Wednesday Wings - Hatchlings and Eggs

(Posted on Thursday. We had thunderstorms on Wednesday and I unplugged before finishing.)

The five bluebird eggs have hatched. The little ones are mostly naked/featherless but hungry and doing well.

Since it was a little chilly and rainy yesterday, I didn't want to leave the nest box open for more than a few seconds, so the picture is rather difficult to see what's going on in the nest.


I'm going to cheat and use two pictures from previous years.

This is hatching day in the bluebird nest.


Here are some week old hatchlings from a previous year when it was warm and sunny.

I like to think I'm seeing them fly around as beautiful adults now.


The Tree Swallow nest box has six pretty white eggs.

The female is seriously sitting on them now. Hatchlings expected in two weeks.


In the evening the female comes out to take a break on the power line.

Tree Swallows really like the power line. They use it for the mating activities, as a launching point for food gathering, and to supervise the area once the family is underway.

Granddaughter Kimmy's Poem

One of my Mother's Day gifts was A Celebration of Poets, Michigan and Ohio, Grades 7-9, Fall 2008.

Granddaughter Kimmy's poem is on Page 79 . . .


All I Want

All I want is someone to stop everything
Someone to connect everyone together
All I want is someone to stop everything
Someone to find something in common with us
Someone to stop the difference
All I want is someone to stop everything
Someone to forget the past
Someone not to care what other people think
Someone not to be afraid to say hello
All I want is someone to stop everything
Someone to take a step towards the opposite of them
Someone to find acceptance in everyone
Someone to listen instead of gossip
Someone to stand up for the right reasons
All I want is for everyone to fit in

Kimberly Casarez, Grade 8
Pennfield Middle School, MI

Heather's Birthday Socks Finished

Heather requested chocolate brown birthday socks and I was happy to find this mocha color in Opal UNI-Solid.

The socks were done for our get-together last Saturday. They've been blessed with much admiration and appreciation and thanks. I think she likes them.


Pattern: Double eyelet ribbing with a p,k,p between eyelet columns


Yarn: Opal, 75% Superwash wool, 25% Nylon.

Color: UNI-Solid Medium mocha

Needles: Options 2.5mm circulars.

Gauge: 8 stitches/inch, 10 rows/inch.

Fourteenth Annual Louise Lunch

The four generations of women with the middle name Louise met for lunch May 1996 to celebrate Mother's Day and Daughter Heather's birthday. Granddaughter Kimmy was a baby, so it was Heather's first Mother's Day as a mother.

We didn't know we were starting a family tradition, but after a few years we formalized it with the name "Louise Lunch".

Happy Mother's Day to all mothers, especially Mom, Heather, and Anne. Love you!

We were having such a good time talking and laughing together that I almost forgot to haul out the camera for pictures.

This is Margarete Louise (aka Louise One, Mom) and Marguerite Louise (aka Louise Two, Me). Picture taken by Kimberly Louise (aka Louise Four, Granddaughter Kimmy).


Heather Louise (aka Louise Three, Daughter Heather) is always smiling and laughing except when she's trying to look normal in a picture.

It seems strange to see her looking so solemn. She always gets to pick the restaurant because it's her birthday as well as being Mother's Day. This year she picked Texas Roadhouse in Kalamazoo and we all enjoyed her selection.


Heather Louise (aka Louise Three, Daughter Heather) and her daughter, Kimberly Louise (aka Louise Four, Granddaughter Kimmy).

My Mother's Day gift was a book of poems containing a poem written by Kimmy. I'll be sharing the poem in a future post.

Kai-Mei Socks Done

Kai Mei was chosen by the Sock Innovation Ravelry for the May KAL (KnitALong).

If you knit this pattern, make sure you have the Sock Innovation errata. The corrections are substantial and important for Kai-Mei.


Kai-Mei (which I keep wanting to write as Mai-Kei) is not one of my favorite patterns in Cookie's book.

It's a lovely design and an interesting construction, but I'm a very practical person who wears "sensible" shoes. The cuff is all k3, p3 ribbing. Having the pretty detail on the foot would have caused me to skip over this design if I hadn't decided to do the KAL before knowing what the pattern was going to be.

Since I felt luke warm about the pattern, I picked some unloved yarn that's been in my stash for years. It's Opal Prisma, a yarn club selection I never would have bought at the store. One of the most boring Opals ever, but too busy and bright for most stitch patterns. I remember groaning when I opened the package.

Surprise! I actually like these socks. Not LOVE! them, but I do like them.


They're just a little big for me, so they'll be going to Mom. That works out best anyway, because she wears her socks around her apartment without shoes so she'll have plenty of opportunity to gaze down and enjoy the design on the foot.





Pattern: Kai-Mei from Sock Innovation by Cookie A.

Yarn: Opal, 75% Superwash wool, 25% Nylon.

Color: Prisma

Needles: Options 2.5mm circulars.

Gauge: 8 stitches/inch, 10 rows/inch in stockinette.

Wednesday Wings - Nest Box Report

The bluebirds should be hatching any day now. I thought this might be the day, but nothing happened. The eggs still look like they did on Monday.

Nearby in a second nest box, the Tree Swallows are ready to start laying eggs. There are so many feathers in this nest I had to feel around with my finger to check for the first egg. It wasn't there yet, but probably tomorrow. The female has been in the box most of the day.

I love the way the swallows are precise in their nest building. This year they used pine needles instead of the usual grass. The feathers are arranged to curl up over the top of the nest and help keep the eggs and eventually the naked babies cosy and warm.



Tree Swallows are the size of a large sparrow with white undersides and an iridescent blue/green back.

What did they ever do before there were wires to sit on while guarding their nest box?


Some of the male Gold Finches have completely turned gold now. Others still have a drab spot or two remaining.

Simple Woman's Daybook for May 4

These writing prompts are available from Simple Woman's Daybook where each Monday we're invited to join in celebrating the beauty of everyday moments around us.

FOR TODAY May 4, 2009...

Outside my window...The deciduous trees are leafing out. Finally. They're at least a week behind average this year.


I am thinking... It's almost time to see the first Oriole. There are oranges waiting in the kitchen for their post-migration snack.

I am thankful for... Springtime.

From the kitchen... The first batch of hummingbird food is cooling in anticipation of the hummers' arrival. Any day now. I need to find the feeder.

Later: First hummer is here! He looked in the window to remind me he needed sugar juice and he got it.

I am wearing... Jeans and an old tee shirt. The bottoms of my jeans are tucked in my socks because we've just had a large black fly hatch. They like to go up pantlegs to bite. I have over a dozen bites on my legs. They hurt and itch, both at the same time.

I am creating... A pair of Cookie's Kai Mei socks for the Sock Innovation Knitalong group on Ravelry. Both cuffs and heels are done and I'm ready for the fun part on the foot. Details in a future post.


I am going... To have to figure out new ways to get to the places I go in Kalamazoo and Portage. Summer road construction has begun and some of my favorite routes are closed or down to one lane.

I am reading... Just finished listening to Josephine Tey's The Franchise Affair. Very enjoyable.

I am hoping... For a still day tomorrow so I can burn the thousands of sticks I've picked up and will continue to pick up while I'm tending the fire.

I am hearing... DH Bob singing off key. He has headphones on and can't hear himself or I think he would be embarrassed. Without headphones, he has a great voice and knows how to carry a tune.

Around the house... All the plants are popping out of the ground. As usual, the weeds are growing faster than the flowers.

One of my favorite things... The violets that pop up randomly all over the property this time of year. They are so delicate and pretty. I never weed them out no matter where I find them.

We also have white ones and yellow ones, but the blue are my favorite.


A few plans for the rest of the week: Working in the yard. Next week I'll be buying annuals to plant.

Saturday is Louise Lunch where four generations of women with the middle name Louise get together to celebrate Mother's Day and daughter Heather Louise's birthday.

Here is picture thought I am sharing...There are five beautiful blue eggs in the bluebird nest box that should be hatching mid week.

Brown Socks on the Needles, Blue in Staging

While waiting for my sock yarn shipment, I started Glynis, the first pair of socks in Cookie's Sock Innovation book, using some lovely dark brown Shi Bui, 100% superwash Merino wool that was a gift from Sydney over a year ago.

Because the yarn was a gift from granddaughter Sydney, I wanted to be sure the socks are going to fit my narrow feet so I'm knitting them on 2.25mm needles. The pattern is loaded with knit three togethers, next to impossible when knitting so tight. I ended up using an alternative right leaning double decrease: knit two together, return to left needle, pass next stitch over the knit two together and off the needle, slip knit two together stitch back to the right hand needle. Much better.

Still, they've been like the cuffs from hell for me. I've frogged and tinked too many times to count. The pattern requires lots of moving stitches between needles. Three different times I pulled on the wrong needle and slid it right out of my knitting. Three times!!! Previous to these socks I have never had that type of accident. Never.

I considered frogging the socks and using the yarn for a different pattern, but stubbornness kept me going. Plus, I was sure I would get in a pattern grove and things would get better. It never happened. I ended up turning off all distractions, talking out loud to myself while knitting each row, and counting stitches after each row.

Glynis is a perfectly fine pattern. I'm sure the problems were mine alone. The fabric is thick and cushy from lots of knit three togethers, knit two togethers, slip, slip, slip knits, and slip, slip knits. The socks are going to be very warm, but ouch, ouch, ouch with the smaller needles.


Once my yarn order arrived, I switched my sock knitting attention to daughter Heather's birthday socks. She requested chocolate brown. This is Opal UNI-Solid in Medium Mocha.

Because I want to know for sure the socks are going to fit, they need to be done by May 9th, and I badly need a nice easy sock experience right now, I'm knitting them in a simple but pretty double eyelet ribbing on 2.5mm needles.

It's like a sock knitting vacation after my Glynis experience.


I plan on knitting more Cookie socks with my new sock yarn.

From left to right:

Opal UNI-Solid Medium Mocha being used for Heather's birthday socks.

Sheldridge Highland Mist for a Cookie pattern. I though this yarn was more gray when I ordered it, but I like it.

Lorna's Laces Almost Solid Denim for a Cookie pattern.

Opal UNI-Solid Periwinkle for a Cookie pattern.

Opal Rainforest Rocky for ???? Just had to have it.

There will be no more tight knitting on 2.25mm needles. I'll attempt to knit the Cookie socks as small as the pattern allows on 2.5mm needles. If they're too loose for my taste, Mom will get them. It's great to have someone in the family with normal size feet.

Lighthouse Blues

The Lighthouse Gansey tentative front is done. The project is on hold while I decide if I want to do some frogging.

The pattern has a high, tight, stand up neck which I tried to avoid by making a short ribbing around a square shape. It doesn't look as nice as I was hoping because I had to bind off so loose to be able to get it over my head.

As long as the lighthouse is in front I can't really lower the neck in order to make the neckline larger, the lighthouse is too tall.


After thinking this over, the answer is to make the back the front and remove the top center back motif to create a lower neckline. The lighthouse could then remain tall up the back of my neck.

I hate it when my best design ideas happen after a project is knit. In this case, shoulders have been joined and ends have been woven in. At least I haven't picked up sleeve stitches yet.

The sweater is a perfect fit, I like the yarn and the color, and, to be truthful, I think I like the center motif on the back better than the lighthouse. So, while I'm writing all this I realize I'm going to have to frog and make the front the back in order to get a neckline I like.

But I reserve the right to chance my mind if the measurements don't work out.

Stay tuned for the rest of the story.


Pattern: Lighthouse Gansey by Anne Bosch.

Yarn: Knitpicks Cotlin. 70% Tanguis Cotton, 30% Linen. DK weight.

Color: Glacier.

Needles: Options #3.

Gauge: 6 stitches/inch, 8.5 rows/inch in pattern.

Modifications: While I'm staying true to the stitch patterns, all the stitch counts have been modified to result in a 40 inch sweater. The pattern has sizes 38 (too small), 43 (too large), and 48.

Wednesday Wings - Turkey Vulture

If there's one nice thing to say about a Turkey Vulture, it's that it is a graceful bird in the air, soaring and circling on almost motionless wings.

After that, it has to be mentioned that it's an ugly bird, clumsy on the ground, and lives on dead flesh.


From high in the sky they're able to patrol a large area for fresh roadkill.

With their six foot wing span, it's difficult to miss when one lands in the neighborhood for a meal.


I wasn't close enough to get a good clear picture. The zoom lens got a workout trying to catch the turkey like bare head and neck that give the Turkey Vulture its common name.

Since I promised there would be no flesh eating pictures, we'll stop here.

Random Updates, No Pictures

• Anyone who wants to see more Sydney birthday pictures and/or read more about the Idaho kids, Son John has posted a long accounting of their first week in April here.
  
  
• The front of the Lighthouse Gansey is done and the shoulder seams are joined. I want to finish off the neck before the next blog picture. Hopefully that will happen this evening - the neck finishing, not the blog picture.
  
  
• I started a pair of Glynis from Cookie A's Sock Innovation. There isn't enough done yet to post a picture.
  
  
• Because of the designs in Cookie's book, I had to order a batch of solid colored sock yarn. It should be arriving soon.
  
  
• Tomorrow's Wednesday Wings posting is going to be a Turkey Vulture. Living with nature, having a degree in Biomedical Science, having worked in a nursing home and a home for the profoundly retarded, having raised two children, and living with three dogs, my gross out level is much higher than average. So, I debated with myself if my readers could handle a vulture post and decided you could. No actual eating of flesh will be show.
  
  
• It's been cold and rainy so I haven't wanted to open the bluebird box and check on the egg laying progress. From outside appearances all seems to be going well and on schedule.

Blue Saturday

It's a beautiful, warm, sunny spring day in SW Michigan.

Mrs. Bluebird celebrated the successful completion of a well made, cozy nest and the laying of her first egg.


Unless some unpleasant nature intervenes, there will be one egg a day until 4 to 6 eggs are in the nest. Then she will sit on them for two weeks until the chicks hatch.


Although I've been outside a lot, there has been some knitting.

The back of the Lighthouse Gansey is done. Everything below the underarm gussets was knit in the round. Now it's time to knit the upper front including the lighthouse motif.


Pattern: Lighthouse Gansey by Anne Bosch.

Yarn: Knitpicks Cotlin. 70% Tanguis Cotton, 30% Linen. DK weight.

Color: Glacier.

Needles: Options #3.

Gauge: 6 stitches/inch, 8.5 rows/inch in pattern.

Modifications: While I'm staying true to the stitch patterns, all the stitch counts have been modified to result in a 40 inch sweater. The pattern has sizes 38 (too small), 43 (too large), and 48.

Socks Done, Socks To Be

Sister Carrie's birthday socks are done and on their way to her in North Carolina.

The Panda Cotton was a new experience in knitting socks. It was pleasant to knit although a little splitty. I had to watch each stitch to make sure there weren't any stray threads looping up, and sometimes there were.

I have some reservations on how it will wear and wash, but otherwise no reason not to use it again except for my personal preference for wool socks. But then, I live in Michigan.


Pattern: Retro Rib Socks by Evelyn Clark from Winter 2004 Interweave Knits.

Modified to use 56 stitches instead of 64 by reducing the purl 2 to a purl 1.

Yarn: Crystal Palace Panda Cotton. 59% bamboo, 25% cotton, 16% nylon.

Color: Mood Indigo.

Needles: Options 2.5mm circulars.

Gauge: 8 stitches/inch, 10 rows/inch.

Seems like every sock knitter in the world is getting Cookie's new book, Sock Innovation. And with good reason. The 15 sock patterns are beautiful. There isn't a single one I wouldn't happily knit. The technical section is well written and full of good advice and technique on designing socks, but even someone who never wants to do that will get more than their money's worth with the patterns.

Having never knit a toe-up sock and thinking I might want to learn how, I bought Wendy Johnson's book, Socks from the Toe Up. The patterns are nice, but nothing that makes me want to cast on immediately. I bought the book for the technical information and I think it will serve well for that.

The book wasn't expensive and now I can toss pages and pages of how-tos I've printed off the internet and thrown into an unorganized file. It's so much nicer to have all the information in one book on the shelf.

Beads, Yarn, and Socks

While in Idaho I had lunch with Linda Jo, Beadknitter. As well as being an excellent knitter she makes beautiful things with beads, and she surprised me with this pretty bracelet. It has pastel green leaves with light purple flowers and I just love it.

We had a great time eating and talking. It's so fun to get to know another knit blogger in person.


After lunch in Coeur d'Alene, we headed to nearby Harmony Yarn to look things over and spend a little money.

I picked up some gorgeous red Shi Bui with Cookie A's new sock book in mind. Amazon has shipped and I'm expecting my copy in the mail any day now.


Sister Carrie's birthday socks need to be finished and mailed this week. This picture was taken last Friday with just the cuffs and the heels done. As of this moment, I'm ready to start the toes. Maybe the socks will be done yet tonight.


Pattern: Retro Rib Socks by Evelyn Clark from Winter 2004 Interweave Knits.

Modified to use 56 stitches instead of 64 by reducing the purl 2 to a purl 1.

Yarn: Crystal Palace Panda Cotton. 59% bamboo, 25% cotton, 16% nylon.

Color: Mood Indigo.

Needles: Options 2.5mm circulars.

Gauge: 8 stitches/inch, 10 rows/inch.

More Sydney Pictures

There was snow in Idaho. Thursday and Friday, my first two days there, we woke up to a white neighborhood with more white stuff falling. I took pictures and then deleted them. Idaho snow looks just like Michigan snow and there have been enough snow pictures this year.

Here are some non-snowy pictures of what I did in Northern Idaho on my spring break.

Sydney and I played lots of Hide and Seek.

We also read dozens and dozens of books.

Saturday morning Son/Dad John took Sydney to build a child's craft at Home Depot. This week it was a bird house.

There were two previous Home Depot kid projects to paint as well, bookends and a planter. DIL/Mom Anne hauled out the paint and we made everything colorful.

Sydney and I went to the Post Falls Parks and Recreation preschool Easter event. We colored eggs, decorated the basket, and made a bunny bag.

Then there was an Easter egg hunt in the cold rain.

We were the last ones to finish because once Sydney found all her eggs, she asked me to hide them again so we could start over.

Hunter's Mom, Christina, ran out in the rain and offered to take our picture. Thank you Christina!

Sydney's 4th Birthday

A week ago today I was two thousand miles away in Idaho helping to celebrate Granddaughter Sydney's birthday.

Early afternoon, the balloons arrived from Great-Grandma M. in Michigan.

They were a big hit.


Sydney dressed in her birthday princess outfit to greet her birthday guests.

Notice she's wearing birthday socks knit by Grandma B. (me).


Once the party got started, there were presents to open.


And, of course, there was a birthday cake. Sydney picked out the rainbow theme.

Flashback Friday - Birds of A Feather

On the second Friday of each month I go back five years to pick out one of my favorite blog posts for that month and repost it here on Flashback Friday.

This post was originally written in April, 2004 as in entry in the defunct Blogger Idol meme. The assigned theme for the week was: 'Birds of a Feather Flock Together'.

---

It's spring break! So granddaughter Kimmy and I had the fun of a midweek overnight and day together.

One of the first things she wanted to do was to check the bluebird houses we put up when she was visiting three weeks ago. And she wasn't disappointed.

The bluebirds of a blue feather - who have obviously been together - have been busy nest building.

Looks like they're almost ready for some egg laying.

In the afternoon we stopped off at the Kellogg Bird Sanctuary to check out the water birds.

The Canada geese are ahead of the bluebirds in their spring nest building and egg laying.

The geese of a feather - who have obviously been together - have their nest filled with eggs.

So, where is mother goose going?

She's going to get some corn from Kimmy.

She'll be back on the nest soon.