PumpkinKnitter

Time for an FO and Another Post, Finally

2009-12-01T15:49:00.002-07:00

Over a month ago I finished my second Noro Striped Scarf. And, since I've been so extremely organized, I can't recall the colors I used for this. It is Silk Garden, of course. I started this in June and finished it on Halloween. It will be going soon for a Christmas gift.

Baby Cat Kyra wants to know where I hide the camera, because she likes to have her picture taken.

Buddy of the Grand Canyon II

2009-11-01T15:49:00.000-07:00

Someone else besides Annie came with us to the Canyon, as well. You remember Buddy the Hiker Dog. Buddy came with us the last time we camped at the canyon a couple years back. Even though it was a while ago, I'm positive that he remembered where he was, just by the excitement level he had once we got there and the fact that he remembered which way to go to get to the rim.

Buddy is the all around hiker dog. He's ready to go no matter the day or the time, or even if he's just finished his second three-mile hike of the day. No matter how tired he is, he's never too tired for another walk.

Is it time to go yet??

Hey, Annie, did you see that trail way over there? Let's go!!

Come on, Dad, hurry up and get off the phone already.

I know I'm full of dust and dirt, but do I have to have a bath on vacation? Sheesh!

I so tired!!!

Over the Edge

2009-10-25T05:30:00.001-07:00

Where does the time go? I've been knitting plenty, but nothing seems to be reaching the finish line. I've been thinking about blogging, but here it is more than a month later. No posts, no FOs. I've been cleaning house, too, but you know how that is. No matter how much you dust, two days later it looks the same...

A few weeks ago we were finally able to take a week off. We loaded up the camper and headed off to the Grand Canyon for a week of peace and quiet. There was frustration right from the start. Although we had paid beaucoup bucks to get the electrical system in the camper updated and reworked, the new converter blew out on us and we lost the entire 12 volt system. Fortunately we could still use regular household current by plugging in to the campground hookups, but the heater, among other things, wouldn't work. And it got pretty cold up there! Fortunately we packed for all eventualities and had sufficient electric radiator heat to keep from freezing! Then there was the wind, a couple days and nights of high winds and gusts rattling the trailer for hours on end. But despite all that, it was wonderful to take long, lovely walks and enjoy good campground food. And despite the wind, I did finally catch up on all the sleep I've missed this summer!

Annie took a week off as well and came along with us. It is probably the last trip she will take with us for quite a while, as she will be heading off to school in another state in January. Annie came with a plan...to hike a hundred miles over the course of the week (that didn't happen), and hike to the Colorado river and back. In one day.

Now, anyone who has been to the Canyon knows that hikers are strongly discouraged from going to the river and back in one day. The average person just doesn't realize how strenuous and dangerous this can be. So all I can say is, don't try this, don't try this, don't try this.

That being said, Annie had been training for the hike. She has been hiking in the Tucson mountains and working out at the gym. Strenuously. She talked to the rangers at the Canyon.

Annie: I have some questions for you.

Nice Park Ranger Lady: How can I help you?

A: I know what you're going to say, so let's get it over with early. I'm going to hike to the river and back in one day.

NPRL: No, no, no, that's very dangerous and we don't recommend it.

A: See? Now that we've gotten that out of the way, I'm going to do it, so give me some pointers.

It must be said that the NPRL did grill Annie pretty thoroughly on her physical conditioning and her knowledge of hiker emergencies and what to do, as well as her hiking plan. Once the NPRL was satisfied that Annie was capable of doing it, she did give some useful tips and information.

On the morning of the big day, Annie was up at four packing her backpack and doing her hair and face. (Doesn't everyone?) Her dad dropped her off at the head of the South Kaibab Trail, the steep trail with no water that drops pretty much straight down to the river. Needless to say, it was still pitch black out. Annie had a headlamp to get her down the trail until the sun came up; she later stated that this was the scariest part of the hike. She was coming down the side of a sheer cliff for the first mile and a half or so, and all the light she had was the battery lamp on her headstrap.

In the meantime, Joe and I drove out to Mather Point to see her come down the trail. We called her on her cell phone to see where she was. There were at least four hikers with lanterns on the trail and we wanted to see which one was her. She answered her phone and she was the hiker furthest down the trail, nearly to Cedar Ridge (for those of you familiar with the trail). Not long after that the sun did come up and she was able to turn off and stow the headband and headlight.

After she left Cedar Ridge she was on the far side of that particular side canyon and pretty much out of cell phone range. But I was not particularly worried about her. She was sticking to the main trails and there would be plenty of people on the trails with her to help her out if anything happened. But nothing did.

It did not taking long to get down to the river. She spent a while down there and got some nice pictures, as you can see.

Who can resist a little beefcake?

But then she had to climb back up.

She was able to call us as she got up to the rest stations on the Bright Angel Trail. The wind that day was terrible and she was getting extremely tired as she worked her way back up to the rim. That is where hikers get into trouble who are not in shape. Annie was in great condition and even she was getting exhausted and discouraged for the last couple miles of the hike. Joe was standing by, ready to go down the trail to meet her, take her backpack, and talk her the rest of the way up. But she did pal up with another hiker coming up from the river -- he had spent a couple nights down there -- and they encouraged each other to get up to the rim.

We were waiting in the high winds on the rim for her to come up. Here is her picture of us looking for her. (She took my camera with her for the trip.)

I had bought her a tee shirt that said "I made it down and back up again". As she stepped onto the rim I gave her the shirt and took the triumphal picture. We met the young man she had hiked back up with. (Nice young man. Glad he was there.) And is there any truth to the rumor that she was being followed by half a dozen young men as she crossed the finish line? She would have been too tired to care.

Although she had planned several more hikes for the week, Annie did not make any more trips over the rim. She was incapable of eating more than a couple sips of soup that night and was sore and exhausted for several days after that. Remember, she was in top condition for this hike. For a couple days she seldom even left the camper. Nothing to be surprised at. She had hiked twenty miles in extremely rugged and difficult conditions in ten hours and forty-nine minutes. But she did, of course, fully recover and while she may never do this hike again, she can now say that she did come, climb, and conquer!

And, not to be outdone, Michael and Carolyn ran in the Chicago Marathon and both finished the course in the official time period. But they didn't cross the finish line together. Who was first? Let's just say that it's a good thing he caught her at the altar in July!

The Mermaid Stole

2009-09-13T16:04:00.007-07:00

This was my go-to knit when I was feeling the wedding stress. I started this stole with a kit I bought in Michigan in June, and added many other yarns from my stash in the process to flesh it out. The original idea was to knit a scarf, but I decided to go with a shawl/stole width.

There are all sorts of yarns and materials in here: rayon, nylon, sequins, wool, cotton, silk, etc. There are several ribbon yarns and novelty yarns. I skipped the fun fur, however. I'm completely in love with the glitz in this project.

I decided to call it the Mermaid stole because all the blues and glitz made me imagine the sort of stole a mermaid might knit for herself. It would be made up of everything found in the sea and on the beach.

I cast on 150 stitches on size 13 circulars, and after the first row went to size 11's. Every row was a different yarn. I left a long tail on each end with each yarn, about 18 inches in length. I would have been okay with leaving a 12 inch tail on each end. Then I switched back to size 13's to bind off.

I braided the tails together, three at a shot, and made them about 6 inches long. To continue the mermaid theme, I strung bits of shells and some whole shells into the fringe. I really like the effect, but the shells do add a good bit of weight to the stole.

I really enjoyed the garter stitch non-stress of this. It was sheer fun to combine the yarns in different ways to get different effects. In fact, I enjoyed it so much that I bought more yarn and novelty yarns in creams, greens, and browns to make a lap blanket in this same style. Haven't cast on yet, but will soon!

Thank you to Maria for being my model! (We finally got a good sunny afternoon for the shoot!)

Express Lane Socks

2009-08-21T17:10:00.004-07:00

Yes, it's been a good while since I've posted. There was a need to recover from the wedding, and then there were a lot of things to get caught up on. There definitely was a need to let internet stuff slide for a while, and yes I'm behind on my Bloglines, but I'm still here!

The Express Lane socks were finished on Sunday, and I was hoping for a good day for photography. But it's been dreary and rainy (when there hasn't been record-breaking heat), and so I kept hoping for a good day.

I gave up.

Here's the Express Lane socks. They aren't knee socks, but they are longer in the leg than any other socks I've knit. I think I'm going to like the longer length, but I won't know for a while until I get to wear them in cooler weather! Probably about January...

I can't find the ball bands any more, but the yarn is Jojoland Melody. A little splitty, but very nice. I knit until there was almost no yarn left. To see the modifications I did, click here.

Hope everyone's having a great August!

Friday's Flowers, The Cactus Version

2009-07-18T05:35:00.000-07:00

So I'm a day late. Shoot me.

The cactus in the front yard has bloomed for the last couple years. We had three or four blooms earlier in the summer, the usual time it happens, but I didn't think we'd seen the last of the blooms. With all the rain we've had, somewhat more than usual, it became apparent this week that we were in for a record-busting bloom. Last night it happened. Nine huge flowers blooming at once, a record busting display. Too bad the blooms last for less than twenty four hours.

The night shot, somewhere around four thirty Friday morning.

And the day shots, a couple hours later.

And that's it for another year.

Carolyn

2009-07-17T18:00:00.000-07:00

You knew this was coming, didn't you.

Welcome to Carolyn, the newest member of the family. Congratulations, Mike and Carolyn!

Noro, Addi, Brittany, and Bling

2009-07-08T20:04:00.004-07:00

This is yarn, and it is fun.

In Michigan I hunting for Noro Silk Garden and was greatly successful. This was the biggest score. I got yarn for Noro Striped Scarves and to knit a Lady Eleanor stole someday. You can see the start of the first scarf here. This is my current travel/grab-and-go project.

Another major purchase was several Addi Turbo needles in sizes I couldn't find locally. I like the Addis a lot, but they are a little pricey for the budget. I also saw some Brittany sock needles in the 5" size and got a couple sets. I don't know if I will like the shorter size but I thought it would be worth a try.

On the way to the checkout, I saw Wendy's new sock book and it jumped right into the basket. Outstanding!

Now this is the yarn that came with the scarf kit I purchased. There are several balls of glittery ribbon yarn in there, some sequins, and a very shiny yarn that is quite slick and likes to slip off the Addi Turbo circular. I have added in a lot of odds and ends of yarns that I have around the house to make a garter stitch scarf knit sideways. The scarf is knit on Size 11 needles and I'm using everything from bulky ribbon to sock yarn. It is going to end up much wider than the originally planned scarf; it will be a good stole width. There is a lot of bling in this and I'm really enjoying it, more than I anticipated. I've been picking this up just to relax with, but not as much as I wish these days. Three more days to the wedding!

Carrier

2009-06-30T19:54:00.004-07:00

I know that I have promised to post on the recent acquisitions of the yarn variety, but my time just is not my own. The wedding is next week and I am running constantly preparing -- long ways to go yet -- and cleaning the house for the expected company. Mike is here tonight and he is planning the ceremony with his Dad; Joe is going to be officiating the marriage.

Anyways, here is another new acquisition. It is not more fun than yarn, although it is pretty useful on these hot Arizona afternoons.

Last week we got rid of the old swamp cooler and furnace. They were both original to the house; the furnace was extremely inefficient and the cooler was on its last legs. It was leaking into the ductwork and the thermostat had quit working.

The crane showed up and lifted the old cooler off the roof.

Then it lifted the new Carrier heat pump unit to the roof.

It was a pretty good show for the neighborhood.

This sucker works really, REALLY well.

One of these days we will get around to the yarn and the WIPs.

Jack

2009-06-21T20:43:00.003-07:00

In the last post, I promised pictures of new acquisitions.

This is better than yarn.

Welcome to Jack, our new grandson. The most important reason for a weekend out east.

Knitting and Newport

2009-06-19T16:18:00.005-07:00

Yes, I guess it has been a while since I've posted.

My foot is basically all healed up. I'm fully back at work and seldom even think about the foot anymore unless I've been on my feet a lot or I accidentally bump the one sore spot still left. Buddy is doing well, thanks to a lot of rather pricey pills. We're not quite sure what made him sick in the first place -- perhaps a bad infection? -- but he is his usual bouncy hungry self and so I guess we will keep him on the pills for the next couple months like the vet wants. Joe has also been under the weather and I was running him to doctors and the hospital for a few weeks (with the bandaged foot, of course), but we are both pleased that he's doing much better now.

He did well enough that I felt okay taking a week's trip to visit various relatives and attend a couple family celebrations. I also visited a couple yarn shops and behaved very badly in them. The fact that my mom had a 20% off coupon for one of them didn't help, either. And Mom bought herself a scarf kit as well, in addition to using the coupon for my benefit. I also got a scarf kit and am busy working away on it; I took two projects with me and ended up casting on two more while on the trip. Maplewing has taken a back seat, at least for now.

Joe joined me for a few days in RI. We took a trip to Newport to see the mansions and have a seafood dinner. The weather was lovely and all the sailboats were out. We took walks along the water and the cliff walk in Newport.

The cliff roses were blooming and the air was full of their scent.

We took a picnic lunch and after eating I took out some of my new knitting, another Noro striped scarf with some of my new yarn. Almost immediately two of the kids jumped up, grabbed my camera, and took pictures of me knitting. It's getting pretty bad when the family takes your blog pictures without even being asked.

One of these days I will get around to posting pictures of the new acquisitions and the current projects. I'm spending time getting a lot of housecleaning done for company coming soon. We are going to have a wedding!

Missing in Action

2009-05-19T16:06:00.003-07:00

It's been a rough couple weeks. The cars have been sick, one right after the other. However, the outlook on all of them is for a complete cure. The new porch has been sick. The painters came and the idiots didn't bother to put a drop cloth on the new cement slab. They then attempted to wash the paint stains off with a power washer. We came home to find green paint stains still there and the finish on the new slab pitted and generally ruined. It has yet to be seen what the contractor will do about it. (The painters were sub-contracted.) We had been overjoyed with the quality of work up to this point.

Buddy has been quite suddenly and seriously sick. We thought we were going to lose him there for a few days. Several hundred dollars and numerous medications later he is doing better, at least for now.

I've been off work and recuperating from foot surgery. It's been good for the knitting but not so good for everything else. I hate not being able to walk and exercise; shoot, I hate not being able to get around the house and just do my chores. I did get some spinning in, though.

Last week Annie graduated from college. The weather was wonderful, if rather hot; we went out for Greek afterwards. Good to have a bright spot in the midst of a run of bad luck.

Knitting progress photos soon.

Practising

2009-05-02T04:11:00.000-07:00

As I said last week, a new roving was selected to start spinning. I didn't want to go with my luxury fibers yet, the alpaca I got for Christmas, or the lovely fibers I got a few weeks back from Margene. I want to get some more experience before I leap in on those. So I went with 8 ounces of Ashland Bay roving; this is either merino or Columbia. I can't find the tag when I want it. It is extremely soft and drafts very easily. Needless to say, this is certainly outside of my color comfort zone. Lilac shades just are not me. There are also blues and pinky reds in this as well. But the softness of the wool is making up for any doubts about the color.

I am trying my best to 1) spin smoothly, and 2) spin finely. I'm trying to get something that will be no heavier than fingering weight, with the goal in mind of knitting a shawl with this, once it turns into a two-ply. It's going to take a good while to spin up all eight ounces.

I've joined up on a number of spinning groups on Ravelry. I've found that the learning possibilities are tremendous. It's like belonging to a massive spinning guild, with all kinds of experience to draw on. I've already had my spinning improve just from using tips I found there. Another great reason to be on Ravelry!

I try to do a few rows every day on the Express Lane sock, the second sock. It's coming along slowly but very steadily.

Then in the evening I work on the Maplewing shawl. I think I'm on Row 25 of the first section. On row 40 there is a decrease of about a hundred stitches, which should help the project to speed up. I really like the way the pattern is shaping up.

Lovely, lovely yarn!

There Has Been No Knitting

2009-04-20T15:08:00.003-07:00

But there has been the finishing of the handspun.

After about 6 hours of plying, spread out over four evenings last week, I skeined up the Romance yarn. As the yarn loaded onto the bobbin, and I saw how the colors in the two plys were blending, I got really impatient to see the finished yarn. Each ply was on it's own bobbin, and once it was all plied there was only a few feet of singles left over on one bobbin. I wound it up on the niddy noddy and then, with some trepidation, tied up the skein in about 8 places and slipped it off. As expected, the skein immediately shriveled up into a mass of crinkly spaghetti.

Thank goodness for the forums and discussion groups on Ravelry! I read up on finishing techniques and on Sunday I gave the yarn several ten minute soaks: hot/cold/hot/cold.

Then I spun it in the washing machine and wacked it around against the shower wall. It straightened out beautifully and bloomed a good bit. I slipped it over a coat hanger and put it outside to dry. The skein was perfectly balanced; I was dutifully amazed at the magical transformation. Several hours later, in the warm, dry 80 degree heat, the yarn was perfectly dry and ready to be photographed.

It's not perfect; there's plenty of "character". There are thick spots and thin spots, but most of it is pretty uniform. My plying definitely improved over the course of the six hours. I came out with about 430 yards, weighing 4.6 ounces. It seems to be a heavy fingering weight overall, or perhaps a light sport weight. It's not quite as soft as I would like; it seems comparable to Cascade 220. But I am inordinately pleased with this. No, let's be honest; I have been freaking estactic over this skein of yarn and would like to run around showing it to everyone I know.

Actually, I am showing it to you all...

No sooner had I cuddled the finished skein than I found myself anxious to start another spinning project. Probably later today another roving will begin it's journey to yarndom. And this skein of Romance? Socks or a scarf...or perhaps even to be incorporated into a future, multicolored shawl? Oh, the possibilities. Oh, the fun of it all!

You don't think I've fallen into the dark side, do you?

12 Rows and a Milestone

2009-04-14T16:46:00.005-07:00

I've been working away on the Maplewing Shawl. I'm currently on Row 12; those 600 stitch rows take a while! Now, thought, I've got enough of the pattern in to start seeing how the stitches and yarn overs work together. I'm getting even more anxious to see the pattern as it develops. And the yarn is fantastic! This is a beautiful blend of color that I really get into. Note the second lifeline. As much as I'm enjoying knitting this, I really don't want to have to rip back multiple rows of 600 stitches! And while I'm not going to use a lifeline on every row, I am going to use one every ten rows or so. Maybe less. It's all a matter of what I'm willing to redo, if it becomes necessary.

A milestone has been reached! I have finally finished spinning the singles of Sugar Bunny Boulevard roving in "Romance" that I started so long ago. Actually, almost two years ago to the day. I didn't realize it had been that long; shame on me. But possibly tomorrow I will start plying it. I have two bobbins of singles and I intend to do a two ply yarn with it. Then we will see what will become of it. Socks? Scarf? Cowl? Maybe mitts? Whatever it is, it will be the first project knit with my own handspun.

Milestone it may be, but Little Cat is still thoroughly bored.

I'm Still Looking for that Rabbit

2009-04-12T17:39:00.002-07:00

The one who left this little bucket of goodies for my mom. Have you seen him? I need a new playmate.

600 Stitches

2009-04-07T19:22:00.006-07:00

The Great Patio Redo is moving along. This is what it looks like now. Tomorrow the roof is scheduled to go on. I think we are going to be very happy with this.

I've finished the first Express Lane sock. Well, to be exact, I've left the cuff stitches on two spare DPN's until I finish the second sock, so that I can make sure the two socks match length wise. So I started the second sock, struggling again with the toe-up cast on, only to find that I had forgotten to cast on with the smaller needles I used for the foot. There's a lot of toe-up cast on practise going on around here, in case you haven't noticed. The second sock should go faster (if I remember to follow my own notes) than the first, since I've worked out the details now.

Then again, it may be a while before I spend a lot of time on the sock. I've succumbed to the lure of Knitspot's Maplewing shawl. I just kept gravitating back to it time and again and finally went over the edge. I ordered the Merino Laceweight from The Woolen Rabbit, in the same New England Red that the original shawl was knit with. I was so eager to start, I wound it up on Sunday and cast on immediately.

I had everything perfectly planned out. I cast on with a US 8 circular, so I could have the cast on nice and loose before shifting to the US 5 circular. I had plenty of stitch markers for the cast on, placing one every fifty stitches to keep track of the 600 (!) stitches I would be needing. Once cast on, I had plenty more stitch markers to mark each pattern repeat. I was taking my time and congratulating myself on how well the attention to detail was making this a piece of cake.

Except that I couldn't finish the first pattern row. I'd started row 1 after casting on 500 stitches instead of 600. Nothing like a little humility.

So far I've finished four pattern rows. I've already run a lifeline. There's no way I want to cast on 600 stitches again.

This is the most complex pattern I will have ever knitted. There is patternwork on every row. I'm feeling pretty confident, though (watch out!), since the Knitspot group on Ravelry should help me if I get stuck anywhere. Too bad they can't count stitches for me, though!

And if I need a break from lace, this came in the mail today. There simply isn't time to knit all the patterns I want to jump right in on.

Creating

2009-03-31T11:40:00.006-07:00

There's been a good deal of creativity going on around here. Stuff getting baked, built, knit, and grown.

On Sunday, since he had nothing else going on for a change, Joe baked the family recipe Easter bread. This yeast bread recipe has been in the family for ages. Nowadays Joe does almost all the family baking, but years ago this bread was my project each year. Back then, this bread won the blue ribbon for yeast bread in the state fair for four years running. Here, the big bowl of dough rising in the sunlight.

A couple hours later, the finished product. I think there were seven or eight loaves once he was finished.

Most went into freezer. Not this one. Who can resist fresh, warm yeast bread slathered with butter?

I'm still working on the first Express Lane sock. Since this is toe-up, and there's plenty of yarn in the skein, I'm seeing how far the yarn will go. If I were knitting a regular length sock, I'd have been well into the second one by now, but instead I'm fooling with calf shaping and wondering if the thing will stay up once it's worn. The sock always seems to look a bit knobby to me, but when I try it on the fit is perfect.

When I get tired of the little DPN's, I switch over to the Icarus shawl. It's growing slowly but surely.

Another project is underway in the back yard. We decided to get the back patio redone and covered over. The concrete work got done last week and the old wooden overhang was removed from the roof. Things were stuck at this point waiting for the lumber to arrive from Tucson; I'm happy to say that the order was delivered this afternoon while I was at the LYS buying more DPNs and circulars. Now the back yard smells and looks like a lumberyard and the new construction starts bright and early tomorrow morning. We anticipate the work will be done by this time next week, we hope, and we'll have a lovely shaded patio to enjoy this summer. For me, it will mean a good place to knit and spin.

This is not a project we're doing ourselves, heaven forbid; there are companies that do excellent work and one of them is doing this construction for us. And when it comes to the flowers growing in the yard, there is no better workman than the Master Gardener Himself.

Who's The Boss??

2009-03-24T15:46:00.003-07:00

There was some serious knitting derailment this past week. I started up a new sock with the Jojoland Melody superwash; the pattern is Diane Mulholland's Express Lane, which I found by searching on Ravelry. (Both links are to Ravelry.) It's a toe-up pattern; I've only done a toe-up sock once before, over a year ago. The first change I made to this pattern was to use Judy's Magic Cast On rather than the provisional cast on and the short row toe. I found this cast on to be much easier than when I tried it the first time. This time I only had to try the cast on twice before I got it to work for me.

The second change was to use US Size 0 needles instead of the 1.5 called for in the pattern. I really want a snug sock, and the small needles definitely give me that. However, when I got to the heel, things started to go awry. I couldn't get the short row heel to work the first time, so I ripped it out and started again. This time I got the heel to work, only to find that it was too small for my foot. It's hard to describe how frustrated I felt, especially when late at night realizing that I'm going to either have to rip it out again or just give up and start over with another pattern. I let it sit for a day and then ripped the heel back once more. Now I switched to Size 1 needles and reknit the heel. Lo and behold, the heel started to shape up better. However, it wasn't long enough coming up the back of my heel, so I decided not to start the calf back lace pattern until I'd gotten more leg length. So I continued knitting the lace pattern on the front of the leg and continuing the back in stockinette until I felt it was time to start the lace pattern in back. By waiting to start the lace pattern, I should now miss having the lace rub against the top of any shoes I might be wearing.

Now when I try on the sock I'm extremely pleased with the fit. I've got the snugness in the foot where I want it, and the lace pattern falling where I want it. For the first time I've adapted a pattern to fit ME, not just blindly following a pattern and hoping it fits okay. Now I'm really believing that I can be the boss of my knitting, just as Elizabeth Zimmermann would say.

In some other ways, however, I'm definitely not the boss of my knitting. At work now, although I can still knit, I can't knit in the office that I had been using, the office where the light was really good. Now I have to go to another room where the lighting is poorer. It's more difiicult to read and/or knit, and I noticed a good bit of eye strain last week. I was taking the sock to work, but the small yarn and needles just aren't working out now. So I've started a K1P1 rib scarf in worsted weight from the stash. Hopefully I might be able to move back to the other office at some point in the future. But at least I can work up something from the stash, so all is not lost!

Lovely Fibers

2009-03-17T16:23:00.005-07:00

Qiviut is a lovely fiber. Too bad it's so...pricey. I could easily knit everything, forever, with this fiber. I finished the qivuit cowl on the flight home from New England last week. Too late to wear for the big snowstorm, but it will work out well for the windy Arizona days next winter.

The cowl is a generous size, using the entire ball of qivuit/merino/silk from Windy Valley Musk Ox. This is all that was left when I finished sewing in the ends.

The cowl scrunches up nicely around the neck, although a bit loosely for my taste. I probably should have dropped down a needle size, and if I make any more of these I certainly will.

On the other hand, it's a perfect size to pull up over my head, and I will probably wear it like this more often than just around the neck. This pattern came with the yarn purchase; the designer now has it and other patterns listed on Ravelry. You can also find my pattern notes here.

When I got back from the trip, a special box was waiting for me. A few weeks ago Margene held a contest and I was lucky enough to get picked as a winning comment. I have been reading Margene's blog for a long time and find that she is a great source of inspiration to me, especially to get at my spinning! The box was crammed with goodies. St. Pat's Day candies, which we've saved for today, and a pretty bookmark.

There was also beautifully scented soap from Blessed Juno, but I didn't take a picture of it at the time and now it's in use every day! There was also this colorful sock yarn from Brooklyn Handspun; Margene really knows the colors I love! This yarn is very soft; I'm thinking of knitting it up in a simple sock pattern to show off the amazing colors.

Finally, there were two packs of fiber for spinning, yak and baby camel!! As I told Margene, the family is just getting used to me knitting with musk ox, and now there is more exotic fiber in the house. Well, they'll just have to deal with it; I think it's fantastic that a body can get to play with such non-traditional fibers. Thank you, Margene, for being so inspirational and generous!

Catching Up

2009-03-12T18:10:00.004-07:00

Since coming back from New England on Monday, I've been trying to catch up with just about everything in life. Amazing how being gone for nine days can screw up the home situation. The lack of groceries, the overabundance of laundry, the dust bunnies, the dog hair, the mountain of mail, etc. Not to mention catching up at work on all the changes while I was gone. But there was much productive knitting and three projects were finished in the course of the trip.

The Twisted Cables Pullover was finished and was a major success. It fit the younger granddaughter perfectly and she didn't want to take it off. And hasn't taken it off. I was very pleased with the pattern and the Patternworks Bretton Heathers yarn. Hopefully it will hold up well with the use it's going to get. All the details are on my Ravelry page.

Altogether there were six sweaters and vests that made the trip and stayed behind. The little ones, of course, are for the new grandchild on the way, and the others are for wearing now.

The Glacier Scarf was also finished. How appropriate that I should finish it and wear it for the remains of the big east coast snowstorm! The Pink Carrots yarn is extremely soft on my neck and this is definitely going to be a favorite scarf. Again, details are on my Ravelry page.

There was much snowball throwing and snow hiking. There was also a first knitting lesson, using the Glacier scarf! There are more than a few three year old's first stitches in it, making the scarf an extra special treasure.

Another finished project and more lovelies next time.

Ain't No Spring Around Here

2009-03-02T19:19:00.003-07:00

Yesterday (Sunday) we went to Tucson for a bridal shower for Carolyn (and Mike). It was a lovely day. The temperatures in Tucson were near 90 degrees, it was sunny and lovely. We were in the foothills of the mountains and it was a marvelous day in the great Southwest.

Today we flew to Rhode Island.

Yes, the middle of that huge winter storm.

There was some question as to whether or not we would make it in. Personally, I had no doubts about it. As it was, the airport in Providence was closed until the afternoon; by the time we got there, it was still snowing and the snowplows were working the runways, but we landed right on time.

Shocker. A wind chill in the single digits. Good thing I had my knit hat and scarf. The down jacket I dug out of the back of the closet didn't hurt, either. I haven't seen this much snow since we lived in Germany.

The grandbabies have grown tremendously.

Tomorrow, sledding and snowmen. Hopefully I will be able to post some pictures, although I'm sure all the rest of you are tired of the snow. At least I have the benefit of the novelty!

Friday's Flowers - A Touch of Spring

2009-02-27T01:32:00.000-07:00

It has been extremely warm here this week for the end of February. Some record temperatures have been recorded. The warm weather is driving the train in the garden right now. The trees, the roses, the mums, even Joe's lemon tree are racing towards spring.

Thoughts at a Quilt Show

2009-02-24T13:21:00.003-07:00

On Sunday Maria and I went to the local quilt guild's show. We used to belong to this guild a number of years ago, but quit when there just wasn't enough time - or interest - to keep up. Lately, though, it had occured to me that it might be nice to start up again. At any rate, we decided to do a mother/daughter trip to look at the quilts.

There were plenty of quilts to look at. And yes, I realized as soon as we got there that I hadn't grabbed the camera. There were many beautiful and creative quilts being displayed. Some would certainly stop you in your tracks. But what I did notice was that nearly every quilt, if not already a small wall hanging quilt, was really a quilt that would probably never be used except as a work of art to be hung on a wall. The colors and patterns were extraordinary; nearly every one had been professionally quilted by the local machine quilter. The quilting designs, some in metallic threads, were extensive and highly detailed. They were gorgeous quilts. But I couldn't see them being used on the floor to cradle a sleeping child, or tossed over a napping toddler, or snuggled up with on the couch late at night. There was too much art involved to make these quilts daily use friendly.

Now, perhaps only the most dramatic quilts were entered in hopes of winning a prize. It's perfectly possible that the "everyday" quilts were left at home, considered not good enough for the show. But while I admire a beautiful work of fabric art, I want to see the real quilts, the ones that get used on the beds and couches and floors. I love old fashioned quilts made with the 30's-40's style fabrics; I want to see quilts handpieced and handquilted by a loving mother or grandmother. And I see no reason why those quilts couldn't be displayed at a quilt show just as well as the arty ones. Any quilt that I would spend time making would have to be one that would be used and used and used. Perhaps it's an outgrowth of all that knitting. I expect the knits I make to be worn and used and used up. Sure, special pieces could be saved to wear on special occasions, but they would be worn, not hung on a wall. And they would be utterly wearable.

So, perhaps I will rejoin a quilt guild at some point, but perhaps not this one. It may be that I can find a guild that is more into the substance than the show, or at least whose philosophy is more in line with my own.

Anyways, while cruising so many blogs in the last month I've found a resurgence in my sock mojo. Perhaps some of you have noticed how many sock patterns I've added to my Ravelry queue lately. I've added a bunch of sock yarns to the stash, and more are on their way. And as soon as I finish up the Glacier scarf, I'm casting on for a new pair of socks.

Two colorways of Trekking XXL. The brown on the right is actually several shades darker.

On the left, Jojoland Melody Superwash for two pairs of socks. On the right, some Mini Mochi. There is more of this on the way.

On the right, Tofutsies in a limited edition colorway. And four balls of Jojoland Harmony laceweight. 880 yards per ball, so I can make up a really big shawl.

By the way, stop over at Julie's blog and see the scarf she's knitting inspired by the Glacier scarf. I really like the colorway she's chosen.

Got My Wish

2009-02-17T04:13:00.000-07:00

Things did slow down at work last week, finally, and I did get some work done on the Glacier Scarf. It's long enough now to set comfortably in my lap while I work on it. I'm hoping the work load stays this way for a while. I would like to get more projects done; not running so hard at work means I'm not as tired when I get home, and more knitting gets done in the evening then!

Case in point; the second granddaughter sweater is finished and put aside until we fly out there next month. Details on my Ravelry page.

So the third and last of the granddaughter sweaters is on the needles. This is the Twisted Cables Pullover, once again from "Kid's Knitted Sweaters and More". (All links are to Ravelry.) It's a top down raglan that I'm knitting from Patternworks Bretton yarn. It's a very soft superwash wool/nylon/alpaca blend and I'm very happy with it so far. The cable yoke pattern was easy to memorize and it's a very pleasant knit, at least at this point.

Hopefully the little girls will enjoy wearing these as much as I've enjoyed knitting them!

Saturday Sky - Jamaica Sunset

2009-02-14T01:55:00.000-07:00

Friday's Flowers - The Jungle Edition

2009-02-13T01:58:00.002-07:00

It's hard to give you a real feel for the jungle, but I shall try.

See if you can see me zipping through the trees.

Swing With Me Wednesday

2009-02-11T02:06:00.000-07:00

Sometimes some really odd thoughts come unbidden to mind. I was preparing this post about our canopy tour in Jamaica, riding the harness and lines through the treetops from platform to platform, when a thought occurred to me about life as it is nowadays.

A hundred years ago our ancestors probably would have considered living to their mid-fifties as reaching a ripe old age. Family history has it's stories of relatives who didn't make it past their twenties, due to the lack of medical care that we take for granted today. Certainly my own grandparents never traveled much if at all, and when they did it was very low key. Certainly not anything highly adventurous.

I certainly couldn't see my grandparents riding ziplines or even traveling so far in their mid-fifties. Yet nowadays we take it for granted. Joe and I are both fortunate to not have any health issues that preclude us from living a full life with a multitude of adventures that our grandparents and even perhaps our parents could not have imagined. I felt just like a kid swinging through the trees.

Even if my hair is gray and the old waistline disappeared quite a while ago. Hey, Tarzan, here comes Jane!

Arizona Morning

2009-02-10T07:21:00.003-07:00

I realize that probably most of you are sick to death of winter and snow, but the sight of snow in the desert is a major event down here in the southeast corner. Even Tucson got a light blanket of the stuff. Fortunately the roads are not in the least icy, perhaps only over bridges would it be slick driving. It's expected to melt off later this morning and return to normal weather by this afternoon.

Buddy is very definitely not amused by it.

Saturday Sky - Jamaica Morning

2009-02-07T01:51:00.000-07:00

Friday's Flowers -- Jamaican Version

2009-02-06T01:39:00.000-07:00

It was overcast and just barely drizzly when we got into Montego Bay midmorning. Despite it being in the high 60's, and about as cold as it gets in the Jamaican "winter", there were still some flowers blooming. And of course it was very green.

Uh-oh. It looks like a scary jungle cat is stalking us.

Gratuitious picture of Joe on our balcony on Deck 8. Royal Caribbean knew what they were doing when they upgraded us to a balcony stateroom a couple years ago. We've been purchasing balcony rooms ever since. It's the only way to go, especially on any cruise longer than a day or two. I love the privacy of my own balcony, and the fact that I can wander outside in my pj's first thing in the morning. Nobody ever steals my deck chair, either, when I make a trip to the bathroom. Or the buffet. Or the bar. Love those Pina Coladas.

Sail With Me Wednesday

2009-02-04T01:18:00.000-07:00

Can you imagine anything more "let's get away from January" than sailing in a Grand Cayman bay on a racing catamaran? Two weeks ago today this is where you could have found us, providing that we were amenable to being found.

The weather was absolutely perfect, and the brisk wind totally refreshing. Our sail took us out to Grand Cayman's Stingray City, where we swam with the stingrays. I wasn't too sure about doing this when Joe signed us up for this tour, but I found myself getting excited when we saw stingrays circling the catamaran. I couldn't wait to get into the water. The water temperature was rather cool, but such that you wouldn't notice it once you were in it.

The stingrays came along brushing up against us. It is incredible how large they are, and not a bit slimy or creepy. A bucket of squid was brought out so that we could feed them. I declined, but Joe had a grand time. At one point he had at least two dozen stingrays circling him, waiting for a treat. Most of the other folks on the tour didn't stay in the water very long, but I stayed in for quite a while and they practically had to drag Joe back into the boat. We were able to rinse off with fresh water and then the sails were raised for our trip back to the dock.

Guess who got drafted to sail the big catamaran back?

Not to worry, we used to sail years ago on the Detroit River and lakes.

Everyone on the tour was referring to Joe as "Captain Jack" (Sparrow). Perhaps he should have been sailing this ship instead!

Plodding Along

2009-02-03T11:16:00.002-07:00

It's been a busy week since coming home and getting back to work. The Glacier Scarf has gone back to work with me, but only a few rows have been accomplished on it. Work has been mighty busy; I wish it would slow down a little bit so that we could get a breather. One that doesn't involve taking vacation time. But it's good to be busy. While my job is hardly in any danger of being eliminated in the general budget crunch, it's possible that pay and/or benefits could be cut. I've been thinking a lot about spending and saving issues, lately, just like everyone else. We are in pretty decent shape, thank God, but I know that many aren't.

At home the Icarus shawl and the qiviut cowl have taken a back seat to the toddler sweater. The body is nearly finished and will only need a couple more inches. We are going out to visit the grandbabies in March and I want to have the sweaters finished. Don't know how the sizes will actually hold up, but I've checked on Ravelry and no one who has already knit these patterns has any complaints about the sizes being appropriate for the age of the child.

Just as an aside, anyone who isn't on Ravelry certainly should be, even if you don't want to post any of your own projects. The research capabilities of this site are phenomenal. Just about any information at all about yarns, patterns, etc, is almost instantaneously available.

And just so you don't think that I'm the only person in this house who works on projects, here's a picture of Joe's banana plant. This monster started out as just a little twig, but with lots of care it's gotten quite large. I'm just waiting to see if he can get it to fruit. Now that would be really cool!

Saturday Sky - Caribbean Dawn

2009-01-31T04:53:00.000-07:00

Friday's Flora and Fauna

2009-01-30T03:34:00.000-07:00

The guardians of Tulum.

The Cliffs of Tulum

2009-01-29T04:18:00.000-07:00

Tulum is built on a cliff overlooking the Caribbean.

To everyone tolerating the January cold and snow, there is still sun and sand in the world.

WWMW - Tulum Maya

2009-01-27T20:24:00.007-07:00

About an hour's drive from Cancun (no, we didn't go to Cancun) on the Yucatan Peninsula are the ruins of Tulum, the "walled city". These Mayan ruins are surrounded by a massive stone wall that has withstood countless hurricanes. Now they are protected and cannot be climbed on or entered.

The buildings were for ceremonies and also were aligned with the sun, marking the soltices and the equinoxes.

There is some evidence that the Mayans who lived here were in contact with the ancient Anasazi tribes in Arizona.

Tulum was also a major trading post.

We only had a short time here but there was certainly much to see and wonder about.

Oh, I love the blue!

2009-01-27T19:48:00.004-07:00

It was a good week. I didn't get as much knitting in as I had hoped to, and that's usually the way these things go. I spent a few extra hours napping -- hey, if you can't have the luxury of a nap while on vacation, what's the point? And there were a lot of activities not really condusive to knitting. (Sorry, I don't knit in the jacuzzi, although I'm sure it's been done.)

I worked on the qiviut for most of the plane ride and associated airport waiting. It's not too far from Tucson to Houston, but I did get several repeats of the pattern done. This knitting worked well for the cramped quarters of an airplane seat.

The next day we were shuttled out to Galveston to board our ship. It was still dismaying to see so much destruction still evident in Galveston. Broken boats still littered the side of the roads and damage to homes and buildings was very obvious. But on the whole it didn't look too bad. Nothing like it must have looked right after the hurricane.

Once we got on the ship, the qiviut cowl was abandoned. The blue of all the Caribbean water was overwhelming, and for a little while I worked on the Glacier scarf. The yarn was melding itself into all the shades of blue surrounding the ship.

But the scarf didn't hold my attention for long. I spent most of my knitting time with Icarus and the Malabrigo lace. The yarn feels warm and yummy and I couldn't stay away from it. I knit on this all the flight back home. The blue lace reflected itself in the waters as well. I'm so glad I started this project and took it with me. It was nothing but sheer pleasure to work on.

Trip pictures and adventures aplenty, so stay tuned if you enjoy that sort of posting.

I've Been Soooo Good!

2009-01-15T02:39:00.000-07:00

I've been to the LYS twice this month and haven't bought any new yarn! However, I have to admit that nothing I saw really grabbed me by the neck, if you know what I mean. I ran there to get some needles and other notions for the current projects. There were no new books in stock either, so on the whole I got out easy.

We are getting ready for our winter vacation. Neither of us is able to take any time off at Christmas or New Year's. Well, I could take some time off, but it's an unwritten rule in our little group that none of us takes off at the holidays. If it's your regular day off, then you have the holiday off. If it's your regular work day, and Christmas falls on it, sorry. Your turn will come again in a couple years. It was the fairest solution we could all come up with. And yes, my work days were Christmas and New Year's this time. And it's a very busy several weeks for Joe; the rest of the staff gets the time off but he can't. He actually is pretty indispensible at times, at least as far as church duties go. So come January he has to take the time off that he couldn't over the holidays. And he gets to pick where we go and what we do. Someplace very warm...

The suitcases are out in the spare room and we are tossing in clothes and all those other odd items that one takes on vacation (backpacks, water shoes, toothpaste). Of course the knitting was among the first things selected. Sometimes I think the project choices are harder to make than the clothes choices. Projects need to be relatively simple, but some detail is necessary. They must be small enough to transport easily. Not all scarves, not all lace. Excuse me. I think I'm taking all lace.

The lacy qiviut neck cowl has been waiting for such a moment as this. It will be the first project of choice on the airplane. Small and not too complicated, it should help the time pass.

The second choice is this scarf, Tiennie's Old Shale scarf pattern. The yarn is Pink Carrot sock yarn in blues and grays. (In fact, this very skein of mine is used for Ravelry's feature photo.) I'm calling this my Glacier Scarf. Can you see why?

This is a close up of Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau. The scarf makes me think of the beautiful colors in the ice - without the dirt and grit, of course. And I was worried that I wouldn't be able to identify Alaska with any of my other Alaska-purchased yarns after I finished the Monkey socks! Silly me.

The Glacier Scarf has been my at-work knitting, and given how busy we have been it's not surprising that so little has been done on it. I hope to get a good part of this done during our trip. At home I've been knitting on another toddler sweater. This is Sam's Delight from Kid's Knitted Sweaters and More. It is knit from the top down (duh) and will be knit in the round once the yoke is finished. The yarn is Cascade 220 Superwash, and it's a much truer red than the camera shows. It's a very easy knit and good for evenings watching NCIS. And House.

Then, in case I get tired of knitting neckwear, I've started up again on Icarus. This time I'm using my Malabrigo laceweight. I love the softness of this yarn! I've gotten the shawl started so that I don't have to fiddle with the cast on while on the trip.

I'm anxious to spend more time with this, but I'm still trying to get the Christmas decorations put away before we leave on Friday. Okay, I'd like to at least get the stuff all gathered up and out to the garage before we go. But I'm very proud of myself -- I'm not stressing over it and I'm making a point to not get so tied up in housework that I'm neglecting to walk each day and fix some healthy meals. So I'm doing pretty well on the New Year's resolutions, except that I still haven't started spinning again yet. At this point it won't happen until after we return, but I am still determined to get going on that again. I have such lovely fiber in the house and I really want to knit something out of yarn I've spun myself.

Before I forget, I have to publicly thank Kathy for the yarn she sent me in return for a knit hat I sent her for her charity drive. Pink lace weight, no doubt to become little girl lace scarves someday. Thank you, Kathy! And thank you to all my regular readers for starting out another year with me!

Talk to you when we get back.

About Time

2009-01-09T19:56:00.004-07:00

I got blogging in 2009. It's been busy. Work has been extraordinary hectic this first week of January. I've been coming home worn out most nights and haven't had the energy to do most of the things I normally do after work. Certainly haven't gotten on the spinning yet.

The Monkeys in Alaska are finally finished. The second sock got kitchenered on Tuesday. I'm very pleased with the results. I went down to a 1.5 needle rather than a 2 and could probably easily go to a size 1 or maybe even a size 0. I do like my socks snug. I only did 11 repeats this time instead of 12 as I did the other two times I made this pattern. Details are on my Ravelry page. I hope someday I can get more of this yarn.

The ball of leftover yarn is sitting on the dresser. It's going to stay there awhile.

Z is for...

2008-12-31T03:03:00.000-07:00

Zamboni.

What's a zamboni, you say? It's the big boxy machine that smoothes out the ice between periods at ice hockey games. I grew up knowing what a zamboni was, since I grew up in Hockeytown (Detroit).

Why a zamboni for my letter Z? After a zamboni has gone over the roughed up ice, it is clean and smooth and ready to be played on again. Kind of like winding up things at the end of the year, and getting ready to start January 1 with a clean, smooth slate.

It was a funny year for blogging. After Nana passed away in March I lost interest in blogging for several months. I seriously considered stopping. Posting went to a minimum and I stopped doing as much commenting as I had been doing. But I still kept on reading my favorite blogs and decided to give myself some time before I abandoned my own blog. Guess what? Slowly the interest level did come back, and I no longer have any thoughts of quitting. I still don't comment quite as much as before, and I spend a lot more of my online time playing on Ravelry, but I think that now the blog is evolving and may involve more next year than just knits and travel. Certainly I will be posting more than I have been this past year.

Each day I try to do at least a small amount of spiritual reading. This year there has been a heavy emphasis on studying the Rule of St Benedict. This is a work written in the sixth century that is still deeply relevant today, especially for anyone seeking to live a life of balance and meaningfulness. Two particular books have comprised my study this year, both by Joan Chittister, O.S.B.: The Rule of Benedict, Insights for the Ages; and Wisdom Distilled From the Daily, Living the Rule of St. Benedict Today. I've read through both three time and am working on the fourth go-round. I'm still finding much food for thought that I've missed in prior reads. I've also started a new book on the subject, The Cloister Walk by Kathleen Norris, and am attempting to mine the wisdom in this one as well.

In my latest reading of Chittister's Wisdom Distilled From the Daily, I realized how much of what she (and Benedict) write can be related to the practising of craft, craft for it's own sake and craft as a form of work. Craft, and by inference knitting as a craft, is highly valued as a form of co-creation. It is spiritual and valuable and holy. As such, it is worthy of being practised.

It was eye-opening to me to see what I do as a hobby be praised as something highly worthwhile and valuable, as something as worthy of my time as the job that brings in the money, as the housework that keeps home comfortable for everyone. It made me see that time made for the exercise of the craft can be, with some awareness on my part, another path towards spiritual and personal growth alongside the more traditional forms of prayer, worship, and study. While prayer and worship is a part of everyday life, I don't always knit or do another form of craft everyday, although I seldom miss a day without picking up something for at least a few minutes. But if I now place a higher value on the spiritual possibilities of the practise, then taking time for it each day becomes a practise as valued as any other exercise. Not that I would ever substitute knitting for Mass, of course, or for my actual daily prayer time, but as another tool to help me down that spiritual, meditative path. I will make a resolve for this New Year to make a greater effort to knit and/or craft each day, and to give it a greater importance. I will stop thinking that craft is something to only give the meagerest crumbs of my time to practising, but make it a firm part of my daily life. And to return to spinning on a daily basis, if possible, as well. I've really let the spinning slip by the wayside, which is a shame considering how meditative I have found that in the past.

It's often said that non-knitters question the money and effort put into a knit project, especially socks, when it is so much easier and cheaper to just go out and buy the article in question. Benedict and Chittister have an answer for that as well. In brief, and I am liberally injecting a knitter's perspective here, the act of creating something that takes time and effort is an exercise in keeping our hearts open to others and to the world. Rather than racing through life and buying some last minute gift for a family member's birthday, we take the time to do something that involves effort and personal participation on our part. Time and expense do not matter. By putting the effort in to knit something, rather than buying an impersonal article, we keep our hearts open and our beings centered. We do not become self centered; we slow down and let the hustle and bustle of life slip away. We become, and remain, more human, more true to our best selves. Hardly a small thing. And if I am knitting for myself? Then I am taking some responsibility for clothing myself, for not expecting someone else to labor to provide for me. I am able to do what it takes to be responsible and caring for myself. I am able to use the materials, the wool or silk, as it was intended, to fashion myself or someone else a garment of usefulness and beauty. I respect the gifts of the earth; I respect what my hands and brain were given, the ability to accomplish craft and contribute to the co-creation of the world. As it ought to be. Pretty awesome stuff. And it took me a long time to see it.

I've been trying to finish up the Monkeys in Alaska socks before the end of the year. Like that's going to happen. I keep finding myself tinking back the second sock, due to mistakes that crop up several - or numerous - rows back. It's as if subconciously I don't want to finish the sock. Perhaps I don't.

While on the cruise I only took along two books to read. Both were by Susan Gordon Lydon, The Knitting Sutra and Knitting Heaven and Earth. It was a marvelous choice. Her thoughts on knitting, craft, and the spirituality of place fit in perfectly with what I was experiencing on the trip, and a lot of the Benedictine study as well. I was particularly impressed by her efforts to knit thought, medition, and life events into her sweaters and shawls. Although I could probably tell you what was generally happening in my life when knitting a specific article, I had never experienced a project becoming an embodiment of a particular time or experience. Until now. The sock yarn that I purchased in Victoria, B.C., and began knitting on the trip, has come to symbolise the thoughts, experiences, and spirituality of the entire experience. Knitting with it now becomes a meditation and remembrance of all that happened. And I'm afraid that once I am done, the socks will become just another pair in the sock drawer, with nothing special at all about them anymore.

Perhaps I will keep the bit of yarn that will be leftover in my project bag as a remembrance. Perhaps the other yarns I bought on the trip will take over the ability to lead me into meditation, although the Baby Cashmerino I bought in the same store as the sock yarn did not do this. Maybe with some effort in this new year, in the effort to integrate Benedictine spirituality with my daily life, I will be able to let the knitting lead me into more of a spiritual experience, more of an awakening to place and metaphor, God and Spirit and the here and now.

And in case this all seems too high falootin', I've also made the usual resolutions about knitting up the stash, eating more veggies, and losing 20 pounds. And we all know how that's going to go, don't we.

The Zamboni is back in the garage. The ice is clean and smooth, inviting. Happy New Year! Woohoo!

The Last FO of the Year

2008-12-30T11:54:00.003-07:00

Or at least it's the likely last FO. Not even a knit. On Sunday I finished up the first cross stitch project I've done in several years. I'd stopped cross stitching because my near vision was getting worse and it was no longer comfortable. (Knitting, on the other hand, rarely required any close up work.) Back in October I did finally go to the eye doctor and complained about it. Now that I have new glasses and a new, stronger prescription, working on 14 count cloth goes very nicely. But I still need sunlight in order for my eyes not to strain.

Here is the fourth Alaska project. I started this one while on the trip as well.

I'm trying to finish up the Monkeys in Alaska socks before the new year, but I'm only semi-optimistic at this point. Not enough time today and then working all day tomorrow. I am taking the time to wind up the yarn for my first cast on project of 2009. This is the Pink Carrot sock yarn I bought in Ketchikan (Ravelry link). There are over 460 yards in this skein and I decided that I did not want another pair of socks. I love my knit socks, I love them when it is cold, but it's just not that cold that often here. So this is going to be a scarf (I love scarves!) and I'm going to use Tiennie's Old Shale pattern for sock yarn. It should make for lovely, relaxing knitting. And I love the intense blue in this yarn.

Seems to me that all I'm lacking now is a Z post to wind up the year. Anybody got a spare Z?

Cable Vest

2008-12-26T17:00:00.003-07:00

I've finished up the last of the Baby Cashmerino by making another Debbie Bliss vest. This is the third of the Alaska projects to be finished. The pattern is from Simply Baby (Ravelry link), the size is 9-12 months. The pattern calls for two skeins of the Cashmerino, but I'd read several comments on Ravelry that two skeins would not be enough. That was exactly what I found. Oh, I could knit the vest itself, but if I'd not had plenty of the Baby Cashmerino left over from the prior vest I would have been stuck for the neckband and armbands.

This is a very nice little pattern but don't try it without plenty of the yarn.

I finished this up on Dec. 14 and posted on Ravelry, but for whatever reason forgot to post it here. This is knit with Size 2 and 3 needles. Because of the cables, it took me about twice as long to knit as the last vest (mostly stockinette) did.

The first Alaska knit, the Noro Striped Scarf, went to Michael's fiance Carolyn for Christmas. It was an immediate hit. She will certainly need it when she goes back to school. As a matter of fact, she can use it here in Arizona. The temperatures are going into the 20's at night and I had to break ice off the car this morning just to open the door. That doesn't happen often! Just goes to show you how crazy the weather is.

Stay warm!

Beautiful!

2008-12-26T01:37:00.000-07:00

Thank you, Joe and Jenn! Thank you, Suzanne, for picking it out and sending it on. The colors are amazing!

Guess I need to get spinning. Hope everyone had a happy Christmas Day!

While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks By Night

2008-12-25T01:58:00.000-07:00

Merry Christmas, one and all!

Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming

2008-12-22T20:38:00.003-07:00

Somebody ought to tell the rosebush that it's three days to Christmas. I've never had a bloom this late in the year.

Dedicated to the rest of the country that's buried in snow.

PS: Roxie, I love the shepherd's socks. Thanks for thinking of me.

Y is for...(Part 2)

2008-12-18T02:23:00.001-07:00

Yukon, in this case the White Pass and Yukon Railway. Our bus took us from Carcross (which in it's day was a major stop on the rail line) to Fraser, B.C., where we boarded our train for the 27 mile ride back to Skagway.

Although the rain showers had returned, the trip was spectacular for scenery. The bus trip up the pass had been amazing, but now, on the other side of the gorge, it was even better.

Both our bus driver and our rail hostess were very knowledgeable about the history of the White Pass. In late 1897, Skagway was inundated by tens of thousands of gold seekers. Many of the men flocking to the gold fields had abandoned homes and families in their quest for riches. Many of them were already lawless and became more so when they reached Skagway. Gangs of ruthless individuals preyed on the newly arrived travelers and extortion and crime were rampant. The gold seekers had a choice of two routes to the Yukon. One was over the extremely steep but shorter Chilkoot Pass, and the other was the White Pass, the one we were following. Both trails met in a broad meadow up in British Columbia. We passed through this meadow; everyone entering Canada had to bring a ton of supplies or they were denied entrance by the Canadian Mounties. All of this gear had to be carried on foot up the passes. It would take an individual thirty to forty trips to get all of their gear up to the meadow. It is hard to imagine the human endurance involved in getting a ton of supplies such a long distance. And even after they reached the meadow, all that gear had to then be transported to the lakes seen in the last post, so that boats could be built to carry the supplies and the gold seekers through the lakes and down the Yukon river, 550 miles to the gold fields. What an unbelievable journey!

But any admiration for these hardy travelers soon faded away in a sense of grim reality and horror. These people, many of whom had abandoned their families in the U.S. to manage as best they could, were often involved in shootings, murders, and unbelievable cruelty. Because the White Pass was not overly steep, it was believed that horses could be used as pack animals, making it easier to get the ton of materials up the mountains. But most of those who purchased horses had never owned the animals before, and had no idea how to care for them. The animals were overloaded and expected to make the climb without any food or water. There was no grass in the mountain pass for them to graze. The horses would make it only so far and then would simply die of exhaustion and neglect. The bodies of more than 3,000 horses are still in the bottom of Dead Horse Gulch (picture below). At the time, the stench of the rotting bodies could be smelled in Skagway, more than 17 miles away. In spots it is still impossible to walk on the ground itself because of all the bones piled in the bottom of the gulch. And to think that when these prospectors finally got to the Yukon gold fields, it was only to find that all the good claims had long been taken and the gold rush was essentially over. What an exercise in futility!

There were a few times on the Alaska trip that I was literally stopped in my tracks by things I saw. Once was seeing all the whales so close; another was my first view of Mendenhall glacier. I was absolutely stunned at Hubbard Glacier when I saw - and heard - a large iceberg calve off the front of the iceflow. Now I was once more stunned, this time when the train passed the actual foot trail used by the gold rushers. This narrow path was still clearly visible even after a hundred years had passed, so many billions of footprints had been on it. It was chilling to imagine so many people trudging up this trail, carrying so many burdens on their backs, returning back down it only to head back up again with even more supplies. Forty miles from Skagway to the meadow above the pass! Forty miles back to Skagway, and then starting again! It would take each person 30 to 40 trips up and down this trail to get the ton of supplies to the meadow, and then there was still 550 miles of waterway to go! And there were so many people on this trail that if one stepped off the path for a moment, it would take up to ten hours to find a break in the line when one could get back onto the trail!

How could people be so driven by a lust for gold, to endure so much? To abandon their wives and children, to kill and steal and cheat, to heartlessly drive innocent animals to a cruel death? And all, in the end, for nothing.

Did they ever stop, for just a moment, to see the beauty that was around them? Did they ever stop the madness long enough to miss what they had left behind, their homes, their families, their humanity? Did anyone ever see the madness of it all, and step off the trail for the last time, perhaps to find a quiet life of beauty in the great wilderness?

It seems to me that if we are not careful, we can find ourselves on a narrow path like this in our lives as well. We can get into a way of life that can find us trudging along a narrow, bitter path, carrying heavy burdens that we place on ourselves, seeking something that in the end will never be truly fulfilling.

I decided then and there that I will never follow such a path myself. If I ever find myself on a path that leads to nowhere despite all effort or stress, then I need to get off. I need to walk away from the mindless following of any path; we all need to walk away and look at the beauty around us, to appreciate what we already have and not keep reaching for more and more and more. To decide what is truly important; to be content with home, family, simple things, craft.

It was a beautiful day trip. The changes may be subtle, but are there none the less. I was a different person who returned to Skagway that day. I have not looked at life quite the same way since.

Y is for...(Part 1)

2008-12-12T02:50:00.000-07:00

Yukon!

The trip we looked forward to most in Alaska was actually a trip into the Yukon Territory, Canada. I had been reading Michener's "Alaska" and wanted to see the gold rush trail of 1898. Plus we simply wanted to get that far up north into Canada, the furthest north we'd been.

We left Skagway by bus and headed up the White Pass into British Columbia. The climb up the mountain pass was not too steep. We worked our way through some light rain showers as we ascended the mountains. The peaks were stunning. I can only imagine what they would be like in sunshine.

We made a stop at Lake Tutshi ("too shy") while still in British Columbia. This was the only place in the entire trip that we ran into the infamous mosquitos, but even the swarm that tried to feed on us couldn't lessen our pleasure in the beautiful mountain lake.

As we continued our bus journey into the Yukon territory, we entered an area of tundra where very little was growing. Hundred year old spruce trees were only about 18 inches high! They could not grow any taller in that environment.

We crossed into an area of large, beautiful lakes, lakes that fed into the Yukon river. The mountains were green and gold with full-blown fall color.

We stopped for a barbecue chicken lunch at a small settlement called Caribou Crossing. This was where we walked to the sled dog camp. After lunch we continued on our tour with a stop at Emerald Lake. The unusual bands of green in this lake are caused by the organisms that live in the water.

We stopped at another settlement called Carcross. This is a very old town that in many places is now falling apart. Several hundred people still live there. This was a town that was founded during the gold rush era. The hordes of people heading down the Yukon built themselves boats to float down the lakes and down the Yukon. In fact, the mountains were stripped of much of the pine trees to build the thousands of boats that were needed. Aspen trees took over where the pines had once stood, and these accounted for the swaths of gold in the mountains.

The steamship Tutshi used to sail these lakes. One winter it was brought ashore to avoid the ice but caught fire and burned nearly completely to the ground. This is about the only part of the structure left. The wreck was left where it was.

In Part 2, the trip back to Skagway by train; appalling history in the midst of great natural beauty.

X is for...

2008-12-04T02:36:00.000-07:00

Xeriscape.

If that's a word you're not familiar with, it refers to a particular style of landscaping, using very little water, developed for dry desert climates. It relies heavily on native plants, with very few specimens that need regular watering.

I don't have a xeriscaped yard, but I do follow some of the principles. We do have cactus and other low water use plants that I do not water. Ever. The flowering borders and planters, the high water items, are close to the house. Further out are the low and no water plantings. They survive on rainfall alone, or perhaps a bit of watering if things get really, really dry. Trees are low maintenance varieties that are specific to this climate. The whole idea is to use as little water as possible. Xeriscapes don't have lawns, or perhaps just a little section near the back patio. There is a whole world of interesting plantings possible, all geared to relying heavily on available rainfall and rainwater harvesting.

There are not many true xeriscaped yards where I live. Mostly it is in the new subdivisions where conservation is being aggressively practised. Most front yards in my neighborhood are plastic covered with gravel, including mine. There used to be a lawn in back but I wasn't very good at watering it and keeping it green. Someday I'm going to get pavers and flagstone and make a big patio out there. It will be very practical except in the middle of summer when it's too hot to be outside. Even now it's around 70 during the day and very warm in the backyard; we still grill outside frequently. More xeriscaping will be very appropriate...and will leave more time for other pursuits.

Now that all the Christmas shopping and mailing is out of the way, perhaps I can get back to knitting again.

'Tis The Season

2008-12-03T02:33:00.000-07:00

No, NOT Christmas. Advent.

Despite the fact that the stores have had Christmas up for the last few weeks, that a good number of the neighbors already have the decorated trees in the living room windows, and that the yearly competition to see who can get the most lights up on their house is off and running, there is no sign of Christmas in my house yet. Just the Advent wreaths are out, and the empty stable and manger waiting for a baby. This year I have finally Done It -- I've finished the shopping and the mailing, all before Thanksgiving. Now I intend to spend the month of December just enjoying the season and the spirituality.

Last week Monday the computer died. Totally. After a few days I started going through withdrawals, at least for a Ravelry fix. I borrowed one of the kids' computers. (It was not as difficult as you might think.) I got out my old computer and got it back in somewhat functioning condition. Then Joe bought a new laptop yesterday. It's pretty cool, but it did cost me my Christmas bonus.

Merry Christmas, dear. As long as I get equal time on it.

Projects

2008-11-21T02:40:00.001-07:00

It's about time to do an update on the current projects. Three of them, anyways.

The Monkeys in Alaska socks are coming along. The first sock is finished, and the second is moving along slowly. This is my carry to work project and the second sock isn't seeing much knit time lately. This time I made the first sock with six pattern repeats on the leg and only five repeats on the foot. The fit is much better this time.

I'm using the rest of the Baby Cashmerino to knit the Cable Tank Top from Debbie Bliss Simply Baby. I had researched the pattern on Ravelry and found that knitters were having trouble getting the 9-12 months size out of the two balls of yarn called for. But since I have plenty of the yarn leftover from the Little Vest, I know I won't have a problem with this size. Since taking this picture, I have finished the back of the vest, and I only had 3 yards of yarn left over from the full ball of yarn I used for the back. So it certainly seems that 2 balls of yarn as called for in the pattern is cutting it pretty close.

Although I'm working nearly exclusively on the vest while at home in the evenings, I couldn't resist casting on for a cowl with the qiviut. I got a free pattern from the shop when I purchased the yarn, and that's the one I'm using. The pattern is not on Ravelry, but the designer is...perhaps I'll contact her and see if she is interested in getting this pattern listed now that there will be a project to pair up with it. The qiviut is wonderful to knit with!

We are away this weekend at Joe's church retreat. It's still in the 80's during the day in Tucson, so this will probably be my last shot at summer this year. I think I'll take the Monkey sock to work on. See you all next week!

Walk With Me Wednesday

2008-11-19T02:45:00.000-07:00

Let's go visit a sled dog camp!

On one of our excursions, our lunch stop was next to a sled dog camp. We were encouraged to walk over and see the dogs. The dogs lived in a large fenced in area. Each of them had his own doghouse and each was tethered on a long chain that gave them a fair amount of movement. Most of the dogs were hanging out on top of their doghouses.

The camp offered short rides on a wheeled wagon pulled by dog teams. We didn't have time to wait for a wagon ride, but we did get a kick out of watching the dogs haul the wagons.

We did visit the puppy pen. Several puppies were in the pen, and we were able to play with them as part of their training -- getting used to people and being handled. If we put a dollar in a coffee can, we could get a handful of doggy cookies to feed them.

Pumpkinknitter makes a new friend!

A Baby Vest

2008-11-18T02:27:00.001-07:00

First it was a sweater, now a baby vest. Little garments are the thing around here these days. Yes, there's going to be a new grandbaby in the family next spring, a new sibling for the two granddaughters. There's also going to be a wedding next summer, but that's another story. So far no knits are planned for that one.

This is Alaska project #2. Debbie Bliss "Vest" pattern from "Essential Baby". I used two balls of the Baby Cashmerino that I bought in Victoria, B.C. I did not use the entire two balls of yarn. This is the 3-6 months size. I enjoyed knitting with this yarn. It was very soft and had a nice texture that felt good on my fingers. It was a fairly quick knit for someone who only worked on it for an hour or so in the evenings.

Details on my Ravelry page.

W is for...

2008-11-17T01:49:00.000-07:00

Whales!

Whales in Juneau. More whales than we could shake a stick at. Or take pictures of.

We had been told that we would see many whales in the Inside Passage, and we did. Almost all the whales we saw were humpbacks. The small whale watching boat/tour we took was surrounded a couple times by whales. I was getting dizzy trying to photograph all of them.

It seemed that anytime we would spend a while on deck, we were almost certain to see whales somewhere in the water. A little patience was all that was ever needed. Early one morning as I walked on deck, almost the only person up at that hour, I watched several young whales breaching in the dawn sunlight, followed by two groups (pods?) of Dall's porpoise. It was awesome.

One evening, as the sun was hanging just above the horizon, we saw three Orcas leaping as we sat in the Starquest lounge at the top of the ship. Everyone in the lounge clustered at the windows to watch these huge whales playing in the light of the evening sun. I thought briefly about running downstairs to get the camera, but I didn't want to miss a single moment of the show. There comes a time to set down the camera and just enjoy the moment without trying to set up the perfect shot. And when I think about the whales of the Inside Passage, it's the ones that I didn't photograph that I remember the clearest.

V is for...

2008-11-05T01:17:00.001-07:00

Vancouver and Victoria, B.C.

The day before our cruise we flew from Tucson to Vancouver. We had decided that, due to the distance we had to travel, we would fly in the day ahead and stay in a hotel the night before. We did not want to have bad weather or a sudden unexpected flight delay mess up getting to the ship on time, a tip that I would suggest anyone planning a big cruise use.

We didn't get much of a chance to see downtown Vancouver. It reminded us a lot of New York, except it was quite a bit cleaner. It's been thirty some years since I've been to Canada, but I remember it being extremely clean then and it was the same this time. We did get to walk around some, but we really weren't interested in office buildings and the restaurants seemed to be mostly very expensive.

These first two pictures were taken from the hotel window. We did have a nice view. I had to wonder about all the thousands of windows that were lit up all night in these office buildings. Must be quite an electric bill. Royal Carribean put us up in a very posh hotel. I fell in love with the shower. Look at all that black marble! Pretty ritzy for a couple of Arizona hicks!

The next day we were bussed out to the ship, where we spent the afternoon in port while everyone embarked. It gave us a chance to unpack and explore the ship. Just as we sat down to dinner, the ship left port. We passed this lighthouse while we were enjoying our salads.

We saw numerous ferries like this one throughout our Alaska trip. Ferries are one of the major sources of transportation here.

The next morning we docked in Victoria, Vancouver Island, B.C. It was a gorgeous morning and we decided to walk rather than take a bus or taxi. We walked for a while along the shore, looking at the mountains in Washington State. We walked through some beautiful, nicely landscaped neighborhoods before coming to the downtown area.

This is the government building. Very beautiful and impressive.

Our first stop was to attend Mass at St. Andrew's Cathedral. There were quite a few people here for a Saturday morning Mass; the acoustics in this church were wonderful. After Mass we walked to the needlework and yarn shop, where I bought quite a few souvenirs!

We spent some time walking around the harbor area. There were flowers everywhere, in big planters and in huge baskets hanging from all the streetlamp posts.

The Empress Hotel was covered in ivy.

I would love to come back here anytime. I know that there was plenty to see that we simply didn't have time for.

Surprise! A Sweater!

2008-10-31T17:08:00.005-07:00

I've been holding out on you all. A couple months ago I started working on a child's sweater, knitted in Cascade 220 Superwash. The idea, first of all, was to work on a sweater, something with actual construction involved. I also wanted to make it something that could be worn by the grandkids. Actually, to make something sturdy enough to last through a few kids. To that end, I went with the Cascade 220.

This is the Cameron sweater from Leisure Arts' Kids Knitted Sweaters & More. I was very pleased with the pattern. It was knit in the round with no sewing involved; the sleeves were picked up at the armholes and knitted to the cuffs. I really enjoyed this little knit. It used up two skeins of Cascade in teal, and part of another skein of light teal for the contrast stripes.

This isn't one of my Alaska projects. I didn't take it with me on the trip, because I didn't want anything fiddly with me. Since coming back, though, I wanted to get it finished up pretty quick so I could get going on more projects from this book. There are at least three other projects that I want to knit up for the grandkids. This sweater is a size 6 and is on the big side right now. But I'm sure that won't last for long.

More details on my Ravelry page.

U is for...

2008-10-28T02:10:00.001-07:00

Unbelievable beauty. Water and sky, spruce and mountains, the Inside Passage, the glaciers of the north.

Enjoy.

T is for...

2008-10-27T01:40:00.001-07:00

Totems and Tlingits.

When we were planning out our trip, we decided that we would concentrate on historical and cultural tours. There were no regrets about this, once we had completed the trip. We learned a lot and saw first hand the difficulties that the gold rush settlers had to endure, and the challenges that the current residents deal with on a daily basis. There is great beauty in the remoteness, but life must be adapted to the environment.

We spent time over several days visiting historical parks and museums. We learned about totem poles, a lot more than I had known up to now. We learned what their purpose was and how to understand them, as well as the uses for which they are carved: to proclaim who lives in a certain area; to memorialize the deceased; to commemorate important events, etc. We visited a village workshop where totems are still being carved today, as a craft still living in this modern day. We learned about the woods used and the tools, as well as the dyes and paints used to decorate them.

The first three pictures were taken at Sitka Historic Park. We walked through the forest of spruce and hemlock in a gentle rain. The air was filled with the smell of the wet pine. The park is out on a small finger of land that two hundred years ago was the area occupied by the Tlingit people. The native people did not get along well with the Russian settlers at Sitka. Eventually the Russians and Tlingits fought and the Russian ships shelled the native fort that used to stand in this peaceful, green meadow. The Tlingits decided that they could no longer resist the Russians, and they escaped in the middle of the night, not to return for several decades.

Our first contact with the Tlingits -- who are still very much present in Southeast Alaska today -- was at Icy Straight/Hoonah. We took a tour that took us into the small, isolated town of Hoonah which is occupied today by a predominantly Tlingit population. Our tour guide, a young Tlingit woman, explained many aspects of the Tlingit clans and their society. I was impressed by her descriptions of clan relationships; how any member of a clan will look out for any other member of the clan, even those who may be perfect strangers. In fact, it would seem that there are no perfect strangers in Tlingit society; every one is made welcome. There is a concept of voluntary sharing among the families that would probably put the rest of us to shame. It was also obvious that the Tlingits are a proud, happy people, despite or perhaps because of the fact that they have very little of the consumer mentality found in the lower 48.

I found it quite fascinating that the people here live a basic subsistence lifestyle. In other words, they mostly live off what the land and sea have to offer. Fishing and hunting provide a great deal of the food, as well as shellfish and seaweeds. Herbs and plants are used for medicines, and very little is allowed to go to waste.

The remaining pictures posted were taken at Saxman Native Village just outside of Ketchikan. The presentations at this village were excellent. Saxman Village was settled when the Tlingits moved here from another remote area at which they could no longer exist. What could be brought from the old village was taken to Saxman, including some of the totem poles. It was obvious that their family histories were very important to the residents. There is a great sense that the people do belong to the land and the land to them.

The "long house" or "clan house" was where all the members of the clan would live. Nowadays the clan houses are used for gatherings and dances. They are still painted with the symbols that identify the resident clan. The houses would face the water as this one does here, so that visiting clans could see who lived in this particular place.

We were privileged to see two dances/programs that were educational and very moving. There was a third program we attended in Sitka, but other than being charmed by the children taking part, we were not as impressed by that one. At each location there were elders of the Tlingits that danced and explained the culture; their dignity and integrity of life was impressive.

The Tlingits wear ceremonial blanket robes for the dances that are made of felted wool and decorated with symbols that represent their clan identity. At the dance in Hoonah, it was explained that the designs truly represent the person who is wearing the robe, and that it was proper to respect and honor that identity. It was requested that photographs not be taken of the symbols on the blankets, unless one is specifically permited to take the picture by the wearer. In Hoonah the audience was invited to come up and join one of the dances. I did so, as well as perhaps another ten people, and we were given felted blankets to wear that did not have any clan symbols on them.

In Sitka we were also invited to join in a dance, but were not given any robes. Then in Saxman, when I went up with three other people to join the participation dance, I was surprised to see that the Tlingit dancers were taking off their own ceremonial robes and allowing us to dance with them. A young Tlingit lady took off her beautiful robe and placed it over my shoulders, and then taught me how to do the simple dance. Then the drums and singing began. I danced in the ceremonial robe, feeling its' weight on my back and shoulders. I think I was feeling more weight than just the wool itself, the weight of hundreds of years of an ancient people. I know that for a few minutes there I was absorbed into a culture that I will always remember.

After the dance the young woman helped me out of the robe, and I thanked her for the honor of being allowed to dance in it.

We walked about the totem park and met a Tlingit man who explained much about the totems. He was one of the tribe who still carved totems, and it was easy to see that this is an art that is still being kept alive.

A person can travel many miles over land and sea, and consider that this is a good trip taken. A person can also travel many miles in time and culture and experience, and say that this is an even greater trip taken. A person can travel many miles over land and sea, and still be the same person at the end of it. A person can also travel many miles in time and culture and experience, and not be quite the same person at the end of it. I think back frequently to all that I saw and experienced on this trip, and I imagine that I will continue to do so for quite a while to come.

Friday's Fauna

2008-10-24T01:25:00.001-07:00

Again, instead of Friday's Flowers, we have Friday's Fauna, just so I can share with you a few more pictures of the many critters we saw on our trip. Bald Eagles in Juneau; a harbor seal in Oregon; a water bird (sorry, I'm no ornithologist!), also in Oregon; and the seals at Pier 39 in San Francisco.

Walking in the Silk Garden

2008-10-22T01:29:00.001-07:00

The first of the Alaskan projects is finished. The Noro Striped Scarf by Jared Flood was my airplane knitting, as well as balcony knitting throughout the trip.

The scarf was finished on Sunday. I used a full four skeins of Noro Silk Garden.

255 and 258 were multicolor skeins. I picked two similar skeins to complement each other.

I used two skeins of 267, which were varying values of the same brown/gray color. This made an excellent base for the two multicolor skeins.

I did not find this in the least boring. I love the finished scarf and of course love the Noro. Nothing I've ever seen can compare to the way the Silk Garden slips so easily from one shade into the next. So much depth and uniqueness to these scarves!

I doubt that this will be the only one I knit.

Saturday Sky - Hoonah Morning

2008-10-18T02:37:00.000-07:00

Most of the time we were in Alaska, the sun only played hide and seek with us. Very early in the morning that we sailed into Icy Straight/Hoonah, there were some bits of blue sky and evidence that the sun was still up there. The early morning light, the fog hanging over the water and mountains, and about all the pervading stillness of the early dawn made for a memorable morning. There is something to be said for the habit of getting up every day with the sunrise.

Friday's Flowers

2008-10-17T02:29:00.000-07:00

Out walking in the Alaskan woods and wilderness, there wasn't much in the line of wildflowers blooming. I did take a few shots of what there was in flowers, grasses, and leaves. The new camera did come through for me very nicely.

Kitchen Projects

2008-10-16T02:47:00.001-07:00

Last week Joe's new KitchenAid mixer showed up, and he took advantage of this last weekend to put it through its' paces. On Sunday he mixed up a chocolate cake that turned out very light and moist. On Monday it was time to make sausage. My maternal Polish grandparents made homemade kielbasa every year; my grandfather taught Joe how to do it and now we are the only family members who keep the tradition going. About ten pounds of pork butt was purchased and cut into cubes. Some of the heaviest fat was trimmed off but a fair amount of fat is needed to keep the kielbasa from being too dry.

Four cloves of garlic were crushed with salt, marjoram, and ground black pepper.

The casings (dried sheep intestines - we are nothing if not traditional sausage makers) were soaked to remove the salt they were packed in.

The cubes of pork were ground up using the grinder attachment on the mixer.

The spices were thoroughly mixed into the ground meat, and a bit was fried up and tasted to make sure the proportions were correct.

The casings were threaded onto the stuffing attachment and the mixer did its' job admirably.

Five long kielbasa, a little over a pound and a half each. About a pound was packaged and frozen in a chunk to be used later in stuffing the Thanksgiving turkey.

Dinner's ready!

Walk With Me Wednesday

2008-10-15T02:15:00.001-07:00

We did get the opportunity to take a few beautiful walks while we were in Alaska. While in Juneau the fog lifted enough to allow us a picturesque walk in the woods.

The trees were changing colors and it was intoxicating for this high desert grrl to see the spectrum of greens, yellows, and the blues of the water.

Some of the trails were closed because of the salmon spawning and the prevalence of bears at stream-side. But soon we could see chunks of ice floating in the mirror-like water.

Beautiful Mendenhall Glacier!

And the perfect view from the trail.

S is for...

2008-10-14T02:18:00.000-07:00

Salmon and Sea lions.

We saw several salmon canneries on our trip. We were there during the last week of the official fishing season. We often saw the fishing boats as they sailed in and out of the ports.

Hoonah Packing Company is in Icy Straight, Alaska, an out-of-the-way area that only allows one cruise ship per day. There are no jewelry shops lining the streets, no tshirt shops or tacky souvenir places. This is the real Alaska, a small native town depending on fishing and subsistence living, surrounded by breathtaking scenery. The cannery and the machinery you see here is no longer commercially functioning; it has been converted into a museum, a restaurant, and a few shops with Alaska and native made items. We had a lunch of halibut and chips. The portions were so huge, we could have gotten away with just splitting one order. We bought a case of canned salmon and had it shipped home, as well as shopping for some other souvenirs and Christmas gifts. Everything was on sale for the end of the cruise season. We shopped and shopped and had it all mailed home. (It was a little like Christmas when we got home. Barbara had everything stacked up and opening all the boxes was an adventure in rediscovering what we had purchased a week or so ago.)

In Sitka we went walking along the water's edge and came to a salmon stream. Although it was near the end of the spawning season, we saw many salmon working their way upstream. On this trip I ate Alaskan salmon for the first time. It was the best!

We saw this small island with sea lions while in Juneau. There had to be a couple hundred clustered on this little bit of dry land. The noise was incredible. Several groups were playing in the water, splashing and diving and wrestling with each other. At other times, when we would be in port, harbor seals would come up to the ship and pop their heads out of the water. I guess they enjoyed seeing the ship and the passengers just as much as the passengers enjoyed seeing them.

Of course, S is also for the Ship! Beautiful Radiance of the Seas!

R is for...

2008-10-13T01:47:00.001-07:00

Russian America.

Sitka was known, a couple hundred years ago, as New Archangel, the main outpost of Russia in Alaska. The Russian influence can still be seen, especially in St. Michael's Cathedral in the heart of downtown Sitka. The church is filled with old icons and artifacts which were rescued from a devastating fire which destroyed the original cathedral a number of years ago. It was rebuilt as an exact replica of the first church.

It was a drizzly day in Sitka when we were there. Not a heavy rain, but just enough to need the umbrellas. The shop girls were frazzled and somewhat short-tempered, understandably so as the stores were packed with shoppers trying to snatch up the end of season bargains at 50 and 75% off. There was a quilt shop right next to the cathedral; lots of Alaska quilt patterns and fabrics, some cross-stitch and a little bit of yarn. (I also forgot to mention last time that there is a huge quilt shop in Ketchikan, as well as the yarn shops.) I was surprised at how many places we stopped at had quilt and yarn shops very close to the docks. I guess the folks in Alaska understand about souvenir yarn for the cruise passengers.

This little hill with the flags is the spot where Russia turned over possession of Alaska to the United States.

Sitka Harbor is filled with many beautiful little islands. All the islands seem to have a house or two on them; beautiful big houses on some of them. Every island has it's own dock, a necessity when you have to sail over to the town in order to grocery shop or do anything else, for that matter. Wouldn't that be ideal? A house on your own little island, where you can escape from the rest of the world. Think of all the lovely knitting you could get done!

Friday's Flowers

2008-10-03T03:27:00.000-07:00

On the trip we traveled the weather gamut, from summer to autumn to winter. Although we never stepped into any snow, we did see plenty of it. On the whole, temperatures stayed in the autumn range, with minor forays into winter and summer.

San Francisco was our last port of call before disembarking in San Diego. Joe wasn't feeling his best that day (I told him he's just not used to two weeks vacation away from work), so we only wandered down to Fisherman's Wharf and Pier 39. It was lovely and sunny and the flowers on Pier 39 were blooming away.

In most of the country, fall is in full force, and my flowers here, the ones that haven't already croaked, don't have long to go. But here in SF, as you can see, the blooming season still has a long way to go. Does it ever stop blooming in California?

Q is for...

2008-10-02T03:22:00.000-07:00

Ketchikan!!

Yes, I can spell. As you will see.

Ketchikan was our last Alaskan port. All through the Inside Passage we had been dodging rain and fog. This day the sun was out in full force. A totally gorgeous day. We were told that it had been raining for a solid week and a half in Ketchikan, and that the locals hadn't seen the sun in that long and more. In fact, we were also told that Ketchikan only has a few totally sunny, no rain at all days in the entire year, and that we were lucky enough to be there for one of them.

Everybody seemed to be out in full force. The boaters were enjoying the sun and the breeze, and sea planes were landing and taking off in front of our balcony all day long. We had a wonderful lunch of salmon chowder and Dungeness crab served in a big marguerita glass.

In Ketchikan I found the little ball of yarn that I had determined to hunt down and capture in Alaska. Qiviut yarn in peach. This is a blend of qiviut, silk, and merino. I tried on a sample cowl and was amazed at how warm the blend was. Far warmer than I will probably ever really need in Arizona, but something to acquire all the same.

No way was I trusting this to the baggage handlers of America, either.

So, you see, Q(iviut) really is for Ketchikan, after all!

ReEntry

2008-10-01T03:05:00.000-07:00

It's always such a bummer, isn't it?

Our trip was totally beyond fantastic. The weather was so-so part of the time, but most of it was good. I think I took about 900 pictures or so and a bunch of videos. Don't worry, I'm not about to post all of them. Only some of the best, and even at that I will be spreading it out over the next few weeks. I've got a whole bunch of ABCalong posts ready to go.

But this post is about the yarn. Of course the first thing I packed, along with the camera and guide book (and the cruise tickets!), was a project for airplane knitting. I took the Noro Striped Scarf, which I cast on with my cheap needles in case I lost them at the TSA check point. Not such a bad idea. We flew to Vancouver on 9-11, and security at the airport was really strict. Joe's binoculars and my camera, his carryon, and he himself got thoroughly checked out. The knitting needles? No problem. After we arrived in Vancouver I did change over to the Crystal Palace bamboos that I prefer. The Silk Garden colors I'm using are 267 ( 2 skeins of various brown shades), and 1 skein each of 258 and 255. I did get some work done on this when relaxing in the cabin or on the balcony.

Our first port of call was Victoria in British Columbia. This is a beautiful city, and we were there on a perfect, sunny day. There will be pictures later on, especially of the flowers that were blooming everywhere.

I had already searched the Internet and had found a shop for cross stitching and yarn. I have been feeling an interest lately in starting to do some cross stitch and embroidery again. So I made a visit to The Button and Needlework Boutique, a fabulous shop that I nearly went insanely crazy in. I felt that I'd died and gone to needlework heaven. There were more fantastic designs and materials than a person could even take in. It would involve a few hours to really do justice to the many patterns, books, and kits in the store. And to top it off, I had the world's greatest enabler helping me out. Joe saw several cross stitch kits and patterns that he liked and added them to my basket. I ended up getting three kits and two patterns there. (The church kit I got later in Sitka.)

Two of the kits are of totem poles, a fitting Alaska souvenir. I started one while on the cruise. I need some bright sunlight to really enjoy the counted cross stitch, and we had plenty of during the second week of the cruise.

While at the boutique I also looked at the yarn, junkie that I am, although I really hadn't gone in here for the wool. I did grab some Baby Cashmerino for a couple baby knits.

I also found this yummy hank of Yummy yarn. (Ravelry link.) The colors made me immediately think of Alaska, and the shop owners were very kind to wind it up for me. I had packed my sock needles for just such a situation as this, and later that afternoon I did cast on for a pair of socks that I'm calling "Monkeys in Alaska".

The Monkey pattern is perfect for this yarn. Look at those wonderful colors!

Later in the trip we stopped in Ketchikan. I had already looked up the two yarn shops there, and once we were done with our morning tour, Joe took off to explore on his own, leaving me to the temptations of the wool and silk. How many beautiful yarns to choose from!

I bought two hanks of Pink Carrot sock yarn. Again, these colors made me think Alaska, sea colors and earth colors.

I also fell hard for the Hand Maiden. Three hanks of Sea Silk and two hanks of Casbah. There will be shawls in the future.

When it was time to come home, I packed the yarn and kits first. In my carryon. I refused to trust my precious and not exactly inexpensive treasures to the baggage handlers of America. Who cares what happens to my clothes? I'm hanging on to the yarn. Joe didn't seem to understand. But I know that you do.

And not without reason. Joe's suitcase went AWOL in California and didn't come home until 24 hours after the rest of us. Not so dumb after all, am I.

How do I love thee?

2008-09-10T15:53:00.003-07:00

Oh, Ravelry, let me count the ways!

We fly out in the morning for our Alaskan Cruise Adventure. I've been spending the last couple weeks researching yarn shops along the route, as well as local yarns and patterns for those yarns. Using Ravelry has made it a piece of cake, since everything is linked together. And with email addresses for the taking, I've already contacted one shop to inquire about directions and the availability of the yarns I am interested in. Including one starting with the letter Q.

Speaking of letters, I'm hoping to find a lot of my remaining ABCalong entries whilst on this trip.

The camera is packed, the batteries charged up, the hand knit socks are packed as well as patterns and needles for projects to be cast on while cruising. Airport knitting? Noro Silk Garden for the Noro Striped Scarf that everyone seems to be making. No pictures today since the camera is packed.

It looks like we'll be getting a good taste of rain on this trip, but maybe we'll get lucky and dodge the worst of the showers. We have a lot of excursions planned, mostly cultural and historal sites and events. We're also hoping to see lots of wildlife and whales. And I'm planning on enjoying lots of Alaskan seafood!

No promises to blog while we're away. But there will be plenty pictures when I get back. Stay safe and well, everybody, while I'm offline, especially anyone in the path of hurricanes. Adios for now!

Friday's Fauna

2008-08-29T01:54:00.000-07:00

Just for a change of pace, I thought I'd make today Friday's fauna instead of Friday's Flowers. Last week you had Grand Canyon flowers, this week you get the critters. Last week was practising with the new camera's macro, this week's shots were taken practising with the zoom. I love the detail I was able to get from a good distance away from the creatures. I especially enjoyed being able to capture the condor riding the early morning thermals over the canyon. This camera is going to work out great when we leave for Vancouver two weeks from today!

P is for...

2008-08-28T01:38:00.001-07:00

Psalm 100.

Cry out with joy to the Lord, all the earth.
Serve the Lord with gladness.
Come before Him, singing for joy.

Know that He, the Lord, is God.
He made us, we belong to Him.
We are His people, the sheep of His flock.

Go within His gates, giving thanks.
Enter His courts with songs of praise.
Give thanks to Him and bless His name.

Indeed, how good is the Lord.
Eternal His merciful love.
He is faithful from age to age.

O is for...

2008-08-27T01:43:00.000-07:00

Original Occupants.

The ancient settlers of Arizona, a thousand years or so ago, are quite fascinating, at least to come across what is left of their ancient civilizations. The stone walls of their homes...

The ceremonial structures...

The pottery...

And the weaving...

How they survived, and did so well at it, is still amazing.

Shades of LittleLace

2008-08-23T02:19:00.000-07:00

The LittleLace Saga (see sidebar) took place in a number of locations, the primary being Arizona's Grand Canyon. Last weekend, to celebrate our anniversary, Joe and I traveled back there again, and this time to also debut the Cherry Leaf Shoulder Shawl. Certainly an appropriate place for me to photograph more lace!

When I first saw the multicolor yarn Roxie, generous soul that she is, had gifted me, I thought that it was the perfect Arizona yarn. It is all the colors of the canyon, and then some. It blends perfectly with the towering rock walls and stone crevasses. I followed the pattern in Victorian Lace Today precisely, except that I left off the crochet on the top edge. Just a personal thing. The pattern was easily memorized and involved enough to keep me from falling asleep while knitting it. It was in the sleeping category for a while, when the lace mojo disappeared, but in the general melee this summer to finish up WIP's I finally saw the return of the missing mojo. I am very happy with this light shawl and will get many years of enjoyment from it, I'm sure.

And here's my sweetie, messing around with his new pair of binoculars. How many guys would agree to photograph their wife on a crowded Sunday afternoon at Moran Point at the biggest Arizona tourist attraction? Especially if said wife was wearing a wool shawl on a hot, sunny day? I think he's a keeper, even if I may be a little "touched" from the heat and the wool. Have a great weekend, everybody!

Friday's Flowers, Canyon Edition

2008-08-22T02:27:00.000-07:00

There has been an obvious delay in posting, due to some computer issues which are not totally resolved. At least, I don't think they have all been resolved, but at least I am now able to upload pictures. I could not resist sharing pictures of the flora at the Grand Canyon. We have never gone before in August, and I was pleased to see many blooms that I had not encountered before. I don't know the names, but all the rain has certainly brought forth much beauty.

Little Blocker Cat

2008-08-13T05:09:00.000-07:00

What do you know? Mommie finished the Cherry Leaf shawl. And she's blocking it on the bed in the spare room.

I like to sleep on that bed. I think it's my own bed. Nobody bothers me there. Now Mommie's got all these pins sticking up on the bed. And my blankets and pillows are gone.

I guess I will help Mommie block the shawl, so she can hurry up and put the pillows and blankies back on the bed.

Mommie and Daddy are going away for the weekend. She says that she will have pictures of the shawl next week. And I'm going to sleep on my bed all weekend long.

Blooming Friday

2008-08-08T03:03:00.000-07:00

It's time for another meander around the back yard.

Lantana.

Isn't the macro nice on the new camera?

Zinnia.

Dianthus.

Joe's lemon tree has blossoms.

Have a great weekend!

Project Update

2008-08-07T02:57:00.000-07:00

There's less on the needles these days. Something of an attempt to not have too many knits on the needles at once. I am quite confident in predicting that this will not last.

After the Foliage hat was finished, I wound up that wonderful bamboo yarn that Roxie sent me. The colors are very similar to the Malabrigo used in the hat. Only this is going to be another scarf. I've been dredging the Ravelry files and I think I've found the one perfect pattern for this. But I'm not telling, yet.

The Cherry Leaf Shawl (from Victorian Lace Today) is nearly done. About another hour's work or thereabouts, and it will be ready for blocking. There's a special photo shoot planned for the finished product as well.

This was yarn sent to me by Roxie as well. I anticipated that the shawl would use up more of it, but there is quite a bit left. Enough for another lace scarf, if I so desire. VLT and Ravelry have plenty of patterns, and there is so much more new on the Internet these days. Sometimes I think that I need to stay away from the computer, or else I get caught up in links and sites and searches. Already my Ravelry cue is greater than life expectancy. Oh, the choices, the choices!

Something for Alaska

2008-08-05T14:50:00.004-07:00

I finished another little project on Sunday. This is the Foliage hat pattern fron Knitty.

The yarn is Malabrigo, colorway 176, a mix of darker reds and browns with touches of gray and yellow. The darker pictures are truer to life.

I love the Malabrigo. I love the softness and the colors. This will be a nice warm hat for those evenings in Alaska next month.

Oh, and by the way, this is something else new for Alaska.

Friday Flowers

2008-08-01T02:26:00.000-07:00

The Bird of Paradise bushes are going nuts. The good rains have scored again.

And there is an unprecedented third group of blooms on the cactus. Here is one just getting ready to open.

The desert becomes a true garden when the rains show up.

It's a Vision

2008-07-31T01:23:00.000-07:00

A vision of something absolutely gorgeous. This is 4 ounces of laceweight bamboo, beautifully hand dyed by Teresa Ruch of Teresa Ruch Designs in Portland, OR. This lovely skein was gifted to me by the extraordinarily generous Roxie, as a major giveaway she held for her 600th post. Thank you, thank you, Roxie!

And I have a vision of a beautiful lace scarf in my future!

Christmas in July

2008-07-29T15:10:00.003-07:00

The Irish Hiking Scarf was finished on July 26, just one day shy of Christmas in July. But it's going to be put aside for a Christmas gift, so it still counts.

Specs: 352 yards of Brown Sheep Prairie Silk, a silk/wool/mohair/blend. Color: Bolivar Blue. This yarn has been discontinued. US Size 8 needles.

Friday's Flowers

2008-07-25T01:37:00.000-07:00

This is one of the planter beds I played with a few weeks ago. With all the rain we're getting, it's doing very well.

N is for...

2008-07-22T21:24:00.000-07:00

Nature.

Nature can get wild and crazy this time of year in Arizona. We have been getting a lot of rain. This is a good thing; the drought has been worse this year than I have ever seen. But now it is gratifying to see the storm clouds building up over the mountains by mid-morning, on a daily basis. There are massive thunderstorms each afternoon and lots of rain. It's enough to make a person start dancing.

It is also enough to make nature go a little crazy. The cactus in the front yard bloomed in June as hoped for, but now with all the rain a rogue flower showed up this week. That bloom is particularly large for this cactus, well more than six inches across.

In the backyard, a rogue red hot poker showed up. These hadn't bloomed this year, due to a complete lack of rain; in fact, I didn't even think they were going to grow at all. I was considering digging the things up and trying them in another location, when the rains started and the pokers suddenly started to grow. Now I have one poker a couple months after they are supposed to appear.

We had no plums off the plum tree this year. Oh, the tree bloomed and fruit started to form, but they remained small and hard and never ripened before all falling off the tree. Now that the rains are here in abundance, however, the pear tree is doing fine.

And the mimosa trees are still blooming like mad. The perfume from these in the morning is heavy and intoxicating, especially with all the humidity. The bees, hummingbirds, and butterflies are having a field day.

Of course, Nature has it's other side. With constant days of rain, the backyard has 486,990,365,389 weeds springing up. At least it makes for a lot of green.

Attention, Sports Fans...

2008-07-19T21:20:00.000-07:00

We finally have a completed pair of socks.

It was a long time coming, but these have finally crossed the finish line.

Basic Sock Recipe from Knitting Rules!, by the Yarn Harlot. US Size 1 needles. Austermann Step yarn, color 09.

Started in February, finished on July 8. Very nice and snug, perfect. The stripes match up perfectly and there was plenty of yarn left over. I have cast on for another Baby Surprise Jacket with the remainder.

I suppose that now I could start a pair for the Summer of Socks, like, being the last person across that particular starting line, and see if I could finish a pair before the KAL ends, but why spoil a perfectly good bottom-of-the-heap track record?

Oh, by the way, one of our summer projects -- the old carpeting on the porch was ripped up and replaced by ceramic tile. Beautiful, neat, and clean. I love sitting out here in the early mornings or evenings. And there should be a couple more FO's shortly. I'm on a clean-up-the-WIPs kick. Have a great rest of the weekend.

Saturday Sky, Driving Home from Work

2008-07-12T20:29:00.001-07:00

M is for...

2008-07-11T01:24:00.000-07:00

Mines and mills.

Let's take a walk today on a quiet desert pathway north of Fairbank.

A walk of about a mile or thereabouts brings you to an old uncapped mineshaft. This area of Arizona has been mined for silver, copper, turquoise and other semi-precious stones for the last hundred and thirty years or so. The town of Bisbee has a huge open pit mine; the town of Tombstone is built over the old silver mine tunnels. Sometimes those tunnels cave in and then a street suddenly disappears. Fortunes were made here. Eventually, however, the Tombstone mines flooded and production slowed to a standstill; the copper became too expensive to mine and the economy suffered. Some mining still goes on here, but on a very reduced scale.

Many mine shafts were dug in the desert. Some have been closed over, but many, like this one, have not. There is a hazard in off-trail desert hiking or biking, due to the many mineshafts still open. Accidents and deaths still occur, unfortunately.

Here, just off the trail, are the ruins of an ore processing mill.

These stone walls were once the back walls of a huge stamping mill just north of Fairbank.

There were once several stamping mills in the area, all of them built a little above the river. Water power was used to run the machinery that processed the raw ore and removed the silver so that it could be collected.

The machinery was so loud that it could be heard for miles, 24-7.

Now all that remains are the stone walls, the ghost towns, and the old mine shafts.

L is for...

2008-06-26T01:59:00.000-07:00

Linen. I had been working on the Moss Grid hand towel from Mason Dixon Knitting for over a year; I just couldn't seem to feel the love for the linen. It was dry and hard to my fingers. Okay, not that dry and hard, but compared to a nice merino wool, yes, hard and dry. Like knitting with old string. None the less, I pushed myself to finish this and did so on June 8. Here is a picture of the unwashed towel.

The next day I threw it into the washer with the regular wash and let it ride. No great difference after the washing, but I tossed it into the dryer with the other things and turned on the heat. When the cycle was done, I hunted it out. Eureka! Amazingly soft and fluffed out! And not a bit of blocking needed!

Seriously, I was blown away by the results. I was standing there in the laundry room, squishing the towel in my hands and against my face, certain that some washer/dryer gremlin had replaced the dry, hard linen with this wonderful fabric. I'm sold. I'm converted. Now I believe that those beautiful patterns knit with linen are entirely worth the investment. (Now, if I hadn't put myself on a stash-only diet...)

Specs: Louet Euroflax Originals, one skein French Blue. I only had enough to knit 10 repeats of the pattern instead of twelve. US Size 5 needles. Scrumptious.

K is for...

2008-06-18T02:13:00.001-07:00

Keyboard. When I was in my teens, my mother bought me a piano and I took lessons for a number of years. Then I got married and moved away, and although I would play the piano whenever I went home, I eventually lost my skills.

Jump ahead to Fall 2000. Joe and I had celebrated our 25th anniversary, and my mother told me that as an anniversary gift, she would send me the piano. She contracted with a piano moving company and my piano travelled from Michigan to Arizona without mishap. I was very happy to get it, but I didn't remember any of my lessons any more. I didn't have time to take lessons, with all those kids still in the house, but the daughters did take lessons for a number of years.

Earlier this year I decided that I wanted to start playing again. I dug out my old music books, called in a piano tuner, and got a music teacher to come to the house once a week. And I'm happy to say that the lessons are coming along very well. Part of my reason for starting to play again is that I want to keep my brain active and busy learning new things. Learning - or relearning - an instrument is a wonderful thing. Of course, sometimes one can't practise until a kitty is removed from the keyboard.

Roxie hit me up with a meme today. It involves grabbing the nearest book, turning to page 123, finding the fifth sentence, and quoting the next three sentences. So I grabbed my current read, Elliott Arnold's "Blood Brother", an old favorite about the Apache Indians of Southeast Arizona. "He carefully extracted a long black stogie and received a light from the young lieutenant. 'You are most welcome here, Mr Bascom. You will find your duties not too onerous, I hope.' " If you want to play along just for fun, consider yourself tagged.

J is for...

2008-06-15T15:50:00.004-07:00

Jogless Jog.

I'd read about the Jogless Jog in Handknitting With Meg Swansen, but it never made much sense and I couldn't get it to work when I tried it. It wasn't until I got the DVD Knitting Glossary that it began to sink into my thick skull, and when I got the the video A Swedish Dubbelmossa it really and truly made sense. Finally. And it works. Behold the "Very Warm Hat" from The Opinionated Knitter by Elizabeth Zimmermann.

Oh, you can see the jog if you really look for it. But I can pick up the finished hat and not see it at all while just casually handling it. Here is one side...

And here is the other. The join is there, but so minute that no one will notice when Joe is wearing it in Alaska this fall.

Specs: Cascade 200 in Light and Dark Gray, less than one skein each. US Size 7 needles. Modifications: I cast on 112 stitches instead of the 91 called for in the pattern, and added an extra stripe above and below the two color pattern.

Joe says it seems a little too big for him, although I think it fits him just fine. He thinks I ought to try shrinking it down a bit, but I'm afraid that if I try I'll end up with something much too small. Hopefully he will just get used to it. It certainly is a very warm hat.

An Extremeness of Weather

2008-06-09T01:00:00.000-07:00

It's been a lousy couple of weeks, attested to by severe lack of posting. The extremeness of the weather has accounted for an extremeness of being under the weather, for both Joe and I.

Let's go back to where we left off, getting ready for Barbara's high school graduation. This is traditionally held outside on the football field, with the students on the field and masses of family in the stands and milling about everywhere. The weather was deteriorating all afternoon, with very high winds, chilly temperatures, and rain showers in the forecast. We were hoping that the powers that be would decide to move the ceremony indoors, but alas! Reasonable minds did not prevail.

We tried to dress accordingly. Joe and I both wore winter jackets and knit caps, and I had a woolen scarf and some fingerless mitts. The kids did not dress quite so warmly and were raiding the back of the car for blankets, old towels, anything that would add some warmth. The wind was gusting over 50 MPH, making the air dusty and freezing! The rain clouds were hanging off the horizon and over the top of the mountains. We stood out in this for over two hours. The graduates' caps were blowing away as well as the speakers' papers. We couldn't wait for the show to be over and to head for home, where we made up bowls of hot chocolate to cut the chill. You can tell from Barbara's picture how the wind was blowing.

Fortunately the rain - and mountain snow - held off until we were home. The next day the mountain tops were snowy white once more. (Sorry, no pictures, it was melted by the time I got home from work.) It was the first time that it had snowed on Memorial Day weekend, at least to my recall and the recall of everyone I know.

But the inevitable result was that the bronchitis and respiratory ailments that Joe and I had dealt with after Easter came back with a vengeance. We both were back on antibiotics and this time I had to take some sick time from work, something that I despise having to do. We both seem to be doing better now, except for a lingering cough whenever the wind kicks up the desert dust.

Since I was supposed to be taking things easy, I figured it was a good time to check out a new video and some new knitting. I had been wanting to knit up a Baby Surprise Jacket for quite a while now, just because I've seen and read so much about it. I'd ordered The Opinionated Knitter and Knitting Workshop, but found the instructions to be not as clear as I would have hoped. But all was not lost. I had also picked up Meg Swansen's video on the BSJ and found it to be a wonderful teaching video. Everytime I got to a new section I flicked on the DVD player and played the corresponding instructions. Eureka! A charming little sweater that will be put aside for the next baby in the family. Or the next time I need a baby gift. It took me exactly one week (May 25 to June 1) to finish it, minus the buttons for which I shall have to shop someday.

Elizabeth Zimmermann's Baby Surprise Jacket
Size: Newborn-3 months
Needles: US Size 2 (at a gauge of 6 stitches per inch)
Yarn: KnitPicks Essential. Most of a ball of Tucson Multi, as well as part of a ball of Tan 23692, Brown 23697, and a few yards of Gulfstream. This made for a nice Southwest looking sweater. I will definitely be making this pattern again.