Sesame Seed Designs » outdoors http://sesameseeddesigns.com Thu, 19 Nov 2009 21:21:28 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 en hourly 1 Pink, Red and the letter E http://sesameseeddesigns.com/blog/2006/03/pink-red-and-the-letter-e/ http://sesameseeddesigns.com/blog/2006/03/pink-red-and-the-letter-e/#comments Mon, 06 Mar 2006 19:46:00 +0000 Casey http://thinkingmama.wordpress.com/2006/03/06/pink-red-and-the-letter-e/

E is for evergreens and emerging life.

One of the great things about my job is that there is a trail through the woods on the property. I love the evergreens for their height and beauty and I get to look at them all day. When not looking high in the trees, though, the trail hasn’t been very pretty this winter. With the coming of spring, I have been discovering life emerging from the seemingly dead vegetation. It takes some close inspection but things are starting to grow and emerge from the bare branches. I thought I’d share some of my pictures with you because I love this time of year!
(If you’re just here for the knitting-I’ve got that covered! It’s after the nature pictures)

I wish I could tell you what all these plants are but I really don’t know. I’m pretty good at identifying trees but that’s about as far as my plant knowledge goes. I wish my backyard were looking this pretty and full of life. It’s a mess of weeds, bare ground and a lumpy lawn but I need the rain to stop before I can fix it!

This isn’t on the trail through the woods but I thought I’d include the flowering cherry tree because it’s pretty and pink and it’s pink and red month at Project Spectrum.

Speaking of Project Spectrum, I have some knitting to show you! I finally finished my red Cascading Leaves sock. I finished the 1st one right after Christmas but then I got sidetracked by other projects so it’s been sad and alone- until today! I love, love, love this pair of socks because it’s the first pair I’ve ever knit for myself! The yarn is sock garden from knitpicks and it’s so soft and snuggly on my feet. Look how nicely they fit my feet! The only drawback to the sock garden is that it’s 100% merino -that explains the super softness but it also means they won’t be the most long-lasting socks unless I treat them very carefully.
I used this pattern to make my mom some socks but I didn’t really like how square the toe was on her pair, (sorry, Mom!) so I changed it on mine. I’m looking for a new sock project now! Now that I have 1 pair, I think I need some more. I don’t want my 1 pair of handknit socks to be lonely in my drawer. What is your favorite sock yarn? I’ve only used the sock garden and Lorna’s Laces shepherd sock which is lovely but a little pricey.

]]> http://sesameseeddesigns.com/blog/2006/03/pink-red-and-the-letter-e/feed/ 4 Olympics are 30% over! http://sesameseeddesigns.com/blog/2006/02/olympics-are-30-over/ http://sesameseeddesigns.com/blog/2006/02/olympics-are-30-over/#comments Thu, 16 Feb 2006 05:45:00 +0000 Casey http://thinkingmama.wordpress.com/2006/02/15/olympics-are-30-over/ The olympic knitting continues. We’re over 30% through the olympics and amazingly, I’m over 30% done with River! I had a minor setback when I had to tink back 3 rows but that little problem of an extra yarn over has been fixed. I knit a ton on Monday because I had the day off and Mike worked so I had nothing to take my attention away from knitting. Even the dog left me alone because he was tired from our hike the day before. This week has is pretty busy, though, so I don’t know if I can keep up this quick knitting pace. Here is River so far:The weather is again conducive to knitting. It actually snowed at work yesterday! Last weekend I had a hard time knitting because it was sunny and beautiful. How quickly the weather turned! Here are some pictures from my hike on Sunday. I hiked with Mike and some friends in Forest Park, the largest wilderness park within city limits in the U. S. (Conversely, Mill Ends Park is probably the country’s smallest park-a mere 24 inches! I encourage you to look at the link, it’s quite entertaining!) We hiked up to the Pittock Mansion which none of us had ever been to before. I was excited to see my first flower of the spring. It’s not spring yet but don’t tell these flowers.It was so beautiful and clear that we could see Mts. Rainier, St. Helens, Adams and Hood as well as the whole city of Portland. It was amazing! In this picture you can see Mt. Hood.On our way up to the mansion, We hiked through Balch’s Canyon, named after the guy who used to own the land and who, interestingly, was the 1st person to be hanged in Portland. Apparently he shot his son-in-law. L-R: me, Bradley wearing his doggie backpack, Amber, Noel, Laura and Andrew.(You would never know it, but River is actually neatly stowed in Mike’s backpack, just in case there were a few moments to knit. There were not.)

I have been knitting and watching the olympics. In my last post I talked about Kirsten and Lisa’s party and their lovely country flags. She posted a great picture of us and our flags. You may remember that I chose Japan and lastnight I had my 1st opportunity to see a Japanese athlete compete. It was a speed skater and he won his race but I don’t know if he got a medal because I didn’t stay up to see the whole event. I was very ecxited to see his race but Mike is still waiting for his 1 Venezuelan dude to show up on NBC. I have a feeling he may have to wait forever.

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