My Ravelry Sweatshirt

Super sunny weather earlier this week called for iced tea, a quick chicken/cabbage/teriyaki/almond salad and browsing through Knitting Vogue mags from the library...with Brennan Manning's "Furious Longing of God" in the wings to read next. Ah, but the weather in Seattle can be quirky so it's cool in the morns and warms up to 60 in afternoons. Cool enough to wear this:

After one arrived with a non-functioning zipper (boo hoo!), I got another one sent and it finally came! Yay! My own Ravelry Sweatshirt!

Grand Day Out in Seattle

For a family day out, we decided to see our very own downtown. It has changed over the years and we rarely go down to experience it fully. Our kids are at the university nearby and know it well. So they were our tour guides for the day! We began at Portage Bay Cafe on Lake Union in Seattle for breakfast. Shown here, my daughter's organic pancakes with the added toppings from the fruit and topping bar. Everything on the menu is spectacular!

Next we finally find a place to park against a wall with grafitti art. I hoped our car would still be there when we returned. It was!

On to the famous Pike Place Market. There were daffodils growing on the roof!
Here I am with the famous Pike Place pig, Rachel (?) I guess she has a name...The market stalls are filled with brightly colored fresh produce. Oh, I would love to shop here every day for my food!These fish vendors are famous for "throwing" the fish to the customers once they place the order. Everyone gathers around for the spectacle to watch the fish fly! Gorgeous tulips are now in the market for sale.
Wonderful peppers as well... After alot of walking, we rode the monorail which takes you from the Space Needle through town to the Westlake Mall. Much easier than walking the entire way. It starts out by taking you "through" the Experience Music Project Building.
Another oddity downtown is the "gum wall." Yes, it is really gum. And NO, I did not touch it. Though both my daughters have placed gum here at one time or another. Ew! Hard to believe it is real.

The original and first Starbucks is also down at the Pike Place Market in downtown Seattle.

Along the waterfront is a sculpture park and there were interesting creations there to see. I also saw a man crocheting and wearing a hat with ears on it here. It somehow fit in to the landscape.

The view through the special "viewing glass"of our Space Needle...Another artsy structure found near the Space Needle. Seattle is a very artsy town as you can see! On to view the new Seattle Public library which is also very spectacular inside and out.It has ten floors and one of them is red ...it felt like walking into a tunnel...or into the human body!The escalators and elevators were a very putrid yellowish green and seemed to go on for miles.

Stunning views like this were seen throughout the library as all the exterior windows were seen through these grids.It was indeed a grand day out and we finished with lunch and a Tully's coffee. No, not a Starbucks!

Who's Calling?

A random musing for the day...not knitting related, however. It seems often when I am on spring break or my day off the phone will ring very early in the morning. Sometimes I will go answer it and nobody will be there. I joke about it being God trying to wake me up! Other times it could be a call from say...Wells Fargo or from Regence (obviously in another time zone altogether in more ways than one-ahem!) or from the shop trying to see how customer service was for us and then I feel like saying "it was ok until NOW"! Well this was such a morning, I mean one in which the phone rang early. A dear neighbor was in need so I put my half-finished cooking breakfast on "hold" on low so as not to set fire to anything and my latte sat minus the espresso to be added later, and put on clothes fit for the 30 degree weather (yeah it's springtime in Seattle)...and on my way I saw the cat left presents on the carpet for me to clean up. Such an nice bonus to start my day. Then I tripped over the scrapbook supplies on the floor. If I hurried, I could scoop the kitty litter and run it out to the trash in time for the garbage truck I could hear around the block! After this, I managed to go check on their house. No problem, the garage door was indeed closed so all was well. On the way back though I realized that it was very pleasant and light out, and a crisp chill in the air felt refreshing. Then I heard the birds just twittering and tweeting away...I realized this was lovely, this was very nice actually to be up and about and hearing God's creation waking up and those soothing sounds made my spirit feel as if I were quieted and stilled. Like when you go out camping or by the ocean. I thought, gee I would've missed the beginning and beauty of this new day if I hadn't come out here. Ok, minus the 30 degree weather would be better, granted. But what I would've missed out on if "God" hadn't called me this morning. How many times have I missed the stillness or sunrise of the early day and stayed wrapped up in my cozy cocoon? Sometimes answering someone's call or need, or stopping to help someone is like answering God's call and they, as well as we, end up far more blessed in the end than if we ignored the phone.

Happy Easter!

I love Gerbera daisies in the brightest corals and pinks!

Glad the kids still did the egg dyeing with me this year even though they are all "grown up"!

Why do they call them "deviled eggs?" They are so heavenly good...

Easy Deviled Eggs:
Mash up egg yolks from six eggs with 3 T. mayo and 1/2 teaspon ground mustard, salt and pepper to taste, paprika garnish! Voila!

We had the most lovely Easter church service and family brunch! It always includes the family's favorite Swedish coffee cake. YUM!!

Poppy Back

Showing the tube body with the stitches picked up along the back and knitting up on the back piece now. Bumpy seam runs down the center back. Other purl ridges are done on purpose to give some texture. The seam will smooth out during blocking of course. I "tried it on" as best as I could with needles holding the front stitches and on the back. I think I am going to love this sweater!

Happy Easter!

Diversions from Poppy

Oh how technology can divert us from things we might otherwise be getting accomplished...They can be a mixed blessing- these things called Flickr, Ravelry and FaceBook. Fun, yet we can get sidetracked. Between planning a wedding and being sidetracked by diversions, knitting has suffered a bit. However, back on the "Poppy" sweater happily this week. Using the Noro Silk Garden...Mixed in with some other Cascade 220 heathered brown and Berroco brown...This sweater is knit in a tube for the body, then seamed. Then stitches are picked up around the top for the back and front. Then sleeves are made and seamed in. Not a seamless sweater.
Very nice to use your creativity to pick and choose what colorways you want in this one and how you want the stripes to go. This one is called "Poppy"from the book "Yarn Play". I am using some poppy color in mine, but alot of browns too.