SailingKnitter

I usually don't get too excited about concrete sculptures, but isn't this one the greatest! Who would have ever thought that I would find a big ball of concrete yarn at the Opequimar Yacht Club here in Puerto Vallarta? Jonesy says it's rope, as in nautical knot work - yeah whatever, rope, yarn, line, string - it's all fiber and all wonderful to me!

And speaking of fiber and knitting (aren't I always?) I've finished knitting my Cozy Cable Sock that I designed for the Holiday Mystery Gifts Yahoo! knitalong group. I used Knit Picks Essential sock yarn and it is so soft, and well, cozy! The pattern is available for FREE in the group files - in 3 parts or "clues". That's my foot on the balcony railing of the hotel...

Also for the group, I posted another washcloth; the Scalloped Waves Spa Cloth. This is the one that Jonesy picked out for himself to use out of the three different designs. Here's a picture of the Spa Cloth Trilogy. These are so quick and easy to knit, I'm getting a little carried away with them. And wouldn't you know it - the hotel is now providing washcloths, bathmats, and kleenex this week!!! Why? Did somebody read my blog and tattle to headquarters? Or did we look especially dirty ("get that sailboat trash some washcloths and see if they'll clean up")? Hmmmm...

The NIKI WIKI UPDATE
The old girl is still on the hard in the boatyard. The chemical striping and mechanical sanding is finished and all the blisters have been exposed. Now we are down to the original white gelcoat - and even to the bare fiberglass in many places. The circles you see are areas where they drilled out the deeper blisters. It's a little odd how there are rows of blisters running down the hull at the stern on both sides of the keel in the same place. Something in the original construction caused this area of weakness we assume.

Yesterday they started patching with fiberglass and resin, and by late afternoon were smearing on epoxy. Today, more sanding. It's totally unbelieveable how many man-hours it took to get rid of the thick dark multi-colored paint layers, and to drill out the blisters. But, we need the Niki Wiki to be around for many more years so it's all an investment in her's, and our future.

Okay - speaking of future, for those of you knitters who stayed awake through all the boat repair babble, I'll reward you with photos of two new patterns for ornaments that will be released tomorrow on the Holiday Mystery Gifts group - FREE of course. Introducing the Starburst and Kaleidoscope Ornaments...

And finally, a photo of a beautiful flower that I found this morning when I went out in the gardens here at the Howard Johnson's Hotel. I haven't a clue as to what kind of flower they are, but they are spectacular! Enjoy!