twinkle's BIG Bulky Hat

twinkle's Snowcap Hat

The photo shows the pastels of the yarn.
My first hat that starts at the bottom-up and so far so good.  I found this book  authored by Wenlan Chia at the LYS and I loved it. The shop (Classy Knits) owner had the hat knitted up in white with blue bulky yarn and knitted on a size 17 circular needle.  It is different because of it's presence, "like I am here and it is obvious", I am already planning 3 more.  I saw on Ravelry.com that a knitter finished it in an hour.  Now I don't know if that is possible, but that would be great for me, because I am a slow knitter, then I could turn them out lickedy split.  I will get a pic of the finished hat.  Although this is an adult hat I think it could be a hat for either adult or tween child.  

Another HAT

The Valary Hat in Cathy Carron's book HIP KNIT HATS.  Thinkin this needs to be done again in another color combo.

I THINK I LIKE THE BERET!

http://www.ravelry.com/people/DownAndKnitty

The model needs some sunshine

The View from our Campsite

You can double click the pic and see the detail of the view.

The Hearst Castle is on the top of the mountain in the 1st pic.  My dogs love to run free on these narrow hiking paths, and since the State Rangers don't hike the paths, they were free to run beyond the point of my sight.  The view of the sunsets over the Pacific Ocean, from of our campsite,  were spectacular.  As you can see the area is very dry.  Highway 1, along the coast, was shut down only 30 miles up the road, because of the Big Sur fires.  The Hiway opened the day before we went home.  Many lost their homes to the fire.  

San Simeon and Points North

The male Sea Lions were all along the beaches.  Some sparing, some lazing.  Queen our Golden Retriever went down this very steep cliff, when she had run ahead of me, because she was hot and wanted to get into the water.  It was a moment of panic for both of us, when she was unable to make it back up to the top.  She was off leash and I was imagining a rescue by the Rangers, and the ticket, and the lecture from my husband.  I hiked along the edge looking for a way for her to get up and she followed in the water and over the rocks and then back in the water, until she ran into a steep rock ridge that ran into the sea.  She turned around and swam back in the direction she came from. Oh, did I mention that it was high tide?  She was out of my view for about 100 feet. By the time I got back to the trail I could see she was struggling to climb the ledge.  I was praying and planning to lay on my belly and hang over the edge and grab her forequarters, but she weighs 100 pounds, and a vision of me going over the cliff stopped that thought.  Queen kept trying and finally she made it up and over.  I grabbed her collar and we hiked back to the truck.  Prayer works.  

We left 110+ degree weather and traveled to the Coast-Pacific, three hours from home, when we are pulling the trailer.  The weather was divine, but the on the last night I had to throw an extra blanket on me.   I am not complaining.  We met some very nice Canadians from Quebec and yes they spoke very little English, but my limited French helped in diagnosing one of their daughter's rash as being Poison Oak.  I gave them a bunch of zucchini and tomatoes from my garden.  They said it was too much, and I told them that all Americans are very generous and not to give it a thought.  Their plan is to spend all of their 5 week vacation on this side of the border, because the gasoline on the Canada side is more than $6.00/gallon. She doesn't knit.  I went to the LYS in Cambria.  They have the most gorgeous Mohair yarn, and no I didn't buy any.    

Grow Your Own

Before we left for the coast I picked all the ripe and near ripe produce from my garden.  When we came home I had to pick all that you see in these pics.  I washed and quick froze the little yellow and large red tomatoes and the jalapenos.  The yellow canning cucumber, while awfully large and yellow, instead of light green, was perfectly delicious and the texture-just fine.  I planted 3 zucchini plants and that was a mistake.  We never ate it before and now we are swearing off.  These will go to the Rescue Mission. I have given them to my neighbors and I think it is time for me to pull 2 of the plants out and replace them with more tomatoes.  I will have to give extra sun protection to them, because of the intense 100+ degree days, but I think that I can nurture them along.  We can pick tomatoes all the way up to the 2nd freeze.  Then the green tomatoes can be put up in a hot dog/steak/hamburger relish......mmmmmmgood.  

FAMILY HISTORY ~ My Ancestors fought against King George and his army helping to win our Independence Day.

I often consider my father's side of the family and their long ago commitment to being free to worship as they felt led, and their brave stand against the King of England, King George. Not all of his family warred against that Dictator, who wore the crown, who dictated that all our timber would go across the Atlantic for his purposes.  That task master who pronounced taxes so unreasonable that it caused a rebellious act of independence.  Those Bostonians were just saying no more taxes without representation, as they rolled the King's containers of tea into the bay,  and most of our countrymen responed with "NO" and "Hell NO".  I  thank King George for driving "we the people" to that breaking point.  Britons are still escaping to the USA.  Yes, they are our allies and I hope that never changes.

My father's family lived in "upstate" New York, and they were taking sides.  The debate and arguments were heated and those who sided with the King left and traveled to (now) Canada.      My father tells of how all communication was cut off.  The anger and resentment was stronger than the "ties" of family.  I am thankful to their stand and their fight.  It is a wonderful story of family history that I have passed on to my children and grandchildren.

We, as mothers and fathers need to know our history, the history of the American Revolution and even the sequence of events leading to the signing of our Independence Day Declaration.  Even if the chronological sequence is boring to us, we still need to know, because that info will give strength to our fiber and resolve to our demeanor.  Knowledge is a good thing, only when we all have it, not when just a few have it.  If only a few know the intimate details of our history,  they can manipulate it to suit their agenda, their purposes and we won't even realize the erosion that is undermining our earned promises of freedom, our independence and our Liberty. 

 At the dinner table teach your kids about the fight for Independence, tell them about the people who fought, and how they were just like you and me.  Tell them of how brave they were to stand up to the most powerful country in the world, in those times.  Help them to imagine the battlefield and the ages of those who fought and the weapons they used.  Tell them of the stealth they were able to employ.  Tell them that some of those long ago warriors had names like we have or our neighbors have.  Tell them of their faith in a just God, Who created them in His image and therefore we forbear.   

 Pray each day for God's Wisdom to know right from wrong, just from unjust, according to His teachings.

OLD GLORY STILL FLIES

The 4th of July.
The large flag draped the coffin of my Uncle Harold, who served in WW2 in the SouthPacific.  He was, oops,  is a Marine ("Once a Marine, always a Marine") and he survived the GuadalCanal invasion.  I have never met a Marine who could talk about those days, without choking up with tears rising in their eyes and some of them spilling over, as they began to relive those sad days.  It was easier not to talk about that day.  In those days men didn't boast or complain about the horror they witnessed.  He was a big man, standing 6'4", and he talked like a gangster, for you see, he was from New York, and this little girl idealized him.  He was my Uncle Harold.