I'M SICK...

Got a horrible cold/flu bug and have been 'out of it' for three or four days now -- barely have enough energy to knit, and THAT'S something! We've also had wind storms -- up to 50 kts here for the last several days, so finally tonight I ventured out with Michael to do a little storm watching down on Dallas Road ... it was awesome, but our little jaunt wore me right out again.

OTN: I've finished the white baby blanket for our new grandchild, and the pink receiving blanket; I've cast on the blue one, but not made much progress. I'll post pics tomorrow when I have enough energy to take them!

I'm starting my most ambitious project ever -- a blanket for the aft cabin bed. I'm using a graph of a beautiful beach photo, and attempting to recreate it in cotton and cotton blends. I'll also post that pic tomorrow, too!

OUR DINGHY RIDE

I can't believe it's already the 22nd of January ... can you? We didn't get to go for a dinghy ride the other day, but we did finally go yesterday -- for the first time since before Christmas, and that's a LONG time for us!

First stop, the Esso fuel dock on the way out of the Victoria Harbour -- it's only open limited hours in the winter, but we were in luck, and managed to get the fuel tank full for yet more dinghy adventures. We came back via the Inner Harbour, where there are a couple of big fancy-dancy visiting yachts. It was, all-in-all, a most uneventful dinghy ride!

By the way, in case you're wondering where I get to live... here is the most amazing photo I've ever seen of the harbour. It's not my photo -- someone sent it to me and I haven't been able to find the owner, so if it's you, forgive me for not giving you credit!



Our marina is just barely 'off' the top right-hand corner of this photo.

THE KNITTING OLYMPICS!

Let me tell you about our dinghy. It's like the 'old pair of jeans' that you just can't give up! Even in the dead of winter, we often go out for little harbour jaunts in our trusty dinghy. She's a 13' Achilles, and the poor thing has seen better days, but she's ours and we love her. This photo is one of our dinghy on a beach in Nanaimo, gracing the front cover of a magazine I once published.

I'm thinking of the dinghy today in particular because the sun is shining, and if you've been following the weather in BC, you'll know that hasn't happened much lately. So I'm hoping that this afternoon we'll have a chance to go for a little dinghy ride. There's lots going on over at the Point Hope Shipyard, where they're installing a new HUGE marine ways, so it might be fun to putt over there and check it out!

ON THE NEEDLES

I'm working on a baby blanket, in white, for our grandchild who is due in May -- it's just a seed stitch border, and the body is the 'hourglass stitch.' It's an old LionBrand pattern, and you can see a pic of it here. . I'm also working on two smaller, thinner blankets -- one in pink, one in blue -- so that I'm prepared for anything! I'll post progress pics in the next few days. But listen to THIS....

The Yarn Harlot has struck again - she's posted a challenge to all to participate in the "Knitting Olympics". One project, 16 days! Check it out HERE! Being of the competitive nature (there's a reason my bumper sticker says, "She who dies with the most yarn wins!"), I couldn't resist signing up -- I'm competing in the sweater event, personally. ;-) I'll attempt my first-ever sweater, for that same soon-to-be-born grandchild. It'll be great fun!

Boeing, Boeing, bon ... voyage!

Yesterday Michael and I drove up to Chemainus to watch the FIRST-EVER airplane to become an 'artificial reef' in the world. It'll be a huge boon to Chemainus because of the divers who will come to visit it.

I've seen the HMCS MacKenzie sunk (almost ten years ago now, I covered it for Pacific Yachting Magazine) off Rum Island near Sidney, and then about 4 years ago, we took the Wind Walker out to Snake Island to watch the sinking of the HMCS Cape Breton -- both of these were dynamited and then sunk however they went down. But the 737 was actually lowered into the water by a crane, and there were apparently already divers in the water to line it up against some concrete blocks, so that it will never move.



There were about a hundred boats milling around for the event. We were with my sister in her van, and found a dead-end side street with a perfect view! The weather was a bit overcast, but calm and warm -- and 'lift-off' (off the barge, that is) was just before noon. It was fun to be present for it!



Apparently Discovery Channel has been following the whole story very closely and will air the sinking at some point, and you can read lots more about this event here at www.artificialreef.bc.ca .

Our anniversary

On Sunday night, Michael and I used our Christmas Parade prize (the gift certificate for the Coast Harbourside Hotel) to celebrate the 28th anniversary of the day we met. The hotel was wonderful -- they have an indoor/outdoor heated pool that was fabulous, as well as a hot tub. I took some great pics from our 9th floor balcony -- well, actually the quality of the pics wasn't great for some reason, but the scenery was.








About 6 years ago, we spent a week at that marina, and somewhere I have a great pic of the Wind Walker in front of the hotel. If I can find it, I'll post it later!

ON THE NEEDLES: I finished several hats for Afghans for Afghans, and have now started on the first baby blanket I'm doing for our new (due in May) grandchild. It's white -- double stranded, one of acrylic something-or-other, and the other a cotton blend with a bit of nubbly texture that I really like. I'm doing something called an 'hourglass' stitch inside a seed stitch border, and it's coming out gorgeous so far. I'll post pics in the next day or two!

Water Quality Testing

Today is a drizzly Saturday, but out on the water of the Upper Harbour, there is a small aluminum boat repeatedly going back and forth past our marina, and it looks like it's dragging something in the water behind it. It seems to me that last year, about this time, the same thing happened, and it turned out to be a contractor for the government doing bottom soil testing, or water quality testing, or something. I may go out on the dock later to see if I can get the guy's attention, and ASK him what he's up to.



OTN: My knitting needles have been busy in the last few days, too - I finished another Moebius (and that's it for those for awhile -- I have sore thumbs!), two hats for Afghans For Afghans, a baby hat for our new grandchild (due in May!), AND two cable samplers for the class I'll be teaching at Michael's Craft Store in February!

KNITTING Afloat!

Last year I intended to include knitting information in my blog posts, but never got it together. This year, I hope to do that -- I AM a passionate (and prolific!) knitter, and blogging about it allows me to keep track of my projects. Besides, there are probably not too many liveaboards who knit (or knitters who liveaboard?) - I mean, where do you keep your stash? ;-)

OTN ("On the Needles," for non-knitting readers...): Day before yesterday I started a dusty rose-colored Moebius scarf (double-stranded, mohair and a mohair-acrylic blend)for my oldest daughter (it shoulda/coulda/woulda been a Christmas present, but I ran out of time!) and I finished it last night.



Today I've already started another Moebius -- this time, in navy blue Lion Brand Boucle, which I'll use as a sample for display at Michael's Craft Store -- I start teaching Intermediate Knitting there in February!

The New Year!

Here it is January 3rd already -- how DOES the time go so fast?

On New Year's Day the wind was blowing 55 knots out on the Strait -- there was about a one foot chop right outside our marina, and we're pretty protected. So we drove down along the waterfront, and it was awe-inspiring! 8 - 10' waves crashing up on the rocks, and even spraying across the road in a few places. And I forgot to take my camera!



Last night we had coffee with David and Marjorie, new owners of the Senang Hati, a beautiful old wooden boat that's destined to become their summer home in Alaska. She was the last of a few dozen boats built by master west-coast boatbuilder George Bruigom - it was meant to be his personal boat, but he died of cancer before he got to enjoy it. Isn't she a beaut?