Knitting Projects

Kristi here.  I've been working on my own projects too!  Knitting continues to be very therapeutic to me.

I started this scarf in February, the first project begun after taking a beginning knitting class.  I used a pair of my Mom's needles.  I called it my 'Tinkerbell' scarf because of the color and that it is light and airy.

This one illustrates my advancing skill.  The tail on the right shows gaps and uneven stitches.  MUCH better on the other.

One project done, another begun!  I have a good start on my first pair of socks!  Not an action shot, this is just a pose to show how learning to use double-pointed needles (DPNs) is a challenge -- it feels like wrestling a porcupine.  (And a nice shot of my Mom's ring on my right hand.)

I reviewed the pattern with a kind clerk at Canvas Works in Olympia, tutoring complete with a visual aid, but half way through the heel, I am stumped.  The next trip to town I will bring it in for more help.  That's one thing I've come to appreciate about every yarn shop I have been in this past year -- friendly, helpful staff!

Glue and Sawdust

Over the past week or so:

Epoxy applied -- looks like peanut butter! This type is not Al's first choice, but it's what we have on hand.

Every clamp we have???

A planer to take off the corners

Time for me to follow with the vacuum

How do you make a straight board curved?  Trace and cut, this time.  MORE sawdust.

Making Progress

Oh no.  It's deeper than we thought.

Yup, it gets worse before it gets better.

Measure ...

... twice ...

Cut once.

Make sawdust.  Choose your weapon.

NOW it's starting to look better!

Poking Around

It's a pretty photo, at first glance -- my husband and my boat, framing the sunset.  But then you may notice that Al has a sharp object, his new favorite tool, it seems.  And he's just getting started.

He's been making quite a few messes like that lately, since returning from leaving the boat alone for a year.  In many places, Viking Star has 'gotten soft'.  But that's enough in the falling dark.

In the morning, before the sun has a chance to warm to the predicted high temperature of 90 (which it DOES in the afternoon), Al gets out a circular saw to more fully expose the rot he had discovered.  It is going to be a much bigger job than he anticipated when he first started poking around this spot.  He eventually even takes down the blue rain gutter as well.

This is just a start

The bucket is full and there's still more!

I can see shore through the curve.

The supports are not being very supportive!

He's done poking, and I'm done vacuuming, and now it's drying out.  Al has been surveying his stock of wood and MAY have enough for the repair.  

For a guy who doesn't want to hang laundry outside to dry for fear of 'looking like hillbillies', he's sure seems to be doing his best to make sure we do!

Local Playground

There is a rocky shoal offshore of Eagle Island, and it is quite a popular place for a local crowd!  I have counted over 25 seals at one time.

The day we arrived was the lowest low for our time here.  It appeared that larger seals were in one area, and small heads congregated at the other end of the reef.  I told Al that it reminded me of a 'kiddie pool' with the Moms on deck sunning themselves while the kids splash nearby.

Moms on the left

Can you see all the little heads on the right???  There's even a 'referee' in the middle.

And as the water level rose, the Mommies lifted their toes high!

Today the fun continued with log rolling!  Last night a large log came in on the tide.  After sunset I could see that something was sitting on top of it.  I thought it was a goose from the flock that had crossed the channel as the sun set.  But when I looked with my binoculars, it was a seal!  And a smaller, darker one had joined it.  No picture of them, but this morning another log came by.  This one was quite a bit smaller, and tippy.  There was quite a bit of splashing and rolling going on and many seals took a turn.

Snow Pack, 2015 vs 2012

On our recent transfer from Olympia to Eagle Island, Al was looking at the Olympic Mountains and said 'I feel like it looks like August!'  News reports have recently stated that we have only 16% of normal snow pack.

I looked through pictures and found a few to compare.

Olympic Mountains 6-6-15

Olympic Mountains 7-5-2012

Mt. Rainier 6-6-15

Mt. Rainier 6-27-12

I'd have to agree that there is considerably less visible snow this year than three years ago at this time!

And just for another comparison, here is another one to look at:

Mt. Rainier over Tacoma, 9-2-2012

MAYBE we can say we have more snow now that we usually have in September, but we've been told to expect a warm, dry summer....

Riding the Elevator

We have spent the last several days at McMicken Island, and enjoying ourselves immensely -- see the last post!  

During our time here, we have had many ups and downs.  I call it Riding the Elevator.  Here in the south sound there can be a 16-foot change in water level between high and low tides.  We rode out the spring tides this week, where we experience the highest highs and the lowest lows.  

UP!  Taken at high tide the evening of June 3.

DOWN!  Low tide, early afternoon of June 4.  

I SHOULD have taken the high tide shot later that same evening, though it would have been too dark to show as well.  It was a 17.8-foot ride back up again!

Why I like McMicken Island

Something in the Steamer..

. . . Fat Mussels, freshly picked from the beach

Perhaps the biggest Red Rock crabs I have ever seen.
(That larger one is the size of a legal Dungeness crab!) 

Golden Brown Pan Fried just shucked Oysters

And the View. . . .