The Continental Divide.

I'm trying to blog here, but I keep losing my place, deleting text... think I can create anything from this stuttering start?

I was in the Vermillion Pass on Sunday, and by complete fluke I ended up at the Continental Divide. It would have been an excellent place to go intentionally.. to share a picnic.. to have a break; but I was driving to Castle Junction to drop off Mug, realized that there was no cell service, and wondered how I was going to manage to meet up with BFML, when.. boom.. I see him passing me in the other direction. There were roadside turnouts on both sides of the road, so we both screeched to a stop and I crossed over to his side. Instant awesome destination.

The kids enjoyed being in Alberta, BC, Alberta, BC, Alberta, BC, although I hear tell that Anna nearly fell off of Alberta. I had lots of big hugs from BFML, and he was in his funny drama mode.. dancing around doing mosquito victimization impressions and being goofy. I think we benefit from a break now and again so that I can remember that the man is mostly a boy and that is one of the things I most appreciate about him.

I also saw one of my favourite mountains (who is lucky enough to have access to so many mountains that they have favourites?)... it reminded me that I hadn't been in the Rockies in a long time, and that I should take advantage of my surroundings more fully.

It was one of those crazy days full of moments... the whole day seemed like a million snapshots. Mug, asleep in the car, smelling like corndogs (ok, ewwww); dreaming about her paycheques? An elk, dead on the side of the highway, head towards the ditch. A small fire off the highway as we went West turned into a huge, dangerous valley full of acrid smoke on the trip East. Absolutely perfect light at 8:02, 8:12 and 8:30. Perfect. All of the colours of the mountains, flora, fauna were turned up to high. There was a split second when all traffic slowed to pass an emergency airlift; a helicopter thrumming above us. A field of lavender flowers. An emerald green stream. Suspicious flash as I passed through a small tunnel... will I have a speeding ticket in the mail a few days from now? Some very, very happy dogs when I arrived home, 3 hours late for their dinner schedule.

I prayed a lot when I realized (coming down the pass on 93) that the brakes were not working well, and I would not be able to do a sudden stop in the next 2 full hours. More prayer when the car started to jitter every time I drove over a hole or bump in the road. BFML will tell me that: it needs attention. Ahem. Yes, it does.

And finally, so tired when I got home that I neither knit, nor c'worded. Didn't spin. Didn't dye.

I just sat and thought about snapshots.

Tomorrow.. Knitting. I promise.

Flat out

In order of importance, as perceived by Spike.

Fiber meets puppy

I bought this from Pigeonroof Studios on Etsy. It's a BFL (my favorite...)/Silk blend. Not my usual choice of colours, but really pretty I thought.



I spun just more than half of it, and left the balance of the fiber on the arm of the couch while I went out to do an errand. (Would you have guessed that it would spin up blue? Me neither)



It was roughly in the shape of a ball.



When I came back, I found this:



And here is the guilty party. Any attempt to resist his powers would be fruitless.



(I managed to spin most of the fiber.. it ended well)

The Year of Estonian/Orenburg lace is turning into...

The year of the sock. The year of fundraising. The year of cycling. The year of knitting socks to fundraise for cycling.

In happy news, there is SOME progress on the lace front. I was able to find a copy of Galina's book from Shuttleworks, and so around the time of the Olympics I spent many, many hours working on the Eastern Star shawl. I think i have 5" or so completed (scoff if you may, that's one crapload of knitting we're talking about there); and tragically I dropped a stitch that ran allllll the way back to where the lace joins the shawl. On that note, the whole project went into the time out basket, and it resides there still.

OK, so I bought an Orenburg shawl from Galina. I admit it. It's fabulous and I love it, and I just saved myself a year of knitting. (It's everything I dreamed it would be and more)

My Estonian shawl (the Miralda) is almost complete, but I ran out of handspun just inches before the cast off. Not a huge problem (thank God), Correna had 4oz. of Bison that she bought from the same vendor as I had, so I have been spinning that to finish the shawl with. I thought I'd DO THE RIGHT THING (cuz I love her) and spin the whole 4oz and return her down in the form of yarn. So.. I need some extra time with that.


(an old picture.. it's almost done now)

As far as lace goes, I did knit Amy's new bolero pattern 'Watershed', and it's quite lovely. I chose the wrong yarn for the project, and the garment doesn't drape the way it ought to. My fault entirely.



Ohhhhh, and socks. I've been contract knitting them left, right and centre. Also, Martha donated a whole basket full that she'd knitted, so a bunch of the money I raised for the Ride to Conquer Cancer happened on account of socks. Currently I'm knitting a pair of yellow ones that I can wear during the ride. At least I hope so, they're DK weight, and maybe a little thick for the job. We'll see. I also have a pair of Casbah socks in blue on the needles, and finished a pair of Silk Garden 211 socks for Donna's birthday.

They're everywhere, they're everywhere.

What else? Hmmmmm... I knitted a Wool Leaves for a shop display. It's kinda cool, and will make a nice lap blanket when I bring it home.



Oh! Over a weekend retreat I knitted a version of Kourtney's "Mistaken" shawl. I absolutely adore it! You can knit it for yourself by downloading her free Ravelry pattern. (I actually knit the green one shown, but the picture is Kourtney's)



Lots of other stuff happening at the moment. My mom is having surgery on June 1 for breast cancer, so I'm going to fly to Victoria for 2 days. Nini turns 3 on June 4th. I have the MS Ride on June 12/13, the Ride for Dad on June 19th and the Ride to Conquer Cancer on June 26/27. It isn't even June yet, and somehow it seems like the summer is half over. To my utter shock, I barely have any more time to train for the rides. Damned blizzards.

The puppy turned one! He's so amazing, and cute, and funny, and sweet, and talented, and did I say funny?



Speaking of SHOCK, it would appear that I'm not going to have anything suitable completed to put into Stampede. I love a rosette, I have to say.

This has not been the year of taking good photographs, so I'll post this as is, and hope that I can fill it in with images at a later time instead of just.not.blogging.cuz.i.have.no.pictures.

The fun theory

I've been knitting like a crazy woman (knit a sock and half a cowl today) to sell to raise money for the 2010 Ride to Conquer Cancer, and... well, I managed to put together a Thanksgiving dinner (thanks in whole to BFML, who did the grocery shopping). It all came together.

Things I'm thankful for? We have a roof over our heads, and we really shouldn't have one at this moment. Mug didn't have a stroke, and she is being good about patching her eye, and taking her pills. The puppy is a joy to have around. I am raising money for a really good cause. I have a job. I have lots to look forward to, and some really great options. My life is absolutely full of amazing, loving people. I could not be more blessed.

And it's a 3 day weekend. I have a stash.

Enough said.

Bath time for Apache

He's still small enough to bathe in the sink, but not for long. He's having extreme fun at this moment, as you can clearly see.



Here he is doing his impression of a whirling dervish. Roxy thinks he has gone crazy. I know this because she told me.



Here you have the cutest dog in the world. Tell me I'm wrong.



Crashed.

Two hours from now, after he's woken from his nap and gone outside for a pee (where he will dig, and roll in dirt), he'll look almost exactly like he did before we started. And that's ok.

Apache

This little guy has been growing like a weed, and now he looks like this:



We're really doing well together, and he's an absolute treasure. This latest picture of him was taken after he had a dig and a roll in the garden. It is impossible to keep him clean these days.

Everything he does is adorable, so I'll spare you all of the details.

Blocked swatch

Just sayin.

Geoache link

Here's a video that explains a little about geocaching. It's a really great way to spend some time outdoors, and I love the treasure hunting aspect (tho, I rarely keep anything.. I just like the hunt). The kids are over it right now, but BFML and I are not. We are team 6Rabitts.



Some photos I had previously promised:








Strangest thing, this. We were caching, and I told BFML that I thought the cache might be close to a house I did a LOT LOT LOT of work in when I was still doing floors. It was one of those jobs that you just don't forget.. house is closing in on mansion status, lady was nasty, I was accidentally locked out of the house with no jacket, no keys, and it's.. hmmm.. about 40 below zero at the time... and finally, it is the very last place in the world where I still experienced feeling in the tip of my left index finger. It was on that job that I smashed the finger and wrecked it forever. It was just weird to be there, by that bad memory house.. I was remembering everything and I looked up; there, hanging from barbed wire - surrounding a municipal waterworks gadget - was a rubber fishing lure. Just the weirdest thing, overall.



Just in case you think I don't knit any longer, here is the Girasole I'm working on. It's in a light worsted alpaca, and I think it's gonna be gorgeous. It's sitting on the dashboard of the truck while we were out geocaching.



Crazy, huh? We found piles and piles and piles of hail in the grass by a weigh station near Calgary. You don't expect to hold ice in your hand in August, that's for sure; unless it came out of your beer cooler perhaps... but in the grass?

And finally,



A gratuitous puppy photo, and one beautiful eye (if you don't mind me taking credit for one of my loveliest creations).

tell me...

Do you have any idea why I have more energy in the afternoon than I do in the morning? I cannot figure it out. I eat my breakfast, I am hydrated, but I cannot get up that hill at 9am. However, at 2:00.. tired and hot-hot-hot, it seemed like it was within reach.

How does this work?

The only thing I could think of was that it might be my BP meds.. so I switched to taking them at night. No difference.


Frustrating. So here's an awwwwwww for us all.



My Glow gloves are coming along nicely; I am just starting the second chart. Also, I've been spinning quite a bit, and finished 100 grams of Fleece Artist Wool/Silk. It's a very manly colourway, so I'm thinking it might be socks for the BF.

Tonight I flick carded and spun a little bit of Shetland that we got while we were at Olds. One lock went so far that I'm currently in fear regarding spinning a whole fleece. I want to knit some Orenburg this year, and I'd love to do it with my own handspun. We'll see.

BFML comes home tomorrow. I'm glad.

A little video of Patches

He's so cute, he doesn't need supportive text.



My command of the English language is poor.

Oh.. a quick mention of cycling. After a two week rest, I thought I'd be in deep trouble today if I rode. In the morning BFML, Mug and I went to Bow Cycle to have my bike adjusted, and he noticed that my tires were under pressure... said that it should make the bike more efficient when the pressure was correct.

Didn't make ME more efficient; I forgot my gloves and my helmet (huh? how dumb is that?).

Anyway, just a note to say that I made some progress on HOME ROAD. I got another 1/2 block further.. I'm soooooo close to the top of the hill now. I really believe I'm going to make it, even if making it is thanks to a lighter bike, more inflated tires...

Yesterday.. (or, not so much)

I wrote this post a week ago yesterday, and didn't publish it... So, here's some old news.


Opera, Mug, BFML and I were up and out of our houses at the crack of dawn, in order to get into the Stampede grounds by 9am.. cuz it was family day, and it's free if you get there fast enough. We made it with 3 minutes to spare, and saved ourselves a big bunch of money.

The plan was to attend a sheep related event at 10am, however the shearing schedule was re-arranged, so the first event wasn't until noon. We landed up watching a sheep dog and a blacksmithing competition, and they were both fascinating. The dogs are purely amazing and clearly smarter than the two we have here at the house (don't mention that to them though, we don't want any embarrassed pups). Twice during the sheep dog competition the ewes turned on the dogs, pawed the ground, and refused to budge. In both cases the ewes were victorious. I was quite shocked!

We eventually got to see shearing, but not until 3pm.. gosh it was a long day. BFML put up with the whole entire thing until that point, and made a break for freedom. Opera and I watched it all, and learned that you don't have to be fast to be a winning shearer; you have to be GOOD. The more second cuts, and missed spots, the more points against you.

Just before we went home, we turned back and spoke with the head of the Sheep Breeder's Association and left her with our names and numbers. It would lead to a pretty exciting Stampede for me and for Opera.

More to follow.

Just in case you're bored, here's some super cute puppies.