Monthly Archives: April 2018

Black Diamond Natural Area

Some sunny warm weather rolled in over the weekend, so we took advantage of it the only way we know how: hiking! For a change of pace we checked out a new area, Black Diamond Natural Area and the 4 or 5 surrounding county parks. BDNA ended up being more of a trail mountain bike area with a bunch of bike-only loop trails so that was a bust, but all of the surrounding parks were quite pleasant walks. We ended up making a pleasant 10 mile walk out of it and we’ll have to make it out again to check out 2 of the surrounding parks: Ravensdale and Lake Sawyer in the future.

The trails were mostly wide gravel, which led to a chill vibe.

The trails were mostly wide gravel, which led to a chill vibe.

Mountain Bike trails brought to you by the local church outreach. We have now reached peak Pacific Northwest.

Mountain bike trails brought to you by the local church outreach. We have now reached peak Pacific Northwest.

Best views of the day were lakes as is often the case. I don't think you can see it but this picture has a bald eagle harrying some geese. We were routing for the eagle.

Best views of the day were lakes, as is often the case. I don’t think you can see it, but this picture has a bald eagle harrying some geese. We were rooting for the eagle.

I like tree tunnel trails.

I like tree tunnel trails.

Long Knit Fingerless Gloves

I wanted another pair of fingerless gloves that would be light enough for spring but would still provide enough warmth on rainy, cool days. After looking through various patterns, I chose a light weight lace glove. Since I’ve made a lot of fingerless gloves in the past few years, I decided to make up a pattern of my own.

First, I chose a length. I knew I wanted to make them to be longer so that I could wear them with t-shirts instead of a sweater so this step went pretty quickly. Next, I had to pick a lace pattern that required between 14 and 20 stitches. This limit was due to the number of stitches across the back of the glove (20 stitches). I probably spent longer than necessary looking at lace patterns, but finally decided on a diamond twist pattern and started knitting.

Overall, I’m pretty happy with how the gloves turned out. They were warmer than my sweater the day I took these pictures so I think they’ll work nicely as well!

The finished gloves.

The finished gloves.

I used ribbing so the gloves would fit more closely.

I used ribbing on most of the glove for a closer fit on my arm.

And the lace detail. Lloyd got me Vogue Stitchionary: Lace for Christmas and I have definitely been making use of it.

And the lace detail. Lloyd gave me Vogue Stitchionary: Lace for Christmas and I have definitely been making use of it.

Springtime in Renton

It’s springtime for apples and Renton – and winter for blackberry and moss. Musical allusions aside, it is finally springtime at the house and I have pictures of flowers from our yard to prove it! It is very interesting at the change of any season as we live on the top of a reasonable hill and work at sea level between the Sound and Lake Washington. This means spring is two weeks earlier at work than it is at home.

But now we have crazy blooms of pear and plum, as well as some of the perennial flowers. And buds on all of the trees. So we are both happy about the extra colour and promise of very fresh fruit at the expense of some extra work.

Apple tree does not believe in early flowers. It is fearful of the final frost which happened mid April last year.

Apple tree does not believe in early flowers. It is fearful of the final frost which happened mid April last year.

Pears on the other hand are all in on blossoms. Even if fruit trees didn't give fruit they would still be worth growing for the flowers, shade, and wood.

Pears, on the other hand, are all in on blossoms. Even if fruit trees didn’t give fruit, they would still be worth growing for the flowers, shade, and wood.

And the poppies that we thought we killed last year in the drought came back with a vengeance. It is nice to have flowers on the dinner table again.

And the poppies that we thought we killed last year in the drought came back with a vengeance. It is nice to have flowers on the dinner table again.