Last week was Winter Whale Watch week at the Oregon Coast; gray whales are migrating down to Baja to their warmer winter waters. I went on a day trip with friends to try to catch a glimpse of them.
We ended up at Ecola State Park, which has gorgeous views. You can see Haystack Rock at Cannon Beach from here.
We didn’t see any whales/spouts, so I made this picture to commemorate the day.
Along the way, I had this very happy lap full of rainbow knitting. This is a project with Knitted Wit, due in late February. It’s her #glowupknittedwit rainbow mini skeins, paired with a skein of Oregon Sky. The base is Knitted Wit Fingering.
It was the perfect knit for a drizzly day. The project is done and currently blocking; I love how it turned out. I’m looking forward to sharing it with you soon.
Thanks for all your comments on the previous Barbie knits post. I was wondering just what kind of skating outfit was in that Knitting for Barbie canister, so I googled “knit 2 piece barbie skating outfit” and found this pattern page on Ravelry. It’s a 1962 pattern for a sweater and skinny pants. There’s a picture of the printed pattern, and more googling found a copy of the pattern posted on an old blogspot blog.
The instructions are extensive and quite bossy, with a header that says DO ONE STEP AT A TIME — DO NOT READ AHEAD and a footer that says DO NOT PUT YOUR WORK DOWN BEFORE YOU FINISH THE ROW YOU’RE WORKING ON. The pattern is aimed at beginners, with instructions for ribbing that include moving the yarn back and forth between the needles for knits and purls. I wonder how many of these outfits were knit, and how many were abandoned?
Maybe it wasn’t that hard. At least it was small; the cast on for the back is only 14 stitches.
My Aunt Rose taught me to knit when I was 14. My first knitting project was a pullover sweater knit in the round with baby blue worsted weight yarn, with twin cables up the front. What was your first project?
PDXKnitterati 
Your commemorative picture made me giggle rather loudly! And your first picture is stunning – that needs to be framed!
My Mom taught me to knit when I was about four – it was a garter stitch scarf that was quickly abandoned when my attention turned to something else. I think my first completed (not abandoned project) was a garter stitch baby jacket for my best friend’s first born – it was Smurf blue and WAY too big. I think the sleeves were different lengths too.
My Mom taught me to knit, and I believe that my first project was a coat for Barbie, knit with baby yarn on oversized needles.
My Mom knit a luscious Barbie skating outfit that consisted of a bodysuit, and a skirt. Both were trimmed with angora fiber. There is a similar one pictured on Ravelry.
I was taught to knit also by my mom — I was about 4 or 5, I think? My first project was a garter stitch scarf for my dolls. . that I may have thrown across the room in a fit of small-child frustration. . . /blushes/
My first scarf was made in Red Heart yarn in the Mexicali colorway (which they STILL make over 50 years later. LOL) It was just a simple garter scarf and boy, was it UGLY!
Like clown barf, yes? I’m actually knitting with something that wild RIGHT NOW; it’s Cat Bordhi Aha on worsted weight. Six inch color runs because it was designed to have different colors every few stitches so that you could teach/learn with it and say: the blue stitch. Or the red stitch. Or the green stitch.
But what I’m trying to do right now is make it pool, knitted circularly. I’m almost there. It is much more pleasing to the eye than jumbled clown barf! More like a rainbow.
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See, you sighted a whale! LOL Love the new shawl – looking forward to knitting it 🙂