Upcycled Hat

A hat I like!

And it fits!

Other than the eyelets which I had to buy new, it's completely "upcycled" from old denim jeans.

I purposely left the edges exposed so that they would fray with repeated washing.

Did I mention that it FITS? I have a large head and can't buy ready made ladies hats. I made this one using the multi-sized "garden hat" pattern in the book, "Happy Hats and Cool Caps", which I picked up at "The Bookman", a used book store in town.

I'm very pleased with the end result. It is SO comfortable and provides protection from the glare of the sun on my long dog walks.

There may be others in the future. I'd like at least one more so I have something to wear when this one is in the wash.

Happy Canada Day, 2018!

The first 6 months of the year are all rolled up,

And they've been good ones. 

(This is the first six months of my "Year In Temperatures" scarf.) 

Aquatic Bird

One of the plants in Solomon's tank is growing multiple "spiderettes", each one branching out further from the mother plant in a generational sort of way.

It's forming a fence like appearance almost all the way around his tank.

Solomon has taken to resting on the runners in between the spiderettes, just like a bird on a telephone wire.

Ben's Wife Arrived!

Long after she was initially expected, Wilhelmina arrived, much to Benjamin's relief. With his ear to the parcel he could hear her muffled cries and was frantic for me to hurry to set her free.

Her travel box appears intact so she must have made the long trip unmolested by Customs officials in any of the countries she stopped in.

Her passport says she is the third in a line of only 76 Willies. He always knew his wife was a rare gem.

From the look of the smile just barely visible there on her face, it seems she made the trip okay and was even in a good mood. 

They were so excited to be reunited that neither worried too much about her complete lack of hair.

But I hope you agree that she is much more attractive with her custom made (by me) wig.

Benjamin got her to sit in her comfy chair while he put the kettle on for tea.

And then he rushed right back to give her a wonderful foot rub. He never, ever wants her to travel alone again! The stress of not knowing where she was really got to him!

London?!

Poor Benjamin! He just got off the phone after receiving some frightening news!

It seems his wife has taken a wrong turn somewhere and has ended up in London, UK when she was supposed to be heading home to Canada!

He's so worried! Please send him some supportive thoughts.

Kayaking on Harrison Lake

Living in paradise, as we do, it's easy to take a blissful mini-vacation any time the weather cooperates.

Now that my husband has retired we can take advantage of some of the beautiful lakes in our area and slip away for a quiet morning of peaceful kayaking -- mid week even, when the crowds are tied up with work and school.

Harrison Lake BC is only about a 30 minute drive from our home in Chilliwack.

The weather was perfect, neither too hot nor too cold, and barely a ripple on the water.

It was a perfect way to make the most of a beautiful day. 

I'd take a kayak over a motor boat any day. 

And That's May

May's work on the "My Year In Temperatures" scarf.

If you're not a regular reader of my blog you might be wondering what that's all about. More details on the project can be found in earlier blog posts, HERE.

A Bra For Ben?

Benjamin is feeling a bit ridiculous but he's being a good sport about modelling the bra I made for his wife, Wilhelmina. She'll be here in a week or so.

I couldn't very well make her a wardrobe without her having "the proper foundational garments" now could I?

New Shirt for Ben

I finally found some time today to make a couple of shirts for Ben. Both are blue, but one has short sleeves and the other has long.

Looks like maybe next time I should make the long sleeves a wee bit shorter. Still, not bad for a first try.

More Colourful Days

The days are getting hotter, and my "Year in Temperatures Scarf" is becoming more colourful. 

Closest to the needles are the most recent days. Down at the bottom is where I started on January first. 3 rows per day representing the high temperature with the centre row of each a dot that represents the day's low temperature. Each month is bordered by a garter stitch ridge in black.

New Kayakers

With a school closure our granddaughters had an extra day added to the Victoria Day long weekend. We kept them busy today by giving them their first kayaking experience. 

The weather was perfect. Not too hot or too cold and a nice light breeze.

There were a few interesting things to explore. We got up close to a family of turtles sunning themselves on a log.

And watched a mother duck walking her brood along the shore.

Both girls really enjoyed kayaking, but with only two kayaks it meant someone always had to sit out while the other had a turn. We need more kayaks!

Fun Little Fellow

I've been helping out as a daily volunteer in my granddaughter's classroom. That commitment has left precious little time for crafting which in turn leaves little to blog about. But there HAS been one fun little addition around here. 

I HAD been selling off my ball jointed dolls, intent on leaving the hobby. This little Dream High Studio "House Elf" enchanted me and convinced me that I was missing out on too much fun.

My original intent was to style him as a drab "old man next door" type of character -- a quiet loner into books, newspapers and other solitary activities. He went along with that idea for a brief bit but is now demanding much more colour, pattern, and FUN in his life. 

With his direction and supervision I've made him a fun new chair. Now he is refusing to get into his drab old man clothes.  He wants a new wardrobe too! "Lots of colour, pattern, and FUN, just like the chair!", says he.

Oh. And apparently I'm to make another chair. He says he's intent on wooing a lovely lady he has just met via the Internet and when she comes visiting she'll need a place to sit. 

March in April

Now that April is well underway I am finally getting around to posting a picture of the March section of the "My Year in Temperatures" scarf.

With March bringing warmer temperatures than we saw in February the scarf got a little more colourful! The "tomato" red is the warmest weather we've had so far this year. That was March 12, with a high temperature of 18°C (64°F). We saw 7 days with lows of 0°C (32°F). Those lows are represented by the dark blue green dots (Knitpicks Palette in "Rainforest"). The black garter stitch ridges divide March from February and April. 

Retired After 44+ Years

After more than 44 long years of dedicated service --

-- the squeak of the handle of this well worn lunch kit will no longer be announcing my husband's return from work as a telephone lineman.

Today is the first day in over 44 years (not counting vacation time and the very rare sick day) that both he and his lunch box will not be heading off to work. The two of them have now officially retired. I'm so thankful for all the years he worked to support our family and to secure a comfortable future for us.

Enjoy your retirement Brian, you deserve it!  ahem  Are you ready for your "Honey Do" list?

(Full disclosure? This lunch kit wasn't  quite with him the entire time. For the first few years he had a shorter one just like it.)

Boro Progress

Looking back through previous blog posts I see that I started the work on this boro vest almost a year ago. Since the last update I've added many more patches and a whole lot of stitching to the front.

It's still not "complete". Some of the patches don't have their reinforcing stitching done.

And I have plans to eventually add patches to those lower pockets as well.

In the meantime I wear the vest almost daily, as an added layer as one would a favourite cardigan,

and that has added some wear to the front button band which, in the true boro style, now needs patches on its patches! I hope to keep repairing this garment as the need arises. I think it has an element of "wabi-sabi" to it. Quoting a Wikipedia's entry on wabi-sabi: "The aesthetic is sometimes described as one of beauty that is imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete."

Finished at Long Last

I've been far busier lately than my non-existent blogging might suggest! Knowing how the computer can be a time sucking vortex I've been avoiding it, preferring to spend my time in more productive pursuits. It's working, I have finished projects!

In the last while I finally managed to finish sweaters for BOTH of my granddaughters. The girls have been waiting for their promised "back to school" sweaters for quite some time! I lost my knitting mojo part way through and the projects stalled for months on end. Then when I had the knitting nearly complete I discovered that both cardigans needed some adjustments to fit properly. That was rather discouraging and again the knitting stalled.

But now, finally, the delayed projects are complete and have been delivered -- a full six months later than I originally intended, but still large enough for both girls to wear them for quite some time yet. Years perhaps! In other hobby news: Work continues on the "My Year In Temperatures" scarf, my denim boro vest is constantly being added to, and my large cross-stitch picture is nearly complete with only the back stitching yet to be done. I work on that last project every single day, without fail.

February All Knit Up

The work on the "My Year in Temperatures" scarf continues. February is now all knit up. The section you see from black garter stitch ridge to black garter stitch ridge is February's section.

Each day is represented by three rows in a colour that coincides with the day's high temperature in Chilliwack. The dots that are placed every 6th stitch on the 2nd row of each day are in the colour that represents the low for that day. Kapisch?

This photo of the knitting since the beginning of the year is probably the last shot where you will see the project in its entirety. A little more knitting and it will be too long to capture in one photograph! At the end of the year my calculations have it at a length of about 10 feet! Perhaps not a practical length, but fun!

At War With Himself

After about 48 hours in his new home Solomon discovered he had a rival next door.

It wasn't long before the war began. He spends well over an hour each morning flaring aggressively at his reflection in the glass, even attacking that annoying mimic at times.

Some flaring is rumoured to be good for a Betta fish, something like flexing one's muscles, but too much time spent flaring and charging back and forth must be stressful for the poor fish. I can just imagine the strain caused by the need to defend your home against an aggressive and threatening neighbour each and every day! 

I tried leaving the lights off in the tank but it didn't completely eliminate the problem, and what's the point in having a fish tank if you can't see the fish?!

Today, after reading about fixes for this kind of Betta behaviour, I went out and bought a bushy fern type plant that will fill the 6" x 10" end of his tank where most of the problem occurs. 

He's a very curious little guy and it wasn't more than a minute before he was over there checking it out.

Was that a nibble I saw? Hopefully now he knows it's fake and not edible.

But now there is another problem!

His curiosity may just get him into trouble!! I'll have to watch him carefully. I was worried about him there for a bit, thinking him stuck, but when I moved my hand closer he scurried out of there with no difficulty. Now he seems to have found a favourite spot, resting way up at the top near the surface of the water. 

I read on a spiritual site recently that if you pay attention to the animals and nature around you they can have a message for you. After watching Solomon fight with himself with such ferocity and persistence, possibly bringing harm to himself in the long term, I can't help but see that there is an important message in that for me.

Bonus picture! 

Solomon's Debut

Meet my beautiful new Betta fish, Solomon, just purchased today. His name means "peace" in Hebrew.

I'm not sure, but I think he'd be classified as a "Half Moon Fancy". 

I chose him for his striking colours, but I'm happy to find that he is also a very peaceful fish, not bothering his tank mates at all. 

With Love and Gratitude

My husband asked me to sew up a few holes in the safety overalls he wears at work. He's hoping to make them last until his retirement, which isn't too terribly far off.

He said it didn't have to be pretty. I think what he actually meant was "please don't make it pretty!!" as he has seen my ongoing work on my own Boro/Sashiko vest.

So here we are, a few discrete patches hidden in behind the main fabric, with stitching matched as close as possible to the overall fabric. 

Completely invisible mends were not possible since some of the rips, including this three corner tear, were large, gaping, and surrounded by fabric that was nearly worn through. I think I closed them up quite nicely. 

Once I had the overalls in my hands I noticed many more, smaller tears and holes and I stitched those up too. I made sure I sewed down the areas where the reflective safety tape was coming loose too. 

As I contemplated the 44+ years my husband has put in as a telephone lineman I couldn't help but feel an immense love, gratitude, and respect for this hardworking man of mine and his dedication to supporting his family and doing his best for his employer.

Dwindling Macaw

January in this area saw temperatures that remained predominantly in the grass to macaw range. Errm -- I mean in the 3 to 8 degrees celsius range, (37 to 46 degrees Fahrenheit).

I've been keeping up with the knitting of the "My Year In Temperatures" scarf by knitting 6 rows every second day. That's 3 rows to represent the high temperature for each day. The speckles in the scarf represent each day's low temperature. 

If you look very carefully you might spot a row where you would assume I forgot the speckles. I didn't. In my colour line up each colour spans 3 degrees. That particular day the high temperature and the low temperature were within 3 degrees of each other so they were both represented by the same colour.

I've been going through an awful lot of the colour "macaw", which is a problem because it was the one colour that I did not start off with a full ball of. I'll have to order more. Soon.