Sky Scarf

Exactly one year ago today I started my sky scarf.  It is finished today.  I spent a little time every day capturing the weather by knitting two rows of an approximation of the day's sky.  Colors included various shades of blue, gray and white, and even black for really stormy days.  If the day was sunny, I attached a little tassel of yellow on the side.  I used special hues for trips to Arizona, Hawaii and Black Butte.  I attached color appropriate tassels for holidays. When I study it, I can trace memories of August 25, 2011 through August 25 2012 just by "reading" the scarf.

It was an interesting project and I will use it as a valance over the double hung window in my craft room. It will never leave that room.  I will not take it to my knitting group to mingle with the other sky scarves and I will most certainly not let it go on display at the yarn shop on Main Street.  You will not see a picture of it here.  It is rudely crafted due to running out of yarn here and there and joining in colors of just enough weight difference to add width.  Somehow or another I added stitches so that the width became even wider and odder.  It is as ugly a project as I have ever undertaken and completed.  Ordinarily I would have quietly murdered such a bungled project but because it took so much time and I can easily trace such pleasant memories at the sight of it I could never do such a thing.  I did not play the role of Madame LaFarge who knitted all those horrid secrets into her project. My secrets are all pleasant personal memories, and I will cherish them and let the thing live forever in the solitary confinement of my craft room.

Beach I, II and III

August just wouldn't be August without a trip to the Oregon Coast but what about three trips?  That's what I'm doing.  Beach I trip was to Seaside where my sister and I reunited with a near total of 20 female relatives from our Dad's side of the family with two males thrown in just to keep us on our toes.  The women are all special personalities keeping the boredom level at rock bottom zero.  And speaking of zero boredom, I was fascinated with a little painted rock garden that Tracie, Bobbie and I found at the beach entrance at the end of Avenue W.  We learned about it from a little painted rock display at the yarn shop (we rate this a five star yarn shop, by the way) which featured some very nicely painted rocks and a well-written little description for how to get to the little garden. Beach goers are invited to paint rocks and contribute them to the garden and when we saw it, all three of us enjoyed exclaiming over the various rocks.  And we followed up that with a visit to the flower garden at a nearby motel (can't remember the name) that was spectacular.  So the weekend centered around these motley gardens of women, rocks and flowers.  I loved it.

Beach II was Lincoln City.  Just picture perfect weather at the Coast:   Blue, blue sky overhead, the calm blue ocean punctuated with whale spouts, a light tangy breeze and you have exactly what we experienced.  I have never seen such glorious weather at the beach. Pair that with the perfect ocean view from our comfortable room and top everything off with time spent with our oldest friends in the world who travel up from Arizona every year to spend time in cool, cool Oregon.  We laughed and strolled and played games and ate great food and remembered old times and places together and took pictures of each other in front of the gorgeous flowers at the Salishan Market Place.  Life was at its peak for us.

Tomorrow is Beach III.  Bobbie and I will go to Lincoln City to sign and sell books at Bob's Beach Books.  The weather seems to holding out so we will meet lots of interesting people and enjoy some time in the fresh air.  My new book is ready for the display table and I can't wait for readers to enjoy it.  Then I hope we'll get to enjoy a gorgeous drive back home through the farm land of the valley.  That drive has its own summer flavor and I enjoy it every time I drive it. As an old Oregonian, I've certainly made that trip plenty of times hoping to catch the magic of a sunny day at the Oregon Coast and that magic sparkled big time for I and II and we holding our breaths for III as well.