Kimmy Adventures

Another new hobby… Knitting. I have rediscovered the joy of making something out of ’string’. While in Florida, I would crochet. I’ve made several afghans, and some scarfs, and a hat. That is curently being warn by the big guy. I am quite flattered considering this hat was the first non flat, non square thing I crocheted - without a pattern I might add.

This is a very long scarf I crocheted while I was in Florida a few years back. I never added fringe, as I like it without. I;ve used this scarf many times since we have been in California. It’s very warm - almost to warm at times, and very thick. I need to make a thinner one.

First attempt at a knitted scarf, as opposed to crocheted. I was playing with stitches just trying to get a feel for the big needles and the yarn. I love the look of the knit. Did you knot in knitting there are only TWO stitches. It’s all just a matter of how you use them, and a few other things like increasing stitches, decreasing stitches, etc. Not as complicated as I first thought. Reading the patterns are an entirely different story. It’s like Chinese. Slowly I am starting to understand.

Now living in the sometimes freezing climate of the Northern Pacific, the idea of making warm things has renewed my interest in knitting. So off to the store I went to purchase needles, yarn and other assorted knitting related sundries.So here it is folks, my first attempt at knitting a sock. Yea, a sock. It’s done using 4 double pointed needles. Yes, 4 needles.The portion to the bottom of the screen is the top of the sock. Now all I did here is the same knit stitch over, and over again. Traditionally you mix up the stitch in order to create a ribbing. I am not that brave, nor comfortable yet to do the other stitch required. So for now this pair of socks, will be the knit stitch.At least I think it’s going to be a sock. I have not reached the point where you begin to make a heel. Not sure if I am going to try that or not this go around. If not - we have seom very warm ankle warmers. I plan to crochet areound the top to add my own interpretation of ribbing. I will definitely post the finished project.

I have started to fall in love with bird watching. There are so many to watch around here. I have begun putting bird feed out on the railing of the deck. Here are a few of the birds that are visiting. The Western-Scrub Jay. Here he is sitting on a branch.

We also see a lot of Dark-Eyed Juncos - they are all over the place. They will stay put while we are out on the deck, as long as we our quiet and still. I want to build a bird feeder to attract other birds. When we first got here, one of the first birds I saw was a humming bird. He came to the deck and hovered about 3 feet away from me, long enough for me to get a good look at it - and he took off.

We see a few ducks on the river too, but usually early in the morning - and I have not felt the urge to go down there with the camera so early in the morning. More about ducks later…

These birds to right I have not identified yet - I believe they are sparrows, just not sure which type. They are not as frequent a diner as the Juncos, but they show up now and then.

There is one other bird, he breaks my heart every time I see him. He looks sick, and appears to have growths around his face. I caught a few good pictures of him. Here is a close up. I have not seen him for the past few days, The last I saw him was around the front of the house hobbling around on the ground… *sigh*