Flight Risk

I finished Clara.

Clara knit with Petal Stroll Tonal from Knit Picks

Sadly, I don't have any photos of Hayden wearing it.  I'd hoped that her dad would have sent me some by now but in his defense, he is in the middle of moving.  Nothing like moving with a newborn in the midst of a pandemic.  I guess I'll have to cut him a little slack.  But only a little. 

The pattern was a breeze to knit.  I'll admit, I was not happy to see that it started off by casting on all those bottom hem stitches and knitting a bunch of seed stitch.  I don't like knitting seed stitch.  ... But it turns out, I didn't like seed stitch a million years ago when I first started knitting.  And apparently, I've avoided it ever since. Now, a million years later, I have no problems with it at all. Good grief!

As for my personal life, it's been rather strange lately.  

Last week, a bird flew into my window and "was dying" on the roof just below my window.  It was so sad and traumatic because I could see the bird breathing Very heavily but he wasn't moving and I assumed he was dying.  Then his little bird friend started flying around and hovering over him while squawking like mad.  That did no good so the bird friend landed beside him and began to peck at him until he began to move a little bit.  The bird friend still wasn't satisfied so he/she began to nudge the injured bird with his/her head until he rolled over a few times.  Eventually the injured bird got to his feet and hopped around but he couldn't fly.  But finally, with enough nagging and encouragement from his little bird friend, the injured bird took flight and flew away.  It was the most amazing and sweetest thing I think I've ever seen!

Then the other day, on one of those perfect weather days, my brother-in-law took the mother-in-law out for the day, we had an unexplained four hour power outage, and my husband and I spent the afternoon sitting on the deck listening to the birds chatter in the otherwise silence.  

And I made a friend.

A bumble bee started flying around me and was obviously interested in checking me out.  I can't deal with any other type of flying insects, but bumble bees (carpenter bees) don't bother me - much.  They seem friendly.  They hover around you and stare at you like they are saying hello.  

This bee definitely wanted to say hello.  I was busy knitting so I tried to sit still and not be too freaked out about the fact that he was flying so close to me that I could feel the wind from his wings.  

And then he landed on me and proceeded to crawl all over my calf and foot.  It was pretty cool, and quite terrifying and it tickled.  It really, really tickled.  I was afraid if I moved too suddenly, or even flinched, that he'd get freaked and sting me.  It took every ounce of willpower I had to remain calm and still for the 30+ minutes he crawled around on me.  All I can say is, thank goodness I had yummy yarn to focus on.

Clara and the swamp witch

The Clara dress for Hayden is coming along.  I was worried about using this variegated tonal yarn but I think it's working out just fine.  This is a fun little design to knit and I'm so thankful for my knitting group friend, Dawn, who gifted it to me.  I hope Hayden will enjoy wearing dresses because I see quite a few of these in her future.

And because I was bored enough to take funny photos of myself in the bathroom and I thought you might also be bored and could use a good laugh, or possibly a good scare...

There's a reason people with curly hair don't brush their hair.

I have no idea what the reason is for the crazy eyes.  I have to say though, this photo does live up to my nickname.  My husband calls me Marie.  It started off Marie Laveau but over the years it's been shortened to simply Marie.  Many of his friends and coworkers think it's my actual name because they hear it so often and when Mike calls me by my real name, it sounds very, very wrong.  

Why Marie Laveau?  Have you ever heard the song, Marie Laveau by Bobby Bare?

Yeah, I'm the swamp witch.  Mike means it as a compliment.  Or at least that's the story he sticks to.  He says I used magic to capture his heart and make him fall in love with me.  Awww, isn't that sweet?  Although.... swamp witch...  But with that photo of my crazy eyes and brushed hair, I'd have to say he might be on to something.

Train Station

I couldn't stand it any longer.  I had to take a break from knitting mitered squares.  Actually, I just needed a project where I could see that I was making progress.  My slow progress on the mitered square blanket was starting to feel discouraging and no matter how much I knit on my To the Beach scarf, it never seemed to grow.  The solution?  Cast on something else of course.

Train Station

It's an Annis shawl knit with accidentally purchased Stroll Tonal fingering yarn.  A while back, using my tiny screened phone to place a Knit Picks order, I accidently clicked on Train Station instead of Raven.  I was in the mood to knit something beaded and purple. Raven is purply and I have beads that I think would coordinate perfectly, so I quickly placed my order.  Except I didn't.  I ordered Train Station.  But, as luck would have it, it turns out, I already had some pewter beads that look good with Train Station's smoky blackness.  Yay for having a bead stash!


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