Back from the Peninsula

Last weekend I was down near Lilliwaup, on the Olympic peninsula with some knitting friends for our annual retreat. It was a beautiful spot, right on the Hood Canal

I didn’t think to take many photos, but this gives you an idea of the view from the deck. Just gorgeous. And a fair bit of wildlife activity- lots of eagles, an otter, seals and a couple of Minke whales, which I’d never heard of before.

On the way down we stopped off at The Artful Ewe in Port Gamble. It’s such a treat to see what she’s go going on there, and I always come away with some spinning fiber in a fabulous colorway. I should have taken a picture of the braid, but I was in vacation mode and not really thinking about documenting stuff. But I think it was this one- which is called “Autumn Leaves”. My seasons are out of synch apparently, but it called out to me.

I chose to chain ply it to get a nice squishy chunky yarn and preserve the color changes.

And, I made (another) start on the JUiST sweater project. For some reason I’ve had a hard time getting this one going properly. Between the gauge adjustment, new cast on, new increases and such, I’d been struggling to get it launched. But I think I’m on the right track now

Since that photo, there was progress made, un-made, and re-made.

Today I did a quick soak and block of the inprogress yoke to make sure that the shoulder shaping is in the right place (because it’s hard to tell when it’s all scrunched up on a circular needle). And i think it’s ok.

But I wouldn’t be surprised if I have to rip back again at some point. That seems to be the theme with this project.

Meanwhile, out in the pasture, Dottie is actively resisting being sheared. She’s being very elusive, and hasn’t given me any opportunity in weeks to lay hands on her. Looks like I’m going to have to get sneaky and set a trap to catch her up in the shed. (Just tried to get a picture, and she wasn’t up for that either)

Things are really heating up in the hoophouse-

Eggplants (+zucchini)

Melons (+zucchini)

This little jalepeno is probably the biggest success of the overwintering experiment- really coming along nicely

The overwintered tomatoes seemed to be off to a pretty good start early, but have been suffering from some powdery mildew of late. I’ve pulled one of them, and been trimming leaves and spaying with neem oil. Trying to keep it in check, but might have to yank the others if it threatens to spread to the new plants. Also just pruned the tomatoes and pulled some of the self-seeded chamomile to try and ensure that there is good airflow.

I’ve still got two Ananas Noir tomatoes to get in the ground, but I think they’ll have to hang tight in pots until the snap peas have done their thing.

I’ll sign off today with a short video of a cool waterfall that we visited on the trip back from Lilliwaup- If you’re ever in the Dosewallips area check it out- it’s quite scenic, and not too far a walk from the road

Have a good week folks-