Secret of the Stole III, Hint 6

Hint 6 is done!

Mystery Stole 4, Clue 3

Finished through Clue 3! I'm loving doing this pattern.

Secret of the Stole, Hint 5

Hint 5 is completed. I'm loving the airiness of this pattern. Thank you DK.

Psalm 8

The Glory of the Lord in Creation

O Lord, our Lord,
How excellent is Your name in all the earth,
Who have set Your glory above the heavens!

Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants
You have ordained strength,
Because of Your enemies,
That You may silence the enemy and the avenger.

When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,
The moon and the stars, which You have ordained,
What is man that You are mindful of him,
And the son of man that You visit him?
For You have made him a little lower than the angels,
And You have crowned him with glory and honor.

You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands;
You have put all things under his feet,
All sheep and oxen --
Even the beasts of the field,
The birds of the air,
And the fish of the sea
That pass through the paths of the seas.

O Lord, our Lord,
How excellent is Your name in all the earth!

Saturday

What a delightful day!

After spending the morning knitting and visiting with the Knitwits, I headed off to the city for a yarn crawl.

A new store, Knit Happens, has recently opened so I had to check it out. And I walked away with these treasures:

Alpaca with a Twist's Socrates 4017 - a luscious blend of alpaca, merino wool, bamboo, and nylon fibers in a heathered green/blue/purple color. Definitely for *Special Socks*.
Also, Crystal Palace Yarn's Panda Silk 3014 - an incredible blend of bamboo, merino wool, and silk fibers in gray (the bamboo and silk lend a sheen that is simply beautiful).

Then I headed to Tempe Yarn and Fiber. I got a little lost, though, and ended up nearer to The Fiber Factory, so I went there next. I was able to get some superwash merino wool roving that I have big plans for.


Next I tried again to make it to Tempe Yarn and Fiber, and this time met with success. I received some excellent help and advice for a project I'm working on, and was able to get a copy of this delightful book:
A must read for every knitter.


In addition to all of this, I was able to visit and have dinner with my wonderful sister, Ilene. Now that's the way to spend a Saturday!

Secret of the Stole, Hint 4

I've completed Hint 4, now it's off to do Hint 5.

Mystery Stole 4, Clue 2

I've finished clue 2!

I'm delighted with the pattern so far. I can't wait to see what happens next!

Mystery Stole 4, Clue 1

Remember when I said I was doing two mystery stoles? Well, the other one has begun! Clue 1 is done (completed Sunday, September 7).



This one is made with baby alpaca that I hand spun and some black opalescent glass beads.

Secret of the Stole, Hint 3

Hint 3 is done as well. Completed Saturday, September 5.

Secret of the Stole, Hint 2

After making a mistake and having to frog the whole thing, Hint #2 is finally done. Completed Wednesday, September 3.

Summer Vacation, Part 5

Thursday was a very rainy and cold day. It was also the day we took the ferry to Friday Harbor on San Juan Island.

The ride was smooth and the scenery was incredibly beautiful. We had been hoping to spot an orca, but alas, all we saw were some water birds.

Friday Harbor is a cute little town, with plenty of architectural interest. There are many Victorian Era homes with lots of gingerbread trim. Even the newer buildings look as though attention was paid to the beauty of the final product.

We started at the Whale Museum. There was so much information -- I never knew so much about whales! The skeletons and life-sized replicas really put their size into perspective in relation to us, other marine animals like dolphins, and each other. I was surprised to find how heavy whale teeth are, and how much baleen feels like our fingernails. After the museum we split up again. The men walked around and went to the pier to look at the boats, while Pam and I found a wonderful bookshop. The bookshop was in an old house, and stuffed to the gills with books. There were many treasures there, and Pam came away with a few of them. I could have spent many happy hours there, but we were meeting up with the men and had to cut our shopping short. We all met for brunch at a little diner near the dock, all of us opting for breakfast and having a pretty good meal. Then it was time to catch the return ferry. When we got back to Anacortes, we stopped by the harbor shop and picked up coats for Scott, Jordan, and myself, who were all damp and cold by this point. Of course, shortly thereafter the sun came out. Ah well. We needed new coats anyway. The rest of the day was spent puttering about the house and in the garden, so all would be ready for the 4th.

The morning of the Fourth dawned with a bit of fog which burnt off quickly. We went downtown to look at the floats and find a spot before the parade began. It was a cute, typical, small town parade, with loads of candy and Marti Gras beads being thrown to the crowds along the street. The Shell Oil company has a refinery on the island, and they were giving out rubber duckies in addition to the beads from their many parade entries.

The children were having a wonderful time, and the adults got quite into it as well, and I think nearly the entire town was either in the parade or in attendance.

We followed up the parade with a picnic in the park where the town celebration was also being held. There were many patriotic songs sung, many speeches by locals of importance, and many prayers offered for the town and our nation. Then the games began. There was an egg tossing contest, potato sack race, archery contest, and much more. Jordan participated in several events, and then we called it a day. We stayed in and watched the fireworks displays from the house. We were able to see at least 2 of the official ones, and quite a few unofficial ones as well. We called it a night fairly early as the next day would be a travel day.

Saturday morning was spent getting packed and ready to go. Mike drove us to Seattle to catch our plane, and the rest of the day was spent in travel. We arrived home late Saturday night, grateful to have Sunday back at home. It was a wonderful trip, and I'm so glad we were able to take it.

Summer Vacation, Part 4

Wednesday we stayed close to home -- relaxing, running errands, and of course, hiking in Washington National Park.

One of the first things we saw along the trail was this giant slug on the side of the trail. This was not a particularly large specimen, but was still the largest slug that I have ever seen.

Shortly thereafter we came upon this unusual tree. It grows out of the side of a little cliff overlooking Puget Sound, but instead of growing up, it grows out over the beach towards the water.

Some of the trail is more open with views of the water, and some is more shaded. As we walked along the more shaded areas we saw the cycle of life vividly portrayed by some of the trees. There are many large tree stumps which have other trees growing out of them. The visibility of the root system was so neat to see.

This particular trail follows along one edge of Fidalgo Island, and below you see the view of Puget Sound from the other (south) side of the island.

One of the last sights we saw on our hike was this monument which commemorates the donation of a park "by T.H. Havekost - Pioneer of 1871".

The trail is 2 1/4 mi. and was a very pleasant hike. The day was capped off with barbecued hamburgers, chips, and salad.

Summer Vacation, Part 3

The next day we took a driving tour to look at the historic homes and buildings in Anacortes. We stopped by Ana Cross Stitch where I was able to purchase some Austermann Step and Louet Gems Fingering yarns for socks. They also had a selection of rovings that tempted me greatly, but with further shopping on the agenda, I didn't bring any of them home. I should have. It was the only shop we went to that had rovings.

We then headed into La Conner, which is just across a short bridge from Fidalgo Island on the mainland. The downtown historic area was bustling, and finding parking was a bit of a challenge, but we made it and started exploring. One of our first stops was the yarn shop Jennings Yarn & Needlecrafts. They had a pretty good selection of yarns, but nothing I felt I MUST have, so we went away empty handed. Then we stopped and had lunch at a packed eatery. The food was good, and, though I had tea, I was told the coffee was excellent. More shopping came next, and this is where we found the bookstore. There were quite a few books of local interest, and one on the native flora made it's way home with us. There were many special interest shops selling everything from olives to teddy bears. It was fun to browse, and Pam especially liked the olive shop. One of the curiosities in the town was a giant log slice leaning up against a building. There was no information on it about why it was there or where it came from, but boy was it huge!

We headed back home to compare notes with the men, who arrived back before us. They had gone sailing, spending the night moored at Spencer's Spit. They did a bit of exploring in the dinghy, and after a night of rough seas, returned home. Jordan got to steer the boat back the entire way, and did a very good job of it.

Personally, I think that we women had more fun!