Author Archives: RyanMcGurl

Instagram, August 2015

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Top Row:
Pretty grasses and wildflowers in the dunes on Cape Lookout
I love the graphic quality of these fences, also Cape Lookout
Working on one of my scrap yarn blankets

Second Row:
View of the dunes and beach from the cabin on Cape Lookout
Crock pot magic, Strip steak tacos
Enjoying a very relaxing afternoon, Ocracoke Island

Third Row:
Shrimp Boat, Ocracoke Island
Pretty dirt road, Ocracoke Island
Chairs on the porch of our hotel, Ocracoke Island

It was great having a weekend of just Jon and I, no dogs. I actually got to walk around the village of Ocracoke. Usually I can’t because Chewie doesn’t walk far any more, or do well in the heat. And we got to sit in one of the restaurants overlooking the harbor for the afternoon, without worrying about Panzer barking every time someone walks past the truck. We didn’t even make it to the beach this weekend, just enjoyed relaxing and doing very little.

Forth Row:
Sea Oats, Cape Lookout
Panzer and Sasha sharing a bed. They are so cute when the behave.
The beach at Cape Lookout.

Bottom Row:
Onion harvest from my garden. I grew all these in one 16″ pot.
Peppers also in my garden. 4 of these little pepper plants have been putting out pepper pretty steady for most of August
Knitting the Harper Shawl.

New Bern, NC

About a month ago I took a day trip to the “big city” of New Bern about 45 minutes away. Back in colonial times it was the capital of North Carolina and now has a nice historic district, including the former governor’s palace, a nice walkway along the waterfront, and cute downtown area. Its all pretty close and easily walkable.

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Top Row:
View of the Trent River from the Visitors Center
An interesting sculpture that moves with the wind, also at the visitor’s center
Walking along the waterfront

Middle Row:
Sailboat on the Neuse River
An adorable family of ducks
Crepe Myrtle and Sphagnum Moss

Bottom Row:
Several views of the historic gardens

Walked 4 miles
This year 44.4

Watchcap Beanie

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I’ve been knitting lots of beanies this week for my Scarlett Made shop on Etsy, replenishing stock before the Christmas and cold weather seasons, and adding some new colors. I should be ready to share the new one next week, but until then, here is a repost of a pattern I designed and put on my old blog a few years ago.
This is a great basic hat I designed for my boyfriend. He likes lighter weight hats with a folded brim to keep his ears warm.

Ravelry: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/watchcap-beanie

Yarn: Light Fingering Weight, the yarn shown here is Lion Brand Sock Ease in the color Rock Candy. Red Heart Heart and Sole and many other sock yarn would also work. I was able to make two hats with one 100g skein of Sock Ease.

Needles: 3.25 mm dpns

Sizes: Medium 18″ (will stretch to comfortably fit most women) Large 19″ (will comfortably stretch to fit most men)

Cast on: Using the cast on method of your choice, I used the long tail, cast on 120 (128) sts
This hat is worked in the round. At the end of the cast on, join by knitting into the first stitch, being careful not to twist.
rnd 1: *K2, P2, repeat from * to end of rnd.
Continue working in K2P2 rib for 2 inches.

From here knit every row until the hat measures 8.5 inches total (6.5 inches from the ribbed brim).

Shape crown
Decrease Rnd: *K6, K2tog, repeat from * to the end of rnd. 105 (112) sts
Knit 1 rnd
Decrease Rnd: *K5, K2tog, repeat from * to the end of rnd. 90 (96) sts
Knit 1 rnd
Decrease Rnd: *K4, K2tog, repeat from * to the end of rnd. 75 (80) sts
Knit 1 rnd
Decrease Rnd: *K3, K2tog, repeat from * to the end of rnd. 60 (64) sts
Knit 1 rnd
Decrease Rnd: *K2, K2tog, repeat from * to the end of rnd. 45 (48) sts
Knit 1 rnd
Decrease Rnd: *K1, K2tog, repeat from * to the end of rnd. 30 (32) sts
Knit 1 rnd
Decrease Rnd: *K2tog, repeat from * to the end of rnd. 15 (16) sts
Decrease Rnd: *K2tog, repeat from * to the end of rnd (for medium size there will be one leftover st, knit last st). 8 (8) sts
Cut yarn, leaving a 4″ tail, and thread it through all 8 sts, pull in tight and weave in ends on the wrong side.

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Cape Lookout, South Core Banks

Last week we went camping in the National Seashore again. This time on the South Core Banks, which I prefer to the North Core Banks. The Lighthouse and other historic buildings are on the Southern Island, as well as some great swimming spots, and I find a lot of seashells here too.

First Row:
One of our trucks on the ferry.
Dirt road through the historic village.
Sunset over the Sound.

Second Row:
Sitting in the tide pools. We saw a shark, so we decided not to gout outside the sandbars that afternoon.
A dead puffer fish.
Whelk shells decorating a fence

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Third Row:
Blanket flowers.
Cape Lookout Lighthouse.
Sea Oats.

Forth Row:
A beautiful view of the beach from the cabin.
A friends daughter running from the waves. She wasn’t quick enough.
Calm waters inside “the hook.”

Fifth Row:
The beach.
An abandoned home.
Sunrise. Wasn’t it nice of Sasha to wake me up at 6 am so I could see this?

Miles hiked: 17.6
This year: 40.4

Cape Lookout, North Core Banks

About a month ago, we went camping on the North Island of the Cape Lookout National Seashore. We love to go out here because it is so empty. Its basically just a big stretch of beach on the ocean side, and some grass covered sand dunes and marsh on the sound side.

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Top Row:
A picture of a dead thing I took to send my sister in law (all in fun, not because I’m sending her a subtle message). I think its a dolphin or a small whale.
Rough seas, it was windy most of the week. We just drive until we find a good tide pool to play in when its like this.
My old man, Chewbacca, taking a nap on the beach.

Bottom Row:
A beautiful sunset over the marsh and Core Sound.
The dunes and beach.
Relaxing on the deck.

Miles hiked: 13.2
This year: 22.8

Although I still have a lot of hiking that I haven’t blogged yet, its recently occurred to me that the year is more than halfway over, and I’m quite far behind on reaching my goal of 500 miles.

NYC in Instagram

Way back in February, my Mom and I went to NYC for a weekend, so I could see Henri Matisse: The Cut-outs. It was amazing, and worth the trip. The cutouts were so colorful and joyful. Of course, I kept imagining Matisse’s assistants, who must have been so excited about obtaining and apprenticeship with such a successful artist, only to be frustrated about doing nothing but painting plain sheets of paper, and then being instructed to place it just so inside of the collage. “No, no, a little to the right. Too far, back to the left just a bit…” Unfortuanately I couldn’t take any pictures inside the exhibit, but thats ok. Sometimes having a camera helps me to focus on what is beautiful, and other times it can get in the way of just immersing myself in an experience.

Here are my instagram photos from the weekend. Like me, my Mom is a great walker (wonder where I get it from?) and we spent the whole weekend walking all over the city. Midtown to Central Park, then to Bryant Park and the Library, Union Square, The Highline and Chelsea Market, and Little Italy. Of course, we tried to avoid Times Square, but did walk through it accidentally.

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I figured that I walked about 38 miles that weekend, bringing my total for the year to 47.6. Its pretty far from my goal of 500. I have several walks and hikes I haven’t blogged yet, but sill if I want to reach my goal of 500 miles for 2015, I better get moving.