Before the thunder

The Chicks and I were blessed with another beautiful day on the river.

 And it was quite busy today too. Early in the afternoon we watched this ship getting pushed northward...

 and just before we left at 2:30, this one was being pushed southward. I love to hear the wake splash against the seawall after they go by because it sounds like waves crashing on the seashore.

 Barbara B. modeled the shortie anklet socks she made for herself using self striping yarn.

 She bought the yarn from Michael's Craft Store and has enough left over to make a pair of baby socks.

 And this is the pattern she bought on Ravelry to make her socks.

 Debbie wound some yarn so she could make a hat.

 And then she showed us the socks she is making using the shadow wrap short row heel technique. I love that color combo!

 Janna has made lots of progress on her Emiliana Shawl. Soon she will be adding that lovely lighter colored yarn for the mosaic portion of the knitting.

 Annika was so happy to show us how close she is to the end of her shawl. When the last stitch is bound off, she will add a crocheted edge to all sides.

The peace and quiet of the river's edge was suddenly broken by the sound of distant thunder so we decided it would be wise to pack up early and get home before the storm arrived. On my way home the sky suddenly opened up and sent huge drops of rain down on my car but it lasted less than 60 seconds. Now the sun is out again so I just might get out on the porch for a bit more knitting.

Have a good week and keep those needles clicking!

Looking for shade

There wasn’t as much activity on the river this week as there has been in the past. Fewer people enjoyed the park and this little boat sailed past us three times but no others were in sight.

 The sun kept hiding behind the clouds but when it found its way out, it was bright.

Janna worked on her Emiliana shawl and said she’s enjoying every stitch.

 I’m finally getting in the groove on my Venomous Tentacula shawl after frogging it five times. Those holes are created by binding off stitches mid-row on the right side of the work and then casting them back on the wrong side row. All this binding off and casting on was creating very loopy, loose stitches at either end of the openings which I didn’t like. So it took me many tries to figure out what method to use for casting back on and how to twist the stitches surrounding the openings before I was satisfied with the results. I’m a happy knitter now that I’ve worked out all the kinks! This is going to require a thorough blocking when it’s finished.

 Barbara’s baby blanket is slowly gaining length. She is using a light weight yarn so it’s a slow process but it will be worth the work.

That’s all for this week. Keep those needles clicking!

Garden talk

In between catching up on what we’re knitting, we heard about Janna’s experience with the vegetables she bought from the Cooperative Extension. She bought a bunch of things to put in her raised garden bed, thinking she would receive 4” pots with good sized plants. Instead, she was handed teeny weeny seedlings which had to be cared for like a baby in an incubator! 🤣 Not feeling confident with her skills for hardening off the seedlings before planting them outside, Janna decided to return them and look for already hardy plants to assure a better outcome.

Carole told us about her friend who shared rhubarb plants with her for her garden. If all goes well, might we expect a rhubarb pie in the future???

Maureen went stash diving and came up with this pretty rosy yarn for a baby sweater (the top right picture). Jan is working on her Emiliana shawl, Janna is finishing a long border on her blue shawl, and Annika added rows to her striped shawl.

In the bottom left you can see Carole’s “Close to You” Shawl. Her yarn is a slow changing variegated fiber and I’m excited to see her progress next week.

I’ve seen some funny memes online about Zoom meetings but so far every one of ours has been a good experience, not like Jennifer who forgot her coworkers could see her in the bathroom!

It feels good to see my Chicks each week to keep our connection. I’m going to have to figure out how we’re going to celebrate our anniversary this year. After all, we will be marking our 15th year together! Maybe by August things will improve enough to have a celebration in person.

For now, stay healthy, stay happy, stay home! And keep those needles clicking!