MONDAY, MONDAY

I started another set of classes on Saturday -- sock knitting in the morning with three students and intermediate knitting in the afternoon with three different students. I love teaching, and this connects me with more Salt Spring Island fibre folks, too, so it's lots of fun.

Other than that, I'm not very productive around here, besides knitting. I'm wearing cotton fingerless gloves 24/7, taking antihistamines and trying various lotions and potions on my skin - to no avail. Back to the doctor tomorrow and hoping to get some answers!

We did go for a bit of a drive the other day, which was nice... here's Ganges Harbour from the Sailing Club parking lot:
The town of Ganges is sort of off to the left in these photos. You can see a crane on the sailing club dock -- apparently there was a mishap here last week when the crane collapsed, but no one was hurt and it looked to us like it was 'business as usual' when we were there - that business is building all new docks and dredging to expand, as well. You can see the progress here:


I'm just about finished the last of the eight items that I got the commission for in the fall. This is a gorgeous cowl, and the yarn is yummy - hand spun, hand-dyed merino (that the woman sent me from her stash):
It's a foot wide now and I'll be casting off this morning! WHICH enabled me to cast on for cowl #3 in Ravelry's Great Cowl Knit-Along:
It's called 'Weeble-Wobble, and it starts with a mind-numbing 10" or so of stockinette stitch -- I'm breaking it up by purling a few rows of the solid color every few inches of the variegated.

I took it with me to work on yesterday afternoon while I attended a meeting to learn how to be a 'herring watcher.' Apparently, many moons ago, there was a huge herring spawn along Salt Spring's shores every spring that pretty much disappeared... but there's some indication that the herring may be coming back, and a volunteer group has come together here to watch for signs of it (because we can 'encourage' more spawning in various ways if we know where they're spawning)!

So I'm now one of about five volunteers who will be watching for signs of herring here in Fulford. Here's what the roe looks like on kelp or along the shore:
Seagulls are gorging themselves:
There can be orcas, sea lions and bald eagles around ... all of which feed on the herring and the roe. It's pretty magical when there's herring around -- should be fun! (You can read about one of my many herring adventures here if you want).

STILL STOOPID

THANK YOU to the folks who have emailed, called or messaged me about my disappearance from my blog! I love knowing that you 'watch out' for me ... and I'll try harder to be respectful of that and post more often!

For several days now, a kingfisher has been landing on the bowsprit of the sailboat next to ours and just hanging out there for a few minutes. Every single time I've reached for my camera, got it out of the bag, turned it on, checked the settings, and walked over to quietly open the door of the boat to capture it .... and it has flown away at that very moment. Until yesterday!
Isn't it adorable?

Well, it's been a month since I posted about my 'little patch' of exema becoming a huge reaction to an antibiotic ... and it ain't over yet. Things cleared up a lot while I was on four different antihistamines (plus prednisone, a nasty drug all by itself) ... but as soon as the doc started cutting back my dosages, the 'chemical burn' on my hands came back with a vengeance -- to the point where I've lost the top layer of skin on my palms, more than once! NOT fun at all -- both hands are extremely sore and burning all the time, in spite of being back on all the stoopid-making drugs.

I hope that's not 'too much information', and yes, I'm able to knit ... thank God, or I'd really go crazy! But it is slower than my usual pace, and clumsier (hmmm.... is that a word?) because I'm having to wear cotton gloves 24/7 now, and it's hard to concentrate on any kind of serious pattern because antihistamines make you stoopid. In spite of that, I have finished a few projects:

This is the 'Bufflehead' cowl, the second in the 'Great Cowl Knit-Along' I'm participating in on Ravelry:
That's not the designer's name for it, but I called it that because that deep purple is exactly the color of the bufflehead birds wintering here in the harbour:
I finished the 'Christmas in January' shawl, too, and I love it!
Not blocked yet, but I couldn't wait to show it off!

Finally, I have two new commissions, both for local folks. I couldn't find a top-down pattern for a doll cardigan (which doubles as a dress when it's on backwards) so I designed one myself, and got it approved by the woman who owns the dolls I'll be dressing! I've got an initial order for 5 of them, and I've finished two so far. They're blocking as we speak, and when they're dry I'll get a picture and show you.

The other commission is to knit a vest for a retired gentleman who is a friend of a friend. HE supplied the yarn ...
.. which was actually spun for him by my old friend Susan Berlin, here on Salt Spring. This yarn is DOG HAIR, and it's absolutely lovely -- it's a gorgeous light brown with some grey in it, and soft like you wouldn't believe! There's supposedly about 900 yards here, so it may be a basic vest with a 'panel' on one side of the front just for some unique-ness. He's actually hoping there will be enough for a sweater, but we'll have to see how it goes, and add the sleeves after the fact if I can. It'll be a fun project, anyway! (Oh, and I just know you will want to know what kind of dog this is, and do you think I can remember right now?? I'll find out and let you know...)

So that's my life in sunny little Fulford right now .... laying low, trying to heal (AGAIN), knitting and watching the birds go by.
:-)

Yesterday was our local knitting group's first time at a new coffee shop -- there were ten of us, and it went really well! Two new young women joined us, and there were a few gals who hadn't come since before Christmas, so it was nice to see everyone. Here's Greta working on her Baby Surprise Sweater...
... and I've finished my first socks of 2012 ...
... and I finally finished the Stripe Study shawl...
It's lovely merino, to lovely effect, but it was the most tedious project ever -- miles and miles of garter stitch. NOT my idea of fun!

Today I'm doing errands ... I have some shelving to pick up here in Fulford and I'll be dropping it off at the Seniors housing in Ganges, then I'm meeting someone to talk about another knitting commission, then I have another meeting to go to -- and in between, I'll be picking 'old' Mike up at the hospital where he's having some tests this morning and driving him back to his boat, doing a bit of grocery shopping, and checking out the second-hand store. And there's lovely blue sky and sunshine out there, so I'm looking forward to it all!

A FULFORD WEEKEND

Our walk ...

... new growth...

...old growth...... the cove...

... a very creative rock wall...

... a welcoming gate...

... home again...
... and still warm enough to 'hang out' up on our 'landing':

AND I finished two wildly successful sock knitting classes ... here are some of my students showing off their toddler socks:

I still had three people on a wait list, so I'll be starting another one this Saturday ... they're so much fun!

I also finished my first pair of socks for 2012, and I'm to finishing the Stripe Study shawl.... pictures manana.

Today the knitting group is going to Barb's Buns in Ganges for the first time ... we hope to start meeting there every other Monday! :)

I'M NOT A BIRD WATCHER

... but I sure enjoy watching birds. Especially the waterfowl (got that word from my handy-dandy bird book) that gather in local bays in the winter time.
Apparently we have merganzers and buffleheads and canvasbacks and mallards all in the mix. All I know is I could stand at the window and watch them for hours, doing their little choreographed rounds through the harbour.

And one of the reasons why I'm standing at the window gazing is because it's a step up from navel-gazing, which is about what I seem capable of these days. I'm still on four different anti-histamines trying to kick this anti-biotic reaction I had (as well as a pretty powerful anti-inflammatory), and I swear anti-histamines just make you STOOPID. I feel lethargic and 'foggy-brained' most of the time, so other than some knitting and bird-watching, I'm not getting much done!

I did manage to walk home from knitting at the Rock Salt the other day, and guess what I saw in our driveway...
Look closely, left-centre, in that photo.... those are tree BUDS, how cool is that?!

And then I had to stop on the ramp coming down to the boat to count the sunstars I could see under our docks ...
They seem to be everywhere right now, and they're huge ... the bottom one in this picture was at least two feet across!

Michael went over to chop some wood for this neighbour woman that we've been helping and she gave us this rose bush...
... and half an hour later a couple of fellows who keep their boat here came back from checking their traps, and brought us two huge Dungeness crabs. Took me about 60 seconds to have them in a pot cooking for dinner!
I've knit three pairs of fingerless gloves now ... and they seem to be making a difference to my hands, so I'm going to keep wearing them. And I finished the first cowl of the Ravelry Great Cowl Knit-Along ... it's called 'Flurries' and it's a free pattern on the designer's website, if you're interested.

I've also been experimenting with doll clothes, believe it or not -- I have an opportunity for a nice litte commission to make some dresses for a local doll-maker, if I can design something that doesn't take too long to knit. My first attempt is styled on a top-down one-piece sweater:
It's Noro, of course, which the dollmaker is supplying. What do you think? Any easy top down patterns out there (the dress is open at the back so it can double as a cardigan) that you can recommend for preemie baby size?

That's it from my little corner of the world this morning... just chillin' in Fulford, trying to get healthy!