Navigator of the Seas - Just Out of Dry Dock

Good morning,

Today's pictures were taken of Navigator of the Seas from the top deck of Freedom of the Seas.

This is an excellent opportunity to get pictures while the ships are tied up side-by-side.

Navigator is a little smaller than Freedom, but they are both built on the same general design.

One of the new features on Navigator since the recent dry dock is the addition of balcony staterooms on the forward part of the ship.  You can see them in the image above on the highest enclosed deck.

This is a straight-on shot of the balconies on the outside of the new staterooms.  Wow!  What a glorious view those folks have when the ship is at sea.

 Here you see the new staterooms at the top and many of the original staterooms on lower decks.

Beautiful!

Enjoy,
Lois

Ship Canyon in Cozumel, Mexico

Good morning,

Freedom of the Seas and Navigator of the Seas were both in Cozumel, Mexico, at the same time. 

When two such huge ships are tied up across from each other at the same dock, they form a ship canyon that has a very interesting feel to it. 

There is an echo from one side of the canyon to the other...

...and you'll see crew members waiting to visit other crew members who are working on the other ship.

What a beautiful sight! 

Enjoy,
Lois

Windjammer Cafe

Good morning,

I took these three pictures while we were in the Windjammer Cafe getting some lunch. 

I purposely tried to shoot pictures without getting too many people in them.  Many people had gone ashore this day, but it never feels terribly crowded. 

What we like about the Windjammer is the very wide variety of food available at different counters and "islands" so you can have as much or as little of whatever looks good to you that particular day.

And, I must add that the view is spectacular!

Enjoy,
Lois

Jamaica, Mon!

Good morning,

Welcome to a beautiful day in Jamaica!

I was out taking a walk around the deck when I took these "post card" pictures of Jamaica.

What a gorgeous place!

Enjoy,
Lois

Crew Life Raft Training

Good morning,

Here is something a little different.

After lunch in the Windjammer Cafe one afternoon we walked across the pool deck on the way back "home" to our stateroom.

This group of people are all crew members performing crew life raft training. 

 At this moment, they were practicing righting and maneuvering the raft.

 Not to worry!  GUESTS are evacuated into life BOATS.  These life rafts are for the crew.  They are rather nice, actually, since they are covered to protect against bad weather, not like the little uncovered life rafts we see in the movies.

Safety first!

All the best,
Lois

Needlework Update - February, 2014

Good morning,

It's time for another monthly Needlework Update.  I've been very busy this month filling orders and making items to restock our little on line shop, EvensensProductions.com.

Above is a custom order hat in University of Texas - Dallas orange.  :)  It has already been delivered to its new owner where it has been very cold this winter!

This purple basket weave sweater may look familiar, but it is a different sweater than you have seen before.  This one is a custom order and has gone to live with a lovely lady in Michigan. 

This grey mobius cowl/infinity scarf has also gone to its new owner in Cincinnati.  The mobius shape (a tube with one twist) is very different to make than a standard scarf if made without any seams.  It is knit in a figure eight with either a very, very long circular needle or a series of needles in the same size.  It is worked from the center to the outer edges.  I have a similar one in off white and I just love it!  I loop it around twice when going out in the bitter cold and can pull it up over my nose, ears, or up over my head.  When I go into a store I can loop it only once and wear it as a fashionable part of my outfit.  I just love these!

This month I have also made a number of items to restock the shop.  These are luggage identifiers that are so very helpful when you are trying to locate your luggage among all the similar looking pieces on a conveyor belt in a cruise ship or airport terminal.  Such a simple little item can make life so much easier.

I had almost sold out of these Snack Mats/Mug Rugs/Wash Cloths/Spa Cloths/Dish Cloths at Christmas so made a few more sets to restock the shop.  These three crocheted mats have a button band that make them very pretty for gift giving or display in your kitchen or bathroom. 

These are made of 100% cotton so are machine wash and dry.

This set features a vintage-look button...

...and this one has a little grey kitty button.

The accountant in me got busy doing an analysis sales and of search terms for my shop over the past three years.

I've had a few cloche hats/chemo caps in the shop for some time and I provide them at exceptionally reasonable prices.  I didn't realize until I looked at my analysis that "chemo caps" was one of the top three search terms for my shop (each shop is different, of course) so I figured it was time to restock and make some extra pretty ones in addition to the plain ones I have made before.  These are beautiful to wear whether purchased as a chemo cap or as a fashion statement. The hat above is made with two strands of yarn, one of which is a very fancy yarn.

This hat is suitable for a man or a woman.  All of my chemo/cloche hats are sized to fit over the hair line.  The brims may be worn up or down either all the way around or up or down just in the front or back.  They all fold to fit easily into a coat pocket.

Here's another suitable for a man or a woman.

 This one sports a stylish happy flower...

... and several have flowers where a butterfly has landed.

An Easter bonnet?  :)

 I'll just let you roll through the rest of the hats made this month. 

 These will all appear in the shop in mid March.

 And, finally for this month, this is what is on the needles now. This is the beginning of an adult size sweater in my original lacy ladders pattern stitch.  This delicate pattern stitch takes much longer to knit than many other pattern stitches.  It is just so pretty!

This gorgeous turquoise yarn is much prettier in person than it is in this picture, too.  I'll surely get better pictures of the color before I put it in the shop.

To give my hands a rest from repetitive movements, I switch between different pattern stitches and knit and crochet projects.  I love to have several going at the same time so I have something small to grab and take along to work on when I will be sitting somewhere for awhile.  Also, it's good to have some smaller projects I so have the feeling of completion between sessions working on a larger project.

What are you making?  I love seeing your blogs and all your many beautiful needlework and sewing projects.  How do you organize your them to keep them fun while still being productive?  Also, thanks to all who share the wonderful recipes and gardening tips!  I so look forward to getting home to our own kitchen and garden.

All the very best,
Lois

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Star Clipper - St. Maarten, Dutch West Indies

Good morning,

This beautiful sail ship was tied up near us in St. Maarten, Dutch West Indies.

This is a very different type of cruising than the large cruise ships. 

Lovely!

Enjoy,
Lois

Senor Frog in San Juan, Puerto Rico

Good morning,

Is this good marketing or what?  ;)

That is Senor Frog on the top of that building right at the port in San Juan, Puerto Rico.  You don't have to walk far to visit the Frog here!

Those white vehicles are taxis waiting to take people wherever they want to go in San Juan.  :)

Enjoy!
 Lois

San Juan Harbor

Good morning,

We are aboard Freedom of the Seas and are still on our way into San Juan, Puerto Rico, (see yesterday's post) to the pier near Old San Juan.

In the past on other ships we have been docked at the terminal with the rounded top and another older terminal closer and to the left int he picture above.

We passed the U.S. Coast Guard station...

 ...as we pulled into this large natural harbor.

 We will be docking at the pier you see closest to the camera. 

 Closer...

 ...closer. 

 We can see there are three ambulances on the doc waiting for patients from our ship.  Sadly, people have accidents and become ill even on vacation.

 Fortunately, we have a medical center with two doctors and three nurses who can handle emergencies until guests can be taken ashore to a hospital.

 There is plenty to do right at the pier!  I love ports like this where the ships dock right down town.

What a beautiful day to visit!

Enjoy,
Lois