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...

Port Gamble Yarn Shop

Heidi grew up in this area, and she used to bike over to Port Gamble. Nowadays Port Gamble, Washington has a lovely yarn shop.

The Yellow/greenish skein on the right I bought. It was a one of a kind, and I immediately feel in love with the color and texture. The woman who owns the shop dyed this wool and spun it for me. It is a very scratchy wool!

Isn't this a luscious array of colors and textures?

And more color!  You can see why I was in heaven!

Here we are in he shop, and in back of us is a large couch that women would sit on and knit and chat.

Sher, Heidi, and Heidi's sister Mary ...

This is a brindle whippet. She lives at the shop. Her bed is made of sheep's wool, and she sleeps by the woodstove that is in the middle of the room. Her name is Gracie, and she is very gentle and lovely.  What a bed!

The Duck Bed and Breakfast on Mercer Island where we spent two or three nights while we attended the Pacific Northwest Shapenote Singing convention. This 1940s cottage is right on Lake Washington. We had the whole cottage to ourselves, and although traffic was not far away, we enjoyed the ambience of an electric wood stove and lots of neat duck oriented details, and a fully stocked kitchen! I hope you have enjoyed seeing a bit of our trip.

Seattle Bainbridge Mercer Island Trip Feb 2010

Hi All-- Seattle cityscape in the background, and I am
on my way to see Mary, Heidi's sister who lives on Bainbridge Island.

Here we are in Mary's kitchen sipping tea after
a long day of travel.

Mary's old farmhouse is filled with old, beautiful pieces of
furniture--all reminding me a lot of West Virginia and where
mom grew up.

Heidi and Mary enjoying sisterly discussion in the living room. Her place overlooks Puget Sound, which you cannot see, but it is outside the big picture window.

Mary  fed us so well while we were there 

Lovely setting fro breakfast--including the real pussy willows.

This wood stove sat in Mary's kitchen. Most of the time it was lit. I am really excited because I am having a stove just like this put into my new office, library, and I love the brick backdrop, so I am looking to copy what Mary has here.

Next up our trip to the Port Gamble, Washington Yarn Shop!!!!

Ouzel becomes a famous model

Hello Everyone:

Here is the rolled brim hat I made in our
most recent knitting class.

I decided to make mine out of cotton, the hat above is 100%
wool, but it's also somewhat scratchy.

As soon as I finished my hat, Ouzel wanted to wear it.

Within hours she was a famous canine model!

Although offered a contract in New York, Ouzel
declined because she just couldn't leave her
family. 

And here she is in another pose showing the elegant
stitches and the fabulous fit.

When I was reorganizing my knitting bag, I laid out
the poncho I'm working on, and Milo promptly lay
down on top of it.

I leave you with an art shot of Milo. I know
his eyes are black pits, and he looks slightly
demonic.  It's his Halloween costume. 

Atop the World on New Year's Day...

Happy New Year Everyone! Bruce, Heidi, and I and all the dogs took a great hike up to the top of the world on New Year's Day. It was incredibly cold, but sunny!

Here I am with Tongass Narrows (the ocean) in the background.

After the hike Skookum was so tired he  fell asleep
on the snow --in the ice-- and in the middle of a field.

I call this yarn scramble! I bought a new skein of yarn for a felted needle case that I want to make, the day after New Year's, and one of the dog's took the skein out of my knitting bag as it sat in the back of my car, and the culprit spread the yarn all over the ground.  Both dogs looked guilty; their Happy New Year to me...