Fluffy Scarves

Just a quick note about me.  I hope this doesn't change your opinion of me but I don't read romance novels. I never cared much for Jane Austen or Wuthering Heights and I have maybe read four modern romance novels in my life. I prefer murder mysteries. If someone doesn't die in the first 20 pages, I go on to the next book. My threshold used to be death within 30 pages, but I'm older now -- I have less patience with normal life in my books and there are still too many books to read.

That being said, I absolutely love the new series of knitting magazines Jane Austen Knits.  I am saying a series because there are two magazines so far, and I hope they keep them coming. The patterns are lacy and airy and the yarns used are more delicate. The lavender scarf is make with an alpaca lace yarn and the orange and red one is a worsted in a self-striping yarn. Both are using the pattern displayed on the cover. The pattern uses short rows to create the ruffles and flow, and it is very fun to knit. It is also an easy travel project because it is quick to memorize. It's also impressive as the scarf gives longer and longer and you have a cloud of fluffy yarn in your lap. I have both issues of Jane Austin Knit, and have ear-marked at least six projects in each magazine.

So here's to lacy and romantic knitting. I've had my real life Mr. Darcy for 31 years so maybe that's the romance on my needles is more appealing. Back to the needles.

Yarn Crawl - Yarn Along the Rockies

Here we are with our Yarn Passports, trying to fill them up

We just had the most wonderful event here along the Front Range. 22 yarn shops in 9 days. I didn't make it all 22, but I get to 12 of them.  There were several stores I didn't even know existed. I think that was the whole idea of the Crawl.

My friend Joan Bradt and I spent the entire day going from store to store, touching alpaca, stroking merino wool, and evaluating colors. We didn't buy much, but we did add to our wish lists

Just one of the beautiful shawl
projects we came across

Every store had a gift basket give-away, and there was some grand prizes for those who got to all 22 stores. All along the way, we would run into the same group of women, also going store to store, obviously following the yarn trail we were on.  I wondered if there was a string of yarn following us.

Joan can't decide which one to get.

We ran into two young women who completed their passport with every store. They did the crawl over four days all during school hours. They had to pick up their kids by 2:30 every day so they were booking it. I hope one of them win the grand prize. That kind of dedication deserves it. The grand prize is worth over $1000 in yarn and yarn doo-dads. Oh, what I could do with that.

There was that unpleasant incident at Knitty Cat though

This was the first year and it was such a success that the stores are already planning on next year's crawl.  I am putting it on my calendar and saving my pennies. To see the web site, go to http://www.yarnalongtherockies.com/. I didn't get to the Boulder, Colorado Springs, or the mountain stores -- but next year for sure!!

After going to 12 stores in one day, it was a very tiring day.
At least Joan ended up in the alpaca pile.

Mammoths in Roxborough? Who Knew?

http://www.douglas.co.us/lambspring/

Ken and I moved to Roxborough Park in 1985. Roxborough Park is south of the Denver Metro area in the foothills to the Rockies. It is a beautiful area with red rocks formations, wildlife from mountain lions, coyotes, and bears to raccoons and skunks, and breath-taking scenery. We have hiked the foothills, bicycled up Waterton Canyon, and cross-country skied across the prairie land. Our property backs up to the Pike National Forest, and we can sit on our deck and see downtown Denver, Chatfield Reservoir, Arrowhead Golf Course, and Roxborough State Park. Our summers are filled with hummingbirds and our winters are filled with hundreds of birds and jays.

We have also traveled all over the western United States with our boys going to similar digs such as Hot Springs in South Dakota, Dinosaur in northwestern Colorado, Mesa Verde in Colorado, Hovensweep in Utah, Head-Smashed-In and Royal Tyrrell Museum in Alberta Canada.

The dig is now covered to protect it, but plans are to
put up a building over the dig.

So how come we didn't know we were within 4 miles of an archaeological dig that uncovered 33 mammoth skeletons?  Lamb Springs is over 40 acres in the grassland prairie to the north of Roxborough, and we drive by it several times a week.

I can see my house from here! It's south of Lamb Spring.

On Saturday (Sept. 8), we attended a lecture about the history of Lamb Spring at the Roxborough Library followed by a visit to the site. If you get a chance, sign up for the tour on the website and spend a morning going back in time with the mammoth hunters. It is well-worth your time!!

The Lockheed Martin plant is directly west of Lamb Spring.

Every Lacy Shawl Needs a Little Cat Hair

Yes, that dark spot in the lower right is Neko,
checking out the best spot to shed his fur.

I made this shawl about a year ago and never got around to blocking it until now. As I was going through some yarn in my craft room, I ran across it. Seemed like as good a time as any to finish it. This yarn is Alpaca Lace in a light lavender. The pattern is in the Victorian Lace book -- I think. Like I said, it's been over a year since I finished the knitting part of it.

And with all blocking projects, Neko has to lay stake and claim to it. Now it is a hot day, and the dampness of shawl from the blocking process has to be appealing. But it won't matter if the shawl was wet and damp, or pre-heated and toasty. He would still have to lay on it.  

It could also be the appeal of the vortex. The lavender against the navy blue carpet is very striking and the swirls center the energy down. 

Neko is using the vortex to travel to another dimension by way of a lavender highway where there are no yapping dogs or other cats to annoy him, nothing but tuna treats in the food dish, cream cheese whenever he wants it, a sunny spot to nap filled with the essence of catnip, and he could finally do outside.

Neko is still there in this lavender dream world. I can't pull up the pins until he is done or he may not make it back. Hopefully. he will be back by breakfast. 

Remember, cats are magical creatures. 

Attack Cat

I don't remember who gave me this plaque, but it seems to apply now more than ever!

WARNING: This house is protected by an attack cat.

My New Favorite Scarf -- So Far!

I wish my camera could show you the intensity of the colors in this scarf. I am so pleased with it! The yarn comes from Skaska Designs out of Ft. Collins, Colorado (Skaska.com) and the colors range from an intense orange to a vibrant fuchsia. This is an incredibly simple lace pattern so it doesn't overwhelmed the colors. The yarn is soft, and it feels feather-light. I brought it to work last week, and the first thing everyone had to do it touch it. I also had a couple people threaten to steal it.

The pattern is from Susanne Lewis' book, Knitting Lace, a must-have for anyone who knits lace. I just added a garter stitch edge of three rows at the top and bottom and three stitches along both sides. Unfortunately, the orange and yellow colors do not look good on me, so when I wear it, I need to have the fuchsia and pink next to my face. I can make it work.

I am now ready to start knitting some more scarves and shawls from this delicate lace yarn.

What I Did on Summer Vacation

These are my adorable sweet sons, Lorne and Dane.
They reluctantly allowed me to take pictures
of them with their hats.

One last note about our trip to Canada. When I not driving or sleeping during the car trip, I was knitting. I finished the watch hats for my sons and hubby, all three made out of an ulta-soft alpaca yarn that is very warm.

I also made two shawls  although I didn't finish the blue one until I got home. They are made from three skeins of Mini Mochi, and I only had two skeins of the blue.  When I got home, I went to my local yarn store to see if they had another skein, only to find out that these colors have been discontinued. I searched the web and finally found some. Whew! I really love the blue and purple colors, so I would have been disappointed if I couldn't finish it.  I will probably offer the rainbow one at my church auction this fall.

The pattern is Wingspan, and can be found on Ravelry. It is very, very addictive, especially if you like doing short rows. There is an array of yarns making this pattern so the variations are endless. http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/wingspan-2

Neko Attempts The Balance Beam

Just as Neko attempts the balance beam in the Cat Olympics, ...

... it did not go as planned.  After all, ...

... it interferes with naptime.

Breakfast with Neko and Ken

What are you eating? Did you start without me?

Can I have some? At least let me smell it.

Well, part of it smells good. Is that milk? But what is that weird smell?
And why is it pink? Milk isn't supposed to be pink!

Wait!  Don't eat it! It may not be safe. It's pink, don't you understand?

Oh, that's just wrong.

Canada - The trip home

Yes, I know we have been home for over a week and I hadn't finalized my trip story. It took a while to find my cord to transfer pictures. But I still wanted to finish up my story.

On Sunday, we said good-bye to all our family from near and far with promises to keep in touch, which we actually do. With email, Facebook, and Photo Bucket, it is easier and easier to do. The Gackle family have a  reunion every three years and it looks like that will continue in the future. We've been to Portland, Billings, Colorado, and North Dakota, with the one in 2015 in California and in 2018 in Germany!

The trip home was going to take two days, with some fun along the way. We spent half of a day at the cliffs of Head-Smashed-in Buffalo Jump near Macleod, Alberta. For over 5,500 years, the Blackfoot Indians hunted  buffalo by causing a herd of buffalo to stampede over the cliff. I love museums and have a special fondness for Native American museums. (I am using "American" here to mean "North American" because this was in Canada.)

The Blackfoot then use every part of the 30 or so buffalo to live on for the next year, such as dried meat, clothing and bedding, which with Alberta winters, that could be important.

We took a hike along the drive lanes used for herding the buffalo. It is amazing that you don't see the cliff until you are right up to it. No wonder the buffalo didn't see it coming. It's called a buffalo "jump' instead of a buffalo 'fall," because it is believed that the buffalo are willing to sacrifice themselves to give the Blackfoot people warmth and food to the people. Gotta love that kind of dedication, right?

We spent the rest of the day driving on to Yellowstone. We stayed the night somewhere in southern Montana, and drove into the park the next day.

I have a long and beautiful history with Yellowstone. I worked at Old Faithful Lodge during the summers when I was in college, and I have dragged my family there many times since. So we decided we were only doing to two a couple of things there before continuing home. We had to visit my old stomping grounds at Old Faithful and wanted to see the caldera exhibit at the Canyon area.

As we drove through Hayden Valley, we came upon the buffalo herd. This little guy was shading himself in the ditch. All I had to do is stick my camera out the window to take his picture.  I then warned him not to go north to Head Smashed In in Alberta.

So we made it home. We dropped Dane off in Fort Collins and Lorne off in Denver, and we got home to Littleton and collapsed into sleep. I already missed being with my boys, but it was wonderful to spend time with them.