So as just an update on my pay it forward

In January I posted this post. There were some people that I know right away what I want to make them. Jennifer- Is a friend from high school and she also knits. She belongs to the House of Ireland and dances for them too. I know I wanted to make her this very cute bag as soon as she signed up.

I have made sure to line the bag and I had the best fabric to that with. It was left over from another project.

Well I've been teasing her for weeks. I haven't had time to mail it off. But since I have tomorrow off it goes out in the mail. I have to say I'm going to miss it I love it. 

Wow it's been a whole month since my last post....

My little tomato plant is still doing well. I have about 8 tomatoes! I decide to plant the cucumber plant above it so it is a salad waiting to happen.

Plus my strawberries are pumping them out.....

I have about 3 projects on needles right now.

Bamboo covered flipflops

My Yosemite, is about 1/2 way done.


And I'm starting on a new double knit project for swap buddy i picked up, some DMC Pearl Cotton, so that I can make a pair of wonder women bracelets.....

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And the biggest news is I left my job in Tacoma. I was tired of being verbally abused, called a prostitute because I took another job for a large corporation so that I could have health benefits, and told that I couldn't take heart rate to save my life. I love my clients down there, but get that attitude every day was the reason I left in the first place. I had never taken back a boyfriend once I left them. She couldn't see what I did for the place, or maybe she could but didn't want to admit that I could be everything she couldn't.
Sad thing is she continued on the assistant, guess not everyone can learn from their mistakes.

Best part not working 60 hour weeks, better I'll be able to open up my storefront again. I will be adding stuff to my Etsy store. 

Summer is here.

My husband and I are campers and kayakers and generally outdoorsy people. For the previous two weeks we have been doing what we love. First weekend we headed up to Victoria on the clipper and walked around for two days. I, of course, found a yarn store.

Beehive Wool store is wonderful well stocked and inviting haven.... I took home 2 skeins of yarn one for me for my traveling socks I started in Disneyland and one for David for a new pair of travelling socks....
OceanEdge and I spent a great deal of time enjoying the good weather and walked the waterfront at least 5 times that weekend, so I was surprised to see a little yarn bombing arrive without me seeing who set it.

I cast on for a shirt that I wanted for a long time it is the Yosemite pullover. I cast on the night before the trip and on the way out on the clipper sat next to two other knitters. I ended up re knitting the sweater for at least 4 times but I worked on it all weekend. It's slow going but I hope to have it done before fall.

 Last week we went with the next door neighbor and his son to the Garlic festival in Ocean shores....We headed out Saturday night after my work, hurried out to a campsite in Twin harbor it was great and the camp fire was perfect for simple knitting I am working on a baby hat with the left over yarn from the matching booties.

 Sadly the Garlic festival was not very good, there were about 20 tents and 6 places for food and the food was less then gourmet. So we packed up and went to fly some kites....

My tail from my red barron kite tangled with OceanEdge's jet tail and I brought it down. :) He caught me on camera untangling....what a knitter knows how to do so well...

Back to the outdoors.

I have finally started to carve out a little time for myself. I will begin my Violin practice again, and hope to find a teacher.

But I have started to want to work outside again. Work is balancing out a little, my full-time job has me coming in earlier and in theory leaving earlier. When we get all the kinks ironed out like having two surgeons scheduled and having the blood analyzer braking down for an hour. I might be able to leave on time! Today was golden. It was 70 degrees and clear beautiful blue PNW skies, and I got to leave an hour earlier, because I rock. I took a 45 minute nap on the couch and decided to go outside and plant some of the plants we bought Sunday.

We bought a tomato plant, dill, parsley, chives, and a lemon cucumber plant. Also a flat of strawberries, and a hanging planter so I can grow the tomato upside down.
So I took pictures all along the way of trying to figure out how to plant the tomato plant so lets see how it looks shall we?Buy  a simple hanging basket.Make sure it has a nice simple hole at the bottom big enough for a plant to go through cut a hole in the liner.

simple hole

Wrap the plant carefully in paper and place through the whole at the bottom

hang and fill with dirt

Hopefully I will have a happy little Tomato plant here, I planted some mint in the top of the planter, but only like 6 seeds so maybe I'll have to get something else to grow in the top....

I also started on my herb garden to the right of the above picture is the area I want to be my outside kitchen. I have always wanted to plant an herb garden and four years ago I did. Today I am proud to say there are still some of the plants the mint and the parsley have stayed. :)

Sorry the picture is blurry but I started weeding in that area again tonight too. Just below the brown or weeded section is my husband's mint he loves mojitos so I planted mint and was very surprised to see it still and that it had not taken over the whole thing....As you can see I got a great deal of the herb garden weeded before my back said I quit. I hope to plant some of the plants I bought tomorrow if the raccoons don't eat them tonight. I know they like dill.

I retire as Matron of honor last night.

I have been a matron of honor for two times in the last year and a half. My friend Tana finally snagged her man after 11 years or so of dating. I am happy to see the marriage is finally finalized. I also get to post the Bridal shawl. I originally bought a great deal of yarn the plan was to make a square shawl in the icelandic ways with sewn on edging I wanted to have it all four elements represented but it didn't happen.

The bride and her friends folded 1000 cranes to decorate the hall. So it seemed that the choice of the shawl was simple the Dancing Crane Stole was perfect. I ended using only 1 and 1/10 of the cream Kramer yarn it is Merino, silver and silk blend. I blocked it the first time with pins and decided that it was too pointed so I bought welding tig rods and re blocked it It came out beautiful and the bride loves it....

Next stop knitting for me again!

Silence = busy

        So as some of you who know me in real life... I've been really busy. Once I started back to work I have been lucky enough to have 2 jobs. This has allowed me and the husband, OceanEdge, to get out of big bad debt into normal debt. I started working for a large company Veterinary Hospital and I am working ~38 hour weeks for them Wednesday through Saturday. I forgot how busy Saturdays are! Plus I work for my old Veterinary Hospital Mondays as a Office Manager and Tuesday as a Technician for about ~17 hours.

Plus I am planning my friends Bridal shower and my small vet hosp. 5th anniversary party in the same weekend.

Fritillaria lanceolata It's a native Lilly.

Plus I was taking a 6 week botany class through University of Washington.  This weekend was the final class, where we romped through deception pass park and identified native and non-native plants. This class was so much fun and I am very glad I was recommended to take a botany classes by a Bard friend of mine. He was right I am a little too solitary if I am allowed.

David came with and afterwards we climbed down to the water front and looked at the rocks hoping to find sea glass to no avail. We decided to take the long way home and stopped in Port Townsend. We walked around a little and tried again to go to the twisted ewe but they were closed. David found me another yarn store Diva Yarns and in gratitude I bought him some yarn that will match the scarf I made him this fall. We then had dinner at Alchemy it was fabulous, where I cast on for his fingerless mittens.  I knit them all the way home in the car and while on the ferry I untangled the second skein I bought.

Seattle from the ferry.

Today OceanEdge and I and some of my knitting buddies went to the spring fair in Puyallup. I am still on my yarn diet and didn't buy any yarn but bought two pieces of Tupperware. WE walked around for a few hours and looked at beautiful fiber and yarn, ate fair food. Cute animals and I didn't take a dang picture....

Well hopefully from here on out there will be some more time blogging. Bridal shower is May 1st. Company event April 30th.  Class is over so more time is hopefully around the corner.

Fugallity

So I have been buying syrup for my coffee for a few years now and last month I got really smart... Make your own.
 I took a vanilla bean, 3 cups of water and 3 cups of sugar and heated it on the stove. So for ~$1.50 I have had the best vanilla coffee syrup ever!!!!