Florida Manatees - Haulover Canal

I have always wanted to see a manatee swimming in the open water.  I finally saw one last weekend when we visited Titusville Florida and nearby area.

 

We waited for a little while and then I saw a great big manatee! To make sure my husband saw it too, I said in quiet excitement "Look!  There's one right in front of me."

Poppy smelled it too.  She cried out to let me know that there was wild animal about.  The manatee swam just below the water surface.  It came up for air; its massive round head appeared above the water.  It soon dived, showing us its dark grey body and its smooth round fan tail. It did not make any noise, such a stealth swimmer.

It is free to visit the Haulover Canal viewing deck and seeing the manatee was priceless. 

Blue lace cardigan

I altered the shape of the sleeves. A quick knitting project. Very soft yarn. The cardigan can be worn next to the skin. 

Pattern: http://www.sweaterbabe.com/77-vine-lace-top-down-cardigan-knitting-pattern/

Material: Bulky weight. I used Classic Elite Ariosa, color Chicory.

Knitting needles: 8mm

Joining the blue cardigan

Following the knitting instruction, I am at the point where I should join the fronts and the back of the cardigan together... but I am not sure.  I check reference books, try the cardigan on, still I can't decide.  Then I have a light bulb moment. I found an old sweater that fits me perfectly and put it on my dress form.

Put the knitting on top of the sweater.

I can see the sides are too wide apart.  Now I am sure; I have not done enough.

 A few more rows later...the two sides are touching each other.  I can start knitting the body in one piece.

Bulky Blue Cardigan

I feel like a busy bee, buzzing happily, knitting away, using up stash of yarns and finishing off UFO one by one. Here is my next to-do: a top down cardigan.

 Using a provisional cast-on method to start the project.

Knitting with very large size needles: 8mm.  Done a ball of yarn already.

11 more balls of yarn to go...till next time.  Take care and thank you for visiting.

Blocking the ruffle shawl

Finished knitting this shawl over a week ago but it has been cold with us.  Today is lovely warm day, perfect weather to block the shawl.

I purchased this foam flooring from BJ's Wholesales Club as the blocking bed.

 Pinning out the washed shawl on the bed.

I must say I did not have a good experience knitting this shawl.  I wanted a smokey grey or very pale blue color, so I chose the silver birch.  It looked smokey silver on screen and birch is a silver tree.  The yarn turned out to be a sage green. I know color varies a little on screen, but this much?

What is more disappointing was the fact that I purchased it as a kit from Morehouse Farm at full price. But it did not give enough yarn for the project.  The pattern said knit 8 rows of edging then cast off.  There is only enough yarn to knit 5 rows before casting off.

Wishing you better luck if you too are knitting this from a kit.

A Ruffle Shawl

I started the New Year with finishing two jackets.  I am continuing that trend of tackling my stash of yarns and UFOs. 

This is a ruffle shawl I purchased as a kit from Morehouse Farm last year.  Finally cast on in the first week of January and I have been knitting a little every night.  Hopefully I can cast off pretty soon.

High speed yarn winder

This is a new addition to my craft accessory: a high speed large size yarn winder. It can handle a skein of yarn up to 10 oz. 

It is double the size of my old smaller winder. The small red one will only pull a ball of yarn to about  4oz.

The high speed has extra wheels in the gears.  It does work much faster than the regular one. The manual said 3 to 4 times faster.

Before I could use it my husband has to put some heavy grease on all the sprocket-wheels, then it works fine.

It only takes minutes to wind up three skeins of lace weight yarn with a swift..

The winder is called the U-nitt Metal Jumbo yarn/wool ball winder MH701. I got mine from Amazon over the Christmas sales period.  So you see, I have been busy planning for my new year projects.