Last Hat for Knitwits

 One of last months finishes. Turned it in Wednesday at our last KnitWits meeting. I'm going to miss that group very much. Anyway, the hat.

Pattern: Two Color Hat by Andrea Wong
Size: Medium Adult

Yarn: Assorted Leftovers
Content: 100% Acrylic, worsted weight
Color: Black, Dark Sage, Purple, Royal Blue, White

Needles: Circular size 7

Started: October 4, 2023
Finished: October 7, 20223

The pattern calls for just 2 colors. I just thought I'd use more. It's an interesting pattern. After the ribbed cuff, there are a couple rows of purl. Then it's stockinette for the patterned part, then purl after the patterns are done. It needed to be blocked harder than usual because the purl sections made the hat kind of wonky.

I have finished my last layette set for KnitWits too, but I'll do a separate blog post for that.

We've got a new resident in our yard hanging around the buffet. Isn't it beautiful? The beak is such a pretty shade of pink. This is a very rare bird! We are so lucky to have seen it.

It's a House Finch with Leucitic, or perhaps Albino, coloring. It showed up a couple weeks ago with a few normally colored finches. We thought they may be passing through, but seems like they're going to stay awhile.

We had an absolutely frigid week last week. Got way below freezing. The Marigolds are thoroughly dead. Now it's warmed up a bit and we're getting lots of rain today. Might get as much as 3 inches.

Early in October (or was it late September?) I saw my regular doctor. My feet and ankles have been in a lot of pain for months now. X-rays were done and we found out I have arthritis in my foot joints and ankles. It's making it very hard to walk. Sometimes the pain wakes me up at night. I've been using Tylenol. It helps. I probably need to take something stronger. I should make an appointment about it.

I have an update for the sick kitty, Merino. He did not get better after the vet visit a month ago. So I took him back to the vet and spent an enormous amount of money for tests. Everything showed he was healthy as a horse. So X-rays were ordered. Found out the problem! He has arthritis in his lower back and it's been so painful it's making him hold his pee and poo in an effort to avoid the pain of going. Unfortunately, he can only hold it so long, so he lets go where ever he happens to be at the time. 

We put him on pain killers. Wow! What a difference. He's his old lovey dovey self again. He's stopped peeing outside the box. He is eating again and starting to gain some weight. He hasn't stopped pooping outside the box yet. I replaced all three litter boxes with new ones because we thought he might be associating the original boxes with the pain. He's been trying to poop in them, but is still dealing with constipation. I praise him when he's trying, and scold him when he uses the dining room floor. Hopefully, this will change. It's probably just going to take time.

They have a new pain killer for cats that is just one shot a month. I asked the vet if I could have some of it in my ankles. She laughed, and said no. 😞 It's not been approved for humans yet. Yet! That gives me hope.

Now that KnitWits is done, I can get serious about the Christmas knitting. I've got 3 pairs of socks to do. I'm going to give each sock a week. They all should be done in time if I do that. I better get busy, so until next time...

Live long and prosper. \\//

Pileated Woodpeckers

Yesterday morning, when I got up there was a Pileated Woodpecker at the bird buffet. I immediately grabbed my camera, but by the time I'd found where the memory card was and put it in the camera (ugh), the bird flew away. I hoped it would come back.

A few hours later, it did, and it brought it's friend. I took dozens of pictures trying to get my camera to focus on the birds and not on the thin twigs in front of them. It was frustrating. This is the best I got out of the whole bunch. I hope you can see them okay.

It is very rare to see these around here. Not necessarily because there aren't very many, but because they are extremely shy. We've known there is one living near the house because we've seen him in the trees on occasion over the last few years. This is the first time he came close to the house. I am so excited. It's a pair. The upper one is female. She has the black stripe on her face. The lower one is male. He has a bright beautiful red stripe on his face.

This picture doesn't due justice to how pretty they are. Or how large they are. They make the usual woodpecker visitors look down right teeny. I'm so thrilled they came for a visit. A rare treat indeed.

Live long and prosper. \\//

Barred Owl

We have a Barred Owl who has moved into the neighborhood. I was standing in the sun-room yesterday morning contemplating the beautiful sunrise and something huge flew by the windows, catching my attention. It landed on one of the garden fence posts. I went to see if it was one of our resident Bald Eagles, and was surprised to see an owl. Of course I ran and got the camera. My telephoto lens was all the way out for these pics.

Isn't he gorgeous?

He was sitting in the shade surveying the garden patch, when something caught his attention. He flew over to the corner garden post in the sunshine.

He spent a very long time (almost an hour) watching something there in the corner. I suspect a mouse.

He never did swoop down. Just sat there watching. His head swiveled around in a most amazing way.

I read a bit about him via Google. (Remember, Google is your friend.) It's a native species of eastern North America, but it's territory has spread across the country so they are now inhabiting the western side too. Locally, they're considered an invasive species. (Our local government sucks.) He's about 18 inches tall and his wing span is so impressive. I wish I could have caught it on camera. I probably took 200 shots but a nice wing span was not to be had.

I think I may have mentioned a few weeks ago a new chickadee species, Chestnut Backed, was observed at the bird buffet. It's still here and has a mate now. So I expect it's staying for the winter. I'm trying to get a picture of them, but chickadees are unable to stand still for more than a nano second and I have been unsuccessful so far. I've had lots of blurred shots of tree branches. No chickadees in them.

Had the right eye surgery. Not a pleasant experience. I felt this one and it hurt. Ouch ouch ouch! Starting with the marking. I bought the lens that corrects astigmatism-$1000 not covered by insurance, so it had to be installed just exactly. Doctor started by marking my eye with a big bright blue marker. Yeah. drawing on my eyeball! It was not painless. I didn't get as much numbing stuff as before. My asthma was acting up (can you say cough?) and they were concerned about it. I had to take a cough medicine. Anyway, I said ouch. She replied "I'm sorry. I'm almost done". I felt the first piercing cut too. I had pain for a couple days after the surgery. I guess it was worth it. My right eye sees very well.

In the meantime I've lost some of the clarity I had in the left eye. I'm having a hard time adjusting to not seeing close and needing reading glasses, but it's early yet. My vision will change a bit more over the next few weeks as my eyes heal and my brain adjusts, and I may end up needing glasses in the end. I have to say though, that the world is a much brighter place. I hadn't realized how much my vision had darkened over time. The nasty cataracts are gone! For that, I am thankful.

I have, over this year, mentioned a nagging cough that my asthma has become. I am so tired of changing medications trying to find something that will get it under control only to cough my lungs out every two to three days anyway. I finally got my doctor to refer me to a lung specialist. Unfortunately, I have to wait until January 15th to see him. It's a very busy clinic. That was the first appointment they had available. I'm cheering myself up with knitting.

I did stop working on Margaret until the eyes have healed some. So I started a new project that is much easier to see. The Crazed Scandinavian Cowl is turning out to be a pleasant project to fill my evenings with. It is an 80 inch long cowl with 20 fairisle charts in it. A total of 603 rows. A challenge that's fun. I have finished the first 2 charts and started the third (speckled diamonds). I'm at row 102.

I have also obtained new bobbins, loaded some up with yarn, and knit a few rows of argyle sock. I don't know why, but I chose black as the background color. As socks go, they will be very pretty (that's why, right there), but I can tell I'm going to regret that black before it's all over. And the tangled mess that sits on my lap! Keeping it all straight is proving to be difficult. Why do I do this to myself?

I suppose I should start the next layette set.

Weather update. The weekend was cold and rainy. Yesterday it cleared up and we have sunshine and temps in the 40's. Warm for this time of year, but still feels cold to me. There is no snow in the immediate future. I am enjoying the sunshine.

I'm looking forward to going to Rathdrum Knitting this afternoon. I feel a need for like minded company.

Live long and prosper. \\//

Chicka dee dee dee.

When we got home from our camping trip in June there was something new over the front door, specifically on top of the outdoor light fixture. A birds nest. We've never had a nest there before, and I was wondering what idiot bird would put a nest there? It's not really a good place for one.

For about a week or so I ignored it, though we did shut off the outside light so no one was in danger of electrocution. Every time we open the front door, a very fast little bird would fly away from the nest to the plum tree. It's so fast we haven't been able to tell what kind of bird it is.

A little over a week ago my curiosity got me so Ruth climbed up on a step stool and held up a mirror over the nest so we could see if anything was in it. There were three teeny tiny little eggs, all white with brown spots. I did some research using the nest construction and eggs as guides and came to the conclusion it's Chickadees, which are one of my favorites. There's quite a bit of moss in this nest and Chickadees are well known for using it to build with. I've been paying attention since then and there is definitely a pair of them hanging around the front of the house all of the time. If I'm in the front yard they sit in the plum tree and chirp angrily at me, so I'm fairly sure I'm correct.

Yesterday Ruth and I checked to see how the eggs are doing. Two of them have hatched.

Two adorable baby Chickadees have entered the world. Arrows point to the two little heads.

I got up on the step stool to take pics with the camera and this little one turned and looked at me. Poor little thing looked miserable. It was horribly hot out (95F). I hope mother is providing proper hydration.

It's kind of exciting to have babies here. I filled the buffet feeders so mom and dad will be well fed.

This morning the air was much clearer than yesterday, though still a bit smokey. It's 95F degrees out. I'm staying indoors, except when I went to the Rathdrum Library for knitting, and the grocery store following.

Speaking of grocery shopping, I've brought something in to my life to help the earth in my very tiny way. I am getting rather concerned about one use plastic and it's affect on our environment. I've been using canvas shopping bags for years, but still have been bringing my produce home in plastic bags. I finally got reusable produce bags from Amazon.

I've been using them and I like them a lot. They're washable, they're clear enough that food can be scanned without taking it out (The clerk tried it. It works!), and they each have a little tag that says how much they weigh so it can be subtracted from the weight of the produce inside. I was a little concerned how the sales clerks would react, but it turns out I'm not their first customer to have them. That made me happy.

The only problem I have had is what do I store the produce in after I get it home cuz it's not in plastic bags? Lettuce, broccoli, celery, etc doesn't do well just sitting in the veggie drawer in the fridge. I googled to find out what other people do about it. Today I ordered some containers specifically for this purpose, and I'm learning some produce can do just fine without a bag/container. I found this pdf about how to store produce without bags. I am learning so much.  It's a big change, but if we all did it, it would sure have a fantastic impact on the earth.

I am almost done with the last sleeve side panel. Only about 20 rows to do. WOO HOO!

Live long and prosper. \\//

Sewing Project Finished

I finished my sewing project. This is a case for storing circular knitting needles.

The pattern I used is an old Butterick Pattern B5006. I found it on Ebay but it's also available on the Butterick web site. The outside is from a remnant I found in the stash. It's from Timeless Treasures Tree of Life collection. I used this fabric to make a small knitting bag for carrying small projects called the boxy bag a few years ago.

The pockets are made with some quilting fabric I bought for another sewing project that I didn't get to yet. It's supposed to be lining for a tote bag, but I liked it for these pockets. The background fabric is something I found at Joann's a few weeks ago.

There are 12 pockets in this little case. Every one of them with curved corners. I got pretty good at sewing those corners by the time I got to the 12th one. It will hold a lot of needles.

As sewing jobs go, it's not my best, but better than I expected. Except the top stitching. I am so terrible at top stitching. So I won't show it to you.

I had planned to make this before Christmas for a gift, but life got in the way. I will give it to the recipient next time I see her. Better late than never.

We have a lot of snow. We're having a sun break today, and then it's supposed to start back up again tonight. We are way above average for February snowfall. Right now there's about a foot of it on top of the garage. It's not slid off yet. I hope it doesn't do what it did that year it all sailed off halfway across the back yard slamming into a small tree, knocking it down, as well as breaking the heat pump.

I have been working on Margaret Tudor. I started the thistle panel. I got about 30 rows into it and frogged it. It was so sloppy looking as I learned the various chart symbols for stitches along the way. I finally caught on to it (the chart), so I ripped it out and started over. It's looking much better.

The stitch definition is great with this yarn. It's easy to split though because I'm using very sharp pointed needles. I think it's an Addi Turbo lace, if I remember correctly. I will have to be more careful so I don't make a mess of the yarn.

I spent part of this morning trying to take pictures of the birds eating at the buffet. It is very hard to get good pics of Chickadees. They don't stay still for more than a nano second. I did get this Black Capped one, which isn't too bad.

I got a good one of a female wood pecker. Haven't seen her mate around though. I hope he's okay.

I had 3 Magpies this morning eating at the suet cages, but they flew away every time I tried to approach the window to take their pics. I've got lots of birds right now. Besides these, I also have a large flock of Purple Finches, a pair of Nuthatches, and something new for us - three Dark Eyed Junco's. What is not here is Pine Siskins. I wonder where they went?

Live long and prosper. \\//

Today - Birds

The Parkarosa Bird Buffet is pretty busy lately. Mostly I have Chickadees, a Nuthatch, Pine Siskins, and various finches. However, there are some new birds hanging around lately I thought I'd share.

This year I hung a Hummingbird feeder in the buffet tree. It's getting customers.

I'm pretty sure this is a Calliope hummingbird. Haven't been able to see it's chest yet but we only get two types at my house and this definitely isn't a Rufous. The Rufous is brown.

A Black Headed Grosbeak showed up about 2 weeks ago.

The poor fellow seems to be alone. I've yet to see a mate.

He eats a lot too.

This last customer I call Birdus Squirrelus.

We've always had grey squirrels around here, but this is the first time any have bothered my feeders. He shows up while the front sprinklers are on which is why he's soaking wet. He spends a few minutes eating, then leaves. So I don't think I'm going to worry about it, unless he starts bringing friends. If that happens, I will be having a long talk with my cats.

Asa has new clothes. My sister, Jodie, made this dress to fit her.

She has some more she's made available for purchase on her web site, Jodie's Creations. If you have an Iplehouse JID girl, give her site a visit. Jodie's Creations

I've been working on Asa's kimono when I can. I have the body

and sleeves done.

I just have to put them together. It's going to fit Asa perfectly.

This is going to be my last post for awhile. We're heading out for Rhode Island to visit our daughter and son-in-law for a few days. I'll resume posting when I get back.

Live long and prosper. \\//

Update

I have a WIP update. I've been putting most of my crafting energy and time into Hummdog. I can't believe how many hours I've gone through on this background so far.

It's looking good though. I am about halfway done.

In knitting, I've been perfecting my doll hat pattern. I've made two black hats. Here's one of them.

I sewed a band of lace that has pearl beads on it. I think it turned out so cute.

The other hat is the same, except no embellishment. Just plain.

Most of my time went into creating an Etsy store for my doll clothes. After hours of work, Wool in the Wilde is now open for business. Now the hard part, getting the right people to visit it. Here is one of the outfits I've got available in it.

We had a beautiful weekend weather-wise. Especially on Sunday. It was sunny and in the 50's. I planted Orange and Purple Violas in the deck boxes.

Sweet Hubby even got out the lawn mower and gave the yard it's first haircut for the year.

Looked fantastic! Then yesterday, which was the next morning, I got up and it looked like this.

It snowed all day long. We got almost 3 inches. It was kind of depressing.

The birch tree was really pretty covered in fresh snow though.

Today, it looks like this.

You'd never know it snowed. The Violas came through it all just fine too. The cold didn't seem to bother than. Spring in north Idaho. Never a dull moment.

Here's a fun pic for you. Moose butt!

Over the weekend we had visitors. A pair of young moose wandered by munching on shrubs as they went. I got pics of just one butt. Couldn't get anything else.They were very shy with me around. Eventually they ran off.

Because of the snow, I filled the bird feeders on Monday. A Red Crossbill took advantage of the opportunity.

Another busy week bites the dust. On to the next one!

Live long and prosper. \\//

Birds!

I hope you had a good Christmas day. I know I did. I got awesome gifts from my family, and had an absolutely wonderful time at our friends house for Christmas dinner. We played cards until almost midnight. We also took Cable with us, and she was so very good. She was disappointed because their dog Tico, who is a Chihuahua, didn't want to play, but that is because Tico is getting very old now. I thought he was extremely patient with her under the circumstances.

My Christmas presents are chocolates of various kinds, a necklace with a jeweled dog paw print pendant, some doo-dads for my kitchen including purple chip bag clips, a nice heavy meat tenderizer, and a garlic press. I also got a pack of Star Trek TOS playing cards and a Knitpicks Velvet Glove Palette yarn sampler set. 10 balls of Palette fingering yarn in different shades of purple. YAY! The biggest surprise, though, was a new 500 gig hard drive for my laptop. It's not installed yet. Hubby had some problems trying to clone my old drive onto the new one, which he wants to do before installing it, so there's a delay until he can figure out why it isn't working. (Computers never work the way they say they will. Especially when the manual says 'easy install'.)

This weekend the Parkarosa Bird Buffet has been very very busy. There are so many Pine Siskins it loos like the plum tree has leaves again. We also have Chickadees, Red Breasted Nuthatches, more House Finches than you can shake a stick at, and several Woodpeckers. Best of all, the Red Crossbills are back. I managed to get some pics yesterday.

This is the first Red Crossbill that came to the feeder. We thought he was alone here, except the 2 Pine Siskins of course, but when I loaded the pic into my laptop we could see that his mate is actually at the feeder too on the back side. You can see her head through the feeder.

Click on pic to embiggen

She never did come out where we could see her.

Click on pic to embiggen

I managed to get some pics of this Hairy Woodpecker too. It's hard to take their pictures cuz they don't stay still for more than a second or two.

Click on pic to embiggen

He was very interested in the suet block.

Click on pic to embiggen

We did not have any snow for Christmas, but we've got it today! It started snowing early this morning and has not stopped since. We've got about 4 inches and climbing. Tonight is the Park family Christmas dinner. We decided to do it tonight instead of Christmas eve. I will be giving my nephew the present I've made him. Pics of this project will be posted later this week.

Live long and prosper. \\//

Wild Things Blooming

I hope y'all had a good weekend. Mine was-good that is. On Saturday I watched some of my Star Trek Voyager DVDs, did a bit of beading, then we went and saw the new Avengers movie. If you haven't yet- GO, see it! It's AWESOME!!!! Lots of action, good plot, fantastic special affects, funny humor. Very entertaining. Everything I like in an action movie.

On Sunday I did some more beading, a bit of knitting, and puttering around the house. The weather was nice, but very chilly. I kept hoping it would warm up enough to sit out on the deck. Even tried doing so. It was just too cold. So, I watched some more of those Star Trek Voyager DVD's while doing all of the above. I was putting fringe on my little African stitch amulet bag. However, I'm very unhappy about it. I used Fireline and the fringe is all crooked and messy looking. It won't hang nice and straight or drape correctly. I think the thread is too stiff and kinky. I think I'm going to have to take it all out and do it with a more drapey thread. Sigh. Well, I've learned something from this project.

Wild things are blooming on the Parkarosa. So I took my camera for a bit of a walk.

At the bottom of the hill there are quite a few Wild Grape Hyacinth this year.

Officially, the plant is called Muscari.

It is not a native plant but has escaped cultivation and become naturalized in the USA.

Such beautiful blue flowers.

The Pipers Anemones are showing their little white faces all over the place.

So delicate looking up close.

It's Wild Violet season now too. These are one of my favorites.

There's an area behind our garden that is chock full of them.

The Oregon Grape is just starting to open. A couple more days and the air will be thick with it's pollen.

These guys came to visit on Sunday.

First we've seen of them this year. 

They are all male Evening Grosbeaks. This one wanted to know what I was doing.

Such a bright yellow! Good on the eyes after months of dull grey winter.

That's it for today.

Live long and prosper. \\//

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