More Knitting than Nature

Today's post is going to be mostly about knitting because I've got a lot of knitting stuff going on right now that I hope you enjoy having a look at.

Here's the second dishcloth finally completed! I have also begun charting this pattern (using symbols in a table format). I'm hoping to figure out a way that I can actually post these patterns on my blog in addition to making them available in a printed format.

My niece is going to have a baby in August. I'm knitting her this 2-skein baby afghan using Red Heart BABY (each skein is 460 yards). The pattern is based on the classic knitted dishcloth which is knitted diagonally. I knitted the first half with an increase on every row. When I got to the end of the first skein, I tied on the second skein and am decreasing 1 stitch in each row till I get to the end of that skein and a completed baby afghan. It's knit on every row, so goes very quickly (I started it on July 1st).

I got a call from my friend Don over the weekend. It seems he was cleaning out his basement and came across some yarn and knitting patterns he decided he would never get the chance to knit. He remembered I had mentioned it was a "shawl summer" the last time we spoke and he found these patterns plus yarn that he was wondering if I would be interested in. Don is an amazing knitter and I met him through a knitting group when I worked at Mayo. Don is also very generous and has given me literally hundreds of dollars worth of yarn over the past several years. Some of it I've used to knit afghans for our local Red Cross chapter (they give them to people whose houses burn down). I've also knitted and donated several items to local charities for their silent auction fundraisers.

Here are the 8 lace shawl patterns and yarn he gave me last night. This isn't a very good picture, but the yarns across the bottom (l. to r.) are charcoal, dark green, navy, light blue heather, and a really pretty dark purple. The yarns on top (l. to r.) are a beautiful lace weight mohair, then tan and cream shetland. All of the yarns are wool. The hardest decision is going to be which shawl to start first. I'm going to force myself to finish some other projects first before I have the reward of starting one of these new patterns. Thank you Don for being such a kind and generous friend.

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Here's a little bit of nature....Brother Phil sent me this photo the other day of White-Faced Ibis that have been hanging around in the rice fields near his home in Antelope, California (near Sacramento). Aren't they cool looking? He said they had seen them earlier in the spring when they were showing their white faces in the breeding season.

Thanks Phil, for thinking of me and sharing this photo. We're looking forward to seeing you and your family tomorrow!