The Gold Medal is now Available

Yarn Harlot has the Gold Medal available at her website.

Getting Ready for the Olympics

Looking forward to once again being a member of Team Alaska for this years Winter Olympics. For the 2006 Winter Olympics, I decided to knit my very first pair of socks, many pairs later, I've decided I would challenge myself with my first toe-up Two-at-a-Time socks on one long cable.







I've done one other pair of toe up socks, the Boyfriend Socks by Slippedstitch, and they were not only fun to knit, but comfortable to wear.

A few of the advantages to knitting toe-up are being able to size then to our foot as you knit, not having to do the Kirchner Stitch (requires no interuptions, lol), and you can use all/most of your expensive sock yarn! I hate waste.

After much searching for the right pattern, I think I've finally settled on using is from Interweave Knits Summer 2007 Issue. On-Your-Toes Socks

Why not just do the Boyfriend Socks again, since I loved them so much? Well, first off they require cable needles and not sure I want to add that into the mix with the other challenges, and, also, I'm using a yarn that I already have (must decrease my stash!) and it's a self striping yarn that would drown out the cables. Bummer after all that work. I wanted a pattern with some sort of ribbing, because I think ribbing makes the socks more "stretchy" and comfortable than a basic sock.

The Yarn I'm using is Trekking (XXL) by Zitron. I've done the gauge and adjusted the pattern using the Toe-Up Sock Guide included in the magazine. I hope to get a few practice runs in with the cast-on they suggested or I may end up using Judy's Magic Cast-On, that I used for the Boyfriend Socks pattern.

I also have a previous engagement during the opening games, so my plan is to TIVO the opening and stay up late, real late, and then cast-on. Let the games begin!

One Year Ago Today

The Inauguration of Barack Obama. Can't believe I was there with my son and my mother. Unforgetable! This was a great start to an amazing year for my family. Not perfect but close enough.

Lotus Blossom Tank Frustrations

my pre-frogged tank

Oh, I was so close to being finished. But, then, I realized I should pin it together and try it on. Alais, the tank was too short at the bottom and the seam for the straight stitch section sat too high. I decided to re-read LIckety-Knits suggested changes and I had missed one other suggested change to the pattern, knitting the straight stitch area below the armholes, an inch longer. Reading further, she inspired me to go ahead and frog (rip-it, rip-it) the tank down to the end of the lotus pattern and add an additional row of the pattern (I must have an even longer torso) and then add the additional into of straight stitch.

What this means now, is I'm knitting like crazy to try and get it finished before leaving this Friday for Maui. My hopes are diminishing that this will actually be a wearable clothing item, but I will keep at it.



Should I actually get this done in time, my next plan is to finish my Maui Monkey Socks while in Hawaii. This will be the 2nd trip back for my yarn, as it was actually hand-dyed on Maui by Maui Yarn Arts. This colorway is inspired by ripe pineapple. I'll be stopping at the yarn shop just a mile from my condo, at least once, to pick up a new yarn or two.

Berries on the Vine by Cathleen Stephen
Cast-On Magazine, November 2006

I have also managed to find 2 of the 3 colorways I needed to start my Berries on the Vine Pillow, by purchasing yarn from another Ravelry member's stash. I may have to purchase the 3rd colorway at a local yarn shop. My favorite shop, Far North Yarns , definitely carries Jo Sharp yarns. Tried to buy these while visiting the SF Bay Area, but the shops in my mom's area didn't carry Jo Sharp. Not sure when I'll get to the pillow, but looking forward to make it. I just hope after I let the guys know how much the yarn costs and the time I took to make it, they won't be using it for a pillow fight.

Well, back to speed knitting the tank.

What's Knitting!

Getting ready to leave for California tonight and have packed up my Lotus Tank Top to finish while I'm down. The link isn't to my project but to another lady who has some great tips that I'm using to help me finish mine.


Thought I'd get this tank done before I left and I'm real close, but still have the shoulders to knit and then I'll need to block it before I can wear it. Hope to be posting a picture of me in it in sunny San Francisco.

This is one of two UFO's (Un-Finished Objects) that are part of my goal to finish before I start back up at work on July 23rd. The other is my Maui sock's that I have a 1/2 a sock left to knit.

And, of course, I'm looking ahead to two other projects I'd like to start. First is a sweater I saw in the Spring 2007 Interweave Knits Magazine. It's called The Dollar and a Half Cardigan. This looks like the perfect sweater to wear at work since it's always cold in the office. I'm sure I'll appreciate the stiff breeze from the ventilation system when menopause kicks in, a long time from know, but in the meantime, I usually have to wear a sweater to keep warm. The yarn in the pattern is Reynolds Soft Linen (53% linen, 47% acrylic) which should mean not an "itchy" sweater. The knitter whose project I have linked to used a worsted weight alpaca and I may have to check that yarn out also. Darn yarn shopping.

The other project I may get started soon, is a pillow that I'd like to put on one of our livingroom couches to make it both more comfortable and also to tie in the colors of the livingroom walls to the couch better. The pillow I choose is from the November 2006 Cast-On Magazine. The pattern is called Berries on the Vine Modular Pillow and it uses a yarn I am very fond of called Jo Sharp Silkroad Aran Tweed. This was the first yarn I'd used with silk and immediately fell in love with silk blends. So in addition to the type of yarn used in the pattern, the colors used in the pattern appear to actually be the colors I'd like to use. More yarn to buy again.

I'll have to post a picture of the pillow from the magazine later. Seems it's not my night to download pictures.

Chick-A-Dee (dee) Observations by a Backyard Naturalist

Chickadee with spider in mouth

For the past few years, we've been lucky enough to have a nesting pair of Chickadee's in a Birch tree, just outside our livingroom window. Chickadee's get their name from the adorable call they use to call to their mate. If one was to inhale helium and then saying "chick-a-dee-dee" and you may end up with a Chickadee sitting on your shoulder.



Even as I'm typing this on my deck, this sunny Memorial Day, I can hear them calling to each other as they return to their brood.






One bird tends to stay with the nestlings, while the other's out getting a few bugs.
















When the "shopper" comes back with food, it makes the chick-a-dee-dee call, and as it gets closer to the nest it will make a shorter call which I think is a "coast is clear" call to which the bird inside, makes a return call, and quickly flys out of the nest.



We did have a few times that I thought they'd died, as we've had 3 small birds hit our windows recently. I had thought one of them may have been the female chickadee, since it had similar but much plainer markings. In many song bird species, the males are usually much more colorful than the females, turns out both male and female chickadee's are the same color.



I was pretty upset when I first discovered this "female" bird and called a sympathetic neighbor (she rescues birds every summer), and took a picture of the bird before I buried it in my flower bed, so I could identify it later. Still not sure what type it is but I know it's not what I thought it was.













Our chickadee's are very busy right now feeding they're chick or chicks. I can't see into the nest to figure out how many. It's only about 5 feet off the ground so it isn't too hard to see into, but the hole is very deep. Tried several times to get Vince to stand next to the hole without making a silly face, but was unsuccessful. So I'm posting this picture so readers can get a better idea on how easily accessible this nest is. Luckily, even if a cat could get to it, I'm not sure they'd be able to reach into the nest and get a snack out.











And, it seems Memorial Weekend is when our "State Bird" the Mosquito (wink, wink) comes out in full force. Great for the birds, not so great for us walking blood banks. Time for us all to smell like toxic waste. I'm going to give a herbal repelent I bought in Kauai, one more try, as I can't stand regular repelents.





The picture is of our attempt at curbing our mosquito problems with a Mosquito Magnet. This is after just a few days and they are in a one gallon ziploc bag. It does seem to help, at least out in the yard.

chickadee waiting for "Coast is Clear" call

But I hope this little Chickadee get busy and makes some more bug-eating babies.

When I was 23.........

These young ladies were our "Naturalist" on our snorkel trip to Molokini and the Turtle Arches with the Pacific Whale Foundation. As they started talking to us about the fish, whales and turtles we might see on our tour, one of the ladies jumped off the boat to dive down and grab the permanent mooring to "anchor" us to our spot and all I could think was,"Wow, I could of been doing this at 23 (bang head, band head, bang head)".

When I was 23, I was ready for an adventure. I was on my 5th year of college getting a degree in biology, it seemed to be taking forever. I was offered an internship at the SF Zoo and offered an opportunity to study dolphins at Marine World, USA after asking my professor a question she didn't know the answer to about her research dolphins. For some reason these two opportunities seemed too "tied down for me".

I had spent 3 months in Paris a couple years earlier and I knew I wanted to travel more, have an adventure. My boyfriend innocently mentioned that his dad invited us to come to Alaska, stay with him, until we got settled and check it out. At this time, we were pretty active hikers and skiing as often as we could, two things we could definitely do in Alaska.











A few months later, we were on our way, driving the Al-Can to Alaska, in our cars both packed to the tipping point with our belongings (except our bicycles, for another story). Eighteen years later, we're still here and it still, occasionally, feels like an adventure, but more and more it's home.