A Virtual Toast to the New Year

May the New Year be without financial fear,
May all that is dear to you heart be safe,
And may all the news we hear be good.

Seasons

In this case Celestial Seasonings. A friend and I went on the tour yesterday. It was lovely day for trip to Boulder. We got up there in time for the 11:30 tour as part of the peach group. Turns out the tour tickets were sample packets of their tea, a different type for each time. I really enjoyed the tour. The mint room was a bit overwhelming with spearmint and peppermint bales stacked to the ceiling. The menthol was very clearing. If you get a chance this is a really nice tour. I have my souvenir hair net and this cute individual tea pot I picked up in the gift shop.

Our guide suggest some other free tours near by. We headed over to the Western art museum at Leaning Tree. The whole collection is owned by one of the founders of Leaning Tree. A lot of museums and art galleries probably turn green when they see. The art starts outside with bronze sculptures and then there are three galleries inside.

And of course there was a stop at Shuttles, Spindles, and Skeins. Another skein of yarn followed me home along with a book.

Day After Christmas Shopping

I tend to be crowdaphobic but the only way to have a choice on engagement calendars is to head out after the day after Christmas. We always get one or two calendars for Christmas but never know what they will be. So, I fill in the holes after Christmas and brave the crowds.

The calendars were flying off of the shelves when I went to the store. Something about 50% off was working its magic. I found a Dilbert engagement calendar for by the phone and a tiger wall calendar. These were added to the trout wall calendar, DUH, Naughty Cats, and Knitting Page A day calendars.

After the line in the store, I thought I would grab a snack in the food court. Once, in the food court, I decided I didn't need to stand in another line.

My fun piece of shopping was before the mall trip. I stopped in a Knitted Peace and used my gift certificate towards Nancy Bush's 'Knitting Lace of Estonia' book. I have been eyeing the book before it was distributed. Any bets on how long it takes me to do a project out of it?

Stash Knit Down 2008 Didn't Work

I joined the Stash Knit Down 2008 Group on Ravelry this year around August. At that point, I think my stash was at a high number. It looks like no matter what I do, it is going to end higher by about seven items.

Here is why:
1. Purchase card - who can resist adding the last $20 dollars on a frequent shopping card and then using it? Obviously, not me. I have been trained well by the merchants.
2. Sales - I do better with this. I manage to not go to the stores about 70% of the time when I see the sale notice. When I do go to a sale, yarn follows me home.
3. Coupons- I believe I only use them when I am already planning on something. This maybe slightly delusional, maybe the coupons make me think of things to buy.
4. Enablers - Yes, every so often someone shows off a 'got to have'. I take advantage at the next opportunity.
5. Lack of Guilt - I don't feel I need to hide my purchase from anyone unless it is a gift. Honestly, if I can not afford it, I don't buy it. I like food more than yarn amongst other things.
6. Exchanges - I have trouble parting with my yarn. If there is an exchange, I go buy something for it and then have more yarn.
7. Gifts - People give me yarn. I am not going to turn it down. Who doesn't want something that gives them hours of fun.
8. Spinning - My roving isn't officially part of the stash until it can be knit. If I am spinning, I am not knitting. I really don't think this should count but it does.

The pictures are my two new stash items. They are the result of number 6 and 7.

Maybe, next year the stash will decrease and not explode out of the closet.

Recipe Review

I have tried three recipes over the past few months.

The first was Salmon "Bulgogi" with Bok Choy and Mushrooms out of the June Bon Appetit. I skipped the Bok Choy and Mushrooms. Our vote was that "The Best of Alaska" has better recipes. If we ever do a repeat of the recipe, I am skipping the sesame oil or replacing it with olive oil. We thought it brought out a faint fishy taste.

The second recipe was 'Braised or Broiled Pork Chops' out of "Capitol Cuisine Recipes from the Hill A Bipartisan Cookbook" . The sauce and smell are good but the pork chops dried out.

'Dakota Bean Stew' out of Capitol Cuisine is a keeper. I will have to admit to modifying the recipe. I dumped more beans, celery, onion, and pepper in than it called for. If I am chopping I add the whole bell pepper not just part as a general rule. Also, trying to divide 14 ounces out of 20 ounces of beans just isn't something I do. The liquid got reduced. I think there might be a mistake. I don't see how that much liquid fits in a Dutch Oven. It is good and worth a try.

What's Cooking

I adjusted a recipe for Thanksgiving dinner. We have been using the Sausage Dressing out of a Paul Prudhome cookbook. We have been adjusting it for a while because Rudy really likes it but I thought it was too spicy. I think the new version may be it. So, here is what we did.

Chop one onion, about 6 stalks of celery, and one green pepper
Saute the onion in 2 tablespoons of olive oil until starting to turn transulcent
Add celery and continue
slice one pound of turkey sausage (keibasa or smoked)
Add sausage to pan when the onion starts to turn golden on a couple of pieces
Wait 5 minutes, add the green pepper
Wait until peppers are tender
Add 2 teaspoons Asian/Chinese hot pepper sauce, a pinch of italian seasoning, and a pinch of Mrs. Dash
Saute a bit longer
Add one can low sodium chicken broth
Simmer for a couple minutes
Add plain bread crumbs till most of the moisture is soaked up

Bake in oven at 350 - 375 for 1.5 hours
Stir throughly, every 30 minutes

Things have definitely changed from the original. Now, if we can just remember this for next time.

Closet anyone?

Let's just say Freya needs her head examined. The other night we handed out the canned kitty food to both cats. At bed time, I was in the guest bedroom and mentioned something about cats. Then I noticed a small meow being repeated. It sounded a touch muffled. It seemed to coming from the closet which was odd. The closet hadn't been opened for days. I slid the door back and looked. A blinky-eyed Freya hopped out.

Somehow, she got in and then didn't know how to get out. My theory is that the doors don't have a guide at the bottom and she shoved them apart and slid in. Once she was in, they went back together and she couldn't see where to get out.

There is now a box holding the doors together at the bottom in the middle where they over lap. Just don't need any cats trapped in closets.

Guess we will be getting guides when we get tired of the boxes.

Red Roving

I bought this really red roving before I got the Kromski. I am pretty sure I don't have to say how long it has been aging in the stash. Those with good memories get to figure it out on their own.

I am pretty sure I bought it at Recycled Lamb. It is 100% wool and not merino. There was about 10 ounces. I weight it out into three batches so I could do a three ply.

I used the second smallest whorl for the single plies and I don't recall the ratio off of the top of my head. I used the largest whorl to ply with. For some reason, I ended up with three bobbins full and I mean full. Each bobbin is suppose hold 5 ounces. I probably need to work on how I ply. I suspect the shoe box didn't help. I really should have only had two bobbins full and maybe a little on a third.

The Mistral doesn't come with a tensioned lazy kate instead it has room for two bobbins and you get to use your fingers. That is where the shoe box comes in. Without it, the third bobbin rolls and bounces around on the floor attracting cats. I do plan to get a tensioned lazy kate sometime. Hopefully, I can find one that holds four of my bobbins.

Of course, The three singles didn't end at the same time. I just Navajo plied what was left. It wasn't much because the bobbin was showing on both. Once I get everything in to skein,s I will put the yardage on Ravelry in my stash.

Idella

I finally got around to taking pictures of my Idella. It is a faroese shawl out of "Stahman's Shawls and Scarves", knit top down. The yarn is Lonesome Stone 100% Alpaca knitted on a size 7 needle. I used my Denise needles with the 40 inch cord.

With only 665 yards to work with, I was trying to get the most I could. So, the top down pattern was a must and I chose to do a seed stitch border instead of the lace one. This let me stop in the middle of a pattern repeat instead of needing to get through all 16 rows of a full repeat. The pattern repeat is such that the one set of diamonds ends when the other set are in the middle. I decided I could stop after row 8 or 16 of the pattern. I believe there was about 2 rows worth of yarn left maybe less.

I ended up with about 20 inches for a back neck length. It ends at my elbows and just skims my waist in the back. This is what I was hoping for.

I wore it once around the house and it adds a nice bit of warmth despite the openness of the lace.

The Vote is in

Or so I hope. I finished filling in my mail-in ballot on Saturday and we dropped both ballots off at an early voting location. All of those TV ads and the literature that I keep shoving in the recycle bin is wasted if you are trying to influence me now.

I think the recycle bin is going to pay for itself this week. I hadn't realize just how much we accumulated between all of the candidates and the ballot issues. Just a note to anyone who might mail this stuff, this household only needs one copy. We share. Three copies is excessive. I have no idea why we needed four of a couple of things. Save the postage. Save a tree. Don't stuff my recycling bin. I can do that on my own.

In a couple of days, I supposedly can check a web site to see that my ballot made it in. Or far more likely, I will just declare that I did my part and want nothing more to do with the elections this year.

Bad Bad VCR

I finally got around to trying to record some shows off of the DVR on to DVD. Turns out I had forgotten that I needed more cords to attach the input. I borrowed the ones to the VCR.

So, when I went knitting yesterday, I stopped and got some really nice gold plated cords for the VCR. This way it could be hooked and still play tapes for me. Little did I know its plans for the day.

I got back, hooked it up, grab a handy tape, and tried it. There was no sound so I stopped the tape, hit rewind, and was going to adjust the cords. The tape didn't rewind. Instead of rewinding, the VCR ate the tape. Playing with the power button, I got it to release the tape. The tape had two nice crunches and was dangling out the front.

This is the same VCR that stopped recording years ago but has been playing and rewinding just fine.

It has been declared dead which is really annoying since I just spent money on cables. Also, it ate our StarShip Troopers tape. I like the movie but not as much as Rudy. Now, I need a another VCR and a StarShip Troopers DVD. Sigh. More money will be spent soon to get things back to normal.

Along Came a Spider

The shawl for class is taking most of my free time right now. The class calls this 'bird's eye' but Victorian Lace Today says it is the spider pattern for the stitch.

I am knitting the shawl in Kuni 8/2 effektgarn. The yarn has blue, purple, and black for colors. It is a fingering weight which is heavier than the pattern calls for. I figure I don't need 44 repeats, maybe 38. I will just have to wait and see. Currently, at 19 repeats and counting.

The last class is in just over a week. It would be nice to be ready for an edge.

Blocked

I finally blocked the lavender shawl. It takes time for me to get motivated sometimes. If it was any bigger I would have needed a bigger room. I decided not to pin it because it laid out nicely. The edges aren't as well defined as they could be. I figure the intended recipient isn't going to crawl around on the floor to block the shawl either.

So, here are the details. It is the Oregon Shawl pattern knit in JaggerSpun wool/silk blend. It was knit off of the cone using size 7 needles. I believe I started with 2400+ yards of yarn and have very little left. The cardboard of the tube is showing through some.

As you can see the corners haver the "Tree of Life". The corners about half as wide as the sides. The shawl isn't a true octagon as a result.

The center and border use variations on the "Print of Wave" pattern. The middle section is "Pine Cones" done my way. Which means I did the center stitch a bit different than the pattern called for. This is what I get for having two lace patterns going at once where the symbols were the same with slightly different meanings.

There are several small mistakes. I can't spot most of them. If you see them please don't report them.

All in all I am pleased. Rudy said it turned out bigger than he expected. I believe it is really close to the pattern measurements for the finished product.

Stash Enhancement

I really meant to post this last Sunday but got distracted. Last Saturday, a friend and I went to 'Alpacas On The Rocks' at the fairgrounds. The day got off to a much better start than I anticipated.

Turns out yarn can say your name and your friends know it is looking for you. The yarn was in Salt Lake City waiting patiently at store that I wasn't going near this year. My friend saw it and brought it back for me. It even comes in a cute little bag. The yarn is bearfoote by Mountain Colors. The reds look much better than in the photo. So, now I just need to pick one of my sock patterns for size 4 needles. Actually, the pattern will call for 2's or 3's.

And as you can see I got about 12 ounces of roving at the Alpaca show. I have eight ounces split between two zip locks and about 4 ounces of the variegated.

The alpaca are really cute. One of the owners mentioned that some people mistake them for big poodles. Somehow, I don't think anyone in my neighborhood would be fooled.

Class Sample

The first part of the class was deciding which of three ways to do Bird's Eye, we each get along with. And yes, there are four sections on my sample. The bottom section has an error consistently through out. So, let's just pretend it didn't happen.

The top section is part of what is used for the Curved Shawl in Victorian Lace Today. I found a nice rhythm to it. The intermediate rating is works for me. Others do differ with that rating.

The second section down, is out of Heirloom Lace. It has a nice symmetry to it and is a touch harder on my hands because of purling through back loops. This is to control the stitch slant.

The third section is the teacher's adaption of the pattern. It has a biological type of symmetry. If my memory services me, I think is called bilateral symmetry. If I am wrong, I am sure someone will let me know. It sort of mirrors around the center of the eye.

Appearance wise, the household vote is for the top one. So, spider shawl it is.

Breast Cancer Awareness Scarf

This was a group project for The Knitters Guild of Denver. I only signed up for one since I have other knitting scheduled before the October meeting. The pattern is available online.

The guild elected to use Swish in Petal as the yarn. I choose to cast on both tails and work them at the same time. This way I could maximize the yarn usage. The pattern expects the tails to be 18.5 inches for 37 inches total. I ended up with about 52 inches total.

It did get blocked. Since, the yarn is machine washable, I ran it through with some sheets. Be warned it attracts lint. It took a few minutes to remove the lint. Running it through the wash definitely helped slow down the edge rolling and bring the lace out.

Now, all I have to do is make it to the October meeting and turn it in.

Knitting Update

Sorry, no pictures but I want to announce my big knitting news. The lavender Oregon shawl is off the needles. The border has been grafted together. The ends are woven in. It is waiting to be blocked. It is nice to have it done.

Figure, I need an hour to block it. It might take longer. It needs to soak for a half hour in lukewarm water not hot because the yarn is part silk. I have been informed, Never, Ever put silk in hot water. It takes the shine off and mess up the plant proteins. After soaking, I get to spend time on my hands and knees pinning it to the carpet in the craft room. Crawling around always takes longer than I expect.

I plan to put a picture up after blocking.

Other than that, the Idella shawl is getting closer to done.

Redstone, Colorado

We choose Redstone, Colorado for our 25th anniversary because it was easy to get to, in an interesting looking area of Colorado, and we hadn't stayed there before. To be honest the trip to Hawaii at the beginning of the year was in honor of our 25th. But spoiled brat that I can be, I still wanted to do something on our anniversary. I am really not planning on another 25th.

Since our anniversary was on a Wednesday this year, something nearby was called. This way we could drive over Wednesday evening for a couple of days.
Little did we know that Redstone had some interesting history. Turns out it was a social experiment. The coal mine owner thought it would be best if his workers had decent places to live, some medical attention, and a school for their children. He built cottages for the workers with families and the Redstone Inn for the bachelors and guests. A church and school were also built. For miners this was pretty upscale for the time. Usually, miners lived in shacks or whatever they could cobble together.

The mine was closed in the mid 1900's. Then it was reopened and caught fire which caused it to close permanently. Sounds like this is pretty common with metallurgic grade coal.

Not everything was wonderful. The coke ovens were across the road from the cottages and the inn. I would imagine snow didn't stay white for long near that. It still sounds very progressive for the early 1900's.

Historians are a bit disappointed because the third wife burned all of the family papers she could lay her hands on. Which leaves us to speculate about why she did that.

Marble, Colorado

Last Month we ended up in Marble, Colorado. There is a marble quarry behind Marble and up the mountain. Who knew? We didn't until we visited the area.

Turns out there is a self guide five dollar walking tour of the quarry. Warning signs abound: stay on the path, danger mining activity, unstable area. The path follows the stream up and then goes through the edge of the woods near where blocks of marble are dumped. As a word of caution the path is steep in spots with an occasional paver and is at a high elevation. There is a very good chance it will leave you breathless if you move fast.


At the very top you can walk across to the top end of the mine and peer in. The signs caution that there are works below. Lots of sounds but you can't see them. It is quite the man-made cavern.

Just looking around gave me the impression that the whole mountain is marble. Every where I looked, the underlying rock seemed to be marble. The stream was cutting through and around a marble. The ceiling of the cavern looked like it was marble.

Turns out this is 'Yule' marble because of it's purity. It is 99% Calcium Carbonate which means it is really white and the purist source of marble know in the world. Amazing what happens to sea creature bones after a few hundred years. Given enough time they become monuments and buildings. The marble has been used in the Lincoln Memorial and the Tomb Of the Unknown Soldier.





Which brings me to a recent news story. Someone bought a block, a big block and wants to donate it for repairing the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Some political snafu says the government needs bids and can't just accept it. A marble mine back East wants to bid on the job and their marble probably isn't the closest match. It sounded like since they wanted to bid on it, donations aren't allowed. The Tomb has been cracked for decades and sounds like it will be cracked for a few more.

B&B in Alaska

While we were in Ketchikan we stayed a really nice Bed and Breakfast just 5 miles north of Ketchikan. Just nicely away from the cruise ships and all of the bustle that goes with them. We could watch the ships pass by on their way to the next port.

The local wild life consisted of squirrels and eagles. The little guy in the picture hung out regularly near the patio furniture. Probably looking for crumbs. Up the tree, you can't see the stripe on the back, similar to a chipmunk.

Most evenings, we really couldn't see the sun set because of the clouds. Almost got a sunset picture one evening. The clouds on the horizons put a stop to getting a picture just as the sun went down. So, this is my best attempt at a sunset picture.

Alaskan Brown

An Alaskan Brown Bear did put in an appearance at Anan Creek. He didn't worry about fishing in the rapids. He started downstream and was working his way up. Didn't appear to have a worry in the world just casually ambled up the stream slowly, grabbing a salmon here and there.

The best part is that I did get see an Alaskan Brown Bear in the wild. Something that isn't guaranteed when bear watching near Ketchikan.

The last photo in the post is a picture of the float plane landing to pick us up. There were two nice things about the plane, I got to sit up front on the way out and it had noise cancelling head phones and microphones for all of the passengers. The pilot told some interesting stories. 

The ADD Bear

He really has a name, I just don't remember what I was told. The poor fellow really has an attention problem. Twice, he grabbed a salmon, hauled it half way up the hill, and set it down. Turns out dropped salmon immediately start flopping towards the water. So, he lost his lunch twice. The first picture shows him looking down for lunch. The salmon had left by the time he looked.

Since, he is a two year old, he wanted to see/smell what we were. The viewing platform got circled a couple of times. Then he tried to just hop on up. The park ranger got a bit excited, put her arms up, and started saying "Down, Bear" in a stern voice. Other folks were looking for the broom and bear spray. He backup and wandered off.

Sounds like he does this regularly. Hopefully, he remembers to eat lunch and fattens up for the winter.

Black Bears of Anan

One of the things I did in Alaska was take a float plane trip to Anan Creek for bear viewing.

This really wasn't a meet and greet. The bears are there for salmon. The people are there to see bears.

Since it is on forest service land, it is very controlled which is probably best for all involved. Absolutely, no food past the landing point. It gets put in a locker for when you return. Water is allowed on the trail. This keeps the bears from associating people with food.

You get a briefing about good behavior with bears and are sent up the trail. The trail is easy walking being a board walk most of the way. It is about a 30 minute walk to the viewing area. My little group had a guide. Which is nice, you find out about such things as:
- The bears are picky about their salmon. Some only eat female salmon, tossing the males back.
- The bears often only eat the heads and stomachs leaving the rest for the scavengers.
- If a brown bear shows up the black bears slip back into the woods.
- The bears fish at rapids because it is hard for the fish to maneuver and avoid them.
- Cubs stay with their mom for two years.
- The two year olds are curious and often try to figure out what people are.
- Bears like to trap tourists in the outhouse by the viewing platform which amuses the other tourists.
- Bears have really bad eyesight but a fantastic sense of smell.
- If you walk as a group, bears perceive you as one big animal.

There was a blind below the viewing platform which visitors and sign up for a 30 minute time slot. This lets people get closer and take even more pictures.

Totems in Ketchikan

There are totem poles scattered around Ketchikan. Ketchikan supposedly has one of the largest collections of totem poles in the world. I spotted several of them while wandering around town. Starting with the one at the museum/library, which is by a bus stop and on one of the self guided walking tours.

Each figure has a meaning, from the watcher to the killer whale. If you understand them, they are full of information.

This one and the next one are outside the Totem Heritage Center.  I will admit I didn't go through the center.  If I had I could probably explain these totems.

Just hanging out near a business and satellite dish was this totem. I believe eagle is at the top above some watchers. Don't quote me.

I have no idea if the person knew parking there would lead to this photo or not.  So, is it a totem growing out of car or a totem packing car?

Alaska fishing

Recently, we spent a few days in Ketchikan, Alaska. The reason for the trip was fishing. I choose not to go out on the boat. We have run several experiments with boats and me. Rough water, fishing boats, and I aren't a good combinations. I have ended up being put below on a cushion before.




Instead of fishing, I wandered around Ketchikan one day. One of the features of the town is the creek that runs through it. From the different signs posted around. There was a salmon run up the creek. I couldn't tell if they still run or not. There a couple of nice rapids in the creek.

It was a pleasant walk. Just a few sprinkles. Which was pretty amazing given Ketchikan already had 14 feet of the average 13 foot rainfall. I did try to work a deal of trading some sunshine for rain.

Last Border

Woohoo! I just started the last border on the Oregon Shawl. Three repeats are done now. I am not going to calculate how may it takes to get all the way around. One repeat uses 8 stitches.

I not sure why it looks blue. Probably the lighting in the room doesn't have the full spectrum. It really is lavender. The yarn is Jaggerspun wool silk off of a cone. Actually, it is still on the cone. And we won't talk about how many ends I have to weave in. The idea that cone yarn will only have two ends didn't happen this time.

Knitted Beaded Bracelets

This just shows how slow I am about starting projects. The pattern was a project from the beginning of the year for The Knitting Guild of Denver. The pattern doesn't specify the beads and suggests crochet cotton.

I already had a skein/tube of Lion's Brand Lame' (75 yards) and thought it would work for the pattern. I picked up six tubes of beads at Joanne's. All the beads are size 2/0. The width of the beads isn't consistent but that adds to the interest. Each bracelet used one tube of the main color and approximately 40% of a tube for hi-light beads for approximately 180 beads. The colors are red, teal, aqua, and blue. The hi-light beads are topaz and topaz luster.

I used a big eye wire needle to string the beads. The yarn was threaded by folding it in half and pushing it through the eye. To reopen the eye for the next bracelet, I pushed the tip a metal size one needle through the eye. That opened it back up.

The clasp is a toggle which is easy to work compared to a lobster clasp. The ends were woven in and threaded up the back a ways. Tried gluing them, but I may have to clip the glue end off because it doesn't seem to be staying stuck down.

I showed two of them at the knitting guild meeting and have four 'credits' towards the membership drawing. Guild projects get two credits and non-guild projects get one.

Schweitzer, Not Just For Skiing

One of the scenic side trips was up Schweitzer Mountain just out of Sandpoint, Idaho. It is listed in the "10,000 Places to See In the US .." It provides a spectacular view of Lake Pend Oreille. There was a bit of haze on the day we went up. The camera noticed far more than we did.

The highlight of the trip was actually, the sow and her cubs. A cinnamon black bear had just crossed the road and was looking back at her two cubs. They crossed in front of the vehicle, of course the cameras were all in their respective bags. The cubs were just starting to get over their cute phase and Mom was eyeing the car.

Other wildlife was spotted. One skinny deer and a turkey. Turkeys are getting fairly common in Idaho. I have seen at least one on my last four trips.

And of course no trip near Sandpoint is complete without a stop at Panhandler Pies or at least thinking about it. They have a lunch special of 1/2 a sandwich, a cup of soup, and a piece of pie. This trip it was Boysen Berry Pie for me. I nobly skipped the ice cream.

Fun Facts:
Lake Pend Oreille is the fifth deepest in the U.S.
The Navy has an acoustic testing facility on it.