Something other than the kitchen and knitting

While our summer has been filled with kitchen stuff and Terry gone to training, we have tried to squeeze in some outdoor time doing hiking and such. Our two latest adventures: Mt. Baldy and ERNC public use cabin.

If you live in the Anchorage Bowl area you have probably hiked Mt. Baldy. We hadn't, but heard it has a gorgeous view from the top. Now Bubba is forever saying, "Let's climb a mountain!" when we are out hiking, so I decided we would climb a mountain. I knew Mt. Baldy would be straight up, and it delivered.

Here we are basking in the glow of reaching the top. Muskrat was a trooper. It really was straight up and a lot of work. I work out regularly, and I was tired. There was another family hiking along side us, and I think that motivated Muskrat to keep up with the big kids.

Nice view huh? Well, the family we went up with kept going along the mountain ridge. I was kind of boggled by this since the next destination is pretty far, but maybe they wanted to take in more of the view. So, we started back down. Now if you hike much you know going down is much harder than going up. Couple that with a kid who has fear of heights issues and it makes for interesting descent. We did it though. Only to find out at the bottom that there is a different path down. A gentler one. With switchbacks. Doh.

Muskrat was asleep before Terry was done getting a drink and putting on his seat belt. :)

Way back in January, I made reservations for the public use cabin at Eagle River Nature Center. We were supposed to stay the weekend, but training called so we could only cram in an overnighter. The big thing about this trip was we had to "backpack" in 1.5 miles to get to the cabin. It was worth the effort of packing those packs. The cabin is great - would be better to snowshoe in for a winter retreat. Need to book that.

Family portait on the large rock near the cabin. The weather was HOT.

Lucky for me, there was a honeybucket to pee in. There were bears in the woods, I know I saw one, and I have grown fearful of bears in my old age. The black bear reacted as a black bear should when I yelled and waved my arms - it turn and ran fast back into the woods.

The highlight of the trip for me was waking up early and walking out on the porch for some quiet communing with nature to find this baby moose and its momma munching on the willow by the cabin. Didn't it pose nicely for me?

The trip was good. Learned a lot about what to pack for kids when you don't have a huge car to pack it all in. I also got to test out all the equipment because I am supposed to hike Resurrection Trail from the Hope trailhead to the Devil's Pass trailhead. I am going with someone much more athletic and experienced than me. I am going to be humiliated, but this little trip will keep humiliation at a lower level. :)

Jolly Roger

Do you ever get overwhelmed by all the patterns out there? So many in fact that you forget about patterns you loved when they first came out? We Call Them Pirates is one of them. Originally, I was going to knit this for Bubba who was obsessed with the Jolly Roger Squadron of F-14s. Now I will knit it for Muskrat who just likes pirates.

Here is an in progress shot. I am knitting this out of Nature Spun from Brown Sheep. A very nice sport weight wool. Not the best, but nice. It is pretty soft and still inexpensive. I made Sheldon out of it and the wool has held up nicely. I went down a needle size in order to get a smidge smaller hat for my three year old soon to be four's head. The gauge shows it is going to be a decent fit.

The nerve wracking thing about the pattern is the provisional cast-on. I used some leftover Panda Cotton for the crochet chain, so I hope it pulls out easily enough. The last time I did a provisional cast-on for a hat, it went poorly. I decided to have faith and not finish the edging of the hat before I knit the body of the hat.

Hope everyone has a lovely 4th. We are heading out to a cabin. Our first family trip that requires backpacking out our stuff - a whole 1.5 miles. :) Babystepping our way to backpacking with kids. :)

Sweater Woes

Way back in April, I set out to make a Mr. Greenjeans. I love the pattern and wanted to knit it the moment I saw it. When I knit to the change from stockinette to cable bottom, I tried it on and found it too big. No biggie. I frogged and put the yarn back for another day.

With the kitchen and summer at the parks, I needed something mindless. Mr. Greenjeans is the perfect pattern for that. I schleped it to many, many parks. I knit on it constantly.

Here is an in progress shot. I was cruising so fast on this thing I didn't even bother to post when I got through the yoke and found it fit. I knit through the cable bottom. Very enjoyable. Then I tried it on. Now I am not sure what possessed me to think that a cardigan that is loose up top, tighter on bottom, and is buttoned in the middle would be complimentary on MY dumpy middle, but I had visions of me looking svelte in the thing. I can only blame the model who looks nothing like me but looks gorgeous in the cardigan. I assure you it looked awful. I am here to tell all knitters out there if you are thick in the waist, this cardigan is NOT for you.

This Cascade EcoWool was destined originally to be a rollneck pullover. That is what I am knitting now though I plan to do a cable rib at the cuffs because that was my favorite part of Mr. Greenjeans. I would give you a in progress shot, but I will spare you. It looks like the photo above only not split for a cardigan.

Still I am a little sad because I have knit this yarn enough for a whole sweater, easily. And no sweater to show for it. :)

A well-timed box

My husband recently abandoned me for some training down in Dallas. This makes what is going on right now THAT much more difficult. Seriously. If he wasn't in Dallas (no offense to Dallas, it is just miserable there), I would think he planned this on purpose. So, when a box was found on my porch this week from my friend Jessie, I was very grateful. My kids were too.

Behold - Mountain Colors Bearfoot. Jessie wrote, "I know, I know more sock yarn." What she doesn't know if this isn't just ANY sock yarn. It is my FAVORITE sock yarn. Bearfoot is soft AND durable - something a lot of great sock yarns can't boast. The colors are to die for and, get this, the colorway is called "Crazy Woman". Too cool. This yarn, however, is not destined for sock yarn. No sir. It deserves to be an Ishbel.

The best part of the box though was the yarn she sent from Thirteen Mile. About 260 yards of an aran weight two ply. Is it weird that I like to sit and sniff it because it smells so wooly? Don't answer that. Anyway, it BEGS to be something cable-ly. I am thinking mittens, of course. A pair from the autumn 2008 Vogue Knitting, Harvest Mittens, that were originally made out of Malabrigo. Into the queue it all goes. :)

Thanks for thinking of me, Jessie! I love all the yarn, and it could not have arrived at a better time. :) Can't wait to see you guys. I don't think the kitchen will be done. Can we use your stove? :)

Reveals too much

I finished my first Spring Forward sock. I have always said, it is a little sad to show you a finished sock when there is still the second sock to go. It sort of ruins the final object don't you think?

Therefore, please understand I am not going to post any photos of the kitchen with the cabinets until the whole kitchen is done. :) It would ruin the big reveal. That said, the cabinets are in and I love them. There was a problem with one cabinet and we have to reorder a new one. *sigh* Another delay. I am TRYING to be patient, but this no kitchen thing is tough. Ever had a friend who remodeled their kitchen? They were not that excited by the time it was done? It is because the whole thing is work and wait, work and wait. It is not like I leave one day and come home to a brand new kitchen. :) Next week floors will be finished. Week after that (hopefully) countertops and THEN week after that all the final touches. Somebody wake me when this is over. :)

Tetris Flooring

Do you like Tetris? If so, you might have a future in hardwood flooring. As you can see from the top picture the Flooring Guy took out some select pieces from the old hardwood and wove in new pieces to start the process of laying the new flooring into the kitchen. It is literally the random placement of lengths of hardwood all ending pretty even. A little over 100 sq/ft of flooring - three hours. Seemed very fast. We won't even go into the mathematical calculation *I* did in my head as I wrote them a check for their work. :) They will be back for the rest of the money the beginning of July when they finish the wood with 4 coats of industrial grade, "green" lacquer. I forgot to ask if it was the same stuff that Tom and Jessie talked about on their blog. All I know is I can be in the house for the process.

I have to admit. This week has been tough. Every project has a low point and mine was this week. I am tired of managing this whole thing and my small children, who have watched A LOT of TV and eaten a lot of CRAP food. It is amazing how UNIMPORTANT my time is to others and the degrees I go to accommodate their time. This was not helped by the boys trip to the dentist. I was FOUR minutes late. They called me in the parking lot. I could have screamed at the very nice woman - "Do you know how many times I have gotten in LATE with your hygentists?" It is not her fault - I know she is just the messenger. I digress.

There is also a special place being held in environmental hell for me due to the juice boxes, paper plates, fast food, and all around bad stuff we have done the last three weeks. I am hoping I got a free pass out by the arrival of our new refrigerator. It is wicked efficient.

FO - Skye Tweed Vest

Pattern: Skye Tweed Vest by Kathy Zimmerman in an old IK

Yarn: Kathmandu Aran in a nice grey

Needles: US 7 and 8

What can I say. I loved knitting this. Cables were interesting but not overly intricate. The yarn is divine. I love the end product, and it doesn't look AWFUL on me. I will definitely wear it, but not when I am trying to impress anyone. It will be more of a I-am-cold-I want-to-be-comfy wear. Couple of things I changed to make it more feminine. The neck has a deeper V than the pattern called for. This is the clincher. I had my husband try it on just after I seamed it up and he declared it "too girly" with the deep V-neck. Okay.

The other change I made was no ribbing around the armhole. When I tried on the vest after seaming it up I loved it. I knit all the various ribbing around the neck and armholes and modeled the end product, at which point Terry declared I look like at football player in the shoulders. I couldn't argue with him. So, I ripped out the ribbing and put in a very small roll of stockinette to give it a finished edge while having the shoulders stay more narrow.

In retrospect, I wish I had shaped the shoulders with short rows and did a three needle bind-o. I have done this before, but I couldn't make my mind wrap around the short rows (no pun intended that only a knitter could understand) and the cabling all at once. My seaming leaves something to be desired. I also wish I had *sheepish look downward* put in some waist shaping. There are plenty of stitches in the sides to do great shaping, and I don't think it would have messed with the cables.

Phew. It feels good to knit a sweater for myself. So good in fact, I cast-on a Mr.Greenjeans for myself. Selfish, selfish.

Hey, my friend Jessie who is traveling all over the country went to a very cool yarn mill in Bozeman, Montana. Go check out what she saw.