Gravina Island Hike

Our airport is located on a island called Gravina Island-- it is a 5 minute ferry ride away from the main town of Ketchikan.  A few weeks back a group of us took our dogs and went over to Gravina for a hike.

Low tide and a shallow creek that will disappear once the tide comes in.

Above-- we are exploring an old wreck

I love this photo of Jade looking so lovingly at
Heidi--in the background is our small city of Ketchikan, Alaska.

Heidi, Kathy and John Schwartz. John is Bruce's
younger brother-he works in Ketchikan with
Bruce as an orthopedic surgeon. Kathy , his wife,
is also employed by the Ketchikan General Hospital.

And, finally, everyone just lazin' about on this early summer day...

When it is sunny here --no place on the earth is as
beautiful.

Needle Case Saddle Blanket

I took a photo of the finished project last night!  This is a felted needle case. It knitted up quickly and was a 30 X 30 piece, then I washed it in hot soapy water in the washer, and all the fibers melted together to create the thick felt. Once I had it felted and dried Ouzel modeled it as a saddle blanket!

  I rode her around the room, and then sewed my cables onto the fabric, slipped the needles through the cables to hold them. Then I made another felted piece -- cut it in half with scissors, and used those piece to secure the rolled needle case!   This case will last 100 years!

before felting

a

after felting

O

Ouzel's saddle blanket--yee-ha-cowgirl

c

cables hold needles in place

T

The finished product....

Skip Hat Oz and Bruce

Hello Everyone-- even though posting photos on Facebook works fine, I still prefer this method for aesthetics. So, as I have time, this is how I will post photos. My first knitted hat I lost in Juneau at the Alaska Folk Festival, and unfortunately I did not get a photo of it.

This hat is called a Skip Hat. It's a fisherman's hat, and I knitted it in merino wool in a bulky yarn for Bruce.  The yarn was so thick I had troubles with my decreases, and the top is rather knotty and KNOT perfect.

First off  we see Ouzel modeling the item as Ouzel models everything I make!  She likes to show you various views.  Then we have Bruce actually wearing the hat.

I really like this photo of Bruce...