Shawnigan Lake and Fun with the Marshes

June 13

Diane and her grandchildren

Naturally Charlie was glued to his iPhone's AIS tracking software for the next few days. Sure enough it took longer for the Pac Acrux to get north than planned. The destination was changed from Victoria to Nanaimo. We took the Victoria Clipper up to stay with Ian and Diane for a night in their little patch of paradise on Shanigan Lake. One night turned into two when the stevedores found the ship’s cranes didn’t pass a safety inspection.

This hat pattern may show an oystercatcher but
I think it's a hummingbird.
In the background is Emily's photo illustrating
a recent magazine article.

In spite of the extra wait, we had a great time with Ian and Diane. She took me to see Hill’s Cowichan trading post in Duncan where I met Emily, a manager of the store who’s a member of the local band. Sure enough along with all the other woolens, a partially knit sweater in a corner gave away her knitting sideline. We had a long visit discussing the authenticity of various practices in making the hats. She even showed me her cast-on technique, handed down to her by her mother. I’d never seen that before. In the room she also had a yarn spinner operated by a foot treadle. I learned that, like her, the women often spin their yarn themselves before knitting it. I got all kinds of new ideas for hat designs.

Kim and her eldest, Sierra, on the "mud" couch. Look at the back. Real branches! 

We also visited Diane's daughter’s family in the straw and mud house they constructed. No, the big bad wolf can’t blow it down, but a family of gnomes from Sweden might sneak in to live there. Ian calls it the mud hut. While we were gone, Charlie and Ian moved a load of gravel to shore up his bank and threw worms to the father bass fish guarding babies in the lakeside shallows.