Beanie Mania

I've been making quick and easy beanie caps during this vacation on Guemes. In fact, I've been quite obsessed with them--they are the perfect carry-along and instant gratification project. It's also interesting from a knitter's perspective to see how the different yarns work up using the same pattern and same needle size.

The yarns, Plymouth Encore (tan), Berroco Comfort (cream), and Caron Country (aqua), are all worsted weight blends; needles are size 8 and the pattern is from Kody May Knits and is called "KMay's Eyelet Lace Elegance Hat."

Guemes Island Vacation

We're on Guemes Island in the San Juans this week, enjoying our annual vacation with Greg's family. Here we are in Seattle where we stopped to pick up Conrad and give the dogs a break and a drink.



Our first evening:



Chris is displaying the crabs they caught for dinner!



I'm enjoying a boat ride in the Bellingham Channel:



And Conrad perfected his mojito recipe for Happy Hour:



More vacation pictures are here.

Fred the Wonder Cat

Our cat Fred had to be euthanized this past weekend, and I wanted to pay tribute to him. I think what we all liked most about him was his free spirit and his ability to get out of difficult scrapes. We had had him de-clawed as a kitten because he was supposed to be an indoor cat, but he loved to roam outside and hunt, and he was able to do everything a cat with claws would do, including climb trees and catch rabbits. Fred would come when called and was never grumpy and certainly not a complainer. He'd turn up after being gone for days, and we once even saw signs posted around the neighborhood declaring that he had been found by a concerned family who wanted to return him to his home. We knew Fred was just visiting them and always intended to come back to us, which of course he did.

For all the times I worried about him, I see now that it wasn't necessary. He would have outlasted us all. We miss you, Freddy.

Sock Yarn Scarf

I needed a quick and easy project for some instant gratification, and I found it with this crocheted scarf made out of one skein of sock yarn. The yarn is a wool and nylon sock-weight blend, and the pattern, by designer Doris Chan, is in the summer issue of Interweave Crochet. You really don't even need a pattern to make this--it is just done in single crochet with a large hook. The trick is in the blocking--you soak the scarf in cold water and then stretch it out a lot on a towel and let it dry to get the lacy look. (My friend Josie is modeling for me--she's a natural!).