Swatchless

I came home, and checked on the little ones to see what’s changed today.  The first thing I noticed was that I can tell the birds apart!  Physically, one is growing white feathers on the tail, and the other is growing grey feathers.

The bird with white on the tail is much calmer, and quieter.  It doesn’t seem bothered by me being there.  The other one, with the grey tail was making itself tall and puffed up when I was taking photos.  It started making clicking noises too.  I wonder if it is a scared reaction, or if it thinks I am its mother and it is calling for food.

bird on the right is standing up and clicking

Maybe it is the one that hatched first, and the other one will become scared/hungry and puffy tomorrow.  No flapping yet, but that will be exciting when it happens.  They look softer now that the feathers are more than just quill-stubble.

Any bets on when they start to flap, or make pigeon noises, or venture out of the poopy flower pot?

It’s amazing how inspiration sometimes comes from yarn, or from a serendipitous email from a knitting site, or sometimes from diving in the stash….it didn’t take long for inspiration to find me!

100g of soft wool....from the stash

While walking downtown I ran into a friend I haven’t seen in a long time.  She reminded me of a knitting project that I had promised to make and hadn’t yet started. I went home and looked through the stash to find the right wool–I think there might even be enough there–weekend knitting project here we come!

In pigeon news:  They are getting more feathers each day….and apparently pooping a lot more too!  They still seem oblivious to me being there taking snapshots daily–tonight the flash even went off!  Maybe they know that I am one of their biggest fans.

There’s something nice about finishing a bunch of projects: the feeling of weaving in ends, sewing on buttons and putting packages in the mail, or giving them away.  These days I have finished so many projects, but I haven’t started anything new in a while.  My needles are bare, and I am waiting for inspiration.

In the mean time…pigeons are getting wispy little feathers…

…and I have bits of green popping up out of my little indoor garden.

What inspires you?

Today, I went with some of the robotics team to do inventory of the metal that’s left after our build season, and to my great shock and amazement, one of the boys pulled something out of his backpack to show me.  It is an almost complete hat, that he knit!!  I am so impressed at his skill and dedication.  Not many grade 9 boys would take on that kind of a project–he’s got talent too.  I didn’t get a picture, but there were lots of different stripes in our team colours.

lego man with scrap metal

In knitting news, I sent off two packages in the mail with little baby sweaters in them.  I hope the little ones will enjoy wearing them!

In pigeon news, I came home tonight and watched the mother pigeon feed the babies.  They were pecking at her and eating regurgitated stuff I think.  I watched through the window for a while, then the mother took off for a bit

I snuck up to see the babies, to see if they were still pecking, but nope…they were as quiet as usual.

Eyes open…bellies full…what a life!

Today I finished up the second baby sweater made from cotton–the cotton that I love!  It is called Cotton Supreme Batik and it is 100% cotton, soft and silky like bamboo, with a nice drape.  This colourway is called “Watermelon Patch”, and outside in the bright sunshine it looks just like a little bit of summer.

This is the bench under which the pigeons are growing steadily bigger.  They now seem to be left alone more, perhaps their mom is off looking for food for them or maybe they are big enough to keep warm on their own for a longer time.

Eyes are open, and they now seem to startle with noise.  They almost seemed to stand up a bit when I got close to the flower pot (which is getting a great fertilizer treatment!)  I know I am going to get a scare one of these days when they start to learn how to flap.

This past weekend the Cantabile Men and Women’s choirs went on tour to Burlington Vermont and Eastman Quebec, which meant a LOT of time spent singing, and a LOT of time on a bus.  Its funny, when packing for this trip the first thing I thought of was what knitting to bring.

I decided that a new knitting project would be needed to keep my fingers and brain busy during the long bus ride.

Some Assembly Required

This is a fiddly project.  I made it more fiddly by attempting it with sock yarn (Sisu) and size 2.5mm needles.  I was not sure how this would work as bus knitting–it could have been a disaster.  I recommend bringing a baggie to put the finished parts in, and using 5 needles rather than 4.  I remembered at the last minute to bring a darning needle, and stuffing.

It was great fun watching the parts take shape.  The pattern is very well written, and the pictures are extremely helpful to the construction of the many tiny pieces.

Once completed, this little guy started having fun on the trip….he specially liked breakfast time…  (this next picture is dedicated to the W.A.F.F.L.E.S. First Lego League Team.  I was thinking of you this weekend as you were watching the World Festival!)

LEGO WAFFLES

The original pattern results in a guy that is 10 inches tall.  My lego guy, knit in finer yarn, is about 5 inches tall.  And, with a significant amount of balancing, he’ll stand up!

with a 1 litre juice box

I arrived back home to notice that some other things had grown in my absence.

My radishes: growing tall, reaching for the sunshine

Before

After

My pigeons: now they are getting grey feathers and their eyes are open.

Before

After

I’m enjoying watching these little birds as they grow.  Not much difference from yesterday, but they were left all alone and quivering to keep warm.  I hope their mom doesn’t leave them for too long–it’s going to be a cold weekend.

As for the seeds I planted inside….they are growing too!

I think those are the radishes that are growing so quickly.

As far as knitting goes, I’m starting on “Some Assembly Required“.

image source: ravelry.com

I have the head completed, and have started deciphering the leg instructions.  It is fiddly work, but turning out well so far.  I’m knitting it in sock yarn on small needles (the pattern calls for worsted weight on 4mm needles) so perhaps I’m making it extra fiddly–I tend to do that!

Look forward to progress pictures after the weekend.

I have been checking on the pigeons….here’s my super spy shot of the mother sitting on the “nest”.

She left once she realized that I was watching her….and revealed that there are now TWO babies in the nest.

It’s hard to believe that they are pigeons!

Today I planted some seeds indoors to start my balcony garden for the summer.  I then went onto the balcony for the first time in ages, to bring in some of my planters.  I was surprised by a flutter of wings, and the rapid departure of a pigeon.

In a pot, under a bench I found this little guy!  I snapped this picture quickly so the mom could come back and keep him warm.