Making Waves for CIC
For each sock in the Six Sock Knitalong I've challenged myself to do a corresponding vest and toddler pair of socks to send to CIC.

For August and September the knitalong is using the Making Waves stitch pattern which turned out to be perfect for CIC.

The vest is based on the What's In My Pocket Vest Pattern, size 2, 72 stitches around. It was knit with a bulky blue Lopi wool on size 10.5 needles. The Making Waves stitch pattern is in the center 24 stitches of the front and back.

The Making Waves pattern stitch pulls in, so for the socks, I cast on 28 stitches for the ribbing and increased to 32 for the waves pattern. They are knit from a turquoise Cascade 220 wool on size 5 needles.

The Making Waves socks I'm knitting myself for the knitalong have been on hold for the last few weeks while I work on a project I can't share. I expect to get back to them by the end of the month and finish them early in September.

What is a Coastal Disjunct?
From the Michigan Nature Association website:

"A coastal plain in Michigan? Yes. What is a coastal plain disjunct plant? It is one that is separated or disjoined from its usual location, the coastal plain along the Atlantic Ocean. Certain counties in southwest Michigan have marshes with such plants."

On this beautiful August afternoon I took a guided walk through the Hamilton Township Coastal Disjunct.

I heard about the coastal disjunct field trip while on a Kalamazoo Nature Center field trip. I thought it sounded like something an amateur naturalist shouldn't miss.

I especially wanted to know how the coastal plants ended up in Michigan.

The answer? Nobody knows. According to our guide, there are some theories but none of them have been proven. He didn't think any of them made sense and he didn't tell us what they were.

We came across this cicada hanging from a shelf fungus and shedding its skin. It brought out more cameras than any plant we saw.