Monday, April 30, 2012


The last ten days have been crazy busy. 

Vet found lice on our horses so we have been busy treating them with weekly wormer and spray, daily grooming, and a huge spring clean up at the barn.  She said it's been a rough winter and there is an outbreak of lice in the area! 

All grooming supplies had to be cleaned as well as any tack used on the horse.  I am tried of the smell of bleach and insect spray!  But this weekend I found no lice on my horse!  Two weeks down, four more to go!

In little snippets of time, 10 minutes here, 20 mintues there, I finished the shawlette -- I don't like it.  I love the pattern, but it is too small to be of any real use.  I am thinking I will rip it out and make a cowel or smoke-ring out of it.  I enjoyed the pattern, it just isn't big enough.  I have not cut the small bit of yarn off the end, might knit from the shawlete instead of frogging it and making a new ball.

I did enjoy the pattern, but just not enough yarn -- and I think the yarn may be a little to thick for this pattern.  I have been eyeing other yarn I have on hand to make this pattern, but I am trying to get all my WIP off the sticks.....    But, alas, my first "shawl" is done!

Friday, April 20, 2012

I have all day to.....

Shawlette, knit from handspun
I took the day off from work so I could take my horse to the vet at 2 pm.  That means I have all day to do what ever I want.

So far, I've made a few items for my shop, knit on my shawlette, taken a shower, and gave myself a mask.  It's been a productive morning, so far. 

Now to get to the boring stuff; papers to grade from work that I brought home so I can get caught up.  I am sure the knitting and beading will still be waiting when I'm done......I hope.

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Communing with Nature



All week I told my honey that he had Saturday. I was tired of being the entertainment director in our relationship. Don't get me wrong. He is a GREAT guy. I love him to death, but we do just about what ever I want to do--okay, he spoils me!
It has been like that since the beginning. He asks what I want to do this coming weekend, I inform him of what ever it is I need to or want to do and that's what we do.
Clean the garage? No problem. Sit home and do homework for the classes I needed to take for my Alaska Teaching Certificate? SURE! Clean horse stalls? YEP! Go shopping for baby shower gifts? OK!
The classes are done, I am almost all caught up in my Special Education paperwork on my students, and I'm tired of being this couple's entertainment director.
Saturday was his day. What ever he wanted. All week he kept asking me what I wanted and I kept telling him, "Saturday is your day, what ever you want to do, Honey!" (And I prayed he picked something I liked!)
(picture snagged from the center's web page)
Saturday arrived; we got up early and went out for breakfast, came home, and dressed for a walk on the trails of Eagle River Nature Center.
It was a beautiful "spring" day in Alaska. Daily highs have been in the upper 40's. Snow melting off.
We paid our parking fee, got our map and headed out. We had the woods to ourselves, walked the snow covered trails and joked about how silly the short benches were. We're working toward record snow fall (last count 3 inches away from breaking records), and some of the benches are level with the snow.
Signs of spring were everywhere. Running water, swarms of gnats, a layer of tiny bugs covering the snow, birds signing in the trees.
We came around a bend and I saw a moose laying down on the trail. Go around or turn back?
Let's see if we can get him up and moved off the trail. He was in no hurry to move further down, we walked at his slow pace behind him, hoping he'd get off the trail. He was a small bull, we looked for his momma, but didn't see her.
He moved off the trail and we were trying to decide if we should go off the trail in the deep snow, or just turn around and head back the way we came. Then we saw movement behind us -- his momma.
Now let me tell you, there is one place in Alaska you do NOT want to be -- between a momma moose and her calf! We headed off the trail as fast as we could.
Remember that record snow fall I spoke of earlier? I promptly sunk to my butt in the more than waist deep snow! This was truly a life or death situation and I was buried up to my butt in snow and could not get my foot up and out of the snow!
Her hackles were up, ears pinned back, or so says the boyfriend, my back was too her, in waist deep snow! I turned around to see her give us the evil eye as if to say "you stay right there and no one gets hurt!" as she continued on the trail to her son.
Heart racing, stuck in waist deep snow, thinking "I could have stayed home and knit!"
The yearling bull calf ran to his momma, she continued to give us the evil eye as we slowly got out of the deep snow, back on the trail and put as much distance between us as possible.
It might be a long time before he has his weekend to do what we want again!
We did decide that, next time, when we come to a moose on the trail, we will just turn around and go the way we came!

Monday, April 2, 2012

On the sticks



Last week or so I got this lovely batt from Little Monkey Stitch 'n Spin. I could hardly wait. But, I had to finish up my two college classes, get things done for work spend much needed time with the boyfriend, but I did manage to squeeze in spinning.

I was planning on N-plying, but about half way through the batt, I decided I'd 2-ply it, with all the sparkles, I could see this as a lacy wrap.
So, here it is on the sticks, and away we go. Not sure if this is the pattern I want, CO about 45 stitches, on big needles, kfb of first and last stitches of each row.