Early Morning Textures...

Amazing you guys, we have been having the most wonderful weather over here, super spring like! And this week the school is off on a break so we're very happy at home relaxing. 

Yesterday Mr. G. and myself spent almost 6 hours outside and my face was the hot proof of it! <wink> We did lots of yard work (me very carefully with that wonky back), but I also spent lots of time reading in the sunshine, outside!  {smile}

This morning we woke up to temperatures just below freezing which was interesting and that is when I took these pics. In the mean time the sky is completely blue once again and we're off for another day outside. First we have to do a bit of grocery shopping though to stack up for our trip to the beach. Life is good!

Ouch!

After days of endless rain, yesterday promised to be a dry one, we even had some sun peeking through! (only for an hour or so, but who is counting...) I immediately felt like doing some gardening. 

With my usual enthusiasm I jumped in so, well... so enthusiastically that I sprained my lower back, several times! After only half an hour or so of weeding, moss pulling and sticks 'picking upping' I had to acknowledge my defeat: bummer! Especially since it was so nice and mild outside. Our Plum tree is already showing signs of spring:

I was able to walk around the house (very carefully), but by nighttime I could barely turn around in my bed! This morning finds me a tiny bit better, which is a good thing since I will be a substitute for two lessons at Little Bit for my Dutch friend who will be in an airplane on her way to Holland today. I don't think I will be doing any hoof picking though!  <wink>

PS Look, I finished another sock:

I'm very pleased with this self-striping yarn. It is fingering-weight though so rather thin. I'm hoping I will be able to wear them in my clogs and my also in my fancy Swedish clog sandals this spring! {smile}

Light After The Rain...

You guys, today it rained hard, even for our Northwestern standards. I volunteered at Little Bit this morning and it was just bucketing so loud on the roof of the arena. The roads were super wet on my way home, I had to drive very carefully with all the 'rivers' streaming down the hills and across the roadways. 

I'm trying to paint you a picture of the feeling that the rain would ever end... but then it did... and the sun came out... and I had to run out with my camera to snap up this happy occasion! The following pictures have only been slightly edited: enjoy!

What a great start to the weekend!

A New Angle...

When I visited The Netherlands last September (man, that seems like ages ago!) one of my friends gave me three skeins of sock yarn that she in turn had received from another friend.
It is in fingering weight (one of the thinnest) which I have never knit with before. I have also never knitted with a self-striping yarn before and boy, it is fun! The anticipation of what color combo is coming next makes want to knit more and more. I'm still practicing the picking way of knitting and I thought another pair of socks with just plain knitting would do the trick. So far so good!  {smile}

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The last few days the weather has not been helping my mood (dark and cloudy and wet) so this morning I decided to make myself a little new sitting/ working nook, to see things from a different angle I suppose. Below you see it at the far end of our front living room (we have two living rooms!)...

I obviously didn't clean up before I took this picture.
Keeping it real...

And here you see it up close:

From left to right: my yarny sock  project, my tablet to watch vlogs  and instagram on etc,
my breakfast smoothie and my knitting notes. (and yes, my reading glasses)

Now I can overlook this part of the garden which catches full sunlight, when the sun is shining that is obviously. We'll see how it works out. And yes, that is a Christmas decoration still hanging there. I like the warm glow that comes from it...

A Quick 'Hello'!

I just had a short but lovely visit by a flock of Evening Grosbeaks: what beautiful birds they are! Every time I see them, which is not very often unfortunately since they are of the migratory kind, I have to smile...

Smiling is a good thing since I am once again enveloped in the 'black cloud'.  This seems to be a part of me and looking back, it has always been a part of me. I'm trying to give it a spot so to speak, but to not let get overtaken by it anymore... In the mean time I'm eating extra veggies, extra juicing, extra light from my special lamp and just going slow, no panic!   <"It's Enough">

I also mentioned the presence of the cloud (which he had undoubtedly already seen coming) to my lovely husband and he immediately went online to find us (plus daughter plus dog) a little cabin near the beach for when we have winter break in a couple of weeks time. Just a couple of nights, but out, out of here and out of the cloud. (and into some foggy sea-clouds probably): can't wait!

Knit, Knit, Purl...

Yesterday I finished my second ever pair of knitted socks and I am so pleased! I used Hazel Knits Lively dk in Aquarius (100% wool, no it's not! I think it is 805 wool and 20% nylon, sorry about that!)) and I am loving the color. The pattern in the sock didn't quite come out as I had hoped, but oh well... I'm quite liking the knitting-socks-routine so I just might make some more...

Now that I have finished this project, I thought it would be a good time to learn a different method of knitting. When I started out knitting about a year ago, I remember being asked what kind of knitter I was? I never realized there were very different ways of knitting! Apparently I am an English knitter, or a 'thrower' as they say. I keep the yarn in my right hand and 'throw' it in a loop across the needles. This doesn't seem to be the fastest way of knitting so I have now purchased another class on Craftsy to learn the art of...

...also called 'picking'. With this method you hold the yarn wrapped around your left hand and you 'pick' at the stitches. I can only compare it to learning to write with your 'wrong' hand, so difficult! But, I will give it a serious try. It will be so much easier to knit with two hands (so in both styles) when you work with different colors, plus a little extra speed wouldn't be bad either...

In other news, I cut my hair again last weekend: it was time! Yes, I am still cutting (and coloring) my own hair. When the inspiration hits it just has to go you know! <wink>

Here you can see the back and sides...

PS We are having Spring-like temperatures over here! Check out my Instagram page...

Make Me Up Before You Go-Go...

It was in the Fall of 2013 and I had just purchased the sewing pattern for this toiletries bag. It is designed by Erin Erickson from Dog Under My Desk and as soon as it came out I knew I wanted to spend the money on it. 

Unfortunately the Fall of 2013 also marked the beginning of my sewing decline and as you might have noticed on my Made By Cowroad-page, there hasn't been a lot of sewing action in the past year or so. Or at least, not as much sewing as I used to do. What happened? 

Well, I learned how to knit of course and right now that is what is keeping me busy most of the time. Sometimes I do feel some sewing urges bubbling to the top and this week it became this toiletries/ knitting bag...

Click! to enlarge...

This little bag had me sweating bullets, especially those binding strips. Man, I don't think I want to do that again, at least not the ones on the sides where they have to go around those round edges. Ugly sewing! But, the rest turned out super nice and I like it a lot!  {smile}

The sides are made up of an outer fabric, a layer of fusible interfacing, a layer of batting, another layer of fusible interfacing and then the lining. This was then all quilted together. All these layers make it stand up by itself so it doesn't flop over. I did have to sew it all with my extra sturdy jeans needle, because of all these thick layers. This also made attaching the binding extra difficult.
The inside (which I made in a light color so that I can actually find stuff in there) sports an extra zippered pocket, plus two pockets on the other side for extra items. All in all tons of portable storage!

Foggy Morn'...

A foggy morning while driving through the valley on my way to the grocery store: beautiful!

Light After The Rain...

I'm a little drugged up, I must confess, drugged up on Sudafed that is. Yesterday I decided to join the rest of the family to go and watch the matinee show of our High School's musical. Everything went great, lots of laughs and fabulous singing. Until the second part that is when I was suddenly hit with a ginormous head cold! I had only brought one pack of tissues and had to use the whole lot. All that while trying not to distract the rest of the audience (or the cast) with my frequent sneezing and blowing of the nose. A full onslaught of unmentionables!

I'm hoping that since it hit me so fast and so hard, it will also go away equally fast... (one can always hope..) At least I have no fever or anything so no flu...

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We had a lot of blustery wind gusts and rain overnight and I think there were about 60.000 people without power in the Seattle area this morning. A very bad thing since the Seattle Seahawks (our American Football team) is playing an important game again the Green Bay Packers right as we speak. If they win this game then they will go to the Superbowl for a second year in a row. (and last year they won!) Mr. G's brother managed to score some tickets so that is where he is right now...

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I'm ensconced on the couch with the knitting of my socks. I've just reached the point where I have to decrease for the toe shaping so almost done with that first one. The dog wanted to go out in the back yard and when I looked up at the trees I saw all these little 'lights' (raindrops) sparkling in the light: beautiful!

Well, that was it for now. Tomorrow is a day off (Martin Luther King Day) so a nice long weekend over here...

How Does Your Garden Grow?

It dawned on me this morning that I hadn't truly visited the garden for several months now. I've been suffering from a sore throat and very low energy levels this week, but today I felt a bit of life stirring again: time for a little stroll (in my Dutch 'klompen') in our yard...

(pictures are basically unedited for a change... <wink>)

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Sharing Some Finished Makes...

Good Morning from a somewhat chilly, but bright Carnation! 

I wanted to go out for a run today, but I'm struggling with an itchy throat which is never a good sign. I think I'll just go for a walk instead and I might even bring my big camera. Funny how the I-Phone has completely taken over my photography life... (gotta love those photo editing apps)

Anyway, the last couple of days I've actually finished both a knitting and a sewing project! First off my 'time filler' raglan sweater project:

After my fabulous steeked 'Maren" Icelandic color work cardigan, I fell into a knitters' blues gap so to speak, and just couldn't come up with an equally exciting project.

To fill the time with some knitting I made this sweater, no pattern no nothing. I started out with the darker color, only to realize that Bernat has discontinued this colorway and I had to find something else to go with it. I quite like the heathered tweedy look of the lighter color and so this how the color block sweater came to be. I've worn it several days already and it is super comfy: a win!

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I also finished a summer-like dress after a Lisette pattern. The flowery fabric is designed by Anna Maria Horner's oldest daughter and I've had it in my stash for quite a while, waiting for precisely such a pattern as this one. I love the modern retro vibe of it!

The dress fits great on top, but I do have to admit that I need to amp up my running a bit so that it will fit better over the hip area, hopefully by Spring time... <wink>

Lisette #1878

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Of course I've started a new knitting project already: Seaweed socks, pattern designed by Donna Druchunas via Craftsy. Here is a little swatch from yesterday...

and today we have this, the beginnings of a cuff...

They actually fit around my heel so yay!  <wink>

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And oh yes, we had to say goodbye to Master C. who has returned to Gonzaga University once again. I was a bit teary eyed, it never gets any easier, but I am so happy that he is so happy there!  {smile}

PS He is turning 20 tomorrow: what??!