FO Friday

Since I didn't blog for a while, I didn't do any FO (finished object) posts.  So, I've been trying to figure out what all I may have finished during my blogging break.  I'm not sure I'm remembering everything and there are some things that were made for Christmas gifts that I can't show just yet.  But, here are some things I've created over the past month or so...

If you've been following my blog for a while you might remember a sugar skull painting I did in a class with my daughter in July.  Shortly after finishing that, I got the idea to do a kitty version.  It turned out a little goofy and a little cute.  I'm trying not to focus on what I wish I'd done differently and just enjoy it.  I'm not really sure what I'll do with it but I do like the happy colors.

I had an idea early this year to make a tiny, lace shawl for a blog friend's puppet.  She took her puppet on trips and posted pictures of it on cruise ships and exotic places.  It just seemed like a fun idea.  I finally finished it up and made a matching pair of earrings and sent it off.  Sadly, the puppet got lost on one of her trips.  The last time she saw it was sticking out of her bag at an airport.  Oh well.  She liked the earrings and said she'll enjoy wearing them.  She might even make a new puppet that can someday enjoy this cute little set.

I hope I'm safe in sharing these next two projects.  I know that one of the recipients never goes online.  I don't think the other one will visit my blog.  Fingers crossed!

So many people have what they need and gifting is a challenge.  I figure I can't go wrong with nice kitchen towels and a little something handmade to personalize it and make it special.  That's just what these two gifts are.  We all use kitchen towels and I'd love to get a gift like one of these.  

As I was searching on Ravelry for ideas, I saw that someone had used the center flower of a pot holder pattern to make a little scrubby.  It was so cute and seemed like the perfect idea for this gift and the person it's going to.  I even had the yarn I needed in my stash.  How cool is that?!

I used Sugar N Cream yarn, a size G hook, and the "Rose Ripple Potholder" pattern.  You can find it on Ravelry by clicking HERE.  I used THIS free leaf pattern to finish it off.

For this set of kitchen towels, I made a couple of dish cloths.  I've made lots of these over the years and I love them.  They work great!  And, they're simple and fun to make and I can make two with a two ounce ball of Sugar N Cream.  I made this pattern up and you can find details on how to make it on my Ravelry project page by clicking HERE.

I'll post other projects when I can, after Christmas.  Other than that, the only things I can think of that I've finished lately are some Kumihimo cords.  They're fun to make and a great use of scraps.  I'll round them up and take some pictures for a future post.

Goodbye Summer

 Hubby and I spent the last day of summer doing something we've been wanting to do for a long time. 

We went hiking in the mountains above Idyllwild, CA.

There was a huge fire up there earlier in the summer that threatened the mountain communities

and many of the trails we love and use often.  The trails were closed for a while after the fire.

Eventually they re-opened but it's been too hot up there to hike (it's not as cool as the Big Bear

area on another mountain where we've been mountain biking and camping at a lot).

When the weather started cooling last week we wasted no time in planning a hike.

We headed up early Saturday morning, stopped at the ranger station

 for our trail permit, and we were on our way!  Woo hoo!  

We hiked the South Ridge Trail that day.  It was so great to be hiking up there again!  

I only brought my phone and a small camera for photos and took very few.
I wanted to just soak in the day.

The mountain had recently been washed in flash floods.

So, all the trees and bushes were extra clean, green and pretty.

It was interesting to stop at various lookout spots along the way to see where the fire had burned.

It had burned a lot but it's still beautiful and the views are spectacular.

We enjoy stopping at this pile of huge boulders to climb around and have a seat.

Here's the view out from inside that pile of boulders...with my cute hubby!

When we got to the top of Tahquitz Peak it was awesome to see the fire lookout stand.  I'd worried about it during the fire and couldn't wait to get back onto our trails again and go see it.

We were surprised to see that the tower was open.  There was a volunteer up there for

the day and that night.  I've wondered what it would be like to stay up there.  

She said the sunrise and sunset are awesome!

There are windows all around with views of the ocean, the desert, and more mountains.

And, there's a deck that runs around the entire outside of the building.

There was a thick marine layer in the lower areas that day but the views were still great.

The stand in the center has a map and a device to help calculate where fires are when they're spotted.

It even has a little cook stove and heat stove.

There's a bed just to the left of the heat stove.

This is the National Forest Service volunteer that was up there that day.

She was really nice and we enjoyed chatting with her.

Here, she's filling out a visitor card for my husband.

He has one from when he was about 16.  It was fun to get another one so many years later.

That's me sitting on the rock near the tower...

And, hubby...

It was quite a hike!  There was over 2,400 feet of elevation climb in just over three miles to the top!

The steepness was tough for the trip back down too.  What a great workout and great day!

The weather was awesome...warm in the sun and chilly in the shade and super blue skies.

We ended the day as we often do when we go to Idyllwild...at the Restaurant Gastronome.

I keep finding myself ordering the same thing because it's so yummy...a turkey sandwich

on ciabatta bread with tomato, lettuce, purple onion and a spicy cranberry sauce.

It's delicious...especially when I'm really hungry.  Hubby had a turkey sandwich on a 

croissant with fig jam.  It was yummy too.  The beer was icey cold...Yum!

When we were at the ranger station that morning, I got a cute little pair of 

Smokey the Bear earrings that I've been eyeing for a while.  Fun!

That day was such a great end to our wonderful summer!

How did you end your summer?

Blue Finch

The recent "Grow Your Own Blog" party hosted by Vicki at "2 Bags Full" was so much fun!

And, the fun continues...  One of the blogs I visited during the party was "Blue Finch".  I enjoyed her blog and began following it and left a comment.  I don't think I realized that she was giving away

a pair of earrings to each person that commented, followed her blog or emailed her.  But soon after I had left a comment, she emailed me to let me know she'd be sending me a pair.

After receiving her email, I popped over to her blog for another look and noticed that she had over 60 comments on that one post.  That's a LOT of earrings to give away.  Not to mention that it would be costly to send all of them.  I wanted to ease her burden and asked that she not send any to me.  But, she insisted.  I think she had a LOT of work ahead of her as she was just recently able to finish all the earrings, pack them up, and ship them.  I received mine this last week.

They're pretty!

They arrived in a fancy box and the earrings were attached to a cute little card stock finch...

I'm excited to wear them!  I really need more earrings as I always wear the same few favorites.

I think these will become part of my regular rotation!

It turns out that Rachel makes lots of beautiful jewelry.

She sells it from her online store... bluefinch.co

Thank you, Rachel, for your generous gift!