Low Tide Cardigan...

Love the pointy ends here, they flow in the breeze...

I'm in love!!!

I loved this pattern (by Tin Can Knits) from the first time I layed my eyes on it and oh boy, it did not disappoint!

The yarn I used was Madeline Tosh Merino Light in the 'El Greco' colorway. (100% merino wool)

My gauge was 24 stitches x 34 rows in 4 x 4 inches, using a size US 5 needle. (for those of you who would like to know these kind of details...)

It still does need some small buttons for the top lace part, but I haven't decided on those yet...

I liked it when it came off the needles yesterday, but I Loved it after I washed and blocked to a better fitting size. It is so soft and 'flowy', just perfect! {smile}

Back detail and short row sleeve caps...

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Of course there is already a new project in the works. I haven't  started the actual knitting yet, but that will happen in the next hour or so. May I present to you the Estuary Shawl, also designed by Tin Can Knits. (another pattern that I immediately fell in love with...)

This pattern is completely made up out of quite a few Lace charts and so rather daunting! I'm using the same Madeline Tosh Merino wool again, only this time in the same teal colorway as the original pattern...

I'm not planning on finishing this anytime soon, this will be a slow-knitting project. Perfect for the extreme heat temperatures that we will be experiencing for the next two weeks! (high 90's, close to 38 Celsius for the foreseeable future: waaaaaay too hot for our liking!)

Trying To Catch Up...

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So in the past several weeks we had both my mom, and then my dad staying with us. (they are divorced) When my mom was here the weather was very overcast, but we managed to get a walk in to the Snoqualmie River through the Tolt McDonald park, always a favorite. We also visited the Tolt Yarn & Wool shop of course and Pacific Fabrics, where I bought some lovely grey Chambray to sew with... My mom embraced the graduation cap and insisted on a picture with the graduate! <wink>

One of Miss M.'s graduation presents was this awesome orange hammock to take with her to college: it is soooo comfy! In the week my dad was here the weather turned very warm and we had to take early morning walks. The rest of the day we would spend in the shadow on our patio, each with an e-book en something cool to drink. We also attended a pig-roast at our boss's house, where Mr. G. was in charge of several micro-brews (= beers) from the region. A very fun evening indeed!  {smile}

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We sort of invited ourselves to our friends' house on Lake Washington when things were getting very hot. A lovely boat ride and a pick-nick style lunch happened after. We walked along the Snoqualmie River, but at a new spot for me, Chinook Bend. Beautiful views of the Cascades and Mount Rainier. (three middle pictures above)

And then last week, when everybody had left, Miss M. and myself decided to hike up to Rattlesnake Ledge near North Bend. She had done the climb several times, but it was a first for me. I truly do not enjoy inclines, but now that I am in better shape, I really wanted to try it. The climb itself took an hour and I was soaked by the time we reached the Ledge, but boy, was it worth it!!! (middle picture, bottom row) I was totally exhausted after we came home however and had a long nap that very afternoon...

In the last picture you see Master C. posing in front of Mount Rainier in his grandparents' backyard in Tacoma. We were there to celebrate both Father's Day and Mr. G.'s birthday. Again stunning views...

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So, I think we're all caught up now???  <wink> I have two more rows to go on my last short row sleeve of my Low Tide Cardigan (by Tin Can Knits) and then it is blocking time, plus time to start a new project, always fun!

And Exhale....

So this is what happened a couple of weeks ago...  {smile}

This last month we've been busy driving (early in the morning), entertaining first my mother and then my father from The Netherlands, Senior Project presentations, pre-graduation parties, post-graduation parties and very warm weather. Today is my first day with nothing on the schedule: bliss!

I'll be back when I've recovered from it all... ('twas all good, believe me!)

The Family!

Shaking hands with her dad,
who also happens to be the Head of our High School....

Class of 2015!!!

What A Day!

(and it is only noon...)

Imagine U2's song here in the background...
And yes, there is a tractor in this picture!

This morning I just felt the energy flowing. Since it is rather hot out here these days I decided to go for an early morning run, i.e. 8am! I ran my 2 miles in a time I haven't done for a while, spent 10 minutes on the stationary bike and did some floor exercises (which I despise!) I still had energy left and the sun was shining brightly so I decided to go on an actual bike ride...

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First I cycled through Tolt McDonald Park, then to the Snoqualmie River hanging bridge and stopped by a little yard sale where I found these fabulous vintage buttons. I didn't have any cash on me so I raced home and borrowed some money from Miss M.'s piggy bank and raced back to the yard sale. Chatted with the proprietor, a visitor (half Native American half German, got to speak some German as well) and a neighbor who lived in my dream home... (see below)

I cycled a bit further along the river and through the fields with horses and their babies, 9 miles / almost 15 kilometers in total.  What a day and it is only half gone!  {smile}

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Some pics of the beautiful Cosmos flowers I have in my backyard right now. I hope they'll bloom the rest of the summer!

[Knit, Knit, Purl] - repeat section between brackets...

The buttons will not actually be placed on the back of the cardigan of course...
<wink>

Through all the changes of the last few months and also the upcoming months, there is always my constant: knitting. It gives me great 'get - back - to base' time to realign my thoughts and emotions. The stockinette section of this cardi (the part below the lace sections) is taking me forever to finish but the end is in sight. After that two short sleeves will get knit and it will be ready to be worn with pride!  {smile}

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Master C. (who is now a junior (3rd year) in college!) has moved of campus and will be moving into an apartment with two friends this summer. Big change number one...

Miss M. is about to finish her High School career and will be moving to Los Angeles later in August which will make us empty nesters. Bang, there it is! Even bigger change number two...

I am not sad, I am not depressed, I just feel there is this wide openness in front of me and I have no idea what to fill it with. I naturally lean towards the negative side of things and I'm trying very hard not to. My twenty year 'job contract' has run out (of course being a parent will never end, thank goodness for that) and that is just a very strange feeling. 

Like I mentioned a couple of days ago, still taking my time....

Just letting you know that I'm still here. Lots of changes going on (all good ones really).

Still taking my time...

The Tale of Two Bunnies...

Teeny Tiny Cuteness overload!

Remember I wrote about the rabbit's nest that I found right in the middle of the back yard the other day? Well, we found out that the other little bunny was indeed diseased. There were quite a few of those large pesky black flies zooming around in the nest and we felt really bad for the other one, so Mr. G. managed to remove the dead one (wearing gloves!) so that the other one wouldn't get pestered as much. 

The little one that didn't make it...

The live one kept on trying to crawl out of the nest, but since his eyes weren't quite opened yet he didn't know where to go. I closed the opening of the nest a bit with some nesting material that was strewn about and left him there for his mother to return.

We'll never know what has happened to them, because by the next morning the nest was totally empty. Let's just say that mom picked up the baby and decided to go elsewhere where they will live happily ever after...  

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This all happened on Sunday when it was still fairly overcast and not quite warm. Yesterday (Monday) on the other hand we had a sudden spike in temperatures and it got up to at least 80F / 27C!!! It was hot!

Miss M. had an Ultimate Frisbee game at home so a great opportunity for a visit. Due to circumstances I was a couple of hours early and spent some time at a kind of petting zoo/ park nearby. Always fun to chat with some animals!

Look at this pony's eyes!

And the view wasn't bad either!  {smile}

Now we're back to cloudy skies and some showers. Since I'm volunteering at Little Bit again today, I don't mind at all....

Sleepless In Seattle...

View towards the Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains from A.'s apartment...

So last week my Dutch friend A. invited me over for an overnight stay in her 21st floor apartment downtown Seattle. Little Bit was still on break so we were both 'off duty' so to speak, Her husband was over in Germany for business and so it was a good time for a girls' day and night out. 

Since A. literally lives downtown Seattle and I don't do that kind of crazy driving, I had to take the bus: first time by myself (in the States) ever! <wink>  I arrived right around lunch time and we had some lovely food and beautiful views overlooking Seattle from her apartment, so much to see from up there!

Only the middle picture was taken by me, the other two I found online)

After this we walked all the way (and beyond) to Pioneer Square and back to Pike Place Market, stopping along the way in fun little stores. One of them was Dry Goods Design. I had only visited their previous location in Ballard before which was tiny, but they've certainly found an excellent location now, with lots of room and light streaming through the large windows. It was extra fun to see a pretty display of all things Tolt Yarn & Wool in the shop! (see above)

By the end of the afternoon we got overtaken by some serious rain clouds so we headed back home. I checked my health-app on my phone and it said we had walked 7 miles! A. prepared as a wonderful vegetarian dinner with Risotto and roasted veggies etc and we hit the hay around 10pm or so. (what a wild girls' night out right? <wink>)

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The next morning we walked another 4 miles or so around Capitol Hill which is more my kind of area. Still a bit chilly out, but the sun was shining and we had a great time just wandering and chatting and chatting and more chatting.

After spending 26 hours in the big city I was quite ready to go back to the country. I am just not a big city girl I guess, but I did feel inspired by all the fashions and dyed hair etc. It was just right! Thanks A.! {smile}

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The next day I had to pick up our guests for the weekend, two Labrador Retrievers (we already have one here at home, so now three of them), one of which was a ten month old puppy: Aero!

We know these dogs quite well and it was an absolute pleasure having them stay here for five nights. Thank goodness the weather was just spectacular and we went on lots of walks and they did lots of swimming in the river. What sweetie-pies!  {smile}

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And on a final note: Look what I came across in the yard while weeding this morning: a rabbit hole with two tiny little bunnies inside! One is definitely alive, not quite certain about the second one yet...

PS: Thank you for all your kind words regarding my dentist visit. I think it was the easiest one so far. What great numbing drugs they have here! <wink>

Shiny Pearls...

After almost a whole week of summertime temperatures, we are now back in our regular weather pattern. This of course involved a few showers last night, and this morning I found lots of little shiny pearls everywhere...

(no editing on these pictures, just the pure stuff)

I have many more pictures to show you of my overnight stay in Seattle last week and of our lovely house guests (two Labrador Retrievers) in the days after that, but I have to have a filling replaced this morning and I am rather nervous. (visits to the dentist always work out better than I think, but that doesn't prevent me from getting nervous every-single-time...) 

Reflection in a puddle of water on a tarp...

I think some knitting is in order to calm the nerves...

La Vie En Rose...

I'm on my way out to Little Bit, but I just quickly wanted to share these lovely colors in the yard with you this morning.  What a shame we don't have 'smell-a-vision'... 

Have a great one!

Tip-Toe Thru' The Tulips With Me...

Mount Baker in the background...
(click! to enlarge)

Spring Break was last week and on Thursday we decided to go on a little road trip to the Tulip fields in Skagit County, WA. The weather was absolutely phenomenal!  {smile}

These were the only fields we stopped at, the lines of people trying to get in at other places were just way too long. Funny fact, I've never actually visited any of the Dutch fields growing up in Holland!

The mountainous backdrop was spectacular and as always I had to take some pics of all the barns...

Still from the olden days...

After some driving around we made our way up north and stopped for lunch in one of our favorite little villages: Edison. So much peace to be found in the mudflats. All we could hear were the birds twittering and the ducks 'snattering' across the mud in search of yummy tidbits...

What a lovely Spring Day it was!