Additions to Knitting News

Hello Everybody! This blog is much easier to use, so it will now contain info about family friends and my knitting! The Northwest is wonderful. We just finished a great visit with good friend Debbie Miller and her boys, Nick and Joe. We made visits to Fort Casey, Admiralty Head Lighthouse and Oak Harbor. We also got a great sail in on Tuesday afternoon. It was a wonderful day for all. It was the first time for Debbie to see our new house and the great patio. The flowers are blooming now, making it a perfect place to sit and have an afternoon wine cooler. The boys loved our huge back yard with room for baseball and soccer. Jim continues to participate in the Thursday evening sailboat races with a crew of friends. The Karen Marie does really well in light air, and last week they came in 3rd with the two before her the really fast lightweight racing sleds! Jim is having such a good time, he'll probably race in the next series. Missy and Scott and Libby will be here for the weekend of July 1 through the 4th. We'll have a picnic with friends and family on Sunday, Jul 2. We are really looking forward to that. Wish all of you could see how beautiful it is up here; everything is blooming in the sunshine and perfect temperatures. This is really God's country. I'm still knitting warshrags. Every time I knit one, somebody wants it! You may notice the Yoga Lodge now has a place on the links on our webpage. I am going to yoga twice a week with friend Janet Schlaifer. It does her a world of good while she is going through her chemo, and I am stretching parts of my body that forgot they stretched! Try it; you'll like it! Signing off, Va from Whidbey.

A Knitter's Survey

The picture is of wonderful Admiralty Head Lighthouse on the southwest of Whidbey Island. For my birthday Jim bought me a lighthouse license plate so I can support the preservation of lighthouses in Washington. *************************************
Cheryl in Pittsburg had this survey posted on her blog. It's kinda cool. I enjoyed her Irish Hiking Scarf photos so much I found the pattern online. That's next on my list!

Knitting Survey #1

1. Are you a yarn snob (do you prefer higher quality and/or natural fibers)? Do you avoid Red Heart and Lion Brand? Or is it all the same to you? I am not a yarn snob! I know people who only buy imported wools so they can drop names. If it knits, I knit it. Once I bought 6 green garbage bags of yarn at a garage sale!!

2. Do you spin? Crochet? I can crochet a simple afghan and edges around things. Never mastered the granny square.

3. Do you have any allergies? (smoke, pets, fibers, perfume, etc.) Most of those off and on.

4. How long have you been knitting? Since I was 11 years old.

5. Do you have an Amazon, Knitpicks or other online wish list? Nope, but now that I know about Knitpicks, I’ll make one.

6. What's your favorite scent? (for candles, bath products etc.) Ocean, ginger, linen. 7. Do you have a sweet tooth? Not really, but I love good ice cream.

8. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Scrapbooking, some sewing.

9. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD) Soft jazz, some country (Shania Twain), Michael Buble. I download books from my library to my MP3.

10. What's your favorite color? Or--do you have a color family/season/palette you prefer? Any colors you just can't stand?- Mostly primary colors. Blues, purples and reds. Some pinks. I don’t do much with browns or olive greeny colors.

11. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets? Married to the same guy for 40 years. Two unfriendly cats.

12. What are your life dreams? I’m living it!

13. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? Right now I love knitting with cotton.

14. What fibers do you absolutely *not* like? Scratchy stuff.

15. What is/are your current knitting obsession/s? Wash cloths and square things. Hats for chemo patients. Lap rugs for the same group. Dress ups for $5 bears from Walmart top give to needy or sick kids. Socks, and socks and socks.

16. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit? Same as above.

17. What are you knitting right now? Wash rags, chemo caps, socks.

18. What do you think about ponchos? Don’t need them in my life.

19. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Circles are good, but sometimes for socks I prefer straight.

20. Bamboo, aluminum, plastic? Love bamboo, but I also have every other kind and they work.

21. Are you a sock knitter? Yep!

22. How did you learn to knit? All the kids were learning in the 6th grade.

23. How old is your oldest UFO? Uh, I think it is at least 3 years.

24. What is your favorite animated character or a favorite animal/bird? Hummingbirds are cool. I like Tweetie bird or the chicken in Chicken Little.

25. What is your favorite holiday? Christmas

26. Is there anything that you collect? Books.

27. What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have? Cooking Light, Chefs, Weight Watchers, Cruising World

28. Any books out there you are dying to get your hands on? Lots of them.

29. Any patterns you have been coveting, but haven't bought for one reason or another??—Nope.

30.What's your favorite outdoor activity? Sailing or camping.

Another Northwest Morning

I get to do the same old thing today-wait for the floor guys to finish putting down the hardwood(remember, we are on island time!); worry about the mess and the house guests next weekend; wish I had a great place to store my stash(I already have one closet dedicated to yarns, etc.); and do laundry. If I get a chance, I'll knit some more on the scarf I started last night-the Squiggly thing in the Mason Dixon book. I want to graduate to lace, but right now I am limiting myself to easy, esay, easy because my brain won't deal with anymore complications. I did finish a Warshrag on Saturday night. Easy knitting, but I made a mistake--so I acted like the Yarn Harlot and worked it out. No one would ever know. It was an experiment anyway. Sunday afternoon I went on a great search for more cotton yarn, and I found some at JoAnn's, but it was not on sale. A lady at church said they have it at Walmart, but it is hidden below some other stuff. I'll check that out later. I do have enough now to make every person I know 14 washcloths!. I think my brain believes if I add to my stash I'll find the perfect project and then I won't feel so distracted, splintered, cuttered and yikes! I am going crazy with all this mess at home. I love those women who wrote the Mason Dixon book for saving my sanity with square knitting! My mantra is "Tomorrow is another day"~ala Scarlet~ I'll be better tomorrow because I go to yoga, my latest cool activity. The weather is OK today, but the clouds are coming in to cover the bright sunny morning. No breeze and the harbor is flat. It is summer in the northwest, a cool 60 degree morning, perfect for coffee on the patio. Have a good one! Va in Washington

Whidbey Knitter News

Welcome to my first blog on life, knitting, island living and other things that come up. This is a scattered time for us. We have hardwood floors going down and the kitchen is torn up, and my knitting is all over everywhere. I feel as scattered with my knitting projects as the house looks. My solution to that is to buy more yarn. Yesterday I made a trip to Burlington to buy cotton yarn to make Warshrags ala the MasonDixon knitting book. At the same time, I started the log cabin squares blanket with some left over cheap yarn, and I tried out the scarf pattern they have using thin and thick yarn, the "Scribbling" scarf. As soon as I can find the digital camera, I'll add a photo of a felted bag made last fall, using leftovers from others I gave away at Christmas, and my latest pair of socks. My stash now has enough yarn to knit 12 pairs of socks. I did give 10 chemo caps to the local Oncology Dept at the hospital, and found out they need lap robes for chemo patients. I've emailed my friend Sandy and we'll try to start a knitting circle for that project. Signing off for now. Va from Whidbey.