doing some more knitting (and thus sitting) after I came home, and oh boy.... so sore!!! This obviously means that my muscles desperately need to receive some more movement and I need to pick up my running again as well. Working on it! (but first some more knitting...)




Sunday, January 3, 2016

Snow, And Lots Of It!



We spent the two days before Christmas on Crystal Mountain, about a two hour drive south from us. There was So Much Snow!!!  Our friends always rent a cabin there for the week and we were once again (fourth year in a row) lucky enough to be invited over: Yay!  {smile}

Here are some impressions...





Click! to enlarge...
Tons of snow on the roofs!
There was at least three to four feet of snow on top of this box!
The cabin we were staying in...
Aero & Bo, our friends' dogs...

Miss M. and myself...
And the last two pictures were taken on top of the mountain by Mister G. who was skying up there: amazing!



How lucky are we to live this close to pure nature?!


And Then There Were Two...