Still playing with the new camera

I'm trying to limit my time spent watching Arne and Carlos videos!  I do knit while I'm watching, but it's very addictive and before I realize it, the day is gone and I don't have much to show for it!  

Yesterday was a day spent out.  I went birding with friends to Bosque del Apache.  We got to see a lot of wildlife including a bald eagle, that stayed put while we ate our lunch!  The longest time I've been able to watch and photograph an eagle.  I figured it would fly away at the moment I got the got the camera out and ready to shoot, but it never left its spot.  We were all wondering if there was something wrong with it. 

 

It was a perfect day, calm and warm yesterday.  The winds didn't kick up until later in the afternoon when we were ready to head home. Tuesday evening provided a beautiful sunset to end the cold and windy day.  

  

Camera inspiration

 The new camera is inspiring me to post more.  I keep checking it out, and all of a sudden everything is photographic inspiration.

How lose track of a day?  I started Sunday looking for a way to knit more of a reinforced heel.  For some reason beyond my  comprehension, I wear out socks at the bottom of the heel.  Doesn't matter if they are commercially made or hand knit socks, a worn spot develops and then invariably becomes a hole.  

So I happened on Arne & Carlos, a couple of Norwegian knitwear designers that have a multitude of Youtube videos.  I was hooked.  I got out some yarn and learned Norwegian style knitting which only differs from continental knitting in the purling.  After some trial and error (my hands want to go to their comfortable known way) I was able to get it.  Then there was a video on brioche knitting.  I had tried it once before, but their way was so simple.  That was for a one color brioche.  Before I knew it I had spent the whole day going from one video to another, traveling, cooking, and knitting with Arne & Carlos.

I started looking for patterns on Ravelry for brioche, but realized I should probably learn two color brioche.  I didn't find a video from Arne & Carlos.  I did find another knitter's tutorial, but I've discovered I do better with written directions.  I could do four rows of the two color and then I would mess up.  I took it out and restarted a number of times.  I then found written instructions on Ravelry which I could easily follow  and knit a little swatch.  

 

My hibiscus opened another blossom.  They are short lasting flowers, but so spectacular.  This plant belonged to my mother-in-law.  It really needs a good pruning but I can't bear to chop off branches when they are flowering.  

I've been cooking Hello Fresh meals, but skipped this week.  Instead I made a shrimp fried rice.  Another opportunity to get out the camera.  

I also managed to finish a quilt I had loaded a while back and then load another and get it quilted.  I had enough backing leftover that I decided I would quilt some decorator fabric I wanted to make into placemats.  That's been on my radar for some time. 


 

Finally finished!

This little project took over a week to complete.  There was a lot of frustrated "tink" (undoing knitting) which was finally resolved when I resorted to coloring and penciling the pattern.  My printer printed a very washed out image because it is running out of colored ink.  

Lesson learned, it's almost impossible for me to accurately follow a graph on the computer!  I did learn a new way to do colorwork, doubleknit.  

I got a new camera and what an upgrade.  I had a couple of cooperative woodpeckers, a downy and northern flicker this morning.  

Cameras have improved a great deal since my previous digital!