Dark clouds gathering over a wide creek in the evening light. In the foreground is a road and sidewalk.

Clouds Over Mill Creek 3/15/2012 #photography

Thank you! It is a little stormwater retention pond in our local Bark Park, and it is always fun to go watch all the different ducks, geese, and herons. Taking in nature in a city is a trick of tuning out the background buildings, roads, trash dumpsters, etc., and just seeing the pretty part.

A male mallard and a wigeon swimming on rippling water that is reflecting the trees.

Mallard and Wigeon at Ridgeway Park. #photography #birds

A branch of a sweet gum tree in bud against a blue sky. One seed pod remains from the previous season.

Sweet Gum Tree - the promise of shady leaves and the threat of spiked gumballs. #photography

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It's in www.amazon.com/Big-Book-Kni...

The colorway is called Imaginary Garden, I couldn't resist it.

Knitted cowl and earband in green, blue, and maroon stripes,

Cowl and Earband for #ShowMeYourKnits Lion Brand Ferris Wheel 🧶In Ripple Stitch with no pattern.

An osprey standing in shallow water next to a sand bar. There are 3 gulls on the sandbar.

The osprey was bathing in the shallow water, looking for all the world just like a robin in a rain puddle. Not the world's most exciting pic, but it documents that I got to stand there and watch the show. #photography #birds

Brown pelican standing on some broken slabs of concrete on the edge of the water. In the background are bridge pilings encrusted with barnacles.

Brown Pelican, Mill Creek. 3/13/2012 #photography #birds

Pretty good for a first time zipper!

You could make a cowl and have all that softness up on your neck where you can enjoy it. Do an overall pattern of mesh or texture to not compete with the color.

Water flowing over large rocks in a garden pond. You can see individual droplets as the water falls down to the next level.

Norfolk Botanical Gardens, 3/11/2012 #photography

A cluster of white and yellow blossoms on the end of a branch.

Norfolk Botanical Gardens, 3/11/2012. #photography #flower

Image of an incomplete knitted sweater. It is off white with a brown design of looped ropes.

#WIPWednesday my first colorwork sweater. This is hard and slow. Complete learning experience. Next time I'm doing top down so that I don't have to fret about whether or not it will fit, I could try it on. Loopy Lopi pattern from Ravelry, Lion Brand Fisherman's Wool. #knitsky 🧶

#photography #flower

White hyacinth. The lower part of the background is green foliage, the upper part is bare tree limbs and blue sky.

Hyacinth, Norfolk Botanical Gardens, 3/11/2012

Maybe I was unconsciously following what was 'in style' in 2012 and we're picking up on that. Maybe it's that they weren't taken with a phone camera, but with a little Sony point and shoot. Who knows. I know I had just had cataracts removed and the world was amazing and colorful again.

Red, tubular flower buds emerging from a twinned green leaf on a vine. The vine is attached to a wooden fence, and the flower is a native Coral Honeysuckle prior to the blooms opening.

Coral Honeysuckle, Norfolk Botanical Gardens, 3/11/2012 #photography #flower

A white bloom from a flowering tree against a blue sky background. There is a bare tree in the background of the picture.

Norfolk Botanical Gardens, 3/11/2012 #photography #flower

Pink camelia against a background of leaves and sky.

Norfolk Botanical Gardens 3/11/2012. #photography #flower

WOW!

A red camelia with a yellow center.

Norfolk Botanical Gardens, 3/11/2012 #photography #flower

We spent days replicating the wall of books when we moved Mom to her new house. The books reflect a history of our life as a family. It's the books that make the new house home.

Close up picture of a purple hyacinth.

Be prepared for a lot of flower pictures. I apparently had a prolific day at the Norfolk Botanical Gardens on 3/11/2012. #photography #flower

Glad you like my photos. I used to take pictures every day, but then developed essential tremor, which took some of the fun out of holding the camera and focusing. I'm trying to post one a day for as long as I can - give people some place to rest their eyes when the world is like this.

I wish I had magic words that could say how much I understand this.

Signed - I hate to see buyouts. So often they lead to someone taking all the assets and money and running.

I don't think a pair of 10" straight wood or bamboo needles would be a waste. I have interchangeable circulars that I use on larger projects, but if it is small and flat, I knit it with the straights. You'll find your style soon.

nimble-needles.com/tutorials/ho... is long, but explains it well. Knitting and crochet block the same way. It's all going to come down to the type of yarn used.

I'd try aggressive blocking, but it may not help. Looks like you didn't keep a constant gauge, which comes with practice.