May 2021, part 2: Garden, Knitting, Sewing

June 4, 2021 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

My garden:

Native irises

First roses

Our tomato plants are doing well – next we will add a few basil plants.

Walking in Portland:

California poppies

Same poppies on a cloudy day.

Meadow rue and allium

Colorful landscaping

And in the “weird” Portland spirit:

Fairy garden

Sidewalk interactive music box display

Mannequin arms on Yogurt Shop bench

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First local Hood strawberries! (Not weird)

Knitting and sewing:

I am making progress on my bamboo Em Dash cardigan.

I’ve finished all of the parts of the albatross – assembly next.

I finished another hat for the guild charity project. Pattern is Jason’s Cashmere Hat, yarn is Knit Picks Hawthorne in the Compass color.

I am close to finished with the red/brown socks.

I started these green socks for travel knitting, made good progress on our DC trip. But I lost at yarn chicken.

The pinwheel quilt for a new baby in the family is basted and ready for quilting:

I used this opportunity to knit Egg to Turtle for the big sister. I have had my eye on this Susan B Anderson pattern for a while, and enjoyed the opportunity to make it for someone.

I refreshed my mask supply for our flight to DC and travels there:

I have some garment sewing patterns queued up for stitching. I’ve been using my Jane Austen pattern weights:

And in other crafty news, my knitting group is planning a Big Hug-Show and Tell Back Yard Party later this month, after we are all fully vaccinated. It will be great to share all our knitting projects that we have only seen over ZOOM.

Late April 2021

May 8, 2021 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

Continuing my neighborhood walks: After the cherry blossoms, the pink snow,

We go from pink trees

to pink sidewalks in a week’s time.

And find them all through the neighborhood.

Dogwood trees and other flowers bloom,

Dogwood

rhododendron

fothergilla

lewisia

Interestingly cracked concrete catches my eye…

We went on two more hikes with amazing wildflowers:

Tom McCall Trail, OR, April 23

When we hiked here on March 11th, the slopes were covered with purple grass widows. Today, the balsamroot is the star!

Starting up the trail with friends.

Lower cliffs, balsamroot and lupine in full bloom!

Eastward view.

Every blade abloom under the oak trees.

Open slopes of balsamroot and Mt Adams.

Continuing up.

Paintbrush in bloom on the upper slopes.

Views from the top:

West to Mt Hood.

North to Mt Adams.

Northeast, to the Cherry Orchard.

More views on the hike down:

Rowena Plateau.

Paintbrush! and the Memaloose Hills, with their yellow backs.

Parsley Alley….

And a few more flowers, for the day.

Chocolate lily and some of that sneaky poison oak creeping in.

Oaks toothwort

Miner’s lettuce

Waterleaf

Orobanche

Baby stars

Bitterroot Trail, Catherine Creek, WA April 26

Aptly lived up to its name – the earlier blooming flowers have faded, but the bitterroot is just getting started today!

We began near the fairy ponds – now filled with camas lilies; the adjacent rock outcrops hosting glorious bitterroot flowers.

Lewisia rediviva

Sprinkled across the basalt; bicolored cluster lilies speckle the meadow beyond.

We wind our way up the slope:

Eastward.

Camas lilies and shooting stars.

Death camas and purple camas lilies

Turn left at the balsamroot, while admiring the windswept views east,

and west…

We drop down the Rowland Wall trail,

One of the largest clusters of bitterroot buds I have seen…

buckwheat

A giant clump of cliff penstomen surprised us!

More bitterroot scattered across the rocky surface along our return trail.

This is their time to rise up!

Meanwhile…

We finally had a chance to see the heritage American Chestnut Tree in the Sellwood neighborhood. It dwarves the house, and there is an enormous stump of another chestnut tree behind it.

Rare American Chestnut, Sellwood, Oregon

Leaves just budding out.

Knitting

I finished a Scrappy Marl Hat for the guild project,

started another hat, and restarted my bamboo cardigan.

Quilting

I’m making progress on the baby quilt.

Repotted plant report from Washington DC:

Commentary on the verdict, and the path forward:

Blooms of early April 2021

April 24, 2021 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

The crabapple tree in our front yard finally bloomed during the second week of April. This tree was in full bloom the day we moved into our house in mid March almost 30 years ago.