We returned home and were greeted by the trees just starting to change color. We peep while going about our regular activities, often at high speed.
And finally, a lighthouse. I joined my daughter on Long Island and we walked the barrier beach to this beauty. Tim and I spent one winter on Fire Island (heaven) and this was our backyard view!
We are on the road again. We headed to Long Island to go to my son and daughter-in-law’s baby shower. That kept me busy before-hand finishing up lots of projects.
There’s nothing more fun than working on baby items and imagining the soon to be, new little bundle.
I made a quilt, crocheted a blanket, knit a sweater, and a Halloween costume, and wove a 6 yard baby wrap.
We wrapped it all up and started our journey south. Our first stop was Long Island. We headed out to Fire Island where we lived one winter.
After the baby shower festivities and a nice visit with family, we hopped on a ferry and started our journey north.
We spent a night with “old” friends at a camp on a lake in Maine. Wonderful. Heard a loon, canoed in the dark, swam in the morning and ate challah bread french toast.
Then off to Seguin Island after provisioning at the local Shaw’s. Luckily we packed light because the tram isn’t running. We got everything ashore and up the hill without a hitch and had lobster for dinner.
I slept like a baby to the sounds of wind, the bell buoy and waves breaking.
I completed the Duxbury sweater from Simply Shetland and sent it off to Chelsea, after I tried it on. I wanted to wear it for a day or two but the weather wasn’t going to allow her to wear it for too much longer this season.
I love the way it came out. I enjoyed the Celtic knot in the front and back and had fun attaching the shoulder straps. Perhaps the armholes are a bit big but…
Now I am on a felted clog binge. I had wanted to make these for a long time and the local Michael’s had a sale on Paton’s Classic Merino. First I made a pair for myself and then DH and my son wanted a pair. I will surprise Chelsea with another knitted item. The Paton’s Classic Merino felted easily – I have to finish all the felting projects quickly because we move onto the boat May 1 and will no longer have access to a top loader washer. I erred in the cuff of my pair and decreased much more than suggested but I have a narrow foot and they fit great. I felted DH’s and am finishing my son’s.
Too bad I am finishing these super warm clogs just as the weather begins to improve. Hopefully the moths won’t get to them before I need them again.
Now I have just selected my knitting project for our backpacking trip to the Grand Canyon – of course I am not finished packing yet but have decided on a laceweight Pi shawl Light to carry, compact and should take forever. I am going to use a pattern from A Gathering of Lace, called the Shetland Tea Shawl. It’s basically a variation of EZ’s Pi shawl but all the math has been done.
I have plied my Kood aid fingering weight and am happy with the results. I think it will become a scarf or shawl. I am experimenting with black overdyeing to get a deeper tone (?) for some of my other Kool Aid yarn.
I will be sad to leave Fire Island in a month. The winter flew by and I even made some knitting friends here, through Ravelry and the Spinning Study Group of Long Island. At least the internet will keep us in touch and I’ll be sailing through this way again. The SSGLI meets monthly and also runs a fiber study group, where I have learned a lot about breeds of sheep and spinning techniques. Last weekend there was a workshop and I had a spinning immersion. I’ve concluded that my Kromski spinning wheel will join me and the cats on the boat at least for the first leg of our journey.
There’s a dredge project taking place off Fire Island this winter to add sand to the beaches east of here.
There’s a barge offshore and it’s pumping sand onto the beach through a big pipe.
This lucky guy is surveying the bottom before the sand is deposited. It was in 20’s today and the wind was blowing about 20 mph. He said he would rather be here than Florida now because there aren’t any sharks.
The seagulls are having a feast on the critters deposited with the fresh sand behind the tractors.
On the home front, I learned how to cable without a cable needle today from Elizabeth Zimmerman’s Knitter’s Glossary. I am forever losing my cable needle so this is very freeing. Next I’ll have to steek something.
I enjoyed a long walk along the beach today, met a new neighbor and saw a fabulous sunset. I may have even glimpsed the green flash!
We awakened this morning to the pitter patter of little feet – above our heads. We looked up and the skylight was covered with what I think were Eastern Starlings that were taking advantage of the ice melting off the skylight.
This one looks a little bit like a penguin. I’m not sure about that eye! Then while we had breakfast, we saw a seal float by on an ice floe as the tide went out in the Great South Bay. All this wildlife while I was still in my jammies!
Later in the day, we took a walk to see more wildlife along the Fire island inlet. We saw lots of deer, more seals, a hawk and some plovers. We saw almost just as much from the comfort of home.
The weather outside is frightful…
well not exactly but it’s pretty cold so I have taken to indoor projects. I knitted up a baby set based upon Elizabeth Zimmerman and just love it. I enjoy that her projects get me to think like a knitter and not just follow a pattern completely.
Next i knit up a cowl from fleece I had washed and spun as part of my fiber study. It’s bond fleece and is so light and fluffy, 
I’ll have to invest in more and think of future projects but will probably stick to one color.
Yesterday, I was on my own so tried my hand at kool aid dyeing of some 
corriedale cream roving and loved it. it was easy, not too messy and non-toxic. My local grocery store didn’t have any blue kool aid so I may have to move on to food coloring. I followed very helpful instructions from purecrafty’s blog. So far I have spun up a single and will figure out how I want to mix and ply the colors.These are not my usual earth tones so it may be challenging figuring out the right project.
Island and North Country Life 